Buttery Finger-Licking Squid

Who can resist buttery, elastic and fresh squids? :D The kind that I was referring to melts in your mouth as the aroma from the spices waft through your nostrils! It is one unique dish that you can hardly find in any zi char stall! Get out of your couch and head down to the wet markets or supermarket to grab some fresh squids for this sizzling dish! :D

The Recipe: Buttery Finger-Licking Squid

The Ingredients:

1) 500g  fresh squid cut into thin pieces

2) 6 pods  chopped garlic

3) 1 pinch pepper

4) 1 pinch chilli flakes

5) salt to taste

6) 1 teaspoon All-purpose flour

7) 1.5 cup fresh milk

8) 4 teaspoon salted butter

Get Cooking!

• Add the butter in a pan and stir in the garlic till it is slightly golden.
• Add the flour in and mix for a even consistency.
• Pour in the milk and stir evenly.
• Drain the squid and stir in the squid and toss it in the sauce.
• Add pepper, chilli flakes and salt to taste.
• You can add a little Parmesan cheese for a creamy texture!
• Tadah!!! your creamy buttery dish is done :D
• Secret: Add a few drops of lemon for the oomph factor!

Satisfy your seafood cravings today with just a few simple steps :D

Start Blending: Chicken Rice Chilli

Every time i order a plate of piping hot Chicken Rice, I take half a tablespoon of chicken rice chilli and pair it up with the fragrant rice and pop it goes into my mouth! :D What a heavenly combination :) The person who invent the chicken rice chilli is really a genius! Chicken rice can never go without the chilli, however the chicken rice chilli can go without the rice haha! Chicken rice chilli just transforms any dish that it is paired with into a savory one. Its tangy spiciness and aroma from the ginger and garlic makes the dish more appetizing!

The Recipe: Chicken Rice Chilli

The Ingredients:

1) 70g fresh red chilli (mix of big and small)

2) 40g ginger

3) 15g garlic

4) 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

5) 1 teaspoon salt

6) 1/2 teaspoon sugar

7) 20ml fresh lime juice

8) 15ml white vinegar

9) chicken broth

Get Blending!

• Blend all the ingredients together except for the chicken broth to form a thick consistency.
• Pour the chicken broth to the mixture until you get desired consistency.
• Tadahh your homemade chilli sauce is done!

You can keep the chilli sauce refrigerated and you can eat it with any meat dishes or simply mix it up in your rice! :D

Spicy Savory Thai Basil Chicken

When I recall Thai cuisine, the dishes that were of the top of mind were pineapple rice, green curry, tom yam soup, however, Thai Basil Chicken is one of my favourite Thai food! Thai Basil Chicken has a distinctive Thai flavour that comes from the sauces used during preparation, the oyster sauce gives the dish a very rich salty flavour and the spiciness from the small chilli padi add a little oomphs to the dish! This Thai dish is usually served with rice and a sunny side-up :D

The Recipe: Thai Basil Chicken
Serve 1

The Ingredients: 
1) 1 bowl Rice
2) 2 Tablespoons Oil
3) 2 chopped garlic cloves
4) Minced chicken
5) 1/2 Sliced Onions
6) 4 Tablespoons Oyster sauce
7) 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
8) 1 Teaspoon Black Soy Sauce
9) 1/3 Cup water
10) 1/2 Cup Fresh Basil
11) 3 chopped Chilli peppers

Get Cookin!

• Heat up the oil, stir fry the garlic till its browned
• Add in the chicken and stir fry until it is cooked
• Add in the onions and sauces (oyster sauce, soy sauce, black soy sauce) and stir it thoroughly
• Add in the water and let it simmer for 2 minutes
• Add the chilli peppers and basil and mix thoroughly
• Tadahh! The dish is served with rice
• Top the dish with a lovely sunny-side up for a perfect finish :D

Hope you enjoy the yummy Thai Delight :D

Anyeong! Kimchi Fried Rice

Ahneong hosayo. 어서 오세요!!! I was scrolling my old photos and chance upon the photos I took during my overseas involvement program in Korea! Thinking about all the delicious kimchi, bibimbab, spicy rice cake, barbecue pork belly, savory ginseng chicken soup makes me reminisce the good ole days! However, I miss Kimchi Fried rice the most! haha The fried rice was soaked with kimchi spiciness and the bacon, ham and golden liquid egg yolk makes it so heavenly!

