Dr Chan's Kitchen

People have asked me. Does it cost more to cook your own food than to eat out? Well, many ingredients – like those ready-made pastes are expensive. It definitely costs more to cook your own than to eat out at a hawker centre. But if you want more control over the taste and the quality of some of the ingredients, then you should definitely cook your own. There is no reason for paying people to cook something which we can do better ourselves.

Cooked egg noodles and bean sprouts. Blanch in hot water for half a minute.

Ready mixed mee rebus gravy thickened with starch.

Lots of lime juice, sweet soy sauce, green chillies and diced fish tofu completes it. Tastes much better than any food court or hawker centre mee rebus.

Warning. This is an experiment, a departure from authentic Vietnamese spring rolls which are not really my cup of tea. I’ve decided to make a totally different style of spring rolls from the type I made a while ago. and the only Vietnamese thing about it is the rice paper I used.

First, the filling. Garlic, prawns, bean sprouts and grated carrots. Seasoned with salt, pepper and hua diao wine. That’s all for the cooking.

An important ingredient contributing to the crunchiness of the spring rolls – cucumber slices – uncooked.

Same wrapping technique as before. Just dip rice paper in warm water for 3 seconds and transfer paper to plate while it’s still stiff. Place filling and fold.

And here’s the finished product. In retrospect, I think I grated the carrots a bit too finely. It won’t be so soggy if I had cut them in strips. Tasted great. The cucumber really helped. Once again, I stress, the only Vietnamese thing about it is the Vietnamese rice paper that was used.

© Chan Joon Yee

I love kangkong when it’s done right. Maximum heat, lots of oil, no water. Just add sambal, light soy sauce and ketchup. No more than 5 minutes in the wok. It should look nice and green and taste sweet and crunchy.

© Chan Joon Yee

Char kway teow is not really that difficult to make. The ingredients are simple, but the audience’s expectations are not high. As long as your tastes and aromas are there, you would have passed. Still, many food courts continue to fail in this simple dish. That’s when I decide to take matters into my own hands.

Make no mistake, this is not a healthy dish. It has to have enough oil, enough garlic and enough heat.

Fish cake and eggs next. Fry until the eggs are a bit flaky.

In go the cooked noodles and kway teow. It’s very important to turn up your stove to full blast at this point. I would also add in my fish sauce and pepper. Do not add water or cook for too long or your kway teow will disintegrate.

Finally, bean sprouts and chye sim. Turn down the heat, then drizzle some dark sweet soy sauce over. Toss it well. Serve hot.

© Chan Joon Yee

This prawn curry was cooked in more or less the same way as my fish curries. Unlike chicken and fish, prawns shouldn’t be cooked too long, otherwise, they’ll taste “old”. There lies the challenge of a prawn curry. How to get enough flavour into curry without ruining the texture of the prawns? One way is to keep the shells on.

But I only had shelled, frozen prawns, so I cooked them for not more than 5 minutes. I added more yoghurt, onions and some fish stock to add to the flavour. I think some pineapple cubes would have gone well with the dish. Next time.

© Chan Joon Yee