Khanom Paeng Na Moo (Thai pork toast)

This is an extremely tasty snack that I stumbled upon. I would love to tell you where, if I can only remember where. But Khanom Paeng Na Moo is basically Thai pork mince on toast. It is very similar to the familiar French toast except it's coated with meat instead of just eggs. What makes this recipe delicious is the crispiness of the pork coating and the soft fluffy center after it is cooked. It's a perfect balance of flavors and an utter delight to the taste buds :)

This is one of the simplest recipe to do and I recommend that you try it for a little snack with some leftover unused minced meat. Or make a batch for entertaining - your guests will be pleased by this easy to eat food. It is also good served in room temperature as well. And I assure you, this recipe takes less than 30 minutes from prep to ready.

What you need for Khanom Paeng Na Moo (Thai pork toast):
(double, triple, quadruple recipe when necessary)

150g of mince pork (or any of your favorite minced meat)
1 egg (use two eggs if you're tripling/quadrupling your recipe)
2 stalks of spring onion, chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly into a chiffonade
1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch/cornflour
a pinch of chilli powder, more if you want it spicier (optional)
1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional, use soy sauce if you have none)
a large pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices of bread

Garnish: Lemon slices


Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients together except for the 4 slices of bread. Let it sit for 10 minutes to marinade while you heat a lightly oiled pan under medium heat.

2. Your meat mixture should resemble a thick paste that is easily spreadable. With a spoon, spread 1 spoonful of mixture evenly on each side of the bread and pan fry each side for 3-4 minutes.

3. Repeat for remaining slices of bread. After your Thai pork toast is done, let it cool for 5 minutes before cutting it into bite size piece and squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top before serving.


Best eaten with some chilled milk tea OR iced coffee.

Fettuccine Bolognese

Bolognese is perhaps the simplest, most beloved pasta sauce of all time. Very simply, it is the simplest sauce that is equally hearty and fulfilling. It's especially convenient for students or busy working adults alike, who would like to eat something really quick to ease hunger. Easily, you can also make this a very elegant meal. The trick is in the presentation.

All you need for a Bolognese sauce is marinara sauce, some minced meat and, but optional, red wine. You can save the red wine for those special moments where you have time to wait until the sauce simmers down a notch for that rich tasting velvet in your mouth.

But, this will be the easy peasy method for the busy bodies.

Fettuccine Bolognese - Simple version
(this recipe feeds 1 hungry person)

Pasta:
1 bundle of dry Fettuccine, with a diameter of 2.5cm
1 tbsp of salt
6 cups of water

Sauce:
2/3 cup marinara sauce - store bought ones are fine
100grams of minced chicken (preferably thigh and breast meat combined)
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbsp of olive oil

Method:
1. Put 4 cups of water and salt into a large pot until it starts to boil fiercely. Put your dry Fettuccine in to cook. Stir occasionally. It will need approximately 8 minutes.
2. In the mean time while the pasta is cooking, heat your pan with 1tbsp of olive oil and once the pan is hot, add your minced meat in. Saute, for 2minutes or until the meat looks semi-opaque and add garlic.
3. Pour in your marinara sauce, and let the mixture come to a simmer.
4. Your pasta should be about done by now, so while your sauce is cooking drain your pasta and maybe save a few tablespoons of pasta water on the side.
5. Add the cooked pasta into the simmering sauce and stir to combine nicely. If the pasta looks a bit too dry, add a few tablespoons of pasta water. Mix until the sauce and pasta combines well and serve with a nice crusty bread.


********

The elegant velvety version of Bolognese sauce

Sauce:
1.5 cup marinara sauce - store bought ones are fine
100grams of minced beef
100grams of minced veal/chicken
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of red wine (Anything below $11 and above $8 per bottle is decent for cooking, don't use anything you wouldn't drink- a very important tip. Serve the rest of the bottle with the meal)
2 tbsp of olive oil

Method:
1. While the pasta is cooking, heat your pan with 2tbsp of olive oil and once the pan is hot, add your minced meats in. Saute, for 2minutes or until the meat looks semi-opaque and add garlic.
2. Pour in your marinara sauce, and let the mixture come to a simmer.
3. After that, add your wine and let the sauce simmer down to half. It will take approximately 5 minutes on medium high heat. Simmer a bit longer if the sauce is too watery for your liking.
4. Your pasta should be done, so while your sauce is still cooking drain your pasta and maybe save a few tablespoons of pasta water on the side.
5. Add the cooked pasta into the simmering sauce and stir to combine nicely. If the pasta looks a bit too dry, add a few tablespoons of pasta water. Mix until the sauce and pasta combines well.

