Author Archives: sawleng

Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi Bokkeumbap)

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MCO 3.0 Day 45: Jaden and his very first Kimchi Fried Rice

Jaden has to do a cooking video for his school homework and asked me what he should cook. I asked him to cook his favourite Kimchi fried rice, something quite easy to cook too. He said OK and asked me if I may guide him, ie his idea of “Mother and Son bonding time”.

He is actually quite fussy, wanting to do a good job.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbsp (20g) cooking oil
  • 1/2 cups (40g) green onions, finely chop
  • Meat: 2 sausages (65g) sliced thinly. ham, bacon or pork belly
  • 1/3 tbsp (3g) sugar
  • 1/2 tbsp (5g) soy sauce
  • 1 cup (160g) kimchi, cut into bite sizes
  • ¼ cup kimchi juice or water
  • 3 cups of steamed rice
  • 2-3 tablespoons gochujang or 1/3 tbsp (3g) fine red pepper powder
  • 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • Seaweed flakes
  • 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
  • Fried eggs

Directions:

  1. Heat up a pan. Add the oil.
  2. Stir-fry the green onion and meat.
  3. When meats are golden, add soy sauce and keep frying.
  4. When the moisture is gone, add kimchi and stir-fry over low heat.
  5. Add kimchi juice or water if the seasonings are clumped.
  6. Once the seasonings are thoroughly mixed, add instant rice and break it up with a ladle.
  7. When the rice is all broken up, stir-fry over heat.
  8. Add gochujang or red pepper powder.
  9. Add sesame oil (signature ingredient in Korean food as seasoning and flavor enhancer)
  10. Remove from the heat. Scoop kimchi fried rice onto a plate.
  11. Sprinkle with chopped green onion, seaweed flake and sesame seeds.
  12. Top with a fried egg for a simple but perfect meal!

He had his Kimchi fried rice for lunch and said “Hmmm …. this is actually quite nice”.

Ma Po Tofu

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MCO 3.0 Day 31

Jaden requested me to cook Ma Po tofu for him for quite awhile already. I had not tried cooking it, so it required a little bit of work. We had the recipe in the cooking book that I bought previously for my helper to cook for us. Today, I used it for my own reference.

  1. Marinade meat
    • 85g minced meat/chicken/prawns
    • A dash of oil
    • 1/2 tbsp corn-starch
    • 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (or ½ tbsp light soya sauce)
    • 1 tbsp water
  2. 450 g soft tofu, cut into 1 cm cubes
  3. For Cooking
    • 2 tbsp oil
    • 2 cloves of minced garlic} – 30 seconds till nice aroma
    • ½ tbsp chopped ginger }
    • Add meat
    • 1 tbsp hot soybean paste (or bean paste and 2 chilis)
    • 1/2 cup stock or water
    • 1 tsp sugar
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1 tbsp oyster sauce (or 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce)
    • 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (optional)
    • 1/4 tsp Szechuan pepper powder
  4. Add tofu, cover the wok and cook till boil
  5. Mix for thicker texture and flavor
    • 1 tbsp cornstarch
    • 1 tbsp water
  6. 1 tsp sesame oil
  7. 1 tbsp chopped spring onion – for garnishing

I cooked bigger portion to share it with my sister. She had been cooking for us and I’m happy that I can pay forward now. Sister said “What a lucky day” albeit she’s the one who has been cooking for us. After dinner she messaged me “Yummy. I added rice just for your tofu”.

Jaden is happy and gave me 8 out of 10. He has been stressed over his exam. Food gives comfort. I will reduce the oil and need to improve on the meat texture. It’s a bit mushy.

Happiness is right in front of us. We don’t need special moments or special occasions to find it.

DIY Burgers

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During MCO, I’ve ordered burgers through online delivery. It was awful. The packaging came wet and the buns were soggy. That was the last time I ordered burger online.

We tried burgers at myburgerlab and it was superb. Absolutely yummy. I bought DIY pack from them for a fast and easy dinner at home.

Ingredients that I used to make the DIY burgers. My first attempt. 

Options to make the burgers more impressive and look like a gourmet burger:

  • Portobello mushroom: Season with salt and pepper, glaze with olive oil and put on frypan inside out. Crack an egg on top of the mushroom and fry/grill for a few minutes.
  • Streaky bacon: Cook till nice and crispy. Cut/break into smaller piece to fit into burger
  • Lettuce
  • Sliced thinly tomatoes
  • Caramelized onion – lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and grill

My 2nd attempt. Depending on what I have in the fridge.

