CNY初二Delights

Rise and shine, its the 2nd day of chinese new year. No monday blue for mi as i'm still in the chinese new year mood and its public holiday today! yeah.....another rest day tomolo and gosh....i will be back with bz bz and bz routine! haiz....

The flowers on the alter has bloomed beautifully. I love the long stalk of flower which can only be found during CNY period. Its call "Kiam Lan" in hokkien, besides that name i dunno how to address tis beauty. I will always purchase it when its in the season. Nice rite? They are available in red, yellow, peach, pink. Afterall, i still prefer the pink wan but mum is a fan of red.

Time for breakfast! We had shanghai~ness rice cake cook in soup for breakfast. Dad prefers the stir fry version with plenty of dried shrimp sambal.

Hours later its time for lunch. I hardly had anytime to do my assignments, revisions.

I cooked a spaghetti with curry vege and chicken.

Grandma is with us today and she's enjoying the spaghetti.

There's still 1 serving left, guess it will land in dad's tummy when he's back from office later in the afternoon. True enough, dad was very hungry when he came back and tis is his 1st time eating spaghetti noodles. haha.........

After lunch i been bz in the kitchen from 1 + pm, bz preparing all the ingredients and for the dishes that i need to cook for the nite. And finally its time for dinner!

五福临门拼盘~authum rolls, century eggs, fried wanton , salad prawns and sweet & spicy chicken

Steamed meat loaf in sea cucumber and oyster sauce stock

Abalone salad with assorted veggie

Fried prawns fritters

Cauliflower stirfry

Every year whenever grandma is coming over for dinner, we muz have special meal planning b4 cooking as grandma gotto avoid beans stuff,cooling stuff and even seasonings like soy sauce. I'm reali so glad that grandma loves my cooking. :-)

大年初一 Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

On the 1st day of CNY year 2010, i woke up as early as 7am to help out with breakfast preparation. Tis yr we gotto change our breakfast menu from henghua bee hoon to other alternative as the disappointing fact is that i failed to buy henghua bee hoon from all the big or small supermarkets which i been to. Wondering where have they all disappear to.
Doesn't matter, glass noodles act as a replacement will do.

Fried glass noodles for breakfast.
Oh ya, as we had some leftovers, i decided to make some baked springrolls with glass noodles as the fillings. Yummy....and i made some little nibs of cheesy bak gua parcels. And the most wasted part is i forgot to snap photos! :-(

All the ingredients being gathered for a snap shot.

Jesper was commenting that the chicken franks looks more like a mop, especially when being place on top of a stick. Well, i did 1 "mop" to snap for a pic.

And rite into Adam's mouth. haha...

Supper's ready! Curry laksa noodles for Adam.

Bout to tuck in soon.

Reunion Nite for CNY 2010

Chi8nese new year for tis yr seems approaching fast, didn't realise that cny is tis wk and seems so many chores left undone. Gotto stock up food in fridge, clean the room, prepare CNY snacks etc...oh, i didn't managed to get a new haircut and new hair colour tis year, so sad!
Improvised version of spicy seaweed crackers.
I added xtra spicyness to the sauce, sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds onto the springroll sheets before laying the nori sheets.
Its was fantastic, b4 midnite of CNY eve, Adam & Jesper managed to finish the whole bottle whereas i finished a whole can of kiuh bangkit. Oh Gosh...think i'm gonna put some weight after the new year. haha....

Mum says its tradition to scoop the very 1st bowl of rice on reunion dinner nite and place a red date on top. The bowl of rice was left to turn mouldy over the next few days~ Huat ah.......

Chinese leek with beancurd. Its says that leek symbolise~there's $$$ to count for the year, eat plenty of beancurd symbolise~getting a official post or rank.
Well, its said to be brought down from the past generationn, these beliefs and traditions still gotto follows.

Pig stomach soup with spare-ribs and dried scallop.

Wow...its been ages since i last had home-cooked pig stomach soup. Yummy~licious!

The main role of the nite~Suckling Pig!

Every year dad will place an order for suckling pig for our reunion dinner. Its getting more & more expensive as yrs goes by despite the economy downturn. Cost $160 tis yr from Kian Seng Seafood Restaurant in Ang Mo Kio.

