Egg and Shrimp Fried Rice with Broccoli Stems

This is kinda an outdated post. But I needed a blog event. A blog event to bring out this ingredient. Weekend Wokking is the one. And taking opportunity of the economic downturn where most people are seen tightening their spending, it makes another rare chance for this ingredient. Just what am I talking about ?


This round, it is hosted by one of my favorite floggers -Noobcook. And what are those greenish bits doing in a "Broccoli" way of things in this round of wokking ? Yes, thou shall not waste those broccoli stems. They can inject a hint of sweet to complement a dish such as Egg and Shrimp Fried Rice, or call it Broccostems Fried Rice.



Egg and Shrimp Fried Rice with Broccoli Stems
Ingredients:
Broccoli stems thinly sliced(see 1st picture), shrimps, eggs, minced garlic, soy sauce, salt and pepper, leftover cold rice

Directions:
1. In lightly oiled pan, fry minced garlic and saute broccoli stems. When vegetable is cooked to tender (yet not overcooked to limpy), set aside.
2. In the same pan, add in some oil, then add in eggs to scramble it. Before the eggs are cooked, add in shrimps and rice and fry the rice (make sure mixed well with eggs and shrimps) at medium-high heat (Note: at low heat, the rice tends to stick to the pan).
3. Add in soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
4. When fried rice is ready, you can add in the vegetables (and mix well). Note: Make sure you don't add all the gravy of the vegetables in there. Add in some gravy but not all. The rice will just absorb some moisture and flavor of the vegetable, yet not turn wet and soggy

How does it look ?


WHAaat? Using broccoli stems ? Is this poor man's fried rice? Rather, it is a "No-Waste" fried rice. If one can have "Emperor" Fried Rice, why not this as well?

Tag: vegetable, broccoli,fried rice

Online shopping for Christmas gifts

While I'm in Singapore, my friend in California just received a gift from me. I'm beginning to like this. Shopping for gifts online - Thanksgiving, Christmas gifts and New Year gifts. The ease, selection and unbeatable prices. Wow! You get so many gift ideas for Men, Women and Kids. In other words, no one in the family will be left out. No friends will be left out. I'm now looking at the toys selection and thinking of getting something for my niece and nephew. Oh, what did I get for my friend? food hampers! I've sent her a food hamper and she said she loved it! Nothing beats getting a gift for a friend and her family and making everyone happy. In particular, shopping for gifts online is a good idea if you have families and friends overseas. The delivery and shipping are taken care off and you can just wait for smiles on everyone's faces when they get their gifts.

Indian spicy chickpeas - homemade, easy cooking

I've picked up a few good tricks in making Indian food. Butter, onions, cumin, turmeric....
Thanks to A's mom (YJ's mom-in-law). There is really no written recipe from Auntie. I just tried to listen hard as she spoke. It seems that cumin, onion, and turmeric are sure to be there. Maybe it was just that few dishes that I asked her which happened to use most of these ingredients. ^o^


Those essential spices really saved me. I used them again and again in my home Indian cooking now. I find these dishes very appetizing with steamed rice. Can't find any formal name for this recipe. Maybe somebody can help? For now, will just call it loosely...Homemade Indian Chickpea.

Indian Spicy Chickpeas/Curried Chickpeas
Ingredients: chickpeas (note: I use canned chickpeas, or known as garbanzo), 1 small onion diced, minced garlic, 1/2 tbsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, curry leaf, salt and black pepper, dash of chili powder/paprika, some butter

Directions: Add butter to a frying pan, add in minced garlic, onions and curry leaf and mix well till fragrant (note: yes, it is the aroma of curry leaf!). Saute till onions are slightly soft/caramelized. Add in chickpeas and the spices. Salt to taste. Cook a few minutes in low-heat pan. Add in some freshly ground black pepper, mix well.



I find beans and peas such easy ingredients to deal with, esp. when I am swarmed at work and have no time to cook anything. And it has indeed started My Legume Love Affair, created by sweet lovely Susan-The Well Seasoned Cook.



Homemade Indian recipes:
Egg masala
Cauliflower, cabbage and pea curry - Version I
Cauliflower, cabbage and pea curry - Version II

Oh, revive my love for Indian food!

Tag: indian food, chickpea, garbanzo beans

The purple Red Cabbage Soup

I split the red cabbage to three usages, and chose to post at different times because I just did not want you to have an overdose on red cabbage. November's Food in Color (FIC) came in time to showcase my last red cabbage dish because it turned out kinda PURPLE. Last month's was brown, with lovely mushrooms, remember?


