Stir-fried Pumpkin Noodles

When we talk about pumpkin, the first thought is on the Halloween celebration. The pumpkin is usually carved into a jack-o'-lantern for this celebration. However, its culinary uses are wide; it can be baked into pies, blended into soups, fried with dried prawns, fried in rice and rice vermicelli and roasted as a side dish. And its seeds can be toasted and eaten as snacks or used in baking especially in bread.

Pumpkin is also eaten widely because it is good for health. It has a high Vitamin A and C content, rich in beta-carotene, low in calories and packed with beneficial dietary fiber.

Stir-fried Pumpkin Noodles is a self-creation. This sweet and savory dish is a favourite among my family members.

Ingredients:

• 150 g bihun (rice vermicelli)
• 100 g chicken breast
• 100 g pumpkin
• 1 piece brown (deep fried) tofu
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion
• 50 g pumpkin + 100 ml water
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 bird's eye chili
• 1 stalk green onion

Instruction:

• Soak the rice vermicelli till it has softened.

• Slice chicken breast into thin strips.

• Shred the 100 g of pumpkin.

• Cut the tofu into 8 pieces.

• Mince the garlic.

• Cut the small onion vertically.

• Blend 50 g of pumpkin with 100 ml of water.

• Add salt, pepper, light and dark soy sauces to the blended pumpkin.

• Slice the chili (for decoration).

• Cut the green onion into short pieces (for decoration).

• Heat up cooking oil in a kuali.

• Saute garlic till fragrant.

• Then add the onion and shredded pumpkin. Fry till they are soft.

• Add blended pumpkin to the kuali. Let it boil.

• Once it has boiled, add tofu and rice vermicelli.

• Fry till the rice vermicelli has soaked up the blended pumpkin sauce and is cooked. Test taste the cooked rice vermicelli. If it is not salty, add more salt. If the rice vermicelli is too dry, add hot water till your desired texture is achieved.

• Scoop it up onto a serving plate.

• Decorate with chili and green onion.

Tomato-base Spaghetti

Spaghetti as we know is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine. While rice is our staple food, it is a good change to have spaghetti once in a while. We can either have Spaghetti Bolognese (slow-cooked sauce of minced beef, onion and tomatoes), Spaghetti Carbonara (rich creamy sauce of eggs, Pecorinco Romano cheese, black pepper and crispy pancetta) or Spaghetti al Pomodoro (pasta dish of cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil). Of the three, the latter is the lightest and is the one preferred by my family. We make this very often sometimes up to 3 times in a month.

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp EVOO
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
•  250 g Holland onion
• 600 g cherry tomatoes
• 1 can (250 g) whole tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 50 g grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 40 g fresh basil, julienne

For the spaghetti:

• 500 g spaghetti
• 1 tsp salt
• A pot of water

Instructions:

• Peel and grate the onion.

• Half the cherry tomatoes.

•  Add EVOO to a pot or kuali.

• Add the minced garlic and saute till fragrant but not brown.

• Add the grated onion and saute it till soft and translucent.

• Next, add the cherry tomatoes and let them cooked till soft.

• Add the can of whole tomatoes.

• Add water and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.

• Use a manual potato ricer to mash the tomatoes till fine.

• Add the basil.

• Season with salt and pepper.

• While the sauce is simmering, boil a pot of water.

• When the water has boiled, add salt to the water.

• Add the spaghetti and cook them till al dente. (Always test taste to ensure that the spaghetti is firm and does not taste raw nor mushy.)

• When the spaghetti is cooked, Scoop them into the sauce.

• Stir so that the spaghetti is well coated with the sauce.

• Add the grated or shredded cheese and stir well.

• Serve. Tomato-based spaghetti is delicious and can be eaten on its own. Or, you can serve it roast chicken, baked salmon and so on.

• If you like, sprinkle the spaghetti with more Parmesan cheese before consuming it.

Tang Yuan

Winter Solstice occurs between 21st to 23rd December in the Northern Hemisphere when one of the earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. The longest night and shortest day are experienced here. At the same time the opposite happens in the Southern Hemisphere which is experiencing Summer Solstice with longest day and shortest night.

In Chinese, "dong" means winter and "zhi" means arrival. So dongzhi means arrival of winter. The winter solstice traditions were created to celebrate the "birth of the sun" and is marked by rituals like eating winter solstice foods, for example, the glutinous rice balls or tang yuan.

Generally, the tang yuan are cooked in syrup. However, there are some people who cook them in savoury soup with pork balls or sliced pork and vegetables. Tang yuan comes in different sizes but for ease of eating, I usually make them with about 1 cm diameter or 5 gm each small ball. They also come in different colours; for health reason, nowadays natural ingredients are used to colour them, for example, blue pea flowers for blue tang yuan, pandan leaves for green, orange sweet potatoes for orange, purple sweet potatoes for purple, beetroot for red, pumpkin for yellow, carrots for orange, red dragon fruit for red and so on. Some tang yuan are filled with crushed peanuts or red or black bean paste to name a few.

I have experimented to come up with tang yuan which are of a good texture, neither too softy nor too hard. And I willl be using these measurements to ensure this texture in future years to come. I usually make 5-6 different colours of tang yuan.

Ingredients:

• White tang yuan:
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 60 g water

• Green tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 8 - 10 pandan leaves grind with 70 g water to obtain 60 g pandan juice

• Orange tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 55 g orange sweet potato
• 40g water

• Red tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 60 g dragon fruit
• 5 g water (little water is used as the dragon fruit is very juicy)

• Purple tang yuan
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 100 g purple sweet potato
• 35 g water

• Blue tang yuan:
• 75 g glutinous rice flour
• 10 fresh blue pea flowers
• 60 g water

• 1.5 litre of water
• 150 g sugar (or less or more depending on the level of sweetness you desire)
• 4-5 pandan leaves

Method:

Step 1: Preparing the dough

• For white tang yuan:
• Add glutinous rice to a bowl.
• Add water to the bowl.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

• For green colour tang yuan
• Add glutinous rice flour and pandan juice to a bowl.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

• For orange colour tang yuan
• Steam orange sweet potato till soft.
• Add them to the glutinous rice flour while they are hot.
• Add water.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening. 

• For red colour tang yuan:
• Skin and mash the dragon fruit.
• Add them to the glutinous rice flour.
• Add water.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

• For purple colour tang yuan:
• Steam purple sweet potato till soft.
• Add them to the glutinous rice flour while they are hot.
• Add water.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening. 

• For blue tang yuan:
• Steep or soak the blue pea (take only the petals) in hot water for half an hour.
• Sieve the soaked flowers to obtain the blue water.
•  Add the glutinous rice to a bowl.
• Add the blue water to the bowl.
• Mix and knead them till a smooth dough is formed.
• Weigh them into 5 g dough.
• Roll them into balls.
• Arrange them on a tray and cover them to prevent them from hardening.

Step 2: Making the syrup.

• Boil a pot of water.
• Add the pandan leaves and sugar to the pot.
• Stir to ensure that the sugar is dissolved.
• Turn off the fire and remove the pandan leaves.
• Let the syrup cool down completely.

Step 3

• Prepare a pot of cold boiled water.

Step 4: Boiling the dough

• Boil a pot of water.
• When the water is boiling add the white tang yuan to them.
• When the tang yuan is cooked (they float in the water when cooked), scoop them up into a pot of cold boiled water.
• Transfer the tang yuan to the pot of syrup.
• Do not stir the tang yuan.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 till all the dough balls have been cooked. Always change the water in Step 4 when you are cooking a different colour dough to ensure that there is no contamination of the various colours.

Step 6: Leave the pot of tang yuan on your counter top till the next day. (I always make my tang yuan on the eve of the Winter Solstice Festival.

Sang Har Mee

 

Sang Har Mee is a delicious noodle dish usually enjoyed by those who love the huge succulent prawns with their delectable flavour of natural sweetness. Due to this I have not added any oyster sauce nor fish sauce like some chefs do. In addition to the sweetness of the prawns, the yee mee also adds its own flavour to the thickened egg broth. While it is relatively easy to cook this noodle dish, it may be a bit difficult to find the prawns in the market as most would have been snapped up especially by the restaurants offering this dish. And eating in these restaurants may set you back by a couple of hundreds.

 Ingredients:

• 4 pcs Yee Mee
• 2 large prawns
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 pc ginger, 2 inch x 0.5 inch, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small bunch of green onion, 4 inches long
• 1.5-2 litres of water
• 6 big leaves of Chinese cabbage, cut to 1-inch length 
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp corn flour + 4 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

Instructions:

• Wash and slice the huge prawns into 2 each. (Start by placing the prawn on its side. Using a sharp knife/chopper, slice through the shell along the side to cut the body into 2 with the head still intact. Next, turn the prawn onto its back with the 2 sides apart. Place the knife/chopper on the middle of the head and use your hand to hit the knife/chopper to cut the head into 2.). Remove the entrails.

• Heat up the wok with cooking and sesame oils.

• Add the ginger, garlic and green onion to the oil.

• When these are fragrant, add the water to the oil and let it boil.

• Add the prawns to the boiling water. If your prawns are very big, boil them for about 4-5 minutes till they are cooked. Smaller prawns require about 2-3 minutes. Remove the prawns and set them aside.

• Add the Chinese cabbage to the broth.

• Add the seasonings of salt, light soy sauce, pepper and brown sugar.

• Break the eggs into a bowl and then add them to the broth.

• Add Chinese cooking wine.

• Add the corn flour slurry to thicken the sauce.

• Add the yee mee to the wok for a couple of minutes (if you like to braise the yee mee). Otherwise, place the yee mee onto your serving plates and pour the broth over it. Top it with the cooked prawns.

• Serve it immediately.

Assam Laksa

Most of us in the family love Assam Laksa; it is spicy, sour, sweet, salty and aromatic. The aroma comes from the torch ginger flower (bunga kantan), the lemongrass (serai), the galangal (lengkuas) as well as the fish used in preparing the soup. I love to use the mackeral (kembong) in my soup. However, some prefer to use the sardine. The thick soup is served over the thick rice noodles and the dish is garnished with cucumber, pineapple, onion, torch ginger flower and mint. Some of us love to eat it with more shrimp paste (hae ko) added to it. Usually one bowl is not enough for each person. Thus, we always have to prepare a lot of soup, noodles and the garnishes so that everyone can eat to his or heart's content.

Ingredients:

• 450 g rice noodles (for 4 pax)

       For blending:

• 100 g red chilies
• 10 g dried chilies
• 70 g big onions
• 70 g shallots
• 3 lemongrass stalks, the white part only
• 1 inch belacan, toasted
• 1 inch galangal

    For the soup:

• 1 kg ikan kembong
• 2-2.5 litres water

• All the blended spices above
• 100 g daun kesum
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 2 torch ginger stalks (bunga kantan), quartered lengthwise
• 6 pcs of assam keping
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2.5 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 tbsp shrimp paste

    For Garnishing:

• cucumber
• pineapple
• big onion
• torch ginger
• bird's eye chilies
• mint, optional
• lettuce, optional
• egg, optional

Method:

• Prepare a big pot of boiling water.
• Add the rice noodles to the boiling water.
• Let the water continue to boil for 15-20 minutes.
• Cover the pot, turn off the fire and let the noodles sit in the pot till they soften.

