15-minute cheater’s pizza using pita bread

Ever since I discovered making pizza the cheater’s way a year ago, my family had stopped relying on pizza delivery.  My 15 minutes short-cut pizza – using pita bread (instead of making pizza dough from scratch) and readymade sauce (such as pasta sauce) – comes to the rescue whenever I crave for pizza but have not much willpower to cook. There were times when I’m so laid back that I don’t feel like going out at all (that includes going out for meals), and I just want to relax at home doing “nothing” – meaning indulging in passive activities like watching a movie or playing console games. Lazy times warrant lazy fixes. I want something fast to prepare (5 minutes), easy to cook (10 minutes), easy to clean up (get someone else to do it hehe) and at the same time, not too shabby.

A slice of mushroom pita pizza

Even though these pita pizzas are a short cut, we find them decent and in fact, comparable if not better to the ones that we ordered via delivery (but maybe we’re just biased hehe). And this is a great way to serve a quick meal any time of the day (lunch, dinner, supper) and even for one person (I like to make a mini pita pizza if I’m home alone or suddenly hungry).

Hawaiian pizza on wholemeal pita bread (before being baked)

I’m definitely not denouncing the proper & traditional way of making fresh pizza dough and sauce – I love eating them especially at authentic Italian or Mexican joints. But since the quality of home delivery pizzas are pretty blah (to me) most of the time, I like this cheaper, yummier and easy alternative when I’m home. And I’m having lots of fun experimenting with all kinds of pizza toppings.

Vegetarian pita pizza (bell peppers & olives)

With the following basic step-by-step recipe, you can try out different pizza flavours by experimenting with ingredients on your own. If you discover any creative ideas for pizza sauce & toppings, share your recipe with me at the comments section Stay tuned for my recipes for the different pizza flavours featured on this page – they will be posted as individual recipes on the blog and the links will be compiled at the end of this post.

Ingredients

1) Pita Bread

Seafood Pita Pizza using paper thin pita bread

Seafood Pita Pizza using 1cm thick pita bread

Pita bread comes in different sizes and thickness.

Most of them can be stored in the freezer compartment for many months and you just have to thaw them before using. You can use tortilla too but that’s another post

2) Sauces (Base)

Mushrooms pita pizza using Campbell’s cream of mushroom (instead of normal pizza sauce) as a base

Besides using pizza sauce, you can also use tomato-based pasta sauce. You can also go creative by experimenting with other sauces such as bbq sauce, pesto and even cream of mushroom.

Freezing excess pasta sauce in ice cube tray

Here’s a tip for you if you can’t finish a bottle of sauce at one go – I freeze the excess sauce in an ice cube tray so that whenever I need to make a pizza, I just thaw one or two cubes in a small bowl for use. Once frozen, you can store the cubes in an air tight ziplock bag in the freezer. If you are using pizza sauce or any tomato-based pasta sauce, do note that the tomato sauce will likely stain your ice cube tray. I purchased a S$2 ice cube tray from the thrift store (Daiso) just to freeze the tomato sauces because I do not want to stain the ice cube trays that comes with my fridge.

3) Toppings

Mushroom Pita Pizza

You can use nearly anything for your pizza toppings. You can come up with a theme (such as Hawaiian, Japanese, vegetarian, spicy) and see what creations you can come up with.

Some ingredients (such as ham, pineapple & bell pepppers) do not need pre-cooking while some (such as seafood) will benefit from pre-cooking before being used as pizza topping.

Don’t forget the cheese. The most popular cheese for pizza is mozzarella cheese. You can use other types of cheese such as cheddar, parmesan and romano, or a combination. They need to be grated or shredded before use (or you can buy pre-shredded).

4) Tools

You need an oven to bake the pizza and a flat oven-safe tray (I use a cookie tray). A toaster oven might also work if the ingredients do not need pre-cooking; you just have to make sure all the cheese melts. You also need a pizza cutter to slice the pizza.

Directions (Step by step photos)

1. Place a piece of pita bread (I am using 13 cm/5 in wholemeal here) on a flat oven-safe tray (I am using a cookie tray).

2. Spread some pizza sauce (you can also use tomato-based pasta sauce which was what I used in this case) evenly over the pita bread using the back of your spoon.

