Savory Oatmeal Porridge - 麥片粥

Oatmeal is usually used to make porridge or act as an one of the ingredient in oatmeal cookies or oat cakes. Sometime it is use as a topping on many oat bran breads. Research shows that Daily consumption of a bowl of oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol, due to its soluble fiber content.

This is my very 1st attempt in cooking Savoury Oatmeal which really worried me before the final end product being served. But to my surprised these really turn out well and it taste just as similar as to those "Cantonese Porridge - 广东粥" texture. To further enhance the fragrant of the porridge, I even prepared some pan-fried shredded ginger to use as garnish.

As for this recipe, I use this "Quaker - Quick Cook Oatmeal" which you can purchase in most supermarket. You can add your preference amount of Oatmeal to the thicken the porridge to the consistency that you want the it to be.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
5 - 6 Tablespoons of Quick Cook Oatmeal
3 Imitation Crab Meat, diced
100g Of Mince Pork
1 Egg, lightly beaten
600ml of Water/Stock
Chopped Spring Onion & Coriander
Pan-fried Shredded Ginger, optional

Methods:
1. Marinate the mince meat with some light soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil and set aside.
2. Preheat a saucepan with some oil, lightly fry the diced crab meat until done, then add in the marinated mince meat.
3. Give it a quick stir until the meat are well separated and cook through.
4. Add in the water and bring it to almost boiling point then add in the quick cook oatmeal.
5. When the mixture come to boil again, low the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes then season to taste.
6. Switch off the heat, remove the pot from the stove, then drizzle in the beaten egg and give it a quick stir.
7. Serve in the bowl with extra topping of chopped coriander, spring onion and shredded ginger.

Notes:
a) To make the pan-fried shredded ginger:-
~ Preheat a small pan with about 1 tablespoon or more of oil, then add in 1 tablespoon of shredded ginger, saute it over medium low heat.
~ Stir consistency until the ginger turns almost golden in colour, switch off the heat, remove the shredded ginger and set aside in a small saucer.
~ Pour some of the oil over it so as to drizzle on the porridge or noodle.

At a glance of it, you will definitely mistaken it as the usual "Mince Pork Porridge" that we used to have in the Asian way of cooking. So do give this a try to serve Oatmeal in a new taste compare to the sweet flavour varieties that we used to have for breakfast.

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Bento #29 - Macar Garden

Thank God for his blessing that today is Sunday again. As usual after our early church service, Rey and I will go to the market and pick up some goodies that he wants me to prepare for him as lunch and dinner. Along at the fruit stall, Rey prompted me that he would like to have some cherries in his bento box to accompany the rest of the berries at home.

Today we are having cheesy macaroni with some blanched broccoli and Komoboko cut into small dual colour flowers using the tools shown. So after showing Rey with an example of how to use the cutter to assemble the flower, I leave the rest of the task to him while I start to work on the macaroni and packing of the bento.

Tata.... so after about 30 minutes of work in the kitchen, we finally come out with Today's lunch bento. We called this Macar Garden because of the flowers, cheese rabbits and colourful fruits. Overall, Rey do enjoy making and eating this bento but he is a bit upset when one of his favourite "Cheese Rabbit" melt while during my photo taking session :p

Err... sorry darling, mummy should have wait for the Macaroni to cool down a bit first before putting the "rabbit" on top of it.

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Herbal Fish Mee Suah

After a day of hectic work in the office, what would you prefer to have as a comfort food for dinner? Some home cooked soup or simple home cooked dishes? Or what about having a bowl of hearty Herbal Fish Mee Suah that top with some fish slices, soft-boiled Egg and fried shredded ginger to go with?

Mee Suah, which is usually sold in dried form, is made from rice flour and is very brittle in uncooked form as the strands are really thin. We hardly have Mee Suah at home as I always thought that it is more for confinement food cooking or elder people. But on request today, I prepared this light herbal pork ribs soup to serve with the Fish Mee Suah with an additional Soft-boiled egg.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
150g of ShengYu Slices (生鱼片)
3 Bundles of Mee Suah (面线)
4 Pieces of Spare Ribs
2 Big Red Dates (红枣)
2 Slices of Dried Huai Shan(淮山)
5 Slices of Yuzhu (玉竹)
3 – 4 Slices of Dang Gui(当归)
1 Tablespoon Wolfberries (枸杞子)
600ml - 750ml Water
2 Soft Boiled Eggs
10g of Shredded Ginger
Chopped Coriander & Spring Onion for garnish