Thaw DIY charcoal buns and patties overnight before cooking.

I used my brand new Tefal Everest frypan to make DIY burgers for lunch today.

Lightly toast the buns, face down on a frypan, for a nice and crisp, not soggy buns. Do for the other side too.

The frypan surface is big enough for me to toast the buns and also pan fry the burger patties and bacon.

Used Tefal egg frypan to fry eggs. The egg will be round and fit nicely on burger bun, thicker and make the burger looks more impressive.

Cook patties on a frypan or grill at medium heat, 3 mins on each side.

Assemble the burgers while the patties are cooking.

  • On the base of bun, spread some dressing of choice i.e. mayonnaise, thousand island, mustard, ketchup, chili sauce, etc.
  • Snap and break lettuce and put on top of dressing
  • Add sliced tomatoes, streaky bacon, fried egg, and caramelized onion and portobello mushroom.

I followed Gordon Ramsay’s advice and lightly brush some butter on the patties on the last few seconds to add the nice buttery, moist taste to the patties.

Add cheddar cheese on top of the patties.

Finally, put the burger patties on top of burger.

The staff of myburgerlab was kind enough to give me few burger pockets to use at home.

Put the assembled burger into the burger paper pocket and eat it immediately.

You can choose to have a simple burger of just egg and patty or make them a gourmet burger. Either way, we enjoyed the DIY burgers. They are yummy and most importantly, not soggy.

 

Chili and Garlic Prawns

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We always like the tapas from El Meson, especially their garlic and chilli prawns. So, I decided to try cooking it at home today. Made just a small portion to try out and it turned out well. Jaden said delicious and asked me to cook more next time. Yes, Jaden. 

The prawns are flavourful and it’s nice to eat with bread.

I browsed through internet and YouTube for recipe and I found this.

Ingredients:

  • Olive oil: 50 ml
  • Chili: 1
  • Garlic: 3 cloves, minced
  • Paprika: 1/2 tsp
  • Prawns: Cook 2 minutes on each side
  • Parsley
  • Lemon juice
  • Salt to taste

Instructions:

  1. On a hot frypan, add olive oil.
  2. Add chili and garlic and fry till fragrant.

3. Add Paprika and fry together with chili and garlic.

4. Add prawns and cook for 2 minutes on each side.

5. Add parsley, squeeze some lemon juice and finally, add salt to taste.

We had it as Poke Bowl for a quick weekday lunch.

Scoop rice into a bowl. Layer with baby spinach. I added hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, seaweed flakes and sunflower seeds.

Adding colours to my food.

Jjajang Deopbap (Rice Bowl with Black Bean Sauce)

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Lunch: Jjajang Deopbap (Rice bowl with black bean sauce)

Earlier, we made jjajang sauce. Something that can be meal prep.

Today, for a quick lunch, I cooked deopbap. It’s a simple and flavourful lunch. Added seaweed and mix the rice and Jjajang together..

[Ingredients]

2 eggs
1/4 stalk (20g) green onion
2 tbsp (40g) good-for-all jjajang sauce
2 tbsp (15g) cooking oil
1 tbsp (10g) water
1 bowl (200g) rice

[Directions]

1. Finely chop the green onions.
2. Add cooking oil to a pan and stir-fry the green onions.
3. Push the green onions to the side of the pan.
Crack in eggs to the other side and scramble them.
4. After the eggs are scrambled, stir-fry them with green onions and jjajang sauce.
5. Add some water when stir-frying for the flavor of the sauce to blend with the eggs. (You can add more sauce to taste instead of using salt)
6. Scoop rice into a rice bowl and pour the sauce over it.

Apple Kefir Butter Cake

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CMCO Day 12 – Teatime: Apple Kefir Butter Cake

Another Sunday of baking experiment with the 2nd attempt of Apple Kefir butter cake. This time, the cake is much nicer with texture that is soft, fluffy and nice crusty outer layer.

