I cook I bake I eat

Tomato Chickpeas Salad

2011-02-04T00:31:00.000-08:00

This salad is great for summer! It's cool and refreshing and easy to make. Chop up most of the stuff and stir with the dressing.

Tomato + Celery + Chickpeas (cooked/canned) + Red Capsicium + Avocado + Hard-boiled Eggs

(You can add other veggies or some olives according to your liking)

Dressing: Olive Oil + Balsamic Vinegar + Salt + Black Pepper

Best with Flat-Leaf Parsley + Lemon Juice too, if you have them available.

Spring Onion & Ginger Paste

2011-01-28T02:48:00.000-08:00

A very unique paste with a very unique taste. Love the spiciness from the grated ginger and the green flavour from the chopped spring onion. It goes well with fried rice, steamed/boiled chicken, noodles and most of the asian dish. (A recipe I learnt from an ex-housemate)

It is THE PASTE TO DIE FOR!!!

Grated Ginger + Chopped Spring Onion + Olive Oil (or any cooking oil) + Salt + White Pepper

Chill it in the fridge and it is ready to serve! =)

Grilled Osyter with Bacon and Cheese

2011-01-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the night. So, I go on the net and want to accomplish something.

Line shredded bacon and cheese on top of the fresh osyter. Grill until the cheese melted and turned into golden brown.

Fusion Dish

2011-01-18T00:51:00.001-08:00

Another post after a long long rest from blogging food. Finally, I've graduated(jobless) and I allow myself to spare more time to take food photos, transfer them to the computer, upload and blog about them. =)

This is a fusion dish done by me and my bro, who pushed our parents' taste bud to their limits. Haha..

Side: Panfried Zucchini

Centre: Sligtly mashed Onion+Pumpkin+Greek Yoghurt

Top: Sliced Mango+Cashew Nuts

Chocolate Mud Cake

2010-08-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

*Photo will be uploaded soon!

Most of my friends have given very positive feedback regarding this cake. It is, however, the easiest cake that I've ever made =) And I believe it is hard to fail too. The cake itself isn't sweet but with the ganache it is just right. The recipe was taken from a website long time ago and Ive lost the link. It is quite similar to other recipe that you can find at the back of a cooking chocolate package.

Recipe

125g Butter (if unsalted, add 1/4 tsp of salt)*
100g Dark chocolate
155ml Water
1 1/2tbsp Cocoa powder
1/2tsp Instant coffee granules/powder
168g Caster sugar
1/2tsp Vanilla extract (optional)
1 Egg
125g Self-raising flour

*Butter/margarine found in AUS are usually unsalted

Preheat oven 160 celcius
Grease tin, line base.
Butter+chocolate+water+cocoa+coffee+sugar in the saucepan with low heat. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat when chocolate and butter are melted. Set asde to cool for 15 mins.
Add vanilla & egg to the chocolate mixture. Beat with electric beaters* until combined. Add sifted flour, beat for about one min until mixture is smooth.
Pour into pan. Bakefor 45-50mins. Insert skewers or sharp knife.
Cool cake in pan on a wire rask. Remove from pan and spread with ganache.
Store cake in airtight container, but bring it to room temperature before serving.

*I used handheld manual mixer and it's still good

Ganache recipe

60g Milk chocolate

65g Dark chocolate

50ml Thickened cream

All in small saucepan with very low heat, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat when chocolate is melted, stir until smooth.
Allow ganache to cool to a spreadable consistency before using.

Doggie cookies

2010-01-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

The hardest part is to stick on the eyes~~Well, Im selling this for CNY.

Tang Yuan 汤圆

2009-12-22T03:11:00.000-08:00

Tang yuan + Ginger + Pandan Leaves

祝大家冬至快乐！和家人团团圆圆！

Korean Zucchini Pancakes

2009-10-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...Have been away for TOOOOO long~~This semester is just crazy. No inspiration and motivation for having fun in the kitchen. When exams are near, I dont even use the stove for a week. Felt really weird as I usually cook at least once a day. I've been eating raw veggies or canned tuna with crackers to keep me survive. This is no good~ I need yummy good food!!

