NCV E-Cookbook

2010 Edition
Foreword:

The cookbook was a brainchild of countless of fire alarms, which

happened over a long period of time.

Though there were not many contributors to this inguaral cookbook, this
cookbook serves as a guide to the receipes of our international
community.

In the cookbook, it is split into categories for easy reading, where

everyone can easily flip through.

I would like to thank the following contributors, whom make this

cookbook a success:
Yvette Stanton
Kelvin Phang
Joann Tan
Kanyarat Sanoran (Lek)
Wangari Muchiri

Gerald Ong

Editor, NCV eCookbook

3114

New College Village

ENTREES /
MAINS
EASY BAKED FISH

Ingredients:
200g basa fillet (or salmon or dory) - Look out for offers @ Woolies or Coles
Mustard (any type)
25g Butter
Generous dressing of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1 capful of Chinese Wine
Herbs (i.e. Rosemary / Parsley) at your discretion
3 capfuls of Kikkoman Sauce
Aluminum Foil
A small piece of lemon /& lime

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

Steps:
1. Preheat Oven to 170 Degree Celsius or 150 Degree Celsius (Fan-Forced) for 15-20
Minutes
1. Place slices of butter under the fish on a piece of aluminum foil
2. Season the fish with herbs, mustard, Chinese wine, kikomman sauce and olive oil
3. Afterwhich, add salt & pepper with lemon on the fish.
4. Wrap the aluminium foil securely. (For better results, marinate the fish the night before)
5. Place the wrapped fish into the oven for 30 minutes
6. Remove the oven after 30 minutes.
EASY MEATBALLS

Ingredients:
500g minced beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp pepper
1/3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp water
1 small onion (minced)
2 eggs

Note: Adjust ingredients quantity with minimum deviation

Steps:
1. Combine bread crumbs, pepper, salt & water into one bowl.
2. Combine small chucks of beef into the mixed bowl of bread crumbs, pepper, salt &
Water
3. Make meatballs of any desired size
4. Pre-Heat Oven to 180 Degree Celsius for 30 mins
5. Bake in the Oven at pre-heated temperature of 180 Degree Celsius for 30 minutes
Total time required: 1 hour
Prep time: 15 mins
Baking time: 45 mins (inclusive of pre-heating Oven)
Easy Chicken Stew (serves 1-2 pax)

Ingredients:
2 pcs Chicken Thigh / other parts of the Chicken - (increase qty to suit one's meal)
4 tbsp Kikoman Sauce - to taste
Ground Cinnamon to Taste
Salt, & Pepper to Taste
1 Med-Sized Potato (skin removed & cut into smaller slices)
1 Carrot (finely shredded/chopped)
1 Clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 Onion (finally chopped)
2 tbsp Cornflour

Steps:
1. Sauteed Garlic until Brown on a pan of thin flim of oil.
2. Pan Fry until Chicken is half-cooked
3. In a boiling pot of hot water, place chicken, carrots, onions & potatoes. Allow it to
cook for 15 minutes.
4. Add Kikoman Sauce, Ground Cinnamon,
5. Allow it to simmer at low heat for 30-45 minutes.
6. Once fully simmered for a period of time, add cornflour to thicken the stew.
7. It is ready for serving.
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 60 mins - 75 mins
Easy Garlic Fried Rice:

Ingredients:
1 portion size of cooked rice
1/2 carrot (finely chopped)
5-8 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) - depends how much garlic you would like to have
1 egg
1 tbsp of kikoman sauce
1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Steps:
1. Satueed Garlic until brown on a hot frying pan of a layer of oil
2. Add Rice, Egg and stir-fry for 3 minutes
3. Add Kikoman sauce and dary soy sauce and continue stir frying for 1 minute
4. Add Salt & Pepper to taste.
5. Serve it immediately after adding salt & pepper.
N.B:

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 45 mins
Easy Beer Battered Onion Rings

Ingredients:
6 Small Onions – get it from Kingsford
150g Cornflour
150g Self-Raising Flour / 150g Plain Flour with 1 tbsp of baking powder
1 can of beer (375ml)
½ tbsp of bicarbonate soda
Oil at 170°C -185°C for deep frying

