Popovers

As requested by YJ...

Very simple to make... you can also add different things to the recipe depending on what your mood is. Sometimes I drizzle a bit of honey and brown or cinnamon sugar to make them sweet, or a bit if garlic salt and grated parmigiano reggiano (real parmesan cheese, not out of a can) to make savory ones.

Recipe:

-1.5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

-1.5 cups of all-purpose flour

-0.75 teaspoons of salt

-3 eggs at room temperature

-1.5 cups of milk at room temperature

1) Set oven at 425 degrees F. (or 218 degrees C)

2) Whisk flour, salt, eggs, milk, & melted butter until smooth

3) Place (empty) muffin pan in oven for 2 minutes to preheat pan

4) Remove pan from oven, fill each cup half full

5) Place pan back in oven and bake for 30 mins

I can eat these plain... they are super yummy. For a low fat version, use low fat milk. Don't replace butter with margarine though. It tastes really different.

卤肉 for dinner

Decided to make some 卤肉 for dinner tonight... haven't been cooking as much as I'd like since I've been pretty sick for more than 2 weeks. I believe that each chinese family probably have their own version of what goes into the 卤, and my recipe is mostly based on what I've learnt from my Grandma. I've added my own touch here and there since it's seemingly impossible to recreate ANYTHING that my darling Grandma makes.

Ingredients:
Baby pork ribs
Lean pork tenderloin (since I don't like the fatty pork ribs too much. But the fat in the ribs is very flavorful for the 卤)
Boiled and peeled eggs
Firm Tofu (aka Dou Gan) -The fried ones maintain their shape much better throughout the cooking process than the fresh ones do, but I use the fresh ones cos there's less fat.
Dark Soy Sauce
Star Anise
Cinnamon
Peppercorns
Fresh Garlic
A Teaspoon or so of Brown Sugar (brightens up the flavor a little, contrasts the saltiness of the soy sauce)

Star Anise and Cinnamon sticks



Peppercorns


I use a lot of pepper in my cooking. Pepper and garlic. My kitchen is always stocked with several different types of pepper and never without garlic.

Bob calls the 卤肉 dish "Soy Sauce pork with the eggs". I'm glad he eats pork. A lot of Americans don't eat pork other than bacon and sausages. Some people even keep pot-bellied pigs as pets. Do they not eat bacon for breakfast then? Wouldn't that also be kinda awkward if your pet pig begs for scraps from your breakfast? *ROFL*

Food in Singapore

Other than my family and friends, the thing I miss most about Singapore is the food. The trip back home in December obviously included a lot of eating. However, most of the time I was busy eating and not taking pictures. DUH. The following pics were actually taken by Rachel, my American Born Chinese gal pal who flew in just for my wedding. :)

My bro and Rachel at Swensons in Parkway Parade. I had the crawfish pasta. The "crawfish" in Singapore is actually called "Slipper lobster" in the USA.

The American "Crawfish"

It's very different, isn't it? The crawfish pictured is found in swamps and lives in very muddy waters. It has a slight muddy taste and is last on my list of goodeating shellfish.

Breakfast! Prata and chai tao kuay to be exact. Even though there are so many Singaporean/Malaysian restaurants here, there's nothing that comes close to hawker food in Singapore. Oh, did I mention that ONE piece of plain prata costs US$3.95?

Since moving to the USA, I've had my fair share of burgers and I know a good burger from a bad one. By american standards, burgers in Singapore would hardly fill the tummy of an average american teenager. Well, unless you go to Billy Bombers. Bob had his burger fix there. haha. My fave burger since I was a teenager is the Double Mushroom Swiss Burger from Burger King. But honestly, an average American would need two of those to get full.

Double (?) Mushroom Swiss Burger... looking inadequate in my bro's hands

Before my wedding, I said that I'd be one of the few brides that actually EAT on her wedding day. COME ON... the food was GREAT! I didn't get pics of the dinner, but the lunch buffet in my house after the tea ceremony was darn awesome too. Obviously I didn't care that I had to take care of guest... I was starving! If someone wanted to see/talk to me, they could just hunt me down themselves. I have to take care of this thing called HUNGER.

Buffet line... yummy!

My first makan post

I've been wanting to start a blog to keep track of my recipes, favorite food, and reviews of restaurants/cafe/eateries I frequent. So for all of you who don't know what "makan" means, it's a malay word commonly used to refer to food or "to eat". Food has always been a big part of my life. My family bonded over long meals, especially on weekends when everyone's at home. My favorite part of growing up was my family's special Sunday lunches. There was always some special dish and always massive amounts of food on Sundays. My parents also loved hunting down good eats. We'd take trips into Malaysia just to eat the Bah Kut Teh in Malacca, or wake up at 6am on the weekend to go eat breakfast in other parts of Singapore.

Food is still a very important part of my life. Bob is convinced that i reeled him in with my good food. I love making dinner and sharing food with people I love. So in this blog, I am going to post recipes of food I usually prepare and sometimes the stories related (if available).

I just have a simple recipe for my first post. This is one of Bob's favorite food: Tuna salad (usually in a sandwich). It's very easy to make and each person usually has his/her own variation. Depending on what's in my fridge, I change what's in it too.

Tuna salad:
Albacore tuna in water (can)
Mayonaise
Mustard
Garlic salt
Finely shredded cheese
Lots of pure ground black pepper

Additional ingredients (depending on what I have in my fridge):
Boiled eggs
or, cucumber
or, relish
or, finely chopped onions

I seldom have exact measurements except for baking. I just estimate most of my stuff and taste, taste, taste. Most important ingredient in cooking is love. You've gotta love food and love the person (or people) you're cooking for to make an excellent dish. Also, it's always better to under-estimate than over-estimate. You can always add more salt but you can't "unsalt" a dish.

That's it for today!