japanese curry with rice

my close OPS friend gave me a packet of japanese curry powder. his friend who is a chef with a hotel restaurant uses that to prepare japanese curry.

so i decided to make some jap curry this evening on 3.3.2017. ^^

japanese curry powder

the packet had 4 tablets/blocks.

i used 1 piece & about 500ml of water.

japanese curry – carrots, yellow onions, potatoes

i decided to do just vegetables.

i don’t mind japanese curry with prawns, or with chicken, but vegetables is also fine for a start.

for today, i used 1 large carrot, 1/2yellow onions, 1.5 potatoes & some (1/2 packet) baby corn.

japanese curry – vegetables

i fried the carrots & onions in 1 tbsp oil in a dutch oven pot, covered for 5 minutes to soften.

then added 1 block of jap curry powder, 500ml water, stirred to dissolve, then covered & boiled for like 30mins.

japanese curry – vegetables

then i added the baby corn & potatoes & boiled for another 10mins.

japanese curry – vegetables

potatoes are just cooked through when they break up when pressed against side of the pot, then it won’t be overcooked & mushy.

for today i found that the baby corn were just right still crunchy when the potatoes about done, so also 10mins thereabout….

japanese curry with rice

of course important that the jap curry is thick & tasty enough so cannot put too much water.

it is better to put less, taste & add water as you go.

anyway tasting most important. always taste for the texture/doneness you like & how intense the curry gravy you like.

japanese curry with rice

so nice, the curry….well, japanese curry not quite my favourite, so this is as good as i want it to be.

& so easy to prepare….

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients-

• 1 block japanese curry powder
• 500ml water
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 large carrot
• 1/2 large yellow onion
• 1.5 potatoes
• 1/2 packet baby corn

Directions-

1. fry carrots & onions in 1 tbsp oil in a dutch oven pot, cover for 5 minutes to soften.
2. add 1 block of japanese curry powder, 500ml water, stir to dissolve, then cover & boil for 30mins.
3. add baby corn & potatoes & boil for another 10mins. potatoes are just cooked through when they break up when pressed against side of the pot, then it won’t be overcooked & mushy.
4. baby corn just right still crunchy when the potatoes about done, so also 10mins thereabout….
5. serve with steamed white rice…qed…

vongole pot 

when i was at sheng shiong this morning i decided to buy some littleneck clams.

i was doing 2 pastas this evening so not planning to do vongole pasta.

so i bought just about 500g, and thought of doing it in the way like a pot of mussels.

vongole pot 

it was really easy to do.

i had some garlic cloves browned in olive oil (can also used chopped garlic).

then i threw in (with some butter) sliced ginger, cut chilli padi, chopped yellow onions, chopped shallots, and some basil. then i added the stock & white wine, reduced, & then 4 tbsp heavy cream.

lastly i added in the clams, covered & waited few minutes for clams to open up ie cooked.

vongole pot 

& that’s all there is to it!

a really tasty treat.

for me, it’s important that the stock itself is tasty. the cream enhanced the taste, and the clams added in the taste of the sea.

a simple, very delicious dish.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 500g littleneck clams
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 15g unsaltedbutter
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1cm sliced ginger
• 1 cut chilli padi
• 1 chopped shallot
• 1/2 small chopped onion
• cut scallions (white part from one stalk)
• thinly sliced orange peel (quarter orange)
• 10 basil leaves

Directions:

1. add chopped garlic, sliced ginger, cut chilli padi, cut scallions, chopped yellow onions, chopped shallots, sliced orange peel and basil to pot with 15g unsalted butter.
2. add stock & white wine, reduce, & then add 4 tbsp heavy cream.
3. add the clams, cover, wait few minutes for clams to open up.
4. serve in a pot.

creamy white wine fettuccine 28.12.2016

prawn pasta in white wine sauce is a new dish i did couple times recently & served to my friends-

1. everyone’s birthday 9pax dinner on 28.12.2016.
2. 8pax dinner for wife’s close friends on 14.1.2017 (did not blog/take photos)

creamy white wine fettuccine 28.12.2016

the one i did on 28.12.2016 looked & tasted great.

creamy white wine fettuccine 28.12.2016

i felt the sauce was not reduced enough, and it could be more intense & flavourful.

prawn fettuccine in creamy white wine sauce 12.2.2017

so for today, i reduced the sauce a bit more.

i think texture & taste was ok.

only thing i used stock from prawn heads/shells as i did not have chicken stock, which was the stock i used for the dish on 28.12.2016 (the top 3 photos).

