Rebus Asam Batang Keladi (Boiled Yam Stems in Sour Sauce)

A healthy option.

This is a quick one. Mum is on her 'stay healthy' streak so this is pretty much as healthy as it can get. No oil, no coconut milk, just boiled vegetables. ;-) And its quite an easy one with minimal amount of ingredients. My mum loves this dish. If I'm not mistaken, my grandmother taught her this.

I think you can find yams at any good wet market here. You can also use the yams itself instead of just the stems. Its quite tasty. Not one of my favourites but I can surely taste the goodness in the dish.

This was done on the same day as the Manila Roast Chicken, so Darling, my niece was there too but didn't really appear on the video so much. We still had fun though. ;-)

Anyway, here's the recipe.

The Ingredients
• 10 to 15 yam stem (batang keladi), throw away the skin and cut into small pieces of 3 inches in length. Wash the stems clean from sand and dust.
• 3 to 4 red chillies (lada merah)
• 4 shallots (bawang merah)
• 2 garlic (bawang putih)
• 8 small chillies (cili padi)
• A handful of dried anchovies (ikan bilis), cleaned and washed.
• 5 to 6 tamarind pieces (asam keping).
• 3 tablespoon of dried shrimp paste (belacan).
• Coarse salt

Yam stems.

The Method

• Blend the red chillies, shallots, garlic, small chillies, dried anchovies, salt and the shrimp paste with some water.
• Heat up a pot filled with water, 3 to 4 tamarind pieces and course salt. Leave to boil.
• When it starts boiling, put in the yam stems in and cover the pot. This will soften the stems. Leave for about 10 minutes.
• Once that is done, drain the yam stems and put aside.
• Heat up the same pot that has been cleaned.
• Pour out the blended ingredients into the pot and add more water. Also put in a few tamarind pieces. Leave to boil.
• Once its boiled, put in the cooked yam stems in and mix well. Leave to boil.
• Have a bit of a taste for salt. Add more salt and dried shrimp paste if needed. Once that is done, leave for a few more minutes and its ready to be served.

Easy as A-B-C, no? ;-) Here is the video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Ayam Bakar Manila (Manila Roast Chicken)

Darling with the unusually large chili.

Another one of mums specialty. We have this quite rarely. So when we do, its a treat.We normally have this with steamed rice. Darling, my niece was with us to share this moment. Memang best! I had a wonderful time making this with mum. Its always great having some quality time with mum and Darling.

And lately, at the market they've been selling these extra long red chillies. It tastes the same as the regular length chillies but its just really long. So Darling and I called it 'mutant chili ninja vegetable'. ;-)

The video is a bit long. It's almost 17 minutes. But honestly it didn't feel long while we were making it. Editing it was a different matter altogether. ;-) And oh...you'll hear me singing Teenage Dream as well on the video. I've been humming that song for the past week. Help me please! ;-D

So here is the recipe. Have fun making it. Its kinda hectic but its truly worth it.

The Ingredient

• 10 chicken pieces (ayam). Normally a whole chicken is used but you can also use chicken pieces.
• 5 red chili (lada merah).
• 6 shallots (bawang kecil).
• 2 to 3 garlic (bawang putih).
• 3 to 4 Indian bay leaves (daun salam).
• 4 lemon grass (serai).
• 1/2 inch of ginger (halia).
• 1/2 inch of galangal (lengkuas).
• 1/2 fresh turmeric (kunyit hidup) or 1/2 tablespoon of turmeric powder (serbuk kunyit).
• 5 candle nut (buah keras).
• Lime juice (jus limau) from 2 limes.
• 1 to 2 turmeric leaves (daun kunyit).
• Coconut milk (santan), 2 cups of  thick creamy coconut milk and 2 cups of diluted coconut milk.
• Coarse salt

The Method

• Blend the red chili, shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric candle nut and salt in a blender till its completely fine.
• Preheat the oven at 175°C. And cover your baking tray with aluminium foil.
• Heat up your wok with some oil. When its hot, pour all the blended ingredients into the wok. Leave to boil while stirring it.
• Once the oil starts rising, add the thick coconut milk and mix well. Then add some of the diluted coconut milk and leave to boil.
• When it starts boiling, add the chicken, the turmeric leaves, the lemongrass and the Indian bay leaves. Mix it well and then add the lime juice.
• Have a bit of taste to test the salt. Add more salt if desired. Leave till the chicken is half cooked.
• When the chicken is half cooked, move the chicken to the baking tray, wet it slightly with the gravy and put it into the oven.
• Leave the balance of the gravy on the flame for 2 to 3 minutes to thicken it.
• The chicken needs to be in the oven for 30 minutes but for every 7 to 10 minutes, bask the chicken with the leftover gravy.
• So after 30 minutes, take the chicken out and turn each piece over. Put the chicken back into the oven till its crispy (around 10 minutes, I think).
• Once done serve the chicken on a plate and pour the gravy on the chicken before serving.

Yummy... it's like ayam percik but tastier.

Here is the video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Goreng Pucuk Paku (Fried Wild Fern Shoots)

Ready to be eaten with rice.

As promised, I'm posting all the backlog of recipes that I have today and tomorrow. I actually started early with the Masak Asam Ikan Tenggiri Masin. ;-) I'm so good! Hahaha!

This one is really an easy one. I'm not that much of a vegetable eater but this is definitely one of my favourite vegetable dish. Very Negeri Sembilan... I think lah. I think you can get the wild fern shoots from any good wet market here. Bibik did the shopping for this and also the cooking for this dish. So enjoy!

The Ingredients
• Wild fern shoots (pucuk paku). Separate the leaves and the stems. The softer part of the stems can be included in this dish.
• 1 red chili (cili merah).
• 2 to 3 garlic (bawang putih).
• A handful of dried anchovies (ikan bilis), cleaned and washed.
• 1/4 anchovy cube (kiub ikan bilis). Try get the one without MSG.
• Course salt.

The Method

• Pound the red chili, salt and the garlic till its fine. Then add the washed and cleaned dried anchovies and pound it lightly to break it.
• Heat up your wok with some oil. Once its heated, add the pounded ingredients into the oil and leave to cook.
• Add the anchovy cube and mix well.
• Then add the stems first to the mix so that it starts cooking first since it takes a bit longer to cook the stems because its harder.
• When the stems are cooked and its soft enough, add the leaves into the mix. Mix them well. You'll see the leaves shrinking. Leave it for a minute while mixing it. And when its cooked...its ready to be served. ;-)

Senang kan? Hahaha. Its delicious as well eaten with steamed rice. Here's the video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Masak Asam Ikan Tenggiri Masin Berkentang (Dried Salted Mackerel in Sour Sauce with Potatoes)

One of my favourites.

Finally I'm starting to post again. I've been a bit slacked until I realised I have a backlog of recipes. Mum was also on my back to keep up... hahaha. So I'm doing the easier ones first.

Mum called me on a Friday saying she wanted to make this dish. We haven't really had a dish that didn't use any santan (coconut milk). And the fact that we've both gained a total of 7kgs since we started this blog says that we needed to look for something a bit less heavy. So we went to the recipe book to look for a lighter type dish.

We went to Pasar Kuala Pilah to get the main ingredient, ikan tenggiri masin (salted Mackerel). Mum have been searching for this for months in Kuala Lumpur and Bangi but at the end... we had to go back to mums hometown to get it. It was a good drive down. Had tons of fun. We had cendol and rojak while we were there. And yes... it tastes so so authentic. We had fun.

The Ingredient
• 12 shallots (bawang kecil), pounded but not too fine.
• 6 to 7 cups of tamarind juice (air assam jawa).
• 5 potatoes (kentang) skinned and cut diagonally
• 1/2 dried salted mackerel (ikan tenggiri masin) cut into small pieces. You can choose other salted fish but choose salted fish that are hard and can withstand being boiled.
• 6 tablespoon of dried chili paste (cili boh) depending on how spicy you want it to be.
• Salt (garam).

The Method

• Heat your wok with some oil. When the oil is hot, fry the salted fish till cooked and put aside.
• Using the same oil, put in the dried chili paste and let it cook for awhile.
• Add some salt but not too much since the salted fish is already salty.
• Add the pounded shallots and mix well. And a bit of water so it'll cook evenly.
• Once its all cooked and the oil has surfaced, add the fried salted fish and mix well.
• Then add the tamarind juice and let it boil.You need quite a bit of this. You might wanna use more than the required amount to cook the potatoes.
• Add the potatoes in and leave to boil. Let it boil for awhile.
• Keep checking to see whether the potatoes are soft enough. It won't get too soft cause its being boiled in tamarind juice so just wait for it to cook.
• Once you feel that its cooked, leave for another 4 to 5 minutes and it is ready to be served.

Here is the video. This one actually tastes really good eaten with steamed rice.

 

 

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Whats Up?

Ampun, ampun beribu ribu ampun! I know, I know.... I'm way behind in my postings. I have a backlog of at least five recipes that I have yet to post. And I know everyone has been waiting for new ones to come up so I am making a public promise now to dedicate Tuesday and Wednesday this coming week to edit the videos and also do the text and postings by Thursday... insyaallah.

I have been working hard on revamping this magazine. I keep making changes to make it look better and this blog had to suffer sikit lah. So definitely next week I will concentrate on this blog. I've uploaded the raw videos to my computer, just nak start edit tu eje macam liat sikit. But I will...I will.

So jangan marah. And keep watching this space for more great recipes. ;-)

Mee Berkuah (Noodles with Soup)

Voila! Yummy.

I've finally managed to find the time to start posting again. I've been quite a busy bee lately. Started working on this other magazine and like all new jobs, its always hectic in the beginning until you start getting into a routine. 

Mee Berkuah, is a dish that mum cooks when there is nothing else to cook. Mum calls it the 'lazy dish' cause its so so simple. As long as you have the ingredients...you are set. The cooking takes less than 5 minutes. Enjoy!

All the ingredients.

The Ingredients
• A packet of yellow noodles (mee kuning).
• 5 to 7 shallots (bawang kecil) sliced.
• 3 to 4 garlic (bawang putih) sliced.
• 1 chicken cube.
• 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper powder (serbuk lada hitam).
• 1 red chilli (lada merah) sliced diagonally.
• 1 green chilli (lada hijau) sliced diagonally.
• A bit of beef (daging) cut into small pieces.
• A bit of squid (sotong) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
• A bit of prawns (udang) cleaned and sliced into two.
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of light soya sauce (kicap cair).
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of thick soya sauce (kicap pekat)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of cornflour (tepung jagung) mixed with room temperature water.
• Salt 
• Some Chinese mustard green vegetables (sawi) cleaned. Separate the stems and the leaves and cut the stems into small pieces.

The Method

• Marinate the squids, beef and prawns with some salt and light soya sauce.
• Heat up your wok with oil. Add the garlic and the shallots first.
• Add the black pepper to your beef, squids and prawns. Then put them into the wok.
• Then add the red and green chillies. Mix everything well.
• Add about 3 to 4 cups of warm water. Also add your thick soya sauce and the chicken cube.
• Leave to boil for a bit and add the vegetable stem. Then add the leaves and leave to boil.
• Taste for salt and add more if desired.
• Add the yellow noodles and mix well. Leave to boil.
• Once its boiling add the cornflour and water mixture to thicken the gravy. Keep stirring. Add more if you want it to be thicker.
• Then its ready to be served. Eat while its hot.

Here is the video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Ikan Bakar Bersambal (Spicy Grilled Fish)

Crispy and yummy.

An impromptu dish. Mum bought some organic tilapia fish. And it really does taste better than the regular tilapia bred from man made lake. The latter normally taste a bit muddy and gives a bit of an undesirable after taste.

Now if only I can make mum switch to organic for all meats. Saying that, organic meat costs more... and not just a few cents more but by quite a bit. So we'll see how that goes. I did find someone who sells organic chicken though but we haven't bought one yet. Tengok lah nanti. I will keep you posted on how good it is once we try it out. Does anyone know of any organic farming course that I can do?

So here is the grilled fish ingredient and method. Hope you like it.

The Ingredients
• 1 Tilapia fish (ikan tilapia) clean the fish and remove the fins.
• 3 garlic (bawang putih)
• 20 shallots (bawang kecil)
• 1 inch of ginger (halia)
• 1/2 inch of galangal (lengkuas)
• 2 red chillies (cili merah)
• 4 small chillies (cili api)
• 5 candle nut (buah keras)
• 1 lemon grass (serai)
• Salt
• Banana leaf

The Method
• Pound the garlic, shallots, ginger, galangal, red chillies, candle nut, salt and lemon grass till its almost fine.
• Heat your wok with oil and put in all the pounded ingredients in. Add a bit of water to cook it thoroughly.
• Leave to fry for about 8 minutes till its slightly dry and cooked.
• Lay the banana leaf on the tray and oil the leaf so the fish doesn't stick.
• Rub some salt on the inside and the skin of the fish.
• Then stuff the pounded ingredients into the fish and pour some olive oil on both sides of the fish.
• Put the fish on the tray with the banana leaf and put it into the oven at 200°C for 30 minutes. Then turn the fish over and leave for another 10 minutes.
• Move the grilled fish onto a plate and serve.

So here is the video. Its a pretty sombre video but have fun grilling your ikan bakar.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Acar Tomato dan Timun (Tomato and Cucumber Salad)

This one is a quickie. Mum made this to eat with the fish soup made earlier and rice. Its very easy to make with little ingredients. You do need French dressing though to compliment the tomato and cucumber. I ended up eating the whole thing on its own...hehe.

Just mix well and its ready.

The Ingredients

• 1/2 a cucmber (timun), skinned and sliced the outer part of the cucumber. We do not use the seeded part of the cucumber.
• 1 tomato, sliced similar to the cucumber.
• 5 to 6 shallots (bawang kecil), sliced thinly.
• 1 tablespoon dried shrimp powder (serbuk udang kering)
• 1 green chili (cili hijau), sliced.
• 1 red chili (cili merah), pounded with course salt and pounded just lightly to break the chili.
• 1 to 2 tablespoon of French Dressing. You can get this from any supermarkets.

The Method

• Just put everything in a bowl and mix them well... yup that's it. Its ready to be served.

Here is the video. Its a short one. ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Sup Ikan (Fish Soup)

Fish soup ready to be served

This dish was done way before raya haji but I have been so so busy since that I've only edited it today. I will be doing tons of editing today for this blog cause I'm way behind. ;-) Coming up after this soup is ikan bakar, serunding, acar tomato and something else that I can't seem to remember right now.

When this fish soup was being made, my mum and I were not feeling too well. My stomach was slightly unsettled and my mum was feeling a bit under the weather. So we decided to have something light. Mum had a couple of fish head and she decided to make something her mum made for her when she was young and unwell. You can use other fish body parts. Using the head is optional. This soup is actually quite easy. Minimal ingredients and easy steps. You can add different types of vegetables to the soup but just make sure the harder type vegetables ie potatoes, goes in earlier to soften it nicely while the soup is cooking.

The Ingredients

• Fish, use the bigger type fish for this soup. We've used the Golden Snapper (ikan jenahak).
• 7 shallots (bawang merah), sliced.
• 5 garlic (bawang putih), sliced.
• 1 inch of ginger (halia), pound the ginger with a bit of garlic and salt.
• 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper powder (lada hitam).
• 1/2 tablespoon of sweet cumin powder (jintan manis).
• 1/2 tablespoon of white cumin powder (jintan putih).
• Fermented bean paste (tauchu), washed.
• Cabbage (kobis), cut into squares.
• Carrot (lobak merah), sliced.
• Cucumber (timun), sliced.
• Celery leaves (daun sup), sliced.
• Spring onion (daun bawang) sliced.
• 1/4 anchovy cube (Kuib ikan bilis).
• Some water (air).
• Salt (garam).

The Method
• Heat up wok with some oil.
• Add the pounded ginger and garlic. Then add the remainder of the sliced garlic and shallots.
• Then add the cumin powder and black pepper powder and mix them well.
• Once its mixed well, add water, mix and leave to boil.
• When it starts to boil a bit, add the fermented bean paste into the wok. Then add the cabbage, carrot, cucumber and the fish into the wok.
• Add water so that the fish is covered with water and put in the anchovy cube in. Leave to boil for about 10 minutes. Add some salt to taste and its ready to be served.
• Garnish the soup with celery leaves and spring onions. ;-)

Here is the video. Its a slightly sombre one compared to the other ones. We were really not well. ;-P

 

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Selamat Hari Raya from the family.

I didn't realise how cheesy my family is till today. And the sad part is its being lead by me. ;-D Made a quick video for my sister and her family in England. I really had to rush this one since all this happened this morning and I wanted to catch my sis for her raya which comes 8 hours later. So hopefully they like it and all of you out there will find it cheesy enough to laugh it off. I had complete fun doing this. Raya morning is always the best part of raya for me... when the whole family starts getting together and prepare the table so we all can sit together to have breakfast.

I'm also taking this time to wish everyone out there the best raya! Maaf zahir batin. Kalau ada tersilap kata or apa apa lah, tolong maaf kan.

And to my sister, Ainita and Bang Long, to my nieces, KaYong, Iya, Shasha, Adeen, Darling, and my one and only nephew, Hakiem who can't be with us this morning... have a good one! Love you all and missing you tons!

By the way the lovely background music was downloaded (http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/6588327). Played by a talented young man called Hazman Halid.  I have yet to ask his permission...ooops. I will though.

So... selamat hari raya! Makan lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap... hehe!

Kari Ayam (Chicken Curry)

Kate Pankhurst, this is for you. I know you requested this way back in September, we only managed to do this about two weeks ago. And the editing took a bit of time as well so yeah... here it is, finally.

Mum and I had fun doing this one. It was one of those afternoons where everyone from my sister to my uncle and their family turned up at my mums house. So mum quickly made this so that there is food on the table. Everything was quite impromptu. Fortunately I was there too and got to record this for Kate.

This is our basic curry method. So it applies to beef and lamb as well. So try it out and enjoy it.

The Ingredients

• 6 to 8 pieces of chicken (ayam).
• About 2 inches of ginger (halia), sliced into thin strips.
• 10 shallots (bawang merah). Sliced thinly.
• 5 garlic (bawang putih). Sliced thinly.
• 2 inches of cinnamon (kayu manis).
• 2 to 3 star anise (bunga lawang).
• 4 to 5 cardamon (buah pelaga).
• 3 stems of curry leaves (daun kari). This is optional but I think you can get dried ones from your local oriental shop or Chinatown.
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of meat curry powder (rempah kari daging).
• 1 teaspoon of coarse salt (garam kasar).
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of dried chili paste (cili boh).
• Coconut milk. Prepare two types of thickness. One very creamy and one very watery. You can use fresh milk instead of coconut milk.
• 1 potato (kentang) skinned and cut into 4 to 6 pieces.

The Method
• Heat up oil in a wok on medium flame.
• Once the oil is hot, add the star anise, cardamon, cinnamon and curry leaves. Leave for a few seconds and add the shallots, garlic and ginger. Stir well till slightly yellow.
• Add the dried chili paste and the curry powder and mix well.
• Put in the chicken and mix till all the chicken is covered with the mix. Let it cook slightly for a few minutes so the curry flavour is well marinated into the chicken.
• Prepare the diluted coconut milk and add to the chicken. Leave to boil while stirring it occasionally so it doesn't burn at the bottom of the wok and the chicken cooks evenly.
• Once it starts boiling add the potato.
• Leave for about 10 minutes and check whether the potato is soft and cooked.
• At this point if the gravy is not thick enough start adding the creamy coconut milk and leave to simmer on low to medium flame.
• Once the gravy is thick enough, check to see the potato is soft and the chicken cooked.
• When that is done turn the flame off and leave to cool.
• Now its ready to be served. ;-)

Here is the video. Had fun on this one. Mum cracks me up.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Rendang Daun Bertempoyak

Mum and I went to Kuala Pilah to get the ingredients for this dish, some are found in our backyard though. Its quite an interesting dish. Not one of my favourites... too much green, hahaha. Although I did have a taste and it does taste wonderful. I'm very sure it'll taste good with rice. Mum loves this dish. Lagi lagi ada tempoyak. Its a traditional Negeri Sembilan dish. Normally its a minimum of 7 types of leaves but you can have more than 7 types if you want.

I think this is more of a South East Asian dish, either that or its a very malay dish. Some of the leaves used in this recipe are found only in this region, although I might be wrong. I found the scientific names but somehow I don't think I'm gonna put them on the blog. Its a bit too scientific for my blood. So I guess this one is really for the people here in Malaysia and I think I'll do this one in malay.

All the leaves for this dish.

Bahan Bahan A: Daun-daun 
• Daun pucuk kunyit.
• Daun pucuk kentut.
• Daun pucuk cengkerik.
• Daun pucuk kaduk.
• Daun pucuk labu.
• Daun pucuk ubi.
• Serai.
Racik semua daun dan serai nipis nipis.
• Petai. Dibuang kulit dan di belah dua.

Bahan Bahan B: Blender
• Cili api.
• Kunyit.
Blender sedikit santan cair, cili api dan kunyit di blenderkan

Bahan Bahan C: Rendang
• 5 sudu besar tempoyak.
• Santan, pati santan dan santan yang cair.
• Ikan masin tenggiri jeruk di potong dua.
• Garam kasar.

Cara Memasak
• Letak kan bahan blender,  ke dalam kuali. Masukkan  ikan tenggiri jeruk, pati santan dan baki santan cair tadi ke dalam kuali dan pasnag kan api yang sederhana.
• Biar sampai mendidih. Masukkan sedikit garam kasar. Jangan banyak sangat kerana ikan masin tadi dah masin.
• Masukkan tempoyak dan biarkan mendidih.
• Bila ikan masin tenggiri sudah lembut, buangkan tulang ikan itu. Biarkan ia mendidih.
• Selepas 5 minit, sehingga pekat sedikit, masukkan daun daun, petai dan serai kedalam kuali. Gaulkan dengan sebati.
• 10 minit kemudian ia akan pekat. Gaulkan lagi hingga sebati.
• Biar lagi sehingga cukup pekat. Tak lah pekat sangat...basah basah sikit. Boleh lah dihidang.

So I hope you try this one. Its a bit hard to get the leaves but it sure is good when its done. Here is the video. The whole family... well most of the family came by and made an appearance on this one.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Email Subscription taken out & Happy Deepavali!

My apologies to all that have subscribed to the email notification subscription. It doesn't seem to work. I've posted a few posts since I installed the gadget on the blog and no emails... hmmm. So the best thing was to take it out. If you have any suggestions on other gadgets that works, please do inform me.

I had that installed because being a follower doesn't really give you notifications except on your reader lists on google and perhaps some others that I haven't figured out yet. But since it doesn't work, I decided to take it out. My apologies if it has inconvenienced you and for those who have subscribed through this service, I hope you do come back and keep supporting mum and I. ;-)

Happy Deepavalli!

We would also like to take this opportunity to wish all our Hindu friends and followers a happy festival of lights! I read a quote from somewhere this week and thought it as one of the best quotes for this occasion -

"May the lights of our lamps be a reflection of the light within... only when the ego is shattered can one celebrate the true self within" - Unknown

Kari Mee/Bihun (Noodles or Rice Vermicelli Curry)

Unshelled cockles (kerang)

The first noodle recipe we have on this...yay! Mum absolutely loves this. Its one of those all time favourites for the family. The picture on the left is what cockles (kerang) look like before being shelled. Actually I'm not even sure why I think people abroad do not know what it looks like. Silly me! But since I took the picture, I might as well use it, no? ;-)

My sister from the UK has confirmed dates of her arrival in February. So there are big plans to celebrate her birthday. She is also planning to take mum and dad away to Langkawi or another tropical island. Guess who has to look for hotel accommodation lah? ;-) But truly i don't mind. Cheap and luxurious was the brief...hmmm. Is there such a thing these days? Anyway...will try and find lah. I will have some time off in February hopefully so I just might go with them.

Anyway, here is the recipe to this yummy-licious dish. Have fun making it. Its not so difficult. Just a lot of ingredients. Its normally served to the whole family. Hardly ever do I see people make it for one. So if you're planning a dinner or lunch, this is ideal.

Here goes...

The ingredients

The Ingredients
• A packet of yellow noodles (mee kuning)
• A packet of rice vermicelli (bihun)
• A quarter chicken (ayam) cut into small pieces.
• 10 medium sized prawns (udang) cleaned, shelled and cut into 2.
• 30 to 40 cockles (kerang)
• 20 shallots (bawang kecil) sliced thinly.
• 5 garlic (bawang putih) Sliced thinly.
• 1 inch of ginger (halia) cut in thin strips.
• 5 dried bean curd (tahu kering) cut into three pieces each.
• 3 stems of curry leaves.
• 6 to 7 tablespoons of dried chili paste (cili boh).
• 3 tablespoons of curry powder (rempah kari).
• 2 star anise (bunga lawang).
• 3 inches of cinnamon (kayu manis).
• 5 cardamon seeds (buah pelaga).
• Coconut milk (santan).
• Course salt

Garnishing

The Garnishing

• 4 hard boiled eggs, shelled and cut into 4.
• Some mustard greens (sawi) dipped in boiled water with some salt and a bit of bicarbonate soda. The bicarbonate soda will help to retain the green colour in the vegetable.
• Some green and red chillies (cili merah dan hijau) sliced thinly.
• Chinese celery and spring onions, sliced thinly.
• Some lime.

The Method: The gravy

• Heat up your oil in a wok.
• Once heated, add the star anise, cardamon, cinnamon and curry leaves first before putting in your onions, ginger and garlic. Leave to cook for awhile till yellow.
• Then add your dried chili paste and mix well. Also add some coarse salt.
• When the chili feels cooked, add your curry powder and mix.
• Add your chicken and mix it evenly. Add some water to cook the chicken.
• At this point take the stems of the curry leaves out.
•Leave to boil on a medium flame for 2 minutes.
• Then add the prawns and cockles. Mix well.
• Prepare your diluted coconut milk and mix it into the wok. If the coconut milk is too thick add water. Leave to boil to cook the chicken. This is where the aroma of the gravy comes out. Keep stirring so that it doesn't burn at the bottom of the wok. Leave it for about 10 minutes.
• Add the dried bean curd, mix it well and leave to simmer on low flame for another 8 to 10 minutes. Then it should be ready to be served. Don't let the gravy be too thick.

Mee/bihun

The Method: The noodles and the garnishing.

• Boil some water with salt.
• Once boiled put in the rice vermicelli to soften.
• The same method with the yellow noodles.
• Then add a bit of bicarbonate soda to the boiling water and add the mustard greens (sawi) into the boiling water.
• Also prepare your hard boiled eggs, lime, celery and spring onions to be served.

Here is the video. Wasn't hard to edit this time around. Hope i didn't mess it up. ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Kari Dal dengan Daging (Lentil Curry with Beef)

Ready to be served.

Mum decided to make this after my sister Ainita, the one in the UK requested it. Its a long process from the tenderising of the meat to the editing of the video. We even had to go down to Port Dickson for the day to get over the cooking of this Dal...hahaha. We cooked it last week and its taken me this long to edit the video. And I had to edit it down from 54 minutes to just under 28 minutes. It was a challenge. Tina was around so a lot of kacau-bilau but in the sweetest way, of course. ;-)

We went to Kajang market to get the ingredients. Somehow this time it was extra smelly according to my mom. Thank god I stayed in the car to take care of my niece... my saviour, hahaha. But saying that, I find Kajang market very interesting. It still has the old element attached to it. People are friendly and chit chatty not so much for a sale but just plain chit chats. Of course mum has her regular meat man, fish man and all her other men lah. ;-) oooo...that didn't sound right but you know what i mean. I managed to take some pictures with my phone when I was there last which was awhile back. I think during the fasting month. Will post when I have a better story to tell.

Anyways, psyche yourself when you decide to make this. It takes awhile to prepare and make but when its finished... memang very yummy. Tak menyesal lah for sure! Its eaten with rice, nasi minyak, roti, roti canai and anything lah yang ada dalam dapur tu. Asalkan sedap makan je. ;-)

Ingredients A (for the stock and tenderising the beef)

• 850 grams of beef (daging lembu) cut into small pieces. You can use mutton to replace the beef if you prefer.
• 650 grams of ribs (tulang lembu)
• 7 garlic (bawang putih), crushed but still intact ie just broken.
• 2 inches of ginger (halia), crushed but still intact ie just broken.
• 2 star anise (bunga lawang).
• 2 inches of cinnamon (kayu manis).
• 5 cardamon (buah pelaga).
• Coarse salt (garam kasar)
• 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper (lada hitam)

 Ingredients B (the lentils)
• 3 cups of lentils (dal ) cleaned and to be soaked for at least 2 hours to soften it.

Ingredients C, very colourful, no?

Ingredients C (the vegetables)
• 4 young cooking bananas (pisang muda), skinned and cut into 4 pieces. Soak it in water to to avoid oxidation.

• 4 young mangoes (manga muda), skinned and sliced.
• 4 long beans (kacang panjang), cut into 2 inch length.
• 1 tomato, cut into 4.
• 1 carrot (lobak merah) skinned and sliced.
• 2 red chili (cili merah), seeded and cut into two length ways.
• 1 green chili (cili hijau), seeded and cut into two length ways.
• 1 round brinjal (terung bulat), cut into 6. Soak it in water to avoid oxidation.
• 1 large onion (bawang besar), cut into 4
• 1 potato (kentang), skinned and cut into 6 and soak in water to avoid oxidation.

Ingredients D, bahan penumis.

Ingredients D (for the curry)
• 10 shallots (bawang kecil) sliced.
• 1 to 2 inches of ginger (halia) cut into strips.
• 6 garlic (bawang putih) sliced.
• 3 strips of curry leaves (daun kari) .
• 3 star anise (bunga lawang).
• 2 inches cinnamon (kayu manis).
• 4 to 5 cardamon (buah pelaga).
• 6 to 7 tablespoon dried chili paste (cili boh).
• 3 to 4 tablespoon meat curry powder (rempah kari daging).
• Thick coconut milk (santan).
• Some ghee.

The Method Part 1: Tenderising the beef and making some stock (using ingredient A and B)
• Heat up the wok and put some oil.
• Put in the star anise, cinnamon and cardamon first. And then put in your garlic and ginger and coarse salt. Leave it for half a minute or less.
• Then put all the meat in and mix well.
• Add some black pepper and stir till everything is mixed.
• Mum calls it 'sealing the flavour' process, which really means the red meat has gone brownish.
• So once everything is well mixed and 'sealed', transfer the meat to your slow cooker. (You can use your stove too but keep adding water if it gets dry.)
• Add enough water to sink the meat and leave for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• After 2 hours, strain the lentils and add it into the slow cooker.
• After another half an hour, try to take all the star anise, cardamon and cinnamon out of the cooker. And strain the meat and lentils from the stock and put aside.

The Method Part 2: The curry (using ingredient B and C)
• Heat up your wok. Put in some ghee and oil.
• When its hot, add the star anise, cardamon, cinnamon and the curry leaves.
• Then add the shallots, ginger and garlic. Mix well and let it cook till its yellow-ish.
• Add your dried chili paste and mix well to cook the chili. Add some course salt but not too much since the stock is already salted.
• Add the meat curry powder and mix well.
• After 3 to 4 minutes and the mix is boiling, add the thick coconut milk and leave to boil.
• When its boiling, add the carrots, potato, banana and the brinjals first. These are the hard vegetables that needs a longer time to cook. Leave for about 15 minutes.
• Then add the meat and the lentils into the wok and mix well.
• Leave to boil for awhile and add the rest of the vegetables except the tomato which is added 3 minutes later.
• If the gravy looks a bit too thick, add some diluted coconut milk and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Now its ready to be eaten. ;-)

It is a long process I must admit. Keep referring to the video to see whether you are doing it right. Please do try it cause after all that trauma and hectic-ness, you might just be pleased with the result. And please comment if you tried it to tell us what you think.

Here is the video. Tina and mum are in this. ;-)

I just realised that there are some editing mix up in the video where it says that the cooking starts finally and it didn't. ;-) And a few more mistakes during that part.  My apologies. I've actually trashed the originals so I can't really correct it. Yikes! Itu lah kalau buat editing tengah malam.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Rendang Daging (Beef Rendang)

Since raya haji is coming up I thought its appropriate to post this. I've had this for awhile just didn't get the time to edit the video and write it out. And of course malas tu pun ada jugak. ;-) But I finally did it. It's a bit sloppy but i think you'll get the gist of it. Its pretty similar to the goreng limpa berempah just different meat and lots more coconut milk.  

The Ingredients

• 1 kg of beef (daging lembu) sliced thinly (watch the video on how to cut the beef). Mix with salt. We've also added a bit of cows lung (paru) and spleen (limpa).
• 10 to 13 shallots (bawang kecil).
• 4 to 5 garlic (bawang putih).
• 2 inches of ginger (halia).
• 6 to 8 small chilies (cili padi).
• 2 sticks of lemon grass (serai).
• 2 tablespoons of dried chili paste (cili boh).
• 2 inches of galangal (lengkuas).
• 2 kg of  thick coconut milk (santan pekat)
• Salt
• 3 tablespoon of kerisik (grated, toasted and grounded coconut) prepared earlier.

The Method

• Blend the shallots, garlic, ginger, small chillies, lemon grass, dried chili paste and galangal till its fine.
• Marinade the beef (salt added to the beef at this point) with all the blended ingredients. Leave for at least 5 minutes, more if you're not in a hurry.
• Heat up your wok with oil. Once oil is hot, put in the beef and the marinade into wok.
• Add a bit of water and leave to boil. This is to tenderise the beef. Keep stirring so that the beef don't get burnt.
• Leave to boil while stirring it for 10 to 15 minutes. The liquid will get dry and the beef tender.
• When the gravy gets dry, add the thick coconut milk and mix well. Leave to boil while keep stirring.
• The coconut milk will get thicker. When that happens add kerisik into the rendang and mix well. Leave for it to dry. At this point, the aroma is just yummy.
• When its dry enough, turn the flame off. If you prefer it very dry, keep a low flame on and let it dry. We like it with a bit of gravy.
• When it cools down, its ready to be served. You can eat it with lemang. Even the thought makes me salivate. Yum!!

Here is the video. This was done in a bit of a rush... well when i say rush, it really means I didn't really spend too much time on it. Yikes! So here goes...

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Masak Lemak Cili Api Ayam (Chicken Yellow Curry)

Masak Lemak Cili Api Ayam

This is a request from my dear dear friend Els Belles. We've had a few masak lemak cili api dinners while we were students in England. This is also a typical Negeri Sembilan dish. Memang tak boleh lah kalau orang Negeri tak suka nie. When we run out of things to cook, this always comes to mind and voila its on the table. Easy to cook and tasty to eat with rice, bread, roti canai, roti arab and tons others.
Another one of my all time favourites. I know I know...it seems like everything I've posted is my favourite. ;-)

Kaffir Lime Leaves

The Ingredients

• 1 chicken cut into small pieces. You can also use beef to replace the chicken.

• 8 to 9 small chillies (cili api).
• 1 potato (kentang) skinned and cut into 4 to 6 pieces.
• 1 inch of fresh turmeric (kunyit) or turmeric powder.
• 3 sticks of lemongrass (serai). Crush it slightly to release the flavour.
• 2 to 3 pieces of kaffir lime leaf (daun limau purut). Refer to picture on the left.
• Course salt.
• Coconut milk (santan), two types, one thick and one diluted.

The Method

• Pound the chillies, course salt and fresh turmeric into a very fine texture.
• Put the chicken and also the pounded mix into a wok.
• Without putting the flame on, mix them all well.
• Put some water into your mortar and pestle (alah...batu tumbuk lah..haha) and add the water into the wok. Mix everything and put the flame on.
• Let it simmer for awhile to seal the chicken flavour.
• Keep on stirring so it doesn't burn at the bottom of the wok.
• Add the lemongrass and mix well.
• When the water gets a bit dry, add the diluted coconut milk and let it boil to tenderise the chicken. Also add the cut potato.
• Put the flame down and leave it to boil.
• Add the kaffir lime leaves for flavour and leave for 10 mins.
• When the chicken is tender and the potato is cooked, add thick coconut milk and mix well. The amount depends on how creamy you want this dish to be.
• Leave to simmer on low flame till the gravy is slightly thick.
• And once you get it to the consistency of your choice, its ready to be served.

I know it seems a bit hectic cooking this but its really quite easy. Not many ingredients and oh so yummy. ;-) Some people cook it very differently like using oil and onions but this is how we do it. Have a good one!

Here is the video, my nieces Darling and Qistina made an appearance. Qistina provided the entertainment. Have a look! ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Roti Jala (Net Pancake)

Roti Jala, an all time favourite. Memang sedap kalau makan dengan kari ayam. So you need to have your chicken curry before you make this one. I'll try post chicken curry soon. Its quite similar to mutton curry. Bibik is the one that made this for us today.

The Ingredient

• About 4 tablespoon full of all purpose flour.
• 1 egg
• Water, I have no measurements for this. You will need enough for the consistency of the mix.
• A bit of turmeric powder for the yellow colour.
• 1 teaspoon full of margarine.
• Salt

Roti Jala cup

The Method
• Mix about 1 cup of water, egg, salt, turmeric powder and margarine in a blender.
• Start putting in flour in the blender till you get the right consistency ie a pancake like batter.
• Once you get the right consistency, strain the mix so that you don't get lumps.
• Heat up your flat wok. And grease it when its hot.
• Put some of the flour mix into the roti jala cup (see picture) and let it flow out onto the flat wok in a circular motion till it forms somewhat a net like pattern.
• Cook until its set. Move to a plate and fold it. You will probably have to do a few before you get the hang of it but i promise you, you will enjoy it.
• Repeat the process until you finish the mix.

Here is the video and have fun. ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Good times & quality moments...with the family.

This is not a recipe.

Just some videos i have on my computer that i thought i should compile. I've also been a bit busy with work. Started my 3 month stint with Cosmopolitan Malaysia. Met some great people there. And having a wonderful time. 

Anyway, I have some birthday videos to share. We're not really big on birthdays but we almost always spend it with the family. There's always a cake and family members singing happy birthday. My younger sister turning 40 was a good one. It was during Ramadhan so the cake was cut after we broke fast. My dads 73rd birthday celebration was good too. Almost the whole family were there. Maybe next year when Nita is back from UK, we'll have a full birthday party. ;-) And there is also Qistina, my youngest niece doing ballet in the video. Its cute to see a 3 year old having aspirations to become a ballerina. She's a natural showgirl that one. ;-) And there is also Kayongs graduation is on this. She is the eldest of all my nieces and nephew. She has set really high standards for the rest of them. Good on ya Kayong!

So enjoy getting to know the family. They are the people that makes my life worthwhile. ;-)

So here goes.

 

And thank you to all that have commented. I also found out yesterday that we have viewers from Egypt, USA, UK, Australia, Poland, Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, France and of course Malaysia. Thank you for all the support. I hope you will continue watching this space. Mum and i have had a lot of fun doing this blog. Please comment and be a follower. Would love to know who you are and if you have any requests. Kalau kita dapat buat, we will do it for sure.

Thanks again.

Ikan Bilis Goreng dengan Petai (Fried Dried Anchovies with Bitter Beans)

Ikan Bilis Goreng dengan Petai

This is one tasty dish. Eaten with either pulut or rice. Sometimes the petai can be replaced with tempoyak (fermented durian) or you can omit the petai completely. I love love love this dish. Its probably my favourite simple dish of all time. I can have it with anything, sometimes even on its own.
Petai can be quite stinky so be careful when you eat it. Make sure you are not going for an appointment after.

Petai (Bitter Beans)

The Ingredients

• 1 bawang besar (large onions).
• 10 bawang merah (shallots).
• 10 Cili api (small chillies). Its up to you how hot you want it to be.
• Garam kasar (coarse salt).
All of the above should be pounded coarsely.
• Ikan bilis (dried anchovies) a handful.
• Around 15 to 20 petai (bitter beans).
• Assam keping (dried tamarind pieces), just a small piece.

The Method
• Heat up oil in a wok and start frying the ikan bilis till its crispy. It takes awhile for it to be crispy but don't burn it cause it becomes quite bitter if it does.
• Once its crispy, take it out and put aside.
• Lessen the oil and fry the petai next. Let it fry for a couple of minutes. Put aside once its ready.
• Add a bit more oil and fry the pounded ingredients. Add a bit of water so it cooks evenly till the oil starts to surface.
• Add the assam keping to make it less hot and mix well.
• Leave to cool down and add the fried ikan bilis just before you serve.

Here is the video. Mum and Bibik are both in this video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Ikan Sepat Masin Goreng dengan Bawang (Fried Dried Salted Gurame Fish with Onions)

Ready to be served

This is an easy one. Normally eaten with rice or pulut. This is my mums favourite. The english translation of the fish was taken from the net. I'm not even sure whether ikan sepat is gurame fish in english. If I'm wrong, please correct me and I'll make amendments. ;-)

The Ingredients

• Ikan Sepat Masin (dried salted gurame fish) 3 to 4 whole fish cut into small pieces.
• 1 bawang besar (large onion) sliced.
• Cili api (small chillies) pounded with salt added.

The Method

• Heat up oil in a wok.
• Fry the ikan sepat masin till its brown and crispy. Put aside.
• Lessen the oil in the wok, and fry the pounded chilli first. Then add the sliced onions and mix them well.
• Add the fried ikan sepat masin and mix.
• Its ready to be served.
Told you its an easy one. ;-)

Here is the video. Mum and bibik takes  centre stage here. ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Pulut Kukus (Steamed Glutinous Rice)

I had to get up at 6.30am to get myself to Bangi on a Sunday so I can post this one. Got there just before 8am, in time for the cooking process.

We have this for breakfast almost every weekend. Yummy. This is usually served with ikan bilis goreng dengan petai or ikan masin goreng dengan bawang which I will post after this. Sometimes we have it with sambal tumis.
The pulut is normally cooked with santan (coconut milk) but we have decided not to so its slightly healthier... konon nya lah. Tapi we are a family of pelahaps so the healthy part is kinda vague when this is served.

Pulut Kukus

The Method

• Leave the beras pulut (glutinous rice) in water with salt and tamarind overnight so that it softens. The tamarind will make it shine when its cooked.
• Prepare your steamer and put the beras pulut in to be steamed. Add some pandan leaves for the aroma. Leave about 20 minutes.
• Take the half cooked pulut out of the steamer. Add water and a bit of salt to taste and mix it well. Don't mash the pulut too much. This process is just to avoid it from being lumpy.
• Put the pulut back into the steamer and leave it for another 15 minutes till the pulut is fluffy and cooked. Taste it for the softness. If its still not ready, steam it a bit longer till you get the desired texture.

Here is the video, mum and bibik are in this one.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Goreng Limpa Berempah (Fried Spiced Spleen)

Its been 2 weeks since my last post, so you are gonna get a few posts today...well I hope today lah. Goreng Limpa Berempah is one of my favourites from my mum. Served with rice. You can also eat it with bread. Its been awhile since we had this. I hope the video explains it better than my writing. ;-)

Here goes...

The Ingredients

• Limpa (cow spleen). Dipped in hot water and remove the skin. Then slice thinly. Mix with salt.
• 10 bawang kecil (shallots).
• 3 to 4 bawang putih (garlic).
• 2 inches of halia (ginger).
• 6 to 8 cili padi (small chillies).
• 2 sticks of serai (lemon grass).
• 2 tablespoons of cili boh (dried chilli paste).
• 2 inches of lengkuas (galangal).
• Santan pekat (thick coconut milk)
• Salt
• 3 tablespoon of kerisik (grated, toasted and grounded coconut). This needs to be prepared earlier. I will try post how to make this at some point but you can buy this ready made.
Blend bawang kecil, bawang putih, halia, chilli padi, serai, cili boh and lengkuas till its fine. Marinade the limpa with all the blended ingredients. Leave for at least 5 minutes, more if you want to.

The Method

• Heat up some oil in your wok at medium flame.
• Once its hot, put in the marinated limpa. Add a bit of water and mix well.
• Leave it to simmer until its slightly dry. Keep mixing so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the wok and leave for awhile till it dries further, not too dry though.
• When it is thick and slightly dry, lower the flame and add the kerisik. Mix well.
• Add the thick coconut milk. Just a bit though so it is wet. This is for the gravy.
• Add salt to taste.
• Leave it for awhile longer and its ready to be served.

Tip

Leave a bit of limpa and gravy in the wok. Add some leftover rice and mix well. Taste good. ;-)

Here is the video. Mum, Bibik and my dad are in this video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Kari Kambing (Mutton Curry)

Mom, Hakiem (my nephew), Bibik (our helper) and myself went to the Kajang market to get the ingredients for this. It was quite an experience. I've never been to the market to take pictures so I started looking a bit more.

Dr. Abdul Ghani

We bought the mutton from this man, Dr. Abdul Ghani who had a nice story to tell. He is the eldest in his family and he had to take care of his brothers and sisters. So he quit school after secondary school and started working by selling mutton at the market. Once all his siblings went to work he decided to go back to school and managed to obtain his Phd in Humanity. He jokes about being too old to be hired by any companies so he continued his mutton meat business. A very cool man and full of laughs.

My apologies for taking so long to post this. I had a bit of problems with the video cause I think I missed some parts of the cooking and everything was just a bit messy lah. Just refer back to the text to see whether you are doing it correctly. This was the first video we did so maklum kan eje lah, k.

So here goes...

This is where it all begins

The Ingredients

• Daging kambing (mutton) cut into medium pieces.
• About 2 inches of halia (ginger), sliced into small strips.
• 1 bawang besar (large onions). Sliced.
• 10 bawang merah (shallots). Sliced.
• 5 bawang putih (garlic). Sliced.
• 'Bahan penumis' includes kayu manis (cinnamon), bunga lawang (star anise) and buah pelaga (cardamon). A few of each.
• Daun kari (curry leaves).
• Rempah kari daging (meat curry powder)
• Garam kasar (Coarse salt)
• Cili boh (dried chilli paste)
• Santan (coconut milk). Prepare three thickness. One very creamy, one medium thick and one very watery.
• 1 kentang (potato) skinned and cut into 4 to 6 pieces.

Ready to be served

The Method

• Heat up your wok with oil. Once the oil is hot, put in the large onion, shallots garlic, ginger, salt, curry leaves and the 'bahan penumis'. Let it fry for awhile.
• Add about two big spoons of chilli boh and add two tablespoons of curry powder. Mix them well.
• Add the meat and mix well so that all the meat is covered. Keep stirring. Add some chilli boh and curry powder to enhance the colour and flavour.
• When the meat has decreased in size, add water until the meat is slightly submerged. Stir well. Leave to boil so the meat is tenderised. This will take awhile.
• When the water decreases add the watery coconut milk and stir well. Let it boil to tenderised the meat even more. This is the time to add the potato. Mom forgot to add the potato on the video so she boiled it separately and added it later on.
• This is where I missed taping it. Again when the liquid decreases add the medium thick coconut milk and let it boil. Leave it to thicken.
• You can add the thick coconut milk if you want the curry creamier and let it boil for awhile longer. But if you feel that its thick enough, then you can go without. Turn the fire off and leave it to cool down. It will still slowly thicken even more.
• Then serve it with rice, nasi minyak or eat it with bread, naan and others.

Here is the messy video. My moms bibik made a short appearance in this video. She has been with us for 12 years. We do love our bibik. ;-)

 

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Acar Nenas (Pineapple Salad)

This is a quick one normally eaten with nasi minyak, curry etc. We've modified this slightly. We didn't use vinegar, instead we've used salad oil.

So here goes...

Dried shrimp powder

The Ingredients
• Cili padi (small chillies).
• Cili merah (Red chillies).
• Udang kering (dried shrimp) powder.
• Salt.
All of the above ingredients are pounded finely.
• Pineapple cleaned and the core removed.
• Bawang merah (shallots) sliced thinly.
• Cucumber, the skin and the middle part removed. The sides are sliced.
• Salad oil or clear vinegar.
Update: My sister, Ainita uses french dressing instead of vinegar.

The Method

• Put the pounded ingredients and the sliced ones in a bowl. Mix well.
• Add the salad oil and salt to taste. Vinegar is normally used for this.

Thats it. Easy huh? Hahaha. Here is the video. My dear younger sister, Eileena is in this one.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang, memang lebih sedap. Enjoy!

Kuah Kacang (Peanut Sauce)

Finally I managed to do this one. Ponek den. So so sorry it took so long to get myself together but its finally done. I don't have a final image of the kuah kacang and I think even the video was cut short a bit so we don't really get to see it done... ampun ampun! But I think you can figure out lah how it looks like. We normally eat this with nasi impit or ketupat. I don't think this is suppose to be for satay though although it does look like it. The making of the ketupat casing is soooo confusing so nanti lah. Maybe next raya we'll figure that one out.

So here goes...

Raw peanuts with thin skin

The Preparation

• You will need to fry some raw peanuts without any oil on low fire. It takes a bit of time but just don't burn the peanuts.
• When its cooked, you will need to get the thin skin off so its just the peanuts.
• Pound it but not too fine. You want to have some chunky-ish peanuts and some fine ones for the Kuah Kacang.

Smart Cooking: My sister, Ainita who lives in England uses chunky peanut butter instead and she says the final product is a lot creamier. So she skips this part of the process. ;-) She'll be back in February, so we'll be making steamboat for her so if this blog is still happening at that point, you will get steamboat! Yay!

The Ingredients

• 10 bawang merah (shallots).
• 5 bawang putih (garlic).
• 1 inch of lengkuas (galangal).
• 2 sticks of serai (lemon grass).
• Udang kering (dried shrimp) powder, just a bit of this
• 2 tablespoons of belachan (shrimp paste).
• 4 tablespoons of cili boh (dried chilli paste).
• Salt
All the above ingredients are blended to become more like a paste. Add a bit of water for it to become paste-y. (My English teacher must be pulling her hair out if she read this)
• Air assam jawa (tamarind paste mixed with a bit of water)
• Gula Anau or Gula Melaka (Palm sugar). My mom gets her gula melaka from pasar kuala pilah. Its the best. You don't have to, you can use any old gula melaka. ;-)
• 1 bawang besar (large onions) to be sliced. Do not blend these 3 last ingredients.

Gula Anau

The Method

• Heat up some oil in a wok and when the oil is hot, put in the large onions. Once it is yellow, put in the blended ingredients.
• Add a bit of water so it'll cook. Wait till the oil surfaces (naik minyak lah tu).
• Put in the air assam jawa and let it simmer for a bit.
• Then add the peanuts. The mix will start to thicken. Once that happens, add air assam. Let it simmer.
• If the colour doesn't seem right, add a bit more cili boh.
• Add the gula anau into the simmering mix. The colour will become a bit reddish. My mom melted the gula anau first before adding it into the mix but you can just cut it and add. It'll melt itself. Add more water to the mix. Cook until thicken.

Here is the video. It was fun having my nephew, Hakiem around while we made this.

 

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang, memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Nasi Goreng Halia (Ginger Fried Rice)

Its the second day of raya and we are full to the brim with lemang and rendang so we decided to make something simple with no fuss. We had some leftover rice from yesterday, so we decided to make nasi goreng halia. This is what we normally have for breakfast. Its one of those must haves at least once a week type meal. Served with telur mata lembu (fried egg sunny side up).
I know I said i was gonna post the curry, paceri, etc but I got distracted and sidetracked and since this is easier to write about and fast to make, I just thought this one goes first lah. Students banyak suka nie pasal senang nak buat. I remember cause i was a student once long time ago... hmmm, i hear the sniggering in the background.

So here goes:

The ingredients that needs pounding

The Ingredients
You might need to add more to this ingredient, it all depends on how much rice you are frying...pandai pandai lah, k. ;-)
• 4 to 5 bawang kecik (shallots)
• 1 and half inches halia (ginger).
• 8 to 10 cili api (small chillies).
• 1 cili merah (red chilli).
• Garam kasar (course salt) to taste.
All the ingredients above has to be finely pounded.
• A handful of ikan bilis (dried anchovies).
Add the ikan bilis to pounded ingredients. This should'nt be pounded finely. Just broken slightly. Tengok kat video nanti.
• Nasi sejuk - its important for the rice to be cold rice. If you have just cooked the rice, make sure you let it cool down first before frying.

Nasi goreng halia, its good. Percaya- lah. ;-)

The Method

• Once the ingredients are pounded, heat your wok up, keep the fire to a medium low and put some oil, enough to cook the pounded ingredients.
• Add the pounded ingredients to the hot oil. When its cooked ie the oil has surfaced and the ingredients is slightly yellow (jangan lah sampai yellow sangat), put in the rice and start mixing it well.
• Put down the fire so that you don't burn the rice while mixing the rice. Make sure it spreads evenly on the rice and there are no clumps.
• Fry an egg and put it on the fried rice and its ready to be served. ;-) Kalau nak pedas lagi, letak lah cili padi potong.

Senang kan? And very sedap.

Here is the video. Again... apologies for the kelam kabut-ness of the video. ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang, memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!