Serve by first plating the noodles and then top the rest of the sauce on top so that it looks ponzi and pretentious like you've spent forever in the kitchen preparing this. Smear some flour on your forehead to impress. ;P

Useful tip: Always use pasta water to thin the sauce if it gets too dry while cooking.

Kerabu Bok Nee (Nyonya -style Black Fungus Salad)

When I wrote Burnt and Alive, I said for Chinese Reunion Dinner, my mom wanted to make Nyonya Style Nasi Ulam to accompany the dinner. But all that changed when my dad's eldest brother invited us to have reunion dinner with his family, so the idea of making Nasi Ulam was scraped. I did however get the opportunity to eat Kerabu Bok Nee (Nyonya-style Black Fungus Salad) in Penang.

I was looking forward to making the Nasi Ulam and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when we couldn't. We were planning to go back to Penang on the 2nd day of CNY. To cook and clean on the first few days of CNY is taboo, of course, because according to Chinese traditions, we wouldn't want to wash the luck and prosperity away.

But back in Penang, my 5th grandaunt had already planned to cook a huge feast for all our immediate family members. The gesture was a real gem because she IS a wonderful Nyonya cook - her food is like a mirror to my late grandmother's, her older sister, except maybe a bit healthier. Anyway one of her dishes was Kerabu Bok Nee. It's been years (I think almost 10 years or more) since I've tasted this kerabu dish and hers was excellent. I got the recipe from her, of course. How could I not? It's a keeper. :)

You will note that preparation is more tedious than the actual assembly time. Like all good food, give it a bit of love and patience. You'll be rewarded splendidly :D






Kerabu Bok Nee recipe:

50grams black wood-ear fungus (bok nee), soaked for 10mins and cleaned off all dried/hard bits.




Dressing:
2 tbsp sambal belachan (Sriracha chili + a bit of fish sauce sauce can be a good substitute )
3 tbsp calamansi lime (normal green lime works as well)
2 tbsp Sugar, or to taste
1 tsp Salt, or to taste
150 grams of shallots, peels and sliced thinly length-wise
4 tbsp ginger flower/bunga kantan, finely sliced
2 tbsp of toasted grated coconut, pounded
1 fresh red chillies, de-seeded, diced finely
300 grams of chicken breast, steamed to cook and shredded

Assembly:

1. Combine the ingredients for Dressing starting with the liquids into a big bowl. Mix well.
2. Add black fungus and shredded chicken into the bowl and again toss until it is well combined.

You can eat the salad as it is. It's very refreshing and crunchy, I love the combination of texture and aroma a lot. Or you can eat it with rice and a dollop of sambal. You can double/triple/quadruple the recipe safely too.

I've been having lots of greens lately

Yea I'm on a green roll - green curry after my avocado pesto recipe hehe.

My green curry consists of blending fresh parsley with onion, garlic and ginger into a green pungent paste before cooking. I didn't want to use green chilies because I have a guy here who can't really take too much heat *snorts* :P

I have to say that this green curry was inspired by the green curry I had at this excellent Thai restaurant called ChuChai, in Montreal. Eating at Chuchai's is like eating art. Chef Lily has research Thai food artistry from Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and San Francisco and is definitely someone who knows how to present her native cuisine with flair and with flavor. I will be posting about my experience there shortly.

I think I forgot to mention that ChuChai serves vegetarian/vegan food only... :) Although many meat eaters are going to go 'Eww....vegetarian food', let me just say that you won't miss meat eating here..;)

Anyway, my green curry was inspired by Chef Lily's Thai green curry "chicken". The aroma and flavors are just.....Beautiful. It's perhaps the best tasting green curry I had in a while, better than Yellow Light in Penang circa 1997-98, Malaysia ( I know Yellow Light doesn't serve quality as it did before these days for some reason :/ ). Using my taste buds and intuition, I created an almost similar green curry. Not exactly the same but my partner said it was very close :)

Let me share the recipe with you:

Thai Green Curry (add chicken or whatever meat you desire)

Green curry paste:
2 large green onion
4 garlic cloves
1 inch knob of ginger
1 large bunch of green parsley (about 3 cups worth)
100-150ml water

The rest of the ingredients:
3 tablespoons oil
3 cloves
4 cardamom
1 star of anise
1 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 stalk of thai basil leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass, chopped
1 cup of coconut milk
half a red pepper, sliced
1 medium sized potato, cut into chunks
a handful of long beans, cut into 1.5 inch length
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon sugar (or to taste)
* it should be balanced, so add 1:1 for salt and sugar.

Kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly

500 grams chicken thighs/breast, cut into 1/2 inch slices (you can use mock meat too)

Method:
1. Grind the green curry paste ingredients until fine. Set aside until read to use.
2. Heat pan with oil under medium heat. Once heated, saute cardamom, clove, anise and cinnamon to flavor oil for about 2 minutes.
3. Add your green curry paste and turmeric powder in and saute further for another 5-10 minutes or until the paste is fried well or until you see oil surfacing around the corner. You can now pour your coconut milk in.
4. Let the mixture come to a simmer and with a slated spoon, scoop the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and anise out. It's done its job, so you can throw it away.
5. While the coconut mixture comes to a boil, add your thai basil leaves and lemongrass in with your chicken pieces and vegetables. Let it come to a boil and then turn down the heat to low and let the green curry simmer for about 15-20 minutes. On the last 5 minutes, add your kaffir lime leaves in.

Serve with white rice :)

P.S. I used vegetarian "chicken" for this recipe. Betcha thought it was REAL chicken, didn'tcha? :P

Ayam Masak Merah Madu (Red Honeyed Chicken)

Ayam Masak Merah, or Red Chicken, is a common dish found in Malay food eateries. In general, Ayam Masak Merah is a sweetish savory dish made from tomatoes and spices. It is a dish that goes very well with rice but during the Ramadan months in the Ramadan bazaars (in Malaysia, every race celebrates every festival as far as how I was brought up!) you will find Ayam Masak Merah Madu, which is Red Honeyed Chicken. That means on top of the already sweet dish, it is sweetened some more with caramelized honey.

I know what you're thinking, but it's not suppose to be candy sweet, it's just savory sweet - like honey bbq-ed ribs, for example. Caramelized and deep in flavors from the spices used. I have to admit, I wasn't particularly fond of this chicken recipe when I was back in Malaysia. I would eat it but it's not my favorite, if you know what I mean. But for some reason, I started craving now - just for the sweetish honeyed taste in the deep, thick, red sauce. Mmm...

I checked out several of the Ayam Masak Merah recipe online and finally concluded on a method, by referring to Amy Beh's Ayam Masak Merah recipe from Kuali.

Usually the chicken is marinated in tumeric, salt and pepper and it is first deep fried until crispy golden brown before it is added into the thick red honeyed sauce and further stewed until all the flavors marry.

So this is how my recipe goes:
A:
5-6 chicken drumsticks (you can use other chicken parts if you wish)
1.5 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon flour
a few dashes of pepper
Enough oil for deep frying/shallow frying

B for blending:
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 inch of ginger
5 red chilis, de-seeded
1 tablespoon cumin powder
2 tablespoon coriander powder

C for etCetera:
1 small can of tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, minced*
1 inch of ginger, minced*
4 pods of cardamom
3 cloves
1 star of anise
1 stick of cinnamon
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of water
salt to taste
1 Onion, sliced in rings
*cook's note: you don't really need the extra garlic and ginger but I like more of it in my dish :)

Method:
1. Let's start with ingredients in A. In a ziplock bag, add all of the ingredients in (except oil) and start squishing until the chicken pieces are well coated. Let it marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pan with medium heat. When oil is hot, add your chicken pieces and fry until all sides are golden brown. Drain them off the oil on a plate lined with paper towels and set them aside until they are ready for the next level.3. Now blend all the ingredients in B and set aside.
4. Discard most of the oil used for frying you chicken and leave about 2 tablespoons of oil in. With the same pan on medium high heat, saute your cardamom, cloves, star of anise and cinnamon until fragrant (approx 1-2 mins). After that, add the garlic, ginger, tomato paste and blended ingredients from B. Saute the all the ingredients together to form a thick paste. Add water, to thin the paste a little.
5. Now you can add your chicken and onion rings in. Start combining the sauce and chicken well, making sure every piece of chicken is coated and then add your honey in. Mix well again.
6. Let the sauce thicken and reduce, lower heat, cover the pan and continue cooking for about 15 minutes.
7. Your Ayam Masak Merah is now ready to serve! :)
I ate mine with steamed white rice and some fresh lettuce with my fingers. It cannot be a more satisfying meal.