Method:
1. Clean and wash the spare ribs then blanched in boiling water for about 5 minutes, rinse, clean and set aside for later use.
2. Marinate the fish slices with some shredded ginger and a few drops of sesame oil and light soy sauce then set aside in the fridge.
3. Bring water to boil in a stockpot, add in spare ribs, rinse herbs and half of the wolfberries.
4. Lower the heat and let it simmer over low heat for about 20 – 30 minutes until the spare ribs are tender.
5. While boiling the soup base, pre-heat a small frying pan with about 1 tablespoon of boil, sauté the shredded ginger till fragrant and golden brown, removed and set aside for garnish.
6. Blanched the marinated fish slices in boiling water for about 1 minutes till cooked, remove and set aside.
7. Using the same saucepan, bring some fresh water to boil then cooked about 1½ bundle of the mee suah for about 30 seconds or so, stir occasionally.
8. Remove and place it in a big soup bowl top with some of the remaining wolfberries, 2 spare ribs and some blanched fish slices.
9. Scoop the hot herbal soup over it and serves with some extra garnish of shredded ginger, coriander, spring onion and soft-boiled egg.
10. If you prefer, you can drizzle a few drops of sesame oil over it for extra fragrant.


Methods For Soft-Boiled Egg:
1. To prepare a soft-boiled egg, bring egg and water to boil in a saucepan then low the heat to medium low and continue to boil for about 4 minutes(for runny egg yolk) or 6 minutes(for soft and moist yolk).
2. Remove the heat from heat, peel the shell and set aside.


Em... in order to get that brownish effect for my soft-boiled egg. I actually soaked the cooked egg without shell in a bowl of dark soy sauce water for about 30 minutes or so, but the effect is still not as good as cooking it in dark soy water. And even though this soft-boiled egg is to one of my preference, I still prefer to have it under cooked for maybe another 1 minutes or so less in order to achieve that slightly runny yolk effect. I will try cooking this soft-boiled egg again for 4 minutes instead of the 6 minutes that I have done.

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Parents World - July & August Issue

Wow.. just received my latest issue of Parents World for July & August. I was so busy these few weeks that I totally forgot about this bi-montly Parents' and Kids' magazine that I have contributed my recipes with. This month cover page mum is Cecilia Cheung, one of the beautiful Hong Kong Celebrities whom most of us known of.

In this issue you will find a lot of interesting stuffs and factors that might trigger your curiosity of grabbing a copy of it. And further more, my recipes for this issue will be "Buttermilk Pancakes With Strawberry Mint Sauce" which is great for breakfast or tea-time.

Follow by this "Claypot Ginseng Chicken Rice" which I come out with from the idea of Steam Herbal Chicken. And there is another kiddy porridge which is "Cod Porridge with Lotus Seeds & Wolfberries" which is not shown here. But if you are interested in these recipes do check out the copy in your kids' school bag which they might have a complimentary copy from school or you can grab at copy at most 7-11 stores and newsstands. Thank you for your support.

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Double-Boiled Egg White & Milk In Coconut

I saw this fresh and beautiful Thai Young Coconut during my market trip this morning and on first sight, I told myself that I am going to make a new dessert from it. As I always heard from my mum who has tried the "Double-boiled hashima and egg whites in coconut" dessert Crystal Jade Kitchen. I decided to come out with my very own version of "Double-Boiled Egg White & Milk With In Coconut".

Coconuts are the fruit of the coconut palm, it has many food uses, including milk, meat, sugar and oil as well as functioning as its own dish and cup. From research, it shows that coconut water is also More Nutritious than whole milk as it contain Less fat and NO cholesterol! As you can see from the photo, the main ingredients that I used are Young Coconut Juice and Flesh, Egg White, Fresh Milk and some wolfberries for colour contrast and sweetness.

Ingredient:
1 Thai Young Coconut
Egg White From 2 Medium Egg
100ml Coconut Juice
70ml Fresh Milk
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1.5 Teaspoon Sugar
1/2 Red Date, for garnish

Method:
1. Dissolve the sugar in the coconut juice over low heat in a pot, then set aside to cool. (You can use microwave to cook on High 30 second)
2. Use a small knife to life the lip of the coconut, slow not to break it fully open, leave a small gape so the you will be able to cover it back while double-boiled.
3. Use a spoon carefully scrape the flesh from the inner shell and set aside for later use.
3. Whisk the egg whites briefly, then mix in the milk and pour in the cool coconut juice solution.
4. Strain into a bowl, then pour it back into the coconut shell.
5. Stir in 3/4 of the wolfberries and coconut flesh then cover the lip, place the coconut in a deep bowl or place it directly in the pot of boiling water and double-boiled for about 20 minutes.
6. Open the lid after 10 minutes, scatter the remaining 1/4 of wolfberies and coconut flesh and top with half of the red date in the middle.
7. Cover the lip back and continue to steam over medium heat for another 10 minutes. (Open the lip at a 5 minutes interval)
8. Remove the whole bowl from heat and remain cover for 2 minutes before serving.
9. You can either serve warm or cold.


