Curry Chicken

Well, as usual, am on a "self-imposed" budget challenge, hence need to find ways to make our meals as economical as possible.  So, I bought a try of whole chopped chicken and I used half of it for stew.  Decided to use the other half for curry chicken since I have the other ingredients (curry leaves, lemon grass etc) in the fridge.  And becos I super love using thermal pot (wah, cuts down the cooking time by half!), so this round, instead of totally relying on stove, I used the thermal pot to help.


Ingredients:
- half chicken, chopped into pieces (can replace with frozen wings too)
- potatoes (skinned, chopped into halves)
- one stalk of lemon grass (chopped diagonally into 2inches long)
- curry leaves (2 sprigs, use leaves only)
- curry chicken paste* (see below)
- coconut milk
- pinch of salt
- oil (for frying potatoes and for the curry afterwards)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- half pot hot water

* This is the paste that I always use:

Steps:
1. Heat up the oil in wok on medium fire.

2. Add in the chopped potatoes and fry till golden brown.  Dish and set aside.  (I like to do it this way to prevent the potatoes from "disintegrating" lol!!)

3. Leave about 3 tablespoons of oil in the wok.  Add in the curry paste and stir fry continuously till all mixed and fragrance is out.  Throw in the lemongrass and curry leaves, continue to stir fry till you seen the chilli oil coming out.

4. Add in the chicken and give a good fry.  Ensure all chicken parts are coated with the curry paste. Fry for about 5-10 mins.

5. Toss in the potatoes and continue to fry.  By this time, the wok should be pretty dry.  Add in one cup of water.  Continue to fry again.

6. Add in the sugar, and a bit of salt.

7. Pour about half pot of hot water into the wok of curry and fry continuously.

8. Add in the pack of coconut milk and stir well.  Let the curry boil.  By now, the chicken should be at least 80% cooked.  At this stage, you can either:

a. continue to boil the curry till chicken are all well-cooked OR
b. dish into the thermal pot and let it self cook for 30mins or longer (if you want it to be more tender).

Happy Eating!

Happy mum

Home-cooked Mee Hoon Kuey

Little Lass and me love mee hoon kuey a lot!  Ok, Little Lass loves it a lot more than me cos she is still unaware of the repercussion of having it on a regular basis (its flour leh!).  LOL!  So, I was running out of idea what to prepare for her lunch when I happened to look back my past food album and saw MHK!  So, we all had that for lunch today.

Ingredients:
For the dough: - good for 3-4 pax
- 2.5 cups of plain flour
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt

For the soup:
- handful of ikan bilis (or ikan bilis Knorr's cube)
- half cup of soya beans (黄豆)
- Pot of water

For 配料:
- sliced mushrooms
- minced pork marinated with light soy sauce, corn flour,  sesame oil, pinch of salt and white pepper
- vegs (I used spinach as I cant find mani-cai)
- prawns/fish slice (optional)
- ikan bilis (to be pan-fried)


Step 1:
Prepare the dough by mixing everything together and kneading into a non-sticky texture (takes about 10 mins).  Cover dough with a damp cloth and set aside for 30-60mins.

Step 2:
Boil the broth by adding the soya beans and ikan bilis / knorrs' cube.  Once the broth comes to a boil, set aside or keep in the thermal pot (recommended).

Step 3:
While broth is boiling or while the dough is resting, you can also work on the other ingredients.  Heat a small pan with oil and fry the mushrooms till fragrant and dish up to set aside.  Pan fried ikan bilis and set aside.  These are to be added when the dish is ready.

Step 4:
After dough has rested, separate the dough into 3 portions (3 pax). 

Step 5:
Scoop about 5-6 big ladle of soup into a small pot and set to boil.

Step 6:
Working on one of the dough, you can use a roller pin to roll till flat and tear away or you can use ur hands to flatten and pull the dough into small flat irregular pieces.  Throw the pulled dough into the small pot of boiling broth and cook for about 3-4 mins.

