Cha Soba With Roasted Basil Chicken Karaage

I decided to have Soba for dinner to combat the sweltering heat. I prefer green tea soba in particular. However, eat cold soba alone any side dish seem too bland. After rummaging through the freezer, I found a pack of frozen basil chicken karaage that is ideal soba accompaniment. 


Cha Soba With Roasted Basil Chicken Karaage

• Cha Soba (available at Daiso for just $2)
• Bonito Sauce (available at Daiso for just $2)
• Basil Chicken Karaage (available at NTUC Fairprice)
• Wasabi

I decide to use the toaster oven bake the Basil Chicken Karaage to reduce oiliness. Baked the Chicken Karaage for 30mins, turning the chicken pieces after 15mins to achieve cripsy consistency. Heat pot with water till it boil. Add in the Cha Soba and reduce the fire as the Cha Soba from Daiso are quite thin and if the water is boiling will cause breakage. Cook the soba for 7 mins and drain in a colander and run thru cold running water to make the soba el dente. Next pour 2 tablespoon of bonito and water to prepare the soba dipping sauce. Add preferred amount of wasabi into the dipping sauce. Bon Appetit.

Iced Lemon Tea Grass Jelly Drink

Today weather is sweltering hot. Ideal for F1 drivers but not for the average joe who doesn't have air-conditioning install in their residence. Luckily, I bought some "仙草" Grass Jelly - a traditional chinese jelly-like desert consume to cool oneself in the sweltering summer. It's normally offer as plain sugared drink. I decide to give it a twist by adding grass jelly to popular summer drink - Iced Lemon Tea.


Iced Lemon Tea Grass Jelly Drink

• 2 Tablespoon of Nestea Ice Lemon Tea Mix
• 4 Tablespoon of Grass Jelly
• 700ml of Iced Water

This drink is best served in 1 litre mug big enough to quench any insatiable thirst. Mix everything in the mug and serve with lots of ice cube.

Roast Prawn Sauce Chicken

Prawn Sauce Chicken is one of the famous dish in "煮炒" literally translate to food stall that offer ala carte dishes that prepared upon order placement. Prawn Sauce Chicken is deep fried but the oil that used to fry the Prawn Sauce Chicken will not be reusable due to Prawn Sauce stench in the oil. In order to reduce such wastage, I decide to roast the Prawn Sauce Chicken instead of deep fry it. The result is uniquely tasteful as the fried version. It doesn't have the oily feeling while retaining the crispiness of the fried version.


Roast Prawn Sauce Chicken

• Prawn Sauce Chicken Powder (Available in all supermart)
• 4 Boneless Chicken Thighs
• Mirin

 Add in the mirin into the chicken thigh to remove the gamey smell. Add in the prawn sauce powder ensure the chicken thighs are evenly coated. Take care not to add to much as the powder contain significant amount of salt. Leave it to marinate overnight to allow the prawn sauce to infuse into the chicken thighs.

Before you roast the chicken thigh, heat up the frying pan with oil and sear the chicken thighs both side for about 3 mins. Place the chicken thigh in well oil oven tray and covered with foil to ensure that chicken remain succulent during the roasting the toaster oven.

Place it in the toaster oven and toast it for 30mins. After that, remove the foil and drain the sauce that accumulate on the oven tray. Put it back into the toaster oven without the foil and grill it 10mins till the skins turn brown and cripsy, Then you're ready to serve it with rice or noodle of choice. 

Sloppy Joe Cheese Wedges

I absolutely adore chips especially potato wedges. With the excess Sloppy Joe fillings leftover, I decide to made Sloppy Joe Cheese Wedges - a decadent version of Carl's Jr Chili Fries. 


Sloppy Joe Cheese Wedges

• Potato Wedges
• Sloppy Joe
• Mozarella Cheese

To control fat intake, I decide to oven cook the potato wedges with toaster oven. You need 30 mins to attain the crispiness of the deep fried version. If you're hard press for time, feel free to fry it in the deep fryer. As for making the Sloppy Joe, please refer to my earlier post on Sloppy Joe Pizza Naan. Line the wedges on baking dish and top it with Sloppy Joe and mozzarella and shove it into the toaster oven and toast for another 5 to 10mins till the cheese melts.