Nerdy Adam posing for a pic with "obit" specs while Jesper gave him a punch on his face! haha...kena whack for the new year! oh well, they were juz playing around.

There's no time to relax and enjoy even its CNY. I still gotto do research for my assignments, study for the upcoming quiz for the next lesson. Haiz....time for a break, seems more like snacking around. haha....wat a special "chu xi ye" to stay awake!

Happy Lunar New Year

Wishing all readers and their family a Happy & Prosperity New Year. May the year be filled with luck and happiness throughout.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken

Lucky my camera battery was kind enough to allow mi snap 1 last pic and i managed to snap a photo of tis dish. Juz when i finish garnishing the dish, realised that my camera was low on batt and i was told to change battery pack.

However, i managed to on and off the camera, shake the battery and use any desperate method juz for a pic. Thank God! Otherwise, my dear readers won't be able to see the food image. I always believe that to see is to believe and beautiful image of food will makes u feel motivated to try out the recipe.Rite?!?!

Ingredients;
3 chicken thighs
Pinch of salt
Sesame oil
Light soy sauce
Cornflour
Oil for frying
Roasted sesame seeds

Sauce;
5 tsp tomato ketchup
2 tsp chili paste
4 tsp vinegar
2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sweet dark soy sauce
2 tbsp water

Method;
-Chop chicken thigh into pieces, marinate for an hr.
-Coat with cornflour, deep fried till golden brown, drained.
-Bring sauce to boil, toss in chicken to coat with sauce.
-Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
-Enjoy!

Longan Winter Melon Tea

Its not even CNY and i'm already feeling heaty. Time for cooling stuff like winter melon, otherwise i'm gonna suffer fm sorethroat from eating all the goodies during CNY. haha....I made some good stuff, its actually a combination cheng tng and honey winter melon drink.

Ingredients;
1 slice winter melon
2 screwpine leaves, knotted
Some dried longans
Some red dates
Some gingko nuts
Some candiced water chestnut strips
Water
Rock sugar

Method,
-Remove seeds and skin from winter melon, grated.
-Boil water with screwpine leaves and red dates.
-Add steamed gingko nuts, longan and winter melon.
-Add rock sugar to taste.
-Serve chilled.
-Enjoy!

Triple S ~ Spicy Sambal Shrimps

I wanna introduce a new style of cooking shrimp but seems like its always best with chili, haha...well gotto admit that afterall seafood still taste the best with sambal. Wow...juicy, spicy and sweetness from the freshness of shrimps.

Ingredients;
15 medium shrimps
1 large onion, wedged
1 clove garlic, minced
Spring onions
Oil for frying

Chili mix;
1 tsp chili paste
1 tsp homemade rojak flower chili paste
1/2 tsp sugar
Pinch of salt

Method;
-Removed head and shell(except tail) of shrimps, devein.
-Dry on kitchen towel.
-Blanch in hot oil for a min, drained.
-Fry garlic till fragrant, add chili mix and fry for a min.
-Stir in onions and shrimps.
-Give it a quick stir, serve when shrimps are cooked.
-Garnish with spring onions.
-Enjoy!

Nestum Cookies

I been super bz recently and i juz realise that CNY is next wk. I didn't even haf the time to do my CNY bake. I can onli afford few hrs of time(between 1-4pm) on sunday afternoon after my malay conversational class.

Seems like tis yr i gotto make do with onli 1 type of cookie, the rest its either do without or purchase from supermarket. Haiz...i still love homebaked stuff or should i haf a CNY resolution?! Go on a diet and tell myself all these fattening food are bad for mi. I juz shed off 5kgs xia, am so afraid that after the CNY i will put on somemore. haha... allrite den, decided to make do with 1 type of cookie and aniway i'm not the wan eating them. haha...its for dad's frens and family.

Ingredients;

15og unsalted butter

100g castor sugar

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Dry ingredients;

180g plain flour

50g cornflour

20g icing sugar

Pinch of salt

Nestum for coating

Method;

-Sift all the dry ingredients together.

-Cream sugar and fats till fluffy, beat in egg and essence.

-Fold in dry ingredients.

