[April $20 Budget Meal] Luo Han Guo and Watercress Soup plus Hainanese Pork Chop Rice and Pork Katsudon

For the month of April we are having an "Easter April" them for our $20 Budget Meal event by using "EGG" as one of the main ingredient in either one of the two dishes or soup prepared. In this post I have prepared 3 different set meal using "Deep-fried Pork Chop" as the key ingredient. As you can see from the photo, they are:- Deep-fried Pork Chop with Hard-boiled Egg, Pork Katsudon (omelette in it) and Hainanese Pork Chop served with Sunny Side Up Eggs which fulfill this month Egg theme.

Before we start off with the recipes, let's congrats Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore) for getting the most readers vote on her "Shark's Fins Melon Soup 《鱼翅瓜排骨汤》, Stir-Fried Beef with Celery 《西芹炒牛肉》, Fried Fish with Crispy Garlic 《蒜香鱼片》" with a total spending of S$19.50; Serves 6 on our "March - $20 Budget Meal Round-up". The related recipes can be found HERE.

"Luo Han Guo - 罗汉果" is a dried fruits that are ellipse or round with a yellow-brownish or green-brownish colour that is covered by fine hairs. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for colds, coughs, sore throats, gastrointestinal disorder, as well as a blood purifier. And in Asian country, this fruit is usually used to boil herbal tea or soup.


LUO HAN GUO AND WATERCRESS SOUP

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
300g Pork Ribs
1 Large Luo Han Guo (罗汉果)
1 Bunch of Watercress ((西洋菜)
10g Bitter Sweet Almond (南北杏)
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries (枸杞)
1.5 Litres of Hot Water

This is one of the great cooling soup that benefits the health of the whole family especially during hot summer weather or Durian season where the body system tends to be heated up. The taste of this soup is rather dry with a bit of bitterness rather than sweet. So if you are going to serve this to younger kids perhaps you can add in 2 - 3 candied dates (蜜枣) to tone down the dry taste.

Method:

1. Blanched pork ribs in boiling water for a few minutes, removed and rinse well.

2. Break Luo Han Guo into big pieces, rinse and set aside.

3. Cut the stalk away from the leaves portion of the watercress, soak the leaves in water with at least 2 change of water to get ride of sand and dirt. Rinse the stalk and tighten it with the attached string and set aside.

4. Next bring 1.5 litres of water to boil, add in pork ribs, luo han guo and bitter sweet almond (I put them into stock bag).

5. When the mixture comes to boil again, cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes.

6. Add in drained watercress leaves and wolfberries and continue to cook for another 5 - 10 minutes.

7. Serve either before or during meal.


Total cost for this dish is about S$4.00 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Pork Ribs = S$2.50
~ 1 Bunch Watercress = S$0.70
~ 1 Luo Han Guo = $1.00
~  Wolfberries and Bitter Sweet Almond = S$.30

My boy loves this type of crispy deep-fried pork chop that you can purchase from any of those Hainanese Scissor Cut Mixed Vegetables Rice Stalls. These type of pork chop cost around S$1.00 - S$2.00 each depending on it's size. Here I use a quick method by marinating pork chop with egg and cornflour together with other seasonings, coat with instant bread crumbs and deep-fried till golden brown.


DEEP-FRIED PORK CHOP

Ingredients: (make 8 slices)
8 Pieces of Pork Loin (猪里脊肉)
1 Cup of Instant Bread Crumbs (面包屑)
Oil For Deep-frying

Seasoning:
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Pepper
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1 Medium Egg

Method:-

1. To tenderise the pork, flatten or lightly pat it with a meat mallet or the back of the knife for easy cooking and quick marinate.

2. Marinate prepared pork chop with seasoning for at least 15 minutes or an hour in the refrigerate.

3. Remove marinated pork chop 5 minutes before cooking. Coat each pieces of pork chop evenly with bread crumbs (refer to the step-by-step photo above).

4. Deep-fry pork in hot oil in medium heat till golden brown, remove and drain well. (it takes about less than 5 minutes, do not over fried or the crumbs will be burnt)

5. Cut the pork chop into 1" wide slices and serve with steamed rice or you can make a choice with the next two recipes on either Hainanese Pork Chop or Pork Katsudon.