Saffron Chicken Rice

Chicken rice have establish itself as one of the staple cuisine for general singapore populace that you can practically find a Chicken Rice stall in every foodcourt or hawker centre. The default taste for chicken rice more or less is cast in stone. Being a foodie that challenge the norm, I decide to up the ante by adding to saffron (one of the most expensive spice in the world) to this defined cuisine and manage to bring out a whole new taste spectrum.


Saffron Chicken Rice

• Yamie Chicken Rice (available in leading supermarket)
• 5 Saffron strands
• Water

Old School Version

• 1 to 2 cups of Thai Fragrant Rice
• 1 to 2 cups of Chicken Stock
• 1 Pandan Leaf crush and tied to knot
• 5 slices of Ginger
• 5 clove of Garlic crushed
• 5 Saffron strands
• Oil
• Salt

If you want to have quick chicken rice, simply go to leading supermart and purchase the Yamie Chicken Rice as it is rice that is pre-flavored. You simple need to add water and powered up your cooker and you have your chicken rice ready. For this instance, you just need to add in the saffron before you flip on the power switch. To approximate the amount of water needed, you can use the plastic bag that house the rice grain as a gauge. Once it fully cook, you see naturally orange tint in your chicken to indicate that saffron had infused into the rice grain.


For old school who like to do all the nitty gritty steps, simply heat up fried pan with oil and pan fry the garlic and ginger for 2 mins till you smell the aroma release from the ginger and garlic. Add in the rice grain and fry for another 5 mins to let the garlic and ginger infused into the rice grain. Turn off the flame and empty everything into the rice cooker and add in chicken stock accordance to the amount of rice used. Add in the pandan leaf, saffron and pinch of salt and powered up the rice cooker. Once it is done, you have your lovely saffron chicken rice.

Sichuan Mala Noodles With Prawn Gyoza & Sliced Roasted Chicken

My visit to Kim Gary normally is solely restricted to their curry rice as their curry is uniquely different and I'm unable to emulate. But I'm amused that there are patrons order their noodles dishes as they are generally concocted from instant noodle. Today is cold rainy second day of F1 2010, I intend to cook up instant noodle dish - Sichuan Mala Noodles for dinner that is comparable to those serve in Kim Gary.


Sichuan Mala Noodles With Prawn Gyoza & sliced Roasted Chicken

• Sichuan Spicy Seaweed Instant Noodle (currently on offer at $3.15 in NTUC)
• 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon of Chongqing Mala Paste
• 2 Frozen Prawn/Pork Gyoza
• 5 slices of Roasted Chicken (available in major supermart)

Boil the sufficient water in a pot and add in the instant noodle seasonings and Chongqing Mala paste. Next add in the frozen gyoza and cook it for 10mins then remove it from the broth and place it in a bowl together with the roasted chicken slices. Add in the instant noodle into the boiling broth. The trick to having an el dente instant noodle is removed the noodles from the boiling broth before it fully soften and set it aside in the serving bowl. After that, let the broth boil until it bubbles and pour it into the serving bowl. The residual heat in the broth will cook the noodles further to the texture of your liking.

Mushroom Sloppy Joe Pizza Naan

I normally dun like the standard pizza base sold in local supermart as most are not partial cook therefore it will take you significant amount of time if you suddenly have pizza craving. Naan is the perfect pizza base alternative as it is readily frozen partial baked and relatively cheaper (you can get 12 frozen partial baked naans at the price of $5.95 at Mustafa) than the frozen pizza base. Sloppy Joe Pizza Naan is the easiest to cook and fastest to make among all my pizza recipe as you do not need to deal with much toppings.



Mushroom Sloppy Joe Pizza Naan

• Delmonte Sloppy Joe Sauce (available in Jason's Market or Cold Storage)
• 300gm of Minced Beef
• 1 Medium Red Onion diced finely
• 1/2 cup of peas
• 1 Brown Mushroom thinly sliced
• 1 Partial Baked Naan
• 2 Cherry Tomato thinly sliced
• Mozzarella Cheese

Sloppy Joe is a thick meat sauce similar to chili con carne or bolognese that can be use as topping for hotdog or filling served with burger bun. Rarely is it used as pizza based sauce as well as a pizza topping. The fastest way to make Sloppy Joe is to grab the really made sauce from supermart. First, you need to brown the onions then add in the minced beef and brown the beef for 10 mins. Add in the Delmonte Sloppy Joe sauce and green peas into the minced beef and onion. Gently stir until the sauce is fully incorporate into the beef. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 10 to 15 mins then turn off the stove.

