The Girl Next Kitchen...

Prawn Sambal - updated version!

2011-12-02T21:07:00.001+08:00

Originally posted the prawn sambal blog on 19/5/08, but have since upped the ante on this classic with the addition of fragrant bunga kantan, serai and lime leaves, and figured out chilli amount (thought this is completely subjective to a heat-lover/non-heat lover)...

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This was so good that by the end of the meal, my nose was blocked and tears almost ran down my cheeks... well, that and because I misjudged the amount of chilli (lesson learnt: diff types of chilli - those thin long ones vs the thicker shorter ones have diff heat levels and when the vegetable vendor at the market says its perfect for sambal - be prepared for damn hot ones!)...

Prawn Sambal
Ingredients:
1 bowl Large prawns - I pref to have it shelled but with the tails left on so it doesn't curl too much
3-4 chillies
1 large onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
About an 1/2 inch Ginger - sliced
1/2 torch ginger bud (bunga kantan) - sliced
1 serai stick - sliced
4 lime leaves (daun limau purut) - middle stem removed
1 cup Thick coconut milk
1/2 cup water mixed with Tamarind paste
1/2 lime
A handful of shallots - sliced
Salt to taste

Method:
1. In blender, grind chillies, large onions, garlic, serai, bunga kantan and lime leaves with a little water.
2. Heat a bit of oil in sauce pan. Saute sliced shallots, ginger and cubed tomatoes. Add blended paste and fry till aromatic. Add tamarind water to dilute the paste and cook till the sharp raw chilli smell reduces.
3. Add in prawns. Season with salt. When prawns get half cooked, add coconut milk and allow it to thicken. Remove off heat and squirt lime juice. Give it a good stir and serve.

P/s: The perfect accompaniment for this is cucumber or other "cooling" vege that tempers down the heat. Sambal is also one of the accompaniments of the Malaysian national dish Nasi Lemak (Milk Rice).

Chicken biryani

2011-11-07T19:25:00.003+08:00

It started off with one of those craving-driven lightbulb moments... There we were trying to figure out the dinner menu for our family's post-deepavali get-together and I come up with the "brilliant" idea of doing the biryani. And then, I actually did some google research and the daunting feeling of experimenting a new dish for 15 people started getting magnified. It ended up going pretty well once I figured out the basic steps (marinade chicken > soak rice > cook chicken halfway > cook rice & aromatics > combine > garnish) and the end result received some compliments...

I drew elements from several different recipes, but mainly the chicken marinade is from the doyenne of Indian chefs - Madhur Jaffrey (original recipe here - though this is a time-consuming one...).

CHICKEN BIRYANI

Step A) Spiced Chicken marinade
6 chicken legs (cut into half = one drumstick, one thigh)
5 garlic cloves
3 medium onions
1 piece (2-inch) fresh ginger
10 cloves
20 black peppercorns
8 cardamom pods (use the seeds)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/4 cup yogurt

Method: Remove skin from chicken. Prepare the marinade paste by grinding all the other ingredients in a blender till smooth. Combine marinade with chicken, mix well and leave in refridgerator for a minimum of 2 hours (preferably overnight).

Step 2: Soak 2 cups of long-grain basmati rice in water for at least an hour.

Step 3: Cook chicken
Method: In a pot, heat some vegetable oil. Remove chicken pieces from marinade and cook in the pot till all sides are browned. Add in rest of marinade and leave till chicken is 3/4 cooked. Once done, remove chicken pieces in a separate bowl. Continue boiling down the marinade until the paste becomes very thick. Taste the paste, if you feel it needs to be spicier - add 1 teaspoon curry powder.

Step 4: Cook rice
3 medium onions - diced
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cardamom pods
2 tablespoon ghee

Method: Mix turmeric/saffron with warm milk in a separate glass. In a non-stick pot, melt ghee and saute onions, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom till fragrant and onions have browned. Drain the soaked rice and add to the pot. Mix the rice well until each grain is coated with ghee. Add in 700ml water, salt to taste, and cook on high heat until it boils.

Step 5: Combine both Chicken & rice
1/2 teaspoon turmeric OR 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
2 tablespoons warm milk

Method: Add two-three tablespoons of thickened marinade and mix rice. Next, bury the chicken pieces in the rice (put a spoonful of the marinade paste on top of chicken before you cover it with the rice). Mix turmeric/saffron with warm milk and pour over the rice, streaking it yellow. Cover pot tightly with aluminum foil and the pot cover. Cook on LOW heat for 15 minutes till rice is cooked.

* Rule of thumb: 250g long-grain rice : 350ml water

Step 6: Garnish
Raisins
Chopped cashew nuts
Fried onions
Coriander (optional)

Deepavali - a time for churning out those cookies!

2011-10-28T20:02:00.005+08:00

This blog (and my personal one too) has been dreadfully neglected these last couple of months since I returned home to KL and hit the career ladder once again. The workload and hours at my "new" job are practically triple what I put in with the old one, combined with spending 3 hours of my daily life in a traffic jam made even the idea of even cooking anything more than a slapdash dish exhausting! But I'm back with renewed inspiration (we'll see how long this lasts... lol) after re-reading the first post I ever wrote here while scouring for some old recipes.

Anyways enough of the moaning and groaning - to the main event - new recipes! :) I usually hate doing cookies since I always end up burning them somehow... but having missed Deepavali with the family for the last two years, was eager to do something. And hey hey, they turned out great (good thing I finally learnt that cookies need to be cooled before they harden/crisp up)!

Left: Melting Moments, Right: Sugee Biscuits

Sugee Biscuits
Ingredients:
200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
200g ghee or butter
150g icing sugar
150g semolina flour (note: I added about 50g more as my dough was too sticky)
1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1. Preheat over to 180C.
2. Sift plain flour and baking soda.
3. In mixer, cream ghee/butter, icing sugar together. Add in semolina and salt, and fold in sifted ingredients.
4. Divide dough into balls (I used a half teaspoon as a measure), put on tray and flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 12 minutes.

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Melting Moments
Ingredients:
100g salted butter
75g unsalted butter
1/4 cup heaped icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cornflour
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. In mixer, cream butters, sugar, vanilla until smooth and light.
3. Stir in sifted flour, cornflour and lemon zest.
4. Fill dough (it has a very soft consistency) into piping bag and pipe rosettes onto baking-paper lined tray or little paper cups. Top with sprinkles.
5. Bake for 9 minutes (small ones) or 12-15 minutes (larger) at 180C.

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The infamous hoax "Famous Amos" Chocolate Chip Cookie

This was from one of those emails revealing that someone was trying to get back at being charged hundreds by FA for asking for the recipe. But, still it is pretty darn yummy!

Ingredients (makes a lot, so half the recipe for 2 trays):
250g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 cups sifted plain flour
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
340g chocolate chips
100g nuts, chopped (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven t0 190C. Note: the cookies baked at this temperature will have a chewy centre. If you prefer them crumbly, bake at 195C.
2. Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanila.
3. Fold in rest of the ingredients.
4. Roll into small balls (I used a teaspoon measure)
5. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes at 190C (chewy soft middle) / 195C (crumbly).

Tweaked Kung Po Chicken

2011-02-01T22:01:00.004+08:00

Kung Po Chicken has been a family favourite at chinese restaurants, but decided to "indian-ize" it a little tonight and loved the highly fragrant results!

Tweaked Kung Po Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken - diced into bite sized pieces
5 Dried Chilli
Curry leaves
1 onion - sliced
Ginger - sliced
3 cloves garlic - quartered
Handful of cashew nuts
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
Light soy sauce
2 tablespoons corn flour
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
Oil to fry

Method:
1. In a bowl, marinate diced chicken with light soy sauce (depending how much chicken you have) and corn flour
2. Heat oil in a wok and fry the onions, garlic, curry leaves, dried chilli, cinnamon and star anise till golden brown and aromatic. Remove from oil and place in a bowl.
3. Add in chicken mix and fry in the seasoned oil till cooked.
4. Drizzle in dark soy sauce and honey. Return onions mixture to wok. Add cashew nuts. Mix everything well to coat over chicken. Taste and add salt/light soy sauce if necessary.
5. Best served hot.

Italian-style veggie soup

2010-10-24T12:12:00.004+08:00

I'm finally winding down in the last few weeks of the last semester my Masters degree. The weather in Sydney this week has been unpredictable - hot sun then suddenly rain cooling down the rest of the day. And the weekend has unfortunately been mostly rainy (spoiled a day out on Manly beach), so as soon as I got home, decided a nice hearty, wholesome piping hot pot of soup was in order. Plus, I can easily picture someone's Nonna out there making this...

Italian-style veggie soup (updated)
Ingredients:
A handful of diced chicken breast
1 medium potato - diced
1 zucchini diced
1 red onion diced
3 cloves garlic - smashed
About 5cm of ginger - sliced thickly
1/2 red capsicum - diced
A handful of rice
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon condensed chicken stock
2-4 cans water (to begin with, you can keep adding as it cooks to the consistency you want)
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
2 small bay leaves
Salt & pepper to season

Method:
1. Add a little oil in a pot and saute garlic, ginger and chicken till brown. Add in veggies and cook for a bit, before adding in water, uncooked rice, bay leaves, chicken stock.
2. Once veggies are slightly softened and rice half cooked, add in diced tomatoes and herbs. Taste and season with salt&pepper. Add in more water if necessary.
4. Leave to cook for about 30 minutes until the veggies are all soft.

Spicy Tuna & Onions

2010-10-20T12:32:00.003+08:00

Since I started an internship and the other weekdays are filled with classes/ research for assignments, I have been feeling super-lazy to cook anything "proper" after coming home from a long day out. Sometimes its either slopping some spread & ham between a bread of some sort (or the latest "craze" - an english muffin), those one-person caesar/greek salads from Woolies or frying up two sausages or fish chips. But there are days when I feel like something spicy with rice. And this is where I end up... (since defrosting "real" meats takes too darn long)...

Spicy Tuna & Onions
Ingredients:
1 can Tuna Chunks in Olive Oil
1 onion - sliced finely
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder (chinna chiraham)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt to season

Method:
1. Heat some oil in frying pan and fry onions till translucent and soft.
2. Add in chilli, turmeric and cumin powder. Mix well with onions and cook it for a minute or two till aromatic. Lower the heat slightly so it doesn't burn.
3. Add in tuna. Mix well. Break down chunks into smaller pieces. Season
4. Fry it up a bit until you get some crispy bits.
5. Serve with rice.

5 spice roast potatoes

2010-05-23T21:10:00.002+08:00

You can hardly go wrong with roast potatoes, but this version gives it a bit of an Asian flair...

5 spice roast potatoes
Ingredients:
5 Potatoes - cut into large chunks or wedges
4 cloves garlic - smashed
2 tablespoons Five spice powder
Salt to taste
Olive oil spray

Method:
1. In a large bowl, toss potato chunks with five spice powder, smashed garlic and salt till well coated.
2. Prep baking tray with foil and spray on olive oil, preheat oven at 200degrees.
3. Place the whole potato mix on tray. Give a spray of olive oil on top. Cover with foil.
4. Cook for about 15minutes covered, then another 10minutes uncovered to brown and crisp. *Check to see if its done, time may vary depending on how big your chunks/wedges are.

p/s: Five spice powder should be available at any Chinese grocer or Asian supermarket.

Soba with Baked Barramundi & Garlic-flavoured vege

2010-03-25T15:44:00.005+08:00

Soba topped with Baked Barramundi & Garlic-flavoured vege

A: Baked Barramundi
Ingredients:
2 medium-sized Barramundi fish fillets
1 red capsicum - cut into pieces
Lemon slices
1 tablespoon mince ginger
1 teaspoon chilli paste
6 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
Olive oil spray

Method:
1. Lightly spray oil onto a piece of aluminum foil. In a bowl, mix the ginger, chili and sauces to form a paste. Place fish on foil and spread some paste on top. Turn over fish and repeat (but keep about a tablespoon of the paste remaining). Give lemon slices a squeeze on top of fish fillets and place the slices on top.
2. Arrange capsicum around the fish. Fold foil into a sealed envelope. Bake in preheated oven at 200celcius for 15minutes.

B: Garlic-flavoured sprouts
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic - minced
Bean sprouts
1 carrot - shaved into long strips with a peeler
Soy sauce

Method:
1. Heat oil in a skillet. Saute mince garlic till aromatic then throw in sprouts & carrot. Season lightly with some soy sauce and cook till preferred (some like me prefer it crunchy, others may like it a tad softer).

C: Soba
Ingredients:
1 handful organic Soba (Japanese noodles)
1 tablespoon above marinade (optional)

Method:
1. Cook Soba according to instructions on pack. I cooked mine in rapidly boiling water for 4 minutes, drain and throw them into a bowl of cold water (this is important to ensure it stops cooking & you don't get mushy noodles). Drain and place in bowl.
2. Optional: Toss Soba with the soy-ginger-chilli marinade to flavour up the noodles.

Just plate your Soba and top it with the stir-fried sprouts/carrots and place a lovely fish fillet & roast capsicum on top!

Stir-fry sweet chilli garlic prawns & snowpeas

2010-03-12T12:06:00.003+08:00

Stir-fry sweet chilli garlic prawns & snowpeas
Ingredients:
250g prawns - shelled, de-veined but with the tails left on
Snowpeas or green beans
1 tomato - diced
1 and a half tablespoons of Lee Kum Kee chilli garlic sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon worchestire sauce
1 teaspoon raw sugar

Method:
1. Marinade prawns with soy sauce and worchestire sauce.
2. Heat some oil in frying pan and "fry" the chilli garlic sauce till aromatic.
3. Add in tomatoes then prawns.
4. Stir-fry till prawns are half cooked then add in snowpeas and sugar. Toss well till cooked.
5. Perfect to be served with steamed jasmine rice.

Miso baked fish & grilled asparagus

2010-03-10T11:35:00.000+08:00

I usually skip watching The Biggest Loser because it often makes me feel guilty - especially because it usually comes on telly around dinner time, and I'm seated stuffing my face with less-than-ideal-on-the-low-fat-scale food. But the Australian version's Masterclass cooking sessions with chef Janella have provided some pretty delish (guilt-free) recipes including these two which I've somewhat adapted.

Miso baked fish
(adapted from Whole Baby Snapper)
Ingredients:
Fish (I used snapper fillets as I'm not such a fan of whole fish)
1 tablespoon Miso paste
**1 teaspoon Mirin (a sweet Japanese condiment, I left it out)
Half an orange, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ginger, sliced finely

Method:
1. Place fish on a aluminium foil (big enough to cover the fish)
2. Mix miso paste (and mirin if you're using it) and smear over fish. Note that Miso is salty so you don't need to use any salt.
3. Top with ginger shreds and then orange slices.
4. Fold foil over and secure all the ends so that it is like an envelope.
5. Bake in 200c oven (or on top of hot barbecue) for about 7-10minutes.

Grilled Asparagus
(adapted from Asparagus & Egg salad)
Ingredients:
12 asparagus
1 egg -full boiled, peeled and set aside to cool
Balsamic vinegar
1/4 lemon
Pepper
Olive oil

Method:
1. Lightly spray hot grill (or oven pan) with olive oil. Place asparagus on to cook. Once they're browned, move it to your serving plate.
2. Grate (yes you read right) the hard-boiled egg into pretty shavings over the asparagus. Squirt on some lemon juice, a little drizzle of balsamic and crack some black pepper over it. Serve!

p/s: Check out more of their recipes at http://www.thebiggestloser.com.au/recipes.htm

Xmas lunch

2009-12-25T22:15:00.003+08:00

Itching to cook for and host a family gathering, I decided to call everyone over to mom's place for a "western" Xmas lunch. When plans were made, my mind didn't quite pick up that it involved feeding 17 people -- that took some exhausting hours in the kitchen spread over two days (i cut up and assembled everything on the eve to give me enough cooking time since we were working with only one oven)... Anyways, everyone enjoyed (or were being completely nice) the meal, though unfortunately, I was too busy running around to pause and take pics of the individual dishes.

Watermelon-Mint mocktail (makes about 1 large jug)
Ingredients:
1/2 watermelon (pureed)
1 bottle fizzy lemonade
Sprigs of mint
2 cups of ice cubes

Method:
1. Combine watermelon puree and mint in jug and muddle using a large spoon or masher.
2. Add fizzy lemonade and stir it well into the watermelon mixture. Chill in fridge and add ice cubes when ready to serve.

Jamie Oliver's Perfect Roast Chicken (and Rosemary Roast Potatoes)
Ingredients:
1 x 2kg whole dressed chicken
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Mixed five spice (this is my addition)
2 kg potatoes, peeled
1 large lemon
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken in cloves
A handful of fresh thyme
Olive Oil
Fresh rosemary leaves

Method:
1. Rub chicken generously inside and outside with salt, pepper and mixed spice. Leave to marinade a couple of hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven 190C.
3. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Cut potatoes to golf-ball size pieces, put into water with whole lemon. Cook 12min. Drain and allow potatoes to steam dry (for crispier potatoes). Remove lemon and garlic.
4. While lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times all around. Take chicken out of fridge, pat with kitchen paper, rub olive oil all over.
5. Push garlic, lemon, thyme into chicken's cavity. Roast in oven around 45mins.
6. Lift chicken off the tray and toss the potatoes in leftover dripping and rosemary leaves. Shake tray around and place chicken back in with potatoes. Cook further 45mins. You can tell the chicken is cooked when thigh meat pulls away easily from bone and juice runs clear.
7. Remove garlic, squeeze flesh out of skin, mush it up and smear over chicken. Discard lemon, thyme and rosemary. Carve and serve!

No-brainer Buttered Vegetables
Ingredients:
Broccoli
Carrot
Cauliflower
Snowpeas
Garlic herb butter (store-bought)
Water
Salt

Method:
1. Cut vege (exc snow peas) ept into large bite size pieces. In a pot, bring salted water to a boil. In a seperate large bowl, fill it up with water and ice cubes. Drop vege in to blanch for a couple of minutes till tender. Quickly dish out with slotted spoon and move it into icy cold water.
2. In a microwaveable bowl, melt enough garlic butter to coat vege (should take about 30 seconds - 1 minute in the microwave). Toss vege in the melted butter and just before serving, return to microwave to heat for a minute or so.

Cranberry-Apricot Brown Rice
Refer here for recipe. Just swap the cous-cous for brown rice. I cooked the brown rice in a rice cooker with half the usual water measurement, then added in a cup of mango juice once the water had absorbed (halfway through the cooking process).

Greek Lamb Moussaka (serves 4-5)
Ingredients:
A) The base
3 large aubergines, sliced (generously salt the slices, leave for 5 mins and then squeeze excess water & pat dry)

B) The Lamb Layer
5 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 small can tomato puree
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional, I use it to add a bit of edge to the sauce in lieu of red wine)
550g mince lamb
1 tsp dried mixed herbs (if u have fresh ones, use rosemary & bay leaves)
Salt & Black Pepper

C) The Bechamel Sauce
75g butter
75g plain flour
600ml milk
80g parmesan, grated
1 egg yolk
Pinch of nutmeg or mixed spice powder

Method:
1. Prepare lamb sauce by saute-ing onion and garlic. Add mince and fry. Add tomato puree, balsamic and herbs. Simmer uncovered for half an hour or till thick.
2. Preheat oven to 190C.
3. Spray some oil on frying pan and brown the aubergines on both sides.
4. Make Bechamel by melting butter in sauce pan and slowly adding flour, stirring until it forms a smooth paste. Stir in milk and bring to boil. Simmer for 10mins. Take off heat and add egg yolk, cheese and spice. Whisk till smooth and thick.
5. In a casserole dish, layer aubergine slices > mince > aubergine > mince > bechamel.
6. Bake uncovered for 25-30min.

Arroz con Leche (Rice with Milk)

2009-12-19T13:18:00.005+08:00

I was introduced to this heartwarming traditional rice pudding by my Mexican friend Nantli and decided to give it a try to share at a dinner party with my cousins (shout out to the fab Ami, Shankini, Sumi).

It bears similarities to the Indian dish Kheer/Ponggal Rice though somehow I much prefer this version cos it smells lovely too!
Arroz Con Leche (Rice with Milk)
Ingredients:
1 cup rice (preferably short grain)
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cinnamon stick
Peel from 1/2 orange (you can sub it with 1/2 lemon or 1 lime)
1 1/2 cup full cream milk
1/2 can evaporated milk
1/2 can condensed milk
2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup raisins
Ground cinnamon (to dust on top when serving)

Method:
1. Wash the rice well. In a non-stick pot, throw in rice, water, salt, cinnamon stick, orange peel and bring to a boil while occasionally stirring. Once boiled, cover and leave to simmer on low heat till rice absorbs the water.
2. In a seperate bowl, whisk together full cream milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk.
3. After the rice has absorbed the water, slowly pour in milk mixture and stir. Bring heat back up to high and stir about every few minutes till milk boils. Add in raisins. Lower heat and stir occassionally till mixture thickens into a porridge-y consistency. Check if rice grains have softened.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in butter. Serve warm in bowls or a fancier version would be spooning the mixture into little plastic lined cup moulds, and plating it. Dust cinnamon over pudding before serving.

Nigella's molten chocolate babycakes

2009-11-26T20:17:00.004+08:00

What a way to celebrate surviving my last exam (it was a toughie - international political economy!) for the semester and summer break! =)

Nigella's molten chocolate babycakes (makes 6 ramekins)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
12oz bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400F (205C)
2. Melt chocolate and leave to cool (you can either microwave it with a little water at 30seconds or use the bain marie method).
3. Cream butter & sugar, once smooth, add eggs slowly. Add in vanilla, salt [mixture may look curdled at this point]
4. Sift in flour. Mix. Add in melted chocolate and combine till smooth.
5. Divide batter into 6 ramekins (don't forget to butter or line your ramekins with baking sheet so it doesn't stick). If preparing ahead for dinner guests, keep the batter refridgerated.
6. Bake for 10 minutes or 12 minutes if the mixture is out of the fridge. Since it cooks fast, you can make it as your dinner guests arrive/ just before serving.
7. Cake should be soft to the touch outside and oozing gooey choc sauce in the middle. Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream.

Basic Crepes

2009-11-19T16:08:00.003+08:00

My initially opinion that postgraduate coursework is probably going to cause me to blog less (tho I have been procrastinating opening the books by cooking) was completely true... but, after a couple of exams, it will be the end of semester so I promise I'm going to catch up! For now, I leave you with this basic recipe for crepes, which worked so well for me compared to others I've tried. I love eating them drenched in lemon butter sauce/hazelnut spread/sundried tomato spread/with curry... lol, as you can see, I've been having it A LOT!

Crepes
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla essence or zest of 1 lemon (optional)

Method:
1. Sieve flour and whisk in eggs, milk, water, essence/zest, salt. Once you have a smooth mixture (check on consistency, it should be liquid enough to coat the pan, add more water if too thick), add in melted butter and mix.
2. Spray on oil on a heated non-stick frying pan. Take a ladle of mixture and pour in, swirl it or use the back of your ladle to spread and form a smooth crepe.
3. Leave for about a minute (crepe should easily lift off), and then flip over for another minute.
4. Serve with whatever you love.

Stirfried cauliflower, carrots and mushrooms

2009-09-13T14:13:00.000+08:00

A quickie stirfry that turned out good esp with the curry!

Stir-fried cauliflower, carrots & mushrooms
Ingredients:
Cauliflower - chopped
Carrots - chopped
Mushrooms - sliced
Garlic - chopped finely
Worchestire sauce
Light soy sauce
Oil

Method:
1. Fry garlic in oil till aromatic then throw in the veggies. Add in dashings of worchestire and soy sauce. Flick, stir, mix then till cooked . Serve!

"Malaysian" Chicken Curry

2009-09-12T13:58:00.002+08:00

Malaysian Chicken Curry
Ingredients:
1/2 chicken or 2 large chicken breasts
1 packet Master Tean's Malaysian Chicken Curry Paste
2 large potatoes - cut into large chunks
Fried tofu balls / tofupok
2 tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
100 ml coconut milk (note: original calls for 200ml)
1.5 cups water

Method:
1. Saute onions and garlic.
2. Add in chicken, potatoes and tomatoes. Mix curry paste in well. Add water and mix evenly. Cover pot and leave to cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring once in a while.
3. Add in coconut milk and tofupok. Mix and leave to cook for another 5 minutes or so.

It's Here!!!

2009-09-11T20:25:00.005+08:00

Thanks to the random number generator and Billy of A Table For Two - I was one of the winners of the ATFT Fridaylicious - Master Tean's curry + surprise pack (roti jala mould and kopi luwak a.k.a civet cat poo coffee). After boasting about it to the family back home & making promises of a Malaysian feast to friends down here, it was an anxious 2 week wait till I heard the bang-bang-bang (really, i thought it was someone about to charge in and rob us the way he was bashing the door) of Mr Courier-man.

Ta-da! In the little box from Amyson was a treasure trove of paste packets to simulate Malaysian faves such as Assam Fish, Bak Kut Teh, Sambal Tumis, Curry Chicken, Curry Laksa, Prawn Mee, Vegetarian Curry, Tom Yum and a bottle of Crispy Prawn Chilli (my precioussssss)... A bit too many packs for one girl to handle so I'll be sharing the goodness with some mates, till then though - watch this space!

1/2 & 1/2 Spaghetti Bolognaise

2009-09-11T09:30:00.003+08:00

I'm not a huge fan on a regular basis of Spaghetti Bolognaise because I find it too rich. But it does make great comfort food - so one good way for consuming it guilt free is to break up the pure meat sauce by sneaking in some veggies (gettit? Half and Half). And it's amazing how many people wouldn't know that there's more than one veggie in there...

This makes a big pot that is enough for 5-6 servings.

1/2 & 1/2 Spaghetti Bolognaise
Ingredients:
Spaghetti
500g Mince meat (I use beef/lamb)
1 large onion - chopped
Garlic - chopped finely
Cauliflower - chopped finely (I use half a big head)
1 carrot - shredded
Button Mushrooms - sliced
Half a cup of Leggo's tomato paste with garlic and herb
Water (between half a cup to 3/4 depend on the sauciness you want)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Method:
1. Cook spaghetti according to instructions on packaging and leave aside.
2. Heat a little olive oil and saute garlic and onions until aromatic. The onions should be translucent (trick to getting yummy saute onions is to sprinkle salt over them so that it sweats out and browns better).
3. Add in mince meat and veggies. Give it a good mix. Then add some water, seasoning and tomato paste. Cover and leave to cook down.
4. Check on it and give it a good stir a couple of times - it should cook between 10 - 15 minutes to get a nice thick sauce.
5. Ladle over a plate of spaghetti. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

This is why...

2009-09-10T09:46:00.000+08:00

The "cooking" posts are getting more fewer and far between.

P/s: I so heart the multi-seed bread from the bakers at Macquarie Centre (the ones near the Fresh Market on 3rd Floor) - so good you can eat it on it's own! ;-)

Spaghetti with Spinach & Sour Cream

2009-08-29T08:56:00.004+08:00

My cuz-in-law Andreas first introduced us to this dish way back when he was a family newbie and visiting KL... of course, when we (S, A and me) went to the supermarket, he complained that he couldn't find the "right" spinach and sour cream so the taste wouldnt be as good. S and I didn't really get what he meant by that, because how many types of spinach (bayam as we knew it) could there be and well, yogurt could replace sour cream couldn't it? He made it again when we visited Berlin later - and it was yumz!

NOW, I totally understand - the spinach is different (I suppose the west has a diff sub-species than we do?)... Anyways, I decided to experiment if I could get the creamy spinach pasta sauce he made because I loved it. I have to say, that while mine wasn't really that close (for one, no blender to make it creamy... haha), it's pretty good. Sure makes a change from the typical tomato-based, cream-based and olios.

Spaghetti with Spinach & Sour Cream
Ingredients:
1 bag of baby spinach
A couple of slices of double-smoked shaved ham - chopped
1/2 onion - chopped
2 - 3 tablespoons sour cream
Pepper
Salt
Olive oil
Spaghetti

Method:
1. Cook the spaghetti (acc to instructions on packet if you don't know how by now). Keep some of the water aside before draining it.
2. Heat olive oil in pan and saute onions and ham. Add in about 1/4 cup of the "spaghetti" water.
3. Add spinach and stir until wilted. Add in sour cream and stir. Leave to cook down for about 3 minutes.
4. At this point, If you have a blender, use it to cream the spinach into a sauce. If you don't, use a ladle or masher and physically break up your spinach into the cream sauce.
5. Serve sauce with spag! Top with shaved cheese if you like.

Takoyaki balls, Chatswood

2009-08-25T17:55:00.002+08:00

we interrupt the regularly scheduled recipe program for some unpaid advertising...

The Takoyaki Balls Stall at Chatswood in Sydney, every Thursday night.
- Reason enough to cajol people (and I've already got a few converts on hand) to come "shopping" with me on Thursdays... i've never got so much joy from popping baby octopus dipped in dashi-flavoured batter and topped with bonito flakes and mayo!

If you must try to make it, the recipe is here

Seafood Laksa - Ayam Brand

2009-08-24T18:04:00.000+08:00

I am missing the foodie's heaven of Ramadhan evening markets back home! It's been pretty quiet here and easy to forget that the muslim fasting is even going on (unlike all the hoo-hah in Msia but that's only because a majority of the citizens are muslims).

Anyways, jaunts to the Asian Food shops leave my pocket lighter for good reason - I excitedly spot a familiar brand or food product and think that I must buy it... and then end up with a whole bagful. Case in point last week when I came across several "made-in-malaysia" currypaste bottles by Ayam brand that interestingly enough is not available in malaysia.

Seafood Laksa - Ayam Brand (serves two)
Ingredients:
150g Mixed "marinara" seafood (there was squid, prawns, mussels, tuna, salmon, white fish etc)
3 - 4 tablespoons Ayam Brand Malaysian Laksa "medium-hot" paste
Onion - chopped
4 medium sized cherry tomatoes
Garlic - chopped
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
8 Fried tofu balls (Taufu-pok)
Salt to taste (if needed)

Method:
1. Saute onion, garlic, tomatoes in some oil.
2. Add seafood, laksa paste and 1/4 cup water. Cover and leave to cook.
3. Once seafood is cooked, add in milk (i wanted it slightly thicker than soup). Give it a good stir, then add tofu balls (they are pre-cooked so you don't have to leave them in for long).
4. Serve with rice noodles.

Simplified Lamb Curry

2009-08-19T12:52:00.002+08:00

No pics but this turned out great despite my low expectations (curry without an arsenal of spices... who knew?).

Simplified Lamb Curry
Ingredients:
Lamb - cut into bite size pieces
Onion - sliced
Garlic - chopped
Ginger paste
Tomatoes - diced
Meat curry powder
Sour Cream
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Marinade lamb with ginger paste, meat curry powder and about a tablespoon of sour cream.
2. Saute onion, garlic and tomatoes until aromatic.
3. Add in the whole marinated lamb - gravy and all. Add some water and leave to simmer.
4. Season to taste. Add in another tablespoon of sour cream to thicken gravy and simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes.