I have just joined in a fresh veggies and fruits delivery service which they will deliver me organic fresh food every 2 weeks. Just feel good that I dont have to do lots of grocery shopping and carry them back home. And I also feel like being taken care of (just need some love..hehe). I couldnt get used to the food that they send me initially as organic food are so much tinier than non-organic ones but they taste really good! The 1st time for me to feel real food, especially the carrots~ok! I exaggerated...

It has been a week since the last delivery and I still have some zucchini in the fridge. I miss my ex-housemates and the pancakes that they made. So, I decided to go on the internet and search for the recipe. Surprisingly, it is so easy!!

1. Slice or grate your zucchini
2. Add with some salt and leave them for 15mins.
3. Add in the flour.
4. Pan-fried them!

And you serve it with soy sauce + vinegar.
Yummy!!!!

Homemade Yoghurt

2009-07-14T18:13:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I have been away for too long. The were just time that I didnt feel like posting anything. Not that I'm too busy, it's just about feeling...hehehe. However I still came in and have a look now and then. To my surprised, they are still people visiting this dying blog from the other end of the world (according to the traffic feed i have). And most of them are after Kuih Momo and the Nine Layers Kuih recipe.

I started to make my own yoghurt during the summer so that I can have a bowl of chilled yoghurt topped with fruits to start my day. Sometimes it's too sourish and sometimes it's just alright like my fav dessert Dou Fu Fa/Tou Fu Hua. Well, the key is to have the right temperature.

This is the best texture I have ever made. Silky smooth.....and not sour at all =)

Topped with lots of Rockmelon/any fruits towards your liking.

Ingredients

1L Milk

2tbsp natural yoghurt--->original (from your local supermarket)

Thermometer

Yoghurt maker/container

Heat 1L of milk in a pot or a saucepan.
Keep stirring the milk and have your thermometer ready.
Bring the temperature of the milk to 39-42 degree celcius
Pour the milk in the container or the yoghurt maker, stir in 2 tbsp of natural yoghurt gently.
Let the mixture set for 10-12hours, if it's not ready, leave it longer but remember the longer you leave it the more sour it is.
Remember to put it in the fridge after it's done to stop it fermentating. It is better off finish it in 3-4 days or 1 week, the most, to keep the freshness. You can keep 2 tbsp of what you have made for the next yoghurt making. How convenient~

Note:

If you have overheated the milk, dont worry! Just let the milk to cool down to the temperature that you want and add in the yoghurt. Do not add in the yoghurt when the milk is too hot as you will kill the culture.

During the days that we had no yoghurt maker, my mom would use a few blankets to wrap the container to keep it warm. Not long ago, I have read forumers who use the method of leaving the mixture in room temperature but needed 24hrs to set. I personally have not tried it but this is a good idea for those who doesnt have a yoghurt maker.

This is a really good idea to save money especially for those who buy yoghurt frequently. You can make 1L of yoghurt for AUD2 (milk)+AUD1-2(natural yoghurt)=AUD3-4. For the next time you will only need to buy another litre of milk. Poor students have their way to survive =)

Gelato on Straddie~

2009-03-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know this is a super delayed post. A gelato that I had when I went to Straddie for the 2nd time with some friends. The melted gelato in the hot hot hot weather!!

Top: pineapple, Bottom: Choc mint!!

Kuih Momo (Makmur)

2009-02-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

I was craving for some CNY cookies during that period of time, especially the kuih momo. I just love it to melt in my mouth and the taste of sweetness on my tongue. I do not know why Mom never made them. They are simply easy with very few ingredient(but slightly expensive due to having Ghee in it) and ready to eat within an hour.

