Hainanese chicken chop rice

ok, purists can stop yelling at me about how it's supposed to be Hainanese PORK chop rice. I just happened to have chicken in the fridge, ok? just substitute the chicken for pork chops lah! A couple of weeks ago I have some great Hainanese Pork Chop rice at this restaurant in Georgetown. It cost me RM12, along with a three-hour journey from my home outside USM to Georgetown. So, I decided to make my own, which cost me half price, although it still takes an hour to prepare because there's so many stages to cook. But worth it.

Hainanese Chicken/Pork Chop Rice
1 chicken cutlet (I used store-bought... what?! they're convenient!)
1 potato, cut in rounds
1 onion, sliced
3 tbsp frozen peas
optional) 1 broccoli stem, cubed

1/4 cup water or unsalted stock
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp dark soy
5 tbsp ketchup
pepper to taste
(optional) hot sauce to taste

1. Steam peas and broccoli (if using). Set aside.
2. Shallow-fry potatoes, onions and chicken. Drain and set aside.
3. In a hot wok, mix in the rest of the ingredients together. Add chicken/pork and veggies, and simmer sauce to reduce by half. Serve immediately, with rice.

Breakdown:
Total Cost: RM6
Chicken chop: RM 3.50
Potato: RM0.70
Onion: RM 0.30
the rest were lying around in the pantry....

Negitoro Don

One of my all-time favourite Japanese foods is negitoro, the combination of raw fatty tuna (maguro) with spring onion served in maki (sushi rice roll), temaki (hand roll) or don (rice bowl). Of course, sushi-grade tuna is quite hard to come by in Malaysia, much less the fatty maguro belly. So I jumped at the chance when I came across some frozen tuna at the supermarket the other day. Here's my take on negitoro don:

*This recipe calls for and serves RAW seafood. Make sure you have a reliable source of seafood and use appropriate hygiene protocols!

Negitoro don (Minced tuna and spring onions on rice)
Serves 1

100-150g sushi grade tuna (maguro) or fatty tuna belly (maguro toro)
1 spring onion, minced
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 bowl of cooked rice - preferably a short grained white rice

1. Mix all the liquid ingredients together with the sugar in a large bowl

2. Mince tuna using a chopper. Mix tuna mince with seasoning sauce

3. Mix in minced spring onions

4. Top negitoro over bowl of rice, ensuring even coverage. Serve and enjoy with some miso soup!

Cost breakdown
Cost per serving: RM6 approx
Tuna cost me RM10 for a 250g block

Olio Spaghetti with Mushrooms

I love olio-based pastas. It's easy to make, light and very good on the tummy - especially if you're lactose intolerant (like my poor self!)

Olio Spaghetti with Mushrooms

What you need:

A couple of button mushrooms, sliced
1 can of mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic, chopped finely
2 chillies, seeds removed; chopped finely
Some parsley, chopped finely
Olive oil
Butter
Angel hair pasta

What to do:

1. Heat some butter in a pan and fry button mushrooms until it is cooked. Remove accumulated water (you'd get quite a bit thanks to the mushrooms) and set aside.

2. Using a low fire, line pan with olive oil (you will need quite a bit of oil as you are making an olio base) and fry garlic until fragrant. Throw in parsley, chili and all mushrooms.

3. Meanwhile, remember to cook the pasta! Angel hair pasta tends to cook a lot faster than other types of pasta so be sure to keep an eye on it.

4. Once pasta is cooked, drain well and throw into pan containing olio base. Over a low fire, mix pasta evenly. Season with some salt and black pepper.

There you go!

Bag and Tag - Pork

Ever since watching Alton Brown's episode on pouch cooking, I've been experimenting with a few pouch configurations myself - starting with the timeless combination of pork and asparagus. You could of course use aluminum foil instead of greaseproof paper, but I think some acids react with aluminum, so if you do take care not to use acids like lemon.





Pork and Asparagus Pouch

1 pork chop, deboned
5 asparagus spears
3 lemon slices
2 tbsp chopped spring onions
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp stock (home made preferred, of course) or water
1 tbsp oil

Special Equipment:
Toaster or Microwave oven
Oven tray
Greaeproof paper - make sure it's oven and microwave safe!

