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This is a very simple omelette that is perfectly suited for your breakfast. You can vary the fillings by adding hams or other dried meat with or without cheese, varying the type of cheeses used (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Mozzarella top the list), or adding herbs into the egg mixtures.
Serves 1 omelette
- 2 eggs
- a drop of fresh milk
- salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp butter
- a handful of grated cheeses (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, or a combination of them)
- Whisk 2 eggs lightly with a drop of fresh milk. Season with pepper and salt to taste.
- Heat a small frying pan. When hot add the butter. The butter should start melting and foam, at this point you might want to turn the fire down to medium if the butter starts to brown.
- When the butter is fully melted and foaming, pour in the egg mixture. Scrape the edge of the omelette away from the side of the frying pan towards the centre, letting the uncooked mixture runs to the edge. Keep doing this until most of the egg set (it should take about half a minute). The egg should still be soft and not fully cooked in the middle although the residual heat will continue cooking the omelette after you finish frying.
- Sprinkle the grated cheese on the omelette, wait for a few seconds, and fold half of the omelette on top of the other half.
- Slide into a plate and serve immediately.
The drop of milk is important as it allows the egg to have a fluffy texture by producing bubbles of water vapor trapped within the cooked egg. It makes the omelette light and fluffy. An alternative would be to add a small amount of cream or water. See Wikipedia.
Acknowledgment: This is an omelette recipe adapted from the perfect omelette recipe in The Illustrated Quick Cook recipe book.
This is a very simple sweet and sour fish recipe. The sweet and sour sauce (with minor adjustments) may also go well with other meat, although we have not tested it yet.
Serves 3-4 people
- 400 g fillet of any white fish
- Tempura breadcrumbs
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- ½ white onions, sliced
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- 1 tomato, cubed
- 2 cm length of leek, sliced (optional)
- Sunflower or canola oil (for deep frying)
- ¼ cup of warm water
For the marinade
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- scant ¼ cup mirin
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp cornflour flour
For the sweet and sour sauce
- 1½ tbsp white rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp white wine
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1½ tbsp tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp cornflour
- Slice the fish diagonally to bite-sized pieces.
- Mix soy sauce and mirin for the marinade and marinade the fish slices for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile measure and mix all the ingredients for the sauce thoroughly in a bowl.
- Discard half of the marinade and mix egg yolk into the fish and marinade. Stir in the cornflour and mix well.
- Prepare a plate of breadcrumb and coat the fish slices in breadcrumb.
- Heat oil in wok for deep frying, and deep fry the fish slices until golden brown and cooked through (approx. 3-4 minutes). Pat dry with paper towel.
- Discard the deep frying oil, leaving about 2 tbsp of oil in the wok. Fry, under high heat, the onion until soft. Add the ginger and garlic mince and fry for another 30 to 45 seconds, ensuring that the garlic does not burn.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the tomato. Fry for 30 seconds.
- Pour the sweet and sour sauce into the wok. Rinse the sauce bowl with warm water and pour the warm water into the wok as well. Mix and cook until thicken slightly (about 2 minutes).
- Turn off the fire and mix the fish into the wok. Mix thoroughly with the sauce. Add the sliced leek and mix a little.
- Serve warm.
Cornflour will seal the juice and marinade in the fish. It also thickens the sweet and sour sauce. You can instead use potato flour as well. If you choose to do so, use less amount of potato flour.
Acknowledgment: This is an original recipe.
This is one of my favourite nyonya/peranakan dessert. While it can be found in most dessert stall in Singapore and surrounding region, most of the time, the texture is too watery, with too little glutinous rice. This recipe produces sweet and thick bubur, with creaminess and a hint of saltiness from the coconut milk topping. Don’t omit the topping.
Makes approx. 10 servings
- 250 g black glutinous rice
- 7 cups water
- 3 pandan leaves, knotted
- sugar (to taste)
For coconut milk topping
- 1 cup fresh coconut milk
- ½ tsp salt
- Rinse the black glutinous rice thoroughly until the water is clear. Note that the water will still be deep purple in colour, but it should be clear.
- Measure the water into a large pot and bring it to boil with the knotted pandan leaves thrown in.
- Once boiling, add the black glutinous rice. Simmer in medium to low heat for at least an hour. Stir the mixture every 15 minutes for the first 45 minutes. Then stir and check the water level every 5 minutes to ensure that there is still enough water and to prevent the rice from burning. Add a cup of water when the mixture becomes too thick.
- The bubur is cooked when the rice grain breaks and the texture is soft. When it is cooked, add sugar to taste (I typically add about 15 tbsp of sugar). Then, simmer for a few more minutes while constantly stirring (to prevent the rice from burning) until the mixture becomes thick.
- To prepare the topping, mix the coconut milk and salt thoroughly.
- To serve, pour a heap of the bubur into a bowl and add a tablespoon of the topping. You may an extra amount of topping if you prefer creamier ones.
To reduce the amount of time spent cooking the bubur, you can soak the glutinous rice with water overnight after rinsing it. If you choose this option, use less water when cooking (start with 4-5 cups) and start checking often after 30 minutes.
