Beside apples, oranges are the most common imported fruit that my mom usually used to buy for the family when I was a child. But, I disliked oranges then, as more often than not they weren’t sweet but rather sour. I thought I was the only one who had this bias against oranges until I discovered that my hubby also disliked oranges. Maybe, we might also have influenced our son who also didn’t show much interest eating this fruit. So much for parental influence! But, we knew that it’s a good source of vitamin C and need to change our mindset on oranges.

Luckily, I came to know an honest fruit seller at the nearby wet market. He would tell me if the oranges he was selling are sweet or otherwise. Not surprising, freshly cut orange has since become our number one choice as a thirst quencher. Our son, with parental influence and encouragement, has also learned to accept oranges as well. He can eat a few thinly sliced oranges without fuss, which is really a great improvement for him.

Now, getting back to this Middle Eastern inspired pilaf which I bookmarked from my son’s bi-monthly school magazine, I was intrigued by the use of orange zest and orange juice that give the dish a taste of “sunshine”. Infused with the scent of orange, the rice itself is so aromatic and flavourful. The black and golden raisins, as well as almond flakes used in the dish greatly compliment the basmathi rice. We love basmathi rice because of its fluffy and not starchy texture. All said, the combination of ingredients made the rice dish look so eye-pleasing and appetizing! Every time I cooked this orange pilaf, my husband and son would ask for an encore. In fact, I cooked it a couple of times during the recent June school holidays. My son enjoyed this rice dish so much that he didn’t mind to have it for lunch and dinner.

The recipe that you find in page 2 was modified to cater to my family’s taste buds. I substituted ground cinnamon with cinnamon stick, as well as reduced the quantity of cloves and cardamom pods used. I also didn’t crack the cardamom pods. By doing so, the smell and taste of these spices were not too overpowering and more kid-friendly. The addition of chicken meat and green peas made it a perfect one-dish meal for the family too. It can also be packed well into lunch boxes so your kids can have a delicious and healthy meal at school.

>>> Click on PAGE 2 BELOW for orange pilaf recipe ……………

My son doesn’t like rice so much. What upsets me is that he always quick to finish eating his dishes but takes his time to labour over his rice even though I only gave him six to seven spoonfuls.  His usual excuse is he is already full. To circumvent such an unhealthy habit, I only allow him to have two third of his allocated dishes to be finished with the rice. If he finishes, he gets the rest. He usually abides. However, this tactic of mine still doesn’t improve his appetite for rice. The ONLY exception is SUSHI!

He is absolutely fond of sushi and usually ends up eating more rice than usual. You can see the twinkle in his eyes which gave me the idea of making onigiri (rice ball) for him.

Onigiri (also known as rice ball, 饭团) is made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori (seaweed). There is a slight distinction between onigiri and sushi. Onigiri is made with plain rice (perhaps lightly salted), while sushi is rice with vinegar, sugar and salt.

Onigiri comes in difference shapes and forms. Unlike sushi, it is pretty easy to make and required less skill. Making onigiri at home is a breeze if you can get hold of some simple gadgets so as to save time and ensure uniformed end products. I used a triangle shape rice mould and two seaweed punchers that I bought from Daiso to make these onigiris. You can find many choices of onigiri gadgets at Daiso. Do pay a visit to your nearest Daiso outlet to check it out.

There are two common methods for making onigiri. You can either mix the ingredients with the rice before putting into a mould, or stuff the ingredients inside the rice.  As for the selection and combination of ingredients, I prefer to use my own creativity to mix and match them. You can refer to those suggested ingredients in my tips at page 2 below. Let’s have some fun and make some onigiri today. It’s ideal for your kid’s school lunch boxes and picnic outings.

Oh yeah! I almost forget to mention about my son’s first reaction about onigiri. When I awarded him two “6-star” rated onigiris, he was overjoyed and very proud of himself ,  so much so that he couldn’t wait to eat up his “prize”.  Well, he finished all of them in no time, and then requested for more “prizes”!  This marks another success story in my diary!

Other reading references:

• Just Bento - Onigiri on parade – a guide to onigiri (omusuhi) rice ball shapes, types and fun
• Cooking Cute – Onigiri with filling

>>>> Click on PAGE 2 BELOW for Onigiri (rice balls) with salmon and cucumber recipe……………..