Total cost for this dish is about S$5.50 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ 8 Pieces of Pork Loin = S$4.00 (included for the 2 dishes below)
~ 1 Egg = S$0.50
~ 1 Cup Instant Bread Bread = S$1.00

There are many ways of making this Traditional Hainanese Pork Chop where the ingredients will various depend on the cook and stalls. I remember vividly my favourite version of Hainanese Pork Chop do consist of Deep-fried Pork Chop, Onion, Green Peas, and Potato in a thick tomato gravy. And I always volunteer to pound cream crackers for my dad to use for coating the pork chops before deep-frying. (Nowadays the biscuit crumbs can be replaced using Instant Bread crumbs)

HAINANESE PORK CHOP

Ingredients: (serve 1)

2 Pieces of Fried Pork Chop, cut into 1" slices
1/2 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Medium Onion, cut into thin slices
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 Tomato, cut into wedges
80g Frozen Green Peas
Some Fresh Pineapple Cubes, optional

Sauce:
150ml Instant Chicken Stock
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce
1 Teaspoon Caster Sugar

Method:-

1. Saute the sliced onion and garlic with 1/2 tablespoon of oil till brown, add in green peas and half of the tomato wedges and continue to cook for another 30 seconds.

2. Gradually stir in the sauce mixture (mixed all the sauce ingredients) when it comes to boil drizzle dark soy sauce and give it a quick stir.

3. Next add in remaining tomato wedges and pineapple cubes and simmer for another 10 seconds.

4. Remove from heat, pour sauce over prepared pork chop and serve immediately with steamed rice.


Total cost for this dish is about S$1.30 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
* ~ Deep-fried Pork Chop = S$1.00
~ 1 Ring of Pineapple = S$0.50
~ Tomato and Frozen Peas = $0.40
~ Onion = $0.20
~ Egg = S$0.20

Katsudon (カツ丼) is a popular Japanese food where a bowl of rice is topped with deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments. Here since I have made extra pieces of deep-fried pork chop, I decided to make a simple version of this Katsudon using only Egg, Onion and Chicken Stock.


PORK KATSUDON

Ingredients: (serve 1)

1 - 2 Pieces of Fried Pork Chop, cut into 1" slices
80ml Instant Chicken Stock
1/2 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Caster Sugar
1/2 Medium Onion, thinly sliced
1 Medium Egg, light beaten
1 Stalk of Spring Onion, cut into 3" sections

Method:-

1. In a small bowl stir chicken stock, dark soy sauce and sugar together till combined.

2. Preheat a small frying pan, add sliced onion and stock mixture then bring it to boil and simmer over low heat for about 2 minutes till onion soften.

3. Arrange the deep-fried pork chop slices on top of the onion.

4. Slowly swirl in the beaten egg from around the pork chops, top with spring onion, cover and simmer for another 10 - 15 seconds.

5. Remove the frying pan from heat and carefully arrange the pork mixture on top of a bowl of steamed white rice. Serve immediately.


Total cost for this dish is about S$0.70 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
* ~ Deep-fried Pork Chop = S$1.00
~ Egg = S$0.20
~ Instant Chicken Stock + Spring Onion = $0.50

Pork Katsudon

With just a little twist, I managed to in-cooperate 3 different menu to cater for each individual preference. Although you might need a bit more time in preparing but I am sure all these efforts are worth for a delicious spread of homecook meal. With these I spent a total of S$11.50 to cook the soup and 3 different set meals each using "Egg" as one of the specific "Easter April - $20 Budget Meal" theme.

EASTER APRIL
Using "EGG" to make one of the dish

For April [$20 Budget Meal] event let's have a little cooking challenge by using the specific ingredient "EGG(s)" for one of the dish in your menu (eg: steam egg, fried omelette, scrambled egg and etc). And for those who wish to join us please refer to the submission details shown below. Look forward to receive your sharing of April Budget Meal menu soon.


~ Either "2 Dishes plus 1 Soup" or "1 Pot Dish" using a Maximum budget of $20.00 for 2 - 4 servings. If you are from overseas, you can also participate by converting to the appropriate currency value, (ie. US$15.00, RM$50.00, Rp $138,000 and etc)

~ If you do not have a blog, just send in the photos and recipe of your dishes and I will publish on your behalf in my blog, credited to you. (photos can be taken in any form using digital camera or hand phone)

~ All submission entries must be published in the month of April from 01 April  - 25th April 2011.

