gochujang pork chop & sotong with onions

made a simple dinner for 3pax dinner this evening on 1.1.2017. ^^

lazy to go out & eat, & lazy to think of dishes to cook.

gochujang pork chop

just used gochujang to marinate pork chop with chopped ginger & garlic.

then fried with small bit of butter on a hot nonstick ceramic coated pan.

pork chop (this cut is called西施骨, a pork ribeye) was quite tasty, especially the thinner part with some fat.

my very discerning wife & daughter thought it did not taste korean enough, just a tasty pork chop. they thought it needed some kimchi taste, not just gochujang.

probably so, don’t really have answer for now. didn’t have recipe & just “gazak” anyhow marinade.

can try again but this dish not a top priority for me.

sotong with onions

i marinated the sotong with the leftover marinade.

the chopped ginger went very well with the pork chop, less well with the sotong.

so no need to add chopped ginger for sotong next time, just chopped garlic will do fine.

sotong with onions

sotong was quite tasty too, and the right texture.

again the dish did not taste distinctive, and was not any better than say chilli fry, oyster sauce or squid ink. so ok but nothing special.

marinated sotong

marinated pork chop

the marinade colours looked great & appetizing.

the dishes themselves ok, quite tasty but not special.

gochujang pork chop

so far, the best result still the pork chop, just that i would probably do just nice a pork chop with other marinade. let me check up later on any better marinade recipe to produce “more korean” distinctive flavours.

ask my korean friends?

c.h.e.f andy

tofu prawns

it’s new year eve 31.12.2016. ^^

we having a 5pax family home dinner.

we have been cooking western dishes for christmas eve & christmas day family home dinner.

so for new year evem we decided to have some simple chinese/local dishes.

the tofu prawns were modeled after sek bao sin’s.

sik bao sin’s excellent tofu prawn dish 

see sek bao sin’s excellent tofu prawn dish.

my own tofu prawns

& after a few tries, my tofu prawns approximate very well in look & taste to sik bao sin’s.

i used quite intense chicken stock. the tofu was the extra silky tofu, excellent soft texture, and was well infused with the tasty stock, with a nice fried skin.

prawns were quite the right texture, and the egg drawn over made the perfect dish.

claypot rice

today, my claypot rice was nearly perfect, among the best i’ve made.

wife gave very good feedback after our recent 6pax dinner with friends on 22.12.2016.

she thought the bottom layer was too burnt, & the rice texture was not that good, a bit soft.

claypot rice

today i made some adjustments, and it was perfect! almost…

rice was not wet, & separate, individual grain…the flavours etc all like before, quite excellent.

& chicken today – the best! super tender & tasty….

moral of the story = do whatever wife says….

claypot rice

so because i had 1 whole deboned chicken it took about 45-50mins to steam & more rice got burnt & the less rice remaining were overcooked.

i took out over 1/3 of the chicken & cooked separately, had the claypot on low fire for 30mins.

claypot rice

i think can reduce the burnt part further…wife said the lightly burnt 锅巴the best..currently my burnt part still over…still will try out the smallest low fire.

fried heng chai

fried kang kong

the 2 fried vegetables were all good.

i settled to the 清炒style = high fire, lots of chopped garlic & no water or cornflour added, just oyster sauce & fish sauce. perfect!!

fried tofu

so key for the tofu dish is fry the silken tofu well w/o breaking.

tofu prawns

tofu prawns

i used intense chicken stock, very tasty & made sure prawns not overcooked.

the final touch is drawing the egg with a chopstick, to keep the cooked pieces together.

claypot rice

for the claypot rice, i fried chicken fat & ginger, last the salted fish lightly before removing to be added back later. & i fried the rice.

claypot rice

claypot rice

a really wonderful claypot rice this evening! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

#1 wife’s quinoa salad – the best!

4 close friends have their birthdays during these period..

they wanted to do the usual birthday dinners for my wife & i which were a while back. We missed because of travel etc..

so i asked everyone to come over for dinner instead so we could celebrate for all & relish the wonderful memories together, on 28.12.2016! ^^

champagne

champagne

champagne & food

wife opened a champagne. i think someone brought last time.

great way to start a wonderful evening…

#1 wife’s quinoa salad – the best!

wife’s salad gets better all the time!

i like this quinoa salad with blueberries, pomegranate, roasted almond flakes, honey tomatoes, mesclun & rockets even better than our usual pumpkin tofu salad.

#1 wife’s quinoa salad – the best!

& such a beauty to behold too! ^^

#2 nobu miso cod

i made nobu miso cod.

my god-sis, among the 4 together with her hubby with the closest birthdays, loved this dish & mentioned a few times, so made for her tonight. 🙂

#2 nobu miso cod

very nice, the flavours very well infused.

one of my favourite dishes. i like the slightly oily fish. the flaky meat firmed up by the marinade, and the special sweetness & texture especially near the bones. 🙂

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

this evening, it was a bit upstaged by the teriyaki salmon.

wife added the dill grown by our helper, a nice touch & very matching for the dish.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

i made a mistake actually.

was not familiar with the controls of the new oven & burnt the most precious parts, the skin, so had to lift off most of the burnt skin, what a waste.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

anyway it was still such a wonderful tasting dish.

after wife’s salad, i think everyone loved this salmon belly.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

belly was slight oily, went very well with the marinade & nicely grilled, so very flavourful.

#4 pan-grilled kurobuta

i did the pan-grilled kurobuta. it’s fatty but very tender & flavourful so quite easily well received by the diners.