1. Preheat toaster oven (if needed). Tear out a square of greaseproof paper twice as big as your oven tray. Fold in half.

2. On one half of the paper, lay out asparagus, topped with pork which has been seasoned with salt and pepper. Pour on liquid seasonings (soy sauce, oil and stock) over pork and asparagus before covering with lemon slices and spring onion.

3. Fold other half of paper to form a pouch (see image), fold the sides and staple shut - but not airtight. Or, if you don't have a stapler like me, just crimp the sides as best you can. It's won't be an airtight seal, but that's ok.

4. Bake in the toaster for 12 min, or in a microwave for 10 min. Remove from oven, let it sit for 5 minutes (and relish the wonderful smell), cut open the pouch and enjoy. Watch out for hot steam!


Cost Breakdown:
Total Cost: approx RM5++ - a little pricey, but well worth it!
Pork chop RM2
Asparagus RM2
Lemon RM0.50

Tags: Pork and Asparagus, Bag Baking

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

Hokkien Mee

Depending on who you ask, Hokkien Mee has several incarnations. The Singapore version is a mixed seafood noodle dish fried then simmered in a seafood stock, invented about 40 years ago by Hokkien labourers. In Penang, it's a soupy prawn noodle dish. But its most commonly known incarnation (confusingly enough, found in Singapore as well) is a thick yellow noodles simmered in a black gravy. And very simple to make - although much of the flavour depends on the quality of the stock.

Hokkien Mee (serves 2)
1 packet (500g) of thick yellow aka Hokkien noodles
1 1/2 cup of homemade stock*
200g prawn, chicken, squid or combination (I used only chicken)
1 choy sum or spinach, chopped into large chunks
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy
1 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp caramel sauce
Pepper to taste

1. Heat wok to high and mix stock with the oyster and soy sauces and sesame oil.
2. When mix starts to boil, add chicken pieces. When chicken changes colour, stir in noodles. Bring to boil.
3. Stir in caramel sauce. Reduce liquid by half, stirring constantly.
4. Add seafood, if using, and reduce sauce on high heat until there's only 20% of stock left or gravy becomes thickened to choice.
5. Turn heat off, mix in vegetables and serve immediately.

Cost breakdown:
Total cost: RM4.70++
Cost per serving: RM2.35++
Noodles RM1.80
Chicken RM2.50
Veggies RM0.40

* A seafood stock based on ikan bilis would be best. Stock cubes would be forgiveable.

Chicken & Mushroom Pasta Bake

First and foremost, I must apologise for the appalling nature of my photographs. I've don't have a digital camera so I rely on my 2 megapixel phone camera to do the honours!

Anyway, this dish is something I baked up out of curiousity and it turned out to be a fantastic winter-warmer. Lasts a good few days too!

The trick to this recipe is to use plenty of mushrooms. Also, make sure you use whipping cream as it takes away some of the richness of the dish.

Chicken & Mushroom Pasta Bake

3 to 4 chicken thigh fillets (diced)
1 1/2 to 2 cloves garlic (chopped and diced)
350g button mushrooms (sliced)
500g short pasta (penne, macaroni)
300 ml whipping cream
200g (or more) parmesan cheese (grated)
1 cup white wine
Parsley

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Cook pasta until al dante.

2. While pasta is cooking, season diced chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. Heat some oil in a pan. Fry up garlic until fragrant but not brown, then add in chicken. Stir fry until brown.

4. Add in mushrooms and white wine. Simmer over low fire for 2 mins.

5. Add in cream and bring to boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste then remove from fire and set aside.

6. Pour in cooked pasta into the mixture and mix well. Add in some parsley and 200g parmesan cheese. Mix well.

7. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese on top and bake until golden brown.

Voila!

Fragrant Garlic & Chicken Rice

Another favorite from home!