3. Add toppings of your choice (I’m making Hawaiian pizza here, and hence the pineapples & ham), followed by a layer of shredded cheese (I am using mozzarella here), followed by more toppings over the cheese.

4. Bake in preheated oven of 200C (392F) for roughly 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Serve with tobasco sauce and grated parmesan cheese if you like.

List of Pita Pizza Recipes
(links will be updated when the recipes are posted)

- Hawaiian Pita Pizza
- Vegetarian Pita Pizza
- Mushroom Lover Pita Pizza
- Seafood Pita Pizza

Delicious Chinese soup on the go – seaweed soup with home made pork balls & prawns

This soup is a life saver whenever I crave for some home-made soup but don’t have a lot of time. It’s fast to whip up and yet very yummy and nutritious.  Unlike most Chinese soups which require a long time to simmer, the actual cooking time of this soup is under 10 minutes.  My version which is served with pork balls is a flexible recipe and you can add/substitute whatever ingredients you like or have in your fridge, such as assorted meat balls, sliced meat, yong tau foo and tofu. If you are cooking the soup in advance, warm it up and add the seaweed just before serving.

According to this site, dried seaweed is super nutritious – it contains a wide spectrum of nutrients hence offsetting deficiencies of an unbalanced diet, keeps hair and skin healthy looking, increases metabolism, aids detoxification, prevents osteoporosis, combats weight gain – to name a few key benefits. I love dried seaweed in my soup and can never get enough of it when it’s served outside (usually a tiny piece in a side serving of soup if you order dry noodles at a hawker stall, teochew fish porridge or in fishhead steamboat). So I thought, why not make a soup where the seaweed is the star. Then I can have as much seaweed as I like.

Cut seaweed pieces

Home made pork balls

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 700ml of soup stock (I use cheat method – dissolving 700ml hot water and 1 knorr ikan bilis cube)
- 10g Chinese dried seaweed 紫菜 (I use half a piece of a 20cm diameter seaweed), cut to smaller sizes
- 6 prawns (shrimps); shells, head and veins removed, tails trimmed
- 200g minced pork
- chopped spring onions (garnish)

Marinade ingredients (A)
- 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- dash of white pepper

Directions
1. Marinade the pork with the ingredients in (A). Shape into individual meat ball (each about 1 tbsp size). Set aside.
2. Bring stock to a boil, then add pork balls, one at a time, making sure they don’t stick to one another. Cook for about 3 minutes.
3. After the pork balls are cooked, add prawns to the boiling stock until cooked (prawns cooked really fast, less than a minute).
4. Portion pork balls and prawns to individual serving bowls, and add seaweed pieces on top. Pour hot soup over. Stir the seaweed around and it should spread out nicely due to the hot broth. If you like the seaweed to be more evenly spread out in the soup, you can add the seaweed to the soup and boil for a few seconds instead. Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Cooking Notes

My pack of dried seaweed

1. Where to buy dried seaweed in Singapore. During the Chinese New Year season, dried seaweed is well-stocked in NTUC. Throughout the year, they can be purchased at Hock Hwa (Fu Hua) medical hall. I bought my packet at Hock Hwa (brand Maru Sun; see photo above) containing two pieces of seaweed for S$1.30.
2. Preparing the seaweed. It’s not necessary to wash the seaweed before using because any contact with water will dissolve it instantly. If you really want to rinse them, do it quickly & just before adding them to the soup. Try to buy a brand where the seaweed is clean. The one I get at Hock Hwa is quite clean for my standard. Cutting the seaweed to smaller sizes before adding to the soup helps to spread them out more evenly.

Colourful and delicious egg fried rice

This is a slightly more elaborate version of my basic 10-minute fried rice recipe. It’s a wonderful way for me to use up the leftover char siu (Chinese-flavored barbecued pork; 叉烧) and baby kailan (小芥兰) in my fridge. The end result is really pretty, I think both the char siu and the kailan added some really vibrant colours & taste to the humble egg fried rice. This is such an easy recipe, it can be whipped up in less than 15 minutes. An egg-cellent dinner for me, I would say

Ingredients (top to bottom):  Baby kailan, char siu and garlic

Ingredients
(serves 2)

