Bacon and egg cups

Makes 6

6 slices of regular bread, the square kind
6 eggs (I used large ones)
6 splashes of milk
6 slices of bacon
6 tablespoons of grated cheese plus extra for topping
salt & pepper
butter for greasing

Equipment:
6-cup jumbo muffin tin

1) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

2) Grease the cups with butter. Push each slice of bread into the cups.

3) Add 1 tablespoon of cheese to each cup.

3) Fry the bacon till they're half cooked and arrange it around the inside.

4) Place them in the oven for 5 minutes.

5) While it's in the oven, beat the eggs and milk and season with salt and pepper.

6) Remove the muffin tin from the oven and pour over the eggs equally in each cup. It may run over to the sides of the bread. It's OK. As long as it's not spilling over the cup.

7) Top with extra cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Egg should be clean when you insert a skewer.

8) Remove from the tin and serve.

Chinese whole roasted duck with homemade pancakes

Serves 2 very greedy people or 4 if you have other dishes

For the duck:
1 litre of water
3 tablespoons honey
1 orange, sliced (or if you have dried orange peel, put about 2 of those in to substitute)
3 tablespoon dark soy
150 ml tsao tsing wine
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice + extra
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 star anise
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 slices of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
Salt

For the pancakes:
285g plain flour
250 - 270ml very hot water
Sesame oil

To serve:
Sliced cucumbers
Sliced spring onions
Hoisin sauce

Equipment:
Meat hook ( I actually don't have one so I MacGyver-ed it with a metal clothes hanger)

1. Wash the duck thoroughly, plus inside the cavity. Pat dry.

2. In a large pot with 1 litre of water, add the honey, orange, soy, wine,  1/2 teaspoon of five spice, pepper, 1 star anise, cinnamon, 2 slices of ginger and 1 clove of garlic. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer for 10-20 mins.

3. Cut off the feet and wings off the duck (I didn't because I like those bits) Hook the duck on the head end and hold it on top of the pot. Turn up the heat - it has to be really hot. Using a ladle, baste the whole duck in hot stock, letting the stock run back down into pot the till the skin is slightly dark yellow. Reserve the liquid (optional if you can't find hoisin sauce).

4. Hang it to dry for 5 hours or over night, in front of a fan. After 5 hours the skin should feel very tight, shiny and dry.

My husband, just hanging out with our duck

5. Season the duck inside with salt, pepper, a pinch of five spice, a pinch of cinnamon, one star anise, 2 slices of ginger, and 2 cloves of garlic. Don't season the skin. Preheat the oven to 240 degrees Celsius.

6.  Remove the hook and place the duck on a rack with a tray under it filled with 150ml of water. Roast the duck at 240 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, then lower to 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour 10 minutes. Halfway through I wrapped the feet and tips of the wings in foil so they won't get burnt. If you've cut them before roasting then you don't need to do this step.

7. While the duck is in the oven, make the pancakes. (Or you can make this while the duck is hanging out to dry) In a bowl, stir in the hot water into the flour until it's absorbed. Knead for about 5-10 minutes until it's smooth. Cover and rest for half hour. It should look like this:

8. After 30 minutes, take it out of the bowl and knead it again for a minute. If it's sticky, dust a bit of flour. Roll into a cylinder 18 inch long by 1 inch. Cut into 1 inch segments. It should make about 18.

9. Roll two segments at a time into two balls. Take one of the balls and dip the bottom part into sesame oil and then put that on top of the other ball. Roll them out into 6 inch circles. Be careful not to seal the outside too much. Use some flour to dust if it gets too sticky.

10. Cook in a dry pan on low heat until it's dry and slightly browned. Let it cool and then carefully separate the two pancakes.

11. I couldn't find hoisin sauce at my convenient store so I had to make my own sauce. I used the basting liquid and reduced it till it was syrupy, then thickened it with some cornflour mixed with water. If you can find hoisin sauce, then skip this step.

12. Remove the duck from the oven and allow it to rest, uncovered for about 20-30 minutes. Slice the duck and serve with pancakes, cucumbers, spring onions and sauce.

* The ducks in Singapore markets are not very meaty. My mother says it's because the sellers save the biggest ones for the hawkers and the restaurants. I don't know what it's like in other countries though! 

If you are able to get real chummy with your poultry seller and get him to save you a big one, that would be cool. But a normal duck from the supermarket or wet market will feed two greedy people (my husband and I ate it all... at one go) and about four normal folks.

I adapted this recipe from Ken Hom with a 1980s haircut. You can check it out on YouTube here. It's his recipe for Peking Duck. I don't want to call this Peking Duck because you really need some skill and proper equipment to make that. The traditional Peking duck  skin has to be really crispy, but in our normal ovens it may not be possible. But this recipe is still good and quite crispy anyway! 