You can experiment with the thickness of the dessert easily by adding more water or cooking longer to reduce the water towards the end of the cooking process. You can also experiment with the amount of sugar and the creaminess from the coconut milk to suit your own palate.
You may want to shred the pandan leaves to thinner strips before knotting to release the aroma.
Acknowledgment: This is a recipe adapted from several cookbooks and websites with my own personal experience and palate.
This mushroom-flavoured beef ragù was one of my favourite food from my childhood days. I used to ate it with spaghetti (and still do, sometime, though I prefer wide ribbon pasta with it now, such as tagliatelle). However, I found that the best place to use this ragù is to replace the meat sauce in a typical lasagne dish. Its slightly sweet and sour flavour really fits a lasagne.
Makes approx. 900 g
- 500 g minced beef
- 1 heaping cup (~250 g) Prego fresh mushroom flavoured sauce
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium carrots
- 1 fresh tomato (or canned tomato)
- 2-3 tbsp margarine
- Tomato sauce (to taste)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- freshly-ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- 3 cups water
- Slice the onion into small (approx.) 0.5 cm x 2 cm slices. Dice the carrots into small, scant 0.5 cm cubes. Dice the tomato.
- Heat the margarine in a large wok and fry the onion. When the onions are turning soft, add the carrots and fry until onion is golden.
- Add the minced beef and fry until cooked, ensuring that there is no big lump of meat.
- Mix in the Prego sauce and water. Add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, nutmeg and sugar. Add the tomato cubes. Mix thoroughly.
- Simmer until the water is reduced (but still wet), stirring occasionally. Taste the ragù and adjust the amount of tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar as necessary.
- Continue simmering until most of the water has been reduced, stirring more often to prevent the ragù from burning. (If cooking the ragù for lasagne, leave the ragù just slightly wetter.)
The right flavour for this ragù should have a hint (how much will depend on your palate) of sweetness and sourness. Use generous amount of sugar and tomato sauce to adjust the sweetness and sourness.
Acknowledgment: This is an original recipe adapted from my mom’s recipe.
As with any other onigiri recipe, this is a very simple recipe. Yet, it still brings out the sweet-salty flavour of the teriyaki sauce well. Don’t omit the nori wrapping if you can help it, it completes the flavour.
Serves 2-4 people
- 1 cup sushi rice
- ¼ cup teriyaki sauce
- some large nori
For the Teriyaki Sauce
- ½ cup shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
- ¼ cup mirin
- 4 tbsp superfine sugar
- To prepare the teriyaki sauce: put shoyu, mirin, and sugar into a small saucepan and gently cook for 20 minutes. Skim the surface of any scum and set aside.
- Mix a scant quarter cup of teriyaki sauce with the cooking water for the rice (ensuring that the total volume is correct for the amount of rice). Cook the rice in a rice cooker.
- Shred nori—to taste—into little pieces and mix it with the cooked rice.
- Pack the rice into small onigiri balls by hand.
- (Optional) Wrap the onigiri with 1 sheet of nori.
Use leftover teriyaki sauce from other dishes, such as the yakitori.
If you find that the rice is sticking too much to your hand, you can use a little hand (sushi) vinegar. Coat your palm with a thin film of vinegar before shaping each ball. Ensure that your hand is not too wet as it may make the rice too wet and not sticky.
You can also use long-grain rice if you want, though it probably won’t be called onigiri. d: I’ve also used the recipe (somewhat successfully) with left-over rice. Mix some teriyaki sauce (to taste) with left-over rice, microwave it until the rice looks fluffy and not wet. Shape the onigiri. You may have a harder time forming the onigiri ball, but the flavour is still pretty much intact, if you don’t mind eating a malformed onigiri.
Acknowledgment: This is an original recipe.
Makes approx. 10 skewers
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs with skin on
- 3 leeks or 6 baby leeks
- 10 bamboo skewers
- olive oil & sesame oil
- ½ cup teriyaki sauce (see below)
- salt and pepper—to taste
For the Teriyaki Sauce
- ¼ cup shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
- ½ cup mirin
- 4 tbsp superfine sugar
- To prepare the teriyaki sauce: put shoyu, mirin, and sugar into a small saucepan and gently cook for 20 minutes. Skim the surface of any scum and set aside.
- Soak the bamboo skewers in water for a few minutes to prevent them from burning during cooking.
- Cut the chicken into 1-2″ square pieces. Wash the leeks, dry and then cut into 1.5″-length pieces.
- Thread the chicken and leeks onto the skewers, alternating between chicken and leek pieces. Ensure that the leek pieces are bounded by chicken pieces on both sides. You may want to fold the chicken pieces and re-thread the folded part.
- Pan-fry or grill the chicken (instructions below).
- When the chicken and leek skewers are ready to serve, coat them in the teriyaki sauce. Arrange on a large plate and serve.
Oven grilling: Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wet the tray with olive oil and sesame oil mixture and sprinkle generously with freshly-ground black pepper. Coat the yakitori with pepper-oil mixture. Spread the yakitori on the tray evenly and grill until it is light brown in colour, approximately 10-20 minutes.
Keep the leftover teriyaki sauce that you use for coating as you can use it to make other dish, such as teriyaki-flavoured onigiri.
Acknowledgment: This is a modified recipe from the original in Everyday Harumi.
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