Beef with dry coconut milk (rendang sapi)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Modifications
1. Coconut milk amount is cut down to the bare minimum, just enough to give the taste.
2. Leanest beef cut is used to cut down on the amount of fat. The downside is that cooking time has to be increased a lot, otherwise you will feel like you are chewing shoes.

Cooking time
- preparation: 10 mins
- boiling beef: 3 hours
- heating coconut milk: 20 mins
- drying beef: 2 hours

Ingredients (serve 5)

1 kg beef shank, cut into medium pieces
1 cup coconut milk
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamarind

Leaves spice:
4 lime leaves
2 stalk lemongrass, put aside 1.5" of the root part, bruised

Spice paste:
2.5 tsp crushed chili
10 small shallots
5 cloves garlic
1.5" galangal
2" ginger
2 stalk lemongrass, 1.5" of the root part
3 lime leaves
1 tbsp ground coriander, dry heated
1 tsp cumin, dry heated
1 tsp pepper, dry heated
4 anise star

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
beef shank, 200 g		44g	8g	0g
coconut milk, 1/5 cup		0g	7g	0g
TOTAL (311 cals)		44g	15g	0g

Cooking instruction
1. Cook beef shank in slow cooker for 3 hours. Leave 1 cup of the broth, and put beef aside.
2. Heat coconut milk with leaves spice and anise star until it's boiling. Once anise star is a little soft, blend with the spice paste.
3. Mix spice paste in coconut milk, stir often for 15 minutes and then turn down the heat to low.
4. Mix beef, beef broth, tamarind and salt, and heat it using low heat for 2 hours or until sauce becomes very dry. Stir vigorously every 15 minutes or so to avoid the coconut milk to separate and beef to burnt.
5. If beef is soft enough, but there are still too much sauce left, separate beef from the sauce. Heat the sauce by itself until it's very dry, and broil the beef for 5-10 mins until it's very dry. Enjoy!

Results





1st attempt
The food looks good, but I am not sure if it taste right. I like it a little bit sweeter, so I put just a tad of sugar before eating.

Sweet soy sauce grilled chicken (ayam panggang kecap)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Modifications
Butter is not used when grilling since the chicken skin is enough to keep the meat moist.

Cooking time
- preparation: 10 mins
- marinade: 15 mins
- boiling: 20 mins
- broiling: 15 mins

Ingredients (serve 4)

1 kg chicken breast (4 medium piece)
1 lime
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
2 bay leaves
1/2" galangal
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp crushed chili

Spice paste:
4 cloves garlic
4 small shallots
4 candlenuts
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
chicken breast w. skin, 180 g		43g	15g*	0g
sweet soy sauce, 1 tbsp		0g	0g	8g
TOTAL (347 cals)		43g	15g	8g

*: removing the chicken skin drops the fat to 4 g.

Cooking instruction
1. Marinade chicken pieces with lime juice for 15 minutes, and then wash with water.
2. Put chicken in sauce pan and water until it covers the chicken. Blend spice paste and mix with water. Heat sauce pan with medium heat until water boils and leave it until only a little water is left. Put chicken aside and keep the spice mix.
3. Turn the heat on the top part of oven to 400F for 10 minutes, and broil chicken for 5-10 mins on each side until it's browned nicely. Every 2 mins or so, brush chicken with spice mix.
4. Once chicken is ready, brush with sweet soy sauce and crushed chili. Enjoy!

Results





1st attempt
Good. That is all. =)

String bean with ground beef (sapi ca buncis)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Modifications
Ground beef portion is increased to boost the protein content.

Cooking time
- preparation: 10 mins
- stir fry: 20 mins

Ingredients (serve 3)

500 g lean ground beef
500 g string bean, cut into 1.5" pieces
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp pepper

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
ground beef, 170 g		34g	17g*	0g
string bean, 170 g		2g	1g	7g
TOTAL (334 cals)		36g	18g	7g

*: fat content is most likely lower, since that value is for non-drained and non-rinsed ground beef. Research has shown decrease of 25% to 75% of the fat for drained and rinsed ground beef. Since the range is so large, I am hesitant to put an actual number.

