Jason has been talking about French Onion Soup for the longest time. He had wanted to attempt it for our anniversary dinner but realised it’s a tad too complicated for a ‘simple’ clear soup. It’s not exactly complicated, but it is time-consuming.

To make a good French Onion Soup, the onions have to be caramelised well. The caramelisation takes 30-45 minutes to achieve, and after that the broth is left to simmer for another hour or so before serving. I topped my soup bowl with a slice of crusty toasted baguette with melted swiss cheese (you can use Gruyère, plus I added a bit of mozzarella in the mix).

Some recipes call for the soup to be ladled in a ramekin, then you top it with a baguette and loads of grated Gruyère before finally baking or broiling it in the oven till bubbling.

This soup is great for the rainy November/December season. With its strong and rich flavour, you would do well with a lighter-tasting fish dish as your mains. Enjoy!

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Made a simple lunch yesterday with store bought croissant. The tuna and baked beans were generously sponsored by Ayam Brand.

If you love french sandwiches as much as I do, you would know that they cost quite a lot outside. I remember having Delifrance sandwiches for $3.90 when I was still in school and I think they now cost $6 or $7? Too expensive for my budget! I got to make it myself!

I had my mind set on making a panini or ciabatta ($2.20 for a pack of four, from Gardenia) but got distracted by the fat Bonjour croissants sitting in the clear plastic box. You’d be surprised at the variety of breads available at NTUC. On top of the regular white sandwich breads, they now stock panini, ciabatta, cranberry loaves, multigrain buns, baguette, hard rolls and yes, croissant in their bread aisle. The croissants were better than I expected! I airfried them slightly before filling them with cold tuna mayo, and they were so buttery and flaky, you would never have thought they came in a plastic box. The key here is to warm them- if you don’t have an airfryer, use your oven. They’re amazing, I promise! The best part? They cost just $0.54 a piece.

Makes 5 croissant sandwiches

What I used:

5 Bonjour croissants (you can find them in NTUC)
2 cans Ayam brand tuna chunks in water, drained (reserve 1 tablespoon liquid)
Half a red onion, chopped
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Djorn mustard
1 sachet sugar
A dash of white pepper
Black pepper (optional)
Fresh lettuce
1 tomato, sliced

1. Combine tuna, reserved liquid, onion, mayo, mustard, sugar and white pepper, mix well and chill.
2. Cut a slit across the top of each croissant and toast lightly.
3. Fill with fresh lettuce, tuna mayonnaise and tomato. Top with a sprinkle of black pepper and enjoy!

How much I spent:

$2.70 for croissants
$4.90 for tuna (retail price is $2.45 per can)
$0.30 for tomato
Everything else from my pantry!

Total cost per serving: $1.58

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I served it with a baked bean gratin. I combined one can of Ayam Brand baked beans with cheese with the other half of the chopped onions, then topped it with mozzarella cheese before airfying til the cheese melted. The beans were a tad too salty for me but I think they will go quite nicely with crusty baguette!

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When I feel like “splurging” on some Japanese bento when I eat out, I almost always opt for stir-fried ginger pork. Sometimes I go for pork katsu in curry over rice, but most of the time, ginger pork. Most places use Kurobuta pork for its intense flavour (and fat), and I like it, just that in regular home-cooking, not many of us would have the luxury or wouldn’t choose to use Kurobuta. What if amateurs like us destroy the meat? And so, I used thinly sliced pork loin fillet. I’ve not seen this version anywhere except Sheng Siong, so if you’re looking to cook this dish, pop by Sheng Siong and grab some. This is a good alternative to shabu-shabu pork for steamboat, too. It is sliced thicker but still juicy and tender. All the better for the dancing chef chilli dip to cling on to.

Look at the subtle amount of fat, and how the meat remains pink and soft, almost ethereal, after a very light pan-braising. I shudder at the thought of cooking and eating dry and lean pork loin, and after last night’s pork loin dinner, I probably will never buy pork loin again. I just can’t develop a relationship with pork loin chops. “You need fat in a piece of pork”, is all I can say. If you can’t find thinly sliced pork loin, you can make this with shabu-shabu pork.

Most recipes also call for sake and/or mirin. If you don’t have either, you could use white wine and sugar instead.

This is one of the easiest and seriously yummy pork dish I’ve cooked. The entire preparation + cooking time took me less than 20 minutes, including blanching the vegetables. The amount of time you spend in front of the stove is like, what, 10 minutes? This is something that I will cook over and over again because it is so good, and simple to make. Tuck in!

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