Mayo's dinner #7

I've been so caught up with work recently that I decided to take a break from everything & just travel. Here I'm writing about one of my simple & easy to prepare dinners for your family & you. Might not be a meat lovers type of menu but try it & I'm sure you'll love it. Healthy, delicious & a myriad of sensations for your tastebuds. Read on.

French long beans with spicy shrimp paste & red onions.

Lady's finger with sambal chilli mixed with minced chicken topping.

Minced chicken stir fried with dried shrimps, chopped garlic & spring onions.

Shitake mushroom stuffed with steamed minced pork topped with salty egg yolk & pepper.


Chopped french long beans with egg omelette.

Mayo's dinner #6

Recently I've been dragging myself to work everyday and facing a boring job with some people that live in their own dream world yet they want to control people's creativity & direction! Everyone keep telling me what they want but no one is asking what I want! Mr K has been asking me what happened to my designs lately? It's below par & not my style at all. Well, my answer is that I'm creating whatever they want instead. I guess my passion is gone for my job but I've move my new passion into food, trying to learn how to cook food in a creative way, experimenting in all sorts of food & styles, trying to read as much as I can about food, nutrition & facts about the combination of ingredients, trying to learn how to style the food in a tastier way, the lighting, the color, little info about the chef... Basically everything about food. I have never really gone through any cooking classes at all but what I cook comes from the heart & I listen to the comments before I cook therefore creating something that satisfies the stomach & warms the heart. I'm wondering if my new found passion is a experimental phase or is it because of the unhappiness of my job? But cooking & creating new food for people really makes me happy as I can control everything according to what I want. Although so far only a handful of people get to taste my cooking but hopefully someday everyone can get to sample it too!

Here is a random creation of mine which is sauteed brinjal cooked with dried shrimp & garlic. The added taste that I have used here is a dash of Thai fish sauce which can be easily bought from any supermarket.

Japanese white beech mushroom (Bunapi-shimeji)

Soba with Bonito broth

Stay tuned for more home cooked soul food from Mayo...

Mayo's Wasabi Flakes Aglio Olio Pasta

I am a huge fan of aglio olio pasta but most times I feel that I need an extra dimension of spiciness to the dish. Along with chopped red dried chilli, I have also mixed in a generous amount of wasabi flakes & chopped garlic topped off with olive oil. Add in some sliced bacon & diced mushrooms & voila, a healthy meal with added bite!

For the side dish, I gathered some assorted vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms, garlic & red chilli & stir fried them together with some oyster sauce as it's gravy. Must not neglect your greens!

Mayo's Brunch #7

Wanted to whip up a chicken dish today for brunch but wasn't exactly sure what to create. With 'eating healthy' as my new motivation, I chose to cook a piece of skinless & boneless chicken steak with slices of french toast & lots of veggies as the side dishes. Now who says you can't have delicious healthy food? hehe..

(Clockwise from left) Soya chicken with bonito flakes, french toast, stir fried brussel sprouts with melted cheese, fresh cherry tomatoes

Overview of my lovely brunch.

I wrapped a piece of the chicken steak with my french toast for the final part.
The sauce from the chicken was oozing out. Juicy!

Now I know brussel sprouts can be a little bitter, I usually boil them first with a dash of salt then stir fry the brussel sprouts till they get a little softer on the outer layer before laying cut slices of cheese over them & letting it melt all over. Kids will love it! Try it at your next family dinner. :)

Mayo's dinner #4

Mr K challenged me if I was able to create several dishes out of the same basic ingredients that he chose for dinner. I duly accepted the challenge laid before me. Here's what he bought:
Minced pork meat, long beans & fishcake tofu.

I bought a Cute rabbit bowl that I simply adore.

For my first dish, I cooked one of his favourite dark soya sauce minced pork with chopped spring onions.

For the second dish, I created a small side vegetable dish with stir fried long beans, coarsely chopped dried shrimps with garlic bits.

For my third dish, I whipped up a tasty diced long beans with onions & eggs.


For my fourth dish, I diced & pan fried the sides of the fish cake tofu & served it with sliced yellow capsicum covered in homemade sweet & sour sauce.

With all the dishes, I also created a simple Bento that can be consumed the next day for either breakfast, lunch or dinner! : )

The left over rice can be utilized in another way for the next day's morning breakfast. Overnight rice tends to be a little drier & easy to manipulate into most shapes. I simply stuffed the dark soya sauced minced pork into the rice and rolled it into a huge rice dumpling with flattened ends. Carefully scorch the surface of the rice dumpling with light soya sauce in a hot pan till nice & brown (toasted). Top it off with the left over minced pork, throw some toasted sesame seeds & some spring onions.

I won the challenge. :p

Mayo's dinner #3

Gobo Wei Shan (Dioscorea) - Also known as the Chinese yam, dioscorea has been utilized in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Although there are approximately 800 different species of dioscorea, the Chinese yam is native to China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Some of it's medicinal properties include aiding in weight loss, helps digestion, soothes cough, anti cancer abilities etc. For example if you cook the dioscorea with lean pork, it helps make the skin translucent & glowing with health.

Point to take note when handling the 'wei shan' is to wear gloves as the 'sap like' liquid within it is prone to cause skin irritation.

Lean pork meat

Dried scallop

Pour all the different ingredients into a high pot & just add in quality chicken broth to the mix and leave them to simmer to a boil.

Wei Shan soup

Carrot & cucumber slices wrapped with bacon.

Stir fried cucumber and carrot with dried shrimp.

Braised chicken with mushroom and egg with dark soya sauce.

Mayo's dinner #2

With ample time on my hands, I set out to improvise some simple dishes to unleash my culinary ideas. They may look easy but I had a great time cooking them.

Pan fried dory fish topped with Japanese bread crumbs that was cooked in olive oil & spices (garlic, black pepper & spring onion) which subsequently was left to bake in the oven

Spinach, garlic & eggs stir fried before immersing them into a thick vegetable broth with minced seafood bits.

My favourite fish maw soup with assorted mushrooms!

Mayo's folic acid day

Once in a while, I get a little angel telling me to eat a little healthier which prompted me to declare my very own folic acid/anti-oxidant day! The menu was simple, cut up a selection of highly recommended vegetables like red/yellow/green bell pepper (capsicum), brinjals, red carrots, garlic, red onions, japanese sweet potatoes & red tomatoes pan stir fried and thrown into a deep rich chicken broth & left to simmer & dissolve. The end result is a satisfying vegetable soup that taste heavenly while keeping me healthy at the same time.

Also needed my proteins so I whipped up a small serving of battered egg omelette with sausages & onions bits.

Mayo's dinner #1

Decided to whip up a quick but healthy dinner. Here is my creation of soft shitake mushrooms stir fried with leafy Kai Lan veggies in thick wholesome oyster sauce and enhanced with coarsely chopped garlic bits for added bite. Nothing else but hot white fluffy rice would be best.