BTW, save the sauce if you have leftovers and add hard boiled eggs into it. It's a whole new dish of its own ;)

Chicken Kimchi Stew

I don't know what on earth was I thinking when I made this stew. It's bloody hot and the temperature is 42C out... Now looking at it makes me sweat. I made this stew last evening because I had about 1/4 head of kimchi left. And kimchi stew was just a click away on this Korean food page I was looking at, I thought I'd give it a try.

Heat waves aside, the stew tastes good although I wouldn't drink it now when the weather is just scorching. It's a very simple stew served during the winter months by the Koreans. Go figure.

So you guys living in the southern hemisphere, this recipe would be perfect for you. The basic kimchi stew is just kimchi, onions, garlic and broth/water. But you can add anything you want inside. I am using chicken that I've sliced thinly. You can go ahead and use beef, mushroom, lamb, pork, tofu or all of that's listed. If you want to make kimchi, just click on my kimchi recipe here..

Here we go:
250grams of kimchi / 1/4 head of kimchi cabbage
3 cups of water
2tablespoon korean chili powder
2 cloves of mashed garlic
1 teaspoon of black pepper
Salt to taste
Green onions
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 chicken breast, sliced thinly and season with some salt pepper and cornflour

Other optional ingredients:
Tofu, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, venison, veal, broccoli, daikon radish, cabbage, carrots, turnips, potatoes, mushrooms, baby corn, etc.

Method:
1. Combine kimchi and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the rest of the ingredients in and let it cook for 10-15 minutes under medium heat.
2. Serve.

Yes, it's that's easy really :P

Eat it with rice or just drink it as it is. It's just delicious!

Butter Chicken (Chicken Makhani)

I cannot believe it's almost 4 days since my last post. I apologize dear readers, I've been really caught up with work. But I am back now so let me pick up where I left off.

As i wrote in my previous post Weekend Cookout, I cooked up a storm with Indian Inspired meals. One of the dished I prepared was Butter Chicken. This chicken curry dish is a very versatile one as you can adjust the spiciness level to your liking. My butter chicken was a very mild one because my guest did not have the tongue for spicy food, unfortunately. It was still a very flavorful curry that packs the punch in the amount of spice.

Here's the recipe:
4 whole chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons of yogurt

Spices:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 onion, minced
4 garlic, chopped finely
1 inch of ginger, minced
2 small cans of tomato puree
1 tablespoon chili powder (decrease/increase the amount to your preference)
approx. 1 tablespoon salt to taste
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup of grounded almonds
1/2 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup water

Method:
1. Marinate chicken with paprika, salt, pepper and yogurt for 2-3 hours.
2. After 2-3 hours, heat a deep pan with some oil and pan fried the chicken until all sides are browned. Take it off the stove for later use.
3. Use the same pan and the butter. Saute the onions, garlic and ginger until fragrant, approx. 5-8 minutes.
4. Add your garam masala and cumin powder, saute until the powder is well incorporated into a mixture.
5. Now, add the rest of the ingredients in and let the sauce come to a simmer. Stir well and let it cook for about 8 more minutes before adding the chicken pieces in.
6. Let the chicken cook in the butter sauce under a lower simmer for about 30-40 minutes.
7. Serve warm.

The butter chicken goes very well with rice, roti and naans :)

Pan Mee - Just like how momma use to make 'em

A bowl of goodness just like how momma use to make it - well, almost!

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite food is, I'd always say my mother's Pan Mee. It's basically torn flour noodles into a steaming broth made from dried anchovies, garlic and ginger and topped with a variety of toppings depending on where you're from but my mom puts this delicious meat sauce made from minced chicken and Chinese mushrooms. And then, to finish it off, a dollop of garlic oil, which essentially is the base that rounds up the flavors beautifully.

The secret to making the soft and slightly chewy torn noodles is to let the dough rest for at least 20 minutes, covered with plastic wrapper, before rolling them out and tearing them into a boiling pot of water.

Till today, my mom's Pan Mee will never fail to bring a sense of comfort to me, wherever I am. Although I have to admit, I may have the recipe down to the T, it just doesn't taste like how mom makes it you know? Like something is missing - maybe it's her love and effort that's missing hehe :)

Pre-Preps:
First, in a pot, pour in 4 cups of water with one cup of anchovies (washed), 1/2 bulb of garlic and 3 slices of ginger and season with some salt and pepper. Add some Chinese or Napa cabbage leaves to give more depth to the flavors of the soup. Let it boil and then lower heat and continue letting it cook while you prepare the other stuff.

