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I was inspired to cook this after trying something similar at Lai Lai Casual Dining, a Taiwanese restaurant in Singapore. It's Taiwanese style braised pork belly with a thick, sweet and salty gravy that is full of  umami flavours. If you're far away from family and feeling homesick, this comforting bowl of braised pork over steamed white rice is just what you need! I usually make a big pot of this and freeze the leftovers for days when I have no time to cook. Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice ("Lu Rou Fan") Ingredients 1kg (2 lbs) pork belly, skin-on 1 tbsp vegetable oil 8 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed 1 star anise 2 inch cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp five-spice powder 1/2 cup light soy sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee Superior Light Soy) 1 tsp thick dark soy sauce (I used Cheong Chan Thick Caramel) 1/3 cup chinese cooking wine 3 cups water 1/4 tsp pepper 2/3 cup crispy fried shallots (I used the prepacked store-bought ones) 3 tbsp (about the size of a ping pong ball) rock s...

Loving this simple dish that's kid-friendly, yet perfect for a weeknight family meal if you're looking for something quick and easy to prepare. I love eggs, and especially scrambled eggs . This chicken mince rice bowl is served with an egg crumble, which is made by scrambling the eggs with a pair of chopsticks until it turns into crumbs (of course!). Leftovers also make great lunchboxes for kids the next day. Soboro Don Source: Adam's Big Pot Ingredients 1 tbsp vegetable oil 500g chicken mince ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup sake 2 tbsp caster sugar 2 tbsp mirin ¼ cup water 2 cups snow peas, tailed 8 cups steamed short-grain rice, To serve 1 sheet nori, finely sliced, to serve EGG CRUMBLE 4 eggs 2 tbsp mirin 1 tsp caster sugar Method Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the chicken mince. Fry the mince until it turns white (you don't need to brown it) and add the soy sauce, sake, sugar, mirin and water. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 m...

I posted a recipe for Ebi Fry  back in February last year (has it been that long??) and I mentioned something about serving the shrimp (or prawn, depending on which country you're from) with thick Japanese curry. Well, it sort of slipped my mind because I was busy trying out other recipes at the time. One year and a bit later, here's the post, and it's still one of my favourite comfort foods, especially now that we're in the middle of winter (Down Under). Crispy and golden panko-crumbed prawns, coated in a thick curry sauce and served with rice, how can anyone resist? Ebi Fry Curry Don Serves 4 You will need: 12 large Ebi Fry (fried shrimp) - click here for recipe 4 serves of cooked short-grained rice 4 serves of Japanese curry (see below for recipe) Japanese curry recipe I used S&B Golden Curry mix  and added chicken, carrots and potatoes. I also added a little honey for a hint of sweetness. Ingredients 2 tbsp vegetable oil or butter 2 medium onions, finely choppe...

When I think of the word "multicultural", the first thing that comes to my mind is food (actually I think of food most of the time anyway, which is why I decided to have a blog to pen down all my foodie-related thoughts). In Malaysia, we are fortunate to be able to celebrate a myriad of religious and cultural festivities, and of course with every celebration, there is always food. There are two things I look forward to each year (and which I try not to miss!) which are the Mooncake festival and Dumpling festival (" Duan Wu Jie ") or also known as Dragon Boat Festival. The latter was just over on 20 June, and better late then never, I decided to have a go at making these glutinous rice dumplings. Nobody makes better dumplings than my aunt (hers is simply the best!) and I haven't had them since I moved to Australia years ago.  You can find dumplings being sold at most Asian supermarkets in Sydney, although most of them just don't make the cut. The perfect dump...

