Braised Chicken

Today, CY & I spent the whole day in the office. We did a number of crucial and important changes to our office, hence my day off was burnt but it’s worth it. We are still in the office right now and my stomach keeps on reminding me of my meal time (though I just had my dinner!), plus the off-tune singing not far away served as a little ‘entertainment’ in the office. Everywhere seems to be, still, in CNY mood, or at least that’s the case in my neighborhood.

We had our dinner in the kopitiam not long ago. The meal was simple, steamed fish and mixed vegetables as usual. But I can’t help to think of the Braised Chicken we had 2 weeks before the CNY. This is truly a brainless dish, just throw everything inside the pressure cooker to do the magic.

I wonder if anyone of you still thinks that a pressure cooker is not worth the investment. I guess if you think of this way, you might still exist in the past century, even my sister got one in KL and hers is an electronic pressure cooker! More powerful than mine! I am speechless.

Anyway, the point is, you should get one.

Ingredients:

1 Cinnamon stick

1 Star anise

20g Blue ginger

20g ginger

30g onions, sliced

20g garlic

Sauce

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs dark soy sauce

2 tbs sugar

1 whole chicken, cut

Optional

Shitake mushrooms, soaked

Pressure cooker method

Marinate chicken with sauce for at least 20 mins.

Fry ingredients till fragrant, add in chicken and sauce, add in 1 cup of water. Boil and cover tightly, cook for 25 mins.

After that, release pressure, take out chicken, and thicken the sauce.

Serve with rice or like what I did, serve with noodle and tomato as side dish.

Simply delish.

Cheers to the Tiger Year!

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财！

For the past week, we had a good time in Bangkok/KL/Titi. Time really flies! Now back to Singapore, in the comfort of my home, I feel that this holiday was well spent. We managed to meet a lot of relatives and friends, had nice catch-ups and meals were fantastic! Nights were spent with chit-chats, games or dinners which we would remember for a long time.

Above picture is my nephew playing with sparkle stick in front of my Titi house. We played and played, until the entire jumbo box of sparkles disappeared within minutes! It's really fun to play like kids!

Below picture is me holding my hand of cards. For those who know the game "Big 2" or "Tai-tee", I was dealt this hand from the dealer for the first time in my life! I couldn't believe what I saw and was asking around for help! I was unsure whether I could show my cards in the first round even without playing, CY took this picture, just in case, and I continued playing with this set. Eventually, I won too! Yohoo!

Now, back to Singapore, I am re-charged and ready for battle. I will work extra hard this year and will continue my journey of being ladyhomechef.

Cheers to the Tiger Year! \(^_^)/

Ming Mu Tang Mee Suah 明目汤面线

The past few weeks flew away…poff…just like that! Now everyday, we have to wake up at 9am+, ding dong ding dong a bit and then go to work at about 11am+, all the way until 10pm+, have to hit the pillow before 12am or else CY will get headache, is this a healthy lifestyle? Not quite really, but 2010 is a critical year for us to break it or make it, we have more things to do and that really force us to be more disciplined. But sometimes, what bothers me is not the business, but from family.

CY gets headache quite frequently nowadays and I am worried. So from time to time, if I have some time, I will just boil Traditional Chinese Tonic chicken soup, like this one. This one tastes good, especially with Mee suah, a type of Chinese noodle that dissolves quickly in the soup that gives a silky texture. Better still, I save some time as I don’t need to wash the rice cooker with this one.

This soup is meant to replenish liver, kidney’s blood and to sustain a good vision.

Ingredients （From Foo Hua 福华药材店）
Herbal epimedii 淫羊霍
Huai Shan 淮山/山药
Wolfberry 枸杞子
Herbal Dendrobii 石霍
Mizao 蜜枣
Dang Shen 党参

Other ingredients
Chinese lettuce
Dark chicken 乌鸡
Mee suah
1 tbsp soy sauce

Instruction
Add herbs into a pot with 1.5L of water, boil for 10 minutes. When herbs release their flavours, add in dark chicken. Cook for 2 hours in low heat. Add salt and soy sauce when ready to be served.