Easy Carbonara

I was getting tired of the tomato based sauces that I usually cooked, and besides, I didn't have any tomatoes on hand.


Easy carbonara
1 serve pasta, see cooking instructions below
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp butter
4 tbsp milk
1 broccoli stem, sliced thin on the oblique
salt and pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions but remove from heat 2 min before recommende preparation time.

2. While pasta is cooking off the boil, heat butter in saucepan and stir-fry broccoli stems.

3. Set heat to low. Add milk, then salt and pepper to taste.

4. Drain pasta and add to pan. Add yolk and mix until sauce is thickened. Serve hot.

Waitaminit... what am I going to do with the egg white, you ask? That's another recipe... so freeze it until you're ready to use it again.

Cost breakdown
Total cost: RM2.80
Pasta RM1
Milk RM0.50
Egg RM0.30
Broccoli RM1

Tags: Carbonara recipe

McBBQ Sauce

Most people dig the fries at McDonalds; me, I dig the barbecue sauce. For a while I thought it was a queer obsession until I realised I was not alone (See here). Attempts to replicate the sauce called for the mixture of two specific sauces, which means you can't do it outside of the US. So I decided to do some trial and error and come up with a decent facsimile using everyday raw ingredients.

McDonald's Barbecue Sauce, version n.
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp soy
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp worster
4 tbsp sugar

1. Whisk all there ingredients together. Use as a dip for nuggets or some fried chicken.

(No cost breakdown for this - it's cobbled from ingredients that I already had in my pantry)

Tags: Barbecue sauce, McDonalds

Arrabiata Malaysia

This spicy tomato-based pasta sauce is easily made from local ingredients. It's cost-to-serving ratio is also hard to beat! Dried chillies are quite potent, so adjust according to taste - although don't go more than four or you'll be stuck with a bowl of liquid fire that will kill your tongue long before you can taste anything.


Arrabiata Malaysia
4 large tomatoes, seeded
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
2-3 dried chilis
Salt
Pepper

Optional: Blender, 2 tbsp wine or rum

1. Blend or chop fine onions and garlic together, and then the same for the tomatoes and chilli. Keep the tomatoes separate for now.

2. In a saucepan, sweat onion and garlic mixture in low heat for 15 min with a pinch of salt.

3. Add tomatoes and chilli mix and continue cooking on low for 30 mi n- the mixture will start out looking pink but end up a dark red. If using alcohol, now is the time to add it.

4. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon on your favourite pasta and enjoy, or keep in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. Serving size is 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons, recipe makes 8-10 servings.

Cost breakdown
Total cost:: RM3 ++
Cost per serve: 30 cents ++
Tomatoes: RM2
Onion, garlic and dried chilis: Less than RM1

Tags: Arrabiata, pasta sauce

Dim Sum Style Chee Chong Fun!

recipe from Imperial Kitchen Forum

Ingredients :
150g Rice Flour
1 ½ Tbsp Wheat starch flour
2 Tbsp Corn flour
1 Tbsp Oil
2 cups Water
½ tsp Salt

Method :
1. Sift the 3 types of flours together.
2. Slowly add the water, mixing as you add.
3. Add the oil and salt and mix thoroughly. Set batter aside for at least an hour.
4. Prepare your steamer. Grease a swiss roll pan or any aluminium tray with oil
and pour the batter directly on the pan and steam for 5 mins.
5. After steaming, using a plastic scrapper roll the ccf up. If you are using
ingredients like char siew or prawns, you can sprinkle it over the steamed ccf
and then proceed to roll it up.
6. Place in a plate brushed with a little oil. Continue with the rest of the
batter.


Sauce:
Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp sugar
a few slices of ginger
½ cup water
4 tbsp mushroom flavoured soy sauce or normal light soy sauce
½ to 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

method:

1. Place ginger with oil and sugar in a pot. Cook over small fire until sugar
turns brown.
2. When sugar is brown, add in the rest of the ingredients. Cook over medium
fire for about 5 mins. Taste the sauce and adjust taste accordingly. If you
find the sauce too sweet, you can add in a bit of salt.

Modifications: I added sliced chinese shitake mushrooms in the sauce too. (To prep: Soak in hot water with 1 tsp of sugar for 20 mins). For filling, we added crabsticks, the mushrooms, spring onions.

Comments: HEAVEN!!!! It's really the thin and soft type ccf...very yummy!!! Quite time consuming though....Qin and I took nearly 1 hour 15 mins to make 6 rolls....eat and make, eat and make...so by the end of it, we were both very full cos the meal took so long!!! hahaa...

Tags: chee chong fun stuffed rice noodles dim sum budget recipe