Corn chicken soup

From young, soup has been served regularly in my family's daily diet. As far as I can recall, my mom has been boiling different types of Chinese soups almost every day. After I got married, I too enjoyed all the home-boiled soups of my mother-in-law. Now, as a “minister of home affair cum head chef”, I continued with our family’s tradition to boil soups for the family as my son is a big fan of soup. The soups I had tried making consist of both Chinese and Western version as shown in the soup categories of this blog.

For Chinese soups, it generally requires 2 hours of simmering to achieve the best result. On those days when I am contraint for time , I will pick a quick and easy soup recipe such as the corn chicken soup I am in this posting. It is adapted and modified from “Soup of the Day” 天天有好汤. The time required for preparation and cooking is very minimum as compared to Chinese soups. I had added in extra ingredients (of course, do not overload it) to compliment its taste and nutritional value. Since all of the ingredients are edible, it can also be served as a one-dish meal. The happiest thing to me is less washing too!

Ingredients:
150g chicken breast meat
1000ml chicken stocks (I used 3 tbsp of concentrated chicken stock to mix with 1 liter water)
1 packet sweet corn cream style (380g) – De Monte or any other brand
1 packet enoki mushrooms * (cut away the tough part of the stems; if you think it is too long, then cut into halve, rinse with running water)
4 pcs fresh shitake mushrooms * (blanch over hot water and slice them thinly)
4 stocks of baby sweetcorns * (slice thinly)
1-2 eggs (lightly beaten and mix with 2-3 tsp water)
1-2 slices of ginger *
Spring onions for ganishing - chopped
Corn flour mixture (dilute some cornflour with water, adjust the consistency according to your personal preference)
Note: * - my personal add-on. Other recommended ingredients are: tofu and green peas

Seasonings:
Salt (I had omitted it because the chicken stocks is tasty enough on its own)
Pepper

Methods:
1) Rinse and pat dry chicken breast meat. Cut into small & long strips. Marinate with light soya sauce, sugar and cornflour for about 15-30 minutes.
2) Bring the chicken stocks/ water in a pot to boil. Add in chicken concentrated stock if used.
3) Add in ginger slice, baby sweetcorns and mushrooms. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4) Add in cream corn and stir well.
5) Add in chicken strips and stir well until it is fully cooked.
6) Add in cornflour mixture and stir gently to thicken.
7) Pour the egg mixture slowly into the soup, stir until it forms thin egg shreds on the surface. Turn off the heat.
8) Season with salt, pepper and sprinkle some spring onions before serving.

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Millet porridge

Porridge/ congee is a common substitute for rice among the Chinese. It is a preferred meal especially during hot weather or when a person’s body is heaty. It can be cooked in cooking pot, rice cooker, crock pot, slow cooker, claypot or pressured cooker. When my son was younger, I like to cook porridge using a slow-cooker. Although it took a longer time, the texture of the porridge is smoother and more viscous. At the same time I can attend to other housework and not need to worry whether the porridge would burn. However, after I moved over to Singapore, I like to cook my porridge using a claypot or cooking pot because it is faster. Sometimes, when time is a constraint, I would boil millet porridge as it cooks faster than rice porridge.

According to chetday.com, millet is a highly nutritious, healthful and versatile grain. It is the 6th most important grain in the world. Due to this, I always add a small amount of millet to my porridge or rice.

Today I will share with you the millet porridge I cooked few weeks ago. On that day, my son who had just recovered from his fever, was having a sore throat. I brought him to see the pediatrician. It was extremely late by the time we reached home. So I decided to cook millet porridge which is not only suitable for his condition but also serves as a quick, easy and healthy lunch. To make porridge more nutritious and tasty, I added a variety of available ingredients into the porridge.