- 2 servings (rice bowls) of cooked rice, refrigerated
- 1 large egg (or 1.5 small eggs), beaten, seasoned with 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 100g char siu (Chinese-flavored barbecued pork; 叉烧), diced
- 3-4 baby kailan, ends trimmed and leaves chopped to smaller pieces
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- 3 shallots, chopped finely
- sea salt

Directions
1) Heat oil and fry garlic & shallots till fragrant.
2) Add cooked rice, use turner to flatten the rice balls so that they are separated.
3) Add egg evenly, use high heat to fry the rice (or else it will be soggy) till rice mixture is dry. Add char siu and baby kailan and stir fry till everything are cooked.
4) Season with salt and garnish as you like (e.g. chopped spring onions, fried shallots).

Some like it insanely hot: My home made chilli padi dip

When I name my recipes, I’m always unimaginative and factual. Call a yam rice, yam rice and a chocolate lava cake, chocolate lava cake. With the same principles in mind, I am naming this dip an “insanely hot chilli dip” because that is exactly what it is. This chilli sauce is really potent because it is primarily made up of seeds-on chilli padi (bird’s eye chili). It is so hot that it is almost mindless – even though my nose was running and my eyes were tearing from dipping my foods in it (not a pretty sight), I still persisted because it is so shiok (Singapore slang; satisfaction for eating something yummy). I love to make this easy chilli dip for steamboat, specifically for dipping shabu shabu meat slices.

Dipping shabu shabu meat slices in this spicy chilli padi sauce

Want to try it out but can’t take the heat? You can de-seed the chilli (wear disposable plastic gloves to prevent chilli burn) and it will be manageable. I did that once and my guests do not find this chilli dip spicy at all. But if you leave the seeds on, and increase the number of chilli padi used, I dare say this dip is not for the faint hearted. You can adjust the heat of the dip by adjusting the number of chilli padi used (the more the hotter), and so I think the heat meter has no limit. My fiery threshold is 10-12 chilli padi (with a box of tissue next to me), what is yours?

Good news for chilli lovers – chilli is said to contain high levels of Vitamin C and can boost metabolism rate.

Ingredients

- 10 chilli padi (bird’s eyes chilli), sliced (adjust according to how hot you like)
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- juice of 2-3 limes
- 1 tsp sesame oil

Directions
1. Using a food blender, pulse chilli padi and garlic cloves together for a few seconds. Scrap out the contents using a spoon to a small bowl.
2. Add light soy sauce, sesame oil and lime juice to taste.

Minimalist Roast Chicken Meal (served with cranberry sauce)

I always thought that it must be really difficult to roast a whole chicken. After I read recipes and eventually tried roasting a whole bird myself, I realised that on the contrary of being difficult, roasting chicken must be one of the easiest foods to cook because 1) you just have to throw the bird into the oven, it does not require advance cooking skills like achieving wok hei in a stir fry, 2) simple ingredients of salt, pepper and olive oil will draw out the aroma of the chicken, 3) just throw in some vegetables to roast with the chicken, and you’ll have a complete meal with minimal effort. 4) you don’t really need a recipe as the ingredients are flexible. This is a good meal to impress your folks because it looks more difficult than it actually is to prepare

I named this the “minimalist roast chicken” because with the most basic ingredients of olive oil (or melted butter), salt, pepper, a few herbs of choice (you can even omit them), and of course a whole chicken, you can prepare a roast chicken effortlessly. The oven will be doing most of the work for you. And once you get the hang of roasting a chicken the minimalist way, you will hardly need a recipe in future because you will realise that everything just comes together naturally (like how much oil, salt and pepper you need). And from the minimalist chicken, you can start to experiment with different flavours for the chicken, such as roast chicken with glutinuous rice stuffing, or basting with hoisin sauce and honey. I love the minimalist style because it retains the original flavours of the chicken.

Best ever chicken stock made from roasted chicken bones

Another great reason for roasting chicken – chicken stock made from roasted chicken bones is much more delicious than chicken stock made with plain bones. So when you have it, don’t waste it! Check out my tutorial for making the best-ever chicken stock from roasted chicken bones and juices.

The pictures are of the roasted chicken meal I made for Christmas last year. I always roast chicken for Christmas instead of turkey because my oven is too small to fit a turkey and I find chicken more juicy and tender than turkey. With the big chicken I roasted, my friend who saw the photo thought it was a turkey. Buying a large chicken is definitely much cheaper than a turkey over the festive season.