Steps:
1. Preheat the Oil into a pan of 170°C -185°C and sufficient enough to cover half the
onion ring.
2. Peel & Cut Onions into Thick Slices
3. Make the Onions into Rings by pushing them through.
4. Mix Cornflour, Self-Raising Flour & a Can of beer with bicardonate soda until a
smooth consistency
5. Batter the Onion Ring and insert it into the pan one at a time
6. Remove them once both sides are golden brown
7. Add Salt & Pepper to Taste
 Mandazi Recipe

This is a delicious donut-like pastry. Serve them warm for breakfast.

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp Icing sugar

Mix all the ingredients together, adding more flour if necessary. The dough should be soft,
but not sticky. Roll the dough on a lightly floured board until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut
into triangles and fry in hot oil.
Remove from oil once golden brown on both sides, cool and sprinkle some Icing sugar on the
Mandazi. Enjoy.
Irresisburger

Burger patties(makes 4-6 patties):-

Ingredients A :

2 cups breadcrumbs (additional 1 cup may be needed)

2 tbp plain/whole wheat flour

1 egg

1 medium can of springwater tuna (or salmon), drained and flaked

1 large can of chickpeas, drained and mashed

Small onion, minced

Salt & Pepper

1 tbp Olive oil

Additional 4 tbp oil (if pan frying)

Optional B:

1 Medium red chilly (spicy) OR half a bell pepper (mild) OR 4 strips smoked peppers (smoky) minced OR 1 tsp paprika OR 1
tbp tomato paste

4 sprigs cilantro, minced

Ingredients C to assemble ONE Irresisburger:

1 irresisburger patty

Beetroot mayo (2 tbp mayonnaise mixed with a spoon/whisked with 3 tbp beetroot pickling juice
from the can)

2-3 slices of canned beetroot

1 burger roll (can be substituted with bread slices)

Cheese (your favourite type, cheddar, mozzarella etc)

Small handful of salad leaves (mixed, spinach, rockets or lettuce)

Instructions:

Divide the breadcrumbs into 1.5 cup and set aside. Mix the remaining 0.5 cup with ingredients A and optional
B together in a mixing bowl. The mixture should feel moist but if too wet, add 1 additional tbp of flour and 2
tbp bread crumbs. Add 2 heap tbp of grated cheese of your liking. Mould the mixture into a thumb or 2
thumbs size thick patties and coat with additional breadcrumbs on a plate, an even layer should be obtained.

Pan fry OR bake the patties in a 180 Celcius/ 350 Farenheit oven for about 15-25 minutes depending on the
size of patties, till colour turns golden brown.
Let the patties cool slightly and assemble your irresisburger.....

Just so you don’t know...mayo slabbed on the burger rolls (sliced in half and lighlty toasted on a hot
pan/griddle). Patty goes on the bottom followed by cheese, beetroot slices, salad, covered and voila !

Chef’s tips :

Tbp-Tablespoon; Tsp-Teaspoon

You can substitute your favourite herb (dried or fresh e.g. mixed herbs, thyme, oregano or spice e.g.
curry powder, cinnamon, mixed spice).

If you’re vegetarian, the tuna can be omitted and replaced by more chickpeas.

If health conscious, feel free to substitute light options of the ingredients (mayo, cheese)

Extra virgin oil should not be used for cooking given the low smoke point. Use peanut(provides a
nutty flavour),canola, olive, rice-bran or palm oils where possible.

Beetroot is optional and the mayonnaise can be plain. Mix in 2 tbp tomato sauce with the mayo
instead if you like.

Breadcrumbs can be substituted with oat bran or polenta.

For the meat eaters, include some bacon rashes to your Irresisburger.

A few slices of smoked salmon can be incorporated into the patty to add some smokey flavour.

Bon apetit !
Tom yum kung is the simple and popular Thai hot and sour shrimp soup, familiar to many
from Thai restaurant menus.

4 to 6 servings

Water or stock -- 6 cups

Fish sauce -- 1-2 tablespoons
Kaffir lime leaves -- 4
Lemongrass, white part of stalk only, crushed --1 stalk
Galangal (optional), cut into thin rounds -- 2 pieces
Garlic, crushed -- 2 cloves
Salt and pepper -- to taste
Shrimp, peeled and deveined -- 1 1/2 pounds
Scallions, chopped -- 1/2 bunch
Straw mushrooms (optional) -- 1 cup
Limes, juice only -- 2
Cilantro, chopped -- 1/2 bunch
Thai chile peppers, sliced into rounds -- 2-3 each

Method
1. Bring the water or stock, fish sauce, lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, salt and pepper to
a boil in a large pot over medium flame. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and set aside for another 10 minutes to steep.
3. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve and discard solids.
4. Return the stock to a simmer over medium-low heat.
5. Add the shrimp, scallions and mushrooms and continue to simmer over medium-low heat until
shrimp is cooked through, 5-6 minutes.
6. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro and chilies, adjust seasoning and serve.
Variations
Tom Kha Kung: Substitute coconut milk for half or all the water or stock.
Tom Yum Gai: Substitute thinly sliced chicken for the shrimp.
Tom Yum Hed: A vegetarian variation. Eliminate the shrimp and double the amount of mushrooms.
Add the shrimp shells from peeling the shrimp to the simmering stock for extra flavor.
Straw mushrooms are usually found canned. You can substitute thinly sliced button mushrooms if
you like, or omit the mushrooms altogether.
Sliced bamboo shoots can be added if you like.
If kaffir lime leaves are unavailable, zest the limes before juicing them and use the zest instead.
Chicken Basil, or Gai Pad Gra Pow, is one of the classics of Thai food and is surprising easy to
make. You know you've made Chicken Basil right when the heat from the chili peppers plays
just under the flavor of the gra pow and the fish sauce. Don't be afraid to use what seems
like an excessive amount of gra pow leaves - they make the dish.

2 Servings

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4-7 Thai chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1-2 packages holy basil
1/2 lb ground chicken
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fish sauce

Method

Mince garlic and chili pepper together. Clean and pick gra-pow leaves from their stem. It may appear
like a lot of leaves, but the leaves will shrink when cooked and this dish's flavor comes from the
leaves.

Fry the garlic and chili pepper in oil over high heat. When garlic starts to turn brown, drop the
ground chicken in. Stir constantly. The juice will start to come out. Keep stirring until all the juice is
gone. It might take a couple of minutes. Add sugar and fish sauce. Then add Thai basil. Quickly turn it
over a few times to mix the leaves with the meat and then remove from the fire and put the gai pad
gra pow in the serving plate or dishes. Serve hot with rice.

Tips and substitutions

You can substitute ground turkey or pork for ground chicken. Some people like the meat cut
up in bite size pieces rather than ground.
Ingredients:

700g fresh seafood or marinara mix

1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
425g can crushed tomatoes
½ cup of white wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
400g spaghetti
3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

1. Heat the Olive Oil in a pan, add onions and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat
2. Add tomato and white wine and simmer for 20 minutes
3. Stir in seafood and cook for 6-8 minutes until seafood is jus cooked
4. Add cooked and drained spaghetti (check packet for cooking times)
5. Sprinkle with parsley, mix well and serve with parmesan cheese.
Ingredients:

1kg clean baby octopus

Marinate:
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and Pepper to season
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Instructions:

1. Place octopuses into a bowl with marinate and refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight.
2. Drain octopus and cook on a hot fry pan for 3-4 minutes, turning it frequently.
3. Allow it to cool slightly then serve on a salad with crusty bread.
Ingredients:
600g fresh seafood or marina mix
¼ cup green curry paste
2 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup basil leaves
1 brown onion, sliced
1 rep capsicum, seeded and sliced
200g snow peas
1 ½ cup jasmine rice
Vegetable oil for cooking

Steps:
1. Cook onion and curry paste in fry pan with vegetable oil until onion softens
2. Stir in coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar and bring to a boil.
3. Add in seafood and capsicum and simmer uncovered for 3-5 minutes
4. Add snow peas and cook for 1 minute
5. Add basil, remove from heat and serve with rice
Ingredients:
600g fresh seafood or marinara mix
2 cups (500g) long grain rice
3-4 eggs lightly beaten
1 medium to large head of broccoli cut into small pieces
6 shallots, finely sliced
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Boil or steam rice and set aside
2. Cook eggs in a medium hot fry pan. Break up egg as it cooks and then set aside
3. Cook seafood in a hot frying pan until just cooked (2-3 minutes) then set aside
4. Cook broccoli in fry pan for 1-2 minutes on medium heat
5. Add cooked rice, egg and seafood to fry pan and cook on a medium heat for 1-2 minutes while
mixing
6. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, shallots and salt and pepper to taste, mix and serve.
Ingredients:
750g of white fish fillets
2 Lemons
Chinese five spice
Salt and pepper to season
12 bamboo skewers

Instructions:
1. Cut fish fillet into pieces and thread onto skewers.
2. Lightly Sprinkle Chinese five spice over skewers then season with salt and pepper
3. Place skewers into a medium hot fry pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side
4. Squeeze lemon juice over skewers while cooking
5. Serve with lemon wedges and salad
Ingredients
4 portions of white fish fillets cut into cubes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
400g can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken or fish stock

Steps:
1. Heat vegetable oil in a large pan, add onion and garlic, and cook on medium heat for 1-2
minutes to soften.
2. Add curry paste and fry for ½ minute to release the flavour
3. Add tomatoes, stock and fish. Simmer for 5-8 minutes until fish is cooked
4. Serve with steamed rice and naan bread
DESSERTS
Dessert : Pan-bread-cake with apple stew

Ingredients:

Pan-bread-cake (A)

4 large slices (or 4 small slices) bread, cut into cubes

2 tbp flour (plain/whole wheat or corn)

2 eggs whisked with 0.5c milk/evaporated milk (more intense flavour)

1 tsp vanilla sugar* (or brown)

0.5 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Stewed apples (B)

2 apples sliced into wedges (or diced)

1 tbp brown sugar
0.5 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp butter
3 tbp Marsala wine or brandy (optional)

Instructions:

Heat a sauce pan and when hot add ingredients B. Add 4 tbp water, let sizzle (mmm..smells good)
and cover with a lid, and reduce it. Let the apples stew for about 10-15 minutes till the liquid reduces
to a glaze. Remember to keep stirring at this point and remove from heat. The apples should be soft.

Mix ingredient A in a bowl and let seat for a 5 minutes. The batter should feel thick, and if not add 1
tbp flour or 1 more slices of bread. Heat the pan till hot before adding 1 tbp oil or preferably spray-
on oil.

Put 1 giant spoon of batter on to the pan and reduce the heat to medium slightly so that it won't
burn. Jerk the handle backwards and once it slides easily, flip over. Make several more pan-bread-
cakes large or small ones depending on your preference.

When done, spoon apples on to the pan-bread-cake. Several layers can be made. Best served with
vanilla ice-cream or custard.

Chef's tip:
Vanilla sugar can easily be made by buying good vanilla pods (expensive though) and just letting it sit
in a jar with plain sugar for a few days. Some people prefer to blend the pods with sugar to intensify
the flavor. It is very versatile and can be substituted with plain sugar for most desserts. Vanilla is the
"salt" of the pastry world. Pandan or screwpine leave is the 'vanilla' of Malaysian desserts. You can
make your own vanilla essence by putting several pods in an air tight jar and topping it up with
brandy, and let the mixture sit for a week at least.

Use butter because there is no better substitute for it's amazing flavor.