Step 7:
Spoon the minced meat into the small pot of boiling soup + kueys.  Give a good stir.

Step 8:
Throw in the fish slices or prawns and cook for 1 more min before adding in the vegetables.  Stir well.

Step 9:
Crack an egg into the bowl.

Step 10:
Pour out the contents in the small pot into the bowl.

Step 11:
Garnish with the fried ikan bilis and mushrooms.

Step 12:
Add a dash of sesame oil and pepper and serve.

Happy Lunching!

Happy mum

Salted Egg Cereal Chicken

ever since the youngest baby tried Cereal Prawns, he loved it for the crispy curry leaves and cereals and I decided to create the same dish but switch out the prawns with chicken.  And becos the auntie in me wanted to get the free Pyrex baking try ($15 worth of Knorrs products), I bought the Salted Egg powder.  Hence, for dinner, I decided to do up Salted Egg Cereal Chicken.

Ingredients:
- one pack of chicken fillet cut into 3cm cubes (but I would suggest chicken thigh meat will be nice!)
- 5 tablespoon Salted Egg Powder
- 5 tablespoon Cereal
- 1 to 2 chilli padi (chopped)
- 20 curry leaves
- pinch of salt & pepper
-1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 tablespoon corn flour (for extra cripsyness, add some sweet potato flour)
- 1 tablespoon of butter/margarine


Steps:

1. Marinate the chicken cubes with salt and pepper and corn flour.  Set aside to marinate for 25 mins.

2. Heat up pan with oil on medium fire to pan fry the chicken.  While oil is heating up, add in the beaten egg mixture to the chicken cubes and mix well.

3. Add in the chicken into the pan to fry till golden brown.  Dish up onto a kitchen towel to absorb the oil.

4. Leave a little oil + add in the butter on low fire, add in the salted egg powder and give a good stir.  When the mixture starts to bubble, add in the cereal, sugar, curry leaves and chilli and give a good stir to mix well.  Take care to loosen the clumps.

5. Add in the chicken cubes when the salted egg cereal mixture becomes aromatic.  Continue to stir fry.

6. Dish and plate.

Happy Eating!

Happy Mum

Yam Strips

Why is there no CNY mood yet although we are just like 2 weeks more to CNY?

And so, I decided to get myself "busy" for 15 mins in the kitchen to try recover the missing pre-CNY ambience,  hahahaha! The fastest way is to airfry the yam in my fridge before sending the kids for their TKD grading.  Seems like I am trying to calm myself down as though I am the one going for grading.  :P

Ingredient:

- One whole yam, sliced into strips.

- Olive Oil (about 1 teaspoon)

- Dash of Salt

Steps:

1. Slice the yam thinly into roughly 2 inch long, 3-5mm thick.  Set aside on a wide plate.

2. Pre-heat airfry for 5 mins.  Set to 180degrees for 20mins

3. While airfryer is heating up, marinate the yam strips with the olive oil, follow by the dash of salt.  Ensure even coating.

4. Load the yam strips into the airfryer basket.  Spread the strips evenly.

5. Loosen the yam strips 5 mins later.  Continue to airfry.

6. Open the airfryer drawer and loosen the yam strips again.  Gently toss the strips to prevent sticking and ensure the yam strips are evenly "fried".

7. Dish out the airfried yam strips onto  large plate.  Loosen up to allow fast cooling before you transfer into an airtight container,

 

Happy airfrying!

Happy mum

Grilled Bird with Baked Broccolini

I know I have been lazy. No, not lazy to cook. In fact I have been cooking all along, just that there was no motivation to blog it down simply because time is a huge factor. With 3 kids and now helper-less, after a cookout and wash up, all I wanna do is to retreat back into my room to stone. Hahahah. 