#5 roasted vegetables

to have more vegetables, i prepared a roasted vegetable dish, something i don’t do often.

it was very easy to do, just cut vegetables, drizzle with olive oil, sea salt & black pepper, & lined with some butter, then for this quantity, 30mins in a 250degC oven.

everything finished, including the whole garlic!

#6 creamy white wine fettuccine

i had 2 experimental dishes this evening.

first the creamy white wine sauce fettuccine. my very first time.

#6 creamy white wine fettuccine

it turned out to be very nice, according to my daughter & wife & guess.

#6 creamy white wine fettuccine

i made the usual browned garlic in olive oil, with fresh basil, added quite intense chicken stock & white wine, a bit of sugar. it was creamy & tasty, fettuccine was nicely al dente.

still, i think i would reduce the sauce further & increase the cream next time.

#7 mock fideua – baked seafood beehoon

the baked beehoon dish was intended to proxy the fideua dish.

foc’s scampi fideua alio olio

we had this excellent fiduea dish at foc. it’s a pasta but feels like a very tasty well-infused beehoon.

i couldn’t find any fideua in the shops, so i thought i would proxy with beehoon.

i soaked & cut the beehoon & placed in the dutch oven, then added intense chicken + prawn stock with prawns & squid covering the beehoon, then placed in 250degC oven & baked for 15mins.

it was actually a very tasty dish, & my friends finished all. but it was not quite western or fusion, and if it was a tasty beehoon dish, it did not feel like anything else.

maybe i will still go look for fideua, maybe at phoon huat delicatessen.

nice red wine from charity fundraising event

the last dish is the tagliata, so wife opened a red brought by one friend.

this a bottle they ordered from a charity fundraising event, which they bought a few bootles & maybe bringing over the malacca the following week when 5,6 of them are going.

a very nice quite full body red & quite smooth.

#8 tagliata di manzo, with 400day grain fed wagyu MBS 3/4 

i used a 400day grain fed wagyu MBS 3/4 (1 in thick about 300g+) for the tagliata di manzo.

wife did the plating.

as usual beef was very tender & tasty. for this evening daughter & wife found the wagyu beefy. for me it was ok, the taste that i like.

very sweet strawberries & cherries

a friend brought very sweet & big strawberries & cherries, very expensive i think, like S$13 for a tray of strawberries??

flor patisierrie millefeuille cake

& we have the usual flor patissierie cake.

this was supposed to be a millefeuille cake. i don’t see any layers though, and as my daughter said looked more like a struddle, lots of nice light cream but not quite layered like millefeuille.

we all had a wonderful, most memorable evening.

c.h.e.f andy

wife’s quinoa salad 

had an awesome 5pax homecooked christmas eve dinner last evening.

this evening we had 4pax, only youngest daughter & BF joined us for dinner on 25.12.2016. ^^

we did mostly the same dishes as the day before.

seafood pasta in pink sauce 

wife made her excellent quinoa salad.

i made a pink sauce pasta in place of the mentaiko pasta (which we intend to do for NYE new year eve!).

dinner dishes

dinner dishes 

we did largely similar roasted vegetables, & smoked salmon with dull, to use up the leftover ingredients.

wife’s quinoa salad 

i can take wife’s quinoa salad many times, everytime. so nice!

smoked salmon with helper’s home cultivated dill

the lightly smoked salmon with dill was another repeatable. no complaints from me la..

pan-grilled kurobuta 

youngest daughter said she missed red meat last evening.

this time we had pan-grilled kurobuta steak.

this was very nice, as always. price about S$39/kg from phoon huat delicatessen. a bit more expensive than the cheaper grass fed beef, quite a lot cheaper c/w grain-fed black angus ribeye or wagyu.

we all liked the kurobuta. daughter said for herself, beef still better even though kurobuta was very good.

ika sugatayaki 

the ika sugatayaki (means whole grilled squid) was new thing this evening, an experiment.

momor izakaya’s ika sugatayaki – grilled whole squid – really good! 

recently we had the best ika sugatayaki at momor izakaya. i was thinking of how to replicate it & trying it out sometime.

ika sugatayaki 

i had actually done this some days back (>3yrs ago in 2013). results were ok but not great.

there are to my understanding 2 key steps (of course you also need to get a large squid & do the incomplete ring cuts etc)-

1. step 1 – get the squid bone dry so it can grill/char well in the oven at 250degC (max for my oven) for 15mins…since i did not have/use a bbq grill, so it’s just the best way to do it in an oven.
2. step 2 – baste the squid midway with teriyaki sauce or other marinade to caramelise & enhance the taste…for this experiment i only added salt & pepper just before grilling.

ika sugatayaki 

the squid was very good. texture was just right, not tough/rubbery.

it was a still work-in-progress. i will try basting with teriyaki sauce at my next try.

roasted vegetables 

wife did the roasted vegetables this time.

this time the sweet corn were less dry & more juicy.

seafood pasta in pink sauce

seafood pasta in pink sauce 

daughter loved the prawn pasta in pink sauce.

i am thinking to try out some cream sauce pasta next time to give some variety. has been taking this pink sauce pasta a bit often lately.

400day grain fed australian wagyu MBS 3/4 

last dish was the pan-grilled wagyu.

400day grain fed australian wagyu MBS 3/4 

it was good, sweet, not tough.

