How to dress up a can of baked beans

This is another no-pride recipe. It’s basically a can of baked beans in disguise. No “real” cooking required, I let my microwave do the work. But it turns out quite yummy too. I thought of doing this because when I was in school, I remembered the rice stall had this sausage with baked beans dish which I liked very much. This is my lazy way of recreating it. I also added some lettuce and diced peppers for colour & fiber.

Ingredients: Canned Baked Beans, Bell Peppers (Diced)

Ingredient: Sausage

Ingredient: Lettuce

Ingredients
(Serves 2)

- 1 small can baked beans (about 250g)
- 2 to 3 sausages, sliced thinly
- 1/2 bell pepper, diced (I used 1/4 red pepper and 1/4 green pepper for colour)
- a few lettuce leaves (stacked together and sliced thinly)

Directions
1. Empty baked beans into a microwavable bowl/plate. Add cut sausages. Cover with microwave-safe cling wrap and leave a small opening. Microwave for about 2 minutes on high or until warm.
2. Use a spoon to mix the sausages and baked beans well.
3. Microwave the bell peppers for about 2 minutes on high.
4. Mix in half of the cooked bell peppers, then top the dish with some lettuce, and the remaining bell peppers. Serve with rice.

Love microwave recipes? Check out my microwaved potatoes.

Watercress Soup with Luo Han Guo Soup 西洋菜罗汉果汤

Whenever I have an irritated throat, or I feel a cough coming, I will make this soup remedy. It’s basically the watercress soup recipe, with an added luo han guo fruit (monk’s fruit). Chinese traditional medicine has always used luo han guo fruit to treat coughs, sore throat and combat phlegm.  Luo han guo is also naturally sweet, so it gives a sweet taste to this soup. If you don’t like watercress that much, you may find the addition of luo han guo more pleasing to your palate.

Of all the different types of food, I find Chinese soups the hardest to photograph, and this particular soup is extra difficult for me because it is so dark coloured. Hope you are not put off by the appearance of the soup in the photo, because the soup actually tastes sweet and soothing :)

Luo han guo fruit (Monk’s fruit)

Putting the smashed fruit in a disposable soup stock bag (see step 2)

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 250g pork ribs
- 1 luo han guo fruit (aka Siraitia grosvenorii, 罗汉果, 羅漢果, monk’s fruit)
- 200g watercress (西洋菜), ends trimmed, then roughly cut
- 10 pitted red dates
- 1 tbsp wolfberries, soaked in a small bowl of water till puffy
- 1300 ml water
- sea salt

Directions
1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for about 5 minutes, to remove the scum so that you have clear (particle-free) soup later.
2. Using the back of your knife, gently crack open the luo han guo fruit. If you have a soup stock bag, you can place the smashed fruit inside the bag (see photo above).
3. In a large soup pot, add water, red dates, blanched pork ribs, luo han guo fruit and watercress. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer (with lid partially closed) for about 40 minutes.
4. Five minutes before you turn off the flame, add the soaked wolfberries. Season with salt. Discard the luo han guo fruit pieces (if you are using the soup stock bag, just discard the whole bag). Serve the soup with steamed rice.

Similar Recipes
- Watercress with Pork Ribs Soup
- Watercress Soup with Chicken & Ginseng

15- minute cheater’s seafood pita pizza on regular (pocket type) pita bread

A simple and lazy recipe for the weekend. This is another one of my quick fix, no-pride cooking pizza on the go. Using the shortcut method of using pita bread as pizza crust , this short-cut pizza delight can be whipped up in 15 minutes: 5 minutes to prepare & assemble, and 10 minutes to bake. For more information about pita pizzas, check out my detailed write-up here.

Ingredients
(makes 1 pita pizza)

- 1 pita bread
- pizza sauce or tomato-based pasta sauce
- a few prawns (shrimps), shells removed and halved (lengthwise)
- a small piece of squid, cut to rings
- a few pitted black olives, cut to rings
- parsley leaves (western type), chopped finely (optional)
- shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
(for step by step photos on how to assemble this pizza, refer to this post)

1. Place a piece of pita bread  on a flat oven-safe tray.
2. Spread some pizza sauce (you can also use tomato-based pasta sauce) evenly over the pita bread using the back of a spoon.
3. Add a generous layer of cheese, and arrange prawns, squids and black olives evenly all over the pita bread. If you like the toppings to be covered with some cheese (see photo below), add a thin layer of cheese over the toppings. Add some shredded parsley leaves for for garnishing if you like.
4. Bake in preheated oven of 200C (392F) for roughly 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the seafood is cooked. Serve with tobasco sauce and grated parmesan cheese.