Fragrant Garlic & Chicken Rice

(Makes 3 cups of rice)

2 cloves garlic chopped finely
3 lap cheong (Chinese sausage) sliced
3 cups cooked rice
8 or more chicken wings (chopped into smaller pieces if you like)
Minced ginger
Dark soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Salt

1. Marinade chicken wings in soy sauce and peppper.

2. Fry garlic until golden brown. Set aside.

3. Fry lap cheong, add a teaspoon of minced ginger then set aside.

4. Remove chicken wings from marinade and fry until brown. Make sure you fry the wings on a medium to low fire to avoid burning the wings. Add some dark sauce for colour and a dash of oyster sauce.

5. When chicken is cooked and fragrant, add cooked rice to the chicken. Pour in garlic and lap cheong and mix well until fragrant. The trick to this dish is to flatten the rice, allow it to burn a bit, stir, then flatten again. It'll make your rice crispy.

6. Season to taste with soy sauce. Voila!

Nasi Paprik

Here in the northern part of Malaysia, where I'm closer to the Thai border one begins to see a closer melding of culinary influences between these two countries. Nasi Paprik (or Phadprik or phad prik or without the 'h') as it is sometimes spelled is typical of this kind of culinary hybrid Consisting of chicken or beef stir-fried with vegetables in a savoury and slightly-sweet sauce. I'm not sure where the name comes from: nasi is Malay for rice and I'd always thought paprik referred to the green or red peppers in the dish. Phadprik sounds more Thai, of course, and there is a side dish called pad prik, which is a beef and veggie stir fry. So that sounds about right, no?

When I was first introduced to this dish (ironically, in Singapore) it was the beef version, but chicken and tofu are both worthy substitutes. In any case, the dish is suprisingly simple prepare. For veggies, the lemongrass and capsicum are NOT optional, ie they're mandatory. The rest is up to you, though I'd recommend using at least three different greens for colour and flavour.


Nasi Paprik, aka Nasi Phad Prik or Nasi Phadprik (4 serves)

2 chicken breasts, sliced thin in 1-inch chunks
Vegetation - cut in 1 inch chunks
One stalk of lemongrass, white parts only
One capsicum
(other veggies optional, use at least 3. I used these:)
2 cloves garlic, whole
Small onion
Baby corn
Broccoli
Large red chillis
Carrot
(these are also great)
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Lime leaves

Sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp kicap manis (Sweet black sauce)
Sugar
Pepper
Water or stock
Oil

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the wok in medium low heat and toss garlic for a couple of minutes to absorb flavour

2. Remove garlic, turn up heat to high and brown chicken until not visibly raw. Remove from wok and set aside.

3. Replenish oil if necessary and add vegetables, starting with the harder ones (Like carrots) and ending with onions. Reintroduce the chicken and stir well.

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and make space for sauce. Start with oyster sauce, kichap manis, 3 tbsp water/stock and 2 tsp sugar. Combine thoroughly before integrating with rest of the meat and veggies.

5. Add sugar and pepper to taste; serve with white rice.

Tags: Nasi Paprik

Pasta Lalah

Lalah is a kind of local shellfish. It doesn't appear every day, so when the day it appeared in the supermarket I picked up a small serving for a song (like, all of 50 cents). The idea is to use the sauce to steam the mussels before integrating the shellfish, sauce and pasta together. My pot was large enough to prepare the sauce in it, then place a stand and a shallow dish inside to steam the lalah with it. If you don't have a large enough pot, you can consider emptying the sauce into a microwave steamer and steaming the lalah there.


Pasta Lalah (serves 1)
15 lalah or clams
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3 tbsp white wine (strictly optional, but there are some flavours in tomato that are only soluble in alcohol)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup Water
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 serve pasta, cooked (I used linguine)

1. Cook pasta to al dente and toss lightly with olive oil. Set aside.
2. Over low heat, sweat the leek and garlic with a little salt until wilted.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and white wine and stir for a minute before adding the water.
4. Use the sauce as the base liquid to steam the lalah for three minutes.
5. Deshell mussels, and return to the pot with the pasta. Mix well and serve.

* Be sure to wash your lalah thoroughly! They are real dirt collectors.

