Ginseng Soy Dory Fillet/Honey Chipotle Dory Fillet with Carbonara Agnoletti

Being an offer grabber, I tend to overly purchase groceries when particular food items on big discount. Therefore, my fridge have the tendency to bulge with all kinds of sauces and meats. As Chinese New Year is closing, it is the time of the month to clear all the leftover food remnant. Having remaining dory fillet and carbonara sauce leftover from previous culinary adventure. I decide to create 2 new fish dishes to clear the leftover - Ginseng Soy Dory Fillet & Honey Chipotle Dory Fillet.



Ginseng Soy Dory Fillet (Pan Fried)

1. Dory Fillet or Sutchi Fillet (Easily found in supermart cost about $3.90 per pack)
   
2. Light Soya Sauce
3. Ginseng Powder (Easily found in TCM shop)
   
4. Ground Black Pepper
5. Corn Starch
   

Most of the sutchi fillet sold in super market comes in a pack of 3 IQF. So when you need to defrost them completely before you marinate it in order for the marinate to seep in. For 1 piece of sutchi fillet, use 1 to 2 tablespoon of light soya together with 1 teaspoon of ginseng powder rub down on both side of the sutchi fillet u can sprinkle 1 teaspoon of corn starch and rub in so that they can congeal the marinate to the sutchi fillet. Grind some black pepper to both side of the fillet and leave it to marinate for an hour at least.

Fire up the stove with a table spoon of oil in the frying pan, once the pan is hot enough place the sutchi fillet into and sear for 2 mins before flipping to the other side to sear for another 2 mins. After that, ginseng soy dory fillet is ready to serve.

Chipotle Honey Dory Fillet (Pan Fried)

1. Dory Fillet or Sutchi Fillet (Easily found in supermart cost about $3.90 per pack)
   
2. Chipotle Chili Paste (Sold $12.90 in Belmonte Latin Food)
   
3. Honey

This is the most easy of all the fish dish. As the chipotle chili paste is very spicy. I only use 1 teaspoon of chipotle chili paste to mix it with 1 tablespoon of honey after that apply it evenly to both side of dory fillet. Ensure it is marinate thoroughly for an hour at least before you pan fry it both side for 2 mins before serving.

Carbonara Agnoletti

1. Agnoletti
   
2. Leggo Carbonara Sauce
   
3. Stock
   

Agnoletti is a kind of stuff pasta that you can easily find in Cold Storage or Carrefour. This Agnoletti is stuff with spinach and ricotta cheese. You need to cook it in boiling water for about 5 to 8 mins till it soften. Next, you need to drain and set it aside. Next will be the Carbonara Sauce, heat up the frying pan and scoop 2 tablespoons of carbonara sauce to the frying pan as the sauce is rather thick you can add in 2 scoops of stock to dilute it. As it boils, put in the cooked agnoletti and let it cook till the sauce thicken then it is ready to serve.

Ma Ling Luncheon Meat - Where are you?

Since the report of ban antibiotic in Maling Brand of Luncheon meat and AVA decision to ban the sale of Maling Brand luncheon meat in Singapore, the well-known luncheon meat has vanish without a trace in all corners of Singapore. It is a doom-day announcement for those plain congee lovers that enjoy the tinge of saltiness that is inherent in Maling luncheon meat that no other brands of luncheon meat can beat.

Lately rounds of grocery shopping, I found a new product (Ayam Brand Fish Luncheon Meat) that might or might not fulfill your luncheon meat cravings. It could be found in most local supermarket at $2.35 SGD. This fish luncheon meat made primarily from Jack Mackerel comes in 3 flavours - Orginal, Pepper & Chili. I prefer to go original since that the best way to really taste if this fish luncheon meat can satisfied my cravings.

The Fish Luncheon meat texture is like that of Tau Kua (Hard Beancurd). It got mackerel taste without fishiness that one would expect. It is mildly salted ideal for those sodium conscious. Unlike normal pork luncheon meat, it is lightly coated with oil so hardcore luncheon meat fans might be disappointed but health conscious advocate probably will applauded for this change.
It taste best when you pan fried it as it soften under heat so you don't feel like eating Tau Kua but luncheon meat. Overall, I will give it a one thumbs up as it pretty innovative food product and the taste isn't that far from being in the luncheon meat category. For hardcore fan, I got another good news if you looking for Maling luncheon, you can find some stock (approved for sale by AVA) in one of the supermart called Good Luck Supermart selling $3.20 SGD at 39 Geylang Serai, Geylang Serai Malay Village, Singapore 409227

Chipotle Chicken/Buffalo Wings

I got my first taste of Mexican food in a food stall in Simei Eastpoint food court before Taco Bell hit Singapore. The first impression of mexican food, it is unique in taste as the spices and chillies differs greatly from those spices that are commonly used in Indian or Malay dishes. This chillies are not your average chili padi but were grown locally in Mexico and smoked to bring out it unique flavour.

