Stuffed chicken wings

Serves 4 - 6

12 chicken wings
About 300 - 400g fresh pork sausage meat, like a spicy Italian
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

1. Debone the chicken wings. You can watch how to do it here.

2. Remove the sausage meat from its casing and carefully fill the chicken wings with sausage meat. After they're filled, you can usually tuck the top drumette meat back into the skin to make it look neater.

3. Season with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

4. Grill till the meat is firm, about 20 -30 minutes. You can do them in an oven but I find this more of a barbecue, party type food.

5. Serve with dipping sauce of your choice.

* I've used fresh minced pork for this. You can even add some chopped vegetables to minced pork, or for a Thai twist, chopped lemongrass, lime juice, ginger, coriander, fresh chilies, garlic, onions, fish sauce and a bit of kaffir lime leaves. Or just use fresh sausage meat if you're lazy! 

Eurasian Curry Debal (Curry Devil)

Serves 6

For the meat:
About 1.5 kg of chicken (I used legs and thighs, about 10 pieces)
Splash of soy sauce
Few pinches of finely ground white pepper

For the paste:
Grind together -
100g shallots (Comes to about 10 - 12)
200g big onions (About 2-3)
100g ginger (About 4 inch knob)
150g fresh red chilies, deseededAbout 8 - 10)
50g dried red chilies, cut and soaked for 20 minutes in hot water, deseeded *

For the stew:
5 tablespoons oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1.5 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic
1.5kg chicken, marinated with 4 tablespoons light soy and 2 tablespoons pepper for 20 mins
200g bacon bones **
10g mustard seeds, roughly pounded
½ tablespoon salt
½ tablespoon chicken stock powder
2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
10 chicken cocktail sausages
700ml water
1/2 head of cabbage, roughly chopped
1 cucumber peeled, seeds removed and cut into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoon vinegar

To garnish:
A few chili padi
Sprigs of coriander leaves

Watch the video recipe here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znk2uC0U40k 

1. Marinade the chicken in soy sauce and finely ground white pepper for at least 20 minutes.

2. Soak 50g dried chilies in hot water for 20 minutes.

3. Grind together all the ground ingredients of shallots, onions, ginger, dried and fresh red chilies. You may want to chop them up roughly. I put mine in the food processor and blitzed for about 5 minutes.

4. Lightly pound the mustard seeds.

5. Heat oil and fry the garlic, onions and ginger till browned.

6. Add the chicken and bacon bones and continue frying till the chicken changes colour.

7. Add the ground paste, mustard seeds, salt and chicken stock.

8. Wait for the oil to rise.

9. Add the potatoes, cocktail sausages and water.

10. Boil till the potatoes are cooked and the curry thickens.

11. In the meantime, cut the cabbage and cucumber.

12. Add the cabbage, cucumber and vinegar.

13. Garnish with chili padi and coriander leaves. Serve with steamed rice.


* I used small dried chilies which I think is hotter, and I didn't remove the seeds. I was being daring as I thought we could handle the heat but it was a little too spicy. If you love it hot, leave the seeds and use the small ones. If not, use the bigger dried red chilies which are milder, and remove the seeds to keep spice levels low. 

** I couldn't find any so I used smoked bacon belly instead. 

This recipe is adapted from Robin's Eurasian Recipes. I was inspired to cook it after having dinner at Quentin's Eurasian Restaurant at the Eurasian Community House and wrote a little blog about it after. The book is written by the father of the chef of Quentin's. I can't stress how amazing the food there is and I'm so glad I live just five minutes away!

I didn't change too much of the original recipe, except that I added garlic to the list of aromatics, and as mentioned above, I was a little too bold with my dried chilies. I also couldn't find bacon bones, so I used smoked bacon belly instead. I also reduced the amount of cabbage - the original called for 400g, but maybe my cabbage is too heavy?? And reduced the tablespoons of vinegar from 5 to 2.

3 out of 5 adults in my house could take the heat of this and enjoyed it (me included), one couldn't put it to his mouth, the other could only manage one serving. 

The sauce itself is amazing and I reckon it could even be substituted as a vegetarian dish - just replace the chicken stock powder with vegetable stock, and use hard vegetables like pumpkin in place of meat. 

Whole roasted pig on a spit

We decided that in order to top off last year's Turducken (a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey), we had to do something really spectacular.