Total cost: RM 1.40++
Breakdown:
Lalah - 50 cents
Leek - 50 cents
Tomato - 40 cents
(The rest are stuff you should always have around in the kitchen anyway)

Tags: Pasta, Lalah, Shellfish

Today's lunchbox: Thai Fish cakes and a quick pilaf

First post for the new year! In today's lunchbox I made a quick pilaf (flavoured rice) and a thai-inspired fish cake.



Thai Fish Cakes
1 kg white fish fillets, minced
3 tbsp Curry paste (store bought or home-made, it doesn't matter!)
1 lemongrass, (flesh only, minced)
1 bunch of coriander, chopped
1 egg
Oil for frying

1. Mix everything except the egg and oil together in a bowl and leave in the fridge to marinade for at least two hours.
2. Crack in the egg and mix well. Form patties or cakes from the paste.
3. Fry fish cakes under 1 cm of oil with medium-low heat, approximately 2-3 min on each side (depending on thickness of patty). Drain well. Makes 6 burger-pattie sized fish cakes

Cost per serving: $1.80 for two patties
Breakdown:
1 kg fish: $3.40 for a pack of frozen fish fillets
Curry paste: $1.50 (that's ready made. Cheaper if you make your own curry paste!)
Coriander: $0.40 a bunch
Egg: $0.20

Quick Pilaf
1 cup of rice (long grained, preferably)
1 cup of water
1 cup of diluted chicken stock
Chopped onions and tomatoes
Dash of olive oil (or any other flavoured oil)

1. Mix everything into a pot and cook under low heat for 15-20 min. Fluff before serving. Serves 2-3.

Tags: Thai fish cakes, Quick pilaf, rice, budget recipe, Fish recipe

the fish dish that tastes like tom yum

awhile ago , i was having a guest over for dinner . at that time , i was informed that she only ate fish or chicken...not my specialties . anyway , i ended up steaming a fish with a bunch of ingredients . she commented that it tasted like light tom yum soup . there wasn't a proper list of ingredients when i first cooked it...it was a go-as-i-feel . and then she kept bugging me to make it again . as i recreated it , i realized surprisingly after some research , that the ingredients were similar to that in tom yum except i didn't add any tomatoes . i don't know how that came about , but hey...as long as it tastes good right ?

what you need leh ? (i cooked for four)

2 flake fillets (chopped into a total of six shorter pieces to fit in the pot)
2 cups chicken stock
2 small red chillies , chopped (bird's eye a.k.a. cili padi)
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk lemongrass , chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
handful of chopped coriander
ginger , sliced (about the size of a thumb)
3 pinches of ground black pepper

how to do leh ?

there's only one step to this one...simply mix everything into the pot and cook over low heat until the fish is done (which shouldn't take too long or your coriander turns into a color that just ruins your appetite)...or you can just fit everything in a bowl and steam it .

Tags: fish soup tom yum recipe

my salmon spectacular (ok...it's not that spectacular)

i first cooked this years ago . for some reason , i never bothered to write down the list of ingredients or take a photo of it every time i made it . this time , i made it a point to do both . i admit it's far from a budget recipe , but hey...salmon has the highest content of omega 3 amongst the fishes...and students need brains right ? (not that i'm saying you guys don't have any)

what you need leh ? (for 3 people)

3 salmon fillets

350 ml mayonnaise
240 ml dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup white wine (i only use brown brother's moscato)
a bunch of fresh dil
a bunch of fresh lemon thyme
1 brown onion , sliced (i usually turn them into onion rings)
handful of chopped coriander

240 g of shrimp

how to do leh ?

1 . set the salmon fillets aside for now
2 . combine the other ingredients , except the shrimp , into a bowl to make a marinade .
3 . coat the salmon fillets with the marinade and set aside for a couple of hours
4 . preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius
5 . chuck the marinated fillets into the oven . i believe the rule is 5 minutes per inch...but 15-20 minutes is a safe bet .
6 . whilst waiting , cook shrimps in the leftover of the marinade for additional sauce . do note that 240 g of shrimp is too very generous .