However, Mexican food didn't prosper (Eastpoint Mexican Stall closed down) like other countries cuisine (Japanese, Korean, Thai etc) instead it regress to a limited menu in certain KFC outlet (KFC Singapore acquire Taco Bell franchise rights). I really miss the Mexico cuisine that was rapidly vanishing in Singapore.

It is amazing sometimes you can get lots of culinary information from TV. Lately, I just discovered an online grocer Belmonte in Singapore that specialize in Mexican food supplies and condiments from a Kids Central cooking show that showcase chefs teaching kids on preparing different countries culinary cuisine. This spark off my interest to re-enact those long lost mexican dishes.



Chipotle Chicken (Pan Fried)

1. 4 Pieces Frozen Chicken Thighs (purchase from Sheng Song)
2. La Costena Chipotle Chili In Adobo Sauce 200g (purchase online from Belmonte)
   
3. Vodka (any cooking wine is fine as well)
4. Fresh Ground Black Pepper (any pepper is fine as well)
5. Chicken Stock Cube

Frozen chicken thighs normally come in bigger pieces than those fresh partial chill one you find in the supermarket. I sliced the 2 pieces of chicken thighs into 4 equal pieces for 4 servings. Ensure you wash the chicken pieces through running water (clear excess blood that may be trapped in frozen meat) and drain it clear of water.

Liquor or cooking wine is commonly used to pre-marinate raw meat to remove it raw after-taste that may present after the meat is cooked. I decided to use Absolute Vodka (leftover after I abstain from drinking) this time instead of Plum Blossom Hua Diao Jiu (Famous Chinese Cooking Wine from Zhe Jiang China) for a more unique taste. Use 2 tablespoon of Vodka and ensure all the chicken thighs rub down with vodka. Grate some ground black pepper to further enhance the flavour.

You need a blender for this to prepare the Chipotle marinade sauce. As La Costena Chipotle comes in a whole, blend it together with the adobo sauce until chipotle chili disintegrate. Next ensure all 4 chicken thighs are covered with Chipotle sauce at both side and glad wrap it and put it back to the fridge to marinate it for 1 day or more (3 hours for the impatient kind) to let the meat to absorb the smoky spicy chipotle flavour.

Next fire up the frying pan ( I used a pot to reduce to splatter during frying) with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once it is hot enough, place the chicken thigh in to sear the meat for about 2 minutes then flip to another side for another 2 minutes. Normal pan fried meat tend to be tough due to the high heat resulting in overcook. After searing both side, pour about 2 scoop of stock onto the frying pan and covered it. The chicken will continue to cook under stock and maintain it succulent texture.

Cook until the stock start to reduce you can remove the chicken from the frying pan onto a serving plate. As the stock mix with the chipotle marinated on the chicken, it will start to thicken into sauce which you can keep and apply to the chicken pieces upon serving. There you have it Mexicano Chipotle Chicken. You can slice it into pieces or serve it as a whole in a tortilla, bread or rice.




Buffalo Wings (Pan Fried)

1. 8 Pieces First Choice IQF Chicken Mid-Wings (can be found in Shop`N'Save, Cold Storage & Sheng Siong)
2. Bufalo Classic Chili Sauce (purchase online from Belmonte)
   
3. Vodka (any cooking wine is fine as well)
4. Fresh Ground Black Pepper (any pepper is fine as well)
5. Chicken Stock Cube or Liquid Stock
   

Lately there is new acronym for frozen meat - IQF (Individual Quick Freeze). Meat pieces are individually frozen so that even when packed and store in the fridge the meat pieces remain separated. IQF was first introduced to restaurant and F&B as this allow them to make bulk purchase of meat without the need to worry about thawing the right proportional of meat without compromising the freshness.

Lately, IQF meat is slowly introduce to the general public due to the trend of smaller household urgent need to proportion meat to cook their daily meals without compromising freshness. As frozen meat should not be refreeze due to the bacteria might start to propagate after you thaw the meat. With IQF meat, you just need to take the amount you need to cook and keep the rest in the fridge, The IQF meat pieces will still remain separate and ready for you next cooking adventure.

You can use chilled fresh chicken wings as they tend to taste better and absorb marinate better than frozen. What the heck? It is tedious if you are working and you need to visit supermarket everyday after a long day at work to get fresh chilled meat for cooking a meal. No way for me. IQF is the way to cooking for the busy people.

