Japanese style Tuna Bruchetta

Just bought another french loaf from giant at only $1.29 but I wasn't really impressed with it. I prefer the one from supasave that costs $2.00 and tastes a lot better. Felt hungry so I decided to make little tuna bruchettas.


As usual, slice the french loaf with a bread knife (makes it a lot easier - it's the ones with 'teeth' on them for easy cutting of bread). Then toast them in your toaster oven or oven.


While waiting, toast some sesame seeds on your wok. On a hot wok, it'll take only a few seconds. They'll add texture and of course a nice Asian flavour to bruchettas.


Open a can of tuna flakes in water, drain all the water away first. I use flakes rather than chunks because flakes are easy to use for sandwiches.


Take our your Japanese Mayonnaise, now this is my favourite one as it is more eggy than typical ones we usually use for Roti Johns. It tastes eggy and rich, unlike the slightly sour and sweet mayonnaise from Krafts.


Give a generous squeeze, yummy~~


Add your toasted sesame seeds and some freshly ground black pepper. At this stage, you should add some finely chopped chives (bawang hijau) but I ran out so I omit them. It would make a good difference to the flavour and colour. Mix them up nicely and then microwave (with a lid if possible to prevent spillage) for 2 minutes.


Ahh nice and toasted from the oven. You see that garlic? Nicely peeled and ready for....

Rub garlic on the surface of all your slices of french loaf. This will add a natural garlic bread taste to your bread. Don't be shy - rub it nice and hard.


After that, scoop your delicious tuna mixture onto them.


At this stage, you can choose to add shaved parmesan cheese to enhance the flavour but I don't have any (due to the stupid prices of cheese nowadays). I add some extra freshly ground black pepper, since I love the kick.



There you go, a simple and easy snack to enjoy your tv shows and movies. Beats potato chips or corn chips anytime. They are also great as finger food for dinner parties.

Nonya Tuna Pasta

When you have limited time, you can always choose some canned ingredients that are very useful. Since I always have pre-chopped garlic and ginger in the fridge. It's easy to just cook a quick meal. Here's how to make Nonya Tuna Pasta. It is a fusion style pasta meal that incorporates South East Asian flavours into traditional pasta. This is a lower fat and healthier version pasta which is easy to prepare yet full in flavour. A spicy tangy dish with good amount of fibre from veggies, nutritious tomatoes and you get your omega-3s from tuna.

Ingredients:

300g any type of dried pasta, cooked in salted water (I used bowtie pasta but you can use penne pasta too)
One can diced tomatoes
One can tuna chunks in water, drained (or olive oil if you wish)
About 2 cups worth of chopped vegetables ( I used carrots, peas and ladies fingers)
1 tablespoon nonya sambal chili paste (add more if you want spicier)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped shallots (small red onions)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of freshly chopped basil
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
little bit of sliced ginger
pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon honey
one cup of milk(low fat if you wish) mixed with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to make a slur(watery paste)
2 tablespoons of cooking oil


Directions:

1) On a wok or frying pan, heat the oil, then add the onions and stir fry till fragrant, then add in the sesame seeds followed by garlic and ginger.

2) Add in the chili paste, salt and pepper. You will start to smell the strong chili paste.

3) Add in your vegetables followed by the tuna chunks.

4) Add in the whole can of tomatoes, followed by the oregano and basil.

5) Stir in honey and fish sauce.

6) Toss in the cooked pasta and stir well.

7) Slowly add your milky slur while stir frying your pasta. You should get a slightly creamy carbonara style texture.

8) Serve with grated cheese and freshly ground pepper. I omitted the cheese.

Mushroom Barley Soup

People love soups and my mother makes soups everyday. She would make a nice stock base 3-4 hours ahead of time and by dinner time, we'll have a nutritious and tasty soup. Now, when I was overseas and I didn't know how to make soups, I usually go for those CANNED soups *Insert dramtic background music here* and when I had a taste of these soups ... OMG *insert thunder and lightning* I decided to go research more about soups in the internet.

The most famous ones we usually go for are cream of mushroom soup and cream corn soup. Needless to say, canned ones are chucked full of sodium, preservatives and MSG. Not the healthy nutritious soup we were supposed to have. Now here's a nice recipe for you guys to try. It's rather simple and the only hard part is to puree it, which most people might find it a hassle but it's worth all the trouble guys, seriously. You can always make your own changes to the recipe, add extra veggies or something like carrots or celery.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups mushrooms -- sliced
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 onion -- sliced
• 1 pound barley (or 450 grams)
  
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 cups vegetable stock -- ( or chickenstock, you can buy it or make your own in advance)
• 1/4 cup miso -- bean paste --(from your local Asian supermarket)
  
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms -- fresh, julienned
• 4 shallots (or you can use green onions or chives) -- finely chopped

Makes 6 servings

PREPARATION:

In a large saute pan, cook the mushrooms until they have released most of their moisture but have not browned, about 5 minutes.

Puree the mushrooms in a food processor. (If you don't want to do this, you can just leave them whole or mash them lightly, it's better to puree them of course)

In another saute pan, heat 1/2 the oil over medium-low heat.

Add the onions and saute, until well caramelized, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the mushroom puree and cook for 3 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat the remaining oil and add the barley.

Stir constantly until the barley is an even light brown color.

Add the barley and the bay leaf to the onion mixture.

Stir in the stock and cook at a low simmer for 45 minutes.

Whisk in the miso paste, shiitake mushrooms, and chopped scallions just prior to serving.

Bon Appetit. Recipe courtesy of Chef2Chef.net

Now it's time to say goodbye to these