I couldnt find a smaller can for Malaysian Product Ghee in Chinatown, so I have to get the one made in India($5.95). When I opened it, there were more liquid than solid. I started to panic. I wasnt sure if I got the right one or the Ghee was spoilt. I pm-ed Herng and Yii to ask if they knew anything about ghee. According to Herng's bro, it's supposed to be solid with a little liquid while Yii's mom said it's supposed to be solid......Ok~~contradicted...Anyway, I still give it a go. I dont want to waste my $5.95~~Fortunately, my Kuih Momo turned out just fine. The only thing is they became harder when it has cooled down. Any expert can teach me a few tricks/tips here?

Recipe (Make about 50 balls)

150g Ghee
250g Plain flour
50g Milk powder
100g Icing sugar

Extra icing sugar for dusting

Mix all the ingredients together.
Press them into balls.
Bake in preheated oven 150 degree celcius for 15 mins.
Let cool and dust with some icing sugar.

*I reckon without the dusted icing sugar are nice too~~

This is so simple ,aye??

Dusted with icing sugar

p/s: I doubt Kuih Momo is from Sarawak as my Singaporean tauke never had this before..hmm.

Valentine's Day for Singles!!

2009-02-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

According to my housemate, 14 Feb is for ladies to give chocolates or gifts to their love ones or to their secret admire; 14 March is for guys to give something in return if the guy likes the girl too while 14 April is for singles to celebrate, being single and no one to love or to be loved. In Korean tradition, singles will have black noodles on 14 April, to represent everything is black. 3 of us might not be seeing each other anymore as I might be moving out and another housemate is leaving Brisbane soon. Therefore, we have our black day on the Valentine's Day. Nothing to be sad about, as good food are served....=)

The black noodles is just what we can see from the Korean drama, 炸酱面(zha jiang mian).

I didnt help out in the cooking process as they said it's easy and all I did was to finish the noodles and to wash the dishes after the meal =) The black noodles consist of stirfried onion with carrots and a little seafood, top with the special black bean sauce and some sliced fresh cucumber.

Now, dig in!!

Kek Batik

2009-01-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

My 2nd attempt! It's successful!! The advice from the Kek Batik expert-->>Jin Jin, helps! Well, the 1st attempt was a total disaster~ Let us not mention about it...XP

Recipe

I saw this recipe through Corner Cafe and had a sudden urge to make it. I only knew that Kek Batik is from Sarawak when I read his post. So, does Kek Lapis but both of them are originated from Indonesia. To be honest, it isnt difficult but you just need to be patient as you need to keep stirring the mixture up to an hour. I have cut down the need of sugar and condensed milk, and still it's a bit too sweet for me. The first few pieces are fine, but no more further as you will get sick of it.

Cant try this recipe too often, Milo is expensive here...T_T

Tofu Balls

2009-01-01T02:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Han Thu who shared his homecook food in his blog, and I got to try out the recipe. And also thanks to his grandma, mommy, bro and whoever helped out with the food/recipe...=P

It's simple but yet delicious!!! Yum yum!!

A mixture of silken tofu and minced pork made into balls and hence, the tofu balls~ Finely chopped shallots, white pepper and salt are used for a greater taste.

Place the balls into a slightly brushed plate to avoid sticking and now ready to steam.

They are done in less than 15 mins. It's nice to go with my plain white noodles, along with the juice that remain in the plate after steaming. Awesome!! And no more seasonning is needed!

p/s: Han Thu, I think you were trying to say silken tofu (嫩豆腐）instead of firm tofu(白豆腐干) No? I tried to use the firm tofu and it turned out to be a plate of meat balls with chuncky tofu, totally different from the soft tofu balls that you describe....=D

Spaghetti, Baked Chicken & Rice Pudding

2008-12-23T19:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just around the corner.

I have tried some simple western recipes which may go well on Christmas eve or Christmas day.

Cooked spaghetti mixed with stir-fried minced garlic and chilli with olive oil (the best!!).

Baked chicken: use only olive oil, salt, black pepper, rosemary, and smashed but unpeeled garlic.