Use 2 tablespoon of Vodka and ensure all the chicken thighs rub down with vodka. Ground some ground black pepper to further enhance the flavour. Next, add the 2 to 3 tablespoon of Bufalo Chili sauce and massage the wings until it is evenly covered and leave it to seep for 2 to 3 hours or you can cook it after 30 mins of marination.

Next fire up the frying pan ( I used a pot to reduce to splatter during frying) with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once it is hot enough, place the chicken wings in to sear one side for about 2 minutes then flip to another side for another 2 minutes. Normal pan fried meat tend to be tough due to the high heat resulting in overcook. After searing both side, pour about 1 scoop of stock onto the frying pan and covered it.

The chicken will continue to cook under stock and maintain it succulent texture. You can opt for the dry version which rather add in the stock u can keep frying it until the wings start to feel firm. Cook until the stock start to dry up and you ready to serve pan fried Buffalo Wings.

Iced Honey Lemon Water

Lately there is lot of self proclaimed Hong Kong Cha Chan Ting (aka HK Kopitiam in direct translation to Singapore context) opened in Singapore. Contrary to those in HK, Singapore HK Cha Chan Ting is a more upmarket with focus on deco and presentation. They are popular with teens due to it affordable pricing. One of the most noted dish you can find in Cha Chan Ting is baked rice which I won't be talking here. Instead I will focus on side like concocted beverages which I find refreshing beside your usual Lemon Tea, Coca-cola or Sprite you find in common restaurant.

Honey Lemon water (warm/cold) is one of the commonly found beverages you find in those Hong Kong Cha Chan Ting which I happen to liked a lot especially after a heavy meal. Lemon itself due to citrus acidic factor aids digestion as well as health beneficial anti-oxidant properties. Honey itself is known for it anti-bacteria properties which is good for persistent cough. For baby or toddler, it is better to avoid due to honey contain trace amount of Clostridium botulinum which might cause allergic reaction to them.

It cost about $2.20 to $3.50. Well you can make your own which cost a lot less but taste just as good or even better.



Honey Lemon Water

1. Lemon (5 for $1.85 in NTUC cheapest price so far)
2. Hovovata New Zealand Pure Honey (1kg for $9.05 in Carrefour cheapest price so far)
3. Ice/Hot Water (700ml if based on the serving shown in the photo)

I had tried a few brands of honey, Hovovata seem to be the only honey to dissolve well in cold water. On the other hand, it does not taste too sweet like sugar as compared to other brands of honey. You are welcome to use cheaper honey from China but I found them hard to dissolve in cold water. Therefore, for iced honey lemon water you need to dissolve a bit of hot water before you pour in the cold water.

For 700ml of water, you need half a lemon for it slice into 3 slice for easy squeezing . Squeeze it fresh when you want to drink as lemon juice tend to oxidise very fast if you left it out too long. Squeeze the lemon juice into the mug, pour a tablespoon of honey inside and mix it well. After that pour in the cold water and mix it well and top it off with ice. For serving as hot beverage, just replace it with warm/hot water. Hot beverage is ideal if you have cough or sore throat as honey's anti bacterial properties can relieve throat soreness and alleviate cough while the Vitamin C in lemon can fortify your body to deal with ailments. You can adjust the lemon and honey according to your preference whether you want it sweeter or more tangy. There you have it, simple and easy to made with little effort.

Korean Chicken Fever

Lately with all those K-fever conquering Singapore media airwave have prompted me craving for Korean food. Not your average Korean stall manned by local selling Korean food in your Kopitiams or foodcourts but authentic Korean food franchise in Singapore. I found one such Korean franchise specializing in chicken cuisine.

You might say - What another KFC wannabe? Nope they are not only selling Fried Chicken but BBQ Chicken as well Smoked Chicken (currently not available). The restaurant - BBQ Chicken - is convenient located at Basement Cineleisure. The menu consist of ala carte items range from Olive Oil Fried Chicken, Ginseng Fried Chicken to BBQ Chicken. For details can refer to their website. Don't think this is your average fastfood restaurant, 10% service charge & 7% GST are applicable in this restaurant.



Unknowing to the first timer gracing this restaurant, you'll notice certain customers will ask the staff to serve them a bowl of small white cubes. This white cubes are pickled radish or white carrot a name which is commonly known to Singaporean. These customers are mainly Korean that patron this Korean franchise before. It is customary for the staff to serve customer with pickled radish to open up their palate as well as to reduced the oiliness after a meal of fried foods. The pickled radish is free flow. Take note not to stuff yourself full of pickled radish before your main dish is serve.



