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Easy Mee Rebus with Toast box’s Asian Delight Ready-to-Cook Pastes

Chris-budgetpantry — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 04:22:08 +0000

Advertorial
Toast Box celebrates SG50 with the launch of Asian Delight Ready-to-Cook Pastes

I came home last Friday to a package from Toast Box – they had sent me their new products: Asian Delight Ready-to-Cook Pastes featuring Curry Chicken, Laksa, Mee Siam and Mee Rebus.

The pastes are sold in individual packets but you can mix-and-match any four and take them home in a box. Toast Box sent me four assorted flavours. The one that caught my eye was MEE REBUS! There are lots of choices in the supermarkets for curry chicken, laksa and mee siam pastes, but MEE REBUS? This is the first time I’m seeing it. Although I am trying to eat less carbs right before my Japan trip, I guess one small spoonful can’t hurt right? (it can.) Plus I also air fried some chicken wings last night so this is a sign that I have to cook the mee rebus. MEE REBUS + FRIED CHICKEN WING = diet down the drain.

I usually don’t eat mee rebus because the gravy and noodles are really heavy, but I do enjoy a good bowl once in a while. This version isn’t that thick and actually tastes pretty good. It would have been better if it was a wee bit less sweet, but this is my personal preference. I didn’t have bean sprouts because all that I saw in Giant last night were in really bad shape, and it was toooo last minute to order online.

The packet stated that one pack is good for 2-3 people, but I think it could be good for 4 people. You can get four plates of what you see here if you follow the recipe below.

Recipe

Easy Mee Rebus (budgetpantry.com)

Serves: 3-4
Total cost per serving: $2.40

What you need:

1 packet Toast Box Asian Delights Mee Rebus paste
540ml water
4-5 shallot sections/cloves, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tau kwa (firm beancurd), cubed and pan fried til golden
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
4 servings yellow noodles, blanched
4 green chillies, sliced

Steps:

Mix the mee rebus paste and the sachet of spice/seasoning/dairy powder (included) with 520ml room-temperature water.

In a wok or saucepan, fry the shallots in oil til fragrant, then add the Mee Rebus gravy mixture above. Bring to boil, then lower the flame to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Arrange the blanched noodles in a shallow plate, ladle the gravy over, then top with egg, tau kwa, green chillies (and chicken wing :P) before serving.

How much I spent:

$6.30 for Mee Rebus paste ($0.50 off promotion now on. see below)
$1.50 for yellow noodles
$0.40 for tau kwa
$1.20 for eggs
$0.30 for green chillies
Everything else from my pantry

Prices
Each single packet of Toast Box Ready-to-Cook paste is retailing for $6.50 (except Mee Rebus, which is priced at $6.80).
Box of any 4 single packets: $26-$27.20

Availability
They are available for sale at all Toast Box outlets in Singapore except Queenstown MRT Station and Wisma Atria Basement 1.

SG50 Promotion
From 8 July to 10 August 2015, join Toast Box in celebrating the nation’s 50th birthday with these in-store promotions:

$0.50 off purchase of any single packet of Asian Delight Ready-to-Cook Paste (U.P. $6.50-$6.80)
$5.00 off purchase of Coffee Brew & Coffee Powder Set (U.P. $27.90)
Customers can also purchase a box of any 4 packets of Asian Delight Ready-to-Cook paste at $25 (U.P. $26-$27.20)

Terms and conditions apply, while stocks last. Check in-store for more details. Thank you Toast Box for sending these samples my way!

The post Easy Mee Rebus with Toast box’s Asian Delight Ready-to-Cook Pastes appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Food Review: Fu Xiang Kitchen, Chicken Biscuit Curry Rice

Chris-budgetpantry — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 12:50:36 +0000

I love fried chicken, but I love it even more when it is eaten with curry.

I discovered Fu Xiang Kitchen’s “Chicken Biscuit Curry Rice” when they still had an outlet at West Mall’s Koufu foodcourt. By the way, to digress a bit, does anyone else have a gripe with Koufu and its cleanliness? The trays are almost always wet (and smelly!), and the cleaners use a wet cloth to wipe the wet tray and everything stays wet. And these are the trays that we use to hold our food! I used to eat at Changi City Point’s Koufu everyday (Yong Tau Foo soup, vegetables only, no carbs! E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y!), and it drove me soo crazy that I wrote in to feedback (the marketing executive who answered my email was “Zoe Tay”, no joke). The situation improved for a few weeks but the trays went back to being wet and smelly after that. In contrast, the trays at Bagus foodcourt at the basement are always clean and dry.

I wouldn’t eat at Koufu if I had a choice.

So back to the fried chicken curry rice. Fu Xiang Kitchen’s stall at West Mall closed down after a while and it was only when Star Vista opened that I had a chance to eat this again. They started off as a hawker stall in a coffeeshop at Bishan bus interchange in the 1990s, and are pretty famous for their curry chicken. The secret to Fu Xiang Kitchen’s “award-winning” curry is in its specialty chili paste, which is made from more than eight different types of spices and takes more than five hours to prepare.

Apart from Chicken Biscuit Curry Rice, they also serve Curry Chicken (of course!), Curry Fried Fish, Sambal Fried Chicken, Sambal Sotong and even Spring Onion Black Pomfret. I have to confess I’ve never tried the other dishes. I mean, how not to eat fried chicken curry rice, right?

Fu Xiang Kitchen is also awarded the “Star Award For The Fine Culinary Skill“. This award makes me cringe everytime I see it at food stalls. What “Fine Culinary Skill”? “THE” Fine Culinary Skill la! I wonder who came up with this and who approved it.

Thankfully, the Chicken Biscuit Curry Rice ($5.90) is as good as I remember it. The fried chicken is crispy and light, and the gravy not tooo heavy to go with rice. The aunty will even ask if you want extra curry gravy (at no charge) or if you want an omelette to go along with it ($0.50). Of course I said “Yes!” to the gravy! The “set” also comes with a bowl of clear soup. Veryy satisfying if you are carbs-deprived!

Fu Xiang Kitchen
The Star Vista
1 Vista Exchange Green #02-25/26
Buona Vista, Singapore 138617

The post Food Review: Fu Xiang Kitchen, Chicken Biscuit Curry Rice appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Rice-cooker Yam Rice 芋头饭

Chris-budgetpantry — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 13:59:53 +0000

We were at Cold Storage, King Albert Park the other day thinking of what to cook for dinner when Jason said, why not yam rice? Okkkkk although I have not cooked it before, I have seen my mom cook it. It shouldn’t be too difficult! I did a mental stock-take of what I had at home to ensure that budget-wise, the dish is “cookable” (I’m not exaggerating, he will sometimes “order” hokkaido pan-seared scallops and cod fish out of the blue!) and recalled that I had some chicken fillet, chinese sausages and mushrooms, and all I had to grab were a medium sized yam and some spring onions.

If you have a rice cooker at home like most Asian families do, this dish is easy-peasy. By the way, “yam” in this case means “taro” and does not refer to sweet potato. I know some countries use these two terms interchangeably, but for this recipe, pick taro. I’ll have a picture of what it looks like in the recipe box.

Yam Rice
Serves: 4
Total cost: $5.50
Total cost per serving: $1.10

What I used (listed in order):
400g purple yam
3 cups rice
3.5 cups water
3 strips chicken fillet, sliced into bite sized pieces
6 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked til plump and sliced thinly at an angle (so you get a bigger piece per slice)
1 chinese sausage
1 tbsp dried shrimps (I used the cheaper sakura ebi but you can use regular ones)
3 shallots, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
Fried shallots and spring onion, for garnish

Sauce seasonings:
2 tbsp thick soy sauce (you can use either sweet soy sauce, in which case, omit the sugar below)
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce or abalone sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tbsp cooking wine
A dash of pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Steps:
1. Soak chinese sausage in very hot water for 5 minutes so that the casing is easy to remove. Slice into little rounds.

2. Peel yam and dice into cubes.

3. Wash rice, rinse, and set aside.
4. Fry shallot, garlic and dried shrimp in the olive oil til fragrant, then add mushrooms, yam and chicken pieces. Fry for a few minutes, then add all seasonings.
5. Add the rice grains and “dry fry” until they are coated with the seasonings. Transfer mixture into your rice cooker and add the water.
6. Cook it as you would regular rice. When ready, stir with serving spoon and let it sit for 10 minutes in the rice cooker.
7. Garnish with fried shallots and spring onions and serve!

How much I spent:
$2.10 for yam
$1.20 for chicken fillet
$1.50 for mushrooms
$0.70 for spring onions
Everything else from my pantry

I don’t know about you, but yam rice has always given me the “very traditional” feel.. as not many people bother to cook it anymore nowadays. I thought that the steps would be more complicated, but maybe I feel this way because I had a rice cooker to help me. We had this with a clear vegetable soup on a windy day.. this simple meal warmed more than our tummies that night and I hope you try it!

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Happy Call “Hotplate” Tofu with Prima Taste

Chris-budgetpantry — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 12:14:31 +0000

Hotplate tofu is my must-order dish when I eat at Zi Char stalls. “Zi Char” is a dialect term which literally means “Cook” (zi) and “Fry” (char). Dishes are almost always eaten with rice and often prepared on high heat in a Chinese wok.

My favourite hotplate tofu is from a zi char stall at Blk 279 Bukit Batok East Ave 3. The signboard reads “Mei Chin Seafood” (maybe from eons ago) but the packaging and receipt all read “大食家”。The dish is just a little spicy, with onions, shallots, a bit of chilli bean paste, tofu, prawns, minced meat, vegetables and beaten egg served in a hot plate.

I was having such a craving on Tuesday that I just had to cook it.. and I did, with Prima Taste’s Sweet and Spicy Seafood Sauce, which is recommended for cooking hotplate tofu:

*For crispier tofu with more bite, you can coat it with a light dusting of corn flour and let it fry in the Happy Call before adding it back to the dish. I skipped that step. I also added more ingredients because this was a one-dish meal for us that night.