My favorite bite :)

Pan Mee's Torn Noodle Dough:
1.5 cup of all purpose flour (and a bit more for dusting)
1 egg
Up to 3/4 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon salt
*Secret ingredient

Method:
1. In a big mixing bowl, add your flour and make a well in the middle. Add your egg, half of your water, salt and *secret ingredient in.
2. Mix the concoction in the well with a fork first and slowly bring the flour around to it down. Add the dough starts clinging to the fork a lot, it's time to start using your fingers. Be careful to not add too much water. Just start kneading slowly until you get a nice firm smooth dough.
3. Let it sit on the counter while you do the rest.

Meat Sauce:
Usually people use pork but my mom uses chicken because I don't really eat pork much when I was younger.
250g minced chicken
7 rehydrated Chinese mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
A swish of Chinese cooking wine
200ml water
1 tablespoon oil
pepper to taste

Method:
1. Heat pan with oil and the sesame oil, and add garlic. Saute the garlic until fragrant or until it turns slightly opaque and then add your mushroom. Saute until fragrant.
2. Add minced chicken in and some pepper. Cook the chicken mince until most part of it are opaque. Add the other ingredients in except water. Stir to mix well.
3. Add water and let the sauce come to a boil. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes before taking it out of the heat into a bowl.


Assembly of Pan Mee:-
1. Drain the broth you cooked earlier into another pot and bring it to a boil.
2. Halve the noodle dough and roll it to about one centimeters thick. Pick the dough up and start tearing it into ununiform pieces into the boiling pot of broth.
3. Add more *secret ingredient into the pot. If you have some green veggies like bok choy or lettuce, you may add so now. Once the pot comes to a boil again, your noodles are ready.
4. Scoop the noodles and veggies up into a bowl and serve with a topping of meat sauce.


*** The secret ingredient is none other than this:

perfectly caramelized and browned garlic in its oil...:)

Garlic oil is really simple to make. All you need is half a bulb of garlic all minced up and put into a small bowl. Add some oil and pop it in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes and voila! :)

Eat a bowl of Pan Mee with some sambal or garlic chili sauce ...I'd recommend it :)

p.s: you might wonder if i cubed the chicken pieces for the meat sauce...well, i didn't. The pix are vegetarian versions of the original Pan Mee and the "chicken pieces" are actually tofu...:P It's equally good too ;)

Sloppy, Bitter but Good

I made bittergourd chicken with preserved bean sauce for dinner tonight. It's sloppy, bitter, and I'm not describing someone - it's my dinner and it's good. Not everyone likes bittergourd but I absolutely love them. I like them anyway they are prepared.

This bittergourd chicken recipe is a family recipe. My maternal grandmother use to cook it all the time when she comes over to stay. And when she does, all i need is rice and I'm good to go. Choosing the correct type of bittergourd is essential, of course. The wrinklier they are, the more bitter they taste. So young gourds are thought to be very bitter while older gourds are less potent and less wrinkly. So choose a less potent one for this recipe because we don't want to overpower the chicken.

Here's the recipe:
1 medium sized old bittergourd, cut into chunks
1 chicken breast, cut into chunks or you might want to use chicken drumsticks with bone in is fine too
2-3 tablespoonsful of preserved bean sauce (or what we chinese would call "tau cheong"), chopped roughly if they're whole beans
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 slices of ginger
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
150ml water
1 tablespoon oil

Method:
1. Heat pot with oil and saute your garlic and ginger until fragrant (roughly 1-2 minutes).
2. Add your bean sauce in and saute further for another minute.
3. Add your chicken and cook until the chicken pieces turn slightly opaque on all side. Lower heat to medium.
4. Add your dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and stir to cook until well incorporated. Add water.
5. Increase heat and add your bittergourd in. Let it come to a simmer and then lower heat again. 6. Simmer for about 20-25 more minutes and then serve on white rice.

It's simple, a little sloppy but so satisfying :)

Chicken Tikka on a stick

***Edit: please take note of the tikka/tandoori recipe again as I forgot to add salt into the ingredients... whooops! Your meat might be tasteless without good ol' salt!

Frankly, i don't know the difference between chicken tikka and chicken tandoori. But I craved it after I saw pictures of it at TFP's blog. So, i've decided to make some myself - two versions; a vegetarian one and a chicken one.

I'm going to just share with you the recipe in making the marinate for chicken tikka/tandoori. The deep red sauce that's so good, you can use it on almost anything and then bbq or oven baked or grilled. I will include a vegetarian "meat" recipe i used as well and as for the chicken tikka, just use chicken breast pieces chopped up in chunks and just marinate with the marinade.