I would like to thank my friend EC and Kwong Wah Yit Poh (KWYP) (光华日报) for inviting me to be one of their food panelists in the daily recipe column. Founded in Penang, KWYP is the oldest Chinese newspaper in Malaysia with the largest readership in the northern region. I feel so honoured to receive this invitation as it was my favourite childhood newspaper.

From 13 June onwards until end of August 2009, my recipe column «亲子厨房» will be featured in KWYP on a bi-weekly basis. All the featured recipes will be children-friendly. Below is a copy of my 1st featured recipe and the translated version for your reading pleasure.

Update on 20 July 2010: You can view the soft copy of my featured recipe here: PUMPKIN RICE (chinese version)

< Click on the picture for larger view >

RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN RICE

Serve: 4-5 persons

Ingredients:
160g uncooked rice —– rinsed and drained
220g pumpkin –— de-skinned and cut into cubes
130g chicken breast –— cut into cubes
7 nos dried shitake mushrooms –– soaked, drained and cut into cubes
35g dried shrimps –– soaked, drained and pat dried
5 nos shallots –– sliced thinly
350ml water (include the water used for soaking mushrooms and dried shrimps)
Spring onions (for garnishing) — chopped

Seasonings:
1½ tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
½ tsp salt
Dash of sesame oil and pepper

Methods:

1. Marinate chicken breast with light soya sauce, sugar and cornflour for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat up wok, sauté shallots until fragrant and golden brown. Dish up and set aside.
3. Heat up wok, sauté dried shrimps with low heat until fragrant. Add in mushrooms and stir-fry for a while. Add in chicken and stir-fry until half-cooked.
4. Stir in rice and seasonings until well combined. Transfer into rice cooker. Add in water and cook until the rice is 80% cooked. Add in pumpkin and shallots and continue cooking until the rice is cooked thoroughly. Use a spatula to loosen the rice.
5. Dish up and garnish with spring onions. Serve.

Tips:

1. As Australian pumpkin can turn soft faster than local pumpkin, cut it into small size about 1.5-2 cm.
2. You can divide fried shallots into 2 portions. Add in the first ½ portion in step (4) and retain the remaining for garnishing.
3. Chicken breast can be replaced with chicken drumsticks.
4. Different types of rice required different amount of water. As a rule of thumb, add slightly more than the usual amount of water required for cooking.
5. If you are using fresh shitake mushrooms, blanch with boiling water and drain.
6. If you are using a cooking pot, follow step (1) – (3), then put all the ingredients into a cooking pot, add in water and cook under medium high heat. When the water starts boiling, reduce to medium heat. When the water has dried up, reduce to low heat, add in pumpkins and fried shallots and cook until the rice is thoroughly cooked. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the cooking pot.

Porridge/ congee is a common substitute for rice among the Chinese. It is a preferred meal especially during hot weather or when a person’s body is heaty. It can be cooked in cooking pot, rice cooker, crock pot, slow cooker, claypot or pressured cooker. When my son was younger, I like to cook porridge using a slow-cooker. Although it took a longer time, the texture of the porridge is smoother and more viscous. At the same time I can attend to other housework and not need to worry whether the porridge would burn. However, after I moved over to Singapore, I like to cook my porridge using a claypot or cooking pot because it is faster. Sometimes, when time is a constraint, I would boil millet porridge as it cooks faster than rice porridge.

According to chetday.com, millet is a highly nutritious, healthful and versatile grain. It is the 6th most important grain in the world. Due to this, I always add a small amount of millet to my porridge or rice.

Today I will share with you the millet porridge I cooked few weeks ago. On that day, my son who had just recovered from his fever, was having a sore throat. I brought him to see the pediatrician. It was extremely late by the time we reached home. So I decided to cook millet porridge which is not only suitable for his condition but also serves as a quick, easy and healthy lunch. To make porridge more nutritious and tasty, I added a variety of available ingredients into the porridge.

