Oats for breakfast

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 apple, grated
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon caramel topping or 1 tablespoon caramel syrup
• 1 dash cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pour in the milk and the topping mixture and then combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Cook for 1 1/2 mins in the microwave stirring after the first minute.

1. Alternatively, you may also cook the oats using hot water without the use of a microwave. Combine the milk and all the ingredients in a bowl and add some hot water.
2. Stir the oats until it is cooked.

Peanut Sauce for Satay

Peanut Sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon red curry paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

1. First, heat the oil in a saucepan, and sweat the curry and sugar until the sugar melts and starts to caramelize.
2. Then add in the coconut milk, and bring it to a boil.
3. Stir in the peanuts, and season with soy sauce.

Durian Cake Recipe

It is the Durian season again. Durians are very common in countries like Malaysia and Thailand. The best Malaysian durians are often exported to overseas countries especially Singapore, one of the largest international hub for South East Asia. There are a variety of durian type and the one I love the most is called the "Musang King" or more commonly known among the locals as "Mou Sang Wong". For those of you who love durians but would like to try it in different style, feel free to try this recipe out.

• 170 g self raising flour - sift it first
• 170 g butter
• 140 g sugar
• 115 g mashed durian
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites(beaten)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C or 350°F.
2. Mix the butter and sugar together. Then add in the egg yolks slowly.
3. Add durian meat and continue to mix them well.
4. Next, add in the beaten egg whites.
5. Then add the flour
6. Place it in a pan and bake it for an 1 hour.

Thai Fried Rice

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Thai red chili pepper
• 8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 cups cold cooked rice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
• 1/3 cup Thai basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. In a wok or large skillet, stir-fry garlic in oil until golden; then add chilies and chicken and stir-fry until chicken is cooked.
2. Add rice, sugar, fish sauce, and soy sauce, and stir-fry, mixing gently.
3. When well mixed, add shallots, basil leaves and cilantro; cook another minute or so, and serve.
4. If you desire, serve with lime wedges, chile sauce, fish sauce, or soy sauce at the table.

Unagi Kabayaki Recipe- Unagi Barbecue Style

I have posted the recipe for Unagi Teriyaki style before and I have received quite a number of response from many of you. Here, I am sharing another style of preparing unagi / eel - the Japanese style way - unagi kabayaki. The steps are quite easy. The only tricky part is to obtain all these ingredients. Eels are not sold in the Malaysian morning market as it is not popular among the locals. In Sekinchan, Selangor, you should be able to find eels at the padi farms. There are quite a number of "eel fisherman" who goes around the padi farm, fishing for eels.

However, in the town area in Malaysia, some of the places which offers eels for sale are in supermarkets and in Japanese restaurants. More often that not, these eels are already marinated and cooked. So if you know where to get good stock of eels in Malaysia, please let me know.

• 1 lb eel steak
• 3 tablespoons sake
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup fish stock

Directions:

1. Pour sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, and fish stock in a pot.
2. Bring to the boil, then simmer until reduced by half.
3. Skewer eel steaks so that they will remain flat during cooking.
4. Place eel skin-side down on a preheated grill; cook 3 minutes on high. Flip eel and cook another 3 minutes.
5. Baste skin-side with sauce; flip and cook 1 minute. Baste meat side with sauce; flip and cook 1 minute.
6. Repeat previous step once more. The trick is to baste the meat a few times to ensure that the eel doesn't dry out.
7. Serve warm with rice.

Garlic Bread - How to make your own Garlic Bread

Preparing Garlic Bread is fairly easy. A fresh loaf of French breads, also known as Baguette are available in every bakeries around town. You may also obtain fresh loaf of French breads in hypermarkets and supermarkets too. A standard length of a French toast has a diameter of about 5 or 6 centimetres and a usual length of about 65 centimetres. Below is a simple recipe I would like to share with all of you. I hope you will enjoy it.

• 1 loaf French bread, unsliced
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 garlic cloves, halved
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
2. Cut slices down the length of bread loaf at 1 inch intervals, without cutting all the way through.
3. Rub slices and top of loaf with cut sides of garlic.
4. Mince garlic.
5. Combine butter, garlic, parsley and Parmesan.
6. Spread butter mixture between bread slices and on top of loaf.
7. Wrap bread in foil leaving top partially uncovered.
8. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes.