Take one naan and spread the Sloppy Joe evenly on the naan surface. Add in the cherry tomato follow by mushroom slice and finally top it off with mozzarella cheese. Pop it into the toaster oven and toast it for 10 mins till the mozzarella start to brown and it's really to serve.

Garlic Chicken Ham Portabello Baked Rice

Today is the final cook-out day as the long christmas holiday is ending. I decided to whip up a quick and easy Baked Rice as I got leftover yam rice and garlic chicken ham. Baked Rice is a derivative from French Au Gratin and is hugely popular in Singapore F&B restaurants like Swenson, Pastamania etc.

I dropped by neighbourhood NTUC scour all the offer items of the week - Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce ($3.95) and Portabello Mushroom ($2.95) to complete my baked rice creation. The baked rice come out great as the Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce is thicker than the normal Leggo Pasta Sauce as a result you can use it out of the bottle without the need to reduce it consistency. It is also ideal as a pizza base sauce as it's thick consistency will not cause your pizza base to become soggy.

Garlic Chicken Ham Portabello Baked Rice

• 2 slice of Garlic Chicken Ham
• 2 tablespoon of Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce
• 1 Portabello Mushroom Thinly Sliced
• 1 Bowl of Yam Rice
  
• Mozzarella Cheese

Layer the yam rice evenly on the ceramic baking dish.Optionally, you can use any cooked grain like couscous, fried rice or plain rice. Next layer the portabello mushroom slice to cover the rice leaving some for back rice topping. Slice the 2 slices of Garlic Chicken Ham diagonally until you have 8 slices. Layer the ham on top of each other on top of the portabello mushroom slices. Next scoop the Leggo Pasta Baked Sauce and ensure the whole baking dish is covered evenly with sauce. Now add in the rest of the portabello mushroom slice and top it off with mozzarella cheese. Baked in toaster oven for 15 mins until the cheese browned then serve hot.

Chinese Drunken Chicken

A change of work environment had kept me so occupied that I'm close to announcing my retirement to the world of cooking. Despite that, the spirit of cooking still burning strong in me and I took the opportunity of this long christmas holiday weekend to whip up this dish - Chinese Drunken Chicken. It is a chinese cold dish whereby the chicken have trace of liquor. It is one of the most unique chinese cold dish, as the chicken was serve chill which debunk preconception that chicken only taste good when it is warm.

Chinese Drunken Chicken

• 8 pcs of Chicken Mid-Wing (Thigh or Breast meat also goes well)
• 3/4 cup of Chinese Medlar
• 1/4 cup of Jujubes
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• 1 tablespoon of Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 to 1/2 cup of Chinese Cooking Wine
• 2 tablespoon of fish sauce or soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of honey (optional)

Wash the chicken to remove any excess blood and drain. Add in 1/4 cups of Chinese Medlar, 1 teaspoon of Salt and 1 tablespoon of Chinese Cooking into the chicken wings and marinate for at least an hour or 2. Then put the wings into a steamer and steam it for 1 to 2 hours until the wings is cooked tender and leave it to cool.

Now you prepare the chinese wine marinade that will be use to prepare the drunken chicken. Add 1 cup of chinese cooking wine and 2 tablespoon of fish sauce/soya sauce mix well. Crush the jujubes add it together with the rest of the Chinese Medlar into the wine marinade. Leave the marinade for 1 to 2 hours to let the Jujubes and Medlar flavor to diffuse into the chinese wine. 

After that slowly add in the steam wings into the wine marinade till the marinade cover the chicken completely and chill for 2 hours in the fridge before serving. This is optional, you can add in a tablespoon of honey into the wine marinade to add a sweet twist to the traditional dish.

Emperor Meat Ball Soup

I'm down with flu and something soupy to combat the flu virus. After rummaging my fridge, I found I got some frozen minced beef left I decide to made Emperor Beef Meat Ball Soup.

