Foodarrific» Quick & Easy Cooking

Steamed eggs

Chili Queen — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:13:23 +0000

Sometimes the simplest dishes are the most delicious. On a hot day when anything that’s quick to cook and easy to swallow is a bonus, I like to make steamed eggs.

Only a few ingredients are required for this wholesome steamed egg dish:

2 eggs
2 salted eggs
8 half-shells of water
1 tsp sesame oil
salt and pepper, to taste
spring onions, fine chopped
cilantro, finely chopped
fried shallots

Beat all the ingredients together. Pour into a metal plate and steam over slow heat for 20-25 minutes or until egg mixture is firm. Remove from the steamer and garnish with finely chopped spring onions and cilantro, and a handful of fried shallots.

It’s quicker than applying an eyelash enhancer and I can’t say I’ve ever used one before.

Stirfried broccoli and carrots

Chili Queen — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:55:33 +0000

This is one of the dishes that I prepared for my son and stored in the fridge to be eaten later. It’s so easy and so healthy you’ve just got to try it.

I used:

2 heads of broccoli, cut into large florets
0.5 bag of baby carrots
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 small slice of salmon
mushroom/oyster sauce
cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

First, I heated up some oil in a non-stick pan on medium to low heat.

Place the slice of salmon, lightly salted and peppered, in the pan and let it fry slowly first on one side, then flip over and allow to fry until cooked through and both sides are lightly brown. This should take roughly 10-12 minutes.

Remove the salmon to a plate. Using a fork, break up the salmon into flakes and remove the bones. Leave aside.

Add a bit more oil in the pan on medium heat and lightly fry the garlic for a 2-3 minutes till fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will taste bitter.

Throw in the carrots and add a splash of water and leave it for about 5 minutes to soften up.

Add the broccoli, a dash of mushroom/oyster sauce and a sprinkle of pepper. Stir-fry for approximately 5-7 minutes till the broccoli is cooked. Watch closely to ensure broccoli is not overcooked or it will turn yellow.

Serve on a plate (or in my case, I placed in a Rubbermaid container for refrigerating) and top with the salmon flakes.

And that’s all there really is to it. It’s really tasty and goes well with pasta, noodles or rice.

My son had some fruits left over from the fresh fruit baskets we got for Christmas and he ate those for dessert.

Sauteed spinach with fresh button mushrooms

Chili Queen — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:33:58 +0000

I have a half bag of spinach left from our spinach soup noodles two nights ago so I decided to use it up in a saute dish. It’s very easy and spinach, as you know, is very good for health and probably takes care of hormonal acne too if I’m not mistaken.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler.

2 cloves garlic, sliced
3-4 fresh button mushrooms, sliced thickly (optional)
spinach
cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 tsp chicken bouillon/powdered flavoring
a dash of soy sauce

Heat up a skillet on medium/high heat with a drizzle of oil. Add garlic and fry for a few minutes till fragrant. Add mushrooms and saute till slightly soften. Add spinach and continue saute-ing for a few more minutes till spinach is wilted down. You do not need to add water as the spinach itself will output liquid as it cooks.

Add chicken flavoring and soy sauce. And you’re ready to serve over rice. It’s really that easy.

Spinach soup noodles

Chili Queen — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 18:59:20 +0000

I am just now teaching my son how to cook. He’s away from home for the first time and though I have been giving him some crash courses on how to cook simple dishes, a refresher course is always good. After all, cooking isn’t that difficult. It’s not like he has to attend medical assistant school to learn the skills, know what I mean?

Last night, we cooked spinach soup rice noodles for dinner. Mmm, simple and scrumptious and we whipped it up in just a few minutes.

Fry some sliced garlic in a saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of chicken stock buillon, 1 teaspoon of chilly paste and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then add meehoon (already soaked in hot water) and 2 huge handfuls of spinach. Bring to a quick boil and serve with storebought fried chicken wings.

Recipe: Crispy Crunchy Chicken Fingers

Chili Queen — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:20:08 +0000

Chicken Fingers are a perennial favorite in our household. When all else fails, chicken fingers to the rescue! I’m really not much of a stickler for recipes. I generally just make up the recipes as I go along depending on what I can find in my pantry or my fridge.

I created this version here when my oven refused to work.

It’s really simple and crunchy. You just need some chicken breasts cut into long strips and seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for an hour or so. Heat up a good amount of cooking oil in a wok or deep skillet.

