Deep-fried Chicken and Drama

Here sharing with you a picture of my deep-fried chicken drumsticks using the Seah's Spicy Fried Chicken Spices that I bought in Singapore. The packaging looked so good that I just had to buy one and try. I coated the drumsticks with cornstarch before deep-frying, thus provided extra crunch to the drumsticks. Then again I would say we don't really have to waste money on fried chicken spices because it is easy to make one at home.

And for the Anon who recommended me to watch 命中注定我愛你, I would love to say Thank you very much because it was really good! 谢谢你哦, 真的很好看哦！Any other good recommendation? I am watching "Tokyo Juliet" now. Also, I would love to try the Korean drama since you all said it's better than Taiwan Idols drama, any good recommendation that is completely downloaded? The list is so long that I don't know where to start! Thanks in advance ya! :) Oh preferably not those sad ones, I hate to cry like crazy.

Stir-fried Green Beans with Bell Pepper & Carrot

I created this dish because I was tired of eating the green beans cooked in my usual way. I wanted to slice it differently and cook it differently for a change. A fresh dish to serve on my dining table instead of the familiar dish that we used to. So, I thought cutting the green beans into smaller pieces would be a start. Then followed by carrot and red bell peppers. I added minced garlics and minced sweet salted turnip (chai por) for extra flavor. I kept the seasoning easy because I wanted it to be light. So, I seasoned it to taste with salt, chicken granules and sesame oil. The green bean was crunchy and infused with the fragrant of sesame oil. I like it and will be cooking this dish in future for variation.

What is your favorite way of stir-frying the green beans?

Pandan Yogurt Cakes

I was inspired by Peony to make yogurt cake. Using yogurt and oil instead of butter to make cake do sounds healthier. Also I can use the leftover yogurt to make baked donuts so it is a win win situation.


It actually turned out pretty good. The sweetness was just nice for me and the texture was soft and moist.


I slice it open to let you see the texture of this cake.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious. Yield 10 large papercups (a dozen for the normal one) as shown above. Of course you can play with different flavor of your choice.



Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. Pandan extract
1/2 cup canola oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350'F. Place papercups in the muffin pan.

2. In a bowl, sift flour and baking powder. Add in salt & sugar. Stir to mix.

3. Add in beaten eggs, yogurt, Pandan extract and oil. Stir until incorporated.

4. Lastly, scoop the batter into each papercups until 3/4 full.

5. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Check out my other yogurt cake recipes:
-Dark Chocolate Yogurt Cake
-Green Tea Yogurt Cake

Deep Fried Imitation Crab Legs with Dessicated Coconuts

This dish was created because a reader asked me to come out with a dish which had imitation crab meat, coconut and preferably deep fried for her party. This was what I suggested for her and thought I would share it with everybody as well. Did you know that imitation crab legs can be deep-fried into such a great looking appetizer before? Now I know deep-fried imitation crab legs actually tasted divine especially with the added dessicated coconuts. My recipe is super easy too as I don't like complicated recipes. So, everyone can make this!






Ingredients:

1 packet of 8 oz. imitation crabs, leg style
Dessicated coconuts as needed, probably about 1 cup
1/2 cup of self-raising flour + enough water to make into a thick batter
Oil for deep-frying

Method:

1. Heat the oil into a medium heat (not too high or else it will burn the dessicated coconuts).

2. Cut the imitation crab leg into half. Dip one half into the flour batter and then coated it with the dessicated coconuts and drop into the medium heat oil.

3. Deep-fry until golden brown and drain on paper towel. Serve with Thai sweet chili sauce, or what ever sauce you desired.

Note:
I didn't add any seasoning here because the imitation crab legs were already salted. But of course you can season the flour batter with salt and pepper if you like.


I am sharing this dish with Culinarty's Original Recipe blog event. Check it out every month on the week of 15th for the round up.

Blog LOVE Award

Thank you Beachlover's Kitchen for giving me this award. I will help you spread the LOVE! :)

(Pls. don’t remove)Credits: Elements/Paper by Dani Mogstad/ Layout by JennyL
Rules:

1. Don’t remove the credits when you post the image
2. Please link back to the person who tagged you and pass this tag to many of your friends
3. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too.

