Savoury Meat Boat

Sometimes, we may look for food to eat between meals. There are many types of snacks; some like sweet snacks while others prefer savoury ones. There are also healthy nutritious snacks and the not-so-healthy ones. The easiest snacks available are those packaged and processed ones from the supermarkets. However, with a little bit of work in our kitchen we can produce snacks made from the fresh ingredients we have in our refrigerators.

Ingredients:

• 200 g minced meat (I used pork. You may use chicken, beef, fish or prawns.)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped spring onion
• 4 tbsp coarsely chopped red pepper
• 4 tbsp coarsely chopped yellow pepper
• 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp Angel Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 12 pcs round wanton skin
• 2 tbsp Angel Siracha Hot Chilli Sauce

Method:

• Put minced meat, spring onion, red & yellow pepper, parsley, garlic, egg, light soy sauce & pepper into a mixing bowl.

• Mix all the ingredients till well-combined.

• Oil a muffin pan well.

• Place wanton skin into the muffin pan.

• Scoop the ingredients into the wanton skin.

• Bake at 180 deg C for 10 min. Reduce temp to 150 deg C & bake for a further 10 min.

• Serve with Siracha Hot Chilli Sauce.

Chicken Stew with Vegetables

It is good to have some stews on cold days or nights to warm up our bodies. We can use either beef, poultry or seafood in the stews. As for vegetables, usually a combination of carrots, potatoes, onions and tomatoes is used.  We may also add mushroom to the stew.

Ingredients:

• 300 g chicken, cut into small pieces (2 servings)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 potato, cubed
• 1 carrot, cubed
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 stalk of celery, cubed
• 3 tsp corn flour + 1 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp Angel Light Soy Sauce
• A dash of pepper
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• Parsley for garnishing

Method:

• Heat a sauce pan with cooking oil & fry chicken pieces till slightly brown.

• Remove excess oil when the chicken is done.

• Add garlic & saute till fragrant.

• Add broth & let it simmer for 1 hr.

• Add potato, carrot, onion & celery.

• Add light soy sauce, pepper & salt.

• Cover & let it simmer for another 1/2 hr.

• Stir in corn flour solution to thicken the stew.

• Scoop it into a bowl & garnish with parsley.

• Serve with rice or bread.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Nuggets

Chicken dishes has become prevalent in our Malaysian cuisines. Most probably this is because of its low cholesterol and saturated fats levels. Furthermore, it is cheaper than the red meats and seafood. Another reason could be that it can be cooked in so many ways - baking, roasting, grilling, frying, boiling and barbecuing.

It also takes a shorter time to cook chicken as compared to red meats which are tougher. This dish, Sweet and Spicy Chicken Nuggets can be done within half and hour.


Ingredients:

• 250 g chicken breast, cubed 
• 4 tbsp all-purpose flour 
• 1 egg, beaten 
• 6 tbsp breadcrumbs, homemade 
• Cooking oil 

Sauce:

• 4 tbsp Angel Light Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp Angel Siracha Hot Chili Sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp Angel Rib Sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 inch ginger, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder

Garnishing:

• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed
• 1 sprig of green onion, chopped 

Method:

• Heat up non-stick pan with cooking oil.

• Take a piece of chicken, coat it with flour, coat with egg, coat with breadcrumbs & drop it into the pan. Repeat till all pieces are done. Dish out & set aside when the nuggets are cooked.

• Mixed all ingredients for sauce.

• Pour into pan & let it boil until it thickens.

• Turn off the fire & pour the chicken back into the pan. Ensure that every piece is coated.

• Dish out onto a serving plate.

• Garnish with sesame seed & green onion.

Potato Omelette

Most of us would have stock many eggs and a lot of potatoes at home; the eggs providing us with our required protein and the potatoes, carbohydrate. There are many ways of cooking eggs either for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They can be cooked on their own, either fried, boiled, poached or scrambled, or used to make dishes such as omelettes, souffles, pancakes, frittatas, sauces, spreads (like our kaya), or used in baking - bread, pies, tarts, cookies and cakes.

Potato Omelette is a simple dish for breakfast; it is easy and fast to cook. And it does not cost much as a breakfast meal. In fact all omelettes are easy to cook and do not cost much.

Ingredients:

• 1 large potato, skinned & sliced thinly
• 2 eggs
• 1 sprig of parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp Angel light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

• Heat a large non-stick pan with cooking oil & fry the potato slices till brown & cooked.

• Arrange cooked potato slices in a 6-inch non-stick pan.

