Stir Fried Bee Hoon (Mee Hoon)

A basic asian meal. The recipe has been adapted for the health conscious.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 20 Min
READY IN 30 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course

INGREDIENTS
Bee Hoon, 1/2 packet (or 2 servings), soak in water for a short while
6-8 celery stalks, chopped into thin slices
Garlic, 3-4 cloves (finely chopped)
Dried mushrooms, soaked in water for at least an hour, 1 small packet of around 100gm
1 chicken breast, sliced
Fish cake, 1 packet
Chilli powder, to taste
Ikan bilis stock, non-msg version, half cube
Cooking oil
Chilli padi, to taste
Salt, to taste
Soy sauce, to taste
Pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with salt, soy sauce and pepper, just for a short while (approx 10 mins, though the longer the better). Shallow fry in a pan with some cooking oil. Remove and set aside for use later.
2. Next, heat up the oil on low heat in a wok or pan. Fry the garlic and then add in the celery before the garlic browns. Add the mushrooms and the fish cake. Sprinkle a little bit of water to prevent over-use of oil if necessary. Add some salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Break up the ikan bilis stock and add a little bit of water to make a slight paste. Toss it over the soaked and drained bee hoon (uncooked). Mix well.
4. Once the mushrooms are cooked and the celery is soft enough to your liking (depending on whether you prefer it crunchy, we prefer it slightly overcooked), toss in the bee hoon. Mix well on low heat. If there is not enough water, be careful not to pour but just drizzle / sprinkle a little bit and continue mixing and turning until the bee hoon is cooked to a nice consistency and the water is soaked up.
5. Add chilli paddi if you prefer a spicy dish. Toss in your chicken at the end.

TIPS
Note: How long you soak the bee hoon depends on how thick/what brand of bee hoon you buy. We personally like a thicker bee hoon to fry. For soup based dishes, you can use the thinner type. Usually the prep time (10-15 mins) is enough time to soak the bee hoon, however if it is thicker, at the final stage, when you toss in the bee hoon to mix with the ingredients, you may have to keep it on low heat and mix for a longer period of time until it is properly cooked and the bee hoon is not too soggy or dry. Sprinkle water sparingly.

You can use seafood rather than chicken if you prefer.

Homemade Chicken Rice

The chicken rice is a very cheap & popular dish served at local food centres. It is tasty and suits most palates. Definitely a dish to recommend to visitors to Singapore or Malaysia who are not all that used to Asian cooking. The food centre version is usually portrayed to be delicious yet sinful, here we teach you how to make a healthier version at home. It is not hard to make at all!

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 35 Min
READY IN 40-50 Min (depends on how good you are at multitasking ;))

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course

INGREDIENTS

1 small frozen or fresh chicken
Half a packet of chye sim or any other leafy vegetables, washed and cut
2 baby carrots, sliced
1 onion, sliced into rings
1 cup rice
4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Ginger, finely chopped OR Ginger paste, to taste
Pepper
Sea Salt
Soya sauce
Chicken stock, non-msg version (half a cube)
Sesame oil (a drizzle)
Cooking oil
Spring onions or coriander (a handful) for garnish
Cucumber (optional)
Chilli sauce (optional)
Mirin (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare and wash the chicken. Make slits across the skin and cut out as much skin as possible for a healthier meal. Use a fork to poke parts of the chicken especially the breast meat area. The holes will allow the marinate to soak through better and improves the flavour of the mea tdish. Marinate with salt and pepper. Marinate with mirin too (if desired, though not necessary).

2. Boil water in a pot. Once the water boils, you can throw the chicken into the boiling water. Mine took around 20 minutes to cook. Just test by poking through the meat with a chopstick, if it comes out clean, your chicken is cooked. Fish out of the water and set aside.

3. While the chicken is cooking, you can heat oil in a pan. In this case, I used olive oil, a healthier alternative and because there is no heavy frying involved. Stir fry the garlic followed by the ginger (or ginger paste). Put the stir fried garlic and ginger together the washed rice in the rice cooker. Break into small pieces the half cube of the chicken stock and place into the mixture. Add a little bit of water and cook rice as per the norm.

