FOODlog #440: Chicken Kebab & Salami Wrap Made one of my go-to recipes for our staff Supper - Chicken Kebab Wraps I've made this once before but this time I used some different seasoning to season the chicken. I used a jerk seasoning that has lemon, chilies, and loads of other herbs and spices together with caramalised onions and garlic and mixed it in with my chicken mince. These are no-skewers kebabs which I simply shaped them into kebabs and oven roast them. For the wrap…
FOODlog #439: Turmeric & Coriander Beef My colleague cooked dinner for tonight and she made some delicious Turmeric and coriander seed cooked beef. She used the new pressure cooker that I was gifted by Ninja and it only took 40 minutes to cook. We used beef rump to make this dish and what should take over 2 hours to cook for the beef to be tender, it took less than half the time. She simple marinated the beef with salt, Turmeric powder, and coriander seeds. It's then dumped…
FOODlog #438: Beef Stew Cooked beef stew with roasted Broccoli and some mash potato balls for our staff meal tonight. Used my Ninja Multicooker pressure cooker function to make it. Only took 45 minutes to cook and the beef was fall apart tender. I started off by marinating the chunks of beef with soy sauce and Worchestershire. I added in some corn flour so that it helps to thicken the stew as it cooks in the pressure cooker. For the vegetables, I simply used a mirepoix…
FOODlog #437: Beef Bulgogi I've made bulgogi a handful of times but this has to be the easiest one I've made to date and equally as delicious as always. This time it was made extra easy by using my new Ninja Multicooker that has a pressure cooking function. I started off with marinating beef that I sliced thinly. The marinade is a typical bulgogi marinade of onions, pears, garlic, and ginger. That's for the aromatics. For the sauce, it's soy sauce, oyster sauce which is…
FOODlog #436: Sake Steamed Mussels Continuing from my previous blog post, another dish that I made for the recent event at the place I work at was Sake Steamed Mussels. These are locally farmed green lip mussels that taste so amazing! They are fresh, clean, and has a crisp texture to it. All it takes is just a cooking of 30 seconds and it's ready to be enjoyed. For this dish, I cooked it together with sake that gave it a nice aromatic sweetness as well as contuining with the…
FOODlog #435: Ebi Katsu Sando Another event has ended and this time it was a Japan inspired themed menu. Here's one from it that I put together: Ebi Katsu Sando Prawn Katsu sandwiched between matcha shokupan together with a pear and cabbage slaw with pistachio and furikake, laced with sweet and savory okonomiyaki sauce. **How I came up with this item for the menu?** From my previous work at a cafe, I used to make Sando sandwiches everyday. So I used some inspiration from…
FOODlog #434: Miso Chicken & Pak Choy One of my favorite ways to cook chicken breast that's juicy, tender and full of flavor is by using the oven. Its so easy and retains all juiciness with no fuss. Cooked this Oven Baked Miso Chicken Breast with onions and carrots and paired together with some simple stir fry baby Pak Choy with garlic and Miso. I used red and white miso to marinade the chicken then roasted it at 250 Degrees for 8 minutes. You'll need to butterfly the…
FOODlog #433: Indian Inspired Feast One of my favorite cuisines to cook is Indian food. Made this Indian feast a few days ago for our staff meal. I made 4 different items and I must say went above and beyond what I normally cook for staff meals. But I must say the protein dishes were the easier dishes to cook and the Paratha and Palak were fairly time consuming. All in all, I had lots of fun making this meal and the end result was really delicious! Potato Paratha I started…
FOODlog #432: Steamed Rice Paper Prawn Roll I recently saw a 'Chee Cheong Fun' recipe hack that uses rice paper as the skin to make these prawn rolls. The traditional way of making this dish uses freshly made rice flour skins as the wrap so this was an intriguing way to fast forward the process. So I tried it and it really works! Not exactly the same but similar enough and turned out real good. First off I prepped and marinated the prawns. After they are devained and their…
FOODlog #431: Soy Sauce Chicken & Mushrooms My kitchen colleague is still on her holidays so I'm assigned for all the staff meals while she's away. Yesterday I cooked a simple Chinese dish of chicken with mushrooms and a stir fry vegetable dish of pea sprouts with garlic. For the chicken, I started with marinating chicken drumsticks with soy sauce and oyster sauce. While the chicken was marinating, I prepared the rest of the ingredients which is the mushrooms. I used dried…