  Hainanese Chicken Rice makes a regular appearance on our dinner table almost every Sunday evening. We would make a big batch of it so that it will last for the next couple of dinners. It's easy, simple and the kids hardly complain about it (unless it stretches out to the third or forth time in a row, then there'd be the occasional whining "Chicken rice? Again....?"). And so, I decided to try out a different version of chicken rice which is more Malay style, with the addition of spices like cinnamon and star anise. The chicken is rubbed with kecap manis before roasting it in the oven, which gives the skin a touch of sweetness.    Nasi Ayam (Chicken Rice) Recipe Ingredients 1.8 kg chicken marylands (drumstick and thigh) - reserve the chicken fat for the rice 1-2 tbsp margarine/butter Marinade: 3 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper Broth: 2 litres water 2 cloves garlic 2 slices ginger 500g chicken bones/wing tips 1 medium onion, quartered...

  There's been a lot of chicken going on in the TFWL household lately. We've been having Grilled Miso Chicken , Roast chicken , Hainanese chicken rice , air-fried soy honey chicken wings and as of last night, Chicken Katsu . As I'm typing, Mr G is preparing chicken rice for tonight's dinner, by popular demand from the three little fussy eaters. I was wondering what to post this week, as we've been busy with Christmas shopping, cleaning and planning for our Christmas party. Remember my post on miso-grilled chicken a couple of weeks back? I've made it twice since, and decided to use it in my Oyakodon recipe where I substituted the chicken with this grilled one instead. It's a great way to use up any leftover grilled chicken to make a simple one-bowl meal.   Click here and here for the Oyakodon and Grilled Miso Chicken recipe.  

In my previous post, I made a Miso Grilled Chicken which I served with garlic fried rice. The recipe for the fried rice is really simple, where I basically fried the chopped garlic until it's lightly golden and crisp before tossing the rice in with some eggs, soy sauce and scallions. Please find the recipe after the jump. Garlic Fried Rice Ingredients Vegetable oil, for frying 2 large eggs, beaten 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly 1/2 tbsp butter 3 cloves garlic, chopped 3 cups cooked white rice, refrigerated overnight 2 tbsp soy sauce Dash of pepper 1/4 cup chopped scallions Method Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok and swirl around to coat. Pour beaten egg into the wok, and when it's almost set, scramble it and chop it up with a spatula. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok and fry the sliced garlic on medium heat until lightly golden. Remove the garlic chips and set aside. Leave the oil in the wok. Add a little more oil to the wok if not enough, ...

    Risotto . It's not a dish that I would usually order at a restaurant, probably because the ones I've had in the past weren't all that great. I've had some which were delicious at the first few mouthfuls, and after a while they just got a little boring. After all, it's just spoonful after spoonful of the same thing. Up until recently, I've never attempted cooking risotto either. Everytime I hear the word "risotto", it conjures up images of Masterchef Australia , where George or Matt would give the "eyebrow" and the cynical look that says "Death dish. Don't even think about it". For that reason, risotto never had a place in my kitchen. Well, not until a few months ago when we brought the family to a fusion Japanese restaurant in Malaysia where the kids ordered this Unagi Risotto with soft boiled egg. It looked good, but before I could even have a whiff of it, the kids had polished off the whole dish within minutes. Without a ...

  I wrote a post on Hainanese chicken rice sometime last year, though without the detailed recipe. Before I go on, let me just say that this recipe was provided courtesy of Mr G. If there's one thing he loves to cook and can cook well, it's chicken rice. The only part I play in the whole cooking process is preparing the chilli sauce and supervising the food styling. I'm only too happy to let him hold the reins on this one as he has cooked this umpteen times for the last few years, and has become quite an expert at it.   This style of chicken rice is based on what we used to enjoy back in Singapore , where the chicken rice is served with a ginger chilli sauce and a thick black sauce to drizzle over the rice. If there's one Singapore street food that is better than Malaysia, it's definitely chicken rice. I think the difference lies in the texture and fragrance of the rice and the silky smooth and tender pieces of chicken. I should also mention that it is bursting wit...

  There are people who don't like Vegemite, a minority of the population detest peas, and then there are those (like me, or is it just me?) who aren't particularly fond of beetroot. But I bet everyone (by that, I mean most people in general) loves teriyaki sauce. It's like a sweet  soy-based  barbecue sauce that goes with almost anything. The kids in particular enjoy having it with either  grilled salmon or chicken, served with steamed rice. This time, I decided to make mini teriyaki chicken burgers (sliders) using round dinner rolls that I bought from the Vietnamese bakery. The size of these rolls are ideal for little hands and it makes me beam with joy when the kids ask for seconds (they love 'em!). These buns are actually really good, because they are similar to the ones used for Vietnamese pork rolls, which have a thin and flaky crust on the outside, with a light and fluffy interior. I made two versions of these...

Kanitama-don is basically a Japanese-style " egg fuyong ", comprising an omelette of crab meat served on a bed of rice, and topped with a soy-based gravy. I first tried this dish in a Japanese restaurant a few years ago, and was taken by surprise by what was a huge mound of an omelette sitting in a pool of gravy on a large plate. I suppose I was expecting it to be a little more colourful and artistic in presentation, like typical Japanese cuisine. For a moment there, I thought they got my order wrong! Well, never mind that I was  having "egg fuyung" while my lunch partner enjoyed her steaming hot bowl of ramen. I LOVE eggs, and I do love a good omelette, especially when it comes with gravy, and so I was quite happy and contented with my meal that day and was already thinking of ordering it again next time. Well, except that I didn't see it on the menu anymore after that, and that meant only one thing - I have to make it if I want to eat i...

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of spicy fermented vegetables (usually napa cabbage or radish) and is commonly eaten as an appetizer or used in cooking. I was never really a fan of kimchi. Whenever I dined at Korean restaurants and was presented with banchan (the many little dishes that are served at the start of the meal), I would just sample a few slivers of the cabbage kimchi and perhaps a piece of the radish kimchi (I havan't acquired a taste for that yet). My favourites were usually the cubed potatoes ( potato jorim ) and the soy bean sprouts . Over time, I actually grew to like the taste of kimchi, and I guess it also depends on how "powerful" the flavour is. Everytime we shop at the Korean supermarket and browse through the shelves of kimchi, G would remind me jokingly "Are you sure you want to try it? It's made with rotten fish/squid." We watched that episode of Bizarre Foods where Andrew Zimmern visited a traditional kimchi factory in Korea wh...

Soto Daging (Beef Soto) is a Malaysian dish comprising cubes of compressed rice sitting in a richly spiced beef broth, served with tender slices of beef , bean sprouts and sometimes potato croquettes (known as begedil ), and then garnished with crispy fried shallots, chinese celery (or coriander leaves) and spring onions. My favourite part of the dish is the hot chilli soy sauce, which we call " kicap cili ". It is a simple blend of finely chopped bird's eye chillies, garlic and soy sauce, and is usually mixed into the soup just before eating. The heat from the chillies together with the garlicky soy sauce somehow adds extra depth to the flavours of the soup and gives it the drool-factor (in fact, I am salivating right now trying to describe it). Nasi Impit (Compressed rice) You may have also heard of Mee Soto, which is typically made with chicken instead of beef, and uses noodles instead of compressed rice. The broth is usually lighter in terms of both flavo...

Have you ever eaten food that made you smile ? It's when you take the first bite, and suddenly all your tastebuds are awaken and you feel a calming sense of euphoria which translates into a big smile spread across your face. Some foods (like chocolate, ice-cream and chilli) can trigger the brain to release more  endorphins in the body, which is why we feel happy or even " high " when we eat them. One of my most memorable encounters with such "happy food" was at this restaurant called Modestos in Singapore, where I ordered the tiramisu for dessert. When it arrived on the plate, I could already tell how good it must be, looking at the moist and creamy layers of sponge and mascarpone, topped with a generous dusting of cocoa powder. The first mouthful just overwhelmed me with that warm and fuzzy feeling inside, and I just couldn't contain the urge to smile. Needless to say, it was the perfect way to end a meal, and I would always order it each time I we...