~ Please do mention in your blog that you are sharing this post to “Easter April - $20 Budget Meal” event and link it to this page HERE so as to encourage more readers to contribute.

SUBMISSION:

~ E-mail your "blog link" or "photos with recipe" to ellenaguan@hotmail.com with a subject "Easter April $20 Budget Meal" in the following format:

Your Name:
URL of your post:
Name of your dishes + soup:
Estimate amount spent for each dish:
Attachment of your photo in your email (each photo, preferably 500kb or less).

CLOSING DATE:

~ Monday, 25 April 2011, 2359 hours  and all entries will be compiled and posted on 30th April 2011.

Nestle MILO 3-in-1 Easy Cool

Making a glass of icy cold MILO is always one of the idea beverage which is refreshing and thirst-quenching in our hot and humid climate. Recently Nestle Singapore has launches a brand new product known as MILO Easy Cool where you no longer need to prepare cold MILO in the traditional way of mixing a hot cup of milo with ice cubes or cold water.

Now no matter where you are, either at home, office or school you can always enjoy cold MILO at any time of the day with little hassle. Just take a sachet of the MILO Easy Cool, add it into cold water and within a few seconds you will be able to enjoy a glass of flavourful icy beverage just like those available from  the old school days Milo truck.

Also for quick and easy way of making this icy MILO Nestle has bundled a free cooler bottle which you can freeze the core and insert it into the prepared MILO drink which will makes your beverage cool within 2 - 3 minutes. This is indeed a good thoughts rather than adding icing cubes which might dilute the taste of the MILO, but if you can't get hold of this free cooler bottle you can still make  the drinks using cold water striaght from the refrigerate. 

This new MILO Easy Cool is also endorsed by the Singpapore Health Promotuon Board's Healthier Choice Symbol with healthy goodness such as: Actigen-E, ProtoMalt, Vitamin C and Calcium etc. You can easily purchase these at all leading supermarkets such as FairPrice, Cold Storage, Shop N Save, Giant, Carrefour and Sheng Siong at a retailed price of S$5.95 per packet of 15 sachets.

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.

Steamed Egg Cake (Ji Dan Gao) and Red Bean Soup

Steamed Egg Cake or also known as Ji Dan Gao (雞蛋糕) is one of the tradition steamed cake, which is commonly used for praying purpose during festive occasion such as Chinese Lunar New Year. I still remember vividly when I was a child, I used to help my mum using those old fashion handheld egg eater to beat 8 or 10 eggs together with sugar. Although the process was tiring but I always look forwards to enjoy my favourite teacake after the praying. And to me that was the most delicious homemade cake compared to those fancy varieties that we have nowadays.

So when I read the steamed egg cake post on Ju's blog, my heart was filled with joy and I immediately shares the post with my mum where it brings back a lot of our Kampong days memories. During the chat she still mentioned we used to beat the cake batter manually using hand beater for at least 20 minutes and while beating she would get ready the steamer over the charcoal stove.

Although there are many ways of making this traditional cake such as using leavening agent like baking powder or fizzy drinks like cream soda or 7-Up. But no matter which is your preference I am sure it will still brings out the old time flavour. (Here I am a bit upset that my cake did not "Smile" (open up) at the end of steaming process)


(adapted from Ju, TheLittleTeochew HERE)
Ingredients: (make 7" round cake)
4 Large Egg
210g Caster Sugar
230g Cake Flour, sifted 2 - 3 times
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
120ml Cream Soda

Tip:-
~ For my mum's version she added 1 tablespoon of freshly pound pandan juice instead of vanilla essence to enhance the fragrance of this steamed egg cake.

Method:-

1. Whisk eggs in a large mixing bowl till frothy, add in sugar in 3 - 4 batches to ensure it is well incorporated.

2. Add vanilla essence and continue beating until the batter becomes very pale, thick and creamy. Meanwhile, heat up wok, pot or steamer until you get a gentle boil. (Do make sure the pot/steamer is large enough to fit the cake tin and has ample space for the batter to rise and steam to circulate.)

3. Fold in the sifted flour in thirds, alternating with the soda and ending with flour.

4. Pour the cake mixture into prepared baking tin or bamboo steam that is lined with greaseproof paper.

5. Pop it into the pot/steamer, cover and steam on high heat for about 30 minutes or when skewer insert and comes out clean.