Apple kefir butter cake is not a common cake sold in bakeries and cafes. I first tried this cake in Yin’s Sourdough when our lunch took longer time to be served during lunch busy period. The sweet lady from Yin’s Sourdough offered 2 slices of this cake complimentary to us while waiting for our lunch. We told her 1 slice will do. We ate, loved it and wanted to ask if we may have the 2nd slice back 😁. So yummy, healthy and refreshing.

During this CMCO, I missed eating this cake and placed delivery order for 5 boxes of this Apple kefir butter cake to share with family and friend to cheer everyone up during this CMCO.

This is my feedback on Yin Sourdough’s Apple Kefir butter cake, as posted by them on their IG stories.

Ingredients:

  • 113g (1 stick) of unsalted butter
  • 115g of castor sugar
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 120ml of milk kefir at room temperature to prevent soggy cake bottom and allows good bacteria to grow for airy texture. May substitute milk kefir with sour cream or yogurt thinned with milk (30ml of milk mixed with 90ml of plain yogurt)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 190g of cake flour or all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 60g of raisins soaked in rum or apple juice
  • 2 cored, peeled and thinly sliced crisp apples
  • Topping: 50g castor sugar mixed with 1 tsp of cinnamon

 Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.
  2. Line the bottom of a 8” (20 cm) round tin with removable base or spring form tin with parchment paper. Lightly grease sides and apply thin layer of flour or spray with non-stick baking spray.
  3. Core, peel and thinly slice apples and place in lightly salted water, or lemon juice, to prevent them from premature browning
  4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
  5. In a mixing bowl, add in butter and sugar. Mix it on low speed until the sugar disappear. Then increase to medium speed and mix for 15 minutes, until the butter is white, light and fluffy.
  6. Add in eggs, one by one and mix until the yellow eggs disappear.
  7. Add milk kefir and vanilla extract. Continue mixing for another 3-5 minutes.
  8. Add in the sifted dry ingredients and raisins and fold together until just combined.
  9. Pour half the batter into the baking pan.
  10. Place a layer of sliced apple on top of batter and sprinkle with thin layer of sugar and cinnamon.
  11. Pour the balance half of the batter into the baking pan.
  12. Place sliced apples on top of batter
  13. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over top of apple layers

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Test the cake using a cake tester. Cool the cake on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar (optional).

The taste of milk kefir is natural and infused with probiotic. The addition of kefir to this cake will make the cake extra soft, airy and lighter texture.

Afternoon tea with a slice of cake and coffee. Heavenly.

Enjoying afternoon tea at home during this CMCO. So grateful that we can bake simple cake to enjoy at home.

 

—Bottom: 1st attempt. Middle: 2nd attempt. Top: 3rd attempt

Different attempt of decorating the cake.

Garlic Fried Rice

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Jared and Jaden like the garlic fried rice they had in Japanese restaurant.

During one of my Teppanyaki lunch, I watched the chef frying garlic fried rice when we sat at the Teppanyaki counter.

Ingredients:

  • Garlic – 5 cloves, slice thinly.
  • Garlic – 1 bulb, minced.
  • Oil – 1 tablespoon
  • Butter – 20g
  • Eggs – 6
  • Rice – Overnight, 4 cups.
  • Chicken powder – 1.5 tsp
  • Salt – 1/2 tsp
  • Soya sauce – 1 tbsp.
  • Spring onion – 4 stalks, chopped
  • Black pepper – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Fry sliced garlic on low heat to avoid burning, till golden brown and set aside.
  2. Fry minced garlic till golden brown and set aside.
  3. Put Oil and butter on wokpan
  4. Fry eggs till 80% cooked
  5. Pour rice and mix with eggs
  6. Add chicken powder and salt.
  7. Continue frying until rice jumping
  8. Add fried minced garlic and soya sauce

Add chopped spring onion and black pepper.

Scoop rice into a bowl or a serving place.

Decorate with fried sliced garlic.

I’ve tried cooking this fried rice several times since MCO and CMCO and it always get Jaden excited and enjoyed his lunch.

Eat on its own and with any meat as side dish.  

Pantry Organisation

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I always know my pantry should be more organized. And that’s was it. Nothing done for a long time.

Until this MCO when we couldn’t go out but to stay at home, I wanted to do a few mini projects so that by the end of MCO and CMCO, those days were not wasted but filled with memories and a few projects accomplished.

One of the few mini projects that I have on my list is pantry organization. I spent a lot of time over the long Hari Raya break browsing on internet and watched lots of YouTube to get some ideas on how and tips to organize pantry.