So, roasting a whole pig was what we decided. This pig turned out to be 26 kilos - we originally ordered a 17 kg pig but they didn't reserve that for us. It took 6 hours to cook, and fed about 25 people - but with plenty of leftovers.

There are no pig farms in Singapore and our pork is imported from Asia and Europe, this one is from Holland. The meat was so delicious and moist. We unfortunately screwed up the crackling as we score the skin enough. But, we had left overs and they could still be saved by removing the skin from the meat and roasting just the skins in a 160 degree Celsius oven for about 20 - 3 minutes.

Our house mate has done this many times before in his home country. However, they make a rotating spit with old windshield car motors. We can't get that here so the whole spit was made from scratch from pieces of wood, wire and metal. It was turned by about 6 people, each taking turns for 20 minutes.

As a side dish, I made a turkey (when you have a 26kg pig, the turkey becomes a side!), Peruvian inspired style, thanks to my favourite YouTube chef, Chef John from Foodwishes.com. I also made his Green Bean casserole, which was actually not much different to my husband's family recipe. And, for dessert also Chef John's pumpkin cheesecake pie.

Ginger wine chicken (Gai zao)

Serves 5

10 pieces chicken drumsticks and thighs
1 1/2 palm sized pieces of old ginger
5 cloves garlic
Woodear mushrooms/"mok ee" fresh or dried, same amount as the ginger.(If using dried woodear, they have to be soaked in hot water for about 10-15 minutes to redydrate)
Ginger liquor or Ginger wine (I used Eu Yan Sang's Ginger liquor, or you can also use Stone's Ginger Wine)
Splash of tsao tsing cooking wine
Splash of sesame oil
Finely ground white pepper
Salt
1 chicken stock cube
2 -3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Enough hot water to just cover the ingredients

1. Marinade the chicken pieces with some salt, finely ground white pepper, a splash of sesame oil, splash of tsao tsing wine, and a splash of the ginger liquor/wine. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes.

2. While it's marinating, peel the ginger and cut it into thin matchstick size, or julienne.

3. Cut the garlic cloves in matchstick sizes too.

4. If you're using dried woodear mushrooms, drain the water. Cut off the hard stems and cut into shreds or julienne. Cut the same amount as the ginger.

5. Heat the oil up oil in a wok and fry the ginger and garlic till there's an aroma, about 3-5 minutes.

6. Throw in the woodear and fry for another 3 minutes. Splash some tsao tsing wine on the side of the wok - it will sizzle.

7. Add hot water, estimate how much you will need to just cover the chicken.

8. Boil for about a minute, then add the chicken pieces along with whatever marinade is in the bowl.

9. Add another splash of tsao tsing wine, about 1/3 cup of ginger liquor (you can use less or more, depending on how much kick you want it to have. Add a little at a time and taste)

10. Add in the chicken stock cube, salt and pepper.

11. Lower the heat and cover for about 15- 20 minutes.

12. Serve hot with steamed rice or on its own.


* This is a very warm and invigorating Cantonese dish, usually made for women in their 30 days confinement after the birth of a child, although it doesn't just have to be women who enjoy it! This is one of my Dad's favourite dishes too. Wine is well known in Chinese food to promote blood circulation, and ginger for its healing properties. 

This recipe was given to me by my Dad's godmother, though she didn't tell me what were her exact measurements. So I usually make this dish by gut feel, sight and taste. Some people like it very gingery spicy, some don't. I like mine super gingery so feel free to cut back on the amount. 

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!

Char bee hoon (The Real Singapore Noodles)

Serves 4

1 handful of dried shrimp
1 handful of dried shitake mushrooms (about 5, depending on their size)
1 handful or bunch of dried rice vermicelli (about 100grams)
1 Chinese tablespoon oyster sauce
1 Chinese tablespoon mix of light soy and dark soy sauce
4 - 5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 handful of Chinese greens (I used choy sum or chye sim), cut into 3 inch pieces
2 - 3 tablespoons fried shallot oil
A bit of sesame oil and sugar
Ground white pepper to taste

Garnishes:

Sambal chili

Pickled green chilies

Fried shallots

1. Soak the shrimps in hot water, enough to fully cover them, for about 30 minutes.

2. Soak the mushrooms in hot water, enough to fully cover them, for 30 minutes.

3. Soak the rice vermicelli in tap or room temperature water for 20 minutes, then drain.

4.  Drain both the shrimp and mushrooms and reserve the soaking liquid, then add the oyster and soy sauce.

5. Slice the mushrooms, removing the stems and marinade them in a bit of soy, sesame oil and sugar.

6. In a mortar and pestle, pound the shrimps. Or you can chop them finely.

7. Chop your garlic.

8. Heat some shallot oil in a wok, then add the garlic and stir till you can smell the aroma. 

9. Add the pounded shrimps and fry, till you can smell that aroma too. 

10. Add the mushrooms, and fry them all together till it smells awesome. Then throw in your drained noodles.

11. Toss and add the reserved liquid (you may not have to use all of it). Keep frying and tossing, for about 5 minutes.

12. Add the greens and fry again for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat, and add a bit of extra sesame oil or finely ground white pepper, if you like. 

13. Garnish with sambal, green chilies and fried shallots. 

* There are so many versions of this dish as most cooks have their own way of preparation. But generally, these are the common ingredients (vegetarians can omit the shrimp and use oyster sauce that's made from mushrooms). 

Great version of fried bee hoon can also be seen on YouTube here on mummyicancook. 

I love the "bastardised" international versions of this dish too, it makes it so much easier to eat and you don't have to make extra dishes like a chicken curry to go along with it. SortedFood/Body Talk Daily have a really great skinny version. 

Although I love the video recipe, I reckon you need to soak the noodles in room temperature water, not hot water. So you can cook the noodles for longer and it will absorb all the other flavours in wok more. It's also more forgiving if you fry it for too long. If you soak it in hot water, not only does the flavours not seep into the noodles, the noodles will become soggy if you fry it for too long. 

Banana Ice Cream

I totally love this girl and her recipes, even though I'm not vegan!

I've made banana ice cream like this before (following Nicko's Kitchen's recipe) but Laura Miller has taken it to another level! No reason not to try this, so easy.

I also love her Chocolate Pudding recipe, which I've made before too.

Spam fries

1 can of Spam serves 4 (but it's really not enough!)

Spam

Oil

1) Cut into desired shape and fry till crispy!

I made two dipping sauces, one with mayonnaise and a Vietnamese hot sauce, and another with half and half of American yellow mustard and hot English mustard. 

Singapore mutton soup (Soup kambing)

Serves 4

Marinade:
About 700g mutton with bone (either shanks or ribs), chopped into 2 inches pieces
1 inch knob old ginger, roughly chopped
1 inch knob blue ginger/galangal, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
6 small red shallots, roughly chopped
3 coriander roots
3 big green chillies, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon methi/fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
About 3 tablespoons groundnut oil for frying and making it into a paste

Soup:
41/2 cups beef/veal or chicken stock (I used store bought beef stock but if you have a home made one, even better)
2 cardamon pods, bruised
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 star anise
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste *
*Optional. The stock may already contain enough salt, and there's already pepper in the marinade

Garnish:
Fresh coriander leaves
Fried shallots
French baguette

1. In a mortar & pestle, food processor or hand blender, blitz the old ginger, blue ginger, garlic, shallots, coriander roots and green chilies together to form a paste (add some oil to make it come together)

2. In a wok, heat about 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil to medium. Fry the fenugreek, mustard and fennel seeds - be careful as they will pop as soon as you do. Quickly throw in the ground paste. Do not burn the fenugreek, mustard or fennel seeds.

3. Fry the spiced paste till it's fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then add the turmeric, curry powder, cumin and white pepper and fry for another minute or so, till it's fragrant. Remove from wok and set aside to cool.

4. Once it's cooled, mix it in with the mutton pieces. Marinade for at least 2 hours.

5. In a pot, bring the stock to a boil with the bruised cardamon pods, cinnamon stick and star anise. When it boils, add in the marinated meat with the spice paste. If there's any spice mix left in the bowl, add a bit of water and throw it all in the pot. Do not waste the paste.

6. Bring to boil for about 3-5 minutes and the lower the heat to the lowest possible and cover for about 2 -3 hours, or until the meat is tender.

7. Remove the meat from the bones and add it back to the soup. Pour in the coconut milk, and add the sugar. Taste to see if you need to add salt and white pepper. Simmer for another 30 minutes before serving.

8. Garnish with fried shallots and coriander leaves. Eat with French bread.

* Mutton is referred to as goat meat or the meat from an adult sheep. In this case, it's goat. I got mine from Tekka Market in Singapore and it's widely available there. Goat meat contains less cholesterol and is less fatty than beef or lamb. It has less calories too. 