Below is my own version of millet porridge. I didn’t measure the ingredients as I was in a rush that day. I just did a “mix and match” for all the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:
Millet
Rice
Pumpkin puree
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Baby sweet corns
Cherry tomatoes
Snowpeas
Ham

Seasonings:
Salt
White pepper powder
Sesame oil

Other recommended ingredients:
Grains : quinoa, buckwheat, green beans (mung beans), red beans, barley
Vegetables: carrot, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, leafly vegetables, broccoli (florets or stems), cauliflowers, green peas, edamame (Japanese soy bean), fresh lily bulbs, sweetcorns
Meat : fish, pork, chicken
Others : huai san (Chinese yam), wolfberries

Methods:
1) Wash rice and millet. Fill pot with water approx 2x the amount of the grain. Reduce water if using crock pot or slow cooker. Bring water and grain to boil.
2) Stir occasionally to prevent the rice/ grain from sticking to the bottom. Add water from time to time. Use medium to low heat. Cook until the rice / grain break down and achieve the consistency level you want.
3) Add in other ingredients and cook according to the required cooking time.
4) Add in seasoning. Turn off the flame and serve.

Other recommended recipes:
-kiddy porridge
-claypot chicken rice
-sushi rolls

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SUPER FAST MEAL (超级简单快餐)

Sometimes, I really don’t favour the idea to dine out. If I go to Ikea, under normal circumstances, I need to spend around 20 minutes for traveling and another 20-30 minutes to find a place and order my food (during peak hours). The total time spent is actually equivalent (or maybe more) to cooking a simple one-dish meal at home. This is why I love one-dish meal so much. Among the entire one-dish meals I had tried before, I personally find that this recipe is the best - easiest and fastest. No special cooking experience required. You just need to make sure all the ingredients are available and read the steps properly.

This super fast meal is adapted from Mitong’s recipe. If you can read Chinese, check out her website which has featured many great recipes. Her steps-by-steps illustrations are also very useful for me as a novice to understand the cooking process. Hehehe!

Ingredients:
2 small chicken thighs (de-boned) (I used chicken breast)
1 sweet yellow onion ( ½ for small size) – sliced (切丝)
1-2 leeks – sliced (斜段) (Refer to pic below)
2 eggs – lightly beaten
Mocked vegetarian barbecue pork/ char siew (optional)
Cooked rice – 2 rice bowls
Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Seasonings:
¼ cup cooking wine (I used Chinese Shaoxing cooking rice wine)
¼ cup light soya sauce
¼ cup mirin (Japanese sweet cooking sauce/wine. Ref to pic)
– You can substitute with cooking wine and sugar of the equal amount
¼ cup water
1 tbsp sugar

Methods:
1) Cut the chicken into equal bite sizes. For chicken breast, use the back of the knife to chop for several times so that the breast meat will be tenderer. Use light soya sauce, cooking wine and cornstarch to marinate the chicken for 10 minutes.
2) Prepare seasonings and ingredients. (Ref to pic below)
3) Pour chicken, onion, leek, seasonings into the cooking pan. Simmer until the chicken is cooked. Do not cook for too long. (Ref to pic below)
4) Add in beaten eggs. Cover lid and simmer for 15 seconds. Turn off heat.
5) Pour over cooked rice, garnished with coriander leaves and serve.

If you find that this recipe is too easy-peasy, try my other one-dish meal recipes:

- no frying noodles
- claypot chicken rice
- yam rice
- pesto pasta
- Indian vegetarian rice

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Tuna pasta

I haven’t posted any new pasta recipe for quite some time. This doesn’t mean we have stopped eating pasta. Pasta is always our family "all-time favourite " especially for my son. He eats a variety of pasta – spaghetti, angel hair, shell, macaroni, fusilli (spiral), penne, linguine & alphabet.

Good news to all the busy mommies and career women!

I am going to share a very simple pasta dish that takes only minutes to prepare. This recipe is adapted from Children’s Healthy & Fun Cookbook. I had slightly modified the recipe by adding extra vegetables to make it a wholesome meal. This is also my usual “fridge-cleaning” exercise. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone??. Hahaha!