Below is my own version of millet porridge. I didn’t measure the ingredients as I was in a rush that day. I just did a “mix and match” for all the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:
Millet
Rice
Pumpkin puree
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Baby sweet corns
Cherry tomatoes
Snowpeas
Ham

Seasonings:
Salt
White pepper powder
Sesame oil

Other recommended ingredients:
Grains : quinoa, buckwheat, green beans (mung beans), red beans, barley
Vegetables: carrot, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, leafly vegetables, broccoli (florets or stems), cauliflowers, green peas, edamame (Japanese soy bean), fresh lily bulbs, sweetcorns
Meat : fish, pork, chicken
Others : huai san (Chinese yam), wolfberries

Methods:
1) Wash rice and millet. Fill pot with water approx 2x the amount of the grain. Reduce water if using crock pot or slow cooker. Bring water and grain to boil.
2) Stir occasionally to prevent the rice/ grain from sticking to the bottom. Add water from time to time. Use medium to low heat. Cook until the rice / grain break down and achieve the consistency level you want.
3) Add in other ingredients and cook according to the required cooking time.
4) Add in seasoning. Turn off the flame and serve.

Other recommended recipes:
-kiddy porridge
-claypot chicken rice
-sushi rolls

I always love to admire those beautiful sushi rolls posted by other food bloggers but have never attempt to make it myself. Until recently, when my son started to crave for Japanese food especially sushi, I decided to give it a try. It took me quite a while to learn the “theory” before proceeding to the “practical”. As compared to baking, the risk of “disaster” is definitely lesser. No matter what disaster you face, you will still manage to “salvage” all the ingredients.

For this posting, instead of writing in details, I am going to share with you all the relevant links I had used before so that you will not miss any great tips from the original source. Below is a simple guide for you to go through these links.

This egg roll is not a pre-planned dish. The idea came to me when I was cooking lunch for both my son and myself on one Saturday afternoon when my hubby was away for his overseas trip. Basically, I just combined some ingredients from my cooked dishes and followed the method in this post. (If you can read chinese, refer to this site). Thus, I didn’t have the exact measurement. You may need to use your own discretion to experiment it.

Ingredients:
Salmon (marinated with salt, then steamed with mirin, soya sauce and sugar)
Chinese spinach (blanched, chopped and tossed with fried shallot oil and oyster sauce)
Cooked rice
Black and white sesame seeds
1 egg (lightly beaten and season with salt and pepper)

Methods:
1) Cook rice as usual.
2) Flake steamed salmon with a fork
3) Squeeze out excess water from the blanched Chinese spinach.
4) Roast both sesame seeds over medium low fire until fragrant
5) Heat up oil on a non-stick pan. Use a kitchen paper to wipe the pan so that it is well-coated with oil. Reduce heat to small. Pour egg mixture over the pan and swirl to form a thin layer of omelette. Cook for 1 min and flip over the other side to continue cooking. Remove from pan and set aside.
6) Put rice, sesame seeds and Chinese spinach in a bowl and mix well.
7) Cut out a cling wrap and lay on the chopping board. Put ingredients in item (6) and roll it tightly until it became the shape of a sausage (as per picture).

Close and twist both ends

Put item (7) and salmon flakes on the omelette. Roll it up and cut into small rolls (about 2cm height).
9) Serve with wasabi or tomato sauce.

Note: You can add salmon flakes to the rice mixture and roll with the cling wrap.

My weekends are always tied up with the routine “once-a-week” groceries shopping. Last Sunday was even busier. After all the housework and cooking, we have to rush for an appointment. Due to time constraints, I just snapped some quick shots of my chicken rice directly from the claypot. Later on, I only realized that my cooked rice had been fully covered by the ingredients. As we had started eating, I had no choice but to take another shot solely focused on the rice. How silly I am!

By following the measurement from the original recipe, my rice turned out to be slightly hard (as you can see from the photo) because mine is basmathi rice and required more water during cooking.

This recipe is adapted and modified from here.

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:
130g fragrant rice
170g water (Different type required different amount. Eg more water is required for long grain rice)
250g chicken thigh (removed skins, chopped into 5 – 6 pcs)
4-5 pcs shitake mushrooms (fresh or dried) – discarded stem and cut into halves
For fresh ones, blanch over boiling water
For dried ones, soaked to soften
1 Chinese sausage (soaked over hot water for 2-3 mins, removed the outer layer and sliced thinly)
Spring onions (for garnishing)

Seasonings for rice:
1 tsp garlic (chopped)
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
Dash of salt and pepper
1½ tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings for marinating chicken:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
Dash of salt and pepper
1 tsp Chinese cooking rice wine (optional)