Ingredients
(makes a whole chicken)
- 1 whole chicken , neck and feet removed, cavity emptied (I ask the butcher to do it for me)
- 1/4 cup olive oil (you can substitute with melted butter)
- sea salt & freshly cracked pepper

Optional but good to add:
- herbs of choice (I like to add a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary and about 2 bay leafs)
- garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 celery, chopped

Tools needed:
- oven-safe roasting tray
- pastry brush
- kitchen twine/string (optional)

Directions for roast chicken
1. Wash chicken and pat dry. Lay chicken on a oven-safe roasting tray. Stuff cavity with garlic, lemon, celery and assorted herbs, leaving some to scatter around the tray in step 3.
2. Using a pastry brush, glaze chicken with olive oil. Then rub generous amounts of sea salt all over the chicken, and crack generous amounts of black pepper all over the chicken.
3. If you like to truss the chicken (it looks better but it’s optional), tie the two drumsticks together with kitchen twine. If you are using herbs, sprinkle some of them over the chicken.
4. Roast at 220C (430F) for half hour, take out the tray and baste the chicken skin with its juices using a pastry brush. Return the bird to the oven, roast at 200C (390F) for another 20 minutes to 30 minutes till chicken is cooked (basting once more in between). The roasting time will depend on the size of your chicken. You can also roast at 220C all the way but I turn it down to 200C midway because it seems too hot to roast at 220C all the way inside my little oven.

Note:
- If your oven is the small or the stand-alone type (versus the built in type), you will probably need to turn the roasting tray to the other side halfway through the roasting time to ensure more even cooking (depending on where the heat coils of the oven are located).
- If you insert a fork in the thigh area and clear juices run out (no blood), that is a good gauge that your chicken is cooked.

Directions for roasting vegetables
If you like to roast vegetables together with your chicken which you really should, just cut vegetables to chunks (use roast-friendly ‘hard’ vegetables such as potatoes and carrots), coat with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and spread the vegetables as a thin layer on the roasting tray. Then prop the chicken on top of the vegetables. The good thing about roasting vegetables with your chicken is that the aroma of the vegetables will enhance the taste of the chicken, and vice versa. If you are using “softer” vegetables such as corn, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and zucchini, you can wrap them in aluminium foil so that the vegetables cook slowly – it is kind of like “steaming” your vegetables while the rest of the foods are roasting in the oven (tip I learnt from wandering chopsticks).

“Yammy-licious” Yam Rice

I had lots of leftover yam from making yu sheng so I thought of cooking yam rice with the leftovers. My first attempt turned out really well surprisingly, not only did the yam rice looked appetizing, it also tasted … “yammy” (can’t resist the pun). It was so good that I didn’t mind reheating the remaining yam rice the next day as it was too good to waste. Yam rice is really filling and you can eat it on its own as a one-dish meal, or pair it with Chinese soups such as bak kut teh and salted vegetables soup.

Updated (24 Feb 2010): In the US & Canada, there is no distinction between yam and sweet potato. Hence to avoid confusion, the yam that is used in this recipe is also the vegetable known as taro. In Singapore (and in this recipe), yam refers to the vegetable with black skin and some porous roots sticking out from the skin, and the flesh is white/purple (see photo below). Sweet potato, on the other hand, refers to the one with orange flesh. Thanks to HoppingHammy who pointed it out to me

If you like different flavours of yam rice, also check out Rasa Malaysia’s yam rice which has minced meat & shiitake mushrooms.

Ingredient: Yam Cubes

Ingredients
(serves 3-4)

- (200g) 1 cup uncooked long grain rice, washed and water rinsed
- water to cook rice
- 200g yam (taro), skin removed and cubed (wear disposable plastic gloves when handling yam)
- 2 tbsp dried shrimps (hei bi), soaked in water for 15 minutes, drain the water and chop finely
- 100g char siew or roasted meat, cut to small pieces
- dash of ground white pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

Seasonings
- 3/4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil

Directions
1. Heat a wok. Stir fry yam cubes on high heat for roughly 5 minutes till just about cooked. Set aside.
2. Using the remaining oil in the wok, stir fry dried shrimps on medium low heat till fragrant (about 2-3 minutes).
3. Return the cooked yam to the wok. Add rice, roasted meat and ground white pepper. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes till all the ingredients are well mixed.
4. Wait for the rice mixture to cool, then transfer to a rice cooker. Add water to cook rice (adjust according to your preference/rice cooker; I used roughly 1 3/4 cup water), followed by seasonings. Stir to make sure that the seasonings are well mixed.
5. Cook rice in rice cooker. If not using rice cooker, boil the rice mixture for roughly 20 minutes, or till the water has evaporated and the rice is moist and puffy.

Ingredient: Assorted leftover roasted meat (cut to smaller pieces)

Ingredient: Dried shrimps (hei bi), finely chopped

Stir frying all the ingredients (Step 3)

This is possibly my favourite Chinese dessert. Maybe it’s because mango is also my favourite fruit.  Though I am not really into sweet foods most of the time, an exception can be said for Chinese desserts like this one. When I am having a meal at a Chinese restaurant, I’ll check out the menu if they serve this dessert and if they do, I’ll reserve some space in my tummy for it at the end of the meal. It usually cost around S$5 for a small bowl at a mid-range Chinese cafe/restaurant, and sometimes it comes with measly portions of pomelo, or occassionally to my horror, no pomelo at all. So not only is it cheap to make a huge party bowl at home, you can ensured of second helpings and generous toppings of cubed mango and pomelo.

Ingredients
(Serves 4)
Adapted from didally & Zu’s Kitchen

- 400ml mango juice (freshly squeezed using fruit juice extractor or ready made; I use Marigold PeelFresh)
- 150ml evaporated milk
- 2 large ripe honey mangoes, cubed (see photo below)
- sugar syrup by mixing 2 tbsp caster sugar with just enough hot water to dissolve
- 80g pearl sago, soak in water for 20 minutes till white and enlarged, then rinsed
- Pomelo (I use the Ipoh Tambun variety), peeled and sacs separated, about 50g or more

Short-cut way of cutting the mangoes into small cubes

Tools
- Blender

Directions
1) Boil a pot of water, add sago and boil for a short while till the sago is transparent. Run the cooked sago through a fine sieve and running water to remove excess starch. Set aside.
2) Reserve one quarter of the cubed mangoes for garnishing (step 4). In a blender, blend the rest of the mangoes and the evaporated milk for a short while till well mixed.
3) Mix mango smoothie prepared in step 2 with mango juice. Add sugar syrup to taste. Add cooked pearl sago prepared in step 1 to the mixture. Chill in fridge.
4) To serve, portion out to individual serving bowls and garnish with pomelo sacs and cubed mangoes.

This is a simple recipe for using up the extra mandarin oranges that may be lying around after the new year visitings. I know most people love to just peel the oranges and eat them, but I get bored of eating them after some time. Spicy mandarin orange juice? I have seen Tabasco sauce being added to cocktails a lot so I thought, why not make my orange juice slightly spicy for the extra kick? I also used a lemongrass stalk as a stirrer so that there will be a mild lemongrass scent as the juice is being stirred.

Happy Chinese New Year to those who are celebrating it! May the year of the Tiger bring you good blessings. Happy Valentine’s Day too!

(Updated) Note: The origami tiger you see in the photos was folded using this tutorial.

Ingredients
(Serves 1; fills a small glass about 200ml)

- 3 mandarin oranges, peeled (use more oranges if you want more juice)
- 1/2 lemongrass stalk
- Tabasco sauce (for mild spiciness; optional)

Tools Needed
- Fruit juice extractor

Directions
1. Make slits all over the lemongrass. If you want more aroma, you can dip it in hot water for 10 seconds.
2. Blend oranges in a fruit juice extractor. Add Tabasco sauce to taste (I added 6 drops). Garnish with the lemongrass stirrer and add ice cubes if desired.

Even Mr Tiger found the spicy orange juice irresistible

With Chinese New Year Eve (CNY) reunion dinner (团员饭) just around the corner (13 Feb this year), this is now a good time to storm the supermarkets and wet markets to stock up on fresh foods for that sumptuous yearly feast.  One of the most common meals to enjoy on CNY eve is a hotpot meal, more commonly known as “steamboat” in Singapore.  Although it is very commonly consumed on CNY eve, hotpot/steamboat is also popular to serve during social gatherings throughout the year.

Why hotpot/steamboat is an ideal meal for CNY and social gatherings:
- It is so easy to prepare, it involves more of logistics (gathering ingredients) rather than any expertise in cooking. Hence anyone can host a fail-proof, yummy meal.
- You can easily prepare a meal for as few people (e.g. 2) or as many people (like 20) as you like simply by adjusting the quantity of ingredients.
- You can do hotpot again over the next 1-2 days with the leftovers, especially useful when many eating places, markets and shops are closed during the first few days of CNY.
- You get to sit around the table for a long time as you cook your own food, hence promoting interaction and bonding.
- It’s a healthy meal, as you are enjoying the food which has been briefly cooked in hot broth. The food is not greasy at all.
- It is great for pot luck. Just make sure you coordinate who are bringing which ingredients so that there is no duplication.
- It keeps you warm if you are enjoying it in winter. If you’re staying in a hot tropical country like Singapore, take it as a free detox suana session, just down lots of cold beer (or cold drinks) to stay cool ;p
- You can choose almost any ingredients for your hotpot based on your preference and budget. It can be really lavish (with lobster, abalone etc) or really simple. Either way is totally delicious.

Ingredients for a Sumptuous Hot Pot (Steamboat) Feast

If you are preparing hotpot/steamboat for CNY, here are some traditional beliefs you may be interested to know:
- Try to prepare excess food with the intention for leftovers* for the following 1-2 days. Do not say things like “let’s try to finish all the food”. The Chinese prefer to have leftovers which symbolizes lots of savings in the coming year. You can use the leftovers to make more hotpot meals or other dishes in the coming days.
- Refrain from bitter foods such as bittergourd and also sour foods as they are considered inauspicious.
- Some cultures believe that having cooked rice on the table is a must (whether you eat it or not), as it is a symbol of prosperity.

* Do note that certain foods (such as tau pok aka stuffed bean curd puffs and fresh yong tau foo pieces) do not keep well overnight in the fridge, as they easily become sour the next day.

Ingredients for a Sumptuous Hot Pot (Steamboat) Feast

If you are preparing hotpot/steamboat for CNY, here are some auspicious foods you can incorporate in your meal:
- Prawns are a symbol of happiness (sounds like “ha” in Cantonese, hence 笑 “哈哈”).
- Long noodles signify longevity. Hence do not cut them to shorter lengths.
- Fish & abalone is a symbol of abundance (年年有余/年年包有余). You can use either thin fish slices or yong tau foo (which are pieces of food with stuffed fish paste).
- Dumplings are a symbol of wealth because they resemble ingots (yuan bao 元宝; ancient Chinese currency).

If you would like to prepare a simple hotpot meal but are clueless about what to do, here are some ideas that may help you.

1) Equipment

A) Hotpot

A gas powered hot pot

The basic equipment is of course a hotpot. There are basically two different types to choose from – (i) an electrical hotpot (comes with wires and cables) or (ii) one with gas canister (stand-alone device with no wires; pictured above).  I opt for the latter because I have a phobia of tripping over wires and spilling all the hot soup and ingredients over. You can also opt for a hotpot with a divider if you wish to have two different soup bases. Some people also uses the traditional steamboat using charcoal (the type you see in fish head steamboat/鱼头炉) but I think it’s quite a hassle in our current modern times.

B) Cutlery

Cutlery (front – slotted ladles) for hot pot

Each person should have his/her own soup ladle as well as a slotted ladle (a ladle with holes; pictured) to cook foods. Do provide an extra pair of chopsticks specifically for cooking raw meats.

You can also place a communal plate in the center of the table to scoop out the cooked foods so that they won’t overcook in the pot.

The other usual utensils (chopsticks, plate, soup bowl, soup spoon) apply.

2) Soup Bases

(i) Home-brewed – Just like how you can be really lavish or simple with the ingredients, the same goes for the soup bases. You can use Chinese clear soups as a soup base or brew your own clear chicken broth.

(ii) Ready Made - Use instant stocks (chicken cubes, concentrated instant soup stock) for a fuss free soup stock. When using instant stocks, you can focus on a theme (example ma la, miso, kimchi, tom yum) if you like.

