Myhumblefood cookbooks are finally out!!!

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myhumblefood; myhumblefoodcookbook

After two long years my books are finally done and dusted. I’ve compiled two books, the first Myhumblefood book concentrates on Asian home cooking. The second book is a little more fun; along with some Western home cooking, I’ve also added a section on Food Art which is something I really enjoy. They’re both priced at RM 300 a set for people residing in Malaysia, or SGD 120 a set for those in Singapore.

Free delivery for those in Bangsar and Damansara Heights only.

Please PM me for details!

Special note: 50% of gross profit from the sale of the books will be donated to the National Kidney Foundation as well as the Great Heart Charity Foundation. Should you decide to also donate in addition to buying the book(s), 100% of your donation will go directly to these causes.

Thank you all very much for your love and support!

 

Hoedeopbap again!

Tags

dinner, easy recipe, healthy, hoedeopbap, hotate, hwedeopbap, koream sashimi salad, lunch, One bowl meal, quick meal, sake, salad, salmon, sashimi, scallops

Bought some really fresh, plump salmon sashimi and some scallop as well. Thought I’d just quickly whip up some hoedeopbap (Korean sashimi salad) to go with some freshly cooked rice. Rice is one of my guilty pleasures and I try not to have carbs at night but I couldn’t resist… yet again T___T

Here’s the link to the initial post I did up on Hoedeopbap. I just changed some of the vegetables and type of fish according to the ingredients that I have on hand. The one thing that doesn’t change is the sauce. Also, I managed to get hold of Korean perilla leaves (kkaenip)! It was so difficult to find in Singapore, so I was shocked when I came across it by accident in a korean grocery store in Kuala Lumpur. I quickly snapped up 3 packs of it!

My prize: the korean perilla leaf in all its glory

And the rest is just arranging the salad so it looks pretty 😉

Mix it up well and good.

Devour!

❤

White truffle series 4: Garlic bread uni and salad

Tags

bread topped with uni, easy, garlic bread, garlic bread sea urchin, garlic bread topped with uni, garlic bread uni, Home Cooking, honey, honey lemon and mayo dressing, lemon, light, quick, sea urchin, truffle oil, truffle salad, uni, uni and truffle, white truffle, white truffle recipe, white truffles

This is another quick uni and white truffle combination that I love. Super easy to put together because you’re gonna be using ready-made garlic bread!

Just grab your favourite brand of garlic bread, pop it into the oven until its nice and hot and crispy on the outside and then top it off with a heaping mountain of golden orange sea urchin roe (make sure it is fresh uni). Finish it off with a sprinkling of chopped chives and fragrant slivers of white truffle. The garlic bread should have enough salt content, but you can add some fleur de sel on top if you wish.

Love ❤

And then there’s salad. I put together a salad of baby spinach leaves, radish, cherry tomatoes, a handful of dried blueberries, some ikura/salmon roe (personally I love ikura but you can leave this out if you think it’s weird), shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese and white truffle on the top. Dressed it lightly with my favourite dressing; a simple honey, lemon and mayo mixture. I can’t remember now if I added any truffle oil to this or not. Good time to try making this again when I get hold of some truffles!

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Truffle part 7: Mushroom, Egg & Cheese Pastry with truffles and Salad with lemon mayo honey dressing

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almonds, appetizer, brunch, cheddar, cheese, Egg, egg and cheese pastry, egg and cheese pastry with truffles, healthy, light meals, lunch, mushrooms, pastry, Puff pastry, salad, Snack, starter, truffle oil, truffles

Almost finished with the truffle series! Here I made two simple dishes with the truffles, a puff pastry and a salad. Really easy and yummy stuff.

Puff Pastry Ingredients (for 1 pax)

1. A quarter of ready made puff pastry (I used Jus-rol, the 500g packet)
2. Grate a good handful of your favourite cheese (I used cheddar)
3. Sliced mushrooms (about 3 fresh swiss brown mushrooms)
4. 1 teaspoon of truffle oil
5. 1 egg
6. 1 egg white to glaze
7. Black pepper and salt

Salad Ingredients (for 1-2 pax depending on how greedy)

1. 7-8 almonds sliced (If you can buy them pre sliced, that’s even better
2. Handful of cranberries
3. Juice and rind from half a yellow lemon (omit the rind if you don’t like it)
4. 3 tbsp mayo
5. 1-2 tbsp honey
6. Enough salad leaves for 1-2 pax

Instructions

1. Roll out the ready made pastry into a square and trim off the sides so that it’s nice and neat. 
2. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C for fan assisted ovens). You should follow the instructions printed on the wrapping, oven temperatures and timings may differ.
3. Cut a little more of the ready made pastry and roll it out to make 4 strips, you will need to place each strip at the edge of the pastry square so it holds the ingredients (and egg) in.
4. Arrange the cheese and mushrooms in the pastry, leaving space in the middle. The egg will be added here later on. In the meantime, brush the pastry with the egg white for that golden brown colour
5. Bake the pastry for about 12 minutes (this would depend on the total time you need to bake the pastry. If you need to bake it for 20 minutes, add the egg 3-4 minutes before completion). If I remember correctly I baked it for 15 minutes, so I slid the egg into the middle after 12 minutes. You can add more cheese around the egg after that if you wish. Then drizzle the truffle oil over the pastry.
6. Once the pastry is golden brown and the egg is cooked, remove from oven.

1. While the pastry is cooking, wash and drain the salad leaves, slice the almonds and fry them til golden in color. Pat the excess oil off almonds with a kitchen towel and set aside.
2. Mix the lemon juice and rind, mayo and honey together in a separate bowl.
3. Place salad leaves in a salad bowl and toss with the honey lemon and mayo mixture. Add cranberries, sliced almonds and shave some of that black truffle on top. Serve.
4. Season pastry with black pepper (and, if you chose a mild, not-so-salty cheese, some salt) and add some truffle shavings. Eat!

You can add other things to your salad, I added cherry tomatoes to mine.

If you like your egg less cooked then just cook it for 1.5-2 minutes before removing from the oven. For me, as long as the whites are cooked I’m all good.

Hoedeopbap / hwedeopbap – Korean Spicy Sashimi salad Rice bowl

Tags

chogochujang, dinner, gochujang, healthy, hodeopbap, hoedeopbap, hwe deop bap, hwedeopbap, Korean, korean spicy sashimi salad, lunch, perilla leaves, red pepper paste, rice, salad, sashimi, sesame oil, shiso, spicy, sweet and sour

I’m currently on a Korean craze. I also am hopelessly addicted to Running Man, a korean variety show. But way too often do they show delicious, mouthwatering looking korean dishes and delicacies. Like sizzling Korean bbq, grilled oysters, kimchi, ramyeon, sea urchin, spicy ddukbokki and the list is endless. One of these demonish dishes I just saw on another episode is something called ‘ganjang gejang’, which is raw crab marinated in soy sauce and fermented. It sounds disgusting but it looks so good T______T I googled countless recipes on it but then decided against making it. One because I have no clue how to get the freshest of crabs in Singapore, and secondly, I don’t think I have the courage to successfully pickle/ferment the crab LOL.

So I settled for this dish instead. Technically its supposed to be a spicy sashimi rice bowl, but, like chirashi-don (sashimi on vinegared rice) versus just sashimi and rice in separate bowls, I really prefer to keep them separate. I like my rice hot, and this would wreak havoc onto sashimi if placed onto the rice directly like that. So yeah, I put it in a separate bowl. The sashimi salad is spicy, sour and sweet and has a nice crunch from all the vegetables in there. It could have been spicier, perhaps next time I’ll add some sliced chilli padi into the sauce for for a “BURN TONGUE BURNNNNN” experience =D 

Ingredients (2 pax)
I adapted the recipe from here http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-sashimi-bowl-hwe-deop-bap-221946

• 2 cups cooked rice (Japanese or Korean, preferably)
• 2 ounces tilapia fillets/other white fish sashimi (I used tai)
• 2 ounces tuna, sashimi quality
• 1 cup salad greens, any combination (I used only butterhead lettuce)
• 1/8 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 carrot, thinly julienned
• 1/4 English cucumber, thinly  julienned
• 2-3 inch daikon radish, thinly julienned
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
• 1 chili pepper, thinly sliced (I’m replacing this with chilli padi next time)
• 4 perilla/shiso leaves, thinly julienned (*edit* Korean perilla leaves)
• 16 Perilla/shiso leaves for wrapping (*edit* Korean perilla leaves, no other substitute unless you don’t mind a lettuce wrap)

Cho Gochujang (sweet and sour chili sauce)

• 3 tablespoons korean red pepper paste (gochujang) or more if you wish
• 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, taste before adding (optional)

Instructions

1. To be really specific, julienne ALL THE VEGETABLES thinly and around the same thickness and length where possible.
2. Arrange the vegetables in a bowl.
3. Julienne your sashimi too, not as thinly as the vegetables, but try to cut it into long strips. Makes it easier to pick up with the vegetables later on, rather than cutting it into cubes.
4. Mix all the ingredients for the Cho-gochujang in a bowl and taste. Add more spicy or salt if you wish but I think the salt content is fine without the optional salt.

5. Arrange the sashimi on top of the vegetables, top with minced garlic, and cho-gochujang sauce and garnish with shiso leaves.

Tastes a bit like the Chinese Yu Sheng which I really really like. And it is pretty healthy isn’t it 😉

Take a few photos of your slicing efforts

Then you mix the salad. Toss it and mix it and get the sauce into every nook and cranny.

Get your hot rice ready, alongside some shiso leaves for wrapping. If you don’t like the taste of shiso leaves, you can replace them with lettuce or other vegetables.

And so, you take a leaf, plonk some of that hot rice on top, followed by the sashimi salad. Stuff it into your mouth. Charming.