Emperor Meat Ball Soup is a dish I conceptualize from the famous Pork Meat Ball Stew (红烧狮子头) that was served to Emperor Sui Yang Di (隋炀帝) of Sui Dynasty. Unlike its origin, my variant is healthier as the meat ball is steam and not fry. It is suitable for people that was down with flu as Chinese herbs are use to enhance efficacy of the dish to combat the flu virus.

Emperor Meat Ball Soup

• 300g Minced Beef (can replaced with pork or chicken)
• 1Teaspoon of soup stock concentrate
• 1 Teaspoon of minced garlic
• 1 Teaspoon of minced ginger
• 1/2 Teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1 Teaspoon of A1 Emperor Herb Chicken Spices
• 1 Egg
• 1 Packet of White Shimeji Mushroom

Chop half of the Shimeji mushroom into small bits as it will be mixed into the minced meat. Add in the minced beef, soup stock concentrate, garlic, ginger, A1 emperor herb chicken spices, sesame oil and chopped Shimeji mushroom in a mixing bowl. Use your clean hands and knead the mince meat and ensure the all the spices, mushroom and marinade is mix thorough. Slowly add in the beat egg wash while kneading the mince meat to help it bind the meat with the mushroom. Use your 2 hands and shape the mince beef to considerable size of 8cm. Line the meat balls in the ceramic bowl and top the rest of the Shimeji mushroom on the meat balls and steam it over a steamer for 1 to 2 hours till the bowl is fill with wholesome broth/soup as shown. Turn off the stove and serve it will rice or porridge.    

Chinese Chong Qing Mala Wings

It is a busy week for me as I was busy preparing for my work duties hand over that give birth to this recipe - Chinese Chong Qing Mala Wings that is equivalent of Mexican Chipotle Wings. The conceptualization of Chong Qing Mala Wings is from the famous Chong Qing Mala Hotpot - a popular chinese hotpot with thick layer of chili oil floating in the broth surface that any food condiments cook in it will have a hot spicy numbing taste that thrill your taste buds.

 Chinese Chong Qing Mala Wings

• 8 Pcs of Mid Joint Chicken Wings
• 1 Tablespoon of Chong Qing Mala Hotpot Paste (available for sale in Sheng Siong Supermart)
• 1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine 
  

Marinate the chicken wings with cooking wine to remove raw poultry smell for 5 minutes. Add in the Chong Qing Mala Paste and rub it evenly on all the wings and ensure all the wings are coated with the paste. You do not need to add any other seasoning to the chicken because the Chong Mala Paste Paste is heavily seasoned and any additional seasoning added to to the wings will result in very salty wings. Heat up a non-stick frying pan without adding any oil (as the paste used to marinate the chicken already got chili oil in it), pan fried the wings for 5 mins on both side till you see it brown. Off the stove flame and leave it for another 5mins and serve hot with rice.

Lazy Man Pizza Toast

I'm eating this lazy man pizza toast as I writing this on my blog. The rainy days in Singapore is severely affecting my slimming regime namely no supper after 8pm. I decide to break this regime as I'm so famish even though I have a hearty Mala Beef Noodle for dinner. I made this toast because I got cheap salami scrap for mere $1.50 that need to be cleared before it goes bad, ciabatta bread I got from Giant last weekend due to expire as well and mushroom the is starting to withe. The end product is a yummy pizza toast that only took me 10 minutes to make.

Lazy Man Pizza Toast

• 1 Ciabatta Bread (normal bread will work just as well)
  
• 1 White Button Mushroom (can be replace with tomato if you don't have any)
  
• 2 Tablespoon of Ketchup
• Mozarella Cheese (any cheese will do when you are hungry)
  
• 8 Salami Scrap (you can substitute with ham, bacon bit or whatever toast friendly)

Slice the ciabatta bread to half and use a brush and brush the ciabatta bread evenly with ketchup. Layer the ciabatta with sliced white button mushroom follow by the salami scrap. Finally top it off with mozarella cheese and ensure the bread is even covered. Toast it in toaster oven for 5 to 8 minutes and you have your tasty lazy man pizza ready.

Stir-Fried Thai Tom Yam Chicken

This weekend is fully packed with activities for me. As a result, I couldn't cook any fanciful food until I saw my jar of Thai Tom Yam paste in the fridge that spark off this easy-to-cook recipe in my mind - Stir-Fried Tom Yam Chicken. I like to cook this dish during a busy schedule as it is relatively easy and no complex food preparation needed beforehand. I made modification to the recipe by adding few sprigs of Thai Basil Leaves that further enhance the aroma of the Stir-Fried Tom Yam Chicken to a new level. 

