Tonkatsu (Japanese Deep-fried Pork Cutlet)

Oh my! Has not been updating this poor blog for so long! *wipe away the cob webs*

Well, I have been busy doing lots of bento creations lately so kind of neglected this blog. I still cook and explored new recipes, just that I do not have much time to update them in here. Will try to be more consistent with my postings here as I have quite a few back dated recipes to share. Also, the kids have been taking up a lot of my time since baby is more mobile now. :D

Today, I wanted to share a very yummy deep fried pork cutlet or commonly known as tonkutsu recipe given by a very talented mom from Hawaii. I actually asked for this recipe more than a year ago *blushed* and only now did I cook this it! That was because I seldom do deep frying since the day my hubby took over the mop from me! So, each time I do frying in the kitchen, I must do a thorough clean up. Since I am such a lazy bum now, I have resorted to do steaming and broiling only! :mrgreen:

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Ingredients

• 3 slices Pork chop/cutlet (about 1cm thick)


• 1 Egg


• Some corn flour (the original recipe asked for flour)


• Some Bread crumbs (panko)


• Sugar  ( I used brown sugar)


• Salt


• Pepper


• Garlic powder (optional)


• 1 tbsp Water


• Oil for frying

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Methods

1. Clean the pork slices then tenderize the meat by using the back of the clever in a criss-cross pattern. Used some kitchen napkins and absorb all excess  liquid.


2. Sprinkle the sugar, pepper, garlic powder and salt onto meat and gently rub them on both sides.


3. Heat up frying pan with oil (enough to fill half the pan) and test with chopstick before frying.


4. Firstly, put the corn flour onto a flat plate and coat both sides of the meat.


5. In another plate, beat egg and add water. After coating the meat with corn flour, coat it with the egg mixture.


6. In another flat plate, fill it with bread crumbs/panko. After coating the meat with egg, coat it with the bread crumbs before frying it in the pan.


7. Keep heat at medium so the bread crumbs would not burn so easily. Fry till golden brown/cooked.

Stir-fried Yau Mak Tam with Dace and Preserved Black Beans

One thing I like to do is mimic dishes that I have eaten in restaurants or stalls which I really like. More so if they are easy to cook type of dishes which do not require a host of ingredients.

My uncle who lives in Ipoh (a town in the northern part of Malaysia) loves to go to this restaurant called Man Choong which serves quite good Chinese dishes. He is a regular there so we get good serving size each time we dine there.

One of their vege dishes attracted my attention sometime back and I so wanted to do that at home but do not have the ingredients. So, one day I went to get a can of dace with preserved black beans to just try out. I have stopped eating canned dace for a while ever since the scare of mercury and was banned but it has been some time now and I think the manufacturers already got those contaminted ones removed.

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Ingredients

• 300g Yau Mak Tam (Romaine Lettuce)


• 1/2 can Dace with preserved black beans


• Soy sauce for taste

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Methods

1. Wash and dried the yau mak tam.


2. In a wok, heat up some oil (I used the oild from the can of dace) and pour in half a can of dace and stir fry for a minute.


3. Toss in the yau-mak-tam and stir till well mix.


4. When the yau-mak-tam starting to look limpy, sprinkle some soy sauce and give a quick stir before dishing up.

Baked Pasta on Bread

It has been a long time since I make any baked snacks at home. We have just too many packets of cookies and other snacks lying around the house waiting to be finished up. Darrius spent half the day in school so he skipped one snack time at home. When he returned, his lunch will filled him up till dinner time and that means, no more snacking time in those 5 days of the week!

I actually made these simple snack some time back when I was trying to find ways to make something interesting to munch...

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Ingredients

• 100g Pasta (I used some characters pasta)


• 6 slices of Bread (cut into star shape)


• Pasta sauce (I used the Leggo's Pasta Bake sauce)


• Cheese bits


• Ham bits

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Methods

1. In a medium sauce pan, boil the pasta with some salt. Drained and leave to cool down.


2. Cut the bread slices into star shapes using a cookie cutter and placed them into muffin tins with the 5 edges  sticking out.


3. In the centre of the bread, put a dullop of pasta sauce and some cooked pasta on it before dropping another dullop onto the pasta.


4. Before sending the tray into the oven, sprinkle with some cheese and ham bits on the top. Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes or till the edges of the bread turned brownish.

Meaty Bolognese

Now that my baby is at the stage where she is getting more active and mobile, I have less time to prepare lunch hence I will cook and freeze some food which my boy likes. All I need to do is to reheat these frozen food stash before I go and fetch him from school.

One of these is pasta/spaghetti with bolognese sauce. The sauce can be kept in the freeze up to a month. All I need to do is to put appropriate portion into small containers and deep freeze them once they have cooled down.

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Ingredients

• 500g Meat (chicken/pork/beef) minced/ground


• 80g Frozen mixed vege - optional


• 4 Button Mushroom (sliced/coarsely chopped) - optional


• 1 jar Bolognese/pasta sauce - I used the 575g jar


• Pepper and salt for taste


• 250g pasta


• Olive oil (to fry the meat and to seperate pasta/spaghetti)


• Water

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Methods

1. Heat up a frying pan with some olive oil and stir-fry minced meat till 70% cooked.


2. Toss in the mix vege & sliced button mushroom and continue to stir.


3. Add in the bolognese/pasta sauce and mixed well and add in water (about 1/2 cup). Stir till cook and sprinkle with pepper and salt to taste.


4. In a pot, boil 1.5 little of water, add a teaspoon of salt and wait till boil before tossing in pasta/spaghetti and cook according direction on the package. Drain and add in some olive oil to avoid them from sticking to each other.

Chicken Gingko Nuts Porridge

Gosh... been ages since my last post here! Apologize for the long absence! Having 2 kids and managing a few blogs are the reasons why I hardly post here!

The weather in Penang has finally turned cooler with more frequent rainfalls... which is really a blessing! We were having the longest hottest weather for the past few months and all of us are so glad the rain has finally returned!

During the hot weather, I seldom do a lot of stir-frying or deep-frying but more to boiling soups and porridge for the family. Darrius fell sick a few times and his cough took a long time to recover too which is why I steamed most of our dishes for his sake.

Here is another healthy porridge which I have been preparing for the family...

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cup Rice (wash and drained)


• 3L Water


• 80g Gingko nuts ('heart' removed)


• 1 stick Carrot (medium - shredded)


• 2pcs Dried scallops


• 100g Groundnuts (washed and pre-boiled to remove dirts)


• 2pcs Chicken thighs (cut into small pieces)


• 10g Goji berries (Wolfberries)


• 1tbsp Oil + salt to be added into rice and soak for 10 mins


• Salt for taste


• Lettuce for garnishing

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Method

1. In a pot, when water is boiling add in the soaked rice and let it boil.


2. Add in the chicken pieces, dried scallops, shredded carrot and groundnuts and let them boil on low fire.


3. Stir the porridge constantly every 15-20 minutes so it would not stick at the bottom.


4. Boil the porridge for an hour and when it gets thicken, add in the gingko nuts and continue to stir and let it boil for a further 20 minutes.


5. Turn off the fire, sprinkle the goji berries and mix well into the porridge.


6. Serve hot with shredded lettuce.

Simple Seafood Alfredo Portobello

Ever since I have 2 kids, I am always looking for easy to prepare dishes which takes less time to cook and something Darrius will enjoy as he has been a little fussy lately. As I have to cook 2 meals a day, sometimes I really have to scratch my head to think of what to cook since PiggyBeng can be quite fussy too.

Kids being kids, Darrius loves Western food more than his daddy so I'll try to cook stuff that PiggyBeng likes least for lunch. It is during lunch I will cook pasta or spaghetti which PiggyBeng tried to avoid as he thinks these carbo food are too fattening!

Being pressed for time, I don't cook these sauces from scratch anymore which I used to do last time. Now, I'll just grab a few cans of those pasta sauce each time I visit the supermarkets and they come in real handy when I want to have a quick bite for both Darrius and myself.

Campbell's came out with quite a few pasta sauce recently and I guessed this is the perfect time to try all of them... With some frozen fresh scallops stash from our reunion dinner, I made some yummy cream pasta that don't require much time.

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For this dish, I used the Alfredo Portobello sauce...

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With some fresh ingredients...

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Ingredients

• 150g Spaghetti or pasta of your choice


• 2 pips Garlic (sliced thinly)


• 4-5 Button mushrooms (caps + stipes)


• 3pcs Fresh scallops (sliced half and cut into 4 sections)


• 80g Fresh medium prawns


• 1 can of Campbell's Alfredo Portobello sauce


• 1/2 cup Water (optional)

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Method

1. Heat some water in a stock pot - half filled with a teaspoon salt and let it come to a boil. Toss in spaghetti or pasta and cook till preferred softness. Drained, add a teaspoon of olive oil, mix and set a side.


2. In a frying pan, add some oil and saute garlic till golden. Lift up and set aside.


3. Using the same frying pan, add another tablespoon of oil and stir fry mushroom, scallops and prawns till 70% cooked.


4. Add in the whole can of Alfredo Portobello sauce and mix well with the ingredients. Add 1/2 a cup of water if you want it to be slightly diluted and stir till cooked.


5. You can either pour on top of your spaghetti or you can toss in your spaghetti and stir fry it for a minute. Garnish with the saute garlic and some vegetables.


6. If you love herbs, you can sprinkle some mixed herbs for extra flavors.

Fresh Turmeric Chicken

One thing I've been dying to eat during my confinement was this fresh turmeric chicken. However, due to jaundice in baby, I was 'advised' by a few friends to avoid any ginger in large amount especially turmeric. I do not know how much effect turmeric has on newborn jaundice so to be on the safe side, I avoided it for almost 3 weeks. That means my chance of having this particular dish is pretty limited!

So, die-die on the 3rd week I begged my mom to cook it for me else I'll never have a chance! :lol: Not that I don't know how to cook it just that I don't wish to handle all the yellow stuff in my kitchen! Yeah, it can get a little colorful sometimes! :) Normally I will use turmeric powder which is less fragrant. Usually I will have them pan fried but you can always deep fried it or grill it... it is an individual preference.

I asked my mom to add in some curry leafs this time as these leafs give the dish an extra flavors! They are oh so yummy! :)
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Ingredients

• 2 pcs Whole chicken thighs


• 80-100g Fresh Turmeric (crushed/blender)


• 2 strands Curry leafs


• Sesame seed oil


• Salt for taste


• Black pepper

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Methods

1. De-bone the chicken thighs (optional) and marinade with crushed fresh turmeric, some salt and black pepper for at least 30 minutes (the longer the better as the turmeric juice can absorb better) and mix in the curry leafs before cooking.


2. Heat up frying pan with sesame seed oil and pan fried both chicken thighs till cooked.

Pumpkin Porridge with Dried Scallops and Minced Meat

With the unusually hot weather since the beginning of this year, I have made it a point to cook porridge or jook at least once a week to cool our body down beside boiling liong-cha. When Darrius started solid some 4 years ago, I will normally cook just a small pot solely for him since PiggyBeng is not a fan of porridge. To him porridge can't fill his tummies (see the plural?) up so he prefered to have rice with dishes.

To many people, cooking porridge is simple and healthier as there are more water content in porridge as compared to cooked rice. Especially when we are sick, a hot bowl of porridge is so comforting! :)

I was never a fan of pumpkin until I was living in Perth many years ago. I was staying with my aunt then and there was once her neighbor gave her a huge pumpkin which she grew in her backyard. Both my aunt and I was cracking our heads on how to finish up such a huge pumpkin! So, I told my aunt why don't we cook porridge with it since the weather was a little chilly then. It was an instant blast!

Then a uni-mate from Norway fell sick and she can't seems to get food into her. So, I offered to cook her some pumpkin porridge with a few other ingredients and she fell in love instantly and told me she has never tasted anything as good as this!

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cup Rice (wash and drained)


• 3L Water


• 150g Pumpkin (you can put more if you like)


• 1 stick Carrot


• 2pcs Dried scallops


• 100g Groundnuts (washed and pre-boiled to remove dirts)


• 150g Mince meat (pork/chicken)


• 1tbsp Oil + salt to be added into rice and soak for 10 mins


• Salt for taste


• Lettuce & Egg omelette cut into strips for garnishing

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Method

1. In a pot, when water is boiling add in the soaked rice and let it boil.


2. Cut pumpkin and carrot into small cubes, wash the dried scallops and groundnuts before  tossing them into the pot.


3. For the mince meat, add a little salt and oil and let it marinate for 30 minutes or so.


4. Stir the porridge constantly every 15-20 minutes so it would not stick at the bottom.


5. Boil the porridge for an hour and when it gets thicken, add in the mince meat and stir so it won't be a big lump.


6. Continue to let it boil for a while but constantly stirring to avoid the bottom from getting burnt.


7. Serve hot with lettuce and egg omelette strips.

Stir-fried Pork Liver with Holland Peas and Ginger

I was told that pork liver is good for those who has lost blood during labor. Pork liver contains a rich source of iron which will help us to rebuild those lost blood cells. I was never a fan of pork intestines so this dish did not appeal to me in the very beginning but I ate it because of it 'purpose'.

My mom told me it is tough to find good liver these days as the pigs are no longer being fed on organic food like ages ago. However, mom advised that I should look for those that are bright and shinny liver if I wanted to buy them as these are fresher. Never go for those dark and dull in color ones.

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Ingredients

• 300g Pork liver (sliced thinly)


• 1 pkt Holland peas/sweet peas/snap peas


• 80g Old ginger


• Sesame seed oil


• Light soy sauce


• Corn flour for marinade

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Methods

1. Marinade sliced pork liver with some corn flour and light soy sauce, set aside.


2. In a wok or frying pan, heat up 4tbsp of sesame seed oil and saute the old ginger strips until fragrant.


3. Toss in the Holland peas and gently stir them for a few minutes.


4. When the peas are about 70% cooked, pour in the marinaded pork liver slices and stir gently until 90% cooked.


5. Sprinkle some light soy sauce over before lifting them up and serve.

Keeping your Scouring Sponge Last Longer

Previously, I used to change my scouring sponge every 2 or 3 months as the scouring pad tend to detach easily from the sponge. I always thought that the one I bought are not from 'branded range' so I decided to get the 3M ones thinking they could stick better and longer. Well, I was wrong - again! The same thing happened!

Then I was at my mom's place and I told her about this little problem I had. She then told me that I should stitch a 'cross' on the sponge to keep the sponge and scouring pad together. Hmm.... ya hor! :) And I set out my experiment...

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For the purpose of this post, I have first made one and used it since April last year. It is proven that it does last longer and with the stitches on the sponge, the glue tend to stick better and longer too!

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Now you can save so much from buying these scouring sponge!

Hope this little tip helps you in your kitchen! Happy cooking!

Sugar Cane with Water Chestnuts and Loh Hon Kao

Every time I never fail to loathe the pre-Lunar New Year weather. It has always been dry and hot especially up in this tiny island. Rainfalls are limited during this period and I am so thankful that my confinement is over!

Due to the hot weather, Darrius has been coughing again with more phlegm in his throat. I really hate to feed him more medication as his cough never seems to go away. I have cut down all the cookies and chocolate from his diet (he complained that he don't get yummy treats in his bento now!) to avoid him from getting fever.

Therefore, this mommy has to be more hardworking now. Beside dishing out the regular 2 meals a day, I still have to boil some 'cooling' tea for the family.

Here is one of Darrius's all time favorite:

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Ingredients

• 4 sticks Sugar cane (tiek-jia in Hokkien)


• 10pcs Water Chestnuts (cleaned and crushed)


• 1pc Loh hon kao


• 2.5 - 3 L Water


• 2 Sweet dates (optional)

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Method

1. Split the sugar cane and light crushed them with hammer so the 'juice' will come out easily, break the loh hon kao and crushed the water chestnuts.


2. When water boiled, put all ingredient in and boil for 1.5 hours on low fire.

Egg Omelette with Chives and Shrimps

The other day we went to the old Sunshine Farlim which has been converted into a warehouse style of wet market cum hypermarket to get some stuff for the coming Lunar New Year. The place was rather quiet though it was about 5pm in the evening on a weekend.

Though the conversion was less than a year, a few tenants have moved... probably due to the poor patronage. There used to be a few vege sellers occupying the 'wet market' area but now it was left with 2 or 3 sellers only. Business was brisk that day though..

After we gotten what we intended to buy, we went to check out some of these vege stalls and I saw some very fresh ku-chai or chives. It has been a while since I cook chives and I kinda miss it so decided to get a bundle.

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Ingredients

• 2 Eggs


• 50g Chives


• 50g Shrimps (shelled)


• Salt & pepper for taste

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Method

1. Heat up frying pan with some oil (put more if you're not using non-stick pan).


2. When oil is hot, toss the shrimps in and stir fry lightly for a minute before tossing in the chives (cut into 1" section) and stir fry for another minute.


3. Beat eggs in a bowl, add in some salt and pepper.


4. Pour in the fried shrimps and chives into the bowl of beaten eggs and mix them well.


5. Add new oil into the frying pan and when it is heated up, pour in the egg mixture and fry the omelette till golden brown.

Stir-fried Ginger and Spring Onion Pork

Though confinement is only for 30 or 40 days, it is still very important to have variations as it can be very boring to be eating the same few dishes day in day out for that one month period. During my first confinement, I had almost the same dishes everyday since both my mom and myself were not too sure which ingredient can be eaten at which period. Since this is our second time, things have sure improved.

The only thing is, this time we make it very simple since my mom has to take care of Darrius and my nephew. Therefore, I told her to cook all the simplest dishes she can think of beside the few which I requested. Here is another dish which I really like...

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Ingredients

• 300g Pork (the face section which is very smooth and tender) - sliced thinly


• 50g Ginger - thin strips


• 2-3 stalks Spring onions


• Corn flour + water solution (to marinade sliced pork)


• 3tbl Sesame seed oil


• Light soy sauce for taste

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Method

1. Heat up wok with sesame seed oil and saute the ginger till fragrant.


2. Toss in marinated sliced pork and stir till 70% cook. Add in spring onion which has been cut into 2" sections.


3. Sprinkle some light soy sauce and stir till well mixed before serving.

Black Beans with Chicken Feet Soup

During this confinement, I get to drink more soup than my previous one. I told my mom that I wish to try food that I did not get to eat the last time and was glad that my mom was so accommodating!

Besides the shallots and lemongrass soup I had, my mom also boiled some black beans with chicken feet soup. The great thing is, the whole family can enjoy this soup together!

One thing I like about KL is, some of the wet markets around my mom's place has got good stuff selling. There is this poultry stall at the Yulek wet market which my mom frequent has really nice chickens. I like the size of their chicken wings and chicken feet... always in L or XL size as compared to those in Penang... always in S or M size!

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Ingredients

• 300g Black beans (you can put more if you like)


• 10sets Chicken feet


• 10pcs Red dates (optional)


• 2L Water


• Salt for taste

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Method

1. Dry pan fry the black beans until you can see the husk starting to break up. Lift up and set aside.


2. Boil water and put in all the ingredients and boil for at least 2 hours. Add salt for taste but if it is for confinement, usually we omit the salt.

Stir Fried Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken

During my previous confinement I took a lot of glutinous rice wine chicken which was the more soupy version as my mom made her own glutinous rice wine then. This time, she did not have the time to do it herself so she ordered from a friend. The taste was not as good...

Anyway, in most confinement menu, glutinous rice wine chicken is one of the most common dish so that means we could never go without! Since the wine was not as tasty as before, my mom did the stir fried version instead which uses less of the wine.

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Ingredients

• 1 Free range chicken (chopped into small pieces)


• 300g Ginger (coarsely chopped)


• 3tbsp Sesame seed oil


• 1cup Glutinous rice wine


• 1/2cup Water


• Salt for taste

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with sesame seed oil and saute chopped ginger till fragrant.


2. Put in chicken pieces and stir fry till cook and add in some water, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally on medium fire.


3. Pour in the glutinous rice wine and continue to stir and let it simmer without covering the wok till sauce thicken.


4. Add in salt for taste (optional).