Xiao Bai Cai in Oyster Sauce

To Prepare:

-Minced pork/chicken

-Fish cake

-Chinese toufu

-Xiao Bai Cai

-Garlic, shallot

-Oyster sauce

-Sesame oil

-Soy sauce

-Chicken stock

-Corn flour as thickening agent

-White pepper

-Sugar

To Do:

1. Sautee the garlic and shallot 'till it turns brownish.

2. Put in the minced pork, add in a splash of soy sauce.

3. Put the fish cake together with toufu into the pan, add in a pinch of pepper, a few drops of sesame oil. I don't use salt, since we already got the saltiness from oyster sauce and chicken stock.

4. In separate bowl, mix together oyster sauce, chicken stock, and corn flour with water. Small bowl will do, since we don't need that much liquid.

5. Pour the mixture inside the pan.

6. Put in the veggies inside, mix it together. Add in a pinch of sugar.

7. The thickening agent should be working now, when it is thick enough then we're done.

You can use anything that you have on the fridge for the ingredients (ex: mushroom, chicken breast, pork, and a lot more... as long as you feel it suitable). As for the veggie, you can use others variety of veggies as well (ex: Chye Sim will be very good for this dish).

Sweet Corn with Chicken

To Prepare:

-Sweet corn

-Chicken breast

-Spring onion.

-Red chili

-Garlic

-Shallot

To Do:

1. Sautee the garlic and shallot with EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).

2. Put in the chicken breast, brown 'em up.

3. Add in sweet corn, spring onion, and red chili.

4. Mix them together, add in necessary salt n pepper, and a little bit of margarine.

5. Let it cook for a while, and we're done.

Poached Shrimp

What You Need to Prepare:

-Fresh shrimp

-Carrots
-U.S. celeries

-Onion

-Salt n pepper

What You Need to Do:

1. Put carrots, celeries, and onion into a pan. Boil it for about 30 minutes. Add a pinch of salt n pepper.

2. Poach shrimp into that boiling water for about 2 minutes.

3. Take out the shrimp, it's done! =)

4. Don't waste the soup, as it is now shrimp and veggies stock. Add in necessary salt or pepper to enhance the taste and now you have a soup dish to go along side the poach shrimp. If you don't feel like to drink soup, just drain the veggies, stack them below the shrimp, and voila...! you have your veggies.

Very simple dish to prepare. Sometimes we are just crafting for shrimp (...and poach/boil is the best way to taste the shrimp originally). We call it "Udang Rebus" in Indonesia. Eat it while it hot with sambal, yummm... =)

Barley & Bean Hearty Soup

What You Need to Prepare:
-White pearl barley, boil it separately first until tender
-Canned beans in tomato juice (use "Less Salt" if you want)
-Chicken breast
-Chicken hams or sausages
-Carrots
-U.S. Celeries
-Onions
-Garlics
-Chicken stock
-Dry Italian mixed herbs
-Nutmeg powder
-Ketchup
-Worcestershire sauce
-Salt n pepper
-Cheese (any kind will do)
-Left-over whole meal bread



What You Need to Do:
1. Cut the chicken breast into cube shape, slice the hams/sausages, cut the carrots, celeries, onions into pieces, and smash the garlics.
2. Sautee the onions and garlics using EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), when it cooked well put in the chicken breast and ham/sausage.
3. Wait until the chicken turns brown-ish, then put in carrots and celeries. Mix them together.
4. Add in the white pearl barley and the beans, together with its tomato juice.
5. Mix them, add in a pinch of salt n pepper, Italian mixed herbs, and nutmeg powder. Add in a splash of worcestershire sauce for a twist.
6. Pour the chicken stock into the pan, bring it to a boil.
7. We're done! Put the soup into nice bowl, add in toasted bread (we can use left-over whole meal bread, rustic bread, or country loaf, whatever we want).
8. Garnish the soup with any kind of cheese (it will melt and it tastes very good).



This soup is very healthy, because it contains barley and beans which is rich for protein and lots of veggies. And it is so comforting. Suitable for cold weather, or when we feel like to eat something light. We can keep the left-over soup for the next day breakfast (yes, I think it is suitable for b'fast =p). My hubby and I like to eat it with toasted bread, we put the bread inside the soup, so yummy-licious!

Starting My Blog

I love to eat. My hubby loves to eat as well. Eating to us is one way to relax and enjoy life. I started to cook regularly while I was studying in China back then. Got interupted for a while, because of the lady landlord who doesn't allow me to cook! Now that we have our own house, I'm starting again... =)
I love to cook for my hubby, and he seems to enjoy my dishes as well (don't you, honey?). I want us to be able to eat many variety of foods day after day with healtier version compared to outside foods. And since we live in a city that doesn't have much choices of foods (read: Singapore), I need to be creative in creating menus, just that we can enjoy eating our dinner everyday (I cook only for dinner, because we're both working. And sometimes, on weekend...).
I love to watch cooking shows (Rachel Ray's and Jamie O's is my favourite), but I also love to try something new on my own, using my own creativity. I created quite a lot of new dishes, so I'm thinking that I need to start documenting them all. Years from now, I'll be able to track back all of my old recipes, and cook for my grandchildren maybe? =)
One fact about me is that I don't measure. I use my intuition to put the ingredients and my tongue to taste, so far it turns out to work very well. So, in my recipes you won't find any measurements except for recipes that I copied from other sources.
Another fact is that I don't bake. It's not that I don't like to bake. Actually it's quite the opposite, I've been wanting to learn to bake. Just haven't got the chance. Now that I know a friend who realy is good at baking, hopefully I'll be able to learn from her and to be good, too... =) We'll see...