i guess it’s a taste preference. for my family & i, we prefer the chicken stock.

prawn in creamy white wine sauce 12.2.2017

this a really simple recipe-

1. season prawns with fish sauce & white pepper. set aside.
2. brown one whole bulb of garlic cloves in olive oil.
3. add cut chilli padi & basil & fry till fragrant.
4. off fire. add 1 cup stock (i prefer chicken stock) & 1 cup white wine.
5. reduce till sauce thickens.
6. when serving, heat up, add prawns (seasoned with fish sauce & white pepper). add 4 tbsp heavy cream.
7. off fire. toss pasta. add salt to taste. if necessary add some butter.
8. then garnish with fresh basil & serve.

prawn in white wine sauce 12.2.2017

i tasted the sauce before adding pasta. it was good.

prawn fettuccine in white wine sauce 12.2.2017

this a really tasty dish, and so very easy to make.

today though it was outshone by the duck leg ragout pasta which was simply fabulous.

otherwise this was a really great dish on its own.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 12 medium prawns
• 150g fettuccine
• 1 bulb garlic cloves
• 20 basil leaves (10 to cook, 10 to garnish)
• 1 cut chilli padi
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 4 tbsp heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. season prawns with fish sauce & white pepper. set aside.
2. brown one whole bulb of garlic cloves in olive oil.
3. add cut chilli padi & basil & fry till fragrant.
4. off fire. add 1 cup stock (i prefer chicken stock) & 1 cup white wine.
5. reduce till sauce thickens.
6. when serving, heat up, add prawns. add 4 tbsp heavy cream.
7. off fire. toss pasta. add salt to taste. if necessary add some butter.
8. then garnish with fresh basil & serve.

duck ragout fettuccine

did a fabulous duck leg ragout dish today on 12feb2017. ^^

this the first time i tried a duck leg ragout, or for that matter any ragout.

duck ragout pasta at labreza 7.2.2017

i was very impressed with the duck leag ragu pappardelle at labrezza recently on 7.2.2017.

so i decided i would try it myself. ^^

read up on a few internet recipe. basically got the method & came up with my own recipe.

duck leg  ragout sauce on 7,2,2017

went to sheng shiong in the morning. did not want to buy a whole duck & got a vacuum pack Jean Fresh fresh duck leg hind quarter. i think about S$4.85.

duck leg ragout sauce on 7,2,2017

& my own created recipe-

1. rub duck leg quarter in salt & wash clean, and dry.
2. brown a whole bulb of garlic cloves in olive oil
3. set aside. leave a tbsp olive oil & place duck drumstick skin down on low fire. add duck fat (i did not have duck fat so added chicken fat). basically it is like making a duck confit (which i also have not made one before) which means cooking the duck leg in duck fat to give it great flavours.
4. add aromatics (i added basil & coriander…usually they add fresh rosemary, thyme etc..i didn’t have those…from my understanding, duck & especially duck game quite gamey in flavours so quite important to have the herbs to balance it).
5. let the fat render & cook the duck leg in fat for 20mins (turnover in 10mins)…anyway watch to make sure it is not burnt…
6. off fire. add 1 cup white wine, and 1 cup chicken stock (i added prawn stock as i did not have chicken stock), 1 tbsp flat sugar. (i also added dry rosemary, didn’t have fresh ones). then low fire, cover & reduce.
7. cook for 2 hrs. add water if required so it does not dry out.
8. take out duck leg. remove & discard bones. shred it & return to pot.
9. reduce till sauce thickens. use a tablespoon to remove some fat from the top.
10. when serving, heat up, add 4 tbsp prego or papa alfredo traditional sauce. & toss pasta, then garnish with fresh basil & serve.

duck leg ragout fettuccine on 12.2.2017

my first time doing this. and the dish was simply superb.

so very tasty & savoury. texture was perfect…very tender & soft & moist, not sinewy, dry, wiry.

& taste was wonderful. very mildly sweet, nicely herb flavoured, both balancing the gamey taste, so i didn’t feel it was gamey even with all the fat. just a very very tasty pasta.

at labrezza they used pappardelle.

i could not find pappardelle, so i used fettuccine the next best thing la..

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• one duck leg quarter
• 150g fettuccine
• 1 bulb garlic cloves
• 20 basil leaves (10 to cook, 10 to garnish)
• 1 twig coriander
• 1 tsp dry rosemary
• 1 tbsp flat sugar
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp prego or papa alfredo traditional sauce.