400day grain fed australian wagyu MBS 3/4 

i though the beef was not quite up to the standard of what i did last on 4.12.2016.

i guess overall it was still quite good. all the food finished (except some pasta left!)

had great family time. quite simple dishes both wife & i just did our little bit. a really enjoyable time together on christmas day.

c.h.e.f andy

mentaiko pasta

we had our usual christmas eve home dinner on 24.12.2016. ^^

2 daughters’ BFs not around so just 5 of us including our helper. like last time we did the cooking, our helper joined in the celebrations. 🙂

wife bought some mentaiko at isetan’s japan fare, so i did mentaiko pasta this evening

wife’s quinoa salad

wife did a quinoa salad. the best salad & best dish this evening. ^^

our christmas eve homecooked dishes

i added 2 chicken dishes & a small prawn tapas.

our christmas eve homecooked dishes

& roasted vegetables.

wife prepared the smoked salmon with our helper’s homegrown dill.

wife’s quinoa salad

really love this salad. the best! 🙂

there’s quinoa, pomegranate, mesclun, cherry tomatoes, shaved parmesan.

smoked salmon + helper’s homegrown dill

smoked salmon good quality, not salty, very tender.

smoked salmon + helper’s homegrown dill

excellent with the homegrown dill.

pan roasted “sous vide” wine chicken breast 

i did 2 chicken dishes.

for the small pan roasted chicken breast, i marinated with chinese shaoxing wine marinade instead of brine. then I “sous vide” in 95degC oven for 2 hrs.

pan roasted “sous vide” wine chicken breast 

beautiful pan roasting. crispy skin, meat was moist tender, seasoning a bit chinese. taste was great & “pang” 香fragrant from the roasting. i liked it.

i think the texture a bit soft, will do 2hrs next time if using this method.

wine chicken casserole

i marinated 2 deboned thighs together with the 1 chicken wing/breast in the same wine marinade.

since this was a “western” dinner, i made a casserole adding carrots, onions & leeks, but NOT with tomato sauce base.

chicken was super tender & smooth (i added corn flour to marinade). it was a good dish, very tasty, hard to place whether chinese or can be western. anyway nice if ordinary chicken dish.

gambas al ajillo = garlic prawns tapas 

i made one more small dish, gambas al ajillo, a garlic prawns tapas.

tasty prawns, just the right texture, and flavourful garlic oil. it was good but relatively ordinary dish.

roasted vegetables

roasted vegetables so easy to prepare.

just drizzle olive oil, salt, add black pepper, and top up with some butter.

roast for 30mins in 250degC oven.

roasted vegetables

simple to do, very sweet & tasty vegetables.

dinner dishes

mentaiko pasta

the carb dish was mentaiko pasta. i used capellini ie angel hair.

i followed the recipe i used previously, adding 2 tbsp olive oil with browned garlic, 1 tbsp mirin, 1.5 tbsp tsuyu to the mentaiko.

then added the capellini, cut butter & tossed.

i like this pasta. wife liked it a lot & finished off the remaining.

after that we had coffee & gathered round the christmas tree.

wife bought me a sous vide supreme demi so i will be doing some “real” sous vide dishes shortly, eldest daughter bought me a T for christmas present.

c.h.e.f andy

claypot rice

wife’s good friends & their hubbies came for dinner this evening on 22.12.2016. ^^

i made claypot rice & a few other simple home dishes.

6pax dinner

we had 5 dishes=claypot rice, tofu prawns, spicy bean sauce seabass, fried romaine lettuce, & fried kang kong. 🙂

a red

pu er tea

friends brought a red, & pu er tea.

claypot rice – using a new claypot

there was some miscom with my helper.

my favoruite claypot that i always do my claypot rice had a surface crack. my helper decided to discard it & use it as a flower pot without consulting me.

fortunately there was a new claypot my sis brought that was large enough. quite problematic last minute as proportions, timing etc changed & results could have been very different.

also it would have been better if the new claypot is the big belly smaller base curve type. this one more suited for making soup. but no other claypot large enough, so this would have to do.

anyhow made do with what i have, and sometimes we are just reluctant to change, but the newer (or just different) claypot (or anything else) maybe just as good or even better. just a matter of adjustment & adaptations.

claypot rice

anyway, the result was reasonably safe from my main uncertainties about the flavours, whether chicken would be tender not overcooked, & rice would be burnt or mushy etc.

the dish retained its excellent smokey flavours, chicken were tender & tasty, rice was wetter than i expected but maybe not yet mushy.

i cooked 2.5cups for 6 (plus a bowl for helper) & added just 1.8cups water to adjust for liquids in the marinated chicken, mushrooms etc. this time though the new claypot has a large base & wastage was a lot more so i will need to increase rice & reduce the water ratio for future. i also considered if the lesser rice (more wastage) might make it more salty with the marinated chicken. friends said it was ok.

tofu prawns – following sek bao sin’s style 

they all liked the tofu prawns.

gravy was very tasty with chicken stock, tofu had great texture & bite & absorbed the gravy well, colour was great too. one friend commented prawns were very good.

my best tofu prawns was when i did a 5pax lucnh for my RI friends on 23.9.2016. ^^

sek bao sin’s tofu prawns 

the dish was modeled after sek bao sin’s excellent dish (above).

steamed spicy bean sauce seabass

the steamed spicy bean sauce seabass was great too.

seabass is a bit fishy and meat is a bit mushy, so (say) hk steamed not the ideal preparation.

my helper does a very good seabass using a spicy bean paste (豆瓣).

my own spicy black bean sauce song fish head松鱼头 

i like song fish head松鱼头a lot, so i created a very nice tangy, slight spicy, salty sauce which i used to make very good song fish head松鱼头.

hk street chun kee 香港街珍记’s black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头 

there are many variations to the song fish head sauce.

the one i like best is hk street chun kee 香港街珍记at level 2 commonwealth crescent food centre, so that was the one i modeled. 

steamed spicy bean sauce seabass

the sauce masked the fishy taste & the marinade also made the texture firmer & tasty, so overall a much improved experience.

i was not as familiar with this steam oven timing, but the fish (done 10mins) came out just fine.

fried romaine lettuce

friend kang kong

the fried vege were standard stuff.

these days i no longer do the corn flour thing, so just garlic fry 清炒.

veg were pretty ok, looking lush green & tasting great.

cheese platter

wife had very nice cheese platter. the truffle honey was especially good.