I saw few things that I like and also things that I should avoid, what suits my kitchen cabinet and practical to use. I want clear and transparent containers, with no prints and design, no other colours except white. It has to be in square shape to save storage space.

  1. I measured my kitchen cabinets, its length, height and depth and looked for products that fit into those measurements.
  2. I browsed through the products online in Lazada and Shopee and read the review on the products and sellers.
  3. Follow the seller. You may get seller vouchers and notified of seller promotion.
  4. Check on bulk purchase discount. I bought 4 items from the containers seller as they offered 13% discount for purchases of 4 items and above. It turned out cheaper that just buying 3 items.
  5. Get delivery voucher for shipping fee discount as most items were shipped from China. The shipping fee is quite costly.
  6. Check on credit card promotion. There are promotions with Citibank, CIMB, Maybank, etc.

 

1st Phase: Spice Jars

Since I have to cook during this MCO, I used these items more frequently now.

Before

I wanted standard, clear bottles for spice storage and I bought these 12 pieces of square glass spice jars from Lazada. It came with proper packaging.

Caps and airtight lids to keep spices stay fresh longer.

Wash and dry before use.

I’m getting quite a number of questions on these spice jars since I posted it in my IG and FB. My friends love them too. I bought it from Lazada under seller “PickEgg”. This item has been sold out, replenished, sold out and the last I checked, it was replenished again.

Filled with my favourite spices.

For easy assess to these spice jars, I also bought rotating tray to put these spice jars as I will not be able to reach those at the back of my kitchen cabinet.

I can turn and easily assess to all of the spice jars but the turning is not very smooth.

High up on my kitchen cabinet.

 

2nd Phase: Dry Food Containers

I am right. I’m getting more questions for this. Before buying, I suggest the following:

  1. Open up your kitchen cabinets and list the items that you have.
  2. Categorise them and decide which items to be placed in wet kitchen and dry kitchens.
  3. Note down the contents volume so that you know how many containers of each sizes that you need.
  4. Measure your kitchen cabinets, height, depth and length.

I shortlisted 2 designs but I chose these albeit this is more expensive than the other.

I like this clear, clean, simple, neat looking design, made of BPA-free, durable plastic.

The containers stack well on top of each other due to the lids design. The height of the containers was also perfect for my kitchen cabinets.

There’s rubber at the bottom of the containers that are anti-slip and made them very stable. This seller was also having 13% discount for 4 items and above.

I saved almost $200 from seller promotion and shipping fee discount

The hard work results. Satisfaction. Stood there and admire it for awhile, love them so much. The kitchen cabinet is so much neater now and I can see in a glance what I have and what I need to stock up.

Labels

I bought the following labels to label my containers.

 

3rd Phase: Sauces and Bottles

Whenever I need to use sauces, I have to pull out the basket to reach the sauces. Sometimes, I need to move my hand around to reach those at the end row.

I saw this rotating tray. Just what I need and I bought it.

 

All these organisations will make cooking more enjoyable and life a little easier. I am very happy with the entire pantry organization results. Jaselyn said I’m very Auntie. Things like this ie organizing pantry, make me so happy. She must be thinking I’m such a boring Auntie.

Next on my list is to organize my fridge. I’m waiting for the items to arrive.

I’ve Lost Over 10kg

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Finally, I shed some weight and achieved one of my 2020 resolution of weight <50kg.

Losing weight has been in my mind for more than a decade and in my resolution for many years. Somehow, I couldn’t achieve it or probably I didn’t take it seriously or take action to achieve it.

I signed up for gym membership and went for Bodyjam, Body Combat and Body Balance classes and Group Training. After classes, I was always hungry and had dinner past 9pm. I used to think since I’ve worked out so hard, burnt lots of calories and sweat so much, it’s alright for me to eat.

My weight kept on increasing and when I saw this photo that I took in June 2019 in Lucerne, a very beautiful place, I felt worried. I noticed I looked so bloated and put on a lot of weight.

After 2 weeks in Lyon, a city of gastronomy and Switzerland, I really put on a lot of weight, hitting 60kg. My family told me the same thing and asked me to watch out on my diet and weight. My favourite breakfast were nasi lemak and fried meehoon that I used to pack on the way to work, with a cup of coffee with creamer.

My sister invited me to the Nutrition Club and I decided to join the wellness program. I have a personal weight management coach to guide me through the program. I have a better understanding of the value of good nutrition, healthy eating habit and active lifestyle. She also guided me how and what to eat before hitting gym and after classes to replenish lost muscles.

With coach Catherine Chua and my sister, Catherine Koh. The 2 sweet ladies and supportive coaches.

My biggest takeaway from this coaching is, not only we have to know our body weight, we should be aware of the composition of our body. What’s the fat %, muscle %, water %, visceral fat rating and body age. I was so worried then as my metabolic age was older than my age.

With the patient and knowledgeable coach, Natalia Lai.

This is my weight progress tracked from Fitness First boditrax from the day I started weighing myself till the last reading just before MCO.

Snap from 18 May 2019 to 9 Mar 2020

The 12 months development. Didn’t lose much weight in Dec 2019 and Jan 2020 due to Christmas and Chinese New Year celebrations with lots of gatherings and feast. I told myself to enjoy the process, don’t stress out, I don’t have deadline to meet and to have cheat days as and when I like. This is to ensure sustainability.

Finally, on the last Saturday after 2.5 months since the last time I went to the Nutrition Club due to MCO, I could go back and get my body composition analysis done. I lost 12kg, dropped body fat % and visceral fat layers, increased muscles % and water % and my metabolic age is younger by 19 years!

Funny encounter during this journey:

  • At security registration to sister’s house, the security guard looked at my driving license and asked me “Dulu gambar Mam gemuk. Sekarang kurus. Ada gambar lain? And he is not the first one who commented that.
  • A friend when he saw me told me “Wah, you lost weight. I thought you used photo filter on your photos to look slimmer on Instagram”.
  • When I did presentation at office Townhall, rather than paying attention on my slides, my colleagues whispered “Sawleng lost a lot of weight”.

I lost my double chin and round, chubby face. It is so good to feel lighter, healthier and more energetic. It boosts our confidence too.

During this MCO, I cleared my wardrobe based on KonMari method, segregating piles of clothes to be given away, to dispose and asked my Mom to alter for those clothes that bring joy to me. I cleared more than half of my wardrobe, I couldn’t wear most of them.

I recently bought the following Yellow and Pink size S camisoles from Uniqlo. I used to wear Size L AIRism camisole but now I am wearing size S, down 2 sizes. Happiness.

Top: Yellow and Pink new Uniqlo camisole size S Bottom: Black and White old Uniqlo camisole size L

I am just happy to live healthier, losing fat and gaining muscles. Looking good is the bonus.

Chicken Fajitas

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COVID-19 Movement Control – Day 72
Lunch: Chicken Fajitas

Chicken fajitas, a classic Mexican recipe that is easy to prepare and a flavorful meal. I marinated the chicken yesterday so that the chicken is seasoned well and I could cook it fast for lunch today since it’s a working day, the usual WFH.

We ate it 3 different ways ie with quinoa, wraps and butterhead lettuce. Top it with avocado and a dollop of sour cream. So yummy and healthy.

Ingredients::

Ø  Fajita Seasoning

  • 1/2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Ø  Chicken Fajitas

  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halves the thickness
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 bell peppers , thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lime

Ø  For Serving

  • Tortillas
  • Butterhead lettuce
  • Sour cream
  • Pico de gallo
  • Avocado

Instructions:

  1. Add the fajitas seasoning ingredients to a small mixing bowl and stir together.

2. Season the chicken. Generously sprinkle the fajita seasoning on both sides of the chicken and use your fingers press it into the chicken.

3. Cook the chicken. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and lightly coat it with a drizzle of olive oil or avocado oil. Sear the chicken breasts for about 7-8 minutes on each side.

Then remove them from the pan and let the chicken rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips.

4. Saute the bell peppers and onion. While your chicken is cooking, cut the bell peppers and onion into thin slices.

Once the chicken is removed, saute the bell peppers and onion in the same skillet over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently until caramelized.

5. Mix together. Add the chicken back into the skillet, add a squeeze of fresh lime juice (A must as squeeze of fresh lime adds a punch of flavor) and stir everything together.

6. Wrap it up. Serve immediately with tortillas and extra toppings such as sour cream, pico de gallo and guacamole.