Stir-Fried Thai Tom Yam Chicken

• 1 Medium Boneless Chicken Thigh (Cut in Chunks)
• 1 Tablespoon of Thai Tom Yam Paste
• 1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine
• 1 Teaspoon of Thai Fish Sauce (Optional)
• 2 Teaspoon of Sugar
• 1/2 Cup of Thai Basil Leaves
• 1 Tablespoon of Oil
  

Marinate the chicken thigh chunks with cooking wine, sugar, Thai Tom Yam paste and Fish Sauce. Make sure all the chicken parts are even coated and leave it to marinate overnight in the fridge for best result else at least leave it to marinate for 3 hours. Heat up the frying pan with oil, add in the chicken stir fry it for 5 mins until you see the chicken start to change color. Lower the heat as you do not want overcook the chicken and lose it tenderness, fried for another 5 mins then switch off the stove and add in the thai basil leaves and stir the chicken and make sure the basil leaves even distribute throughout the chicken. The latent heat from the Tom Yam Chicken will release the aroma from thai basil leave making the dish very aromatic and tasty.

Pasandra Pork Curry

Pasanda Curry is a popular  Pakistani/North Indian curry meat dish originate from a meal served in the Court of the Moghul Emperors. Pasanda was originally made from leg of a lamb, flatten into strips. Mughal empire religious belief originate from muslim, therefore Pasanda Curry is only available in lamb, beef, chicken or prawn.

I decide to add a twist of chinese element into Pasanda Curry. Instead of using the meat commonly use for Pasanda Curry, I decide to use pork as the main ingredient for Pasanda Curry. I decide to use sliced Pork Belly as it is readily available in local supermarket in Singapore and the fat layered between the flesh will add additional flavour to the Pasanda Curry.  The Pasanda Pork Curry came out pretty well within my expectation. It is pretty thick and warmly spiced with a slight tang. For those who don't like tangy curry, you could replace yogurt with whipping cream or coconut cream. It is best serve with rice or naan.

Pasandra Pork Curry

• 125g Pork Belly Thin Slices
• 1 Medium Tomato Chopped Finely
• 1 Onion Chopped Finely
  
• 1 Teaspoon Ginger Puree
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Puree
• 4 Oz Water
• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Ketchup
  

Marinade

• 2 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Salt

Combine all the dry spices and salt in a mixing bowl and add in the yogurt and stir it into a paste. Add in the sliced pork and made sure the paste is evenly coated in every pork slice and leave it to marinade in the fridge overnight or at least 3 hours.

Heat a non-stick pan and add in the oil. Add in the chopped onion and cooked until it turn brown and soften. Add in the chopped ginger and garlic and fry it till you smell fragrant release by the garlic and ginger. Add in the chopped tomato. You can add a bit of water if you find the mixture too dry. Fry until the oil separate then add in the marinate pork. Turn up the heat and fry for 5 mins add in rest of the water and turn down the flame and let it simmer for 10 mins then you are ready to serve it over rice or naan. As the curry aged, it get more flavorful.

Pan Fried Peri Peri Wings

Peri-Peri Chicken, is chicken, marinated in a hot chile pepper marinade, then grilled. The dish's Portuguese and African origins are clearly seen in its names. This dish evolved in Angola and Mozambique (once Portuguese colonies) after Portuguese explorers and settlers brought American chile peppers to Africa. Nando's is one of the famous Peri Peri Chicken restaurant having franchises all over the world. Unfortunately, Nando's have yet set foot in Singapore.

I asked my colleague from Malaysia to purchase the Nando's Peri Peri Sauce so that I can made my own Peri Peri chicken. As I do not have an oven so instead of roasting or grilling the chicken. I will pan fried it on non-stick pan. The end result pretty good as the peri peri wing stick pretty succulent and spicy.
 