6. Once done, remove the cake from tin, place it on a rack and allow to cool before cutting.

Red Bean Soup (红豆汤) is one of the popular dessert served during Chinese New Year, wedding and etc and you can easily grab a bowl or two at any local dessert stall range from S$0.70 to $2.20 each depending on the stalls and location. We love both the red and green bean soup so I usually would rotate these two dessert in our menu at least once or twice a month.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 4)

200g Red Bean
1.8 Litres of Water
1/2 Pieces of Candied Tangerine
A few Pieces of Pandan Leave, tied into knots
Cane Sugar to Taste

Method:-

1. Rinse the red beans with in a large bowl, remove any dirt or spoilt beans. Drain and set aside.

2. Bring 1.8 Litre of water to boil in a medium saucepan (I used my small Endo, thermal magic cooker), add in red beans and when the water comes to boil again, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. Remove the pot from stove and place it into the magic cooker, cover and let the bean continue to cook through using the heat from the pot.

4. After 30 minutes, remove the pot and simmer it on low heat for another 10 minutes together with the candied tangerine and pandan leaves.

5. When done, place the pot back into the magic cooker, cover and let it cook for another 20 minutes till the beans became soften.

6. Remove the pandan leave and add in cane sugar/caster sugar to taste while simmer the pot on stove over low heat.

*7. If using normal pot, just simmer the red bean together with pandan leaves and candied tangerine for about 30 - 40 minutes till the bean soften before adding sugar to taste.


The inner pot of this magic cooker can be used on any stoves as well as on induction cookers which then helps to save time, gas or electricity and at the same time achieve perfect cooking too.

Here we have a very simple old school types of afternoon tea snack such as homecook Red Bean Soup served with slices of freshly Steamed Egg Cake. Love the nutty flavour from the red bean soup that pairs well with hint of tangerine fragrance from candied tangerine. There is another way which I love to eat my steamed egg cake is to dip it slowly in either Coffee or Milo. So what's your favourite way of eating these lovely steamed egg cake?

CBTL Innovative Single Serve Beverage System from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

On Tuesday, 29 March 2011 - The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has launched their New CBTL single serve beverage system in Singapore after their first launch market in U.S last December. I am honor to be invited as one of the media guests to witness and try out their innovative single serve system during the Media Launch event held at one of their Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf outlet at ION Orchard.

It's the first time a global coffee and tea chain company launching this single serve machine which makes coffee, espresso, tea and specialty drink. And this machine also blends modern technology and functions to create the perfect cup with just one touch that allows users to to enjoy their favourite Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf espresso, brewed coffee or tea from the convenience of their home or any locations.

Upon stepping into the outlet I was amazed by the classroom lab style setup where we are seated in pairs of two sharing one CBTL machine together with individual test kit and utensils. Each participant is given 2 types of Espresso (Italian and Premium Espresso), 1 House Brew and 1 Moroccan Mint Tea, 1 each of Chocolate and Vanilla Powder Sweetener together with different sizes of cup for making different drinks.

Here we get to test out different brewing methods using the given CBTL Capsules while the presenters explain and demo on the different functions of the CBTL machine. In the short demo we also learnt how to prepare "Cappuccino" using the Premium Espresso Capsule and the CBTL Milk Frother. Overall this is indeed a very good presentation where everyone gets to know more in depth about coffee and tea products as well as the art and knowledge of brewing a cup of premium coffee.

This CBTL Machine (http://cbtl.com.sg/machines.php) features easy capsule insertion, a large capsule drawer that holds up to 10 used capsules and with built in energy saving function too. The new KALDI edition comes with an ultra-sleek design which available in Metallic Red, Metallic Blue/Silver and Metallic White/Silver at S$389.00 each whereas the CONTATA model is available with Gray/Black at S$299.00 each. Look at the bright colour design and innovation functions, are you tempted to get a set for preparing your own premium coffee/tea too?

Furthermore with the add-on CBTL Milk Frother it produces just the right amount of heated or frothed milk for your favourite beverage such as Cafe Latte, Cappuccino, Macchiato, Cafe Mocha, Chai Latte like those sold at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf outlets. This cordless frothing pitcher is available in Black and White at S$149.00, but if purchased together with a CBTL Machine it is priced at S$99.00 each.

