17Nov, 2023
Pumpkin and Grouper Fish Soup 金瓜鱼片煲

Had traditional fish head steamboat recently with the family at a zhi char stall and thought I wanted to replicate something similar but on a smaller scale. And although yam is commonly used in fish head steamboat, I decided to give it a little twist by using pumpkin instead. The sweetness from the pumpkin gives the soup a very refreshing taste indeed. Using fish bones, the soup base was simmered for a good 3 hours before using it to cook the soup. The excess soup stock was portioned into individual servings and freeze for future use which is really convenient.

The pictures probably don’t justify the dish much this time as I was in a rush to finish the photography and indulge in the meal after the extensive time taken to cook the soup base. But I must say the soup was really good, so good that I actually finished every single drop of it.

As you can see from my IG feed, I have always been a fan of fish soup. And if you have been working long enough in the CBD area, you would also realise that fish soups probably call for the longest queue amongst all other foods everyday during lunch. It’s healthy and delicious and most importantly, not fattening ! LOL.

So sharing this Pumpkin & Grouper Fish Soup here and hope you will like it too. You can also replace the fish with any kinds of sliced fish you desire. And since it’s the first day of December 2019 today, hope everyone will have an awesome time enjoying the last month of the year too !

17Nov, 2023
Braised Egg Dumplings and Cabbage Hotpot with Mizkan Yose Nabe Soup Base 红烧蛋饺和大白菜锅

Merry Christmas Eve to all ! Am pretty sure many of us are in an awesome holiday mood by now, so nothing beats gathering your loved ones and pals over for some lovely hotpot sessions. Moreover given the really cool weather recently, it makes the festive even more chilled than ever. With that said, how about some extraordinary hotpots with these lovely looking braised egg dumplings that’s cooked on a flavorful Mizkan Yose Nabe soup based packed with long cabbage and some longevity noodles for that extra goodness ?

Mizkan carries a varieties of soup bases which you can find easily from most major supermarkets locally, namely the Yose Nabe, Pork Bone and Soy Sauce Nabe and Sesame and Soya Milk Nabe.

Yose Nabe ~ Light base hotpot soup base with combination of four stocks – bonito fish, kelp, scallop and chicken.

Pork Bone and Soy Sauce Nabe ~ Made by adding vegetable soup and brewed soy sauce to slowly simmered pork bone and chicken soup.

Sesame and Soy Milk Nabe ~ Smooth, rich and mild flavored combination of chicken and kelp soup finished by adding sesame and soymilk.

Now if you have difficulty identifying which is which given the packaging are all in Japanese language, fret not. Here’s a simple way of identification. The black color packaging is the Pork Bone and Soy Sauce. Whilst the other 2 might look identical on the first instance, you can easily differentiate them from the word “豆” on one of them which literally is the Sesame and Soy Milk Nabe. And so the last one will be the Yose Nabe.

And we as Asians enjoy making dumplings on festive especially. However if the usual dumplings seem a tad too monotonous and common for your liking already, you can lift up the spirits by making these braised egg dumplings which is essentially made of an egg crepe wrapped in your desired dumpling fillings and cooking them in Mizkan hotpot soup base packed with long cabbage, noodles or any other ingredients that you fancy.

And if you intend to go for a vegetarian version, you can always replace the minced meat with some shredded cabbage which I think would be equally good too ! So here’s the recipe to share which is pretty simple.

17Nov, 2023
Best 10 Chinese New Year Caterings on FoodLine.sg for Year 2020

The Chinese Lunar New Year for year 2020 will come exactly one month right after Christmas. And I am sure the hectic and madness from planning one festive celebration one after another is gonna be such a chore to many of us. What’s more, if you are thinking of cooking up your own feast or even dining out for the reunion, the long queues at the supermarket counters and the never ending waiting list at dine-out restaurants would probably turn you off.

With that said, all these can easily be eliminated with some fuss free food catering from FoodLine.sg. With over 300 merchants to choose from, FoodLine provides a one-stop solution to shop for your favorite caterer, earn cash rewards and even be entitled to free gifts when you place your catering order for this major Chinese festival.

So be it whether you are catering for a huge family reunion or just a small celebratory gathering, you would surely be able to locate something from FoodLine because the extensive range of merchants available are just so varied that you would certainly be able to source for a hearty caterer that fits into all your requirements.

And here’s a little recap of the best 10 Chinese New Year food caterers that we have sought from FoodLine for your considerations !

1) Jiale Buffet Services

Attractiveness : Full buffet set up, mini buffet and party sets available. Wide variety of buffet sets from 10pax to 30pax. Steamboat sets available as well with pot and stove rental.

Jiale Buffet Services

2) DesKitchen

Attractiveness : Full buffet set up and party sets available. Early bird promo (for orders placed between 28 Nov 19 – 31 Dec 19), enjoy free delivery worth $45.

3) Ishiro Fusion Catering

Attractiveness : Mini buffet and mini catering available. 10% off when you order a takeaway buffet menu.

4) BellyGood Caterer

Attractiveness : Full buffet set up and party sets available. Early bird promo (for orders placed before 20 Jan 2020) with complimentary Yu Sheng with Smoked Salmon worth $68.

BellyGood Caterer

5) FattyDaddyFattyMummy

Attractiveness : Mini buffet available and enjoy up to 10% off.

6) New Fut Kai Vegetarian

Attractiveness : Full buffet set up available with free red lotus packet.

7) Rilassi Catering

Attractiveness : Full buffet, ala carte party sets and mini buffet available. Complimentary Assorted Mochi for orders above $600 plus additional free delivery if orders above $1000 on food items.

8) Swatow Seafood

Attractiveness : Full buffet set up available.

Swatow Seafood

9) Buey Tahan Seafood by Shi Fu Ge

Attractiveness : Party sets and mini catering available with free delivery worth $25.

Buey Tahan Seafood by Shi Fu Ge

10) Stamford Catering

Attractiveness : Full buffet set up, mini buffet, party sets and ala carte menu available.

Stamford Catering

And from now till 31 Dec 2019 (limited to first 5,000 orders only) you can also receive FREE exclusive mandarin orange bags and red packets available with every order on FoodLine.sg. More info can be found at https://www.foodline.sg/Discover/cny2020promo/. So hurry and start sourcing for your desired caterer on https://www.foodline.sg/chinese-new-year-catering/ for this upcoming Chinese New Year !

17Nov, 2023
Baby Abalones & Seafood in Golden Pumpkin 小鲍鱼海鲜金瓜盅

A late Happy New Year to readers of this blog ! After a slightly more than 2 weeks break of leave clearance and a trip to Japan, and now re-adjusting myself to go back to work in the new year has kept me on the toes for the past few weeks. Now that everything is back to routine once again, I guess it’s also time that I sit down and pen some recipes slowly.

In less than a month’s time, the once a year major festive of the Chinese is coming up again. Talking about time flying, it somehow just doesn’t feel that one year has just past like that. Especially when year 2019 has been a very traumatic year for me, getting to know that you have actually been diagnosed with cancer for someone who has been fit all the while, coming to terms with it and finally trying to get over it eventually. It was a long and tedious process. While I am unsure what the future holds for me at the moment, but one thing for sure is that I hope to continue this sharing, cooking and baking passion as long as I can when I am still fit to do so.

And because it’s the upcoming Chinese New Year festive, I would like to share this festive recipe which is made up of Baby Abalones from Fortune Brand, assorted seafood and vegetables encased in a golden pumpkin which I have tediously crafted. As Asians, abalones and seafood is somehow a must during this major festive and instead of simply stir frying them with vegetables, having them showcased in a pumpkin bowl made it look more tempting and delicious.

The most tedious part is the caving of the pumpkin and if you can get that across, the rest are literally a breeze. But that’s also an option and if you would like to do without that, it’s pretty fine too, because eventually what you need is just the “pumpkin bowl” to hold the rest of the ingredients.

And also a little shout out about the ongoing Hosen Group’s CNY Annual Warehouse Sales till 23rd Jan 2020 at 267 Pandan Loop, Singapore 128439 and open from 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 6pm on weekends. You will be able to find Fortune Brand Abalones , Hosen Fruits & Vegetables, CNY Snacks, soft drinks, hampers and seasonal Fortune Chestnuts from the event with good bargain prices. So if you are looking to stock up any of these items, then you are just in time for it.

With that, let’s hop onto this festive recipe and hope you will be able to cook and enjoy it with your family during the CNY too !

17Nov, 2023
Healthy Chinese Tomato Chicken Soup Hotpot 中式番茄鸡汤火锅

Counting down less than 2 weeks to the first Chinese New Year for the decade ! This year CNY is a such a packed one that one month right after Christmas, we have had to prepare for another major festive for the year. Whilst trying to juggle between festive preparations and work, I was also thinking of coming up with a hotpot flavor to share. Using Mizkan’s Yose Nabe soup base, we manage a healthy and refreshing Chinese style Tomato & Chicken Soup and serve it with a hotpot filled mainly with greens and vegetables.

We are just so used to feasting on “big meats and big fish 大鱼大肉” during major celebrations and festive and it suddenly dawned on me that something lighter and healthier like this hotpot would be a good and revitalizing change for the new year. While Tomato soup base hotpot are not new in the marketplace, but the commercial ones that we had are often too acidic and sourish for my liking.

And to simplify things, this hotpot can be easily beefed up with only five core main ingredients that can be commonly find in most kitchen pantries. Mizkan’s Yose Nabe soup base is a light hotpot soup base that are made up of bonito fish, kelp, scallop and chicken, hence making it very suitable for this recipe.

Use a generous amount of tomatoes if you desire for something more tomato-ish. And the addition of tomato sauce helps to add to the sourish-ness of it. You can also replace with tomato paste if you have it, but otherwise buying one can of paste whilst you will only be using a small portion of it is not exactly that economical. And if you prefer something more refreshing and lighter, adjust the soup with some sugar to neutralize the acidity.