2 friends don’t take cheese much. rest of us enjoyed the cheese platter a lot.

chocolate banana cake 

my chocolate banana cake today was ok, not my best.

ganache was a bit too thick today, but one can take less of it so ok.

chocolate banana cake 

i took a bit next morning. overall i think ok. i guess not my most preferred cake.

had a really wonderful evening.

we are all blessed to spend time in the company of good friends & enjoy great company & good food.

c.h.e.f andy

our 8 dinner dishes

OPS primary school friends/buddies came over for a 13pax dinner this evening on 9dec2016. ^^

i did basically same dishes as i did for my RI VSOP (very special old pals) malan besar on 29.11.2016. 🙂

a friend brought a christmas toy gift – so nice!

a friend brought a christmas toy gift – so nice! daughters will love it. 🙂

#1 pumpkin tofu with yellow onions

first was the usual pumpkin tofu dish prepared by my helper. she fried the cut tofu & roasted the pumpkin the evening before & cut the yellow onions for me.

i dressed the salad with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar & honey 2 hrs before.

#1 pumpkin tofu salad

for the rockets, i dressed it just before serving to keep fresh. otherwise will be soggy.

#1 pumpkin tofu salad

this a dish all my friends like always.

#2 nobu miso cod

today’s miso cod was the usual good standard, quite consistent. 3 days miso marinade 13mins in 250degC oven. quite straight forward.

#2 nobu miso cod

i like this dish. the marinade made the cod a bit firmer, still the oily, flaky texture.

taste was wonderful, and the parts near the bones especially nice. i think all my friends liked it.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

the teriyaki salmon was very good too.

these were classified as salmon trimmings but these lot was better w/o bones.

it’s a bit potluck.

i had better ones, which had quite a bit of belly, last time on 16.11.2016.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

anyway it was a wonderful dish.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

nicely grilled (15mins at 250degC), very tasty, & flavourful oily fish belly/trimming.

one friend though doesn’t like salmon – make a note for next time.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly

this was a large serving, about 800g, all finished. ^^

#4 slow roasted belly pork (photo borrowed from 29.11.2016)

i made the slow roasted belly pork again.

#4 slow roasted belly pork (photo borrowed from 29.11.2016)

dish done & served a bit late. didn’t have time to take photo, so used an old photo.

#4 slow roasted belly pork

pork about same standard as my VSOP dinner on 29.11.2016.

quite tasty pork with sauce, but crispy skin was a failure, so had to cut it off. anyhow pork all finished.

just could not reproduce the excellent crispy skin which i did for the FGS (Fof Goodness Sake) Charity Dinner on 21.10.2016.

#5 pan roasted skin on brined chicken breast

a friend doesn’t take beef & doesn’t like chicken thigh.

so i added a dish for her – pan roasted skin on brined chicken breast.

it was ok but i couldn’t grill/brown the skin well. first my ceramic coated non-stick pan was holding the pink sauce for seafood pasta & i was lazy to transfer & wash the pan. but also the breast skin tends to shrink a bit unlike the thigh which is quite taut.

#5 pan roasted skin on brined chicken breast

as seen from the photo before the above photo, the chicken was tender & moist, and juicy & quite tasty from the brining, sans the crispy skin. sigh!

#5 pan roasted skin on brined chicken breast

& after i did the “sous vide” method for a chicken thigh the next day, that produces an even more tender chicken. 🙂

#6 seafood pasta in pink sauce

i did a seafood (prawn & squid) pasta in pink sauce.

pasta was al dente & sauce had excellent tomato flavour, very tasty with stock from prawn heads & shell.

#6 seafood pasta in pink sauce

a nice, delicious pasta everyone liked.

#7 seafood alio olio (photo borrowed from 29.11.2016) 

my helper made the prawn & chicken alio olio this evening.

her alio olio usually better than me. this evening it was quite ok, not here best but still delicious.

#8 150day grain fed black angus ribeye

i had 2 pieces of 150day grain fed black angus ribeye, about 300g each.

#8 tagliata di manzo – 150day grain fed black angus ribeye (photo borrowed from 29.11.2016)

i made the tagliata di manzo 2 times.

this the favoruite for everyone. very tender, sweet, excellent steak.

for the second steak, a friend helped me arranged the cherry tomatoes & rockets after i rested the steak & sliced it, and dressed the salad for him to arrange.

macadamia cake from amara hotel

a friend brought a very nice macadamia cake🍰🎂from amara hotel.

friends brought fruits, durian nonya cake

a friend brought fruits 🍎🍐.

another lapis sagu+ durian kuehs 🍱,

another potty red wine🍷,  & one Christmas toy+present for everyone 🎄🎁

another brought bak kua.

everyone had great fun and laughter.

one friend entertain us with his usual standup comedy – chiao ka peng .. ^^

& he even discover a disciple this evening…

all in all very enjoyable evening with good friends for 51years.

c.h.e.f andy

pangrilled 400 day australian wagyu MBS 3/4

wife away youngest daughter flying off this evening. her boyfriend sending her to airport.

we decided to have 3pax home dinner on sunday 4.12.2016.

i still have 2 pieces of 400 day australian wagyu MBS 3/4 from qbfood in the freezer, so defrosted one piece about 300g.

