Simple Recipe - Curry Sardine

For this curry, I will use can sardines and combine with brinjal. The brand I normally buy will be Ayam brand although there is quite a number of brand out there.

As we love brinjal in curry, I have put more this time. As for a can of 425g sardines, depending on the size of fish, one can will have about 4 - 6 fish.

Ingredient

2 can Sardines, each net weight 425g

4 - 5 approx 6" brinjal

1 coconut = 1.5 medium bowl of coconut milk

5 - 6 tbls chillies blend*

1" Shrimp Paste

1.5 tbls Babas Fish Curry Powder

Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Method

Heat up a pot, pour in oil

Stir in chillies blend, shrimp paste, curry leaves - fry till fragrant

Pour in coconut milk

Follow by sauce in the sardines can**

Add Salt

Then brinjal

Once brinjal is soft, lastly sardines 

Note: 

**

If use 2 can sardines, use 1 can of sauce in can. If use 1 can, then 1/2 can of sauce.

*

Chillies Blend is combination of  blended dried chillies, small onion and garlic 

Simple Recipe - Kung Po Chicken

Trying out this recipe today and it turned out fine. I am happy as long as my family likes it.

It is so easy as not much ingredient needed.

A plate of half of whole chicken breast

Ingredients

1/2 of whole chicken breast, diced

Slice ginger

Slice 3 cloves garlic

8 dried chillies, halve, discard seed

Marinate whole chicken breast:

1 tbls Light Soya Sauce

1 tbls Chinese Cooking Wine

1/2 tbls Sesame Oil

1/2 tbls Cornstarch

1/4 tsp Pepper

Sauce for half chicken breast

3 tbls Light Soya Sauce

1 tbls Dark Soya Sauce

1/2 tbls Black Vinegar

3/4 tbls Sugar

1 tbls CornStarch

6 - 8 tbls Water

Method

Heat up wok, pour in oil

Fry marinated chicken, 70% cooked, set aside

Add oil, stir garlic, ginger follow by dried chillies till fragrant

Add back the chicken

Pour in the mixed sauce

Stir till chicken nicely coated

Simple Recipe - Stir fry bittergourd with Preserved Black Bean

My younger son has been starting to eat bittergourd lately.

I normally buy a smaller size of bittergourd as only my hubby loves it.

Ingredients
1 bittergourd - cut
1 red chilli - discard seed, slice thinly
1 tbls fermented black bean
1 tbls minced garlic
1 tbls oyster sauce
Cooking oil
Water

Method
Cut bittergourd, wash and soak with salt for 15 minutes, then wash again
Heat up wok, pour in cooking oil
Once oil is hot, put minced garlic, follow by chilli, fermented bean paste
Once fragrant, add in bittergourd
Then oyster sauce and water
Stir fry till bittergourd is cooked (darker green) soft but still crunchy

Dessert Recipe - Kueh Bingka (Tapioca)

I have been wanting to try out making my own nyonya kueh. Looking at the recipe, I told myself, well this is simple as I have all the ingredients at home except tapioca. Since is one my favorite and you can hardly get a good one out there or if is a good one, is far from my place. And the end result was a good comment from those who tasted it.

With my little kitchen helper, Themomix, is so much easier.

Ingredients
1.8 - 2 kg of Tapioca (peel, cut small piece to yield 1.5 kgs grated tapioca)
2 × 200g coconut milk in box or 500g of fresh thick coconut milk
250g castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
30g soft unsalted butter

1. Put 800g fresh cut into TM bowl to blend 15 sec/sp 8, then pour out into a bowl
2. Put balance cut tapioca into TM bowl blend 15 sec/sp 8. Place first batch back to TM bowl
3. Add sugar, egg, coconut milk, butter and salt to mix evenly 40 sec/reverse blade/sp 4.
Mix another 30 sec/reverse blade/ sp 4 if not properly mix.
4. Pour the mixture into a 24 x 24 cm square tray lined with banana leave or grease with butter
5. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 60 minutes. Turn the tray if necessary for even browning. Test with skewer to ensure throughly baked.
6. Sprinkle some sugar on the surface (optional),  put the tray to lower rack for another 20 - 30 minutes bake till golden brown
7. Set aside to cool for 2 - 3 hours before cutting

Note:
I have bought 1.8kg but after cut, it weigh only 1.25 kg of tapioca, thus I have put in lesser sugar only 230g. As for coconut milk, I have used Kara brand.                  
Step 6 I have baked for another 20 minutes.