Cooking instruction
1. Brown ground beef, drain the fat and then rinse with hot water. Put aside and marinade with oyster sauce and sugar.
2. Heat wok, put string beans inside and cover until beans are cooked (should take around 5-7 minutes). Put aside.
3. Brown garlic in wok, and then mix in beef, string bean, fish sauce and pepper. Stir fry and mix well. Enjoy!

Results





1st attempt
The beans are crunchy, but not hard. The beef taste just right. Not as fancy as the other stuff, but good. =)

Galangal fried chicken (ayam goreng lengkuas)

Recipe is borrowed from here and here.

Modifications:
Chicken and spice mixture is broiled instead of deep fried. The texture is not that different, but the fat is cut down significantly.

Cooking time
- preparation: 10 mins
- marinade: 15 mins
- boiling: 20 mins
- broiling: 15 mins

Ingredients (serve 4)

1 kg chicken breast (4 medium piece)
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
2 bay leaves
4 Tbs. grated galangal (laos/lengkuas)

Spice paste:
3 cloves garlic
5 small shallots
3 candlenuts
1 tsp. tamarind
2 tsp. fresh grated turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
chicken breast w. skin, 180 g		43g	15g*	0g
TOTAL (307 cals)		43g	15g	0g

*: removing the chicken skin drops the fat to 4 g.

Cooking instruction
1. Marinade the chicken pieces with the blended spice paste. Set it aside for 15-20 minutes so that the chicken absorb the spice flavor.
2. Put bay leaves, galangal and lemongrass in sauce pan, mix with chicken and put water until it covers the chicken. Heat sauce pan with medium heat until water boils and leave it until only a little water is left.
3. Put chicken aside. Using coriander, separate the water mixture from the dry parts. Put dry parts in a baking container.
4. Turn the heat in the top part of oven to 400F for 10 minutes, and broil chicken for 5-10 mins on each side until it's browned nicely.
5. Put the baking container that contain the dry spices in the oven for 5-10 mins until they're very dry. If it's not small enough, you can put them in a blender. Pour blended dry spices on top of chicken. Enjoy!

Results





1st attempt:
Not bad. Next time, I'm going to experiment with the cooking time to see if chicken can be moister.

Beef with spicy sauce (daging balado)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Ingredients (serve 5)

Beef:
1 kg sirloin beef
1 tsp coriander
4-5 pcs of kaffir lime leaves
1.5" of ginger

Chili sauce:
4 cloves of garlic
3 shallots
2 whole tomatoes, diced
4 tsp sambal oelek -> 8 tsp
2 tsp crushed chili -> 4 tsp
3 packets of splenda (equal with 2 tbsp sugar)
½ tsp salt

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
top sirloin, 200g		44g	8g	0g
vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp		0g	3g	0g
TOTAL (275 cals)		44g	11g	0g

Cooking instruction
1. Put beef, coriander, lime leaves and ginger in sauce pan and cover with water. Heat sauce pan until water boils, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain the beef, let cool, and slice it thinly into 1-2 cm square. If the beef slice is not thin enough, you can try to flatten it with a spatula.
2. Add 1 tsp of oil on non stick frying pan, and stir fry half of the beef. Add another tsp of oil, and do the same thing for the rest of the beef.
3. Blend all the chili sauce sauce ingredients except sugar and salt. Heat the sauce mix until it has the consistency you want, and then put in sugar and salt. Mix beef with chili sauce and serve.

Results





1st attempt:
I reduce the amount of chili from the original recipe but I didn't adjust the amount of sugar. The dish is not spicy enough, but too sweet. I also use my teflon frying pan to stir fry the beef, and they don't brown evenly. I'm going to use another frying pan next time.

