Foodarrific

Last weekend, our friend called to say he would be coming over to drop off his golf shot gps we’d asked to borrow, and I asked him to bring his whole family over since I was making chicken wings. Everybody loves chicken wings, no doubt about that.

Here are my Cajun chicken wings with roast potatoes and carrots. I use a store-bought Cajun rub to marinate the chicken wings for a couple of hours before roasting. There are 3 sections to the wing and for me, nothing goes to waste. I even chomp up the wing tip.

Filed under: Foodlish TalkOne-dish MealsPoultry by Chili Queen - No Comments →

For the second day in a row now, I’ve been having TV dinners for lunch. Not sure if they still call them TV dinners because these new and improved boxed meals definitely look and taste much more gourmet than I remember them to be when I was going to college.

This is the Chicken Margherita from Healthy Choices which claims to be a healthy, well-balanced meal made from fresh ingredients. It comes in a solid dish with the meal on the top steamer dish which drains all the juices into the dish at the bottom where the sauce/dressing is.

When you’re done microwaving your meal, you simply lift the steamer layer up and pour its contents into the dish below, stir and mix well with the sauce, and you’re ready to eat!

Sure beats cutting and cooking all this from scratch and just think of the washing up it saves you. Taste pretty good too. The chicken is soft (not hard and frozen as you might imagine TV dinners to be). No, I’m not getting paid to say this.

The instructions vary slightly depending on what meal you’re cooking. It was pretty challenging to read the small print. I had to squint and now I need the best eye wrinkle cream!

Filed under: Foodlish TalkHealthy EatingNo Cooking RequiredOne-dish Meals by Chili Queen - No Comments →

Once in a while, my aunt would whip up our favorite steamed yam cake for us if we beg hard enough. I haven’t got a clue how it’s made. I really should learn the recipe from her one of these days since my kids love it so much and the ones sold outside are somewhat watered down and not as yammy.

This picture of this steamed yam cake was taken before she sprinkled the chopped spring onions on top. So it looks rather bland with only chopped peanuts and fried shallots. But trust me, once you drizzle on the accompanying chilly and brown sauces, it tastes like heaven!

Steamed yam cake is a great one-dish meal usually served at lunch. It’s usually eaten slightly warm or at room temperature. I’ve never tried to subject it to the coolness of refrigerator filters but I doubt it would taste good cold.

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Guess what I had for lunch (and dinner) last weekend? I can’t believe it myself because it’s been ages since I’ve even thought to cook my favorite loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodles.

The name sounds horrifying, I know. I’m not only a Chili Queen, I’m also a Drama Queen ! I translated and spiced up this name for special effects and if all goes well, I might even copyright the name and make a movie about it, heh!

Loh shee fun is not really rat’s tails, of course, they just look like rat’s tails . You can either eat it in a soup, just like any other kind of noodle. But I prefer it dry as in sans soup. Very simple to whip this up at home. You ready?

I cooked 1kg of loh shee fun and 1kg of kuay teow, or flat rice noodles to feed my troops, but you can use any amount depending on the number of people you’re feeding. Place the noodles in a colander and run it through your Grohe faucet to rinse if you like. Then bring a pot of water to boil and use it for blanching the rat’s tail noodle and choy sum, or mustard green.

I’m not going to list actual measurements for the sauce since that depends on how much noodle you’re cooking. Just adjust the sauce ingredients to your own taste. For the sauce, you need:

• dark, thick soy sauce
• oil
• sesame oil
• oyster sauce
• soy sauce (in place of salt) and white pepper to taste

Have all of these ingredients in a large bowl. I also stir-fried some minced pork with some oil and chopped garlic which I added into the bowl. Lastly, add the blanched loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodle, to this and mix well.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and cilantro (I didn’t have any handy). Serve piping hot with shredded fresh chillies. I prefer bird’s eye chillies for that added oomph! Simple, ya, just a one-dish meal and so so delish. And less of a choking hazard for younger kids than the regular mile-long noodles.

Filed under: AsianKid-friendlyMeatOne-dish MealsQuick & Easy CookingRecipesRice & NoodlesVegetables by chili queen - 1 Comment →

Every other weekend, we’ve been walking past this new food court at The Curve where they’re serving a rather plain-looking porridge with yau char kwai (Chinese crullers). It looks appetizing and I couldn’t wait to cook my own porridge at home. I prefer my porridge a little more fancy and nutritious.

Boiling the porridge is really simple. Just wash the rice and then add about double the amount of water (or chicken stock for a more flavorful result) in a pot over medium heat. When the water comes to a boil, I add in my sliced chicken, carrot chunks and baby abalone we bought from Japan. Keep it on the boil until the rice softens and opens up.

The thing about making porridge is it requires patience and endless peeking into the pot to ensure you achieve your preferred consistency. I prefer a thicker porridge. Some people prefer a more watery porridge in which case you simply add more water. See, no need to go to Porridge School and wait for the graduation announcements to see if you passed the course .

Lastly cut up the yau char kwai, or Chinese crullers, into 1-2″ lengths. I typically serve them on a common plate so each person can take however much they want and top it over their own bowl of porridge. With just a few ingredients, the porridge turns out really flavorful. Try it!

Filed under: AsianKid-friendlyOne-dish MealsPoultryQuick & Easy CookingRecipesRice & NoodlesSeafoodSnacks & Desserts by chili queen - 2 Comments →