Roasted honey chicken

Easy yet delicious! 😍

Roasted honey chicken

No frying or oil is needed. Just put everything in the oven for 30 minutes and then brush on honey and bake for another 10 mins and here they are!

Mackerel fish paste

You don't learn this in school...😝

I've seen my mom making mackerel fish paste and I told myself that I am not gonna do this in my life. It was simply too messy and too "complicated" for a simple person like me. I could buy it from the market with just RM14 a pack. 

Although the fish paste from the market smelled fishy and tasted fishy, I had no choice but to continue buying from the fishmonger. 

Last month my sister in law gave me two fish...I had no inkling what type of fish was that. So I had the first one steamed. And it ended up that the whole family had a VERY VERY frustrating dinner because the fish was full of tiny little bones and it was such a hazard to feed the fish to the little one. 

In frustration, my husband said, give the other one to Hooi Thiam please. I asked my sister in Christ, Hooi Thiam, and she asked me, "Is it 'sai-tou' fish? It is a very delicious fish if you make it into fish balls."

Then she started to teach me how to un-flesh the fish and so on... Following her instructions, I tried for the first time in my life to make fish paste. It wasn't good but at least we had a good dinner without bones.

Being one that didn't want to give up, I bought mackerel fish and tried again. The second time ended up bad as well because I added too much of water. I called up my friend and asked her some more - wishing to pick up on details which I had missed previously. 

And today, I bought mackerel again. I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP! 💪💪

And TA-DA!!! This is the first successful mackerel fish paste and there will gonna be more and more and more by God's grace...🙏😊

I have to give special thanks to my sis in Christ who is always ready to teach me something I never learned in the school. And I can't praise the Lord enough to let me have a friend like her so that I can taste the love of Christ and smell the fragrance of Him. 🌈

Making meat floss / chicken floss with a bread maker

My breadmaker has been kept in the dark till my friend told me I can make meat floss / chicken floss with it. 

My curiosity was at its peak. I loved chicken floss when I was a child and making it was out of my mind (I'd been thinking it involved sophiscated procedures). But my friend's recipe sounded sooo easy I wanted to try immediately. 

I went to the market and bought 500g of meat. Boiled it in my soup.   Then took it to the pot and boiled with some water, 1 table spoon of  sugar and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce till the meat soaked up all the liquid. I took it out and put into the breadmaker and had it run on JAM mode - twice - for a completely dry and flossy effect. 

Viola! I've healthy, no preservatives, no colouring, no flavoring meat floss at home! 

Note: errr.... It could be tasteless for adults but it's fine for kids. 󾌩

Fried dory fillet

My mom was a housewife. She was a great cook. She would wake up very early in the morning to prepare delicious breakfast for us and meals like donuts, onde-onde, etc for tea and sumptuous meals for dinner. But since dad fell sick from liver cancer and lost his appetite, mom stopped cooking nice food. In fact, she gave up cooking after dad passed away. All her life, being a housewife, she cared only to cook good food for her husband and children. But when her husband is dead and her children all married and live somewhere else, she lost her interest in cooking too. That's the end of being a housewife to being an individual who lives alone now...

I enjoy cooking too and it makes me happy when my hubby and kids love the meals I cooked. But one day, I shall cook because I love it and not because of anyone. Thence, I can be happy whether or not, I'm still a housewife. 

Pic: Dinner is ready!

Meal - mixed vege, mashed potato with cheese, and fried dory fillet 

How to cook hard boiled egg which is gooey inside

I wondered why my children do not like to eat the egg yolk. My mom said it's because the yolk is dry and could get stuck in the throat, and that's what made the kids avoid it. When we were chatting some Sundays ago, my best buddy told me that cooking egg also need skills. 

???

So, here's how to cook a hard boiled egg with gooey yolk! 😍

1) Bring a pot of water to boil

2) Put in a handful of salt (salt is to stop the egg from flowing out in case of any breakage. But you gotta be careful because salt can cause the boiling water to "erupt" like the volcano and spurt on you. Cautious not to get scalded) 

3) Gently put the egg into the pot, with a scoop or spaghetti claw.

4) Set the timer for 7 minutes

5) Bring the egg out and let it take a cool bath under running water or just let it soak in a bowl of cold water

*This pic of mine is taken after 8 minutes of cooking. I wanted the yolk to be a little solid cos I don't want my baby to eat with extremely gooey yolk that flows down her hands and arms. Too messy for me to clean up 😰😰

But for adults, 7 minutes gooey yolk is the best! 

Yummy yummy!