The Recipe: Kimchi Fried Rice

Serve 1

The Ingredients:
1) 5 tablespoons oil
2) 1/4 chopped onions
3) 1 chopped garlic clove
4) 1/2 cup chopped sour kimchi
5) 1 teaspoon soy sauce
6) 1 bowl of cooked rice, cooled to room temperature
7) 1 egg
8) 1 cup of mixed bacon bits, ham
9) 1/2 cup of chopped french beans
10) salt, pepper

Get Cookin!

• Heat the oil and stir fry the onion, garlic and pinch of salt. Continue to stir fry until the onions soften 
• Stir in the french beans, bacon bits and ham and cooked for 2 or 3 minutes 
• Turn up the heat and add in the kimchi and cook until the kimchi is crisp on the edges 
• Add the rice in and stir thoroughly. Pour in the soy sauce and pepper to taste 
• Transfer the fried rice out and crack the egg onto the pan 
• Be sure not to break the yolk and cook until the yolk is semi cooked! 
• Tadahh!!! you don't have to travel to Korea for your kimchi fried rice fix anymore hahaha! 

I hope that you will enjoy this korean food! :D

Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

Whenever I eat a three course meal, I look forward to the soup starters - Mushroom Soup! I absolutely love mushroom soup especially those that are freshly blended and filled with the mushroom richness instead of the salty, starchy Cream of Mushroom can soups even though I find the can soups a great invention to satisfy your late night cravings when you are just too lazy to cook anything :p

The Recipe: Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup
Serves 2-3

The Ingredients:
1) 2 tablespoon butter
2) 1 tablespoon olive oil
3) 1 onion finely chopped
4) 1 chopped garlic clove
5) 1 tablespoon plain flour
6) 400ml chicken stock
7) 250g chopped Portobello mushrooms
8) 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
9) 100ml thickened cream
10) salt and pepper
11) Garlic bread

Get Cookin!

• Heat up the butter and olive oil over medium heat.
• Add in chopped onion and garlic and stir till the onion is soft and translucent
• Stir in the mushrooms and mix evenly until the mushrooms are sauteed.
• Add in the plain flour into the mixture and mix evenly.
• Pour in the chicken stock and bring the soup to bowl.
• Turn down the heat when the soup is bowling and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add in the thyme leaves.
• Scoop the mushrooms and some soup and be careful because its hot! and place it in a blender and blend until the mushrooms bits are fine.
• Pour the blended mixture back into the pot and bring the soup to boil. 
• When the soup is boiling, turn down the heat and pour in the thickened cream. Stir the mixture thoroughly and add in some salt and pepper to taste.
• Tadahh! Your creamy mushrooms are done! :D
• Garlic Bread: Spread a thick coat of garlic herbs on bread and give it a little toast!

You can now enjoy your garlic bread and creamy mushroom soup during your lazy afternoon teas :D

Lips Smacking Sauteed Mushrooms

I wonder why mushrooms are always used as a sides when this neglected fungi could easily outshine the main dish! Sauteing mushrooms is a quick way to cook any kind of mushrooms till its flavorful brown while retaining its aromatic juices inside. This versatile dish can be used as a sides for a mains like steak or to be eaten as a main dish! :D

The Recipe: Sauteed Mushrooms
Serves 4

The Ingredients:
1) 1 bowl fresh Portebello Mushrooms sliced
2) 3 tablespoons olive oil
3) 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4) 1 clove thinly sliced garlic
5) 1 tablespoon of red cooking wine
6) 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
7) salt and pepper

Get Cookin:

• Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.
• Stir fry the garlic till slightly brown.
• Toss in the Portebello Mushrooms and mix evenly.
• Pour in the cooking wine, teriyaki sauce and add a dash of salt and pepper.
• Continue mixing for about 2 mins.
• Tadahh! Your simple and stunning dish is done!

I hope that you will love this simple yet elegant dish :)

The Dip: Creamy Butter Garlic Sauce

After my Student Exchange programme, I went to London to visit my friends and I went to this awesome restaurant called Burgers and Lobsters and I absolutely LOVE IT! :D As suggested from the restaurant name, they only served Lobsters or Burgers. Being a seafood lover, I chose the lobsters and never regretted my choice haha. The freshly grilled lobsters came along side with a tasty creamy, buttery garlic sauce which makes each mouthful bursting with delight! I found this sauce to be the perfect dip for any fresh seafood eg. crabs, prawns, etc.

The Recipe: Creamy Butter Garlic Sauce

The Ingredients:
1) Salt and Pepper
2) 25g Salted Butter
3) 2 chopped Garlic cloves
4) Chopped parsley
5) 150ml Cream
6) A slice of lemon

Get Cookin!

