Quick Easy Hot Pot

The Chinese in South East Asia, will normally called this "Steamed Boat", maybe in the past we used a special pot that used charcoal to cook all the ingredients.

l

Special brooth is used to cook all the wonderful ingredients. Any seafood, vegetables, meat all cook in one big pot of soup. 

Today, gas stove or electric stove is commonly used. 

Whenever I'm lazy, I'll just prepare with knor chicken cubes. Add all the ingredients in & bring it to boil.  Perfect for a cold weather too!!! 

Voilà !! Lunch or Dinner is served! :) 

Honey Combs / Bee Hives Snack

A popular snack usually during the Chinese New Year celebrations. Crispy & a very fragrant snack.

I have always wanted to make this snack but never get around to make them. The mould is more than 10 years old, bought by MeiCheen's mom from Thailand. It was almost gone with all the junks when I was moving. Phew! 

9PM - Interesting I just found out that there are other names for this snack. Lotus blossom from the Thai people & Rose biscuits by others. 

Finally I made some today.

Honey Comb Recipe: 

Ingredients: 

80g sugar 

150g rice flour

50g self raising flour 

250ml coconut milk

2 tbsp sesame seeds 

2 eggs 

Oil for deep frying 

Icing sugar for garnishing - optional 

Preparation steps: 

1. Put all the flour in a big bowl.  Make a well, then add in the eggs. With a wooden/big spoon, slowly mix the ingredients in a circular motion.

2. Add in coconut milk bit by bit as you stir. When you have a smooth batter, add in the sugar & sesame seeds. Mix well.  Remove any lumps. 

3. In a wok / pan , heat up the oil. Heat up the mould, by letting it sit in the hot oil for a while. 

4. Dip the hot mould into the batter mix and then quickly dip the battered mould into the hot oil. After a few seconds, slowly shake it off the mould. Let it bobble in the hot oil until golden brown. Repeat the process until all the batter finished.

5. Drained the oil, and leave them completely cool before storing in airtight containers. 

6. Optional - Sprinkle with some icing sugar before serving. 

Bon appétit !

Chin's notes: 

1. Wash & soak the mould with some tamarind juice before use. It will gives it a nice shine.

2. Don't dip the mould completely into the batter.  Leave about 3 - 5 mm of the top of mould without batter. If dip completely, it may be difficult to shake if off, during the cooking process. 

2. It may be difficult to shake the batter off the mould initially, use a chopstick / tip of knife to remove. After a few application, it will get easier. Took me almost 8 times to get it easier. Phew!!

3. Always stir the batter before you dip the mould in because the sesame seeds may be at the bottom of the batter. 

Heat up the mould before dipping into the batter mixture.

Transfer the mould dip in batter into the hot oil.
Slowly shaking off the batter from the mould.

Braised Pork Belly

We love tender soft braised pork. I used my Tiger Thermal Pot to braise this dish. Cooked them around noon time and they are ready by dinner. I only need to stay at the stove for about 30mins.  Easy to prepare & still piping hot around dinner time. Perfect! 

Braised Pork Belly Recipe : 

Ingredients 

600g pork belly cut into bite sized. With the skin on each piece. 

1 tbsp sesame oil 

4 cloves of garlic - cut half with skin on

2" ginger - cut half with skin on 

10 pieces of lump cane sugar / 1 tbsp sugar to taste

1 tbsp light soy sauce 

3 tbsp dark soy sauce 

2 tbsp ShaoXing cooking wine

1/2 tsp five spice powder

Pepper to taste 

Water

Preparation steps : 

1. Marinate the pork belly with pepper, five spice powder & shaoxing cooking wine & set aside. 

2. Heat up sesame oil in a pot. Sauté the garlic & ginger until they are fragrant. Add in the pork & stir until there is no redness on the meat. 

3. Add in all the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Add water, just enough to cover the meat. 

4. Simmer until the pork belly is soft & tender. Alternatively, in a thermal pot, cook the meat for 25 minutes on high then transfer to the pot capsule. Leave it in the capsule for at least 3 hours. 

5. Served with cooked steamed rice. 

Bon appetite ! 

Chin's notes: 

1. I like to use lump cane sugar. If you like  it sweeter just add a little more sugar. Otherwise reduced the sugar. 

2. Can add a little more soy sauce if you like more salty. I normally won't use salt if I use soy sauce.

Portugal - 21 - 27 Dec 2014

A beautiful country. Beautifully decorated & friendly people.

We stayed in Lisbon & travelled to Cascais & Palácio National da Pena @ Sintra.

It is not difficult to move around we purchased the daily tickets which allows you unlimited trips on the metro, bus & tram for just 6Euro per day. 

Crossy Road Characters Cupcakes

Birthday cupcakes for my son's 11th birthday. He did not asked for MindCrafts & I thought it was a relief but Crossy Road characters were equally challenging.  My 13th year old helped to create some of the very challenging characters. I'm impressed by his imagination & crafting skills. 

We have forget-me-not, crab, tree frog, gift, dark lord, dice, zombie & unihorse. 

Where is the chicken? 

27 Jan 2015 - another cake for the family  to share. 

Minutes Snacks - Sausage rolls

An easy snack in less than 30 minutes. I bought the ready made pastry puffs & some cocktail sausages. 

They are also yummy with smoked salmon slices!!! 

Easy steps to get the snacks served.

1. Cut the pastry & roll up the sausages

2. Glaze with milk & garnish with parley or sesame seeds

3. Bake based on the packaging instructions.
For this brand, I baked at 210 degree C for 15 minutes

Bon appétit ! 

Chin's notes: 

1. They are great with smoked salmons too. 

Spicy Seri-Aji marinade with Chicken

Maya my friend knew that I love fried chicken & she packed these spices for me to make my life easier.  Indeed, they did help to lighten the effort to prepare an easy meal. It is so easy & the chicken tasted so yummy. 

Marinated the chicken at least 3 hrs overnight.  Best if I deep fried the chicken but I usually baked them in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20 minutes or until chicken are fully cooked. 

I added additional chili flakes for the extra flavour.

Sorry I did not managed to capture the after baked version as we were too hungry! :P