This is exactly like minestrone. Minestrone heavy on the tang and over-generous on cabbage! Ha! Ok, let's call it vegetable soup, then. Purple vegetables soup.

Red Cabbage Soup
Ingredients: shredded red cabbage, minced garlic, sliced onions, cubed tomatoes, water, salt and pepper

Directions: Add some canola or olive oil, add in garlic and onions, then followed by cabbage to allow it to soften. Add in tomatoes, mix well and let it simmer for a while. Add in water accordingly to make soup portions. Salt and pepper to taste.



Red cabbage recipes:
Red Cabbage Salad
Stir Fry Red Cabbage


Tag: soup, vegetable soup, red cabbage

Teeth Whitening System

When I came back to Singapore, one of the first things I did was to visit the dentist. It has been ages since I visited the dentist. I lost track on the "last visit" date - exactly what I told the dentist. I just can't stand that washing gadget in my mouth. It is so bloody (no pun intended) uncomfortable. Maybe I can start thinking of a Teeth Whitening System to maintain the general "well-being" of my teeth. Now, S-M-I-L-E.

Cheddar Cheese Bread - a simple bread idea

If I ever bake, simple bread ideas like this will stick with me. Just like how this cheddar cheese sticks on the bun - Baked Cheddar Cheese Bread... Yum!

Does it look like that common air purifier ? ;p


I am quite a bread person, if you do not know.


Tag: bread, Singapore eating

Pepper Pork Chops - white and black pepper, I love!

I don't cook completely new dishes every time. Sometimes, new dishes and recipes mean improvement of older recipes and dishes, such as this Pepper Pork recipe.



Pepper Pork Chop
Ingredients: Pork loin chops, ground white pepper, ground black pepper, dark soy sauce, brown sugar, some oyster sauce

Directions:
1. Rub the slices of pork with ground white pepper and black pepper
2. Add some dark soya sauce, oyster sauce and some brown sugar. Marinate them (leave them in the fridge, at least one hour)
3. Heat up some oil in a frying pan. On medium heat, pan-fry the marinated pieces for a few minutes(~3mins) one one side, then turn over and pan-fry other side until cooked.
4. Place in aluminium foil, seal it if not served immediately (note: this can keep the pork chops warm and retain the juice and moisture in the pork chops. Further, if you are worried that the pork chops may be undercooked in Step 3, the heat which you seal the pork chops in within can allow a little further cooking in the pork chops). This is not another Foil-Cooking but surely, tin foil gives a good neat trick again!



If you find such pork chops boring, you can try this Apple Pork Chops recipe.

Tag: pork chops, pepper pork chops

Real estate and MLS - just beginning to understand

We don't know if we will ever get a chance to return to US. We have decided to buy a place of our own instead of renting, if we ever return in future. Owning a house and renting are equally expensive. It depends on your personal requirements and many factors. While searching for potential residential real estate recently, we have found that websites which enable easy listing by the state, range of minimum to maximum price, number of bedrooms, are indeed good websites that cover basic criteria in a home search. We happened to chance upon Austin Real Estate and it has got some of these basic search criteria for home-hunters. It has also got Austin mls (MLS means Multiple Listing Service) which is also a useful record of home listings in specific neighbourhoods.

Steamed chicken - one chicken, two easy recipes

How to be wordless if I have one same idea but several dishes derived from it ? Seems there are many things to write about this. But just LOOK, and you will know why it is easy and does not take many words to tell you about it.

Foil-steaming is what I turn to when I am really lazy, especially when it comes to poultry. But I thought foil-steaming follows similar concept as roasting/baking in an oven ? No heating a pan of oil, no sauteing different ingredients at different stages, no standing near the stove to "eyeball" the cooking, no washing of greasy pan - sounds almost like idiot cooking. You only need to assemble, seal and cook (steam) - sounds even more like idiot cooking. Other than steamed meat cake, I do it many ways with chicken too.

Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms, Ginger and Green Onions
Ingredients: 6-8 chicken wings (note:chose smaller pieces of chicken so that it takes shorter time to cook), 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp brown sugar, 2tsp oyster sauce, 1tbsp rice wine, 1tsp sesame oil, some pepper, mushrooms, strips of ginger and green onion

Steamed Chicken with Carrots and Onions
Ingredients: 8 drumlets (note:chose smaller pieces of chicken so that it takes shorter time to cook), 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp brown sugar, 2tsp oyster sauce, 1tbsp rice wine, 1tsp sesame oil, some pepper, 1tbsp coke(optional), carrots and onions (note: they will sweeten the entire dish when cooked)

See how the carrots and onions turn sweet and soft after steaming

For these two dishes, basically what you need to do is assemble then steam for about 15-20 mins (depending on size and amount of chicken used)

Don't even need to wash a plate or greasy wok/pan for your cooking.