If you can't find goat meat, you could probably use adult sheep - or if you can't find that either, you could use lamb. (Although I'm told in some European supermarkets they sometimes try to pass of adult sheep as lamb.)

Some stalls make their Soup Kambing thick, some thin, some not so oily, some with a film of oil on the top (my favourite type!). Although it uses traditional Indian ingredients, Soup Kambing is actually a Singaporean dish, according to Carry It Like Harry . There's no other dish similar in India. Sold mostly by Singaporean Muslim Indians, this rich and flavourful soup is very popular in Singapore and Malaysia, and probably in my top three favourite local dishes.

2 ingredients chocolate cake

3 eggs
165g bars of chocolate ( I used a mixture of milk and dark)


1. Preheat the oven to 170 Celsius.

2. Line and grease a round cake tin (6-7 inches) with baking paper.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and place the whites in a large bowl. Keep the whites in the fridge till ready to use.

4. Break the chocolate into a bowl and melt it over a pot of simmering hot water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water).

5. When the chocolate has cooled, add the yolks and mix with a whisk.

6. Remove the whites from the fridge and whisk by hand or electric mixer till the whites won't fall on your hair when you inverse the bowl over your head.

7. Add 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate batter and whisk. Then whisk in the rest of it 1/2 at a time. Mix well with a spatula.

8.  Pour the batter into the cake tin and drop the pan lightly on the counter to get rid of the bubbles.

9. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven and cool it in the cake tin until you can touch it. Then transfer it on a wire rack to cool completely.

* This recipe was taken from ochikeron on YouTube. Watch her video here. This is quite a small cake so I suppose you could double the recipe if you have a bigger cake tin. This recipe truly works! The cake is super duper moist.

Corn chowder

Serves 6

3 ears fresh corn on the cob (mine were about 6 inches long but if yours are longer, then use 2)
2 chicken breasts (with bone attached)
6 cups water
2 medium sized red onions
4 - 5 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery
3 - 4 potatoes
10 slices bacon
2 knobs butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups cold milk
Salt and pepper

To garnish:
Spring onions or chives, chopped
Tabasco

1. Peel and remove the husks of the corn. With a knife, remove the kernels and set aside. Reserve the cobs.

2. Remove the breasts from the chicken and reserve the bone.

3. Pour 6 cups of water into a pot. Add the three empty cobs and chicken bone and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium/low, cover and continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes until you can smell and taste the sweetness from the corn.

4. While it's boiling, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.

5. Chop up the onions, garlic, celery and bacon.

6. Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Soak them in water to prevent them from turning brown.

7. When the stock is done, turn off the heat and add the chicken breasts. Leave to poach for 15 minutes.

8. Remove the poached chicken and cut into cubes, same size as the potatoes. Don't drain the stock.

9. In another pot, throw in the bacon and fry till they're slightly cooked. Remove 3/4 of the bacon and set aside. Continue to fry the rest of the bacon bits till they're crispy. Remove with slotted spoon, and drain on a paper towel. Reserve for garnishing.

10. Add 2 knobs of butter into the pot with the bacon fat, and saute the onions, garlic and celery. When they're soft, add in the corn kernels and toast them till they turn a deep yellow.

11. Add 3 tablespoons of flour and cook out the flour for a minute or two. Splash some cold milk in and stir till it thickens and there are no lumps. Then add in the rest of the milk.

12. Strain the stock into the pot. Stir and then add the potatoes and the non-crispy bacon.

13. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium/low heat and boil till the potatoes are soft and soup is slightly thick, about 15 - 20 minutes.

14. Add the chicken cubes to be warmed through. Season with salt and pepper.

15. Serve in bowls and garnish with the crispy bacon, chives/spring onions, and few drops of Tabasco.

* Any kind of chowder needs Tabasco. It just gives it that kick and a cuts into the rich, creamy taste. It is not acceptable to not have it. That's what I think!