4. While you leave the chicken to cool, the soup stock made naturally can be used to make a light vegetable soup. Throw onions and carrots (which take a longer time to cook but which add a delicious sweet flavour), followed by chye sim or any other leafy vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Once the chicken cools, cut the chicken up with a knife or a big pair of scissors. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, sea salt and pepper (all to taste) and rub all over.

6. Garnish the chicken with coriander or cucumber if you have that.

7. Once your rice is ready, serve plain, garnished with spring onions, additional ginger paste or with chilli sauce. Together with the boiled but very tasty chicken and vegetable soup, it comes together as a very hearty meal indeed.

TIPS
Note: In cooking the rice, if it is in time, the chicken broth from boiling the chicken instead of water can be used instead for a richer chicken flavour.

More ginger paste or chopped ginger can be used if you love that gingery taste, which we do.

Be careful not to overcook your chicken, otherwise it will not be moist.

We did not use chilli sauce as it is too much trouble to make for one meal. There was no need for it either. The dish was really satiating on its own. If you are one of those who needs the chilli sauce, perhaps you can get the bottled version for your convenience. Or try making it and share with us your recipe.

Enjoy! Xox (We had the rice and the soup served separately and did not want to take pictures as we were just too famished, our apologies!)

How to make pesto sauce

Please refer to my last post: http://cooking.tanejas.com/2009/10/chicken-tomato-pesto-pasta.html

You may wish to make your own pesto sauce, which I have done before. You can actually grow your own herbs at home, Cold Storage occasionally sells the potted basil plants. I am pretty tempted to take one home and try my hand (not so green) at it.

PREP TIME 10 mins

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves as a condiment

INGREDIENTS
Fresh basil leaves, a packet / a large handful
Pine nuts, a handful
Pecorino cheese, a handful
Garlic cloves, 2
Salt and pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup

DIRECTIONS
TIPS
Note:

(a) Use a food processor to blend everything together instead of a mortar and pestle.

(b) Instead of pecorino cheese, I used shredded mozzarella cheese (those sold in a packet) instead and it worked out fine.

(c) Once, I didn't have pine nuts and used walnuts instead and it worked out fine as well.

(d) Be creative with substitutes you never know what you get!

(b) For those who are privy to the magic of mirin and have a bottle at home, you can add in a tbsp when you are marinating your chicken breasts. It gives the stock a delicious flavour. I recommend though if you use mirin, you can forgo the salt in your chicken breasts.

(c) If you do not want that slightly creamy texture or for the diet conscious, you can skip the mayonnaise.

Simple chicken macaroni soup

Good when you are craving a simple home cooked meal and something soupy, or when you are at home nursing a flu.

PREP & COOK TIME 20-30 Min
READY IN 30 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course.

INGREDIENTS
2 cloves, finely chopped garlic (optional)
2 chicken breasts, deskinned and deboned
Macaroni (Elbow pasta), 2 cups (approximately 1/2 of the standard packet)
Spring onions, to garnish
Paprika / Chilli powder
Pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Chicken stock cube, 1/2
1 medium onion, slice into rings (optional)
2 carrots, chop coarsely (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1.Rub the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Boil the chicken breasts in half a pot of water. Throw in the carrots and onion rings for a nicer flavour (optional). Put in the halved chicken stock cube. Remove the chicken breasts once cooked and allow to cool. Shred the chicken breasts and leave aside.
2. Throw in the macaroni pasta and boil. Taste the soup, add water / salt / pepper as required.
3. At the side, on a heated saucepan, saute the small garlic pieces until slightly browned. Add some chilli powder to the mixture if required.
4. Garnish the cooked macaroni soup with the fried garlic and spring onions.

TIPS
Note:

(a) For those who are privy to the magic of mirin and have a bottle at home, you can add in a tbsp when you are marinating your chicken breasts. It gives a wonderful flavour.