Bake for 45mins-1hr, around 200 degree celcius.

To prepare the gravy, cook the remaining juice/oil on the baking tray by adding a little plain flour and soy sauce for the colouring.

Chilled apple cinnamon rice pudding as dessert =)

Cook short grain rice with milk, diced apple, cinnamon powder and sugar in a saucepan until the rice has soften and the sauce has thicken. Scoop into a glass or bowl and chill. Sprinkle a little cinnamon powder on top before serving.

For a quicker way of cooking, use cooked short grain rice.

p/s: just realised that there arent veggies here....hmmm...

Last but not least:

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

Puff pastry with nectarine (Danish??)

2008-12-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

I bought some very sour nectarines (without knowing =( ) and definetely couldnt finish them.

So, I peeled and cooked them in the syrup, ready to make something with puff pastry.

Oven: 200/220 degrees for 20 mins or until golden brown~~

Strawberry Fever?

2008-12-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

These are what I had during the PAST exam period.

I was just surprised that I had so many food with strawberry within 1-2 days!!

Wanted to treat myself well by getting a small tub of ice-cream which costs slightly more expensive than the average. But it wasnt towards my liking.

Strawberry ice-cream+strawberry puree=too sweet for me...=S

IXL Strawberry jam with 50% less sugar.

This is awesome!!

The sweetness is just right with lots of chunky strawberries on the toasted bread...yum~

This is from my housemate, Michelle.

Cooked strawberry in syrup(??) Top on blended ice with meringue

Such a great dessert in a hot summer day~~

葱油饼(Spring Roll Pancake?)

2008-11-15T22:49:00.001-08:00

I never had the authentic 葱油饼, so I wouldnt know if this recipe is what it supposed to be. It is just easy and low in cost which is such a great benefit for people like me with tight budget..=) !! My thrifty bro is so happy when I taught him this little snack/breakfast. -_-

All you need is plain flour, water, salt, spring onion(chopped), and oil.

1st of all, mix the sifted plain flour, a pinch of salt and water until it becomes a dough.

Divide the dough into several portion and roll it out.

Brush the top side with oil and sprinkle with lots of chopped spring onion.
Next, roll them up. Make it into a bundle (Sorry, forgot to take photo for the bundle) and rest for 30mins.

See here.

Roll them out and ready to panfry it with high heat and cover the pan with a lid.

Remember to add some oil in the pan before frying.

p/s: To have egg with the pancake, fry one side of the pancake, take it out and fried 1 or 2 beaten eggs. Put the pancake back into the pan with the unfried side at the bottom before the egg is all cooked. This is to let the egg sticks to the pancake. Again, put on the lid.

Back with Korean food!

2008-11-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

Yaay! Yaay! I have finally came to the end of the semester!! No more exams for 3 months!! =)

I know this place is dying as I have been ignoring it for more than a month? Exam period, what can you do? I have no choice but to be lazy to post..hehe but not lazy to cook, bake and eat by taking photos as the evidence. So, from now on, more and more of food blog will be posted which would be more of updates for what I have been doing these few weeks!!

One day, I asked my korean housemates, what is "da bo ki" (dont know how to spell). Then, they said when I feel like eat it, tell them, and they will cook for me!! After a few weeks, we have da bo ki together without me requesting..."Da bo ki" is rice cake or the Korean version of 年糕. They cook it with onion, fish cakes and lots of Korean chilli paste. They added more instant noodles here, and I couldnt understand and never asked. Therefore, you couldnt actually see the rice cake from this photo as they are all covered by the instant noodles and fish cakes. They are cylinder-like-white noodles with a chewy texture.

Well, I am still not really used to their level of spiciness. I remember the first time we had this when I just moved in. I thought it was very hot and spicy while they keeped saying that this is too mild and added more and more Korean chilli paste in....-_-

Korean salad?

Fresh chives with vinegar, sesame oil, salt, sugar, Korean chilli powder and sesame seed.