• Heat the butter in a pan.
• Add the crushed garlic, salt and pepper into the butter.
• Mix the cream in and mix evenly.
• Off the fire and toss the parsley in. Squeeze the lemon slice and give it a good mix!
• Tadah! Your awesome dip is done! :D

Get dipping with your lovely spread of seafood! :D

When East meets West: Creamy Tom Yum Carbonara

Tried and Tested: 9/10 (on the creamy side!)

My very own Creamy Tom Yum with Angel Hair Pasta :D

I've been exploring various ways to cook an unconventional pasta! And presenting to you the CREAMY TOM YUM PASTA! This pasta is a fusion dish which combines Thai and Italian elements, to bring about an explosive tangy and creamy flavour! The delightful combination of spiciness from the tom yum and the creamy texture is something that you have to try!!!

The Recipe: Creamy Tom Yum Pasta
Serves 5

The Ingredients:
1) 20 shelled prawns (Assuming everyone eats 4 prawns)
2) 1 packet Angel Hair pasta
3) 1 packet sour cream
4) 1 packet tom yum paste
5) 2 cups milk
6) Corn starch
7) 2.5 tablespoons butter
8) Chopped garlic

Get Cookin!

• Pour some oil into the wok and stir fry the prawns for a short while to make it half cook. (The prawns should be orange and grey)
• Add the butter and stir fry the chopped garlic until the garlic is browned.
• Pour the tom yum paste in, and mix evenly.
• Pour the milk and sour cream and let the mixture simmer under low heat. 
• To thicken the sauce, mix corn starch in water and pour it into the tom yum sauce. You can add more corn starch if you prefer a thicker sauce.
• Tadahh! Your creamy and spicy tomyum pasta is ready!!! (If you are unable to take the spiciness, you can add more milk) :)

This dish would satisfy your cravings for thai and western food :D Killing 2 birds with one stone heee :D Hope you will enjoy cooking this!

Chinese Delights: Soy Sauce Chicken

Every Chinese New year season, I look forward to this dish on the table - Soy Sauce Chicken. This dish reminds me of home, warmth and my mum, and I always recall my mum keeping watch over the bubbling pot to make sure that the chicken is stewed to perfection. The chicken is coated with an irresistible fragrant slight sweetness of the seasoning which forced everyone to break out in a frenzy for the remaining chicken drumsticks. During my recent student exchange in Paris, I miss eating chinese dishes so badly when im constantly eating pasta and western food for every meal. I was reminded of this dish and was determined to replicate this homely dish in Paris! To my surprise, I found out that this dish was really easy to make however, it requires patience for the chicken to be cooked to perfection.

The Recipe: Soy Sauce Chicken
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
1) 1 whole chicken/ chicken drumsticks
2)  Seasoning: 4 cloves of garlic
3) 3 tablespoon of light soy sauce
4) 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
5) dash of pepper
6) 1 cup of water
7) 3 tablespoon sesame oil
8) 2 tablespoon of sugar

Get Cookin:

• Chop up the chicken parts or place the chicken drumsticks into a pot.
• Prepare the braised sauce: Add the light and dark soy sauce, pepper, sesame oil, sugar and water into a bowl and mix well. Pour the sauce into the pot with the chicken. Add the water to cover the chicken. The chicken parts should be partially submerged in the sauce.
• Turn to low heat and leave the pot to simmer.
• After 10 minutes, turn the drumsticks to make sure that they are cook evenly.
• Cook the chicken for 30 - 40 mins under low heat and constantly stir the mixture to make sure that the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
• Do a taste test: Make sure that the sauce is not too salty, otherwise add a little water into the sauce. 
• Leave the chicken to simmer until the chicken is distinctly coated with the dark brown soy sauce. Take a fork to poke the meat to see if the chicken is thoroughly cook.
• Tadah!!! The dish is done! :D

I hope that you will try this yummy homely dish and may this bring warmth to your family and friends! :D

The bomb: Avocado + Eggs?

I personally love eggs! You can cook the eggs in all styles: poached, soft boiled, hard boiled, scrambled, fried, sunny-side up, etc you name it and I simply loved it! One of my favorite fruit is AVOCADO! The creamy, rich texture of avocado leave me salivating for more avocado milk shake. During the week, I will have strange cravings for avocado milkshakes. I used to get my cravings quenched in NUS Engineering school/ Business school during my internship last year. They sell the cheapest and creamiest avocado milkshake ever! (Perhaps not, because I only try the same few stalls haha)

Recently I bought some avocados from the supermarket, and I have been thinking what else can I use these green monsters to cook with. And eggs came into my mind! It was honestly a strange thought and I wonder what the outcome would be like. So I googled and found this amazing quirky recipe:

The Recipe: Eggs in Avocado
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1) 4 avocados
2) 8 eggs (1 for each avocado half)
3) Seasoning: salt and pepper
4) Corn flour

Get Cookin! 