Beat up an egg (or two, depending on amount of chicken breasts you’re using). In a plate, combine 1 cup of flour and 2 cups of bread crumbs. Dip the chicken strips in the beaten egg. Dredge them through the flour and breadcrumb mixture to coat evenly. Deep fry till golden brown. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

You may also like to check out another recipe I posted earlier for Finger-Lickin’ Good Chicken Fingers. These are oven-baked and probably won’t have you running out to look for the most effective fat burners because they’re less fattening.

recipe: kon low loh shee fun, or dry rat’s tail noodle

chili queen — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:48:31 +0000

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.

recipe: sesame chicken

chili queen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:54:18 +0000

Whenever we eat out, the kids always seem to order Sesame Chicken, if it’s on the menu, that is. As is usually the case, when we order one plate, it’s not enough for my Sesame Chicken lovers. If we order two plates, I’ll start thinking how many plates of it I can cook at home for the same price !

So the next best thing is to cook this at home where I can make a big enough portion without worrying about the bill. I mean, this is so simple and inexpensive to make at home.

I usually use boneless chicken fillet or deboned drumsticks for this, just like the restaurant. The pieces should be cut fairly large, then drenched in a mixture of flour, pepper and salt.

There’s two steps to cooking this. First I deepfry the chicken pieces on high heat till lightly brown. I know what you’re thinking. That we probably have to jump on our ellipticals and peddle like crazy afterwards to work off the weight gain .

Remove chicken and pour away the oil from the wok. I add some hoisin, or sweet and sour plum sauce and a little water and let it come to a boil. Then return the chicken to the wok and mix to coat with the sauce. Just before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds on top and garnish with fresh cilantro. And you’re ready to dig in.

My Sesame Chicken is a bit saucy because the kids like to spoon it over their rice. It’s the perfect wholesome and yummy dish if you have young kids because the chicken is boneless and the sauce is sweet with a light tang and kids are fascinated by the speckled look of the sesame seeds. Try it !

loaded omelette, my version

chili queen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:48:01 +0000

This is probably one of the easiest, last-minute dish you can whip up on days when your brain juices seem to run dry and you can’t figure out what to cook.

I got the idea for this loaded omelette from the mamak (Indian Muslim) shops where they often either serve a plain omelette or a loaded one like this. Their ingredients are different though with red and green peppers, I think. I can’t remember exactly. I’m usually too hungry to notice .

Anyhow this is my version of the loaded omelette. Simple, different from the real thing but just as delish! You only need 3 main ingredients.

1 medium tomato, diced with seeds removed
1 medium onion, cut into rings
3 eggs

I just heat up some oil in a non-stick frying pan while I beat the eggs in a bowl, adding in the tomato and onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then I just pour everything into the pan and swirl it slowly around to ensure the entire bottom area of the pan is covered. Leave it to cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes until the base is evenly cooked.

The flip the omelette over and leave to cook for another couple of minutes. And that’s it. You’re ready to serve this wonderfully tasty and healthy dish. With all the nutrients in there, you won’t need to be reading arcona reviews anytime soon. You can serve it over rice and curry or even for breakfast with bacon, sausages and baked beans.

This loaded omelette recipe is loaded with healthy ingredients. If you’re a college student who’s new to cooking, this is the perfect recipe for you. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s healthy and it only uses 3 ingredients. What’s not to love ?

chicken and abalone porridge

chili queen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:38:54 +0000

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!

fried beef balls

chili queen — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:14:44 +0000

I had some uncooked beef balls left over from our spaghetti lunch which I refrigerated overnight. The next day, I decided to try something different with them.

For these beef balls, I used very simple ingredients. Again I don’t really see the need to measure the ingredients.

ground beef
cornflour
breadcrumbs
paprika
salt and pepper

Simply mix the ground beef with corn flour, breadcrumbs and seasoning of salt and pepper. Stir well till everything comes together. Then heap a spoonful onto my palm and roll them into balls. One of the easiest jobs in the world .

I keep the seasoning pretty basic because I want the beef balls to complement (not overpower) the spaghetti sauce, or whatever I pair them with.

In a pan with a fair amount of oil on high heat, I drop in the beef balls and let them fry for about 10 minutes before removing to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

To my surprise, the fried beef balls turned out to be even more of a hit than the spaghetti ones . Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I served them with fried egg over instant noodles for a quick, lazy lunch.