Sweet and Spicy Tomato Drumsticks

Ingredients: (serves 2-3)
350g Mini Chicken Drumsticks
1 tbsp Tomato sauce
1 tbsp Sambal Chili Sauce
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tsp Tandoori Curry Powder
1 tsp Sweet Paprika Powder
3 medium size Tomato (cut into big chunks)

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients together except tomatoes, leave aside to marinade for at least 30 minutes.
2. Roast in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius or until chicken turn reddish-brown. Remove dish from oven.
3. In a heated wok or pan, pour in all the ingredients from the roasted dish earlier. Stir in tomatoes, allow to cook for a while (best with lid covered). When sauce starts to thicken (after about 3 minutes), turn off heat, done, serve hot.

Note: Add in cumin seeds while marinating, the dish will have another flavour and aroma.

The Modest Treasure Box

It has been quite some time again since I posted my last dish, I think I will not be able to make hit more than 15 dishes this month, all thanks to my assignments at uni. =( My brain has been thinking a lot of my design rather than food recently, well, it is good in a way I reckon, but bad for the little chef inside me...


But anyway, check out this 'Modest Treasure Box', a simple dish that was inspired from last weekend's "Cook of The Year" event held by UNIBUDS. In fact, I got quite a number of ideas from that event, just that time has been prohibiting me from making any of those ideas come to post! Just grumbling for the sake of it! ^^




Ingredients: (makes 12)
900g (12 pieces) Fresh Tofu
300g Minced Pork
2 tbsp English Mustard Sauce
2 tbsp Crunchy Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
1 tbsp Cornflour (mixed with 2 tbsp water before use)
3 tbsp Five Spice Powder



Method:
1. In a bowl, mix minced pork, English mustard, peanut butter, light soy sauce, black pepper powder. In another bowl, mix vegetable oil, cornflour and egg. Mix two bowls of ingredients together at last until it forms a paste-like form.
2. Rinse all the tofu thoroughly, pad dry with kitchen towel, coat all tofu pieces thoroughly with five spice powder.
3. Handling the tofu, cut off the 1/3 top of a piece of tofu, score a square outline on the remaining 2/3 of the tofu, dig out the content carefully with a spoon. Repeat with remaining tofu.
4. Scoop in some mixed paste into the hole on each tofu, press firmly to ensure it is full, cover back with top piece of tofu. Repeat with remaining tofu.
5. On a baking tray, place a sheet of aluminium foil, oil with butter or vegetable oil. Arrange tofu on top of aluminium foil. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Done. Serve hot or warm.

Spicy Chili and Garlic Tofu

I was inspired to make this dish after my housemate make a similar spicy dish the other day before. I think most people who like spicy food will like this one, enjoy!

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
600g Soft Silken Tofu (sliced to desired sizes)
1 tbsp Sweet Paprika
1 tbsp Hot Paprika
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
2 tbsp Soy Bean Paste
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
10 pc fresh Curry Leafs
10 cloves Garlic (1 finely chopped, others diced)
10 small Thai Chili (the SPICY ones! Halved with seeds removed)
2 pc Khaffir Lime Leafs (finely chopped just before use)
6 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Fry 9 cloves worth of diced garlic with 2 tbsp vegetable oil, remove oil and garlic when they turn golden brown. Leave aside.
2. In a bowl, mix sweet and hot paprika, and black pepper powder. Coat tofu slices with a thin layer of the mixture. Parboil tofu slices with 4 tbsp oil. (The tofu pieces should be golden brown and nice and fluffy after being fired) Leave aside to cool. Drain Oil.
3. Heat remaining 1tbsp vegetable oil in wok, fry chili and curry leafs together, add remaining 1 clove worth of finely chopped garlic, stir well before adding in soy bean paste and light soy sauce. Add in chopped lime leafs just before serving.
4. Top sauce over fried tofu pieces. Sprinkle fried garlic and oil over the dish. Ready to serve.

Chinse Sausage and Hasbrown Pasta

I had this sudden urge to eat some chinese sausage the other day, and I couldn't think of any other more funky idea to cook this dish, it is delicious! The distinctive chinese sausage aroma merged with the crispy, salty and yet another distinctive flavour of hashbrowns, try it!

Ingredients: (serves 1 big eater)
200g Pasta (just cook it in anyway you would prepare other dired pasta)
2 pc Hasbrown Patties (Roasted in oven until crisp and crunchy, takes about 15 minutes with a 200 degrees Celicius setting)
1 pc Chinese Sausage (use more if desired, skinned and thinly sliced diagonally)3tbsp Thick Mushroom Soup (use those pre-canned ones, Campbell sounds good)
1 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
3 petals Fancy Lettuce (soaked and cleaned, coarsely chopped)
Pepper and Salt to taste

Method:
1. In a pan or wok, heat sliced chinese sausage without oil, keep stirring or flipping sides to ensure it does not turn black. (use low heat) This should be done for about 2 minutes or so. What you're really up to is the oil from the sausages, once there is enough, stir in the garlic.
2. Add in thick mushroom soup paste at this point, add a bit of water if desired, but not too much. Stir in pasta, add pepper and salt to taste. Continue stirring, add in lettuce.
3. Turn off heat. Add coarsely cut hashbrown chunks and stir well. Done, serve hot.

