[$20 Budget Meal] Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork Topping, Black Chicken Herbal Soup & Stir Fry Capsicum with Shitake Mushroom

I'm back from the Land of Kimchi! Will be updating my travel post soon after clearing some of my back logs. Prepared this meal on the weekend before my trip. A simple homecooked meal that cost less than $20, will be submitting this post to “May $20 Budget Meal - Specific Ingredient is "Tofu/Beancurd"” hosted by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise.

Total cost: S$14.55

Easter April 2011 $20 Budget Meal - Simple Korean fare at home!

Korean food is one of my favourite cuisine and I love to cook it at home. My family and friends love it too whenever I cooked for them. This is another menu I like to share and will be submitting it to [Easter April 2011 $20 Budget Meal] hosted by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise too. Enjoy...

S$20 Budget Meal Summary (Serve 4) - Total cost S$16.65

S$20 Budget Meal S$16.65 - Cost breakdown

Spicy Bulgogi Pork - S$8.30

Korean Style Mussel, Pork & Egg Bean Paste Soup - S$6.35

Shanghai Green with Shitake Mushroom - S$2.00

Easter April 2011 $20 Budget Meal - Easy Hot & Spicy Meal

To whip up a nice hot and spicy meal is no longer a difficult chore nowadays with so many ready paste available in the market. I remembered my grandma used to spend a lot of times preparing rempah (chilli paste). Even my aunt who's cook very well also find it tedious to do so. So usually I will buy the rempah from the wet market where some of the stalls sell homemade type. Am submitting this easy hot and spicy menu to [Easter April 2011 $20 Budget Meal] hosted by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise.

S$20 Budget Meal Summary (Serve 4) - Total cost S$17.75

S$20 Budget Meal S$17.75 - Cost breakdown

Seah's Chicken Curry - S$10.60

Fried Egg Sambal - S$4.40

Stir Fry Bittergourd & Clam in Miso Sauce - S$2.75

Easter April 2011 $20 Budget Meal - Healthy & Nutritious Dinner

Submitting this dinner menu to Ellena of Cuisine Paradise who is hosting the [Easter April 2011 $20 Budget Meal] using "EGG" as one of the main ingredient in either one of the two dishes or soup prepared. Let's me take you through my healthy and nutritious dinner menu that cost less than S$20 to serve 4...   

S$20 Budget Meal Summary (Serve 4) - Total cost S$18.50

S$20 Budget Meal S$18.50 - Cost breakdown

Steamed Fried Fish with Miso Sauce - S$6.70

Stir Fry Marrow Green and Egg with Crispy Silver Fish - S$2.80

Radish & Pork Ribs Soup - S$9.00 

S$20 Budget Meal - 2 Dishes Plus 1 Soup Blog Event

Another interesting Blog Event that I do not wish to miss which is hosted by Ellena of Cuisine Paradise, S$20 budget meal - 2 Dishes plus 1 Soup. With Aunt around, I will get at least 2 - 3 homecooking meal a week which usually make up of 2 dishes and sometimes a soup. This was one of our dinner last week... I told her about this event and she recorded the cost for me. Thank you Aunt! You are the best!

While preparing this post, I'm quite impressed that with less than S$20 you can actually prepare a good meal for a family of 4 easily! Usually we will buy fish from the market and the rest will be at NTUC or Shop n Save. Sometimes you can get pretty good buy for fish at NTUC too which are very fresh too. Let's take a look at the dinner menu...

S$20 Budget Meal Summary (Serves 4):Jacket Fish in Miso Sauce - S$7.40
Stir Fry Zucchini with Capscium & Shimeji Mushroom - S$5.60
Egg & Tomato soup - $1.00
Total spending: S$14.00

Jacket Fish in Miso Sauce

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
700g Jacket fish (cut into 4 pcs)
1 knob Ginger (Shredded)
2 stalks Spring Onion (cut lengthwise)
1 no Red chilli (sliced)
2 cloves Garlic (smashed)

Seasoning for Fish (Season for 1/2hr):
2tsp light sauce
1/2tsp sesame oil

Sauce (mix together):
200ml stock/water (if using water, add 1tsp Maggi concentrated chicken stock)
1tbsp miso paste
1/2tsp sugar
1tsp honey
1tsp light sauce
1tsp sesame oil
1tsp wine
Pepper
Thickening: 1 1/2tsp Cornflour mix w/1tbsp water

Method:
1. Use a non stick pan, lightly pan-fried the fish and set aside.
2. Heat oil & fry the shredded ginger till golden brown, dish out.
3. Use the balance oil in the wok to fry garlic and chilli till fragrant.
4. Add in sauce, stir well & add back the fried fish.
5. Simmer for 2 mins till sauce start boiling & add thickening.
6. Serve & garnish with fried ginger & spring onion.

Cost of Ingredients:
Jacket fish (approx 700g) - S$6.40
Ginger/Spring Onion/Red chilli/Garlic - S$1.00

Stir Fry Zucchini with Capscium & Shimeji Mushroom

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
2 nos Green Zucchini
1 no Yellow Capsicum
1 box Shimeji Mushroom
1 no Chilli
2 cloves Garlic (chopped finely)

Seasoning Sauce:
3 tbsp Stock/Water (if using water add 1/2 tsp of Maggi Concentrated Chicken stock)
1 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Light Sauce
2 tsp Fish Sauce
2 tsp Oyster Sauce
2 tsp Sesame Oil
2 tsp Huatiao Wine
1 tsp Cornflour
Pepper

Method:
1. Cut zucchini, capsicum & chilli into cubes.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil to fry garlic till fragrant. Add Zucchini & mushroom to fry for 1min, then add in capscium & chilli to stir fry for awhile.
3. Add in the seasoning sauce and stir fry for another min till the sauce heat through. (do not overcook as the vegetables will lose it's crisp)
4. Dish out and serve.

Cost of Ingredients:
2 nos Green Zucchini - S$3.00
1 no Yellow Capsicum - S$0.90
1 box Shimeji Mushroom - S$1.50
Chilli/Garlic - S$0.20

Egg & Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
500ml Stock/Water (if using water, add 2 tsp Maggi Concentrated Chicken Stock)
2 nos Egg (Beaten)
1 medium size Tomato (cut into wedges)
Spring onion
Fried onion oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
1. Bring stock/water to boil in pot.
2. Whisk in beaten egg & tomato, heat through. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Dish out & garnish with spring onions and fried onion oil.

Cost of Ingredients:
2 nos Egg - S$0.50
1 medium size Tomato - S$0.30
Spring onion/Fried onion oil - S$0.20

Start cooking at home for a healthier yet economical meal!