Healthy Pumpkin Rice!

There are always times where there is a bit of everything left behind in the fridge that are waiting to go expire that we almost forgot about it. Now it's the time for me to take them all out and do something with it. I came across this pumpkin rice while watching TV, so I decided to use that idea but use butternut squash instead of pumpkin since that's what I have leftover from making carrot soup (which the recipe I will put up in the next post, so stay tuned!). I also add a few more ingredients that I found in my fridge that has been sitting in there for awhile:P

You will need:

(5 servings)

1/4 butternut squash

180g beansprouts

200g mince pork

white cabbage

rice

soy sauce 

sugar 

cornflour

oyster sauce (optional)

Method:

1. Since it's really hard to get the skin off the butternut quash, so first cut the butternut squash into smaller chunks. Remove the seeds inside as well. Then put them to boil for a few mins so as the squash softens, it becomes easier to remove the the skin, just cut away the skin with a knife and cut the chunks into smaller bite size pieces.

2. Prepare the rice in the rice cooker. use 85% of water that you would normally use for the rice. After 5mins, add in the squash so it covers the rice but still being in the water.

3. Wash and cut the white cabbages into bite size pieces. Then let it boil until it softens. Add some alt to give it some flavour.

4. Wash the beansprouts and in a pan, add in some oil and stir fry the beansprouts for 3mins and then add in a little bit of water and some salt to let it cook for 4 mins. Then take it off the heat.

5. Marinate the meat with some soy sauce, sugar and cornflour. Cook the meat and add in the bean sprouts. You may add some oyster sauce to give more flavour.

6. Once the rice is ready, mix it with the rest of the cooked ingredients.

Note:

- You can create your own variation of this with other ingredients too! For example, you may use chicken thighs instead, or add in some spinach, eggs, sweetcorn etc and create your own tailor made healthy rice.

- The rice I used has mixed grains in it and this dish is rich in vegetables(nutritious!.) Not much oil was involved since majority of the ingredients were prepared through boiling! Healthy option for sure!

Breakfast time!

Thought I'd share with you one of my favourite ways of having toast for breakfast in the morning. Peanut butter with bananas on toast!

You will need:
(1 serving)

A slice of bread
1/2 banana (sliced)
Peanut butter 

Method:

1.Toast a slice of bread with a toaster.
2. Put some peanut butter spread on your toast. I prefer crunchy peanut butter than smooth:P
3. Place the sliced bananas on top.
4. Best served with milk. Personally find that almond milk is a better match to go with the toast.

Of course, you may use Nutella spread instead, or a mix of both? I've tried all ways and all are equally delicious! Definitely the best breakfast to wake up to:P

More Korean Food! Kimchi Tofu Chigae

More Korean food!! I feel this year we are having an early winter here in the UK. Its so cold when it is not even December yet! It is always a good idea to have some hot and spicy soup/food to warm our bodies up and hence today's recipe is going to be Kimchi Tofu Chigae/Kimchi Tofu stew (김치찌개). I was going to post this recipe a lot earlier, however I forgot to take photos last time when I cook this>.< It's been awhile since I last had it, this time I made sure I got the photoshots before digging in:P

You will need:
(4 servings)

4 bowls of rice.
300g chopped kimchi (juice drained)
3 strips of Pork belly or about 200g mince pork
300g tofu
2 carrots
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
150ml Kimchi Juice (1.5 cup)
750ml rice water (~ 3 cups)
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp Korean red hot pepper paste (Gochujang)

Method: 
1. In a frying pan, stir fry the garlic and onions and kimchi. Add in the meat and stir fry until cooked.Add in the red hot pepper paste, some sesame oil and salt. 
2. Prepare the rice in rice cooker. Keep the water that was used to rinse the rice. 
3.Transfer the ingredients on the frying pan to a large pot and add 1.5 cup of the milky rice water into the big pot. Rice water is preferred as it thickens the soup a little as opposed to using just water.
4. Cut the carrots into thin strips of 5cm long and add them into the pot. Let it cook at high heat for 20-30mins. Taste it and adjust the taste accordingly. 
5. Add in the tofu and let it cook for another 5-8mins. Lastly add in some sesame oil.
6. Once the rice is ready, the stew is ready to serve. 

Tip: add a tbsp of soybean paste to give the stew a richer taste.

Picture taken as soon as it's cooked! See the smoke? Colour isn't as saturated because of it!