Sambal petai with prawn

It's been a long long time since my last post on yummy-licious food. 

I've stopped pursuing my cooking skills in exchange with my Master degree. And now that I've graduated, I should go back to my cooking and baking mode, or so I believe, since that's what most housewife does. 

I've longed to eat home-cooked nasi lemak which I've a very fond memory of because my mom used to cook that for us. 

The best part is - sambal petai with prawn paired with fragrantly cooked nasi lemak. It's simply irresistible! 

Recipe : 

1 onion (chopped)

100g petai (halved)

16 medium size prawns (shells removed)

4 tablespoons of sambal sauce 

3 tspn of sugar 

1 tbspn of water 

1) Stir fry onion till fragrant or turn translucent

2) Add in petai and fry till they turn darker in green 

3) Add in prawn and fry till almost cooked 

4) Add in water and bring it to boil 

5) Add in sambal sauce and sugar

6) Stir till well combined

7) Dish up 

Bon appetit!

Egg pudding or steamed egg

When I looked back at my previous recipes, I just couldn't believe myself. I've to apologize, my previous steamed egg was so far from perfect. After all these years, I definitely have improved in my cooking skill and this is the ultimate result for egg pudding or steamed egg - one which is smooth on the surface, soft in texture and without the sign of bubbles on top of it. 

Below is the recipe I found some weeks ago by Amy Beh, our local famous chef. 

I didn't bother to sieve the mixture after they were whisked. I believe the result would be better if I did as the pudding will have a fairer and smoother texture, without the yellowish substance. Nevertheless, I mine is good enough to look at and delicious to taste!

Enjoy! 

Recipe:

3 eggs 

200ml of fresh milk

50ml of water 

1) Beat the eggs 

2) Add in milk and water

3) Sieve the mixture 

4) Put to steam over high heat for 15 minutes 

*It's important to check on the heat. I opened the cover slightly to allow some heat to escape. Over-heated egg pudding will look crumbled up. 

ABC soup with pressure cooker

I am doing a spring cleaning on my blog posts and found this: 

My mom has a pressure cooker which she wanted to hand over to me for a long long time. But I was adamant that I didn't need one because I like using gas stove to cook. Just like my mom, I don't like something to do with new technology. (Oops! Using iPad is one of my breakthrough recently). 

Though I didn't want to use it, I didn't want mom to give away such precious thing. So, it is in my house ever since November. 

As I am heavily pregnant now, my mood to cook fluctuate. So, now the pressure cooker comes in handy. 

All I have to do is blanch the pork ribs in boiling water for around 3 to 5 minutes, then throw all the necessary ingredients into the pot, add in 10 cups of water and press the button "Bone". Very soon, around 45 minutes, I have my soup on the table. 

The rate I would give is 8 for the taste. Using pressure cooker for soup is easy and fast but the soup lacks taste compared to boiling it for two hours. Anyway, this is a good alternative for those who are busy or running out of time for good soup. For better taste, you can increase the cooking time to two hours. 

Fry egg with prawn

My son likes prawns and he's good at eating them. He knows immediately whether the prawn is fresh or otherwise after a first bite. Once we went for a dinner at a restaurant and after taking a bite, he said, "I think the prawn is not fresh." I had to agree with him. The prawns did have a fishy smell. We ignored the prawns the dinner. 

For a simple meal, I've opted to fry egg with prawns. 

Ingredients

2 fresh eggs

500g shelled prawns 

1/ Heat up the wok and oil.

2/ Pour in the egg with prawns.

3/ Dish up when the egg mixture has dried up.

4/ Put drops of tomato sauce for taste.

Note: It is essential to make sure that you have a heated wok and oil. Otherwise your egg mixture will stick to the wok and you'll end up having burnt egg! You may check whether the oil is hot enough by putting a chopstick into the oil. If you see bubbling oil, then the oil is hot enough. Alternatively, you may use a non-stick pan to fry egg. 

Carrot omelette

I like eggs and so do my husband and son.

I hope you like this variation of omelette.

Pictures showing process (Clockwise from top left)

Ingredients:
3 eggs
3 inches of carrot (cut into thin slices)
1/2 teaspoon of salt

1) Beat the eggs with the salt.

2) Stir-fry the cut carrot.

3) Add in the eggs and make sure the mixture cover up the whole pan.

4) When it is almost done, cut the omelette in the middle and turn it over to be cooked on the other side.

NOTE: The heat should not be too high - otherwise the eggs mixture will get burnt easily.

