Lo Mai Gai 糯米雞

We had breakfast at IKEA on a great Saturday morning and I ordered Lo Mai Gai to try out if it was really nice. Surprisingly, it was so yummy but the portion was too little for 4 of us to share. With great enthusiasm, I decided to cook this for Sunday lunch to satisfy everyone's craving. There were not too much hassle to get the 4 main ingredients and with some self discretion of seasonings, I made my best Lo Mai Gai ever! The big smiles and thumbs up from everyone further affirmed the great success of this delicacy.   
      

Ingredients

3 cups of glutinous rice
3 cups of water
1 Chinese sausages-sliced & half
5 dried mushrooms-soaked and diced into small pieces
1 pkt of chicken thigh meat-sliced in to small pieces
1 tbsp minced garlic

Meat marinating ingredients
2 tsp of sesame oil
2 tbsp Oyster sauce
Few dash of white pepper
1 tbsp ginger-chopped finely

Seasonings for glutinous rice
5tsp of Knorr chicken powder
2tbsp of light soya sauce
2tbsp of oyster sauce
Few dash white pepper

Directions

1. Marinate the chicken with seasoning and keep in fridge for 1-2 hours.
2. While marinating the meat, wash the rice and add in all the seasoning. Soaked the rice for 5-10 minutes. 
3. In a frying pan, saute the minced garlic until fragrant and brownish, add in the glutinous rice and stir fry until well mixed.
4. Transfer the fragrant uncooked glutinous rice to the rice cooker, add the cups of water and set to cook. In between the cooking, stir the glutinous rice to ensure that the top part of the rice is equally cooked and there is no burnt rice at the bottom of the rice cooker.
5. Meanwhile, grease the aluminium foil pie cups, place the marinated chicken, mushrooms and chinese sausages. Cover them with the cooked glutinous rice. Press it as compressed as possible. Steam in the steamer for 15-20 minutes.

Fish Burgers

As I am running out of idea what to cook for lunch, I made these easy prepared fish burgers for everyone.   

Teriyaki Chicken Rice

I came across this recipe which was quite quick and simple, so I decided to cook this for our dinner. Though it was a simple dish, everyone loves the taste of the Teriyaki Chicken. What a piece of art and having great satisfaction cooking a nice meal for my family.

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breasts
3 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp minced ginger
3 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp corn starch dissolved in 2 tbsp water
2 tsp of oil
Sesame seeds & stripe seaweeds for garnish

Directions

1. In a bowl, add water, soya sauce, sugar, oyster sauce and minced ginger. Mix well.
2. Add oil to a hot pan, pan fry the chicken breasts till brown on each side.
3. Use kitchen paper to remove excess oil from pan. Add sauce to chicken and let it simmer for 1 min. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir quickly till sauce turns thick, off heat.
3. Cut chicken into slices and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Serve with rice, top with stripe seaweeds.

Homemade 炸酱面 with egg/spinach noodles

Homemade 炸酱面 with spinach noodle

Homemade 炸酱面 with egg noodle

Making these Homemade 炸酱面 with egg/spinach noodles for lunch.

Ingredients

350g minced pork
2tbps dark soya sauce
2tbsp sesame oil
dash of pepper
5 hard-boiled eggs
5tbsp dark soya sauce
2tbsp sugar
1 bunch of Xiao Bai Cai (steamed)
cooked rice
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp chopped garlic
2tbps Sweet Bean paste
2tbsp dark soya sauce
dash of pepper

Directions

1. Marinate minced pork with dark soya sauce, sesame oil and dash of pepper. Keep in fridge for 1 hr.
2. In a pot, add water enough to cover the hard-boiled egg. Add in dark soya sauce and sugar and use low heat to boil until eggs are darker in color.
3. In a frying pan, put in olive oil and add garlic, stir fried till slightly brown.
4. Add in the marinated minced pork and keep stirring.
5. Add in sweet bean paste, dark soya sauce and pepper, stir well. Add some water and simmer for a while.
6. Boil egg/spimach noodles, place on top with vegetables, eggs (cut into halved) and minced pork. Ready to serve.

Croquettes with Melted Cheese

I had some cheddar cheese in the fridge, so I decided to make this croquettes for lunch today. The preparation was quite easy but the frying was challenging. The oil must be hot enough and you need to be quick to get it out once it turns golden brown. MIL and kids enjoyed it very much!

Ingredients

4 large potatoes (boiled/steamed, mashed)
150g minced meat
1/4 large onion (sliced)
1/4 carrots (diced)
3pcs cheddar cheese(tear into small pcs)
Salt and pepper to taste
Flour
1 egg (Beaten)
Bread crumbs

Directions

1. Fry the onion till transparent, add carrots and minced meat. Fry till all cooked.
2. Mix the mashed potatoes together with the minced meat mixture till well combined. Add in salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pick 1 portion and flatten it, add some cheese in the middle and cover with another portion of mashed potatoes. Make into a patty form or balls.
4. Coat them with flour, then beaten egg and lastly bread crumbs.
5. Deep dry in low-medium heat oil till golden brown.

Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice (滷肉飯)

I have tried the Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice from Xiao Ba Wang and very much wanted to cook it myself. While browsing through the seasoning in the shop Kwong Cheong Thye, I found this Sweet Bean Paste that might be able to make this Braised Pork as close to those in Xiao Ba Wang. Though the taste not exactly the same but it was quite close and good enough for me. 

Ingredients

350g minced pork
2tbps dark soya sauce
2tbsp sesame oil
dash of pepper
5 hard-boiled eggs
5tbsp dark soya sauce
2tbsp sugar
1 bunch of Xiao Bai Cai (steamed)
cooked rice
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp chopped garlic
2tbps Sweet Bean paste
2tbsp dark soya sauce
dash of pepper

Directions

1. Marinate minced pork with dark soya sauce, sesame oil and dash of pepper. Keep in fridge for 1 hr.
2. In a pot, add water enough to cover the hard-boiled egg. Add in dark soya sauce and sugar and use low heat to boil until eggs are darker in color.
3. In a frying pan, put in olive oil and add garlic, stir fried till slightly brown.
4. Add in the marinated minced pork and keep stirring.
5. Add in sweet bean paste, dark soya sauce and pepper, stir well. Add some water and simmer for a while.
6. In a bowl of cooked rice, place on top with vegetables, eggs (cut into halved) and minced pork. Ready to serve.

Laksa

This is the best Homemade without chilli laksa I ever ate. I am not a chilli person and so it always not easy to eat laksa anywhere out there because it comes with chilli. I came across this laksa paste from Kwong Cheong Thye (Geylang Off Sims Ave) and tried with 200g of paste (just nice for 4 pax). It was terrific! The gravy tasted the same as sold out there and its not spicy at all. Just the perfect laksa for me.

Ingredients

2 pkts thick bee-hoon
250g bean sprouts
20 cooked prawns
10 deep fried beancurd puffs
4 fishcakes(cut into pieces)
200g laksa paste (ready packed)
150g coconut milk
300ml water
some parsley flakes
2 hard-boiled eggs(optional)

Directions

1. Put coconut milk, water and laksa paste into pot. Bring to boil.
2. Add deep fried beancurd puffs and fishcakes till boiled.
3. In another pot, bring water to boil and cook the thick bee-hoon and bean sprouts until well done. Drain and place in a bowl.
4. Scoop the laksa gravy into the bowl of noodles. Top with cooked prawns and garnish with parsley flakes.
5. Ready to serve.