Sambal Terasi (Mums version of Chili Oil)

OK, OK, its taken me awhile to get my big behind to start this again but I am back and I have a whole load of recipes for you to try. Yes, yes... I will try not to have another long pause. I was being slightly lazy... alright... very lazy. My apologies.

This is really my mums version of the Chinese chili oil. You can eat it to compliment your rice dish whether its fried rice, steamed rice with other dishes or some of us, namely me eat it on its own... yeah yeah a bit much but its just so so yummy. ;-) So try it out. You can keep it in the refrigerator, so make tons so that it'll last.

The Ingredient

• Shrimp paste
• 4 to 6 fresh red chilies
• 8 to 10 tablespoons of dried chili paste
• 20 small chilies (optional)

The Method

• Cook or roast the shrimp paste till its dry and completely cooked.
• Blend all the chilies and the shrimp paste.
• Heat up your wok with some oil.
• Cook all the blended goods for about 10 minutes till it thickens and the the oil rises. Add some oil and dried chili paste if needed.

An easy one but oh so sedap. The video is a bit choppy but you'll get what I mean. ;-)

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

Will post soon! Sabar ye...

Its been more than a month since my last post. Mum has been asking what to make next... and I keep saying 'tunggu dulu' cause I've got about 5 recipes still waiting to be posted. Once I'm done with my work deadlines, I will work on this again. I haven't forgotten this blog, just that this magazine I'm working on is taking quite a bit of my time. I will be done in about 2 more weeks and I will concentrate on this blog.

And I do have some good recipes to post. Some of my favourites for sure. But tunggulah a few more weeks and I will start posting again. Don't give up on mum and I yet! ;-)

Thanks for your patience. ;-)

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. ;-)