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Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

We've made chicken rice rice at home three times using traditional methods of using chicken fat and stock from making the chicken, and can appreciate that the most difficult part of making chicken rice is not getting the chicken right, but the rice. Well, maybe the chili is even harder but we didn't try to make that.

I thought that there has to be an easier way of making good chicken rice, and decided to experiment with making chicken rice rice without the chicken. The magic ingredient, of course, is chicken stock powder. For convenience and easier replicability (due to less variation) I also decided to use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic and fried shallots instead of fresh shallots (fried onions probably will be a serviceable substitute).

Attempt 1:


1 cup rice
Water as indicated
1 teaspoon Knorr chicken stock powder (the tub indication is to use 1 teaspoon per 250ml of water)
~1.5 teaspoons fried shallots (it's bulky so it's hard to measure exactly)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1.5 teaspoons oil
I didn't have ginger in the house this day, unfortunately

Stir and cook in the rice cooker.

This was pretty fragrant and moist enough, but needed more salt and intensity of chicken flavor.

Attempt 2:


1 cup rice
2.5 teaspoons Knorr chicken stock powder
2 teaspoons fried shallots
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Just over 2.5 teaspoons oil
1.25 teaspoons minced ginger
2 frozen pandan leaves tied into one knot per leaf
Water as indicated

Stir and cook in the rice cooker.

The brown bits at the top are the fried shallots, not something burnt.

This was good - fragrant and moist (if slightly mushy, but that might be because I didn't eat it the moment the rice cooker was done). The chicken taste could still be better, but I think it's the best you can get without using real chicken. In fact, it's better than one or two of the attempts using real chicken.

Saturday, November 04, 2023

Soy Sauce

I asked about the differences between Lee Kum Kee soy sauces, and got lots of answers:

"Chinese soy sauce is made of 100% soy. Japanese soy is made of a mixture of soy and wheat. Light soy sauce is for flavouring your rice, or adding to your already prepared food. Dark soy sauce thicker and a bit sweet, mainly for adding color... the premium stuff is often labelled as such because it's the first batch harvested after the fermentation process . They kinda treat it like whiskey. Each subsequent harvest lowers the "quality" and cannot be labelled premium. Kum Chun is made with wheat." (I looked at the ingredients of the "premium" version and it has wheat flour, so)

"A lot of people seem to not know this, but light soy sauce actually tastes saltier than dark soy sauce due to the sugar and stronger soy flavour masking the salt in dark soy sauce. So don't let the colour and viscosity fool you when thinking of what soy sauce to use."

"“Premium” soy sauce is LKK’s original. “Kum Chun” is their cheaper “value” option, I suspect to compete with the more affordable (mainland) Chinese brands. Lower soybean content (Premium is about 17% as per their website). Theoretically there would be a difference in taste - less richness/depth, more straight saltiness or even MSG umami. Whether it makes a difference depends on your palate and what you’re using it for.
There are also a few cheaper grades you can sometimes see in Asian supermarkets - these are usually in Chinese packaging and are mainly tailored to HK/PRC local markets and foodservice."

"Basically:
Dark soy = thicker, sweeter, has added molasses, has more sodium & sugar. Used for braises and marinades.
Regular or light soy = thinner, lighter colour. Good for everyday use.
Premium = “first press” (the virgin olive oil equivalent of soy sauce), more complex flavours than light. Think of it as Light+ I suppose?
I think Kum chun is the same as dark soy...
superior is a kind of light soy. Looks like it has less ingredients and contains high fructose corn syrup + sweetener instead of sugar."

"At least within Chinese brands, any soy sauce is usually a type of “light soy sauce” (生抽) and can be used in most cooking applications interchangeably. Different variations (premium, kum chun) won’t really change ur dish too too much unless u are somehow using huge quantities. Just don’t use “dark soy sauce” (老抽) as a substitute where any recipe says just “soy sauce” or “light soy sauce.” Dark soy sauce has a very strong flavor and is usually used to mainly add color. A lot of Chinese ppl will also use Japanese soy sauce as their go-to soy sauce/“light soy sauce,” since Japanese soy sauce tends not to have any characteristics that will clash with dishes across many cuisines. U can also use tamari as someone else mentioned, but it is noticeably richer and darker in color (though will not destroy a dish like dark soy sauce would)."

