Cabbage salad

Yesterday I had a great Japanese lunch which included a salad. So today while doing marketing I shopped for cabbage to recreate it.

Actually I am not too sure which type but I ruled out Beijing cabbage as I think I use that for stir fry n soups,

I bought this instead

 

I chose a sugar loaf cabbage

Recipe

Sugar loaf cabbage 1/2 shredded finely 

Kikkoman soy sauce 4 tsp

White sesame oil 2 tsp 

Mizkan sushi seasoning 4 tsp 

Heinz cocktail sauce

Cherry tomatoes halved

Frozen mixed vegetables

Sunflower seeds (optional)

Method

Cut the cabbage into half 

Discard outer layer 1st piece if too dirty

Slice the cabbage thinly ( next time I will do more thin)

Throw away the hard end of cabbage

Rinse the cabbage - drain n place in a large bowl n chill in the fridge about ten minutes 

Prepare the sauce

Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, sushi seasoning in a small bowl with a teaspoon

Wash a handful of frozen mixed vegetables 

Microwave with water and a pinch of salt

I used one minute

Drain the water away

Portion the chilled cabbage into 4 bowls 

Spoon some prepared sauce over 

Squeeze some cocktail sauce on top 

Spoon some cooked mixed vegetables on the cocktail sauce

Add a few cherry tomatoes 

Sprinkle the sunflower seeds

Ready to eat!

Note : 

I made this sauce without any sugar - healthier for my hubby

It tastes a bit tangy and whets your appetite 

The cabbage is crunchy n nice to eat

Chicken rice

I was thinking of cooking healthier food for my hubby to eat. So I thought about cooking steamed chicken. Then I also thought why not have chicken flavoured rice as well? 

Flipping through my recipe books I found the the rice recipe from local chef Pang Nyuk Yoon's cookbook  Reviving Local Dialect Cuisines

Following is my slightly adapted version

Recipe 

3 cups of rice rinsed ( original 500gm)

4 cloves garlic skin on

3 tbsp cooking oil ( original chicken oil)

1 small pc old ginger

4 pcs pandan leaves 

600 ml chicken stock from boiling chicken 

But I don't have so I used my leftover 

100 ml Swanson chicken stock topped up with water to 600 ml and mixed in 1 teaspoon of maggi concentrated chicken stock 

1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp chicken seasoning powder (omitted)

Method

1. Rinse the rice n drain.

2. Use a knife n flatten the garlic on the chopping board

3. Use a wok and heat up the oil and fry the garlic, ginger and pandan leaves. Then add the rice and stir fry until fragrant.

3. Pour the rice into electric rice cooker n add in the chicken stock and salt.

Cook as usual.

Fry garlic ginger n pandan leaves

Fry with rice

Cook it

Chicken rice cooked

The rice is just nice! Not oily and light chicken flavoured

The steamed chicken recipe is from

1 dish 2 flavours cookbook by another famous chef Patsie Cheong

This is my plate of steamed chicken mid joints

Ingredients 

Part 1

8 piece of mid joint chicken - she used 5 pcs chicken wings cut into 2

Sprinkle of salt and white pepper

1 tsp white sesame oil

Part 2 sauce ingredients 

3 pcs of spring onion I cut into about 1 inch lengths

1 small pc of ginger sliced 

( original is 60g minced ginger n 40 g spring onion chopped)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp huatiao wine ( replaced shaoxing wine)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup broth ( I used Swanson)

1/2 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce 

1 tsp corn flour 

Method 

1 rinse the chicken pcs n pat dry 

2. Mix with part 1 salt n pepper n sesame oil

3. place on a plate for steaming

4. Mix ingredients in part 2 into a bowl

5. Pour over the plate of chicken 

6. Place in steamer n steam for 15 minutes.

7. Serve with chicken rice or plain rice 

I served my rice with cherry tomatoes and side dish of stir fry oyster sauce xiaobaicai.

Steaming chicken in my wok

Yummy chicken rice!

Happy cooking!

Pineapple juice chicken drumstick

This dish is so easy to make with a slow cooker. The chicken is tender n the soup is flavorful.

The original recipe is from my friend Ris Ng and I changed it a little.