This one is made using paper thin pita bread

Cooking Tip
You can also pre-cook the seafood if you like to shorten the baking time. For instance, you can microwave them for a few seconds on high (it’s ok if they are only partially cooked since you baking them later) before topping the pizza. For me, I slice the prawns (by halving them) and squid thinly and do the entire baking in the oven.

Fancy more 15-minute pita pizza ideas?

White Fungus with Longan and Ginkgo Nuts Dessert 雪耳龙眼白果糖水

This is a simple Chinese dessert (tong shui) to make at home. It is often cooked during Chinese New Year and auspicious occasions (I remember having it at my friend’s house on the morning of her wedding) presumably because its sweetness symbolises sweet blessings (甜甜蜜蜜).  This is also a simplified form of our local Cheng Tng dessert (usually Cheng Tng comes with more ingredients such as lily bulbs, sea coconut, sweet potato and barley). White fungus is highly nutritious and it has health benefits such as improving blood circulation, and strengthening respiratory system. Because I cheat (as usual) by using canned ginkgo nuts (where the nuts are already shelled and boiled), the steps and cooking time for this recipe are greatly simplified; it only took me 30 minutes to prepare this dessert.

Ingredients
(serves 6 to 8)
- 40 grams white fungus (also known as white jelly fungus, snow fungus, 雪儿)
- 2 litres water
- 5 pandan leaves, tied to a knot
- 50g dried longan (龙眼干)
- 120g rock sugar (冰糖) (adjust to taste)
- 100g (about 30) ginkgo (gingko) nuts (白果) (the canned type which is boiled & shelled; I used half can)
- 20 pitted red dates (红枣)

Directions
1. Soak white fungus in a bowl of hot water (covered) for about half an hour, then carefully discard water. The white fungus should be puffed up and turn a whiter shade. Using a pair of kitchen scissors, trim and discard the dark yellow hard part on the centre underside of the fungus. Cut the rest of the fungus to smaller pieces and reserve for step 2.
2. In a soup pot, add water, cut fungus pieces, pandan leaves, longan and red dates. Bring to a boil and then simmer (with lid partially closed) for 20 minutes. Add gingko nuts and continue simmering for 10 minutes.
3. Add rock sugar to taste and off the flame when the sugar is fully dissolved. Discard pandan leaves. Serve warm or chilled.

White fungus – see cooking note 1 below

Ginkgo Nuts (can type)

Dried longan

All the ingredients in a soup pot

Cooking Tips
1. Look out for good quality white fungus recognizable by its whole fungus shape  – better ones are cleaner and more fragrant.
2. If you are using raw gingko nuts, gently crack open the shells with a mortar and pestle, insert a toothpick to flick out the dirt in the centre of the nut which is bitter tasting. You will need to increase the simmering time in step 2 (at least 1 hour instead of half an hour or until the nuts are soft). Add the white fungus at the last 30 minutes of simmering.
3. Instead of canned ginkgo nuts, you can use those which are vacuum packed as well. Because of the way the nuts are compressed by the vacuum packaging which distorts their shape, I personally prefer the canned type.
4. You can substitute gingko nuts with lotus nuts, or use a combination of both.
5. Instead of dried longans, you can substitute with fresh or canned longans which you add to the dessert when serving (no need to simmer).

Fancy more Chinese desserts recipes?

Who’s also making it
- Anncoo’s Hobby (her version uses canned longan)

Steamed Prawns with Garlic

This is a really simple dish, and it costs much less to make it at home. As you know, restaurants always charge a premium for seafood dishes. The prawns cook really fast (the actual steaming time is 5 minutes or less) and they go well with garlic. Try to use bigger prawns because it’s easier to butterfly them and to stuff the garlic mixture into the cavity. I find that bigger prawns taste better too. If you like garlic and prawns like I do, you will like this recipe. If you find that garlic is too sharp or spicy for your liking, you can reduce the amount of chopped garlic used. I use a lot as you see in the photos because I love garlic. If you like steamed prawns, do check out my other recipe – drunken prawns.

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 8 (about 250 grams) large prawns (better known as shrimps in the US)
- garlic cloves, about 1/2 to 3/4 bulb worth, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Chinese wine (Hua Diao Jiu 花雕酒 or Shao Xing Jiu 绍兴酒)
- 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 5 slices ginger
- 1 to 2 stalk of spring onions (scallions), cut to 5 cm (2 inch) length

Directions (Step by Step Photos)

Step 1: Line the bottom of a deep plate with some ginger slices and spring onions (scallions) stalks.

Step 2: Butterfly the prawns – I use a pair kitchen scissors to make a top slit on the prawns, remove the veins, and cut a little deeper to make a cavity. Be careful not to cut too deep or you will half the prawns. Trim the feelers off the prawns. Arrange butterflied prawns on top of the ginger and scallions and drizzle 1 tbsp Chinese wine over the prawns cavity.

Step 3: In a small bowl, mix chopped garlic, soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil and 1 tbsp Chinese wine. Fill the prawns cavity with the garlic mixture.

Step 4: When the water in the steamer is boiling, place the plate on the steaming rack. Steam over high heat until the prawns are cooked (just a few minutes). Do not steam for too long or the prawns will become hard and chewy. Garnish with spring onions or coriander as you like.

Ginkgo Barley with Dried Beancurd Skin Dessert 白果薏米腐竹糖水

This is one of my favourite Chinese desserts of all time. Also known as fu chok (foo chuk), this dessert tastes light, refreshing and nourishing. It is also really easy to make. Be sure to buy the soft type of bean curd skin sheets to make this dessert. The other type, which looks alike but is harder and oilier, is more suitable for making Chinese style meat stews (I found out the hard way because I use the wrong type on my first attempt of making the dessert). I cheat by using canned ginkgo nuts (where the nuts are already shelled and boiled), so the steps and cooking time for this recipe are greatly simplified.

Ingredients
(Serves 6 to 8)

- 50g holland barley (洋薏米), rinsed a few times
- 1800ml water
- 5 pandan leaves, tied to a knot
- 20 pitted red dates
- 100g soft beancurd skin sheets (三边腐竹)
- 100g canned (boiled and shelled) ginkgo nuts (白果) (I used half can)
- 130g rock sugar (冰糖) (adjust to taste)

Directions
1. Soak bean curd sheets in a large bowl of water till soft, around 5 minutes.
2. In a pot, add water, barley, pandan leaves and red dates. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20-30 minutes till barley is soft.
3. Add gingko nuts and soaked softened beancurd sheets (do not add the water used to soak the beancurd sheets), and continue simmering for another 10 minutes, or until the beancurd skin reached the consistency you like (big pieces or congee-like fine consistency; I like somewhere in between).
4. Add rock sugar to taste, turn off the flame when the sugar is fully dissolved. Discard pandan leaves. Serve warm or chilled.

Behind the Scenes Photos

Ingredients – holland barley, rock sugar, red dates and pandan leaves

Ingredient – bean curd sheet. It even shows the photo of the ginkgo barley dessert!

Soaking the bean curd sheets to soften them before using

Canned Ginkgo Nuts

Cooking Tips
1. Make sure you buy the soft type of beancurd skin to make this dessert. The other type, which is harder and oilier, is more suitable for making Chinese style meat stews (lor bah).
2. Get the finer type of barley, usually labelled as holland barley (洋薏米). They are easier to cook and softer to eat.
3. If you are using raw ginkgo nuts, you will need to increase the simmering time in step 2 (around 1 hour) till the nuts are soft. Add a bit more water too. Before using, gently crack open the shells with a mortar and pestle, insert a toothpick to flick out the dirt in the center of the nut which is bitter tasting.
4. Instead of canned ginkgo nuts, you can use those which are vacuum packed as well. Because of the way the nuts are compressed by the vacuum packaging which distorts their shape, I personally prefer the canned type.
5. You can substitute gingko nuts with lotus nuts, or use a combination of both.

Fancy more Chinese desserts recipes?

Who’s also making it
- Christine’s Recipes (her version comes with soft-boiled eggs)

Baked Tofu, Beef and Cheese

I love baked cheese dishes and this is something different from the usual baked rice with cheese one-dish meals I’ve made. The tofu makes this dish extra healthy.  I first ate this dish at a local cafe with my buddy Anemone and we really love it. But the dish cost more than S$10 before taxes and the portion (appetizer size) is very small. So we thought, why don’t we try to recreate this at home?  We can make more for less. My buddy figured out 99% of the recipe, while I leeched on her expertise and just added some curry powder as a final touch. After all our hard work at recreating the dish, the end result tastes nothing like the cafe version though hehe, but I thought ours is better ;)

Ingredients
(makes 3 appetizer sized servings)

- 250g minced beef
- 1/3 beef seasoning cube
- half large yellow/white onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- 150g firm white tofu (water drained), cut to smaller and flat pieces

Seasonings
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tbsp curry powder (I use leftover powder from making curry vegetables)

Tools needed
- oven-safe baking dishes (shallow type, for one person size)

Note: I used 3 personal size baking dishes (one per person) and divided the ingredients into 3 portions

Directions (Step by Step Photos)

1. In a bowl, add minced beef and seasonings. Mix well and let it marinade for about 10 minutes.

2. Heat up a pan with some olive oil and add the onions and beef cube. Saute or fry on gentle heat till the onions look translucent.

3. Add the minced beef. Stir fry for a very short while (around 30 seconds) and turn off the flame. Continue to fry the beef (breaking them to small bits with your spatula) with the flame off to prevent overcooking. It is all right if the beef is not totally cooked at this point (and it shouldn’t be) as you are going to bake it further. If you overcook the beef, it will taste chewy and tough.

4. In the baking dish, add tofu slices (notice that they are quite thinly sliced) to line the bottom of the dish.

5. Spoon the beef and onions mixture you prepared earlier in step 2 over the tofu.

6. Top it up with a generous layer of shredded cheese.

7. Bake in preheated oven 200c (400F) for about 15-20 minutes.

8. Your baked tofu and beef is ready when the cheese is fully melted and slightly browned.

Bitter Gourd with Pork Ribs Soup 苦瓜排骨汤

This is one of my favourite home cooked Chinese soups. And it is really healthy. Just like watercress soup, bitter gourd (bitter melon) has cooling properties (among a host of other health benefits), which helps our body combat the hot weather. I’ve always love bitter taste more than sweet, but for those who do not like bitter gourd, don’t let the soup scare you – because it actually tastes quite sweet. The pork ribs, carrots and red dates lend their sweetness to balance the bitterness. I think those who do not like to eat bitter gourd have a better chance of accepting this soup than eating the classic bittergourd with egg stir fry. In fact, you can adjust the sweetness of the soup by adding more or less honey red dates. To me, however, a delicious bowl of bitter gourd soup must still taste slightly bitter, therefore I do not overpower the soup with too many honey red dates. I also like to buy the most bitter bittergourd I can find (the dark green ones are usually more bitter) when making this soup.

Ingredients

Scoop out the bittergourd seeds in the middle using a spoon, before cutting to large chunks (see step 2)

Thinly sliced bittergourd for the finishing touch

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 300g pork ribs
- 1 bittergourd (around 400g)
- 1 to 2 carrots, peeled and cut to small chunks
- 2 honey red dates
- 10 pitted red dates
- 1 tbsp wolfberries, soaked in water till puffy
- 1200 ml water
- sea salt

Directions
1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for about 5 minutes, to remove the scum so that you have clear soup later.
2. Cut the bittergourd in half lengthwise, use a spoon to scoop out the seeds, and cut into large chunks (see second photo). Using one of the large chunks, slice and set aside some thin bittergourd slices for step 4.
3. In a large soup pot, add water, red dates, blanched pork ribs, carrots and large bittergourd chunks. When the water comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 40 minutes.
4. Five minutes before you turn off the flame, add the soaked wolfberries and thin bittergourd slices. Season with salt. Serve with steamed rice.

Cooking Tip
1. After simmering for 20-30 minutes, taste the soup. If it’s too bitter, add one or two more honey red dates to your liking.
2. If you want to reduce the bitterness of the bitter gourd before cooking, you can rub a small amount of salt on the bitter gourd after removing the seeds, and then rinsing off the salt with water.

