Yoshinoya Beef Bowl - Halal version

Years ago, there was news saying that Yoshinoya is getting halal certified but till today it is still not halal certified. I miss their beef bowl as the beef is sliced so thinly that it simply melts in your mouth without much chewing. I tried looking for thinly sliced halal beef and only cold storage sold such meat but it is not halal. One fine day, i went to Jurong East NTUC and saw this frozen shabu shabu beef slice (shabu shabu is japanese steamboat) and it is 100% HALAL. At one shot, i bought 6 packs of it as it was on promotion selling 2 packs for $9.90. My sister told me that she found the beef bowl recipe online and it is very easy to cook. Basically u need the right beef (super thinly sliced), dashi (japanese fish stock), mirin (japanese sweet wine), sugar, japanese soy sauce and onion. With the halal shabu shabu beef i bought from NTUC, i cooked my very own halal beef bowl.

Ingredients:
1) 1 White Onion (Sliced)
2) 1 pack of 100% Halal Shabu shabu beef (can be found in NTUC)
3) 1 beef stock cube (Knorr brand) (-> To replace dashi)
4) 1/2 cup water
5) 1 - 2 tablespoons Japanese Soy Sauce (YAMASA brand)
6) 1 - 2 tablespoons sugar

Steps:
1) Cook sliced white onion till translucent
2) Add in the thinly sliced beef meat and cook until almost cooked
3) Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the gravy looks like beef broth
4) Serve with Japanese rice and dash of japanese black sesame seeds to add that extra crunch


My own halal version of 'Yoshinoya' beef bowl

Stomach stomach, my growling stomach...where serves the best duck meat???!!!

Talk about duck, i have been sourcing for good halal duck for years. The first halal duck that i ever ate is from Malaysia Johore Bahru Pan Pacific Hotel's chinese restaurant (they also serve dim sum from 12noon to 2am). Their peking duck is the authentic crispy duck where they will slice the duck skin to eat with crepe, hoisin sauce and cucumber.

Delifrance Bistro also serves duck cooked in french way. The duck is cooked so well that it simply melts in your mouth. It tastes very unique when u eat it with mashed potato and braised cabbage. Below is the description of this french delicacy from Delifrance

Confit de Canard:
Duck Confit, a traditional French classic, slow-cooked and seared for a crisp layer of skin, served with braised red cabbage, broccoli and mashed potatoes

Last year, my muslim friend recommended me to try roast duck selling near Rex Theatre. But the skin is not crispy and the meat is tasteless and chewy. I was pretty disappointed with the duck sold there.

My department organised destress lunch at Hyatt and i found the BEST halal duck from Hyatt's StraitsKitchen. I've been to StraitsKitchen twice and without fail, i will attack their duck (at least eat 5 plates). It is better than JB Pan Pacific. The duck skin is very very very crispy and the duck is roasted well that the fat underneath the skin has melted. The meat is tender and succulent.

Hope StraitsKitchen will keep their duck standard.

Evertop Hainanese Chicken Rice - Duck joins the chicken family (^__^)/~

Last year, i went to Evertop at Clementi to tapau chicken rice for sahur. I happened to meet the boss there and asked him if he would ever consider selling duck as duck is not a common item that can get it halal. This year, i went again to tapau for break fast. Guess what i found this year, i found 2 ducks hanging at the display deck together with the hainanese chicken. Maybe the boss really took my advise and started selling duck. The duck meat is just as tender as their hainanese chicken. The only thing that is lacking is that the rice serves with duck meat is not the authentic dark yam rice. Hope the boss will improve on this and maybe next year i will get to eat authentic halal duck rice with dark yam rice. Yummy....

Address:
Blk 354 Clementi Ave 2
#01-259

Popiah...Laksa...Mee Siam...Nasi Lemak...Local Delights!!!!

Sorry to leave this blog outdated for so long. Busy with work recently. Just yesterday, i was talking to my muslim colleague and recommended him to try QiJi. Last time, i used to eat my dinner there (Bugis outlet) before i went for my sewing class. Really miss the good old days. QiJi's popiah is very nice...it's a 'die die must try' item there. Also, their mee siam and laksa are very nice esp. the gravy. My husband loves their laksa. Nasi lemak is a 'must try' item too. Basically all food items from Qiji are good. If u are keen, u can go to their website to check out their outlets.
http://www.qiji.com.sg

Bread Conquest

I always wanted to bake my very own bread that is as soft and fluffy like what is sold in bakery. Finally, i mastered the skill!!! I discovered a new method of bread making which will guarantee softer bread. Check out the recipe below which i found it in this link http://www.bettyskitchen.com.cn/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=22249

Water Roux:
1) 20g bread flour
2) 100g water

Mix ingredients 1 and 2 in a pot until flour is fully dissolved. Cook over slow fire and stir non-stop to prevent burning the base. Keep stirring until u see streaks are formed while stirring.

