Rice Wine Ginger Chicken

I had originally wanted to cook chinese sesame chicken, a recipe I saw from TV together with my mom late last year. Again, I had to call my mom in Sydney to refresh my memory on this recipe. It was supposed my 1st attempt afterall. With full confidence, I bought half a free range chicken and bentong ginger early one morning before I went to office. The following day, I rushed home from office and eagerly started the fire on the stove. Mom said I had to pour a lot of Shao Xing wine. Of course I heeded. Wouldn't dream going against her advice lest the dish may fail. As it turned out, the dish tasted more of a rice wine chicken instead of sesame chicken because I emptied half a bottle of the wine in it. I guess I should have anticipated this. The wine soup tasted great nonetheless. It's just that hubby had a spoonful of it, look at me blankly in the face and asked "I thought you wanna cook a sesame chicken?"

I'm more than willing to share the simple recipe here :

Ingredients :

1/2 free range chicken (kampung chicken), chop chunks and marinated with sesame oil and soy sauce

1 big chunk of ginger, slice thinly

1 - 2 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 bottle of Shao Xing wine (chinese rice wine) - adjust to your taste

salt

Method :

1. Heat oil, fry ginger till fragrant

2. Add in chicken, stirfry till cook

3. Add in Shao Xing wine, cover and let it simmer

4. Add in sugar and salt. Continue to simmer over slow fire for next 15 to 20 min. Serve.

Twilight Book 3 : Eclipse

I'm getting really excited and rubbing my hands in anticipation of the forthcoming Twilight's 3rd installation , Eclipse, which will premier in Malaysia theaters on 8th July. I know the teens are supposed to get over excited about this upcoming movie purely because of hearthrob Rob Pattisson and the solid body of Taylor Lautner. As for me, I didn't start noticing Twilight range of books until I watched the movie itself which was the 1st big mistake I've comitted. No sooner had I finished the movie, I hurriedly browsed through Amazon and to my horror, I realized Stephanie Meyer wrote another 3 sequels after her first book. That spells doom to me because once I start on a book and if the book has got sequels, I must by hook or crook, finish the entirely series and only then will I obtain peace. Ever since I've read Flowers in the Attic by V.C Andrews during my secondary school days, I've made a vow to never, never, ever touch another book which has sequels (by the way, this book has 5 sequels).

Anyway, as soon as I was done with the Twilight movie, I bought the remaning 3 Twilight Saga books and I didn't rest until I've finished the whole saga. Phew.. what a relief for me because if you had actually seen the books, you will know how horribly thick they are. I must say I am not exactly a great fan of Stephanie Meyer's style of writing. In fact, I was actually struggling with New Moon. Storyline was boring and had no gist and style of writing was draggy and whiny and slow. But I picked up pace with Eclipse and finally Breaking Dawn was the biggest break. I shall not be a spoiler here but I'm sure most of you know that Bella will be a vampire eventually. The question is when and how. In Eclipse, more sparks will fly off between Bella and Edward but the mongrel Jacob proves to be a thorn in Edward's flesh. The plot thickens when both of them need to form an alliance against ..... Ok, I shall not squeal anymore on the story but you can be sure that I've already made plans on when to watch it. For Twilight fans, enjoy the movie. For non Twilight fans, well... just ignore us.

Apple Souffle Omelette

I was given a book on Desserts on my birthday by cousin Soo and finally, I got around to try this recipe from the book. Been browsing the book for days and finally I chose this recipe. I do not know how but somehow, I kept thinking the recipe needed bananas so I bought bananas instead. Imagine my tremendous shock when my eyes zoom on the word 'apple" and not bananas. Well, thank God I had some red apples in my fridge but I personally think green apples would be a better choice. I cut down on the cream and sugar and increased the apples instead. The result : overspilling of the apple filling. At one point, I was afraid the omellete will fail but in as it turned out, all's well that ends well.

Wild Mushroom Soup

When I first tasted the mushroom soup at Delicious, I told myself I'm gonna benchmark this mushroom soup from now on. Since then, I have been on the hunt for the next best mushroom soup which will cost me less than the one in Delicious. Coincidentally when I was in Singapore last Christmas, my sis in law whipped out the soup. It was then I silently promised myself that I'll cook it one day too. What held me back till today was it's just an starter and not a main meal. Just by thinking of all the hassel and trouble I'll go through to cook the mushroom soup and for 2 person only kinda put me off. Finally 2 days ago, I could no longer bear it. I was in Jaya Grocers , saw the fresh mushroom and just couldn't resist buying them and bought them I did. I gotta thank my sis in law for sharing the recipe with me which she got from allrecipes. Soup tasted good but lacking in woody note. I should've bought the gigantic mushroom which according to my sis in law, will give me a stronger woody taste. Additionally, I think butter and onion should be lessen to give priority to the mushroom aroma. I made sandwich again to go with the soup. Hubby loved the soup and had had second helping :D

Penne in Olive oil with Mushroom, Zucchini and red Peppercorn

This is my first attempt and a creation of my own based on the dish I ordered from the restaurant New York New York located in 1 Utama Shopping Complex. It may seem rather bland to some but for me, I kinda savor the original mushroom taste saute with heaps of garlic in olive oil. I just love the mushroom smell wafting through the kitchen but it was briefly replaced with the stinking smell of excrement came from my backlane. Anyway, that was the dinner for tonight. I wish I didn't have to throw another packet of my portobello mushroom, otherwise I'm sure it will be even tastier. Peppercorn didn't exactly go well in this dish because the original dish I ate contained eggplant instead. Since I failed to get any eggplant, I thought red peppercorn will be a nice replacement as it adds to the color. I'm now musing what to cook for my next meal.