Happy Call Hotplate Tofu
Serves: 4
Total cost: $7.85
Total cost per serving: $1.97

What I used (listed in order):
1 tsp olive oil
Half yellow onion, sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
Half a carrot, sliced into circles or flower shape
Sweet Peas (1/3 packet), snap the ends off and tear off the “strings”
6 fresh shitake mushrooms (stems removed), sliced
Chinese cabbage (a small handful), sliced
1 tbsp spicy chilli bean paste
150g minced pork or chicken
12 medium prawns
1 tube tofu (we prefer normal silken tofu), sliced into rounds
1 packet Prima Taste Sweet and Spicy Seafood Sauce
5 tablespoons water
1 tbsp cornstarch solution (half tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water)
2 eggs, beaten

Marinade for the minced meat:
Half tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
A dash of white pepper

Steps:
1. Marinate minced meat for 30 minutes.
2. Heat up the oil and fry onions and garlic til fragrant.
3. Add the carrots, mushrooms, peas, cabbage, chilli bean paste and stir fry for 2 minutes before adding the minced pork. Break up the meat into small pieces. Add prawns when the meat changes colour.
4. Add the packet of Prima Taste seafood sauce and 5 tablespoons water. Mix well, then add cornstarch solution. Layer tofu on top and spoon gravy over.
5. Lastly, add the beaten egg and close lid for 1 minute before serving.

How much I spent:
$1.50 for minced pork
$0.80 for tofu
$2 for prawns
$0.40 for sweet peas
$0.70 for mushrooms
$0.20 for onion
$1.75 for Prima Taste sauce (mine was FOC)
$0.50 for eggs
Everything else from my pantry

Ok technically for hotplate tofu, you’re supposed to dish up the ingredients in step 4 first and set it aside. Then in a clean pan, pour in the beaten egg and let it set just a bit. Return the sauce and arrange the ingredients back into the pan when the egg is still a bit a tad runny. This way, you will have an barely-set omelette at the bottom with ingredients and gravy on top. I chose to combine the egg into the gravy for an egg-y gravy over rice. It’s your choice!

Thank you Prima Taste, for sending me your Authentic Asia Cooking Sauces!

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Shredded Chicken Noodle 鸡丝面

Chris-budgetpantry — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 16:01:01 +0000

If you have noticed, I have a thing for cooking hawker meals at home. Char Kway Teow, Fried Fish Bee Hoon, Bak Chor Mee, Kway Teow Soup.. it was only a matter of time that 鸡丝面– Shredded Chicken Noodle– found its way to my dining table.

My plan was to cook braised noodles that day for lunch, but it was a blessing in disguise that the Giant opposite my place ran out of Ee-Fu noodles. It was the perfect reason for me not to be lazy and cook something new. And so, shredded chicken noodle it is!

Shredded Chicken Noodle with Mushrooms
Makes 4 servings. Total cost per serving: $1.65

What I used:
320g egg noodles (4 x 80g per serving. you can buy wanton noodles or dried packet egg noodles)
12 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked in room temperature water overnight (reserve liquid)
5 strips chicken fillet (you can use one chicken breast)
A handful of green leafy vegetables
500ml chicken stock (dissolve 3 tsp Woh Hup Concentrated Chicken stock in 500ml boiling water)
150ml reserved mushroom liquid
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp cornflour solution (1.5 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 3 tbsp tap water)
Half tsp dark soy sauce (for colour)

Steps:
1. Cut an “X” with a knife on the surface of each mushroom, remove stems and set aside.
2. Bring the chicken stock to a boil, then add chicken and cook for 10 minutes. Remove chicken, cool and set aside.
3. In the same pot, add the mushrooms, reserved mushroom liquid, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, sugar, dark soy sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cornflour solution and continue to simmer. The chicken should be cool enough to handle by now. Shred and set aside. Let the mushrooms continue to cook in the sauce which should now be thickened.
4. Prepare the noodles. Place one portion in a sieve and dunk in boiling water for 20 seconds. Quickly remove and run under tap water. Return to pot and cook for another 30 seconds. Be sure to keep twirling the noodles with chopsticks to keep things going. At the same time, cook the vegetables in the same pot.
5. Drain the noodles on a plate and arrange the vegetables, shredded chicken and mushrooms neatly before ladling the sauce over. Serve immediately.

How much I spent:
$2.10 for noodles (I used 2 packets of dried egg noodles- 200g and $1.05 per packet)
$1.50 for chicken fillet
$3 for mushrooms
Everything else from my pantry

You can keep costs low by reducing the amount of mushrooms, or buy frozen chicken fillet in bulk. When making the sauce, add more cornstarch if you like it thicker, but remember never to add cornstarch directly to hot liquid. Dissolve it first in tap water using a 1:1 flour to water ratio, then gradually add it to the pot.

I hope you try this recipe out because we really enjoyed it! (They had fun eating.. I had fun cooking and plating!)

Oh, and a special mention to Woh Hup.. remember the Concentrated Chicken Stock I used for our Steamboat Day? I used it to make the chicken stock for this dish and the flavour was quite unbeatable. I don’t think I will use chicken stock cubes again.. I’m quite a convert and will be using it as a marinade too. Thank you Woh Hup!

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