Home made custard can easily be done by heating 1 cup of milk, constantly stirring over low-
medium heat with 1 tbp vanilla sugar till almost boiling. If it boils, the milk will froth over causing a
mess. Remove the milk mixture from the heat. Then whisk 1 egg yolk with 1 tbp of corn flour and 1
tbp of cool water in a separate bowl. Very gently temper (slowly increase temperature to avoid
curdling the egg proteins) the mixture with the hot milk. This can be done by adding 1 tbp at a time
of the hot milk slowly whilst whisking the egg mixture constantly. Do this until you added about 10-
15 tbp of milk. Then whisk the milk and pour the egg mixture back in. Return the pot to low heat and
whisk constantly till the mixture thickens. Confirmed done when the custard coats the back of the
spoon nicely. Store appropriately for 1 week at most.
Cookie Truffle
1 pack (250 g) Arnott’s Marie Biscuits or Original Tiny Teddy Bear
Biscuits

1 can (250 ml) condensed sweetened milk

1 pack (250 g) desiccated coconut

Makes about 20 to 30 balls

1. Crush biscuits to crumbs in a zip lock bag

2. Place crushed biscuits in a bowl, add milk and combine into a dough
3. Spoon ½ tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball
4. Coat ball with desiccated coconut

 Best done in a wintry cool weather. If making during summer, refrigerate dough.
 May substitute coconut for chopped nuts, sprinkles or dip truffle into chocolate and
cool until chocolate hardens.
 May add 3 tablespoons of rum to dough for an adult’s version of the cookie truffle.
Pancakes
1 cup self raising flour

1 cup milk

½ cup caster sugar

1 egg

50 g butter (melted)

Makes about 8 to 10 pieces

1. Mix flour, milk, sugar, and

egg in a bowl. Stir batter to
a thickened cream
consistency.
2. Leave batter to stand for at least 30 minutes. (Batter may be prepared early and
leave in fridge overnight)
3. Mix in melted butter before use.
4. Heat non stick fry pan over medium heat. (NCV stove 3 rd lowest setting)
5. Scope ½ soup-ladle or ¼ cup batter on to pan.
6. Fry first side for 2 minutes (Or until lots of bubble form on top of pancake).
7. Flip and fry 2nd side for about 90 seconds.
8. To keep pancakes warm, stack up cooked pancakes.

 Best served with maple syrup, golden syrup, nutella, ice cream or fruits.
 To be adventurous, while frying 1st side, slice up some bananas and lay on top of
pancakes before flipping to fry second side.
 If you’re a chocoholic, while frying 1st side, sprinkle some chocolate chips on 2nd side
before flipping. Be careful as chocolate will melt and stick to pan, so wipe down pan
with paper towel before frying a new pancake.
 May substitute milk for buttermilk, however flipping the pancakes may be a bit
challenging as buttermilk pancakes are softer.
Chocolate chip
cookies
250 g butter (room temperature)

¾ cup brown sugar

1 cup Milo

2 cups self raising flour

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

5 tablespoon corn flour/starch

250 to 500 g of chocolate chips (depends

on how generous you feel)

Makes about 60 to 70 bite size pieces

1. Preheat oven to 180oC (fan forced oven) or 200oC (conventional oven)

2. Line baking tray with grease or baking paper
3. Mix all ingredients into a bowl to a dough
4. Spoon 1 teaspoon of dough on to baking paper, leave 1 inch space between each
cookie as it will expand when cooking.
5. Bake cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes or until cookie is slightly brown.
6. Leave cookies to cool on baking tray. This is so the cookie will harden slight and
make it easier to transfer cookie onto cooling rack.

 May substitute chocolate chips for raisins or chopped nuts or a mixture of

everything.
 Cookies generally last for about 10 days, but it is so delicious the cookies will be gone
in a matter of hours.

(Dedicated to my friend Asiah- the cookie monster!)

Dense chocolate mousse
250 g good quality chocolate
(Whittakers Dark or Cadbury Old Gold
is great and cheap)

1 small tub of cream (250 to 300 ml)

Makes about 1 soup bowl

1. Break chocolate into small

pieces (do not knick off too
much while preparing the
ingredient)
2. Heat cream and chocolate
in a sauce pan over medium heat (NCV stove 3rd lowest setting, be careful not to boil
mixture). Stir mixture continuously.
3. When chocolate has melted, transfer mixture to a bowl and leave to cool at room
temperature for 30 minutes.
4. Refrigerate mixture for at least 2 hours before serving.

 As the mousse is dense best serve it with nice almond biscotti.

 Instead of pouring mixture to a bowl, be adventurous by filling in a tart shell with the
chocolate mousse. Any good bakery or Coles sells prebaked tart shells.