Note:
a) I bought the Thai Young Coconut from Shop And Save or you can get it from most supermarket at less than $2.00 each. (Try to find the one with a nice lid so that u can cover it while double-boiled)
b) The texture of this dessert might not very pudding like, sometime it might be more on the soft or liquid side depend on the kind of milk you used and the steaming technique.


This is a very refreshing and fragrant dessert. The moment when I opened the lip, the aroma of the coconut essence is so wonderful. You should give this a try if you love coconut and it's a very good beauty dessert too... :p

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Frog & Pumpkin Porridge

This is one of Rey's favourite weekend lunch that I always prepared for him either on Saturday or Sunday. The method is more or less the same but then I will rotate on the ingredients depend on what he prefer during that week. Our "little master" will tell me what he wants for the day before we headed for marketing. Today's menu might sounds a bit "yucky" to some of you because of the use of "Fresh Frog". But in Asian country like Singapore, Frog porridge is very commonly found in most household where the elderly will choose it to cook porridge for kids.

Since Rey is a picky eater who don't really eat meat or vegetable on it's own. We have to work on ways to get things into his mouth, so the most easier way that both me and my mum will do is to put everything into the porridge and serve it to him as one dish meal. This is a very nutritious porridge which consists of his favourite pumpkin and potato.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
3 Pieces of Pork Ribs
1 Fresh Frog(田鸡), skin removed
60g of Pumpkin, without skin
1 Medium Potato, cut into quarters
Some Red Dates & Wolfberries
1/2 Cup Uncooked Rice
600ml - 800ml Water

Method:
1. Pre-wash the rice and soak with some water for about 30 minutes, this is enable the rice to soften and cook faster.
2. Wash and clean the pork ribs and fresh frog then blanch them in boiling water for a about 3 minutes, rinse and set aside.
3. Next bring about 600ml of water to boil then add in the pork rib, frog meat, potato cubes, red dates and wolfberries and let it bring to boil again then simmer for about 15 minutes over low heat.
4. Add in the rice(drained well 1st) and pumpkin(don't cut into small pieces, leave it as it is) let it simmer accordingly until the rice is done to your liking.
5. Season it with some salt and sesame oil if you prefer then serve.


My boy love the pumpkin to be mashed together in the porridge and serve with the soft cooked potato. Usually I cooked this dish with Cod fish but for a change today, I replace the Cod fish with fresh frog meat.

Note:
a) I bought the fresh frog from the wet market which is already without the skin.
b) I use a small claypot to cook the porridge because we love that smooth texture compare to the normal pot.

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Banana & Passion Fruit Chiffon Cake

Em... this should be the last Chiffon Cake recipe that I going to post for the time being even though I still have a few on the list to try out :p Since my mum love the combination of Passion Fruit with Banana, I decided to bake this for her over the weekend together with some of her favourite Banana & Passion Fruit Jam.

The cake is full or banana aroma while baking in the oven and the taste is great! It has the combination of "Sweet" from the banana and "Sour as well as the crunch" from the passion fruit juice and it's seeds. We really love this combi especially when it is served together with the extra Banana & Passion fruit Jam. As you can see from the photo, I even topped extra banana slices on top of the batter to give that extra taste.

