Butterbean burger recipe.

I am currently experimenting with low glycemic index (GI), slow carb recipes in preparation for the biggest diet overhauling of our lives and this is one of the results.

Butterbean burgers :D

# – Butterbean burgers.

In fact, even before we developed the awareness about low GI food, I’ve made bean mash before, which is an example of a healthy, low GI food.

Beans are really, really versatile (and tasty) as you shall discover in this recipe.

The ingredients

  • 1 can of butter beans, drained
  • 50 grams of blue cheese (if you don’t like strong tasting cheese you can replace with cheese of your choice)
  • 50 grams of parmesan cheese, grated
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 1 medium shallot, finely diced
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • A dash of salt & black pepper

# – First, throw the butterbeans into a blender or food processor.

# – Followed by the grated parmesan cheese.

# – And then the blue cheese.

# – Pour in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. And blitz till the mixture is combined and creamy.

# – Pour mixture onto a plate or a bowl. Fold the chopped shallots in and season with salt/pepper.

# – Shape the mixture in patties.

# – Pan fry the patties for 5 minutes or till golden brown on each side.

# – Serve with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and yogurt. Butterbean burgers, DONE!

This is a far healthier alternative to fried mash potato! The burger was crispy on the outside, creamy and flavoursome on the inside.

The boyfriend loved it! His only complaint was that I didn’t make more. If you would like to have this as a main dinner for two, feel free to double the recipe for a bigger portion.

Quick basic coleslaw recipe.

This is a recipe for a basic coleslaw. I whipped this up as an accompaniment to the baby back ribs I made a while ago. It’s so easy to make….delicious, refreshing and crunchy.

# – Quick basic coleslaw.

This is way healthier than eating coleslaw outside too. I find it comforting to know exactly where each ingredient came from and what went into flavouring it.

The ingredients:

  • 1/2 a cabbage, sliced
  • 2 carrots, grated
  • 1 small onion, sliced
  • 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
  • A pinch of black pepper
  • A pinch of nutmeg
  • A pinch of celery salt or ordinary salt

# – First, slice the cabbage.

# – Then, grate the carrots and slice the onion. Dump into a mixing bowl.

# – Dump in the cabbage as well, followed by 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I like my coleslaw creamy, feel free to reduce amount of mayo if you want).

# – Give it a splash of red wine vinegar.

# – Season with some celery salt or ordinary salt.

# – A pinch of nutmeg for a wonderful aroma.

# – Lastly, a dash of black pepper for a bit of a kick. Stir well, cover and stick in the fridge to chill for at least one hour for the flavours to settle in. However, you can eat it straightaway if you like :D

# – Quick basic coleslaw, DONE!

I love it when I can get my vegetable intake with no cooking involved. Heheheh /lazy

Steamed tilapia fish Lan Je Style at your own home.

One of my favourite restaurants to go to is Lan Je for its beautifully steamed tilapias. There’s only one style of steaming but you can ask for mild, normal or spicy. Of course, I always go for spicy.

You can read about Lan Je here, here and here.

Although a new Lan Je branch has recently opened practically at my doorstep, in spirit of home cooking, I tried to replicate the dish that I love so much.

# – Steamed tilapia fish Lan Je style.

I was very pleased because, while it’s didn’t have the unmistakable taste of Lan Je, it was pretty damn close :)

For the fish preparation:

  • 2 tilapias about 200-300 grams each, cleaned and scaled
  • 2 cm of ginger, sliced
  • Enough water to cover fish in a pan/pot

For the sauce:

  • Some of water
  • 8-10cm of ginger, finely diced
  • 2 bulbs of garlic, finely diced
  • 6 bird’s eye chillies, finely sliced (less if you can’t take that hot)
  • 2 tablespoons of fermented soyabean paste (taucu)
  • A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
  • A teaspoon of dark caramel sauce
  • A few dashes of light soya sauce

# – First, blanch the fish in boiling water with sliced ginger for about 1 minute. As you can see, I was too lazy to boil a big pot of water so I just boiled some water in a pan and flipped the fish to cook briefly on both sides :P Rock it out your way. Do not over-cook the fish, by the way. Remove the fish from water, pat to dry inside and outside then set aside.

This step is to remove the nasty smell of fish as well as bitterness that might affect the taste of the sauce when you steam a raw fish straightaway.

# – To make the sauce, fry up the minced ginger, garlic and bird’s eye chillies with a bit of oil till fragrant.

# – Add the fermented bean paste or taucu and mix till combined.

# – Next, add in some water. The fact was, I put in too much water. I would really reduce the amount of liquid in my next attempt. Depending on how deep the plates that you’re steaming your fish in, estimate the amount of water as you do not want the fish to be drowning, just resting in a shallow pool of sauce. Also, fish produces liquid as it steams, a lot of liquid. If you think you need more liquid, you can add later. Finally, I’d say…about 2 tablespoons of water will do for now ;)

Do note that in the following pictures you will notice that the sauce looked pretty liquid, but as I warned against putting in too much water, just imagine the sauce is quite dry instead :P

# – Add a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce.

# – Followed by dark caramel sauce for colour.

# – And a dash of light soya sauce.

# – Now place the fish in its own plate and pour the sauce all over each of them. Do not worry if there’s no liquid at the bottom of your plates as depicted in the pictures, I put in too much water remember?

# – Steam for 15-20 minutes.

# – When done, garnish with spring onions and freshly cut chillies if you liked.

# – Steamed tilapia fish Lan Je Style, DONE. See how the fish are half submerged in sauce? Don’t get me wrong, the sauce tasted superb (GREAT with rice) but like I said, I’d prefer them lying on a shallow pool of sauce instead of swimming in it hahaha.

# – Flaky flesh, yums.

You can adjust the level of spiciness accordingly by controlling the amount of bird’s eye chillies that go into the making of the sauce. This recipe is quite spicy, but I can take quite hot so if you’re not sure, reduce the number of chillies to 3 or errmm…1.

So there, my first attempt in replicating a Lan Je style steamed fish. Can’t wait for my next try and hopefully it’ll be perfect then!