The clear Tomato and Chicken soup that goes into the hotpot was achieved after filtering away the tomatoes and onions. And on a side, we also had the reddish rich and firmly packed soup for topping up when the hotpot soup runs out.

Mizkan’s hotpot soup bases are also available in Pork Bone & Soy Sauce and Sesame & Soymilk Nabe flavors. More recipes using Mizkan’s products can be found at the below links too.

Fish Slices with Sesame Sauce 芝麻酱鱼片

Century Egg Pork Congee 皮蛋瘦肉粥

Grilled Mixed Mushrooms with Sesame Sauce 芝麻酱烤香菇

Peanuts & Preserved Vegetables with Meatballs Porridge 花生冬菜肉饺粥

Superior Abalone Scallop Pot 鲍鱼干贝一品锅

Salmon & Vegetables Nabe-Tsuyu Hotpot using Mizkan’s Hotpot Soup Base

Chinese New Year Yu Sheng with Mizkan Sesame Sauce

Chinese Dumplings & Vegetables One Pot Meal with Mizkan’s Hotpot Soup Base

Goma Dare Mince Meat Chawanmushi using Mizkan’s Sesame Sauce with Roasted Nuts

Chinese Hotpot using Mizkan Pork Bone and Soy Sauce Nabe Soup Base

Sesame Noodles using Mizkan Sesame Sauce with Roasted Nuts

Chinese Stir Fry with Chicken & Vegetables in Mizkan Sesame Sauce

Braised Egg Dumplings and Cabbage Hotpot with Mizkan Yose Nabe Soup Base 红烧蛋饺和大白菜锅

17Nov, 2023
Easy French Toast 简易法式吐司 – Eat What Tonight

I used to remember pigging into these easy french toasts for supper whenever the hunger pang strikes in the middle of the night. And my mom used to tell me their traditional way of making such toasts is simply coating the bread with egg and pan frying them with cooking oil. Perhaps I was influenced in such a way, I tend to favor these pretty “Chinese style” of french toasts literally than the English way where milk is included.

But I reckon that the difference is actually very insignificant and for those who are lactose intolerant, I guess this easy version will probably appeal to you better too. And I usually enjoy my french toasts with either slabs of butter, golden syrup, kaya jam or cinnamon sugar, which more on the sweet side I would say.

The old school way kicks in this time and so I had them with some kaya jam which was really awesome. Hopefully you will enjoy this easy french toast as much as I do too.

17Nov, 2023
Steamed Fish Slices with Mushrooms and Spicy Turnips

An easy and excellent one plate dish which you can enjoyed with some plain rice or porridge. Whilst I used barramundi fish slices for this recipe, you can enjoy it with most kinds of fish slices with that said.

It also contains mushrooms, carrots and spicy and savory turnips. And alternating the fish slices between the mushrooms and carrots helps to enhance the presentation of the dish which make it more appetizing !

This is a very homely Chinese dish which I had thoroughly enjoyed with some brown rice and which hope you will like it too.

17Nov, 2023
Ginseng & Chia Seeds Overnight Oatmeal Pudding

Recently I was given a bottle of this Korean Red Ginseng extract from Cheong Kwan Jang which is the number one brand in Korea for the likes. This pure extract is high in antioxidants and a little serving of it daily serves to boost the immune system, relieve fatigue and revitalise the body. ⁣⁣ Other than enjoying it as a drink itself, I thought it will be interesting to incorporate it into a healthy overnight oatmeal pudding.

For those who might find the red ginseng extract itself too overwhelming on its own, incorporating a little of it into the oatmeal pudding not only can retain the health benefits of it all, it can also be enjoyed by those who might not be so acceptable to the bitterness of the red ginseng in the first instance.

And having said that, chia seeds were also added to the oatmeal pudding and further topped with fruits and nuts before serving. To prevent the chia seeds from clumping together, it is advisable to give it a quick stir every now and then when they are left in the fridge and this will keep the chia seeds nicely segregated and serving them in pudding cups make them look more tempting too.

This wholesome dessert is awesomely healthy on its own and can be eaten right away from the fridge for breakfast the following day.

17Nov, 2023
Chicken & Corn Egg Drop Soup

Tied up with Knorr Singapore recently and using their SavorRich Chicken Concentrated liquid seasoning, came up with a Chinese style Chicken and Corn Egg Drop Soup. It’s pretty easy to make, tastes awesome too and absolutely healthy because chicken breast meat and lots of other vegetables were included.

And since most of us are being held up at home recently, so nothing beats spending time in the kitchen and stirring up the home chef instincts in each of us. I guess you don’t need to be a marvellous cook to enjoy home cooked food and as long as it is something that’s made from and within yourself, it beats all other MSG packed takeaway or dine-out food in all aspects.

And this easy soup is one good example you can embarked on too ! Threw in some enoki mushrooms to enhance the soup further and it was awesome. Loved the colors of the soup and I actually had a double serving of it. Hope you will enjoy this dish too and shared it with your loved ones then ! Happy TGIF eve !