Claypot Tofu with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Sequence of Cooking:

I have seen this dish being cooked on Instagram and Facebook. Looking at the ingredients, I was sure that the dish would be appreciated by my husband and children. True enough, all of them love it. It is also suitable for vegetarians.

Although no measurement is given, the dish looks easy enough to cook. Since then I had cooked this dish a few times to try out with different quantities of the various ingredients. The recipe below is the result of these trials.

Ingredients:

• 400 g tomatoes, cubed
• 1 packet enoki mushroom (2 would have been better), remove ends
• 4 pcs of large brown button mushroom, sliced
• 1 box of tofu, cut into pcs
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp black vinegar
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• Cornflour slurry (2 tbsp cornflour + 4 tbsp water)
• Garnishing - green onion

Method:

• Add cooking oil to claypot. Let it heat up.

• Add tomatoes to the claypot. Fry.

• Add salt.

• Add water. Let boil.

• Add enoki mushroom to 1 side and button mushroom to the other. Add tofu either on top of the mushrooms or to one side next to the mushrooms.

• Beat egg and add it to the claypot.

• Add pepper, black vinegar and sesame oil. (Dont hv to stir.)

• Thicken the sauce with corn flour slurry and garnish the tofu with tomatoes and mushrooms with green onion.

• Serve hot with white rice.

Spinach Egg Roll

Spinach Egg Roll is a very delicious dish. Stir-fried spinach by itself tastes very good and if enclosed in eggs will taste even better. It is simple to be cooked up especially when most of us would definitely have this vegetable and eggs in our refrigerator. Most of the time when I stir-fry spinach, I would remove some to be made into spinach egg roll.

Ingredients:

• 150 g spinach
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Some cooking oil

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• Some cooking oil

Method:

• Heat up some cooking oil in a wok.
• Sauce the garlic till fragrant.
• Add the spinach.
• Season it with salt, light soy sauce and pepper.
• Dish up when cooked.
• Let the spinach cool down.
• Drain it so that it is dry.
• Use a pair of kitchen scissors or knife to cut it into small pieces.
• Set aside.

• Separate egg white from the yolk.
• Add seasonings of salt, pepper and light soy sauce to the yolk.
• Brush some cooking oil onto a non-stick pan.
• Lightly beat the egg white and pour it into the non-stick pan.
• Swirl the pan so that the egg white covers the pan evenly.
• Wait for the egg white to cook slightly.
• Spread the cooked spinach onto one side of the egg white.
• Using a spatula, roll up the egg white to cover the spinach, pulling the egg white to the edge of the pan as you roll it up and leaving a space for the egg yolk.
• Pour the egg yolk into that space to join up with the egg white.
• Wait for the egg yolk to cook and then continue to roll it up from where we stopped.
• Remove the roll from the pan.
• Slice it up and serve.

Minced Pork over Steamed Egg and Tofu

 

We have steamed egg and steamed tofu. We also have braised minced pork. Why not combine them together to create a new dish. I am sure your family members will love this dish; mine do. The steps are simple and the whole process does not take long. The ingredients are easily available.

Ingredients:

For steamed egg:

• 2 eggs
• water, equivalent to the same amount of the eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp pepper, or more
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 piece of tofu (can use 1 piece if you love tofu)

For the minced meat

• 150 g minced pork
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce, or more for a darker braise 
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3/4 cup water

Method:

• Prepare a steamer of boiling water.

• Crack 2 eggs into a bowl.

• Add the equivalent amount of water to the eggs.

• Add salt, light soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil.

• Beat the eggs till all the ingredients are incorporated.

• Cube the tofu and add them into the eggs.

• Steam the eggs for 15 minutes or till they are cooked.

• Add oil to a pot.

• Add chopped the garlic to the pot and saute them till they are fragrant.

• Add the minced pork and fry them.

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

• Add water.

• Braise the pork till they are cooked and the sauce has been reduced by a fair bit.

• Remove the steamed egg from the steamer.

• Scoop the braised minced meat on top of the steamed egg.

• Serve.