Tag: steaming, chicken

Nasi Lemak - coconut flavored rice with chili ?

This is the kind of Nasi Lemak that has retained its simplicity throughout these years. Unfortunately, prices for such simple pleasures succumb to inflationary factors. What used to be less than one dollar is now about $1.20-$1.50.

When you look at the rice and think hard, it is obvious this rice dish does not have too much ingredients. It's typically some ikan bilis slathered with chili, one-two slices of cucumber doused with chili and a piece of fried ikan kuning (ikan - malay word for fish, kuning -malay word for yellow. Ikan Kuning ~ a yellow- or gold-banded scad fish ~ a small food fish often served fried in Nasi Lemak).

So what is the attractive aspect of traditional Nasi Lemak? Is it the packaging - coconut flavored rice wrapped in banana leaves ? Or...or...

..or...the chili ? Essentially, it is the satisfaction of eating coconut-flavored rice with chili, isn't it ? :D


Modern Nasi Lemak has seen changes in the ingredient offerings. You can have spicy chicken wings and spicy chili eggs. Everything can change but essentially, the coconut flavored rice and chili must be there for it to be called Nasi Lemak.

Tag: nasi lemak, Singapore eating

Stir Fry Red Cabbage with Tomatoes

I can't be only using all the red cabbage for just the red cabbage apple salad. So, other than the traditional way to make salad, I have also used it the less traditional way. I STIR FRIED IT!
...if I can stir fry napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage, I don't see why I can't stir fry red cabbage. ERrrrmmm...I might be wrong?


And so...I did not deviate too far. I did not add dried shrimps just like how I would do Chinese stir fry cabbage. I added tomatoes instead, just like how I would do minestrone. I think you can follow my logic here. Yes?

Stir Fry Red Cabbage with Tomatoes
Ingredients: sliced red cabbage, minced garlic, sliced onions, cubed tomatoes, salt and pepper

Directions: Add some canola or olive oil, add in garlic and onions, then followed by cabbage to allow it to soften. Add in tomatoes, mix well and let it simmer for a while. Salt and pepper to taste.



Voila! One simple dish done, out of not wanting to make salad!

I have been short of writing spirit recently. And since it is almost weekend, I shall not write any further.

Enjoy your weekend :D

Tag: red cabbage, stir fry, cabbage

Muruku and Indian savory snacks

It is not surprising. The snack I was talking about in my last post on Deepavali lunch is Muruku. This is a popular savory snack in India. YESsssss! Savory is good for me! I just love the crunchiness and cumin aroma.


I don't know the name for this. Some kind of crunchy fried flour with peanuts and curry leaf. Someone....pleeeaaaasssee...tell me the name...

Tag: indian cuisine, muruku, Singapore eating

Indian mutton balls, lamp chops, briyani, fish sambal - a Deepavali lunch invite

We love Indian food. Naturally, hubby and I were delighted and privileged to be invited by YJ and YJ's mom-in-law, to a Deepavali lunch last weekend. YJ happened to be in Singapore during this time while her hubby, A (also our friend) is still in US. So....A, we are going to eat your mom's superb Indian/Tamil cooking on your behalf, ok? :D Thank you - A and YJ, for the invite and all the delicious food.

There were chicken curry, fried chicken wings, lamp choppies, kola urundai (minced mutton balls), vegetable briyani, cucumber raita and fish sambal. All-so-yummy!


A closer glance at kola urundai (minced mutton balls)


These are lamp choppies which were cooked above charcoal fire. WhoaAAA!

Coming up next will be some Indian snacks that had me crunching over Deepavali last week. Also, I've learn more about Indian cooking from A's mom and have started cooking a few Indian vegetarian food based on her verbal tips and recipes. Thanks, auntie :)

I only had the chance to update the Deepavali lunch and snacks this week, as I have been busy ever since work started. How I wish this working nightmare can be gone forever. Meanwhile, hoping that my passion in food keeps me sane and alive, till our dream comes true.

Tag: indian cuisine, lamp chops, Singapore eating