Salt grilled salmon head

 烤鲑鱼头

Yes, you can have a decent Japanese meal at home. Buy a  salmon fish head from the market (they are cheap - I got one head for S$5!), grill it and serve with Japanese rice, miso soup and chawanmushi (steamed egg).

Ingredients

1 salmon head

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

1. Ask the fishmonger to cut the head into two and remove gills. 

2. Wash and clean the fish heads and dab dry. Make sure scales on the fish head are removed.

3. Line a baking pan with aluminium foil. Put the fish head, cut side facing up, and sprinkle half of the salt.

4. Grill the salmon at 250 degree celcius for 8 to 10 minutes. 

5. Take the salmon from the oven, flip the salmon over and sprinkle the remaining half of the salt. Return the salmon to the oven and grill until the salmon head is a bit charred, around 15minutes.

6. Take salmon out from the oven and serve hot.

Claypot Chicken Rice

沙锅鸡饭

This is a simple one pot meal which you can cook at home. 

Ingredients (serves 4 pax)

3 chicken drumsticks (deboned), cut into bite size (750g before debone) 

1 Chinese sausage (optional) , thinly sliced diagonally

2 rice cooker cup rice

2 rice cooker cup water (360ml i.e. reduce water by 10%)

a few pieces of salted fish

Marinade for chicken:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon corn flour

1 tablespoon rice wine (I use Hua Diao brand)

2 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. Prepare the marinade.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon cooking oil in wok and fry the salted fish over low heat till golden brown and fragrant. Cut into small pieces and mix into the marinade. Replace salted fish with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if you do not have salted fish. 

3. Mix the marinade into the chicken, set aside for at least half an hour.

4. Wash the rice, drain and put it in the claypot (ceramic pot will work too). Add water and start cooking over medium-small fire for 10 minutes.

4. After 10 minutes, turn off heat, open lid and add the marinated chicken pieces including all the marinating liquid. Do not stir the rice. Place the sausage on the chicken, if using. Cover and cook over small heat for another 15 minutes. 

5. After 15 minutes, fluff up the rice and serve hot. If you like darker rice, add 1 tablespoon of cooked oil and 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce into the rice and mix in. Serve hot with vegetables!

Homemade Yogurt

酸奶

Yogurt is an effective way to get probiotic bacteria on a daily basis, and improve our gut microbial health. All you need is fresh milk and some starter yogurt (from store bought  yogurt).  

Ingredients

500ml fresh milk 

3 heap tablespoons plain and unflavoured Greek yogurt (starter)

Method

1. Put the milk in a pot (covered) and heat over medium heat until it is just below boiling point (small bubbles form around the edges).

2. Remove the pot from heat and let it sit until you can dip your finger into the milk for 5 seconds without burning your finger. If you need to use the pot for something else, transfer the milk to a wide mouth stainless steel container/thermos flask (which can retain heat) where you will be storing the yogurt.

3. Transfer 100-200ml of milk to a small bowl and add the yogurt starter. Stir until smooth and transfer this back to the pot/container/thermos flask with warm milk. Stir to mix in, cover the pot/container/thermos flask with lid and keep it warm by wrapping it with a towel. 

4. Let the yogurt sit for 4 hours (Singapore weather). It should set by then, if not leave it (wrapped) for another hour. Note that the yogurt will be tangier the longer it sits. 

5. Store the yogurt pot/container/thermos flask in the fridge. 

Note that even though you used Greek yogurt as a starter, your homemade yogurt is not considered as "Greek" yogurt unless you strain it to remove the whey. I find that straining is not necessary as whey is nutritious and I can still get thick/creamy yogurt by increasing the amount of starter.

Homemade Chinese Five Spice Powder

五香粉

So easy to make if you have these 5 spices in your kitchen.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tablespoon szechuan peppercorn

4 star anise

2cm cinnamon stick

Method

1. Break the spices into small pieces and toast them over low heat in wok until fragrant. Set aside to cool down.

2. Put the spices in a blender and blend until powder form. Transfer the five spice powder into container.

3. Put a tablespoon of rice grains into blender and blend to clean the residual powder and  remove the smell of five spice from the blender container.

Sourdough Crackers

天然酵母葱饼

Revived my sourdough starter that was kept in the fridge for more than a year. Fed the starter with equal amounts of water and flour every 24 hours until it doubled in size on consequent days. Luckily, the starter was strong and it slowly sprung back to life. It became bubbly and tripled in size after 5 hours on the third day. In the feeding process, I collected a lot of sourdough discards, and a good way to use them up was to make crackers. So glad I found below recipe from King Arthur Baking. 

These crackers have a slight tangy taste due to the use of sourdough starter. But they are still very tasty!

Ingredients

227g sourdough discard (cold, straight from fridge)

113g Plain flour 

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

2 tbsp dried herbs (oregano, thyme or basil)

57g butter (melted and warm)

Half portion

113.5g sourdough discard

56.5g plain flour

1/4 tsp 

1 tbsp dried herbs (I replaced with 12g fresh scallions/spring onions from my garden)

28.5g butter (melted and warm)

Method

1. Sieve flour into mixing bowl. Mix in the salt. 

2. Add butter and use the dough scrapper to quickly mix into the flour. Butter will coat the flour with fat which makes for a more tender cracker.

3. Add the starter and mix in using your fingers/dough scrapper. Then add the scallions and continue to mix until the dough almost comes together. If necessary, cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes for easier rolling.