Recipe

A small slow cooker

2 drumsticks

Almost 1 /4 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1/2 a pc of coconut sugar - sliced smaller 

1 can of pineapple juice - I used Ice Cool Brand

1 potato - remove skin n cut into 4

Place the ingredients into the slow cooker and turn on high heat and cook 2.5 hours. 

Ready to eat.

Best to serve with rice :)

Ingredients 

Bought this from Sheng Shiong supermarket

Before cooking

After cooking 

Ready to eat

Fried Wantons 炸云吞

Having eaten a bowl of char siew and wanton noodles on Sunday, I decided to make my own wantons for snacking. It costs me $1 for 4 extra pcs of wanton.

Simple ingredients n marinade to make these.

I made these with minced pork which can be replaced with minced chicken too.

Recipe

1 packet of wanton skins 

Minced pork about 120 gm

1/3 carrot diced finely 

3 pcs of spring onions diced

1 heaped teaspoon corn flour

1 teaspoon Kikkoman soy sauce

1 teaspoon Hua diao wine 

Sprinkle of white pepper

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

1/2 tsp of sugar

Note - usually use water chestnuts in place of carrots. 

Picture of marinade n pork

Wanton skins

Method

Just mix all the ingredients together except the wanton skins 

Then put 1 small teaspoon of filling in the middle of the skin

Dab water round 2 sides of skin n fold over into a triangle shape

Finish the rest in similar style

Heat oil in wok till hot

Fry the wantons in batches n drain the oil  using paper towels before serving

Frying 

Yummy n crunchy

This is another style of wanton wrapping

Eat them on their own or with your dipping sauce 

Note - cannot keep these overnight so only fry those amount that you want to eat

Chocolate lamingtons

This recipe comes from the book 

The junior Gourmet by Elizabeth Long

It contains recipes from around the world 

Lamingtons are from Australia

The original recipe makes 25 pcs - I think must be large pcs because the ingredients are a lot. I halved the recipe but the original recipe is here

Recipe

Part 1  Cake

520 gm of plain flour

750 gm of caster sugar

135 gm of Dutch cocoa ( I used Hershey's cocoa)

2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

4 eggs

120ml white vinegar ( I used Borges cider vinegar)

300 ml vegetable oil

70 ml espresso coffee 

600 ml milk

Part 2 

500 gm icing sugar

60 gm Dutch cocoa

350 ml hot water

2 cups desiccated coconut

Method 

Preheat oven to 170 deg celcius. Butter a 25 x 36 cm cake tin line the base and sides with baking paper

Add into a large bowl sifted flour, sugar, cocoa n bicarbonate of soda. Mix well.

Make your coffee.

Using another bowl, whisk the eggs., then add in vinegar, oil, coffee and milk and mix well.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well until just combined and pour into the cake tin

Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer  comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in tin for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.

Before baking

After baking

Note : do not try to put tin foil on cake during baking as the foil stuck to my cake 

And caused a hole

Part 2 icing

Combine the icing sugar n cocoa in a bowl n slowly whisk in hot water until it is a smooth sauce 

Cut the cake into 5 cm squares

 ( I made mine smaller)

Prepare a wire rack n place 2 kitchen towels below to absorb chocolate drippings

Dip the cake pcs into the sauce then place on the wire rack for a minute or two.

Then I used 2 toothpick to pick the cake  up n roll in the dessicated coconut.

Place all the prepared cakes and chill then in a tray till icing sets.

Cakes coated with icing

Coat in coconut

Yummy lamingtons!

Chicken with kiwi n cashew nuts

Easy dish ready in 15 minutes! Healthy dish incorporated green kiw.

Recipe 

2 pcs of chicken filet (from a pack in Fairprice supermarket)

Some corn flour

1 green kiwi

1 teaspoon of Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade with roasted garlic

1/2 tsp of sugar

Handful of cashew nuts 

Some cooking oil

Method

Remove the vein from the chicken dice chicken into cubes

Marinate with the sauce n sugar 

Remove skin from kiwi n dice 

Now coat the chicken with corn flour

Now heat the oil in the frying pan

Add in the chicken fry till exterior brownish

Add in the kiwi and cashew nuts and stir fry a short while

Dish up

Serve with rice

Some ingredients 

Ready to eat