pangrilled 400 day australian wagyu MBS 3/4

did my usual pangrilled tagliata. 🙂

very hot pan, a bit of butter, season with sea salt & coarse black pepper, char in pan, move around pan for even heat distribution, flip over & char the other side…finger test to get medium rare (actually just agak-logy for me la..)..then rest meat for 5mins…

& what a beautiful piece of wagyu…flavourful sweet tender…

as i said, this was so much superior to the grass fed ribeye at momor izakaya, but of course NOT apple with apple…that was S$38. my piece would be like S$25, but then it was far far better.

seafood spaghetti in pink sauce 1.12.2016

i did the usual seafood pasta in pink sauce.

photo above i did on 1.12.2016. that was the best, so tasty the sauce, sotong, prawns & pasta!

prawns & sotong for seafood spaghetti

i cut 1 large sotong & 6 pieces large prawns (basically whatever i had in the freezer). some of the quite large prawns i sliced in 1/2. marinated with fish sauce & white pepper.

pink sauce

i made the pink sauce with 1/2 bottle prego traditional sauce, 1/2 can whole peeled canned tomatoes, 1/2 bottle (150ml) thickened cream. had 1 whole bulb of garlic cloves in olive oil with chilli padi & basil before adding the sauce. & i added 1 cup of prawn stock & reduced.

250g spaghetti

boiled 1/2 packet=250g spaghetti, just below al dente.

seafood spaghetti in pink sauce 1.12.2016 

cook prawns first then add sotong, make sure both are cooked but not overcooked, then add pasta, off fire & toss.

my was just right, but can add salt to taste as required. add parmesan cheese & basil to garnish. voila!

seafood spaghetti in pink sauce 4.12.2016

the one i did on 1.12.2016 was the best la…

seafood spaghetti in pink sauce 4.12.2016

the one i did today was pretty good too, nearly as good.

c.h.e.f andy

makan besar

had a 16pax RI friends VSOP (Very Special Old Pals) makan besar on 29.11.2016. ^^

my friends liked the dishes i made for the recent FGS (For Goodness Sake) Charity Dinner on 21.10.2016.

so i did most of them but for a larger group of 16pax insteand of 10pax.

a friend made the miso white fish, so i skipped my nobu miso cod, and added a teriyaki salmon belly.

another friend made an excellent fruit salad with chantily cream so i skipped my chocolate banana cake.

& i added also braised oxtail, a new recipe i experimented once after the recent FGS dinner where my friend’s helper made a kickass oxtail stew, which was very good indeed!

#1 pumpkin tofu salad

my helper made the usual pumpkin tofu salad.

i marinated with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar & honey 2hrs before. when serving i marinated the rockets & added to the salad.

#1 smoked duck from phoon huat delicatessen

had a good experience with phoon huat delicatessen’s smoked duck, so save the trouble of doing my own tea smoked duck breast.

#2 miso white fish

my friend was thrilled with my nobu miso cod at the recent FGS dinner.

he decided to experiment with the recipe. he also prepared some sauce that he drizzled over. i was busy so forgot what he told me. will check with him next time.

the miso white fish was firm & tasty. for me, while i like the texture of cod better & also a stronger miso taste, this white fish was good. 🙂

#3 teriyaki salmon belly (more bones than belly, still very nice)

i did a teriyaki salmon belly. 

nice flavours, especially with the fatty belly pieces. very tasty.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly (more bones than belly, still very nice)

this time though, the 2x500g packets i bought from phoon huat delicatessen had more bones than belly. & i went to giant & sheng shiong to check, but there was nothing better.

grilled teriyaki slamon belly on 16.11.2016

just compare this with the excellent teriyaki salmon belly pieces (above photo – 1 packet about 500g also from phoon huat delicatessen) i did for a 6pax dinner on 16.11.2016.

slow roasted belly pork

i did a slow roasted pork belly. it was supposed to be gordon ramsay’s crackling slow-roasted belly pork.

#4 slow roasted belly pork 

crackling skin was very good during the recent FGS dinner.

#4 slow roasted belly pork 

& today when i tasted hot from the oven, it was also crackling.

but unfortunately a few hours later when serving, that crackling skin did not turn up today. skin was tough, not edible la.

anyway pork was still very tasty & all finished. 🙂

#5 braised extail (my second attempt)

my friend’s filipino helper made an excellent oxtail stew at the recent FGS charity dinner.

today, i had 2 packets about 2.5kg from phoon huat delicatessen.

#5 braised oxtail (my second attempt)

i think this was the favourite dish by far for all my friends.

it was very tasty. i like it very much myself.

meat was tender, great texture, gravy was smooth & deep-flavoured, a really wonderful dish.

#6 seafood alio olio 

i did 2 pastas, a seafood alio olio, & a prawn pasta in pink sauce.

most friends i asked liked the alio olio better.

olio was pretty tasty, still not as good as what my helper can make. as i told my friends, it was more for fun & a challenge that i did it myself rather than asked her to do.

#7 prawn pasta in pink sauce 

& actually the pink sauce pasta was very tasty too.

#8 tagliata di manzo – grain fed angus ribeye 

i made a tagliata di manzo. this was an excellent cut – 150day grain fed anugus ribeye.

tagliata has been a favoruite in all my dinners & also at the recent FGS Charity Dinner. no exception this evening.^^

we had 2 pieces of 300g each. i served the dish 2 times. beef was very sweet & tender & great taken with the cherry tomatoes & rockets with olive oil, balsamic.

#9 excellent fruit salad with chantily cream

& a friend brought an excellent fruit salad with chantily cream.