The key ingredients for this recipe are tomatoes and tuna, the rest is up to your own creation (either add more vegetables or follow strictly the original recipe). Below are both my version and the original version for your comparison:

(My version)
Ingredients:
85 tinned tuna in olive oil (drained and broken up into chunks) – approx ½ tin
277g tomatoes (I didn’t have enough tinned tomatoes so I topped up with some fresh ones #)
80g shape pasta - I used fusilli (organic durum wheat semolina pasta)
100g red capsicum*
43g carrot*
* - other vegetables: celery, cauliflower, sweetcorns, beans and chickpeas.
1 clove garlic (crushed)
½ red onion (chopped finely)
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp olive oil
Dash of dried oregano & basil
½ tsp sugar (to taste)
salt and pepper
cooked broccoli (for garnishing) – Note: Vitamin C in the tomato sauce will help you to absorb the iron in the broccoli.

(Original version)
Ingredients:
200g tinned tuna in olive oil (drained and broken up into chunks)
800g tinned chopped tomatoes
275g pasta bows
2 large cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
½ tsp sugar (optional)
salt and pepper

# Tip on how to peel off tomato skin
– cut a “x” at the bottom of the tomato, put inside the boiling water for 1 min. Drain and let it cool off. Then peel off the skin with a knife .

Methods:
1) Cook pasta according to the packet instructions, until the pasta is tender but not too soft.
2) Heat oil in a large saucepan, over a medium heat. Fry garlic for 1 min. Stir in oregano & basil (if any), vegetables (if any), chopped tomatoes and tomato puree/ paste.
3) Bring the sauce to the boil and reduce the heat. Half cover the pan and simmer for 15 mins or until the sauce has reduced by a third and thickened.
4) Stir the tuna into the sauce. Half-cover the pan and heat through for 2 mins, stirring occasionally. Add some sugar to the sauce if necessary and season.
5) Drain the pasta but save 2 tbsp of the water. Return the pasta to the saucepan. Add the water and stir in the sauce until the pasta is coated.
6) Serve with grated cheese and cooked broccoli.

I am submitting this simple pasta dish to Presto Pasta Nights, founded by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast, and hosted by Inge of Vanielje Kitchen this week.

Other pasta recipes that you may like to try:
Pesto pasta
Italian pasta soup
Spaghetti bolognese

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One-dish meal - Featured recipe in Delicious Asian Food (Hochiak)

I was pleasantly delighted when I received the invitation to be the guest chef for one of my favourite "online cookbooks" – Delicious Asian Food (also known as Hochiak) authored by PabloPabla. Thanks to Pablo! I am certainly honoured.

It is the first Asian food blog which was strongly recommended by my good friend when I first started cooking for the family. DAF featured a collection of delicious home-cooked Chinese-style recipes and occasional food reviews. The recipes in this site are suitable for those who are starting out learning how to cook (just like me) or are keen to get some ideas on how to deal with the simplest ingredients that you find in the market.

Hop over to find my featured recipe of one-dish meal and also delight yourself with all the "hochiak" (means delicious in Hokkien dialect) recipes, food reviews and some video clips. See you there!

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Special egg rolls with rice, salmon and spinach

This egg roll is not a pre-planned dish. The idea came to me when I was cooking lunch for both my son and myself on one Saturday afternoon when my hubby was away for his overseas trip. Basically, I just combined some ingredient from my cooked dishes and followed the method in this recipe. (If you can read chinese, refer to this site). Thus, I didn’t have the exact measurement. You may need to use your own discretion to experiment it.

