Too broke to buy a new camera

I'm still cooking but there's no more food photo for blogging.

I'm sure nobody will believe me if I tell him/her that I'm so broke that I cannot afford to buy a camera. While I'm not entirely THAT broke, but I definitely cannot afford to use my spare cash on any luxury item at the moment.

As for my old mobile camera, although I still have many unpublished food photos and recipes in its memory card, I'm missing a "working" USB connector. After checking with the mobile dealers around my region, I realised that my mobile model is almost obsolete in the country, and so are its accessories. So unless I decided travel all the way to its main distributor in the city central or purchase a new mobile from the local retailers, I guess my food blogging will have to wait. (:

Stir-fried Sweet and Spicy Tapioca Noodles

I made this for bento one winter. Bad choice, the cold weather solidified the oil and sauce which made the noodles texture rubbery.. It is better to eat this when it is pipping hot or reheating with microwave before consumption is highly recommended.


Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 serving Vietnamese tapioca noodles
2 bundles Choy Sum (cut into 3cm)
2 chinese dried mushrooms (soaked till al dente and shredded)
2 stalks spring onions (cut into 3cm)
10 slices of fish cake
1 garlic (chopped finely)
1 chicken breast fillet (cut into 1.5cm strips)
2 tablespoons canola oil

Garnish:
Chopped spring onions
1 egg (fried into omelette and shredded finely)

Seasonings:
1 tablespoon sambal chilli sauce
2 tablespoon Kecap Manis
1 tablespoon dark soy
1 tablespoon light soy
Dash of salt and pepper

Preparation:
Combine amd mix seasonings in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons of water. Set aside.


Cooking:

• Heat oil in a thick-based metal pan.
• Add fish cake and fry till fragrant.
• Add garlic, spring onions and chicken.
• Fry for about 3 minutes, add Choy Sum and mushrooms.
• Fry for about 2 minutes, add noodles and combined seasonings.
• Mix thoroughly until contents are evenly coated.
• Lower heat to medium and fry for about 5 minutes.
• Garnish and serve.

Peaches and Cream on Puffs

I have a sweet tooth and I totally ♥ western desserts. However I don't make many desserts at home because often, special utensils and appliances are required for precise measuements, cutting, mixing and baking. It will not be practical for me to buy them all until I can have a "permanent" personal kitchen.

Kiddo always requests for "special suppers" nowadays. I wonder if I have pampered him too much. (:

I decided to make him something sweet for a change.


Makes 12

Cream:
4 tablespoons thickened cream
2 tablespoons cream cheese
4 tablespoons of caster sugar (5 for brown sugar)

Cream preparation:

• Combine cream, cheese and sugar in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Keep in fridge until usage.

Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 can peaches in syrup
1 tablespoon icing sugar


Method:

• Preheat oven at 220 degrees celcius.
• Thaw puff pastry in room temperature for 5 minutes.
• Dust icing sugar over thawed pastry evenly.
• Use a sharp knife to cut pastry into 12 (3 columns x 4 rows) even pieces.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray and transfer cut pastries onto tray.
• Bake in oven for 12 minutes.
• Set baked pastries to cool for about 5 minutes.
• Spread a generous dollop of cream on each cooled pastry.
• Place 1 or 2 pieces (as preferred) of peaches atop the cream.
• Repeat process for all pastries.
  
• Serve pastries with hot tea.

**Notes:

• The flavour is incredibly light and not so sweet. For those who prefer it to be sweeter, adjust the sugar content for cream accordingly.
• If desired, pastries can be brushed with egg wash before popping into oven.

Soy-braised Pork Belly with Eggs

Knowing about my adversity towards Mr Porky, kiddo seldom requests to include pork in our meals. However he would have craving occasionally and requests to have it when we are doing our weekly grocery shopping. So I cook Mr porky on these rare occasions just to put a smile on his face and to see him gobble down the food happily.

There were 7 fat slabs in this pack and I had already used up 3 to make crispy pork lard pieces to go with kiddo's fried vermicelli and ramen soup. I decided to make his all-time favourite - Tau Yew Bak, Soy-braised Meat （酱油焖肉）, with the remaining pieces.


Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 slabs pork belly (cut into 2cm width)
6 pieces chinese dried mushrooms (soaked till al dente)
5 whole garlic (skin removed and cracked lightly) - use 4 if they are big
2 star anise (cracked lightly)
2 hard-boiled eggs (omit or add more as desired)
3 tablespoons dark soy
1 tablespoon light soy
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
spring onions or coriander to garnish


Cooking:

• Heat thick-based metal soup pan on medium-high.
• Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil and add pork belly pieces.
• Fry until the meat is lightly caramelised, add garlic, star anise and mushrooms, fry for about a minute to release fragrance.
• Add 1 tablespoon dark soy, ensure meat is coated evenly and continue frying for 3 minutes.
• Add boiling water to contents, pour just enough to cover meat.
• Add remaining seasonings and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.
• Add hard-boiled eggs. (Add more water if more eggs are added and liquid is not enough. Then add another tablespoon of dark soy.)
• Simmer on low heat, check and stir contents in pot after 15 minutes.
• Turn eggs to ensure even coating of soy on whites.
• Simmer for another 15 minutes until liquid has thickened and reduced to 1/2.
• Garnish with spring onions.
• Serve with gravy and a side of vegetables on rice.

**Notes:

• I didn't add salt because the soy is already salty enough.
• This is a flavourful dish with high salt and fat content, so do limit consumption to once a month if having blocked arteries is not your goal.

Glutinous Chicken Rice （糯米鸡） Bento

We can easily over-indulge in this if we're not careful. Our digestive systems take longer to break down the starch for this than the normal rice, so do take note not to overeat.

I didn't cooked the glutinous rice using the conventional method of steaming it in a steamer for that takes too long and I don't have the patience for fussy cooking. It was my first time making this and I was already using the rice cooker to cut corners. The texture of the rice turned out very well, so cheers to modern technology.. hehe..

Caution: Do not consume this bento in an enclosed space (for example - inside a train carriage), as the aroma is quite intense and those who are not eating it may not appreciate smelling it.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cups glutinous rice (washed and soaked with just enough water in rice cooker for at least 5 hours)
2 cups chicken stock
2 chicken breast fillets
6 slices ginger (julienned finely)
1 garlic (chopped finely)
4 dried chinese mushrooms (soaked till al dente and shredded)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy
1 teaspoon dark soy
1 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste
chopped spring onions for garnish
sweet sambal chilli sauce and drizzle of Kecap Manis for serving

Preparation:
Cut chicken fillets into strips of 1.5cm each.
Marinate chicken with wine, oyster sauce, light soy, dark soy, cornstarch, salt and pepper.


Cooking:

• Heat sesame oil in pan and stir-fry the marinated chicken with mushrooms for about 2 minutes.
• Add chopped garlic, fry until chicken slices turn whitish.
• Remove chicken and mushrooms from pan and add to glutinous rice.
• Add the julienned ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and dash of pepper.
• Mix chicken and seasonings with rice thoroughly.
• Add chicken stock and cook rice as per normal.
• Garnish with spring onions and serve with drizzle of Kecap Manis and sweet sambal chilli.