Tags: salmon shrimp recipe

Tagliatelle in Saffron and Mascarpone Sauce with Prawns

Ingredients for 6:

600g Tagliatelle
2 onions
1 Garlic clove
2 tb Olive oil
1 pinch Saffron strands
200ml dry white wine
500g Mascarpone cheese (can be substituted with cream cheese)
36 small/medium prawns, around 300g
Salt and pepper
1tbsp fish sauce (optional)
1 tbsp light soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp dried dill
1 handful torn fresh basil leaves to garnish


Method:
1. Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

2. Finely chop the onions and garlic. In a large frying pan heat the oil, add the onions and garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the saffron, then half of the wine and finally add the Mascarpone cheese. Simmer gently for a few minutes, add the remaining wine, prawns and dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add fish sauce and light soy sauce if you like.

4. Drain pasta, add sauce and garnish with basil leaves.

recipe modified from here

Tags: tagliatelle saffron marscapone prawn pasta recipe

Singapore Noodles

When I was studying in Melbourne, I was always amused by the existence of the "exotic" "Asian" dish called "Singapore Noodles". Anyone from Singapore would tell you - there's no such thing. Although, there is something called Hokkien Mee which is made in Singapore, and very much unlike the 'usual' Hokkien Mee made with dark sauce, and that's another story altogether. I've come to realise though, that the so-called "Singapore Noodles" is modelled after Punggol Mee Goreng.

Punggol (now known as Sengkang) is an area in northeast Singapore near the sea shore that was known for its fresh seafood. Mee Goreng, of course, means the fried noodles of the mamak variety. Thus, Punggol Mee Goreng, or "Singapore Noodles" is something akin to Indian-style fried noodles with seafood.

Talk about mixed up! So I present to you my humble attempt at Singapore Noodles, or Punggol Mee Goreng:



What you need:
1 packet of yellow Hokkien noodles (should be 1 kg, and make sure you loosen them first)
3 eggs
3 tbsp oil
1/2 cup fish stock

(the following ingredients to your discretion)
2 fish cakes, sliced
6 tofu puffs, each cut in two
12 prawns, shelled and cooked
12 squid rings, cooked
1 tomato, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped in 1-inch pieces

(mix into a paste)
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
Optional: 1 tsp chilli powder


1. In a large wok, heat oil and fry eggs until lightly scrambled.
2. Add noodles and mix well with egg. Pour in fish stock and let noodles absorb the flavour.
3. Mix the sauce paste into the noodles, stir well
4. Finally, mix in the seafood, beancurd puffs and veges. Serves 5.

Tags: mee goreng singapore noodles fried noodles punggol recipe

The Chicken that exploded my nose

I've been experimenting with wasabi powder of late, especially since I discovered wasabi peanuts as a snack. So for may packed lunch this week I decided to experiment a little bit more with all the hot stuff in the kitchen to create the Chicken That Exploded My Nose.


The Chicken That Exploded My Nose
Ingredients
Chicken breasts, cut in strips
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp wasabi powder
1 tsp chilli powder
Breadcrumbs

1. Create a marinade using the mustard, wasabi and chilli powder to marinade the chicken with. Leave in fridge for a couple of hours.
2. Coat strips with breadcrumbs and deep fry until golden brown.
3. ALTERNATIVELY, coat breadcrumbs, spray with oil and bake for 20 min.

The picture you see is the fried version. Unfortunately, it didn't explode my nose as expected and was VERY much less spicier than I intended it to be. So I decided to make a dipping sauce to go with it.

The Dipping Sauce for the Chicken That Exploded My Nose
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 tsp wasabi powder

1. Mix everything together. Use as condiment for the chicken and poultry.

Tags: chicken wasabi fried baked mustard dip recipe

Chicken Tikka

This is my version of the Indian tandoori dish, from scratch. Obviously, I don't have a large clay oven hanging at home, so one uses the conventional oven to bake and then broil this dish. Also, I used breast meat which is dryer, but makes it easier to cut into huge chunks. My favourite tandoor usually uses rolled up chicken thighs that are more juicier.