-Roll into small balls, coat with nustum.

-Bake at 180 degree celcius for 20-25mins.

-Cool and store in containers.

-Enjoy!

Welcoming Lunch @ XinWang

It was my 1st month with tis new company and i was treated to a welcome lunch the other day. Boss let us choose among NewYork NewYork, Sakae Sushi or XinWang. The gals voted for Xinwang HK cafe and here we are.............

Iced yuan yang for us gals.

Black pepper chicken chop with spaghetti

I had a grill porkchop ramen

Shanghai fried rice with porkcube

Iced lychee for caslyn

Fried rice with chicken chop

Canned porkcube with baked rice

Look here, caslyn and see kiat. U r on candid camera!

Dessert of the day will be mango ice. Erm...we had a game while eating tis dessert and boss says whoever gotto eat the whole plate if the scoop of mango ice-cream falls towards her. 1 gd thing is we can sabo others by digging the ice on their side. In the end i was the 1 who kena, i tried to sabo boss but ended up suffering retributions. haha....

Dark Soy Lean Meat Stir Fry

I gotto cook a simple dinner tonite as there are only 3 of us having dinner at home. Well, dad suggested eating out, however its been ages since i last had homecooked food, therefore i insisted on cooking for the 3 of us. Mum says cook 1 veggie dish to serve with plain rice will do. Oh tt's such a pathetic suggestion, hey even when i was eating out, i will eat up to 3 dishes.

@ the very last min, i decided to cook tis dish as an additional dish besides veggie and steamed fish. Yeah...managed to haf 3 dishes for dinner :-P

Ingredients;
250g lean meat, sliced
1 large onion, wedged
1 inch size ginger, shred
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp light soy sauce
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cornflour
Green onions
Oil for frying

Sauce,
1 tbsp thick dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp osyter sauce
1/3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp water

Method,
-Marinate pork slices with light soy, salt and sesame oil.
-Stir in cornflour b4 frying the meat.
-Fry ginger in 1 tbsp oil till fragrant, add onion.
-Stir in prok slices, fry till turn colour.
-Pour in sauce, bring to boil.
-Serve when meat is cook, sprinkle green onion over.
-Enjoy!

Golden Sandwiched Beancurd Square

My main intention was to cook tis dish for dinner, however as i managed to finish cooking at around 4plus pm, tis became our tea-break instead. haha... and i realised that tis dish gotto be eaten while hot, otherwise the chicken will be hard like patties. Oh well, seems like all food taste best when they r hot. :-P

Ingredients;
2 pc firm beancurd (tau kua)
1 fillet chicken breast, minced
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
Pinch of salt
Dashes of ground corriander
Oil for pan frying

Cornflour
Egg, beaten

Method;
-Season minced chicken with seasoning, add in celery and mix well.
-Dry beancurd on kitchen towel, sliced into 1/2, cut into quarters.
-Dust cornflour on beancurd, spread chicken mixture on it, sandwich with another layer of beancurd.
-Dip into beaten egg, pan fry with oil till golden brown on all sides.
-Serve with chili dips with grounded nuts.
-Enjoy!

Ekina's B-day Dinner

Oh I'm another year older. Izzit a gd thing or a bad thing? Age matters alot to most of us ladies. Especially when 1 grows older,the more it means to her. As for me, so long as1 is living happily and live live to the fullest, y bother?

Assam Fish Head

Crispy Baby Squid

Sambal KangKong Stir Fry

Fu Yong Egg Omelette

Spareribs King

My favourite "Hei Zhou", it can oso be called ngo hiang. However, addressing it as hei zhou is a common term in tze char.

Black Pepper Chicken

I wanted a lemon chicken but too bad tis particular stall does not offer this dish on their menu:-(

Claypot Tofu~my favourite!

Yummy~licious curry fish head.

A horfun for mum and mi to share as we are not fan of rice. haha....

Dessert of the nite will be my birthday cake. Yeah....With special thanks to mum for her contribution and Adam for his help for the troble in buying home the cake. But of cuz gotto thank the main sponsor dad, for the lovely dinner!

Present time! Thank you to my beloved brother~Adam for all the above presents. So sweet of him!