4. Remember to come back here at A SLICE OF LIFE (pls. don’t change this link and leave the exact post url so I can add you to the master list to help increase our rankings and improve our Technorati Authority. 6. Spread the BLOG LOVE FEVER!!

BLOGGERS:
1.Jenny Said So2.Simply Jen3.This and That4.Bargain.Sales.Deals.5.A Slice of Life6.Aussie Talks7. When Mom Talks8. Me and Mine<9. Creative in Me10. For the LOVE of Food11. Little Peanut12. Pea in a Pod13. It’s Where the HEART Is14. Around the World15.SugarMagnolias16.kathycot17. buhay misis 18. when mom speaks19. walk on red20. kathycot cooks21quicker822. Eds Mommy Life23. My Precious Niche24. Just Me.. Eds25. Can of Thoughts26. Designs By Vhiel27. Vhiel's Corner28. Anything and Everything in Between29. Good things in life...30. Precious Moments..31.Beachlover 32.beachloverkitchen. 33. Little Corner of Mine. Your blog is next.

Now I'm going to spread the Blog Love to these wonderful bloggers from all over the world:

Rainbows
Kedai Hamburg
More than Words
Noobcook
Teczcape - Escape to Food -recipes, cooking, reviews
Smell and Taste are My Memory

Saucing Around, Jo's Deli
KookyCulinary

Ling's Passion

Spaghetti with Chicken and Shrimps

I love this easy one dish meal. I usually cooked this dish when I was tired of eating rice or when I ran out of idea of what to prepare for dinner or just plain lazy. I always keep bottled spaghetti sauce, canned mushroom and whole wheat or whole grain spaghetti in my pantry for a day like this. However, instead of the usual ground beef or ground pork, I love to use chicken and shrimps. I actually got this idea from a friend who gave us some of her spaghetti to try. I love this combination and have been cooking my spaghetti this way most of the times.



Ingredients:

One 13.25 oz (376g) whole wheat spaghetti, cook according to instruction (I cooked it for 11 minutes), drained, rinsed with cold water and set aside.
One canned of pieces & stems mushrooms (6.5 oz)
One bottle of spaghetti sauce (1 lb 10 oz)
Half yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 chicken breast, diced
About 6-8 shrimps, cut into smaller pieces
Italian herbs seasoning
Salt and a little sugar to taste
Olive oil

Method:

1. Heat up the frying pan with olive oil. Add onion and garlic, fry until onion turned transparent.

2. Add in chicken, fry until almost cooked, add in shrimps and mushrooms. Fry until chicken and shrimps are cooked.

3. Add in the spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and a little sugar. Stir to mix well and then add in the drained spaghetti. Mix to coat well with the sauce. Serve hot!

*Add chili oil or chili flakes to spice it up*

I would love to share this dish with Presto Pasta Night. Presto Pasta Night was created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week host is Equal Opportunity Kitchen. Hop over on Friday to see the round up.

Sweet and Sour Pork Meat Balls

I love to make my own meat balls. Is it just not for soup, sometimes I make it to cook dinner like in this case sweet and sour meat balls. Baked meat balls are good as afternoon snack. But for dinner, I wanted to add some vegetables to go with it to make it more balance and colorful.

Making Pork Meat Balls:
1 lb. ground/minced pork
Season with salt, white pepper, sesame oil and Worcestershire sauce.

Method:

Mixed the above together and stir with a spoon until the mixture turned gluey and sticked together. Either use your hands or a melon scoop to create pork balls. Place on alum. foil lined baking sheet and bake in preheated 350'F oven for 15 minutes or until cooked. Set aside to cool.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (or any type of vinegar)
2 Tbsp. tomato ketcup
1/4 tsp. salt

*Mix the above in a bowl, stir well and set aside*

2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 red onion, cut
1/2 carrot, sliced
1/2 zucchini, cut

Method:

1. Heat wok with oil. When heated, add in garlic and zucchini, fry until zucchini is almost half cooked, add in carrot and onion. Fry for a while. Add in pork balls. Stir-fry until pork balls are heated.

2. Add in the sauce mixture. Stir to coat well with the pork balls. Stir for a second and dish out to serve.

Kick Ass Blogger Award

Thank you Rainbows again for sharing her Kick Ass Blogger award with me! :) I would love to share this award with fellow blogging pals who deserved it too.

Noobcook
Mochachocolata-Rita
Teczcape - Escape to Food -recipes, cooking, reviews
Dhanggit's Kitchen
My Kitchen Snippets

Saucing Around, Jo's Deli

Do you know any bloggers that kick ass?

Maybe they've got incredible, original content. Or they're overflowing with creativity. Is it someone that helps you become a better blogger? Or a bloggy friend you know you can count on? Or maybe it's someone who simply inspires you to be a better person... or someone else who sends you to the floor, laughing your ass off.

Whatever the reason may be, I'm sure you know at least a couple of bloggers that kick ass. Well... why not tell 'em so?

LOVE ON 'EM

• Choose 5 bloggers that you feel are "Kick Ass Bloggers"
• Let 'em know in your post or via email, twitter or blog comments that they've received an award
• Share the love and link back to both the person who awarded you and back to www.mammadawg.com
• Hop on back to the Kick Ass Blogger Club HQ to sign Mr. Linky then pass it on!

Tofu with Corns

My cooking is getting easier and easier these days BECAUSE I am addicted to Taiwan Idols Drama Series!! I have no idea I can watch Taiwan series on You Tube until my hubby recommended one for me to watch. And since that one, I was hooked!! HELP!! I have been watching Chinese series from China on T.V. all these while and have no idea that the Taiwan actors and actresses are so handsome and pretty compared to the China one. I saw a clip while in Malaysia and remembered mentioned it to my older sister, wow the actors are getting very good looking. And now I know that was actually a Taiwan idols drama series. So, my cooking has been majorly affected by my addiction and not to mention baking because what baking, I want to watch my series!! I am so afraid to start on a new series, or else everyone will suffer in my household!

Okay, okay, enough rambling. Here sharing with you my lazy and easy tofu with corns dish.

Ingredients:

1 packet soft tofu
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Frozen corns, about 1/2 cup
2 green onions/scallions, cut
Black bean in chili oil, about 1 Tbsp.
Salt & sugar to taste

Method:

1. In a wok, heat up oil. When heated, add in garlic. Stir-fry until slight brown and fragrant, add in frozen corns. Stir for a minute, add in tofu and black bean in chili oil. Season to taste with salt and a little sugar. Add in scallions, mix well and dish out to serve.

Tom Yam Chicken with Green Apple

This dish was created spontaneously. Never thought of using apple in this dish at all. Not until I finished marinating the chicken meat and slicing the onion. I saw a few small green apples sitting on my counter top that I would really love to finish. We were invited to a friend's house for lunch and later he showed us around the campus that he was teaching. It was a private campus and it has a few grown apple trees there for you to help yourself. It must be the human instinct or what because I couldn't stop myself from picking my own organic apples from the trees! Of course the apples were small and sour, just like eating green apple. Since Tom Yam was sour and this apple was sour, I thought they would be a good match, thus I sliced some up for use in my cooking.

The result? Definitely a good combination because the sourness from the apple compliment the Tom Yam paste very well.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, sliced thinly and marinated with salt and cornstarch
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 Granny Smith apple (or green sour apple), sliced thinly [I used 4 small apples that I picked]
4-5 Kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp. Tom Yam paste
1/2 cup of water
1 tsp. sugar
Oil for cooking

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok. When heated, add in the marinated chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink.

2. Add in the onion and kaffir lime leaves. Stir-fry until onion is transparent. Add in the Tom Yam paste, stir to cook a little, add in water (for sauce) and sugar. Serve hot.

Rice Wrapper with Nori and Stir-fried Jicama

Experiment with wrapping my stir-fry jicama (Mung Kuan Char) with Vietnamese rice roll and nori sheet.