Siew mai

Makes about 20 - 25

13 medium - large prawns, shelled
About the same amount of minced pork (it should have a little fat. Lean pork is just not nice!)
1 - 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 inch knob of ginger, finely minced
3-4 stalks of spring onions, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Splash of tsao tsing wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon fried shallot oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
pinch of salt
Wonton skins

Dipping sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, cut into matchsticks
1 inch knob ginger,  cut into matchsticks
2 stalks spring onions, chopped
2-3 stalks coriander (including the stems), chopped
2-3 chili padi, chopped
Few drops of sesame oil
Few drops of fried shallot oil
1 teaspoon sugar
3-5 tablespoons water

Equipment:
Dim sum steamer
Wok

1. Chop the prawns coarsely, slightly minced but still maintain their texture.

2. Mix all the rest of the ingredients into a mixing bowl. I usually smell the mixture to see what else it needs (e.g more soy, more sesame etc) but if you really want you can boil a little piece and have a taste to see what it's like.

3. Wrap them in the wonton skins.

4. Line a dim sum steamer with greased baking paper (don't use olive oil to grease!! Please don't ever use olive oil in Chinese cooking). Alternatively if you have some on hand, use a whole big leaf or two of softened/boiled napa cabbage/Chinese cabbage to line your steamer. Both prevents sticking.

5. Place the the siew mai in the steamer, making sure to leave a little space in between them. Fill a wok with boiling water and place the steamer on top, steam on high for about 10 minutes or until each siew mai is slightly firm to touch and the wonton skins have turned soft and almost melted into the meat.

6. Mix everything for your dipping sauce and serve hot.

* I like to serve this dipping sauce because the ingredients are almost the same as what's in the siew mai. But it's just as good with bottle chili sauce! 

This dinner was inspired by the SortedFood guys. Watch their video for siew mai here.

British flapjacks/granola bars

Makes about 12 - 16

150g salted butter
75g soft light brown sugar
3 heaped tablespoons Lyle's golden syrup
250g rolled oats (the quick ones)
Optional: handful of walnuts and sunflower seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper and grease it with some butter.

3. In a saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup on a gentle heat.

4. Pour the mixture into a bowl of the oats and mix till well coated.

5. Press firmly into the baking tray (my mixture when pressed was about 1cm thick)

6. Bake for 25 minutes till the edges turn slightly dark.

7. Remove from oven and leave for 10 minutes to cool and then mark out the pieces while it's still warm.

8. Let it cool completely before removing onto a board to cut completely.

* This recipe was taken from Jamie Oliver's members' recipes here.

Kung po chicken

Serves 2-4

2 boneless chicken quarters (legs and thighs), skin removed

About 1 cup roasted salted cashews (you can add more if you like)

1 white onion, sliced

2 - 3 large cloves of garlice, sliced

3-4 stalks spring onion, cut into 3cm pieces

5 thin slices of ginger

10 dried chillies, cut into pieces

3 chili padi, chopped

Cooking oil - enough to fill your frying pan or wok about 1cm of oil. (Peanut oil is best)

Chicken marinade:

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cornflour

a dash of finely ground white pepper

Sauce:

1 tablespoon dark soya sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon Hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon tsao tsing wine

1  tablespoon Chinese black vinegar for cooking (amount may vary depending on the brand of vinegar, I used 1 tablespoon and a little bit)

2 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

100ml water

4 tabespoon oil (peanut, canola or vegetable oil. Don't use olive oil!)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

pinch of ground white pepper

1. Combine ingredients for the sauce. I usually add vinegar last as it tends to get very sour depending on the brand of vinegar. Add the vinegar a little by little and keep tasting. If you add a whole load and it's too sour, you're going to have to start again. 

2. Rinse and pat dry the chicken as much as you can. Cut into bite sized chunks.

3. Marinade the chicken for at least 20 minutes in the salt, cornflour and pepper.

4. Heat the oil in a wok and shallow fry for about 2 -3 minutes. Careful, it might splat. Dish out and drain. Retain some of the oil to fry the other ingredients and discard the rest of the oil.

5. Heat  the reserved oil and saute onion, garlic, ginger, chili padi and dried chilies. Fry for a few minutes then add the cashews.

6. When the onions are slightly soft, pour in the sauce and let it simmer for a minute or two. At this point you can decide on the spiciness. If it's not spicy enough, add more sliced chili padi.

7. Throw the chicken pieces back into the wok with the sauce and simmer till the sauce thickens just a little and chicken is cooked.

8. Turn the heat off and add the spring onions. Serve with rice.

* I think the original kung po chicken uses szechuan peppers but decided to leave that out as it's just too numbing on the tongue. This recipe is very similar to my kung po frog legs.