Coleslaw is a salad consisting of shredded cabbage, carrots and salad dressing.
This coleslaw is crisp and refreshing, nicely balanced with just enough tang from the lemon juice added to the creamy dressing.
A classic, staple salad; a great side dish that goes with many dishes.
Stacked of pork ribs make a good alternative to chicken or beef.
Ribs come in slab, and a slab seems like too much for a few people, but bear in mind that more than half of that is bone. In general, one slab can feed about two people.
These ribs are slow cooked, which makes them so flavourful, tender and juicy. They are coated with an irresistible sweet and sticky sauce, the aroma and flavour of the glaze gives a delicious kick to the pork ribs.
Served with corn niblets, coleslaw and tomato salad, this dish creates a colourful feast.
They are definitely a crowd favourite.
Chinese meal typically consists of three dishes and one soup (三菜一汤) to go with rice. The three dishes normally include a meat dish, a fish dish and a vegetable dish. We believed that this provides a balanced diet.
The soup can be herbal soup (药膳汤)， double-boiled soup (炖汤) or just basic scald/boil vegetable soup (滚汤). These soups are drunk as much for their flavor as well as for health benefits.
Interestingly, the foundation of Japanese daily family meal also consists of one soup three dishes, they called Ichiju Sansai.
Cooking every day can be both challenging and tiring, and with only two to four people in the household. So for practical reason, I normally prepare two dishes with a soup or just two dishes every meal. However, I do ensure that these dishes include meat/fish and vegetable/soup. This way, we can still have a balanced meal.
These two dishes, Stir-fry String Beans with Chinese Sausages and Stir-fry Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onions are easy and quick to prepare. The umami/savoury taste of these dishes go perfectly with a bowl of steamed rice.
Home food – food that you truly miss from home.
A clean-tasting soup with a spicy taste, similar to the Teochew style Bak Kut Teh.
This is actually the regular Pig Organ soup but I prefer to call it Mixed Pork soup since I have omitted several types of pig organs.
On rainy days, it is especially comforting to have a bowl of this. Add a bowl of rice, and this will be a simple meal.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
In Singapore, standard local breakfast items include fried bee hoon, chee cheong fun, chwee kueh, porridge, nasi lemak and fried glutinous rice etc.
These are widely available in hawker centres and relatively inexpensive.
To most busy Singaporeans, morning is always a mad rush, getting the children ready for school and rushing to go to work. So more often than not; breakfast such as bread, cereals and pancakes are the usual breakfast food. These are quick, fuss free and easy to prepare.
But on days that we can afford a bit more time, why not sit down and have a traditional breakfast?
These are the last batch of macarons I baked for the festive celebration.
As mentioned in my earlier post, macarons are one of the most frustrating thing to make. Every time I made them successfully, I get this sense of self accomplishment.
Macarons are beautiful little bite-sized cookies, great at parties and get-together. They add such a beautiful array of colours to the party food.
They are a fun treat.
A macaron is a refined meringued-based cookie sandwich, with a crisp shell and a lush filling.
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, dessert may seems like an irresistible treat to others, to me I can take it or leave it.
Macarons are sweet, a little too sweet for my liking most of the time. Being a finicky cookie, reducing sugar in the recipe can often be disastrous. So the other way is to work on the filling.
These lemon macarons are a delight as the tartness of the lemon filling completely balances the sweetness of the macarons.
Yellow – the colour of sunshine, the colour of happiness.
I have been baking sugar cookies during festive season for my children to decorate. It is a form of family bonding to us.
These cookies will be given to our friends and family during our yearly gatherings. We will eat up the rest.
These are not the usual Christmas theme, we decided to have some fun this year. Sometimes, it is alright to be different.
These mixed berry muffins are tender and moist with a sparkling sugar crust.
There are berries oozing out in every bite due to the generous amount of berries added to the batter.
I don’t have a preference for eating sugary food, these muffins are lightly sweet, studded with sweet-tart blueberries and raspberries.
They are just good.
A bento is a single portion take-out or home-packed meal, very common in Japan. There are many varieties of bento box. Some prepared by using seasonal food and expensive ingredients, presented in laquer boxes. Some are just simple lunch boxes, packed in disposable containers, readily available at convenience stores or railway stations.
Japanese women used to prepare these for their husband and children to bring to work or school. Japanese take pride in preparing visually appetizing bento.
Most of us know that presenting food in an eye appealing manner enhances our dining experience. However, when cooking at home just for our family, we feel lazy in spending extra time plating our food. But a little extra effort goes a long way.
Occasionally, I do spend some time plating my cooking. This way, it keep things interesting for myself in the process of preparing the meals and also delight my diners.
We don’t have to be a trained chef or have a degree in art to make our cooking visually appealing. For plating at home, it should be about simplicity.
Pot To Plate 