Anyway, am running out of ideas what to prepare for the family's dinner. The usual rice and 3-4 dishes if taken everyday, really makes us grey. So, I decided to change out the menu for tonight and did a grilled bird with greens. Nothing can go wrong with chicken meal right? Lol!

Ingredient:

- 1 small Spring Chicken (discard head, neck and the butt)

- 1 onion (chopped into 4 rings)

- 1 blob of butter 

- Extra-virgin olive oil 

- Salt

- Broccolini

- 1 whole Garlic (chopped roughly)

- Lemon (halved)

- bowl of ice water

Other accompaniments: - optionals 

- baby potatoes 

- corns

- carrots 

Marinade:

- Cajun powder

- Paprika powder

- Garlic Salt

- Black Pepper

- Salt

Steps:

1. Wash the bird thoroughly by scrubbing the body with salt and wash it under the tap. Pat dry with kitchen towel and set aside. 

2. Salt the bird, follow by black pepper, then rub some Cajun powder and Prapika and finally a dash of garlic salt. Set aside for 4 hours or longer. 

3. Boil a pot of water, adding a dash of salt and some olive oil. Add in the Broccolini when the water boils. Remove the vegs when water starts to boil again, which is about 5 mins. Add the veg into a bowl of ice water. Remove and pat dry. 

4. After 4 hours, preheat the oven. Set to 180 degrees and switch to 60mins. Olives-oiled the tray. 

5. Place the 4 rings of onions in a 2 X 2 format. Lay the bird on top of the onion rings. Add the blob of butter on top of the bird. And .... Let it Roast, let it roast.

6.  20 mins into roasting, add in the optional accompaniments (baby potatoes carrots, corns). 

7. At the last 10 mins, add in the Broccolini and the chopped garlic. 

8.  Plate nicely and serve. Just before tucking in, drizzle some lemon juice onto the Broccolini and the bird for that refreshing taste. 

Enjoy!

Happy mum

Passionfruit Honey Mint Camomile Tea

Ok I was doing my Supermarketing when I saw a whole lot of passionfruits. To be honest, i super love Passionfruit for its sourish, refreshing and perk me up taste. And weather hasn't been too kind, with the readings in the 30-something-degrees. Figured I can do up a cooling drink for the folks at home. And we'll, it was also another good bonding session between the kids and me. 

Ingredients:

Camomile Tea (about 3-4 sachets) 

Honey x 3 teaspoons

Passionfruits x 6

Mint leaves x 3-5 sprigs (lightly crushed)

Strawberries (optional)

Steps:

1. Extract the passionfruits by cutting them into half and cupping out the pulps and seeds into a siever.

2. Drain the juice using a siever. 

3. Infused the teabags and set aside for about 5-8mins. 

4. Prepare the strawberries and mint leaves and set aside. 

5.  Pour the tea into a pitcher and add in the honey followed by the honey. 

6. Add in the strawberries and mint leaves. 

7. Send into the fridge and consume when it's cold. 

Happy cooling day!

Happy mum

Preserved Plums and Cherry Tomatoes

I'm 

Yeah, healthy snackings should be the choice instead of chips. The husband had craved for this addictive snacking delights and hence decided to satisfy his craves. 

Ingredients:

- cherry tomatoes

- sour plum (甜话梅) - about 5-6 or more depending on ur preference 

- honey

- ice water

- pot of boiling water

Steps:

1. Pour boiling water over the sour plum and set aside. 

2. Score a line over each tomato

3. Boil a pot of water and add the tomatoes in. Dish out after 15 seconds and submerge into ice water. 

 

4. Peel the skin. U may like to keep half of the tomatoes with skin intact and some peeled. I think that makes the colours more interesting. 

5. Drop the tomatoes into a glass jar and add in the soaked preserved plums. Add in the leftover plum water.

6. Add in 2 tablespoon of honey. 

7. Refrigerate for 1-2 days in the fridge before snacking away. 

Happy snacking!

Happy mum