Spinach Soup

Recently, our premier has announced that the price of spinach has reduced in order to help the citizens coup with the rise in price, amongst others, petrol and electricity. So I have decided to share with you this spinach soup recipe. First, you would need fresh spinach, nicely trimmed and coarsely chopped. You will also need 4 cups chicken broth or chicken soup. Shred some carrots, chop some onions and mince some garlic for seasoning. Prepare some butter, a 1/3 cup should be sufficient. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Follow the following steps to make yourself a nice bowl of spinach soup.

Directions:

1. In an oven, bring spinach, broth and carrots to a boil.
2. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remember to stir occasionally.
3. Remove from the heat and let it cool to luke-warm.
4. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute onion and garlic in butter until onion is soft,about 5-10 minutes.
5. Add flour; cook and stir over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Then add to spinach mixture.
6. Thereafter, puree in small batches in a blender or food processor until finely chopped.
7. Place in a large saucepan and add cream, milk, and pepper, heat through but do not boil. Serve warm.

Fresh drink - Lime with Honeydew Melon

Honeydew melon goes very well with lime juice. Honeydew melon is sweet and lime is sour. The combination of both sweet and sour can be very refreshing especially if it is serve cold. Becareful not to put too much lime juice as it can make your honeydew melon taste sour. But if you like the sourness of lime, you may put more lime juice. This is good to be taken on any hot day and it is a recommended dish for barbecue parties.

• 1 honeydew melon
• 1 squeezed lime juice

Directions:

1. Cut the honeydew melon into wedges.
2. Sprinkle lime juice on each wedge and serve.

Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is very useful for cooking. It can be used in almost any dish ranging from vegetable dishes to noodles or for making soup. However, it is very time consuming and I would strongly recommend you to cook this during the weekends when you have more time. Pre-packed chicken stock can be purchased very easily in supermarkets but these pre-packed chicken stocks can costs a lot more considering that many of these chicken stock are imported goods. So if you are a person who tends to do everything yourself, you should try this recipe. Note that, there is no hard and fast rule that you should follow my ingredients, feel free to add other ingredients as you like.

Ingredients:

• 3 -4 lbs chicken bones
• onions, chopped
• celery, chopped
• carrot, chopped
• 1 small leek, chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 bay leaves or 1 bouquet garni
• water

Cooking method:

1. Boil the water in a large pot.
2. Place the chicken and all the other ingredients in the pot.
3. When the water is boiled, turn the heat to low and continue to boil for about 2 hours in low heat.
4. Strain, cool, skim of the fat, use the stock or freeze.

Barbecue Whole Chicken

Ingredients:

• Whole fresh chicken
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Paprika powder
• Spring onion

Cooking Steps:

1. Clean the chicken and spread it out on a plate.
2. Marinate the chicken with salt and pepper, honey, garlic cloves and paprika powder for at least 3 hours.
3. Wrap the chicken in an aluminium foil and poke some holes around it.
4. Set the oven at 240C and bake the chicken for 50 minutes.
5. Tear off the top of the aluminium foil and continue for another 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and garnish with spring onion.

Curry Mee with a little twist

I have no idea how to cook curry without using those packed sauces readily available in supermarkets. After going through the internet and several cook books for curry, I found that this recipe best suit my taste. If you do not want it with noodles / mee, feel free to use any other ingredients. Rice is another good alternative to be taken together with this curry recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 box of light coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Steps:

• Heat up oil and ginger and garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
• Add onions and cook for another 1 minute.
• Stir in curry powder, curry paste, and cumin; cook 1 minute.
• Add soy sauce, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and coconut milk; bring to a simmer (but do not boil).
• Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
• Cook noodles separately using boiling water and serve with the curry sauce and ingredients.

Fried Fish

Since young, I' ve always like fish. I especially love fried fish because it is easy to cook and it is easy to eat. Why did I say that it is easy to eat. Well, it is because if the fish is fried properly, you do not have to go through the trouble of having to take the bones out. All you have to do is to chew through it. So what is the best way to fry a fish. Take a look below.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs fish fillets
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano leaves
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Cooking Method:

1. In a bowl stir together all ingredients except cornmeal, fish and oil.
2. Then coat the fish fillets.
3. Once the wok is heated up, place 3 or 4 fish fillets in hot oil.
4. Cook on one side until the fish fillets does not stick on the wok.
5. Turn and continue cooking until golden brown and fish flakes with a fork.
6. Remove from wok when it is cooked.