Angel Hair Pasta

Angel Hair Pasta

Recipe source :  Adapted from Flavours Magazine, No. 40, Sept - Oct 2003

Noodles and pasta are usually our preferred choices for weekend lunch or brunch because weekends are times for the much needed rest and relaxation after five days of slogging in the office. 

I love to cook angel hair pasta because the texture is much thinner, therefore cooking time is much shorter. This brand that I bought just took me two minutes to boil to make them al dente. 

I normally cook it with prawns or seafood but I just wanted a change and cook this with pork slices. 

Ended up looking like a "East meets West " dish.

Ingredients

250g angel hair pasta, cook accordingly to package instructions
1 tbsp garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce                          ( original recipe did not use this )
1 tbsp soy sauce                               ( original recipe did not use this )
1 tbsp Kikkoman Shoyu
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp chilly flakes
300g pork, cut into slices                  ( original recipe used prawns )
1 stalk spring onion, chopped
5g wakame seaweed, soaked to soften

Method

1.  Cook angel hair pasta accordingly to instructions on the package. Drain and set aside.
2.  Heat olive oil in pan and saute chopped garlic until fragrant. Add in pork slices and fry for one minute.
3.  Add in all the sauces, wakame seaweed, mirin and chilly flakes.
4.  Toss in the pasta and stir quickly to mix well. Add in the chopped spring onions.
5.  Dish up and serve. 

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for January 2015 is Noodles and Pasta 
Hosted by  My Bare Cupboard

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Book #20

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Stir-fried Mushroom & Tofu

Stir-fried Mushroom & Tofu

Recipe source :  Y3K magazine, Issue No. 57, 11/12-2010 ( by Lydia Fujikawa )

Cooking this dish is truly no fuss and so healthy. You can eat this with white rice but we find this super appetising with plain porridge. Everything is soft and easy on our digestive system! 

Ingredients

150g five-spice tofu, cut into thin slices
150g white shimeji mushrooms, remove the roots
2 tbsp cooking oil

Seasoning

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
A pinch of sugar

Method

1.  Heat a frying pan until hot, add oil and fry the tofu slices until slightly brown on both sides.
2.  Remove and set aside.
3.  In the same wok, stir-fry the shimeji mushrooms over high heat until soft.
4.  Add in seasoning and fried tofu slices. Mix well.
5.  Dish up and garnish with chopped spring onion (optional ).

Chawan Mushi

Chawan Mushi

Recipe source :  Adapted from The Miele Workshop

Chawan mushi, a Japanese steamed egg dish which I learnt from the Miele Workshop

I have prepared this before on my own but it was not as smooth as this recipe. This time round I kept to Chef Amy Beh's instructions carefully and the result was six wonderful cups of soft and silky smooth chawan mushi.

Very smooth and tasty!

 

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp mirin (a type of Japanese cooking wine)
some fresh mushrooms  (shimeji mushrooms)
30g dried scallops, soaked until soft
some chopped spring onions (optional) 

 Dried scallops

Fresh buna shimeji mushrooms

Method

1.  Beat eggs in a large bowl.
2.  Mix eggs with stock. Strain the egg mixture and set aside.
3.  Put some dried scallops, which have been soaked into teacups ( about 8 to 10 teacups or ramekins)
4.  Add in a few pieces of fresh mushrooms which has been cut into sections.
5.  Pour egg mixture into the teacups until almost full.
6.  Arrange teacups into a steaming tray.
7.  Cover the teacups with aluminium foil.
8.  Steam at 85 degree C for 20 to 25 minutes.
9.  Top with chopped spring onions (optional)

 

Very smooth and tasty!

Tricolor Fusilli With Ham and Fish Balls

Tricolor Fusilli With Ham and Fish Balls

Recipe source :  Doris Choo

My youngest son loves to eat pasta. I used to cook pasta with either tomato sauce or cheese. But today,  I wanted to cook it differently. Part of the reason was because my fridge was too congested. I needed to finish off  the many bottles of sauces, Japanese mirin and chilli flakes that were taking up space in my fridge. 

Personally, I would have opted for shrimps or seafood for pasta. However, my youngest son prefers ham and bacon. So we comprised by having ham and fish balls, together with some fresh buna shimeji mushrooms and parsley.

Well, I am pleased to share the end result which was delicious!

Ingredients

300g tricolor fusilli
20 pieces fish balls, cut into halves
2 pieces ham, cut into small pieces
150g buna shimeji mushrooms, removed the roots
2 sprig parsley, chopped
4 pips garlic, chopped
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp mirin                 (or white wine )
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp olive oil

Japanese mirin

 Tricolor fusilli

 Buna shimeji mushrooms

 Fish balls, cut into halves

Ham, cut into small pieces

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the fusilli and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, for about 8 to 11 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Alternatively , cook accordingly to the instructions mentioned in the package of pasta.
2.  Heat olive oil in a wok and add in chopped garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.
3.  Add in the buna shimeji mushrooms, fish balls and ham. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
4.  Add in mirin, oyster sauce, chilli flakes, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Stir to mix well.
5.  Toss in the boiled fusilli together with 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid from boiling the fusilli.
6.  Continue to stir until the liquid is almost dry, then add in the chopped parsley.
7.  Toss to mix everything until well combined.
8.  Dish up and serve.

Yummy!

I am submitting this post to Aspiring bakers #38 : Boozy-licious! (December 2013)

hosted by Jasline of Foodie baker 

Buta Kabuni (Pork Belly & Turnips)

Buta Kabuni (Pork Belly & Turnips)

Recipe source : Adapted from  Marc Matsumoto's No Recipes


I used sengkuang as the closest alternative to turnips to make this Japanese dish. The rich aroma from the meat, turnips and the sauces wafted through my kitchen as they simmered in the pot. The cooking smelled so delicious that my salivary glands worked overtime, anticipating the great feast to come. 

We were not disappointed. The pork belly tasted wonderful, infused by the rich gravy from mirin and sake. The turnips were sweet and slightly crunchy and were infused by the rich gravy and sauces.

I really love the gravy which was so richly flavoured. In fact I like the gravy more than the meat itself! This is a wonderful Japanese dish!

Ingredients

2 tbsp niboshi or anchovies
1 inch piece of ginger, sliced into 1/4 inch thick
6 cloves garlic, crushed             ( original recipe used 2 cloves )
1 Chinese rice bowl water         ( original recipe used 1 cup )
1/4 cup mirin
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sake
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt

600g pork belly                       ( original recipe used 1 lb )
2 small turnips, peeled and cut into thick pieces  

 

 

Instructions

1.  Cut pork belly into slices of 1 cm thick. ( original recipe instructed to cut the pork belly into thick chunks of 1 inch thick )
2.  Wrap anchovies in a piece of cheesecloth and tie to make a satchel.
3.  Add satchel along with ginger, garlic, water, mirin, sugar, salt, sake and soy sauce into a medium-sized pot.
4.  Heat pot over high heat until it comes to a boil, turn down heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
5.  Remove satchel of anchovies. Add in pork belly and cook for 15 minutes. 
6.  Add in turnips and cook until the turnips are tender, about 15 minutes.

Note :  

1) Original recipe simmered the thickly-cut  pork belly for 2 hours before adding turnips and cook for a further 30 minutes until the pork belly and turnips are tender. 
2) For my dish, I cut the pork belly into 1 cm slices, therefore cooking time was reduced to only 15 minutes before adding turnips to simmer for another 15 minutes. 
3) This is because I prefer some bite to the pork belly and I prefer the turnips to be slightly crunchy instead of tender. 

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest  #1 Oct 2013 : Japan

hosted by Alan from Travelling-Foodies