"Your normal soy sauce is medium-dark so it’ll be slightly sweeter with a more mirin-like flavor. It’s not to be mistaken with light soy sauce AKA soup soy sauce"

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

40 Of The Most Clever Kitchen Hacks

In order to artificially inflate their pageviews, clickbait websites like to split their listicles into multiple pages.

The most egregious example I've seen so far is 40 Of The Most Clever Kitchen Hacks from homehacks.co - each tip is really short. Plus there's forty of them.

For convenience I have consolidated everything into one page here:


1) Prevent Boil Over

Having boiling water spill over your pot can make quite a mess. But there is a way to prevent this from happening. Just place a wooden spoon across the top of your pot.

2) Preserve Your Herbs

Don’t let your herbs dry out or go bad. You can preserve them by placing them in an ice tray with olive oil or water. Freeze them and take out when you’re ready to cook with them.

3) Peel Fruit in the Microwave

Save time by making your fruit easier to peel. Put your fruit in the microwave for 20 seconds. The peel should slide right off this way.

4) Parchment Paper Cupcakes

Need to make cupcakes but don’t have a muffin tin or cupcakes cups? You can still make your muffins. Use parchment paper instead.

5) Keep Plastic Wrap Cold

Plastic wrap is super annoying when it sticks to itself or rips. Keep your plastic wrap in the refrigerator. This will make the wrap stretch evenly and properly.

6) Make Pitting Cherries Easy

Place a cherry on top of an empty beer bottle. Use a chopstick to squeeze the pit out of the cherry. The pit will fall into the bottle.

7) Properly Clean Wooden Cutting Boards

Bacteria can build up if you don’t properly clean your wooden cutting boards. Cut a lemon in half and dip the cut side with coarse salt. Use it to scrub your cutting board clean, then rinse.

8) Prevent Microwave Dryness

Microwaves can cause food to dry out. But there is a way to combat this. Place a cup of water next to your food in the microwave when you cook it.

9) Salt A Cast Iron Pan

Cast iron pans can rust up if you don’t properly care for them. The best way to do that is with salt. Scrub your cast iron pans with salt instead of dish soap.

10) De-Seed Your Vegetables Fast

Scooping out seeds from your vegetables can take a lot of time. It’s just not a fun task. Use an ice cream scooper to perform this task, it makes it a lot easier and faster.

11) Shine Up Stainless Steel

Stainless steel can get dull with a lot of use. You can permanently dull those surfaces if you’re not using the right cleaning products. Mix vinegar and water together and spray the solution on your surfaces and wipe it down.

12) Keep Brown Sugar Soft

Brown sugar can clump up and harden if you don’t store it properly. Once it hardens it’s useless. Place an orange peel or apple slice inside the bag and put the bag in an airtight container to prevent this.

13) The Perfect Basted Egg

Here’s how to make the perfect basted egg. Break your egg in a pan and pour in some water. Put it on the heater and watch your eggs come out perfectly.

14) Easy Peel Eggs

Hard boiled eggs are pretty easy to make, but they are a pain in the butt to peel. Try putting up to a dozen eggs in a steamer basket suspended over boiling water for 15 to 16 minutes. The eggshell will slip right off this way.

15) Makeshift Parchment Brush

Need a pastry brush or don’t have one? No problem! Fold a piece of parchment paper at least four times. Use a scissor to cut some fringe into the paper. Use the fringe side as a brush.

16) DIY Powdered Sugar

Do you have a recipe that calls for powdered sugar? You can make your own. Just pulverize granulated sugar in a spice grinder to make your own.

17) Clean A Hydration Pack

Don’t burn what you’re sautéing. If you find that your food is getting too brown too quickly, toss in an ice cube to cool the pan down. The water quickly evaporates and your food won’t burn.

