The - Bimbimbap..

My sister was asking me to make her a bimbimbap.. Not knowing how to make them and how it really tasted - its game on for me..

Googled the recipe, wakes up at 6am to make and packed them for lunch.. My virgin Bimbimbap and she say it tasted good..

Here is the visual:



Bimbimbap with beansprout in gochujang sauce!

Where was I??

9 months of hiatus.. that is freaking long.. where was I? I was nowhere but felt like I was everywhere.. it must be what you call aging? no??!

shit happens in life.. for some it maybe sometimes, but for me it seems like all the time.. family issues, in-law issues, the kid falling sick almost every 2 weeks it has been a roller coaster ride but Alhamdulillah, got thru all of it in 1 piece!

The numerous baking, cooking and kitchen experiments in these 9 months has been exciting.. after all those shit that happens, i'd realised my pots & pans, the stove, the oven and my lovely kitchen helps me to de-stress..


My comfort zone.. This is where i'll be when i'm hiding from my Firas.. This is where i'll wait impatiently for food to be out from the oven..


My very own island.. Love them to bits!

Here's what I've been doing since my last post:


5th March 2013.. Mountain Cheese burst patty.. Homemade dinner..


The first Rainbow cake for my Sister 30th Birthday, 17th March 2013.. It was such a failure.. the frosting was a runny mess, the taste was too sweet, but it was worth the try and I wasn't going to give up yet!


18th March 2013.. Maggi Goreng Mata Lembu! Instant quick dinner..


The first lunchbox, 19th March 2013.. This is when I decided to cut down on lunch spending.. That's stir fried veg + rice + Sweet Soy Sauce chicken..


Lunchbox, 22nd March 2013.. Fried Macaroni + oven baked chicken wings + Sardine bread roll..


22nd March 2013.. Fried Shrimp on Toasted Bun.. That's a lazy dinner..


23rd March 2013.. Weekend Brekkie.. My very own Big Breakfast.. Heh!


Lunchbox, 26th March 2013.. Green Chili fried rice + chicken cutlet & 'jemput-jemput'


4th April 2013.. The instant brekkie.. Instant Prata + Cheesy Sausage one can never go wrong with these combo..


11th April 2013.. Beef Pita for a weekday brekkie..


18th April 2013.. Baked Macaroni, for a weekday dinner..


19th April 2013.. Cajun Chicken Focaccia for a weekday breakfast..


Lunchbox, 26th April 2013.. Fried Egg Seafood Noodle..


4th May 2013, Mothers' Day celebration at the beach with my Mum and faveys aunts.. My 2nd rainbow cake.. It was my mistake cos I didn't crumb coat the cake.. henc ethe runny chocolate glaze.. But everyone love them!


5th May 2013.. Chocolate Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting on a good day!


5th May 2013.. Cuppies for my dear and his colleagues.. You've gotta feed Police Officers with good food!


The first Doughnut ball 12th May 2013.. Made them during the weekend for my sister's religious class and it turns out a 'lil chewy, the chocolate glaze didn't cooperate with me.. boohoo! But I was determine to try them again!


12th May 2013.. It was Mothers' Day celebration for my MIL.. Chocolate Cuppies with Cream Cheese frosting..


Dinner, 16th May 2013.. Beef tofu stew, missing Seoul badly..


Dinner, 28th May 2013..  Roasted Chicken + Potatoes, it turns out oily & it wasn't spicy enuff for my tastebud.. Recipe from allrecipe.com


Dinner, 29th May 2013.. The effortless meal.. Ramli's Chicken Patties with toast.. When I am uber lazy, out comes the instant!


Dinner, 31st May 2013.. Macaroni Chicken Soup + Sambal Kicap.. the purrrrfect dinner on a rainy day..


Brekkie, 8th June 2013.. Cheesy beef toast..


Lunchbox, 12th June 2013.. Stir-fried veg with vermicelli noodle + Egg tofu


Lunchbox, 17th June 2013.. Tuna Onigiri..


Dinner, 18th June 2013.. My first Beef Lasagne.. Recipe taken from the back of the pasta packaging..


28th June 2013.. Mini Cinnamon Churros to kill time while waiting for dear husband to come home.. Surprisingly it turns out good..


8th July 2013.. The perfect soft donuts!


20th August 2013.. Complete dinner set for my famish husband.. Stir-Fried veg + Sambal Sotong..


8th September 2013.. When both wants a different menu for lunch.. For him, Sambal Tiger Prawns & I wanted a Ayam Lemak Chili Padi..


14th September 2013.. Weekend lunch, Nasi Goreng Kampong + Cajun Prawn + Keropok Ikan Tamban.. Power GileRR!


12th October 2013.. Midnight Snack, Tuna Mayo on Toast..


15th October 2013.. Mini Chocolate Chip muffin..


16th October 2013.. MY Meat pie for dinner..


Lunchbox, 29th October 2013.. Kimchi Fried Rice + its condiments..


30th October 2013.. Brekkie was Kimchi pancake on a weekday..


9th November 2013.. Cake pop for a cousin wedding.. I still couldn't figure out the perfect cake pop recipe but these are just too pretty!


15th November 2013.. Mushroom Fried Rice it tasted superb!


19th November 2013.. Hokkien Fried Noodle for weekday breakfast..


24th November 2013.. Ddubokki for dinner.. missing Seoul street food..

These are homemade food.. I wouldn't consider myself as hardworking but when it comes to food I get excited all the time.. and that explains why I gained 6kg after giving birth..

THE - Soft Tofu Stew

Since we got home from our Korea getaway, hubby was craving for Soft tofu stew which we had at Insadong.. So he googled some recipes then picked out 1 which he think would taste good and forward them to me so that i could cook it after work..

I have no idea where he got it from, i only had screenshot of the recipe, the address bar wasn't in the pic either.. Here goes:

Soft Tofu Stew



Ingrdients:
* 3 Tbsp sesame oil
* 1/2 lb beef (thinly sliced)
* 1/2 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped
* 2 Tbsp red pepper powder
* 2 cups anchovy stock or beef stock
* 3 cups soft tofu
* 2 Tbsp soy sauce
* 1 lb unshucked clams
* 2 scallion, sliced
* Eggs (optional)

Methods:
1) In a soup pot, stir-fry beef, garlic, red pepper powder in the sesame oil for abt 5 minutes.
2) Add in stock and soy sauce to pot. Bring to simmer.
3) Add in clams and let it cook for abt 5 minutes or till it opens.
4) Gently slide in the soft tofu & add in the scallion. Turn off heat and serve hot!

Note: In restaurants, these stew are served in traditional earthenware bowl while bubbling hot. Raw egg is added to the stew and folded into the contentc to cook from the heat within the bowl.

THE - Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice, Nasi Ayam, it has gotta be the simplest or prolly the basic-est food at all hawker centre.. Its like Chicken with Rice and Nasi with Ayam.. Simple food, simple pleasures..

Here's my take on my chicken rice.. A couple of years prolly 8-9 years back, I remembered watching Channel 5 on 1 morning and it was showing some chinese lady who is in the USA cooking Chicken Rice.. Back then, my memory was still capable on rememebering hence, miraculously i remembered roughly how it was made..

I had tried them a couple of times, improvised it at every tries and alhamdulillah it turned out good.. A reliable recipe i must say.. sorta! heh!

Before i start giving out the recipes, let me just get this straight that i had no intention on having these recipes on my own nor do i wanna be selfish.. There are times when i don't have any unit measurement on the litres of water used or the quantity of salt or sugar.. Whatever i have or knows i'll write it down, otherwise it would be agak-agak or estimation..

Chicken Rice



Chicken Stock:

* 1L of water
* Couple of chicken wings/parts (4-5 pcs)
* salt
* 2 cubes of chicken Knorr
[The original recipe is just water + chicken, it is tasteless, seriously tasteless]

Methods:
1) Cook the chicken parts in the 1L of water and bring it to boil.
2) Add in the Chicken cube & salt to taste.
3) Once the stock is up to your preference, turn off the heat. Let it cool properly. Best to cook them the previous night.

Rice:

* Rice (of course!), 5 cups
* 5 cloves garlic, minced
* 3 cm ginger, minced
* 1 Cube of chicken knorr
* 4 tbsp olive oil
[The original recipe uses chicken fats from the skin of the chicken.. Sound greasy doesn't it, so i had opted for olive oil]

Methods:
1) Washed the rice and drain properly.
2) Heat up oil in the wok and put in garlic and ginger. Stir well. (Garlic & ginger turns brown easily so you gotta constantly stir them!) PS: I get high from the smell of garlic & ginger.
3) Add in the Knorr cube and stir. Once dissolve, put in the rice. Yes the uncooked rice, stir fry them constantly for abt 3-5 mins and turn the heat off. Remove from stove and let it cool.

Rice meets Stock:
Note: DO NOT, use the whole 1L of chicken stock.

1) Once rice has cooled, pour in the required amt of stock to cook the rice (just like how you would cook a white rice). Stir them before putting it in the cooker and cook!
2) That is it!

Fried Chicken:
Note: This is not the recipe from the lady.. Its the basic, normal fried chicken recipe that i have, my own..

* Chicken thigh
* Light Soya Sauce
* Tumeric Powder (Kunyit Powder)

Methods:
1) Wash and drain the chicken. Pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
2) Marinate with light soya sauce & tumeric powder (Not too much of the powder)
Note: Due to the Soya Sauce, chicken turn brown easily. Do cook them on small fire/low heat.

Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce:

* 11 Red Chilli
* 5 Red Chilli Padi
* 4 cloves garlic
* 1 tbsp Vinegar
* 3/4 cup water
* Sugar
* Salt

Methods:
1) Blend all the ingredients together.
2) Cook them on low heat. Add more sugar/salt up to your preferences.

Happy Trying!