Easy Fish Cake Recipe

You know how it's easy to eat the same foods day after day just because it's fast and you know how it's gonna taste like. Especially can&packet foods are my common go-to after a long day of work. I just want to get dinner in front of me fast and not start cooking for hours! That's why last weekend I tried making fish cakes with my new food processor.

They turned out good, especially with pesto sauce and cheese powder :) Yummy!

The recipe:

1/4 cooked cauliflower

1/4 cooked broccoli

1/4 cooked fish of your choice

1/4 flour, oats, almond or flax meal to suck the moisture

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

Fresh mint or oregano

Simply cook all ingredients first until the fish is cooked and veggies are soft but not overcooked. Bend in a food processor after the ingredients have cooled down. Add in flour/oats/almond or flax meal and spices and blend again. The mass should be firm enough to hold on your hand as a steak before frying; if it's not, add more flour. Shape into steaks and fry with enough oil. Decorate with fresh mint, cheese powder and enjoy with your favourite pesto sauce (mine is sundried tomato one!)

X Ang Moh Chick

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

I hardly eat soups here in Singapore because of the hot weather. I still wanted to try making a creamy pumpkin soup and it turned out to be so good that I wanted to share it with you! 

You need:

• 1/2 small size pumpkin
• 2 stocks of celery
• A handful of dried (or fresh) mushrooms
• 200ml cream of your choice
• Onion, garlic (optional, I'm allergic so I didn't use)

Simmer mushrooms (and onions) in a little bit of vegetable stock for about 30 minutes. In the meanwhile, cut the pumpkin and the celery into small pieces. After the 30 minutes or so, add in the pieces and cook until the pumpkin is soft. Add the cream and bring to boil, then let the soup cool down. When the soup is a bit cooler, blend it smooth in a blender or use an immersion blender.

Before serving, mix a handful of pumpkin seeds (those ready ones, not the ones in the pumkin :D) in the soup and sprinkle some on top. I enjoyed my soup with two pieces of bread topped with fried eggs, ham, feta cheese, olives and pesto - my addiction. Yummy!! :)

X Ang Moh Chick

Spinach Pancakes and Cranberry Jam

Yes you heard correct - pancakes can well be savoury! Spinach pancakes is a common dish at Finnish schools where the food is free from primary school all the way until university where is's government subsidised. 

Food is not only one of the most important joys of life, it's a way to gain energy for the body and the brains, share love, try something new and of course most importantly enjoy the taste of life! For me even food can look pretty and visually appealing. Presenting food in a nice way makes it taste much better ;) Moreover, food is a great way to bring back memories. I felt like having something Finnish and eating these pancakes brought me back to my school days!

These spinach pancakes are packed with iron and good carbs to give you strength for the challenges of the day. First you need to prepare the sweet&bitter cranberry jam. 

Mix 3 tablespoons of chia seeds with 1 dl of water. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes or until the seeds have 'jellified'. Mix the jelly with a handful of grated cranberries, or alternatively use a blender. Add in honey to taste, about 2-4 tablespoons depending on how sweet you want your jam to be. Place the ready jam in the fridge to wait.

Here is what you need for the pancakes:

• 1 cup white quinoa + 2 cups water
• 1.5 cups grated pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• a large handful of spinach
• 1.5-2 cups rolled oats
• fresh or coarsed parsley, black pepper, salt to taste
• butter or oil for frying

First cook the quinoa in 2 cups of lightly salted boiling water for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Pulse the pumpkin in a blender and then add rest of the ingredients. If you don't own a blender, grate the pumpkin and spinach until fine, then mix with other ingredients. The mixture should be thick enough to be shaped into patties. If it's not thick enough, add more oats.

Place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat the oil or butter in a large pan, adding enough so that the patties will not stick to the pan. Form the mixture into pancakes in your hands and fry about 4 pancakes at a time. Fry for about 3 minutes per side.

Enjoy with your homemade cranberry jam!

Sidenote: After happily eating my pancakes I noticed that my quinoa package is full of tiny tiny Singapore ants running around. Lovely. Should have named the post 'Spinach Pancakes with an Anty Crunch'. 

X Ang Moh Chick