[May $20 Budget Meal] Round-Up!

Thanks everyone for supporting the May Tofu - $20 Budget Meal event with a readers voted theme on using Tofu in one of the prepared dish. Thanks everyone whom take the effort to note down the pricing of each ingredients and total spending of the dishes to support this event. Here we have a total of 11 fabulous Tofu dishes for the "2 Dishes 1 Soup" menu created by a group of wonderful blogger and facebook friends from different countries such as USA, Australia and Singapore.

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

Seaweed Soup (紫菜蕃茄蛋花汤), Steamed Cod Fish and Tofu with Black Bean Sauce (雪鱼豆腐蒸黑豆鼓酱) and Stir-Fry Prawns with Pea Sprouts (虾仁豆苗)

by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$15.00; Serves 3-4



Bee Hoon Soup (豆包米粉汤)，Kailan with Garlic Sauce (蒜香芥兰)

by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$11.00; Serves 3



Tom Yam Cream Soup (one dish meal)

by Ching of Little Corner of Mine (United State)
Total Spending: USD 8.00 (S$10.00); Serves 4



Winter Melon Soup, Steamed Silken Tofu with Salmon And Sweetcorn Plus Steamed Beef Steak with Onion

by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$18.60; Serves 4



A one-dish veggie somen noodle plus steamed savory tofu pudding

by Tigerfish of An Escape to Food (Sunnyvale, California - United States)
Total Spending: USD 6.00 (S$7.50) ; Serves 4



Cream of Broccoli Soup with Garlic Toast, Grilled Tofu with Salsa, Twice-Baked Potato

by Wai Fong of Fong's Kitchen Journal (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$10.00; Serves 3



Deep Fried Stuffed Tofu + Stir Fry Salted Vegetables With Tofu + Steamed Fish With Tomato

by Alice of I Love. I Cook. I Bake. (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$13.70; Serves 4



Lotus Pork Ribs Soup, Japanese Tofu with Spicy Pork and Egg and Stir-fry Bol Choy

by Daphne of More Than Words (Australia)
Total Spending: AU$10.60; Serves 4 - 5



Steamed Stuffed Tofu, Scrambled Eggs With Sausages, Stir Fry Enoki Mushroom With Greens

by Alice of I Love. I Cook. I Bake. (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$12.60; Serves 4



Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork Topping, Stir Fry Capsicum with Shitake Mushroom and
Seah's Black Chicken Herbal Soup

by Wendy of Wen's Delight (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$14.55; Serves 4

Entry From Joyce aka @ahpoohbear

Steamed Tofu With Corn Kernels And Mushrooms, Broccoli With Mushrooms And Watercress Soup

by Joyce of @ahpoohbear (Singapore)
Total Spending: S$11.40 ; Serves 2 - 3

Here I am again, taking part in the $20 budge meal. The theme for this month is “Tofu”. Yes, I LOVE tofu! I love anything to do with tofu – tofu soup, steamed tofu, fried tofu and my favorite zhi char dish hotplate tofu! But too bad, I don’t know how to cook it. Never mind, I shall always comfort myself with other tofu dishes. Here’s my contribution for this month:

Steamed Tofu With Corn Kernels And Mushrooms

Ingredients:

One box of silken tofu
Sweet corn kernels (frozen or fresh)
Mushrooms (I used bottled mushrooms)
Two tablespoons of oyster sauce
Five tablespoons of water Mix together A bit of cornflour
Fried silverfish for garish and crunch

Method:-

1. Steam the tofu in a pot of hot water for about 8 minutes or you can just microwave it to make it hot.

2. In a wok, fry the corn kernels with little oil.

3. Add in the mushrooms and oyster sauce.

4. Pour the cornflour mixture into the wok to thicken the sauce.

5. Pour the sauce over the tofu.

Total cost for this dish is about S$4.90 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Silken Tofu = S$1.90
~ Sweetcorn = S$1.30
~ Bottled Mushroom = S$1.70

Broccoli With Mushrooms

Ingredients:

One Broccoli
4 Pieces of fresh White Button Mushrooms
Two Tablespoons of Oyster Sauce
Chopped Garlic

Method:-

1. In a small saucepan, boil the broccoli till cooked. Place the cooked broccoli onto the plate.

2. In a wok, fry the chopped garlic till fragrant.

3. Add in the mushrooms and fry till almost cooked.

4. Add in the oyster sauce and water. Stir fry a while more to mix it well with the mushrooms.

5. Dish it up and put together with the cooked broccoli.

Total cost for this dish is about S$2.70 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Broccoli = S$1.20
~ White Button Mushrooms = S$1.50


Watercress Soup

Ingredients:

One bunch of Watercress
2 - 3 pieces of Pork Ribs
1 Teaspoon of Guo Qi Zi
2 - 3 pieces of Honey Dates

Method:-

1. Cut the stalk off from the watercress and soak the leaves for about 5 minutes by changing 2 to 3 times of the water. This is to rinse away all the dirt.