I had tried Ginseng Power Crisp, Jerk BBQ and Teri-Q wings. Ginseng Power Crisp is actually Olive Fried Chicken sprinkle with Ginseng Powder giving it a strong Ginseng taste. For those who don't like Ginseng can skip it. Jerk BBQ is chicken whole leg bbq over charcoal grill. Unlike other bbq chicken you ate in food court, the chicken here is grill to perfection that it is tender and juicy inside while outside remain smoky with special spicy taste. Today, I decide to settle for 10 piece Teri-Q wings $11.00 with top up of $3.00 SGD for sides - a soft drink, coleslaw and potato wedges as shown above. Be prepared to wait for 15 to 20mins before your main dish is served.

Teri-Q wings comprise of mini chicken wings and drumstick coated in glutinous rice flour batter fried to crisp and drizzle with soy teriyaki sauce with garlic flavouring. The chicken taste quite good however due to the high msg content in the teriyaki soy sauce, I quickly expended the soft drink after my 4th pieces of chicken. Sad to say, unlike other restaurant they do not serve any free flow iced water to quench your thirst if you expended your soft drink. I'm rather disappointed in this as I was trying to cut down on sugar intake. I hope they can improve on this since they had free flow pickled radish why not free flow iced water.

For those who are tired of eating KFC no harm have a go at BBQ Chicken as it whole new taste experience. The price could be a tad pricier than KFC but if you looking for KFC direct replacement, you can try Popeye at Level 2 Changi Airport Terminal 1 which is a Fried Chicken Fastfood Restaurant which I will talk at another time.

Easy DIY Tzaziki

This is my favorite dip sauce among all the common sauces out there. The reason is Tzaziki is light, non-fattening and compliment finger food well without robbing the finger food original flavour or cause the person to feel greasy. My first encounter with this sauce is during my undergrad studies in Melbourne, Australia in a Greek restaurant Stalactites serving Souvlaki. Tzaziki is applied to grill sliced lamb/chicken wrapped with lettuce, tomato in a pita.

Ready-made Tzaziki is only available in Carrefour and Cold Storage at a premium price for a small tub. You can also use Tzaziki as replacement for ketchup, mustard in your hotdog. If you having a big finger food party, making your own Tzaziki is the way to go.

Tzaziki

1. Fromage Frais AKA Zero Fat Fresh Cheese or Sour Cream (Greek Yogurt for Tzaziki purist)
2. MasterFoods Garlic Powder (Garlic Puree Not Chopped Garlic for Tzaziki purist)
3. Cucumber (preferably japanese kind as they do not have that much seed)
4. Salt & Pepper (Optional)

For Tzaziki purist, Greek Yogurt filtered on a cloth to remove the excess water then it was mixed with grated salted drained cucumber and garlic puree. Little salt & pepper is added to it to adjust the taste. This may be troublesome for busy people like me.

I came out with an easy DIY Tzaziki that does not shy in taste than the authentic Tzaziki. Fromage Frais is a zero fat fresh cheese I bought from Carrefour which I also use for doing blue cheese salad dressing. I had leftover why waste. You can use sour cream as well or Greek yogurt if it is available in the supermart near you.

Using a normal bowl, I scoop 2 tablespoon of Fromage Frais then I sprinkle 2 times MasterFoods Garlic Powder into the Fromage (I don't like to use blender to blend garlic out of blue as cleanup later is a hassle, therefore powder garlic is the way to go). You can go less if you don't really like garlicky taste too strong. For the salted cucumber, you can grate it beforehand and sprinkle some salt on it to extract the water out of it. Before you add it into the Tzaziki mixture squeeze out excess water and mix it well. If you find the Tzaziki too light you can add in pinch of salt and pepper to strengthen the taste. There you have you own DIY Tzaziki dip sauce.

Cajun Smoked Salmon/ Pork Bolognaise Fusilli Pasta

It been a long while, I finally got the chance to try out the Wright's smoking liquid to create culinary cuisine you can prepare easily at home. Therefore, I proudly brought you Cajun Smoked Salmon served with Pork Bolognaise Fusilli Pasta.

Smoked Cajun Salmon

1. Salmon 2 Slices (With/Without Skin)
2. MasterFoods Cajun Spice
3. Fresh Grind Black Pepper (Normal Pepper will do as well)
4. Wright's Hickory Liquid Smoke

The salmon I bought is frozen solid. Therefore, I thaw it overnight in the lower fridge cubicle. On the big day, drain the salmon of any excess water that is left after thawing. If you using salmon that you bought directly from the supermarket, you can skip this step.

