Twinklestar's Favourite Corner

Long Bean Rice

2011-04-25T17:11:00.006+08:00

Another one pot cooking comfort food when you were lazy to dish up a few items on the table. I had tasted this when I was small and after looking thru fellow blogger's post on this, I am tempted to dish this up since I have some long beans left in the fridge. I had made some changes from the recipe where I had use roast pork (siew yoke) and added mushrooms and sausages into the rice. The end result was SLURRRP..... We (Hubby and I) were practically getting 2 bowls of this yummy rice. I had cooked so much that we had the rice again as brunch the next day.. :)

Steamed D.O.M Chicken

2011-04-22T19:23:00.012+08:00

I have bookmarked this recipe for quite some time and yet have not have the chance to try it out. Since the DOM wine is lying in my cabinet untouch till now, I decided to make good use of it for dinner tonight. All the ingredients are very simple and it's basically 'throw' everything in the deep plate and place it on a steamer. This dish is good to be eaten especially during rainy days as it will heat up of our body due to DOM wine. I am practically sipping up all the soup from this dish. Yummy.

Ingredients

2 large chicken thighs
3 tbsp DOM (D.O.M)
1 inch ginger, sliced thinly
5 tbsp water +1 tsp chicken stock
1 tbsp wolfberries
10 red dates
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
10 chinese mushrooms, sliced thinly
salt to taste

Methods

1) Place the chicken thighs into a wide and deep plate. Line the bottom of the vessel with sliced mushrooms, reserving some to top the chicken.

2) Add in ginger, D.O.M, water, sesame oil, wolfberries, red dates and the rest of the sliced mushrooms.

3) Seal tightly with aluminium foil and cook the chicken on high heat until the water at the steamer is boiling.

4) Lower down the heat and continue to cook for about 40-50 minutes. Serve hot.

Chilli Prawn Long Beans

2011-04-22T19:21:00.004+08:00

Another simple stir fry vegetables dish using the chilli prawn paste that I had bought from Melaka. Basically, we just need to stir fry some garlic till fragrant. Add in long beans, carrots and lastly seasoning like chilli prawn paste, sugar and salt to taste. Add in some water as well. Give the vegetables a good stir till all mixed. Cover the wok and let it simmer for a few minutes before dish them up as I preferred a softer long beans texture. Bon Appetite!

Siew Pak Choy with Anchovies

2011-04-22T18:52:00.006+08:00

Easy stir fry vegetable to be serve during dinner. This time I had used Siew Pak Choy as the choice of green leafy vegetables for our dinner. I had added anchovies into the dish as well to add more flavour to this simple dish.

Ingredients

Siew Pak Choy
1/4 cup anchovies
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp oyster sauce
salt to taste
adequate water
corn flour solution for thickening

Methods

Heat up oil in wok. Stir fry anchovies till it's slightly brown. Add in chopped garlic. Stir fry till aromatic.

Add in Siew Pak Choy and the rest of the seasoning and some water. Stir well till vegetables is cooked. Add in cornflour solution to thicken the sauce. Dish up and serve hot.

Siew Yoke and Salted Vegetable Fried Rice

2011-04-22T18:51:00.003+08:00

A simple fried rice using leftover from my previous dish. I had added seasonings like oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste to whipped this simple one meal dish. Oh ya, eggs were added as well to enhance the flavour of the rice. *no recipes provided as this was just a simple throw and dump everything together fried rice*... :)

Stir Fry Siew Yoke with Salted Vegetables

2011-04-22T18:48:00.004+08:00

It seems like I have lots of backdated post in my blog. Am kinda lazy nowadays in updating them. So back to this post, there's a 3 huge pieces of Siew Yoke sitting in my freezer waiting to be cook. I really need to speed up the process of using all of them and with my current pace of cooking, fingers crossed I can used all of them by early May. *In case you guys wondering why take so long to finish up all of it? There's only 2 of us and I don't cook on a daily basis thus the longer time frame to use up all of them.

I have been searching for other recipes using Siew Yoke as a stir fry dish and bump into this recipe from Piggy's blog. Go and hop over for the recipe in her blog. Have fun stir-fry this sinful yet delicious meat.... Slurp.......

My New Toy In The Kitchen

2011-04-09T11:29:00.017+08:00

My new toy - WAFFLE MAKER!!!

The outer look of the toy

For starter, I had used pancake & waffle mix

Waffle ready to be served - top with ice-cream and drizzle with chocolate syrup

I LOVE WAFFLES!! Yummy...

I have been searching high and low for a waffle maker after constantly looking at my friend's pictures posting of her home made waffle maker. It turns out to be a search around the town for a waffle maker. I guessed this kitchen item are not very popular in Malaysia. I had manage to find and buy this waffle maker from their distributor office. Unfortunately, this brand waffle maker was not deep enough but I guessed it's better than not owning one. :)

For my first attempt, I had used premix to make my waffles. This round I had used peanut butter and butter as my waffles fillings. End result - YUMMY. More waffles will be make in my kitchen in the future.. :)

Papaya and Mango Pickles

2011-04-09T11:27:00.005+08:00

Ingredients

1 unripe papaya, seeded, skin removed and cut into halves
1 unripe mango, sliced
1 tablespoon salt
5 bird's eye chili
250ml vinegar
250ml water
280g sugar

Method

Cut the papaya into a thickness of 1 inch slices then cut each piece into thin slices without cutting all the way through. This allows the pieces to be opened up into a fan shape.

Cut the papaya into thin slices if preferred.

Put the pieces of papaya in a clean mixing bowl.

Add the salt, mix and allow to marinate for about an hour until the papaya turn soft. Remove excess liquid.

Put water, vinegar, and sugar into a heavy-based saucepan and bring to a low simmering boil for about 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from the heat and leave aside to cool completely.

Pack the papaya slices and chili padi in a glass jar and pour in the cooled vinegar syrup.

Allow to marinate for about 2.5 to 3 hours before serving.

Store the pickle in the fridge for an extra crunchy taste.

Roti Canai Goreng

2011-04-09T11:25:00.005+08:00

I had tasted this dish once in a Mamak stalls. Thus I am very tempted to try to dish up this Roti Canai Goreng in our kitchen. I had been browsing thru recipe book for this recipe and finally found it. I am using frozen roti canai bought from hypermarkets. The method of preparing it was quite simple too but I guessed I put in too much egg mixture which had resulted in a rather soggy roti canai. Will need to take note on this in the future.

Ingredients

2 pcs frozen Roti Canai, pan fry and shredded

2 tbsp garlic, chopped

2 shallots, chopped

6 cili padi, chopped

2 tbsp chilli paste

2 egg, beaten (*will reduce to 1 egg next try)

cabbage leaves, chopped

2 red chilli, diced

1/2 onion, shredded

8 prawns, de-shelled

curry leaves

Seasoning

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1/2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp tomato sauce

salt to taste

Methods

Heat oil in wok. Sauted garlic, shallots, cili padi till fragrant. Add in chillies paste and stir fry.

Add in seasoning and stir till well mixed.

Add in roti canai and rest of ingredients. Stir fry till prawns are well done and lastly pour in beaten eggs. Stir fry till well mixed and dish up.

Kam Heong Chilli Prawn Mee Hoon

2011-03-31T19:57:00.012+08:00

Ingredients

1 pack mee hoon

2 tbsp Kam Heong sauce

1 1/2 tbsp chili prawn paste

1/4 cup mixed vegetables

6 lady fingers, sliced

6 prawn, de-shelled and de-veined

1 egg, beaten

salt and sugar to taste water

Methods

Heat oil in wok. Add in beaten eggs and pan fry to become omelette. Dish up and set aside.

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in wok. Add in Kam Heong sauce and chili prawn . Stir fry till aromatic. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir fry till well mixed. Add some water if it's too dry.

Dish up and serve with sliced omelette on top.

P/S: You can refer to Kam Heong sauce recipe here.

Fried Spring Rolls (Popiah)

2011-03-30T20:07:00.017+08:00

Once awhile I will buy some fried spring rolls (popiah) from nearby Malay food stall. But the taste wise or shall I say the ingredients inside was rather not satisfying. Due to increase in pricing for all the food ingredients, we can only get some tiny looking popiah from the stalls. Thus, I decided to make my own spring rolls to satisfy my taste bud. It was really fun to be involve in the whole making process. All the ingredients was very colourful and vibrant. It definitely increase the joy of making them. You don't believe is colourful?? You can have a look from the pictures below..

Happy cooking!!

Picture tutorial of popiah making:

Pan fry diced beancurd till brown. Dish up and set aside.

Sauteed shallots and garlic till fragrant with some oil.

Add in minced prawns. Stir awhile.

Add in diced french beans and shredded carrots.

Stir till well mixed. Add in shredded sengkuang. Stir well sengkuang and the rest of ingredients till it's soft. Add in salt, sugar and pepper to taste. Place a popiah skin on kitchen top. Add in cooked ingredients on top of the skin. Top up with pan fry beancurd. Roll up to form spring roll and set to hot oil to deep fry in wok till golden brown. Juicy inside and crunchy outside spring roll. The filling inside of the spring roll.

Best to serve with chilli sauce or it's good to even eat it on it's own. Thumbs UP!!

Ingredients

3 large prawns (shelled, deveined, and chopped into small pieces)

2 piece bean curd, diced

1 garlic, chopped

3 shallots, chopped

1 sengkuang, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

8 french beans, diced

salt, sugar and pepper to taste

frozen popiah skin

oil

cornstarch solution to seal the skin

Cooling Green Bean Tong Yuen Dessert

2011-03-30T20:05:00.007+08:00

Green beans was known to have cooling effect on our body. Hubby and I was driving up and down our township searching to get a good bowl of this dessert but we failed our mission. Since this few days, the weather was unbearable hot, I had decided to pick up the ingredients from the hypermarket and cook this dessert instead. I had added some Tong Yuen (glutinous rice ball) in it as well. Result was of course delicious!!!

Ingredients

green beans

water

rock sugar

pandan leaves

sago

Tong Yuen

coconut milk

Methods

Soak green beans in water for at least 4 hours or best overnight.

Use the soaked green beans. Add in adequate water, sago, pandan leaves and rock sugar and bring to boil.

Once the green beans turned soft, add in Tong Yuen and cooked till Tong Yuen was floating. Lastly add in coconut milk. Stir well.

Serve hot.

P/S: If you have leftover, you can chilled them in fridge. It was as good as the hot version. Yummy!

Sunny Side Up Kam Heong Fried Rice

2011-03-24T20:43:00.021+08:00

Ingredients

Kam Heong Paste

2 tbsp dried prawns

10 shallots

10 chili padi

1 lemongrass, white part only

Seasoning

1/2 tsp taucu

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp dark soy sauce

salt and sugar to taste

50ml water

2 cups cooked rice

1 cups mixed vege 1 fish cake, sliced

2 eggs

Heat oil in wok. Sauteed blended ingredients. Stir fry till fragrant. Add in curry leaves.

Add in the rest of the seasoning and sauteed till it formed paste form. Dish up.

Add in 3 tbsp Kam Heong paste. Add in prawns, shrimps and fish cake and rice. Stir till well mixed. Dish up and serve on a plate.

Pan fry egg in wok. Dish up and serve with the rice.

P/S: The remaining Kam Heong paste can be kept in fridge for other use or use as a dipping sauce.

Mix Vegetables Curry Fish

2011-03-22T17:28:00.007+08:00

This is my first try of making fish curry from scratch. My previous attempt was using ready made fish curry paste bought from the hypermarkets. I realised we can control the level of spiciness when making curry on our own as the spiciness in ready made sauce was already fixed. This vegetable curry was practically a 'one pot' cooking dish - simple and yummy. We are gonna have lots of rice tonight as the gravy was super appetising.

Ingredients

(A)
1 black pomfret
5 red chili, sliced
6 lady fingers, sliced
1 brinjal, sliced
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 medium sized cabbage, shredded

(B) Pounded
100g shallots
50g garlic
3 candlenuts

(C)
5 tbsp fish curry powder
3 tbsp chili boh
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 stalks lemongrass, bruised
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil

(D)
1 packet coconut milk (small)
salt and sugar to taste
4 cups water

Methods

Mix B and C in a pot. Stir fry till aromatic.
Add in 1 cup water and bring to boil.
Add in A to cook. Pour in D and bring to boil.
Serve hot with white rice.

Choy Po Omelette

2011-03-14T21:10:00.004+08:00

A simple dish when you are running out of ideas of putting another dish on the dining table. Eggs are always a favourite food of mine since young. So for tonight dinner, we had Choy Po Omelette as well. All you need is just soaked the Choy Po earlier to reduce the saltiness, beat 2-3 eggs and add in the Choy Po. Stir till well mixed. Salt was not needed here as Choy Po was already salty in taste. Pan fry the egg mixture on a non-stick pan. Now you go - another simple dish to be presented on your dining table.

Siew Yoke with Potatoes

2011-03-14T21:08:00.004+08:00

Another backlog post from me. Another dish that can be easily dish out from home kitchen. 2 main ingredients involved in this dish which was potatoes and Siew Yoke (chinese roast pork). I always got my supply of Siew Yoke from dearest Mummy as I have no idea where to buy them 'cheaper' in my place. Thus, on and off I will get some from Mummy and kept them in my freezer and I can always use them for stir fry dishes.

Ingredients

Siew Yoke (approximately 6 inch length)

3 potatoes, sliced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 inch ginger, sliced

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp Shao Xing wine

1 stalk coriander leaves

2 stalk spring onions, cut into 1 inch length

Methods

Heat oil in wok. Add in garlic and ginger. Saute till fragrant.
Add in potatoes and stir fry till soft. Add in Siew Yoke and the rest of the seasoning and water.
Stir fry till well mixed. Add in spring onion and Shao Xing wine and thicken with some cornflour solution.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Braised Spicy Pork with Bean Curd

2011-03-09T20:00:00.007+08:00

I had been stuck with some lazy bug symptoms for the past few days. I seems to be aimless and lost focus easily. I guessed I needed someone to come and knock on my head to kick out this lethargic bug that had been in my system this few days. WAKE UP WAKE UP! Time to get things done and keep going forward. (Am telling myself this statement while writing this post)

Oh well, back to this post, it's another porky dish that I had prepared for our dinner. Hubby commented I had been using star anise and cinnamon sticks frequently nowadays in my dishes including this one. Well, it's good to utilised all the raw ingredients that we had in our kitchen to prevent wastage. *Wink wink*... Hehehe and furthermore, this two lovely ingredients does enhances the flavour for the dishes, so why not use them right?? :)

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

3 stalks spring onion, cut 2 inch length

1 thumb size ginger, flattened

6 dried chilies, soaked and cut into strips

1 block soft bean curd

500g pork belly

cornflour solution for thickening

Seasoning

5 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

750ml water

Methods

Heat up oil. Saute star anise and cinnamon stick till fragrant. Add in spring onions, ginger, dried chilies and stir fry till aromatic. Add in seasoning and bring to boil.
Add in remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Lower and simmer for 45 minutes till pork is soft. Dish up pork and bean curd.
Thicken the sauce with cornflour solution. Pour the sauce (minus the remaining ingredients) over pork belly and bean curd. Serve hot.

A sinful dish (not for the faint heart or weight watchers)

Love the gravy which is infused with aroma.

Panko Fried Cauliflower

2011-03-09T19:56:00.006+08:00

I have found another way to cook cauliflower. I had found this recipe from the internet and thought of trying it out as I have packet of Panko in my kitchen cabinet. It can be eaten on it's own or dipped with sauces like chili sauce or mayo.

Ingredients

1 medium sized cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 cup Panko
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten

Methods

Blanch cauliflower florets in boiling water till soft. Drained excess water. Pat dry.
Dip cauliflower florets in beaten eggs.
Cover the cauliflower with Panko.
Heat oil in pan. Pan fry both side of cauliflower till golden brown. Repeat the same for the rest of the ingredients.

Pork and Mushroom Mee Suah

2011-03-09T19:49:00.011+08:00

A simple noodles soup to warm my hungry tummy when I'm hungry. I had prepare this soupy noodle as my dinner at home as I am 'sick' of eating instant noodles when Hubby was away for his weekly badminton session. So here's my home made version of Mee Suah as a replacement for my Maggi Goreng for Thurs night.. :)

Saute ginger till aromatic with sesame oil.

Add in minced pork. Stir till almost cooked.

Add in mushroom and mix well with oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and salt.

Push aside the ingredients. Add in beaten eggs and stir fry till egg is set.

Add in adequate water, chicken stock and Tung Choy. Simmer till the soup is gravy.

Blanch Mee Suah with boiling water. Drained the excess water.

Pour in the soup on the Mee Suah.

Yummy Mee Suah is served.

Curry Potato Cheese Baked Rice

2011-03-09T19:36:00.019+08:00

Blanched Cauliflower till it softened.

Add in cauliflower into the curry potato gravy. Stir till well mixed.

Place cooked rice on a baking dish.

Add in curry potatoes with cauliflower. Topped with mozzarella cheese.

Baked at 200 Celsius for 15-20 minutes.

Dinner is served.

The curry potato that I had used for this cheese baked rice was actually the filling of my curry puffs. My first adventure in wrapping curry puff seems to be a disastrous ending. The skin was practically tearing apart. Nevertheless, I had managed to make some ODD looking curry puff out of the first attempt but I was too disheartened by its appearance to even snap pics of it. With some leftover of the fillings sitting inside the fridge and some Mozzarella cheese which was nearing its expiry date; I had combined all the ingredients and prepared a simple yet appetising meal for our dinner. Thus no recipes will be posted here for the curry potatoes (praying hard that my next adventure with curry puff would be a fruitful ones)... *Keep fingers crossed*

Coca-cola Wings

2011-03-02T21:42:00.008+08:00

I bet most of us have tasted Coca-cola in some part of our lives. Coca-cola or famously known as Coke is a carbonated soft drink which is loved by young and adults. Besides serving it's purpose as a fizzy drink, there's various recipes that had used Coca-cola as part of the ingredients too. Today, I have tried to prepare to Coca-cola wings for dear Hubby's friend's house warming party.

The process of preparing them was pretty easy. I had included some pictorial tutorial in this post as well.

Heat up wok. Fry the wings till it's golden brown both sides without using oil. Set aside.

Heat up some oil in wok. Saute garlic, ginger, spring onions, cinnamon sticks and red chili till fragrant.

Add in wings, Coca-cola and rest of the seasonings.

Let it simmer till the gravy is boiling. Reduce to medium heat and let it simmer till gravy is thicken.

Stir well as the gravy is thicken to ensure the wings are well coated. Dish up and serve while it's still warm.

Aren't the wings looks so apetising and tempting??

Ingredients

1 kg chicken wings
5 tbsp light soy sauce
5 tbsp Shao Xing wine

2 tbsp cooking oil
1 small chunk ginger, sliced
2 stalk spring onion, use only the white part
5 clove garlic, bashed
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick

1 red chilli

3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp honey
3 tbsp Shao Xing wine
350ml or 1 standard size can of regular Coca-cola

Hot and Spicy Bean Paste Pork

2011-02-23T21:49:00.010+08:00

Bean paste or taucu is a versatile cooking ingredient that can be used in many dishes. Since I had bought a bottle of taucu, I am constantly searching new recipes which use this item. Bean paste was very flavourful and it will help to enhance the flavour in the dishes. This dish is no exceptional either. It was very aromatic and flavourful which definitely increase our appetite as it's gravy was good to be serve rice.

Yummy porkylicious dish... Love the gravy and great to be served with rice.

Can I have another bite please??? Yumz...

Ingredients

400g pork belly, cubed

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, chopped

6 chili padi, chopped

1 tbsp curry leaves

Seasoning

1 tbsp bean paste (taucu)

1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tbsp sugar

150ml water

Methods

Blanch pork belly in boiling water till cooked. Dish and drained.
Heat up oil, saute garlic and shallots until aromatic. Add in chili padi, curry leaves and stir fry until aromatic.
Add in seasoning and stir well. Add in pork, simmer for 20 minutes and stir well. Dish up and serve with rice.

Scrambled Egg with Cauliflower

2011-02-23T21:47:00.008+08:00

Cauliflower was one of my favourite vegetable when I was small as I dislike green leafy vegetables back then. Thus, I am constantly searching for new ways to cook my all time favourite vegetables. I found this recipe in one of my cookbook collection and decided to try it out. Hubby commented it was very good and it's a new way to cook cauliflower. I do agree with him as this dish was very delicious and it's one of the easily prepared comfort food at home.

Ingredients

200g cauliflower, cut into florets and blanched
2 shallots, minced
2 tbsp dried prawns, soaked
3 eggs, mixed with 1/2 tsp salt and beaten lightly

Seasoning
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
dash of pepper

Methods

Heat up oil in wok. Saute shallots and dried prawns till fragrant.
Add in blanched cauliflower, seasoning and mix well. Lastly add in beaten eggs and stir fry till cooked. Dish up and serve.

Steamed Eggs with Minced Pork

2011-02-21T21:29:00.026+08:00

This is actually my first try in steaming eggs. I always have the perception that steamed eggs are not that easy to prepare but after this first attempt, I felt that my perception was actually way way wrong. All it takes for making this dish was just purely patience as in not over stirring the beaten eggs to minimize bubbles which will spoilt the appearance of the steamed eggs. I am thinking this wouldn't be my last try on steaming eggs. More steamed eggs gonna be served in our house as it's simple, healthy and delicious.

Stir fry minced pork till it's just cook.

Transfer the minced pork to a deep dish.

Pour in egg mixture.

Add in diced carrots.

Placed it on a steamer. Steamed it for 15-20 minutes at medium heat.

Hot steaming steamed eggs out from the steamer.

The inside of the steamed eggs - minced pork and carrots.

Ingredients
150g minced pork
1/4 carrot, diced

Egg mixture
3 eggs
3/4 cup water or stock
1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1/4 tsp light soy sauce

Marinade (minced pork)
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Shao Xing wine
dash of white pepper
some coriander leaves, finely chopped

Methods

Egg mixture: Break eggs into the bowl. Do not beat eggs but gently stir the egg to minimize bubbles. Add the rest of ingredients. Stir till well mixed.
Combine minced pork with marinades and mix well. Leave it for at least 10 minutes.
Heat oil in wok. Stir fry minced pork till it's just cooked.
Arrange the stir-fry minced pork in a thin layer on a deep dish. Add in egg mixture and topped up with diced carrots on top.
Steam eggs over medium heat for about 15 minutes. To test if the egg mixture is cooked, insert a bamboo stick into the mixture: if a little clear liquid comes out, it is cooked. Serve hot.

Broccoli with Mushrooms

2011-02-21T20:58:00.012+08:00

Arrange the blanched broccoli on a serving plate.

Place in mushrooms and carrots in the middle.

Ready to be serve. Let's feast.

Ingredients

1 medium size broccoli, cut into florets

1 carrot, sliced

8 dried mushrooms, soaked with water, cut the stems

5 cloves garlic, diced

8 slices ginger

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

salt to taste

dash of pepper

300ml water

cornflour solution, for thickening

Methods

Heat up oil in wok. Saute garlic and ginger till fragrant.
Add in mushrooms and carrots. Stir fry until fragrant. Add in seasoning and simmer at low heat for 15 minutes.
Blanch broccoli in boiling water until cooked. Dish and drain. Arrange onto a serving plate.
Thicken the mushrooms and carrots with cornflour solution and pour over broccoli.
Serve hot.

Sweet and Sour Pomfret

2011-02-20T19:27:00.013+08:00

Pan fry black pomfret till golden brown both sides. Dish up and put on a plate.

Stir fry tomatoes, cucumber and red chili.

Add in sauce mixture. Stir till well mixed. Cooked till cucumber is tender.

Pour the sauce and vegetables on top of the fish. Serve hot.

Greedy me of putting to much veges till the sauce fully covered the fish. Nevertheless, it's still yummy and good.

Ingredients

1 black pomfret, scaled and cleaned
2 tomatoes, quartered
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 red chilli, sliced
2 stalks coriander leaves, chopped

Sauce:
4 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsps chili sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
1-2 tbsp sugar (do a taste test, add more according to your preferences)
1 tbsp of light soy sauce

Methods

Make a few deep slits on both side of the fish. Rub both sides of the fish with some salt.
Pan-fry with low heat on a non stick pan to ensure that the flesh of the fish is cooked as well. Dish up and place on a plate.
Prepare the sauce by mixing the ingredients above and taste it according to your preference.
Saute garlic, chili, and coriander till fragrant. Next, add the tomatoes and stir-fry for awhile before adding the previously prepared sauce.
Bring to a boil and pour over the fish earlier.
Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve hot.

Baked Tofu

2011-02-20T19:26:00.006+08:00

Tofu before baking in the oven.

Baked Tofu

Ingredients

5 firm tofu

Marinade
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Mei Kwei Lu
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp onions, minced
1 tsp ginger, diced
3 tbsp water

Methods

For best results, tofu should be "pressed" in order to remove excess liquid and absorb the flavors of the marinade.
To make marinade, simply whisk together the ingredients in a bowl.
After tofu is pressed, cut the block into small cubes.
Place pieces of tofu into baking dish, and cover with the marinade.
The tofu can sit overnight in the marinade, or can be prepared right away.
Preheat oven to 200 Celsius
Bake tofu about 35-45 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.
Serve hot.

Nian Gao Pancakes

2011-02-20T12:04:00.037+08:00

This is my second post on Nian Gao related food. I had saw the posting of this recipe in Vivian's blog which attracted my to tried it out using the second small sized Nian Gao that Mummy had given to me during Chinese New Year. I am trying to use Nian Gao in making food items that I have not tried before. The outlook of the Nian Gao Pancakes does resemble Chinese Pancakes. The method is similar like making pancakes but we had used Nian Gao as the fillings inside. I am pretty happy with the end results. It was very fulfilling to our tummies too. Burp burp.. :)

I had snapped some step by step picture tutorial in the making of this yummy delicacies.

Slice Nian Gao to desired thickness.

Divide dough into 7 portion. Rolled each portion to a ball shape. Flattened each ball.

Place a slice of Nian Gao on top of the flattened dough.

Wrap the dough around the Nian Gao to form a pancake. Repeat the steps again for the rest.

Ready made Nian Gao pancakes prepared to be pan fry.

Add in small amount of oil in a non stick pan. Pan fry pancakes for 4-5 minutes each side.

Nian Gao pancakes ready to be taken out from the non-stick pan.

Eat the pancakes while it's still warm as Nian Gao is still gooey and chewy.

Can you see the Nian Gao filling inside the pancakes?

Yummy yummy!!!

Ingredients

(A)
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp yeast
1 cup water

(B)
7 slices Nian Gao

Methods

Put all the ingredients (A) into a bowl. Mix well.
Knead the flour till it becomes a smooth dough.
Cover and rest for approximately 30 minutes.
Transfer to table top
Divide into 7 portions.
Shape into balls and rest for 10 minutes.
Flattened each ball and wrapped each ball with Nian Gao to form pancakes.
Pan fry each side approximately 5 minutes or till it's brown.
Dish up and serve while it's hot.

Fried Mee Suah

2011-02-18T23:04:00.006+08:00

Ingredients

2 pcs mee suah

2 eggs, beaten

150g bean sprouts

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 carrot, shredded

100g siew yoke, sliced

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

salt and sugar to taste

dash of sesame oil

Methods

Deep fried mee suah in hot oil till golden brown. Dish and drain.
Blanch fried mee suah in boiling water until soft. Dish and drain excess water.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok. Stir fry garlic till fragrant. Add in beaten eggs. Stir fry eggs till set.
Add in other ingredients, seasoning and stir fry until well mixed and cooked. Dish and serve hot.

Cheese Baked Salmon Japanese Curry Rice

2011-02-17T21:01:00.010+08:00

A simple and easy dish to prepare. As I have lots of leftover of the curry that I had cooked yesterday, I had decided to use the curry to make cheese baked salmon Japanese curry rice. I had grab some mozzarella cheese from the nearby baking supplies shop. I had decided to add in salmon as well as there's still some salmon fillet left in our freezer. It was quite a good combination to add in everything and sent it to the oven. Hubby love it. I shall prepare other version of cheese baked rice in the future.

Some of the step by step tutorial on the making of this dish.

Place cooked brown rice on a baking dish.

Pour in Japanese curry followed by sauteed broccoli and salmon flakes.

Sprinkle in mozzarella cheese.

Baked for 15-20 minutes at 200 Celsius in the oven.

Yummy curry oozing out from the rice once rice it's scooped out.

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet

1 cup broccoli floret

4 cloves garlic, diced

Japanese curry

leftover cooked rice (I had used brown rice)

2 tbsp butter

80g mozzarella cheese

Methods

Blanch broccoli with boiling water for 3-4 minutes.
Sauteed garlic with butter. Add in salmon fillet. Pan fry each side for 5 minutes each side or till cooked. Lastly add in broccoli. Stir well broccoli with butter. Dish up.
Flake the salmon fillet.
Place cooked rice in baking dish. Add in Japanese curry, salmon flakes and broccoli.
Add in mozzarella cheese.
Baked in oven for 15-20 minutes at 200 Celsius.

Tonkatsu Japanese Curry Rice

2011-02-15T16:33:00.004+08:00

It's a blessing to have some good food during a public holiday. Hubby and I didn't even step our foot out from our house and yet we can have good food to feast on. It's actually a pleasure to cook during our free time as cooking is a good activity to wind down and relax. So for our free day today, it's Japanese cuisine in da house....

Happy holiday guys...

Tonkatsu (Deep Fried Pork Chop)

2011-02-15T16:29:00.018+08:00

I had cook up a big pot of yummy Japanese curry in my earlier post. What is good to be serve together with yummy curry? I had chosen to cook Tonkatsu (Deep Fried Pork Chop) as I always love fried food. Tonkatsu is a deep fried breaded cutlet which is good to be eaten on it's own and with other dishes too.

Ingredients

2 pork chops
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying

Methods

Cut the edge of pork chops in several places. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the pork.
Put flour lightly on the pork. Dip the pork in beaten egg.
Put panko on the pork and pat them well.
Heat oil in wok. Wait till the oil was hot and deep fry for a few min. Turn over the pork chops and fry a few more min. Repeat the process till the pork was golden brown.
Take out the pork and put them on a paper towel to drain the oil.
Cut each tonkatsu into small pieces.

A picture tutorial of the preparation of Tonkatsu:

The breaded pork chops.

Make sure the oil was boiling hot before you place in the pork chop.

Deep frying pork chop.

Dish it up once both side is golden brown in colour.

Tonkatsu ready to be use.

Sliced up the tonkatsu to be serve with rice.

Tonkatsu served on with brown rice and Japanese curry.

Let's feast! :)

Japanese Curry

2011-02-15T16:23:00.014+08:00

I am always a fan of Japanese cuisine and of course Japanese curry. Japanese curry is not as hot and spicy as our local curry but it tasted good as well. I love the smooth and creamy texture of this type of curry. I had bought a pack of Japanese curry mix sometime ago in Cold Storage. The thought of having yummy Japanese curry in the comfort of our home had prompted me to cook it today. The taste was similar to the ones we normally had outside in Japanese restaurant but of course with a smaller price tag.

I had snapped a picture tutorial in making this delicious curry as I think it would be good for you guys to know that Japanese curry can be prepared easily in our own kitchen. Another frugal way for us to enjoy Japanese food. :)

Japanese curry mix sauce bought from Cold Storage.

Open up the box, you can see the plastic container containing Japanese curry mix sauce.

I had used half of the curry mix ingredient. That's how it looks inside the plastic container.

Saute 1 medium onion, 1 carrot and 3 potatoes until it gets slightly brown. Add 3 cups of water into the pot and simmer it with medium heat for 15 minutes.

Japanese curry mix looks like chocolate right?

Break the curry mix into smaller cubes and add into the boiling water with other ingredients.

Stir well until the curry mix is well mixed.

Stir occasionally for 10 minutes. The curry is ready to be serve.

End result - yummylicious smooth curry.

Nian Gao with Yam Roll

2011-02-13T19:06:00.008+08:00

Before frying

Nian Gao in the middle wrapped with popiah skin filled with yam and grated coconut

Lots of Nian Gao rolls for our tea time

Nian Gao was a festive food commonly sighted during Chinese New Year. According to Wikipedia, Nian Gao is a food prepared from glutinous rice and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is available in Asian supermarkets and from health food stores. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat Nian Gao during this time, because "nian gao" is a homonym for "higher year." As such, eating Nian Gao has the symbolism of raising oneself higher in each coming year. I had requested a few Nian Gao from Mummy before coming back from Chinese New Year holiday. I had saw this recipe from Wendy's blog and tempted to try it out as it was something different from those I had eaten previously.

Ingredients

1 medium sized yam
1 medium sized Nian Gao
100g fresh grated coconut
popiah skin ( I had used the large size ones)
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
egg white to brush on edges

Methods

Slice yam and steam until cooked(soft).
Mash yam while it’s still hot and put in coconut, salt and sugar. Mix until well combined.
Cut Nian Gao to rectangular shape.
Place popiah skin onto a flat surface, eg: a plate.
Place 1 tbsp of yam and coconut filling onto the skin and lightly spread it out.
Place 1 piece of Nian Gao onto yam and wrap it.
Brush edge with egg white before rolling up.
Fry the prepared rolls in medium- medium low heat until golden.

Braised Chicken Feet with 'Tai Tau Choy' and Peanuts

2011-02-13T19:05:00.005+08:00

Chicken feet was something I felt grossed few years back but for the past few years, I had been introduced to a delicious chicken feet in Ipoh and I had changed my perception about them since then. When I saw this recipe while looking thru recipes book, I had decided to give it a try. Chicken feet was a good and cost effective source for collagen especially for women. It contains high levels of collagen and we all know that collagen is good for maintaining beautiful skin by helping to retain moisture and maintain firmness. Good news for all the women out there, it's not too late to start to like them now.. ;))

Ingredients

1 pack chicken feet

150g peanuts, soaked in water overnight

150g 'tai tau choy'

1 smoked garlic

1 star anise

800ml water

1 tbsp Shao Xing wine

(A)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

10g rock sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

Methods

Soak 'tai tau choy' in water for 30 minutes to reduce saltiness. Rinse and chopped.
Put chicken feets in a pot, add in peanuts, 'tai tau choy', smoked garlic, star anise, water and (A), bring to boil.
Cover and simmer over a low heat until the chicken feets and peanuts are tender and flavour fully absorbed. Cook till gravy is thicken, splash in Shao Xing wine, toss well.
Serve hot.

Oyster Sauce Choy Sum with Garlic Oil

2011-02-13T19:04:00.004+08:00

Simple vegetables dishes to prepare when we are short of time cooking. Blanching the vegetables in a pot of boiling water with some oil and salt. Dish them up and pour some garlic oil and oyster sauce. Voila, u have a tasty and healthy green fibres on your dining table.

Steamed Salmon with Wolfberries

2011-02-13T19:03:00.004+08:00

Another steamed fish dish on our dining table recently. Yup, I bought lots of salmon lately from the hypermart as they were having promotion. I love salmon as the fish was meaty, good texture and minimal bones - thus less hassle while savouring them. One word to describe - YUMMY!

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet
2 tbsp wolfberries
3 tbsp ginger, sliced
coriander for garnishing

(A)
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Shao Xing wine
3 tbsp water
dash of sesame oil

Methods

Steam salmon fillet for 5 minutes. Pour away fishy water.
Add in wolfberries, ginger and the rest of seasoning on top of salmon fillet.
Steam salmon again for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Stir Fry Long Beans with Carrot

2011-02-13T19:01:00.002+08:00

Ingredients

400g long beans, cut into 2 inch length

1 carrot, sliced length wise

1 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

adequate water

Methods

Saute garlic with oil till fragrant. Add in long beans, carrot and seasonings and water. Add some cornflour solution to thicken the sauce.
Dish up and serve hot.

Four Angle Beans with Ginger and Dried Shrimps

2011-02-10T22:09:00.002+08:00

Ingredients

1 packet four angle beans, sliced

1 tbsp dried shrimps, cleaned and diced

2 tbsp ginger, sliced

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp Shao Xing wine

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

adequate water

Methods

Saute ginger and dried shrimps till fragrant. Add in four angle beans and water and rest of seasonings. Dish up when four angle is soft or you can dish it up earlier if you preferred crunchy texture.

Steamed Pomfret with Pork Belly and Ginger

2011-02-10T22:08:00.002+08:00

Ingredients

1 pomfret

2 tbsp ginger, sliced

2 tbsp pork belly, sliced

1 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 cup broth (2 tsp chicken stock+water)

1/2 tsp cornflour (for cornflour solution)

pepper to taste

coriander leaves for garnishing

Methods

Steamed fish for 5minutes. Pour away the fishy water after steaming
Heat oil in wok. Stir fry pork belly, ginger till fragrant. Add in fish sauce, broth, cornflour solution and pepper to taste.
Pour the gravy on fish. Steamed for another 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Grilled Honey Soy Sauce Salmon

2011-01-27T21:59:00.004+08:00

Ingredients

1 salmon
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp olive

1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, chopped

Methods

In small bowl, mix all ingredients except salmon.
Pour marinade over salmon in a rectangular dish. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes but no longer than 1 hour.
Grilled salmon on the non stick grill on both side until it flakes easily with fork. Occasionally brush salmon with remaining marinade while grilling.
Serve hot.

Spicy Brinjal with Minced Meat in Fermented Bean Paste

2011-01-27T21:42:00.004+08:00

Brinjal or eggplant was something that I never like since small. However during my uni days in KL, I had started to grow fond with this plant. One of the reason which influenced me during that time was as a student, we will normally have mixed rice as our lunch. Can you imagine patronizing the same mixed rice stall daily, seven days a week, having the same type of vegetable. Yeap, I bet you can picture the horror too. Thus I need to explore more other varieties of vegetable dishes or else I ought to 'die' of 'jelak-ness' which resulted in me falling in love with brinjal. For the brinjal non-lovers out there, do give them a try. You might fall in love too with them, just like me.

Ingredients

2 brinjals, cut into 2 inch chunks

2 tbsp garlic, minced

2 tbsp minced pork

2 tbsp chili prawn sauce

2 tbsp fermented bean paste (taucu)

1 stalk spring onion, cut 1 inch length

salt and sugar to taste

Methods

Heat oil in wok. Deep fry brinjals for a minute. Dish up and drain excess oil.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok. Add in garlic. Stir fry till fragrant. Add in minced pork, fermented bean paste and chili prawn. Stir fry till cooked.
Add in salt and sugar to taste. Lastly add in spring onion. Give a good stir and dish up.
Serve hot.

Stir Fry Iceberg Lettuce with Fish Cake

2011-01-24T18:52:00.002+08:00

Ingredients

1 medium sized iceberg lettuce, cut

1 fish cake, sliced

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tbsp sesame oil

salt and sugar to taste

1 tbsp cornflour + water

Methods

Heat up oil in wok. Add in garlic. Stir fry till fragrant.
Add in fish cake. Stir for a minute. Add in iceberg lettuce and the rest of seasoning.
Add in 2 tbsp water. Stir well for a minute or two minute.
Stir in cornflour mixture. Dish up when the gravy thicken. Serve hot.

Chicken with Potato

2011-01-23T18:56:00.007+08:00

Chicken with potato was a must have dish for me when I was small. I love the aromatic gravy, the crumbly feeling of the potatoes every time I take a bite of it. Mummy used to prepare this for us as we can basically just have this alone with rice. Slurrp slurrp... It was always 'nasi tambah lagi' for me every time I had this. This time it was no exceptional at all. Hubby commented that I seems to have more rice yesterday when I prepared it for our dinner. Calories counter going up here... SOS SOS... I guess I just loved to eat... Piggy piggy me.. *paiseh paiseh*

Ingredients

500g chicken - chopped into pieces
5 shallots - sliced
4 cloves garlic
11/2 inch ginger, sliced
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
2 cups water
3 potatoes - cut into chunks
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
salt to taste
sugar to taste

Marinade
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper

Methods

Mix together chicken pieces and seasonings, leave to marinade for about 30 minutes or best overnight in fridge.
Heat up in wok. Add shallots,stir fry until soft and aromatic.
Add in ginger and garlic, stir fry until aromatic.
Add in in star anise cinnamon, garlic cloves, stir fry until aromatic.
Add chicken pieces, fry until chicken is slightly browned.
Pour in Shaoxing wine and simmer awhile.
Add in potatoes and just enough water to cover all ingredients.
Let it simmer until gravy is thickened (about 30-45 minutes). Thicken with cornflour mixture.
Season with salt and sugar to taste.

Grilled Pomfret

2011-01-23T18:55:00.003+08:00

We have been trying to incorporate more fishes to our daily diet as white meat was known to be a much healthier option as compare to red meat. So I guessed you guys will be seeing more fish dishes post in the near future. Back to my post today, we had bought some pomfrets from our local hypermarts as it was a promotion items. Since we had few fish dishes prepared using steaming methods, grilling comes to my mind when it comes to this fish. All we need to do was to marinate the fish with different spices to enhance it's flavour. Very simple dish yet very satisfying to our taste buds.

Ingredients

1 pomfret, cleaned and slitted
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tbsp turmeric powder
1/4 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp pepper powder
2 lime, juiced
1 inch ginger, turn into paste
3 cloves garlic, turn into paste
1/2 tbsp salt

Methods

Wash the pomfret well. Make slit on both sides of the pomfret.
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the marinade.
Marinate the fish well (into the slits and inside of the fish as well) for 1 hour.
Heat oil in the non stick grill pan. Grilled each side for approximately 10 minutes till the fish are flaky to ensure its cooked.
Serve hot.

Steamed Arrowhead with Chinese Sausages

2011-01-22T18:25:00.004+08:00

Arrowhead or 'Nga Ku' was a commonly sighted items around Chinese New Year. I had missed the chance to try out cooking arrowhead last year, so I am determined to try out this recipe this year. I had used recipe from here minus the chicken meat. However, I felt that I don't quite like the taste of arrowhead cooked with this method. Arrowhead chips definitely taste better as compare to the steamed version. Maybe it was just me, there's others who loved steam arrowhead. Happy cooking or frying arrowhead at home during this festive season.

Steamed Tofu with Prawns

2011-01-21T21:35:00.009+08:00

I was tempted to try this dish as I was attracted to the food presentation by Wokkingmum in her food blog. I had used her recipe for this dish and modified a bit from there. Don't you agree that you will be tempted to try out the tofu by just looking at its presentation.

Steamed Salmon

2011-01-21T21:33:00.006+08:00

Steamed salmon which was a commonly sighted dish in Hubby's parents dining table. MIL version for her steamed salmon was with garlic and soy sauce only. Thus I am motivated to make and prepared this dish in our own home sweet home too with my very own version. I had added some mushroom into the fish too. Now let me confess one thing here; I am starting to feel regret of buying a big bottle sized of fish sauce last year. It was sitting at my kitchen for a LONG LONG time and it's expiry date is approaching in end March this year. Thus I am determined to try my level best to finish up the fish sauce as much as I could. So guess what seasoning that I had used for the steamed fish here.... Yeap yeap - fish sauce again. What to do rite, I need to prevent ingredient wastage in my kitchen. :)

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 stalk spring onion, cut 1 inch length
3 mushroom, soaked and sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp sugar

Methods

Wash and pat salmon fillet dry. Place on a plate and into a steamer.
Steam for 5 minutes. Throw away any fishy water from steaming.
Add in mushroom and garlic on the fish.
Mix fish sauce, water and sugar. Drizzle on top of the salmon.
Add in spring onion. Steamed for 10 minutes or till the flesh is flaky.
Serve hot.

Stir Fry Lady Finger with Eggs

2011-01-20T18:27:00.006+08:00

Lady fingers or Okra was a type of vegetables which I dislike when I was small due to it's slimy texture but surprisingly for the past few years I had started to grow fond of the taste of lady fingers. There was a bottle of crispy prawn chili sauce sitting inside my kitchen cabinets. Thus I had used the sauce to cook the lady fingers. The sauce enhance the flavour of the lady fingers and it was yummy and aromatic. I had stir-fry the lady fingers longer as I prefer the lady fingers to be softer.

Ingredients

250g lady fingers, sliced

2 eggs, beaten

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 shallots, diced

3 tbsp crispy chili prawn sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Methods

Heat oil in wok. Add in garlic and shallots. Stir fry till aromatic.
Push garlic and shallots aside. Add in beaten eggs and stir fry till cooked.
Add in lady fingers and crispy chili prawn sauce. Stir well. Add in the rest of the ingredients.
Let it simmer for 5minutes or longer if you prefer a softer lady fingers.
Dish up and serve hot.

Sweet and Sour Cauliflower

2011-01-19T19:43:00.007+08:00

Ingredients

1 medium size cauliflower, cut into small florets

5 cloves garlic, sliced

1 can mushroom

1 packet young corns

1 carrot, sliced

70g chicken meat, sliced

5 tbsp tomato sauce

2 tbsp chili sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 1/2 tsp sugar

2 cups water

corn flour water - thickening

(A)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

dash of pepper

1 tsp corn flour

Methods

Marinate chicken with (A). Leave for 15 minutes.
Heat up oil in wok. Add in garlic. Stir fry till aromatic. Add in marinated chicken. Stir fry till chicken is cooked.
Add in seasoning and water.
Add in cauliflower, carrot, mushroom and young corn. Cover the wok. Let it simmer for around 10 minutes.
Add in cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy. Stir well.
Dish up and serve.

Cantonese Style Yee Mee

2011-01-18T19:31:00.010+08:00

Pan fried Yee Mee waiting for the gravy to be pour on top

Yummy - with gravy on top...

Greedy me of using 2 eggs mixture instead of 1 eggs for the gravy which resulted in a clumpy eggy gravy

Ingredients

1 Cantonese Yee Mee

chicken fillets

prawns, de-shelled and de-veined

1 fish cake, sliced
1 garlic, sliced

1 eggs, beaten (I had used 2 instead which makes the gravy more clumpy)

Choy Sum or green vegetables, washed and cut

(A)
1 tsp corn starch
1 tbsp oyster sauce

dash of pepper

(B)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of Shao Xing wine

Thickening
1 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp water

Methods

Heat up oil in wok. Pan fried Yee Mee on both side till slightly brown. Dish up and set aside.
Marinate chicken fillets with (A).
Heat up 1 tbsp of oil and saute garlic until aromatic. Add in chicken fillets, fish cake and prawns. Stir well and add in (B). Bring the gravy to boil.
Add in Choy Sum and corn flour mixture. Lastly add in egg mixture.
Bring to boil and pour the hot gravy on the pan fried Yee Mee. Serve hot.

Steamed Fish with Lemongrass

2011-01-17T20:26:00.007+08:00

Ingredients

1 whole fish
4 stalks lemon grass, cut and bruised

Sauce:
2 bulbs garlic, chopped
5 chili padi, sliced
3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp sugar

Methods

Scaled, gutted and cleaned fish. Score fish with 2 diagonal cuts each side.
Mix fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add chili and garlic to the sauce. Let stand for at least 30 minutes before use to allow the flavors to blend.
Placed cleaned fish on steaming tray and steamed for 5 minutes.
Throw away excess fish water from the first steaming.
Stuff some bruised lemongrass on the fish. Layer the rest of the lemongrass on top of the fish.
Pour the sauce mixture onto the fish. Steamed over medium to high heat for 15-20 minutes till the fish is cooked. Serve hot.

Choy Sum with Oyster Sauce

2011-01-17T20:24:00.003+08:00

Preparing stir-fry vegetable is quite simple. You can basically drench the vegetables in boiling water for a minute or two and pour oyster sauce mixture on it and you got a plate of greens serve on the dining table. For garlic lovers, u can even add in some fried garlic oil to enhance the fragrant of the dish.

Ingredients

Choy Sum (or any leafy vegetables)
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp sugar
white pepper to taste

Garlic Oil:
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp oil

Methods

Garlic oil: Stir fry the garlic till light brown. Dish out and set aside.
Heat oil in wok. Add oyster sauce, water, sugar and pepper. Stir till the mixture is mixed. Dish up and set aside.
Bring water to boil. Add 2 drops of oil into boiling water. Blanch the leafy vegetables for a minute or as soon as they turn slightly wilted. Dish up and drain the excess water. Arrange the vegetable on plate.
Pour over the oyster mixture on the vegetable and followed by fried garlic oil. Serve immediately.

Black Vinegar Chicken

2011-01-16T12:34:00.007+08:00

Vinegar trotter is one of my favourite dishes. It's been quite some time since I had cooked this. This round I have used chicken instead of pork trotter due to health reason (less fatty). For recipe, you can refer to here. This dish still taste good though chicken was used but of course if pork trotter was used, this dish will even taste better. Okay okay, no more posting now as I am going to have my second helping of my Black Vinegar Chicken.

Baked Beans with Eggs and Onions

2011-01-16T11:04:00.004+08:00

Ingredients

1 can baked beans
2 eggs, stirred
1 big onion, diced
dash of black pepper

Methods

Heat up oil in wok. Stir fry eggs mixture till it is cooked. Dish up. Set aside.
Add some oil and stir fry onions till aromatic.
Add baked beans and some water (if you prefer it to have more gravy). Add in the eggs and stir till its well mixed and cook. Add some black pepper to taste.
Serve hot.

BBQ Sauce Onion Lamb Burger

2011-01-15T18:18:00.010+08:00

Bon appetit!

Egg yolk dripping down the burger - yummy

My love shaped egg :)

Ingredients

2 onions, sliced
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 tomato, sliced
2 eggs
1/2 cucumber, sliced
2 burger buns
2 tbsp BBQ sauce
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp oil

Methods

Heat 1 tbsp butter in a non stick pan. Add in garlic and onion. Stir fry till the onion caramelized. Add in BBQ sauce. Stir well and dish up and set aside.
Heat up oil in the non stick pan. Fry the eggs at one side till it's cooked while the yolk is still runny. Dish up and set aside.
Heat up oil on the pan. Pan fry the burger patties each side till it's cooked and dish up.
Spread some butter on to each side of the burger buns and toast it lightly on the pan.
Assemble the burger with the meat patty, tomatoes, cucumbers, BBQ sauce onions and eggs.
Serve hot.

Baked Chicken with Creamy Corn

2011-01-01T19:02:00.003+08:00

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

3 onions, sliced

1 tin cream style sweet corn

2 chicken whole legs, deboned, cut into cubes

4 potatoes, sliced thinly

Marinade (A)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Marinade (B)

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp oregano

Methods

Marinade chicken cubes with (A) overnight.
Mix sliced potatoes with (B). Leave for 30 minutes.
Heat up oil and saute onion till fragrant. Put aside.
Mix all ingredients except potatoes in a oven proof dish. Arrange sliced potatoes on top.
Baked in pre-heated oven at 180 Celsius for 35 minutes.Remove and serve hot.

French Onion Soup

2011-01-01T15:49:00.001+08:00

Ingredients

30g butter
1 tbsp oil
4 onions, sliced
80g plain flour
1/4 cup red wine
1500ml water
2 chicken stocks cubes

Methods

Heat butter and oil in large saucepan. Add sliced onions and cook till brown and soft.
Add flour, stir and mix well with onions. Add red wine and (water and chicken stocks cube), stir constantly over medium heat.
Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Spring Onion Pancake

2011-01-01T15:09:00.006+08:00

Ingredients

200g plain flour
150ml boiling water
100g spring onions, diced
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Methods

Place flour into mixing bowl. Pour in hot water, stir well. Pour mixture on clean working area. (Add in extra water if it's too dry).
Add in oil, knead till it becomes a smooth dough. Rest the dough for an hour.
Roll the dough into longish flat shape. Glaze with oil and sprinkle salt, spring onions on surface. Fold into half across. Cut in to equal pieces. Roll up and flatten.
Heat oil and pan-fry the pancakes till golden on both sides.

Glutinous Rice Rolls

2010-12-31T11:12:00.000+08:00

This is made for our last breakfast for the year 2010 - Glutinous Rice Rolls. Since I had the whole week off from work, I had decided to give this recipe a try as Hubby loves glutinous rice and this is something new that we haven't try before; I told myself - 'Why not give it a try'. For those who don't know, I am not good in making Pau items as I always have difficulty in 'wrapping up' the dough with its filling. Anyway, that was certainly not an excuse for not attempting again.

Cooking the filling for this rolls was a pretty easy task as we just need to fry all the ingredients before rolling it up with the Pau dough. As I had anticipated, I was still a 'mess' in rolling up up the fillings. Nevertheless, I had managed to complete the task. WELL DONE for myself *clap clap clap*.

Special Message to Hubby here:

Thanks for always being by my side for all the ups and downs in our life. Hope that the year 2011 will a great year for you, I and of course for US. I love you!

Ingredients

Skin
(A)
400g pau flour
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp instant yeast
30g shortening
(B)
200ml water

Filling
200g glutinous rice (soaked for 4 hours, steamed till cooked)
2 tbsp dried shrimps (soaked, drained and chopped)
3 shallots, diced
7 mushrooms (soaked, drained and diced)
200g minced pork
2 tbsp oil

Seasoning
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp pepper

Methods

Place Pau flour on a clean working area. Make a well in the centre. Add in remaining (A) ingredients. Add (B) slowly, mix into a dough and knead with both hands till it becomes elastic. Cover and rest dough for 30 minutes.
Add 2tbsp oil to wok, saute onions, dried shrimps and mushrooms. Stir well, add in pork and seasoning. Add in glutinous rice, stir till its well mixed. Set aside.
Roll out the dough into a long roll. Cut into four parts, and roll out each part into rectangular shapes. Roll the filling using a plastic sheets (microwave wrap) to the same length as the dough.
Place filling on top of the dough. Flip over to encase the filling. Place a parchment paper below the glutinous roll and repeat for the remaining ingredients.
Steamed the rolls in a wok with boiling water. Steam over medium heat for 5 minutes and serve.

ABC Soup

2010-12-24T14:02:00.003+08:00

Boiling, boiling, boiling hot...

A simple soup to warm our hearts and tummy for the Winter Solstice dinner. ABC soup as easy as its' name tell us, it consist of carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, any type of meat (I had used chicken parts) and added with salt and peppercorns to taste. Yummy and simple for anyone of us.

Dry Bak Kut Teh

2010-12-24T13:59:00.003+08:00

Since we were staying nearby the famous Bak Kut Teh town, thus it is quite weird if I don't try to make this dish on my own. There's two version of Bak Kut Teh in Klang - the soupy type and also the dry type. For our Winter Solstice dinner celebration, I had decided to try out making the dry type at home to serve to our guests. It was much easier than I had thought it would be in preparing this dish.

Boiling the soup till the gravy thickens.

My home made - dry Bak Kut Teh.

Ingredients

(A)

1 pack Bak Kut Teh spices

1 kg belly meat (cut into bite size pieces)

4 garlic

2 litres hot water

salt and pepper to taste

(B)

10 dried chillies

2 tbsp thick soy sauce

50g dried squid (fried)

3 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

(C)

lady fingers, sliced

shao xing wine to taste

Methods

Place A in a wok, bring to boil. Reduce to low heat and cook for 45 minutes.
Remove meat, place in a claypot. Add in B and adequate soup to cover the ingredients.
Bring to boil. Stir in wine and cook till gravy thickens. Stir in lady fingers to cook.
Serve hot.

Kai Lan with Chinese Sausages

2010-12-24T13:57:00.003+08:00

I had used up 4 Chinese sausages for this dish

*desperately wanted to finish up the Chinese sausages in the fridge*

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

5 slices ginger

1 tsp garlic, chopped

1 pair Chinese sausages (I had used 2 pairs)

200 g Kai Lan

Seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp oyster sauce

adequate water

1 tsp corn flour solution, thickening

sesame oil to taste

Methods

Heat up oil in wok. Stir fry garlic and ginger till fragrant. Add in sausages.
Add in Kai Lan, seasoning and stir fry till well mix.
Thicken with corn flour, sesame oil and stir well.
Dish up and serve hot.

Hot and Spicy Garlic Steamed Fish

2010-12-24T13:56:00.003+08:00

Recently we had been ordering steamed fish every time we had our dinner outside. Thus, I wanted to look for a recipe for steamed fish for this special dinner as well. In the past, I had always felt that it is a challenge to prepare fish dishes. Not to say that I had mastered the skill, but I am starting to be more confident nowadays with steaming fishes after a few try till date. So Hubby had personally hand picked the Siakap fish from Tesco the other day, so we will be having steamed fish as well for Winter Solstice dinner.

At the steamer

After steamed

Ready to be serve - best eaten while it's hot.

Ingredients

(A)

3 tbsp oil
6 tbsp garlic, chopped

8 chilli padi, chopped

5 limes, squeezed

4 stalks spring onions, chopped

Seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 fish, around 1 kg

Methods

Heat up oil. Stir fry garlic till fragrant, mix A with seasoning. Stir fry for a few minutes. Dish up and set aside.
Place fish on the steamer. Steamed for 5 minutes. Throw the 'fishy' water from the fish.
Place the fish again on the steamer. Pour the mixture over the fish. Steamed for approximately 20-25 minutes.
Garnish with some spring onions on top. Serve hot.

Herbal Chicken

2010-12-24T13:54:00.004+08:00

Chicken is a commonly prepared dish especially when it comes to Chinese celebration. So I guessed it's a SOP to have in my dinner dishes for this Winter Solstice dinner in our house. Since I am cooking all by myself, the simpler the preparation of the dishes involve, the easier my life will be in the kitchen. So here's another simple dish that I had chosen for the menu - Herbal Chicken. Just marinate, dump everything inside the aluminium foil and put on a steamer.

Yummy Yummy...

I had placed in lots of wolfberries as well.

Ingredients

1 kampung chicken

8 slices dang qui

3 tbsp wolfberries

2 tbsp ginger, shredded

Seasoning

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp Shao Xing wine

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 aluminium foil

Methods

Marinate the chicken with seasoning. Leave overnight in fridge.
Place in remaining ingredients and wrap in aluminium foil.
In wok, bring water to boil. Place the wrapped foil into wok. Steamed over 45mins-1 hour in medium heat.
Serve hot.

Winter Solstice 2010

2010-12-24T13:00:00.001+08:00

22nd December 2010 - was the Winter Solstice for the Chinese. During the old days, families will gather around to have their reunion dinner as it was said to be the most important day in the Chinese Lunar calendar. But in the modern days. I guessed this was not popularly practice anymore as people are busier nowadays and often this date falls in the middle of the week where working ones can't make it back to their respective home town. I had tried to practice and celebrate this dinner in KL even though we can't go back to be with our parents. This year I had invited a few friends to join us (Hubby and I) for dinner. At least we celebrate it with friends while we are away from home. We get to eat some Tong Yuen and spend some time with each other.

Ready made Tong Yuen - for lazy people like me.

I had used brown sugar for the syrup instead of normal white sugar. Added Osmanthus as well.

The feast I had prepare - minus the Satay on the table.

Happy Winter Solstice 2010!

Simmered Chicken Wing with Mushrooms

2010-09-11T22:52:00.009+08:00

Another chicken wing dish as I had bought a cook book all about chicken wings dishes. I love the presentation of this dish as I felt this dish is very suitable to be served during special occasion like family dinners since there's plenty of goodies in it - e.g mushrooms, broccoli and chicken. I had took my own sweet time arranging them in a presentable manner - just like in the chinese restaurant but now we are having it in the comfort of our own home in Kuantan. JOM JOM Makan time....:)

Ingredients

8 chicken wings
8 Chinese mushrooms, soaked and de-stem
100g brocolli
1 thumb size ginger, sliced
1 stalk spring onion, sectioned
300ml water

Seasoning
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp Shao Xing wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

Methods

Blanch chicken wings into boiling water. Dish out and drained. Keep aside.
Heat up 3 tbsp oil. Stir-fry spring onions and ginger till fragrant. Add in wings and mushrooms. Stir well till aromatic.
Add water and seasoning. Bring to boil and simmered at low heat for 10 minutes. Add broccoli and stir well.
Lastly, thicken with cornstarch solutions. Dish up and serve hot.

Pan Fried Tofu Pancakes

2010-09-11T22:49:00.018+08:00

This is different form of pancakes you can make as a change from the conventional ones using mainly flour. We have here Tofu Pancakes. It's main ingredients as mentioned in the name - Tofu. You can add in different variety of ingredients in making them. I have Chinese sausages and spring onions in making this. Maybe for shrimps lovers, you can throw in some small shrimps as well. It's best eaten while is hot as it will lose it's crispiness after being left for some time.

Baked cookies from the picture but they don't taste like cookies, it's tofu pancakes!

A close up of my pancakes.

Ingredients

3 block of soft tofu, mashed

6 tbsp tapioca flour

2 Chinese sausages, diced

3 stalks spring onions, chopped

3/4 tsp five spice powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp pepper

Methods

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Add a bit water if the mixture is too dry.
Heat up 2 cup of oil. Spoon 1 tbsp tofu mixture into wok and deep fry until both side are brown. Repeat with the rest of the tofu mixture.
Dish up and serve hot.

Dong Po Pork

2010-09-11T22:45:00.016+08:00

It's another porkylicious post for the day. I have always enjoyed this dish as I love the melt in my mouth feeling with every bite of this sinful dish. Let's just say, we need to forget about cholesterol and etc while enjoying them. My first experience in having this yummy dish was with a bunch of my colleagues back then in Esquire Kitchen. It was just pure heaven as I remembered correctly during that time. It's been quite some time since I had savoured this dish in the restaurant. So it's back to memory lane for me to have my first attempt to make this dish ALL by myself. The verdict after making them - IT'S WORTH IT! LOVE IT TO THE MAX! That's the same comments from my family too. :D

Layers of fat is essential in Dong Po Pork and the skin just melted when you bite it.

Pour the gravy on the meat. You're ready for an 'sinful' porkylicious journey.

Cut it with scissors so that every one can have a fair share of the meat.. Hehe...

Can you see the goodness of the Dong Po Pork. Soft and moist meat chunks infused with the aromatic gravy and of coz not forgetting the melt in your mouth soft jelo like skin.

You can steamed some flower buns or mantou to be eaten together with Dong Po Pork too. SLURP SLURP !

Ingredients

1kg pork belly, skin on

100g spring onions
50g ginger

500g Shao Xing Wine
100gm light soy sauce
20gm dark soy sauce
80gm brown candy sugar

cornstarch solution

Methods

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook pork belly for 5 minutes. Drain.
Cut spring onions into long lengths to fit base of pot. Slice ginger and sprinkle over.
Put boiled pork belly onto spring onions, skin side down.
Put in both soy sauces and sugar. Lastly wine. Add some water if the liquid level is too low. Make sure the pork is at least almost covered with liquid but remember not to add to much water in the pot. (I had made a mistake here, thus I needed to add in more Shao Xing wine later to enhance the flavour)
Bring pot to a boil on high heat, reduce to low and simmer for 2 hours (flipping the pork halfway), or until it is tender enough to be easily poked thru with a chopstick.
Remove pork belly (no gravy) from pot and put into a steaming dish, skin side up.
Steam on high heat for 30 minutes.
Add some cornstarch solution to the gravy in the pot to thicken it. Let it boil for another 5-10 minutes.
Pour gravy (in pot) over pork when it has finished steaming.
Serve with buns or mantou.

Grilled Corn On The Cob

2010-08-30T18:33:00.009+08:00

A very easy side dish to prepared during BBQ events. All we need is to get some fresh corns and grilled them over the grill. Brush with butter, salt and pepper. Voila, freshly grilled corn ready to be served. Very simple but yet still tasty. :)

BBQ Baby Potatoes

2010-08-30T18:30:00.008+08:00

Baby potatoes filled with herbs and olive oil flavour

This is one of the side dishes that I had selected as part of our BBQ dinner menu. As I had just come back from a short trip from Cameron Highlands, I had bought some baby potatoes from Cameron. Thus this is a perfect time for me to prepare this yummy side dish.

Ingredients

750g baby potatoes, unpeeled

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp thyme leaves

2 tbsp salt

Methods

Boil baby potatoes until just tender. Drain and lightly dry with paper towels.
Put potatoes into large bowl. Add oil and thyme. Toss gently and leave for 1 hour.
Grill potatoes for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.

Nam Yee Honey Chicken Wing

2010-08-30T18:29:00.009+08:00

For Nam Yee lovers, you can tried this type of marinades for your BBQ.

Ingredients

10 chicken wings

2 pcs Nam Yee

1 tbsp oyster sauce

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp malt sugar / honey

1 tbsp Shao Xing wine

1 tbsp sugar

Methods

Rinse chicken wings and drain well. Season with marinade for 4-5 hours or best overnight.
Placed chicken wings on the grill. Grill for 15-20 minutes until cooked thoroughly and golden in colour. Serve hot or warm.

Smokey Sweet Sauce Chicken Wing

2010-08-30T18:27:00.012+08:00

Smokey Sweet Sauce Chicken Wing ready to be served to our guests.

My second recipes for my BBQ wing - a sweet and garlicky flavoured chicken wings. For those who have a sweet taste buds, you can opt to try this flavour out as well.

Ingredients

10 chicken wings
3/4 cup brown sugar
6 cloves garlic, diced
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

Methods

Rinse and cleaned chicken wings. Pat it dry.
Mix all ingredients of the marinade in a large bowl.
Add the wings and toss to coat evenly. Marinade 4-5 hours or best overnight.
Grill the wings on the gas grills for 15-20minutes until its brown in colour.
Serve warm or hot.

Grilled Mayo Black Pepper Chicken Wing

2010-08-30T18:26:00.006+08:00

My first grilled wing from the new gas grill. It was very peppery flavoured.

This is the first selected recipes for my chicken wings. The main ingredients used for the marinades were mayo and black pepper. The wings were infused with the black pepper flavour with subtle taste of mayo. Give it a try if you're looking for some new recipes for BBQ chicken wings instead of the conventional honey baked BBQ ones.

Ingredients

10 pcs chicken wings
1 tsp black pepper
4 cm fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sweet soy sauce/kicap manis
2 ½ tbsp of mayonnaise
salt to taste

Methods

Clean and wash chicken wings and pat it dry.
Put the rest of the ingredients into a blender and blend into a paste.
Marinate the wings with the paste for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Grill for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The Wings Galore

2010-08-30T18:20:00.000+08:00

Chicken wings is always a must when it comes to BBQ session. Few reasons for it to be the must have items in the BBQ as the wings offers us a more juicy, soft and tender meat, easy to be handle and the meats were not too thick which makes our waiting time for BBQ-ing them much more lesser. This is also the must have items which comes into my mind while preparing for our family BBQ session.

My next posts - all about the WINGS..

Satay Peanut Sauce

2010-08-30T18:06:00.014+08:00

My first attempt of satay peanut sauce. Loved the flavoursome peanut sauce. Yummy!!

How could I not try my hand on making my own satay peanut sauce as I am already preparing the satay on my own. You can read about the satay recipe here. I had made some amendments from the original satay peanut sauce recipe as I felt it was not spicy enough for my liking.

Ingredients

3 cup dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)
2 cup water
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce @ kicap manis
2 1/2 tbsp sugar (palm sugar preferred)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
4 heaped tamarind pulp (soaked in 1/4 cup water for 15 minutes, squeeze the tamarind pulp for juice and discard the pulp)

Spice Paste:

24 dried red chilies (seeded and soaked in warm water)
6 cloves garlic
6 shallots
4 lemon grass (white parts only)
2 inch ginger (galangal preferred)
2 tbsp coriander powder (optional)

Method

Crush the peanuts coarsely with mortar and pestle or blender and set aside.
Chop the spice paste ingredients and blend until fine.
Heat oil and fry the spice paste until aromatic and smell spicy.
Add the peanuts, tamarind juice, water, sugar, sweet soy sauce and stir thoroughly.
Simmer in low heat while continue stirring for about 3 minutes until the peanut sauce turns smooth. Serve at room temperature with the satay.

Chicken Satay

2010-08-30T18:05:00.007+08:00

As I had mentioned previously that I had bought a new gas grill to bring back to Kuantan for my family BBQ dinner. I had searched for satay recipes as I always wanted to make my own Satay and now it's the opportunity to try making satay and utilize my new gas grill. Satay was one of my favourite food items. I always love to dip lots and lots of peanut sauce while having satay. Since it's home made, I had cut the chicken meats into bigger chunks as I love a more meaty bite for my satay.

Marinated chicken meat thread into bamboo skewers

Hot from my newly bought grill.

One set of my home made Satay to be served.

Ingredients

6 chicken thighs, deboned and cut into pieces

Spice Paste:
2 tsp coriander powder
4 stalks lemon grass
12 shallots, peeled
4 cloves garlic, peeled
8 tbsp cooking oil
2 tsp chili powder
4 tsp turmeric powder (kunyit)
8 tsp kicap manis
2 tbsp oyster sauce
bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2 hours to avoid burning)
1 cucumber, cut into pieces

Methods

Cut the chicken meat into small cubes.
Grind the Spice Paste in a food processor.
Add little water if needed as the spice paste mixture.
Marinate the chicken pieces with the spice paste for 10-12 hours or best overnight.
Thread the meat on to bamboo skewers and grill for 3-5 minutes each side. Serve hot with fresh cucumber pieces.

My New Toy in Da House

2010-08-30T18:00:00.006+08:00

Mummy mentioned about organising a BBQ dinner back in hometown. Since Hubby and I will be heading back Kuantan for this long holiday during the Merdeka week, I had decided to invest in buying a gas grill to be used for the BBQ. Initially I was torn between choosing a charcoal BBQ set or a gas grill type and at the end, my heart sided on the gas grill one as I loved the idea of charcoal-less and less hassle when I wanted to stored the grill back to my store. The only set back of gas grill as I found out after using it was the timing to BBQ the food items are slower as compared to a charcoal ones. It is one of the disadvantages of gas grill but yet it turn out to be an advantage too, we have a lesser tendency of over burning the food items as we couldn't control the fire when it comes to using a charcoal grill.

So everyone, at the end of the day is what you wanted which matters the most. As for me, the most important part is to be able to gather among family members and enjoy the moment of waiting for the grill food to be ready and the chit-chat session in between the waiting time. Now, are you excited to have a look at my new toy...... Here you go.......

My very own professional gas grill.

The interior of the grill.

Let's begin our BBQ session.. Catch up later in my next post for the food items that I had prepared during the dinner..... :)

Rice Dumpling Festival Pot Luck Dinner Celebration

2010-06-16T23:24:00.017+08:00

Rice Dumpling Festival or Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th month on the chinese lunar calendar and the festive was celebrate amongst the Chinese. I had took this opportunity to invite a few friends back to our place to have a pot luck dinner and also for them to sample the rice dumplings that we had made over the weekend.

Each of us had bought different varieties of food for the dinner. Since changing job, I have lesser time to actually cook. Thus for an easy way out, is to 'tar pau' food items and invite friends over with the theme 'Pot Luck'. Hehe.. (Lame excuses rite.... :p). Wanna know what we had over the dinner? We had lots and lots of food and as usual we were practically stuffed maximum before the dinner ends..... ^Burp burp burp^.....

Pork Satay from PJ Old Town Food Court.

Hokkien Mee from Restoran Damansara Hokkien Mee in Uptown

Roast Duck from the famous Loong Foong Restaurant in PJ

Yong Tau Fu from somewhere in Kelana Jaya area

More Yong Tau Fu items

Donashi from Big Apple Donuts

So we had an enjoyable time over the dinner. More pot luck session in the future? I think so... Will try to do it more often especially during festival celebration to create more sense of togetherness as nowadays everyone was really busy with work and own activities.. :)

So for the rest of my readers, I wished you all

'HAPPY RICE DUMPLING FESTIVAL'

Betty's Midwest Kitchen

2010-06-13T18:46:00.019+08:00

This was a backdated post for the month of May. I was looking thru friend's picture on some eateries and found this small gem - Betty's Midwest Kitchen which offers American food. What else after looking at their yummylicious picture, Hubby and I invited our usual 'Makan Kakis' aka CW and LYH for dinner. Note: Please come early if you don't want to wait as the restaurant has limited tables.

So we were there early around 6.20pm. Luckily for us, the restaurant was not packed yet. As we were seated, the diners crowd had started to come in. Phew phew! Lucky for us to be a bit early. The ambience in the restaurant was kinda homely. Pictures and paintings related to America were displayed there and did I mentioned that they served PORK as well. Yummy yummy..

Their menu.

Lemonade - RM 2.50

Root Beer (RM5) - it's recommended according to the menu but I had tasted it, nothing special. It's similar like any Root Beer served outside.

Dog Food aka Gravy Fries (RM7.50) - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. It's so cheeselicious and delicious.

Classical Meatloaf (RM15) - recommended. It's tender and every bit of it was filled with Meat, Meat and Meat.

Pork Chop with C. Gravy (RM20) - CW commented it was okay.

Pork Chop with Apple Sauce (RM20) - LYH don't quite like the taste. Maybe because it was a bit sweet to his preference. For those who love apple crumble, the sauce tasted similar.

Jucy Lucy (RM13.50) - RECOMMENDED. Nice and juicy pork patty.

The verdict: Recommended for western food lovers who wanted a great meal without a 'damaging' price tag. I WILL COME FOR MORE!

Betty's Midwest Kitchen

A-G-40, Jln PJU 1/43,

Aman Suria Damansara,

47301 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor.

03-78800196

Hokkien Fried Glutinous Rice Dumpling

2010-06-13T11:03:00.008+08:00

Duanwu Festival ( 端午節), also known as Dragon Boat Festival, is a traditional and statutory holiday associated with Chinese and other East Asian and Southeast Asian societies as well. For this year, Duanwu Festival falls on 16th June 2010. We had been making our own Chang for the past 2 years, so this year was no exceptional too. Since we had some hands on experience in making Chang previously, the process of making them this year was much more easier. I felt I am getting slightly better in wrapping them, but they still looks very 'odd' to me. In terms of taste wise, the Chang are tastier as compared to the 1st and 2nd batches that we made previously. Words of compliments should be given to my dear Hubby as he is getting more expert in wrapping the Chang. His Chang looked more like those we bought from outside. Thus, I had told him, for next year, I'll be doing all the preparations of the fillings and glutinous rice and he shall be fully in charge for wrapping it.. Hehe... (Not bad idea rite).. :P

So ladies and gentlemen,

let me present to you.....

Our 2010 Chang..........

Hokkien Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings

Fillings consists of Pork Belly, Skinned Green Beans, Chestnuts, Mushrooms, Chinese Sausages, Dried Shrimps and Salted Egg Yolk

Ingredients

800g glutinous rice

200g skinned green beans

bamboo leaves and strings

(A)

3 tbsp oil

8 cloves garlic, chopped

10 shallots, chopped

2 star anise

4 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp 5 spice powder

2 tsp pepper

4 tsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

4 tsp sugar

4 tsp salt

(B)

1 tsp 5 spice powder

1 tsp pepper powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp rice wine

4 tsp dark soy sauce

Fillings

500g pork belly

24 chestnuts

24 mushrooms, soaked

50g dried shrimps

2 Chinese Sausages

24 salted egg yolks

Methods

Preparation for glutinous rice and skinned green beans: Rinse both separately. Soak separately for 5 hours and drain.
For A: Heat up oil. Stir fry garlic, shallots and star anise till fragrant. Add in oyster sauce and stir fry till fragrant. Add in glutinous rice and stir well. Add in 5 spice powder and pepper, stir fry till fragrant. Add in remaining seasoning and stir evenly. Set aside.
Rinse pork belly and cut into 24 pieces. Season with B, put in fridge overnight.
Soak chestnuts overnight. Pick out skin from slot.
Soak mushrooms overnight. Trim the stems. Rinse and squeeze out water.
Rinse dried shrimps and soak in water for 15 minutes. Heat up some oil, stir-fry till fragrant. Dish out and set aside.
Rinsed salted egg yolk and drained.
Wrapping: Overlap 2 bamboo leaves, placed the longer leaf below the shorter. Hold up leaves with hands, fold 1/3 of leaves to form corn shape. Fill cone with a layer of glutinous rice, add in skinned green beans and other fillings in correct sequences and cover with a layer of skinned green beans. Lastly place a layer of glutinous rice and press tightly. Wrap and secure with strings.
Base a pot with few bamboo leaves, add in 2 tsp salt and water. Bring to boil with the dumplings. Switch to medium heat and continue boiling for approximately 2 hours.

Osaka Japanese Restaurant

2010-06-05T18:15:00.004+08:00

We were constantly having chinese food since we have shifted to Setia Alam. For a change, we opted for Japanese food as our lunch over the weekend. Since I had google for recommended Japanese food in Klang and found Osaka Japanese Restaurant, we decided to give this place a try. Osaka Japanese Restaurant was located in Bandar Baru Klang, just next to the HSBC Bank.

Once we were arrived, we were greeted by their friendly staffs. The restaurant was not too big in size but it was still cosy enough for us. After looking thru their menus, we had ordered quite a number of items to try out. Each of us had ordered a bento set, mine (Sashimi & Tempura Bento Set) and Hubby's (Unagi Bento Set). Both set comes with Chawan Mushi and also Dessert. The other items that we had ordered were their Chef recommendation sushi - Black Dragon and also Soft Shell Crab Sushi.

Overall, the food items are fresh and delicious. Will definitely go for next visit when we were craving for some nice Japanese food in the neighbourhood. By the way, they seems to have 10% discounts for all the food items. For those who stays in this area and would love to try out some decent Japanese food, do give it a try.

Black Dragon Sushi - their recommendation

Soft Shell Crab Rolls - if I remember correctly

Chawan Mushi

Tempura - one of the items offered in their Bento Set

Tangy Salad Sauce - appetising

Some fried fish fillets - just average

Salmon - very fresh...

Unagi Bento Set

Their dessert - peeled orange....

Osaka Japanese Restaurant
1, Ground Floor, Jalan Tiara 2B,
Bandar Baru Klang,
41150 Klang,
Selangor.
Tel: 03-33431855