Minced meat and carrot porridge

Ingredients (for 1/2 bowl of porridge)

1 tablespoon of rice
1 tablespoon of minced meat
around 2 inches of carrot (diced into tiny pieces)

1) Put 1/2 bowl of water to the ingredients.

2) Double boil for 3 hours and it's done.


3) Add pinch of salt / 1 teaspoon of soy sauce to it.

Note: My son eats quite little. So, if your child eats more, do get the ratio right. I'm used to double boil because I can do other things as the slow cooker cook by itself and by letting the timer takes control, I feel much relaxed.

Why is my baby (toddler) not eating?

This is one of the questions I ask often when my son starts to take solid food. I believe no mothers can sit comfortably or even sleep when their children are not eating anything when they are supposed to eat, just like adults do.

Mothers, take heart, observe your child and you'll know why s/he is not eating. Below are some reasons I get through observing my son and through reading books.

1) The child is not feeling well
Just like us, when babies are not feeling well, they will not eat, especially when they have SORE THROAT. And we won't know whether our babies have sore throat till they started to have cough or fever.

Suggestion: I usually give my baby honey when he is having sore throat. But be very careful with honey. Some honey might not be suitable for little ones. So, it is best to get a doctor's advise to treat the toddler's sore throat. Otherwise, you can try boiling Lo Hon Ko drinks to soothe his throat and lung.

2) Toddler is not hungry
If he is not hungry, it is obvious that he will not eat.
Suggestion: Do not give snack when the meal time is near. Have a clear timetable for the child. eg. 9am -breakfast, 12pm - lunch, 3pm - snack, 6pm - dinner, 9pm - light snack.

3) The food is not delicious
Trust me, babies know what is delicious and what is not. It's obvious that they won't eat something which taste weird. My son will usually take the first mouth and if he thinks it is not delicious, he will spit out the food and refuse to eat further.

Suggestion: What you think is delicious, the baby will think the same way. So, as parents, we have to start taking some healthy yet delicious food. Set a good example and the child will do the same. My mom takes raw vege - cucumber and tomatoes and so, my son follows suit.

4) The food's colour is not attractive
Children like colours!
Suggestion: Add some colours in the food - tomato (red), carrot (orange), cucumber (green), etc.

5) The child wants to play
When they are at the midst of playing, the child will refuse to eat because they don't want to be distracted.

6) Parents' eating habit
If parents are not eating the same food, baby will refuse to eat that too. My son prefers to eat the SAME FOOD at the SAME TABLE and SAME TIME WITH US. Some food like pork ribs, which I think is not suitable for him, he wanted to try! After he tried it, either he likes it or he spits it out. Whatever it is, he is satisfied that he tried and will continue to eat his meal.

Suggestion: Cook healthy food - steamed fish, boiled broccoli, carrot, steamed potato

Finally, listen to the child. If the child is hungry and well, s/he will definitely eat. Don't force her/him to eat lest the child has a bad eating experience. You can always make up the missed meal with some light snack later on - an egg, an apple, a cracker or two, etc.

Pray well and leave the rest to God...

NOTE: You may follow the links below to some healthy drinks:

Phlegm dissolver

Lo hon ko

Mashed potato and carrot balls

Tau cheong steamed fish

My son is sick again - and so, I've not much time to cook. I will have this dish when I'm busy.

1) Clean up the fish - make sure there is no more scales on it and then scar it on both sides.

2) Put 2 teaspoon of tao cheong sauce (beanpaste) and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of sugar on the fish.

3) Put the fish to steam with the rice.

You'll have the fish and rice cooked at the same time. I know some people might not like this cos steaming a fish for too long will cause the texture of the fish to be hard. But when you have no time, this will be a good choice!

Mashed potato and carrot balls (for toddlers)

My son has been picky on his food lately. I am so busy looking around for recipe and asking my friends on what they cooked for their toddlers. Because my son is a fan of BALL, I thought this recipe might work. And it did, indeed! You might want to try it out for your toddler.

Ingredient:
1/2 potato (removed skin)
1/4 carrot or 2 tablespoon of shredded carrot

Taste enhancer:
Few drops of soy sauce OR
Pinch of salt OR
1 tablespoon of milk

1) Put the potato and carrot to double boil (for 2 hours) or stim for at least 30 minutes.

2) Mash the potato (like shown in pic.2) and add in taste enhancer.

3) Roll the mixture into small balls (baby's bite size).

NOTE: You might try to pan-fry the mixture. Roll out the balls on some corn flour + plain flour and pan-fry them. 

Stir-fry snow pea sprout

Pictures showing process (clockwise from top left)

Ingredient
1 pack of beansprout
1 small piece of ginger

1) Scrap off the ginger skin with a knife.