• Preheat the oven to 450 Fahrenheit
• Cut the avocado into half. Using a spoon, scrape out the center of the avocado until it is large enough to accomodate the egg.
• Season it with lime juice, salt and pepper.
• Break an egg into the center of the avocado. Balance it well to avoid egg spillage.
• Bake in the oven for 10 mins until the whites are set and the yolk is runny.
• Tadah!!! It is done :D

Instead of baking it, you can preboil the egg until it becomes soft boil and set it in the center of the avocado. Roll it with flour and deep fry the avocado with egg. I bet it will taste DELICIOUS!!!! Thinking of this yummy creamy goodness leaves my stomach rumbling throughout the night haha :D BON APPETIT!!!

Roasting to Perfection

I chanced upon this yummy roasted chicken recipe by Jamie Oliver yesterday and I discovered the secret ingredient used to make this chicken really FLAVORFUL and JUICY :D and the secret is to stuff a lemon into the chicken and allow it to cook with the chicken. The lemon juices will sip and into the meat, adding flavour to the roasted chicken. The Result: The meat will taste amazing with a tingly little lemon zest when you sink your teeth into the tender meat.

The Recipe: Roasted Chicken with Lemon
Serve: 6 people

Ingredients:
1) 1 whole chicken
2) Seasoning: salt, pepper
3) 1 lemon
4) 1 wholebulb of garlic
5) Herbs: 1 handful of thyme, 1 handful of rosemary
6) Olive oil
7) Optional: peeled potatoes

Get Cooking!

• Do this in the morning: Season and rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Leave the seasoned chicken in the fridge until you are ready to cook it during lunch or in the evening. This will allow the seasoning to be absorbed into the meat before cooking.
• Ready to Cook: Take the chicken out of the fridge, rub it over with olive oil.
• Boil the garlic cloves, whole lemon and potatoes (optional) for 15 mins until the potatoes can be easily poked through by a fork.
• Take the potatoes out to steam dry for 1 minute. This will make the potatoes crispy when you roast it.
• Stab the lemon around 10 times evenly before stuffing it into the chicken.
• Stuff the chicken also with garlic cloves, thyme and put the chicken on the roasting tray.
• Sprinkle some rosemary herbs on the chicken.
• If you want to roast the potatoes, lay the cut potatoes on the base of the roasting tray before placing the chicken on top of it. This will allow the chicken oil to drip down and roast the potatoes.
• Cook the chicken under 190 degree Celsius for 45 minutes. 
• How to tell if the chicken is cooked? The thigh meat pulls away from the bone easily and the juices run clear.
• To eat: You can make some mushroom sauce or simply eat the chicken to enjoy the fresh natural, succulent meat.

I hope that you guys find this recipe easy to follow! and I will soon be attempting this myself and post some pictures soon!!! :D Meanwhile, bon APPETIT! :D

Tried and Tested: 10/10

Presenting to you my very own Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Potatoes

I can't resist to try this roasted chicken recipe when my bestie invited me over to her place to cook! The chicken skin was really crispy and there isn't much fats left because it has all been oozed out during the cooking process. The chicken meat was so tender and flavorful with a tinge of refreshing lemon taste and the pototoes were browned to perfection with the chicken oil.

This is a yummy dish that you can dig in with your close friends and family and I highly recommend that you try it someday :D Hope you have a great time cooking too!!!

Running after my Extraordinary dream

I wonder what is the average number of hours a week people spend eating? Assuming if everyone spent an hour eating and queuing up for their food and another hour driving to the eatery, we would need an estimated 2hr * 3 meals * 365 days = 2190 hours getting our meals in a year. With the increasing number of food offerings, we are almost spoilt for choice for the unlimited number of cuisines for us to pick from. I am not spared from this, I spend most of my time thinking about food, hopping to the kitchen and opening the fridge has been subconsciously action that I do everyday. I love food and I spent my weekends with my family hunting around for savory eating places. Learning how to cook has never been an officially thing for me and I learnt it as I watch anyone cook. I am intrigued with how the different flavors of spices merged together to form an atomic bomb that explodes in your mouth. I always believe that I have a gift of estimation and I am able to mix and blend condiments, which is the reason why I enjoyed cooking! Without going on further, this blog will be my diary which records the food that I cook and some yummy recipes that I've found online. :D Gambette for my dream to open a cafe which sells my specialities! :D