Bitter Gourd Bihun with Fish Fillet

 

 

I experimented with this new dish - Bitter Gourd Bihun with Fish Fillet - which was described to me by my better half. He had seen it on Tik Tok. The final result met his approval. If you like bitter gourd, then this dish is for you. I ate it and it was really delicious. I will definitely be cooking it again and again.

Ingredients:

• 100 g bihun (before soaking)
• 6-inch long bitter gourd
• 2-inch long carrot
• 1 small onion
• 1 egg
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper powder
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• Cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

Method:

• Soak bihun till it is soft.

• Half the bitter gourd lengthwise, remove the seeds and slice thinly across.

• Julienne the carrot.

• Slice the onions in rings.

• Slice the fish fillet into small pieces. Fish - either garoupa, red snapper or white snapper.

• Heat up kuali with some oil.

• Fry the egg, break it up, dish up and set aside.

• Add some oil and saute the garlic till fragrant.

• Add the carrot, onion and bitter gourd.

• Fry till they have softened.

• Add the fish and fry till they are half-cooked.

• Add water.

• Then add the seasonings.

• Once the sauce has boiled, add the bihun.

• Fry till the bihun is cooked.

• Add the fried egg to the bihun. Stir.

• Dish up and sprinkle some coriander on top. (Can use spring onion too.)

Fragrant Fried Garlic Rice

I love garlic; usually for my breakfast I will spread my bread with butter, sprinkle chopped garlic and grated Mozzarella cheese on it before toasting the bread. I also use a lot of garlic in my daily cooking. And one of the dishes that I use lots of garlic is Fried Garlic Rice. My husband will eat raw chopped garlic with his meals at times. This is because through our readings we believe that garlic contains compounds with potent medicinal properties.

Ingredients:

• 300 g cooked rice (for 2 pax)
• 1 garlic bulb
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 egg
• Cooking oil
• 1 stalk green onion, chopped
• 1 bird eye chili, chopped

Method:

• Chop up garlic into fine pieces.

• Heat up wok with cooking oil.

• Add the chopped garlic to the oil.

• Saute till it is slightly darker than golden brown so that it is very fragrant. Take care not to burn the garlic.

• Once it has turned brown remove all of it from the wok without the oil.

• Remove the oil from the work leaving 2 tablespoons behind.

• Add the cooked rice to the wok and fry.

• Add the seasonings of salt, pepper and light soy sauce to the rice.

• Add the sauteed garlic to the rice.

• Fry the rice till it is very fragrant.

• Push the rice outwards, leaving a hole in the centre.

• Break the egg into it.

• Slowly stir the rice over it and fry till the egg sticks to the rice.

• Once the egg is cooked, the rice is ready to be served.

• Sprinkle chopped spring onion and chili on it.

• Serve.

Cheesey Sardines and Potato Bread Rolls

 

 

 

I have created Cheesey Sardine Potato Bread Rolls for breakfast for my children. However, these bread rolls can be made for teatime as well. Most households would have some cans of sardines and potato in their pantry and so can easily make them at any time. As for cheese, it is really optional.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bread - white or wholemeal
• 270 g mashed potatoes
• 100 g canned sardines
• 25 g green onions
• 2-3 pc chili padi (optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 6 pcs of Mozzarella cheese of about 1.5 inch long
• 1 egg, beaten
• Cooking oil for frying

Method:

• Remove the crust from the 4 sides of each slice of bread. Roll each slice of bread thinly. Set aside.

• Add mashed potatoes to a mixing bowl.

• Remove bones of canned sardines. Add them to the mixing bowl.

• Cut the green onions finely and add them to the mixing bowl.

• Cut the chili padi into small pieces and add them to the mixing bowl.

• Add the seasonings.

• Mix up all the ingredients well.

• Spread the ingredients onto each slice of bread.

• Place a piece of cheese across each slice of bread.

• Roll up the slice of bread and seal the seam.

• Repeat till all the slices have been rolled up.

• Heat up a pan with cooking oil.

• Roll the bread roll in the beaten egg using a fork.

• Transfer the bread rolls to the pan and deep fry them till they are golden brown.

• When done, remove them onto a piece of kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil.

• Transfer them to a serving plate.

