Bread and Noodles

My tastebuds have gone haywired for the past few months and I haven't been cooking since then.

These are the dishes that I have cooked before that happens.

Egg Sandwich

French Toast

Fuzhou fishball noodle soup

Hokkien Mee

Vegetables noodles with gravy

Fried Hokkien Mee (Prawn replaced by mock meat)

I was on leave then and have been cooking everyday. I have saved quite a bit on meals - just imagine 1 packet of noodles lasted me five meals!

Really enjoyed those food that I have cooked. Kinda surprised that it tasted very close to what I have aimed to achieve. Alas, I didn't take down the ingredients, seasonings etc. Looks like I have to do another trial again should I want to sample the same dishes again. :P

Kway Chup

Without the kway. :P

We had congee with this.

I must say it really tasted like the *real* thing in hawker centres. :)

French Beans with mock meat

Chye Sim Soup

Cabbage Soup

As a working wife, I can only find time to cook on a day or two of the week. Thus, it is vital that I use up all the ingredients for that week, to avoid wastage. It's fun to know that I am not alone.

I also find it extremely satisfying when the dish that I cooked with the 'remains' turned out to be good. :)

Ingredients

• Cabbage (remains)
• A few slices of tomato (remains)
• 3 pieces of mock meat
• 2 tbsp Woh Hup scallop concentrates (highly recommended as it does not contain MSG!)
• 6 cups of water

Method (too simple to be true)

1) Boil water with concentrates

2) Add cabbage and mock meat

3) Add tomato just before serving

I wanted to add sugar and salt to make it more flavourful, but I find it absolutely unnecessary after trying a spoonful! The soup itself was already very sweet. Yums...

On a side note, I realised that soup made from scallop concentrates taste so much better than from chicken concentrates. And a bottle of scallop concentrates costs only like thirty cents more? :)

Mee Sua Soup

My hub can only afford to take PM leave to go out with me as he has many things to clear at work. -.-

I was lazy to walk down to the hawker to buy breakfast, so I decided to cook this for myself. :)



Ingredients

• 1 bundle of mee sua
• 5 small pieces of mock meat
• 2 mushrooms (cut into strips)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp of oil
• 2 cups of hot water

Seasonings

• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp concentrated chicken stock
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• dash of pepper

Method

1) Add mushroom and mock meat to heated oil
2) Add oyster sauce and stir fry
3) Set the mushroom and mock meat aside
4) Fry egg and return mushroom and mock meat to the wok
5) Add hot water and concentrated chicken stock
6) Add Mee Sua and stir for 30 seconds
7) Add light soy sauce and salt to taste
8) Before turning off the fire, add sesame oil and pepper
9) Best served with fried shallots (I added it after taking the photo)

It turned out pretty tasty, even though I did not follow any particular recipe. ;)

Bean Sprouts with carrots and mock meat

I crave for the Taiwan breakfast I had a few weeks back. Congee and beansprouts. Healthy, simple and yet tasty.




Ingredients

• 1 cup Bean sprouts
• 1/2 carrot cut into strips
• 6 pieces of mock meat
• 1 tbsp oil

Seasonings

• 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
• 30 ml water
• salt to taste

Method
1) Heat oil
2) Add carrot strips and stir-fry till moderately soft
3) Add mock meat and stir-fry till cooked
4) Add bean sprouts
5) Add water
6) Season with light soy sauce and salt


I have really enjoyed eating this dish I have cooked today. And yes, I had it with congee... :)

Crispy Mock Meat

Vegetarian Congee

How to know I am cooking for myself only

1) I re-use utensils and bowls so that I don't need to wash additional ones later on. (My hub usually does the dish-washing)
2) I dump all the ingredients available into the pot to make it into a one-dish meal so that I can save on the effort and time on preparing different dishes
3) I am easy on the taste. Anything edible goes. :)
4) I... I don't care about the food presentation... pls see the photo below. :P

Spicy French Beans

Sweet and Sour Mock Chicken

Ok... I am repeating my recipes. Just want to keep it as a record for looking different. :)

Fried Egg Noodle

My hub didn't like it. :( I finished all the noodles on my plate, though. Ok, it wasn't fantastic, but hey! It wasn' that bad too! :P

But I guessed as much. My hub didn't even like our Kopitiam's savoury HK Mee, which I was full of praises for. Not to mention this is my first attempt on a fried noodle dish. Better luck next time! :)

Bittergourd Soup

"hmmm... this is nice" my hub commented as he tasted the soup in the pot that was still on the stove.

Trying to act like a food connoisseur, he added, "But there is something missing. I think you just need to add that something and it would taste like the one in kopitiam"

"Prawns lor", I immediately replied. In which, he responded 'ya ya ya'.

1) It does not make economical sense (cents) for me to buy prawns as I will only be cooking it on one day of the entire week.
2) I only need 2 or 3 of it and I guess nobody in the right mind would want to sell that pathetic number to me.
3) I don't like to handle prawns. Kinda scary to remove the legs and stuff, if you ask me. :P

In any case, I do believe that prawns play an important role in making this soup even tastier. So feel free to add it to the recipe below. :)

Ingredients

• 8 halves of Bittergourd
• Button mushrooms
• Corn cobs
• Sliced Carrot
• 1 Egg (beaten)
• 5 cups of water
• Ginger
• Mock Meat (optional)

Seasonings

• 1/2 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp seasme oil

Method

1) Add concentrated chicken stock and ginger to water and boil

2) Add carrot, mushroom, corn cobs and Mock Meat

3) Add bittergourd

4) Add the remaining seasonings except for sesame oil

5) While the soup is boiling, slowly pour the egg mixture in and stir

5) Add sesame oil 1 minute before switching off the fire and serve

Kung Pao Mock Meat

"You should cook and sell vegetarian food", commented my husband, after sampling the dishes for today.