Directions:

1. rub duck leg quarter in salt & wash clean, and dry.
2. brown a whole bulb of garlic cloves in olive oil
3. set aside. leave a tbsp olive oil & place duck drumstick skin down on low fire. add duck fat. basically it is like making a duck confit which means cooking the duck leg in duck fat to give it great flavours.
4. add aromatics (i added basil & coriander & dry rosemary…usually they add fresh rosemary, thyme etc..i didn’t have those…)
5. let the fat render & cook the duck leg in fat for 20mins (turnover in 10mins)…anyway watch to make sure it is not burnt…
6. off fire. add 1 cup white wine, and 1 cup chicken stock, 1 tbsp flat sugar.
7. then low fire, cover & reduce. cook for 2 hrs. add water if required so it does not dry out.
8. take out duck leg. remove & discard bones. shred it & return to pot.
9. reduce till sauce thickens. use a tablespoon to remove some fat from the top.
10. when serving, heat up, add 4 tbsp prego or papa alfredo traditional sauce. & toss pasta, then garnish with fresh basil & serve.

teriyaki salmon belly – everyone’s favourite! on 29.1.2017

been doing teriyaki salmon belly quite a few times lately. it’s consistently a favourite among my friends & family.

most recently on CNY day2 29.1.2017, i did that for my wife’s relatives, a 20pax dinner.

wonderful flavours, & my helper’s homegrown dill a perfect match.

grilled teriyaki salmon belly on 16.11.2016

i did that also for a 6pax dinner with my OPS friends on 16.11.2016.

it was excellent. very tasty,especially with the fatty salmon belly. well infused with miso & light soy sauce flavours, and also seasoned wth chopped garlic & ginger.

after that my friend’s wife asked the recipe & made for her son to bring to a gathering. 🙂

teriyaki salmon belly on 28.12.2016

& likewise for the 9pax everyone’s birthday on 28.12.2016.

#3 teriyaki salmon belly on 28.12.2016

and despite burning the skin (not familiar with the new oven controls), it was still such a wonderful tasting dish. after wife’s salad, i think everyone loved this salmon belly.

i did the same for a 8pax dinner for my wife’s close friends on 14.1.2017 & they all loved it. did not take any food photos that evening, except for wife’s friend’s beautiful fruit platter..

teriyaki salmon belly (trimmings)

i did my first oven grilled miso salmon belly on 28.10.2014, more than 2 years ago.

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

at the time, i mostly buy the salmon packets from sheng shiong & giant.

when i am lucky, i get more belly.

but often i get the trimmings, and sometimes not so lucky, then mostly bones (above photo).

grilled teriyaki salmon belly

more recently i bought from phoon huat delicatessen, but their supply is limited.

so the best i found is from song fish (i go to the starvista outlet).

here you can get good salmon belly at S$30/kg.

teriyaki salmon belly

or salmon trimmings at a lot cheaper, and no need to bother about getting salmon bones. haha!

the preparation is the same, and i have both miso & teriyaki so it is teriyaki salmon for me but it is just as well miso salmon.

salmon belly or even trimmings are perfect for this dish. salmon fillet are too chunky, so using fatty salmon belly infused with miso & teriyaki offers up an amazingly delicious dish.

a very simple marinade for 500g salmon belly – 1 tbsp miso, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1tbsp sake, 2tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp sugar, 3cm chopped ginger, 5 cloves chopped garlic.

then in a double ziploc bag in my 1degC chiller for 2 days for the flavours to be well infused.

after that leave out for 1 hr to bring to room temp, then grilled in 250degC oven for 15mins. voila!

it is that easy! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 500g salmon belly
• 1.5 tbsp miso
• 2tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp sake
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp flat sugar
• 5 cloves chopped garlic
• 3cm chopped ginger

Directions:

1. prepare marinade – in a large bowl mix 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp sugar, 5 cloves chopped garlic, 3cm  chopped ginger & 1.5 tbsp miso.
2. add salmon (belly) to the bowl & marinate really well, thoroughly. put in a double ziploc bag, press out the air & seal. leave in the chiller for 2 days for the flavours to infuse.
3. cooking – take out from chiller for 1 hour to get to room temperature. place on a roasting rack, line the bottom with aluminium foil. place in a pre-heated 250deC oven for 15minutes. watch to make sure skin charred but not burnt. serve.

seafood pasta in pink sauce for OPS friends on 9.12.2016

made pink pasta a few times lately.

one, a nice, delicious pasta everyone liked for my OPS friends on 9.12.2016.

