favourite recipes for everyday cooking and baking

I was inspired to cook this after trying something similar at Lai Lai Casual Dining, a Taiwanese restaurant in Singapore. It's Taiwanese style braised pork belly with a thick, sweet and salty gravy that is full of  umami flavours. If you're far away from family and feeling homesick, this comforting bowl of braised pork over steamed white rice is just what you need! I usually make a big pot of this and freeze the leftovers for days when I have no time to cook. Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice ("Lu Rou Fan") Ingredients 1kg (2 lbs) pork belly, skin-on 1 tbsp vegetable oil 8 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed 1 star anise 2 inch cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp five-spice powder 1/2 cup light soy sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee Superior Light Soy) 1 tsp thick dark soy sauce (I used Cheong Chan Thick Caramel) 1/3 cup chinese cooking wine 3 cups water 1/4 tsp pepper 2/3 cup crispy fried shallots (I used the prepacked store-bought ones) 3 tbsp (about the size of a ping pong ball) rock su

It's hard to find a good pad thai in Sydney with the exception of Thai La Ong  where I had the most delicious pad thai with sliced pork. I've only been there once quite a few years ago, but I vividly remember the pad thai which was moist, saucy, and bursting with flavours of tamarind and the charry smokiness from the wok. Nothing like those pale-looking, bland and boring pad thais some other restaurants serve. That was my benchmark for pad thai, and today, I've got the perfect recipe that I hope you will enjoy. The only thing was that I couldn't find thin pad thai rice sticks at the supermarket. So I had to make do with the broader version which was about 1 cm wide. When the craving hits, you just have to make do with what's available! Continue reading to find the recipe. Pad Thai Serves 1 | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 10 mins Ingredients 60g thin pad thai rice sticks Vegetable oil 1/4 large red onion, sliced 1 eggs 2 tsp chopped preserved radish/turnip 5 prawns

Grilled Beef with Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients 2 x 220g Scotch fillet beef steaks Ground black pepper Vegetable oil Teriyaki sauce: 1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce 1/4 cup mirin 1/4 Japanese cooking sake 2 tbsp brown sugar (or to taste) Method Prepare the sauce first. Combine everything in a saucpan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced to half. Transfer to a heatproof bowl to cool. Place steaks in a ziplock bag (or just use a dish) and add 2 tbsp of the sauce that has cooled down. Add some ground black pepper if desired. Mix well and leave to marinade for about 1 hour. Heat a grillpan or frying pan on high, lightly greased with some oil. Drain the excess marinade from the steaks and fry the steaks for about 3 minutes each side. Pour in 1-2 tbsp of teriyaki sauce and let it coat the steaks. When the steaks are cooked (medium rare), transfer to a plate and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered with aluminium foil. Reserve any remaining sauce in the pan for later. Sli

The addition of milk and ricotta in this recipe makes for a light, fluffy and creamy cheesecake. Cheddar and Ricotta Cheesecake Ingredients 110g cheddar cheese slices, roughly torn 40g butter 125ml milk 70g ricotta cheese 20g plain flour 15g corn flour 2 egg yolks 3 egg whites 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 80g sugar Method Grease and line an 8 inch square baking pan with baking paper. If using springform pan, wrap the outside of the pan with 2 layers of aluminium foil as the cake will be baked in a water bath. Prepare a large roasting tin (large enough to fit the baking pan in). You can start boiling some water for the water bath. Preheat oven to 150C. Place cheddar cheese, butter and milk in a bowl and place over a pot of simmering water. Stir the ingredients until dissolved and the mixture turns smooth and creamy. Remove from heat. Then stir in the ricotta until evenly mixed. Sift the plain flour and cornflour into the mixture and fold through until smooth. Then, stir in the egg yolks. In

One of the best cooking tips that I picked up from watching Take Home Chef was that when cooking salmon, you should always start with a cold pan, and never hot. That will give you perfectly crispy salmon skin. I tried this method and it totally worked! Crispy skin everytime, which is the main reason why we love to eat salmon , especially with sweet, salty and sticky teriyaki sauce. I usually make extra sauce and store it in the fridge, which comes in handy not only for grilled meats/seafood, but also for quick stir-fries, noodles or as a tasty drizzling sauce. Served with rice and some steamed vegetables, teriyaki salmon is a sure fire hit with the kids (and adults too)! We especially love the sauce on our rice! Crispy-Skin Salmon Teriyaki Ingredients 2 x 200g (7oz) salmon fillets, skin-on (preferably a thick and long rectangular piece) 1 tbsp vegetable oil Teriyaki Sauce: 5 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce 5 tbsp sake 5 tbsp mirin 1/4 tsp dashi stock powder (dashinomoto) 1 1/2 tbsp sugar

I was pretty excited when I saw that Lorraine  had posted this wonderful recipe for Pad Thai on her blog. The photos simply said it all. The almost deep and rich orange hue of the noodles was the sign of a winner and it's as authentic as it gets. None of the dry, pale-looking noodles with dry chunks of chicken meat and scattering of chives, egg and tofu that I usually get in Sydney. For the record, I never order pad thai though Mr TFWL likes to always give it a chance. My preference is still to order pad kee mao (my favourite pad kee mao is from Pom's Thai in Burwood, now Strathfield). Anyway, this is how I like my pad thai - saucy and moist noodles with the right balance of sweet and sour from the tamarind and palm sugar, with saucy bits of egg crumble tossed through the noodles. Notice the key word is saucy. Loving this pad thai sauce and if you make a big batch of it, the rest of the preparation and cooking is a breeze (well, almost!). Thanks  Lorraine  for the recipe! Pad T