Home-style Korean Bibimubahu

Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with sauteed and seasoned vegetables, beef, a fried egg, and gochujang (chile pepper paste). The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating. Vegetables commonly used in bibimbap include julienned cucumber, zucchini, carrot, mu (white radish), mushrooms, doraji (bellflower root), and laver, as well as spinach, soybean sprouts, and gosari (bracken fern stems).


Dubu (doufu), either plain or sauteed, or a leaf of lettuce may be added, or beef may be substituted with chicken or seafood. Although what had I prepare is not the traditional or authenticate koran bibimbap, but it really taste good and suits our family. We all agreed that this is a very healthy dish which contains alot of different vegetables and less meat.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
2 Cups Of Cooked White Rice
1/2 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
200g Chicken Fillet, cut into strips
1 Cup Bean Sprout, remove tails
1 Small Carrot, Shredded
1 - 2 Japanese Cucumber, Shredded
1/2 Small Cabbage(150g), Shredded
8-10 Small Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms
4 Cloves Garlic
100ml Chicken Stock/Water
2 Eggs

Marinade:
1 1/2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cornstarch

Toppings:
1 Tablespoon Dried Shredded Seaweeds
1 Tablespoon Of White Sesame Seeds, pan-fry till fragrant
1 Teaspoon Assorted Chili Pepper(Nanami Togarashi)
Some Gochujang(Korean chili paste)



Methods:
1. Marinate the chicken strips and set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Remove the tails of the bean sprouts then rinse in water, drain and set aside.
3. Place the cooked rice in the middle of a big plate. Preheat 1 Tablespoon of Sesame oil in a pan and drizzle on top of it.
4. Next add some oil in the pan, break in the eggs, fry into sunny-side-up egg and place it on top of the rice.
5. Add in shredded carrots and stir for a few seconds then remove and arrange it on the side of the rice together with the shredded cucumber.
6. Add in abit more oil, saute two minced garlic then add in bean sprout and stir for a 1 - 2 minutes, add in some salt and season to taste. Remove and arrange on place.
7. Clean the pan, saute another 2 minced garlic with some oil and stir-fry the shredded cabbage and mushroom for 1 - 2 minutes then add in the chicken stock and simmer for 3 minutes, drain the mixture and arrange the cabbage and mushroom separately on the place.
8. Lastly, preheat the washed pan with some sesame oil and stir-fry the chicken strips till half done then add in some sesame seeds and stir till fragrant and cooked.
9. Remove and arrange on plate. Sprinkle some extra sesame seeds, shredded seaweeds and Korean chili paste.

Notes:
You can use any vegetables such as spinach, bean sprouts, or mushrooms (oyster, enoki).
Blanch mushrooms, squeeze, add some sesame oil, salt and sesame seeds.

For those who are looking for korean food ingredients, you can go to this shop:

Shine Korea

175 Bencoolen Street

#01-10/11

Burlington Square

Tel: 6238 8897

Stuffed Creamy Chicken & Vegetables Soup In Loaf

This is a very easy and quick to prepare meal. You can either use the it to stuff into a loaf or as a sauce for spaghetti or baked rice and it can be served in anytime of the day like breakfast or dinner.

The ingredients used can be varies from individual preference. Like you can choose any type of mushrooms like button mushroom, shiitaka mushroom or even can mushroom. You can add in celery if you prefer or change the soup base to corn, mushroom or pumpkin etc.....

For this meal, I stuffed all the cook ingredients into a pre-baked medium French loaf and serve with some extra fruits to make it more colourful and appetizing.

Ingredients:
3-4 Medium French Loaf
1/2 Chicken Breast
1/4 Broccoli
10-15 Baby Potato, cut into halves
1 Small Carrot, cut into cubes
1/2 Brown Onion, cut into small wedges
8-10 Mushroom, cut into quarter
500ml Instant Creamy Soup(2 packets or 1/2 can)
300ml Water

Methods:
1. Wash, trim and cut the chicken breast into small cubes. Marinate it with some white pepper, soy sauce and cornstarch and set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Wash, peel and cut the potato, carrot, mushroom and onion into small bite size.
3. Cut the broccoli into small florets and soaked in water for about 15 minutes, rinse and blanch in hot water, rinse and set aside.
4. Prepare the instant soup(I used Campbell instant cream of mushroom and chicken) according to the cooking instruction stated.
5. Preheat a small saucepan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, saute the chicken pieces(coat with some extra cornstarch first) until golden brown then add in the brown onion and mushroom.
6. Keep on stirring until fragrant then add in the carrot and potato and saute for 1 - 2 minutes then add in the prepared soup and bring to boil.
7. When boiled, lower the heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes on low heat until the potatoes and carrots are tender. (stir the soup on and off to prevent it from sticking to the pot)
8. Lastly add in the blanch broccoli florets and stir till combined. Remove the pot from the stove and sprinkle some extra pepper on top.