Pan Fried Peri Peri Wings

• 7 Piece of Mid-Chicken Wings
• 3 Tablespoon of Nando's Extra Spicy Peri Peri Sauce
• 1 Drop of Wright's Liquid Smoke
• 1 Lime Quarter Slice
• 1 Tablespoon of Jamaican Jerk Spice
• Salt
• Oil
  

Marinate the Mid-Chicken Wings with 2 tablespoons of peri peri sauce, liquid smoke, jamaican jerk spice, pinch of salt and lime juice. Leave it to marinate overight for best result. Heat up a non-stick frying pan lightly coated with oil and pan fried the wings till both side turn golden brown. Serve it on a plate, use a silicone brush and coat the remaining peri peri sauce on the wings and microwave on high settings for 2 mins. Serve it while it is hot.
 

Chili Cheese Wedges

Why eat chili cheese fries from Carl's Jr when you can made your own no hold bars - Chili Cheese Potato Wedges LOL. My rendition is 2x more meaty, 5x more spicy and 10x more smoky that made Carl's Chili Cheese Fries pale in comparison. Enough blabbering and on to the recipe.

Chili Cheese Wedges

• Tex-Mex Chili - Singapore Style
• Potato Wedges
• Mozzarella (cheddar preferable as it melt easier)

Fried the potato wedges till golden brown and drained on Daiso tempura paper. Heat up the Tex-Mex Chili in the microwave oven for 2 mins. Then top the potato wedges with hot chili and mozzarellla. Serve it while hot.

Pan Fried Cajun Dory Fish

Sometimes it's hard to cook fish as you need to heavily marinate it with sauces or spice to mask the fishiness that comes naturally in them. Recently, I found a way (as recommended by Babette) to remove or reduce the fishiness by pre-marinate in herbs & spice infused water. The end result is the fish have a tint of the herb/spice infused water while still retaining it natural fish flavour.

I decide to do a light cajun pan-fried dory fish to test out Babette's theory. True to her words, the pan fried dory came out quite good as the fish do not have the usual predominant fishy taste which I decide to share with everyone.

Pan Fried Cajun Dory Fish

• 2 Pieces of Dory Fish
• Cajun Spice
• Salt
  

Fish Marinade

• Water
• 1 Green Chili Sliced
• 1 Quarter Lime Juiced
• Few Slice of Juliene Lime Skin
• 1 Chopped Garlic
• Dash of Ground Black Pepper

The dory fish available in Singapore is normally frozen solid. Rather than thaw it. You can made use of the fish marinade to thaw and flavor the dory fist at same time. Get a tupperware about the same size and put the dory fish in. Fill the tupperware halfway with water and squeeze the lime juice into the way. Add in the juliene lime skin, garlic, chili and ground black pepper into the water. Give the fish marinade a good stir to let the spice distribute even in the tupperware and seal it with a lid and marinate for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

Drained off the fish marinade. Drain off excess marinade from the dory fish with a kitchen towel. You can smell the dory fish no longer have the fishy smell but a tinge of spices from the fish marinade. Sprinkle lightly salt and cajun spice on each side of the dory fish. Panfried both side for 10mins or more till it browned then serve it hot.

Tex-Mex Chili - Singapore Style

Tex-Mex Chili is a spicy meat stew made from chili peppers, meat, garlic, onions and cumin in Texas with its root believe to originate from Mexico. I like the spiciness and beefiness of Tex-Mex Chili brought by the minced beef and chili peppers. Tex-Mex Chili is very versatile as you can serve it over tortillas, nachos, fries or as a topping for hot dog or sandwich.

Cooking Tex-Mex Chili is a challenge in Singapore as Chili spices are not readily available so you need to really substitute with local ingredients in order to made it as close to the original Tex-Mex Chili. Unlike those Carl's Jr chili, my rendition is smokey and beefy as I request the butcher to have the beef coarsely ground.

Tex-Mex Chili - Singapore Style

• 300g Mince Beef
• 1/2 Canned Cooked Kidney Beans
• 1 Medium Tomato Chopped
• 1 Medium Onion Chopped
• 17.5g Old El Paso Chili Seasoning (available in Cold Storage)
  
• 1 Tablespoon of Ketchup
• 1 Drop of Wright's Hickory Liquid Smoke (available in Cold Storage)
• 2 Tablespoon of Habanero Hot Sauce (1 Tablespoon of Chili Padi Paste)
• 1 - 2 Drop of Da Bomb Ground Zero Hot Sauce (Optional)
  
