Cheese egg roll

I love to cook eggs because they are quick to cook and tasty. The usual methods preferred are omelette and steamed egg. Came across this very useful video tutorial on youtube teaching how to make egg rolls using a saucepan and I am addicted to doing it! Tamagoyaki - Eugenie Kitchen The instructions are very clear and easy. But sometimes I just don't have the time to chop the vegetables to make a pretty egg roll so I would make a simple one like cheese egg roll below. It does not take much time and I can multi task a little while the egg is being cooked. Love it!

Ingredients
2 Eggs
1 Slice of cheese
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbsp Water
Spring onions (chopped)

Recipe
1. Crack 2 eggs into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon of water. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
2. Oil the saucepan and turn on to medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour the egg evenly and let it cook.
3. When you see the surface is starting to dry, sprinkle some spring onions.
4. Tear the cheese into small pieces and spread them around the surface.(Not too near the edge)
5. Once the egg is almost 90% dry, use the spatula to flip about 1/4 and fold inwards. Let it cook for a little while before proceeding to do another fold.
6. Note it can get a bit messy when the cheese oozes out. Try to be as gentle as possible.
7. When the egg is fully folded, bring the pan near to the plate and let it slide out on the plate. Serve hot!

*You can do it with 3 eggs and it should be easier to fold. I used 2 because my husband and I already had eggs for breakfast! Lol need to watch our egg intake...

Controlling and getting the heat right is the key to getting nice egg rolls. Trial and error on your stove to get the best results!

Minced meat porridge with carrots (shortcut method)

I have a problem with cooking on weekends because my son usually naps at 12 noon and he needs me to nap with him! Which means I have to try my best to stay awake while pretending to sleep and only get up to cook when he falls asleep. So I came out with a lazy way to get out of this situation! There were times I ended up packing lunch from coffeeshop downstairs and regretting because it is too salty/oily for our liking.

Ingredients
Uncooked rice
Minced meat
Carrot
Spring onions (optional for garnish)
Fried garlic (optional)
Soy sauce
Pepper
Sesame oil 

Recipe
1. Wash the uncooked rice and place it in a pot. (Used my tanyu claypot as it retains heat very well)
2. Add water and turn on the heat to cook till it is boiling.
3. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and it is break time! 
***Go and take a break for 1-2 hours***
4. After the break, chop the carrots into thin strips. Prepare the minced meat by seasoning it with sesame oil, soy sauce and pepper.
5. Open the cover and you should see that the rice has softened like teochew porridge texture. Turn on the heat again and put in the carrots strips followed by minced meat.
6. Let it cook for another 10-15 minutes until desired texture.
7. Test the taste and add soy sauce or salt to season if required.
8. Sprinkle with fried garlic and spring onions. Serve hot!

Note: I have tried leaving the porridge in normal pots. It will still work but probably not as well as the claypot. I need to cook the porridge after my nap longer in order to achieve a smoother texture. :)

Chocolate chip cookies

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies? Although I like to eat cookies, I rarely have cravings and almost never buy cookies. lol The only time I would buy is probably at Subway but those are the soft chewy type of cookies. Today I am sharing this recipe which is probably closer to the crunchy types. The recipe is adapted from Joey Foo's crunchy chocolate chip!

Ingredients
250g Plain flour
160g Unsalted butter
120g Brown sugar
10g Caster sugar
1 Egg
100g Chocolate chips
1/2 tsp Baking soda
4 tsp Baking powder
Pinch of salt

Recipe
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degree celcius. Put flour, baking soda and powder and salt in a bowl and whisk to mix well.
2. Cream the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
3. Add in the egg and mix well.
4. Add in the flour in batches and ensure the flour is well incorporated. (Avoid overmixing as it will result in tough cookies)
5. Finally mix in the chocolate chips. You can chill the dough in the fridge if you like.  Read Chilling cookie dough for more information)
6. Using two spoons, scoop the cookie dough and place it on the baking tray lined with parchment paper. Use your fingers to gently shape the cookie dough into small mounds. Ensure there are spaces in between as the cookie will spread during the baking process. Alternatively you can use an ice cream scoop. Bake at 160 degree celcius for 15 minutes.

It was my first time making cookies and I must say this is quite straightforward and fun. My son had joined in to watch how the cookies are made. I made him participated in the last step by pouring in the chocolate chips. He loved the cookies and made me bring it to his favourite teachers!

Steamed minced pork with tung choy

I am always very interested in trying out steamed dishes because they are usually easy to prepare and require less monitoring - meaning I can steal some time to wash the dishes and take a peek to see what my son was doing. One recipe I often cooked is Steam minced meat on egg tofu as it is easy and my son loves it. I was googling "steamed minced meat" and one of the blog posts that caught my eye from GoodyFoodies! - Steamed minced pork with tung choy

It is a common home cooked dish but my mum has never really cook this for me. I read that this is more of a Cantonese dish and I am Hainanese/Teochew. That explains why! haha I bought a pack of tung choy from the wet market and quickly got down to making my own version below.

Ingredients
250g Minced meat 
2 Tbsp Tung choy
1/2 tsp Minced garlic
1 dried shiitake mushroom
Cornstarch
Soy sauce
Pepper
Sesame oil
Coriander 

Recipe
1. Soak the dried shiitake mushroom and cut it into slices when it has softened.
2. Soak tung choy in water then rinse it before chopping it into smaller pieces. 
3. To the minced meat, add tung choy, mushrooms, minced garlic and mix well.
4. Add some cornstarch and season with soy sauce and pepper. Mix well using a spoon or if you prefer, using one hand. (I find that using hand is easier.) 
5. Put the meat mixture on a metal plate and spread it out evenly and thinly. Drizzle sesame oil and steam it for about 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Put chopped coriander leaves on top and serve hot.

Pan fried zucchini

Zucchini is not a vegetable that I would usually buy. After I bought it, I did not know what I want to do with it. In the end, I remembered seeing this in Korean drama where they pan fry it as a dish. I was curious how this dish would taste like and so decided to make them.

Ingredients
Zucchini
Flour
Egg
Soy sauce
Vinegar

Recipe
1. Cut zucchini into slices and sprinkle salt on them. Leave it for a few minutes.
2. Pat dry with kitchen towel. Coat them evenly with flour then coat with beaten egg.
3. Put them on the saucepan with low heat and pan fry till they turned nicely brown.
4. Prepare a simple sauce of soy sauce with vinegar for dipping if you like. 

My conclusion: I love the taste! It is slightly crunchy on the outside but softer in the centre. The dipping sauce made it very suitable for a side dish. I actually prepared this in the morning and then just reheat them in oven before serving for dinner. 

Tomato egg drop soup

On most weekdays, I would cook soup using pork ribs or chicken in the slow cooker. Sometimes when I am really busy or tired, then I will go for quick soup recipes like this one I am sharing below - tomato egg drop soup. I am not exactly a tomato lover but this soup tastes really good. Simple and nutritious!  

Ingredients
Tomato
Egg
Bunapi mushrooms
Chopped spring onions (garnish)
Ikan bilis
Soya beans

Recipe
1. Wash the ikan bilis and soya beans and put them into the stock bag.
2. In a pot of boiling water, add the stock bag and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Chop the tomato into cubes and remove the bottom from Bunapi mushrooms. Crack the egg in a bowl, beat it and set aside.
4. After 20 minutes, remove the stock bag from the pot. Add in tomato cubes, mushrooms and let it cook for a few minutes.
5. Taste the soup and season it with salt if you like. Pour in the beaten egg slowly and stir gently in circles using chopsticks.
6. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve.

Daikon miso soup

White radish is one of my favourite vegetables to use for making Chinese soups. I bought a really big one this week and after cooking Radish soup with Pork ribs, I still have some leftover. I was thinking what can I do with it as I did not want to make the same soup again. So I was on the net again searching for a possible recipe to try - Daikon radish and carrot miso soup. Love the idea of doing miso soup as it is quick and easy! 

Ingredients
White radish
Carrot
Instant dashi
White miso
Chopped spring onions (optional)

Recipe
1. Cut the white radish into long strips.
2. In the pot, add in the white radish, instant dashi and water. Cook till the radish strips are softened. (you can taste the soup and add in more dashi if required at this step)
3. While the radish is being cooked, cut the carrots into strips too. (shorter than the radish)
4. Add the carrot strips to the pot and simmer till soft. Turn off the heat.
5. Add in the miso paste to the taste you required. (I added about 2 tbsp)
6. Sprinkle in the spring onions and serve.

I must say the white radish gives a nice flavour to the miso soup. It tasted different from the miso soup that you get outside - a mild sweet radish taste blending well with the miso. :)

Baked Garlic mayo cod

Came across this simple yet delicious recipe from Wokking mum - baked cod with garlic mayonnaise when she shared her cooking in Facebook. I am very tempted to try out the recipe as it has very simple ingredients that can be easily found at home. Excited to see my family's response to this dish as we usually have steamed cod for dinner.

Ingredients
Cod fillet
pepper
salt 

Garlic mayo
6 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp olive oil
pinch of salt

Recipe
1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degree celcius.
2. Season cod with salt and pepper then place on the baking tray. (skin side down)
3. Chop or blend the garlic till it is paste-like. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
4. Spread the garlic mayo over the cod, covering the surface evenly.
5. Bake for 15 minutes till it is cooked. (Good to check on the cod when it is about 10 minutes to see if it is browning well)

My husband and son's verdict for this dish: Yummy, very good! As a mummy, I am super happy to find this recipe. Definitely one recipe that you can do for after-work dinners! ^^b

Note: As a variation, I was thinking next time I could add some chilli sauce to turn it into spicy mayo then I will get the husband to taste test! :)

Thai Turmeric chicken

When I started on my cooking adventure, I tend to buy some ingredients that are necessary for some dishes but not regularly used in my daily cooking. One of these items sitting in my kitchen is turmeric powder. I faintly remembered I bought one bottle of turmeric powder when I wanted to make butter rice. To make better use of my turmeric powder, I came across this recipe in Serious eats - Grilled Thai Turmeric chicken and quickly got down to doing it on the same day. I skipped some ingredients like cilantro stems, coriander seeds which I do not have on hand in my kitchen. The beauty of home cooking is you do not have to necessarily follow so strictly to the recipes!

Ingredients
2 large chicken legs (skin on)
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 large cloves of garlic
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp brown sugar  

Recipe
1. Pound the garlic into a paste using a food processor.
2. Put all the marinate ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Coat chicken legs with the marinate well and refrigerate for at least 1 to 2 hours. (I marinated mine for 6 hrs)
4. Bake in pre-heated oven at 200 degree celcius for 40 minutes. Turn the chicken in between the baking to get it cooked evenly. (Alternatively you can grill it.)
5. Remove from oven and serve. 

Rice cooker Kamameshi

Kamameshi (釜飯) literally translates to "kettle rice" and it is cooked in an iron pot called "kama". I remembered whenever I order this from Japanese restaurants, they would bring the whole iron pot to you and asked you to wait for 20 minutes when it is being cooked. When you opened the lid, it really smells heavenly. (I am a rice lover!) I have tried salmon and scallop kamameshi and loved the flavoured rice. 

Chicken Kamameshi - I referenced from this blog Oggi when I was searching for a rice cooker version of kamameshi. Never mind about the iron pot, I was so excited to try out the recipe!

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup Jasmine rice 
1 section of carrot (diced) 
1/2 pack of Bunashimeiji mushrooms (diced) 
1/2 onion (diced) 
2 cloves garlic (minced) 
1 tbsp soy sauce 
1 cup chicken broth (about 250ml) 
1 tbsp sugar 
1 teaspoon salt 
50ml water 

Recipe
1. Wash and drain the rice. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Mix the last 4 ingredients together. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. 
3. Put the rice and vegetables into the rice cooker. 
4. Add in the seasoning and 50ml water.  
5. Cook in the rice cooker till it is done. Stir evenly and serve. 

Love the mild soy sauce fragrance on the rice and the texture of the rice came out fantastic. I omitted sake so that my son could take it. Good opportunity for me to slip in lots of vegetables for him too. ^^

Banana walnut cupcake

Okie here it goes, another banana recipe because I baked twice this week! With the remaining bananas I had, I wanted to try out another recipe that I saw online which looks tempting to me - Banana Walnut Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

 Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I reduced to 1/8 tsp) 
2 bananas (mashed)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (about 113g)
3/4 cup walnuts (cut into small pieces)
1/4 vanilla yoghurt (I used plain yoghurt)

Recipe
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree celcius.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. (To use softened butter and after creaming, you should not see the sugar.)
3. Sieve the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
4. Add in the mashed bananas. Mix well before adding in eggs and vanilla essence.
5. Add in the flour, baking soda and salt.
6. Stir in the yoghurt and mix the walnut into the batter.
7. Scoop the batter into 12 cupcake paper. It should be about 80% filled.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.

I skipped the frosting as I preferred to just eat the cupcakes. Gave some to my colleagues and the general feedback is nice but too sweet. Maybe it would be good to reduce the sugar by a little or fully replace the sugar with just brown sugar. Unlike the previous recipe, I feel that this cupcake is denser and more moist. Still it is quite tasty. :)

Banana cake

My mum has given me a bunch of bananas to eat but I made them into cake instead. I love banana cakes more than banana itself. My first attempt baking banana cake in rice cooker made me fall in love with the lovely banana smell during baking. Being new to baking, I seldom venture into the different cakes but always ended up baking banana cakes. (maybe also due to my mum keep passing me bananas!)

In this post, I would to share this Soft & Fluffy Banana Cake recipe by MiMi Bakery House. This was the second recipe I came across after trying the famous online rice cooker recipe. As what MiMi Bakery House describes, this is really soft and fluffy. Definitely a keeper!

Ingredients
3 Eggs
125g Sugar
200g Banana (mashed)
150g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
100g Oil 

Recipe
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degree celcius.
2. Grease and line an 8 inch round tin. (I used 2 disposable rectangular aluminum trays)
3. Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside.
4. Whisk eggs, sugar and banana at maximum speed till stiff/ribbon stage. (I whisked using a hand mixer at speed 4 and it took me about 10 minutes! Have to be really patient to wait till the stiff stage.)
5. Fold in the flour and mix well. (I did it in batches so that it can be well incorporated.)
6. Add in the oil and mix well to get shiny and flowy batter. (Better to add in batches too for this.)
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Japanese hamburger steak (hambagu)

One of my favourite Japanese dish is the hamburger steak otherwise known as hambagu. Our recent trip to Tokyo, my son had it quite frequently as this is a common dish for kids' meal.

I had adapted my recipe from Just one cookbook - Hamburger steak / Hambagu. Loves reading from Just one cookbook for inspiration to cook Japanese cuisines. Namiko makes everything seemed so easy! 

Ingredients
220g Minced pork 
1 small onion
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tbsp milk
1 egg
Fine black pepper
Salt 

Sauce
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp Ketchup
5 tbsp Water

Recipe
1. Chop the small onion into half. One half is to be chopped into finely. The other half is to chop into slices (for the sauce).
2. Add finely chopped onions into the minced meat, followed by egg, milk and panko. Season it with black pepper and salt. Use one hand to mix the mixture well.
3. Divide the meat mixture into 4 portions and toss one at a time from right hand to left hand a few times to release air.
4. Heat some oil in the pan on medium heat and place the patties into the pan. Let it cook uncovered for 4 minutes. When it is nicely browned, flip them over to the other side.
5. Add a few tbsp of water to the pan and then cover it. Let it cook for another 5 minutes. When it is browned, remove to put on the serving plates.
6. In the same pan, add some oil and put in the sliced onions. Cook till translucent.
7. Add in the sauce and let it boil before reduce heat to let it simmer. Once it has thickened, you can turn off the heat and pour the sauce on the patties.
8. You can steam some broccoli and carrots to serve along. Add a sunny side up like mine and a simple dinner is done!

I have made this hambagu in 30 minutes after coming home from work. Hence, the steps are a lot simplified from Namiko's recipe. Red wine is also omitted as I served this to my son. However it is still quite tasty for me. Feeling happy my first attempt went well. :)

Pumpkin pork ribs soup with shiitake mushrooms

I have never really eaten pumpkin as a child. Somehow I do not recall my mum cooking pumpkin at all. I only remembered the sinful stuffs like chicken wings and curry etc. Yet when my son started taking solids, I was told that pumpkin is good. We gave him pumpkin porridge then slowly I incorporated pumpkin into our weekly soup menu. Here is one really simple yet tasty soup to share.

Ingredients
300g Pumpkin
4 Dried Shiitake mushrooms
250g Pork ribs
Salt

Recipe
1. Soak the dried mushrooms in water till softened. Discard the water.
2. Cut the pumpkin into big chucks and remove the skin. (You can leave the skin on if you wash it really clean)  Don't cut it too small as it will soften and disintegrate easily after cooking.

3. Wash the pork ribs and blanch it in boiling water for a few minutes till the scum is floating. Remove the scum and rinse the pork ribs again. This is to produce a clear soup.
4. Place the mushrooms, pumpkin and pork ribs into slow cooker and add hot water to cover the ingredients and turn the knob to auto-mode. I leave it in auto-mode when I go for work. After I come home, I would season with a little salt before serving.
*5. Alternatively, you can place all the ingredients in the pot and add water and cook till it is boiling. Reduce the fire and allow it to simmer for about 1-2 hours. Only season with salt before serving.

I love the taste of this soup as you can get the mushroom fragrance and the sweetness of pumpkin in a bowl. You can also make a few variations with pumpkins. Sometimes I would cook with just pumpkin and add some red dates. Or you can add apples to make apple pumpkin soup which is really sweet. Enjoy!

Char siew

I always have the impression that char siew is difficult to make at home until I see many mummies actually make them at home. My recipe below is adapted from My Mind Patch - Rice Cooker Char Siew. I did not use the rice cooker as my rice cooker is used to cook rice. Also, omitted the wine part for my toddler son.
 

Ingredients

About 450g Pork Shoulder

2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce (Lee Kum Kee)

2 Tbsp Oyster sauce

2 tsp Sesame oil

1/4 tsp Dark Soya sauce 

1 Tbsp white sugar

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp honey

1 clove chopped garlic

100ml water

Recipe
1. Put all the marinade ingredients together and mix well.
2. Cut the pork shoulder into thick long slices and place them in a ziplock bag or container.
3. Add in the marinade and leave it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or even overnight.
4. After marinating, pour everything into a wok and slowly cook the meat for 20 minutes till the sauce starts to dry up. Stir the meat and sauce from time to time during the 20 minutes.
5. When the sauce thickens up and the meat is coated nicely with the sauce, remove it from the wok and place it in the oven to roast at 200 degree calcius for 3 minutes. Flip to the other side and roast at the same temperature and timing.
6. Add water to the remaining sauce and use it as a gravy to serve.
7. Chop the char siew and serve with rice and gravy.
8. *If you do not have the time to cook in the wok, you can put the meat on a grilling rack (don't pour all the marinate in!) and roast at 180 degree celcius for about 20-25 minutes. From time to time, baste the sauce onto the meat and flip them. When it looks cooked, do step 5 to increase the temperature and roast for 3 minutes to caramelise the sugar.

I have tried doing step 8 before and I must say it does not really differ that much in terms of taste. Best thing is I can save some time here and there to do other stuffs. A great recipe for the busy working mummies like me!

Bunashimeiji mushrooms butter yaki

My son loves to eat mushrooms particularly bunashimeiji mushrooms. You can get it from the supermarket either the white ones or the brown ones. Usually I would add them to the vegetables and stir fry or sometimes chop them up and add into the omelette. One day I chanced upon this blog entry from Just one cook book - seared scallops and decided to try making a similar sauce and cooking just the mushrooms itself. While cooking, I was wondering how would the taste turn out to be but luckily it is approved by both husband and son. Hence, decided to share this recipe on my blog. ^^

Ingredients
Bunashimeiji mushrooms
Shallots
Garlic 
Butter
Soy sauce
Some stock or water
Cornstarch solution 

Recipe
1. Cut off the bottom part of the mushrooms and discard. Chop some garlic and shallot to set aside. Reason why I had shallots is because I happened to have some chopped ones in my fridge. It can be replaced by onion.
2. Add some butter to the pan and heat till it melt. Put in the chopped shallot and garlic.
3. Put in the mushrooms when the shallots turn translucent. Add in some stock just enough so that the pan does not dry out. I actually took the stock from the ABC soup I was cooking. Else, you can replace with water.
4. Cover the pan and let it cook for a few minutes. Finally add in some soy sauce to season. Test taste and add more if you wish for a stronger taste.
5. Add some cornstarch solution if you wish to thicken the sauce. Then remove to serve.

I served this for dinner along with my honey baked chicken chop but I forgot to take picture of the chicken chop. Shall do it another time!

Fried silver fish

Recently I went out for dinner and ordered silver fish fried rice but it was served a tiny portion on the fried rice. I wished I could refill the silver fish. Haha So I bought a packet of dried silver fish from the supermarket under dried goods section and decided to try making it! I am so glad my first attempt worked out well.

Ingredient
Dried silver fish

Recipe
1. Soak the dried silver fish in water for a few minutes and drain the water. Repeat this step again if you wish to reduce the saltiness.
2. Transfer to a dry dish and pat off the moisture using kitchen towel. Don't have to dry thoroughly just remove most of the moisture.
3. Heat up oil in the pot using medium flame. I used just enough oil to cover a layer of silver fish. Check if the oil is hot enough. I test the temperature by dropping one small fish in. If it is sizzling, then the oil is ready.
4. Put all the silver fish into the pot to fry. The fry process is about 5 minutes or so. You will see the oil sizzling because water is being drawn out from the silver fish. When the oil starts to become less sizzling and only bubbling gently, it means the silver fish is ready. Don't worry if the silver fish looks pale as it will turn a nice yellow colour after being removed from oil.
5. Remove the silver fish from the pot and put on a plate lined with kitchen towel to remove excess oil. I would keep the silver fish in a reused glass container.

Just gave my son a big bowl of porridge with silver fish and he finished all! Now I know it goes well with fried rice and porridge. What else goes well with silver fish?

Pan fried Salmon

Salmon is one of our favourite fish. It is packed with healthy omega-3 and does not have a fishy smell. For me, I like it as it is easy to prepare for cooking too. On busy days I would either steam it in soy sauce or pop into the oven with some herbs. This time I tried to pan fry it with very simple seasonings and it turned out to be quite nice too. I was inspired by a bento set with "salmon shioyaki" that I ate a few weeks ago. Delicious food does not have to be complicated! :)

Tip: You can click this video to check out how to pan fry salmon!  Gordon Ramsay's Crispy Salmon

Ingredients
Salmon
Lemon
Salt
Pepper
Spring onions (optional)

Recipe
1. Turn the salmon skin side up and make 2 cuts along the length. This is to allow the heat to distribute better and stop the salmon from curling up when you put it on the pan. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a little oil in the pan and place the salmon skin side down. Let it cook for at least 4-5 minutes. Be really patient and do not try to flip the salmon. You will see from the side that it will start turning pink from bottom up. Wait till it has reached the mid-way before flipping.
3. Flip the salmon to the other side and let it cook for another 3-4 minutes. Again, check from the side to see that it has turned fully pink. If you lift it up with your spatula and the surface has turned a nice brown colour, it is done.
4. Place it on the plate and whichever side is nicer facing up. Sprinkle some spring onions on top for garnish and put a few lemon slices at the side. Squeeze lemon juice on it before serving.

My first experience of pan frying fish was quite bad. It became "scrambled fish" and I tried many times before I get it right. Maybe that's why I enjoyed cooking cuz you can only get better and better when you do it many times!

Minced meat omelette

This is one of my favourite childhood dish. I love the smell when my mum cooks this in the kitchen. Very simple yet appetizing to go with rice or porridge.

Ingredients

Minced meat
2-3 eggs
Soy sauce
Pepper
Fish sauce (optional)

Recipe

1. Marinate minced meat with some soy sauce and pepper.
2. Crack 2-3 eggs in a bowl and beat them till well combined with a fork. You can add a little soy sauce and fish sauce in the eggs. I noticed that adding fish sauce makes it quite salty so you can skip this if you prefer less salty.
3. Heat some oil in the pan and add in the marinated minced meat. Cook till it is brown and remove to set aside.
4. Using the same pan, pour in the eggs and cook it under medium fire. After a few minutes, you will see the surface of the eggs bubbling a little and drying up, pour back the minced meat onto the eggs.
5. Try to lift the edge of the egg with your spatula. If it comes up easily and is browning at the side, you can flip it up to cover and make a semi-circle. Let it cook for a little while to seal up the omelette then remove from pan to serve.

Making omelette is easy but requires patience. When I first learn how to make them, I always started flipping it too early and end up with scrambled eggs. After a few times trying, I realised that I just need to be patient and wait. :)