Penne Rigate With Cream Of Mushroom Soup

A shortcut meal born out of a chilly day with dark clouds and dimmed sunlight streaming through. I heeded the call for quick comfort food to soothe my growling tummy and match the quiet mood. Nothing complicated, I told myself as I pictured me slurping on a hot bowl of creamy soup in my mind.

Penne Rigate With Cream Of Mushroom Soup

It was a lazy day. I flipped the kitchen cabinet doors open. There it was - a can of Cream of Mushroom soup staring back at me as though it knew what I was craving for. Pick me, it whispers. Oh, my imagination when I'm hungry! I reach out for it and the Top Shell I'd gotten from a hamper; there began my cooking adventure.

A bit of pasta, flat-leaf parsley and what I call the Chinese Bacon aka lap cheong completes the dish. The saying 'less is more ' cannot be applied to cooking surely. I think onions would make a nice addition?

Penne Rigate With Cream Of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups Penne Rigate (Alce Nero Organic Penne Rigate)
- 1 can 470g Campbell's Cream Of Mushroom
- 1 can New Moon Braised King Top Shell in Abalone Sauce (slices)
(Drain sauce into a container for future use. Optional: Slice Top Shell into bite sized pieces)
- ½ yellow onion (chopped)
- 1 to 2 pcs lap cheong / chinese sausage (sliced)
- Flat-leaf parsely (chopped)

Method
1) Cook pasta according to packet instructions or to preference. Keep aside.
2) Use a deep pan. Pan-fry lap cheong without oil until lightly charred. Remove from pan and chop finely. Leave aside.
3) Using the same pan, now left with a little oil from the lap cheong, saute the onions.
4) Add top shell and stir-fry for a bit.
5) Pour in cream of mushroom soup. Then, fill the can to the top with water. Pour the water into the pan. Stir until well combined and simmering.
6) Add the pasta. Stir until the pasta is well coated, inside and out.
7) Finally, switch the heat off and stir the chopped parsley in.
8) Serve sprinkled with chopped lap cheong.

1) The Ingredients 2) Pan-fry the lap cheong
3) Saute the onions 4) Add Top Shell and stir-fry
5) Pour in cream of mushroom soup with water
6) Add the pasta 7) Finally, stir in parsley

Eat and be comforted.

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Foil Baked Prosperity Prawns

For many Chinese, the Lunar New Year is celebrated with food that carries an auspicious meaning. For instance, uncut noodles represents 'longevity'. Hence the tradition of eating Mee Sua, in my family at least, on the first day of the New Year. It is to wish all of us a long life.

Foil Baked Prosperity Prawns

You must be wondering why I call these Prosperity Prawns. It's because I'm serving 8 in a plate. Here, eight is pronounced 'fatt ' in Chinese which means prosperity. I believe one of the best things about Chinese New Year is the fanciful names you'll hear for the dishes which is always about wishing friends and family well.

Other than that, I also find prawns to be a great dish to have for reunion dinners because it is red, a mark of happiness and good fortune. In Chinese, prawns are called ' Ha ' . Double it - haha is laughter. Hence, joy.

This is one of the many dishes I love preparing because it is easy to do and doesn't take up wok space. I need to use the stove for many other dishes so it is good to utilise all the available cooking appliances for better time management and to ensure food is served hot.

I don't believe we should tire ourselves out or stress over important occasions. Therefore, my menu often revolves around simple delicious dishes, with most recipes passed down by friends and family or having run through Mom's old recipes books.

Here's what I did but really, there is no need to follow the recipe to the dot. We have always gone the 'agak-agak' (more or less, a rough calculation) way, with several variations from garnishing with spring onions to using Bornean rice wine and more.

Foil Baked Prosperity Prawns
Ingredients:
- 300g prawns or 8 large pieces (deveined, leave whole)
- 6 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 thumb ginger (grated, about 1 ½ tbsp)
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine mixed with 1 tbsp water
- Pinch of salt
- Fresh coriander and slices of red chilli for garnishing

Method:
1) Pre-heat oven to 180C.
2) Line baking tray with foil. Place prawns on top. Spoon ginger and garlic over.
Drizzle with Shaoxing wine and sprinkle some salt over.
3) Cover with foil and bake until just done - about 12minutes for me.
4) Plate. Garnish with fresh coriander and slices of red chilli.

Top, left to right : The Ingredients, Place Ingredients Onto Foil Lined Baking Tray
Bottom : Prawns Fresh Out Of The Oven

There you go, short work.

With that, the team at Sweet Home-Chefs wishes you Gong Xi Fa Cai for the Year of the Rooster!

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Sauteed Shrimps With Golden Kiwifruit

The red, gold, and green sauteed shrimps. Am I too early for Christmas? I know I am but the thing is I love festive colours, regularly including green and red into many of the dishes I cook at home - chilli and fresh coriander topping the list of most used ingredients!

Hubs popped a packet of golden kiwifruit into our shopping basket one Sunday. I was excited by the yellow colour of the flesh of the kiwifruit, and it wasn't long before I started thinking how nice it would be in some sort of salad.

Sauteed Shrimps With Golden Kiwifruit

Quick and easy, this is what I came up with!

Sauteed Shrimps With Golden Kiwifruit
Ingredients:
- 200g shrimps (sliced in half)
- 1 large kiwifruit (cubed)
- 4 cloves garlic (pounded or chopped)
- ¼ chilli flakes
- ¼ black pepper
- Some fresh coriander (chopped)
- Salt to taste
- Cooking oil

Method:
1) Heat 1 to 2 tbsp cooking oil in pan. Saute garlic until fragrant.
2) Add the shrimps and season with salt, black pepper and chilli flakes. Pan-fry the shrimps until cooked. Then, remove from pan and let it cool for a bit before adding the kiwifruit and coriander. Eat!

1) Shrimps, Golden Kiwifruit, Garlic, Coriander.
2) Pan-fry the shrimps.
3) Toss to mix. 4) Eat!

Red, gold and green - the three colours that make this a visual treat, for me at least.

Sauteed Shrimps With Golden Kiwifruit

Mangoes make a great alternative. Dragonfruit would be nice too but the flavour would then be subdued. The more intense sweet and sour from the kiwifruit give this dish a kick on the taste buds. I like it!

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Prawns With Creamy Salted Egg Yolks Sauce

I'm late! I'm late! I'm late to the salted egg yolks party, but it's a trend that I believe will never go out of style because it is numero uno on the yumness scale! Therefore, any time is a good time to jump on the bandwagon.

'Sap Ham Dan Har' (Wet Salted Egg Prawns) is a dish hubs and I regularly order at a Chinese restaurant nearby for visiting friends and relatives to try because it puts the oohs and aahs around the dinner table.  It has always been on my mind to cook this. However, nothing materialised until I decided to make my own salted duck eggs a month back. When the eggs were ready, I started searching for recipes to use it up.

Prawns With Creamy Salted Egg Yolks Sauce

A little googling brought me to Lia's Food Journey blog. It looked closest to the dish I wanted to recreate. I made a couple of changes to suit my palate, of course.

The result is this dreamy salty-sweetish prawn dish that had us licking the plate clean!

Prawns With Creamy Salted Egg Yolks Sauce
Ingredients:
- 330g prawns (deveined)
- 5 salted duck egg yolks (steamed and mashed with a fork)
- 4 cloves garlic (pounded)
- 1 red chilli (sliced)
- 6 dried or fresh kaffir lime leaves (optional)
- 45g butter
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 2½ tsp sugar (to taste)

For frying:
- 4 tbsp corn flour
- 1 beaten egg
- 4 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
1) Dip prawns in beaten egg, then coat with corn flour. Pan-fry in cooking oil until just done. Remove prawns from pan.
2) Leave about 1 tbsp of the cooking oil in the same pan (spoon out excess). Add butter and garlic. Saute until the butter is melted.
3) Add kaffir lime leaves and the mashed egg yolks. Stir to combine.
4) Then, add evaporated milk and sugar (to taste). Stir until creamy. The sauce is done. Lower the heat or switch it off.
5) Add the prawns back into the pan along with slices of red chilli. Stir until the prawns are all coated with the sauce.

1) The ingredients. 2) Dip prawns in egg and coat with corn flour.
3) Pan-fry the prawns. 4) Heat butter, saute garlic in pan for the sauce.
5) Add mashed salted eggs and kaffir lime leaves. 6) Stir quickly.
7) Add evaporated milk. 8) Finally, mix the prawns together.

There you go. Best eaten with rice!

Prawns With Creamy Salted Egg Yolks Sauce

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Pumpkin Chicken With Razor Shells and Cauliflower (Slow-Cooker)

'Tis the season for giving, as it is with a number of festivals in Malaysia. This includes Chinese New Year!

Before traveling back to the husband's home town, I gave each of my friends a box of mandarin oranges. It was a Fedex same day delivery thing. We zoomed to several homes on the Sunday we had purchased it, dropped the festive-looking box off and greeted friends with 'Gung Hee Fatt Choi ' in advance.

Senior citizens hold a special place in my heart, so I usually pack a red bag of goodies for them. This may include canned mushrooms, dried food, nian gao, a packet of nuts, festive cookies, essence of chicken, bird's nest - typically food which carries good meaning or is said to contain health improving properties.

I'm sure those who celebrate this occasion would have received a little something from friends and family. My home is laden with goodies from food hampers. I am always grateful and excited to get these because it helps me save on grocery shopping.

Tips for sorting out food hampers
1) Group similar items together.
2) Arrange by expiry date.
3) Plan the week's menu to include hamper items. 
Begin with items that will expire first.

This is one of the dishes I cooked last week where I have cleared off a food hamper item. I can now mark canned 'Sea Asparagus' (Razor Shell) off my list!

Pumpkin Chicken With Razor Shells and Cauliflower (Slow Cooker)

Pumpkin Chicken With Razor Shells and Cauliflower (Slow Cooker)
Ingredients:
- ½ chicken (685g)
- 1 large garlic clove (sliced thinly)
- 1 cup cubed pumpkin
- 1½ cup cauliflower florets
- 425g canned sea asparagus/razor shell (rinsed)
- 1 sachet Kee Hiong Chicken Soup Spices
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- Handful of fresh coriander (roughly chopped)
- 3 cups hot water + 2 cups room temp water
- Additional water for boiling
 
How-to:
1) Brush 1 tbsp oyster sauce all over the chicken.
2) Add 5 cups water into the slow cooker. Set on high. Stir the remainder of the oyster sauce and white pepper in.
3) Place spice sachet in, along with garlic and pumpkin. The chicken goes on top. Cook for 2½ hours. Never open the lid in between.
4) At the 2-hour mark and in another pot, boil cauliflower until cooked and sea asparagus for a couple of minutes. Set aside in a colander or a strainer to drain away excess water.
5) Arrange the boiled ingredients onto a deep plate, along with the chicken and pumpkin. Pour the soup over.
6) Serve garnished with fresh coriander.

Note: Equipment used for this recipe : 3.0L capacity Faber Slow Cooker.
Cooking time and results may vary between slow cookers.

Best eaten on its own or with rice. For added oomph, complete the meal with a soy sauce-sliced chilli dip.

1) Pumpkin and garlic slices. 2) Brush chicken with oyster sauce.
3) Adding fresh ingredients into the cooker along with seasoning and spice sachet.
4) Place chicken on top.

Arrange all the ingredients on a deep plate.

I will try to give an idea how this tastes like - the soup has a pleasant sweet-savoury flavour with a hint of Chinese spice aroma. Cauliflower is blessed with a natural mild sweetish flavour so it compliments this dish although it was boiled only in plain water. The razor shells, on the other hand, are mildly saltish. Combined together, it's all thumbs up for me!

Garnish with fresh coriander.

Pumpkin Chicken With Razor Shells and Cauliflower (Slow Cooker)

Out of curiosity, what kind of items would you prefer to receive in a festive food hamper?

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Soy Sauce Steamed Fish

I gushed about steamed food the other day. This is one of my favourite ways of doing it - a simple steam that takes only minutes to prepare. You will have time to stir-fry another dish on the side while waiting for this to be done.

Notice that this recipe is quite alike the steamed egg dish I made the other day? I have flavoured this in a similar fashion, except that it has been made more exciting with rice wine and a flourish of garnish.

Steamed Fish

Ingredients:
- 1 medium Dory fish fillet
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 ½ tsp rice wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil

For the garnish:
- 1 stalk fresh coriander (roughly chopped)
- 1 chili (sliced)
- 1 large thumb-sized ginger (julienned)
- Cooking oil

1) Place fish onto steaming plate
2) Pour soy sauce mix over
3) Place into steamer (I use a wok)
4) Chili and ginger for garnish

How-to:
1) Mix light soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil together in a bowl.

2) Place fish onto steaming plate. Pour sauce mixture from note 1) over fish.

3) Place into steamer and steam until cooked.

(I use a wok. Place a steaming rack stand into the wok. Place the steaming plate on top. Add water below and turn the heat up. Steam covered. Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat and continue steaming until fish is cooked.)

4) Heat oil in pan. Fry chili and ginger until crisp but not burnt. Garnish steamed fish with crispy fried chili and ginger, and some fresh coriander.

Soy Sauce Steamed Fish

Yum!

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Mango Prawn Curry

I knew but I did it anyway. It was one almost-ripe Manila mango which had been sitting in the fruit basket for over a day. I lifted it up - large, smooth, cool on the skin. "How perfect! ", I thought to myself.

A little sniff told me it wasn't really ready but the more I looked at it, the more I was drawn to eat it. And that's how I ended up slicing a mango which had not reached its full potential, flavour-wise. That is also how this recipe came about.

I had already planned on cooking prawn curry for dinner. Adding blitzed mango into the mix seemed like a yummy thing to do. Ground hazelnut was thrown in for a little variety. It was also a case of 'why not?'. Soon, I started gathering more herbs, spices and so forth. The simple curry dish I had planned on making had become something a little more elaborate.

This is the result - a flavoursome curry with hints of prawn and mango sweetness.

Mango Prawn Curry

Ingredients:
- 600g prawns (devein, remove shell but leave the tail on if you wish)
- 1 tbsp ground hazelnut
- 1 tsp brown sugar (or to taste)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 red chili (sliced thinly and fried crisp) for garnishing
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- About 1/2 cup water

To Blend
- 1 mango (2/3 ripe, cubed)
- 1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (roughly chopped)
- 2 dried chili (rehydrated in hot water, chopped)

Curry Paste
Combine the following with just enough water to make it into a thick wet paste.
- 1 tbsp blended fresh red chili
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder

Spices and Herbs
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 3 dried chili (rehydrated in hot water)
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1) Some ingredients - mango, chili, onion, garlic
2) Blend mango, chili (dried), onion and garlic
3) Blended mango
4) Spices, herbs, curry powder and ground hazelnut

How-to:
1) Blend mango, onion, garlic and 2 pcs of dried chili together, with 1 to 2 tbsp water into a smooth paste.

2) Heat oil in pan. Add spices and herbs, curry paste and ground hazelnut. Fry until fragrant.

3) Pour in mango mixture from note 1) above. Add 1/2 cup water. Cook for about three minutes.

4) Season with brown sugar (to taste) and a pinch of salt. Add the prawns. Turn gently until all are coated in gravy. Let it sit until cooked, which should take less than a minute on medium-high heat. Stir before dishing out.

5) Garnish with slices of fried chili.

Note : If using mangoes with a strong flavour, seasoning may not be required.

1) Fry spices, herbs and curry paste
2) Fry until fragrant
3) Pour in mango puree
4) Finally, stir in the prawns

Best eaten with rice. If you're cooking this without the tails of the prawn attached, flatbread is a great alternative.

Rice with Mango Prawn Curry

Mango Prawn Curry fresh out of the wok!

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Stir-Fry Butter Cereal Prawns (Instant)

Crispy Crunchy Tasty Yummy Prawns

Who doesn't love big prawns? Most adults love it as much as children - unless they're seafood allergic. :-) One of my all-time favourite prawn dish is the ever popular Butter Cereal Prawns. You can find this usually served as one of the courses for Chinese sit-down course dinners in restaurants.

But, for home-chefs who may not have the luxury time to painstakingly prepare the cereal-mix from scratch, you can get the instant pre-packed cereal mix/seasoning from supermarkets or grocery stores - which is what I had done for this occasion. It cut short half the preparation time and taste just as nice.

Ingredients :
- 10-15 white prawns (sea-caught is better, medium size, approx. 4-5cm in diameter per prawn)
- Curry leaves of about 2 sprigs (you might want to add more if you like it more fragrant)
- 1 or 2 medium size chili (de-seeded and cut into small squares or julienne)
- Butter (a few tablespoons or more upon you're liking)
- Cooking oil
- 1 packet of pre-packed cereal mix


How-to:
1) Heat up wok with a few tablespoons of cooking oil. When oil is hot, add in the prawns and stir-fry evenly until the prawns had turned pinkish-brown and curled up a bit. Remove the prawns immediately as you don't want to overcook it. Set aside. Clear up any oil residue in the wok.

2) Using the same wok, you need not rinse, add in the butter and melt it under medium heat. Once its melted, add in the chili and curry leaves immediately. Stir-fry until its fragrant and add in the prawns.

3) Stir-fry the prawns evenly for a little while, then add add in the cereal pre-mix.

4) Under very low heat, stir the prawns thoroughly until all are covered with the cereal. When the cereal mix had turned crispy after soaking up the excess butter in the wok, dish up the wonderful prawns and serve it hot.

Options :
- I did not de-shell my prawns as I prefer it in its original form for more crispiness. I only snipped off the head's front pointy part where the whiskers are and trimmed the legs.
If you prefer, you may de-shell it but do keep the tails intact - it looks nicer and classier when served, also easier to be finger-picked. :-)
- Instead of normal chili, you may go for a hotter taste by choosing bird's eye chili.
- Instead of stir-frying, you may deep-fry it if you prefer for the ultimate crispy crunch.

Ingredients

Step by Step Stir-Frying

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Fish Maw Soup

Fish maw, otherwise known as dried swim bladders, is perfect in stews, soups or braised. It is good with wet dishes largely because it easily absorbs flavour from other ingredients it is cooked with. On its own, it is tasteless.

It is said that fish maw is rich in collagen but whether this is scientifically proven is beyond me. The ones I use for cooking are, after all, dried products.

Fish Maw Soup - Garnished with Spring Onion

Fish Maw Soup happens to be a household favourite, a potful easily gulped away in one dinner sitting! I usually cook this with a lot of pepper. It gives this simple dish a lot of punch.

Here's the recipe, if you're keen to try.

Ingredients:
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 70g / a small bowl of spongy fish maw
(Pre-soaked in water an hour or two until spongy. Rinse away as much oil as you can and then, slice into pieces)
- 200g chicken bone parts (I opted for chicken feet and neck)
- A handful of sliced cabbage
- 1.5L water
- Salt and pepper to taste (Optional: a pinch of chicken stock granules)

How-to:
1) Boil all the ingredients together, until the cabbages are really limp and soft.

2) Season to taste with salt, but be generous with the pepper (optional- a pinch of chicken stock granules). It is fine if you don't want it too peppery, but as we Malaysians say it, "No kick-lah" (No oomph!).

The four ingredients

All in the pot

Peppery Fish Maw Soup - Yummy!

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Hot and Sour Seafood Soup

The wet weather has been prompting cravings for hot soup to alleviate the chilliness I feel.

I have kiam chye boey, that sour spicy "leftovers" stew, on my mind but cooking that would take three hours at least! Surely too long a wait for this poor soul....and so came about the inspiration for a shortcut, using only some of the key ingredients from the traditional kiam chye boey dish and without the long stew.

Here's what came out of the pot at the end of it all - a clear sour and spicy soup with robust flavours that zapped my senses alert. This was so delicious that I had seconds...SECONDS! Just the perfect thing to have in this cold weather. BrrRrrr...no more!
    

Hot and Sour Seafood Soup

Hot and Sour Seafood Soup

Ingredients :
- 3 pcs asam keping (tamarind peel)
- 2 pcs sour plum (bottled) 
- 6 green bird's eye chili (seeded and halved)
- ½ large carrot (cut into medium cubes)
- 1 large tomato (quartered)
- 1 rib celery (chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- 1.5 L water
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- Fried fish cakes (2 varieties - the kind for soups)
   ~ 1 palm-sized flat square piece (cut into smaller squares)
   ~ 1 rectangular roll, about 3 inches long (sliced)
- 10 baby squids  
- Salt to taste

How-to:
1) Heat oil in electrical cooker (that's what I'm using). Add garlic and give it a quick stir-fry.

2) Add tomatoes, carrots, bird's eye chili, tamarind peel and sour plums. Mix well.

3) Add water and bring to a boil. 

4) Once it boils, add the ribbed stem parts of the celery into the pot (leave the leafy parts for last).

5) Cook covered until tomatoes and carrots are tender (which was between 30-45 minutes for me because I wanted more flavour in the soup). 

6) Then, add fish cakes and the remainder of the celery. Season with salt and stir well. Lastly, add the squid. You are done when that is cooked.

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