Here are some sample of the CBTL Capsules from the media kit. The in store CBTL Single-serve Capsules are available in a box of 10 at a retail price of S$9.10 with varieties include "Four Espressos, Four Brewed Coffees and Four Teas": Italian Espresso; Continental Espresso; Premium Espresso; Premium Decaf Espresso; Viennese Brew, French Brew; House Brew; House Decaf Brew' Chai Tea; English Breakfast Tea; Tropical Passion Tea and Moroccan Mint Tea.  I guess this price is quite reasonable to have a cup of freshly brew cafe standard coffee or tea for less than a dollar per cup (S$0.91 per capsule) which can be served at any time for our convenience at home or office. 

For your information, each capsule is hermetically sealed to prolong freshness and preserve the delicate aroma of coffee and tea. In additional, the internal double filtration system also ensures evenly balanced extraction and optimal flavour. These capsules also have a roughly 2 years shelf life from date of manufactured. For more related information about this CBTL Machine, Beverage Capsules and it's accessories, do visit their Singapore website HERE. (http://cbtl.com.sg/index.php)

Lastly I would like to thanks Eugene Tan and Joey Wong from Catherine Ong Associates Pte Ltd and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for the invitation.

[$20 Budget Meal] Round-Up!

Thanks everyone for supporting this [$20 Budget Meal] event despite of the short two weeks preparation and write-up.  Since food pricing has being shooting up since the past few months I was wondering whether we can actually work together and brainstorm each other with some budget meal that feeds a family of 4. And I am very glad that even within such a short period of time, there are still many of you who are willing to take the trouble to plan and note down the pricing of ingredients and spending on each ingredient to support this event. Here in total I have received 14 fabulous sets of "2 Dishes 1 Soup" menu from blogger and facebook friends of different countries such as USA, Bangkok, Malaysia and Singapore.

Here are all the entries for the [$20 Budget Meal], listed in the order of the date submitted.

Shark's Fins Melon Soup 《鱼翅瓜排骨汤》, Stir-Fried Beef with Celery 《西芹炒牛肉》, Fried Fish with Crispy Garlic 《蒜香鱼片》

by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$19.50; Serves 6



Baked Drumstick, Stir-fry Broccoli and Peanut Lotus Soup

by Amy of Mothering Corner (Thailand, Bangkok)
Total Spending: THB340 (S$14.20); Serves 3



Stir-Fry Bitter Gourd With Egg, Steam Kurau Fish With Salted Vegetables And Black Moss Tofu Soup

by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$19.20; Serves 4



Pumpkin, Carrot & Orange Soup, Pumpkin & Cranberry Rice, Grilled Salmon with Orange & Lime Butter

by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$10.50; Serves 3



Dumpling Soup with caixin (菜心水饺汤), Steamed Chicken with Mushroom and Cloud Ears (冬菇云耳蒸鸡), Stir-Fried Broccoli with Prawns (虾球西兰花)

by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$19.00; Serves 8



Asian Style Butterflied Roast Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, Cucumber Salad and Lotus root and Black Bean Soup

by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets (Pennsylvania, United States)
Total Spending: USD 12.21 (S$15.40); Serves 4



Steamed Glutinous Rice Parcel, Stir-fry Spinach and Apple with Dual Fungus Soup

by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$14.00; Serves 2-3



Mongolian chicken, Stir fried cabbage with anchovies and ABC soup

by Sonia of Nasi Lemak Lover (Malaysia)
Total Spending: RM 30 (S$12.50); Serves 4



Ginger-Sesame Oil Steamed Chicken, Parchment-Steamed Vegetables + soup (Napa Cabbage Barley Soup

by Tigerfish of An Escape to Food
(Sunnyvale, California - United States)
Total Spending: USD 11.80 (S$14.90); Serves 4



Leek and Potato Soup, Grilled Chicken Cutlet and Green Apple Salad

by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$14.25; Serves 2 - 3



Jacket Fish in Miso Sauce, Stir Fry Zucchini with Capscium and Shimeji Mushroom, and Egg andTomato soup

by Wen of Wen's Delight (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$14.00; Serves 4



Stir-Fry Vegetables (清炒菜心), Braised Noodles (焖福建面), Salted Pork Bone Congee (咸猪骨粥)

by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$15.50; Serves 6



Carrot and Corn Soup, Tofu with Minced Chicken and Onion Omelette

by Jacqualine (thesuper-girl) of TheSuper-Girl (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$10.50; Serves 3

