Homemade Chawanmushi

I was having dinner with my girlfriends at Ebisboshi last weekend when we started talking about chawanmushi and I suddenly remembered that I know how to make chawanmushi. But it has been a long time since I made it at home. Its amazing how my mind gets clouded by all the work during term time. In fact, the last time I made this was during young adults fellowship (YAF), held at my place last November. Considering how simple this is, it has been a longggggg time. So when I came home early this week, I decided to make this for dinner since adrian likes it too.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

1 piece of chicken thigh meat

2 shitake mushroom

2 sticks of artificial crabmeat

2 eggs

A can of clear chicken stock

Cornstarch 1/2 tsp

Chinese Wine (Hua Diao Jiu) 3 tsp

Soya Sauce 1 tsp

Method:

1) Cut the chicken thigh meat into 1 cm thick slices and marinate it with cornstarch, chinese wine and soya sauce. Leave aside.

2) Slice the mushrooms into 1 cm thick slices and half the crabsticks. Leave aside.

3) Break the eggs into a large bowl. Be careful not to beat the eggs. This will form air bubbles which will appear as "pot holes" when steamed. Instead, stir gently with a chopstick until the eggs yolk and white are well mixed.

4) Add in chicken stock in the proportion of 1 portion egg mixture : 3 portion chicken stock and continue to stir gently until well mixed.

5) Line 2 japanese cups each with 2 strips of marinated chicken. Gently pour in the egg mixture.

6) Top the egg mixture with 1 piece of crabstick and 2 slices of mushroom.

7) Cover the cups with lids and let it steam for 8 minutes.

Chicken Soup (for the tired soul)

School has started and its simply hectic! I feel like that I'm running around like a headless chicken most of the time. So I came home one evening, after a long day in school, craving for chicken soup. Fortunately, I have some chicken bones sashed away in the freezer for emergencies like these and I got down to some work in the kitchen. That night, I went to bed fully satisfied.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
1 pack of chicken bones (can be bought from NTUC)
1 medium size radish
2 medium carrots
1 quarter of golden pumpkin
5-6 cloves of garlic
2 litres of water
3 teaspoons of salt

Method:
1) Boil a pot of water and blanche the chicken bones in it to get rid of any traces of blood and impurities.
2) Drain chicken bones and set aside.
3) Peel the radish, carrot and pumpkin and slice them into smaller pieces of about 3cm.
4) Lightly smash the garlic cloves to release the favour.
5) Bring 2 litres of water to a boil in a middle size pot and add in the chicken bones, radish, carrots and garlic cloves and boil for 45 minutes.
6) Add in pumpkin and boil for another 30 minutes.
7) Season with salt and serve.

Rosti with Sausage

Whenever I visit Marche, the first thing that I must have is its Rosti with Sausage. No matter how many times I have it, I will never get sick of it. So, I came up with my own recipe with some pointers from my good friend, xinyi, and tadaaa! You can have have delicious rosti at home and its a really simple to make.

Ingredients: (2 Servings)

2 large US russet potatoes

2 tablespoon butter

Salt and pepper to tatse

Frozen cheese sausage (Can be found in NTUC or Cold Storage)

Sour cream

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes and boil it in a pot of water for 5 mins.

2. Remove the potatoes from the pot and rinse it under cold water.

3. Use a grater with large holes (as shown in photo) to grate the pototoes. Be careful, it can still be very hot.

4. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter into the frying pan. Make sure that it is sufficient to cover the whole pan, if not add more.

5. Add half of the grated pototes into the frying pan, making it into a nice round shape.

6. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.

7. Leave the rosti to brown on one side first, before flipping over.

8. Spinkle another pinch of salt and pepper on the other side of the rosti.

9. Do the same for the remaining of the grated potatoes.

10. Pan fry the cheese sausage according to package directions.

11. Serve rosti and sauage with sour cream if desired.

Soya Bean Curd (with Azuki Beans)

I have always been a fan of soya bean curd. The smooth and silky texture that melts in your mouth, is an unfathomable feeling that I'm sure soyabean curd lovers can identify with.

Since I had some unsweetened soyabean milk left in the fridge, I decided to turn it into soya bean curd. The results were amazing, and this homemade beancurd tasted even better when topped with Azuki beans.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

Soya Bean Curd
700ml unsweetened soyabean milk
3/4 teaspoon lactone
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 cup hot water
Muslin cloth or fine sieve
Azuki beans (optional)

Syrup:
6 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup water
Pandan leaves (optional)

Method:

Soya Bean Curd
1. Bring the soyabean milk to a boil and remove from heat.
2. Mix lactone and cornstarch with hot water and stir till smooth.
3. Have a clean pot ready. Mix soyabean milk and lactone mixture into the pot and stir until the mixture is completely smooth.
4. Pour the mixture over muslin cloth or a fine sieve to remove any clumps.
5. Do not stir. Let the mixture set for at least 1/2 hour or until firm.

If you like your soya bean curd chilled, leave it in the fridge overnight before serving.

Syrup
1. Pour water into a pot. Add in the pandan leaves and bring it to a boil.
2. Add in sugar and dissolve completely.
3. Leave the mixture to cool.

When serving, scoop the soya bean curd that has set, add 2 sugar syrup according to your likely. Top with Azuki beans if desired.

Food Blog Up!

Yippee.. I'm finally getting my cooking blog up and running!

Stay tune for many delectable asian and western savoury dishes, desserts, cakes, ideas for parties and many many more to come!