The Marinade:
1 inch knob of fresh ginger
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon red curry powder
1 tablespoon paprika powder
1 cup plain yoghurt, the fresher the better
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 teaspoon salt

Method:
1. Put the first 7 ingredients into a mortar and pestle; bruise and grind until the seeds are crushed.
2. Add yoghurt and tomato paste, mix with a spoon.
3. Take it off the mortar and pestle, cover until it's ready to use.

vegetarian tikka

Vegetarian "meat" ingredients:
1/2 cup of mock chicken meat (you can use vegetarian sausage filling too)
2 tablespoons of flour
1 teaspoon of corn flour
2 tablespoon water (add more until u can shape the mixture into a dumpling)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Oil for pan frying.

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients above until you get a thick but shapeable paste.
2. Heat pan with oil (enough to cover half the pan).
3. Using a tablespoon, shape the paste into ping pong size balls and pan fry until it is brown on all sides and it retains a nice imperfect ball shape.
4. Slot them out with a metal sieve on kitchen towels to soak extra oil out.
5. Marinate them with the marinade above for 1 hour.

the REAL chicken tikka :P

I'm going to skewer them on a stick, so for the veggie portion of the meal I might as well skewer the veggies together. So, I used tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant and onions. You can use whatever veggies you like, of course but use a bit of common sense - green lettuce and string beans would not go well as a skewered veggie on a stick, for example. You want something that holds well.

Eat this with basmati rice or coconut rice with a side of vegetable pickles.

Try this easy pickle recipe:
1 cucumber, de-seeded and sliced crossways
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 small can of pineapples
3 tablespoon clear vinegar
2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon sugar

Method:
1. mix everything together in one bowl and keep refridgerated until ready to use.

The pickle goes very well with the rice and the skewers. And it's especially refreshing when it's getting warmer and warmer these day :)

Chicken Curry Post

This is another of my chicken curry dinners. Yes, I made a vegetarian version too but i thought the one with real chicken looked more appetizing hehe :)

I would drink every drop of it!

I made a previous post on this chicken curry with its recipe. If you want to know the recipe, just click on the link. I added potatoes in my curry this time, so if you want, just put in cuts of potato chunks into your curry the same time you add your chicken in.

Being Malaysian, I just need my curry fix at least once a week. Or at least something burning hot and spicy! Damn, i wish a Mamak is around the corner so I can get my curry fix on a Nasi Kandar, whenever i want! Maybe I should introduce Malaysian mamak culture to the people of Montreal where food and drinks (hot and cold, non-alcoholic) are served 24/7.

Belacan Fried Chicken

I was reminded of a delicious fried chicken the other day and I've been craving it ever since (Thanks, Sasi :P) So, I made it, Belacan Fried Chicken, which is actually chicken marinated in preserved prawn paste, battered and deep fried. For this, I was very glad that my mom sent me some belacan granules :)


It may not look like much but the taste is just AWESOME. The marinate seeped through every molecule of the chicken and was really aromatic. Just imagine a bite that is crunchy on the outside and bursting with flavors in your mouth. That was how good it was.

It is very simple to make too! As I am just cooking this for myself, I just use one bone-in chicken breast, cut into 4 chunks.
Here's the recipe:
1 boneless chicken breast, cut into 4 parts
1.5 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1.5 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon belacan granules (use actual prawn paste if you have it, just toast it first)

Batter:
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoon corn flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup of water or enough until you have a batter (slightly thinner than pancake batter)

Enough oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Marinate your chicken with all of the ingredients above and let it sit on the counter for a few hours. I suggest marinating it in the afternoon if you want it for dinner.
2. Make batter when you're ready to fry. Combine all the ingredients with water.
3. Heat oil.
4. Take your chicken pieces soaked in goodness and dunk it into your batter. Transfer to hot oil and deep fry till golden brown.
5. Serve immediately with rice and a side of your favorite veggies :)

Blackened Chicken with sauteed green beans

Blackened Chicken with green beans and mashies

I had Blackened Chicken tonight for dinner; a creole inspired dish. It was yummy! I made it to go with some green beans and a side of left over mash potatoes. Dinner was done in less than 30 mins ;) You can actually 'blacken' anything; fish, lamb, beef, poultry and the slightly charred sides gives your meat/fish a smokey spicey flavor.