• 1/2 to 1 Cup of Water
  
• Oil 
  

Warm up a non-stick pot with 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the chopped onion until it start to turn color or soft. Add in the tomato for another 10 mins. Add in the mince, kidney beans and EL Paso Chili Seasoning and fried until the oil start to separate. You can add 1/2 to 1 cup of water if you find the chili too dry. Add in the Habanero Hot Sauce or Chili Padi paste as replacement into the chili to spice it up. Next, add in the ketchup to moderate the beefiness of the chili. If you found your Chili too wet, try mashing some of the kidney beans will help thicken the chili. I prefer my chili to have tinge of smoked flavor, so I add in a drop of Wright's Liquid Smoke. For those who like to scale the scoville, you can add in 1 to 2 drop of Da Bomb hotsauce to further hot things up.

Oden - Japanese Yong Tau Hu (Fish Cake Soup)

Oden is a Japanese winter soup dish serve with multiple cooked ingredients like radish, konnyaku(jelly made from seaweed), processed fish cake and tofu stewed in a light soy-based broth. The ingredient might varies according to what is available. Oden is the most easiest dish to made as most of the cooked ingredients could be bought off the shelf in the supermarket or asian grocer.

Oden is similar to Singapore Yong Tau Hu  which is also a soup dish that serve with similar ODEN cooked ingredients but with slight difference. In Singapore, we serve it either dry or with soup and serve with sweet bean sauce. As I got a busy working week ahead of me, so I decide to cut corner and cook Oden for my lunch.

Oden

• 4 Fish Balls
• 2 Crab Sticks
• 4 Mushroom Pork Balls
• 4 Vege Balls
• 1 Pack Oden Dry Soup Stock (available at big supermarts or Japanese Grocer)

Boil 1 to 2 cups of water. Add in the Oden Soup Stock into the boiling water. Make sure you do a taste test to ensure the Oden soup don't get too salty. If you cannot find Oden soup stock, you can replace with chicken broth or vegetable broth whichever you have on hand. Add in the fish ball, crab stick, mushroom pork ball, vege balls into the Oden soup stock. Cook for 15mins and it will be ready to serve with rice or eat plainly.

Home Style Lok Lok - Skewer Mala Hotpot

Friend is crashing over my place for Ma La Hotpot. Due to the wet weather, it is ideal for hotpot. Rather than doing those normal style hotpot, I decide to do Lok Lok Hotpot for novelty. Lok Lok Hotpot is whereby the food condiments skewer on bamboo stick and cook in the hotpot. I did a basic skewer with standard cooked items and special chicken skewer and got quite a positive response from my friend.

Cooked Food Lok Lok

• Bamboo Skewers (retail at $2 at Daiso)
• Vegetable FIsh Balls
• Mushroom Pork Meat Balls
• Fake Crab Sticks
  
• Chikuwa
• Fried Fish Roll

You do not need to follow strictly the skewer items listed above. Feel free to experiment with other cooked items for the cooked food lok lok. Before you skewer the food items, check the depth of the hotpot with a skewer to see how much you food items you can skewer to ensure it could be fully cook when you immerse it in the hotpot .

Marinated Chicken Lok Lok

• Bamboo Skewers (retail at $2 at Daiso)
  
• 1 Chicken Thigh Chopped Chunk
  
• 1 Teaspoon of Garlic Puree
• 1 Teaspoon of Ginger Puree
• 1 Teaspoon of Cumin Powder
• 1 Teaspoon of Chili Powder
• Salt
  

Marinate the chicken chunks with garlic, ginger, cumin and chili powder with a pinch of salt overnight. As Daiso's bamboo skewer is pretty thick so if you need to take care in skewering the chicken pieces as you need use certain amount of prodding to poke through the meat. This marinated chicken lok lok taste equally fabulous if you pan fry or grill it.

  Mala Hotpot Hotpot Soup

• Mala Hotpot Soup Pack (retail $1.60 at Sheng Siong)
• 3 to 4 cups of Water

The Mala Hotpot Soup pack sold in Sheng Siong is heavily flavored, therefore you only need 3 to 4 cups of water boil it before you add in the Mala soup pack. Do not add in the whole mala soup pack into boiling water. Add in by tablespoon and do a taste test until the hotpot soup reach the spice level you are comfortable with. Then, you are ready to have a hotpot fiesta.