Broiled salmon with sweet and spicy sauce

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Ingredients (serve 2)
400 g salmon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp sambal oelek
1 tsp crushed chili
bunch spring onions , finely sliced
2 tsp sweet soy sauce

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
salmon, 200 g		40g	13g	0g
sweet soy sauce, 1 tsp		0g	0g	5g
TOTAL (324 cals)		40g	16g	5g

Cooking instruction
1. Spray cooking oil on non stick frying pan. Put salt and pepper on salmon, and pan fry salmon for 2.5 min on each side.
2. Mix ginger, chili and splash of water. Pour it on the pan that was used to fry salmon and stir for 1 min. Serve immediately with the salmon, and garnish with spring onion.

Results





1st attempt:

The fish taste too one dimensional and a little bit overcooked. Next attempt will have the following modifications:
1. Original recipe calls for 1 mild chili, but I can't taste any spicyness at all, so next time, I'll modify it with sambal oelek.
2. Spring onion should be thrown in at the end, not cooked for 2-3 mins.
3. Salmon should be left at room temperature for half an hour or so before cooking, and then pan fried first before broiling it.

2nd attempt:

Salmon taste a lot better this time. Recipe has been updated to reflect the changes.

Shrimp with salted soy bean (tauco udang)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Ingredients (serve 3)
500 g shrimp
340 g firm tofu
3 cloves of garlic
5 shallots
3 thai chili (more if you can handle the heat)
2 bay leaves
1" galangal
1 large tomato, diced
3 tbsp salted soy bean
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 green onion
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
shrimp, 170 g		22g	4g	0g
firm tofu, 0.7 piece		17g	3g	14g
salted soy bean, 1 tbsp		3g	3g	3g
vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp		0g	3g	0g
sweet soy sauce, 1 tsp		0g	0g	5g
TOTAL (373 cals)		42g	13g	22g

Cooking instruction
1. Cut firm tofu into small pieces. Heat up 1 tsp of vegetable oil on non stick frying pan, and stir fry firm tofu until the outside is a little browned.
2. Heat up 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil on a wok, and stir fry garlic and shallot. Mix in chili, bay leaves and galangal. After 30 s or so, mix tomato.
3. Put shrimp in sauce mixture and stir fry until they change color, then include the stir fried tofu. Mix in salted soy bean and chicken broth, and wait until mixture boils, then turn down the heat.
4. Put green onion and sweet soy sauce, mix well and serve.

Results





1st attempt:
Yum! =)

Chicken rice with mushroom (nasi tim ayam jamur)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Ingredients (5 servings)

Chicken:
2 lbs chicken breast
35 shitake mushroom
3 cloves of garlic
1.5 tsp sesame oil
5 tsp soy sauce
5 tsp oyster sauce
5 tsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine

Rice:
2 cups dry rice
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
2.5 tsp soy sauce

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
chicken breast, 180 g		43g	4g	0g
rice, 1/3 cup		0g	0g	60g
sesame oil, 1 tsp		0g	5g	0g
sauce mixture		0g	0g	7g
TOTAL (521 cals)		43g	9g	67g

Cooking instruction
1. Put chicken breast in water, heat until boiling, then turn heat down and simmer for 8 mins or so.
2. Remove chicken breast from water and dice into small pieces. Keep the chicken broth.
3. Heat 1 tsp of sesame oil on frying pan, and fry garlic until it's brown. Stir fry the rice with soy sauce for a minute or so, then put in rice cooker.
4. Heat 1.5 tsp of sesame oil on frying pan, and fry garlic until it's brown. Stir fry the chicken with cut up shitake, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce and rice wine. Wait until the sauce boils, and then turn down the heat and leave for 10 mins or so, or until the chicken and mushroom absorb the sauce.
5. Serve chicken with sauce on top of rice. Enjoy!

Results





1st attempt:
Not bad at all. Nothing is wrong this time! =)

Indonesian pancake (martabak manis)

Borrowed from here.

Comments

The following modifications are made to the recipe:
1. To reduce calories, sugar is replaced with twin sugar and butter is used very sparingly.
2. Extra dark chocolate and crushed mixed nuts are used instead of processed ingredients.
3. Substitute half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour.

Ingredients (serve 6)
A:
65 g all purpose flour
60 g whole wheat flour
2 tbsp twin sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
175 ml water
1/2 sdt instant yeast

B :
2 whole eggs
1/8 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp twin sugar

Topping:
- 20 g extra dark chocolate
- 2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tbsp of crushed mixed nuts
- 1 tbsp of sesame seed
- 1.5 tsp butter

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
whole wheat flour, 20g		3g	0g	14g
whole egg, 1/3		2g	2g	0g
extra dark chocolate, 3g		0g	2g	1g
condensed milk, 1/3 tbsp		0g	0g	4g
sesame seed, 1/6 tbsp		0g	1g	0g
butter, 1/4 tsp		0g	1g	0g
TOTAL (150 cals)		5g	6g	19g

Cooking instruction
1. Mix A, except yeast. Once everything is mixed well, mix yeast and leave for 1 to 2 hours.
2. Mix B, and then put into A. Mix well.
3. Stir fry sesame seed and crushed mixed nuts for a minute or so, put aside.
4. Put 1/2 tsp of butter on frying pan, and turn on the low heat. Pour mix into frying pan. When bubbles start to appear on the top of the pancake, put a lid on top of frying pan.
5. Once the pancake is done, spread 1/2 tsp of butter on top of the pancake, and pour sesame seed, mixed nuts, chocolate and condensed milk.
6. Fold the pancake, and spread 1/2 tsp of butter on top of the pancake. Enjoy!

Results





1st attempt:

The color doesn't look that great, the topping is a little bit too bitter and the pancake texture is not chewy enough. Next time, I am going to decrease the chocolate a little bit, and increase the condensed milk. Instead of using peanut butter, I'll use mixed nuts. I'm not sure yet what I can do about the texture.

2nd attempt:

Yay, this time the texture is perfect and the topping taste very good too. There are 3 modifications that I make:
1. I use half whole wheat flour and half white flour. Apparently, there are many kinds of flour, low gluten (soft flour), medium gluten (all purpose flour) and high gluten (whole wheat flour). Original recipe calls for all purpose flour, but if you want to make it healthier, you could use half whole wheat and half all purpose flour.
2. Once the pancake is bubbly, I put a lid on top of the frying pan for 5 minutes. If you don't do this, the moisture will escape which is the reason why it was so dry last time.
3. I reduce the amount of dark chocolate and replace it with 1 tbsp of sesame seed.

Things to improve next time:
The pancake looks like it got chicken pox. =) My google search tells me that I have to wipe off the pan before cooking. The chicken pox like spot come from uneven heat on the pan because the butter is not spread evenly.

Egg foo yong (foo yong hai)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Comments

The following modifications are made to the recipe:
1. 5 eggs are replaced with 2 eggs and 6 egg whites.
2. Added carrot as extra veggies. =)

The taste doesn't differ that much with egg whites added in them, but the calories are reduced a lot.

Ingredients
3 oz Crab meat
1 Green onion, shredded
1 c Bean sprouts
1 carrot, cut up into small strings
2 Eggs
6 Egg white
1/4 ts Salt

2 tb Water
6 tb Chicken stock
1 pinch Sugar
1 ts Soy sauce
2 ts Ketchup
1 ts Cornstarch

Nutritional information

		PRO	FAT	CARB
eggs, 2		12g	10g	0g
egg whites, 6		18g	0g	0g
bean sprout, 1 c		11g	0g	3g
imitation crab, 4 piece		6g	0g	7g
sauce		0g	0g	5g
TOTAL (338 cals)		47g	10g	15g

Cooking instruction
1. Shred crab meat. Bring water to boil, and boil carrot and bean sprout for about 1 min.
2. Beat eggs, add onion, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, 1/4 ts salt, 2 tb water and crab.
3. In another sauce pan, add chicken stock, pinch salt, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch. Mix all well, bring to the boil and keep hot while making omelet.
4. Spray oil in omelet pan, stir in half of the egg mixture and cook. Do the same thing for the other half. Put on dish, pour sauce over.

Results





1st attempt:
I tried to make an omelette, but there are too much eggs in the pan, so I scramble them instead. Next time, I'll either make them in smaller batches. They still taste good though. =)

2nd attempt:
My omelette making skill still need improvement, but it doesn't look that bad, isn't it? =P I have to split them up and cook them twice, and I add a little bit of carrot this time.

Oxtail soup (sop buntut)

Recipe is borrowed from here

Comments

The following modifications are made to the recipe:
Half of the oxtail is subsituted with beef shank to increase the protein and lower the fat content.

Ingredients (serve 4)
2 lbs oxtail
500 g beef shank

3 tsp of ground nutmeg
20 cloves
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
salt to taste
3 carrots, halved and chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 leek, chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 green onion, chopped into 1 inch chunks
2 medium all-purpose potatoes, chopped into 8 chunks each
fried shallots
1 tsp butter

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
beef shank, 125 g		27g	5g	0g
oxtail with bones, 225 g		20g	9g	0g
butter, 1/4 tsp		0g	1g	0g
potato, 4 pieces		0g	0g	20g
sweet soy sauce, 1 tbsp		0g	0g	15g
TOTAL (463 cals)		47g	15g	35g

Cooking instruction
1. Broil the beef shank and oxtail in 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, then drain the fat.
2. Fill a large pot with enough water, add the oxtail, and bring to boil. Add the cloves and nutmeg, and simmer, covered, for 1.5 hours until the meat is tender. On a separate pot, do the same thing with the beef shank, but simmer for 3.5 - 4 hours, since beef shank needs to be cooked longer to make it tender. Remove from heat, cool completely, and refridgerate overnight. Skim the congealed fat from the surface.
3. Bring the soup back to a simmer. Heat butter in a pan over medium heat, add carrot, leek, and scallion and saute for 3 minutes, then add to the soup along with the potatoes, pepper, and salt to taste. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with celery, tomato slices, and fried shallots.

Results





1st attempt:
I'll try the recipe with actual oxtail and include potatoes next time. The soup needs to be eaten with sweet soy sauce, otherwise it doesn't taste as good.

2nd attempt:
I tried the recipe again with oxtail, and the soup taste better. The oxtail ooze some gelatinous stuff that I suspect improve the soup taste.

Chicken noodle (bakmi ayam)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Ingredients (serve 4)
450 g chicken breast
400 g noodle

4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
4 tsp sesame oil
1 green onion, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
yu choy
4 cups bean sprout

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
chicken breast, 125 g		30g	2g	0g
bean sprout, 1 c		11g	0g	3g
wonton noodle, 100 g		16g	2g	40g
sesame oil, 1 tsp		0g	5g	0g
TOTAL (481 cals)		57g	9g	43g

Cooking instruction
1. Put chicken breast in water, heat until boiling, then turn heat down and simmer for 8 mins or so.
2. Remove chicken breast from water and dice into small pieces. Keep the chicken broth and put soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat 2 tsp of sesame oil on frying pan, and fry garlic until it's brown. Stir fry the chicken breast with 2 tsp soy sauce, salt and pepper for 1 minute, and then put aside.
4. Put some salt in water, and boil noodle. On another sauce pan, boil water, and then put yu choy and bean sprout for 1 minute or so, and then set aside.
5. On a separate dish, put 1/2 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of soy sauce, salt and pepper, and then take out the wonton noodle out of water and mix well. Put chicken breast mixture on top, and garnish with yu choy, bean sprout, fried shallot and green onion. Pour a cup of chicken broth on a bowl, and put green onion in broth.

Results





1st attempt:
Broth is tasteless as expected, but it didn't mix well with the noodle. Next time, I'll put a little bit of salt and pepper in the broth as well.

2nd attempt:
Chicken is a little bit dry, so I have to make sure it's not cooked for too long. We can also substitute the chicken breast with dark meat to make them juicier, but I'm trying to keep fat on the low side here. Everything else taste good. =)

Meat and egg with dark sauce (lor bak, lor neng)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Comments

The following modifications are made to the recipe:
Beef is used instead of pork belly to reduce calories.

I have to admit that the recipe taste better with pork belly, but I'm going to experiment with different beef cuts to see if it can be better without adding too much extra calories.

Ingredients (serve 4)
800 g lean beef stew
2L water
10 cloves garlic, with skin and washed
4 hard boiled eggs , shelled

Seasoning :
10 peppercorns, crushed
5 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp salt -> should be none
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce -> should be 2 tbsp
1 anise star
2" cinnamon stick

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
beef stew, 225 g		45g	20g*	0g
hard boiled egg, 1		6	5g	0g
soy sauce, 1 tbsp		1g	0g	2g
sweet soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp		0g	0g	8g
TOTAL (473 cals)		52	25g	10g

*: fat content is lower if you didn't drink all the sauces, since some of the fat should be in there.

Cooking instruction
1. Bring water to boil. Add in all seasoning.
2. Add in beef. Simmer for about 30 minutes before adding the garlic cloves and hard boiled eggs.
3. Continue to simmer over a slow fire until meat is tender, about another 20 minutes.

Results





1st attempt:
The recipe is way too salty but not sweet enough for me, so I have to save them by throwing away half the water, and add in fresh water. I also add an extra 1 tbsp of sweet soy sauce and marinade the meat 3-4 hours before serving.
Next time, I'm going to get rid of the salt and marinade the meat in soy sauce for 1/2 hour, and brown them a bit with sweet soy sauce before putting them in the water. I think that'll make the meat more flavourful.

Medan chicken soup (soto ayam Medan)

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Comments

The following modifications are made to the recipe:
1. Boneless and skinless chicken breast is used instead of whole chicken.
2. Chicken is stir fried after boiling instead of deep fried.

The chicken taste better when deep fried for sure, but even without doing that, the recipe still taste great.

Ingredients (serve 6)
2 lbs chicken breast
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp ground lemon grass or 1 lemon grass
5 lime leaves
1/2" galangal
1 cup coconut milk
3 hard boiled eggs
6 cups bean sprout -> boil quickly before serving
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt -> 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

Spices:
8 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tbsp ground coriander seed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2" ginger
3 nutmeg

Garnish:
1 green onion
fried shallots

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
chicken breast, 150 g		36g	2g	0g
hard boiled egg, 1/2		3g	3g	0g
bean sprout, 1 c		11g	0g	3g
coconut milk, 1/6 cup		0g	5g	0g
sweet soy sauce, 1/2 tsp		0g	0g	3g
TOTAL (314 cals)		50g	10g	6g

Cooking instruction
1. Put chicken and 4 cups of water in sauce pan and turn the heat to high. When the water boils, turn the heat to low, and put in bay leaf, lime leaves and galangal. Simmer for another 8 - 10 mins, put the chicken aside and leave the chicken broth on low heat.
2. Put all the spices in a blender, and ground them. Spray oil on frying pan and stir fry the ground spices for 1-2 minutes. Put the ground spices and salt and sweet soy sauce in the chicken broth and mix well.
3. Put the coconut milk into the chicken broth mix and stir every 10 minutes or so under low heat. Stirring under low heat is important, because otherwise the coconut milk won't mix well. Keep doing this for 1 hour.
3. Cut chicken into bite sizes, and mix well with soy sauce, then stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
4. On a bowl, put half hard boiled eggs, bean sprout and chicken. Garnish with green onion and fried shallots. Pour 1/6th of the broth mix on top of it. Enjoy!

Results





1st attempt:
This recipe taste amazing. Next time, I just have to do two things to make it taste a bit better. First, boil bean sprout lightly before serving, since the broth mix is not hot enough to cook it. Second, reduce salt slightly, taste is a little bit too salty for my liking.