#9 fruit salad

very refreshing fruit salad.

excellent chantily cream

the cream was out of this world, so supremely good. best i had la!

later we took it with 2 very nice ice creams – a chocolate nut & a red velvet ice cream. ^^

junmai sake 纯米

my friends brought a lot of stuff leh…

flavoured sake

• we had junmai sake + melon & strawberry flavoured sake
• 2 moscatos
• a white
• a red
• the nice red velvet & chocolate nuts ice cream
• & organic longan

we had a wonderful makan, old pals special friends, great food, drinks, dessert & fruit, & a splendid evening chatting & sharing, not to say listening to american politics.

c.h.e.f andy

garlic steamed seabass

family decided to stay home for dinner on sunday night.

5pax…& a time for me to experiment some dishes. ^^

i had a fairly good garlic steamed seabass & stir-fried asparagus at formosa delights 清香馆recently.

i thought i gave those a try..i had bought some asparagus few days back with that in mind.

asparagus, spinach, sweet peas with baby corn

for 5pax, i added 2 other vegetables, a spinach & a sweet peas with baby corn. 🙂

garlic steamed seabass

my seabass was pretty good, sweet, great garlic flavour. 🙂

i added 1.5 tbsp fish sauce, 2rbsp mirin, 2 tbsp olive oil, lots of garlic, 2cm sliced ginger, 2 cut chilli padi, & some spring onions.

i fried the sliced ginger & chilli padi first, added chopped garlic, fried lightly, off fire. then added the garlic sauce & choppd spring onions on the seabass & steamed for 10mins.

formosa delights 清香馆’s garlic steamed seabass

my garlic stamed seabass not yet the look or taste of formosa delights 清香馆’s garlic steamed seabass (above photo)

but also pretty good la.

stir-fried asparagus

my fried asparagus was the best of the 3 vegetables, very tasty, great wok hae, and very tender, crunchy not overcooked asparagus.

everyone liked it.

formosa delights 清香馆’s fried asparagus  

c/w formosa delights 清香馆’s fried asparagus (above photo), my version was not so different.

i am more wasteful, cutting off most of the green layer, and more oyster sauce. taste-wise formosa delights 清香馆’s version also very nice. 🙂

sweet peas with baby corn & chicken breast

sweet peas with baby corn is a dish my family like & my helper does it a lot.

today sunday she’s off duty.

i wanted to add prawns but there wasn’t any so i added cut chicken breast instead. it didn’t match as well as prawns, still the chicken breast was nice on its own & so was the vegetables.

stir-fried spinach

i also did a stir-fried spinach.

recently i do very good fried veg, now preferring the dry method w/o cornflour just 清炒 with more garlic.

steamed egg

the steamed egg, the simplest dish, was akin to disaster. i didn’t want to do the usual minced pork with chopped spring onions, so experimented with mirin, tsuyu sauce & water. not the right taste, not quite “edible” la..

anyway after dinner i decided to diligently google a good recipe, i think now i have a good idea what to do next time.

c.h.e.f andy

面包蟹－brown crab

sis went to taka & bought a promo japan frozen 面包蟹-brown crab for S$12.99.

she came over to my place & we had a really scrumptious home dinner on 7.10.2016. ^^

i earlier thought that面包蟹-brown crab is similar to dungeness crab-珍寶蟹, but after googling, i learned that they are different. 🙂

sis & bil cooking 

sis cooked her special dish, young celery with salted fish. 🙂

面包蟹,celery & kang kong 

i cut the crab & fried the kang kong.

面包蟹－brown crab 

my sis said the weight is 600g, though it looked quite big & heavy.

面包蟹－brown crab 

i did not take much actually.

today my palate not so inclined towards crab.

the roe was quite super(it was also mentioned in this link). i should have taken a photo of the roe.

spicy black bean sauce song fish head 豆豉松鱼头  

i made my spicy black bean sauce song fish head 豆豉松鱼头.

now i perfected my mildly sweet, tangy, salty & spicy sauce. i think w/o question as good as any good spicy black bean sauce song fish head 豆豉松鱼头outside la… ^^

spicy black bean sauce song fish head 豆豉松鱼头 

i really enjoy this fish. especially with this excellent sauce.

young celery with salted fish 

the celery with salted fish always good.

crunchy, tasty, sweet.

kang kong 

my kang kong very good too. 🙂

everything was perfect. quite a lot of food, but no problem wiping clean la…

c.h.e.f andy

7pax duck noodles lunch

my RI gang came for duck noodles lunch today on 5.10.2016. ^^

achar

the wife of one friend brought a nice achar, made by her mom. 🙂

duck noodles

i have not made lor arh – braised duck for a while until recently.

the last time before that was >2yrs ago for a 27pax RI friends homecooked dinner on 28.5.2014.

the tai hwa braising sauce had long expired & i threw away & got some new ones.

recently i made lor arh – braised duck for my OPS classmates on 13.9.2016.

