Chicken And Mushroom Salad Cups using YIFON Bottled Mushrooms plus Recipe Booklets

From a glance at this photo does it reminds you on something similar to the "Nonya Kueh Pie Tee" which is usually filled with shredded turnips, carrot, hard boiled egg, chopped peanuts and etc. Here instead of  using the traditional Kueh Pie Tee shells, I replaced it with "Sui Gow Wrappers" that are baked in mini muffin tray to form a small shell cases.

With a twist from the traditional way of making Kueh Pie Tee, I used boiled shredded chicken breast meat with some YIFON bottled mushroom, tossed the mixtures together using some refreshing lime juice, cut chili and chopped peanuts.

Vietnamese Spring Roll (Gỏi cuốn)

In Vietnam there is a non-fried and refreshing spring roll known as "Gỏi cuốn" which include ingredients such as boiled or fried pork, shrimp, chicken, fresh herbs, lettuce, cucumber, rice vermicelli and etc. All the ingredients are all wrapped in moistened rice paper and eaten with a cold dipping sauce.

Here is my version of preparing this Vietnamese Spring Roll using cooked prawns, vegetables and fresh herbs.

Ingredients: (makes 6 rolls)

6 Sheets of Large Vietnamese Rice Paper
12 Medium Cooked Prawns, shell removed
1/2 Medium Carrot, peeled and julienned
1 Small Japanese Cucumber, peeled and julienned
24 Mint Leaves
Handful of Thai Basil Leaves
Some Lettuce Leaves, tear into small portion

Method:-

1. Fill a large dish or bowl with warm water, soak each sheet of rice paper for a second or two then transfer to a slightly damp cotton dish towel.

2. To assemble, arrange 2 cooked prawns, carrot, cucumber, lettuce, 2 mint leaves and some basil leaves at about 1/3 of the way from the edge nearest you.(refer to the photo above)

3. Roll from the edge nearest you and tuck in the sides as you go near to the other end. Carefully not to tear the wrapper with too much strength.

4. Serve whole or diagonally cut in half with dipping sauce.


There are a few ways to prepare this dipping sauce for the Vietnamese Spring Roll but here we love this version without minced garlic and instead I add in some chopped peanuts to enhance the flavour and texture.

Ingredients For Dipping Sauce:

2 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 Tablespoon of Fish Sauce
60ml Hot Water
1 Teaspoon of Caster/Brown Sugar
1 Small Red Chili, seeds removed and slices
1 Small Green Chili, seeds removed and slices
1/2 Tablespoon of Chopped Peanut, optional

Method:-

1. Whisk together all ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.


Although this might seems a bit troublesome to prepare as it used many ingredients as an appetizer or salad but trying it can be worth for getting away with our usual food routine. For this you can use all kind of vegetables according to your preference and if you do not like the taste of raw herbs, you can omit them in this recipe too. Moreover eating this Vietnamese Spring Rolls can be lots of fun too as you can mix and match the ingredients, wrap it and enjoy a light and refreshing meal while chatting with group of friends around the table. 

Baked Sweet Chili Chicken

Continue from last week Philips, MyKitchen (www.philips.com.sg/kitchen) recipe post on the "Red Cabbage Salad with Filet of Duck Breast", this week I would like to share with you this super quick and simple Sweet Chili Chicken which is perfect for BBQ function or served as finger food during party.

Sweet Chili Chicken Mid-Joint

Preparation Time: 60 Minutes                  Cooking Time: 25 Minutes

Ingredients: (Makes 10 Mid-Joint)

1/2 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons Sweet Chili Sauce
1 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
10 Chicken Mid-Joint Wing

For working mothers who don't have the luxury of time to spend an hour marinating the chicken. The quicker way would be doing it the night before or spending around 5 - 8 minutes in the morning preparing it ahead and leave them in the fridge till evening time.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the honey, sweet chili sauce and soy sauce.
2. Place chicken mid-joint wings into the bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degree on grill function, arrange the mid-joint wings on baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Turn the wings over, baste with marinade and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.
5. Adjust the oven to 200 degree fan-forced mode on upper and low heat, bake for the last 5 minutes to achieve the golden and char-grilled colour.


