我的试验室 My Lab

I was looking at Kimchi Nabe recipe last week.  Suddenly, just strike my mind that I can possibly turn it into instant noodles? Hey, it works!!

Ingredients

• 1 serve of noodles/ bee hoon/ Kuih Teow - cook it according to packet direction
• 1 cup chicken stock(usually I use plain water)
• 2 tbsp of Kimchi
• 1 tsp soy bean paste(Korean or Chinese is find)
• Veggie of the day(Above is home-grown snow pea)
• 1 tsp fried onion

Procedure

1. Boil the chicken stock/water.
2. Add Kimchi, soy bean paste and veggies.  Bring to boil, then remove from heat.
3. Pour it onto the noodles.  Garnish with fried onion.

That is one of my favourite weekdays lunch recipe right now.

After going through some articles found in the internet, seems that Stevia is used to produce some of the diabetic sweetener in the market.

I tried to chew half of a leaf yesterday.  No joke, it is absolutely sweet.

Should I try to blend a leaf or two into my morning coffee when it grows bigger?

This year is the first year our family went through winter without flu.  Thanks to honey lemon drink.
Lemon is sort of like a 'must' citrus tree at every home backyard garden here.  It is definitely a nature's gift as lemon is a winter fruit.  That is when we need it the most to stay healthy. 

During winter, we have honey lemon drink every alternate days.  I am not sure whether it is too much, but, one thing for sure we have managed to stay away from flu.  And, it is delicious too.  My kids and I love it.

At other time, whenever we have flu symptoms, honey lemon drink has always been the remedy. 

My honey lemon drink  ingredients are:

• 1 big lemon
• 3 tbsp honey (If you like it sweet, add more honey)
• 600ml slightly warm water (not too warm as it will destroy the Vitamin C and honey)

Squeeze out the lemon juice, add water then stir until honey is dissolved. 

Serve immedietely.

Why not have a cup of honey lemon drink during a hot day break too?

As you may have already known, we cannot get antibiotic here without prescription. And, seems that the doctors here are not easily convinced that you need one either. 

Therefore, whenever we feel uncomfortable at our throat(when it is still at the initial stage of infection), we shall gargle it with warm salt water.  And, this is repeated about 4-5 times a day.  However, once after wake up and once before bed time is a must.  This should be repeated until the discomfort goes off.

Actually, Dr Lechimi advised me before, but I just put it behind my mind as at that time, sore throat problem can easily be solved by antibiotic.

Warm salt water is really effective to cure phlegm and sore throat.  And, you can also spray it into the nostril to clear the phlegm as well.

Of course if the symptoms persist(especially with the greem phlegm), you are advise to see a doctor!!

This is a good afternoon snack for kids. It is easy to prepare. Remember, griddle it, don't fry it with oil.  As this will add extra crisp on the skin.

Ingredients

• 3 cups plain flour(can substitute with wholemeal flour)
• 2 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• Spread of the day

Procedure

1.  Mix above ingredients until smooth.  Set aside.

2.  Heat up a heavy based pan ( I use a thick base Stainless Steel pan).  Have to make sure that it is really hot.  O/w, the crepe will stick onto the pan.

3. Pour a ladle of batter and spread it evenly on the pan.

4. When the crepe change colour into slightly translucent and some smoke comes out of the side of the crepe, turn it over.  Constantly press the crepe with the potato mesher for even cooking(This is optional though).  It should be ready after 1 min.

5. Spread with jam/ Nutella/ kaya/ pumkin kaya/ maple Syrup/ All in stir fry/... can be anything.

6. Roll it up and it is ready to be served.

I like this dish simply because kids will eat it all up without knowing that they actually consume so much veggies in a meal!!  And, most importantly, it is easy to cook.

Note : Don't be scared off by the long list of ingredients(especially veggies) as they are going to be the nutrients and fibre in your meal.

Ingredients (2 meals for my family)

Part A - Marinate the pork

• 500g minced pork/chicken/etc
• 1/2 cup plain flour/corn flour
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 big onion (minced)
• 1 tsp 5 spices powder
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 big chilli (chopped)

Mix all the above ingredients and set aside.

Part B - The Veggies (can make variation according to your own taste)

• 1 big onions (minced)
• 2 big chilli (chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 3 carrots (diced/chopped)
• 1 bunch spring onion (cut into small pieces)
• 1 bunch coriander (chopped)
• 1 bunch parsley (chopped)
• 5 shitake mushroom (soaked and chopped)
• 2 tbsp bean paste
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Heat up a big wok, add 2 tbsp of oil. Fry onion until slightly brown, add garlic and chilli, keep frying for about 1 min, add marinated pork. Break the minced pork down into smaller lumps.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients one by one.  If it is too dry, add some water.
3. Add seasoning and salt to taste. And, it is done.  Easy, isn't it?

It is also very versatile.  You can have it with rice, pasta, tortilla wrap, Taco shells, make it into hamburgers,etc..

This is going to be a good dish when you have a busy day ahead.

 

This is blueberry 蓝莓plant.  It has pink pointy flower buds and bell shaped flowers.  Baby blueberries are still green though.



Flowers of almond  杏仁 are very similar to peach flowers 桃花 as they are from the same family.



These are nectarine 油桃 flowers.  They are very pink. Snow pea 豌豆 flowers also help to add some colours in my garden Mint 薄荷 is doing well in this season too. Parsley 荷蘭芹 is also on it's way to join the crowd.

 Today, I am going to show you some flowers of the citrus trees in my garden. 


Flowers of Eureka Lemon



Flowers  of Tahitian Lime



New Shoots of Kaffir Lime



Flowers and new shoots of Navelina (Orange)


They are not only nice to look at, they are beautifully scented too.  I will show you some other plants and flowers tomorrow.

We do not usually use a lot of spring onions at a time.  So, what are we going to do with the rest of the left over spring onions? 

Try to cut with a sharp knife at about 2 inches from the 'white head' of the spring onion with the root attached. Store the green parts(without washing) in a container and keep them in the fridge, you should be able to store them up to a week. 

Meanwhile, dig some shallow holes on the ground or pots, grow the 'spring onions heads', water them immediately.  You will spot the growth immediately the next day!!  Water them everyday/ keep them really moist at all time.  You should be able to start harvesting them after 2 weeks.

When harvesting, do not pull out the whole plant. Just cut the stalks almost near to the ground. This will keep them growing for a very long time as it is a 'cut and come' herb.

Alternatively, just simply bury an onion into the ground.  Water it.  It should sprout within a week.

Do you find it very tediuos to ladle the floating chicken/pork fat from the soup?  It just likes to play hide and seek with you, isn't it?  Let me give you some handy tips.

1.  Boil chicken/ pork bones in water for 30 min.
2.  Cool the stock to room temperature.  Remove the bones.  Keep in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Forget about chasing the fat with a ladle in the pot FOREVER!

Well, I make up the name of this dipping sauce.  Probably this is one of the most common homemade dipping sauce that you can't be bothered to name it.  It is rather unfair, right?  So, let's give it a name today, let's call it Coriander Dipping Sauce, agree?
As you know, we are coriander fan.  So, we find this sauce so special even though it is so simple.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped Coriander
• 3 big cloves of chopped garlic
• 2 big red chili (more if u want it hot) - sliced/chopped
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce (I use Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce by Bango)

Note:  The ingredient is just a guideline, you can vary the quantity according to your liking.

Procedure

1. Mix all ingredients and it is done. 

It compliments well with fried fish, steam/boil chicken and Bak Kut Teh.  And, it is healthy ( Apart from the soy sauce :-))!

Do you use a lot of ginger in your cooking?  I don't.  Just a knob or two in a week or sometimes in months.  So, there were always left over ginger which ended up in my compost bin. It is too wasteful.

Not after I found this idea from internet.  The frozen ginger cube.

Firstly, peel all the ginger skin.  Clean and dry them.  Grind/slice/shred all of them.
Pop them all into ice-cube tray as below.

Freeze them overnight.
Store all ginger cube in a plastic bag or containers in the freezer.
Use as required.

Pumpkin is rich in antioxidant and fibre.  I try to include it as much as possible in my daily diet (Please take note that it is not suitable for diabetics).  I make up this bao recipe.  Please let me know whether you like it.
Ingredients

• 300g pumpkin
• 1 small potato
• 3/4 cup pumpkin/potato water
• 1 tsp yeast
• 4 - 5 cups plain flour
• 15pcs of pan-fried ham (can vary the fillings)

Procedure

1. Peel pumpkin and potato then slice them.
2. Boil them until they are soft.  Reserve 3/4 cup of the pumpkin/potato water.
3. Mash pumpkin and potato until smooth.  Let it cool down.
4. Add the 3/4 cup reserve water to mashed pumpkin and potato.
5. Stir in yeast.  Mix well.
6. Add plain flour 1 tbsp at a time.  Keep adding plain flour and stirring until the mixture turn into soft dough.
7. Roughly knead the dough and form into a ball.
8. Cover it and let it rise until the size is doubled (It takes me ~4 hours during winter).
9. Punch it down to release all the air.  Add more flour if it is too sticky.
10. Divide dough into 15pcs.
11. Roll into a rectagular shape which is double the size of the ham.
12. Fold in the ham.
13. Boil hot water to steam the bao.(Tips : Do not put bao into steamer until the water is boiling hot)
14. Steam for 10 min using high heat.

Serving Suggestion:
Add some shredded lettuce, carrot and chili sauce before serving.

Nothing special right? It is just a 4L ice-cream tub. Let's open it and see.

When they are about 80% full, top up with some garden soil . Close tightly with the lid. Forget about it for about 3 months. Change another spot and repeat the above again.

What I am doing is actually homemade mini compost bin. By doing this, we are supplying some food for the earthworm as well as doing anaerobic decomposition process for the food waste. This will give your plants some 'desserts'. They will love you for that.

• 500g pumpkin - peel and slice
• 5 tbsp coconut milk
• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cinnamon (optional)

1. Boil pumpkin for 10min or until soften.
2. Mash it with potato masher.
3. Put mashed pumpkin in a fry pan.  Add coconut milk.  Keep stirring until it thickens.
4. Add brown sugar, pinch of salt & cinnamon.
5. Keep stirring until it reaches the consistency that you like.
6. Keep in the fridge when it is cool.  Try to finish it within 3 days.

• 
  
  3/4 cup dried fermented black bean
• 
  
  Shao Xing (just enough to cover the mashed black bean)
• 
  
  2 big bulbs of chopped garlic
• 
  
  2 medium size chopped brown onion
• 
  
  2 tbsp chopped ginger
• 
  
  3 big red chili - deseed and slice (Add more if you like it hot)
• 
  
  3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 
  
  1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 
  
  2 tbsp light soy source
• 
  
  2 tbsp sugar
• 
  
  1 tsp pepper
• 
  
  sesame oil

1. 
   
   Rinse black bean and drain well. 
2. 
   
   Use pestle and mortar set to mash the black bean lightly.  Note that if you mash it too much, it will have slight bitter taste at the end product.
3. 
   
   Pour Shao Xing just enough to cover the mashed black bean then set aside.
4. 
   
   Heat oil, saute garlic,onion, ginger and chili until onion is slightly brown, add the black bean mixture.
5. 
   
   Add oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and pepper to taste.
6. 
   
   Continue frying until the sugar caramelised.  Remove from heat.
7. 
   
   Let it cool down, keep sauce in sterillised jar.
8. 
   
   Pour sesame oil over just enough to cover the sauce.
9. 
   
   Keep it in the fridge.