packed lunch to work

hello thursday!

I brought delicious homemade lunch to office today. Always love bringing homemade lunches to work, as i don't really like to eat out, and food around my work place are usually expensive (mostly are the cafeteria type restaurants), unhealthy and not so yummy.

Woke up early in the morning, while cooking chinese style congee (rice is boiled in lots of water), i reheated some leftover fried egg with preserved radish & stir fried pickled mustard with hard bean curd from yesterday dinner. 

Although it's simple, but i really enjoy my homemade lunch. Have a great day!

jan & feb happy mail!

Hi, as many of you may already know i love cooking, but letter writing / snail mail is another big hobby of mine! Since i have my own blog now, beside cooking & recipes, i think wanted to share some beautiful snail mail i received from my sweet pen friends, it may gives you some inspiration on writing and decorating your next letter.

As time goes by, i met many great snail-mailer from around the world, and some we have been writing to each other for years. And it has become a major part of my life now, so I'm going to start documenting my snail mail letters from now on! I take Claudia's snail mail post as reference, i will collect, shoot & post the snail mail picture on monthly basis.

Chui Cheng's happy mail

CC's sweetest cooking theme mail from Taiwan, she knows me too well! I love everything in the parcel, especially the ceramic spatula & postcard set from my favorite Taiwanese illustrator milly/米力, couldn't be more happier! Thank you so much CC!

Yen Fong's happy mail

Can you see those handwritten message in the bubbles, awww... aren't they cute? Happy mail from yen fong, you can't imagine how much she love stationery & everything paper!
she's the key person behind tabiyo shop!

Giova's happy mail

 Another beautiful mail from Giova - a great crafter currently living in Amsterdam. Do check out her cute blog for craft inspirations & ideas!

I love the recipe cards Giova. Yes, they were perfect for me! 

Thank you so much.

Yumi-chan's happy mail

This was one of the super lovely & colorful package from Yumi-chan! A kawaii lady who studied traditional Japanese dress/clothing - kimono (very cool), and she's also a french learner,

always dreamed of one day i can speak in french! 

hehe... je t'aime yumi-chan!  

Yumi-chan's happy mail 2

Another mail from yumi-chan in February.

Arigato for everything you have sent, i cherish every bits & pieces! 

The 'everyday tea bags' are really refreshing, my melody japan postcard are the cutest!

Your unique handwriting are so beautiful, so neat!

sweet cabbage soup for lunch

The weather has been really warm lately, its good to have something very light for lunch. I cooked up a pot of cabbage soup with anchovies base stock, and add on mom's homemade meat & shrimp balls. Yum, comfort and ease under the hot-weather. 

 Ingredients:
• 1/4 sweet cabbage (roughly chopped) *bought a large cabbage this time, so i only put 1/4 of it.
• dried anchovies (handful)
• 8 pcs red dates / jujube (red dates make soup sweeter, you can put in more if you like)
• 10-12 meatballs
• 2 cups water

*another option is to add in an bigger chunk scrambled egg, this taste good too!

Seasonings:
• pinch of salt & white pepper

Method:
1. In a pot, add water bring it to a boil then add dried anchovies, red dates and cover in low heat, let it simmer about 30 minutes.
2. After 30 minutes, add in sweet cabbage, simmer another 15 minutes (until cabbage is soft & tender).
3. Finally, add meatballs then seasoning, and simmer for 5 minutes, serve hot! 

a type of beautiful herb

Last weekend, i went shopping for plants for my garden in selangor green lane located at sg.buloh, which has many huge nurseries situated along that road. It's a super great place for plant lovers, you can stop, take a deep breath and smell in the floral wonderland. Plant nurseries there filled with a huge variety of ornamental plants, fruit trees, different type of succulents.
I wanted to grow more herbs to use in cooking, there are few types of herbs in my garden right now, like sweet basil, thai basil, curry tree, mint & pandanus.

At first, i am planning to get a pot of rosemary plant. But then I stumbled upon another cute pot of herb, with very broad, thick, succulent-like, oval shape leaves with nice aroma. It smells like oregano. Yes and it goes by the name of 'cuban oregano'. How about trying a new recipe for grilled cuban oregano chicken next? Sounds like a brilliant idea doesn't it?

Look at my tiny sweet basil seedlings, aren't they lovely! 💕

happy lantern festival!

Happy chap goh meh! chap goh meh - 15th night / 15th day of the first month in lunar new year calendar and also it signifies the first full moon of the lunar new year! 
 

On this day, families gather to make and eat glutinous rice balls in sweet soup aka "tang yuan" 元宵/湯圓. We are living apart from our family, about 4 hours driving distance from hometown; so i will have to make 'tang yuan' on my own. But that's okay, as long as we continue the family tradition, keep it in mind.  

While for my version, i came up with a bit of twist; made my rice dough by mixing glutinous rice flour with pandan extract (from crushed pandan leaves). I grow a lot of pandan leave (screwpine) in the front yard, meaning that i have a lot of pandan to cook with! Always like experimenting them in food or dessert making.

Next, the sweet soup cooked with red dates, dried longan pulps, osmanthus flowers & rock sugar. I love osmanthus flower, it has a sweet and strong fragrance. And this tiny yellow-gold flower made the sweet soup looks & taste delightful!

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, prosperous and blessed year of the Sheep!

mid-week healthy meal

I love simple mid week dinner, especially in one-dish / one-pot meal! We had thai style steamed fish in garlic lime sauce / 泰式青柠蒸鱼 for our dinner last night! I brought up many fresh ingredients from hometown last weekend, mom gave me a lot of seafood, few container of fresh shrimps, various type of fish, homemade meatballs for soup! We couldn't finish all at one time, therefore we have to freeze them to keep it longer.
The recipe are absolutely easy, and best paired with jasmine rice! I can eat up 2 bowls of rice just with this dish.

Ingredients:
• whole fish (here i used 白曹鱼/ not sure if its called 'chinese herring')
• 2 tbsp fish Sauce
• 5 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 6-8 cloves / 3 tbsp of garlic (chopped)
• 1 tbsp / 5 red thai chilli peppers (chopped)
• 2 kaffir lime leaves (chopped)
• 2 stalks of cilantro / spring onion (chopped, for garnish)
• 3 stalks of lemongrass (botton white part only)

* I have always loved steamed fish with soft / silken tofu, so i add in some sliced soft tofu underneath the fish, let the soft tofu soak up all the nice broth! Yummy.

Method:
*1. In a bowl mix chopped garlic, chili peppers, lime juice, fish sauce & sugar. remember always taste to adjust seasoning - the taste should be a balance of sweet, spicy, salty and sour. Set aside.
2. Put lemongrass stalks into cavity of the fish.
3. Place the clean fish in a dish, then topped with *mixture sauce. Over high heat on steam for 10-15 minutes. (depend on the size of the fish)
4. When its done, carefully remove fish from steamer; sprinkle with chopped cilantro/spring onion, then serve immediately.

my all time comfort food : prawn, egg & chives dumplings

Hello there!
Time has passed surprisingly quickly, can't believe chinese new year will be over soon. Do you celebrate chap goh meh/15th night/lantern festival. I have made some prawn, egg & chives dumplings before chinese new year holiday, wanted to share the recipe for so long, couldn't find time to update last week. Here i am again~
I love 餃子 / dumplings, all kind of chinese dumplings that filled with ground meat/prawn (especially, i just love shrimps) or just simply vegetarian dumplings (no matter its steamed, boiled or pan fried).

Starting by making dumpling wrappers from scratch. I love homemade wrappers, it taste so so much better than the store bought version. Also, it's easy and fun, just a little time consuming. ^_^

• 200g all purpose flour
• 100 ml lukewarm water  
* (adjust the flour or water, according to need to get the correct consistency)
• 1/3 teaspoon salt

1. Sift all purpose flour & salt.
2. Add water little by little along into the dry ingredients, using a spatula to mix the mixture, until it forms a dough. Knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes until the dough feels elastic and smooth.
3. Shape the dough in loaf, rest the dough at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, cover dough with damp cloth. Meanwhile, we can prepare the dumpling filling.

Ingredients for filling:

• bundle of fresh chinese chive
• 250g fresh prawn
• 3 free-range eggs (lightly beaten, pan fry & 'scrambled' the eggs)
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tbsp chicken stock
• 1tsp white pepper powder
• 1tsp sesame oil 
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 stalks of scallion/ few slices of ginger (chopped)

 

1. Slowly add all the ingredients while swirling the spoon in one direction until evenly. Add the seasonings and mix for one more minute. Set the filling aside.

2. To fold the dumplings, fist lay a dumpling wrapper flat on palm. Then spoon about 1 tbsp of dumpling filling and place in the middle of the wrapper. Dip your fingertip in water and wet the entire edge of the wrapper. Folding up the dumpling filling and making sure that everything is sealed in nice and tight to create a half moon.

3. Place the dumplings in a deep pot of boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes. (you can either steam, pan fry or boiling)

IT'S DONE! 

Oh yes, last but not least! Dipping sauce is very important for dumplings.

type A:

• 1 tbsp black/white vinegar

• 1 tsp soy sauce
• rayu - a type of chili oil / sesame oil

 type B:

• fresh chilli (thinly chopped)

• scallion (finely chopped)

• 1-2 tbsp soy sauce