No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

Chee Cheong Fun or steamed Rice Noodles are a Cantonese dish and commonly served either as a snack, breakfast or as a variety of dim sum.  It's a thin crepe made with rice flour and rolled into a long noodle.  You can add filling into the rice noodle, like dried shrimps, prawns, or char siew (BBQ pork) or even with vegetables for a meatless option.  As they are flavourless, a sweetened soy sauce usually accompanies the dish. Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Noodles) with dried shrimps  ~  虾米肠粉 Ingredients 100 gm rice flour 20 gm cornflour 20 gm tapioca flour 400 ml water 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp oil 1 Tbsp dried shrimps Spring onions, chopped Ingredients for sauce 2 tsp light soy sauce )   1 tsp sesame oil        )  Mix well and bring to a light boil. 1 Tbsp sugar             ) 3 Tbsp water             ) Method Wash, rinse a...

Loh Mai Kai is the transliteration of  糯米雞 in Cantonese, meaning glutinous rice steamed with chicken.  It is a common dish in any dim sum restaurant and you can't miss it. Some of them are served in  small steel bowls while some are steamed in alluminium foil cups.  The glutinous rice is steamed with chicken, mushroom and Chinese sausage, but in my recipe today, I had to omit Chinese sausage as I wasn't able to get it during this 'lock down' period.  Hence, I substituted with some dried shrimps and dried scallops.  The taste of the glutinous rice is just wonderful as it has been infused with these flavours.  It's best to use drumsticks, deboned or with bones, absolutely your personal preference.  You can enjoy Loh Mai Kai for breakfast or brunch or whenever you feel like it.                                Loh Mai Kai  ~  糯米雞  (Glutinous rice ste...

A very easy one-pot meal for working mothers who are bogged down with other household chores.    Other than bak kwa, you may opt to use chinese sausages or even ham or fried bacon.  And the rice will taste just as delicious. Bak Kwa Tomato Rice ~  肉干番茄饭  (recipe adapted from 'here' ) Ingredients 1.1/4 rice cup of Basmati rice  1 cup water 1 medium size tomato about 160 gm 60 gm Bak Kwa pieces, diced 1/2 cup Broccoli, blanched and cut into tiny floret Salt to taste Method Wash and rinse rice, pour into rice cooker, add water accordingly.  (A little less water than the ordinary measurement because there will be some juice from the tomato). Mix in the bak kwa bit and a bit of salt.  Make a criss-cross cut on the bottom of the tomato and place it on the rice.  Select 'cook' function. When the rice is cooked, smash the tomato, toss in the blanched broccoli, Mix well. Drizzle on some sesame oil, mix well. Serve

I cooked this simple Herbal Chicken Rice during one of the days of the Lock Down.  I have a penchant for Chinese herbal food, be it herbal soup or herbal chicken.  This is a very simple recipe and doesn't call for a lot of ingredients and I'm sure most of you will be able to prepare this for your family. Herbal Chicken Rice  ~  药材鸡饭  Ingredients 450 gm whole chicken leg, chopped 1/2 cup rice Chinese cooking wine Light soya sauce Seasoning for chicken  3 pieces Tong Kwai (Chinese Angelica Root) 3 pieces Pak Kei (Astragalus Root) Salt Light soya sauce Method Season the chicken for about a few hours or preferably overnight. Wash rice, add a little less water than normal for the 1/2 cup rice. Place seasoned chicken on top of the rice.  Press the 'cook rice' function. Once rice is cooked, remove the chicken, fluff up the rice. Add a dash of cooking wine, light soya sauce to taste. Dish out and serve with the chicken.

This was my first 'lock down' dinner on 18th March.  It's just a simple fried rice all-in-one dish as I had to finish off my 'lap cheong'  to make space to stock up food in my fridge because of the lock down.  It's super easy to whip up and I just garnish it with a sprinkling of fried garlic, but it was yummy!                Fried Rice with Chinese Sausages and French Beans   ~  臘腸炒饭 Ingredients 1/2 cup rice plus enough water to cook 85 gm (in a pair) Chinese sausages, sliced 90 gm french beans, diced 2 eggs Salt, light soya sauce as desired Method Heat up a pan with some oil, scramble the eggs with a bit of  soya sauce and salt.  Dish out. In the same pan, fry the Chinese sausages till cooked, dish out but leave the oil in the pan. With the oil from the sausages, fry the diced beans with a bit of salt.  Pour in the cooked rice, a bit of soya sauce, fry and mix well....

I was introduced to White Bihoon on my recent trip to Singapore and must admit that I have never heard of this before.  Back here, we have Hokkien fried bihoon which is brownish in colour or Cantonese braised bihoon which is bihoon deep fried and coated with an eggy sauce of meat, seafood and vegetables.  I was curious and I had my first taste of this popular White Bihoon at Jewel, Changi airport.  It's white, because no light or dark soya sauce was added to the bihoon, hence it's white.  It does tastes good with a light squeeze of calamansi. So, today I'm trying to replicate this dish and here's my version of White Bihoon.  Enjoy! White Bihoon/Rice vermicelli  ~    白米粉 Ingredients 100 gm bihoon (for 2 servings) 2 eggs beaten 100 gm prawns 100 gm chicken leg, deboned and sliced 6 cups or more chicken stock 1 tsp chicken granules 1.1/2 tsp cornstarch + water to thicken Vegetable of your choice Salt, pepper and sugar to se...

