Brand new blog face for the year and I intend to spend more time this year upkeeping this lovely place with recipes and rants. Please spend at least 5 minutes admiring this fresh blog face because I spent at least two late nights doing this and trying to tap on my old rusty self-taught coding brain. I brag because I'm pretty sure I know more coding than any normal human being who doesn't attend any coding classes. HAHAHAH. Take the time to appreciate that every sub-category page you click, every link from this page, every image, I've spent at least half an hour trying to figure this shit out. HAHAHAH.
Starting of the new year with a recipe for a simple meal is ideal for a lazy person like me. After the crazy Christmas feast, New Year Eve’s meal was very much toned down because it was a time to sit down with your family and reflect on the good stuff that happened during the year....HAHAHA as if!! I’m simply just TOO tired from the Christmas baking and cooking, I swore off baking for the rest of the year (from Christmas till NY). My family was skeptical about that! And I prove them right! I made another logcake on boxing day. I guess I just can’t be still and do nothing.
And on NYE, my brother commented, “I can see that you’re always bored.” which made me reflect on myself again because it isn't the first time i'm hearing this. I think I self-reflect too much. HAHAHA. Then I thought I should try to change myself for the New Year. You know, those resolution thingy that humans normally do. Perhaps, I should be more patient, be less short tempered, speak in a lower pitch (I would like to think that I look cool, and so I should sound cooler. My voice is too high pitched. I'm like David Beckham. HAHAHAHAHAHA. How dare I!)....but alas I gave up because my loveable and cute self will override all flaws. Okay, end of my crazy ranting. New year, same old me.
Anyway my boredom plus my brother’s hunger led to the rare times that I cook Asian food. So, here we have stir fry black pepper beef with Japanese garlic fried rice. Top this meal with a sunny side egg, or if you feel the need to act like a sophisticated (fake) chef; 63 deg cel sous vide egg.
JAPANESE GARLIC FRIED RICE
Serves: 3-4 pax Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients
3 rice-cooker cups Japanese short grain rice (cooked the night before and refrigerate overnight; or ensure rice is cooled and not wet if making on the day itself)
3 huge garlic cloves (or more) - minced
1 medium size yellow onion - diced
3 stalks spring onions – sliced thinly
Salt and white pepper (to taste)
Olive oil
2 tbsp butter
Optional: 3 eggs – lightly beaten
Sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce (preferably Kikkoman or other Japanese brand)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp mirin (Japanese rice wine)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp fish sauce
Mix all ingredients of the sauce in a bowl, set aside. In a deep-fry pan, over medium-low heat oil and fry diced onion till slightly translucent/caramelised. Add in minced garlic, stir fry till fragrant and lightly browned. Then, add butter and stir in cooked rice to pan.
If adding eggs, using your ladle, push rice to one side of the pan and pour eggs on the empty side
of the pan. Roughly scramble the eggs till 3/4 cooked and then stir in rice.
Add in sauce, white pepper and salt to taste. Finally, add in spring onion and give it a quick fry.
Place fried rice back into rice cooker to keep warm till serving time.
STIR FRY BLACK PEPPER BEEF
1 garlic clove - minced
2 medium sized yellow onion - sliced
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper or coarsely crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
Beef Marinate
500g sliced beef
2 tbsp corn flour
white pepper
0.5 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp light soy sauce
1. Marinate beef for at least 20 minutes before cooking, refrigerate.
Sauce
1.5 tbsp dark soy sauce
0.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1.5 tbsp honey
1.5 tbsp Chinese wine
1 tbsp roughly crushed black pepper (or 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper)
Mix all sauce ingredients together in a bowl, set aside.
In a large pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Fry onion till slightly translucent/caramelized. Add in garlic and fry till fragrant or lightly brown.
Pan fry beef till slightly cooked, remove from pan and set aside
Pour sauce into pan and cooked till slightly reduced and bubbly. Add in sliced beef and fry till beef is fully cooked.
Serve beef on top of a bowl of garlic rice. Top it with a sunny side egg or sous vide egg if you like!
Enjoy immediately！