Instant Soup Stocks

(iii) “No-fuss” plain broth - This plain broth is what I personally like best. I learnt this from my friend’s grandmother who taught us that it is not necessary to brew a special soup base if you don’t have time since the soup will become really sweet by the end of the meal due to all the ingredients that are cooked in it. Simply start the steamboat with plain boiling water, carrots (peeled and cut to large chunks) and sweet corn (cut to large chunks), and at the end of the meal, you soup will be really sweet and you can also eat the sweet corn which will become juicy. You can also add a chicken cube to enhance the taste of this “no-fuss” broth.

Corn and carrot for the “no fuss” soup broth

Whichever broth you choose, remember to have on standby a flask of hot water/hot broth to top up the soup as the hotpot session progresses. I place a portable thermal flask  which keeps the boiled water warm the whole night so that we can top up the soup anytime.

3) Main Ingredients

A) Sliced meats

Thin slices of meat ideal for hot pot: Sukiyaki beef (foreground) and shabu shabu pork (back)

I love shabu shabu cuts of pork and beef, which is a Japanese style of thinly sliced meats which are perfect for hotpot/steamboat. They are frequently labelled as “sukiyaki” too. Due to the extremely thin slices (which are cut by machines), the meat will be cooked within seconds of dipping in hot broth. Because they are usually sold frozen (and vacuum sealed), I buy them in advance and store in the freezer.

Besides pork and beef, other common additions include thinly sliced pig’s liver, thinly sliced fish (salmon or white fish) and boneless chicken fillet (cubed or thinly sliced).

B) Seafood

Abalone slices

L- Pacific Clams (鲍贝/bao bei) & R- Imitation Crab Sticks

Fresh prawns (or some call shrimps)

Popular and auspicious seafood for CNY hotpot/steamboat include abalone (thinly sliced), fish maw, prawns (either with shells on or heads, tails & veins removed, leaving only a bit of shell at the tail part intact), imitation crab sticks (which are actually made of fish not crab) and pacific clams but they are yummy any time of the year too.

Fish maw (after soaking in hot water for a few hours) – puffed up, soft and ready for the hot pot

To prepare fish maw, I first cut them to smaller pieces using a pair of kitchen scissors and then soak them in boiling water (covered). After a few hours, the fish maw will be softened. I threw away the water, cut them to even smaller pieces and then soak them one more time in hot water till dinner time. The fish maw will be rid of its “greasy” smell, soft and puffed up. They will be cooked to soft perfection in no time at all during the hotpot session.

Mussels

You can also add shell fish such as mussels (soak in salted water for a few hours to get rid of sand) cockles, squid/sotong (cut to rings), crayfish etc

C) Vegetables

L – “Tang Oh” and R- baby bok choy

One of the most popular vegetables for hotpot is tang oh (Garland Chrysanthemum). During CNY season, supermarkets and wet markets are well stocked with this vegetable.

Napa Cabbage (often labelled as “China Wong Bok” at NTUC)

Other vegetables you can add: baby bok choy (xiao bai cai, 小白菜) and napa cabbage (white parts trimmed away and the rest cut to smaller pieces).

The vegetables only need to cook for a few seconds in boiling water so don’t overcook them! I take out the tang oh almost immediately after dipping them in the hotpot soup to enjoy them while they are still crunchy.

D) Mushrooms

Top – Golden/Enoki mushrooms (金针菇), Bottom – Hon-shimeji mushrooms

You can use an assortment of mushrooms such as shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms and hon-shimeji (stalks trimmed) in your hotpot. Some people also like to add canned button mushrooms. One of the most popular mushrooms in hotpot is the enoki mushrooms, aka golden mushrooms (金 针菇/ jin zhen gu) because they sound auspicious and cooks quickly.

E) Non-meats

Firm tofu which is ideal for steamboat or soup

Daikon (white radish)

Non meat choices include tofu (buy firm tofu which is recommended for steamboat/soup, cut to cubes), corn, carrots and daikon (cut to large chunks), tomato (cut to large wedges), and eggs. If you are adding eggs to your hotpot, add them at the very end because it will cause the soup to be murky. My family cooks individual portions of eggs (1 egg per person) in a slotted ladle. Try not to break the yolk – if you love runny egg yolk like I do, you will love this nice finale to a yummy hotpot meal.