It has been a spicy meal~~

Nine Layer Kuih 九层糕

2008-10-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

I think I just miss Malaysian kuih very much recently. I go on the internet and check out some recipes at other's blog. Now, I realised, making kuih isnt difficult and low cost. However, it is time consuming, especially for this kuih, which you have to steam and wait for every layer to be cooked before you pour in another layer of mixture.

I am still annoyed by not having any pandan leaves around Brisbane or I could have missed it somewhere else. I told my friend about it and she encouraged me to grow some myself or ask my mom to smuggle some to Brisbane when she comes by. Growing my own? No, thanks. I have 'killed' 2 different plants since last year. XP

Dodgy looking kuih in a container~

Recipe

p/s: I am lazy to go to Chinatown to get pandan essence, so these are made without the fragrance of pandan and I used Green Tea Powder as my colouring agent for the green layer.

Beard papa's Mini Cream Puff

2008-10-02T01:59:00.000-07:00

This is located near the central train station,

at the junction of Adelaide street and Edward street.A small box with 6 mini puffs ($3.50)

Very different from what we can get in the bakery shop in Malaysia.

Cold custard filling with slightly crunchy puff and coated with icing sugar=heaven!
It is just slightly bigger than a 50 cent coin.

Start my 1st one!

Me and the icing sugar~

Yum~the last one

p/s: I did not finish all of them, I shared the small box with another friend~~

Failed cooking party

2008-10-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

Me and my friend, Chloe wanted to have another cooking party at my place recently. We had one last year which was quite successful. We had Kimchi (Korean), Okonomiyaki(Japanese), Stir-fried veggies with tofu(Chinese), Chicken Curry(Malaysian) and Kangaroo meat (Aussie). Unfortunately, all of our friends that we invited this time couldnt confirm to come to the party. Hence, we are the only 2 person cooking and eating.

This time, Chloe made dumplings with Asparagus, egg and shrimp as the filling and I made Radish Cake (萝卜糕）.

Recipe

Fried Pork-Cheese-Bread

2008-10-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

After I finished frying the Jemput-jemput pisang, from the previous post, this snack suddenly came out of my mind. Those people who joined the Cooking Club with me during high school should remember this.

Recipe
Small amount of minced pork (marinated with salt, pepper and corn starch)
Sliced Cheddar cheese
Bread
Thick batter (plain flour+water+salt)

Spread a thin layer of pork on the bread.
Place the sliced cheese at the middle
Steam them for about 5 mins to avoid meat not cooked after deep-frying.
Coat them with batter.
Deep-fry until it turns into golden brown.

Yum! Yum! With a cup of green tea~

Jemput-jemput pisang

2008-09-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I have not heard of this snack/breakfast in Malaysia before even though it's our malaysian snack. I saw it the 1st time from here, and I decided to make them these few days after a few stressful weeks with exams while still having some bananas in the house. And yeah, time to destress!! I dont really deep-fry anything because Im pretty lousy at doing that. Hehe~~very unhealthy is just another excuse~Everyone loves deep-fried food. No doubt!

I dropped some little piece into the hot oil and I got this little chilli-like-thing!!! I didnt do it on purposed! I swear!

Chocolate Cookies

2008-09-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

I made some chocolate cookies 3 weeks ago as Michelle, my housemate wanted something sweet.

Stress, perhaps!

Before and after baked cookies everywhere in the kitchen~

All I got after 4hrs of baking---->>around 160 pieces

Half for me, the other half for Michelle.

Baked Potatoes

2008-09-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

I would say this is another healthy alternative from deep-fried chips. And, it is just easy to make.

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Salt

Black Pepper

Oil

Peel and cut the potatoes into wedges.
Boil them for about 5-10mins: Medium cooked, not until soft. Take out from the water.
Add in oil, salt and black pepper.
Line up like below.

Oven: Around 200 degree, 30-45mins

Sushi

2008-09-13T04:12:00.000-07:00

The ingredients:

Vinegar, soy sauce, avocado, seaweed, tuna, carrot, cucumber, and egg

(rice and sugar are not in the photo XP)

Line up, stack up---->>and roll!!

Tada~

I realise that the sushi roll that they sell here is usually not sourish, and love to have avocado in it. So, this is Malaysian + Aussie version of sushi!!

Baked Chicken Wings

2008-09-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Woohoo~~ My ex-housemate came to my house to catch up that day, so I made these along with some other veggies for dinner. I remember those days when I still stayed with my bro in another suburb. We had baked chicken wings/drumstick very often as they are easy to make/clean/are cheap!! All you have to do is just marinate overnight (the best) and throw them into the oven!! (Excuse the bluriness of the photo--->>no sunlight~`)

Ingredient

Five spice powder (optional)

Soy sauce

Rice wine

Sugar

Salt

Mix them all together with the chicken, wrap and leave them in the fridge overnight.

Oven: 220degrees for 30-45 mins

Strawberries

2008-09-02T01:51:00.000-07:00

It's the strawberries season!!! Well, it has been going for a few months. In season, but yet not cheap compare to other fruits. Around $2-3 for a punnet. You can finish a medium size strawberry in just a bite while for bananas you can have a few bites...:)

Strawberries are high in anti-oxidant and Vitamin C. Take them occasionally to meet your requirement for anti-oxidant.

This is the biggest strawberry I can find in my punnet and yet it is not the biggest that I ever saw!!

Oatmeal could be boring. But with strawberries------>>

They make a good start for my day!! :)

Baileys Irish Cream

2008-08-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Baileys was the first liqueur to use cream and alcohol together in a manner sufficiently stable to allow commercial distribution. The cream and whiskey are homogenized to form an emulsion, with the aid of an emulsifier containing refined vegetable oil. This process prevents separation of the whiskey and cream during storage. The quantity of other ingredients used is not known but they include chocolate, vanilla, caramel and sugar.
According to the manufacturer no preservatives are required, the whiskey alone is used to preserve the cream.
The cream used in the drink comes from Glanbia Plc. The co-operative dairy used is located in Virginia, County Cavan, about 50 miles outside of Dublin. More than 4 million litres of Irish cream a year is used in the production of Baileys, amounting to 4.3% of Ireland’s total milk production

from Wiki

I am not a good drinker but my housemates always offer me some and they always have alcohol around the house. Both Michelle and Jeremy ever offered me Bailey and I thought it's nice (I mean the drink, and also them lah~). Strong alcohol (for me) but taste great with milk. A quarter cup of bailey with milk which makes up a cup can make me feel very dizzy. You got it? Treat me Bailey next time if you want to talk nonsense with me...hehe!

Butter Milk Bun 奶油包

2008-08-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

奶油包is always my favourite bun in Malaysia

I just love the sweetness of the filling, slightly dry but yet rich

However, I never thought of what the ingredients are for the filling

Very fattenning, for sure!!

And so,

I found the recipe from the Chinese Cari Forum

from someone else's site

hehe~~

Sorry

I can't remember which author it's from

RECIPE

Ingredients

Sweet Dough:

250g Flour

35g Castor Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

10g Milk Powder*

1tsp Instant Yeast

25g Egg

120g Warm Water*

35g Butter/Margarine

* You can subsitute warm water and milk powder with warm milk

Filling:

60g Castor Sugar

60g Butter/Margarine

100g Milk Powder

20g Corn Flour

40g Fresh Milk

Mix all the ingredients of the filling together and leave the mixture in the fridge overnight to let it harden so that it is easier to make it into balls.
For the sweet dough, mix flour, sugar, salt, milk powder and yeast well and add in egg and water. Make it into a dough.
Add in butter/margarine. Mix well until the dough is slightly elastic.
Cover it with a glad wrap in a bowl and leave it in a warm place for about 40 mins or until the dough has doubled the size.
Divide the dough into 8 portions and make them into balls. Rest for 10 mins
Wrap in the filling. Put them on a greased pan/with non sticked baking paper at the bottom.
Cover and rest for another 45 mins
Brush egg on top of the bun and ready to bake.

Oven: Preheat 160 degrees, bake---->>25mins

The 1st go!!

Just perfect but a little filling burst-out-incident happened. Else, the taste is just great

For the 2nd time~~(after a week)

Damn it!

Burst-out-incident is more severe this time!!! Not a single one survived! So disappointed with this after all the hard work...DOH!
But I told myself, practice makes perfect!!

p/s: I realised that the bun will become harder when it cools down which is different from what we get in the bakery shop. I have not figured out the reason. Perhaps, it's just because I didnt use any bread improver which I prefer to do so~~

Tiramisu?

2008-08-15T03:13:00.000-07:00

My housemate gave me a glass of Tiramisu made by her. You can see there is a leafy thing on the top. When she gave this to me, she asked me not to eat it. She must have pluck that plant from somewhere else, and it's not edible. :)

The bottom part is made with her chocolate cookies+vodka+coffee while the top is made with cream cheese and stuff...hehe..I dont really know how Tiramisu is made. What I can feel is a little dizziness after I had half of them. My housemate was worried about me after I finished all of them and asked how I felt. Hahaha...they know Im not tolerant to alcohol~~

Kimchi Pancake

2008-08-10T00:57:00.000-07:00

This is made by my Korean housemate who has to be on special diet, cut down all the food that contain salt, including her favourite Kimchi. Poor girl!

So, she made me and another housemate Kimchi pancake as she was trying to finish half a kilo of Kimchi, not by her, but by her housemates...haha!

What she did was to mix water, flour, Kimchi, onion together and panfried it. I reckon the Kimchi taste was too strong by having it in a big amount. She made double the amount of above (exclusive the carrot thingy on top). They were very filling and I have to finish them in 2 meals. What I'm showing you here is my dinner that day and added some salad on top: grated carrot and diced tomatoes with vinegar+sugar+sesame seed (my own version of salad).

Piranha Chips

2008-08-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

I have just tried out another brand of chips as I am kind of sick of Doritos, Smiths and other brands. Those are slightly cheaper, bigger package and oilier~ Therefore, I give Piranha a go. It contains potato chips, multigrain wave and soy crisp which is cooked in sunflower oil (They emphasized it). They are awesome!! And the taste reminds me of something that I used to have in Miri but I cant remember what it is...Damn!

Better quality and hence, 'better' price. It costs me around $3 for 150g/175g.

Vegetarian Dumplings

2008-08-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

锅贴Shallow fried with crisp dumplings
The bottom
煎饺Shallow fried dumplings

I had never had all vegetarian dumplings for a meal. It has always been mixing pork dumplings with vegetarian dumplings. I just realised that there are so many fillings that we can have for vegetarian dumplings. Just put whatever veggies that you like or you think the taste suite as dumplings as after all, you are the one who is eating. This is what I called fun in cooking and be responsible with what you cook. Do not waste your food! :)

The filling could be either:

1. chives with eggs

2. long beans with Shitake/Chinese mushrooms
3. long beans with mushrooms and chinese cabbage

Number 1

Cook the beaten eggs in the pan and continously stirring with a manual beater while cooking on the stove. Just like what you do when you want scramble eggs and keep stirring until the eggs are cooked and form little little round solid. If not, just break it with a spoon or a fork. Pour in chives and stir. The chives need not to be well cooked as it will cook in the process of cooking the dumpling. Add a little salt at the end.

Number 2 & 3

Dice the long bean, chinese cabbage and mushrooms. Do not cook them if you are making steam/boiled dumplings as it will spoil the texture of the filling.

Wrapping

To wrap the dumplings, put the filling in the centre of the dumpling skin(available in the supermarket or Chinatown if you are overseas) and foil it half press the edges and the side together.

Steamed Dumplings

Put all your dumplings into a steam tray. Cook until the dumpling skin is semi-transparent.

Shallow-fried dumplings

There are 2 method that I have learnt from different people. The 1st one is to sit the dumplings in the non-sticked pan with a little oil until the bottom has turned into brown-yellowish. Add in a small bowl of water and cover with a lid. When the water has dried, do it for another time and wait until the water dries up. Then, it is ready to be serve.

The other way is keep adding oil and turn the side of the dumpling until every part is cooked.

Shallow-fried with crisp

Same method as the previous one, fry the dumplings until the bottom is brown-yellowish and add in a ratio of 1:13 flour:water of mixture to the pan. Cover with lid, medium heat and cook for about 10mins or until the crisp has formed.

Sauce

Great to dip it with brown vinegar or lime juice with chilli.

Meals at 3 Monkeys

2008-08-08T23:19:00.000-07:00

Filo
Lasagne
Pizza

The food above are all vegetarian and they taste great!!

3 Monkeys is an absolute nice place to hang out with friends. Great environment with outdoor and indoor for you to choose. Indoor is cosy and outdoor is more towards sunbathing and nature.

Price range from $7-$13

Vege Chips

2008-08-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

This has been introduced in my own personal blog, and now, I'm just moving it here.

Are you going for a healthier alternative?

Try this: The Vege Chips from the Mick's Nut Shop in West End. Taste good and fulfill your craving of having chips!! There you go with carrot, eggplant, bean, sweet potato and taro chips!

Enjoy!

Hard to swallow by Chris Bignell

2008-08-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hard to swallow

We eat to live
We eat to grow
We eat to endulge ourselves,

In the greatness of food
We eat to provide comfort
We eat to be accepted
We eat as it is part,

Of our lives
Food comes in all different forms,
Shapes and sizes
It can be a bean as small as a nail
Or a christmas turkey the size of a horse

Food is a necessity
Food is a way of life
Food is enjoyed
Food is loved

But for some,
Food is despised

Eating brings pain
Eating brings weight
Eating brings illness
Eating brings hate
Eating means endless pain
A pain that wont stop,
Until the food inside,
Is forced out

Eating means weight gain and hurt
So, It's best not to eat at all
The aching pain of hunger drifts away,
With several ibuprofein.

The battle with food is a constant struggle
To overcome the eating disorder
To take one bite,
And Swallow!

By Chris Bignell

Woohoo~~

2008-08-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Yaay!! The long waited food blog is now presented!! (Only me being the one eagerly wanted the food blog to exist and yet im the author aka the cook in this blog, muahahaha~~crazy!)

Yes, I have always wanted to have this kind of blog for myself for a long time but I'm either too lazy to do it or have enough excuses for myself not to do it, same, the laziness~

I have started to cook since I was in high school(??), you know, instant noodles and boiled eggs could never failed me. I remembered I cooked Sardine Pasta once for my mom and it was awful as sardine taste was too strong. I was a complete idiot in cooking, seriously. Then, my parents decided to sent me overseas to study as they thought it was the time for this little girl to know how hard life is out there and also the time to torture this kid for being so difficult to handle over the years....XP

And there you go, a girl being forced by her bro to learn how to cook great food, and being blackmailed by him. He said, " Im going to tell mom that you have bad cooking skills!!" I didnt know why I was scared at that time and begged him not to do that. " And now you will really put on effort to cook," Come to think about it, maybe I should appreciate him for blackmailing me and now, after 2 years, we enjoy cooking and baking together. I doubt he is thinking that his sis is a better cook than he is now....Muahahaha~~

Anyway, this blog is all about the food that I have cooked, baked and eat (including dining out, provided I have a camera along with me at that time). I hope all of you can enjoy reading and trying out recipe from other people and my own Ojibala (nonsense) recipe! Have fun cooking!

Food lover,
Jc