Bittergourd is a vegetable that you either love or hate. I hate it. LOL. But everyone else in the family loves it, including the husband. So although I don’t like to eat bittergourd, I often cook with it. I can’t remember if I’ve shared my pork rib bittergourd with fermented black bean sauce recipe before, but my aunts actually said it reminds them of THEIR mom’s cooking. Wow they just propelled me to another level wtf I don’t deserve this.

I shall cook that dish again one day and make their day.

I ordered a crazy variety of vegetables from Opentaste.sg that day (don’t miss their $15 off first order offer. punch in my code ‘240D2E’ at checkout), and added a few bittergourds to my cart. My aunts were quite happy. And it certainly came into good use the week Amber (and I) fell sick and all I could manage was real simple cooking.

How do you choose bittergourd if you’re buying it from the market? If you prefer something more bitter, choose one that’s darker in colour, or better yet, get those baby ones. For less bitter taste, get one that’s light green. Depending on how you slice it, remove the seeds either by scraping them off (together with the white part) with a spoon (if you’re slicing them length-wise), otherwise slice into circles and push the white part out with your thumbs. That’s what I do anyway and I sometimes find it faster than using a spoon or knife.

To reduce bitterness, soak sliced bittergourd in saltwater for 15 minutes, then drain, rinse and pat dry. Why eat bittergourd if you don’t want it to be bitter? Beats me, but that’s why some people do anyway.

For an easy extra dish on the dining table, cook this. 10-15 minutes from start to end if you don’t soak, and that’s perfectly fine. Bought too much? Use them in stews or a simple soup. Those who love them really do.

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The post Stir Fried Bittergourd with Egg 苦瓜炒蛋 appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Before we know it, we’re into the last two months of 2015. And that means TWO things: HOLIDAY MOOD and FESTIVE FOOD!

The months of November and December are special to my family. With six birthdays and one holiday (my 76-year-old aunt is a Christmas Eve baby!), we are constantly celebrating and eating. And as with all our birthdays and Christmas gatherings, having good food ranks right up there on our agenda – along with the mountain of presents, of course!

This year, I’ve decided to make something new using Perfect Italiano cheese. Perfect Italiano cheese are my family’s favourite. Simple and effortless to use, they transform your everyday meals into gourmet creations perfect for the festive table!

Today, I have a recipe for Tuna, Spinach & Potato Frittata, which uses both Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Cheese has a mild flavour, melts to perfection and has a traditional stretch, perfect for topping my frittata with. Perfect Italiano Parmesan Cheese is matured up to 18 months – which explains its bold, sharp and savoury taste. I like to use it in egg dishes to complement the light flavour. It works wonderfully every time.

This recipe is adapted from Perfect Italiano‘s website, which is full of easy-to-follow recipes to inspire you this festive season. My version is a little easy on the palate, without cream and gravy, but if you prefer a heavier taste, you can add half a bottle of creamy alfredo sauce just before topping it with cheese.

Perfect Italiano cooking cheese is available in leading supermarkets. Whether you try this recipe or come up with your own creation, remember to share it with me by hashtagging #perfectitalianosg. Ready for the step-by-step recipe? Let’s go!

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Every day after work, I go home and prepare these meals: dinner for the day, Jason’s breakfast box, and my own breakfast, lunch, and snack box for the next day. I’m usually done by 7.30pm. I am not super woman – I just plan ahead and eat simply.

Settling my own meals is easy. Breakfast is usually a slice of whole grain bread with cheese and 1-2 tablespoons of granola – packed in a sandwich bag. Lunch is normally a low carb dish like crazy amounts of stir-fried vegetables plus a serving of meat or fish. Sometimes I cook more vegetables for dinner and pack the rest for lunch. Snack is a box of fruits – 2 servings so I can snack throughout the day – like dragon fruit, oranges, kiwi, grapes, pears or strawberries.

I try to be more creative when it comes to Jason’s breakfast. Quite sad to see bread and butter when he opens up his breakfast box in all anticipation, me thinks. I’ve prepared salad boxes with cheese, egg, nuts and tuna (and sometimes fried chicken – ha!), and also mushroom and cheese omelettes with a side of cherry tomatoes and edamame, or egg mayo and tuna sandwiches. I was running out of breakfast ideas felt bad about making him bring the same egg and tuna sandwiches to work for three days straight (have to finish up the tuna what, no choice). On the way to work yesterday, I ran ideas through my head while doing a stock-take of ingredients I have at home. What else can I do with eggs, bell peppers (I ALWAYS have bell peppers) and bacon? Savoury breakfast muffins sounded perfect. And they’re easy to make too!

I opted to add flour to these instead of having them quiche-like, with just egg and milk. This way, they hold better and are more filling for breakfast. I’ve also used unsweetened soy milk in place of fresh milk before, but I prefer the lighter texture when using fresh milk. You can use any other types of shredded cheese – there’s a red cheddar and mozzarella mix available at Cold Storage, so you might like that better if cheddar is too sharp for you.

These muffins are best eaten shortly out of the oven, for the simple reason that is crispy, melty cheese. But if you’re keeping it for the next day, air fry at 180C for 3-4 minutes preheated (preferred) or microwave for 40 seconds before serving.

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The husband is one who doesn’t really try new food if he had a choice. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times my creation has been met with, “很奇怪。。。” (“that looks really strange..”) before he’s even had a taste of it. But too bad for him, in my kitchen, he doesn’t really have a choice. Eat it or eat instant noodles, or starve. (but now he can cook a few yummy dishes like chicken chop and most recently, carrot corn pork rib soup which the whole family loved! He don’t need me liao la!)

Actually, before I present him with a ‘strange’ creation – which most of the time is really normal in other people’s kitchen – I already know if it is something he can accept. Like I wouldn’t expect him to eat and like avocado cookies sans butter (I used avocado in place of butter as the main fat), but this avocado egg mayo? TOTALLY LEGIT. He’ll love it.

The trick is to serve him something familiar in another form, or with one or two ‘strange’ ingredients added for him to try out.. then go full fledged. Of course, he’s never eaten avocado before. He gave me a face when I told him what was for breakfast.

Him: “很。。” (“It’s very..)
Me: “很奇怪对吗？” (“It’s very strange, right?”)

‘Try it,’ I told him. ‘You’ll love it.’

A while later, he posted this on Facebook:

你不知道的事可多了咯。That was in January. I made triangle sandwiches, and served them with a side salad, some fruits, two nitrate-free bacon slices and a begadil (hehe). I made this again today but without the frills. The ingredients are really simple. Just avocado, eggs, mayo, spring onions, yellow onions, sugar and optional salt.

I like to eat it reallyyy cold, on its own or simply wrapped in lettuce. Because avocado is already creamy, you don’t need as much mayo as you would without it. I don’t recommend using Japanese mayo with this. Japanese mayo uses egg yolks instead of whole eggs, and has a too-strong vinegar flavour to me PLUS it has MSG. My favourite mayo brand is actually Best Foods Real Mayonnaise but I read recently that they’ve changed their recipe. Seriously, the only reason I’m using Heinz now? It’s a squeezable bottle. I buy my ketchup, mayo and mustard only if they’re in a squeezable bottle packaging. What is your favourite mayo? I might be shopping around for a new brand!

If you’re out of breakfast or brunch ideas, here, use this one! It also makes an awesome picnic food!

The post Avocado Egg Mayo appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

The husband cooked us a delicious Valentine’s Day dinner of chicken chop, baked potatoes and bacon and peas last night! So this morning when he asked for a DTF style fried rice, I couldn’t possible say no right? Initially I was stunned for a minute thinking how I am going to cook this. I also did a quick mental stock-take of my ingredients.. yes I have prawns, eggs, spring onion and even overnight rice from Friday. I think can ah!

This was last night’s dinner if you haven’t seen it yet on my Facebook page:

Being a mega bak kwa fan, he also asked to add some in the fried rice (it’s totally optional) and volunteered to cut them into small pieces. Not bad, got initiative.. volunteer to do little chores, volunteer to wash the dishes, volunteer to heat up the leftover potato from last night while I concentrate on cooking the fried rice. I kena trapped ah? I think he is more clever than me? Luckily I love to cook =)

Honestly, I find DTF’s fried rice just.. ok. It’s “good” because of the copious amount of oil, and of course because it is tossed under extreme heat in a (well-oiled) wok. My version at home isn’t so oily but is still moist. Each fluffy grain of rice is coated with golden egg, and because I didn’t add any soy sauce, you can taste all the individual ingredients instead of tasting seasonings. Plus, you won’t risk the rice getting soggy.

My “secret” is to pour the beaten eggs over the overnight rice first before frying. Let the egg coat the cooked rice before you starting frying them in the wok. This way, you ensure that the rice remains moist instead of being cooked to death while you try desperately to combine the eggs with the rice in the wok. We’re often not quick enough to combine everything evenly before the egg cooks. And then you end up with bits of stray egg and parts of white rice. Not nice.

Ready for an easy and delicious fried rice recipe? Here we go!

The post Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice (with Bak Kwa) 蝦仁蛋饭 appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.