Thursday 31 May 2012

Chicken With Mushroom & Cordyceps Militaris Soup


Blogging world is full of excitement and fun where flow of inspirations are always being circulated around through all kinds of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and etc. Recently while I am on holiday mood and feel so "lost" on what to prepare for our daily meals, I managed to pick up some really good ideas from friends' photos over at instagram. And without hesitate I tried this Cordyceps Militaris Soup shared by Julia, Aromacookery photo (link here).

Although this was not my first time using Cordyceps Militaris in soup but after seeing Julia's post, I decided to try out her version by adding in some dried shiitake mushrooms to enhance the taste of this nourishing soup.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

{With Recipe} Eat With Your Family Day!


As most of us has read from newspapers or online media(s), the Singapore government has designated last Friday, May 25, as Eat With Your Family Day. This is to urge people to strengthen family ties through the "simple act of sitting down and taking a meal together" more frequently despite of each other busy schedules.

The annual "Eat With Your Family Day", is always falls on a Friday before the start of the mid-year school break for students. And this event is not only about food and eating but it also about relationship building and enjoying relationship as 'a family that eats together stays together’. In order to show supports to this annual event, some of the participated companies also allows their employees to leave work at 5pm on the last Friday on school term in May to have dinner with their family in order to promote strong family ties.


STEAMED EGG WITH HUAI SHAN AND LOTUS ROOT


Although our family often eats together during most of the mealtime, but in order to support and promote this event, I have made a new "Steamed Egg" dish using Huai Shan And Lotus Root instead of the usual minced meat, seafood or century egg.


(Serves: 2-3        | Preparation: 5 minutes       | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
100g of Fresh Huai Shan, grated/jubilee
50g Fresh Lotus Roots, thinly sliced
2 Egg(55g) Each,
50ml Drinking Water
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
Dash of Sesame Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Method:-
1. Remove the outer skin of the huai shan, rinse and pat dry. Using a grater to either grate or shred it like what shown on the above picture. (squeeze off any liquid from the grated huai shan and set aside)

2. Next repeat the same procedure using a slice grater to cut thin slices off from the lotus root. (If you don't have any slice grater, you can use knife to cut thin slices from the lotus root too)

3. First arrange half the amount of huai shan in the steaming bowl, cover it with a layer of lotus root then top with the remaining huai shan before arrange the rest of the louts root on it.

4.Whisk the egg in another bowl together with dash of sesame oil and salt plus 50ml of water till combined.

5. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve gently over the prepared steaming bowl with huai shan and lotus roots.

6. Arrange the wolfberries on the lotus root, cover the dish with cling wrap or aluminum foil. Steam the egg custard over medium high heat for about 15 minutes.

7. To test if the egg mixture is cooked, insert a chopstick or skewer into the mixture, if clear liquid flows out means it is cooked. Remove and serve with steamed rice.

This is how my "Steamed Egg With Huai Shan and Lotus Root" look when scoop out from the dish. It has a combination of soft custard like egg plus a bit of crunch from the lotus root and huai shan. Perhaps if you prefer a more thicker egg like dish, you can increase the number of egg to 3 and water to 70ml to have a firm steamed egg dish.

This is one of our family favourite vegetable dish, "Stir-fry Broccoli And Cauliflower with Walnuts". As each of us have our own preference, I decided to combine both broccoli and cauliflower together so that we could pick up what we like. Adding of either walnuts of pine nuts for this dish gives it a nutty flavour and as well as enhance the texture of the dish with some crunchy bites.

Hope you would like my quick and simple homecook dishes. Remember even a simple dish makes a happy family when everyone gets to sit and eat together at least once or twice a week. If proper mealtime is impossible, try to start off with breakfast, tea-break or even supper.

Sweet And Savoury Rice Dumplings From Din Tai Fung

To celebrate the coming Dragon Boat Festival(端午节), Din Tai Fung(鼎泰丰) has introduce a new fragrant and succulent Rice Dumpling with Flavoured Pork(五香肉粽) as well as their popular Red Bean Rice Dumpling(豆沙粽) which will be available at all Din Tai Fung restaurants from 04 - 23 June 2012.

With just pork and Taiwan pearl rice as it's main ingredients, this new Din Tai Fung's "Rice Dumpling with Flavoured Pork" has do away with our local dumpling fillings such as "salted egg, mushroom, chestnuts and etc", emphasising the taste and texture of only two simple ingredients.

The flavoured pork is marinated for 2 hours using their secrete marinade before wrapping together with the pearl rice using Taiwan bamboo leaves which allowing the rice to adsorb the fragrance of the leaves and tender pork in order to create heavenly aroma and flavour in each bite.

Price:
~ S$5.50 per dumpling at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa;
~ S$5.30 per dumpling at all other Din Tai Fung outlets.


For your information, their popular Red Bean Rice Dumpling(豆沙粽) is specially air-flown from Taiwan. It is made using top grade Taiwan pearl rice together with generous filling of fragrant red bean paste in a pillow-shaped. As someone with sweet-tooth this is definitely one of the dessert to order for tea-time snack.

Price:
~ S$5.00 per dumpling at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa;
~ S$4.80 per dumpling at all other Din Tai Fung outlets.


DBS/POSB Card Members' Special

Between 04 - 30 June 2012, DBS/POSB Credit and Debit Cardmembers can enjoy a complimentary Red Bean Rice Dumpling with a minimum spending of S$70.00, while members of the public can enjoy a complimentary Red Bean Rice Dumpling with a minimum spending of S$80.00


Lastly I would like to thank Din Tai Fung and Leen from Touch Communications for the above.

Saturday 26 May 2012

The Good Life iPhone App From Standard Chartered Bank

As one of the cardholders from Standard Chartered Bank, I am delighted to know that they have offers "The Good Life" exclusively to its credit and debit cardholders, with over 1,000 great deals, ranging from dining to shopping, travel and lifestyle, island-wide every day.

Simply locate the "The Good Life" iPhone Apps by Standard Chartered Bank from the App Store by doing a search through the search menu or look under the "Finance" Category. For your information this Apps is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with iOS 4.0 or later.

From the App "Home" screen, you can browse in five different categories such as "Coupon, Deal, Nearest To Me(meaning deals or discounts nearest to your current location), Categories(dining, rest and relax, retail) and Search" according to your preference.

As you can see from the above, Coupons are valid for certain numbers of days shown on each link. And since it is only for one-time usage, redeem only when you are ready to use it together with your Standard Chartered Credit or Debit Card.

The Good Life iPhone app also makes it easy for cardholders to locate ongoing promotions at their favourite dining, retail and lifestyle establishments through their mobile phone instead of the monthly information booklet in hard-copy form.

Here with the new iPhone app, cardholders like me can search for deals which is available near my location or through category, merchant name or keyword as well as favourite the "stores or deals" by adding them to into my “Favourites” tab.

Cardholders can also share the deals and coupons with friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, Email or SMS(short message send).

On top of the above, the app’s new “I Free Monday” coupons also allow cardholders to receive a free item from outlets such as McDonalds where a Free a la carte Filet-O-Fish can be redeemed. Other partners include Swensen’s, Starbucks and Marble Slab Creamery – that’s 32 Happy Mondays till the end of the year. So keep a look out every "Monday" for the special deal.

Note:-
~ Some of the related photos used are credited to Standard Chartered Bank.


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