ORIGINAL RECIPE FROM PHILIPS (MyKitchen):

Sweet Chilli Chicken Drumsticks

Preparation Time: 60 Minutes                  Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients: (Makes 12 Drumsticks)

1 Tablespoon honey
5 Tablespoons Sweet Chili Sauce
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
12 Chicken Drumsticks

Method:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the honey, sweet chili sauce and soy sauce. Set aside a small dish of the marinade for basting.
2. Place chicken drumsticks into the bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat barbecue for medium high heat.
4. Lightly oil the barbecue cooking grate. Arrange drumsticks on the grate and cook for 10 minutes per side, or until cooked through.
5. Baste frequently with the reserved sauce during the last 5 minutes.


With such a quick and easy recipe above I am sure you would like to explore more recipes from Philips MyKitchen at www.philips.com.sg/kitchen for coming Chinese New Year too. Stay tune for more recipe idea from MyKitchen on next week post which I would share a recipe for a delicious dessert.

CP Food's Latest "Chicky" Products

Recently I have shared post on how to use some CP Thai Shrimp Cake to prepare 4 quick and easy finger food and one dish meal recipes. If you are interested to read more about this releated post, you can the link HERE. As for this post I would once again loves to share with you some simple ways of preparing different type of CP Chicken Products in less than 30 minutes.

These are the colleage photos of the ingredients and steps to prepare the "Claypot Chicken Rice".

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

6 - 8 Pieces of CP Charcoal-Grilled Chicken
160g (1 Rice Cooker Cup) Uncook Rice
320ml Water
Some Baby Bok Choy
1 Egg, optional
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
Dried Shallot and Chopped Spring Onion for Garnishing

Method:

1.Rinse the uncooked rice with tap water for a few rounds, drained well and add in suitable amount of water to cook the rice.
2. Place the claypot with rice over the stove, bring it to boil and low the heat to simmer the mixture till the water is half way dried off.
3. Next place the frozen CP Charcoal-Grilled Chicken starts from the middle and some baby bok choy along  the side.
4. Use can use two leaves from the bok choy to act as a base to support the egg before cracking it onto the rice.
5. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of sesame oil over the top of the vegetable and egg then cover and let it continue to simmer on very low heat for about 5 - 7 minutes till the chicken is heat through and egg is half way cooked.
6. Serve warm with dried shallot, chopped spring onion and drizzle of dark soy sauce according to your preference.

Note:-

~ You can also cook this dish using rice cooker. Just cook the rice as per usual then place the ingredient on top of the half-way cooked through mixture and let it cook and keep warm the the chicken is warm through.

This soft and tender CP Charcoal-Grilled Chicken is marinated in a distinctive Japanese-style sauce and slowly grilled over real charcoal fire. These pieces of charcoal grilled chicken is made using quality chicken leg meat that contins 0 Trans Fat and most important fact it contain no preservatives which most parents like us concern of.

This is one of our quick and easy one-dish meal for lunch busy busy weekends where my kid needs to rush for enrichment classes or when I am too lazy to cook 2 - 3 courses meal. So with a pack of these delicious and charcoal-grilled chicken you can either use it for making claypot rice like me or, microwave it till done and served with blanched noodles will be a great deal too.

This small bite-size CP Chicken Cake makes a great finger food for parties or gatherings which is easier for the guest to pick up and go. The ingredients of these chicken cakes consists of minced chicken meat and corn bits as well as some stands of vermicelli for extra crunch. You can either deep-fried, oven toast or microwave it but for me I prefer pan-fried which used lesser oil but it would give it a nice golden coating.