4. Divide the dough into two pieces (for easier handling) while it is in the mixing bowl. 

5. Preheat oven to 170 degree celcius.

6. Take one piece of dough from the mixing bowl and cover the other piece with a cloth/cling wrap (to prevent drying) and place on benchtop/rolling mat (lightly floured with rice flour). Lightly dust the top of the dough with rice flour and shape the dough into a rectangular slab. Roll the dough to about 2 to 3cm thick and cut the dough into desired shapes. Prick each cut dough with the tines of a fork (to prevent the dough from puffing up). Transfer the cut dough into a baking tray (lined with parchment paper) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the crackers are lightly browned. Note: to save some effort and time, the shaping/rolling/cutting can be done on a parchment paper. Then the dough and parchment paper transferred wholesale to the baking pan for baking. No need to separate the cut dough at all as the crackers will separate themselves as they bake.

7. Remove the crackers from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool. Once cooled, store in air tight container.

Homemade French Fries

薯条

Making french fries at home is easier than you think. What's more, you can cut the fries to the preferred thickness. Here's my adaptation of the recipes shared in Shack Shake's cookbook and Recipetineats. 

Ingredients:

Potatoes (buy yellow-fleshed potatoes. I bought Holland potatoes - grown in China)

White vinegar (1 tablespoon per 1 kg of potatoes)

Method:

1. Peel potatoes and submerge in water to keep them from turning brown while you cut the rest of the potatoes.

2. Use a serrated knife to cut the potato lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices, then cut each slice lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick fries. Continue to submerge the fries in water until all the potatoes have been sliced. Note: The serrated knife creates a rougher surface for crispier fries.

3. Rinse the fries under running tap water to remove excess sugars from the surface of the potatoes. Transfer to a pot filled with water above the fries, and stir in the white vinegar*. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer the fries until they are just tender (test with a toothpick). DO NOT OVER SIMMER THE POTATOES as they will fall apart.

*The white vinegar will prevent the potatoes from disintegrating during simmering.

4. Transfer the boiled fries to a baking tray lined with tea towel. Let the fries steam dry on their own.

5. Heat up a wok with sufficient oil to deep fry the fries. Fry in small batches until the fries are the edges turned pale gold. Remove from wok and drain excess oil on a wire rack.

6. Spread the fries on a baking tray lined with kitchen towel to cool down. Once cooled, bag the fries and freeze them for frying on another day. Freezing help to wick remaining moisture in the cooked fries. 

7. When you want to eat the fries, heat up the wok with sufficient oil to deep fry the fries. Fry in small batches until the fries are deep golden brown and crispy. Remove from wok and drain excess oil on a wire rack.

7. You can also bake the fries straight out from the freezer. Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius, put the fries in a single layer in a baking tray and bake for around 20 minutes. 

8. Sprinkle the fries with salt. Toss and serve!

Canned Sardine With Pickled Onions

沙丁鱼酸大葱

This is one of my late mother-in-law's quick and easy dish. 

Ingredients (serves 4 pax)

2 small canned sardines (buy  Ayam brand 215g oval can sardines - we find that the sardines are smaller and tastier)

1 large onion (sliced)

3 shallots (sliced)

3 tablespoons of vinegar (e.g. rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar)

3 to 4 limes

Method

1. Pickle the onion in vinegar for at least half an hour.

2. Fry shallots until golden brown and set aside.

3. Heat up a wok*. Pour the canned sardines and the tomato sauce into the wok/pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Off the heat, transfer the sardines and tomato sauce to a plate.

4. Drain the pickled onions. Discard the vinegar. Add the fried shallots, pickled onions to the sardines. Squeeze the lime juice over the onions and sardines. Serve warm!

 * alternative method: Pour the canned sardines including the tomato sauce into a plate. Prepare a wok with a steaming rack and sufficient water and bring to a boil. Place the plate of sardine on steaming rack, and steam for 10 mins over medium heat.

Gingko Nut Barley

腐竹白果薏米糖水

 

This dessert is very nutritious - gingko nuts improve memory, pearl barley reduces the body "heatiness" and soya bean skin/sheets rich in plant proteins. 

Ingredients:

150g pearl barley - buy the Holland barley, NOT the Chinese barley (which is usually used for cooking soup).  Refer to pix below : Holland pearl barley (top) vs Chinese barley (bottom). Note: The pearls look small but they will triple in size after cooking. So adjust the quantity accordingly. 

100g gingko nuts (see my post here on how to prepare these nuts ahead, or buy vacuum packed fresh nuts)

2 litres water (add more if you like to have proportionately more soup than beans) 

2 to 3 sheets of dried beancurd skin (腐竹) - buy the dried ones used for dessert

or

3 to 4 pieces of fresh beancurd skin - usually sold in wet market stalls which sell vegetarian/vegan groceries and ingredients. I like to use this type of beancurd skin. Refer to pix below:

70g rock sugar 

3-4 blades of pandan leaves (optional)

Method

1. Wash and rinse the pearl barley.

2. Put the pearl barley, gingko nuts, soya bean skin/sheets and water into a deep pot and soak for one hour.

3. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for one hour or until the barley and nuts are tender. Keep the lid for the pot open with a small vent opening to prevent the water from bubbling over. 

Note: To save on gas bill, bring the pot to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, off the heat, use a towel to cover the pot for half hour. Repeat this for two times.

4. Once done, stir to break down the beancurd skin. Add pandan leaves and rock sugar, bring to a boil again, then remove from heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Discard pandan leaves.

5. Serve warm or chill in fridge for 2-3 days and serve cold.