Sambal Fried Beancurd (Tau Kwa) with Snap Peas

This is a wonderful dish to go with steamed rice. I used my home made sambal belachan as a base for this dish and the cooking method is the same as my sambal long beans dish. Once in a while, I like to go meatless, and this recipe is excellent for that because the beancurd provides all the protein you need in place of meat. The spiciness of the sambal paste is a nice contrast to the sweet tasting peas. I love this combination of ingredients.

Prepping the sugar snap peas

Snap peas and fried beancurd (tau kwa) cubes

Ingredients
(Serves 2 -3)

- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tbsp sambal belachan (either store bought or home made)
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 piece (200g) of deep fried bean curd (tau kwa/炸豆干), cut to relatively large, bite-sized cubes
- 80g sugar snap peas, gently break off the ends and pull off the “strings” (for better presentation, you can trim the edges after pulling the strings)
- salt to taste (if needed)

(A) Dried shrimps paste
- 1 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked in water till softened
- 5 shallots, peeled
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled

Directions
1. Either chop the ingredients at (A) finely or use a blender to grind the ingredients for a few seconds.
2. In a wok, heat the oil. Then add the chopped ingredients prepared in step 1 and stir fry till you can smell the aroma.
3. Add belachan and mix it well with the paste in the wok.
4. Add snap peas and stir fry for a minute or two. Then add beancurd cubes and water. Stir fry for a few minutes and mix well, until the water has evaporated and the beancurd and peas are nicely coated in the sambal & dried shrimps paste.
5. Season with salt with needed. I do not add salt because my home made sambal belachan is already nicely salted. Serve with steamed rice.

Tip
1. Belachan is pungent smelling. Open your windows and remove all laundry (if you have them in the kitchen) when you’re making this dish.

Related Recipes

Cheap, fast and tasty cereal prawns

I used a packet of instant cereal prawn mix to make this famous Singapore dish, hence I call it the cheater’s method. This goes into my research on how to make this dish. One day, when I succeed in creating the dish from scratch, I’ll post the recipe here hehe (I’m now on my third version of tweaking the recipe). I suddenly thought of making cereal prawns because I still have a whole bag of leftover curry leaves after cooking vegetable curry. I think curry leaves are something that you cannot leave out when making this dish because the aroma of the curry leaves is so signature of this dish. The combination of prawns, oats, chilli and curry leaves, fried to crispy perfection, is really blissful to me. And it’s pretty effortless and very cheap to cook this at home, especially with the cheater’s way.  To me, the prawns (including the shells) and curry leaves must be crispy – important criteria of a yummy cereal prawn dish, hence I deep fry them beforehand.

Ingredients
Serves 2
- 40g of store-bought cereal prawn mix (I use half a packet)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 8 large prawns (about 250g)
- yolks of 2 raw salted eggs, chopped roughly (see ingredient substitution note below)
- 2 to 3 chilli padi (bird’s eye chilli), sliced thinly
- 30g butter
- vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions
1. Using a pair of kitchen scissors or small knife, make a slit across the top of the prawn and pull out the veins, leaving the entire shell for the prawn still intact (see photo below).
2. In a wok, add enough oil to cover the prawns. When the oil is hot enough (starting to bubble gently at the sides), add in the prawns and curry leaves. Cover and deep fry till the prawns are just cooked. Drain most of the oil leaving just a bit left in the wok and also set aside the prawns and curry leaves. Discard the curry leaves stalks.
3. Melt butter in the wok, then add chopped salted egg yolks, cereal prawn mix, sliced chilli padi and previously deep fried curry leaves. Stir fry till fragrant.
4. Add the prawns and stir till they are evenly coated in the cereal paste.

Ingredient Substitution
1. You can substitute salted egg yolks with egg york of one normal egg. In step 3, after melting the butter in the wok, break the yolk quickly with your spatula and mix it in well with the butter. When the egg yolk starts to solidify, add the cereal prawn mix, sliced chilli padi and previously deep fried curry leaves. Stir fry till fragrant.

Making of photos

Preparing the prawns (step 1)

Deep frying the prawns and curry leaves

Curry leaves and prawns after deep frying

Frying the egg yolk, cereal, chilli and butter in the wok

My pack of instant cereal prawn mix