FOODlog #430: Fried Kuey Teow (Char Kuey Teow) Every week on Fridays and Saturdays, we have 2 meals provided which we'll have to cook dinner and a late night supper. This time it was my colleague's turn to prepare supper since I did the dinner. She made fried kuey teow for the supper that was really satisfying and delicious. 'Kuey Teow' are flat rice noodles which can be used like any other noodles whether it'd be in soups, mix with sauces, or in this case for our supper,…
FOODlog #429: Vietnamese Food Takeover Had an event last Sunday at the bar that I work at. It was a Vietnamese themed bar takeover where there were 3 bartenders from Vietnam that came. When there are bar takeover events, I and the kitchen team will have to come up with dishes that are from the country the bartenders are from. So this round I needed to come up with some Vietnamese food specials and I came up with 3 dishes for this event. Bò Lá Lốt This is a mini wrap of beef…
FOODlog #428: Preserved Vegetables Chicken & Broccoli I prepared dinner again last night for our staff meal and I cooked another dish of my mum's. I made stir fried chicken with Chinese preserved vegetables. These vegetables are slightly salty and sweet and flavors the chicken and gravy. I marinated the chicken with soy sauce and some chicken stock then I stir fry the chicken with oil and the preserved vegetables together with a red chili that I sliced. This is to give it…
FOODlog #427: Ginger Soy Chicken & Potatoes Cooked staff meal last night for everyone and I prepared a dish that my Mum cooked for us when we were growing up. It's a simply dish to make but very delicious and it's one of our favorite comfort foods. Its a ginger a soy chicken dish that basically uses lots of ginger cut into strips then fried in oil until fragrant. I love the aroma from the ginger being fried. Super appetizing! For the chicken, just marinate it with soy sauce,…
FOODlog #426: Chicken and Mushroom Spaghetti Yesterday my other kitchen staff had an emergency to attend to so I worked alone in the kitchen. I needed to prep dinner as well as every other thing to what has already been an emotionally and mentally draining past couple of weeks. Anyway, I made a simple dish of pasta using mince chicken and white button mushrooms. I started off with melting some butter and sautéing an onion that I diced. Once it was soften and turned…
FOODlog #425: Chicken Mole Tacos Always wanted to try Mexican mole sauce and this was a such a great opportunity to make it as there was a guest shift from Mexico at the place I work. They were Rodrigo and David from the #1 rated bar in North America and the #4 rated bar in the whole of Mexico called Handshake. I decided to make a special menu featuring Mexican flavors which included - Chicken Mole Tacos For the mole I used a myriad of ingredients that included chilies,…
FOODlog #424: Guacachile I'm sure you've tried Guacamole before but have you tried guacachile? It's a cheaper alternative to Guacamole since it doesn't use any avocado's but the labor to make the dish is slightly more. However considering the taste and flavor, I'd pick guacachile any day over Guacamole. Its an inexpensive condiment to make and goes great with tacos, tostadas, toast, or even with fish and meat. It only takes 3 ingredients to make, including salt 4, which are…
FOODlog #423: Laksa Johor Laksa Johor is a noodle dish that comes from the South of Malaysia. Today we had it cooked by our other chef for our staff dinner. Superb tasting and coincidentally on the birthday of the Sultan of Johor. Creamy and thick with that blended up Tenggiri fish together with a light drizzle of coconut milk, chilies, shallots, garlic, Galangal and Lemongrass, makes this broth absolutely amazing! Top it with a Hardboiled egg, iceberg lettuce, bunga kantan,…
FOODlog #422: Malaysian Ayam Masak Merah with Quail Eggs My colleague chef cooked this for our staff meal on Monday night for dinner. Man was it delicious! 'Ayam Masak Merah' is a Malaysian dish which translates to Chicken Cooked Red. As you can see the dish is reddish in colour and that comes from the sambal gravy it's cooked in. Onions cut into rings are added at the end to give the dish and Sambal and extra added sweetness which pairs so well, making the dish that much…
FOODlog #421: Mutton Ribs & Ladies Fingers Scramble It was my turn to cook again for the staff. I went to buy some mutton ribs over my off days to prep for this meal. I got around 2kgs of mutton ribs and I marinated it overnight with some herbs and spices seasoned with salt and pepper. The next day I cooked it in the Combi oven at 180 degrees Celsius for around 2 hours and then deep fried it to get a nice crispy exterior. It wasn't my best attempt at this as I usually boil…