Resulted a delicious wrapped rice rolls! I served this kind of rice roll with Thai sweet chili sauce. What a good match and we couldn't get enough of this rice rolls. The nori sheet acts as a barrier so that the rice roll won't be too wet from the stir-fry jicama filling. In addition to that, it also acts as a bonus favor to the rice roll. Got my thumb up!

This is definitely a great appertizer to serve in a party since it is served as a cold wraps and great eaten cold.

Click here for my estimated "mung kuan char" recipe.

Lettuce Cups

Mung Kuan Char (Stir-fry Jicama) on lettuce = Lettuce Wrap Malaysian Chinese way!


This is what I enjoyed tremendously during Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner. Top with some homemade sweet and sour chili and I'm in heaven! The crunchiness and juices from the jicama pair with the fresh and crunchy lettuce (I used iceberg lettuce here), how can it not be delicious? Of course during Chinese New Year, I top mine with slices of baked chicken too, oh man, I'm salivating just thinking about it.



I used minced shrimps, carrot, Chinese mushroom, jicama and garlic for this stir-fry jicama (mung kuan char). Seasoned with salt, sugar and chicken granules.

Black Pepper Pork

Another one of my easy home cook dishes: Black pepper pork with onion and red bell pepper.

Ingredients:

1 boneless pork chop, sliced thinly
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
2 tsp. LKK black pepper sauce
1/2 tsp. black soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
A little water

Method:

1. First, marinate the pork with a little salt, chinese cooking wine, white pepper and cornstarch.

2. Heat up wok with oil. When smoking, add in pork slices, stir-fry until pork is no longer pink. Add in onion and bell pepper. Stir-fry for 2 mins. Add in sauces and sugar and a little water. Stir to blend well and serve hot.

Note:
Of course you can substitute red bell pepper with other colors bell pepper. I like red because it's sweeter.


I am sharing this dish with Culinarty's Original Recipe blog event. Check it out every month on the week of 15th for the round up.

Beautiful Site Award

Oh wow, I was given this Beautiful Site Award by Noob Cook. I would love to say thank you Noobcook for awarding me this. Now I would love to pass it to the fellow blogging friends below:

My Kitchen Snippets
Kedai Hamburg
More than Words
Rainbows
Beachlover's Kitchen

Barley Drink

While blog visiting, noobcook's Lemon Barley Drink post reminded me to make some barley drink for my family. She made her version of barley drink and photographed it beautifully with the added lemon slice. Usually barley drink is fairly easy to make, you can make one with just water, barley and rock sugar. However since I have the sweet dates and sweet winter melons, I decided to add it into my barley drink.


I used slow cooker to make this. I added all the ingredients with the amount of water I like and turned it on High. Should be ready in 4-6 hours. I used 2 Chinese sweet dried dates, about 1 cup dried sweet winter melons, 3/4 cup barley and 3 quarts water. At 5 hours, before turning off the electric, I added yellow rock sugar to taste. If too sweet, add more water until it reaches your desired sweetness. Actually the resulted barley drink is quite sweet, so only little bit of rock sugar is required.

Stir-fried Zucchini with Minced Shrimps/Prawns

Is stir-fry zucchini a popular dish in China? As I only had this dish at my Chinese friends house. At first I was not used to it but I grow to like them cooked in this way. They usually cook it plain but I added minced shrimps into my variation. I tried to recreate this dish at home as in slicing the zucchini in the similar way. Slicing it thinly really makes it nicer to eat.



This dish is easy as well, only three main ingredients needed, minced shrimps (made from 6 jumbo shrimps), 2 zucchinis and 2 cloves of garlic, chopped. As for the sauces for this, I used LKK hot bean paste, dash of salt and chicken stock granules (optional). This dish would be as good without the hot bean paste too, keep it simple. My stir-fry dishes tend to be fairly easy, only the slicing and preparing part took a while.

Here, I presented you with a new dish to cook for your family (if you never have zucchini cook in this way before) and I hope you enjoy this dish just like we did.