Yummeh~

Egg and Bacon Salad with honey mayo mustard dressing

Tags

appetizer, bacon, brunch, eggs, hard boiled eggs, healthy, honey, light meal, lunch, mayonnaise, mustard, parmesan cheese, romaine lettuce, salad, Snack, starter

I saw this in one of Nigella Lawson’s cookbooks and had to make it! I love green salads with eggs. Caesar salads for one =p. The recipe in Nigella’s book calls for mustard, vinegar and worcestershire sauce for the dressing but I used honey, mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. It was as I liked it 😉 sweetish sour with a slight kick from the mustard.

Ingredients (Serves 4 as a starter, or Serves 2 as a full meal)

1. 4 eggs
2. 1 head escarole or frisee (I used Romaine lettuce, you can use other leaves of your preference)
3. 1 teaspoon garlic oil
4. 200g smoked lardons or smoked streaky bacon cut into chunks (I just cut up some sliced bacon)
5. small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
6. For the dressing: 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 4 tsp cider vinegar, a dash of Worcestershire sauce
7. Parmesan cheese (Optional)
8. 1 Chicken fillet (Optional)

Instructions

1. Put the eggs into a saucepan of water, bring to the boil, let boil for 1 minute, then turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the pan for 10 minutes (the egg would come out still golden in the centre and not hard boiled all the way, and the whites would be silkier).
2. Wash, drain and tear the salad leaves into bite sized pieces and place it into a bowl.
3. Heat the garlic oil in a frying pan and fry the lardons/bacon until crisp.
4. Drain the water from the egg pan and run cold water on the eggs. Once they are cool to the touch, peel them.
5. Transfer the lardons/bacon with a slotted spatula onto some sheets of kitchen roll.
6. Add Dijon mustard to the juices in the bacon pan and whisk to mix, then add the vinegar and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, whisk again and pour this over the salad leaves, tossing to mix. (Here, I just mixed honey, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise together until I liked the taste. No extra bacon oil here)
7. Now add the bacon to the salad and toss again. Then quarter the eggs and add them along with the chopped parsley, before giving the whole salad a gentle mix to combine.
8. If you’re adding chicken, brush the chicken with olive oil, then sprinkle salt, pepper other herbs of your choice. Place in a baking tray and bake at 190 degrees celsius and roast for 15-25 minutes depending on the breast size until the juices run clear. Remove from oven, let it rest for 15 mins before slicing/shredding to add into the salad

Result… a very filling and satisfying salad! Omit bacon and cheese to make it healthier 😉

 

 

Seared Tuna and Watercress sandwich

Tags

bread, fish, healthy, lunch, salad, Sandwich

I was on a short holiday in Kota Kinabalu with my friends when I spotted this dish on the menu of the hotel’s cafe. Seared tuna, I love tuna but had no idea how it would turn out in a sandwich with watercress? Turned out, it was really yummy. Ate it outdoors in the salty sea breeze in the company of good friends, nothing like a good ambience of comfort and relaxation to enhance a dish.

Of course I had to try to recreate the dish at home, as it seemed simple enough to attempt or so I thought. There are several aspects that make or break this dish, the bread quality, the crunch of the vegetables and the tuna of course.

Seared Tuna and Watercress sandwich

 Ingredients (1 pax)

1. A small loaf of focaccia bread or a bread of your choice sliced into two (I prefer soft breads to hard breads in any case)
2. 1 sashimi grade Ahi tuna steak or tuna loin of about 250-300 grams. It has to be at least 1.5-2 inches in thickness and if possible, the thickness should remain uniform throughout the length of the fish.
3. A handful of watercress, washed, drained and chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
4. 1 tbsps of Japanese sesame dressing (used in salads typically, you can find this at most supermarkets like NTUC, the Marketplace and Meidi-ya.
5. 2 wedges of lemon (each wedge is 1/8 of a lemon)
6. 1.5 tbsps of olive oil
7. Salt and Black pepper
8. 1 tbsp Chopped spring onions

Cooking instructions

1. Smear the olive oil and rub it all over the tuna and season the tuna with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a frying pan large enough to hold the tuna. On medium high heat.
3. Once the pan is hot, place the tuna into the pan. It should sizzle as it touches the hot surface.
4. Sear each side of the tuna for about 20 seconds, or 30 if the tuna has just been taken out of the fridge. The center of the tuna steak/loin should be completely raw. Just need a quick sear on the outer surface of the fish, you don’t want to cook the fish through.
5. Set aside the tuna.
6. Toss your watercress in the sesame dressing and squeeze a little lemon juice onto it. Make sure the watercress is not dripping wet otherwise it would make for a soggy sandwich. Set aside.
7. You could butter the surface of the bread, however I try to opt for healthy cooking so I go without. Toast the surface of the bread on a grill or on a frying pan until golden brown.
8. Slice the tuna into thick slices. You should get a raw, red centre surrounded by a light brown border which is the cooked area of the tuna.
9. Arrange the watercress onto the bread, then top with the sliced tuna, the chopped spring onions and the other half of the bread. There you have it, salad, fish and bread all in one meal =)

A light, refreshing sandwich of seared tuna on a bed of watercress.