18) Muffin Tin Meatloaf

Meatloaf can take more than an hour to cook. You can speed it up by placing the meat into individual portions of a muffin tin. Bake your meatloaf at 450 degrees at 15 minutes.

19) Tea For Flavorful Grains

Make your grains tastier with tea. Cook your quinoa, millet, brown rice, or bulgur with teat infused water. Lapsang souchong, Earl Grey, and chai work well for this.

20) Don’t Waste The Rest of The Wine

If you have the rest of bottle of wine that you know you’re not going to drink within a few days, you can still salvage it. Pour the wine out into an ice cube tray. Use the cubes in a cooking recipe, wine spritzer, or pitcher of sangria.

21) Easy Pour Spout

Not all boxes come with easy pour spouts. Prevent yourself from making a mess when pouring out pancake mix by creating your own spout. Just cut off the corner of the box with a serrated knife.

22) Easy Way To Chop Up Squash

Need to prepare a butternut squash to cook. Place your squash in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. This will make it a lot easier to peel, seed, and cube.

23) Slow Down Tomato Rot

If you want your tomatoes to last longer, place them stem down when you store them. The air and moisture won’t be able to enter the stem scar this way. Storing them at room temperature also makes them last longer.

24) Speed Up Fruit Ripening

Don’t want to wait for that peach or banana to ripen on its own? Put your fruit in a paper bag and toss it. The concentrated ethylene gas will help it to ripen faster.

25) Keep Cut Fruit From Browning

Squeeze some lemon juice on your cut fruit to prevent it from browning. You can also mix one part honey with two parts of water. This method will slow down the oxidation process.

26) Remove Eggshell Pieces

Don’t stick your fingers in your eggs to get rid of eggshells. Use another piece of eggshell to get rid of the rouge piece. The eggshell will act as a magnet to scoop the other pieces.

27) Get Rid Of The Fat

Get rid of excess fat from stocks, stews, and sauces by skimming an ice cube along the top of the surface of your liquid with a spoon. This will cause the fat to rise and solidify. Then scoop it out with a spoon or a piece of toast.

28) Easy Peel Potato

There’s a much better way to peel potatoes instead of using a peeler. Start by boiling your potato. Toss your potatoes into an ice bath after you boil them and watch the skin fall right off.

29) (This is removing the pit from a peeled peaches but the text isn't there)

30) Extract The Most Juice Possible

Refrigerate your lemon. Then microwave it for 15 to 20 seconds. Roll your fruit, cut lengthwise then use tongs to get the most juice out of your lemons.

31) De-Kernal Corn On The Cob

Put the pointy end of your corn in the center hole of the pan. This will stead the cob. Then use a knife to slice downward. The pan will collect the kernels.

32) Make Cheese Grating Easy

Make grating semisoft cheeses like mozzarella easy. Just put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. It will be much easier to grate this way.

33) Tear-Free Way To Chop Onions

Chopping onions can turn you into a weepy mess. To avoid this just freeze your onion before chopping. Just make sure you cook the onions right after you freeze and chop them or else they’ll get soggy when they thaw. You can also hold a slice of bread in your mouth to prevent the tear-inducing gases from reaching your eye.

34) DIY Buttermilk Substitute

Do you have a recipe that calls for buttermilk but don’t have any? You can make your own by putting a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into regular milk. It doesn’t have the same thick, and creaminess as buttermilk put it does the trick.

35) Open A Stubborn Jar

Wrap a rubber band around the lip of your jar. It will give you a better grip on your jar. If you need more help, use a dishtowel over the rubberband top.

36) How To Cut Cherry Tomatoes

Here’s the secret to safely cutting cherry tomatoes. Place your cherry tomatoes in between two plates. The bottom plate should be upsidedown. Run a knife in between the two plates.

37) No-Stick Measuring Spoon

Measuring out molasses or honey can make a mess. Spray it with some cooking oil before you measure. The oil will make it slide off so that your measuring spoon is easy to clean.

