Been feeling very tired recently so I’ve been a little lazy to cook. I can’t believe that I’ve succumbed to eating the stuff in my office canteen. 能吃嗎？ For dinner, I’ve been packing fish soup bee hoon from my favourite stall for three days straight. Sigh. 我太對不起自己了！

Last night I decided that this cannot go on, so I decided to make this quick and easy prawn dish for dinner. It didn’t take me much effort at all. After reaching home at 6pm, I took out my bag of grey prawns ($9.60 for 500g from PurelyFresh) and started to clean and devein them. After they’re done and pat dry, simply toss everything in a baking dish (I used Pyrex), then drizzle with melted butter, olive oil, chopped garlic, a sprinkle of chopped coriander, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. If you wish, you can add some freshly grounded black pepper. You really don’t need anything else.

I popped it into the oven and dinner was ready in 10 minutes. If you have time, you can also easily prepare some stir fried vegetables while the prawns are cooking. The aunts and the husband loved this dish because the simple ingredients meant that they could enjoy the sweetness of the prawns. The flesh was firm and extremely fresh, and although the size stated was M-L, I got mostly large sized prawns as you can see in my pictures.

So this is it! One of the easiest recipes I’ve shared on the blog. If you have 20 minutes (including prep time), you can make this!

The post Baked Butter Garlic Prawns appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Remember this recipe where I used Yeo’s Sambal Udang for “BBQ Stingray” style sutchi fish? I did the same with these fat, crunchy prawns. And have you ever wondered how restaurants get the bouncy texture in their prawns? I marinated these prawns in cold water and sugar for 30 minutes before cooking, and they turned out firm with a fantastic bite. Rasa Malaysia has another more scientific method to achieving bouncy, crunchy prawns, so hop over and take a look! I am sure her method works better than mine, with the pH and all. It simply sounds more intelligent than my sugar and cold water method!

Makes 4 servings

What I used:

400 grams peeled prawns (I got mine frozen from Sheng Siong. The prawns are graded by size and come in a large packet)
1 can Yeo’s sambal udang sauce
1 red onion, sliced
Some parsley
Cold water and 2 teaspoons sugar, for marinate
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 chilli padi, cut (optional)

1. Marinate the prawns in cold water and sugar for 30 minutes.
2. In a wok or large pan, heat up the olive oil and fry half portion of the sliced onions til translucent (medium heat).
3. Turn up to high heat. Add the prawns and fry til just turning pink. Add the sambal sauce and chilli (if using), and fry til prawns are done.
4. Top with remaining sliced onions and parsley.

How much I spent:

$1.45 for Yeo’s Sambal Udang
$6 for prawns
$0.30 for onions
Everything else from my pantry!

Total cost per serving: $1.94

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Yeo’s Sambal Udang can be bought from Sheng Siong and is great with seafood dishes. Time for me to stock up on a few cans for lazy-to-cook days!

The post Another cheat dish: Easy Sambal Prawns appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

I decided to include this not-that-budget Shrimp & Mushroom Risotto recipe because it’ll still cost you less than what you’d pay for risotto outside! :) Plus, the extreme satisfaction you get after the meal is completed? It’s priceless!

Makes 2-3 servings

What I used:

4 tablespoons butter
2 cups sliced shitake mushrooms
8 shrimps or prawns, medium sized
1 cup white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
200ml President light cooking cream
1 packet Lee Kum Kee pork bone hotpot soup base
2 medium red onions, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Carnaroli rice, uncooked (I got mine from Fairprice Finest)
Some grated Parmesan cheese
A sprinkle of dried Italian herbs (optional)