(b) Other than the carrots and onions, you can add in sweet corn / peas / radish etc. if you want the soup to be more naturally flavoured with the sweetness of these vegetables

Chicken Tomato Pesto Pasta

Italian food gourmet style at home - my husband is a fan of pesto pastas, I had set out to make pesto pasta for him one evening. Unfortunately when I went to Cold Storage, the fresh basil leaves (to make the pesto sauce) was retailing at 4 dollars plus. Instead I got a premade pesto powder (McCormicks). There is also premade pesto sauce (more liquified in a glass bottle) which I wanted to get but didn't see that day, hence I got the pesto powder instead, since it was cheaper (and more convenient!) than getting the fresh basil leaves and other ingredients to make the pesto sauce separately. The result was a delicious nicely flavoured pasta - try it at home - you will not be disappointed. Such simple ingredients and yet such a scrumptious plate of pesto pasta. As we are not great photographers, the pictures don't do the dish any justice!

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 10 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course.

INGREDIENTS
2 chicken breasts, deskinned and deboned
Pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Penne pasta, 1/2 packet
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, finely chopped, drained of excess juice and pulp
Mayonnaise, 1 dollop (full tablespoon)
McCormicks pesto sauce mix, 1/2 packet
Hazelnut oil (can be replaced with olive oil)

DIRECTIONS

1.Rub the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Boil the chicken breasts in water (just enough to create a thicker stock). Once the chicken breasts are cooked, retain the flavoured boiled water. Set aside 1/3 cup. Cool the chicken breasts and shred.
2. Cook the penne pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
3. In a heated wok, add in two tablespoons of hazelnut oil. Throw in the onion sand stir fry until the onions become translucent. Throw in the tomatoes. Saute for a while. Add in the pesto powder (or sauce if you bought the sauce version) and the 1/3 cup of chicken stock you saved earlier. Mix well. Add in one dollop of mayonnaise - this replaces sour cream in some pesto pasta recipes - you notice the sauce becomes slightly thicker.
4. Throw in the pasta and mix well. Have some pepper on top before serving. Viola it's done!

TIPS
Note:

(a) The hazelnut oil (gourmet organic and bought from a specialty store - Crescendos) gave the pesto pasta a very rich intense flavour. I am aware most households may not have this - you can still create a delicious recipe using olive oil (without the subtle nutty flavour and aroma of course).

(b) For those who are privy to the magic of mirin and have a bottle at home, you can add in a tbsp when you are marinating your chicken breasts. It gives the stock a delicious flavour. I recommend though if you use mirin, you can forgo the salt in your chicken breasts.

(c) If you do not want that slightly creamy texture or for the diet conscious, you can skip the mayonnaise.

Healthy Grilled Fish with Baked Vegetables

Grilled fish fillet with baked vegetables - choice for the diet-conscious and easy to prepare.

PREP TIME 10 Min (excluding marination time)
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course.

INGREDIENTS
2 huge fish fillets (dory or sutchi or any other similar tasting fish)
1/2 cup of orange juice OR pineapple juice
1 medium sized onion, sliced into rings
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 green pepper, cut into medium sized pieces
1 tsp turmeric powder
dash of pepper
dash of paprika / chilli flakes (optional)
a pinch of salt (approximately 1 tsp)
a wee bit of olive oil
italian mixed herbs, 2 tbsp

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the juice into bowl/deep plate where you intend to marinate the fish. Rub each side of each fillet with the oil, then salt, pepper, turmeric powder and herbs. Coat each fillet with the juice. Throw in the carrots, green pepper and onion rings. Coat the vegetables well with the marinate (juice and everything else in the mixture). Leave the fish and vegetables to marinate for at least 30 mins.
2. Preheat your oven at 220 degree Celsius for approximately five minutes beforehand. On the baking tray which is covered with aluminium foil, arrange the green pepper / carrots on the bottom so that they create a support for the fish fillets. This prevents the fish from becoming too soggy due to the excess liquid marinate. Arrange the onion rings over the fish fillets. Pour the marinate over the onions, fish and vegetables on the baking tray. Bake for approximately 12-15 mins and check with a fork to see if fish is cooked.

TIPS
Note:

(a) Many grilled fish recipes suggest using orange juice as a marinate, and for lime juice to be squeezed over once the fish fillets are cooked. I had no limes and orange juice left, and used pineapple juice instead (with a slight tangy taste in place of lime) - it worked out fine!