There are many ways of cooking this Hakka dish of  'Long Bean Rice'.   My old Hakka neighbour used to cook this one-pot meal dish and I didn't realise it is their clan's dish until recently.  From what I gather from other bloggers, the common ingredients are roast pork and Chinese sausages and of course, the star of the dish which is long beans or  '豆角'.  My version is pretty simple and I used homemade char siew instead.   So, here's my take on 'Long Bean Rice'......... Long Bean Flavourful Rice  ~  豆角有味饭 Ingredients 100 gm long beans, cut into 1 inch 100 gm char siew, cut into cubes 150 gm (1 rice cooker cup) Brown rice, washed and drained 6 pips garlic, chopped 25 gm dried shrimps 3.1/2 tsp light soya sauce 3 tsp dark soya sauce 2.1/2 cups water Sesame oil and Shaoxing wine to drizzle Method Saute half the chopped garlic with some oil till fragrant, add in the dried shrimps, stir-fry.  Add ...

These woven intricate bundles of rice vermicelli called Banh Hoi resemble our local 'string hoppers' or 'putu mayam', a South Indian snack of steamed rice flour noodles and eaten with a sweetened topping of grated coconut and palm sugar (gula melaka).   Vietnamese Banh Hoi can be rolled and served with a variety of meat and in my case I served them with pan-fried chicken, sauteed spring onions, salad and a dipping sauce. Vietnamese Banh Hoi Ingredients 200 gm chicken breast 8 pieces of dried Banh Hoi, prepared according to their instructions @ the back of the packet Spring onions, romaine lettuce, coriander and basil leaves Dipping sauce 3 tsp sugar lime juice from 6 calamansi 1 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp peanut butter dissolved with 1 Tbsp hot water Chilli padi/bird eye chillies Method Season the chicken breast with some salt, sugar, light and dark soya sauce. Heat up some oil and pan fry chicken till cooked. Sautee chopped sp...

This is rustic home cooking with simple ingredients consisting of salted fish, brown rice, chicken and eggs.  Many would love to have a bowl of this fried rice while there may be others who are put off by the strong smell of Asian cooking and in this case, the salted fish.   But to my family members they always look forward to this simple yet delicious one-pot meal! Yummy ~  I served this with some tomato chutney on the side. Salted fish fried rice  ~   咸鱼炒饭 Ingredients 1 chicken breast, diced 50 gm salted fish, diced 3 cups cooked rice, preferably overnight rice (I used brown rice) 2 eggs spring onions 4 pips of garlic, chopped sesame oil salt and fish sauce to taste Method Season the chicken breast with some salt and pepper. Heat up a non-stick frying pan with some oil, break in the eggs, scramble and dish out. Fry the salted fish till fragrant, dish out. Fry the chopped garlic till fragrant, add in the chicken and st...

This is a one-wok dish which is easy to make and yet tasty.  The meat that I use here is bak kwa or pork jerky and it does give an amazing flavour to the fried rice.  I drizzle some sesame oil at the end before dishing out as it easily burns and will lose its aroma. Bak Kwa Fried Rice  ~  干猪肉炒饭 Ingredients 3 cups overnight rice 100 gm french beans, diced 100 gm carrot, diced 2 eggs, scrambled 100 gm bak kwa/pork jerky, cut into small pieces salt and light soya sauce to taste sesame oil Method Heat up some oil in a wok, break in the eggs, add some salt, scramble and dish out. Stir-fry the bak kwa, add in the carrots followed by the french beans. Add in the rice and stir fry. Add salt and light soya sauce to taste, mix in the scrambled eggs. Drizzle in some sesame oil. Dish out and and serve.

What do you do when you're told last minute that you are eating alone?   That was what happened to me recently and fortunately I had some chicken breast meat, a Japanese cucumber and some rice vermicelli.  So I just mixed all these together and  topped with some homemade sauce and lightly toasted cuttle fish, whipped up this salad...... Yum! Rice vermicelli and cuttle fish salad ~   米粉和墨鱼沙拉 Ingredients 2 pcs dried cuttle fish, lightly toasted and shredded 150 gm rice vermicelli, blanched and drained 100 gm chicken breast meat 2 kaffir lime leaves, cut finely 2 shallots, sliced thinly 1 Japanese cucumber, seeds removed and sliced Seasoning for chicken - season with some salt, a bit of sugar, pepper Homemade dressing 2 bird eye chillies, cut 1 heaped Tbsp peanut butter (creamy or chunky) 1 Tbsp honey 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce lightly toasted sesame seeds to garnish Method Poach or steam ...

This is my first attempt at making this 'Savoury Steamed Pumpkin Cake'.  I was a bit hesitant in the beginning and after googling here and there for the recipe, decided upon trying it out.  Fortunately, it turned out well and family members gave the thumbs up.  Phew  ....... worth all the effort, chopping and frying in this weather!

Essence of chicken is supposed to be beneficial to health and if you're feeling tired, taking a bottle of chicken essence will  help boost up your energy.  Unfortunately I dislike taking the essence straight from the bottle as I do not fancy the raw taste.  So, I poured in a bottle to this dish and it really helped to give some 'oomph' and value added taste to this chicken dish!   Steamed free-range chicken with chicken essence ~   鸡精蒸鸡 Ingredients 2 whole leg chicken, chopped into bite size 1.1/2 tsp seasalt 1/8 tsp sugar 1 bottle of chicken essence (any brand) 1 tsp cornflour Spring onions to garnish    Method Marinate the chicken pieces with the seasalt, sugar and cornflour for a few  hours or overnight. Steam the chicken on high heat till cooked. Pour in a bottle of chicken essence, mix well, turn off heat. Garnish with spring onions. Serve with rice.