38) De-crystalize Some Honey

Honey can become crystallized and hard to use after a while. You can reverse the crystallization by place it in a bowl of hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. It will be as good as new.

39) Foam Milk With A Frother

Fill a jar with a little milk (no more than halfway). Close your jar and shake it well. Microwave your milk for about 30 seconds. It should come out frothy.

40) Brew Coffee Without Coffee Machine

Boil coffee in a pot of water using the same coffee to water ratio as you’d put in a coffee maker. Remove the coffee from the heat and let the grounds settle for four or five minutes. Ladle the coffee off of the top of the pot into a mug.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Good Cooking: East vs West

"One chef believes you should be able to drink wine with New Asia [Ed: Fushion] cuisine, something that you cannot do with Chinese food, as soy sauce kills the taste of wine... Classic French and other chefs are, of course, appalled by what they see as just a confusion of tastes: the art of good cooking is to bring out the flavour of the fish, meat or vegetables, not to annihilate them with lemon grass, chilies, soy and other herbs and condiments"

--- Singapore Handbook, 2nd (Footprint) / Joshua Eliot, Jane Bickersteth

Monday, June 21, 2010

Cooking - some dishes from 2009

"Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character." - Oscar Levant

***


Cajun Chicken


Jambalaya. I didn't really scrape out the graton. I should've.

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Miso Chicken. Except that Miso paste comes in such large tubs that if you don't drink miso soup regularly, there's no point buying them - so I used instant miso soup packets

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Yakisoba. Using soba sauce, not yakisoba sauce (it didn't really work)


Cassoulet:

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For the duck fat, we used Chinese Roast Duck

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Rendering the duck fat

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The Secret Ingredient: Tiger Gold

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Boiling

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With the herbs


Southern Fried Chicken:

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The secret ingredient - MSG. The 11 herbs and spices are nothing next to (or without) this

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"Spice" mix (more like MSG mix with some spices)

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Biscuit making

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Biscuits ready to bake and chicken (after parboiling in milk - buttermilk is too expensive)

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Baked Biscuits

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Coating chicken

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Coated chicken

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Frying

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Initial pieces

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The whole plate

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Sausagefest (2nd June 2010)

"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later." - Mitch Hedberg

***

Last night, I had a sausagefest.

It was inspired by a night in April when I was eating Currywurst and Brot at Magma and thought that, hey, it wasn't very good and that anyway I preferred it with fries. Bunny Girl then said that she wanted to try Currywurst, and the idea was born.

At first, in keeping with the theme of the evening, I was only going to invite girls (MFTTW, Cunning Linguist, Bunny Girl and Temptation Chris came in the end), but in the end I also asked Mr Wet along (since he's in touch with his sensitive side, I guess that counts); the planned sequel will be a tacofest where I only invite guys, but I suspect Mexican food is not as popular as sausages.


The sausages we ended up consuming:

1) American Packaged Bratwurst ("Cooked Brats")
2) Cold Storage Deli Bratwurst
3) Weisswurst
4) Bockwurst

The sausages we didn't:

1) Spicy Italian
2) Cold Storage Raw Bratwurst
3) English Cumberland
4) Chorizo
5) "Wienerli. Swiss Style" (Swiss Style Vienna Sausage)


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One of my specialities, home-made fries

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Grilling Cooked Brats and frying frites

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Done frites

We then boiled Weißwurst in beer and onions, to bring out its flavour.

Since beer in Singapore is expensive, we used the lousiest beer we could find: Tiger Beer (since 1932).

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The only thing Tiger Beer is good for: boiling sausages

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Tiger Beer, Onions and Sausages (Weißwurst, Cold Storage Deli Bratwurst, Cooked Brat)

Unfortunately, though I had dispatched my minion (MFTTW) to German Market Place (Bukit Timah Road) to buy the curry ketchup, she forgot to bring it, so we extemporised with tomato ketchup, BBQ sauce and curry powder.

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It actually worked quite well with the BBQ sauce.

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Bratkartoffeln (German Fried Potatoes), which is actually even more tedious to make than frites.

