ABC soup

A Chinese classic soup which its nutritious and comforting. It's probably one of the simplest to cook too. 

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (pork ribs can be added for more flavour), remove fat/skin and rub with salt

A pot of water

2-3 potatoes peeled and cut to chunks

1 large yellow onion roughly chopped

2 carrots peeled and cut to chunks

1 tomato sliced to 6 wedges

salt to taste

optional: 1 small white raddish or sweet corn cob

Instructions

Blanch pork ribs/chicken in boiling water for about 5 minutes and set aside.

Add water, blanched pork ribs and the rest of the ingredients (except salt) into a soup pot. 

Bring to a boil, then simmer over low fire for another 40 mins. Skim off oil when necessary, season to taste with salt. The flavour will set in an hour or so in small boil, enjoy the natural sweetness in the vegetables!

Pork ribs soup with carrot and raddish: 159kcal/bowl

Chicken soup with corn: 107kcal/bowl

Hand-made noodles in laksa gravy

A home recipe loved by the family and relatives. It's hard to find ban mian (hand-made noodles) with laksa gravy. Some might think you'll get the ger-luk taste (sick of getting after a few spoonfuls), but when paired with mint leaves, it brings about a refreshing taste!

Ingredients

Hand-made noodles

1kg plain flour

1 egg

water

Laksa gravy

Dried shrimps - 200gm

Lemon grass - 2 stalks

Chilli paste for laksa/chicken curry

Coconut milk / fresh milk - 1 pack

Water (if needed)

Cockles / chicken

Mint leaves for garnish

Instructions
Hand-made noodles:
Pour the flour into a large plate and create a ‘volcano-like’shape. Add in water into the flour and knead into a dough. Include beaten egg into the dough to create the ‘Q’ effect!

It should form like this.

Roll out the dough into pancake sized circles and slice into strips of noodles. Alternatively you could just pull the dough out anyway you want to have it like Mee Hoon Kuay.

Stir-fry the dried shrimps to bring out its flavour.

Add in chilli paste (3/4 of what you have prepared) and lemon grass.

Add in coconut milk/fresh milk (for healthier alternative) and allow the gravy to boil.

Simmer in small fire till dried shrimps and lemon grass softens.

Stir-fry remaining ¼ of chilli paste and add in cockles/chicken.

Boil the noodles in a separate pot of boiling water.

Add in laksa gravy to the noodles and serve with cockles/chicken and mint leaves.

1 bowl est 700kcal

Work it out: Yes, we know laksa is high in calories but its worth the taste! Intensive cardio for an hour or more would help burn it out.

Roast char siew

Char siew, a local favourite is the sweet tender taste of pork. It is important to buy the right type of pork meat to get a good texture of the meat. It's actually quite simple to make especially if you have an oven/grill. It might not have that charcoal-burnt texture on the outer end that you could purchase outside, but the taste and texture is awesome.

Ingredients

800gm pork (shoulder bud portion)
⅛ tsp char siew colouring (add 1 tbsp water to dissolve)
170gm sugar
1 ¼ salt
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp chinese wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
A dash of pepper







Instructions

Wash pork and cut into long strips

Place seasoning in the bowl, add in the pork and mix well thoroughly and allow them to marinate for at least 3 hours.

Program oven to Super Grill Mode for 25mins and start. 

1 plate of char siew: 309kcal

Banana muffins

I was amazed at myself for being able to get this done in less than 20mins. You can too!

Ingredients

150gm flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
70gsm brown sugar
1 egg
5 large riped bananas (mash)
¼ tsp mix spices
70gm melted butter (unsalted)
⅛ tsp salt

Singapore BLT (bak kwa i heard you say!)

Inspired by Brewerkz menu of having Lim Chee Guan bak gua, i thought i had to do a simplier version to satisfy my craving for this yummy sandwich at home!


Ingredients

4 slices wholemeal bread / whole wheat bread (for extra fibre!)

Lettuce leaves

1 tomato sliced thinly

4 slices of Lim Chee Guan bak gua

Chilli-mayo sauce (mix mayonnaise with regular sweet chilli sauce)




Toast the bread lightly or warm it up

Microwave/grill bak gua so it’s warm

Stack the sandwich with lettuce as the base, then bak gua and tomato on top with some chilli-mayo sauce.

I know mine doesnt look as presentable as the one in Brewerkz but do drop by their restaurants (Indoor Stadium / Riverside Point) to try theirs out too! I had mine served with sweet potato fries!

Macaroni with shredded chicken in fish stock

This is one simple dish definitely made for rainy days.

Ingredients

1 packet macaroni (any brand is fine)

Dried ikan bilis / fish bones
(i managed to get some salmon fish bones at a japanese supermarket at $2!)

Chicken breast meat, season with a teaspoon of soya sauce and some ground white pepper

Green vegetables

Salt to taste

Instructions

Prepare ½ pot of boiling water and add dried ikan bilis in. Until soft, add in chicken breast meat. Once the chicken breast meat is cooked, take it out from the pot. (This would prevent the meat from becoming too hard or dry). Shred the chicken meat and put aside.

Seperately, cook the macaroni according to the packet instructions (suggest to remove once it starts becoming too soft and rinse over tap water). Use the remaining water to boil the vegetables and add a pinch of salt for taste.

To serve, place macaroni in a bowl and add in the fish stock. Top it with the chicken meat and vegetables.

Garnish - spring onions and chinese parsley (optional)


1 bowl est 199kcal

Chinese dumpling - Jiao Zi

The secret is the smooth ‘Q’ dough with sufficient pork stuffing served in chinese vinegar and ginger slices. 

Ingredients

Dough
1 kg plan flour
1 tbsp oil
1 bowl luke warm water

Filling
200g minced pork
1 raddish / white carrot
½ cabbage

Dipping sauce


Sliced ginger and chinese vinegar




Instructions
Pour the flour into a large plate and create a ‘volcano-like’shape. Add in oil and water mixture into the flour and knead into a dough. It should form like this. Use a cling wrap to keep the dough and let it rest for at least 15minutes. 





Chop raddish and cabbage finely and mix well with minced pork.





Knead the dough into round balls of about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Press down firmly so that you get a round shape and use the roller to give the dough a nice round shape.

Add fillings into the dough and fold in dough to seal the filling.

Once ready cook the dumplings in boiling water. Dumplings will naturally float when the dough is cooked but do make sure the fillings are evenly cooked before removing them from the pot of water.

Remaining dumplings can be kept in the freezer to cook for another time!

1 dumpling est 48kcal