Porcini Mushroom Cream Pasta

Everyone needs a few favourite "quick cook" recipes to get them through the busy days. Pasta is certainly one of those dishes I will always turn to when I want to whip up a quick meal for the family. And when I say quick, I meant lesser ingredients needed, lesser time needed to get it from the stove to the dinner table. So today, l want to introduce this simple mushroom pasta that uses Porcini mushrooms to "empower" the whole dish. As most of us might have already know, Porcini is a wild mushroom, although it is sold commercially, it is very difficult to cultivate. Thus that explains the slightly steeper pricing. The fragrance of the mushroom actually intensifies more when it is dried, much like other mushrooms like Shiitake. Porcini is commonly used in soups, risotto and of course pastas, thus we often see them appearing in Italian dishes.  

I have actually always wanted to try out cooking porcini mushrooms. So when I saw it selling at selling at Huber's Butchery at Dempsey Hill, it didn't took me long to place it in my shopping basket.

And since I didn't want to mask away the original flavour of the mushroom, I chose to cook it in the simplest form, just with cream pasta.

Recipe for Porcini Cream Pasta (Serves 2-3)

Ingredients needed:

100 - 120 g dried porcini mushroom

1 small onion, peeled and sliced thinly

4 - 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and finally diced

6 - 8 cremini mushrooms, sliced (brown button mushrooms)

2 tbsp salted french butter (if no french butter, other salted butter is fine too)

120-130 ml fresh cooking cream

Soaking water of the porcini mushroom (about 3/4 cup - 1 cup)

1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

Salt, fresh ground pepper and sugar to taste.

3 rolls of dried egg noodles (Use any brand you fancy)

(Optional protein side, you can choose pork or salmon

1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh 

• Soak the dried porcini in a bowl of warm water. Leave it to soften up to 1 hour. Remember DO NOT THROW away the soaking liquid. It will be used for the pasta later.

• In a pan over medium low fire, add butter in and let it slowly melt down. Add minced garlic and onion in. Cook till onions are soften and the mixture is aromatic.

• Squeeze dry the porcini from its soaking liquid and set aside. Once the onions has soften, add in both the mushrooms. Then season it with fresh ground pepper and salt.

• Once the mushrooms cooked down, add in another tablespoon of butter. This is to make a rue to thicken the whole mixture. So add in a tbsp of plain flour. Stir in to cook the flour for a minute. Once that is done, slowly pour in the soaking mushroom liquid, whisk till combined.

• Let the whole mushroom mixture simmer for a few minutes at low fire. In the meantime, cook the dried pasta in some boiling water.

• While the pasta is boiling, add the cooking cream into the mushroom mixture.

• Stir it in till everything is well combined. Once the pasta is al dente, remove from the boiling water and straight into the mushroom sauce.

• Toss together till the noodles are well coated with the mushroom cream. Dish up and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.

Serve the pasta immediately. You can have it as is. I actually find the mushrooms hearty good enough to go alone with the noodles. But if you want something more substantial, feel free to cook some protein like pan seared salmon or a pan fried crispy chicken thigh like mine. :)

I seasoned the chicken thigh and coat with plain flour, pan fry till crispy, simple as that. The whole meal got more substantial of course and my kids loves pasta and fried chicken, sure win...

Do try this out and don't be intimidated by a foreign ingredient that you've never used or come close to using. You never know how easy and delicious your next home cooked meal will be until you try it out yourself. ;)

Happy cooking!

Mee Sua Kueh (面线糕)

I was told by a friend that this Mee Sua Kueh (面线糕) was once a very much popular dish on the Facebook cooking groups a couple years back. Strangely I have never heard or taste it before until my recent late night dim sum adventures with my hubby then I got to savour it. Quite a special kueh as compared to the traditional ones we know of like pumpkin and yam kueh. The strands of noodles gives it a nice texture and mouth feel, plus that salty aftertaste is also something I adore of mee sua. ;9

Main ingredients involved are pretty much similar to the other kueh. The four main key aromatics for chinese cooking, that is dried shrimps, fried shallots, mushrooms and chicken stock.

And since this is my first attempt, I shan't make it too complicated. I'll try to make it as close to my yam kueh version as possible.

Ingredients for Mee Sua Kueh (面线糕) -makes a 8"by 8"by 1.5" size pan 

250g mee sua (It is th whole box)

30g dried shrimp, soaked

5 shittake mushrooms, soaked

5 to 6 shallots, peeled and thinkly sliced

3 garlic gloves, minced

1 chickem breast, minced

800 ml chicken stock

  

2 sprig green onion, chopped in to small sections

Handful of wolf berries (optional)

Seasoning for the Minced Chicken

1 tsp soy sauce

a dash of pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp corn flour

Seasoning for the Kueh

1 tsp chickem seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp white ground pepper

• Prepare the steamer at medium low fire. And a steaming dish, lightly greased.
• First you marintae the minced chicken meat, let it chill marinated for a good 20 to 30 minutes before use.
• Chopped the softened dried shrimp and slice the mushroom thinly.

• On a fry pan, add 3 tbsp of cooking oil and add 3/4 of the sliced shallots. Cook till the shallots are fragrant and golden. Do not over cook them as it will become bitter.

• Remove the shallots and drain on paper towels. Leaving the oil in the pan, add in the minced garlic, chopped dried shrimp and mushroom. Stir fry till aromatic and slightly golden brown.

• Then move the ingredients to the side of the pan and add the marinated minced chicken meat in.

• Cook the minced chicken and breaking it up into smaller pieces. Next you add in the chickem stock. And up the fire to high.

• Once the chicken stock starts to boil, add in the mee sua. Break up the mee sua as you add in, so it will not be lumps.

• After you add in all the mee sua, stir up the mixture so all the noodle is soaking up the chicken stock. Also add in the seasoning for the kueh as stated above.

• Cook for a few minutes until the mee sua is soften. Off the fire and pour the mixture into the prepared pan or dish. Then place in the steamer and steam at medium to high fire to cook for at least 35-40 minutes.

• Onced cooked, remove from the steamer and let cool for 30 minutes before adding the toppings.You can then add your reserved fried shallots, chopped green onion and wolfberries if using.

• Leave the kueh to cool completely before cutting. I usually like the steamed kueh more, but these mee sua kueh are also pretty tasty when they are fried up the next day too!

• If you like them panfried, just cut up the kuehs into large rectangular pieces and pan fried them.

Whether you like them steamed or pan fried, I think this mee sua kueh is a sure hit among the family. When my kids had them, it reminded them of their usual favorite mee sua soup haha. :D

Serve it up with some salad or fresh fruits since it is kind of hot these few days.

One last look at the crispy skinned mee sua kueh before I sign off today. Hope this recipe will motivate you to cook it for your love ones soon, preferrbly this long weekend yes?

Okay, enjoy your holiday guys!

Beef Hor Fun (Beef Stir Fry Rice Noodle)

One of the dishes that I will usually order when I eat out alone at a Kopitiam (when I see it), is without a doubt Beef Hor Fun. Mainly because I love it of course, such a comforting dish. secondly is my husband don't take beef so most of the time, beef is usually cooked when he is not eating with us. But come on, who doesn't like a good plate of Beef Hor Fun?! Then it daunt on me why have I not blogged about it since I do cook it occasionally at home! So yeah, this happened:

A steamy hot, chup-chup (gravy) plate of beef hor fun...slurp! Okay, let's see how we can cook this at home!

Ingredients for Beef Hor Fun (Serves 2-3)

500g Hor Fun (Thicker then Kwey Tiao, but if you cannot find, Kwey Tiao also can)

200g thinly sliced beef (I used sukiyaki beef slices, more tender)

3 gloves garlic minced

2 shallots, peeled and chopped

2 cm ginger, peeled and grated

2 stalks bak choi ( 小白菜 )

1 egg, beaten

300-350ml beef stock

1 tbsp dark soy sauce (To coat the Hor Fun)

some cooking oil

Note: If you prefer to use water instead of beef stock, it is fine too. Just add 1 tsp of oyster sauce to the seasoning for gravy.

Seasoning for Beef Slices:

1 tbsp light soy

1 tbsp Chinese Shaoxing wine

dash of white pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp corn flour

Seasoning for the gravy:

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

1 tsp sugar

100 ml water + 1 tbsp corn starch (thickening agent)

• First you marinate the beef. Place the beef slices into a bowl and follow by all its seasoning. Mix well and let marinate for 20 minutes.

• In a preheated wok with 1 tsp cooking oil over low fire, add the Hor Fun and 1 tbsp of the dark soy sauce. Stir gently not to break the noodles but to coat them evenly with the dark soy sauce. DO NOT over cook them, it will be mushy at the end if you do. Quickly dish up after coating, set aside for now.
• (Note: The Hor Fun usually comes greased in the package. I don't usually rinsed them because it will become sticky after. So cook as it is and add a little bit of oil if you find it too sticky when coating the noodles with the soy sauce.)

•  Using the same wok/pan, add in 1 tsp cooking oil over medium low fire. Add in the minced ginger, garlic and shallot. Stir fry till fragrant and make sure not to burn  them. Next add in the marinated beef slices.

•  Cook till the beef slices are almost cooked through, add in the beef stock. And let the mixture simmer.

•  Next add in the bak choi ( 小白菜) and bring to a simmer. Add in the seasoning for the gravy and the thickening sauce (water plus corn starch)

• Next add in the beaten egg and gently stir to mix.

• Lastly, add in the Hor Fun and gently toss to mix and coat the noodles with all the ingredients and gravy.

• Immediately dish up and serve! Yumm :9 Enjoy it while still hot...remember your chilli padi or green chillies!

 It is all about getting the right ingredients and assembling them together...not that hard I promise. :) Now you can enjoy a big plate of Beef Hor Fun right in the comfort of your home, yippee!

 One more close up to see this fabulous plate of noodles. Do try it out and let me know how you like it!

Have a great Easter in advance! And happy long weekend!

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Chicken Curry Mee

Wow, I am surprise that I am blogging two days in a row! Haha! The fact of the matter is I really love this recipe so I have to record it down on my blog before it's gone. :P What recipe? A comforting spicy dish that every household should have... Chicken Curry ...with noodles! Yeah Chicken Curry Mee. I am sure many of us have seen and tasted it before, be it Penang style or local Singapore style, everyone has their own rendition. Well, so long as it taste good, that's all that matters right? ;) 

Plus the change of weather lately, having this on rainy nights is just so shiok!

Oh man, when I cooked this, I seriously didn't think it will turn out so good. :D It's like striking a jackpot! Lol! Anyway, the whole family loved it, even my kids who can't really take spicy food! Yay!

Okay! Let's get cooking! Here are ingredients we need for this yummeh curry mee. :9

Oopsie, I missed out the Sing Long Chilli Sauce in this ingredients photo. :P Anyway, you can click on the name to see how it looks like. :)

Recipe for Chicken Curry Mee (Serves 3-4)

Curry paste:

6 garlic gloves

5 shallots

1 large red onion

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2-3 tbsp Sing Long Chilli Sauce

• Blend everything together till smooth. Set aside for use later.

1.5 kg Chicken, cut into smaller pieces

2 lemongrass stalks, bruised with the back knife

3" thick young ginger, sliced thinly

4-5 Kaffir Lime leafs

1 package (200ml) coconut cream/milk

300 ml water 

1 tsp chicken seasoning

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 pandan leafs

2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

5 fried beancurd (dao pok), sliced smaller

5-8 large shrimps, peeled and devined

1 pack of egg noodles

1 Japanese cucumber, julienned

Salt, sugar to taste

• In a large bowl, place the cut chicken pieces in. Add in the paste and mix in so that all the chicken pieces are coated with the paste (as seen above). Let it marinate for 20-30 minutes.
• Next in a heavy cooking pot, add 2 tsp of cooking oil over medium low fire. Add in lemongrass, young ginger and kaffir lime leafs. Cook for a couple minutes until aromatic.
• 
  
• Next add in the marinated chicken pieces in paste. Cook at medium fire for 5 minutes till most of the chicken has turned opaque.
•  
• Add in water, chicken seasoning, coconut milk and ketchup. Give it a stir and let it boil. Add in pandan leafs, salt and sugar.
• Next add in cubed potatoes, fried beancurd and give it a good stir. Let it come to a boil, then reduce the fire to a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
•  
  
• In the meantime, parboil the egg noodles in a pot of boiling water. Drain and divide the noodles in serving plates.
• Taste test the curry and add more water if needed if there is not enough gravy. Ladle chicken pieces and gravy over egg noodles and top it with some julienned cucumber. Serve immediately. Enjoy! 

I am just glad I cooked this, and more glad I posted this. Will definitely cook this dish again. :9 You can change to serving this with baguette or bee hoon...which ever you fancy. ;) Most importantly, cook your yummy curry mee and eat it too! Enjoy!

Have a good night all!