I'd felt like having Saganaki (Greek Pan-Fried Cheese), and my sister said it could be made with Halloumi which you can find in Singapore, so we also had a go at it:

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Australian Halloumi in cornstarch

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Frying Halloumi

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Fried Halloumi

The crowning glory of Saganaki, of course, is when it is set on fire at your table with the cry of "Opa!"; according to Urban Dictionary, "Opa" is "Greek for, "Oh my God! Your cheese is on fire!""

So we decided to cry out "Opa!" as I valiantly tried to light the Saganaki with flaming disposable chopsticks (we had no lighter and I didn't want to search for matches).

The moment of glory was not captured successfully, but here is its aftermath:


Flaming pan-fried Saganaki (using Halloumi). With too much Cognac. And the flames were extinguished with fresh lemon juice.

Lessons from making Flaming Saganaki:

1) If your first attempt fails, do not pour more alcohol onto the same piece of cheese if you want to be able to eat it afterwards
2) Just light one piece of cheese for dramatic effect - save the rest for eating
3) There is a reason they serve it in its own small pan - so the alcohol fumes collect

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Cognac-drenched Saganaki. We didn't touch the centre piece (the one which had gotten the most cognac).

Later, we also got to eat a brownie made with an Easter Egg, and I had one of my fantasies fulfilled: having a beautiful woman spray whipped cream directly into my mouth (I gagged and had to spit).

(Credits: Main photographer of the evening, Bunny Girl, and chronicler of the NSFW pictures MFTTW)


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Bonus pictures: mutant egg found in my fridge

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

"Great part of being a grownup, you never have to do anything." - Peter Blake

***

Disgusting Chris sent me this recipe for General Tso's Chicken (which he's finally stopped calling "General Chicken"), saying it wasn't quite like the one I made.



A cursory inspection of the recipe reveals the reason - this is closer to Hunanese cuisine than what you find in the US (ergo, no sugar and lots of chili).

Friday, December 25, 2009

The Holy Trinity of Russian Cooking (Зажарка): Onions, Carrots, Tomatoes

The Holy Trinity of French Cooking (mirepoix): Onions, Celery, Carrots

The Holy Trinity of Cajun Cooking: Onions, Celery, Bell Peppers

The Holy Trinity of My Cooking: Onions, Bell Peppers, Bacon

Saturday, March 14, 2009

"Wagner's music is better than it sounds." - Edgar Wilson Nye, quoted in Mark Twain's Autobiography

***

I finally got a Bacon Explosion rolled out (among other things), with the enthusiastic help of the Ass Man:

I couldn't find raw Italian Sausage at the supermarket, so I settled for using minced meat (and spicing it myself: fennel powder, pepper, paprika and some of Disgusting Chris's spice mixes). It was rather dry due to the lack of fat, but oh well.

Do note that this Bacon Explosion was scaled down by half, since we only had 7 people (3 of them girls).


Cornstarch as a binding agent


Forming the lattice (this wasn't scaled down - maybe American bacon is longer?!)


Bacon Lattice


Frying bacon for the stuffing of the Bacon Explosion


Lattice with BBQ Rub


Spiced lattice and the minced meat 'sausage'


Girls slacking (what most of them were doing most of the time, anyway)


Piling on the 'sausage' meat


Lattice with 'sausage' meat


Seasoning and condiment: Cajun seasoning and BBQ sauce


'Sausage' meat with Cajun seasoning


Adding crumbled crispy bacon


And saucing it


Rolling up 'sausage' meat


Rolled-up 'sausage' meat


Completing the bacon lattice (even if in a structurally unsound way)


Everyone wants to picture the Bacon Explosion


Sealing the bacon explosion


Almost ready to chuck in the oven...


... after another sprinkling of BBQ rub...


...and some basting


Ready to bake


Would YOU use such a large knife to peel apples?!


Half-done


Fully done


Bacon Explosion


Slicing it up


Innards

Verdict: Bagus!

Though using real sausage meat, more bacon inside, rolling it properly and adding more BBQ rub/sauce would've helped.

Perhaps next time.
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