• Boil 2.5 litre of water in another big pot.
• Add the kembong to the pot and let the fishes cook.
• Once they are cooked, remove them from the pot.
• Remove the fish meat from the bones. Mash the fish meat and return them to the pot.
• Add the bones to a blender. Add some water to blend the bones. Once done, sieve the fish bone water to the pot. Discard the mashed up bone.
• Add all the blended ingredients to the pot.
• Add the daun kesum, the bruised lemongrass, the quartered torch ginger flower, assam keping, sugar, salt and shrimp paste to the pot.
• Let the soup boil. (The longer you boil, the more fragrant and tasty the soup will be.) 
• Test for sourness, saltiness, spiciness and sweetness. You may add more assam keping, salt, chili, sugar or shrimp paste.
• The soup is ready for consumption.

• Garnishing:
• Julienne the cucumber.
• Slice the onion as thinly as possible.
• Slice the pineapple thinly.
• Cut the bird eye chilies.
• Slice the torch ginger flower thinly.

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.)

Lo Mai Gai (Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken)

Lo Mai Gai is a savoury dish sold in Chinese dim sum restaurants. It is steamed glutinous or sticky rice topped with chicken, Shiitake mushroom and Chinese sausage slices. It usually comes in small metal bowls which is overturned onto a plate when brought to the customers in these restaurants. Nowadays, we do not have to patronise these dim sum restaurants to savour them. We are able to buy them from stalls selling Chinese buns which are usually located outside coffee shops. While these are delicious, we find them to be too oily. By cooking them ourselves (and it is easy to make them) we are able to reduce the amount of oil and salt and add more ingredients like the chicken, Shiitake mushrooms and Chinese sausage or lap cheong to make them even more delicious. 

Ingredients:

• For the rice: (5 pax)
• 2 cups glutinous rice, soaked for at least 4 hours
• 5 shallots (or more), chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp dried prawns (small size), soaked
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

• For the ingredients:
• 10 slices of chicken, either thigh or breast meat
• 2 pcs Shiitake mushroom, soaked and cut into 5 big or 10 smaller pieces
• 2-inch ginger, chopped and squeezed for the juice)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 pc Chinese sausage, soak, remove casing and cut into 10 slices
• 1/2 cup water

• Garnishing
• 1 stalk green onion, cut into small pcs

Method:

• Wash and soak the glutinous rice for a minimum of 4 hours. (However, I prefer to soak them overnight so that it takes a shorter period to cook.)

• Marinate the chicken and mushroom with ginger juice, salt, 5-spice powder, sesame oil, light and dark soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine for at least 2 hours.

• Add cooking oil to a kuali. (I use only 3 tbsp but add more if you want a more oil Lo Mai Gai.)

• Fry the dried prawns till they are fragrant. Remove them and set aside.

• Saute the shallots and garlic till they are fragrant.

• Add the dried prawns back to the kuali.

• Add the glutinous rice and fry them.

• Add light and dark soy sauce, salt, 5-spice powder and pepper and continue to fry them till all are well-mixed. (You may add more dark soy sauce if you wish for the rice to be darker.)

• Stir-fry the rice for a few minutes till the rice is fragrant.

• Add 1/2 cup of water to the rice and continue to fry the rice till the water is absorbed.

• Meanwhile, fill a steamer with water and boil the water.

• Transfer the rice to a metal plate. Put the plate into the steamer to steam the rice till partially cooked, approximately 15 minutes.

• Taste the rice when done. Add more light soy sauce if you like it to be more salty.

• While the rice is being steamed, use the same kuali to fry the Chinese sausage slices till oil comes out. Remove the sausage slices without the oil and set them aside.

• Use the sausage oil to fry the chicken and mushroom slices. Add 1/2 cup of water to the kuali and fry them till they are cooked.

• To assemble, place 2 pieces of marinated chicken, 1-2 mushroom pieces (depending how you cut them (black part facing downward) and 2 pieces Chinese sausages on the base of the bowl. (My bowl measures 10.5 cm in diameter.)

• Scoop the glutinous rice into the bowl covering the ingredients.

• Spoon the remainder sauce from the chicken to the rice.

• Cover the bowl with aluminium foil to prevent water from getting into the rice during steaming. Take care not to let the foil touch the rice.

• Steam the rice for 30 minutes till it is fully cooked. Add more time if the rice is not fully cooked or you prefer a softer rice texture.

• It can be served hot or cold.

• Garnish with green onions before serving.

• Note: It can be frozen if you cannot finish them. Just take them out from the freezer and place on the table to return them to room temperature. Steam for a short period before serving them.

Thosai

 

    

Thosai is a savoury Indian pancake or crepe. It is made from fermented batter consisting of dhal (lentils), rice (cooked and uncooked), salt and water. It which is usually served with dhal curry.  My husband loves thosai as it is a healthy food.

I watched many videos on YouTube to find out the ingredients needed and the method to make them. These videos showed the same amount and type of ingredients and the method. However, this is my first time making them. So, I halved all the ingredients. Using my 24 cm non-stick pan I managed to cook up 12 pieces of thosai.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of uncooked rice
• 0.5 cup of dhal (kacang thosai or urid dhal or ulunthu dhal
• 1 tsp halba / fenugreek
• 0.5 cup cooked rice
• Water as required
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Add uncooked rice, dhal and halba to a pot. Washed them.

• Soak the ingredients overnight.

• Add cooked rice to the soaked ingredients the next day.

• Add 1/4 of the ingredients to a blender.

• Add enough water to cover these ingredients.

• Blend till the batter is smooth.

• Transfer the batter into a pot.

• Repeat till all the ingredients are blended.

• Add salt to the batter.

• Use your hand to mix the salt into the batter in a circular motion. (This is important for the batter to ferment.)

• Cover the pot and let the batter ferment for at least 10 hours.

• Lightly grease a non-stick pan with a silicon brush or a piece of cloth tied up into a ball.

• Scoop 2 scoops of batter into the pan.

• Use the base of your scoop to swirl the batter in a circular motion making rings on it.

• Cover the pan to cook the crepe.

• When you see bubbles on the surface of the crepe, it means that it is cooked.

• Fold 1/2 of the crepe onto the other half using a spatula.

• Transfer the crepe onto a serving plate.

• Serve with your curry. It can also be eaten with butter and sugar.

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.

Spicy Fried Glass Noodles

 

      

 

Spicy Fried Glass Noodles is an easy meal which can be speedily dished up when you are tired of spending lots of time cooking in your kitchen. It is also a versatile dish; you may add seafood or meat in it. Here, I have used prawns to cook it. It is such a yummy dish that my son had asked me to cook it a few times since I first cooked it.

Ingredients:

• 150 g glass noodles (My rough guide is 75 g per person.)
• 4-6 large prawns
• 2 tbsp dried prawns
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 inches ginger
• 1 stalk green onions
• 1 tbsp chili paste or sambal (Sambal will make the noodles more tasty as it has shrimp paste, garlic and onions incorporated into the chili paste.)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp cooking oil (Add more if you want your glass noodles to be glossy.)
• 1/2 cup water

 

Method:

• Soak glass noodles in warm water for about 8-10 minutes. Glass noodles bought from one shop may turn soft faster than those bought from another. Feel them at the 8th minute to ensure that they are not too soft. Remove and set them aside.

• Wash, cut off the rostrum, antenna, legs and tails and de-vein the prawns.

• Wash and pound/chop the dried prawns.

• Mince the garlic.

• Mince the ginger.

• Wash and cut the green onions to 1/2 inch length.

• Heat up the cooking oil in a wok.

• Saute garlic, ginger, chili paste or sambal and dried prawns till fragrant.

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

• Add water and let it boil.

• Add the seasonings - light and dark soy sauces, salt and pepper.

• Add the glass noodles and fry them till they are cooked. Sprinkle them with green onions. Give them a quick stir and ladle them up onto a serving plate.

Spaghetti in Garlic-Infused Olive Oil with Stir-fried Vegetables

     

     

The most common types of pasta are spaghetti, fettuccine, angel hair pasta, macaroni, fusilli, bow ties (farfalle), penne, ziti, linguine and lasagna. Spaghetti is one of the most popular pasta types which can be paired with a wide variety sauces, for example, marinara sauce with meats and vegetable. However, the simplest way to cook it is just with garlic and olive oil. Garlic-infused oil is full of essential nutrients; it contains selenium, allicin, vitamin C, vitamin B6, copper and zinc that helps control acne. The anti-inflammatory properties help soothe inflamed skin according to Times of India. Other benefits include reduce of hair fall, good for cardiovascular health, lower bad cholesterol, protect against cold, etc.

This is the first time I am cooking Spaghetti in Garlic-Infused Olive Oil with Stir-fried Vegetables. The spaghetti is so delicious that it can be eaten on its own without any vegetable.

Ingredients:

• 75 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 120 g spaghetti (my rule of thumb is 60 g per person.

• 50 g red capsicum
• 50 g broccoli
• 25 g carrots
• 25 g prawns
• 25 g squids
• 2 pcs Shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Method:

• Cook the spaghetti according to instructions on the wrapper.

• Peel the garlic and slice them thinly.

• Add olive oil to a small pot.

• Turn on the fire to the lowest possible.

• Add the sliced garlic to the pot. Let it cook for about 20 minutes until you can smell the aroma. The garlic should not brown.

• Wash and cut all vegetables. You can vary the quantity and type of vegetables.

• Once the garlic oil is ready, spoon it onto the spaghetti. Add salt and pepper. Stir until the oil and seasonings are well-combined with the spaghetti.

• Add the balance of the oil to a kuali.

• Add the Shiitake mushroom and fry till it is fragrant.

• Add squids and prawns and fry till they are half-cooked.

• Add carrots, broccoli and red capsicum (in this order so that the red capsicum is not overcooked).

• Once the vegetables are cooked, pour them onto the spaghetti.

• The spaghetti is ready to be served.

Fried Loh Shi Fun

 

Loh Shi Fun is also known as silver needle noodle, rice pin noodle, bee tai bak and rat tail noodle. It is made from rice flour and shaped like a 2-inch long rat tail. Thus, the name rat tail noodle.  Most of the time it is fried with eggs, beansprouts and prawns. However, some people braised it with meat. While others cook soup with it. Whichever way it is cooked, it is delicious as it is smooth and has a taste of its own. Fried loh shi fun is a good alternative to rice. I fried it once in a while when we were bored with eating rice.

Ingredients:

• 450 g loh shi fun
• 2 eggs
• 2 pcs Shiitake mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 15 g dried prawns
• 50 g fresh prawns (medium size)
• 150 g bean sprouts
• 1 pc red chili
• 1 stalk chives
  
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Method:

• Preparation

• Wash and soak Shiitake mushrooms in hot water till soft. Slice them thinly.

• Peel and chop the garlic.

• Wash and soak the dried prawns. Chop or pound them finely.

• Wash, peel an de-vein the fresh prawns.

• Wash and transfer to a colander to drain of the water.

• Wash and chop the red chili finely.

• Wash and cut the chives finely.

• Frying

• Heat up a wok with cooking and sesame oils.

• Add the mushroom slices and dried prawns and fry them till they are fragrant.

• Add the garlic and fry them till they are slightly brown and fragrant.

• Add the fresh prawns and fry them till they are half cooked..

• Add the loh shi fun, bean sprouts and red chili.

• Add the seasonings - light and dark soy sauce, salt and pepper.

• Stir fry till all the ingredients are cooked.

• Ladle them up into a serving bowl or plate.

• Sprinkle the chives on top.

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.