Cooking a whole egg at the end of the hot pot session

F) Carbohydrates
Some families believe that having cooked rice is a must as it is a symbol of good luck during CNY whether or not you eat it.

“Tang Hoon”

Udon

Besides rice, you can also prepare long strand noodles which is a symbol of longevity (hence do not cut them to shorter strands). Popular hotpot noodles include udon, spinach noodles, tang hoon (aka glass/cellophane noodles/粉丝/冬粉; soaked in water for a few minutes to reconstitute the noodles before using).

G) Meatballs

Fish balls and pork balls

Sotong Balls

Meatballs are a wonderful addition to hotpot. You can use fish balls, beef balls, vegetable balls, chicken balls or cuttlefish (sotong) balls.

H) Dumplings/Wontons

L – fish dumplings, R – chive dumplings

Due to its shape which resembles the ingot (yuan bao/元宝; ancient Chinese currency), dumplings such as jiao zi and fish dumplings (“fish ear”) are common additions to hotpot during CNY.

I) Yong Tau Foo 釀豆腐
Yong Tau Foo literally means stuffed bean curd with fish paste, though it is basically a large variety of food (not just beancurd) stuffed with fish paste.

Assorted Yong Tau Foo Pieces

If you like variety in your hotpot/steamboat, you can add an assortment of yong tau foo pieces. I think the most popular tong tau foo for adding in hotpot is tau pok (bean curd puffs).

J) Dipping Sauces

(i) Ready Made Sauces. There is a wide variety of sauces you can purchase off the shelves. In Singapore, a popular brand of chilli sauce for hotpot you can purchase is the “Dancing Chef” brand of suki sauce (pictured below). Many people think that it resembles the chilli sauce served at Coca steamboat restaurants. You can add toasted sesame seeds and chopped coriander to the sauce for more taste. It is a sweet and spicy sauce. Besides chilli sauce, you can also purchase peanut sauce.

Dancing Chef Suki Sauce – Perfect for Steamboat

(ii) For chilli padi lovers. You can also make your own quickie chilli padi sauce (pictured below) by using cut chilli padi, lime juice, minced garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Quick Chilli Padi Sauce (recipe here)

(iii) Home blend. You can blend your own chilli padi dip (check out the recipe here) by combining chilli padi, garlic, sesame oil, lime juice and light soy sauce in a mini food processor.  You can also make your own peanut paste by mixing tahini or peanut butter with sesame oil, hot water and toasted sesame seeds.

K) Drinks

(i) If you’re enjoying a hotpot in winter, you can wash down the food with some warm sake or liquor (such as choya, vodka etc).

(ii) If you are enjoying in a hot tropical place like Singapore, sans air-conditioning, you can serve cold drinks such as beer (my favourite choice, haha), soft drinks or iced tea.

(iii) A pot of Japanese green tea (hot or cold) is always a delight during any meal to aid digestion.

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Side dishes

If you want a more lavish CNY spread, you can cook the following additional side dishes to complement your hotpot meal:

- Yu Sheng 鱼生 (Chinese New Year Raw Fish Salad)
- Teochew Steamed Fish (without the salted vegetables aka kiam chye) – symbolise abundance (年年有余)
- Ketchup Prawns – symbolise happiness  (笑哈哈)
- Broccoli with Scallops – symbolise richness (花开富贵)

Leftover ideas:
- Abalone Chicken Congee

Broccoli and scallop, an auspicious dish for Chinese New Year. Check out the recipe at Rasa Malaysia.

I’m excited and happy when I saw my broccoli & scallops guest post up on Rasa Malaysia, truly one of my fave food blogs out there. Rasa Malaysia is a treasure trove of recipes and cooking tips so do check out the rest of the site while you’re there. I’m really honoured that a noob like me is being invited to guest post at such a fabulous site. Bee (author of Rasa Malaysia) is a fantastic cook and awesome person, I can’t wait to grab a copy of her cookbook when it is out (she is currently working on it). Thank you Bee, for inviting me to guest post!

If you have any questions or feedback about this recipe, please post them over at Rasa Malaysia.  Hope to see you there!