& more recently a 8pax dinner for my wife’s close friends on 14.1.2017. after dinner, one friend asked the recipe, and yesterday she sent us photo of her beautiful seafood pasta in pink sauce dish! 🙂

lobster angel hair pasta 15.5.2014

my best pink sauce pasta was a lobster capellini on 15.5.2014. ^^

simply delicious! taste & flavour were just sublime… 🙂

seafood pasta in pink sauce 9.12.2016

for my more recent creations, it was much simpler & easy to make, since i was not cooking lobster.

for seafood, i used prawns & either scallops (when i have) or squid.

seafood spaghetti in pink sauce (creamy tomatoes) for RI buddies on 15.12.2015

i did for my RI friends.

prawn spaghetti in pink sauce (creamy tomatoes) on 5.8.2015

& for another dinner in aug2015.

& my friends thought the prawn spaghetti in pink sauce was the best. and yes, it was very tasty & flavourful.

prawn linguine in pink sauce

the recipe was quite strait forward-

• brown 1 bulb of garlic cloves in olive oil. i also cut chilli padi & sweet thai basil, fry till fragrant.
• let it cool, then add 1/2 bottle of prego sauce (680ml bottle) & 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes (14oz can)
• add 1/2 cup white wine, 1 cup chicken stock & reduce liquids by 1/2
• add 1/2 heavy cream, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

basically that does the pink sauce.

when serving add prawns, then scallops (or squid), made sure not to overcook them.

then add pasta, which were done pre-al dente, off fire & toss.

one key thing to note is that the sauce should be sufficiently reduced so it’s not too dilute & quite intense, tasty & creamy. & not too much pasta so it won’t dilute the taste of the sauce.

anyway for me it’s agaklogy, so maybe about 200-250g pasta to about 400ml sauce??

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 250g pasta (cook to pre = 1 min before al dente)
• 1/2 bottle prego traditional sauce (680ml bottle)
• 1x14oz can whole peeled tomatoes (can add fresh tomatoes too…)
• 1 bulb garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 20 basil leaves (10 to fry, 10 to garnish)
• 1-2 cut chilli padi
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
• 1 tbsp flat sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 15 pieces medium prawns
• 1 large squid

Directions:

1. brown 1 bulb of garlic cloves in olive oil. add cut chilli padi & sweet thai basil, fry till fragrant.
2. let it cool, add 1/2 bottle of prego sauce (680ml bottle) & 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes (14oz can)
3. add 1/2 cup white wine, 1 cup chicken stock & reduce liquids by 1/2
4. add 1/2 heavy cream, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
5. add prawns, then scallops (or squid), do not overcook
6. add pasta, off fire & toss. add basil to garnish. shredded mozzarella if desired

braised oxtail

wife’s relatives coming for dinner this evening, and we were preparing for a 20pax dinner including grand nephews & grand niece, on CNY Day2 on 29.1.2017. ^^

one of the dishes i prepared was braised oxtail.

i did my first braised oxtail for the first time on 6.11.2016.

today i did a larger serving for 20pax, and the oxtail came up beautifully (see top photo).

braised oxtail

i had 2 packets of oxtail from phoon huat delicatessen = 1.75kg.

braised oxtail

braised oxtail

i adjusted accordingly-

1. rub with salt & washed & clean thoroughly & dry with kitchen towels
2. coat 1tsp salt, 2 tsp black pepper, 1.5 tbsp cornflour.
3. brown oxtail with 1 tbsp olive oil on high heat, set aside
4. fry chopped shallots, sliced ginger, then sliced onions, chopped garlic, then carrots & celery.
5. add back oxtail,add dry rosemary, parsley, chilli flakes. add 1cup red wine, 2 cups water, 1/4cup mirin, 1 tbsp sugar, 1tsp salt (to taste).
6. place oxtail in large casserole & placed in 180degC oven for 4.5 hrs.

braised oxtail

so this recipe was really very simple & straight forward to execute.

braised oxtail

i checked the oxtail & turned the pieces using a spoon at different intervals=2.5 hrs, 3.5hrs etc & texture was perfect at 4.5hrs.

braised oxtail

the liquids were reduced nicely, so i got a nice thicker, very tasty gravy & the oxtail were excellent in taste & texture, very tender & still having good bite, & the tendons near the bones were gelatinous & flavourful.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

skin so crispy meat tender, juicy, tasty

did a wonderful pan roasted “sous vide” brined chicken thigh today on 10.12.2016. ^^

skin was so crispy, meat so tender, juicy, tasty, just fabulous la… 🙂

skin so crispy meat tender, juicy, tasty

it was my usual pan roasted skin on brined chicken recipe. a dish i have not done for like 3 years liao..