& quite by accident since i had some noodles left i made 2 bowls of duck noodles.

duck noodles

for today, i intended duck noodles to be the main fare for the lunch. ^^

so i had braised duck, taupok, tau kua & braised egg, and prepared some noodles, & put together 7 bowls of duck noodles.

duck noodles was very good! 🙂

lor arh-braised duck 

lor arh-braised duck

for the braised duck, i just followed my braised duck recipe.

lor arh-braised duck

after deboning i added back the bones to boil with the braising sauce for soup for the noodles.

the duck was excellent!

friend’s wife mentioned normally doesn’t take duck, but this one she enjoyed, no strong gamey taste.

lor arh-braised duck

lor arh-braised duck 

the duck was very tender & tasty, most importantly the “lor” very “pang” = fragrant. ^^

braised meat 卤味 

i also made some kueh chap. again simply followed my kueh chap recipe.

taupok, tau kua & lor nerng-braised egg

& taupok, tau kua & braised egg. 🙂

noodles with bean sprouts

i cooked the noodles & bean sprouts just right so noodles qq & bean sprouts still crunchy.

duck noodles

duck noodles

topped with duck & brasied meat (or with tau kua tau pok & braised egg).

put in microwave for 30s to warm up noodles, then add the boiling soup. 🙂

braised meat 卤味

kueh chap was easy to make.

i bought 1/2 pig’s head from sheng shiong for S$3.50. so i had 1/2pig’s face & 1 ear.

i added pig’s tail & belly pork.

braised meat 卤味

just mixed braising sauce per my kueh chap recipe.

& cooked in crockpot from cold on low setting for 5 hours, or till thermometer register 91degC.

braised meat 卤味  

the pig’s head meat was very nice, tender, not overcooked, had good bite & the “lor” very “pang”.

the belly pork also very good, especially the part with some fat. ears very good too.

tail flavour & skin ok, meat seemed a bit old.

celery with salted fish 

celery with salted fish is a dish i recently learned from my sis.

i used the younger shoots in the core, very crunchy & tasted great with the salted fish.

fried kang kong 

kang kong was good, but i used the same wok after the salted fish dish, so slightly salty.

moscato 

a friend brought moscato.

7pax duck noodles lunch 

lunch was great.

3 friends just came back from a 21day trip to the silk route. they already shared much including photos on whatsapp, so now just more stories about the trip. 🙂

kaya toast

we enjoyed some kaya toast after lunch.

actually this lunch started with the 10mins kaya.

i made kaya recently & this friend saw it on facebook & bantered that he liked to place order.

so i made some kaya & got the guys to come over for the duck noodle + kueh chap lunch.

c.h.e.f andy

spicy black bean sauce seabass 

2 daughters eating at home this evening on 3.10.2016. 🙂

decided to cook a spicy bean sauce seabass & egg tofu prawns. ^^

for the spicy bean sauce seabass, i am using my song fish head 松鱼头sauce recipe, first time applying it to whole fish seabass…

so for the sauce/paste=just 2 tbsp olive oil, 1.5 tbsp spicy black bean sauce, 1 tbsp flat sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp shao xing wine, 1 tbsp corn flour.

after whisking heat up a bit in pot, off fire when liquid starts to thicken to paste.

spicy black bean sauce seabass  

the spicy, mildly sweet, tangy & slight salty paste was excellent for song fish head, and as i had expected, simply superb for the seabass.

just the perfect sauce to complement this fish!

egg tofu prawns 

egg tofu prawns just was good as usual. an excellent dish!

egg tofu prawns 

first time i used egg tofu instead of silken tofu. it was good. i like the silken tofu better though.

egg tofu prawns

key was the simple sauce, just some stock, oyster sauce & cornflour & reduced. then add an egg & drag it along with a chopstick.

steamed salted fish minced pork 咸鱼饼

steamed salted fish minced pork 咸鱼饼

my helper made steamed salted fish minced pork. one of my favourite dish,

so shiok eating it!

fried hk kailan 

& fried hk kailan.

simple 4pax home dinner, ultra enjoyable la!…

c.h.e.f andy

7 dishes for 5pax RI friends lunch

we had a 5pax homecooked lunch today on 23.9.2016. ^^

many of our good friends are away “reprising” the silk road journey to the west.

so this was an eat together for the folks left behind, lol!

7 dishes for 5pax RI friends lunch

i made 6 dishes +  simple cheng chow dessert.

a friend brought a huge cereal prawns dish, unannounced! (the dish NOT the guy la…)

a friend brought cereal prawns – it was very good

excellent cereal prawns this, as good as the good zi char restaurants outside.

a friend brought cereal prawns – it was very good

he brought like 20 prawns, that’s nearly (or is??) 1 kg…

no wonder he said on whatsapp chat my tofu prawn dish not enough to eat. 🙂

a friend brought cereal prawns – it was very good

he told me to put in the oven for 2 minutes (i did it at 180degC… he like not very sure la…prawns made by his helper but actually he did know about the dish, not so blurrrr… lol!)

i didn’t know, but the dish came out perfectly, nicely warm still crispy, prawns fresh, quite excellent la! ^^

this guy CTHD (crouching tiger hidden dragon), his roast pork also very good…so roast pork & cereal prawn dishes, i no need to learn…see the sio bak dish at our teochew muay lunch on 28.10.2015!

my tofu prawns almost perfect today

luckily my tofu prawn dish also quite good today.

it was a lot better than when i first attempted the dish for my OPS friends on 4.8.2016. 🙂

my tofu, prawns & most importantly the sauce very good today. ^^

sik bao sin’s tofu prawn dish

i was recreating sik bao sin’s tofu prawn dish (above photo).

tofu prawns – recreating sik bao sin’s dish

i guess egg tofu would be better but i wanted to use the silken tofu in the fridge, which were soften & harder to fry. but they came out very good today.

tofu prawns – recreating sik bao sin’s dish

& the perfect touch (almost la) was to top with an egg (just stir a bit) when reheating to serve. 🙂

add smoothness to the sauce & looked pretty!

claypot wine chicken (modelling after JB shoon huat’s claypot chicken)

i was modelling after JB shoon huat bakuteh’s claypot chicken.

different but just as good. can be improved la…

my sauce was very tasty, & chicken very tender not overcooked or “old”, which is the usual problems with chicken dishes outside, but next time i would reduce the sauce a bit more so chicken would be more tasty.