Stir Fried Yum Bean and Black Woody Fungus

The next dish is one of the favourites that my mom taught me, so this is kind of a traditional dish, hopefully everyone likes it.

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)

1kg Yum Bean (skinned and finely sliced, as thin as possible!)

80g Black Woody Fungus (pre-soaked until soft and sliced thinly)

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tsp Salt

3 tbsp Black Pepper Powder (cut less to taste)

2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce (add more to taste)

10g Dried Shrimp (soaked in water before use)

3 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

2 slices Ginger (finely chopped)

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Water as required

Method:

1. In a heated wok, add dried shrimp, stir-fry for a minute until fragrant. Add in chopped garlic and ginger, stir fry for another couple of minutes before adding vegetable oil.

2. Stir in sliced black woody fungus, add sugar at this point. Continue to stir-fry all the time.

3. Add in sliced yum bean, mix the ingredients well, add all the seasoning at this point apart from the black pepper powder. That has to go in phase by phase.

4. Continue to stir fry and add pepper every now and then (remember only 3tbsp). Add water as required as well, to prevent the dish from going dead dry.

5. Check if the yum bean can be easily cut into two, the dish is basically done, serve hot.

Five Spice Pumpkin Drumsticks Stew

I have not been blogging for sometime now, thanks to an elective I took, never thought that it would take up that much time... But anyway, I have been keeping all my photos of those dishes that I made over the last week, so today I will post a few of them once and for all! Check out this pumpkin stew that I made, it's really delicious, especially the gravy, something that is nice about it that is indescribable....


Ingredients: (serves 3)
500g Mini Chicken Drumsticks (about 9)
400g Pumpkin (coarsely chopped)
400g White Button Mushrooms (sliced thickly)
1 tbsp Five Spice Powder
1 tbsp Fermented Black Bean Paste
1 tbsp Salt (more to suit own taste)
2 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
6 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 stem Spring Onion (coarsely chopped)
3 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
2 slices Ginger (finely copped)
Water

Method:
1. Marinade the chicken drumsticks with five spice powder, 1 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp black pepper powder, leave aside.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok, parboil the pumpkin chunks until they turn golden brown.
3. Remove pumpkin chunks from oil, pour away excess oil, keeping about 3 tbsp, parboil the drumsticks with this remaining oil, remove from oil when they turn golden brown.

4. In the same wok, stir fry sliced mushrooms, add brown sugar, continue to stir fry for another 1 minute or 2. Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add in pumpkin and drumsticks at this point, continue to stir fry.

5. Stir in fermented black bean paste, light soy sauce, salt and pepper. Subsequently, stir in pumpkin and drumsticks prepared earlier. Add water to cover at least half of ingredients, stir well and bring to boil. Cover with wok lid and turn to low heat, braise for about 10 to 15 minutes. (You can change to use pot at this point if you want.)

6. Check occasionally to make sure there is always enough water and the gravy does not dry off.

7. Stir in spring onions just before removing from heat. Done. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Bamboo Shoots Wrap

Wanted to make something that literally 'wraps' that day, not sure why though, but I did make it at the end. The end product was not bad at all, but maybe just have to control the duration of steaming it, then it would be better! Check the recipe out...


Ingredients: (makes 9)
25g Bean curd Skin (Foo-Chok, approximate weigh, cut to make 9 pieces)
300g Bamboo Shoots Strips
2pc Chinese Sausage (skinned and finely chopped)
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp Sweet Paprika Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
2 bunch Chives

Method:
1. Soak the bean curd skin in lukewarm water 1 hour beforehand. Leave aside.
2. Marinade the bamboo shoot strips with light soy sauce, black pepper powder, brown sugar, sweet paprika and Cinnamon powder. Leave aside.
3. Clean the chives thoroughly with water, steam in hot water pot for 5 minutes or so.



4. Pick a piece of bean curd skin, place 2 tbsp bamboo shoot strips on one end. Top with 1/2 tbsp finely chopped Chinese sausage. Pick one end of the bean curd skin (where the ingredients are near to), roll firmly while pressing out excess water and air, seal with corn starch at the other end of the roll.

5. Pick 2 strips of chives, cross tie around the wrap, turn the wrap around and tie another knot if desired. Repeat step 4 and 5 with remaining ingredients.
6. Place all wraps in a oiled bowl or plate, steam for 10 minutes. Done, serve hot.
7. Serve with sweet chili sauce or simply dip into some light soy sauce.