(Do comeback to check for new updates on this post.)
CONTENTS
1. Introduction.
2. Seasonings you really need.
3. Equipments you really need.
4. Before you start. (Read this!!!)
5. Simple Cooking for Main Dish.
6. Simple Cooking for One.
7. Simple Cooking for Microwave.
8. Special noteworthy recipes from others.
1. Introduction.
First of all, if you think this is going to be some fancy food recipe thingy, you will be disappointed.
What you will find here is a guide on how you can dish up something simple with the limited ingredients and seasonings you can find in your local market.
(P.S. You can find most of the ingredients I mentioned at Shop'N"Save supermarket.)
This post should be helpful if:
1. You never cook before and want to try cooking.
2. You never pass your F&N or think it is a miracle if you pass it.
3. You don't really stock up a lot of ingredients at home and find shopping for groceries a chore.
4. You find all those cook books out there seems to be written in some alien language.
5. You are sick and tired of "instant" food and MSG.
6. You just want to cook up some simple dishes real fast with minimal hassle.
2. Seasonings you really need.
At least have these seasonings at home.
1. Light soya sauce. (A miracle seasoning!)
2. Sesame oil.
3. Cooking oil. (I recommend extra virgin olive oil, more frangrant and healthier but more expensive...)
4. Salt. (Great for washing meat and vegetables.)
5. Cooking wine. (I recommend Hua Tiao Chiew.)
6. Pepper.
7. Chopped garlic.
8. Preserved sliced ginger. (Great for removing fishy odour in meat.)
Note: I will recommend some other optional/nessary seasoning along the way.
3. Equipments you really need.
I don't know how you could cook without these...
1. Saucepan!!! (A medium size saucepan cook wonders! You can stir-fry, pan-fry, deep-fry, boil, sautee, just about everything you can do with a wok! Great for cooking for 1 to 2 people. Invest on a good, non-stick teflon saucepan today!)
2. Wok. (For heavy-duty cooking and when cooking for 3 or more people.)
3. Chef knife. (I recomend getting those that have a smooth cutting edge and not those that have jagged cutting edge. You can get flints to sharpen a smooth cutting edge chef knife and make slicing and dicing so much easier!)
4. Chopping board. (Obviously.)
Some optional equpiment that can further simplify cooking.
1. Steam cooker.
2. Convection, multipurpose microwave.
4. Before you start. (Read this!!!)
Note:
I will only give an estimated amount required for the ingredient metioned. It is really up to personal preference whether you prefer more meat, more vegetable, saltier, lighter etc. Also, the amount you want to use depend on your appetite and how many people you are serving. This is HOME COOKING after all.
Washing:
When you wash any ingredient, soak it in salt water for about 5 to 10mins first. Later rinse it in tap water to remove dirt or any strong odour. Remember to drain it dry. Water and hot oil can bring about unpleasant effect.
Marinating:
The easiest way to marinate meat would be to add light soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper to it. The longer you allow the marinated meat to stand, the stronger the flavour. To keep food fresh, let marinated meat stand in the refrigerator. Simple?
Note: Meat refer to chicken, pork or fish in my context. Aviod using strong smelling meat such as duck, beef and mutton if you do not know how to process them.
(E.g. 200g of meat would require 1/2 table-spoon of light soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil, dashes of grounded pepper. Allow the meat to stand for at least 30mins. The amount is really up to individual preference.)
Measuring:
Click here to have a look at the measuring tools mentioned in this post.
Ingredients:
Vegetables are much simpler to prepare than meat. If you are not very confident in cooking, I suggest you use more vegetables and less meat in your dishes. It saves you the problem of:
1. Poorly flavour/marinated meat.
2. Meat being under-cooked.
3. Meat that become too tough due to over-cooking.
4. Meat turning bad due to poor selection or poor processing.
5. Overpowering fishy smell due to poor processing.
Click here to have a look at the ingredients mentioned in this post.
5. Simple Cooking for Main Dish.
Stir-fry Leek Flowers with Meat.
Ingredients:
-Leek flowers, 1 bundle.
-Meat (pork recommended), about 200g.
-Cooking oil.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Pepper.
-Water.
Cooking it:
1. Cut the leek flowers into short length, dispose the flower bulb, wash the leek flowers.
2. Wash the meat. Slice the meat.
3. Marinate the meat.
4. Heat up the saucepan/wok, add cooking oil.
5. Add the leek flowers, stir-fry a little and add 1/2 to 3/4 mug of water. Keep stirring for about 5mins until the leek flowers softens. Note: make sure the water don't dry up, add more water if neccesary.
6. Add meat, stir a little.
7. Add 3/4 tablespoon of light soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil, stir a little until the meat is cooked. Dish is done.
Stir-fry Chinese Leek with Prawns.
Ingredients:
-Chinese leeks/Scallion China, 1 bundle.
-Small grey prawns, not more than 20 pieces. Alternatively: can use marinated meat.
-Cooking oil.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Cooking wine.
-Water.
Cooking it:
1. Slice the leeks sideways, wash the leeks.
2. Rinse the prawns, peel the prawns, wash the prawns. Note: don't marinate, prawns have natural sweetness.
3. Heat up the saucepan/wok, add cooking oil.
4. Add the leeks, stir-fry a little and add 1/4 to 1/2 a mug of water. Keep stirring for about 5mins until the leeks soften. Note: Make sure the water don't dry up, add more water if neccesary.
5. Add prawns, stir a little.
6. Add 3/4 tablespoon of light soya sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of cooking wine, dashes of sesame oil. Stir a little until the prawns are cooked. Dish is done.
Steamed Sutchi/Dory Fillet. (You can actually steam that?!!)
Ingredients:
-Preserved ginger slice.
-Frozen sutchi/dory fillet, 2 fillets. Alternatively: can use chicken.
-Cooking oil.
-Cooking wine.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
Cooking It:
1. Thaw and wash the fillets.
2. Cut each fillet into 4 parts.
3. Marinate fillets in preserve sliced ginger. (This is to remove the fishy odour.)
4. Use cooking oil to oil the base of the utensil you will be using to steam the fillet. (This is to prevent the fillet from sticking to the base.)
5. Drain dry the fillet but leave the sliced ginger on it, steam the fillet for about 10 to 15mins.
6. [Making the sauce.] Boil 1/2 a mug of water with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking wine, 1 table spoon of light soya sauce and dashes of sesame oil to a saucepan. Heat until it boils.
7. Drain any excessive water from the fillet when it is done.
8. Pour the sauce over the fillet. Dish is done.
Simple Fried Rice.
Ingredients:
Note: you can add almost anything in fried rice. Try to experiment.
-Cooked rice, 1 soup bowl. Note: Not too moist.
-Mixed vegetable, 1/2 a bowl.
-Chicken frank, 1 piece.
-Crabsticks, 2 piece.
-One egg.
-Cooking oil.
-Chopped garlic.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Pepper. (Very important!)
Cooking it:
1. In case you do not how to cook rice, please ask someone who knows to demostrate to you.
2. Cut franks and crabsticks into small round pieces.
3. Beat the egg in a bowl.
4. Heat up wok, add 3 tablespoon of cooking oil.
5. Fry 1/2 a teaspoon of garlic until it is fragrant.
6. Add in mixed vegetable, franks and crabstick and stir-fry for about 5mins.
7. Add egg and follow by the rice.
8. Add 1 1/2 tablespoon of soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil and dashes of pepper.
9. Keep stirring the rice to ensure the seasoning is well-mixed and to prevent the rice from getting burnt. Takes about 5mins of stirring. Dish is done.
6. Simple Cooking for One.
"Instant" Noodle.
Ingredients:
-Egg noodle, one serving.
-Water.
-Mixed vegetable, 1/2 a bowl
-Chicken franks, 2 pieces.
-Crab sticks, 2 pieces.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Butter, 1 table-spoon.
Cooking it:
1. Cut franks and crabsticks into small round pieces.
2. Fill water up to 1/2 a medium size saucepan and boil it.
3. Cook noodle in boiling water for 3 to 4mins.
4. Drain the noodle, soak in cold water, drain dry.
5. [Making the sauce.] Using a saucepan, heat up 1/2 mug of water with mixed vegetable, franks and crabsticks. Add 1/2 tablespoon of soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil and 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Heat till boiling and allow it to boil for 2 to 3mins.
6. Pour the sauce over the noodle, add dashes of pepper to taste. Stir well. Dish is done.
Booster Coffee (for a quick breakfast)
Note: The only thing you need to cook for this recipe is to boil water.
Ingredients:
-Instant black coffee that come in the form like a tea bag.
-Sugar
-Hot water
-Fresh milk
Cooking it:
1. Put the coffee bag in a mug and add hot water to half a mug.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar, stir and allow coffee to stand for a while.
Note: Now is the best time to do whatever morning "business" you need to attend to.
3. remove the coffee bag, add fresh milk until the mug is fill.
4. Stir and mix well. A rich, energy boosting mug of coffee for whoever had no time to have a proper breakfast. It is lukewarm, which allows you to drink it fast. Dish is done.
Special: Still prefer your coffee to be hot? Try heating up the milk before adding it in.
7. Simple Cooking for Microwave.
Baked Sutchi/Dory Fillet.
Ingredients:
-Frozen sutchi/dory fillet, 1 fillet. Alternatively: can use chicken.
-Mixed vegetables, 1/2 a bowl.
-Sliced preserved ginger
-Sesame oil.
-Light soya sauce.
-Cooking wine.
-Pepper.
-Cooking oil.
Cooking it:
1. Thaw and wash fillet.
2. Cut fillet into 4 parts.
3. Put fillet and mixed vegetable in microwave dish.
4. Marinate everything with 1/2 tablespoon of sliced preserved ginger, 1/2 tablespoon of light soya sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of cooking wine, 1/2 table spoon of cooking oil, dashes of sesame oil and dashes of pepper.
5. Bake in microwave at HIGH for 8 to 10mins. Dish is done.
8. Special noteworthy recipes from others.
Re: Simple Fried Rice (from Jaywalker)
Allow me to recommend a slight change.
Replace cooked rice with chicken rice. Ask the chicken rice seller for the rice right at the bottom of the thermo-rice-bucket where it is DAMN BLADDY oily(!). Usually they will grant your request (though with a raised eyebrow) since they can't sell that portion of the rice anyway.
The oil in the rice would mean that you need very little (if not none at all) cooking oil and sesame seed oil.
