Grilled Pork with Tomato Rice

A simple dinner. Cooked rice cooker tomato rice & served with grilled pork chop.  Sprinkled with some fried garlic & served with Romanian lettuce. The fried garlic made the rice taste much tastier ( if you like fried garlic ;).

Grill pork chop was easily prepared with 2 seasonings, salt & pepper. Grilled at 300 degree C for 10mins or until you get a nice browning on the edges. May need a little longer depending on the thickness of the meat. Watch it closely as it can easily get burnt!!! 

Chin's note: 

1. Rice Cooker Tomato Rice 

http://fromchinshome.blogspot.com/2014/11/rice-cooker-tomato-rice.html

2. I did not seasoned the meat for long about 10mins. 

3. I usually prepared my fried garlic in batches & use them when needed.

Simple Baked Chicken Wings

2 years ago we received a packet of home cooked chicken wings from my friend Tessa. Since then it has been our favourite dish. Yummy as a snack on it's own or as a dish with rice / noodles. 

Today, I tried to garnish each baked chicken wings with a pinch of sea salt. I like it with a salty touch! ;) 

These are easy to prepare & only requires 3 seasoning ingredients.

Simple Baked Chicken Wings 

Ingredients 

1 kg chicken wings - cleaned 

3 tbsp light soya sauce - I used Kikoman

Pepper to taste 

1 tsp sesame oil

Sea salt for garnishing ( optional ) 

Preparation Steps : 

1. In a big bowl, mix the chicken & the marinade well. 

2. Cover & set aside for at least 3 hours. Overnight is preferred.

3. Lay them neatly on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil / baking paper. 

4. Baked them in a preheated oven @ 180 degree C for 20 - 25 minutes until chicken is nicely browned & cooked. 

5. Transfer the chicken wings to a serving plate. 

Bon appétit ! 

Chin's notes:

1. I like to marinate my meat in a plastic bag & will turn/flip the bag occasionally to ensure all the meat are well marinated. 

Simple Miso Soup

My kids love miso soup & I have been buying the packets miso soup to cook until my friend Angie, introduced me to the ingredients for miso soup. Ever since then I have been cooking my own miso soup.  They are easy to prepare & taste yummy!!! A good soybean paste will make your soup taste wonderful!!

Ingredients at a glance. 

Add soybean paste into the boiled bonito stock.

Pour the soup into the serving bowl with sliced leeks.

Simple Miso Soup

Ingredients 

Bonito stock - I used the 1 sachet & add water about 1 litre

2 tbsp soybean paste ( or more ) 

Some seaweeds for soup - soaked & cut small 

1 Leek - thinly sliced

1 block soft tofu for soup / steaming - diced. I did not use tofu in today's soup. 

Preparation steps: 

1. In a pot add the water & bonito powder. Bring to boil. 

2. Lower the heat. Add the seaweeds & soybean paste & tofu. Simmer for 10 mins. 

3. Place the leeks in the serving bowls & pour soup over the leeks. 

Voilà! 

Chin's notes:

1. Soybean paste is salty, do adjust according to your preferrence. Add more water if the soup is too salty. 

2. You can also use white radish, thinly sliced.

3. I do not cook my leeks cos I like them a little raw. 

4. There are 2 different types of soybean paste white / dark brown. 

Fried Rice Noodles

Fried rice noodles ( char bee hoon ) for today's lunch. Someone mentioned that anything cooked with Thai fish sauce will be yummy. Yes, indeed they are yummy noodles. 

Fried Rice noodles : 

1 packet of rice noodles - persoaked with cool water until soft - drained & set aside 

200g fried fish cake, thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic - minced

Thumb size ginger - thinly sliced

Vegetables of choice - I prefer cabbage / bak choi 

Dried enchovies - fried until golden brown with some oil & set aside. 

Thai fish sauce to taste. 

Preparation steps: 

1. Use the oil for from frying the enchovies. Heat up the oil & add in the garlic & ginger. Fry until fragrant the add the fish cake. Fry a little while. 

2. Add in the vegetables & fry until almost cook. Add in the noodle , add seasoning & mix well. Add some water, close the lid & let it simmer a few mins. Check if noodles is cook & fry a few more minutes to mix it well. 

3. Dish out & garnish with fried enchovies, spring onions & cut chili with light soya sauce / sambal. 

Bon appétit !

Chin's notes: 

1. Pre-fried some omelettes & sliced them thinly. Great for garnishing. 

2. Alternative sunny side up egg will be perfect too. 

3. I like to use the oil from frying the enchovies because the give the noodles more flavours. 

Jiu Hu Char - Fried shredded yam bean with dried cuttlefish

Jiu Hu Char

If you are from Penang, you will know this dish. With just a few ingredients, it is full of flavours.

It can be eaten with rice or just wrap with Chinese lettuce. Homemade sambal is a must for this dish. 

Bangkuang / yam bean

Ingredients

This is how I wrap it. Spread some sambal on the Chinese lettuce, & with a spoon full of jiu hu char. 

& just fold it up like this. 

Jiu Hu Char Recipe: 

Ingredients: 

500g yam bean / bangkuang

2 carrots 

3 dried mushrooms - soak in water. 

5 cloves garlic - minced 

50g shredded dried cuttle fish - cleaned 

50g dried shrimps - cleaned 

2 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar or to taste

Salt & pepper to tast

3 tbsp cooking oil

100ml water

Preparation steps:

1. Thinly shred the bangkuangs & carrots. As thin as you can, about toothpick length & size. 

2. Thinly sliced the soften mushrooms. 

3. Heat up oil in a wok. Add the garlic, fry until fragrant then add in the cuttlefish & dried shrimps. Fry until fragrant. 

4. Add the mushrooms, fry a little then add the carrots. Fry for a few minutes. 

5. Add the bangkuang, fry until they are soften. Add some water & all the seasoning. stir well & let it simmer for 10minutes. Then fry until semi dry. 

6. Let it cool, keep in the fridge & reheat the next day before serving. 

7. Serve with steamed cooked rice / Chinese lettuce. Sambal is a must! 

Bon appétit !!

Chin's notes : 

1. Best eaten the next day. 

2. Sometimes, pork belly is added to this dish, thinly slice the pork belly to the same size of the bankuang / carrot. 

3. Homemade sambal recipe : http://fromchinshome.blogspot.fr/2014/12/sambal-belacan.html?m=0

Baked chicken mid-wings

These are addictive!!! They are very easy to prepare with just a few ingredients. 

Baked Chicken Mid-Wings Recipe:

Ingredients :

20 pieces of chicken mid-wings - cleaned & pat dry. 

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soya sauce 

1/2 tsp pepper

Preparation Steps:

1. Marinate chicken in the above ingredients for 3 hrs or overnight in the fridge. 

2. Lay them neatly on the baking tray lined with aluminum foil / baking paper. 

3. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree C for 20 minutes or untill fully cooked. 

4. Remove from oven. Serve as finger food or as a dish with steamed rice. 

Bon appétit !

Chin's notes:

1. Ensure chicken is at room temperature before bake. 

2. You can coat the chicken wings with some honey if you prefer them sweet, coat the wings after chicken are cooked, leave them in the oven for just a few mins before you remove them from the oven.

3. I like to pour the left over marinade on the wings before bake. 

4. My favourite oyster sauce. 

5. Cut the chicken in 3 sections. I normally throw away the tail end. But they are yummy if deep fried. 

Cut the wings into 3 sections. 

Chicken in Chinese Cooking Wine

A simple dish, chicken cooked in XiaoShing cooking wine (Chinese cooking wine) for today's dinner. 

Chicken in Chinese Cooking Wine Recipe: 

Ingredients : 

700g Chicken thigh cleaned, deboned & cut into bite sizes.

1 tbsp dark sweet soy sauce

3 clove garlic - smash 

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

Marinade: 

3 tbsp ShaoXing cooking wine 

1 tbsp oyster sauce 

1 tbsp soy sauce. 

Salt & pepper to taste 

1 thumb size ginger grated/chopped & juiced. 

Preparation steps : 

1. Marinate the chicken with the marinades for 30 minutes. 

2. Heat up the wok on high heat, add in the oil then garlic. Fry until fragrant then add in the marinated chicken.

3. Fry until chicken is partially cooked. Add in dark sweet soy sauce. Stir until the chicken is well coated for a few minutes. Cover with a lid turned the heat to medium & let the chicken smimmer until chicken is fully cooked. 

4. Dish out. Served with blanched broccoli & steamed rice. 

Bon appétit !! 

Chin's notes: 

1. There will be some gravy from the chicken. If more gravy is preferred, add some water & some soy sauce & adjust the taste accordily. 

2. These are also yummy to go with cooked egg noodles. 

3. Don't throw away the ginger after you taken the juice. Add them to the chicken as marinade. Best if they are fried with garlic before the chicken. 

4. Here is a picture of ShaoXing cooking wine. 

5. Alternatively HuaTiow Chinese cooking wine can used if ShaoXing is not available. 

"Cheat" Pandan Wrap Chicken

Pandan wrap chicken was made easy with tomyum paste. I didn't bother to cut the chicken into small pieces & wrap them nicely in a little parcel. They turned out delicious!

Pandan wrap chicken with TomYum paste. 

Ingredients : 

8 Chicken thighs - cleaned. Debone & cut  them into smaller pieces if you like. 

2 lemon grass - only the white part

6 shallots 

2 big tbsp tomyum paste 

2 tsp sugar, add more if you like them sweeter. 

Chillie flakes ( optional ) 

Salt to taste

Some Pandan leaves / skrewpine leaves - cleaned & soften with hot water. 

Bamboo skewers ( soaked in water for 30 mins )  to hold the Pandan leaves 

Preparation methods : 

1. Clean  chicken & cut them into smaller pieces / remove the bones if you like.

2. Marinades : Pound shallows, lemon grass into paste. Add in the salt , sugar , chillie flakes & tomyum paste. Mix well. 

3. Marinate the chicken well with the marindes.

4. Wrap the chicken with pandan leaves & secured them with the bamboo skewer. 

5. Set aside for 3 hrs or best to marinate overnight. 

6. Pan fried the chicken with some oil to "seal" the meat & get the burnt looking pandan leaves. Transfer to a baking tray. 

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 15 mins & turned to grill for 5-10 mins to get the cripy edges. 

Bon appétit ! 

Chin's notes: 

1. If you like more spicy, can add 1 - 2 tbsp of curry power. 

2. If you do not wish to "seal" the chicken, skip step 6 & bake them in the oven for a longer period. 

3. Or you can continue to pan fried (step 6) until the chicken is fully cooked.