Friday, August 20, 2010

Save the Wallet. Cook at Home #2

I love Italian food. So I invested a little bit in herbs & spices such as rosemary (迷迭香), oregano, parsley (荷兰芹) etc. These spices can make wonders. They are relatively expensive in Singapore. 25g bottle is about $4-$5. In the US, 1 tub (15g) cost < U$1. A small amount of spices can bring up the taste very subtly yet sufficient to satisfy your taste buds.
Let's learn how to recognise the spices.
1. Oregano
 2. Rosemary
3. Parsley
Linguini Bolognese...
Steps
1. Boil pasta (of your choice) in hot water with a pinch of salt.
2. While boiling pasta, heat up wok with olive oil.
3. Fry garlic, onion till golden brown.
4. Cook carrot with water. Simmer till softened. Add a little salt if desired.
5. Cook meat for 7-10 minutes then add tomato.
6. Stir in pasta sauce then spices such as grounded oregano & rosemary (optional).
7. Drain pasta and serve on plate together with a generous amount of meat sauce.

Ready to tuck in...

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Save the Wallet. Cook at Home #1

It was recommended to eat 2 servings of vegetables & 2 servings of fruits daily.
Other than mixed vegetable economic rice (杂菜饭), we don't really get enough vegetables from other food. A plate of stir-fried vege is easily $6-$8. Extremely overcharged. FYI, 1 packet of vege, enough of 4 person consumption is only about $1-$1.50. So we should cook vege at home.

The simple way to cook vegetable besides stir-frying is to boil it in hot water.
Steps:
1. Boil 2 cups of water in a pot
2. Add a little oil. Salt is optional
3. When boiled, put in vege and cook for 30 sec to 1 min depends on the strength of fire
4. Observe the change of color & remove vege from water when cooked
5. Serve vege with some oyster sauce and minced garlic


Another overcharged dish in Singapore eateries is Bakuteh. Bakuteh is a popular & nutritious soup in Singapore. Usually a bowl is $8. Actually preparation is less complicated then many other hot dishes.
Steps:
1. Boil 6 bowls of water. When boiled put in groundnuts (optional) and coice of Bakuteh sachet
2. Separately boil another pot of clear water
3. Cook meat when clear water is boiled. When meat surface is cooked, transfer meat to Bakuteh soup pot. This is to lock in the freshness of the meat and to avoid the blood from contaminating our Bakuteh.
4. Boil Bakuteh for 15 min. Put in garlic (optional)
5. Turn fire to small and continue to slow boil for 30 min. Heat up before serving.
Note:
To keep overnight in fridge, remove meat from soup to prevent oversoaking. Meat texture will turn hard and coarse.