Garlic Pork Ham Slice Sandwich

Hubby and I both love munching healthy sandwiches from the notable O'Briens, Subway and some other nameless sandwich outlet which deliver equally satisfying taste. However, nothing beats preparing one yourself with your preferred type of bread and ingredients. During lunch hour, I popped over to Jaya Grocery to buy some medium cut slices of garlic pork ham , a loaf of healthy soya bread and a box of alfalfa. That was the dinner for last night and my lunch a while ago. I slab some mayo on the bread, top it up with the ham, followed by alfalfa, then many pieces of lettuce, top it up with slices of tomatoes and cucumber, more mayo and chili sauce, some alfalfa again and lastly another 2 slices of ham before I close it up with the bread. The outcome was a very 'tall' sandwhich which my mouth could hardly open up to its size. And when you bite into it, the dressing and chili sauce just oozes out. Superb. It tasted just marvellicious (marvellous + delicious) and I can't wait to do it again tonight but this time, it will be with the black pepper ham instead.

Devil's Food Cake

Yes, I've been missing in action for a while but I'm back! Just last week, I went down to 5th floor to grab a packet of nasi lemak for breakfast. The Malay seller was selling a new item : chocolate cake. I decided against buying it coz there is no way I'm gonna add on my pounds with something so fattening yet my satisfaction may not be guaranteed. But somehow or rather, the cake had a way to find itself inside my tummy afterall. My colleague who loves chocolate as much as I do, bought that piece of cake. I was at her table, saw the familiar looking cake and she offered me some of it. I was disciplined and innocently tried only a mere 10% of the cake but this meagre 10% had me thinking and subsequently drooling over the rich moist chocolate cake which I have eaten before. So yesterday, temptation won over my resistance. I want to eat a moist chocolate cake and when I want something, I must have it instantaneously. So early this morning, I diligently started my cake baking. It turned out unsatisfactory. It tasted like a cheap cocoa sponge cake. Yucks! Unfazed, I rushed home after work and baked another recipe: Devil's Food Cake, which I've carefully selected during lunch hour. And this time, it's definitely finger licking good. I replaced the frosting with chocolate glaze because I left my whipping cream in office. Anyway, not only do I get to eat what I want, my colleagues will have a chance to enjoy it as well as cousin Soo.

For those who requested the recipe, here it is. I plucked it from allrecipes :

Ingredients :
115 g butter
84 g unsweetened chocolate (I used imported brand Tulip)
400 g white sugar (I reduced to 300g)
2 eggs (I used large eggs)
235 ml water
280 g all-purpose flour
7 g baking soda
2 g salt 60 ml milk
5 ml distilled white vinegar (I ommited this)

Directions :
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour one 9x13 inch pan or two 9 inch round pans.
2. In a small pan melt the butter or margarine with the unsweetened chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Cream together the sugar and the eggs until light in color. Add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and temper mixture by beating well (so you don't end up with scrambled eggs!) Add 1 cup boiled water (still warm) and blend well. Mixture will be very liquid.
4. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture to the chocolate mixture and blend well.
5. Mix together the vinegar and the milk and stir into the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan(s).
6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cake divides well for filling with mousse, or ganache, or black forest fillings. The best clue to this cake being nearly done is that you will start to smell the aroma of chocolate filling your house!

Devil's Food supposed to be decorated with frosting but since I left my whipped cream in office, I took back the same Tulip brand chocolate and melt it over a pot of boiling water, together with some butter.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

It seems to me that if it's Fried Kway Teow, the word 'Penang' must go along with it to make the dish sounds more tantalizing. And since I am a Hainanese, I have more reason to call this a Hainanese Chicken Rice. It was the same Sunday that I cooked this dish while hubby handled the garoupa. I had to make a call to Sydney to my mom and asked for her recipe eventhough I last cooked it for CNY reunion dinner. Her method sounds rather far-fetched but I have complete trust in her culinary skills which she had demontrated over the years. I followed exactly what she told me to do and the chicken turned out smooth and silky ( I was told, ok). I didn't had time to make the chili but bought the Singlong chicken chili to go along with it. As for the soup, I threw in the last 3 miserable packets of fishball which I managed to buy and some fuchuk (god knows what this is called in English). Garnish it with some chinese parsley and it was ready to be served.