Extra Rice, Please: Rice Pilaf

Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice (I couldn’t find wild rice so I just used Jasmine rice)

3/4 cup Chicken stock

Veggies of your choice cut into bite-size pieces (I used mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin and french beans)

1/2 cup Butter

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the ingredients in your rice cooker.
   
2. Cook as per normal process.
3. Stir occasionally.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
   
5. Serve as is or with meat (I served this with Chicken Kebabs).
6. Plate and Enjoy! :)

The roasted pumpkin and fresh beans were actually leftovers from another dish.  I just added them in towards the end.

All About Pasta: Siomai Sotanghon Soup

Siomai Sotanghon Soup

Ingredients:
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 medium carrot (sliced thinly into 1 inch pieces)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 tbsp garlic (minced)
1 tbsp garlic (fried until crispy) - optional
1 small ginger (sliced thinly)
2 tbsp fresh onion leaves (chopped)
1 litre water/ chicken stock
1 packet sotanghon
Saffron (optional)
Salt and Pepper
Siomai
Calamansi (optional)


Directions:

1. Soak the sotanghon in warm water and set aside.  Heat the oil in a pot and cook the garlic, ginger, onions and carrots for about 3 minutes.
Note: I used a large pan here, but if you want more of a soupy dish, better use a pot.

2. Add half the water/ chicken stock then place the siomai pieces.

3. Add the rest of the water/ chicken stock.  Cover and let simmer for about 5-8 minutes.

4. Remove the noodles from the water and add them in.  Season to taste.  If you used chicken stock, you may not need to add a lot of salt.

5. Stir gently and add the onion leaves and saffron.  Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the noodles are cooked.  The noodles will soak up the stock so you can add more water or stock as you like.

6. Top with fried garlic for extra yumminess.  Plate and Enjoy! :)