JB shoon huat’s claypot sesame chicken

JB shoon huat’s claypot sesame chicken one of the better ones i tried.

braised yellow croaker 红烧小黄鱼 – room for improvements

i did a braised yellow croaker 红烧小黄鱼. this the teochew 半煎煮style.

braised yellow croaker 红烧小黄鱼 – room for improvements

braised yellow croaker 红烧小黄鱼 – room for improvements

fish was ok. “pang” from the frying, texture was good.

fish was fresh & tasty. but sauce need to be improved.

steamed salted fish minced pork 咸鱼饼 

this steamed salted fish minced pork 咸鱼饼 very “laku” with my friends! ^^

favourite with me too. such nice comfort food. 🙂

i don’t make it often myself, as my helper does it very well.

today very nice, we sapu everything la….

fried lala-manila clams

i think only dish today NOT so great was the manila clams.

i did an almost perfect manila clams for my friends previously for a memorable 15 dishes teochew muay lunch on 28.0.2015.

lala-manila clams

this time i bought the clams the day before, and kept in the fridge in water with ice overnight, and drain the clams before cooking.

stir-fried manila clams with curry leaves – 28.10.2015

looking back at the photos, the clams a bit wet today, and i think my spice/sauce not as good la…

stir-fried romaine lettuce 油麦菜

the romaine lettuce 油麦菜 was ok, quite nice, but maybe as my friend said, a dry garlic 清炒might be better still.

ginko nuts lotus seeds cheng chow dessert

made a simple ginko nuts lotus seeds cheng chow dessert. 🙂

just buy cheng chow from sheng shiong, and a packet each of ginko & nuts lotus seeds & boiled in water with brown sugar & pandan leaves… 🙂

ginko nuts lotus seeds cheng chow dessert

very refreshing & nice dessert, easy to make la….

nice jap greentea biscuits

a friend brought nice jap greentea biscuits.

nice jap greentea biscuits

this another very enjoyable lunch. dishes quite easy to make & nice.

& old friends coming together to chit chat & share…many of us not the big crowd type, so great to have very large gatherings, but a few friends spending an afternoon & lunch very fun for us la. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

spicy black bean sauce-song fish head 松鱼头 

sis & bil came for dinner this evening on 17.9.2016. ^^

i had 1/2 song fish head 松鱼头 leftover in the freezer from last week.

3 dishes

i also had a mandarin fish 桂鱼 in the freezer leftover from the time my OPS primary school classmate brought 2 桂鱼 for me airflown from shanghai after CNY…lol! 🙂

i made one HK steamed mandarin fish港蒸 桂鱼 at the time on 17.3.2016.

it’s time to make the other! haha! 🙂

3 dishes

my sis & bil have been frying the vegetables the few times they ate here recently.

this sis brought some tau gay (bean sprouts) to fry with salted fish. 🙂

spicy black bean sauce-song fish head 松鱼头

the paste was still quite good, but it was not as good as the last time on 10.9.2016. that one was like perfect la.

i am thinking maybe 2 reasons- (1)i experimented by adding 2 tbsp shaoxing wine (ie should not add) & (2)i added a bit more black vinegar.

there was another hiccup with the texture. for some reason texture was soft. it did not feel like bad or not fresh & though texture was soft the meat still held together. but it di dnot feel as shiok as the usual firmer texture we are accustomed to.

i am guessing it was because i put the paste on the fish head earlier like >2 hrs waiting for my sis to come. next time i will only add the paste at the time of steaming.

braised mandarin fish 红烧桂鱼

this the first time i am making 红烧dish. ^^

of course i have done this 红烧method many times. basically teriyaki is 红烧. any dish you add a marinade or braising sauce & let it cook while the braising sauce reduced is 红烧 la.

in the case of (say) teriyaki sutchi fillet, you let it reduced to almost dry & caramelised the fish fillet.

for this evening’s braised mandarin fish 红烧桂鱼, i made slices on the fish, dusted a bit of corn flour & fried the fish first.

this method we say 半煎煮i have not done myself before, so just read up a few online recipes.

then i made my usual braising sauce:

• 2 tbsp light soy sauc
• 2 tbsp olive oi
• 2 tbsp miri
• 1 tbsp flat sugar (or if lesser then 2 tsp
• 1 tbsp zhengjiang black vinega
• 1 tbsp corn flour

braised mandarin fish 红烧桂鱼

the fish was pretty nice. great tasting sauce, good, fresh fish (after 6 months in freezer), great texture.

quite nice overall, but not quite the best 红烧 dish i have tried. need to experiment a bit more.

maybe fry a bit more (or a lot more??)

will also ry adding some tomato sauce & also tomatoes, green peppers & red chillies.

salted fish with bean sprouts

sis’ salted fish bean sprouts was nice.

salted fish with bean sprouts

bean sprouts were crunchy & the salted fish very tasty. good stuff!

dark soy sauce ti por 

our relatives in china sent us sent ti por (dry flat fish). it is of course very good for soup, fih head steamboat, frying vegetables & even bakchormee.

for us though we were nostalgic of the dark soy sauce ti por which our mom did 50 years ago.

my sis tried steaming it for like 50mins the last time.

but it was still very tough & hard. so i boiled it instead for like 45mins to 1 hr, and then basically reduced it just like 红烧 till very little liquid was left then added 1 tbsp datk soy sauce.

AND it was pretty good leh!!! almost like what we remembered the feel to be! 🙂

a great, fun, plain home dinner. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy