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.