Cheesy and Savoury Omelette

 

 

   

Cheesy and Savoury Omelette is a delicious choice for breakfast or just as snacks. It is made up of potatoes, red capsicum, green onions, eggs and cheese. However, we can vary the ingredients like adding mushrooms, red or yellow onions, chives, etc. and the omelette will taste equally good.

Ingredients:

• 350 g potatoes
• 100 g red capsicum
• 10 g green onions
• 2 eggs
• 80 g grated Mozzarella cheese
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Cut the potatoes into small cubes.

• Cut the red capsicum into small squares.

• Cut the green onions into 0.5cm long.

• Add cooking oil to a pan and fry the potato cubes till they are soft.

• Transfer the potato cubes to a mixing bowl.

• Add the red capsicum and the green onions to the mixing bowl.

• Beat the eggs and add them to the mixing bowl.

• Season the egg mixture with salt and pepper

• Heat up the same pan with more oil.

• Place 3 (depending on the size of your pan) egg rings onto the pan to heat them up.

• Scoop some of the egg mixture into the egg rings. [You can still fry the omelette without the egg rings. Just scoop the egg mixture onto a pan.]

• Spread cheese on the mixture.

• Pour some of the mixture to cover the cheese.

• When the bottom has turned brown flip over the egg rings and let the other half cooked.

• Remove the egg rings when the omelette have firmed up.

• Once they are fully cooked dish them up onto a kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil.

• Arrange them on a serving plate.

• Serve.

Chives Pancakes

 

I bought so much chives - to fry with kueh teow, to stirfry with bean sprouts, to make chive omelette and to stirfry with taukwa. After all these, there was still some left. Usually, chives do not keep for long. So I had to think of ways to make something out of them rather than binning them later. Secondly, my family had been having lots of bread and the traditional sweet pancakes and kuih for breakfast. So, it was good to give them a change and to reduce the sweet food they had been having. That was when the idea of Chives Pancakes came in.

Since this was my first time making these pancakes, I weighed, washed, cut, mixed and wrote down the ingredients as I went through the process of making them so that I can use these measurements to make them again later.

Ingredients:

• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 75 g chives
• 10 g dried prawns
• 25 g carrot
• 25 g mushroom (1 medium sized mushroom)
• 20 g red chili (1 pc of chili)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 300 g water

Method:

• Add flour to a mixing bowl.

• Wash, drain and cut the chives to about 1.5 cm long.

• Wash and pound the dried prawns.

• Wash, peel and grate the carrot and then chopped them up.

• Wash and soak the mushroom and then cut them into tiny pieces when they have softened.

• Wash, de-seed the red chili and chop it up.

• Add the chives, dried prawns, carrot, mushroom and red chili to the mixing bowl with flour.

• Break 1 egg into it.

• Add seasonings of sesame oil, pepper, salt and light soy sauce to the mixing bowl.

• Add water to the bowl and stir to mix up all the ingredients. Note: If the batter is too thick, the pancake will be hard. It should be a bit runny so that the pancake will be thin and soft.

• Oil a non-stick pan (24-cm) with a very thin layer of oil.

• Scoop a ladle of batter into the pan.

• Swirl the pan so that the batter cover the whole pan.

• Cover the pan.

• Once the bottom of the batter is cooked, flip it over.

• Remove the pancake once the bottom is cooked.

• Repeat till all the batter is finished.

• You can serve it on its own or with ketchup or chili sauce.

Tomato Egg Drop Soup

 

My elder daughter has mentioned many times about the Tomato Egg Drop Soup. She loves tomatoes and wanted to cook this soup herself. However, she is very busy with her work. So, I took it upon myself to cook it for her. After all, it is one of the simplest soups to make. The ingredients are simple and are available at home. I am sure these ingredients can be easily found in most kitchens too. Furthermore, it only takes about 10-15 minutes to cook up this soup. So if you are hard for time, this is the soup to go for.

Ingredients:

• 3 tomatoes, about 340 g
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 6 inches of spring onion, cut into 0.5 cm length, separating the green part from the white
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 1/2 cups water or chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder

Method:

• Cut the tomatoes into small cubes.

• Heat up a pan with cooking oil.

• Saute the garlic till fragrant.

• Add tomatoes and white part of spring onion to the pot.

• Fry the tomatoes till they are soft and mushy.

• Add water or chicken stock to the pot.

• Let the water or chicken stock boil.

• When the water or chicken stock is boiling, stir it round and round.

• Add the beaten eggs to the pot, stirring the soup gently it round and round 

• Season the soup with salt, light soy sauce and pepper.

• Sprinkle the green onion on top.

• The egg drop soup is ready to be served.

Baked Cheesy Seafood Fried Rice

 

I am sure all of us will fry rice once in a while especially when we have lots of cooked rice in our fridge or when we are short of time to cook a full meal or when we run out of idea on what to cook. Fried Rice is the easiest meal to cook up, a single pot with all the required carbohydrate, protein, fats, minerals and vitamins in it. I usually add a combination of such ingredients as eggs, prawns, char siew, carrots, peas, maize, long beans, cabbage, onion and bird eyes chilies in my fried rice. Another delicious way of frying rice is to add sambal and crispy anchovies to it.

I brought my simple fried rice to another level by adding cheese and baking it. It is simply delicious for the palate.

Ingredients:

• 200 g overnight rice
• 1 egg
• 75 g fish fillet
• 75 g prawns
• 75 g squids
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped and divided into 2
• 1 tbsp flour
• 125 g milk
• 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 100 g grated Mozzarella cheese
• 4 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

• Heat up the kuali with cooking oil.

• Fry the fish fillet till cooked. Ladle up and set aside.

• Add prawns to the kuali and fry till cooked. Ladle up and set aside.

• Add squids to the kuali and fry till cooked. Ladle up and set aside.

• Add half of the chopped garlic to the kuali.

• When the garlic is fragrant, add rice to the kuali.

• Break the egg onto the rice. Fry the rice till it is dry.

• Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper to the rice. Fry the rice till the seasonings are incorporated.

• Ladle up the rice into a baking dish. Set aside.

• Add butter to a saucepan. Let the butter melt over medium heat.

• Saute the remaining chopped garlic till fragrant.

• Add flour to the butter, stirring continuously till both are fully incorporated to form a roux.

• Add milk to the roux, stirring continuously till a thick sauce is formed.

• Add the fish fillet, prawns and squids to the sauce.

• Add the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper to the sauce. Stir.

• Pour the sauce with the seafood onto the rice in the baking dish. (You may stir and mix the sauce with the rice or you may just leave the sauce on top of the rice.)

• Sprinkle cheese on top and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for 25-30 minutes.

Steamed Pork with Egg and Tofu

         

         

A very common dish in most households is steamed minced pork on tofu. We just spread minced pork (which had been seasoned with salt and pepper) on top of a large piece of tofu, steam them and sprinkle fried shallots, green onions and cut chilies on them. Alternatively, if we were to use the cylindrical tofu, we will just slice the tofu cross-wise into many pieces, spread the minced pork on top of each of them, steam them and sprinkle fried shallots, green onions and cut chilies on them. However, using the same ingredients and adding an egg and rearranging the main ingredients, we can create a new dish. It also look more appetising than the normal minced pork on tofu.

Ingredients:

• 250 g minced pork
• 2 tubes of tofu (either egg or white tofu). You may also use the square tofu.
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp corn flour, to bind the pork
• Optional for decoration
• fried shallots
• fried garlic
• green onion
• cut chilies

Method:

• Boil water in a steamer.

• Add salt, pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil and corn flour to the minced pork. Combine them well.

• Pack the minced pork into a bowl.

• Turn the bowl over onto a heat proof serving plate to release the minced pork onto the plate.

• Using your fingers, gently create a hole in the centre of the pork.

• Break an egg into the hole.

• Cut the tofu and arrange them around the minced pork.

• Steam at high heat for 20 minutes or until the pork is cooked.

• Remove the plate from the steamer when the pork is cooked.

• There will be some water on the plate. Gently tilt the plate to throw away the water.

• You may serve it as it is, or, sprinkle some green onions and cut chilies on the minced pork, or, saute some shallots or garlic and sprinkle them on the minced pork.