I looked up at him in disbelief, as he seldom give compliments like this. Just when I was about to jump up and down in excitement, he added the following.

"But maybe not for other non-vegetarian dishes." kwa kwa >_<''' Thanks hor!

That's when I was reminded of this song title... "哭笑不得" :P

Click here for recipe

Sweet and Sour Crispy Mock Chicken

Yippee... I am getting the hang of it. I guess practice really makes perfect. Here's another sweet and sour dish. =)



















Ingredients

Mock Chicken
tomato (optional)

Sauce

• 2 tbsp Tomato Sauce
• 1 tbsp Chilli Sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water

Method

1) Roast Mock Chicken in Healsio for 20 minutes at 190 degrees
2) Once the Mock Chicken is ready, heat the sauce over low fire for 10 seconds
3) Add and coat the Mock chicken with the sauce and switch off the fire immediately.

Vegetarian Fried Rice

I wanted to cook porridge today, but I had to choose fried rice instead.

Fried rice is especially useful when I am cooking dishes that I am not too confident of. To elaborate, if one of the side dishes I have cooked doesn't turn out good, I still have the fried-rice to fall back on. Fried rice is 'self-sufficient' and is a 'so good, you can even eat it on its own' staple. :P Most importantly, I have hardly gone wrong cooking this one-dish meal. It's a safe bet. :)



Ingredients

• 1 cup Rice (cooked overnight so that it will be easier to manage)
• 3 tbsp of mixed vegetables (comprising green peas, carrots and corns)
• 3 tbsp of mock ham cubes
• 5 tbsp of mock char siew (cut into cubes)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Mixture

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce (for colour)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 6 tbsp water

Method
1) Heat oil in high heat
2) Add mock char siew and ham cubes, followed by mixed vegetables
3) Pour rice into the wok
4) Add mixture
5) Mix thouroughly

Stir Fried Snow Peas with Mock Meat

We get lazy at times. Especially we found out a trusted and easy way of doing things... :P

Does the following looks familiar to you? LOL!

Yeah... this is almost the same dish as the Stir Fried French Beans I cooked successfully a few weeks back. I merely substitute the French Beans for snow peas. :P

Ingredients

Method

Sweet and Sour (Mock) Chicken

My hubby wanted me to cook exactly the same dishes as last week because he loved every single dish. Aw... so sweet of him. ;)

I never had such a request from him before, so I agreed to go along with his suggestion. On second thoughts, I thought I would change one dish. For variety's sake and so that I can do a blog. :P

Instead of the Gong Bao Ji Ding, I decided to use the tomato (from last week) to do a sweet and sour dish instead. Wala, it turned out not bad! My hub likes it and commented that it is quite an improvement from my last sweet and sour dish. Still, I feel that I can be better. :P



















Ingredients

• Mock Chicken
• 1 Chilli (cut into triangles)
• 1/2 Tomato (sliced)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp garlic

Sauce Mixture

• 3 tbsp tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp chilli sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 3/4 cup water

Method

1) Roast the Mock Chicken in Healsio (as always) for 15 minutes
2) Heat Oil and stir fry garlic and chilli slices until fragrant
3) Add Sauce mixture and simmer till it bubbles
4) Pour in the roasted mock chicken so that it will absorb the sweetness of the sauce.
5) Add tomato slices about 10 seconds before turning the fire off and serve.

Kung Pao (Mock) Chicken

"Is this sauce ready made?'

This question from my hub lifted me up and away from my seat. I didn't know it tastes as good as those ready-made sauces off the shelf, especially when this is just an experiement. Still, I have to agree that this is my most successful attempt in cooking this dish. ;)




















Ingredients

• Mock Chicken
• Cashew Nuts
• 2 tbsp oil
• A few slices of ginger
• 3 Dried chilli (cut into 2 inches)
• 1 tsp flour
• 3 tbsp water

Mixture

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sweet soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of stock
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp sugar

Method

1) Roast Mock chicken in Healsio for 12 minutes or until crispy.
2) Heat oil in high heat
3) Fry Garlic 15 seconds
4) Turn to medium high heat and fry dried chillis
5) Stir mixture over medium heat until it bubbles
6) Coat mock chicken in mixutre
7) Thicken gravy with flour and water
8) Turn off the fire, add mix with cashew nuts
9) Serve

French Beans with Mock Meat

These french beans are all that I am left with after throwing more than half of the originals away (it was kept for a week from last week's buy. :P)

The remaining still looks pretty fresh eh? And I think it really attributes to my Fisher and Paykel fridge. It keeps my food at such low temperatures (even when adjusted to 'normal') that some of my food actually freezes in the fresh food compartment!

Anyways. Despite the lack in quantity, we were well compensated in the quality. I kind of like the taste that I have 'concocted' this round. Many websites recommended deep frying so I decided to give it a try instead of the usual blanching and stir-frying. It was a risk I had to take for facing either a wipe-it-out or a remain-intact situation on the plate. Phew, Ain't I glad that it's the former! :)

Ingredients

• French Beans
• Carrot (looks better in strips in this dish. Preferably of same size as the french beans.)
• Mock Meat (it's my 'vegetarian' day of the week again)
• Ginger (Garlic would taste as good, if not, better)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings (varies according to how much main ingredients you have. I had small quantities)

• 1/2 tbsp Tau Cheo
• 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 cup stock (soy beans)
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Method

1) Heat oil in medium high heat until it is slightly bubbling

2) Fry ginger for 30 seconds

3) Change to medium heat and stir-fry carrot for another 30 seconds

4) Add French Beans and mock meat

5) When the ingredients are nearly cooked, add the seasonings

6) Stir fry till the stock are almost dried up.

7) Serve. We had congee (beh) to go along.