Cool down the water roux with a piece of glad wrap with the wrap touching the surface to prevent the surface from drying up.

Dough:
Mixture A
1) 210g bread flour
2) 56g cake flour/plain flour
3) 20g milk powder
4) 42g caster sugar
5) ½ tsp salt
6) 6g instant yeast
Mixture B
1) 30g egg (mixed yolk and white)
2) 85g water
3) 84g water roux

Mixture C
1) 22g unsalted butter

Steps:
1)Mix mixture A (except yeast) thoroughly.
2)Add mixture B and yeast in bread machine pan and wait for 5 min for the yeast to dissolve.
3)Add in mixture A into the bread machine pan and set the bread machine for SWEET DOUGH mode and press START.
4)After 15 mins of mixing the dough, add in mixture C. Stop the machine and reset to SWEET DOUGH mode and press START.
5)After 30mins, the bread machine will stop and let the dough to prove instead the machine.
6)After proving for at least 35-40mins, remove the dough from the machine and punch out the air.
7)Divide the dough into 9 equal size portions and roll them into ball. Rest them for 10 mins.
8)After 10 mins rest, wrap red bean paste (according to your preference of sweetness) with each portion and roll into balls.
9)Proof the red bean unbaked buns inside the oven (not switched on) with 2 cups of hot water to simulate a proofing environment for 40 mins.
10)After final proofing, brush egg mixture over the surface and put black sesame seeds.
11)Bake for 15-20mins for 170 degree celcius.

For me, instead of using bread machine, i hand kneaded the bread and put cheese filling instead of red bean paste. Check out my pix below!!!


Hand knead the dough for 20 mins

Able to pull a thin layer without breaking -> dough has kneaded well with elasticitiy. Rest the dough for 40mins

After proofing for 40mins till double the original size, divide into smaller balls and rest for 10mins

Fill the balls with slice cheese and roll into balls. Send for another round of proofing of 40mins till double size

Prepare the cheese toppings which is made of grated cheddar cheese mixed with sugar

Dough after been proofed for 40 mins

Brush the surface with egg and top with a slice of cheese and sprinkle grated cheese mixture

Bake for 15-20mins at 170 degree celcius

Done!!!

See how flurry the bread is

My own version of cold ramen

Last Sunday i made the cold ramen using the recipe i posted below. But the topping i used tomato, japanese cucumber, chicken ham, egg and crabstick. The noodle i also swapped with japanese soumen (instead of dan dan noodle). I like it very much because it's healthy and different.

Japanese Cold Ramen, simple yet healthy (^__^)/~

Year 2002 i went to Japan to learn japanese drum from our grandmaster's troupe in Nagano, Suwa. I remember one of the Japanese dish that i ate was this cold ramen which has many vegetables added to it and the dish was presented very colorful. This dish is normally comsumed during hot summer. So give this a try if u want something that is easy to make yet healthy and delicious.

Ingredients:
1) Chinese dan dan mian 4 bundles
(Boil and drain in cold ice water and toss with sesame and salad oil)
2) Sesame oil 1 tablespoon
3) Salad oil 1 tablespoon
4) Celery 1/2 stick (Can omit if u don't like celery like me)
5) Japanese cucumber 1/2 stick
6) Egg 1
(Season with salt for taste and cook like pan fried egg and cut into strips)
7) Ham 2 slices
(Can substitute with halal chicken/beef ham)

Sauce:
1) Soup (chicken stock) 1 cup
2) Japanese soy sauce 4 tablespoons
3) Vinegar 2 2/3 tablespoons
4) Sugar 2 teaspoons
5) Sesame oil 2 teaspoons
(Mix all the ingredients for the sauce thoroughly)

To make this recipe more interesting and colorful, you can add tomato in strips, Japanese seaweed in strips, crab stick in strips and also carrot in strips.

So basically just assemble them by putting the sauce in a plate and top with cooked noodle. Then assemble the vegetables and ham/crabstick/egg on top of the cooked noodle nicely. Enjoy~~~