this time though, i added the “sous vide” part.

i found on the very scientific seriouuseats.com which recommended sous vide at 60degC for 2 hrs.

i don’t have a sous vide machine (yet) so approximate by putting the chicken thigh in a brine bath in a sealed oven dish in a 95degC oven for about 2.5hours. when i measured the internal temp, it was about 65degC…for me just agak-logy not very scientific la…

pan roasted “sous vide” brined chicken thigh

then i did the usual panfry skin down with just a little olive oil to grease the pan, about 4-5mins in a non stick wokpan, first high heat the lower to medim/low.

meat tender, juicy, tasty

& the result was absolutely brilliant.

pan roasted “sous vide” brined chicken thigh

pan roast delivered the crispy skin.

brining with sugar & salt the juiciness & the taste.

and “sous vide” the wonderful tender texture….i think this was very good indeed! ^^

pan roasted “sous vide” brined chicken thigh

i only had thigh today as i did the chicken breast for a friend for a 13pax dinner the day before.

she doesn’t take beef & doesn’t like chicken thigh.

it was ok but i couldn’t grilled/brown the skin for the chicken breast. 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.

for this, i did only my previous skin on pan roasted brined chicken breast & did not attempt the sous vide part.

anyhow i think that it would be great to do this sous vide method on the chicken breast & though lesser skin, it will be no problem to brown the skin properly like what i did 3 yrs back. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 2 x chicken breasts skin on w/o wings (easier to brown skin)
• 2 x chicken thigh with drumstick (I use a 1.4kg chicken from Sheng Shiong or Giant hypermarket)

brine solution:

• 1 litre water
• 3tbsp salt
• 3 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Preparing the chicken – use kitchen scissors to cut chicken in 1/2, then knife cut around the drumstick into 1/4 (breast remove wings & drumstick quarters),  then cut away & remove the bones under the breast & thigh completely, then cut away the fat, wash & clean
2. Brining – add 1 litre water in a large plastic container, mix in about 3  tablespoon salt & 3 tablespoon sugar & stir to dissolve. Put 2x cleaned chicken breasts & 2x chicken thigh into the container and place container in fridge for 24hours. Remove & wash chicken breasts/thighs thoroughly in slow running water & place on a rack to airdry in fridge for 24hrs (can also skip this step & dry with kitchen towels)
3. Cooking – Remove chicken breasts/thighs from fridge & leave it at room temperature for at least 1/2hr. place chicken covered with brine in a sealed oven dish in a 95degC oven for 2.5hrs to reach an internal temp of 65degC, or shorter for 60degC if desired.
4. Heat non-stick pan on high heat, add little olive oil to grease pan & turn to medium heat. Place the chicken breasts & thighs 2 at a time skin-down in hot pan. press, hold with hand & move around pan for even temp distribution, fry for 4minutes to get crispy skin. The oil will sputter a bit, turn to low heat after 1 minute. remove chicken breasts/thighs from pan & let them rest for 10 minutes, Serve.

braised oxtail

did my first braised oxtail today.

saw a few online recipe, decided to just mix & experiment a bit myself.

result???

pretty good actually, very tasty, tender, savoury..& veg were wonderful…

oxtail stew @ second FGS (For Goodness Sake) Charity Dinner made by host’s helper

still cannot compare with the oxtail stew we had at the second FGS (For Goodness Sake) Charity Dinner made by the host’s helper.

hers different, had quite a bit more tomatoes, overall taste experience still better than mine.

braised oxtail

so i just bought 3 large oxtail pieces from cold storage, 800g for S$20, promo price like S$26.90/kg.

washed with salt, then coat with 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper, 1 tbsp corn flour.

fried in olive oil to brown/colour, then removed from pan.

added olive oil to pan & fried chopped shallots, sliced ginger, chilli padi. then onions, garlic, then added carrot, celery, & spices. then added wine, water, mirin, sugar

then added back oxtail & placed in caserole in 180degC over 2hrs

braised oxtail

can boil to reduce if too much liquid, & add cornflour to thicken if required (i didn’t)

braised oxtail

oxtail was very tasty. so was the veg & gravy.

however i think my slow braised spanish beef ribs still better. thinking of doing this dish for a dinner on 29.11.2016, but maybe i will decide on the beef ribs instead. not sure yet.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients: