Food experiments from my little kitchen

One of my usual dishes is steamed minced meat on egg tofu . Yesterday I tried to steam silken tofu instead of egg tofu and make a minced meat sauce to go with it. My son loves it a lot. I guess for children, you can never go wrong with minced meat and tofu. :) For below recipe, you need to do steaming and stir fry separately. If you prefer just stir fry alone, you can try this minced meat tofu with sauce . Ingredients Minced meat (approx 100~120g) 1 box of silken tofu 1 stalk of spring onion 1 clove garlic Cornstarch solution  Marinate sesame oil white pepper soy sauce  Sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp dark soy sauce 1 tsp soy sauce water (approx 1 small bowl)  sugar Recipe 1. Marinate the minced meat with the seasonings stated in marinate. Minced the garlic and set aside. Cut the spring onion and separate the white part from the green part. Chop the white parts finely and set aside. Chop the green parts finely and set aside for garnish later. 2. C...

I like to use minced meat in cooking because it is very versatile. That day I decided to try using my  japanese hambagu recipe and tweak it to make something different. So I came up with sweet and sour meat patties! Initially I wanted to make them into meatballs but it is much faster to make patties. Haha I am such a lazy mum. Ingredients approx 150g minced meat   1/4 yellow onion some chopped spring onions sesame seeds (garnish) 1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) 1 tbsp milk 1 egg Fine black pepper Salt  Sauce 1 tbsp tomato sauce 1 tsp vinegar 1 tsp sugar 4 tbsp Water Recipe 1. Finely chop the onion and add into the minced meat, followed by egg, milk and panko. Season it with black pepper and salt. (I added some chopped spring onions because I happened to have them.) Use one hand to mix the mixture well. 2. Shape the meat into patties of equal sizes (or meatballs if you want). 3. Heat some oil in the pan on medium heat and place the patties ...

I prepared this dish because my dear husband is a meat lover. If I don't cook enough meat for dinner, he would ask me why I cooked so little. It happens that I had one chunk of pumpkin sitting in my fridge so I decided to combine it with minced meat. It turned out to be quite a nice combination. Ingredients approx 80g minced meat 1 small chunk of pumpkin 1 dried shiitake mushroom chopped garlic chopped shallots white pepper soy sauce sesame oil Sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp normal dark soy sauce 1 tsp sugar  Recipe 1. Soak the dried mushroom in a bowl of water and set it aside to soften before cutting it into small cubes. Do not throw away the water.  2. Cut the pumpkin into cubes but not too small else it will disintegrate during cooking. Marinate the minced meat with soy sauce, white pepper and sesame oil. 3. In the wok, heat up the oil and put in the chopped shallots. Let it cook for a little while and turning translucent, then add in the garlic fo...

Ever since I started cooking, this was my second time attempting fried rice. I still remember the first time I made salmon egg fried rice and this time I tried to make using minced meat. My inspiration came from a youtube video of 阿基師 making egg fried rice. I was so impressed by his method of doing it and seriously it is just easy and yummy! Ingredients 1 1/2 portion of cooked white rice carrot long beans fresh shiitake mushrooms minced meat  2 eggs minced garlic  chopped spring onions Recipe 1. Cut the vegetables (carrot, long beans and shiitake mushrooms) into cubes. Steam carrot and long beans for about 5 to 10 minutes while setting aside the cubed mushrooms. I did this to quicken the cooking process as I was rushing to serve dinner. :p Then, while steaming, marinate the minced meat with sesame oil, soy sauce and pepper. 2. Crack the eggs and separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Place the egg yolks onto the cooked white rice in a bowl and mix well to...

When I have minced meat and tofu on hand, I tend to go for steaming because it is easy to prepare. I really like to attempt mapo tofu some day but am not very keen on cooking spicy dishes for now as my son is still too young for hot stuffs. So, I decided to try experimenting with the sauce to create similar sauce kind of dish. It's a great dish for young kids and those who are not so keen on chilli. Ingredients 70-80g minced meat 1 block of silken tofu Sesame oil White pepper Soy sauce  Cornstarch Minced garlic Chopped spring onions  Sauce    1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp tomato sauce  2 tsp sugar  1/2 tsp dark soy sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce  Water  Recipe 1. Marinate the minced meat with white pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil and a little cornstarch. Remove tofu from the packaging and cut into small cubes to set aside. 2. In a small bowl, prepare the sauce by mixing the sauce ingredients listed abov...

It has been a while since I last blogged my recipes. My laptop was down (I probably need a new laptop), my son has been down with fever and cough and Singapore was also down with very bad haze weather. I have taken a stretch of leave to care for my son at home and it was really exhausting compared to going to work. He requested for me to cook his favourite egg tofu again and I decided to make the easy dish that I often cooked when I have no idea what to prepare - steamed minced meat on egg tofu! Ingredients 1 tube egg tofu Minced meat Coriander Wolfberries Soy sauce Pepper  Sesame oil Water/stock  Recipe 1. Marinate the minced meat with some soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil. I added some chopped coriander for some additional flavour as I happened to have it in my fridge. 2. Soak the wolfberries in a bowl of water to soften. Cut the egg tofu into small circles and place them on the steaming plate. 3. Using a small spoon, scoop some marinated meat and use your ...

My son loves egg tofu very much. He always make sure I buy egg tofu whenever we go supermarket. So I have to find ways and means to incorporate egg tofu into my cooking. Minced meat egg tofu is a very common dish and I also cook it quite frequently using oyster sauce. But I wanted to make a different sauce this time so decided to experiment using tomato sauce and kecap manis which I seldom use and we love it! Ingredients 1 tube egg tofu Minced meat 1/2 onion 1 clove of chopped garlic  Tomato sauce Kecap manis Soy sauce Corn starch Spring onions Recipe 1. Chop the onion into dices and marinate the minced meat with soy sauce and cornstarch. 2. Cut the egg tofu into slices and pan fry them on the pan with some oil for at least 3 minutes each side to brown it. Remove and set aside. Make the sauce using tomato sauce, kecap manis and soy sauce. 3. Heat up the oil in the wok and add in the chopped onions and garlic. Let it cook for a little while till the onion look tran...

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 ...

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. ...

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 f...

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 mak...