Hot and sour soup

Serves 6

Chicken marinade:
2 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips (mine were really small so feel free to use one big one)
1 teaspoon tsao tsing wine
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 Chinese dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, cut into strips
1 large piece wood ear fungus (Mok Ee or Mu Er), soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, cut into strips
3/4 cup boiled bamboo shoots, cut into strips (mine came pre-boiled but if they're not, boil them for 2-3 minutes)
2 slices ginger, cut into strips
2 large cloves of garlic, cut into strips
150 grams firm tofu, cut into strips

600 ml water

Soup seasoning:
1/3 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
3 teaspoon Chilli bean sauce or I used Singlong Super Chili Sauce (Don't use the sweet chili sauce that have the same consistency as tomato ketchup)
2 teaspoons chicken powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 springs of coriander, chopped
3 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar
1 teaspoon Chinese rice vinegar
1/3 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil

To thicken the soup:
7 teaspoons cornflour
25ml water

1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water


1.  Soak the shitake and wood ear mushrooms in hot water for 15 -20 minutes and squeeze out the water.

2. Marinade the chicken strips and leave in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3. Cut the bamboo shoots, shitake, wood ear, ginger, garlic and tofu into strips.

4. In a saucepan, bring 600ml of water to a boil.

5. Prepare the soup seasoning by mixing ingredients all together in a small bowl.

6. Prepare the thickener by mixing the cornflour and water in another bowl.

7. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and water. Have all three bowls ready beside your stove.

8. In a wok on high heat, heat about 1 - 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the garlic and ginger. Add the chicken and let it brown a little. Add the shitake, woodear and bamboo strips and fry for about 1-2 minutes till it's fragrant.

9. Pour the boiling water to the wok.

10. Turn the heat down to medium and add the soup seasoning. Mix well.

11. Turn the heat up to high again and add the cornflour and water mixture. Stir quickly.

12. Once it's thickened, turn down to low and drizzle in the egg mixture. Do not move the soup and count to 20 before gently stirring.

13. Add in the tofu strips to heat them up. Serve into bowls.

* This recipe was adapted from Wantanmien on YouTube. She used pork instead of chicken but feel free to use pork too. I wouldn't use beef though. 

It may seem like a lot of ingredients and complicated but it's really not! All the ingredients are what a Chinese kitchen already has. All I did was buy some fresh chicken, bamboo shoots and tofu. The rest I already had in my cupboard, including the mushrooms and wood ear. 

The only time consuming work is the preparation, slicing of the ingredients. Doesn't take very long though! You can also make it ahead of time. But make sure you add in the tofu just before serving or they'll break up if you stir too much.

Vegan Black Metal Chef

No I'm not turning vegan but this guy's videos are freaking funny!! He sings to heavy metal to all his recipes. Just been reading his blog, a post about how veganism is cheap. It is definitely cheap here in Singapore, but not sure about other parts of the world.

We eat a lot of seitan in Singapore in the form of mock chicken or duck and it really absorbs flavours very well. I remember our old neighbour used to make a whole batch and she'd give some of it to us.

My family grew up as Buddhists and often went to the temple to have vegetarian food on special festivals. The monks were awesome cooks! Although we've stopped going to temple now, I still think about their vegetarian curry with fried vermicelli (I have a non-vegetarian recipe here), and their deep fried corn fritters. It was free for anyone who went to the temple on Vesak Day, I think.

There's also a shop opposite my former work place Nature Vegetarian Catering that had lots of really good vegetarian food - and they don't use any eggs or milk. I bought some mock meat there once and made a chili con carne out of it. It was pretty good - it does not taste at all like meat, but it was good.

Anyway, he's done a loads of vegan episodes. (Although I have to warn you, you probably can't watch a whole load of them at once if you're not a heavy metal fan!!)

You can subscribe to his YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/VeganBlackMetalChef
Or subscribe to my YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/CarmenChanCooks
( I don't do a lot of vegetarian or vegan recipes though!)

Paleontologist's Birthday Cake

My sister made this birthday cake for my nephew's 5th birthday over the weekend. He absolutely loves dinosaurs so this was the perfect cake for Cian!

So easy to make... The base of the cake is with the help of Betty (Crocker), the "dirt" is made from bashed up Oreo cookies and then chocolate bars placed around the cake.

She buried the toy dinosaur bones in the dirt and the birthday boy uses a brush to brush off the dirt and dig up the bones. Genius!

Hainanese Pork Chop

Serves 4 - 6

For the meat:
5- 6 pieces of pork cutlets
2 tablespoons water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 beaten egg
Pinch of finely ground white pepper
About 10 cream crackers (or you can use normal breadcrumbs or panko)
Vegetable, peanut or ground nut oil for frying

Vegetables:
2 small - medium waxy potatoes, cut into wedges
2 red onions, cut into wedges
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Large handful of canned or frozen peas
Vegetable, peanut or ground nut oil for frying

Sauce:
10 tablespoons water or stock
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon HP sauce
1/2 tablespoon chili sauce/hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon finely ground white pepper

1. Tenderise the pork by flattening the cutlets with a mallet.

2. Marinade the  pieces in the water, salt, sugar, beaten egg and white pepper.

3. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chips (or whatever shape you like!). Soak them in water to prevent them from discolouring.

4. Pound he cream crackers till they resemble breadcrumbs.

5. Cut the onions and tomatoes into wedges, and chop up the garlic.

6. In a bowl, whisk all the ingredients for the sauce.

7. Drain and pat dry the potatoes and shallow fry them wok or pan in oil till they're golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Reserve the oil for later.

8. In another pan or wok, heat up fresh oil. Coat the cutlets in the breadcrumbs and fry them till golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

9. Using the reserved oil from the potatoes, fry the onions till they soften and become translucent. Then add the garlic and fry for a minute.

10. Add the sauce, then the tomatoes and peas and simmer till the tomatoes soften.

11. Slice up the pork cutlets.

12. Throw the potatoes and pork back into the sauce to heat up, and serve immediately. (Or, you can place the potatoes and pork in a low oven after frying to keep warm while you make the sauce, then pour over the sauce when ready to serve. )

* You may wish to either increase the amounts for the sauce, or decrease the number of pork cutlets to 4 or 5, or use smaller potatoes, depending on whether you like lots of sauce or not. If you like loads of sauce to eat with steamed rice, I suggest using 4 or 5 cutlets, and smaller potatoes. Or, increasing the amount for the sauce!

I've also done a recipe for Cantonese style Sweet and Sour pork. The sauce and ingredients differ slightly from Hainanese Pork Chop. The former uses slightly fatty pork, while the latter uses lean pieces of pork. 

During the colonial days in Singapore, British households employed Hainanese cooks and this dish was named probably because it was Hainanese cooks who made it.

It must have been what they thought was Western food as it consists of tomato ketchup and potato chips (fries), HP sauce and Worcestershire sauce. But they also used traditional Asian ingredients such as oyster sauce, making it a truly fusion dish. 

To view other Singaporean food recipes:

The Real Singapore Noodles - Char Bee Hoon
Singapore Mutton Soup - Soup Kambing
Pigs Organ Soup 
Singapore Prawn Noodles Soup
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Fishball Minced Pork Noodles
Crockpot Singapore Chicken Curry
Crockpot Chinese Hamburger - Kong Bak Pau
Kung Po Frog Legs
Chinese Roast Pork Belly

Eurasian food

My husband is a very unusual ang mo (local term for Caucasians) - he loves to try new foods. So yesterday he said, let's go to the Eurasian restaurant near our place. (We've just moved to the East side of Singapore a few months ago). I very very shamefully said, "I've never had Eurasian food."

I've lived in Singapore almost all my life and went to school at Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Secondary with many Eurasian girls, and yet it's one cuisine I just never thought to try.

For my non-Singaporean readers, Eurasian is one of the four official races in Singapore - the others are Chinese, Malay and Indian - and are descended from Europeans who intermarried with local Asians.

So we went to Quentin's at the Eurasian Association with our Serbian housemate and my father-in-law, both are very picky eaters. I was anticipating that they might be ordering McDonald's when we got home.

We ordered the Debal Rabu De Baca (Oxtail devil curry) and Porku Semur (Pork Smore) and the portions are huge. I wish we'd brought more people along so we could try more dishes.

The oxtail devil curry is really rich and a little spicy, and the other is a stew with spices and blended onions. The menu says that the oxtail devil curry is "A Devilishly addictive dish". It's not wrong! Our picky eater housemate kept eating and eating, that's why when I took the picture above almost all the oxtails were gone. Sorry about that! I should have taken a picture before everyone charged at it.

I know a lot of Singaporeans like me who have not tried Eurasian food. Please do it! There are not many restaurants out there, but if you're living in the East go to Quentin's. Out of this world!

Quentin's The Eurasian Restaurant
139 Ceylon Road​​
Eurasian Community House, Level 1
Singapore 429744
www.quentins.com.sg

Anyway, I think I will do a video recipe soon for an Eurasian dish. I'm not sure which yet! In the meantime, check out my YouTube Channel, and see below for more Singaporean recipes.

The Real Singapore Noodles - Char Bee Hoon
Singapore Mutton Soup - Soup Kambing
Pigs Organ Soup 
Singapore Prawn Noodles Soup
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Fishball Minced Pork Noodles
Crockpot Singapore Chicken Curry
Crockpot Chinese Hamburger - Kong Bak Pau
Kung Po Frog Legs
Chinese Roast Pork Belly

Pumpkin Cheesecake

25 days to Thanksgiving! Last year I did a turducken (chicken that's stuffed inside a duck that's stuffed inside a turkey), this year, we're going to try and roast a whole pig. I'm having difficulty finding a whole fresh one in Singapore but I'm sure it's possible....

Another recipe I'm definitely going to try out for Thanksgiving is this Pumpkin Cheesecake from Chef John of foodwishes.com. He's amazing. Watch the video!