Noel's Chicken Tikka

Marinade:
1 small package of yoghurt
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp coriander, ground
3 tsp tumeric, ground
5 tsp chilli powder (or to your taste)
1 tsp black pepper, ground
1 tbsp sugar
juice of one lemon
1 one-inch piece of ginger, grated with juices

Chicken pieces, cut in 2" chunks
Aluminum Foil

1. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade together, reserve 1/3 for later. Marinade chicken in remaining 2/3 portion, in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Make a foil pouch and bake tikka in oven for 15 min.
3. Set oven to grill at 200 degrees. Remove pouch cover (we're going to put it back to the oven). Dip baked chicken in reserved marinade and grill on each side for 5 min. Serve with rice and curry! =D

Tags: chicken tikka tandoori filling budget recipe

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi is a pickled vegetable salad unique to and ubiquitous in Korea. The stuff is obviously salty, and generally spicy and usually served cold. A bottle of kimchi can be a little pricey, but it goes a long way because it can last a while in the fridge. It makes a great addition to the fridge as instant food, because it can be eaten with just about anything. Late night snack? Enliven your instant noodles with a side of kimchi! =D

I was walking through a food court yesterday when I saw a menu offering kimchi fried rice. Having some kimchi stored in my fridge, here's my version of the dish. You can use any meat you like, although I imagine the white meats go better with this dish than the red ones. And char siew (Chinese barbecued roast pork) might also not go well with the dish as the sweetness of the char siew will interfere with the kimchi.


Noel's Kimchi Fried Rice
(serves 2-3)

2 cups of cooked rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tomato, chopped
1 spring onion, chopped
Cooked meat: for this dish I had sliced chicken breast and roast pork.
2 servings of kimchi - bear in mind that it should be 1/3 a regular serve of vegetables because of the salt.
1 tbsp of kimchi "juice" (the liquid that is left from the kimchi)

1. Fry egg on wok. Bunch on side of wok while adding rice to heat.
2. Mix cooked scrambled egg with heated rice, add spring onions and tomatoes, followed by meat.
3. Turn off heat. Add kimchi and kimchi juice last, stir in warm wok (without the fire on). Serve.

Tags: kimchi fried rice budget recipe

Spicy braised eggplant

recipe inspired from Umami's dish of the same name

ingredients:
1 onion, VERY thinly sliced
5 dried chillies (can add more or less according to personal perference)
500-600g eggplant, sliced into 2 inch strips
200g chicken mince (can use any other type of meat as well)
tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar (can adjust according to taste)
2 tbsp dark vinegar

2 tbsp corn starch w/ 4 tbs water

meat marinate: dash of sesame oil, white pepper, dash of light soy sauce, 1 tbsp corn starch

method:
1. Marinate meat and leave for 20 minutes.
2. Add oil into pan. Wait til it's hot. Add onions. Fry til light brown.
3. Add chillies and fry til they are BLACK. There will be choking smoke, this is normal.
4. Add meat and stir fry for a while. Add eggplant and the rest of the seasoning.
5. Add 250ml of water and bring to boil.
6. Simmer for 20 minutes and add the corn starch mixture. Stir and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve with white rice and a sprinkling of scallions.

comments: This is really comforting and goes so well with rice...MmmmmMmmm...try it!! You'll be surprised how good it is!!!

Tags: spicy braised eggplant budget recipe

Noel's Spiced Embutido

An embutido is, strictly speaking, a sausage (complete in its intestine-encased glory) - but in the Philippines it's become more like a steamed meatloaf. I adapted this recipe from a Filipino cookbook lying around the house. It's a little more spicier, but on hindsight it could also have been a little more sweeter by adding sultanas in the mix.


Noel's Spiced Embutido


1 cup of croutons
500g minced pork
2 hard boiled eggs
Milk
Pepper
Chili powder



1. Run the croutons through a blender until fine (breadcrumb) consistency. Pour enough milk to just cover the crouton-crumbs.

2. Mix pork, crumbs and spices together well. Split into two portions.

3. Spread each portion on a piece of aluminum foil. Lay sliced hard-boiled egg on each portion, the roll foil to form a meatloaf cylinder.

4. Steam for 20 min. Served warm or cold. =D

Tags: meatloaf pork embutido budget recipe