Like all my meals, I like to keep it simple because most of the time I'm cooking for one or two only. But simple doesn't mean boring though :)

Here's my Blackened Chicken recipe:
1 chicken breast, de-boned
1/4 lemon's worth of juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
2 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

1. On a flat plate, sprinkle dried spices evenly. This is my trick for getting the spices on your chicken without too much mess done to the kitchen.
2. Take your chicken breast and coat one side on the plate and then turn over to coat the other side. Voila, you have evenly coated chicken pieces.
3. Squeeze the lemon juice on to chicken.
4. Heat pan on medium high heat with two tablespoon of olive oil.
5. Sear the chicken breast on one side for 4 mins and then another 4 mins on the other side. Your chicken will be nicely charred with all the spices on it.

Serve it with some greens of your choice, I served it with some green beans and mash potatoes. A simple meal with a creole flair :)


P.S: Do try using Cajun spices if you have it in your cabinet!

Chicken in Dark Sauce with Rice

Last Friday I had to eat dinner alone because my partner ate dinner without me! Well, it's not really his fault since i woke up from my nap at 8pm. Piggish, I know! :P

So since I'll be eating alone, I made do with the chicken wings I've defrosted in the fridge. I wanted a chicken meal cooked simply in soysauce and veggies on a nice bowl of rice. It was such comfort food, really. It doesn't come from any recipe. I just put in a blend of soy sauce and mushroom sauce and a dash of sesame seed oil into my chicken. It's a nice meal to end a friday night after bouts of work throughout the week.

Here's my chicken cooked in dark sauce recipe:

6 pieces of chicken
1 tablespoon light soysauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon mushroom sauce/oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar

Veggies - you can use whatever you like but this is what I had in mine:
5 snap peas
3 baby corn, halved
4 rehydrated shitake mushrooms, halve if they're huge
4-6 florettes of broccoli
1/4 of red pepper, cut into large chunks

2 cloves of garlic minced

Method:
1. Marinate chicken with all the ingredients except the veggies in a bowl. Mix well until all is coated. Let it sit on the counter for about 5 mins.
2. Heat pan with some oil. Once oil is hot, put in chicken pieces in the pan and reserve the marinate. Do not let the chicken pieces overlap. Do not touch them, just leave them there for 4 minutes. You want one side of the chicken to caramelize and brown slightly.
3. After that, add your minced garlic in and now you can saute the garlic and chicken together.
4. Add your mushrooms and saute together for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Pour the marinate into the pan and add about 1 cup of water. When it starts to simmer, lower heat to medium and cover to cook for 10 mins.
6. After 10 mins, add your veggies in and cook for another 2 mins more. Serve with hot white rice :)

Clam hunting and lemongrass chicken

Baked Lemongrass Chicken

When I was in New Zealand, I had a friend, named Leonie, who made me and my then flatmate, Tien, this really awesome lemongrass chicken. The ingredients were so simple and yet SO tasty. And the marinate is done in a bag!

We just got back from clam hunting with her and her then bf and was hungry from mucking around in the low tides looking for clams. They took us to this secluded beach nearby Dunedin ( I really dont' remember where anymore) and the place was just FILLED with clams! It was my first time hunting for clams and oh boy, did I have fun! You just need to put your hands into the shallow sandy waters and you can feel them...like millions of them! Time to roll up our sleeves and pants and get down and dirty digging for clams! They were HUGE - we found some baby clams but we didn't take them. We just threw them back into the water so that these clams can have a future generation :P We brought three buckets to collect the clams and when we were done we had two buckets full. I ...uhm...lost the 3rd bucket...i let it float too far into the deep end of the waters and neither of us wanted to get our clothes wet swimming there (3 of us couldn't swim, the onlyboy could but didn't want to) I had 1/3 of the buckets full in there! Good for the gulls, i guess but we have 2 buckets full anyway!!

We baked it, we made clam chowder with it and we even steamed it till the clams are succulently cooked...it was a clam feast! The flesh of these clams were just bursting with juices. Awh..if you have never had clams, please go out and buy some when they're in season. Add them to your pasta (or whatever) and you won't need to season it ever again because these little buggers are SO flavorful! But a little dish stood out and it was Leonie's baked lemongrass chicken. She made it for us as filler food while we wash and wait for our clams to be done but we finished the chicken SO quickly I was amazed we still had space for the clams :)

So this is post commemorates my first ever clam hunting trip with my friends...oh what a great time we had!

Baked Lemongrass Chicken

The ingredients:-

The ingredients

600g -800g of chicken wings, drummets and wings separated
2 large stalks of lemongrass, peeled, cleaned and chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic minced finely
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons any kind of cooking oil

1 large Ziplock Bag

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

ALL IN!