Stir-fry lamb with carrots and mushrooms

2009-08-07T14:43:00.004+08:00

I am still getting into the knack of cooking a meal out of very limited items (i share a kitchen with three other housemates so cupboard and fridge space is tiny - half a shelf each, meaning i can only store so much). Plus, i have a grand total of 0 plates at my disposal (the ones provided by the uni accommodation office are in a disgusting state! so I have been eating out of tupperwares), 1 spatula, 1 pot and 1 tiny frying pan... Other than it seeming like too much work to cook for one when packet soups, bread (my latest craze is using pita wraps to hold cheese/avocado/smoked ham), salads and other no-cook food are just a grab away. Excuses I know...

Anyways, here's another one pan dish added to my repertoire!

Stir-fry lamb with carrots and mushrooms
Ingredients:
Lamb - chopped into bite sized pieces
Carrot - sliced thinly
Fresh button mushrooms - sliced
Ginger paste
Red Chilli paste
Coriander leaves paste
Soy sauce

Method:
1. Marinade lamb pieces with ginger, red chilli, coriander and soy sauce. For the pastes, I used the ones that came in little tubes at the ratio of 1 teaspoon each (but adjust according to your tastes) for about one handful of lamb bits.
2. Saute carrots and button mushrooms in a little bit of oil. One softened, add in marinated lamb and stirfry. If you want, you can add a bit of water for more sauce.

3 beans & ham stirfry

2009-07-29T11:50:00.000+08:00

I have taken to one-dish meals that can be made for one person in one pan without too much fuss and tastes equally great as leftovers... Such is the life of an unpaid student, I'm just glad I haven't reverted to sustaining myself on cereal - yet! ... lolz!

Three beans and ham stirfry
Ingredients:
1 bunch of french beans
1 pack of snow peas
1 teaspoon fermented soy beans paste (tauchu)
1 chili - sliced into strips
1 onion - sliced
3 slices of Honey-cured ham (or whatever ham you have at hand) - chopped

Method:
1. Heat a bit of oil in frying pan and saute onions, chilli.
2. Add in beans, snow peas and toss it in the pan on high heat. Mix in tauchu paste as well as ham and continue stirfry.
3. Best served hot with a plate of steamed white rice.

P/s: The tauchu is quite salty so you usually don't need to add salt...

Carrot cous-cous with batter fried fish

2009-07-18T12:08:00.003+08:00

Phew! With seven days to go before I fly off, it's been an exhausting whirlwind trying to squeeze running numerous errands to sort out everything (banks, shopping etc etc), attend farewell get-togethers with friends & family, pack (i still haven't figured out the logistics of how i will fitting everything in) and still go to work (i'm literally working till my last day in KL! it's a long story)...

So wasn't too much of a surprise that I was craving a breather one day after work - to just sit home, slide in a DVD movie (Japanese flick Departures which I highly recommend, sensitive yet touching story of a cello player turned undertaker) and snuggle up with this easy cous-cous rustled from whatever was in the fridge.

Carrot cous-cous with batter fried fish
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cous-cous
1/4 cup water
1 onion - sliced finely
1 green chilli - chopped finely
1/2 a carrot - grated
Butter
1 piece battered haddock fillet (i used a pre-prepared one, but you can get recipes here)

Method:
1. In a pan, bring to a boil water, salt and olive oil. Once boiling, take off heat and stir in couscous. Leave covered for 10 minutes and then give it a run through with fork.
2. Saute onions and green chilli in butter. Add in carrots and when they're slightly soft, cous-cous. Mix well. Taste and season if necessary.
3. Fry battered haddock fillet in a skillet. Place on paper towel to drain oil and grind black pepper on top while still hot.
4. Plate cous-cous with fillet and serve!

Mango & Baby Spinach salad with Thai dressing

2009-07-17T12:29:00.000+08:00

Mango & Baby Spinach Salad with Thai-style dressing
Ingredients:
(a) For Salad:
Unripe mango - Sliced thinly
Baby Spinach leaves
A couple of cherry tomatoes - halved
One small onion - sliced finely

(b) For dressing:
1/2 tsp Ground ginger
2 tsp Brown sugar
Juice from 1/2 small lime
1/4 red chilli - chopped really really finely

P/s: for dressing, adjust according to your taste the ingredients as you go along as individual preferences may differ.
P/p/s: For another style of Thai mango salad, go here

The Girl is Moving Kitchens

2009-06-25T11:12:00.004+08:00

Hey guys,

I've been keeping things down low (which is why the blogging has also been slow) until I could reaallllly confirm everything but here's the breaking news - I'm about to be moving abroad from Kuala Lumpur to Koala Land (Sydney) in a month's time! Heading there end of July to begin my postgraduate studies in International Relations.

It's going to be a huge change in my lifestyle from working young adult to student (though I'm already excited at the prospect of new food to try - especially all those "western" stuff that isn't easily available here).

So if you don't hear from me anytime soon, rest assured that I'm just settling down and will be back to the kitchen soon... In the meantime, since it'll also be my first ever experience in facing a bare kitchen and creating new pantry stocks - what do you think are must have cooking essentials? Where to start?

R2R: Falafel Chickpea Patties

2009-06-02T09:48:00.004+08:00

I didn't have all that much time to spare this month but by hook or by crook, I knew I just HAD to complete the Recipes To Rival Challenge this month. After all, it featured one of my all-time favourite beans - chickpeas a.k.a garbanzo beans a.k.a kacang kuda (side note: how is it that the literal malay translation is horse beans?)!

Lori (of Lipsmacking Goodness) picked two recipes for us to choose from - chickpea fries and Falafel Chickpea Patties. I went with the latter but couldn't take up the extra challenge of making my own pita bread (after reviewing the recipe, knew i didn't have all that waiting-to-rise time)... I did however sub it with making my own Chapati bread (recipe in another post) to go with the falafel patties.

First impression was that the patties reminded me of a vegetarian version of kofta meatballs. We ate it rolled up in a Chapati, the falafels snuggled between a yogurt-cream cheese-onion-chives spread and lettuce.

Falafel Chickpea Patties

(adapted from Madelein Farah, Lebanese Cuisine, Four Walls Eight Windows, 2001)

Ingredients:

1 pound dried chickpeas (I used one can of chickpeas)

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes, optional

Salt and pepper, as needed

1/2 cup vegetable oil (for frying)

Method:

1. Process all the ingredients in a food processor (note: I kept aside half of the onion and folded it in later because I wanted some crunch).

2. Shape mixture into balls and fry till golden brown.

P/s: When I started frying them, they fell apart (update: could be because of using canned chickpeas vs dried chickpeas) so mom suggested to add a tablespoon of cornflour. This worked in holding its shape.

Creamy Mushroom & Chicken

2009-05-19T02:37:00.000+08:00

The heatwave over here was unbearable with temperatures going up to 38celcius (it has since rained though) and I was dreaming, cajoling, anything I could do to go to Camerons - the chilly highland of tea plantations, strawberry farms and every other non-norm veggies... Finally, managing to head up there last weekend, the place seriously feels like a world away from Malaysia with its Tudor style houses, vibrant flower filled landscapes and cold air.

A walk in the market left me excited at spotting new vegetables and fruits I had never seen or tasted before - buah cinta (or love fruits), cameron apples (that look more like round green brinjals), crystal guava, bonnet peppers etc. I resisted the temptation to splurge at the market but I did come home with a few favourites including a pack of swiss brown mushrooms and yellow & red tiny cherry tomatoes that went into this richly tasting dish.

Creamy Mushroom & Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken fillet - sliced thinly
Swiss brown mushrooms - sliced
Yellow & red cherry tomatoes - halved or left whole
Onion - sliced
Sprinkling of dried italian herbs
3/4 cup Milk
1 teaspoon cornflour
Pepper & salt
Butter

Method:
1. Melt butter in a skillet and saute chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and onions.
2. In a bowl, stir cornflour into milk.
3. Pour milk mixture into skillet and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle herbs and leave to cook until cream thickens.

P/s: While I had it with some leftover brown and red rice, I'm looking forward to using it as a pie filling or on top of pasta.

Oreo Cheesecake

2009-05-18T08:04:00.001+08:00

Note: This is a way, way, way back-dated post. Like made it 3 months ago, posted but kinda pressed "save draft" instead of "publish post" way.

Mom and her sisters had been invited to a "women's only hi-tea potluck" with their cousins and old aunts with each of them required to contribute something. Mom drew one of the dessert straws. Honestly, I was quite surprised when mom turned to me to suggest what would be nice and different to make. The only criteria was that it had to be easily eaten for the elderly people who couldn't chew (read: one of my mom's 80+ year old aunts was recovering from a stroke).

Oreo Cheesecake (adapted from kraftfoods.com)
Ingredients:
2 pack Oreo cookies (2 dozen)
250g melted butter
1 packet Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream

Method:
1. Scrape off the oreo cookies' white middle. Set aside 6 oreo cookies and crush the rest into fine crumbs. Mix cookie crumbs with melted butter and press into a raised glass dish.
2. Beat cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until creamy. (Since I didn't want any wastage, I dumped in the earlier scraped white oreo filling as well). In a seperate bowl, whip the whipping cream until stiff and then fold into cheese mixture.
3. Roughly break oreo cookies (so you get chunks and some crumbs). Fold the cookie chunks into cheese mixture (keep a few pieces if you want to artistically arrange them on top). Pour cheese mixture on top of earlier made base and refridgerate till set.

Strawberry topped lemon cheesecake

2009-05-11T10:09:00.003+08:00

Photoframes, mugs, (fake) jewellery, long poems & hand-drawn pictures filled with praise... it's funny how as a kid you put much more effort into presents for your parents than when you're grown up.

Anyways, this Mother's Day I was stuck at what to do just before the weekend hit - eventually it was a nice lunch at Mediterranean restaurant Athena in Pavillion (the Paella was sadly so-so) but mom has also been hinting at wanting to make no-bake cheesecake (her fave type of cake) for the last few weeks, so I decided to also surprise her with it.

I realised a little too late into the process that I didn't have enough ingredients for the first recipe I was going to go with, so ended up winging it and combining bits from two recipes... What can I say, you can't go wrong with cheesecake....

Strawberry Topped Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients:
For the base:
1 cup finely crushed Marie biscuit crumbs
1/2 cup oats
Melted butter
2 tablespoons milk

For the cheese filling:
250g (one pack) Philadelphia Cream Cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg - seperated
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon gelatin powder
a pinch of salt
Lemon zest

Strawberry Topping:
Fresh strawberries sliced
Gelatin powder (mixed with some hot water)
Confectioner's sugar

Method:
1. In a saucepan, whisk egg yolk into milk, sugar, salt. Place on low heat, add lemon zest, gelatin and continue whisking until it thickens and slightly coats spoon. Remove off heat and leave aside to cool.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the crumb base and firmly press into the bottom of your pan/bowl.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat egg white until fluffy. Combine cream cheese with lemon juice and fold in the fluffy egg white. Whisk in earlier thickened custard mixture until you get a smooth creamy filling.
4. Pour filling on top of crumbs base and refridgerate for half an hour.
5. To make topping, heat strawberries, sugar, gelatin water and sugar until the juices thicken. Spoon over cheesecake and place in fridge to set. Should be ready to serve in about an hour.

Carrot & Raisin Cereal Muffins

2009-05-03T22:04:00.005+08:00

I've always wondered what the difference between muffins and cupcakes were... they both look the same to me. I found myself stuck between the same thought when figuring out what to call this adaptation of a carrot cake recipe (basically I was feeling that sticking batter into paper cups would make the whole distribution job easier). After a bit of googling, Cake Spy had some answers and thus, Carrot & Raisin Cereal MUFFINS was born... turns out that muffins are denser and less sweet - just how I like em! P/s: This recipe makes a great breakfast meal too...

Carrot & Raisin Cereal Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice powder (or 2/3 tsp cinnamon, 1/3 tsp nutmeg powder)
1/2 cup nestum cereal (or oats)
2/3 cup golden raisins
200g butter
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/3 cup milk
2 cups grated carrot

Method:
1. Sift flour and mixed spice powder together. Stir in Nestum and raisins.
2. In mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar together. Add eggs, one by one and beat well.
3. Add vanilla essence. Alternate folding in the flour mixture with milk.
4. Fold in carrot, mixing well.
5. Drop a spoonful of batter into paper cups or a muffin tray.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 celcius for 20-25 minutes.

Scenes From My Night Market

2009-04-26T16:27:00.005+08:00

Every Thursday since childhood, I get a little excited at the prospect of dinner... because (most of the time) without fail, I know that it will likely be from our neighbourhood's weekly pasar malam or night market. For those of you who have yet to experience a night market, let me tell you, it can be a foodie's paradise. Imagine an otherwise quiet area magically coming alive from 6pm-11pm - whole stretches filled with every possible street hawker fare, clothes, accessories, household items, produce, butchers, fishmongers, pirated DVDs and then some. The wafting smells, clanging of metal spoons hitting woks, lively chatter as vendors call out - I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

I was feeling a little camera shy after a while (the looks this strange girl clicking away... oui) so there aren't many shots for now... hopefully will be able to work my way down the street bit by bit...

1. The popiah or spring roll uncle in action. Thin rice paper sheets spread with stewed white carrot, nuts, fried onions, sweet chilli sauce, cucumber shreds and crunchy bits rolled up.

2. The noodle soup couple - I love love love their tangy assam laksa and have it almost every other week, in fact they remember what toppings I want (extra chicken, no raw onion). The har meen or prawn noodle soup is yummy too.

3. The Char Kuey Tiow or charred rice noodles guy generating some serious heat and tantalizing aroma with his quick handling of the wok. Now, this is what I call fast food!

4. Cool down with some coconut juice and freshly pressed sugar cane juice.

5. Sweet corn - on the cob or in a cup!

6. Cakes, Ice-cream, ground coffee, steamboat and more stalls as far as the eye can see.

Pan-Seared salmon with parmesan cous-cous

2009-04-24T16:02:00.002+08:00

Getting back into the vibe has been daunting but I figure the best way to do so is challenge myself but keep it simple. The challenge? Buying (how do you know it is fresh? I only had whatever I'd seen at sushi restaurants to go by) and cooking Salmon for the first time (and I discovered something new - Salmon have a lot of thin bones which I've never actually seen dining out before).Pan-seared Salmon
Ingredients:
Salmon fillet
Salt
Ground black pepper
Lemon wedge

Method:
Season the salmon fillet with a touch of salt and ground pepper. Rub extra ground black pepper on the skin side. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and turn heat on high, place salmon fillet skin side down. After four minutes, flip the salmon on the other side. Cook for another four minutes and remove off heat. Plate and squeeze a wedge of lemon over it.

Parmesan Cous-cous
Ingredients:
Cous-cous
Water
Salt
Olive oil
Lemon zest
Shaved parmesan cheese

Method:
Bring one cup of water, salt and half a teaspoon of olive oil to a boil. Stir in one cup of cous-cous, throw in the skin of the lemon wedge (well, I had this on hand from the salmon), cover with a lid and remove off heat. Set aside for 8 minutes. Sprinkle in parmesan cheese and use a fork to stir.

p/s: Served with some simple asparagus tossed in garlic herb butter.

Flambe Prawns with garlic, basil and chilli

2009-04-17T09:36:00.005+08:00

It's been almost a whole month since I last posted. Life in the "real" world has been busy and I haven't had much time to spend in the kitchen (even when I did it was to make something I've already posted about before)....

Since I had missed the Recipes to Rival challenge in March when they set the kitchen on fire (Steak Diane Flambe), I was keen to pour some alcohol over food and do it too... Settled on this version of buttery prawns with garlic, basil and chilli - reminiscent of something I had tried at a Tapas bar once.

On the flambe part, it was a shortlived few glimmers licking the surface unlike a roaring flame like I imagined (perhaps I was too meek in trying to get it to catch flames - lest I have to pay my mom for damage to her kitchen). The resulting broth was super delicious and would have went well with lovely chunks of crusty bread sopping it up but since I didn't have any on hand, tossed it with some steaming pasta.

Flambe Prawns with garlic, basil and chilli

Ingredients:

Prawns - shelled

Garlic Butter - generous amount

Basil - roughly chopped

1 tomatoe - roughly chopped

Chilli flakes - 1 tablespoon

A shot of Bacardi rum (well, its originally white wine... didn't have any)

Method:

1. In a skillet, saute prawns, basil, chilli flakes and tomatoes with garlic butter until cooked or prawns turn pink.

2. Throw in the shot of alcohol and carefully tilt (don't wait too long) your saucepan towards the flame. The flames should turn orange-y as they lick off the alcohol. Of course you could just skip this step altogether for something more "normal".

Cranberry & Lamb Meatballs

2009-03-20T21:44:00.003+08:00

Ingredients:
1 pack minced lamb
1 handful dried cranberry - chopped
1 medium onion - grated
3 pips garlic - grated
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon worchestire sauce
1 tablespoon corn flour
Freshly ground pepper

Method:
1. In a bowl, place minced lamb and grate over it onions, garlic. Add chopped cranberry, soy sauce, worchestire sauce, pepper and mix well with your hand. Once you get an even distribution of ingredients in the mince, add in corn flour and mix well.
2. Line a baking tray with foil and lightly brush olive oil.
3. Form small meatballs (i did teaspoon sized ones) and arrange evenly on tray.
4. Lightly brush top of meatballs with olive oil.
5. Bake in oven at 190celcius for about 30-40 minutes.

p/s: Use the drippings in the tray for a lovely sauce.

Apricot Cranberry Couscous

2009-03-13T20:06:00.004+08:00

I had been plotting (read: scouring for non-cutthroat priced apricots and cranberries) and planning to make this for the office potluck today. Unfortunately, I fell sick yesterday and was am now stuck at home on MC for two days so missing the chance to share it with the team(rumor has it my boss' famous chocolate cake is making an appearence! darn-it)...

Apricot Cranberry Couscous
Ingredients
Chopped dried apricots
Dried cranberry
5 tablespoon mango juice
250g couscous
250g water
salt to taste
1 tsp olive oil

Method:
1. In a pan, bring to a boil water, salt and olive oil. Once boiling, take off heat and stir in couscous. Add dried apricots and cranberry and cover the pan for about 10 minutes for couscous to turn all fluffy.
2. After 10 minutes, use a fork and seperate couscous grains while drizzling mango juice. Mix well and serve.

p/s: It tasted even better the next day chilled as all the fruity flavours came to the forefront.

Look who I met...

2009-03-10T20:08:00.000+08:00

Hilarious and off-beat in real life as he is on screen... Bobby Chinn, chef and host of Discovery Travel & Living's World Cafe Asia.

Bobby made a pitstop at KL for his press tour promoting the latest season of World Cafe Asia. The event was similar to Kylie's - he did a short demo on a two dishes (a rather comical one I may add as it involved him figuring out how to use Hilton's high tech magnetic cooker), then mingled with journalists as we sampled vietnamese stuff off his book (which I got to add to my meagre collection).

I have to say this though, the peanut sauce accompanying the spring rolls stood out - so much so, I would go as far as say that its some of the best that I've had in a long time (pretty big considering peanut sauce is easily available here).

R2R Feb09: Cheese!

2009-03-01T20:58:00.007+08:00

Boy, do I love these Recipes To Rival challenges - bonus points for the shock value! From facebook to live conversations, I was met with disbelief when I casually mentioned that I was attempting to make cheese at home!

Based on the challenge picked by Lauren, we were given instructions to make ricotta cheese / paneer (cottage cheese) and they only needed two ingredients. Step-by-step guide below, a note of the wise - a. I used about 3 cups of milk and the end result was only about a firm handful and b. the cheese supposedly keeps for up to 4 days refrigerated (not that I would know, it got used up pretty quick).

Update (what the blurry words in the photos basically say) -
Step 1: Rule of thumb ratio 500ml fresh milk to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Bring milk to boil stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Once boiling, add in lemon juice and remove off heat. Make slashing movements in one direction to mix the juice into the milk.
Step 2: Milk will begin to seperate into curds & whey. Leave aside for one to two hours for the solids to settle.
Step 3: Strain mixture into a cheese-cloth / muslin lined colander to seperate curds.
Step 4: This is how whey (the liquid) looks like. Its pretty much tasteless and usually just dumped out but bet you can find some recipes to use it (I read it makes good steak sauce).
Step 5: Tie up the cheesecloth tightly and hang overnight to drip dry.
Step 6: Voila! Homemade cheese.

Cheese & Jam mini rolls

2009-02-28T21:20:00.000+08:00

So I like had some lovely homemade soft crumbly cheese and a packet of pre-made pastry sheets lying around my fridge... since tea-time was around the corner, decided to root around and see what else I could put together with it...

Cheese & jam mini rolls
Ingredients:
One packet pre-made puff pastry (or if you boast em' fancy skills, you could make it yourself)
Two tablespoons black cherry jam
A tablespoon brown sugar
A handful or so ricotta / soft cheese
Two tablespoons yogurt
Melted Butter to brush on top of pastry

Method:
1. Cut pastry sheets into half (triangle shaped)
2. In a bowl, mix jam, brown sugar, yogurt and cheese with a fork.
3. Spread mixture onto pastry triangle and roll. Press the edges firmly together so it doesn't open up.
4. Bake in oven according to directions on your pastry pack.

Freshly made pesto

2009-02-28T21:17:00.003+08:00

With all the dramatic hoopla going on in local news these days, just reading the newspaper takes some comfort food to get through... *wink* okay, so that was a totally lame-ass excuse for an intro and I'll fully disclose that the only time I touched the newspaper in these last few weeks is to use it to take a rather "clever" photo.

One of mom's faves whenever we go to Delicious is the pesto spaghetti, altho she never really knew what went into "the green sauce", just that it tasted great. We tried the bottled one once but that was just plain awful and it took me just this long to find a nice batch of sweet basil to try making it fresh. Thankfully, this version got a double thumbs up from her (she can be the worst critic of my kitchen experiments, so I'm really pleased!).

Freshly made pesto
Ingredients:
A handful of almonds
3/4 handful sweet basil leaves (or adjust to your taste)
Crumbly ricotta cheese (threw this in cos I still had a wee bit leftover of my homemade)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (used this to cut the richness down)
3 - 4 tablespoons Olive oil
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Blanch almonds in hot water to remove skin and then roughly chop.
2. In a food processor, grind almonds together with basil leaves. While it is grinding, drizzle in the olive oil until you get a paste.
3. Do a taste test and add salt, lemon juice, cheese. Pulse again to mix well.
4. To serve: Throw pesto in a bowl of steaming hot spaghetti and toss together. If feeding omnivores, top with chicken pieces or shreds.

Chocolate covered strawberries

2009-02-21T14:23:00.000+08:00

Sigh... this was blissfully luscious...

So luscious that it didn't matter if I was enjoying this alone (although I did imagine a gorgeous hunk tenderly placing it upon my lips) or that such seductive nibbling was occuring a whole week after valentine's.

And next time, I'm going to schedule any potential Valentine's home-cooked dates for a week later - it was insane how much the strawberries were going for (70% off their usual price at Garden's Cold Storage), not to mention good dark chocolate, heavenly slabs of cheese and all sorts of other "imported" goodies.

Chocolate covered strawberries

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberries (the ones I had gotten were Korean and naturally sweet)

Hershey's chocolate

A few spoonfuls of yogurt

Method:

1. Break hershey's chocolate into pieces, add a couple of spoons of yogurt and nuke in microwave for 1 minute on Medium High.

2. Stir the melted choc well with the yogurt and drizzle over lusciously arranged strawberries.

Bread Rolls

2009-02-17T21:26:00.001+08:00

I know I mentioned in my R2R Holopchi post that I used the extra dough as bread rolls. Since it was my first time playing with yeast and making bread, I have to admit the feeling was giddily exciting - especially everytime I peeked into the bowl and saw the dough double, triple and quadruple in size. The end result turned out well, although a bit of fine-tuning wouldn't hurt (it was crusty hard on the outside and pleasantly yeasty tasting - perhaps I could make bigger rolls so that I get less crust and more crumbly soft insides).

Bread Rolls (adapted from The Keld Community Ladies Club in Ashville, Manitoba 1976 cookbook)
Ingredients:
A:
1 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoon warm water
1/4 teaspoon sugar

B:
1/2 cup scalded milk (or warmed in the microwave)
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cup flour

C:
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cup flour plus more as needed

Method:
1. Dissolve A (1/4 teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoons tepid water, yeast) and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Add in dissolved yeast to B together. Let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 hour)
3. Add C (salt, sugar and remaining flour).
4. Knead well until dough is smooth and top with melted butter or oil.
5. Place in a warm place and let rise until double in bulk. It will take about 2 hours. Punch down . When dough has risen to double in bulk, divide dough and form rolls.
6. Arrange on baking tray and leave for another 30 minutes or so to allow for dough to rise to double in bulk again.
7. Top each roll with butter.
8. Bake in a moderate oven of 180-200C for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Spicy tempura prawns

2009-02-15T21:24:00.001+08:00

I guess you could call this adaptation of the classic tempura, a variation of the cucur udang I earlier posted about. But this one is so much more satisfying (an entire juicy prawn in a bite!), prettier and more serve-able as finger-food at parties (okay, my english grammar is shot but its really early in the morning!)...

Spicy Tempura Prawns
Ingredients:
Tempura flour
Icy cold water
Large prawns - shelled but the tail left on
Spring onions - finely chopped
Dried Chilli flakes
Salt to taste

Method:
1. In a bowl, season prawns with salt.
2. In a different bowl, whisk together tempura flour and icy cold water according to measurements on the packet (Note: this ratio tends to differ with different brands).
3. Add in spring onions and chilli flakes to the tempura batter and mix well.
4. Pre-heat oil in a wok and once its heated, dip the prawn in the batter one by one and fry in wok till golden brown.
5. Serve with sweet chilli sauce (those sweet Thai bottled ones work well)

Spaghetti with bacon, fresh baby spinach, olives and egg

2009-02-12T00:20:00.003+08:00

Otherwise known as spaghetti surprise - because being too lazy to figure out a proper dish after coming home on a rainy day, i practically chucked together bits and pieces of leftover with steaming hot spaghetti and was pleasantly delighted with the results!

Heck, i wasn't even planning on photographing and posting about it, but then it turned out great so i grabbed the closest thing to me (read above: lazy!) my handphone - hence the blurry shot.

Spaghetti with bacon, fresh baby spinach, olives and egg
Ingredients:
Spaghetti - cooked al dente
Bacon - one or two pre-cooked and shredded to bits
Fresh baby spinach - cleaned
5 Black olives - chopped finely
1 egg - poached in a pot of boiling vinegared water (the yolk should still be runny)
Garlic herb butter
4 tbsps Evaporated milk
Crushed black pepper
Salt to taste
Optional - topping of parmesan cheese

Method:
1. Put everything in a large bowl and top with steaming hot spaghetti. Toss it all together, breaking the poached egg so that it forms a kinda creamy thick "sauce" that coats the noodles. Top with parmesan cheese if you like and enjoy!

Hello Ox! Have some Yee Sang...

2009-02-01T16:37:00.003+08:00

Steps to usher in the Chinese New Year with some traditional Yee Sang:
1. Head to the nearest chinese restaurant (in my case, Restaurant Overseas at Imbi Road) because you don't have a mandolin and are just too darn lazy to finely shred everything by hand. For the uninitiated, Yee Sang is kinda like a salad meets cerviche (citrus marinated raw seafood). What you see on the plate is finely shredded carrot, shredded turnip, cucumber, pomelo, preserved fruits, preserved ginger. If you look closer, the waitress is squeezing lime juice on the thinly sliced salmon before adding it in.
2. Add in crackers for crunch as well as the sweet plum sauce, vinegar and sesame oil.
3. I should've probably added in the beginning that Yee Sang is best enjoyed with a group of people. Now stand up, wield the chopsticks and brace yourself to "Lo Hei" (toss everything together).
4-5. While you toss, it's customary to say out loud your positive wishes. Also, remember, the higher you toss, the more prosperous and luck-filled the new year will be! (cue messiness and a roaring fun time)...

For more history on the origins of Yee Sang - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng

R2R January: Holopchi & chilli cheesey sauce

2009-01-31T20:42:00.004+08:00

Update: No pictures available. I am mortified... like really really mortified at my "rapidly pressing the delete button" stupidity that has left me pretty much pictureless to back up my claim of making something from a land far far far away in my own kitchen. More on that later...

This month's Recipes to Rival challenge was co-hosted by mom-daughter duo Giz & Psychgrad from Equal Opportunity Kitchen and Kat from A Good Appetite. The daring task we had to undertake - Holopchi, an Ukrainian dish which is bread wrapped in beet leaves.

The full recipe adapted off the The Keld Community Ladies Club in Ashville, Manitoba cookbook can be found here. A word of warning, the recipe is large enough to feed a starved battalion, so best you quarter it (that still made about 24 medium-sized rolls) - which if you join a helpful group like R2R, someone is bound to sound the alert and do it for you ;-)

I was excited at my first ever attempt to make bread. But had no idea what or where beet leaves and swiss chard could be sourced from (I'm starting to sense a pattern with the food blogger's challenges now - what is easy for those in the West to find is virtually impossible here and they play a whole different veggie game there...), so it was to the drawing board to figure out what would work (with some truly helpful suggestions from Temperance).

Like a mad scientist, here's some of the tweaks I did to "asianize" the recipe:
Attempt one - Substitute the leaves with Bak Choy leaves.
Verdict - Horribly icky soggy texture, the leaves did not fare well in the oven.

Attempt two - Use spring onions and spinach to wrap the dough.
Verdict - Much more better. The spring onions gave a wonderful aroma, altho they didn't hold the bread in too well (it opened up). Topped it with the below chilli cheesey sauce (since didn't have dill).

Chilli Cheesey Sauce
Ingredients:
Milk
Sharp cheese - grated
Garlic - chopped finely
Chilli flakes - sprinkling
Salt to taste
Butter

Method:
Melt everything together in a saucepan and whisk till smooth.

---------------
For an idea of how holopchi is supposed to look like and leave your mouth watering, check out the other R2R-ers here.

Back to the pictures, the ones I had taken didn't look so great so I was editing through them on the camera itself and chucking them off. Kept two that looked somewhat decent but as apparently I accidentally deleted those off too (when the preview screen went back to the beginning) and was left with an empty memory card. Gah, lesson learned - next time upload em onto your laptop before you start deleting anything!

RFJ Feb09: Tomyam stirfry in crunchy noodles nest

2009-01-30T21:27:00.009+08:00

Pant.... I think I'm cutting it very very close this month but I really wanted to participate in the Leftover Queen's Royal Foodie Joust especially with ingredients right up my alley (read: didn't have to go searching high and low for).

I'm glad that last month's champion Billy from A Table For Two, picked three simple ingredients - cauliflower, noodles, mushrooms. After the heavy meals that dominated the end of 08, these were refreshing... plus, just in time for Chinese New Year!

The deal with the delay was that I had pre-bought and stored the cauliflower specifically to capitalize on the free period during the CNY holidays and make my dish. BUT... my mom beat me to it and used my veggies for something else and because every other supermarket, grocer or market vendor was closed, I had to wait.

Looking at the great recipes (and even greater pics) that's already up there, I'm nervous about how my easy entry will measure up... but hey, even if I'm a far shot from winning, it made a scrumptious dinner!

And the crunchy noodles were super addictive munchies (they had light airy crunch) - it would be wise to make an extra batch to keep aside and sprinkle some parmesan cheese (like me!) or any other desired flavoring. Gee whiz, I think i may have hit on something here...

Tomyam stirfry in crunchy noodles nest
Ingredients:
i) For crunchy noodles
Glass noodles or soo hoon
Oil for frying
A wee bit drizzle of sesame oil

ii) Tomyam stirfry vege
Cauliflower - cut into bite sized florets
Enoki or straw mushrooms - left whole
White Oyster mushrooms - cut in strips
Broccoli - cut into bite size florets
Tomyam paste - adjust to taste
1/4 cup Water
Shallots - left whole
Prawns - peeled and de-veined
A handful Glass noodles - soaked in hot water.

Method:
1. Deep fry dry glass noodles (important: DO NOT wet them beforehand) and they will blossom up (kind of like frying keropok or crackers).
2. When they are golden and not translucent, dish onto kitchen towel. Toss in a wee bit of sesame oil for added flavour before spreading them out on the base of your serving plate.
3. In a pan or wok, saute shallots and prawns with some oil. Add tomyam paste and water.
4. Once prawns have turned pink, throw in the veggies and mushrooms. Add glass noodles last after everything is cooked as they will slurp up all the gravy.
5. Spoon tomyum veggies over the crunchy noodle nest and serve!

Cucur Udang

2009-01-25T21:09:00.000+08:00

Another one from my new experiment book Preston's Malaysian Favourites. Served up hot hot with some sweet chilli sauce and tea.

Cucur Udang (Prawn Fritters)
Ingredients:
1 cup Prawns - peeled, de-veined and chopped
300g wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
375 ml water
2 medium sized red onions - finely chopped
1 red chilli - finely chopped
1 bunch spring onions / scallions - chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. In a large bowl, sift flour and baking powder.
2. Make a well in the centre and stir in water, mix well. Batter should be soft dropping consistency.
3. Add remaining ingredients and combine mixture well.
4. Heat oil in wok and drop teaspoonfuls of mixture into hot oil. Fry until golden brown.
5. Drain the fritters on kitchen towels and serve warm with dip.

Spiced Pumpkin and Cauliflower

2009-01-23T20:22:00.000+08:00

Another way back-dated post inspired by my Periamma's lovely vege.

Spiced Pumpkin and Cauliflower
Ingredients:
1/2 small pumpkin - cubed
1 medium sized cauliflower - cut into bite sized florets
1 onion - sliced
1 green chilli - sliced
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon curry powder
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Blanch pumpkin and cauliflower until soft.
2. In a seperate pan, heat a bit of oil and saute onions and chilli.
3. Mix milk, salt and curry powder together in a seperate bowl and pour into onions.
4. Leave to simmer for two minutes then add in blanched pumpkin and cauliflower.
5. Stir well and leave to cook for a couple of minutes.

Hummus & The Secret Life of Bees

2009-01-13T21:22:00.003+08:00

For whatever reason, chickpeas evoke a comforting taste to me and though we prefer to have them in their whole form simply blanched and tossed with some spices, I decided that I was in need of a lovely spread to go with a batch of crusty bread bought from the bakery.

Simplified Garlicky Hummus
Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas (washed and drained)
1/2 cup yogurt
Two-three tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 pips roasted garlic
Freshly cracked pepper
Salt to taste

Method:
Stick everything in a blender and process until smooth. Add a bit of hot water if mix is too thick and gets stuck. Serve with bread or chips.

----------
The hummus was simply lovely and made for an easy eat-while-reading (today's pick was The Secret Life of the Bees by Sue Monk Kidd). Kidd has a really easy paced Southern-style of writing that I really enjoyed especially after my last few reading material has been political and humanitarian (child soldier / abuse etc) autobiographies.

The plot - Set in the American South during the civil rights movement (the time when African Americans earned the right to vote), a young girl runs away from her neglectful and abusive peach farmer father along with her "wanted" black nanny. They find refuge in the home of an eccentric beekeeper and her two sisters who slowly help her sort through some puzzling questions on love, trust and life.

The novel has been adapted into a movie starring Queen Latifah (who ranks as a personal fave for her gutsy-ness), Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson. Haven't seen the dvd around so hopefully it gets released on TV real soon.

Chicken-rice chilli sauce

2009-01-12T21:29:00.000+08:00

Got home from work and was starving. Usually that would mean popping some bacon slices in the microwave and sandwiching it but I'd skipped breakfast and lunch and bread just wasn't looking to appealing.

Anyways, rooted around the fridge and there was a chunk of chicken breast there. So I grabbed and prepped it real quick in a similar style (with a couple of changes like omitting the honey and dark soy sauce as well as adding 1/4 cup water - so it won't dry out and chopped onions) to my Dark Roasted Mixed Spice Chicken . Then popped it into the microwave headed to shower and bam! was back in time for a nice meal.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the real killer to this whole absatively delish dish was the chicken-rice inspired chilli sauce. Make a jar ahead and store it in your fridge. Goes well with steamed fish and yong tau foo / dimsum too...

Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce
Ingredients:
10 fresh red chillies
2 tablespoons chicken stock or drippings from your roast chic
1 lime - juiced
6 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
1/2 tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste

Method:
Combine all the ingredients and process till smooth. Store in a clean airtight jar in the fridge.

** warning this can be spicy hot for those not used to it. Adjust the chillies and seasonings according to your taste.

A new year, new gizmos to try

2009-01-06T21:11:00.006+08:00

Who doesn't love prezzies? The blog apparently has been getting some hype amongst family and friend circles so the trend (and discussion) these last couple of weeks seems to be leaning in that direction.

I never would have taken the plunge to actually go out and buy books of recipes from my own countries - especially when those recipes were for things that are really easily available down any street corner or restaurant. I'm glad someone thought I needed one and Preston's Popular Malaysian Cakes & Kuih and Malaysian Favourites lays everything out in a simple format. Have already tried a few recipes as you can probably tell (or soon tell) from the recent blogging.

The basic icing set was given a couple of months back but its still in almost mint condition. I haven't gotten around to whipping up any lovely sugary creations (other than the gougeres) so I'm actually putting it in as a new year's resolution to use it!

Hehe... while I'm on a roll, could always do with Jamie Oliver's Jamie At Home and canadian Michael Smith's Chef At Home books and a few new plates (a round black one, a long rectangular one and a couple of bright coloured ones)... I'm just saying... :)

Stir-fried French Beans

2009-01-04T20:18:00.000+08:00

Feels like a crime to give a "recipe" for something so so simple. But I can't just put up a picture without something can I...

Stir-fried french beans
Ingredients:
Large handful of french beans (actually any beans will work)
Onions - sliced
Garlic - chopped
Salt to taste
Oil

Method:
1. In a large wok, saute onions and garlic with oil. Throw in beans, raise flames a bit and stir-fry real quick and serve.

Tofu & Bean Sprouts Stirfry

2009-01-03T20:25:00.000+08:00

All that pigging out on rich goodies and dinners from Deepavali right up to New Year's has taken its toll and I'm going through a post-pig out depression. Especially since I had a weigh in with my trainer on the second day of 2009 and I've shamefully put on 2kgs in 2 months.

That's bad bad news so a new regime has been put in place - less carbs and less sugar. And since there's probably a gazillion other people who are going on New Year Resolution diets, send me your healthy tips, recipe or blog links (if you have healthy Asian food blogs, I will heart you) because I am balking at how to successfully make it through the month let alone rest of the year (though so far I've switched to brown/red rice for my one meal carb count).

Anyways, going through a backlog of pics and came across something that my Periamma (the family's resident chef extraordinaire) had served at a lunch when her vegetarian d-i-l was down. It fits the bill and super fast (I reckon amazingly cheap) to make too.

Tofu & Bean Sprouts Stirfry

Ingredients:
Firm tofu
Bean sprouts - I personally think that the thicker stemmed soya bean ones are more flavorful but whichever tickles your fancy will work.
Onion - sliced thinly
Oil
Salt to taste
A bit of chilli powder

Method:
1. Rub a bit of chilli powder and salt over tofu. Brown the tofu on all sides in a lightly oiled frying pan.
2. Remove tofu and cut into bite sized squares (if you try to cut the tofu into small squares without browning, it will get mushy).
3. In a seperate wok, heat oil and saute onions. Throw in bean sprouts and give it some quick stirfry action. Salt to taste. Add in tofu squares. Mix well and remove off heat (according to your pref of crunchy sprouts or soft sprouts).

New Year's (Part One) : Roti Jala

2009-01-02T20:55:00.001+08:00

Ever since I could remember, its been my family's tradition to usher in the new year together with a potluck dinner. But as the grandkids have all grown older (and attending NYE parties of our own - yours truly included), this year's was pushed as a Jan 1st Hi-tea at my aunt's place. The fare was really Malaysian in flavour - curry puffs filled till their almost bursting, sardine sandwiches, cucur bawang, roti jala and carrot cake (well, this was the only non-msian itemlah).

Churning out the lacy pancakes or roti jala as they are called here, can take some expert hand movement and lots of practice to get them juuust perfect. But once you've gotten the hang of it, these works of art can impress!

Roti Jala (Lacy Pancakes)
(Recipe from Malaysian Favourites Cookbook, published by Preston 2007)
Ingredients:
600g plain flour
410ml evaporated milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
750-850ml water
Oil

Method:
1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in the middle and add the beaten eggs in.
2. Add in milk and water. Stir with a whisk or fork until well blended. Strain batter with a sieve into a different bowl to remove lumps.
3. Heat a bit of oil in a flat frying pan.
3. Pour batter into a roti jala mould (its like a cup with holes in it) and rotate over hot pan to form a rounded star shape (kind of like you're drawing a daisy flower pattern).
4. Once cooked (it lifts off pan easily), serve with chicken curry.

R2R December: Gruyere Gougeres and "Blue" Cheese Pear Crostinis

2009-01-01T02:39:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year y'all!

Phew... after a week of non-stop parties and eating since Christmas (actually a couple of days before that - ti kinda started with my cousin's wedding), things are finally winding down as I step into 2009.

1st Jan also marks the "reveal" date of this month's Recipe To Rival challenge. We were given three choices of appetizers - Gougeres (puff), crostini and oyster en brochette by hosts Temperance & Jen. The oyster option was tossed out of the window as the combo of cost and not actually favoring it personally made it a "i don't think so" almost by default.

The first thing I tried was the interestingly courageous crostini that urged us to combine blue cheese, pears and walnuts. The cheese lover in me was happy at the thought of blue cheese treat (rarely get a chance to have it) but as soon as I mentioned it to my mom (also known in this case as the Keeper of the Kitchen), she gave me THE look that clearly said I was not to bring the "dead rat smelling" thing within 500m of the house. So, with a little ingenuity, I give you my adapted "blue" cheese and pear crostinis.

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese or any other soft cheese
A drop of blue coloring
Organic sugar pears
Whole Almonds
Focaccia bread or a baguette

Method:
Toast bread with a little butter or olive oil. Spread "blue" cheese and top with sliced pears. Artfully plonk additional pear slices and almonds.

---------------------
Next Up the Gruyere Cheese Gougeres. The recipe given was from Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook, a book which I've surmised from various blog reads has some deceivingly "easy" stuff especially if you're a beginner. Anyways, i followed the recipe and was lulled by how simple it seemed. Made use of my new piping bag (finally!), put it in the oven and happily watched as it slooowly puffed up. Then about ten minutes after I had reduced the heat, realised that it stopped puffing and worse, when i took it out later and left it to cool it sunk into the appearence of a scone! All was not lost though, despite the un-puff like texture I ended up with, it still tasted buttery fab.

English Toffee

2008-12-29T20:50:00.003+08:00

One of my fave food blog reads is Foodie With Family, written by the duo Rebecca and Val. Some of the dishes that come out of their kitchens are truly hearty (yet budget savvy) family fare and in my mind, I like to imagine that their kitchens are reminiscent of those warmly lit, cheery, pots bubbling on the stove & cookies and cinnamon scents wafting in the air types.

This Xmas, they were sharing time tested recipes of simple do-it-yourself gifts and as soon as I spotted the pics of the English Toffee, I knew I wanted to try it. Since I prefer the crunchy toffee versus the chewy type, I popped the pieces in the freezer (an old trick) and after that used it in various ways like putting it into a ziplock bag and crunching them as ice cream topping as well or constantly sneaking a piece whenever I passed the fridge (I am still in denial at the amount of sugar/butter is in these things...).

English Toffee
(Original recipe from Foodie With Family here, with much more detailed & better explanation)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
Chocolate Chips
Chopped nuts (I used almonds)
Half a teaspoon of vanilla essence

Method:
1. Line a tray with wax paper (I didn't have any, so I just flattened a couple of muffin wrappers).
2. In a small heavy bottomed saucepan, melt butter and sugar over low heat.
3. Add vanilla essence. Keep stirring occasionally (every minute or two) for about 10-15minutes on low heat when it gets golden brown and thick or if you're not sure, do the test by dripping a small amount into ice water and it forms brittle strands. Note of caution: Don't try to speed things along by raising the heat it will get hard and burn!
4. Pour onto the paper-lined tray and spread it out as evenly (and thinly) as you can. Sprinkle chocolate chips and leave for about five minutes then spread it over on top. Sprinkle chopped nuts and leave toffee to cool completely (this takes a couple of hours).
5. Break toffee into smaller pieces and enjoy!

P/s: Somehow the combo of vanilla ice cream with fruit cocktail (canned pineapples, grapes) and topped with toffee crumbs went really well. Even got the seal of approval of those who came for Sham & Andreas' New Year's Eve Potluck.

5 minute Chocolate Cake

2008-12-23T20:28:00.002+08:00

Tis' the season to be jolly... falalalaaaa lalala. The talented floggies (read: food bloggers) on the other side of the planet have been whipping up a storm of Christmas goodies in their kitchens and I'm getting a sugar high just reading & browsing the pics! And while they've also given me a flashback of the sweet memories from last year's winter xmas (in Germany with Andreas' family), the crazy crazy crazy work deadlines we had to rush these last two weeks (what with people clearing off year-end leave and goin on hols) haven't given me much time to do anything.

Closing my last article for the mag and in the midst of massively clearing my work inbox, I was glad to have found something which had gotten lost in that labyrinth. This recipe was actually forwarded to me by a friend and had a truly intriguing title - "The World's Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake." I finally got around to trying it after dinner today - to surprisingly good results! Although it was made in the microwave, the cake was wonderfully moist & had a nice layer of melted choc (from the choc chips which sunk). Definitely a must-try especially for all those not-genius-bakers like moi!

5 minute Chocolate Cake (also known as The World's Most Dangerous Choc Cake)
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
4 tbsp flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
A handful of chocolate chips (optional but highly recommended)
Small splash of vanilla essence

Method:
1. In a coffee mug, mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa). Add in egg and mix thoroughly with a fork.
2. Pour in milk and oil. Mix well again.
3. Add in chocolate chips and vanilla. Then fold it in.
4. Put mug in microwave and cook for 3 minutes on the HIGH setting (1000 watts).
5. If the cake rises over the top of your mug, don't be alarmed.
6. Allow it to cool a little and eat!

p/s: Penguin mini night-light is there to show how big this cup really is...

Choc & Cheese Sammies

2008-12-20T22:33:00.000+08:00

I got this idea of putting chocolate and cheese together from one of Oprah's shows. While I don't religiously follow the series (like SOME people I know), was couldn't help getting drawn in by the fact that Oprah and her buddy Nate had some truly awkward moments and giggles with guest chef Giada (was it just me or did it seem like one of them was tipsy?). Anyways, Giada made a panini with brie cheese, choc chips AND basil - something that clearly the great O herself was struggling to find words for or swallow. But anyways, I digress. The thought of putting two of my faves - choc & cheese together seemed brilliant enough to give it a shot and I did... and then I did it again and again (no one else I've offered it to would try it though, so you've been warned, its an acquired taste).

Choc & Cheese Sammies
Ingredients:
Chocolate chips
A slice of cream cheese or any other less strong type
Plain bun or dinner rolls

Method:
1. Cut bun or dinner roll in half. Place cheese slice in middle and arrange choc chips on top.
2. Squish together the bun nicely in a sandwich/panini maker till choc chips melt.

This season of giving Gift-A-Kid...

2008-12-09T11:57:00.005+08:00

Some of you may recall that I posted about an idea of collaborating with bloggers for the Rotaract Club of Kuala Lumpur's Project Gift-A-Kid (to give underprivileged children in the Klang Valley back-to-school items). Well, we're finally in full swing working on the project and raising funds for the beneficiaries (Rumah WAKE 1, a home for children affected by HIV & the kids on the welfare list of SJK Tamil Cheras).

The All Malaysian Bloggers Project has graciously come in to help us out on this meaningful project by organising an online contest which will benefit the kids as well. Here's how you can join in:

* Why, blog about it, of course! Don’t only blog about the ‘Gift a Kid’ project, make it your best, most noticeable blog ever! And better still – make it a sticky post so that nobody misses out your blog post. United International Pictures has agreed to sponsor a number of movie tickets; your one blog post will send one of these kids to the movies.
* Sponsor a kid, from as little as RM10 to the full pack of RM150. A small step from you goes a long way towards empowering these kids’ futures.

* Also, by adding an image (from the movies Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging or Wild Child) below your post on the Gift a Kid project, you may win yourself some goodies, thanks to our sponsors UIP and EMI. Details on the UIP Caption Contest.

Note: This contest is only open to those in Malaysia.

Spaghetti with chunky tomato and bacon sauce

2008-12-05T11:38:00.003+08:00

This is a bit backdated but things have been ultra-swamped trying to clear work before year-end leave.

Anyways....

I was miserable with a capital M on the day my flight to bangkok (and thus the entire holiday) was cancelled. After spending close to an hour on hold and still no luck (in one instance) with the airlines for my refund, i was aching for the comfort of a nice and quick bowl of pasta.

Spaghetti with chunky tomato and bacon sauce
Ingredients:
Spaghetti - cook like usual, drain and set aside
Celery - chopped
Shallots - left whole
Garlic - roughly chopped
Cherry tomatoes - left whole
Half a can of tomato puree
Italian herbs
Bacon
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Olive Oil
Water

Method:
1. In a pot, heat oil and saute shallots, cherry tomatoes, bacon and garlic till aromatic and slightly browned.
2. Add in water and celery and leave to simmer until celery softens (and you get a nice broth, so make a bit extra and save some of the liquid for other stuff).
3. Add in tomato puree and herbs. Season to taste.
4. Using the back of your spoon, squish the shallots, garlic and cherry tomatoes into the sauce to release more flavour. Alternatively, if you want a smoother sauce - take it off heat and leave to cool before puree-ing it in a food processor.
5. Plate spaghetti and top with sauce.

R2R November: Squash soup with vanilla cream topping

2008-12-01T02:03:00.005+08:00

This marks my first entry into the Recipes to Rival pool... Created by Temperance of High On The Hog and Lori of Lipsmacking Goodness, R2R is basically a group of people all over the world who come together every month to try (and discuss in the forum) a chosen savoury recipe. A recipe that it supposed to take us all out of our comfort zones if I may add.

And boy was this one a tough one picked by Meg! For one, as soon as I had a first glance at the recipe I had a moment of doubt if I had bitten off more than I could chew. Micepoix? Vita Prep? Some of the stuff listed on it were absolutely alien to me... so alien that I had to do a quick google and "translate" the recipe before I calmed down. Secondly, I could tell that from the "foreign" ingredients listed like miso and creame fraiche, it was going to be one darn expensive soup. Third, there were so many darn steps (I'm a one pot soup kind of gal).

But it was a good thing I stuck through - the taste was just amazing with many different layers to it. The miso gave a good after-twist to the pumpkin. A tad rich for our tastebuds (we could only down a small bowl at a go) but I'm guessing just perfect for those Autumn/Winter months over there.

Taken from a show called Top Chef (which we don't get over here but it does sound exciting), you can view the original recipe here. I took the liberty to switch up a few things based on what I had available.

Squash Soup with Vanilla Cream topping
(serves two)

Ingredients:
A) Mirepoix:
2 Celery - chopped
1 Carrot - chopped
A handful shallots - chopped
3 pips Garlic - halved
2 tablespoons Butter
1 tablespoons Honey
3 tablespoons Miso slurry (A mix of a bit of miso and water. Note: I also tried on an earlier round using the dried packet soup version that was pre-prepared with bonito flakes which switched its flavour a bit)

B) Squash:
1/2 pumpkin
Olive oil for rubbing
Salt & Pepper
Sprinkle of Italian herbs (Note: the original calls for a fresh sage leaf, so use that if you have it)

C) Soup stock - according to your prefered soup consistency
(Note: I used my leftover dark chicken soup stock. On hindsight, a clear one would have been prettier)

D) Vanilla Cream
Light cream
A teaspoon of yogurt (Note: a substitute for that tang you get if you use real creame fraiche)
Two drops vanilla essence

Method:
1.Rub oil on pumpkin and sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Arrange pumpkin pieces on tray and roast in oven (200 celsius) until its nice, soft and caramelly. Scoop out the pumpkin flesh, smush it and keep aside.
2. In a saucepan, sweat down (until they turn translucent) the mirepoix veggies with butter. Deglaze with honey, stir and add in miso. Season with salt and pepper.
3. For the soup - combine the pumpkin flesh and soup stock to desired consistency. Add mirepoix and cook a couple of minutes. Taste and season with salt & pepper if necessary. Blend with a food processor and strain.
4. Whip all the ingredients for the vanilla cream together and spoon a bit over the soup.

A lil brekkie...

2008-11-25T20:31:00.001+08:00

Update 29/11: So instead of going on a nice relaxing holiday, the whole thing got canceled and I spent a day in agony being put on call-centre holds and long queues to get my refunds. You see, at around 11pm of 25 nov, my partner-in-crime Cheryl urgently smsed me about the large-scale protest and grenades going off at Suvarnabumi airport on the news. At 2am of 26 nov, the day i was due to fly off, i get a sms from AirAsia stating that my flight had been cancelled as the airport has been closed off to incoming and outbound flights. It's been close to four days since then (did I mention my cousin Deva is stuck there as she had flown in earlier?) and the situation doesn't seem to be improving although the latest news was that evacuation flights were being conducted from a military airbase.

Lemon cupcakes with lemon cream

2008-11-24T21:12:00.000+08:00

I baked again... Inspired by a little pre-Xmas prezzie from cousin Jay and Sumi - which I shall reveal when I finally get around to raising my expertise in this new territory average enough to do something with it!

This recipe is really really really simple to whip up. Even though the "creative cooking" skills came into play when I realised (a) when trying out a cupcake recipe - its best if you are prepared with cupcake trays and (b) the batter was way too little to go into a normal sized cake pan (read: one of the two we have at home). Then again, my makeshift little foil pan did work so I guess you don't really need those fancy stuff huh (I bet somewhere some baker is cursing me for blasphemy)...

Lemon Cupcakes (Adapted from Epicurious, makes four cupcakes only)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 cup softened butter
4 tablespoons or half a lemon juice
2 large eggs

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 175 celcius
2. Sift flour and baking powder. Mix in zest.
3. In another bowl, fork blend butter, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time.
4. Combine both mixtures.
5. Bake cupcakes in the middle of oven for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Lemon Cream
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Lemon juice
1/4 cup icing sugar
3 tablespoon light cream

Method:
Mix everything together and drizzle over serving.

Tomato Chicken Curry & Stirfry Bak Choy

2008-11-23T20:50:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I wish I had 6 hands (yeah, yeah despite possibly looking like the goddess Kali) so that I could multi-task even more. As I type this, the laptop speakers are playing last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy (running on another window so I can switch if anything sounds interesting or McSergeant appears on the scene) and I'm sitting perched on my bed haphazardly surrounded by clothes that I am in the midst of packing (read: trying to squeeze) into my backpack for the trip.

There's no relation between that admission and the recipe other than the fact that it could easily be prepared if you're too busy multi-tasking (as I am wont to do these days).

Tomato Chicken Curry
Ingredients:
2 Chicken fillets - cut into bite size pieces
Onions - Sliced
Garlic - chopped
Half a can (about 8 tablespoons) of tomato puree
2 tablespoons of meat curry powder
1/2 cup Milk
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat oil and saute onions and garlic until translucent and aromatic.
2. In a bowl, mix chicken pieces with curry powder.
3. Add to pan together with tomato puree, salt, a bit of water (if too thick) and leave to cook.
4. Once chicken is cooked, add in milk and leave to thicken to desired gravy consistency.
5. Serve with rice.

Stirfry Bak Choy
Ingredients:
Bak Choy - large shreds
Shallots - sliced
Red chilli - sliced
Garlic - sliced

Method:
1. Saute shallots, red chilli and garlic in oil till soft. Throw in bak choy and give it a quick stir & toss action on high heat till it is slightly soft and the stems are still crunchy.

Dark Chicken Soup / Stock with an Asian tinge...

2008-11-16T17:12:00.005+08:00

My go to for chicken stock cum steamboat soup base cum chicken broth for noodles. Use more fleshy chicken parts then shred it later (better if kept a couple of hours) and top noodles.

Warning: This isn't a pretty one compared to "clear" chicken stocks as it turns dark from the black beans but it's darn yummy.

Dark Chicken Soup / Stock with an Asian tinge

Ingredients:

1/2 Chicken - bones and breast (if you need it to top noodles)

2 tablespoon tauchu (salted black bean paste)

Carrots - chopped large

Celery** (optional)

Black peppercorns - slightly crushed with the back of your knife

3 cups Water

Salt (to taste if necessary)
Spring Onions - cut large
Shallots - halved

Method:
Put everything in a pot and leave to boil boil boil till chicken flesh drops off bone.

Black Pepper Prawns

2008-11-12T21:57:00.000+08:00

An easy stir fry with nice and peppery sweet sauce!

Black Pepper Prawns
Ingredients:
Prawns - shelled and de-veined
Lots of freshly crushed black peppercorns
Worchestire Sauce
Light soy sauce (half of the worchestire quantity)
Oil
Sesame oil
Lots of chopped garlic

Method:
1. Marinade prawns with light soy sauce, worchestire sauce and half of the black pepper.
2. In a skillet, heat up the oil and saute chopped garlic until aromatic. Add in prawns (together with any marinade juice) and stir-fry till prawns are pink.
3. Add the rest of the black pepper and cook down the sauce till it gets nice and thick. Take off heat, drizzle a teeny bit of sesame oil over, give it a once over stir and serve.

*p/s: my prawns were already quite sweet, but if yours isn't, you can add a tablespoon of brown sugar at method no.3.

If I had RM9000 extra cash lying around,

2008-11-11T12:20:00.000+08:00

I'd jump on a plane to Buenos Aires immediately after reading this article....

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-baicecream17jun17

Sigh... but I don't. So the ice cream, dulce de leche, tango and gaucho hunks will have to wait.

Challenge: Let's Escape to Africa!

2008-11-09T11:51:00.000+08:00

I'm angling to get some brownie points with my little cousins (and secretly need an excuse to go watch a kiddie cartoon & keep my street cred...) which is why Mach wants those free tickets to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa that the All-Malaysian Bloggers Project is giving away!

Unfortunate update 10/11: By the time I got around to solving some "technical" issues bugging me this past week and finally posting this, it was past the deadline! Sob! Oh well, the recipes still turned out delicious and I'm watching the movie anyways...

For you guys not in the know, this movie sequel sees talking New York Zoo animals (Alex the lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo), who had been transplanted to the "I want to move it, move it" lemur filled land of Madagascar, plotting to leave the island and end up in the wilds of Africa. Alex meets up with his long lost family but has problems communicating with them (hmm... sound familiar?). Plus with an all star comedic voice cast like Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith and Sacha "Borat" Cohen reprising their roles - I'm expectating of a stellar second outing.

To get in the mood, figured I'd try out some simple African-inspired bread toppings as I had some chapati bread on hand.

Dukkah (Spiced Hazelnut spread)

(Adapted from Rosiechops of Allrecipes)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup hazelnuts

1/2 cup sesame seeds

2 tablespoons coriander seeds

2 tablespoons cumin seeds

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Bake hazelnuts in an oven (175 degrees celcius) for about five minutes or until fragrant. While the nuts are still hot, pour them onto a tea towel and rub vigorously to remove the skins. Leave to cool.

2. In a frying pan, toast the sesame seeds until light golden brown. Chuck it into a bowl then continue with toasting the coriander and cumin seeds until they begin to pop.

3. Grind coriander and cumin seeds until finely ground and chuck it into the bowl with sesame seeds.

4. Grind the cooled hazelnuts until finely ground and stir into the bowl with spices.

5. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

6. Serve spread atop toasted bread that has been dipped in olive oil.

Madagascar's Lasary Voatabia (Tomato & Spring Onions salad)

Ingredients:

A large handful of chopped tomatoes

A handful of chopped spring onions

2 tablespoons water

A few dashes of tabasco or hot sauce

Salt to taste

Method:

Toss everything together.

Senegalese Chicken Yassa

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces - chopped

1 cup of lemon juice

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup oil

3 onions - sliced

2 sprigs of thyme

red pepper - largely chopped

1 cup water

Bay leaves

Method:

1. Marinate chicken with lemon juice, vinegar, half the oil and onions for a couple of hours.

2. Heat remaining oil in a pot and brown chicken with onions. Add in the marinade sauce and thyme, peppers, water and bay leaves.

3. Simmer until chicken is cooked.

Deepavali spread: Part Two (Mutton Varuval)

2008-11-08T21:32:00.004+08:00

Continuation from here ...

This is periamma's killer mutton varuval recipe (which I am passing on to my mom to try because her mutton "varuval" still need somes serious work). Some people like their varuval super hot and some not so hot, so adjust the chilli powder content according to your taste.

Mutton Varuval
Ingredients:
One kilo mutton
2 dessert spoons curry powder (+ chilli powder if you want it spicy)
Thick coconut milk (First squeeze)
Thin coconut milk (the second and third squeeze)
Onions (according to your liking)
About 2 tablespoon pounded garlic and ginger
Curry leaves
2 lemon grass stems crushed
1 teaspoon turmeric
Ghee (Clarified butter)
1 teaspoon cumin (jintan manis) - roasted and pounded
2 cinnamon sticks
A couple of cardamom pods
A couple of cloves
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Season mutton pieces with curry powder, chilli powder, ginger, garlic, turmeric and salt. Leave aside for half an hour.
2. Heat ghee and saute cumin, cinnamon, cardomom and cloves. Add sliced onions and saute until golden. Add in curry leaves and lemongrass.
3. Add in mutton and thin coconut milk. Cover and cook till meat is tender.
4. Add in thick coconut milk and cook till dry.
5. Add in more curry leaves, onions and ghee and stir fry mutton till meat is dry and dark.

p/s: Be prepared for a bit of pot scrubbing - comes with the territory of truly "dry" mutton varuval.

Simple Nasi Kerabu + Chicken Rendang

2008-11-02T20:16:00.004+08:00

I am doing a jig right now. Those are some darn nice pics if I do say so myself (heh, can you tell i had extra time today)! And its always a cheery day when you learn how to make something, you've been buying all this time, all by yourself.

Nasi Kerabu (Herbed Rice Salad)
Ingredients:
Steamed white rice + Method:
1. Steam rice in ricecooker.
2. In a skillet, roast grated coconut to make kerisik. Once nicely browned, keep aside.
3. Heat some oil in the skillet and fry chopped shallots and salted fish.
4. Start chopping up four angled beans, torch ginger buds (bunga kantan), lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves (daun limau purut). Note: In the original version, there are other "ulam" but these are just what I like and had on hand. See traditional recipe here.
5. Place everything into a large bowl. Once the rice is cooked, add it into the bowl steaming hot and toss everything well. While still hot, keep covered tightly for a couple of minutes with a cling-wrap or lid, so that the fragrance is released from the herbs.

Easy & Quick Chicken Rendang
Ingredients:
1/2 a chicken - chopped into bite size chunks
10 dried red chillies
A handful of onions
4 garlic cloves
an inch of ginger - sliced
1 Lemongrass stem
3 kaffir lime leaves
Salt and a touch of sugar to taste
Roasted coconut (kerisik) - lots of it
1 cup thick coconut milk (santan)
1 cup thin coconut milk

Method:
1. Grind chillies, onions, garlic cloves and lemongrass together with 1/2 cup thin coconut milk.
2. In a pot, heat some oil and fry the grinded ingredients until slightly aromatic. Add in chicken chunks and cover it well with the gravy.
3. Add in kaffir lime leaves, ginger and rest of thin coconut milk. Cover and leave to cook.
4. Once chicken is about half-cooked, add in thick coconut milk and leave to simmer until gravy is thick and chicken flesh drops off bones.

Pumpkin Sweet Porridge (Bubur Labu)

2008-10-31T20:40:00.004+08:00

Stumbled upon this tasty treat when making the Cekodok Labu for RFJ. This pumpkin bubur strongly reminds me of the purple yam version my dad used to make. Plus seems weirdly appropriate to have this today since its Halloween and considering we "celebrate" this over here in Malaysia thanks to the globalised (read: commercial) world we live in. Though I'm nowhere as near to being able to carve my tiny pumpkin!

Sweet Pumpkin Porridge (Bubur Labu)
Ingredients:
Pumpkin - cubed
Fresh Milk - 1 tall glass
Sugar - to taste
A pinch of salt

Method:
Put everything in a pot and cook it until pumpkin in soft. If you prefer thicker porridge, add in a slurry of 1 tsp cornflour to it.

An A+ apple cake

2008-10-29T20:33:00.003+08:00

Apples apples apples. One could just wax lyrical about these shining red / pink / green beauties from its smell, to the crunchy freshness or the temptatious cinnamon-caramel paired soft goodness.

My usual safe apple bet is apple crumble (topped with crushed cornflakes) but reading Drew Kime's post on "How To Make Apple Cake" got me printing it out and popping off to the kitchen immediately (nevermind that it was 9.00am and I was still lazing in my jammies OR that I dread baking anything with measurements). But it was simple and easy and incredibly tasty, we even took it over on Deepavali day to my aunt's place.

I could repost the recipe (from Drew's wife's great-great-grandmother) here but the man explains it soooo much better with gorgeous step-by-step photos that it would be daft of me not to send you his way. So click on to http://blog.cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/2008/10/how-to-make-apple-cake.html

Look at that... Even eating the batter straight was yummy!

p/s: the cake does not keep well for more than two days. So you want to finish this fast, not like you'll be able to resist doing otherwise.

p/p/s: I swapped the pecans/walnuts in the dish with raisins and chopped cashews.

Deepavali spread: Part One (Salads)

2008-10-28T20:25:00.001+08:00

As per tradition, the whole family jing-bang gathered at my aunt's (a.k.a Periamma - which translates as "big aunt" in tamil) house for Deepavali Day lunch. We were all placing bets to see if my cousin Sham could successfully convince her mom to do away with the typical family "big celebration" dishes (read: prawn sambal, fish cutlet, chicken curry, mutton varuval) but they ended up compromising - aunt made the curries and Sham added in the salads. They've both been kind enough to share their "secret" recipes...

Glazed orange carrots

Ingredients:
2 Carrots - grated
Freshly squeezed orange juice - 1 cup
1 tablespoon Honey (or to taste)
A teaspoon of grated ginger
A pinch of salt

Method:
1. Simmer honey, ginger and orange juice together until honey dissolves.
2. Add in carrots as well as season with a bit of salt.
3. Mix everything well and remove off heat. Allow for carrots to steep in orange juice for a while before serving.

Cold Broccoli, Cauliflower and Orange Salad

Ingredients:
Broccoli - cut into small florets
Cauliflower - cut into small florets
Orange - cut into small pieces
Sugar
Vinegar

Method:
Heat sugar and vinegar together until sugar dissolves. Cool dressing then toss everything together! Place in fridge to chill before serving.

Kitchen Bytes: Trippin in Kuching, Sarawak

2008-10-27T11:13:00.000+08:00

I think I romanticised the idea of Kuching a tad bit. Land of the white rajah, orang asli tribes etc etc. The city itself was like a small town - bustling with old world charm (colonial buildings) and modern malls etc. Armed with maps in hand and tons of plans, my short three day trip was unfortunately plagued by heavy rainfall in the evenings which meant my roaming hours were cut in half . From the little bit that I've seen - especially of the outskirts like Santubong and Damai, I'll definitely be recommending to visiting friends that if they come to Malaysia, they should head to Borneo. I'm already planning my next one there where I hope to cover the national parks, caves and gorgeous beaches outside the city. Of course, Kuching has it famous food too but what truly surprised me was how cheap it was!

The view of the city from Merdeka Palace Hotel

At the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong, native long-house in the background

Making tebaloi (a type of flat cracker made from sago flour, coconut and sugar) the traditional way at the Melanau tribe Tall House. This was highly addictive - biscuit like texture yet melt in your mouth, couldn't stop munching it and bought dozen of packets home.

Sarawak Mee Kolo - noodles served with greens, mince pork and barbecue pork slices. Wandered around on my first day there and came across the Open Air Market (acc to my guidebook, it used to be popular with dock workers). At only RM2.50 (that's 70cents for you Americans) it was a hearty steal.

Miding (a type of fern shoot, very popular in Kuching) stir-fried in Belacan sauce.

I didn't understand the name until this speciality appeared on my plate and got unshelled. Ambal or literally translated as monkey's penis (actually its a type of bamboo clam).

The huge array of fresh seafood and vege at Top Spot Food Court. You basically pick what you want and then tell them what style you want it cooked. The place was a bit touristy though (as in that's what the tour buses all stopped) but the price was still reasonable compared to KL standards.

Of course, can't go to Sarawak without having Sarawak Laksa. Creamy "curry" type soup on rice vermicelli and topped with shredded egg, chicken, prawns, bean sprouts.

Royal Foodie Joust November: Cekodok Labu dengan sos oren

2008-10-26T11:23:00.009+08:00

It's that time of the month again when foodies around the world gather to showcase dishes prepared with three challenging ingredients. Since fall and Halloween is in the air over there in the States and Europe, it wasn't much of a surprise that the ingredient picked by last month's winner Susan were seasonally appropriate - acorn squash, sage and orange.

When I first read the list, I immediately thought that this was another I had to sit out as I had NO FREAKIN IDEA what an ACORN SQUASH was or where to find it in the middle of Asia. Like nada nil uh-uh. Fortunately I wasn't alone in this boat so the Joust ruler and queen of leftovers - Jenn opened up the category of squash to include pumpkins or other orange fleshed winter squash.

It still was new territory as I have never cooked squash or pumpkins before and the most I've had it in was stir-fries. Still got on the thinking cap, had a traditional inspiration and voila! Cekodok Labu dengan Sos Oren (or Sweet Pumpkin Fritters with Orange Sauce - since everyone is glamming up their dishes with italian names, figured I'd stick with the local and go with a Malay name)...

And since Deepavali is tomorrow (yeay!), the pic is a bit "festive" ^_^

Cekodok Labu (Sweet Pumpkin Fritters) dengan Sos Oren (with Orange Sauce)
Ingredients:
Quarter Pumpkin - cubed
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup water
2 heaped tablespoons Sugar or to your taste (I used Brown sugar)
Juice from 2 Oranges
1 teaspoon Orange zest
1 sage leaf
1/2 heaped cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method:
1. In a pot, cook cubed pumpkin with water. When it gets slightly soft, add milk, and sugar. Once pumpkin is smushy soft, remove it from the sauce to a seperate bowl.
2. Add orange juice from 1 orange and sage leaf into the pan with the milk and cook it down until you get a thick orange sauce.
3. In the seperate bowl, smush pumpkin with juice from 1 orange. Stir in orange zest, baking powder, baking soda and flour till you get a "muffin mixture" like consistency.
4. Heat a skillet with some oil. Scoop mixture with a teaspoon and drop it in. Flatten the drops slightly and cook till bottom doesn't stick. Flip around and cook the other side.
5. Drain oil from "cekodok" and serve with the orange sauce.

p/s: If you want to check out the other entries or join in the Joust, visit here.
p/p/s: Traditional Malay Cekodok is usually made with bananas.

Happy Deepavali y'all

2008-10-24T15:14:00.004+08:00

To all the readers who are celebrating the festival of lights this Monday (Oct 26), have a jolly good one!

Mmm... days of mutton varuval, muruku, london almond biscuits, jam tarts and chippi... i think i just added on a couple of kilos thinking about it!

I'm just a tad sad that this is the first one we'll be having without ammamma around so I have no idea what to expect as she was the upholder of all things traditional in the family and pretty much the reason why Deepavali eve & day rocked!

And much apologies for the lack of posts this week - have been traveling and work back in the office has piled up like crazy... but will be back to posting up all the backlogs soon... scouts honour!

Chicken curry Amma's dry version 1

2008-10-16T10:50:00.000+08:00

Chicken curry is a staple here that there's not a week that goes by without it being on the lunch or dinner (or even breakfast and supper!) menu. Of course, there's many versions one can make chicken curry too - with lots of gravy to drown your rice in or a dry thick gravy it penetrates the chicken right to the bone.

Here's one of my mom's versions and my particular fave of the lot - especially since its filled with loads and loads of caramelly fried onions!

Chicken Curry - Amma's Dry Version 1
Ingredients:
1/2 a Chicken - cut into slightly larger than bite size pieces
1 tablespoon Chilli Powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 and a half tablespoon Meat Curry powder
Onions - lots of it sliced thinly (we use around 2 huge ones)
1/2 cm ginger - sliced
4 cloves garlic - slivered
3 Cardamom pods - pressed open
One Cinnamon stick
2 Star Anise
1/2 teaspoon of cumin (Jintan Putih)
3 tablespoons yogurt
Ghee
Salt to taste
4 - 5 Curry leaves

Method:
1. Marinade chicken pieces in chilli powder, meat curry powder, turmeric, salt, ginger pieces and yogurt. Leave for about an hour or so.
2. In a wok, heat ghee and throw in spices (cinnamon, star anise, cumin, cardomom), garlic, onions and curry leaves until it is sizzling and aromatic.
3. Add in chicken, stir well and leave to cook.
4. There is virtually no gravy in this dish as it is "dry" style. Once chicken is cooked and all the juices thickened up with the spices to cling to it, remove from heat and serve.

p/s: feel free to adjust the chilli powder quantity according to your preference as that's what gives "heat" to this dish.

Kitchen Bytes: Ah Weng Koh Hainanese Coffee

2008-10-15T18:54:00.008+08:00

Location: Ah Weng Koh Hainan Coffee, Imbi Wet Market, Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur

I walked through blood and guts to get to this place and couldn't help but think (a) thank god i swapped my sandals for sneakers and (b) no wonder one of KL's "best kept" secrets is still a secret... Located at the old-school style Imbi wet market (where chickens are still slaughtered right in front of ya) and pork butchers hack their way with huge choppers, getting to Ah Weng Koh Hainan Coffee isn't too difficult as it turns out there's another "less adventurous" entrance from the main road that leads you directly to the eatery section of the market.

The place was jam packed even though it was late morning of a working day but the friendly waiters made sure that service was super fast. As soon as you're spotted, you'll have a seat pointed out for you (sometimes that may mean sharing the table with a stranger), order taken and in less than 8 minutes (i timed it) have a nice hot toast and steaming cup of thick dark coffee.

Established in 1988, the shop keeps its classic labourers breakfast fare super simple - thick freshly dark coffee (the beans are self-roasted with a secret recipe), their "special" which is super sweet and creamy coffee mixed with tea, half boiled eggs and a choice of round or flat toasted bread filled with a thick slab of butter and kaya (a type of coconut and egg jam).

So simple yet good enough to give Starbucks a run for its caffeine trade. Just ignore the "less-than-perfect, retro-inspired" surroundings.

Kitchen Bytes: Seetharam Family Restaurant, Brickfields

2008-10-14T19:17:00.007+08:00

Location: Seetharam Family Curry House, Brickfields [On the same side as CIMB Bank]

Braving the traffic and crowds that usually build up in Brickfields (otherwise known as KL's Little India) around the Diwali festival time, all with the single determination of satisfying our craving for Banana Leaf lunch. We hadn't been to this place before but a crowd is always a good indicator of what's good.

The restaurant has one of the most abundant spreads of Vegetarian (boasting of 45 dishes daily) and Non-vegetarian rice accompaniments that I have EVER seen. That's not counting the Pure Vegetarian Chinese Spread (oh, 20 more or so dishes that are cooked without onion or garlic but somehow still super tasty).

RM4.50 will get you the standard banana leaf set which comes with steamed white rice, a choice of 4 vegetable dishes, any curry gravy you want (chicken, fish, dhal or fenugreek), pappadam crackers, sour lime achar and a cup of rasam. But carnivores will know that a good "banana-leaf" also requires a spicy lip burning chicken varuval (chicken cooked until the gravy of spices and chilli dries and clings to it). Top it off with a cooling mango lassi or a cup of "pulled" spice chai (the pulling of the tea gives it a nice foamy finish).

Warning: Partaking in a banana leaf meal can often lead to you being so full that you feel like a drowsy snake...

A humble Sunday lunch

2008-10-12T15:27:00.002+08:00

What we had for lunch on Sunday.....

Buttered Baby Asparagus

Ingredients:

Baby Asparagus - the shoots are usually young enough to eat whole, so we just halve them

2 tbsps Herbed Garlic Butter

2 tbsps evaporated milk

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Blanch baby asparagus in a pot of boiling hot water. Once tender, remove from heat and drain. Throw it into a bowl and toss well with garlic butter & evaporated milk. Season to taste and serve.

Tofu Curry

Ingredients:
Tofu pok (otherwise known as tofu that comes in balls shape)
1 1/2 tablespoon Fish curry powder
1 Onion
Garlic
1/s teaspoon Thali Mix spices
2 cups Coconut milk (or can be replaced with 2 cups normal cows milk too)
Tomatoes
1 tablespoon Tamarind paste (mixed with about 2 tablespoons of water to thin)

Method:
1. Saute onions, mixed spice and garlic till fragrant and soft.
2. Add fish curry powder, tomatoes and tamarind paste. Pour a bit of coconut milk. Leave to cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add in remainder coconut milk. Throw in tofu pok and stir well, allowing for gravy to coat tofu. The tofu will slurp up all the gravy, so you'll end up with a "dry" curry.

Lamb Kofta Meatballs
Ingredients:
1 packet or about 500g minced lamb
1 onion - chopped
1 egg
1 teaspoon corn flour
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander powder
Oil for frying / brushing onto baking tray

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Form little meatballs. You can either deepfry these balls or for a healthier alternative, bake them in the oven until its cooked all the way through.

Brain Snacks: Night by Elie Wiesel

2008-10-11T10:13:00.006+08:00

I voraciously "eat" my way through books... so thought I'd add some particularly good ones as well under the category Brain Snacks starting with a thin one that packs a powerful impression...

Night By Elie Wiesel

It all started when I was channel surfing and happened on Oprah's show where she was talking to this tiny old man - Elie Wiesel, who had survived the holocaust and also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. Having been to the Anne Frank museum (and read her diary too) in Amsterdam and another similar memorial centre in Berlin, these pieces of information were stored in my mind as a historical event - something that for me was years/miles away and surrounded in surreality. But hearing Wiesel speak of his personal experiences and horrors at the hands of the Nazis, something clicked - it was all real. Not something that was part of a movie or story but something that had truly happened to people whose lives became living nightmares. Needless to say, I spent the better part of two weekends scouring bookstores in search of this book.

Night is the first out of trilogy (the other two are Dawn and Day) written by Wiesel on his life during and after the Nazi era. He leaves out the flowery language used by many similar authors and provides a stark, painfully raw experience of life in a concentration camp and the Holocaust. In just 109 pages, Wiesel imprints images and questions that by the end of it all, the "injustices" most of us moan about daily are seemingly trivial."Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me for all eternity the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust."

I felt tears flowing freely at that moment when this once deeply religious young Jewish teenager questions the existence of God as a child with an angelic face is left hanging in the middle of a courtyard. And just when you hope that there will be a "happy ending" once they are released from Buchenwald camp, you realise in the last few pages that it is living corpses that are being liberated - alive but with horrors imprinted so deeply into their souls. I shan't go into detail about the rest of the book as I believe its one you should read and experience on your own terms.

(On a personal rant)
It struck me that in the current political and racial situation in my country, we still have many blessings to be thankful for. The minorities who frequently complain and put on woe begone laments about being "oppressed" might want to take a rain check on what really being oppressed means. We're not dragged to concentration camps, mass murdered or seperated from our families. In comparison, we're still allowed to have the freedom to practice our own cultures and religions here, the opportunity for educations and good jobs, freedom to own properties. It sickens me at times how politicians have made the race issue political pawns, stoking the "rakyats".

Having said that though, there are many grave atrocities, discrimination (against GLBTs, PWLHAs, Gender etc) and genocides still being practiced worldwide and I guess Wiesel puts it best - "To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all".

101th post musing

2008-10-08T10:43:00.003+08:00

I can't believe I made it past 100 posts! Time to celebrate! woot! *
The last 8 months have gone whizzing by (not only in blogosphere but in reality too... the end of the year is drawing near and boy has it been a packed 2008)...

I'm thinking about expanding the content over here though - so here's a question, what do you want to see other than plain ol' recipes. I need to jazz this place up a bit (and also because I've not been that "creative" in the kitchen department lately due to rising costs and am becoming a bit routine, a problem I hope can be solved soon)...

And also I'm a comments whore. Would love to see my comment counter go up - that's the little link on the bottom of every post that says "comments"... Questions, suggestions/ criticisms/ improvement ideas or heck, dropping by to say hi will be appreciated (to my friends / family, I will not be answering any of these in person, IMs or email unless you stick it in the comments section... *sticks tongue out*)...

Awrite, that actually was more of a rant than musing! ;-)
I'm off to source a bottle of bubbly in the middle of a working day.

Grapefruit Sorbet

2008-10-07T21:51:00.003+08:00

I'm probably going to burn in foodie hell for this - but I mistook grapefruit for oranges and bought a whole bag full. And since I don't really like "raw" grapefruit, I need to find various ways to go through the bag.... attempt 1 - grapefruit sorbet (which I gleefully thought I actually "created" something until a google check proved that it is already a popular "palate cleanser")...

Grapefruit Sorbet
Ingredients:
1 grapefruit juiced (I kept the sacs in)
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons hot water
A pinch of ginger fine shreds.

Method:
1. Mix sugar and hot water until dissolved. Leave aside to cool.
2. Mix all of the ingredients together and pour onto a shallow plate. Stick plate in freezer for a couple of hours.
3. Using a fork (or a blender), scrape until you get shaved ice effect. Serve immediately...

Chives & Tofu

2008-10-06T22:00:00.001+08:00

Chives & Tofu
Ingredients:
One bunch of chives
Firm tofu
Onions - sliced
Red chilli - sliced
Salt to taste
Oil

Method:
1. Chop chop chop everything except for tofu. Well you could chop the tofu neatly too - i just prefer cheating and squishing it with my hands... :-)
2. Stirfry everthing together!

Kitchen Bytes: Chai Tow Kueh

2008-10-05T20:38:00.000+08:00

Chai Tow Kueh or Fried Radish Cake is one of those things that is sinfully good, you'll ignore the other minor details like a sky-high calorie content.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make this at home cos I haven't been able to find a recipe for the radish cake part (anyone care to share?). Roughly, the ingredients are radish cake, chopped garlic, a touch of soy sauce, chili paste, chopped salted vegetable, a handful of bean sprouts, chives and egg all fried up in a fired up wok.

Japanese Cottony Cheesecake

2008-10-04T21:24:00.000+08:00

Melt in your mouth yummmmm... no pics cos it got devoured in seconds as soon as the picnic tupperware got opened at Kuala Selangor.

Japanese Cottony Cheesecake (adapted from Ai Wei at My Story)
Ingredients:
Part A
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
50g Butter
100ml fresh milk

Part B:
60g Superfine Flour
20g cornflour
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Part C:
6 Egg Whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
140g fine granulated sugar

Method:
1. Melt Part A in a double boiler and cool the mixture until room temperature.
2. Fold in Part B and mix well
3. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy then add in sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. Fold in this mixture into the other A+B mixture and mix evenly.
4. Lightly grease and line with baking paper an round pan (about 8 inches). Pour mixture in. Finally bake in water bath for 1 hour or until set or golden brown at 160 celcius.

Kitchen Bytes: Kuala Selangor trip

2008-10-03T21:13:00.001+08:00

Detouring from our regular food posts, couldn't resist sharing this pic taken during our family trip to Kuala Selangor!

Dozens of these docile and soooo adorable silverleaf monkeys roamed Bukit Malawati (where we also snapped shots of a colonial lighthouse, the ruins of an ancient Malay ruler's palace). As compared to the more fierce teeth-baring macaques who ruled the nearby Nature Sanctuary. Also on the itinerary for the day, was a sampan boat ride at night to see synchronized fireflies (one of the few accessible places in the world to view them - the other is apparently deep in the Amazon)....

If you're ever down in Kuala Lumpur, I urge you to take the 1 hour odd drive down to Kuala Selangor as it also has some of the freshest seafood in town. Unfortunately, being THE place to get good seafood also means that it has become a tad touristy with huge restaurant operators at Pasir Penampang Fishing Village, but venture slightly away from the hustle and you'll find a few food gems.

Kesari

2008-10-02T23:42:00.001+08:00

I know... I know... I had posted this photo up with a "recipe coming soon" way back April... yes, that's how long it took me to find the recipe again after losing the scrap of paper I had it written on (including measurement tweak notes which I can't sob remember) ...

Kesari is a traditional indian dessert and is literally translated as sugar cake. So it's sweet and not one for the weight /calorie watchers... This recipe comes from Mrs Samuel's Cookbook (which at this moment is pieces of tattered ancient paper) - a "bible" for young Malaysian Ceylonese housewives in the 60s - and owned / photocopied / rewritten by hand by almost all of the women in my mom's / grandmom's generation of the family.

Kesari (adapted from Mrs Samuel's Cookbook)
Ingredients:
6 heaped tablespoons Semolina
6 tablespoons of Ghee (clarified butter)
12 tablespoons Sugar
6 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons of chopped cashew nuts
1 tablespoon raisins
A little yellow colouring
10 cardamoms (powdered)
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat one tablespoon ghee in a wok and fry cashews and raisins for a few minutes. Take aside and drain the oil.
2. In a seperate dry wok, roast the semolina then add water and sugar. Mix well. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Keep turning over mixture (kind of like a folding in movement) until it is able to leave the pan surface clean.
3. Butter a flat baking tray and smooth the mixture onto it. Leave to cool then cut into squares. Alternatively, you can spoon the mixture directly into dessert bowls and leave it to cool before serving.

Idli and Coconut Chutney

2008-09-30T22:33:00.003+08:00

I have these fluffy rice disks every Sunday morning for breakfast - whether I want to or not... Mom's way of keeping me "pre-occupied and out of the kitchen" while the weekly cleaning lady goes bout doing her chores. Frankly I'm getting a bit bleargh of it already so figure may as well post it and get it done with.

Idli (adapted from Mrs Samuel's Cookbook)
Ingredients:
1 tin black peas
1 tin white rice
1 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Soak the black peas, white rice and fenugreek seperately for three to four hours. Clean and wash.
2. Grind them together until you get a smooth paste. Add salt to taste and mix well. Keep covered overnight at room temperature.
3. The next morning, prepare a steamer (we use a wok filled halfway with water and topped with a steamer tray).
4. Line a idli tray or small muffin tray with a wet cheesecloth. Slowly spoon the fermented paste into the moulds.
5. Steam for half an hour (if you're using idli tray) or slightly longer (if your using a thicker muffin tray).

Coconut Chutney
Ingredients:
1 cup grated coconut
1 dried chilli (or however much heat you can take)
1 onion
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/2 a carrot - chopped (optional)
Oil
Salt to taste
A bit of water

Method:
1. Heat oil and fry black mustard seeds, onions and dried chillies till golden. Throw in coconut and give it a good stir.
2. Put the coconut mixture in a blender, add in carrot and salt to taste. Water if necessary and blend until smooth.

* Carrot is not traditionally used but I find it adds a bit of lovely colour and sweetness.

Tempura Spinach Fritters

2008-09-29T22:37:00.001+08:00

When I told my friends what I had made last Saturday, I was met with "WHATS?!" and "You're kiddings" followed by pretty puzzled faces. This was such a wild card that even I had my initial doubts... Deep fried leafy greens? But it turned out so spectacularly good that I munched my way through the bowl while reading. With a few tweaks (it lost its crispiness after an hour and got a bit soggy - good thing I was down to the last three pieces), I think I may be on to something... Just don't tell my trainer...

Tempura Spinach Fritters
Ingredients:
Spinach (I used red spinach)
Onions chopped
Tempura batter (or a mix of wheat flour, corn flour, soda and ice cold water till you get a thick slurry)

Method:
1. Heat oil in wok
2. Chop largely spinach leaves and mix up with onions.
3. Using a spoon, drop spinach leaves mix into the batter and scoop up.
4. Fry till outside is golden and crispy.

p/s: I tried first dipping a whole spinach leaf in the batter just to experiment - turned out like crisps... mmm... when i figure out how to stop it from losing its crispyness perhaps I'll fry a whole batch to store...

p/p/s: A book I recommend you pick up - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen & David Oliver Relin. It's about mountaineer Greg's work in building 55 schools in remote villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Truly inspirational. If anyone happened to read the Editor's Note in October's AstroView magazine, you may notice why this one really hit home for me...

BLAT sandwich minus the L & T

2008-09-23T22:27:00.001+08:00

A midnight snack that doesn't look like much (in fact I just think it could end up on The Frig) but I swear it was really really really good... actually come to think of it anything with bacon in it results in pretty darn good...

BLAT-AT=BA sandwich
Ingredients:
Bread
Black pepper bacon slices
Avocado
A squirt of lime juice
Salt to taste
A tablespoon of yogurt
Quarter onion chopped really really finely.

Method:
1. Fry up bacon slices...
2. Smush avocado, lime juice, salt, yogurt and onion together.

Boiled Groundnuts

2008-09-20T22:15:00.000+08:00

Dad used to tell stories of how getting a newspaper cone filled with a mound of steaming hot groundnuts were a childhood treat. Rare these days, sometimes if you're really lucky you can find them at a nightmarket or fair. They're super simple to make at home but I'll admit that nothing beats popping them in your mouth as you walk down the street.

Boiled Groundnuts
Ingredients:
Raw Groundnuts (with shells on)
Water & Salt to boil

Tips:
* Make sure you scrub the dirt off the groundnuts well or you'll end up with sandy tasting groundnuts.
* Get groundnuts with the shells still on them as without them you won't get that lovely silky texture that comes from the nuts being " pressure steamed" in the shell.

Kitchen Bytes: The Freak

2008-09-16T22:04:00.006+08:00

You know that part in horror flicks when the hairs at the back of your neck start standing and you can just feel someone's right behind?

Same feeling I had only at mom's birthday chinese lunch cos this freaky fish somehow kept coming back to stare at me throughout the entire meal... and I swear I had no part in its devouring either!
p/s: Since this is a foodie blog, I'll be generous enough to let you in on what it was - a deepfried sea garoupa slathered with a sauce of chopped coriander, spicy birds eye chillies, lots of garlic, sesame oil and salty soy sauce.

Kitchen Bytes: Mooncakes

2008-09-13T23:37:00.001+08:00

Happy MidAutumn Festival!!!

With the festival comes an abundance of mooncakes (read its origins here) but this year it seems that mooncake bakers have taken the extra step and gotten creative with their ingredients & packaging.

Our office pantry has been overloaded with all sorts of mooncakes - everything from traditional lotus paste with an egg yolk in the centre, to cheese filled "snow" mooncakes, red bean, green tea, custard corn cream, sesame paste, chocolate and yam. Since we've been doing taste tests with tiny slices (cos its super tooth-achy sweet), my fave so far is the one pictured above - green tea filling with a lemon curd centre.

Kitchen Bytes: Kaya Balls

2008-09-06T23:34:00.002+08:00

Dashing through Leisure Mall after a session at the gym (had parked my car waaay on the other side and was running late), I was literally stopped in my tracks by the gloriously sweet aroma wafting in the air. An extra sniff or two and I felt my guilty feet moving in another direction until hitting jackpot - a kaya ball stand!

Kaya Balls are basically fluffy green (from the fragrant pandan/screwpine leaves) cake balls filled with a centre of gooey sweet kaya (a jam made from egg & coconut milk). These traditional treats are not too easy to find these days as you need the special ball iron to make them in but I found this recipe for a homemade version you could try.

There was a wait as the lady had just started her first batch, so I couldn't resist whipping out my phone to take some shots of her in action...

Childhood memories of bread

2008-09-05T21:44:00.000+08:00

Buttered bread liberally sprinkled with sugar
Bread liberally sprinkled with milo
Bread doused with condensed milk
Cheese toasties
Banana and peanut butter bread

In that order, were some of my fave kindergarten, recess and after-tuition tea-time at grandma's "snacks". Unfortunately, item number one, two and three eventually got "banned" by mom when she caught on but there were times when dearest papa gave in and snuck it in...

While I was reminiscing, I got curious if other foodies got childhood memories with such simple food (and prob something most of us won't think of eating now, thanks to it being sugar and calorie laden) so I quizzed the peeps at LeftOver Queen's forum. The answers were interesting and intriguing (mostly cos I hadn't heard of some of them before)...

Here are some of the votes:
- Toasted ripe tomato sandwiches with mayo
- grandma's Lemon Delight (this was popular)
- Fluffernutter (a type of marshmallow spread)
- Fresh peach ice cream, graham crackers with butter, blueberries off the bush
- Poor Man's Swiss Steak
- Mac N Cheese with hotdogs cut up
- Bubble Gum ice cream
- Cheap vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered graham crackers to dip with

So what are your childhood faves? Would love to hear from the Asian foodies...

Simple Steamed tofu

2008-09-04T22:30:00.000+08:00

Simple Steamed Tofu
Ingredients:
Soft tofu
Shallots - fried
Chilli - chopped
Spring onions
Soy sauce
sesame oil

Method:
Place soft tofu carefully in a dish and top with the other ingredients. Steam until tofu becomes slightly firm.

p/s: As you can see, we finally found our steamer tray... no more MacGuyver like chopstick replacements and potential titanic dramas!