New Layout for 2016

Happy New Year Everyone! This came a little late but then again we are only a few days into the brand new year!

As you would have noticed, littlecookerybook has been looking rather different these days. That's because we have a totally NEW LAYOUT!

Thanks to my super enthusiastic tech geek husband and my ever talented web guru sis-in-law, they have decided to adopt my blog as their 'free-time' pet project! My heartfelt gratitude to them for making the blog so much more user friendly and presentable (I may be good at cooking but I am an absolute noob when it comes to web design or IT). They have even created a Facebook page and an instagram account to garner more traffic flow into the site!!! As many of you will know, I started this blog wanting to simply share some of my recipes. I didn't intend for it to escalate into something 'bigger' or 'popular', so please bear with me if I am a little lacking on my social media updates.

They have put in hard work for this site and I hope that you will like this new layout. Happy cooking everyone and here's to more great recipes and good food for the new year!

Steamed Cod with Chinese Wine and Wolfberries

I've cooked this dish several times and posted the picture more than once on my social media platforms. What I've not done is to provide the recipe to my friends and followers until a friend asked for it repeatedly. Sorry peeps, it's been a crazy period at work (well I also went on a long holiday which explains the lack of time). 

Anyway, this simple recipe came about when I wanted a super easy steamed fish for dinner one evening. Here are the conditions for the recipe I set: 

1) It must be easily prepared and cooked within 10 minutes. 

2) All the accompanying ingredients must be readily available at home, at all times. 

3) It must be delicious enough for my husband to want to finish a bowl of rice (a wife's greatest joy if you ask me).  

Needless to say, it was all well accomplished. I made this again last evening and I am glad to report that the hub finished every single grain of rice that I've cooked. :) 

Ingredients:

1 piece - Cod steak 

3 slices - Old ginger, julienned 

1 tablespoon - Light soy sauce 

1 tablespoon - Chinese wine 

1 tablespoon - Wolfberries, rinsed  

1 teaspoon - Sesame oil 

Method:

Place the cod fish on a steaming plate. Drizzle over a teaspoon of sesame oil, and one tablespoon of light soy sauce and Chinese wine. Top with julienned ginger and wolfberries. Steam over high heat for about 7 minutes or when the fish is fully cooked.  Serve hot and enjoy. 

Air Fryer Recipes - Fried Meat with Fermented Bean Curd

Fried Meat with Fermented Bean Curd

Air Fry 南乳肉

This has got to be one of the man's favourite dishes these days. Relatively easy to cook and yet packed with such good flavours. A little salty on its own if you ask me, this is best served with a bowl of white rice or porridge. Although like the man at home, you may wish to pair this with a mug of cold beer instead. The key to this dish to air fry the pork long enough so as to achieve that crispy texture instead of a piece of mushy fatty meat. 

Ingredients:
2 pieces - Pork belly, sliced thinly
2 cube - Fermented red bean curd
1 teaspoon - Sesame oil
2 tablespoons -  Chinese wine
2 tablespoons - Corn flour
Cooking oil (If you are not using an Air Fryer)

Method:
Mix all ingredients together and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Air Fry until the pork has turned light brown in colour.
Turn Philip Air Fryer to 160 Degree for another 30min.

Pan-Fried Salmon with Cucumber Dill Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:
1                        salmon fillet
1/2                     lemon, juice
1                        Japanese cucumber
1 teaspoon         dried dill or 1 tablespoon fresh dill
2 tablespoons    plain yoghurt
1 pinch              cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon      olive oil
                          salt and black pepper

Method: 

Season salmon fillet with lemon juice, salt and pepper. 

Heat up the olive oil in a frying pan on high heat. When the pan is hot, place the salmon skin side down. Lower heat to medium high and fry for 5 minutes. Turn the salmon over and fry for another 4 minutes. The salmon should be still slightly raw in the middle. 

Peel off the skin of the Japanese cucumber. Chop the cucumber finely and add in 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Leave aside for 10 minutes.  Squeeze off excess water.

Mix the yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, dill, cayenne pepper and cucumber together. Serve with the pan-fried salmon. 

Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnut

I chanced upon this highly raved recipe online and thought that I could give it a try (with some slight modifications to the recipe) since I have all the ingredients available. I was initially skeptical about how good this can taste given its simple ingredients, and was proven so wrong. I'll be straightforward here. This has gotta be one of the best chicken salads I've tasted! The addition of celery made this salad so refreshing despite the huge amount of mayonnaise used. The worchestershire sauce also gave this otherwise heavy taste an extra kick. So good that I'll sure be remaking this very often!


Ingredients:

1 piece - chicken breast, poached and cubed
20 - seedless grapes, halved
2 tablespoons - mayonnaise
1 teaspoon - worchestershire sauce
3 stalks - celery, chopped finely
1 small - red onion, minced
1 handful - walnut, broken into smaller pieces

Method:

Mix the chicken breast, grapes, celery, onion, mayonnaise and worchestershire sauce. Place in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight for the flavours to blend together.

Top with walnuts when ready to serve. Best served with a loaf of nicely toasted baguette.