Entry From @ahpoohbear

Carrot and Pork Ribs Soup, Steamed Herbal Chicken and Mushroom Omelette

by Joyce of ahpoohbear (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$15.45; Serves 2

I was very happy to be invited by my good friend cum famous food blogger – Cuisine Paradise – to participate in this food event. To tell you the truth, I’m not a good cook to start with. In fact, I seldom cook at home, since it is so much convenient to go coffee shop to get wanton noodles or chicken rice. But I want to support my good friend for this special event, so I decided to cook this weekend.

Here’s my recipe for the $20 budget meal event with silver fish rice, herbal emperor chicken, egg with mushroom and radish soup.



This is a very simple and yet delicious rice. Personally, I prefer flavored rice than plain rice as it increased my appetite.Total cost for rice ingredient, silver fish is S$0.60.


Silver fish rice

Ingredients:
A handful of Silver fish
1 cup of rice (enough for two to three)
Dash of pepper
Sugar
Sesame oil
Soy sauce

Method:

1. Wash the rice thoroughly.

2. Wash the silver fish with running water.

3. Marinate the silver fish with pepper, sugar, sesame oil and soy sauce. I do not have the specific measurement; it’s all up to individual preference.

4. Cook the rice and when it is about to cook, add in the marinated silver fish.

5. Stir well and let it cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Serve




This is a very simple chicken dish to prepare. All you need is Seah’s Herbal Emperor Chicken spice and a chicken, where both can be easily purchased from supermarket. Total Cost for Chicken and Seah's Spices are S$7.00.


Herbal Emperor Chicken

Ingredients:
One chicken
Seah’s Herbal Emperor Spice

Method:

1. Wash the chicken and cut away all the fats.

2. Rub the chicken with Seah’s Herbal Emperor Spice.

3. Wrap the chicken with the aluminum foil provided.

4. Steam the chicken for approximately 2.5 hours.



This is a simple and nutritious dish which I happened to come across when doing marketing in NTUC Supermarket. The uncle was promoting mushrooms and he was frying this dish. I was thinking – since I love these two ingredients, why not, cooked this to participate in this blog event. Total cost for Eggs and Mushrooms are S$3.05.


Fried Egg with Mushroom

Ingredients:
White button mushrooms
Minced garlic
Two eggs
Oyster sauce Soy sauce and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Season the egg with soy sauce and pepper to taste.

2. Fry the minced garlic till fragrant.

3. Fry the scramble egg.

4. Add in the mushrooms and season with oyster sauce.

5. Add in black pepper (optional) if you prefer to have a bit of more pepper taste. (I added black pepper from MacDonald ). Serve.



Soup is the easiest dish to prepare. All you need to do is put all the ingredients in and boil till the soup is tasty. I used a thermal cooker which saved me lots of time. I just need to prepare the ingredients, put it to cook over the stove till it boils and put into the thermal cooker and let it continue to cook. Total cost for soup ingredients such as radish, carrot, pork ribs, sweetcorn, wolfberries and sweet dates are S$4.80.


White Radish Soup

Ingredients:
White radish
Carrot
Sweet corn
Pork ribs
Wolfberries
Sweet dates
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and blanch the pork ribs.

2. Put all the ingredients into the pot and bring to boil. You may simmer it over stove for approximately 1 hour or put inside the thermal cooker and let it cook till ready to serve.

3. Add salt to taste and serve.

=========================================================================

Thanks everyone for supporting this short-notice event and I hope we can still work together to pool as many budget meal ideas as possible to help each other with better budgeting and new recipe ideas. And I am also glad to learn so many new and creative dishes from each one of you who contributes to this event. Thank you so much. All you dishes are feature at Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page HERE and the dish who earns the most "LIKE(s)" will received a mystery gift.

EASTER APRIL
Using "EGG" to make one of the dish

For April [$20 Budget Meal] event let's have a little cooking challenge by using the specific ingredient "EGG(s)" for one of the dish in your menu (eg: steam egg, fried omelette, scrambled egg and etc). And for those who wish to join us please refer to the submission details shown below. Look forward to receive your sharing of April Budget Meal menu soon. Cya.


