Thermal Cooker #5 Chicken thigh and sausage cabbage soup

This tastes a lot better than effort #1, which is also a tomato based dish. Instead of using all tomato, I used 2/3 tomato and 1/3 chicken stock. Also, the cabbage + herbs sweetened the soup (can I find the herbs on the caravan trail? Hmmm). There's also a bit of cooking before boiling, which I think helps because it rendered out the spicy sausage oil.

3/4 of large can of tomato sauce, a 250ml of chicken stock, 1 small head cabbage (chopped coarsely), 1 carrot sliced, 4 garlic cloves (whole), 1 medium onion sliced, 2 chorizo sausage (or something that is spicy), 2 small chicken thighs, 7-10 leaves of basil, 2 stalks of wan sui.

In the pot, stir fry sliced sausage with a bit of olive oil until starting to brown and oil has rendered out of the sausage. Pour in sliced onions and saute until soft. Then layer cabbage, chicken, cabbage and pour the stock + tomato sauce over. Top up with water, but not too much because the cabbage will shrink when cooked (so just below the top of the cabbage).

Bring to boil and keep it there for about 10 mins, with last 5 mins with lid on. Insert into cooker.

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Thermal Cooker #4 Bak Kut Teh

Used this spice pack. Its actually not too bad. Didn't even really need the dark sauce as stipulated in the packet instructions.

You still should boil the pork first to get the scum out, throw the water out and then boil with fresh water and put into the pot.

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Thermal Cooker #3 Beef "Rendang"

Tried this particular version. It not only has the rempah, but it also comes with a packet of coconut premix.

Needs a little more water to cover the beef, so its not exactly dry. Hence it tastes more like a lemak curry. However, the taste is not bad if you don't think of it as trying to replicate  rendang.

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Thermal Cooker #2. Green Curry Soup aka Spicy Chicken Soup

This was made with a packet of commercial green curry paste, then diluted with plain yoghurt and milk to taste. This was deliberate since I had coconut milk and kaffir lime leaf - the point was to simulate what is available during camping. Then I dropped some french beans, cherry tomatos and frozen veg in together with 2 small chicken thighs

Notes:
1. We returned late in the evening. So it had a 12 hour cook - a rather extreme duration.
2. The mixture measured at 53C when I opened it. So 12 hours is basically max. 10 hours better.
3. Some veg just can't stand the long cook - the french beans in this case.
4. Surprisingly edible, just don't think of it as "green curry", but as a spicy chicken soup.

Result: Pass for camping. Might want to look for a better brand of green curry paste.

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Thermal Cooker #1. Sausage and Bean stew and rice

This is the first of posts on my experiment with the Thermal Cooking Pot (from Shuttle Chef)

We bought a new Thermal Cooker. It came with a free smaller version. And we already had one. So that makes 3. A 3, 1.8 and 1.5 litre pot.


The purpose of this is to experiment with "no fuss" cooking. Something with barely any effort and can be thrown together with minimal equipment. This is in preparation for our future jaunts in camping. Many people have apparently raved about this appliance for camping - it saves on gas, and you can prepare it in the morning and return to a hot meal in the evening.

Here's the first effort.

Assemble one can of cannelloni beans, one can of tomato, half a large onion (sliced), 3 small whole pieces of garlic, bunch of thyme, a few slices of celery and carrots, and 3 sliced chorizo sausages.

Put the whole bunch in the pot, bring to a boil and keep it boiling for about 7-10 mins, last few with lid over. Then insert into outer container. Prep in the morning. Eat in the evening after work.

Result.

Pros: Easy to prepare. No sweating of veg, no browning of meat, minimal cutting, no tomato sauce concentration, no smells etc.

Cons (not really a con): the sauce was a bit one dimensional. Overall taste is just decent. Can do again.

Rice was cooked in the smallest container. Half a cup thai rice plus 1.25 times the volume in water. Bring water to boil, reduce heat and cook another 10 mins with lid on. Insert into outer pot. Rice turned out ok even after approximately 10 hours in the pot.

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