A Humble Starter

Humble meals to start the memory

[ahumblestarter]

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

(5-6 large servings)

- Coconut cooking oil

- 1/2 onion, chopped

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1/2 chicken fillet, cubed

- 1/2 ounce shiitake mushroom, cut to length

- 1/2 cob corn kernels

- A handfull of kale, chopped

- 1 tomato, quartered, grilled

- 1/4 apple, peeled, cubed

- 1kg butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, cubed

- Water

- 150ml chicken stock

- Oregano & basil

- All purpose mushroom powder

- Salt & pepper

- 1/2 a cup cream

- Spring onion, finely chopped

- Croutons

HOW TO COOK

- On a pressure cooker, saute onion and garlic until slightly brown. Add chicken, cook for a 4-5mins

- Add mushroom, corn, and apple. Cook until tender. Transfer to a bowl.

- Using the same pot, put the butternut squash, add water until covered. Press cook for 30mins. Turn off heat, wait until all steam is gone

- Take out some of the water, place to a bowl. Using hand blender, blend the butternut squash until smooth. Adjust the thickness of the soup to your liking using the cooked water

- Add chicken stock, tomato, and the rest of the cooked ingredients. Add some cream, stir well.

- Add herbs, mushroom powder, salt & pepper.

- Top with spring onion and croutons, and a splash of cream.

TIPS:

- You can use any kind of fillings, such as mixed beans, sweet paprika, or anything you have in the fridge.

- Prior to blending, I took out some of the water bcs I was afraid of making it too runny. After blending and adding the chicken stock, the soup was too thick, so I added back 1-2 scoops of the water I took out before.

[ahumblestarter]

RUMBALL

- 10 piece marie biscuits

- 100gr butter, melted

- 100gr chocolate condensed milk

- choco sprinkle

- a drop of baking rum

•

1. Using a food processor or rolling pin, ground the biscuits until flour-like.

2. Transfer into a mixing bowl. Gradually add melted butter and rum. Mix well until it looks like wet, sticky sand.

3. Put condensed milk and sprinkle on two separate bowls.

4. Using hand, form the biscuit mix into a ball. If the ball kept breaking, add more butter.

5. Roll the biscuit ball on to the condensed milk until all side is covered. Transfer and roll onto the sprinkle bowl. Transfer into a container.

6. Repeat until finished. Store in fridge to set for at least 2 hours.

Tips:

Don't use up all the condensed milk all at once. Its function is just to glue up the sprinkle. Use a small batch, so the biscuit ball would only be thinly covered. If the ball carried too much condensed milk, it will drip on the sprinkle, and/or breaking the ball.

[ahumblestarter]

Beef & Veggie Rice Bowl (kids portion)

For the beef:

- 50gr beef short plate, cut across into 4 parts

- 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce

- a drop of oyster sauce

- a pinch of pepper

- toasted sesame seeds

•

For the veggies:

- 1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped

- 2 green beans, cut shortly

- 2 baby corns, chopped

- water

- mushroom powder, salt & pepper to taste

- olive oil

•

COOK

1. Heat a pan over low heat, toss the beef. It'll release oil/juice from the fat. Quickly add the soy & oyster sauce, and sprinkle some pepper. Cook for 1 min, set aside.

2. Heat oil on a pan over low heat, add garlic, cook until fragrant.

3. Add the baby corn and a little bit of water just to stop the garlic from frying. Cook for 2 min. Add the green beans, proceed cooking for 1 min.

4. Season with mushroom powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

5. Assemble the warm rice, fried quail egg, veggie, and beef. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over the beef.

[ahumblestarter]

Torch Ginger Shredded Chicken

- Half a chicken breast

- 1 lime

- 1 bay leaf, ripped

- 1 clove smashed garlic

- 1 cm smashed ginger

- a pinch of salt

- 1/2 lt boiled water

•

- 5 shallots, thinly sliced

- 2-3 clove garlic, thinly sliced

- 3 bird eye chili (optional)

- 2 unbloomed torch ginger flower, quartered, remove the center stem, chopped

- cherry tomatoes, halved

- A handful of stink beans (optional)

- 3 keffir lime leaves, ripped

- 2 bay leaves, ripped

- 1cm smashed galangal

- 1tsp mushroom powder

- 1tsp sugar

- salt, white pepper

- 1/2 keffir lime

- a dash of coconut cooking oil

COOK:

1. Squeeze lime onto the chicken breast, leave for 5 min.

2. Wash the chicken, boil together with the bay leaf, garlic, ginger, and salt on low heat for 15 min. Drain to cool and then shred. Ditch the bay leaf, garlic, and ginger.

3. Heat oil on a large pan or wok over low heat. Toss shallots garlics, bay leaves, keffir lime leaves, and galangal. Stir until fragrant.

4. Add the shredded chicken and stink beans. Mix together, cook for about 3 min.

5. Add the torch ginger flower, tomatoes and chilis. Cook for another 3 min or until the tomatoes softened.

6. Season with salt, pepper, mushroom powder, and sugar. Drizzle with keffir lime. Serve with the best dish on earth: warm rice.