To have something refreshing to go with the Chicken Cake I came out with some "Century Egg Salad" which goes pretty well with it.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
1 Century Egg, cut into small cubes
2 Small Shallot, thinly sliced
1 Small Red Chilli, roughly chopped
1 Medium Tomato, cut into small cubes
1/4 Japanese Cucumber, cut into small cubes
1/2 Tablespoon Frozen/Fresh Corn Kernels, optional
1 Teaspoon of Oil

Method:

1. Preheat a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the sliced shallot and chopped chilli till fragrant.
2. Toss in all the rest of the ingredients and give it a quick stir to heat them through.
3. Remove from heat and serve warm together with the Chicken Cakes.


Do you like fried chicken? I am sure most of you would rise up your hands and say yes. There are so many fried chicken fast food outlets around such as "KFC", "Wendy", "Popeye Chicken" and etc. But what about those frozen Fried Chicken that available in the local supermarkets, have you ever tried them before? Here, I have use the CP Fried Chicken (Original Flavour) to prepare this cute little "Chicky Bento" which I personally think that these fried chicken pieces taste just as good as those selling in the fast food outlets. For more details about this Chicky Bento, do check back for the upcoming recipe soon.

CP Thai Shrimp Cake

Recently I got a pack of CP Thai Shrimp Cake (泰式虾饼) which I was wondering what I could do with it. And with my busy schedules I would prefer something quick and easy rather than sweating in the kitchen. So here are some quick ways on how I have make use of these delicious shrimp cake to whip up simple dishes to satisfy our hungry appetite in the shortest time.

First let's look at these yummy snacks; you don't even need more than 10 minutes to prepare them before you could enjoy these soft and fragrant Thai shrimp cake bun anytime of the day even on weekday breakfast. All you need is to get the necessary ingredients ready on the night before so that you could save some time on waking up earlier to prepare the ingredients.

For those who are tired of having the usual coffee and bread for breakfast, why not give this a try and you can even add in some lettuce and tomato to make it healthier too.

Ingredients: (makes 4 buns)
4 Plain Leaf Bun
8 -12 Pieces of CP Thai Shrimp Cake
1 Medium Tomato, thinly slices
Some Lettuce Leaves

Method:
1. Steam the leaf bun together with shrimp cakes on the same plate for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and set side.
2. To assemble them, slowly peel open the leaf bun, place some lettuce leave and a slice of tomato then sandwich it with 2 - 3 pieces of shrimp cakes.
3. You can also drizzle some chilli sauce (recipe shown below) over it and serve immediately.


Drizzling Sauce: (optional)
1 1/2 Tablespoon Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 Teaspoon Hot Water
1 Shallot, thinly slices
1 Small Chili, remove seeds & chopped

Method:
1. Mixed all the above ingredients together and served as dipping sauce or drizzle on the fillings.

Note:
~ Drizzling Sauce can be prepared overnight.


Want some quick and easy finger food within 3 minutes to pair with your fried rice, bee hoon or instant noodles? Or you are looking for some authentic party food to impress your guests. No matter what is your intention, I am sure these mini CP Thai Shrimp Cakes would always come in handy for all occasions.

All you need to do is just toast them in oven toaster for 5 - 8 minutes or for a faster alternative, microwave them for 2 - 3 minutes on medum high depending on your microwave power(watt).


Or if you are looking for something more filling for lunch or dinner maybe you can consider using these shrimp cake to whip out some fried rice together with egg and vegetable. I can be assured that you would be surprised on how tasty these shrimp cake can tranform the plain rice into an "Egg-wrapped Fried Rice" dish in less than 30 minutes.

Don't worry if you cannot make a nice egg sheet to wrap the rice, you could always mix and match the ingredients to suit your preference and time limit. If egg wrap don’t work well for you, try adding it into the rice itself to make normal fried rice with egg. Here are some ingredients and steps for my “Egg-wrapped Fried Rice” dish: -

Ingredients: (serve 1 - 2)
1 Rice Bowl of Cooked Rice
5 pieces of CP Thai Shrimp Cake
2 Medium Egg, lightly whisk
1 Tablespoon of Green Bean/Mixed Vegetables
2 Cloves Garlic, finely minced
Dash of Thai Fish Sauce/Light Sauce Sauce




Method:
1. Cut the shrimp cakes into small portions (about 6 rectangles per piece), set aside.
2. Pre-heat the frying pan with 1/2 Tablespoon of oil, slowly pour in the egg mixture and give it a swirl around the pan so that the egg mixture is evenly spread out.
3. Fry the egg sheet on low heat till slightly brown, slowly loosen the side of the egg sheet and flip it over with a spatula and cook the other side till done.
4. Remove and set it over a small rice bowl while preparing the fried rice.
5. Add in another 1/2 tablespoon of oil add in the shrimp cakes pieces and give it a quick stir for about 30 seconds, dish up.
6. Next sauté the minced garlic for a few second then drop in the green bean and continue to fry for another 30 second or till the garlic turned slightly brown.
7. Pour in the cooked rice, increase the heat to medium then use a spatula to loosen the rice so that it would be grainy instead of lumpy.
8. When the rice is almost done, add in the shrimp cake and dash of fish sauce to season the rice.
9. Remove from heat and spoon the rice evenly into the egg sheet bowl, fill the fried rice to the rim of the bowl and tuck in the sides of the egg sheet to form a bowl.
10. Over turn the egg wrapped bowl onto serving plate, decorate it with some garnish and served immediately.

Note:
~ You can cooked the rice the night before or early in the morning if you are preparing this for lunch or dinner.

For a quick snack or lunch meal for kids, perhaps you can add in some shredded mozzarella cheese to do a cheesy bake rice for them. I am sure they would finished the bowl of rice without fuss and ask for second helping too.

To prepare this dish, you could use the same fried rice shown above by increasing the quantity and dish up some portion to bake it with cheese for your kids. Or you can always served two different flavour of this dish so that each one of the family members could get a chance to taste both of these dishes.

Ingredients:
Some Shrimp Cake Fried Rice
Decent amount of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Dash of Ground Pepper




Method:
1. Place a layer of shrimp cake fried rice in the baking dish and topped it evenly with some mozzarella cheese.
2. Next place the 2nd layer of fried rice on top and continue with some generous amount of cheese again.
3. Put the baking dish into oven toaster and bake for about 5 minutes till the cheese is bubbling and the colour turns golden brown.
4. Removed from oven, served hot with dash of ground pepper.


As you have notice from the packaging it shows that these CP Thai Shrimp Cake are well seasoned with Thai Chilli paste and it is made with 70% shrimp which are raised at CP's eco-friendly farms in Thailand. And most importantly this product contains 0g Trans Fat and has no preservatives used. Overall I love its slightly spicy and refreshing taste especially the "Kaffir Lime Leaf" that is infused in these shrimp cake. This special lime fragrant makes makes it very appetising on each bites. And for your informatin, you can easily find these shrimp cake at the frozen food department of any local supermarkets.
Price: S$4.95 each packet (260g)

Lastly I would like to thanks Melvin of Vibes Communications Pte Ltd and CP (Charoen Pokphand) Food for the invitation to try out some of their products. And I would also like to share with you some other quick and easy dishes from those CP Food that I received in some upcoming posts too.

CP Food also provides a special recipes booklet by Chef Forest Leong to share her tips on how to use CP Products to whip up some delicious dishes for celebratory occasion. You can get this booklet at these selected community centers for FREE on a first-come-first-serve basis:-

1. Cairnhill CC
2. Buona Vista CC
3. Bukit Panjang CC
4. Pasir Ris Elias CC
5. Toa Payoh West CC
6. The Frontier CC
7. Kampong Chai Chee

Teochew Ngoh Hiang

In the past, making "Ngoh Hiang - 五香" is always one of my Dad specialty dish. During festive occasion such as Chinese New Year he and mum would make a huge quantity to distribute to our relatives or served it to those who visit us during New Year. But now when he is no long around, we don’t really get to eat this special treat as often as we do.

Deep-Fried Arrowhead Chips

Usually about a month or so before the Chinese New Year, you will be able to catch a glimpse of these "Arrowhead(cigu) - 钱菇" at most of the vegetable vendors in the wet market. This bulb-like corms of the arrowhead is sold roughly about S$3.00 per kg depending on individual stalls.

Baked Prawn With Lemon & Cheese

These baked Lemon & Cheese Prawns are from the Fresh Live Prawn that we caught during our Prawning Trip last weekend at Bottle Tree Park. It is indeed an enjoyable experience on the prawning trip and most of thrilling part is I get to use these prawns for my new dish.

This is a very simple dish that most of you will be able to grab the ingredients right from your fridge at any moment. All you need are some butter, 1 lemon, 2 slices of sandwich cheese if you are run out of shredded cheese. Don't worry if you don't have Fresh live prawn, you can always get any type of prawns from the supermarket or you can even replace it with fish fillet like salmon or any white fish.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
8 Medium Size Prawn
2 Slices of Sandwich Cheese, cut into thin strips
1 Lemon, cut into thin slices
10g of Butter
2 Tablespoon of RUM or Brandy, optional

Method:
1. Wash, trim and slit the back of the prawn into half, becareful not to cut too deep or else the prawn will break into halves.
2. Cut the butter into small cubes and stuff it into cuts of the prawn.
3. Arrange some lemon slices in a baking dish (or you can use disposal foil baking tray), place the stuffs prawn on top of the lemon.
4. Top the shredded cheese on top of the prawns, drizzle the liquor evenly on top of the prawn.
5. If you want that extra citric fragrance on the baked prawn, you can top with some extra strips of lemon rind.
6. Bake in the toaster oven for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the prawn is cook through.
6. You can serve this dish directly from the baking tray or you can re-arrange them in serving plate and serve as finger food for party.


Note:
~ Above is the sample photo of the toaster oven which you might have it in kitchen, it is usually used to reheat bread, pizza or small items.

The gravy of this dish is so fragrance and sweet due to the sweetness that comes from the fresh prawn. Look at the prawns, some of it still comes with prawn roes. The combination of Lemon, Cheese, Prawn and Liquor will definitely stimulate your tastebuds to another level of food tasting.

Scramble Egg With Tomato

Are you one of those tomato lover who eats any kind of tomato that is on the shelf of the supermarket? Or you will just pick your choice of those that you love like cherry tomatoes or vineyard tomatoes or ?

Tomato fruit is classified as a berry. As a true fruit, it develops from the ovary of the plant after fertilization, its flesh comprising the pericarp walls. Tomato is also an excellent source of Vitamin C and a good source of Vitamin A. So if you are trying to get one of your kids or love one to incorporate some tomato into their dish. You can try one of this Scramble Egg With Tomato serve in tomato cup as party food breakfast side dish.

Ingredients: (serve 2)
2 Medium Size Red Tomato
1 Medium Egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon Milk/Water
1/2 Tablespoon of Chopped Tomato
1 Tablespoon of Chopped Spring Onion
1/2 Tablespoon of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Method:
1. Cut the tomatoes, horizontal into halve and carefully scoop out the seeds in it. Pat the inside dry with kitchen paper towel and set them aside.
2. Take 1 of the tomato cup and chopped them into cubes.
3. Whisk the egg with either water or milk until well combined.
4. Drizzle some Olive oil onto a small preheat non-stick pan and add in the chopped tomatoes, give it a few stir until fragrant then scatter in the chopped spring onion.
5. Next pour in the egg mixture and cook the scramble egg accordingly, using a spoon to stir the mixture occasionally.
6. Lastly stir in the Thai chili sauce mixture and give it a quick stir until it combined, fill the egg mixture into the prepared tomato cups and serve as together with some cut fruits as side dish.

Note:
a) You can replace the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce with Tomato Sauce for kid's version.
b) You can also scatter some extra shredded cheese onto the egg tomato cups and put it into the toaster oven of about 3 minutes or so until the cheese started to melt.

Avocado ~ Egg ~ Tomato

This is my combination of appetiser meal, Avocado Vs Egg Vs Tomato. I simply just love the taste of Avocado, when this is in season I'll always have it in my fruit basket. I love to eat it with plain yogurt, or blend it with some fresh milk and honey and serve it as a health afternoon snack or after meal refreshment with a few ice cubes.

There are so many ways and ideas that you can eat your avocado with. And also high avocado intake has been shown to have an effect on blood serum cholesterol levels and it is also rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E.

In this appetiser, I used 1 avocado, 1 hard boiled egg and 2 ripe medium size tomato to come out with 3 different taste and texture of the combination.

Mashed Avocado & Egg Salad
~ Mashed half of the hard-boiled egg with about 2 to 3 slices of avocado and serve it in a tomato cup.

Avocado Slices With Plain Yogurt
~ Arrange some avocado slices on plate and top with a dollar of plain Greek yogurt(or you can choose yogurt of your favour).

This is great to serve as a an presentable appetiser when you have guest around the house. You can top with with other fresh fruits of your choice or you can use tomato or cucumber or any combination that you prefer.

~ Cut the avocado into half, carefully scoop out the fruit and leave the shell in shape.
~ Place half of the hard-boiled egg in the middle and filled the space of the shelf with avocado & tomato cubes.
~ Drizzle with some BBQ or Thai Chilli sauce before serving.

Steam Corn Kernels Dumplings

I believed most of us will fancy on Sweet Corn which is sweet and full of favour. You can either steam it and eat with a touch of butter or you can use it for making desserts or even salad. Corn contains beta-carotene, small amounts of B vitamins and vitamin C. It is a useful source of protein and is rich in fiber.


This afternoon, we will be having this cute and nutritious finger food to serve together with rice. I made these using Pork and Prawn minces with shredded carrot, water chestnuts and some seasonings. From the usual dumpling skin which used to wrap the filling and steam as we called it Shao Mai (click link to read more) or Siew Mai in more of the Chinese dim sum restaurants. I replace the dumpling skin with corn kernels which will give it a new look and also increase the texture and favour of this dish.

I am sure most of the kids will love this dish because of the corn kernels and it's colourful appearance. This is also another good method to put vegetables and meat together for kids to consume.

Ingredients: (make about 10 dumplings, ping pong ball size)
150g Pork Mince
150g Prawn Mince
20g Shredded Carrot
3 Water Chestnuts, finely chopped
1 Tablespoons of Chopped Spring Onion
1 Teaspoons of Grated Ginger
1/2 Tablespoons of Shallot Slices
Seasonings:
1 Tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
1/2 Tablespoon of Cooking Wine
1 Teaspoon of Cornflour
1/2 Teaspoon of Pepper
Coating:
1 cup of corn kernels, either frozen or fresh

Methods:
1. Mixed all the ingredients(except the corn kernels) and seasonings together till well combine and set aside in the fridge to marinate for at least 1 hours or overnight.
2. Put the corn kernels on a flat plate, roll about 1 tablespoon for filling into a round shape then coat with the corn kernels. (You might need to use your finger to stick the corn kernels to the filling.)
3. Set aside on a steam plate and continue with the rest of the rolling and sticking.
4. Steam the corn dumplings on medium heat heat for about 7 - 10 minutes depending on the size.
5. Slowly remove it from the steaming plate and arrange them on the serving plate and prepare the drizzling egg sauce.
6. To prepare the egg sauce, preheat a small frying pan or sausage with some oil, add 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce and let it bubble for a few second then add in 60ml of water, and stir till the oyster sauce is mixed through.
7. Next, slowly add in one tablespoon of beaten egg white and stir until it change colour then add in some cornstarch water to thicken the sauce.
8. Use a spoon to drizzle the sauce on top of each arranged corn dumplings, top with extra chopped spring onions and chillie and serve.

Tips:
a) You can replace the chopped chillies to Chopped Carrot for the topping if this is to serve for kids.
b) To make the prawn mince, you can either chopped the shelled prawn using the back of the knife or you can put it in the food process and blend it together with the pork mince and seasonings.
c) To make an easy egg sauce, you can used ready stock pack and just pour the chicken stock into a small saucepan and then before it begin to boil, stir in the egg white and thicken with corn starch.