Sprinkle MasterFoods Cajun Spice onto the salmon ensure both sides are covered lightly with the cajun spice. Take note that MasterFoods Cajun Spice contains salt granulates, therefore take care not to over apply if you're sodium intake conscious. Grind some fresh black pepper to cover both side of the salmon, take care not to apply too much and in the end it became black pepper salmon instead of cajun.

Apply 2 teaspoons of Wright's Hickory Liquid Smoke onto the salmon. With clean hands, ensure the liquid smoke is throughly rub into the salmon. Next it sprinkle some cornstarch (about 2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon for each piece of salmon) on both side of the salmon and ensure it is even coated. The cornstarch will acts as a binding agent to hold the liquid smoke and cajun onto the salmon. Let the salmon settle in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours to let the flavour to fully seep into the salmon. You can skip that if you are the impatient kind, but the taste will differs though.

You can baked or pan fry it. For my case, I pan fry it on a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Fry until both side turn golden red then you can serve it with rice or pasta.

Pork Bolognaise Fusilli Pasta

1. Barilla Fusilli Pasta
2. Leggo Pasta Bake Sauce - Creamy Tomato & Mozzarella
3. Beef Stock (Chicken Stock is fine as well)
4. Pork Collar Meat Shabu Shabu Slice
5. Fresh Grind Black Pepper

I decide to cook the fusilli first as it need about 8 mins as indicated by the cooking instruction in the pasta box. Boil a pot of water (half full) with a dash of salt. Here the guide on how to proportion the amount of fusilli for single consumption. Use a small bowl as a measuring device and fill it with raw fusilli till you have a finger nail allowance. This will prevent you from cooking too many and in the end stuffing yourself like a turkey. After that throw in the fusilli into the boiling water. You might need to stir occasionally to prevent the fusilli from sticking. While the pasta cooking, we move to cooking the meat sauce.

The pork collar meat was purchased from Shop`N'Save. As it is thinly sliced, it is easy to cook without worry the meat under cook. I've used about 4 slice of pork collar meat sprinkle salt and grind black pepper and marinate them throughly. I didn't use other marinate as I want to retain the pork original flavour that will release when you pan fry it. Fire up the frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, throw in the pork collar and pan fried until it start to partial cook remove the meat from the pan.

Next is add 1 to 2 tablespoon Leggo Pasta Bake Sauce into pan and spread it evenly. Next, add in 2 scoops of the beef stock prepared earlier to reduced the pasta sauce thickness. The pasta should be cooked by now, drain the pasta then run it over cold tap water to keep it el dente. After that, throw the pasta into the sauce and cook until the sauce start to thicken then add back the partial cook pork collar into the pan and shut off the stove to let it simmer. Serve it on a plate. Buon appetito!

Easy Smoking Without Fuss

It been raining like hell for the whole day and freezing cold in the office, I decided to drop by Ken's Ramen Shop at Orchard Plaza for a bowl of hot kimichi ramen to warm my "cold lifeless body". Ken's kimchi ramen is reinforced with spicy and robust kimchi pork bone soup base that I could argue is the best kimchi ramen I ever ate in Singapore.

Fully recharged, I decided to drop by Centrepoint - Cold Storage to work off the excess heartiness as well as to see if there is any exciting culinary ingredients or sauces that is not commonly find your average NTUC, Shop`N'Save & Giant.

To my surpise, I've strike gold - Wright's Hickory Seasoning Liquid Smoke $4.20 SGD. It allows you to bring smoky flavour to all types of meats, poultry, fish and vegetable without the need of using a smoker or BBQ. Smoker is not commonly available for sale to general consumer in Singapore except for those F&B factory that produce ham, bacon & sausage. Therefore, if you want to make a dish that have a smoky flavour it is "mission impossible". There is an alternative way - Smoking Bag sold in Carrefour but you need a BBQ in order achieve that. I have a few recipes that I would like to try out and will update soon.

Cooking Without Pain

Allo everybody, not another food blog in tens and thousands famous food blogs that already out there in the cyberspace. I create this blog is to highlight my trials and tribulations in cooking food without breaking a sweat. Needless to say, the recipes or foods that showcase in this blog will not look as dashing as what you see in those cookbooks or other food blogs since they are probably taken using SLR and further enhanced in Photoshop but essentially the taste top notch for you to try it out.

Well there will be food purist complaining, what the point if the food taste great but look ugly (what do you expect from photos taken from a PSP 1MegaPixel camera attachment). I would say you're welcome to make it look nice and post it in your blog with proper reference. The main point I want to put through cooking can be fun, enjoyable and taste good (other than the clean up). So watch out for the recipes and food recommendation I will showcase in this blog.