Ingredients:
Salmon (marinated with salt, then steamed with mirin, soya sauce and sugar)
Chinese spinach (blanched, chopped and tossed with fried shallot oil and oyster sauce)
Cooked rice
Black and white sesame seeds
1 egg (lightly beaten and season with salt and pepper)

Methods:
1) Cook rice as usual.
2) Flake steamed salmon with a fork
3) Squeeze out excess water from the blanched Chinese spinach.
4) Roast both sesame seeds over medium low fire until fragrant
5) Heat up oil on a non-stick pan. Use a kitchen paper to wipe the pan so that it is well-coated with oil. Reduce heat to small. Pour egg mixture over the pan and swirl to form a thin layer of omelette. Cook for 1 min and flip over the other side to continue cooking. Remove from pan and set aside.
6) Put rice, sesame seeds and Chinese spinach in a bowl and mix well.
7) Cut out a cling wrap and lay on the chopping board. Put ingredients in item (6) and roll it tightly until it became the shape of a sausage (as per picture).


Close and twist both ends


8) Put item (7) and salmon flakes on the omelette. Roll it up and cut into small rolls (about 2cm height).
9) Serve with wasabi or tomato sauce.



Note: You can add salmon flakes to the rice mixture and roll with the cling wrap.

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Claypot chicken rice

My weekends are always tied up with the routine “once-a-week” groceries shopping. Last Sunday was even busier. After all the housework and cooking, we have to rush for an appointment. Due to time constraints, I just snapped some quick shots of my chicken rice directly from the claypot. Later on, I only realized that my cooked rice had been fully covered by the ingredients. As we had started eating, I had no choice but to take another shot solely focused on the rice. How silly I am!


By following the measurement from the original recipe, my rice turned out to be slightly hard (as you can see from the photo) because mine is basmathi rice and required more water during cooking.

This recipe is adapted and modified from here.

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:
130g fragrant rice
170g water (Different type required different amount. Eg more water is required for long grain rice)
250g chicken thigh (removed skins, chopped into 5 – 6 pcs)
4-5 pcs shitake mushrooms (fresh or dried) – discarded stem and cut into halves
For fresh ones, blanch over boiling water
For dried ones, soaked to soften
1 Chinese sausage (soaked over hot water for 2-3 mins, removed the outer layer and sliced thinly)
Spring onions (for garnishing)

Seasonings for rice:
1 tsp garlic (chopped)
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
Dash of salt and pepper
1½ tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings for marinating chicken:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
Dash of salt and pepper
1 tsp Chinese cooking rice wine (optional)

Seasonings for stir-frying:
2 pcs sliced ginger
½ tbsp garlic
1½ tbsp cooking oil

Methods:
1) Heat up wok with oil. Sautee garlic till fragrant. Add in rice and stir fry till rice turns to little stick and heavy. Add dark soya sauce, salt and pepper.
2) Pour into a claypot and add water. With medium high heat, cook the rice with closed lid for about 8-10 mins until the rice is almost cooked and water is almost dried up.
3) Heat up wok with oil. Lightly pan-fry sliced sausages till fragrant. Dish up and set aside.
4) With the remaining oil, stir-fry ginger until fragrant. Add in garlic and sautee garlic until it turns slightly brown.
5) Add in chicken and stir-fry until fragrant and let it simmer while cooking rice.
6) When the rice is cooked, spread chicken, mushrooms and sausages on top of the rice.
7) Close the lid and cook at medium fire for another 5-7 mins. (You are expected to have burnt bits for claypot rice)
8) Turn off the heat, sprinkle some spring onions and serve.

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ABC soup

If you are in a rush and need to cook 1 dish-meal cum soup, then this soup is the perfect choice! It is not only as easy as ABC but also a wholesome soup for the family. All of the ingredients (except for the fish bones) are edible. You can serve it with rice or pasta. Hence it is considered a "ZERO wastage" soup. Guess what have I done to the sweetcorns and potatoes in the soup? I had created another dish. The answer is here!

Ingredients:
380g salmon fish bones (you can substitute with lean pork or chicken bones) - blanch over boiling water, put into a soup bag
2 large potatoes (about 300-400g) - cut into 4 for each potato
2 carrots (about 200g) - cut into chunks
1 large sweetcorn (about 360g) - cut into chunks
3 tomatoes (about 300g) - sliced
1 stalk celery (about 100g) - cut into chunks
1 white onion
2 bay leaves
1500ml water

Seasonings:
Salt and pepper to taste

Servings: 9-10 persons

Methods:
1. Bring water to boil. Add in fish bones, onions, sweetcorns and bay leaves. When the soup re-boils, turn the heat to lower and simmer for 2 hours.
2. After half an hour, add in potatoes, carrots, celery.
3. 5 mins before turning off the heat, add in tomatoes.
4. Season with salt and pepper.

Other similar recipes:
- corn chowder
- corn soup
- Italian pasta soup

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Yam rice

The 2 key differences between cooking yam rice and cooking pumpkin rice are that you need to pre-fry the yam cubes and add the yam when the rice is boiling. Thanks to the mommy who had recommended me this wonderful recipe!

Below is a modified version of my yam rice (ingredients are quite similar to pumpkin rice):

Ingredients:
110g rice (2 persons) - rinse and soak for 15 mins
200g yam (cut into 1cm x 1cm cube, rinse and pat-dry, pre-fry until lightly brown)
* Do not wash the yam before peeling off the skin to avoid itches on the hands.
80g vegetarian cubed ham (you can substitute with pork or chicken)
5 fresh medium size shiitake mushroom (wash with running water, blanch over hot water and slice thinly)
35g dried shrimp (wash, pre-soak for 15 mins, retain water for cooking later)
5 shallots (slice thinly)
4 tbsp oils
Water for cooking (depending on the type of rice used. I used long-grained rice to cook)
Spring onions (for garnishing)

Seasonings:
1½ tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper

Methods:
1. Heat up 3 tbsp oil. Fry shallots until golden brown. Dish up and set aside.
2. Heat up another 1 tbsp oil, add in dried prawns and stir fry under low heat until fragrant.
3. Push the dried prawns to the side, add in vegetarian cubed ham and stir-fry for a while.
4. Add in mushroom and stir fry for 2 mins.
5. Add in pre-soaked rice, ½ of the fried shallots, then followed by seasonings. Stir well until all are evenly coated.
6. Transfer all the ingredients to a cooking pot, add water until 1cm above the surface fo the rice.
7. Cook the rice until it is boiling and half-cooked, add in pre-fried yam. Stir well and cover the lid. Continue cooking until it is completely cooked.
8. For those who cooks using pot or wok, add water to cover the mixture, reduce heat to low, cover and cook slowly, stir occasionally to prevent burning.
9. Serve rice with a sprinkle with spring onion and fried shallots.

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No-frying noodles

I prefer to use my AMC wok to cook "fried" noodle because it is so simple and easy. No stir-frying required and lesser oil. When it is cooked, the noodle is very moistured even after several hours later.

Ingredients:
100g meehoon/ rice vermicelli (soaked with tap water)
20g dong fen/ glass noodles/ winter noodles (soaked with tap water)
* The ratio for these 2 noodles can be varied ie 70%:30%, 50%:50% (subject to your personal preference)
70g vegetarian mocked chicken & char siew(barbecue pork) (shredded) (can be substituted with either pork or chicken)
300g cabbage (shredded) (the amount can be reduced and replaced by more noodles)
70g carrot(shredded)
70g mushroom (fresh or dried) (shredded)
* If fresh, blanch over hot water.
* If dried, soaked over tap water and retain the water for later usage.

Seasonings:
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
Dash of sesame oil and pepper
175ml water



Method:
1. Spread 2 tbsp oil evenly on the wok.
2 Spread cabbage evenly and follow by carrot (as per pic 1).
3. Spread mushroom, vegetarian mocked chicken and char siew evenly (as per pic 2).
4. Spread both the noodles (mee hoon & dong fen)evenly and pour over the seasoning on the ingredients.
5. Cover the lid and cook under medium heat.
6. When the AMC timer indicates 1 o'clock, open the lid and toss the ingredients until it is well-combined (as per pic 3).
7. Cover the lid again and let it cover until the timer shows 1 o'clock again.
8. Off the heat and wait for 10 mins to serve.

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Pesto pasta

Ingredients:
200g uncooked spaghetti

Pesto sauce:
60g fresh basil leaves
30g pine nuts (lightly toasted)
2 large cloves garlic (crushed and roughly chopped)
100ml olive oil
2-3 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper to taste

Methods:
1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta but reserve 2 tbsp of the cooking water. Return pasta to the pan with the cooking water.
2. Place basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and, with the motor running, gradually pour in the oil to form a smooth paste. Stir in cheese. Season to taste.
3. Toss the pesto through the hot pasta until well combined. Serve immediately.

Tips: Peas, green beans, carrots, cauliflower or broccoli could be used to serve with pasta. Meat eaters could add some cooked chicken or bacon.

Pesto sauce can be used in many ways ie swirl a spoonful of pesto in soups, stir it into bread dough or spread it over toast!

You can also watch a video on how to make pesto and store it for later use on Make Michael Chiarello's pesto show.

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Indian vegetarian rice

Cooking this one-meal dish is not as difficult as I thought after cooking for several times. Thanks to the advices and guidance from an Indian mother whom I met in my son's playschool and the recipes and cooking tips from here.

Below is the modified recipe I used:

Ingredients:
120g Basmati rice (long grained rice)
240g water
1 medium size onion (red, sliced thinly)
¼ cup green peas (frozen)
¼ cup french beans (chopped)
¼ cup cauliflower (chopped into tiny florets)
¼ cup carrot (chopped)
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup halved cashew nuts

Seasonings:
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
2 small ½ inch long cinnamon sticks
½ tsp tumeric powder
1 bay leaf
Oil for cooking (I used olive oil instead of ghee)
Salt to taste
Pinch of sugar

Methods:
1. Wash and drain rice on a kitchen towel. When it is slightly dry, heat 2 tbsp oils in a large pan and splutter cardamon, cinnamon sticks, cloves and bay leaf. Add in rice and tumeric powder and stir continuously for 2-3 mins in low heat and keep aside.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the same pan and stir-fry the raisins until they turn plump or look like golden grapes and keep aside.
3. Fry the cashew nuts in the same oil until they turn into golden colour. Drain both the nuts and raisin in a kitchen towel.
4. With the remaining oil, saute all the veggies for 2-3 mins in low heat, add in salt, and stir-fry until they are well-coated with the oil and cooked slightly.
5. Remove the veggies and add more oils to the pan to fry the thinly sliced onions until they turn into golden brown. then add a pinch of sugar to the onion while frying so that it will give a taste of nice caramelised onions.
6. Remove the fried onions and drain them on kitchen tower.
7. Keep a spoonful of fried nuts, raisins and half of the fried onions for garnishing later.
8. As I used AMC cooking pot, I mixed everything together and add in water. Cook with medium high heat. When the timer showed 2 o'clock, use a fork to gently separate the rice so as not to get stickly to the bottom of the pot. Cover the lid again and continue to cook with medium heat until the timer hit 3 o'clock. Off the heat and wait until the timer moved back to 12 o'clock (so that the rice will be fully cooked)
9. Garnish with the rest of the nuts, raisins and & onion and serve.

Note: For microwave method and stove-top method, you can follow the steps from here.

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Italian pasta soup

The recipe for this wholesome and tasty soup was adapted from Children's healthy & fun cookbook (published by DK).

Ingredients:
75g pasta bows (I had replaced it with small shell pasta)
1 large onion (white)
2 potatoes
2 sticks celery
1 large carrot (scrubbed)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano
1 litre vegetable stock (I used Maggi concentrated chicken stock 上汤鸡精）
400g tinned chopped tomatoes (I used fresh ripe tomatoes)
Bacon (optional) (I used veg ham)
Parmesan cheese (grated) - optional

Methods:
1. Bring a medium-sized pan of water to the boil and add the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is just tender but not completely cooked. Drain well and set aside.
2. Chop the onion into a small pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized chunks. Slice the celery and carrot into bite-sized pieces.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and fry over a medium heat for 8 mins or until it is softened and golden.
4. Next, add the celery, carrot, potatoes, oregano and bay leaf. Stir well and pour in the stock and chopped tomatoes. Stir again and then bring to the boil.
5. When the soup is bubbling, reduce the heat to low. Half-cover the pan with a lid and simmer the soup for 15 mins or until the potatoes are tender.
6. Remove the lid, add the pasta and stir well. Heat the pasta for 5 mins. Ladle the soup into large bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

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Mushroom rice

Ingredients:
Cooked rice for 2
350g assorted mushroom (enoki bunch, shittake, white button mushroom)
20g butter
1 tbsp sugar
4 cloves garlics, diced
Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Seasonings:
4 tbsp terriyaki sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine
Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
1) Heat up butter in a wok. Put in chopped garlic when the butter is half melted. Stir-fry the garlic until fragrant.
2) Add in assorted mushrooms and sugar, saute until the mushrooms are fully coated with butter. Add in seasonings, cook until the gravy has thickened.
3) Stir in chopped coriander, turn off heat. Add in cooked rice, stir until combined with mushrooms, serve.

Recipe adapted and modified from Piggy's Journal

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Kiddy porridge

Ingredients:
¼ cup uncooked rice
¼ cup millet (u can replace with uncooked rice)
10 sunflower seeds
10 pumpkin seeds
10g fresh lily bulbs
50g pumpkin (cut into cubes)
2 baby sweetcorns
20g fish (cut into slides)
Broccoli stem (cut into cubes)
Handful of frozen green peas
Spring onion (chopped)
Water for boiling

Seasonings:
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of sesame oil

Methods:
1. Wash rice and millet. Add in enough water (approx 3x the rice amount), sunflower seeds & pumpkin seeds in a cooking pot.
2. Cook with high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook (with lid slightly open) for another 15 mins.
3. Add in pumpkins, baby sweetcorns & broccoli stems. Cook for another 10 mins.
4. Add in lily bulb, green peas and cook for another 1 min.
5. Add in fish and seasonings and stir-well. Cook for a while and turn off the heat.
6. Put some fried onion oil (optional) and sprinkle with spring onion.

Note:
There are many ways to cook porridge - eg cooking pot, slow cooker and claypot. I prefer to use claypot as the texture turns out to be smoother compared to others.

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Spaghetti bolognese

Ingredients:
200g spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion (red)
2 cloves of garlic
150g of minced meat (alternatively beef or chicken)
200g of fresh mushroom (button or portobello) - chopped
5 medium sized fresh ripe tomatoes - chopped
50g carrot - chopped
½ capsicum (red or yellow) - chopped
3-4 small floweret cauliflower (or ½ celery stick) - chopped (optional)
5-6 small floweret broccoli

Seasonings:
3 tbsp tomato paste
1½ tbsp special herbs for spaghetti bolognese from Masterfood (alternatively basil/ oregano/ mix herb)
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stocks from Maggi （上汤鸡精）
3 tbsp tomato ketchup (if u prefer a stronger taste)
½ tbsp sugar
100 ml water
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese to serve

Method:
1. Heat oil in a cooking pot and sautee onion and garlic until fragrant.
2. Add in minced meat to fry until browned.Add in mushroom and stir fry for a while.
3. Add in chopped vegetables (carrot, capsicum, cauliflower) and mix well.
4. Add in seasonings and mix well.
5. Add in tomatoes and mix well.
6. Bring mixture to boil, reduce the heat and simmer (with lid cover) for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent it from catching on the bottom of the cooking pot.
7. Remove the lid and continue to simmer for another ½ hour, stirring occasionally.
8. Cook pasta according to the instruction on the packet.
9. Boil broccoli until cooked.
10. Drain, toss with extra virgin olive oil and serve with the sauce, topped with the cheese if you wish.

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