Curry Kapitan

Making this dish from scratch was worth it. The curry was very aromatic and fragrant. Now, I am proud to say that I can cook curry from scratch and not using packet sauces bought from hypermarts but there's a price tag to pay, NOPE, not $$$ wise but just some sacrifices to my blender. Since turmeric can cause staining due to it's colour, now my whitish plastic/rubbery part of the blender was now bright yellow in colour. I guessed it's pretty normal for those who uses it to blend their spices for their cooking. Since curry was commonly served during any house gathering, I decided to serve them as another dish to by fellow guests too.

Ingredients

(A)
1 chicken, chopped into pieces
10 shallots, chopped
100ml oil

(B)
100g red chilli
5g belacan
100g garlic
30g lemongrass
100g ginger
15g turmeric
30g galangal (lengkuas)
6 buah keras

(C)
125ml santan
1 tbsp sugar
salt to taste

(D)
1 lime, juiced

Methods

1. Heat up oil, stir fry chopped shallots. Add in (B) and stir fry until fragrant.
2. Add in chicken pieces and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add in (C), cover and cook until chicken become tender.
3. Remove and add in lime juice and serve.
   

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Baked Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Backdated post:

I had been cracking my head thinking of what kinda finger food to be served to my guest during our pre-CNY gathering. Since I had mistakenly bought Mozzarella cheese instead of Cheddar cheese for one of my baking experiment (which had failed - no post on that, too paiseh to mention); I need to make use of the Mozzarella cheese before their expiry date. Thus I had been searching over the net looking for a recipe to use them. I had found this recipe in Recipezaar and it sounded so simple to make. Thus, here's my finger food for my guest to munch on during the dinner. Best to be eaten while it's hot, we can practically see the cheese oozing out from each stick.

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 tbsp water

1 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 1/4 tsp rosemary

1 1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper

20 stick of mozzarella cheese
3 tsp flour

1 tbsp margarine, melted
margarine/butter for greasing

Methods

1. In a small bowl, beat eggs& water.
2. In a plastic bag, combine bread crumbs, rosemary and oregano, garlic powder, and pepper.
3. Coat cheese sticks in flour, then dip in egg mixture and bread crumb mixture.
4. Repeat egg and bread crumb coatings.
5. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
6. Place on an ungreased baking sheet& drizzle with butter.
7. Bake, uncovered, at 200 Celsius for 6-8 minutes or until heated through.
8. Allow to stand for 3-5 minutes before serving.

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Char Siew (BBQ Pork)

Backdated post:

I had made this yummylicious BBQ pork for our Kuantan gang gathering in my place. Well, it can be consider as a pre-CNY gathering too. Definitely lots of laughter bombarding our usually peace and quite neighbourhood. We had a great time enjoying each other's company and also a adults turning kiddos Wii session too. I had prepared some dishes for the night. Char Siew which is one my favourite food was presented at the dining table for our guests for the lovely night. Certainly a good dish to accompany my Hainanese Chicken Rice (minus the chicken though) ... :) and they can even be eaten on it's own.

Ingredients:
1kg belly pork / 3 layer pork- cut into 2 inches strips and scored

(A)
5 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
4 tsp soy sauce
1/2 - 1 cup sugar (according to level of sweetness you wanted)
2 tbsp Mei Kuei Lu Chiew (Chinese rose wine)
1 tsp 5 spice powder
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper

(B)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp oil

Methods

1. Marinade pork with (A) for 2 hours or overnight.
2. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil.
3. Transfer marinated pork on the tray and cover up with the foil.
4. Bake at 220 Celsius for 1o-15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven. Open the top foil and bake again until the gravy thickens and pork was well coated.
6. Turn the pork over to ensure an even roasting. (until it is slightly charred)
7. Take the Char Siew out and dip into (B) and return it to the oven to roast for a while to give the meat a shiny coating.

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