Bite On It!

Sometimes I just don’t know what to cook especially when I am in my ‘lazy mood’. If the dish required some additional ingredients and I do not have them at home, I’ll just forget about it. Since my Ah Beng is getting more ‘health conscious’ lately, he has requested that I do minimal frying if I could help it and have steam fish everyday… Don’t think I can eat steamed fish everyday though!

Come to think of it, if a dish is ‘healthy’ it is usually not so flavorful as ’sinful’ dishes… What do you consider as healthy except salad or maybe a bowl of oatmeal? I really can’t think. So, what I do best is to think of all the not so healthy food when I am trapped in such situation! Call me evil if you like!

Here is one such dish…

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Ingredients

• 4oog Pork belly (cut into 1″ cubes together with skin)
• 1 Red chili (sliced strips)
• 2 Shallots (sliced)
• 1tsp Fermented black beans
• 1tbsp Taucu (fermented soy beans)
• 1tbsp Black sauce
• 1 cup Water
• Light soy sauce (optional)

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Methods

1. Heat up wok (best if using a non stick) and pan fried the pork cubes until 50% cooked. Lift up and set aside.
2. Heat up a medium corning ware or a clay pot with at least 3tbsp of oil and saute the shallots chili till fragrant.
3. Add in the fermented black beans and soy beans and continue to stir. Toss in the pork cubes and add in black sauce, stir and add water. Cover.
4. Once it boils, turn to low heat and simmer for another 30 minutes or until meat turn soft. Add in some light soy sauce if it taste bland.

I have not been doing a lot of creative cooking of late as Darrius is eating the same food as we are so I only cook dishes that are suitable for him to consume… less spicy and fried stuff on the table. The other thing to consider when cooking with toddlers in mind is, to have lot of sauces if there is no soup accompanying that particular meal. Sauce will helps to soften the rice so it is easier on the kids to chew and swallow.

Here is another very easy to cook dish that suits the kids since sweet potatoes are full of vitamins and nutrients. What I like about this dish is, the sweetness from the sweet potatoes penetrate into the chicken as well as the sauce making it so appetizing!

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Ingredients

• 1 Sweet potato (medium to large size - chunk)
• 6 Chicken wings (cut the drumplets and wings into 2 parts)
• 3 cloves Garlic (minced)
• Snowpeas/Snap peas (a few pieces - optional)
• 2 tbsp Light soy sauce (or according to preferred taste)
• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce (or according to preferred tone)
• 1.5 cups Water
• Dash of pepper
• Corn flour solution (to thicken sauce)

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Method

1. Heat up wok with a little oil and gently pan fried the sweet potato chunks. Lift them up.
2. Add some more oil and pan fried the chicken wings till they turned brownish. Lift them up.
3. In the same wok, saute the minced garlic till fragrant and toss in the chicken wings, stir, add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce, stir and add in water. Covered and turn on low fire for and simmer for10 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Toss in the sweet potato chunks, stir and continue to simmer on low fire for another 10 minutes.
5. When you are about to turn off the fire, toss in the sweetpeas/snap peas, stir, add in corn flour solution and stir till well mix. Cover and switched off the fire.

I love One-Pot dish not only they are convenient and easy to prepare but full of flavors.

This is another one-pot dish that I often cook as the ingredients can be easily purchased. In fact I have most of them stuffed in my freezer! How convenient is that right?

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Ingredients

• 3 Chicken drumsticks (cut into about 4 pieces each)
• 2 cups rice (wash and sieve dry)
• 6-8 Dried mushrooms (soaked and sliced)
• 1 Chinese pork sausage (Lap cheong)
• 1/2 bulb Garlic (minced)
• 1″ Old ginger (sliced)
• 2tbsp Sesame seed oil (1tbsp to marinate and 1tsp for frying)
• Dark soy sauce
• Light soy sauce
• Fish sauce
• Pepper to taste (optional)

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Methods

1. After cutting chicken, prop them into a deep bowl and marinade with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, fish sauce, pepper and sesame seed oil.
2. Heat up wok with some oil + sesame seed oil, saute the ginger till brownish then add in the minced garlic and saute till fragrant. Toss in the rice, stir and add in the chicken pieces (together with the sauce) and continue to stir till all well mixed.
3. Add in the mushroom pieces and Chinese sausage slices and mix well. Lift them up and put into rice cooker, add sufficient water (cover all the rice mixture) and cook like normal.
4. Alternatively, you can put into the steamer and steam till the rice cooked.

Here is another easy and yummy chicken dish. I’ve always like braised chicken dishes as they are just so simple to cook and great for toddlers. Previously I’d put up a similar recipe but instead of chicken I used pork.

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Ingredients

• 3pcs Chicken drumsticks (cut into smaller pieces)
• 4-5pcs Chinese Mushrooms (soak and cut into half)
• 4-5 pips Garlic (coarsely chopped)
• 1×1″ Old Ginger (sliced)
• Dark soy sauce
• Light soy sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Water

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with oil (2-3 tbsp) and saute the ginger slices and chopped garlic till fragrant.
2. Put in the chicken pieces and stir fry for 2 minutes then add in mushroom and dark soy sauce. Continue to stir before adding in water (around 1 -1.5 cup), stir and cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add in light soy sauce and oyster sauce (depending on your taste) and continue to stir.
4. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so before serving.

I was having a few slabs of pork belly as I intended to cook something else but ended up not cooking them as the time I have to prepare them is too short so has to abort that idea. So, I have to come out with alternative ideas….

Well, I will always go for easy to prepare dish and using the least amount of ingredients if possible. Therefore, I remembered my MIL used to cook this dish which all she do is just dump everything in! And voila! Hot yummy dish on the table.

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Ingredients

• 300g Pork belly (best with those that has a few layers of fats and with skin intact)
• 3 cloves garlic - chopped finely
• 1tsp Peppercorns - crushed
• Black sauce
• Light soy sauce to taste
• Water - for sauce

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Methods

1. In a medium saucepan, heat up 2tbsp oil and lightly saute chopped garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in the pork belly (cubed) and stir till they are about 50% cooked. Pour in dark soy sauce to desired tone. Add in water (ard 3/4 to 1 cup), stir and cover.
3. When the water begun to boil, add in the crushed peppercorns, stir and cover and let it simmer for at least 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally on low heat.
4. Add in light soy sauce to taste and simmer a further 10 minutes.

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