2) Flatten the ginger.

3) With 3 tablespoon of oil, stir-fry the ginger till fragrant.

4) Add in the beansprout. Turn it over and cook till done.

5) Dish up and add in soy sauce to taste.

NOTE: Chinese believe that some vege are considered "cooling" and are not good for those who are weak in health. So, ginger is a must in cooking those vege. Other vege which need ginger are Siu Pak Choy (Xiao Bai Chai in Mandarin).

Spicy chicken with mushroom

Pictures showing process (clockwise from top left)

Ingredients
2 chicken drumsticks (skin and bones removed and cut into cubes)
4 to 5 dried chillies (removed head and seeds)
3 mushrooms (soaked and cut into cubes)

For sauce:
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 bowl of water
1/4 corn starch (for thickening)


1) With 3 tablespoon of oil, stir-fry dried chillies with mushroom till fragrant.

2) Add in chicken and stir-fry till almost done.

3) Add in sauce (dark soy sauce + water + salt + corn starch)

4) Dish up when sauce has thickened.

NOTE: If you like it to be spicier, use more dried chillies. 4 to 5 dried chillies can only provide very slight spice. Be very CAUTIOUS when handling with dried chillies. Make sure you have no wound on your hands or it will sting you throughout the day! Also do not touch your eyes when you're handling dried chillies. Always wash your hands properly after handling dried chillies.

Stir-fry prawns with three colours of capsicum

Pictures showing process (clockwise from top left)

Ingredients:
600gram prawns (remove shells and veins)
1 red capsicum
1 green capsicum
1 yellow capsicum
6 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 tablespoon of tau cheong (tauchu) - beanpaste

Marinate:
1 tablespoon of sugar



1) Marinate the prawns with 1 tablespoon of sugar. (this will make the prawns to be springy after cooking)

2) Cut capsicums into cubes.

3) With 3 tablespoon of oil, stir-fry capsicums for around 1 minute.

4) Add in prawns. Stir-fry till almost done.

5) Add tau cheong and mix well with the rest. (water is not necessary as the capsicums and prawns will produce a little of water. but if you prefer the dish to have more sauce, add 1 to 2 tablespoon of water)

Note: I'm not sure whether you'll like this dish. Some people might find the taste of capsicums weird just like my husband! and I've to finished off the capsicums all by myself!

Omelette (with onion filling)

This is a dish most Chinese have taken and remained as a favourite dish. Can't remember when was the first time that I took it but I had this quite often during my teenage years. Mom always cooked this when she couldn't think of any dishes to cook in the afternoon. And because this dish is easy to cook, it is suitable for busy adults.

Ingredient:
3 eggs
1 large onion
1 teaspoon of soy sauce

1) Beat the eggs and soy sauce till they blended well.

2) Cut the onions into small pieces.

3) Sweat the onion till it becomes translucent.

4) Add in the eggs. Let the mixture swirl and cover the whole pan (as shown in pic. left; bottom).

5) Turn to LOW heat and let the egg to be cooked slowly. Then, cut the omelette into half and turn it over to be cooked.

6) Dish up when egg has turned golden brown.

Stir-fry chicken with capsicum

Pictures showing process (clockwise from top left)

Ingredient:
2 chicken drumsticks (skin and bones removed)
1 green capsicum
1 red capsicum
1 yellow capsicum

Sauce:
2 tablespoon tau cheong (taucu) or bean paste
1/2 teaspoon corn starch (for thickening)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 bowl of water

1) Cut the chicken into cubes.

2) Stir-fry the chicken until it is almost done.

3) Stir-fry capsicums for a while (around 30 seconds) before adding the sauce.

4) Let the sauce simmer for while. Dish up when the sauce has thicken and almost dry up.

NOTE: I didn't buy the yellow capsicum because it is not fresh. When you're choosing capsicum, press slightly on the flesh. If it is hard, then it is fresh.

Braised bittergourd with chicken

Pic clockwise show process.

Buy chicken drumsticks. Ask the seller to remove the skin and bones.

Ingredients:
2 chicken drumsticks (cut into cubes)
1/2 bittergourd






Seasoning:
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 heap tablespoon of tao cheong or taucu sauce (bean paste)
200 ml water

1) Put 2 tablespoon of oil and when oil is hot, add in chicken. Stir-fry till almost done. Add in bittergourd.
2) Add in seasoning. Stir-fry for a while and cover the pan.
3) Turn off the heat when the gravy becomes thick and almost dry up.