Summer Hands On Lookbook - Lava Cheese Tarts 焗流心芝士撻

Another recipe that I tried last summer. These Lava Cheese Tarts have been a big hit recently in Hong Kong, customers needs to queue up for 3 hours to get these freshly baked tarts. (Yes.. 3 whole hours @@). So I decided to have a go at making them myself and see if it is worth the 3 hours waiting to try the authentic one.

You will need:
(8-10 tarts)

Tart:
1 egg
200g cake flour
100g unsalted butter
100g sugar

Cheese Tart filling:
150g Mozarella cheese
150g cream cheese
150ml milk
1 tbsp golden syrup

Method:
1. First, prepare the tart by mixing the unsalted butter and sugar together with an electric whisk. Then add in the egg, and lastly the cake flour. Keep mixing until a dough is formed. You may switch to using a spatula or hands whichever is more convenient.2. Wrap your dough with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30mins.
3. After that, take the dough out and roll it flat to a thickness of about 4mm. then using a cookie cutter or anything round that has a diameter similar to the tart molds that you will be using, cut out circles and line them in your tart mold. Make sure you apply oil/butter to your tart molds before use. Then gently press the sides so that it fills the surfaces of the tart mold.
4. Poke the dough in the tart mold with a fork to allow the dough "breathe", this is to prevent bubbles forming when it bakes in the oven.
5. To prepare the cheese filling, heat the milk until it just starts to boil gently, then add in the rest of the filling ingredients and mix until everything melts.
6. Preheat the oven to 190C. Place all your tarts on a baking tray and let it bake for 8mins. It should turn slightly golden brown.
7. Take the tarts out from the oven. Pour the filling into the tart molds till 3/4 full. Adjust the oven temperature to 150C and bake the tarts for another 5mins. The next step is optional but you may brush a layer of egg yolk on top of the cheese filling and bake it for another minute, just to give your tarts some colour.

Tip: the tarts are best served when freshly out of the oven, ideally, consume within 10mins after it's out of the oven, you will get the lava oozing effect if you cut open the tarts as soon as you take it out of the oven. Or else it will solidify as it cools down. 

Bibimbap!

It's time for more korean food:) Today's recipe is going to be one of the signature korean dishes, Bibimbap (비빔밥) . There are many variations to what you put on top with the rice,and since it was hard to get some of the ingredients in the UK, so I just made use of what I can find in the fridge and Tada!

You will need:

(4 servings)

4 bowls of rice

4 eggs

100g of mince pork

250g spinach

2 carrots

3/4 of cucumbers

350g bean sprouts

soy sauce 

sugar

cornflour 

sesame oil

For the sauce:

4 tbsp Korean hot red pepper paste (gochujang)

2 clove of garlic

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp of vinegar ( I used balsamic vinegar since that was the only vinegar I had at home:P)

Method:

1. Prepare the rice in the rice cooker.

2. Marinate the mince pork with some soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and corn starch. 

3. Wash all the vegetables and cut the carrots and cucumbers in stripes.

4. Boil the bean sprouts, spinach and carrots separately.

5. Fry the meat until fully cooked.

6. Fry the eggs individually. 

7. To prepare the sauce that goes with the rice, mix in all the ingredients until the sugar dissolves.

8. Then plate it like in the pictures shown, and serve the sauce separately.  Done!

Mix in all the ingredients with the rice and also the hot pepper sauce before eating. 

Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Full English Breakfast.. yet not that full~

Having cooked many Asian cuisine in the past, earlier this afternoon I felt like having a full English Breakfast, despite I had it as my brunch, (or more like lunch actually as I woke up really late:P) In a full English breakfast, there is normally tomatoes, harsh browns, baked beans, sausages/bacon, egg, mushrooms and toast. However, due to the lack of ingredients at home, I missed out some of them, make it a full English Breakfast, and yet not that full~ (hence the title of this post)

You will need:
(1 serving)

3-4 slices of ham
2 eggs
two slices of toast
4-5 slices of cucumber
1 tomato
1 frankfurter sausage
1 slice of bacon

Method:
1. Cut tomatoes in half, slice the cucumbers and cut the sausages but not all the way down.
2. On a frying pan, heat the sausage, bacon, and tomato until the bacon is cooked.
3. Remove them off the pan, Then add some oil to the pan.
4. Fry the ham, then pour in two whisked egg to make scrabbled egg mixed with ham.
5. Finally, toast two slices of bread and you are done!

It's as simple as it is, quick and easy and can easily fill you up for the rest of the day!