Wonton noodle

Recipe is borrowed from a friend.

Comments

The following modifications are made to the recipe:
Lean ground beef is used instead of ground pork.

Recipe still taste good without pork.

Ingredients (serve 5)
500 g lean ground beef
500 g wonton noodle
5 hard boiled eggs
10 wonton

2.5 tbsp sweet soy sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cooking wine
3 cloves of garlic
2.5" of cinnamon stick
1 anise star
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1 green onion

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
lean ground beef, 100g		20g	10g*	0g
hard boiled egg, 1		6g	5g	0g
wonton, 2 pieces		3g	2g	6g
wonton noodle, 100 g		16g	2g	40g
sweet soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp		0g	0g	8g
soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp		1g	0g	1g
TOTAL (575 cals)		46g	19g	55g

*: fat content for ground beef is very likely lower, since fat is drained after cooking. It should be more like 7 g or so.

Cooking instruction
1. Brown ground beef and drain the fat. If you want to reduce the fat some more, rinse beef with hot water.
2. Put beef and everything else except wonton noodle and chicken broth in a sauce pan and turn on the heat to high until the sauce is boiling. Once the sauce is boiling, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour or until the sauce thickens.
3. After the sauce thickens, throw away the cinnamon stick, anise star and garlic skin.
4. Boil wonton noodle in water, and wonton in chicken broth. Once they're done, serve and garnish with green onion.

Results







1st attempt:
This recipe taste great, but a little too sweet to my liking. Next time, I'll reduce sweet soy sauce to 1.5 tbsp only.

Taiwanese style noodle

Recipe is borrowed from here.

Comments

The following modifications are made to the recipe:
Ground beef is used instead of pork.

Ingredients (serve 4)
500 g ground beef
340 g (2 piece) firm tofu
1 green onion
2 chili pepper, de-seeded
4 packages of udon

1 tablespoon sambal oelek
1 tablespoon soy bean
2 tablespoon cooking wine
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
8 tablespoons water

Nutritional information (per serving)

		PRO	FAT	CARB
lean ground beef, 125 g		25g	12g*	0g
firm tofu, 1/2 piece		12g	2g	10g
udon, 1 package		5g	0g	55g
soy sauce, 1/4 tbsp		0g	0g	0g
soy bean, 1/4 tbsp		1g	0g	1g
TOTAL (562 cals)		43g	14g	66g

*: fat content for ground beef is very likely lower, since fat is drained and rinsed after cooking. It should be around 8g.

Cooking instruction
1. Brown ground beef in pan, drain the fat and put aside. If you need it to be leaner, wash the ground beef with hot water.
2. Slice tofu into small pieces. Spray frying pan and stir-fry tofu until slightly brown. Add beef, and put aside. 3. Spray frying pan and stir-fry mix of sambal oelek and soy bean until fragrant and add all other seasonings. Return beef and tofu and add chili peppers. Stir well until liquid is almost absorbed.
4. Boil udon, put beef mixture on top of it and garnish with green onion.

Results





1st attempt:

I copied down the wrong amount of seasonings, instead of 1 tablespoon, I thought it was 1 teaspoon. The beef is a little dry and are not spicy enough obviously. Next time, I'm going to follow the recipe more closely.

Welcome to Tasty Easy and Healthy! (teh =D)

Hey everyone!

This blog will list my attempts in cooking tasty, easy and healthy food.

* Tasty in this case will be influenced heavily by my taste preference. =) It'll be mostly Asian with some Mexican and North American thrown in.

* Easy means I can cook it. If an amateur cook like me can cook it, everybody can do it. =D

* Healthy means that each meal will be high in protein, medium fat, medium carb, filling and include veggies. Girls should split this meal into two, and men can keep it as it is. To be exact, each meal is going to be around:
- 40 - 50 g of protein
- 10 - 20 g of fat
- 50 - 60 g of carb

I hope readers will enjoy it as much as I do!!!