Seet's Kitchen Bumper Package!

Welcome back to another edition of Seet's Kitchen! And yes, we're cooking once again! Well, me in particular actually. Hahaha. Yes, this is the bumper edition. So guys, brace yourselves for FOOD!

*I'm sounding a bit retarded. Please excuse me. I think it's either due to my weird sleeping patterns again or facing Photoshop for too long. *

Asian-style coleslaw

A fresh and light variation of the creamy coleslaw that most of us are accustomed to. It serves well with or without chicken. Your choice!

So what I did was basically boil 2 chicken fillets and then slice them up. Get lots of shredded white cabbage, purple cabbage and carrots. Mix those colours up! The rich pleasing medley of green, orange and purple are so pleasing to the eye. For those who would like a little kick, add slices of cili padi. Omit some seeds to prevent yourself from embarassment later. =P

Add some chopped coriander for extra flavour. Season with some salt, pepper and sumac.
*Sumac is a Middle-eastern spice that has a fruity taste to it.

And then we have the dressing. Squeeze juice from 3 limes or lemons. Either ones are fine. As long as there's some acidity. Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Voila! =)

Chicken and sweetcorn soup

This soups have always been one of my favourites. I love those in the restaurants where instead of using chicken, they use seafood. SLURP!

For 4 serves, boil 1 litre of chicken stock and then add 1 can of sweet corn kernels as well as 2 cans of creamed corn (Yeah, I'm that lazy but it's convenient!). For this variation, I added a bit of leftover carrots. Cube them up and toss into the soup with the corn. Stir in sliced spring onions as well. You don't have to if you don't like them.

Meanwhile, boil chicken fillets as well. As many as you like. Haha. Just don't kill the ratio. Once done, slice them up and stir them into the soup. Let soup boil and at the same time, beat an egg. Wow, this is surely going to enhance your multi-tasking skills! =D
Pour egg into the soup as soon as it boils. When pouring egg, remember to stir constantly!

Once boiling again, it is done! Serve in a bowl with a garnishing of sliced fresh chilli (If you dare!), fried onions and a few sprigs of freshly torn off coriander. Slurp! I REALLY LOVE THIS SOUP!
HAHAHA.

Perfect as a meal on lazy days. Also tastes really really good with crusty bread.

Chicken and lemon spaghetti carbonara

It was really interesting to try out this recipe because it was my first time cooking creamy pasta! Frankly, I'm not the biggest fan when it comes to cream-based pasta. Sometimes they just make me feel damn jelak lah. Hahaha.

So, how did I cook this one...

OH YEAH. For 4 serves, season 2 chicken breast fillets (or thighs) with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in a pan and lightly fry the fillet on each side. Approximately 6 minutes for each side I believe. Until golden brown lah. Haha. Slice chicken into 1cm thick strips. Set aside.

Meanwhile, mix finely grated zest of 1 lemon, 2 large eggs and 2 extra egg yolks with 100ml of thickened cream. Lightly beat it. Woohoo! Then, set aside.

Heat water to cook 450g of spaghetti or any thin and long pasta. Cook according to instructions on the box!

At the same time, eat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan and fry pancetta or smoked bacon or bacon. Whatever tickles your fancy. Fry until lightly golden and then add in chopped sage (4 leaves) when almost done. Stir around. Kekeke. Remember to drain the excess oil.

Now this part is important. As soon as the pasta is cooked, add the chicken, bacon, cream mixture and 2/3 of finely grated parmesan cheese (100g). Don't turn up any heat. The heat from the pasta will cook the sauce into a creamy, smooth texture. Mix it well.
*I actually forgot to add parmesan cheese at this point. No wonder mine was a bit on the saltless side.

Season with some salt and pepper. Sprinkle with more grated parmesan and serve immediately! Another great meal to enjoy!

Sambal kangkung

Sambal kangkung, who doesn't love it?! Another home favourite. Yum yum. When I cooked this dish, it's actually been ages since I've had a taste of kangkung. Needless to say, I was actually quite excited to taste it. XD

Lacking from a mortar and pestle, I did not make my own sambal. HAHAHA. YES! I cheated.



Use sambal pemuda but the mild version. I think I've tried the extra hot one before and BOY, IT IS HOT!!!

Even I, ME, MOI, was left in sweat after tasting it in Maggie's awesome sambal.

So yeah. Back to the kangkung. Hope you have cleaned yours by now. I've come to realised that kangkung is extremely sandy! So, make sure you wash it multiple times. Prepare chopped garlic of 4 garlic cloves and sliced onions. Agak-agak lah with the amount of kangkung you're cooking. Kekeke.

Heat oil in wok and toss in onions. Stir it around the frying pan, yo! Toss in the garlic when you catch a whiff of the aroma arising from the onions. Haha, sorry for the lack of better phrases. My reason for putting the onion before the garlic is because garlic gets burnt quicker. So yeah. Put in spoonfuls of the sambal, as much as you like. More if you like it hot.

IN GOES THE KANGKUNG! Don't be afraid if there seems to be too much kangkung. Kangkung wilts anyway and then you'll be left with a measley bunch. So be generous. Add some water. Stir around. Add kicap manis or sweet caramel dark sauce. I use Kicap Manis Cap Bango! XD

Add in finely shredded kaffir lime leaves (2-3 leaves). Stir somemore. Once all kangkung is wilted, dish it out and garnish with fried onions. Yum yum!

For more kick, add sliced chilli too. =D

Claypot chicken rice without claypot

Simple enough. Recipe from here. AND IT ROCKS! YAY! I love love love that website by the way. The photography is amazing and so many good recipes! I JUST WANT TO TRY THEM ALL. ANY VOLUNTEERS? KEKEKE.

Amazingly, without a claypot! WHO NEEDS A CLAYPOT NOW HUHHHHH?

But I still want one for my own kitchen next time. So cute lah!

Last but not least, a simple "dessert"...

Apple and passionfruit

Hahaha, I got this from where I stayed previously. Hell hole! Kidding kidding. Anyways, I really did get this from there. Simple but REALLY DELICIOUS.

The mixture of sweet apple and sour passionfruit pulp is so... yum. Hahaha.

Chop appled and scrape pulp from passionfruit. DONE!

TA DAAAAA.

HOPE YOUR TUMMIES RUMBLE. MUAHAHAHA!

edit: Most recipes are not my own. I'm not a cooking prodigy and not that creative to come up with my own stuff. Thanks to various sources like Real Living, delicious and Rasa Malaysia. =)

Cupcake Fever!

One day, ilerahc tees went totally crazy and decided to bake NINETY-SIX cupcakes for a combined birthday party! It was just a birthday party for Lisa, Craig, Gary and Wilson; all of whom are August babies. What a bad month August is. I'm starting to hate it because too many people have birthdays in it and it's really burning a hole in my pocket. WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE TO KEEP MAKING BABIES IN... (what is 9 months before August?)NOVEMBER??!!!!!!

Haha. I just thought of a something lame. 96 is like the opposite of 69. Any significance to you? HAHA.

I KNOW!

I'M SO LAME!!

I think maybe it's the lack of sleep or did I overdosed on it? =P

So, Crazy Girl (Let's call myself that in this post from this point after.) started her baking at 2am. YES! 2am on the day of the party itself!!!

4 batches done... and a pizza too before that! Make that two. The other pizza was hiding in Crazy Girl's tummy. Midnight snack. XD

Showcasing the unfrosted chocolate and vanilla cakes.

Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that has a hint of orange in it.

"Fake" carrot cupcakes. Haha. They're actually vanilla cupcakes frosted with my cream cheese frosting because there was still a bit of it left.

Hazelnut cupcakes with chaotah Nutella icing. Obviously the icing wasn't supposed to be chaotah lah. Something went wrong with my Nutella. I think it hardened in my really-really-cold room and then screwed the icing up. I tried to melt the nutella but it became more and more dry and had a hint of chaotahness to it. Haha. Oh well. I was really pleased with the cake though which I BAKED WITHOUT FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS. I did my own dump-and-bake style. Haha!!!!

After getting a stroke of genius and slightly fed up with the chaotah "icing", I decided to just spread Nutella on it. Here's a happy-looking Nutella cupcake! =D

Double chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate ganache and marshmallows!

Smiley marshmallow man in a cupcake.

Smiley face on the vanilla cakes that were frosted with vanilla buttercream frosting.

Cookies and cream! I was supposed to decorate it further with cookie crumbs but I ran out of time. Haha.

Camwhoring of the cupcakes:












Cupcake count:

1. Vanilla cupcakes - 24. Recipe here.
2. Double chocolate cupcakes - 12. Recipe here.
3. Carrot cupcakes (Martha Stewart style!)- 12. Recipe here.
4. Cookies and cream cupcakes - 24. Recipe here.
5. Nutella hazelnut cupcakes - 24. Recipe has yet to be typed and uploaded. =)

TOTAL: 96

OHMYGODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.

I.
AM.
PSYCHO.
CRAZY.
GIRL.

HAHAHA.

Guess what!
SCREW WAKE UP CALL.
I can't be bothered anymore. =P

Let me leave you guys to happy photos of happy cupcakes. =)

be Happy.

Seet's Kitchen : Hot Off The Stove

Cooked this for my lunch today. Totally inspired by Su-Yin's blog. Here's the original recipe and let's see my version... ^^

- 1 packet of your preferred instant noodles.
- Enough mince meat... pork or beef. Your choice!
- Vegetables or herbs. I tried this particular one with basil. Your choice once again.
- 1 cup of liquid stock or dilute a cube of chicken stock in a cup of hot water.

First, the mince was marinated with something like 2 tbsps of sesame oil and some Shao Xing Cooking Wine (I did put too much though. HAHA.). I also added 1 tsp of gochujang (Korean pepper paste).
Then, cook the noodles per usual and drain and flop it into a bowl.
Boil the pak choy too. Perhaps for future improvement, instead of boiling them, cook them later on together with the meat.

Heat oil in wok for the meat and once oil is hot, toss marinated mince into the wok and fry. La dee laaaa~
Add the condiments that came together with the instant noodles and add in the liquid stock.
(Something to think about: add the vegetables NOW.)
Turn heat on higher and allow stock to thicken slightly.
Toss around for 3- 4 minutes and once done, pour sauce over noodles.
Voila! ENJOY. =)

Seet's Kitchen: Peanut Butter Cookies

MY MAIDEN ATTEMPT AT BAKING!
Yes, I admit. I'm a virgin baker. I've never quite baked anything without getting it all ready-mixed from the box. Baking is actually quite different from cooking. It's so much more precise and analytical. It's almost like going the wrong way by just 1mm could get you in trouble! Of course, not so exaggerated but you get the gist, don't you?
BAKING IS LIKE MATH!
Madam Kat probably should try it more often. Maybe she does and I don't know about it!

Anyways, I got this really good recipe from here. It's so EASY, even a cat could do it! Although, we probably have to exclude Porkyboy. =P

Let the pictures do the talking...

Tools of the trade.

A cup of Kraft's Crunchy peanut butter.

Mixing it all up with the first batch of sugar.

Second batch of sugar!

Pour in the lightly beated egg.

Mix somemore and this is the final texture. Different, isn't it?

Walnut-sized balls of nut mix.

To make the criss cross pattern.

This was actually an accident. One criss cross was enough. =P

Freshly baked delights!

I'm so proud of my effort. =D Remember to let them cool first!

Very pleased with the results of the PB cookies. I was worried that they may be too sweet but the majority says they're yummy! Woots! I'm even more motivated to bake more now!
FATTEN MY HOUSEMATES UP.
HAHA. Oh by the way, I'm the only girl in the house now. How intriguing. Haha.
Giandi doesn't mind. If I remember correctly, he said "We're still young, plenty of time to exercise."
Kekeke. If you say so. =D


My attempt on Fusion Cooking:


This was cooked quite awhile back and was actually done on limited resources. Hence, me mixing my pasta sauce (Spicy Bolognese) with lap cheong instead of mince or some proper meat. Needless to say, it was a pretty interesting combination. Probably not the most successful one but certainly very interesting. Then again, someone hungry would just gobble up anything edible.
Oh, I also added carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms to the sauce. Yum. =)
Have fun people!

Seet's Kitchen : Fried Rice Version 1.0

It was actually quite awhile back when I first cooked this fried rice over here in Australia and guess what, my landlady LOVED IT! She loved it so much that she made me cook it again the next day. Here's a simple recipe for fried rice.

Long beans are a good substitute for peas (especially if you hate them.) and I think fresh beans are always better than frozen vegetables. Well, IN MY OPINION. =D

Get a nice bunch of them and chop them into 1cm bits like the picture above. I think we have a bean surplus!

Never forget the all important day-old rice! Without it, HOW CAN YOU HAVE FRIED RICE?! ^^

Nice fresh sticks of carrots cubed. Strikingly orange in this shot! Remind me to alter the photo settings next time.

More than enough vegetables to feed the whole Africa.

This isn't necessary but it's always good to add some lap cheong for fried rice. It always magically brings out more flavour and aroma! Totally wonderful stuff. Soak it in water and make sure you tear the outer skin off. =)

That's Craig, my housemate. He insisted on getting a chance to slice the lap cheong. He's a virgin cooker by the way. Kekeke.

Heat up some oil in the pan and once, you THINK it's hot... (HAHA), throw in some chopped garlic. It adds in wonderful flavour, that garlic! Don't fry them until they get burnt though because it will otherwise give your rice a sort of burnt flavour. In comes the lap cheong or any meat you have. Got to get that ones cooked. Then, add the vegetables in. Stir them around the wok abit. AND RICE COMES AVALANCHING IN! =D
Give everything a good mix. Try to get those vegetables that are residing at the bottom. Add some soy sauce all around. Don't be afraid to cover the rice with it. Just go all over. I usually like to add dark soy sauce after that. It can be savoury or sweet dark soy sauce, it doesn't matter because they both work great. Add it to taste and try to get the colour of your rice to be even just for aesthetics sake. Crack an egg or two in. Get it to fry first and scramble it all up with rice later so that the rice doesn't get soggy.
Add a dash of pepper. Fry somemore....

and VOILA! You have Fried Rice Version 1.0.

Hopefully, there will be many more versions to come. Enjoy! ^^

Seet's Kitchen: Of Choy Sum and Tom Yum

The other day, I realised that I still have choy sum (chai sim) and pak choy or as they call it here... BOK CHOY, sitting in the fridge freezing their asses off. Thought I should do something with it rather than throwing it away and this is what I came up with...

Choy sum!

Pak choy! Some parts were abit too frozen to be used.

You can never ever forget the chopped garlic.

Just keep frying and by the way, garlic is good for your health! Some way or another. =P

The chopped veggies waiting patiently to be thrown into the wok.

In the pan you go! Yes, I'm that bored. Taking pictures of every single step. Oh add some fish sauce and oyster sauce to taste.

Voila! Looks pretty good huh? Must be the photographer's skills. ;)
Apparently, I made Ci Pei drool by sending her that picture. Muahahaha! Oh the leaves look a little dead because I was too lazy to separate them from the stalk and just threw the whole lot in. Heh!

Suddenly, I've been hit with this craving for Tom Yum Goong. I haven't actually tried my hand at cooking it the real proper way but today I came up with this, thanks to help from Nissin Spicy Noodle Seasoning as well as that Maggi Tom Yum Soup Paste from Huey Shyan. Haha. Not bad I say though lacking abit in the chilli factor. Add some chilli flakes if you will. I added carrots, cabbage, shitake mushrooms and noodles to mine. =D



NOTE: WELCOME to my new segment!