Simple Recipe - Fried Shrimp Paste Chicken Wing

Fried chicken always goes well with my two boys. I tried out this way to marinate chicken wing and it turns out yum.

Ingredients

6 pairs of chicken wing (wing & drummet)

Marinate with:

2 tbls shrimp paste powder

1 tbls oyster sauce

2 tbls chinese cooking wine

1 tbls corn flour

1 tbls rice flour

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp five spices powder

1/5 tsp salt

Method

Marinate the chicken wings.

If you marinade longer, it will be more flavorful and tastier.

Heat up wok, pour in oil

Once oil is hot, fry the chickrn wings

Note: I am putting some salt since I only have vegetarian oyster sauce at home which is not too salty.

Simple Recipe - Fish stuff with Sambal (Chilli Concoction)

Peranakan call this recipe as Hu Chi Rempah or in malay, we name it Ikan Sumbat Sambal.

We normally buy Hardtail Scad Fish (Cencaru) for this recipe. However, you can also use Indian Mackerel Fish (Kembong) or this fish below which I do not know its name lol, equally delicious. When you buy the fish from market, just get the fishmonger, just ask them to slit the back of the fish on both side.

Normally it is quite messy to fry this stuff sambal fish. Freak not, you can also use oven. Wrap the fish in banana leave or aluminium foil. Cook it at 180°c for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your fish.

Cooked Sambal

Stuff the sambal into pocket of the fish

You may find lots of different recipe for this, but I have been following my late mother in law's recipe but I still think she definitely cooked better than me.

Some recipe will use tumeric, lemmongrass and ginger which is totally up to your preference.

Ingredients
Fish of your choice
Blended chilli paste*
Handful of Tamarind : 1/2 medium bowl of tamarind juice
4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking Oil

To blend:
A medium bowl of dried chilli, cut, wash, soak with hot water
8 small onion, cut to pieces
5 garlic, cut to pieces
1" Shrimp paste
Put some water and bil oil

Method
Heat up wok, pour in oil
Then fry the blended paste till fragrant
Add in sugar, salt and tamarind juice. Taste it if needed just add these 3 items accordingly.
The blended paste will be deeper in color
Scoop up and put in a bowl
Once cool down, stuff the cooked chilli paste into the pocket of the fish

Heat up wok, pour in oil
Fry the fish

Simple Recipe - Steam Egg

Is a Monday blue, and the lazy me just cook a simple Steam Egg for lunch.

Steam Egg indeed is very easy but to steam a perfect smooth egg, there are few steps that I learned from my sister in law.

Ingredients

Egg

Water

Soy Sauce

Method

Put water into a wok for boiling

While waiting, open up an egg, pour into a bowl

Use the egg shell to measure the water, for 1 egg, use 1.5 shell of water

Add approximately 1 1/4 tablespoon of soy sauce

Gently mix the egg with water and soya sauce using a spoon. If you beat too hard, it will create lots of bubble. We do not want bubbles here.

Pour into a plate of bowl for steaming.

Once water in wok is boiling, put the plate of egg inside with medium fire. Do not cover the wok's lid completely, leave a small gap. Steam about 10 minutes.

Once done, you can garnish with some fried garlic, add a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil on top of egg.

Besides steam plain egg, just can steam egg mix with salty egg and century egg (cut into pieces) which we call it 3 treasures egg. This is equally easy and yummy.

Simple Recipe - Braised Chicken with Bittergourd

Bittergourd is my hubby's favorite but is never mine because of the bitterness.

Ocassionally still have to cook eventhough none of us in the family like it but my younger son beginning to learn how to eat bittergourd. At times I will fry with egg, not too bad, is acceptable to me.

I was told by my mom that lighter green of bittergourd not so bitter.

Ingredients
3 whole chicken leg, remove skin, cut into pieces
1 large bittergourd, cut remove seeds, rub with salt
Minced garlic
Slice ginger
1 tbls fermented black bean (tow see)
1.5 tbls yellow bean paste (taucheong)

Marinate Chicken:
1.5 tbls soy asauce
1 tbls Shoaxing wine
1/2 tbls cornstarch
1/4 tsp pepper

Sauce/Seasoning (mix in bowl):
1 tbls soya sauce
1 tbls oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water

Method
Blanch cut bittergourd for about 1 minute, set aside
Heat up wok, pour in 2 tbls oil, saute half minced garlic and ginger slice
Add chicken till cook half done, set aside
Heat wok, add little bit more oil, put in remainder garlic and ginger
Follow by taucheong and tow see till fragrant
Then bittetgourd, follow by chicken
Simmer with water till chicken is cooked thoroughly.
If you prefer a thicker gravy, stir tapioca flour with a bit water, add onto the simmering sauce

Eat with sambal belacan will give you the extra kick.

Simple Recipe - Pork Loin with Malt Sauce

This was so great, first time trying out Pork Loin with Malt Sauce and it was yummy.

I used Pork Loin (in cantonese is yook ngan) for this recipe.


Ingredient
500 gm Pork Loin

Marinade Pork Loin:
1 tsp Ginger juice (pound ginger)
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 tsp Soy sauce
1 tsp Abalone sauce or oyster sauce
1 tbls Rice Wine
2 tbls Lea & Perins sauce
1 egg
2 tbls wheat flour
1 tbls corn flour
50ml Malta (non-alcoholic malt beverage)

Sauce:
1 tbls Cooking Oil
100 ml Malta
2 tbsp Lea & Perin Sauce
3 tbsp Tomato Sauce

Note: you may adjust the sauce accordingly to your preference

Method
1. Cut Pork Loin about 0.5cm thick, use the back of your knife to chop both sides softly, marinade 2 hours or more, or best overnight.
2. Heat oil and fry the meat until golden brown, set aside.
3. Pour in the sauce to mix in the bowl and set aside.
4. Then heat 1 tablespoon of oil, pour the sauce, boil until thick or when there are  bubbles
5. Put in the fried meat, cook till the sauce absorb by the meat.

Malta 320ml per can

Herbal Jelly - Gui Ling Gao

My two boys were introduced to herbal jelly or gui ling gao by their late great grandmother. Whenever my grandmother knew that we were going to visit her, she would made gui ling gao ready for her two great grandchildren. And my two boys till now still sing praises of the best gui ling gao were still what their great grandmother made for them. No one could ever replace the taste or memory of them having gui ling gao made by her.

Since they love gui ling gao, I went to Eu Yan Sang to buy the powder and tried it out. A 50g powder could made 6 bowls.

Ingredients
1 packet 50g herbal jelly powder
150 g sugar
Water

Method
Bring to boil 1 litre of water, add in 150g sugar
Pour 1 packet of 50g herbal jelly powder into a bowl
Add in 250ml cool water, mix well
Turn to low flame of boiling water, then add in herbal jelly mixture and continuously stir for 10 minutes
Filter the boiled herbal jelly mixture and pour into bowls or puding moulds
Leave to cool and ready to serve
Honey for topping (optional)
Or if you prefer cold, chill in the regrigerator

If you are using thermomix:

Ingredients

50g herbal jelly powder

150g rock sugar

1500g water

Method

Pour in rock sugar mill 2 sec two times speed turbo

Add in water and powder, mix well 10 sec speed 3

Continue to cook 10 min 100 temperature speed 3

Pour onto pudding moulds, serve chilled

Simple Recipe - Assam Pedas Fish

Whenever hubby bought Mackerel, also known as Indian Mackerel, Assam Pedas will comes into mind. With pineapple will make it appetizing either to go with rice or vermicelli.

Important to have daun kesom. In English names for the herb include Vietnamese mint, Vietnamese cilantro, Cambodian mint, hot mint, laksa leaf, and praew leaf. Its Vietnamese name is rau răm.

Besides daun kesom or laksa leaf, torch ginger bud is a must to make the Asam Pedas aromatic.

Ingredients
8 Indian Mackerel
10 tblsp Blend Chilies Paste*
125gm Tamarind Paste
2 stalk Laksa Leaf
1 Torch Ginger Bud 
3 teasp Sugar
1 teasp Salt

Method
Blend Chilies Paste
A medium bowl of Dried Chilies, cut,wash, then soaked with hot water.
8 small onion
5 cloves garlic
1/2" tumeric
2 lemmon grass, cut the white part
1" shrimp paste
Blend all the above

Heat up a pot
125 gm of tamarind paste, wash and squeeze out about 3.5 medium bowl tamarind juice
Add in 10 tablespoon of blended chilies paste,laksa leaf, torch ginger bud, sugar and salt
Boil a while, add in pineapple and lastly fish

Note: You can substitute fish with prawn. 
   

    

Simple Recipe -Pan Seared Boneless Chicken Whole Leg

My kids love fried chicken. Though is a bit messy during the frying process, as I do not encourage them to eat often fried chicken bought from stalls, I will once a while fried chicken at home for them.

I have bought deboned chicken whole leg and marinated them for at least an hour but best if you can marinate overnight.

You can marinate whatever sauce you have at home. You can have crispy skin by coating any fried chicken flour you have. Mine is not the crispy type but juicy.

Ingredients
2 whole chicken leg, optional cut into 2

Marinate
Pounded 2" ginger and 3  garlic
2 tblsp chinese cooking wine
1 tblsp sesame oil
1 tblsp Lea & Perin Sauce
1 tbslp Kikoman teriyaki sauce
1 tblsp Fish Sauce
Dash of black pepper

Method
Heat up pan, pour in cooking oil
Once hot, put in the chicken with skin down
After about 5 minutes, turn to other side, till cooked.

Simple Recipe - Steam Salted Chicken

For this Steam Salted Chicken recipe, is a quick one to prepare and it will not mess up your kitchen. You can use any part of chicken you wish. Here I use Chicken whole leg, deboned and cut into two.

Ingredients

2 whole chicken leg, cut into 2

1 tblsp dried wolfberry

1 tblsp ginger strip

5 Red Dates

4 Angelica sinensis (dong quai)

Seasoning

2 tblsp Sesame Oil

3 tblsp Aged Shoaxing Cooking Wine

Method

Marinate chicken with salt by rubbing on it for at least 30 minutes

Then scatter wolfberry, ginger, red dates and dong quai on top of chicken

Then pour seasoning on it

Steam 15 minutes

I love this simple steam chicken which my mom will normally use aluminium foil to wrap up the chicken pieces. You can try this way too.

Simple Recipe - Fry Meehoon (Vermicelli)

After so many days off in conjunction with Hari Raya, we have been eating out. Today's lunch, mom said to me "why not fry vermicelli?".  I said okay since is just a quick and simple meal to cook, ready in 20 minutes cooking time.

We made it vegetarian just with cabbage using brown rice vermicelli that mom bought for me, enough for 4 person. If you like non vegetarian, put in some minced dried prawn, it will be more fragrant. Anything that you wish to add on, be it seafood or meat, is totally up to individual preference.

Ingredients

200gm Vermicelli, soak in water 5 minutes

Cabbage, cut

1/2 clove garlic, minced

3 small onion, minced

3 - 4 tblsp Light Soy sauce

1/2 tblsp Dark Soy Sauce

2 tblsp Sesame Oil

8 tblsp Cooking Oil

Method

Heat up wok, pour in cooking oil

Then follow by small onion & garlic

Once fragrant, put in cabbage

Then thick and light soy sauce

Less than half small bowl water

Once cabbage soft, put in vermicelli

Lastly sesame oil

Go Noodle House @ Publika

This morning news of two people were shot to death the night before did not stop us from patronizing Publika, our nearest place to hunt for food.  Go Noodle House was chosen as our next restaurant a week earlier. Eldest son had tried once in their outlet at Jaya One, thus he recommended that we should try.

Besides Pan Mee (noodle made from wheat flour), they also have Meehoon/Vermicelli (noodle made from Rice) and Mee Suah/Longevity noodle (very thin salted noodle made from wheat flour).

Me and mom shared a bowl of their Pan Mee Superior Soup (RM9.50) come with minced meat, spinach and anchovies. Whereas elder son and hubby had Spicy Soup Pan Mee with add on of squid ball and meat ball respectively. Younger sob had Dry Spicy Dark Sauce Pan Mee with add on slice meat. Each cost RM10 each minus the add on. With four herbal drinks the bill RM62.70.  Yes, recommended place if you like Pan Mee. The superior soup is different from what you get in other eateries. Each of us has chosen the right flavor as everyone liked the Pan Mee here.

Besides Publika, Jaya One, other outlets will be in One Utama and Mid Valley.

Location:
Go Noodle House
A2-1-1 Solaris Dutanas
(Publika)
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2856 0726

Simple Recipe - Rendang Ayam

Cooking Rendang Ayam (chicken) has been my yearly affair during Raya.  Just last week my younger son requested me to cook as he wanted to eat with lemang.  It was already in my planning to cook Rendang to with lemang.

Lemang is a traditional food made of glutinous rice, coconut milk and salt, cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick lined with banana leaves in order to prevent the rice from sticking to the bamboo.

But my version of Rendang is not so dry as I prefer more gravy to go with rice or lemang. And I admit my version is not the best but as long as my two boys are satisfied with it, who cares 😉.

Ingredients

7 whole chicken leg

6 Kafir lime leaves

2 tumeric leaves

1.5 grated coconut = 1 thick coconut milk

Pinch of sugar

Salt to taste

8-10 tablespoon Kerisik*

To cut and blend:

25 dried chillies

8 small onions

5 garlic

1 inch ginger

1 inch galangal

3 lemongrass

1/2 inch tumeric

Method

Each whole leg cut into 4 pieces

Kafir lime leaves quater

Tumeric leave cut pieces

1.5 coconut add water to juice out 1 medium bowl thick coconut milk

Heat up wok

Toast half grated coconut, pound finely

Heat up oil

Fry the chillie paste till fragrant

Put in chicken

Then add in kafir and tumeric leaves 

Coconut milk

Salt and sugar

Lastly add in kerisik (toasted coconut)

*Kerisik:

Coconut is grated, toasted, then pound finely or ground to paste.

Simple Recipe - Double Boil Winter Melon Soup

Our friend, an old uncle gave us a big winter melon, which was from his own garden. So I figure out the way to double boil winter melon soup with it as this is one of my children's favorite and it quite expensive to order this.

Firstly I need chicken stock but instead of buying cube chicken stock, I boiled my own using since I have chicken bone.

I have all the ingredients I need at home, so I gave a try to make this soup. As it was really big, I cut into 2.

Ready 😉

Cut into half

Ingredients
Winter Melon
2 Dried Chinese Mushroom
6 Dried Scallop
Fish Maw
Minced/Slice Meat (chicken/pork)
Ginger, minced
Salt
Pepper
Chicken bone or any parts

Method
Boil half pot of water
Add in chicken bone
Boil slow fire, put in salt and pepper
Set aside

Soak mushroom and scallop in water. Once the mushroom soften, cut away stem. You can throw the stem into the chicken stock.
Dice the mushroom.

Soak fish maw (cut to your desire size) in hot water. Discard the water and squueze water out of the fish maw.

Marinate meat with chinese wine, corn flour, pepper, sesame oil and soya sauce.

Cut a hole and dig out the seed in the winter melon. Cut the winter melon into cube.

Heat up wok, add little oil saute minced ginger, diced mushroom follow by minced meat. Add in the water which used to soaked the mushroom and scallop. Stir till mushroom is soft and minced meat is cooked.

In a double boiler, add in water then put a bowl to hold the melon into the double boiler. Put the saute ingredients into the melon and top with fish maw. Scoop your chicken stock into melon and double boil for 1.5 hours. There you go the sweet winter melon soup.

Double Boil

GEM - House of Indian Cuisines

Me, hubby and my two boys all love Indian cuisine especially briyani or banana leave rice.

Whenever Deepavali comes, the boys will be excited as hubby's store supervisor will invite us to his house. His wife cooked delicious mutton and fish curry, aromatic fried chicken and prawn sambal.

We went to GEM, a semi fine dining restaurant in Brickfields which served good food. Hubby and I have both on different occasions been here twice. The first time I had lunch here was a treat by my Australian boss and second time with all the managers from various country after a half yearly meeting. As for hubby, once with his friends and another with his lawyer.

We ordered one each of Prawn Briyani (RM21.90) and Mutton Briyani (RM22.90) for the 4 of us. Dishes were Bhuna Mutton (RM23.90), Chicken Coconut Curry (RM20.90) and Mushroon Pepper Fry (RM14.90). Me and younger son did not quite like the  chicken curry but not my hubby and elder son.

Since there were leftover dishes and gravy, the boys decided to try their plain naan which was very good.

Both boys gave their nod for second visit. Glad they love the food here as much as us.

The Curries with Briyani

Plain Naan

Location:

GEM

124, Jalan Tun Sambathan, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur 50470

Opening hours: Daily 11.30 am - 11.30pm

Simple Recipe - Parmesan Garlic Spagetti

Since is a fasting month, my son has a problem with the food being sold in his school canteen. Is either not much choice or the food is tasteless.

So we have to either home cooked from home or buy something for him to bring to school for his recess time.

This morning, I woke up an hour earlier as he has requested for spaghetti.  So I marinated the chicken strip a day earlier and luckily I still have the smoked bacon in freezer.

He told me he will wake up earlier to help me even though I told him not necessary. True enough, he woke up earlier but I have already started boiling the water to cook the pasta.

He loves cheese so he added more cheese to his pasta but to me it tasted very strong cheesy as I prefer to be more plain taste. The end result, he exclaimed "yummy"! 

Try this out, simple to cook Parmesan Garlic Spaghetti.

I still have time before sending him to school, thus I have time to blog this recipe.

Ingredients
Spaghetti
Smoked bacon strip
Chicken strip
Olive oil or any cooking oil
Salt
Black pepper
Parmesan cheese
Garlic slice

Method
Boil water in a pot. Once boiled, put dash of oil and some salt, I put about 1.5 teaspoon
Cook the spagetti for approx. 15 mins or till cooked.

In a pan, fry the bacon and then chicken. Set aside.
Then brown the garlic, put in the pasta
Sprinkle black pepper, pinch of salt
Add in some pasta water gradually
Follow by parmesan cheese
Lastly put in the pre-cooked bacon and chicken

Simple Recipe - Prawn Fritters

I have not been cooking Prawn Fritters for a very long time. My elder son dislikes prawn so I have to fry his with just big onion or even without big onion!

You need to have dipping chilies sauce for prawn fritters. And we prefer homemade dipping sauce.

Batter mixture with big onion

Chillie Sauce

Crispy Prawn Fritters

Ingredients
350 gm wheat flour
2 tblsp rice flour
2 eggs
2.5 teaspoon salt
2 diced big onion
Water
Prawn

Method
Mix all the above to form a batter
Then add in prawn
Heat up wok, put in cooking oil
Fry the fritters

For dipping chilies sauce
Ingredients
5 red chilies, cut small, discard seeds
8 dried chilies soak in hot water, cut
Half clove garlic, cut
6-8 tblsp rice vinegar
2 lime (for juice)

Method
Blend all above except lime juice
Then add 2 teaspoon sugar & pinch of salt and lastly lime juice