Seasonings for stir-frying:
2 pcs sliced ginger
½ tbsp garlic
1½ tbsp cooking oil

Methods:

1. Heat up wok with oil. Sautee garlic till fragrant. Add in rice and stir fry till rice turns to little stick and heavy. Add dark soya sauce, salt and pepper.
2. Pour into a claypot and add water. With medium high heat, cook the rice with closed lid for about 8-10 mins until the rice is almost cooked and water is almost dried up.
3. Heat up wok with oil. Lightly pan-fry sliced sausages till fragrant. Dish up and set aside.
4. With the remaining oil, stir-fry ginger until fragrant. Add in garlic and sautee garlic until it turns slightly brown.
5. Add in chicken and stir-fry until fragrant and let it simmer while cooking rice.
6. When the rice is cooked, spread chicken, mushrooms and sausages on top of the rice.
7. Close the lid and cook at medium fire for another 5-7 mins. (You are expected to have burnt bits for claypot rice)
8. Turn off the heat, sprinkle some spring onions and serve.

This afternoon, I had created a very “fusion” combo for my son and myself.
=> Cabbage omelettes + sesame seeds rice balls + stir-fried mushrooms.
(However, my son who is a fan of soup, after finishing his meals, said “Mummy, where is today’s soup?” :-[ )

This lunch combo is also great to use as a bento set. Recipes for cabbage omelette rolls and sesame seeds rice ball are adapted and modified from Mitong’s (小小米桶) website.

A) Cabbage omelette rolls (高丽菜/包菜蛋卷)
– For step-by-step illustrations, please refer to this link.

Ingredients:
100g cabbage (washed, drained and shredded finely) – discard the hard parts
1 clove garlic (pat it flat and minced)
1 tsp dried shrimp (washed, soaked, pat dry and chopped coarsely)
Dash of salt and white pepper

For omelette:
4 eggs (lightly beaten) – divide into 4 portions, 2 portions for 1 omelette
(Use fork/ chopsticks to slowly beat the eggs in a small circular direction to avoid creating bubbles)
Pinch of salt

Methods:
1) Heat up a non-stick pan with oil. Sautee minced garlic and dried shrimps until fragrant.
2) Add in cabbage and stir-fry until cooked. Add in seasonings. Dish up and set aside.
3) Heat up the pan again with a little bit of oil (Make sure the pan is clean). Use a piece of kitchen towel to wipe the pan so that it is well-coated with oil.
4) When the oil is heated, pour 1 portion of the egg mixture over the pan, swirl the mixture to form the omelette, cook under low heat.
5) When the omelette is 50% cooked, add in cabbage. Use a chopstick/ spatula to roll up the omelette.
6) Push it to the side of the pan. Pour another 1 portion and cook until 70% harden. Then under low fire, slowly fold/roll up the omelette.
7) When the folding is done, cook it with medium heat until the surface turns slightly to
golden brown.
Dish up and cut with a knife.

Note:
You can watch a video clip for ideas on how to roll up the omelette (tamagoyaki).

B) Sesame seeds rice ball
- For step-by-step illustrations, please refer to this link.
- I had omitted bacon and spinach from the original recipe (bacon spinach rice ball 培根菠菜饭团) because I didn’t have these 2 ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:
Cooked rice – 1 rice bowl
Black and white sesame seeds – ½ tsp each
Pinch of salt

Methods:
1) Put black and white sesame seeds in a frying pan. Dry fry over a low heat until fragrant.
2) Pour rice, both seeds and salt on a bowl, mixed well and divided into the required portions.
3) Scoop up 1 tablespoonful of rice mixture and put on top of a cling wrap/ plastic paper (cut into square shape). Shape it like a ball. Make sure the cling wrap is closed tightly.

Notes:
1) Prepare some water in case the rice sticks on your hand.
2) For a more tasty rice ball, cook rice with concentrated stocks.

C) Stir-fry mushrooms
- Similar to recipe in mushroom rice

Ingredients:
100-150g enoki bunch mushrooms + button mushrooms (chopped) (any combination)
2 tbsp minced garlic

Seasonings :
1 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine
1 tbsp mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
2 tbsp light soya sauce
Dash of sugar and pepper

Methods:
1) Heat up pan with oil. Sautee minced garlic until fragrant.
2) Add in mushroom. Add in dash of sugar. Stir fry for a while.
3) Add in mirin and light soya sauce and cooked until the sauce has thicken.

The 2 key differences between cooking yam rice and cooking pumpkin rice are that you need to pre-fry the yam cubes and add the yam when the rice is boiling. Thanks to the mommy who had recommended me this wonderful recipe!

Below is a modified version of my yam rice (ingredients are quite similar to pumpkin rice):

Ingredients:
110g rice (2 persons) – rinse and soak for 15 mins
200g yam (cut into 1cm x 1cm cube, rinse and pat-dry, pre-fry until lightly brown)
* Do not wash the yam before peeling off the skin to avoid itches on the hands.
80g vegetarian cubed ham (you can substitute with pork or chicken)
5 fresh medium size shiitake mushroom (wash with running water, blanch over hot water and slice thinly)
35g dried shrimp (wash, pre-soak for 15 mins, retain water for cooking later)
5 shallots (slice thinly)
4 tbsp oils
Water for cooking (depending on the type of rice used. I used long-grained rice to cook)
Spring onions (for garnishing)

Seasonings:
1½ tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper

Methods:
1. Heat up 3 tbsp oil. Fry shallots until golden brown. Dish up and set aside.
2. Heat up another 1 tbsp oil, add in dried prawns and stir fry under low heat until fragrant.
3. Push the dried prawns to the side, add in vegetarian cubed ham and stir-fry for a while.
4. Add in mushroom and stir fry for 2 mins.
5. Add in pre-soaked rice, ½ of the fried shallots, then followed by seasonings. Stir well until all are evenly coated.
6. Transfer all the ingredients to a cooking pot, add water until 1cm above the surface fo the rice.
7. Cook the rice until it is boiling and half-cooked, add in pre-fried yam. Stir well and cover the lid. Continue cooking until it is completely cooked.
8. For those who cooks using pot or wok, add water to cover the mixture, reduce heat to low, cover and cook slowly, stir occasionally to prevent burning.
9. Serve rice with a sprinkle with spring onion and fried shallots.

Cooking this one-meal dish is not as difficult as I thought after cooking for several times. Thanks to the advices and guidance from an Indian mother whom I met in my son’s playschool and the recipes and cooking tips from here.

Below is the modified recipe I used:

Ingredients:
120g Basmati rice (long grained rice)
240g water
1 medium size onion (red, sliced thinly)
¼ cup green peas (frozen)
¼ cup french beans (chopped)
¼ cup cauliflower (chopped into tiny florets)
¼ cup carrot (chopped)
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup halved cashew nuts

Seasonings:
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
2 small ½ inch long cinnamon sticks
½ tsp tumeric powder
1 bay leaf
Oil for cooking (I used olive oil instead of ghee)
Salt to taste
Pinch of sugar

Methods:
1. Wash and drain rice on a kitchen towel. When it is slightly dry, heat 2 tbsp oils in a large pan and splutter cardamon, cinnamon sticks, cloves and bay leaf. Add in rice and tumeric powder and stir continuously for 2-3 mins in low heat and keep aside.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the same pan and stir-fry the raisins until they turn plump or look like golden grapes and keep aside.
3. Fry the cashew nuts in the same oil until they turn into golden colour. Drain both the nuts and raisin in a kitchen towel.
4. With the remaining oil, saute all the veggies for 2-3 mins in low heat, add in salt, and stir-fry until they are well-coated with the oil and cooked slightly.
5. Remove the veggies and add more oils to the pan to fry the thinly sliced onions until they turn into golden brown. then add a pinch of sugar to the onion while frying so that it will give a taste of nice caramelised onions.
6. Remove the fried onions and drain them on kitchen tower.
7. Keep a spoonful of fried nuts, raisins and half of the fried onions for garnishing later.
8. As I used AMC cooking pot, I mixed everything together and add in water. Cook with medium high heat. When the timer showed 2 o’clock, use a fork to gently separate the rice so as not to get stickly to the bottom of the pot. Cover the lid again and continue to cook with medium heat until the timer hit 3 o’clock. Off the heat and wait until the timer moved back to 12 o’clock (so that the rice will be fully cooked)
9. Garnish with the rest of the nuts, raisins and & onion and serve.

Note: For microwave method and stove-top method, you can follow the steps from here.