• Beat eggs with light soy sauce & pepper.

• Add parsley to beaten eggs & stir.

• Pour egg mixture slowly over the potato so as not to disturb the arrangement.

• Cook till the egg is done.

• Serve with bread & salad.

Fried Yellow Noodles

The yellow noodle is cooked in many ways as we know - hokkien mee (where the noodle is thicker), prawn mee, loh mee, mee jawa, curry mee, mee rebus, mee goreng and so on. The chewy texture and yellow colour of the noodles is due to the addition of food grade lye which prevents the noodles from disintegrating when cooked in soups or stir-fries. We usually soak and blanch the noodles in boiling water before adding them into our soups or stir-fries to get rid of the yellow colour and taste of lye.

Ingredients:

• 250 g yellow noodle (4 large servings)
• 200 g bean sprouts
• 200 g sawi
• 2 big Shiitake mushrooms
• 100 g of chicken/pork slices
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 chili padi, chopped.
• Seasonings - light and dark soy sauce, white pepper powder and salt
• 3 tbsp Cooking oil

Method:

• Firstly, rinse the yellow noodle a few times and after that soak it for about 15 minutes in warm water to rid it of the yellow colour and taste of lye. Transfer the noodle into a colander to let the water run off.

• Wash the bean sprouts and remove any leftover green covering. Let the water drain from the bean sprout and set aside.

• Wash and cut the sawi into 1-inch length. Set aside.

• Wash and soak the Shiitake mushrooms (overnight). Slice the mushrooms thinly.

• Wash and slice the chicken or pork thinly.

• Heat the wok with cooking oil.

• Saute the garlic till fragrant.

• Saute the mushroom till fragrant.

• Add the chicken/pork slices.

• Add the chili padi.

• Add the bean sprout.

• Add the sawi.

• Fry till the bean sprout and sawi are half-cooked.

• Add a cup of water and let it boil.

• Add 3 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (add more if you want darker noodles).

• Add the noodles.

• Stir gently till the noodles are fully covered with sauce.

• Let the noodles simmer for a while till they are soft but not soggy.

• Dish out and serve.

Sambal Belacan Kangkung

Any dish which is spicy will surely whet our appetite. One such popular dish with my family is the Sambal Belacan Kangkung. We usually ordered this dish when we ate out last time. However, not now. The outside chefs cooked it with lots of oil. Furthermore, we suspect the cleanliness of the vegetables. You will see how I prepare my kangkung below.


Ingredients:

• 350 g water spinach (kangkung)
• For sambal, blend:
• 5 pieces fresh red chili
• 5 pieces chili padi
• 10 pieces dried chili
• 1 small onion
• 4 cloves garlic, soaked
• 1/2 inch prawn paste
• 25 g dried prawns, washed and pounded
• Cooking oil
• Seasonings - light soya sauce and salt

Method:

• Preparing the kangkung:
• Remove the tender shoots and leaves of the kangkung.
• Split the hollow stems to ensure that there is no worms inside the stems. Cut the split stems into 1 1/2 inch length.
• Soak the kangkung (tender shoots, leaves and stems) in salt water for 30 minutes.
• Thereafter, rinse the kangkung with clean water till there is no impurities.
• Place the kangkung into a colander to let the water run off.

• Heat the wok with about 4 tbsp of cooking oil.

• When the oil is hot, add the dried prawns and fry them till fragrant.

• Add the blended ingredients into the wok.

• Fry until the oil separates from the blended ingredients.

• Add the kangkung.

• Add light soy sauce and salt (according to taste).

• Fry till the kangkung is just cooked. Over frying will result in the kangkung turning yellow. 

• Dish out and serve with hot rice.

Braised Chicken

Most housewives would have braised chicken before. It is a very easy dish to cook up. However, my husband wanted me to cook it the way his mother did it. So, based on his explanation, I managed to cook it for him, the taste exactly like his mother's cooking.


Ingredients:

• 300 g chicken, bite size
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 4 - 5 slices ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew)
• 2 sprigs spring onions, cut to about 1 inch in length

Method:

• Hit up wok with sesame oil and cooking oil.

• Saute the ginger till fragrant.

• Add the chopped garlic. Saute till fragrant.

• Add the chicken to the wok.

• Fry the chicken till half cooked.

• Add light and dark soy sauce, pepper and salt.

• Add water and let it simmer till the chicken is cooked.

• Add 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine. Stir.

• Add spring onions and stir.

• Dish out the chicken into a serving plate.