You’ll need: 1 small/ medium pan, 1 instant-noodle pot, 1 large pan

1. Heat 2 tbsp butter in medium pan, add sliced mushrooms and fry for 5 mins at medium-high flame. Add prawns.
2. Add white wine, bring to a boil, then cook for 3 mins. Remove only the prawns and set them aside.
3. Add cooking cream, reduce flame to medium then simmer for 5 mins. Set mushroom mixture aside.
4. In a separate pot, simmer 6 cups water (1.25 litres) and add the Lee Kum Kee hotpot soup base. Let it continue to simmer as you cook the rice in the coming steps.
5. Using a large pan, melt 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Sauté chopped onions til soft, about 3 mins. Add 1 rice-cup of uncooked Carnaroli rice, swirl to coat with the butter and oil.
6. Add simmering stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring enough to keep the rice from sticking to the edges of the pan. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. Rice should be ready in about 1/2 hour. The rice should be soft and just a little chewy. Don’t mush it or break the grains on purpose. Keep tasting! 
7. Stir in the mushroom mixture and some grated Parmesan cheese. Arrange the prawns on top, sprinkle some Italian herbs, then enjoy!

How much I spent: 

More than usual :P

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I read somewhere that Italians don’t use cooking cream in their risotto but this is the only way I know how to make it. And it tastes good! So although this may not be traditionally Italian, please try not to leave out or substitute any ingredient for this dish. The ingredients are quite easy to prepare.. just some butter, packaged cream, bottled wine, and rice out of a box. The only thing you really need to do is slice up those mushrooms and chop those onions. But believe me when I say you won’t regret it!  Cook this on a Saturday night for your candlelight dinner. Just be sure to give yourself ample time to wash up before eating. Cooking rice on a stove-top, is after all, quite labour-intensive!

The post Shrimp and Mushroom Risotto with Italian Herbs and White Wine Sauce appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

I am back from Bali and now my tummy still feels spicy! Bali is a destination I have never thought of going. I have never been a fan of “getaways” where people relax in a resort or villa and spend money in bars. I am not adverse to any kind of travelling though- of course I had to sneak in a visit to the Kintamani volacano with a road trip out to Ubud from Seminyak, and add in lots of local food exploration. This was a birthday trip for Jason- he enjoyed the time and villa immensely and that is all that matters, for now only, while stocks last, for a limited period til 20 July. I don’t see myself ever going back to Bali again! It’s just not my kind of travelling.

With the exception of Naughty Nuri’s bbq ribs, we had Indonesian food for the rest of our meals. We had guidebook-recommended meals, hole-in-the-wall nasi padang meals, Anthony Bourdain featured Bali Guling (what was the guy thinking?), and in all honesty, the best things I’ve had in Bali were the chilies. They have this amazing mix of shallots fried in coconut oil, with green and red cut chilies which has the ability to single-handledly maximumly-up (there’s no other way to describe it) any meal you have in Bali. Or Singapore, or Italy, Hong Kong? France, London.. Cambodia.. the moon, etc. Mars. You get the idea.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will try to make this amazing shiokadoodles condiment and put it up here if successful. But today we’re going to learn to cook prawns.

This is an idiot proof “recipe” which will impress your mother-in-law, boyfriend, husband, tour guide, school professor or the fat cat next door. Two categories of human will hate you though- the ones on a no-carb diet and those who are constantly on a detox fast, because you will eat lots and lots and lots of rice with this. Yeah, yeah, I cooked this dish for me to hate myself.

Oh, and go ahead and cheat on the dish. I did, with this:

Makes 2 servings

What I used:

250g prawns (I used frozen cooked prawns because I wanted to see how they would taste in stir-fry but I regret.. 原諒我吧! Please use fresh proper prawns for this dish.)
1 packet Lee Kum Kee “Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawns”
1 large red onion, sliced not diced
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Heat frying pan til smoking hot. Add in the olive oil and swirl it all around.
2. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes til aromatic and soft.
3. Add the prawns and fry til pink, then add the packet sauce.
4. Quickly stir fry to combine, cook for 1-2 minutes then serve hot with lots of rice.

How much I spent:

$1.60 for Lee Kum Kee sauce
$2 for prawns (I used bouncy frozen cooked shrimp)
Everything else from my pantry

Total cost per serving: $1.80

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The sauce is amazing- even though I didn’t cook with a wok over a huge flame ala zi-char stalls, I could taste lots of wok-hei in the dish. Someone should invent an instant “Wok Hei” seasoning and sell them in packets like this. So instead of “Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawns” or “Oriental Spare Ribs”, we can have a “Wok Hei Flavour” packet. Quite cool, don’t you think?

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