Ingredients:
80g Ripe Banana, mashed
1 Ripe Passion Fruit
Rind of 1 Lemon, optional
3 Large Egg Yolks
20g Caster Sugar
50ml Olive Oil
80g Top Flour/Cake Flour
8 Thin Slices of Banana, optional
4 Large Egg Whites
40g Caster Sugar

Method:
1. Mashed the ripe banana with a fork in a bowl then stir in the lemon rind, passion fruit juice and pulp. Mix well and set aside.
2. Separate the egg yolks and white into two separate bowls. (carefully do not leave any trace of egg yolk in the egg whites mixture)
3. Use a balloon whisk to whisk the egg yolks and 20g of caster sugar(add in 2 separate additions) till thick and sticky.
4. Slowly drizzle in the oil while continue to whisk at the same time till the mixture is well combined.
5. Add the sifted flour mixture into the egg mixture and continue to whisk till the flour is fully incorporated into the batter.
6. Next stir in the banana mixture using the balloon whisk till combined.
7. Preheat the oven to 180 degree.
8. Beat egg whites and 1/3 of the caster sugar with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Then add in another 1/3 of the sugar and continue to beat on medium speed until almost soft peaks form then add in the last 1/3 of the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. 9. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, with the 1st addition using the balloon whisk to incorporate it into the yolk mixture till combine without trace of whites.
10. Next fold in the 2nd and 3rd addition of whites using the balloon whisk in a gentle manner in order not to knock off the air in the whites, just fold till no trace of egg whites and the mixture are well combined.
11. Before pouring the mixture to the pan, use a spatula to give a final stir to make sure there is no flour or egg whites mixture at the bottom of the mixing bowl.
12. Lift up the bowl to height, then pour the mixture into the pan and tap the pan 2 - 3 times on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
13. Arrange the banana slices on top of the batter and baked the cake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or when the surfaces turns golden brown. (I baked on the 2nd lower shelf of my built in oven using upper and lower heat function. You can insert a skewer into the centre and test if it comes out clean)
14. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately and let it rest on top of a cup. Let it cool completely before unmould.(refer to the picture below on how to invert the pan over a cup to cool down)
15. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife (i use a small rubber spatula) around the inside of the pan and the center core.
16. Release the cake and run the knife/spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake.
17. Cut into serving size and serve with a cup of tea or coffee.


This is a very refreshing tea-snack which is full of light lemon fragrant, tint of sour from the passion fruit and crunch from it's seeds. If you love banana cake, you should give this a try. It's definitely low fat version compare to the normal banana butter cake that we used to have :p

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Ham & Cheese Chiffon Cake

This weekend task we experiment with Chiffon cake recipe again, but this time we tried making a savoury one instead of the usual sweet chiffon cake. I have read a Cheesy Chiffon Cake recipe from Kitchen Corner and it really draws my attention as I love anything that comes with melted cheese in it. Grace, who is the owner of Kitchen Corner has a wide collection of Chiffon Cake recipes that you might want to check it up if you are keen in trying different version of chiffon cakes.

For today's venture, we are making Ham & Cheese Chiffon Cake. As you can see from the picture, our little baker is keen in joining the process too...... He helps me to prepare some of the ingredients and whisking the egg yoke mixture while I prepare the weighing of some ingredients.

Our little Rey still come out with his very own copy of the Ingredients List which he helps mummy to keep track on the ingredients used and added. Although I want to try the cheesy chiffon cake idea from Grace's blog but I didn't use her recipe, instead I stick to my Sweet Potato Chiffon Cake Recipe and replace the ingredients with Ham and Shredded Mozella Cheese.

Ingredients:
80g Shredded Mozella Cheese
2 Slices of Breakfast Ham, cut in small slices
3 Large Egg Yolks
30g Caster Sugar
50ml Olive Oil
40ml Water
80g Top Flour/Cake Flour
Pinch of Salt
4 Large Egg Whites
30g Caster Sugar

Method:
1. Cut the ham into small bite size, then preheat the pan with some oil and pan-fry it for about 1 minute till fragrant, removed and drained well on kitchen paper towel.
2. Separate the egg yolks and white into two separate bowls. (carefully do not leave any trace of egg yolk in the egg whites mixture)
3. Use a balloon whisk to whisk the egg yolks and 30g of caster sugar(add in 3 separate additions) till thick and sticky.
4. Slowly drizzle in the oil while continue to whisk at the same time then follow by the water till the mixture is well combined.
5. Add the sifted flour mixture into the egg mixture and continue to whisk till the flour is fully incorporated into the batter.
6. Next stir in the cooked ham and shredded cheese using the whisk till combined.
7. Preheat the oven to 180 degree.
8. Beat egg whites and 1/3 of the caster sugar with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Then add in another 1/3 of the sugar and continue to beat on medium speed until almost soft peaks form then add in the last 1/3 of the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. 9. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, with the 1st addition using the balloon whisk to incorporate it into the yolk mixture till combine without trace of whites.
10. Next fold in the 2nd and 3rd addition of whites using the balloon whisk in a gentle manner in order not to knock off the air in the while, just fold till no trace of egg whites and the mixture are well combined.
11. Before pouring the mixture to the pan, use a spatula to give a final stir to make sure there is no flour or egg whites mixture at the bottom of the mixing bowl.
12. Lift up the bowl to height, then pour the mixture into the pan and tap the pan 2 - 3 times on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
13. Baked the cake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or when the surfaces turns golden brown. (I baked on the 2nd lower shelf of my built in oven using upper and lower heat function. You can insert a skewer into the centre and test if it comes out clean)
14. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately and let it rest on top of a cup. Let it cool completely before unmould.(refer to the picture below on how to invert the pan over a cup to cool down)
15. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife (i use a small rubber spatula) around the inside of the pan and the center core.
16. Release the cake and run the knife/spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake.
17. Cut into serving size and serve with a cup of tea or coffee.

