Crab bee hoon

Serves 4-6

Chicken stock
2 Chicken Carcasses
5-6 chicken feet
2 tablespoons dried soya beans
1 handful dried anchovies (Ikan Bilis), washed
1 white Onion, cut into wedges
5 - 6 garlic cloves, smashed
3 slices old ginger
Half a carrot, cut into chunks
About 1.5 litres water or enough to just cover all ingredients
(Optional: 2 teaspoons chicken powder)

2 large, fresh Sri Lankan crabs or 3-4 small to medium sized (or a combination!)
300g dried bee hoon vermicelli
2 tablespoons peanut oil
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 slices old ginger
2 tablespoons of tsao tsing cooking wine
Chicken stock (above)
1 - 2 tablespoons dried Sole fish powder (made from 3 - 4 pieces of dried Sole)
2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/4 to 1/2 cup Carnation full fat evaporated milk
1/2 - 1 tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce
1 handful of chye sim, cut into 3 inch pieces
Finely ground white pepper

1. Make the chicken stock by adding all the stock ingredients to a large pot. Skim as much scum as possible. Bring to a boil and then cover and lower to a simmer for 2 hours. Strain and discard the ingredients.

2. Cut the pieces of dried Sole fish and fry in some oil till golden brown - do not fry till it's too dark brown! Remove and set on some paper towels to drain the oil. Pound in a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder till a powder. There will be excess so you can keep this in an air tight container.

3. Soak the dried bee hoon in tap water for 10 minutes and strain.

4. You should dispatch the crab just before cooking, or no more than an hour kept in the fridge on ice.
Cut the crabs into pieces.

5. In a large wok, heat the oil and add the crab pieces. Toss a few times and add the ginger and garlic. Keep tossing for about 5 minutes. Less than 5 minutes if you're using small crabs.

6. Add in the stock, Sole fish powder, melted butter and evaporated milk. Start off with 1/4 cup first. You can add more later if you prefer it milky.

7. Bring to a boil and add the fish or soy sauce, and white pepper to taste.

8. Add the strained noodles and chye sim to a large claypot and transfer the crab and stock to it. Cover and cook on for another 5 minutes.

9. Give the stock a final taste. If you like it more milky, add more evaporated milk.

10. Turn off the fire and serve in the claypot. Garnish with coriander leaves if desired and serve with dipping sauce of sliced chilies in soy sauce.

Adapted from The Bonding Tool.

Lazy Kway Chup

Different people love different parts of kway chup - my family prefers the small intestines so I use that the most. I can't give an exact amount of how much you'll need of each, but use as much or little as you like!

Some of the ingredients commonly used:

Pork belly
Small intestines, washed
Big intestines
Tau pok
Fish cake
Hard boiled egg

(I marinated the pork belly and intestines in a bit of Mei Kwei Lu, which is a rose alcohol. You won't have to do that for the non pork ingredients)

Sauce for the ingredients:

3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 teaspoons dark soy sauce (the thick syrupy one)

1-2 teaspoon  sesame oil
5 tablespoons normal soy sauce
5 teaspoons sugar

Few dashes Maggi seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five spice powder
1 star anise
3-5 cloves
1 centimeter bit of cinnamon stick
4-5 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
3-4 slices ginger, lightly smashed
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon white peppercorns

1 cup of water

For the soup:

2 pork bones
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
black peppercorns
Fresh flat white noodles

1) If using pork belly and intestines, wash the intestines first and marinade all in a bit of Mei kwei lu.

2) Combine all ingredients for the sauce and add to the slow cooker.

3) For pork belly and intestines, add it all together with the sauce in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 - 3 hours.

4) While that is cooking, make the soup stock. Throw in the pork bones, onion, garlic and peppercorns into a pot. Add enough water to cover.

5) Bring to a boil and remove scum. Turn down the fire, cover and continue boiling for as long as you can (2-3 hours) - just as the pork belly and intestines are ready.

6) When the pork belly and intestines are tender, add in the other ingredients such as tau pok, fish cake and hard boiled egg. Cook for another 15 - 20 minutes.

7) Strain the stock and add some salt. Then add about 1/2 cup of the sauce into the soup base. Keep it hot.

8) Remove all the ingredients from the slow cooker and start chopping into bite sized pieces. Serve onto a plate and spoon the sauce over.

9) Put some rice noodles into a bowl and spoon over the hot soup.

10) Garnish with coriander, spring onions and fried shallots.

11) Serve with chili sauce. As this is the lazy way, forget about doing it yourself. The chili sauce with garlic and ginger is just as good as home made!

Crockpot Singapore chicken curry

Serves 4

Chicken & marinade:
4 chicken drumsticks and 4 chicken thighs (you can add one more of each for the super hungry ones)
4-5 local potatoes, peeled and halved
1 tablespoon or about 1 inch knob grated fresh old ginger
5 cloves grated garlic
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 tablespoon chili powder
230g can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chicken curry powder
pinch of salt and ground white pepper

2 medium red onion, sliced
1-2 teaspoons peanut oil
1-3 red chili padis, chopped (1 for mild, 2 for medium, 3 for very spicy)
4 green cardamon pods, do not crush
4 cloves
12 curry leaves or about 1 stalk
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
1 1-inch cinnnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 cups water
200 - 250ml coconut milk
2-3 dessert spoons soy sauce

- 1 french loaf, sliced.

1. Marinade the chicken pieces and potato in the marinade. Let it sit while you prepare the rest.

2. Slice the onions and heat the oil in a wok or pan. Saute the onions till they’re very soft, caramalised and brown, about 15-20 minutes, on medium to high heat. If onions begin to burn, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and continue cooking till they're brown and soft. (You can skip this step and just add the onions raw if you're pressed for time!)

3. Add chili padi, cardamon, cloves, curry leaves, lemongrass, cinnamon, fennel and caramalised onions into the crock pot. Add the chicken pieces with marinade and 2 cups of water. Stir to combine.

4. Set cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

5. In the last hour of cooking, add the coconut milk and soy sauce to taste. Add as much coconut milk as you like. Some people like it more coconutty, some more brothy. Up to you!

6. Serve with sliced french bread.

* I adapted this recipe from Curry and Comfort. I found the cooking time makes for a very very very soft and tender chicken that's falling off the bone. If you want your chicken to still have some firmness to it, cut down the cooking time by 1 hour on high and 2 hours on low. If you do cut down the cooking time, then remember to cut the potatoes slightly smaller.

* To save more time, you can skip step 2 and just add the onions straight into the crockpot and omit the peanut oil.

* If you have some spare chicken bones (thigh, drumstick, whole carcass), or even chicken feet and neck, chuck them in. Bones make the brother sweeter. Before serving, just fish them out.