~ Either "2 Dishes plus 1 Soup" or "1 Pot Dish" using a Maximum budget of $20.00 for 2 - 4 servings. If you are from overseas, you can also participate by converting to the appropriate currency value, (ie. US$15.00, RM$50.00, Rp $138,000 and etc)

~ If you do not have a blog, just send in the photos and recipe of your dishes and I will publish on your behalf in my blog, credited to you. (photos can be taken in any form using digital camera or hand phone)

~ Please do mention in your blog that you are sharing this post to “$20 Budget Meal” event and link it to this page so as to encourage more readers to contribute.

SUBMISSION:

~ E-mail your "blog link" or "photos with recipe" to ellenaguan@hotmail.com with a subject "Easter April $20 Budget Meal" in the following format:

Your Name:
URL of your post:
Name of your dishes + soup:
Estimate amount spent for each dish:
Attachment of your photo in your email (each photo, preferably 500kb or less).

CLOSING DATE:

~ Monday, 25 April 2011, 2359 hours  and all entries will be compiled and posted on 30th April 2011.

Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake

All along I prefer butter cake compared to those frosted cream cake, chiffon, fresh fruits or etc that is available in the bakery. And personally I crave for those traditional rich and moist butter cakes that served together with a cup of freshly brewed English tea that will refresh your soul for a great afternoon tea session.

After trying the 1st batch of Pumpkin Butter Cake that I made into small muffin cups, we love the soft texture, buttery taste as well as the natural flavour from the mashed pumpkin. And since I have another ½ portion of leftover pumpkin in the fridge, I decided to combine this recipe with the recent Marble Cake (HERE) that I have made and come out with the "Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake".

For these two recipes here, I used Lurpak Unsalted Butter which I prefer its smooth and creamy taste that is does not make you feel queasy even after having a slices of two of the cake. As for the pumpkin I used the Butternut because I love its sweet and nutty taste that is great for soups, casseroles, breads, and even cakes.

(adapted from 茄子, 袅袅烘焙香 HERE)
Ingredients For Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 6 muffins)
100g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Caster Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter, cubes and soften
3 Large Eggs

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds
Some Shredded/Sliced Pumpkin

Methods:-

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, add in eggs one at a time and beat till well combined.

2. Stir-in vanilla extract then fold in the sifted flours (cake flour + baking powder) in two round till there is no trace of flour in the batter.

3. Add in mashed pumpkin (refer to the preparation method below) and preferably using a balloon whisk to give the mixture some quick stir to combine the pumpkin with the flour batter.

4. Spoon the pumpkin batter into prepared muffin case, top with shredded pumpkin or pumpkin seeds.

5. Bake in pre-heated 170 degree oven for about 15 - 18 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.


To Prepare The Mashed Pumpkin:

1. Place pumpkin cubes(without skin) into a microwave heatproof bowl together with 1 tablespoon of water.

2. Cook in high heat for 3 - 4 minutes with an interval stirring between each minute.

3. Mash the cooked and soft pumpkin with a fork and set aside to cool while preparing the batter. OR

4. You can steam the pumpkin cubes in a pot of boiling water using steaming rack for about 10 minutes or till pumpkin is soften.

As you can see from the photo despite of the beautiful swirl colours from the pumpkin and chocolate batter there are some setback of air holes which appears due to my oversight of mixing the two batters. But thanks God these flaws did not affect the texture and taste of this moist and buttery cake.

Ingredients For Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 17cm cake )
120g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Castor Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter
3 Large Eggs
1 Tablespoon Dutch Cocoa Powder, sieved

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds, optional

Methods:-

1. To prepare the chocolate pumpkin butter cake, follow step 1 and 2 shown above for preparing the flour batter.

2. Scoop about 3 - 4 Tablespoons of flour batter into a small bowl together with 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, whisk till well combined. Set aside.

3. Whisk in mashed pumpkin into the remanding flour batter.

4. Drop 1 - 2 spoons of the pumpkin and chocolate batter alternately into the prepared tin.

5. When all the mixture has been used up, tap the bottom on the tin on your work surface to ensure that there aren't any air bubbles.

6. Take a skewer and swirl it around the mixture in the tin a few times to create a marbled effect.

7. Bake the cake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8. Cool the cake completely before removing it from the baking tin/case, cut into slices and serve with coffee/tea.




Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake