Dry Beef Noodles

Today i was sooooo craving beef noodles at The Banquet in Jurong Point. Its so awesome that i had to make it today. Of course its not even close in my opinions (im always critical of my own cooking) but the Hubs throughly enjoyed it ! But man the broth / beef brisket took 5 hours to cook! Don't be scared... 5 hours passes quickly if you started cooking other appetizers like I did ... :-)

For the broth,

1/2 chopped yellow onion

1 large shallot

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon chopped garlic 

Sauté the above ingredients in a bit of oil until fragrant.

1kg beef brisket or any part that you prefer - cut into 1 inch cubes 

Add the beef and sear all sides.

5 whole cloves of garlic

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves 

2 star anise 

2 liters of beef broth / vegetable stock

1/2 cup chopped coriander

2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Add the above ingredients and simmer for 5 hours, continuously adding more water to keep the water level above the beef. Once beef is really tender continue simmering until you get about 4 cups broth. Season with salt / pepper to taste 

For the gravy,

1 tablespoon garlic paste

1 tablespoon ginger paste

2 cups of beef broth

Sauté in oil until fragrant. Add the beef broth and let simmer. Add in the following seasonings.

2 tablespoon dark soya sauce

1 tablespoon light soya sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tablespoon oyster sauce 

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup water (mix)

Add the cornstarch water mixture into the simmering ingredients and pour over your noodles. I couldn't find the laksa noodles here in Jakarta or the flat kway teow but I found Fortune's Hong Kong Noodles and I used that! 

If you decide to use the same noodles I did, all you need is a pot of boiling water, blanch the noodles in and once cooked, rinse with water to remove the starch and then pour the gravy in.

I blanched some cai sim, added sliced spring onions, lettuce and fried shallots over the noodles with a side bowl of that delicious beef broth! Don't forget your chilli! I sprinkled chilli flakes for more heat!

Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins

Han loves this muffin! Actually this is the only muffin he´ll eat weirdly....
Really simple recipe and really moist and you don´t even need butter! 

Whisk the eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes on high speed until really foamy.

2ggs 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
3/4 cup sugar

Sift the dry ingredients and set aside

1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil
5 large bananas
1/4 cup cream 
1tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Once the egg mixture is frothy, drizzle the oil in bit by bit while whisking. Add the mashed riped bananas, vanilla & cream. Mix it well and fold in the dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin cups and sprinkle with more chocolate chips. Bake for 25  minutes on 180 degrees until skewer comes out clean.

Chicken Pies

Yes! I´m a fan of doing things the shortcut way.. I´m not lazy but I have 2 rambunctious boys that require my attention. Being a stay-home mom is not all laze in bed all day you know!

If you´re in the mood, feel free to make your own puff pastry but mine was supermarket bought today .
I prepared the chicken filling last night so that all I needed to do was assemble it this morning and bake for breafast.

Filling:-

1 carrot chopped
1/2 onion (the big yellow ones) chopped
2 garlics chopped
1/2 potato chopped
2 chicken breasts chopped
3 large button mushrooms chopped
1/2 tin of campbell´s mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
salt / pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

See how simple? Everything is chopped! Just sautee the garlic, carrots, onions until soft and add in the mushrooms, potatoes and chicken. Sautee until chicken is cooked and add in the Campbell soup and water.. simmer to cook and season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Let cool and then assemble.

I cut the puff pastry into rounds for the bottom and top and place the filling in the middle leaving about 5mm gap for pinching the pastry close. Cover with another pastry, use a fork and press down the edges.  Snip off about 2 hole at the top of the pastry and brush it with egg wash. Place a greaseproof paper on a tray, arrange your pies. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until pastry is golden.

Homemade Okonomiyaki

For the longest time since takoyaki made its way to our shores in the 90s i´ve loved it. The first time I tried it was at the Narita airport! But since I do not have that round metal grill, i shall stick to another Japanese snack favourite which is the Okonomiyaki... here in Jakarta they sell all sorts of fillings so feel free you add whatever you want.

Today I made prawn & tako okonomiyaki. You can also buy the okonomiyaki sauce at the store but being in Jakarta means I have to make everything from scratch unless I head down to Papaya which have sauce, katsuobushi & kewpie! 

Okonomiyaki Sauce

2 tablespoons Tomato puree 
2 tablespoons Ketchup 

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons  Dark soy sauce 
1 teaspoon Sugar 100ml Dashi (bonito stock) - (didn´t have that so i used chicken stock)2 tablespoons Cornstarch - dissolved in 2 tablespoons Water 

Bring tomato puree, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, sugar and dashi to boil in saucepan over high heat. Add cornstarch mixture, a little at a time, and cook until thickened to the texture of ketchup. Cool before serving.

I tried another recipe for the sauce. Much easier too. Just mix the following .. So if u want it fuss - free... Use this instead :-)

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 teaspoon worchestershire sauce

2 tablespoon honey 

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup 

Batter

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup corn flour
1 cup Dashi (I used chicken stock)
1 egg
A dash of pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
a pinch of salt

Mix everything and leave the batter aside for at least an hour to rest.

1 cup sliced cabbage

1/4 cup spring onions

1/2 carrot grated

6 prawns chopped

1/2 cup boiled, thinly sliced octopus 

Add the ingredients to the batter and pan fry with very little oil until each side is golden. Cut into small pieces and drizzle with mayonaise, okonomiyaki sauce and if you have katsuobushi, generously sprinkle on top!

Garlic Naan

This naan goes beautifully with masalas or butter chicken serve with a side of raita and mint chutney...less than 2 hours and its ready on the table .

1/2 cup warm water 

1/2 packet of Saf Instant dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar 

Mix and set aside for 5 minutes until frothy.

1.5 tsp salt 

2 tablespoon milk

1 egg

Add the above ingredients to the yeast mixture and pour into the flour.

2 1/4 cups flour

Minced garlic (about 4 tablespoon)

Melted butter

Knead the mixture by hand for about 6 minutes until elastic . Oil the bowl and cover the dough and let rise for 1 hour. 

Add half the garlic to the dough and punch the dough down. Divide into 7 pieces. Make into round balls and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Heat the grill with a bit of oil and sprinkle some garlic on the dough. Roll the dough to flatten. Place onto the grill for about 2 minutes or until the brown grill marks can be seen. Brush the uncooked side with melted butter. Flip and brush the cooked side with melted butter. Naan is ready when the other side is browned. 

Totally enjoyed this soft naan! Yummy!!

Strawberry Mille-Feuille

Needed a simple but impressive dessert for our guests today so out came the puff pastry and in-the-cupboard ingredients... 

Custard cream

2 cups of milk (heated in a pot but do not let it boil )

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar (I like it less sweet so a little less than 1/2 cup is good)

Pour the heated milk in while whisking so as not to cook the eggs. Pour back into the pot and heat, continue whisking until thicken. 

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp grated orange zest

Add in the essence and zest and Set aside to cool in the fridge. You can make this overnight.

I used store bought puff pastry and cut into 6 pieces of 3 inches x 6 inches width pastry. Line with grease proof paper and lay the puff pastry and poke with a fork all the way through. Bake for 15-20 minutes on 180 degrees or until golden brown.

Once the puff pastry cool, layer each slice with cream and sliced strawberries. 

I used a piping bag and piped 3 lines of custard (less messy)

My puff pastry turned out too high so I sliced into halves and made 3 layers. You can do 4 layers if you like amazingly high desserts :-) dust with icing sugar and serve! I prefer it chilled so if you can resist, keep it in the freezer for an hour and then devour!!

Basic Bread Recipe

I could never resist bread... I especially love crusty bread fresh out of the oven slathered with lots of salted butter! Yes salted!! Ha ha 

Last night I was feeling peckish and the shops were closed so I had to make my own bread to appease my cravings ! Just 5 ingredients . That's it!

310ml warm water

14g instant dried yeast 

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Mix all of the above in a jug and let it froth for 5-8 minutes.

500g flour (you can use bread flour, wholemeal but I just used plain old flour)

Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast mixture and slowly incorporate the flour and knead for about 5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Try not to dust the dough with too much flour but instead dip your hands in flour if it gets sticky. Dust the sides of the bowl and the top of the dough with flour, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, punch the dough and knead, roll and shape your dough just enough to fit into your baking tin. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Bake at 190 degrees for 30 minutes or until a hollow sound can be heard when you tap the bread.