2. Rinse the stalk thoroughly and set aside for later use.

3. Prepare a pot to blanch the pork bones, then rinse with running water.

4. Bring a pot of water to boil, add in the pork bones and all other ingredients, including the stalk but exclude leaves.

5. When boiled, turn to lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add in the leaves and continue to simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Total cost for this dish is about S$3.80 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Watercress = S$0.80
~ Pork Ribs = S$2.00
~ Wolfberries and honey dates = S$1.00


Once again, thanks everyone for taking your time to come out with these wonderful budget meals ideas and price breakdown. Do stay tune for our June Theme together with our very New Budget Meal Logo shown below.

RSAF Open House 2011

On 28 and 29 May 2011, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) opens its doors to the public with the RSAF Open House 2011 at Paya Lebar Air Base. So with this great opportunity, we decided to join in the crowds and went all the way to the East to participate in their activities.

Despite of the "HOT" sunny afternoon there are still large crowds of people flooding to the RSAF Open House to get a closer encounter with the aircraft rather than cooling themselves at the air conditioning shopping area. Below are some photos taken during the RSAF Open House......

The New F-15SG fighter aircraft

The engine view of F-15SG

Super long queue waiting to up the Boeing KC 135R Stratotanker to take a look at the interior layout.

CH-47 Chinook helicopter

Long queue lining up to go on board the C130 Hercules for photo taking and etc.

F-15SG getting ready for action in the Air Show.

CH-47 Chinook enter with 2 light strike vehicles and their crews in the field during battle.

AH-64D Apache Super Puma doing air support during the Air Show.

Stir-fried Stingray With Fermented Black Bean And Chinese Celery

For most of us when we talk about "Stingray", the first picture that comes into our mind will be the popular BBQ stingray which is char-grilled and top with that delicious sambal chilli that makes you drool. Or the stir-fried chili with black bean sauce method that is found in most Mixed Vegetable Rice Stalls(Chap Chye Png - 杂菜饭). Even though stingray can be consider as one of the cheapest fish in the market but some people still hesitate to buy it due to it's rather "fishy" smell even after cooking.

Here the fishmonger recommended me a "white-coloured" skin stingray which he said it more tasty and less “fishy” smell. So since we have not eaten this dish for a very long time, I decided to get some and follow mum's preparation steps for this recipe.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
350g Stingray Fillet, cut into chunks
1 Teaspoon of Fermented Black Bean (黑豆豆豉), rinse and roughly mashed
1.5 Tablespoon Cooking Oil
3 - 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Chili, sliced
2 Shallots, sliced
100ml Water
A few Stalks of Chinese Celery (中国芹菜)

Seasonings:
1/2 Tablespoon Cooking Wine
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
Dash of Pepper

Method:-

1. Rinse and using kitchen paper towel to dry the stingray chunks before marinate it with 1/2 tablespoon of cornflour, dash of pepper and sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce and cooking wine for at least about 10 - 20 minutes prior cooking.

2. Next rinse and cut Chinese celery into 3 sections, divide the leaves and stems portions then set aside.

3. Heat up frying pan with 1.5 tablespoon cooking oil, saute minced garlic, shallot, chili and fermented black bean till slightly brown and fragrant.

4. Toss in the marinated stingray chunks and fried over medium heat on both side for about 2 minute till  almost light golden brown before adding in water.

5. When the mixture comes to boil, stir in the stem portions of the Chinese celery and allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes till the sauce almost thicken.

6. Lastly toss in the remaining celery leaves, give it a quick stir and finished it with a touch of cooking wine and pepper. Remove and serve.


Due to the "fishy" smell this dish is best to be eaten Hot together with some Chinese Celery where its refreshing taste will cover up the fishy smell leaving you with a sweet and spicy taste. Furthermore this dish can also be an addicting dish due to it's spicy taste from the chili and hint of traditional flavour from the fermented black bean and etc that makes you go for second bowl of rice to accompany it.