Garoupa in Garlicky Sweet Spicy Vinegar

The garoupa can be deep fried and then drizzled with garlicky sweet spicy vinegar. I cooked this style quite often as it is a favourite among my family members. The fish by itself is sweet but when cooked this way it has the added fragrance of the garlic and is spicy and sour.

Ingredients:

• 1 18-inch garoupa
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 chili padi
• 75-100 ml rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• Cooking oil for frying

Method:

• Wash and pat-dry the cleaned garoupa.

• Chop the garlic.

• Chop the chili padi.

• Heat up the cooking oil in a wok.

• When the oil is hot, deep fry the garoupa.

• Fry till the garoupa is cooked. Remove the garoupa from the wok onto a serving plate and set it aside.

• Remove some oil from the wok leaving about 3 tbsp behind.

• Add the chopped garlic to the wok. Stir fry it till fragrant but not brown.

• Add the chili padi.

• Add the rice vinegar. Let it boil.

• Add sugar to the vinegar. Stir till it dissolves.

• Add the light soy sauce. Stir to mix.

• Turn off the fire.

• Ladle up the sauce and drizzle it over the fish.

Chocolate Swiss Roll

I like trying the many flavours and colours available for Swiss Roll. These flavours are endless, for example, strawberry, pandan, vanilla, blueberry and so on. I have made many Pandan Swiss Rolls - patterned and plain, Beetroot Swiss Roll and dual coloured Blue Pea - Pandan Swiss Roll. Chocolate Swiss Roll, I believe, is a classic favourite among many people. It can be filled with many types of fillings like plain cream, cream cheese, chocolate cream, Nutella, peanut butter, etc. 


Ingredients:

For Meringue:

• 3 egg whites (Grade A)
• 1/4 cream of tartar
• 60 g fine sugar

For Batter:

• 3 egg yolks (Grade A)
• 20 g fine sugar (can be slightly more for those with sweet tooth)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 45 g corn oil
• 45 g whole milk
• 55 g cake flour
• 10 g cocoa powder

For Filling:

• 130 g whipping cream
•  20 g powdered sugar

Method:

Making the Swiss Roll Batter:

• Put a tray of hot water into the oven. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Centigrade. (Adjust according to your oven.)

• Line a rectangular pan (10 inch x 14 inch) with a good quality parchment paper. (This is to ensure that the cake will not stick to the parchment paper.)

• In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg white with a hand mixer over low speed. (Please ensure that your bowl and beaters are dry and have no traces of oil otherwise the egg white will not rise.)

• Once large bubbles are formed, add the cream of tartar.

• Whisk till small bubbles are formed.

• Add sugar gradually in 3 batches.

• Whisk the egg white till stiff peak.

• Once stiff peak is achieved, set the meringue aside.

• In another mixing bowl, add in the egg yolks, sugar and salt. Whisk until they are creamy.

• Add the oil and continue to mix until they are well combined.

• Add milk. Whisk to mix them well.

• Sieve the cake flour and cocoa powder into the egg yolk mixture. Mix until well combined and the batter is smooth.

• Take 1/3 of the meringue and add to the batter. Use the whisk to mix the meringue with the batter gently, taking care not to deflate the meringue.

• Add another third of the meringue into the batter. Gently mix it with the batter.

• Add the remaining meringue and gently fold it into the batter using a spatula.

• Pour the batter into the baking pan and spread it evenly with a spatula.

• Drop the pan onto the counter-top from about 1 foot high to break out any large bubbles. Repeat this 2 to 3 times.

• Bake in the oven at 160 deg C for 20 minutes until the cake surface is golden brown. Do not over bake or the cake will crack when you roll it later.

• Once the cake has baked, remove the pan from the oven.

• Drop the pan from 1 foot high onto the counter-top to prevent shrinkage of the cake.

• Remove the cake from the pan onto a wire rack.

• Put another sheet of parchment paper on the cake and invert it to remove the parchment paper below.

• Let the cake cool down completely on the wire rack.

• While waiting for the cake to cool down, whip the cream with the powdered sugar till it is stiff. (Test for sweetness. Add more sugar if the cream is not sweet enough for you.)

Filling and Rolling Up the Swiss Roll:

• Cut 3 shallow slits (about 1 foot apart) across the cake at the end from which you will start rolling the cake. (This is to aid in the rolling of the cake i.e. to ensure that it does not crack when you start rolling it.)

• Spread the cream evenly on the cake.

• Roll the cake and wrap it in the parchment paper. Put the roll into a plastic bag or cling wrap it to prevent dryness.

• Keep the roll in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

• After 3 hours, remove cake from the refrigerator.

• Remove the plastic bag or cling wrap and parchment paper and slice the roll.

• Serve chilled.

Tomato Rice

Tomato is both a vegetable and a fruit. It is a major dietary source of the antioxidant, lycopene, which has been linked to many health benefits including risk of heart disease and cancer. It is also a great source of Vitamin C (essential nutrient in the repair of tissues), potassium (helps regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals), folate (needed to make red and white blood cells in the bone marrow, convert carbohydrates into energy, and produce DNA and RNA) and Vitamin K (plays a role in blood clotting, bone metabolism, and regulating blood calcium levels).I am sure at any one time, we would have tomatoes in our refrigerator. We can use them to make tomato egg, tomato pork, curry, tom yum soup, ABC soup, pasta sauce and so on or to eat them fresh in our salad. Have you tried making Tomato Rice? If you have not, give it a try and you will see how tasty it is.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 large tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1-2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 stalk green onion or more
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Cook some rice so that you will have 2 cups of it for frying.

• Wash and chop the garlic.

• Wash and dice the tomatoes.

• Wash and cut the green onions into 1 cm long.

• Heat up a wok with some cooking oil.

• Break 2 eggs into the wok and fry them and break them up. Scoop them up when cooked and set them aside.

• Add some cooking oil and saute the garlic.

• Add the tomatoes. Press the tomatoes until they are all mashed up. Add a bit of water to the tomatoes if they are too dry. (Note: this is a slightly wet fried rice.)

• Add the rice and stir it until it is evenly mixed with the tomatoes.

• Add tomato sauce to the rice and stir.

• Add oyster sauce to the rice and stir.

• Season the rice with light soy sauce (to taste).

• Add the eggs back to the wok. Stir.

• Add the green onions. Stir.

• The Tomato Rice is ready to be served.

Sweet and Sour Fish

Sweet and Sour Fish is a good option of cooking for the family besides just deep frying it and sprinkling it with sauteed garlic, ginger, chili and soy sauce. The sweet, sour and salty tastes can whet one's appetite and add more rice during a meal. I usually cook this dish with the garoupa or the grouper. But the dish is equally delicious with the red snapper. I usually use the whole fish. However, this dish can be cooked using fish fillet. As for the accompanying toppings, I usually use the capsicum (red, yellow and green), onion, tomato and cucumber.


Ingredients:

• 1 whole grouper (about 1.5 feet long)
• 1/3 of 1 green capsicum
• 1/3 of 1 yellow capsicum
• 1/3 of 1 red capsicum
• 1 small onion
• 1 small tomato
• 3-inch cucumber 
• Cooking oil for deep frying
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 5 tbsp tomato sauce (May be varied)
• 5 tbsp chili sauce (May be varied)
• 5 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

• Wash fish and make 2 diagonal slashes on the body on both sides.

• Dry the fish with kitchen towel and set aside.

• Wash and cut the three colours of capsicum into 1 cm x 1 cm squares.

• Peel, wash and cut the onion into 1 cm x 1 cm squares.

• Wash and cut the tomato into 1 cm x 1 cm squares.

• Peel, de-seed, wash and cut the cucumber into 1 cm x 1 cm squares.

• Heat up cooking oil in a kuali.

• When the oil is hot, gently place the fish in it.

• Deep fry the fish till it is brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.

• Remove most of the oil from the kuali leaving about 2 tbsp behind.

• Add the chopped garlic to the oil. Saute till they are fragrant.

• Add the tomato sauce, chili sauce and water to the kuali to make the sauce.

• Add sugar and salt and let them dissolve.

• Once the sauce is boiling, add the capsicum, onion, tomato and cucumber. (If the sauce is too thick, you may add more water.)

• Let the sauce boil once again and then turn off the fire. (If you wish to have softer onions, then add them first. Let the sauce boil for a while before adding the others.)

• Dish out and serve.