Note:
a) For this recipe, I didn't greased the tin even though I used the same recipe and method from the Sweet potato and Durian Chocolate Chiffon cake. I notice that the batter did claim up higher compare to the previous two and the outer layout of the crust are brownish as well.


From the picture, you can see the texture of this savoury Chiffon Cake is kind of different from the normal one. It has a lot of Air-Pocket in between which contain the melted cheese in it. To us, the taste was great especially with the added of ham which make the overall of the cake more fragrant. So if you like Ham & Cheese Bread, maybe you can consider on tying this out.

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Dual Fungus Sweet Soup

I have being coughing badly for the past one week which I think might be due to the bad weather or the amount of Durian that I consume during the previous week. So since my lady boss gave me a few packets of freeze dried black fungus. I decided to make this Dual Fungus Sweet Soup for this weekend.

As you can see from the photos, other than the dual fungus, I also added in some Ginkgo nuts, red dates, wolfberries and candidate tangerine which makes it a good and smoothing dessert for cough or cool down the body system from hot weather.

White Fungus(雪耳): tastes slightly sweet and of neutral nature. It benefits the spleen, strengthens the stomach and expel Dryness. It calms the spirit, treats insomnia and is good for the body type that resists beneficial food.

Black Fungus(黑木耳): has a reputation in Chinese herbal medicine for increasing the fluidity of the blood and improving circulation.

Ginkgo nuts(白果): are usually sold dried, or shelled and canned in brine. It is traditional Chinese food that nourishes lung energy and calms wheezing.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
10g Dried White Fungus
5g Dried Black Fungus
20 Fresh Ginkgo Nuts
8 Big Seedless Red Date, cut into halves
1 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1 Candied Tangerine, cut into halves
1 Litre of Water
Some Pandan Leaves
Rock Sugar to taste

Method:
1. Rinse and soaked the two type of fungus separately into two bowls of water till soft. Rinse well to remove any dirt, drained and set aside.
2. Bring the water to boil in a big pot then add in the drained fungus, red dates, ginkgo nut, candied tangerine and pandan leaves and simmer till it boils again.
3. Remove from heat, then transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and cook on auto for about 3 - 4 hrs, depend on the softness of the fungus to your liking. ( I let it cook for about 5 hrs because I like the fungus to be soft and the texture of the soup to be a bit sticky)
4. Add in the wolfberries during the last 1 hours of cooking time.
5. Sweeten it with rock sugar in the last 15 minutes in order to let the sugar melt completed and blend well with the fungus.

Notes:
a) I used the ration of 2: 1 white black to black fungus in portion.
b) I used those vacuum seal packed ginkgo nuts from supermarket.
c) According to my lady boss she told me that her Chinese Physician told her that it's best to consume this dessert early in the morning before breakfast or before noon time. Avoid taking this at night as it might cause clot in the blood vessels.

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Bento #28 - Reyon & Buddy

It had being quiet a while since our last bento because Reyon is having a few weeks of mid year school holiday and I am kind of caught up at work so I don't have much time working around with those fancy stuffs. But Shoppingmum's website is a must to visit daily site due to cute and innovative bento for her two kids.

I love her latest design by using this dual cheese strips to cut out various cute figures. You can click on the link to have a better explanation on how she made the stripe cheese. Today our theme is base on my dear son and his favour pooh teddy bear. I use the face cutter and assorted mini food cutter for these design. I used the compartment divider to cut the shape out from the chocolate bun so that it will fix nicely. Next I place the cheese cut outs on top of it and serve the bento with some orange slices and mangosteen. Lastly Rey still use the Alphabets pasta to arrange his name on it.

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