Assemble The Loaf:
1. Put the loaf either in the oven or toast for 1 minutes to make it abit crisp and hard.
2. Use a sharp knife to cut the top 3/4 off so that it resemble like a box with opening, then dig out all the fresh to make it hollow. Repeat for the rest of the loaf.
3. Put hollow loaves into the toaster or oven again to bake for another 3-5 minutes until crispy and harden.
4. Remove, spread a thin layer of margarine on it then scoop the chicken & vegetables soup into it and serve immediately.

Thai-style Deep-fry Doufu

I had eaten this "Thai-style Deep-fry Doufu" twice from the Sembawang SAF Yacht Club restaurant. I love the crispness of the fried doufu with the sweet and spicy Thai sauce. It's really amazing how this simple doufu dish can be so appetizing.

Doufu(豆腐) or bean curd is a food of Chinese origin, made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. The making of doufu from soy milk is similar to the technique of making cheese from milk.


For soft silken doufu (嫩豆腐) or soy beancurd(豆花) the soy milk is curdled directly in the doufu's selling package. For standard firm Asian doufu, the soy curd is cut and strained of excess liquid using cheese cloth or muslin and then lightly pressed to produce a soft cake. Firmer doufu, such as Asian dry doufu(荳乾) are further pressed to remove even more liquid. The doufu curds are allowed to cool and become firm

Doufu is low in calories, contains beneficial amounts of iron (especially important for women of child bearing age) and has no cholesterol (a risk factor for heart disease). Depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, the doufu may also be high in calcium (important for bone development and maintenance) and magnesium (especially important for athletes).

Ingredients:
1 Packet of Pressed Doufu,板豆腐
3-4 Tablespoon Cornstarch
1 Beaten Egg

Methods:
1. Soaked the whole box of doufu in water for about 1-2 hours(this is to harden to doufu for deep-frying purpose).
2. Remove the doufu from the packing then cut into 12 equal pieces then use kitchen paper towel to dry it well.
3. Next coat the doufu pieces with some cornstarch then dip in beaten egg and coat with cornstarch again.
4. Set it aside for 1-2 minutes before deep-frying it in hot oil for 2 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Drain and set aside.

Ingredients For Salad Base:
1 Japanese cucumber
1 Medium Carrot
1 Red Apple/Mango
1 Medium Tomato, cut into wedges
Rind Of 1 Lemon

Methods:
1. Wash all the above, shred them finely, mix well and place in a mixing bowl.
2. Set aside in the fridge while you prepare the doufu.

Sweet & Spicy Sauce:
2 Tablespoon Thai-style Sweet Chilli Sauce
2 Small Red Chilli, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Drinking Water
2 Tablespoons Thai Fish Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Cloves Of Garlic, finely grated
Juice Of Half Lemon
1/2 Tablespoon Finely Chopped Coriander

Methods:
1. Mix all the above ingredients together in a small bowl and stir till well combined.
2. Set aside for later use.(you can prepare it ahead and place in the fridge)

Assemble The Dish:
1. Remove the salad from the fridge, place it as a base on the serving plate.
2. Arrange the tomato wedges around the plate, drizzle 1/4 of the sweet & spicy sauce on the salad.
3. Place the fried doufu on top of the salad base, then drizzle the rest of the sauce evenly on the doufu and serve hot.

Notes:
You can use any vegetables for the salad base as you prefer.

If you don't like the garlic smell, you can omit it from the sauce. And if you prefer a hotter sauce, you can add more chopped chillies.

8 Treasure Chicken Soup - 八宝鸡汤

I am sure you heard of "8 Treasure Porridge-八宝粥", "8 Treasure Rice-八宝饭" or even "8 Treasure Chicken/Duck-八宝鸡". So for my 8 Treasure Chicken Soup-八宝鸡汤 is to add another collection to you treasure box......This soup is good to calms spirit and smooth the intestines function and clear constipation. It also promote and ease urine flow. It's a very good soup for the whole family especially for those who are suffering for minor stress. To know more information of each herbs, you can click on the Basic Chinese Herbs link.


Ingredients:
2-3 Chicken Drumsticks
20g Dried Lily Bulbs, 百合
20g Fox Nut,茨实
20g Lotus Seeds, 莲子/湘莲
20g Chinese Barley,中国薏米
10-12 Fresh Gingko Nuts,白果
3-4 Red Dates,红枣
1/2 Tablespoon Guo Qizi,枸杞子
150g Fresh Huai Shan,鲜淮山

Methods:
1. Wash, trim and blanch the chicken in boiling water, drain and set aside.
2. Wash and peel the fresh huai shan then cut into 3 thick sections.
3. Rinse and drain the rest of the dried herbs and set side.
4. Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil, add in all the herbs and chicken then bring to boil again.
5. Transfer to a slow cooker and simmer on low heat for about 2 hours.
6. Season with salt and serve.

Notes:
If you do not have fresh huai shan, then replace it with 4 - 5 slices of dried huai shan.

In this recipe, I used two types of dried lotus seeds, one with skin and one without.