FOODlog #420: Spiced Meatballs OVEN BAKED MEATBALLS These chicken meatballs were so tender, juicy, and flavorful. One of the easiest meatball recipes you'll ever find, an all in one pan oven baked meatballs. Its a base Meatball mix that you can use any protein you like whether its beef, pork, veal, chicken, or even turkey, and it'll be the juiciest and tastiest Meatball you've ever tried. What's great about this base mix is not only the protein that you can switch around but…
FOODlog #419: Nasi Lemak with Rendang Cockles My kitchen staff colleague cooked staff meal dinner the other day and she made some amazing Nasi Lemak with cockles cooked in a rendang sauce. The rice is steamed with coconut milk and some aromatics like garlic, shallots, and pandan leaf that she Sautéed in oil. It's all thrown into a rice cooker to cook. For the cockles, she made a rendang sauce using Turmeric leaves, Kaffir Lime leaves, and loads of aromatics like ginger,…
FOODlog #418: Honey Soy Prawns I cooked this cripsy light batter prawns coated in a sticky sweet honey soy sauce makes this such an appetising and satisfying meal with rice for our staff meal the other day. I used peeled frozen prawns which is great to use especially when you don't have the time to prep them from scratch. I thawed them in water then straight into a flour drench and into the deep fryer at 170 degree Celsius for 3 minutes. I then make the sauce and heat it in…
FOODlog #417: Mutton Kabsah Rice Had this meal the other day cooked by the other chef at the bar. She's really good at making delicious curries and Malay cuisine. She made Kabsah rice that had spices like Cinnamon, Cardamom, star anise and cloves together with a spice mix she made and steamed the rice till all the flavors from the spices infused into the rice. It also had an amazing yellow hue making it such a vibrant looking rice dish. It paired with mutton and potato curry…
FOODlog #416: Whole Steamed Fish & Chicken Chinese New Year Themed Staff Meal 2024 - For a Chinese New Year themed dinner, I cooked for the staff a surf & turf steamed whole fish and whole chicken. For the fish I used Barramundi and butterflied it, removing the spine of the fish then seasoned it with salt and steamed it for 10 minutes with slices on ginger on top and Scallions at the bottom. After it was steamed, removed the ginger and placed freshly julienne ginger and…
FOODlog #415: Mango Duck Lompe A dish inspired by a Chinese dish popular in Sarawak Kuching called - Mango Duck This interpretation incorporates some European food making it such a great dish overall. 🥔 Lompe is the pastry for this dish that's made with potatoes and flour. It's soft fluffy and pan fried lightly to get a toasty crisp exterior. 🧄A light layer of Garlic Confit Aioli to add some body to the bite topped with 🔥🦆 a slice of smoked Duck that's blowtorch before…
FOODlog #414: Meatball Stroganoff One of the better meals I made so far at my new work place. Something in my comfort zone and something I like making - meatballs. For this one I used minced chicken to make the meatballs and it turned out so delicious. Probably even better than beef that I usually use to make meatballs. I started off with sautéing onions and garlic with salt until they soften and get fragrant. Then I let it cool before mixing it in with the mince meat,…
FOODlog #413: Century Scotch Egg A dish that combines East & West food ideas making it a mashup of creativity that dances on your palate. It starts with the star of the dish, a locally farmed and produced Century Duck Egg that is crafted to perfection without any off-putting after taste but a creamy center and concentrated egg flavors. Then it's encased in a chicken mince meatball/sausage recipe of mine that gives this dish that familiar scotch egg look and at the same time…
FOODlog #412: Lemon & Garlic Chicken with Broccoli Medley For Staff Meal dinner tonight I made a medley of broccoli items that consist of a soup and roasted broccoli paired together with a simple lemon garlic & Thyme oven roasted chicken. For the chicken, I used boneless chicken thighs and marinated it with lemon zest, lemon juice, minced garlic, and fresh thyme, seasoned with salt and black pepper. I then roasted it in an oven together with some baby eryngi mushrooms at 250…
FOODlog #411: Creamy Salmon Pasta A dish that I used to have at another fellow food trucker when I was in the food truck business. This is a simple yet so satisfying and delicious pasta dish that you've got to try! I tried to recreate this dish for one of our staff meals and it was a success. Brings back the memories of the days when I use to go about for events around the city with my food truck. This was a dish that I really enjoyed and so happen we had some leftover…
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