(b) I don't like my fish fillets to look pasty white, hence I used turmeric for some colouring. You can leave that out if the colouring is not an issue with you.

(c) goes well with the aglio olio

Spaghetti Aglio Olio Prawn

I always loved the spaghetti aglio olio from Borders cafe - it's a simple dish really, but i enjoy the taste, more so with the fresh huge prawns the pasta dish usually comes with. Borders cafe is pretty generous with their portions, and I am a sucker for portions. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I tried to re-create the same dish with whatever ingredients I already have in the refrigerator.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 10 Min
READY IN 20 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course.

INGREDIENTS
Spaghetti, 1/2 packet
1 tbsp salt (or less to taste)
chilli flakes / paprika, to taste
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Prawns, deshelled and deveined, a handful
2 tbsp basil leaves, chopped (fresh preferred) / OR the same amount of mixed Italian herbs
Red cooking wine, 1 tbsp (optional)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water (and with a dash of salt and olive oil) until al dente. Drain and set aside. Run cool water through the spaghetti to prevent over-cooking (this helps if there is a time lapse to serving after cooking the spaghetti and if the other ingredients are not ready).
2. Dribble the olive oil into the frying pan. Once oil is heated, throw the garlic in and saute for a couple of minutes (before it gets too brown). Next throw in the herbs / basil leaves and the paprika / chilli flakes. Stir frying the herbs / spices ensures that the flavours are infused with the oil. Saute for a bit.
3. Throw in the prawns and saute. Now at this juncture, if you are not into using too much oil, yet you find the stir fried mixture too dry, and you happen to have some leftover wine (in my case I had red cooking wine), you can sprinkle a little bit over the mixture and toss well. This helps to prevent the herbs / garlic / chilli from sticking too much to the pan.
4. Add in the spaghetti and toss well. Add salt to taste. Mix well.
5. Serve with a slight sprinkle of basil / herbs and chilli flakes on the top. Tastes better and prevents the dish from looking too dull.

TIPS
Note:

(a) Use larger, juicier prawns if you are a prawn lover. Duh! In my case (because I am lazy and I am sure many of you working women out there are as well), I usually have a packet of frozen cooked (or uncooked) deveined and deshelled shrimps in the fridge for my convenience. When cooking dishes like the tom yum beehoon in my previous post etc (see: http://cooking.tanejas.com/2009/07/tom-yum-bee-hoon-bi-hun-rice-vermicelli.html), fried rice or any pasta dish, I can conveniently dethaw these prawns to use. Taste wise, it ain't too bad still pretty juicy and (tastes) fresh. It really cuts short the preparation time!

(b) I didn't have basil so I used italian herbs (mixed) which has some amount of basil, rosemary, thyme and other italian herbs for that matter. Still tastes good.

Homemade Bruschetta

Homemade Bruschetta - The lazy cook's way, a non-fussy recipe with simple home ingredients.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 10 Min
READY IN 20 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as an appetizer.

INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp salt (or less to taste)
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
2 tbsp chopped basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Around 4 slices of white bread

DIRECTIONS

1. Ensure that you remove the seeds and juice from the tomatoes before chopping them up. There will be less excess liquid in the bruschetta mixture.
2. Mix salt, basil, pepper, garlic and the olive oil. Toss the mixture over the tomatoes and mix well. Try to refrigerate for at least half an hour in the freezer, these will allow the tomato and basil flavours to blend better.
3. Great to go on baguette loaves, but in my case, we simply use the usual bread slices (and removed the crust).
4. Spoon a moderate amount of the bruschetta mixture on the bread and toast in an oven.

TIPS

Note:

(a) There are many variations of preparing homemade bruschetta. Once can also toast the bread beforehand, and just spoon the cold bruschetta mixture on top before serving. In my case I preferred to toast the bruschetta alongside with the bread (which doesn't take long to toast anyway).

(b) I prefer not to use sugar, you can use though as it's in most traditional recipes.

(c) It will be more authentic of course if you serve your bruschetta on baguette slices instead of the squarish bread slices as I did for mine, but there is really no compromise taste wise!