2. Put chicken pieces into the ziplock bag and add ALL of the ingredients in.
3. Zip the bag shut and squish it. It's quite relaxing to be squishing...i think it's de-stresses. Play with the bag until you're most certainly sure the chicken wings are well coated.

The product of your squishing

4. Let it sit for about 15-30 minutes on the counter. If you want, you can also do this the day before you need it and you'll have more flavors absorbed into the wings.
5. Unzip bag, pour ALL the content out into a baking pan/dish. Spread the wings out so they cook evenly and make sure no pieces are over lapping each other.
6. Bake for 30-45mins, depending on how powerful your oven is.

Serve.

SERVE it when you want to reminisce on clam hunting trips or as part of your dinner with rice or as munchies for a ballgame/football/hockey on TV with a nice cold beer or soda. YUMZ.

GrandMa's Chicken Rice

Chicken rice

You know, there is absolutely nothing more comforting than the smell of chicken rice cooking in your kitchen. The rice and the spices....Mmmh!

Needless to say, I was craving for some chicken rice. I didn't really have the time nor the means to cooking a full fledge chicken rice like those Hainanese fellas back home but I have a makeshift recipe that my mom passed on to me, passed on by her mom, mind you. This chicken rice is a simpler version, made for those who craves chicken rice but is unable to cook it like those Hainanese fellas.

My maternal grandma is half hainanese btw. I suppose she does have a bit of the hainanese flair cooking this chicken rice because she said her grandma taught her! O_o I lost count of how many generation this recipe is from but what the hey...:)

Her chicken rice consists of a whole chicken boiled in a stock made out of garlic cloves, cinnamon stick, aniseeds, onions, peppercorns and sometimes carrots and radishes. She is by no means a chef but she makes do with whatver that goes well to sweeten the stock. After the chicken is done, she'll use the same stock to cook her rice. Sometimes she'll add a clove or two and some screwpine leaves (or pandan leaves) for the aroma.

While the rice is cooking she'll chop the chicken into pieces; she's good at chopping chicken unlike me. I don't chop my chicken, I hack them into pieces. And she'll place the pieces nicely on a plate just like those Hainanese fellas do with their chicken. The major bones on the chicken are taken off leaving only the wings, thighs and drumstick bones intact.

Then she makes her special soy sauce. She adds 2 stalks of chopped spring onions, 3 slices worth of minced ginger, 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 red chili (omittable) and a handful of chopped parsley into a bowl. Then, she poured about ( i'm approximating because my grandma and mom never use any measurements in their cooking) 3 tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce), 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Stir to mix well and then she'll heat it up on her wok. In this day and age, I just pop it into the microwave for 2 mins. And that is the sauce you eat your chicken pieces with...it tastes So good and it smells great too...

My Meal

My chicken rice is like that except i don't use a whole chicken, just a thigh and i boiled it just like how my grandma did. I even made the sauce to but i halved the portions. And the soup, i added fish ball to it ..:D

Curried Chicken, Sambal & Rice

Chicken Curry

I made a pot of curried chicken yesterday and it was just what I needed even though I am down with the flu...:P No one can't stop me from having my hot fix! And to make it even hotter, i had sambal with it.

A true Penangite will always eat their rice with sambal belacan. Well, that's what I was brought up to assume because when my grandmother was still alive, she'd always eat her rice with sambal on every meal, regardless of whatever dishes she forked out to go with the rice. Oh and she usually has a plate of fresh veggies like lettuce leaves, cucumber and four sided bean around so she can eat it with her sambal belacan and rice.

I am a Penang girl; born in Penang and will always take Penang as home even though I lived in KL, Malaysia. I spent most of my girlhood in Penang, in my grandparents house, which i still dream of at night when I go to sleep. Now, even though I live in Canada, I still eat like a Penangite and I am proud that my kitchen reeks of sambal belacan and all the other pungent spices :P

Anyway, back to my curried chicken, i used yoghurt instead of coconut's milk. Healthier and i feel less guilty scorching my throat when the curry is healthier, mind you! Everybody seems to have a way of cooking their curried chicken. Mine? I will never add water to my curry; instead I add chopped up juicy tomatoes to it :)

Here's what I used in my chicken curry:


Half a chicken, cut in to 8 pieces

Marinate chicken with:-
150g of yoghurt
4 tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin, whole
1 teaspoon salt

Curry base, to be blended:-
3 large onions (green or red)
half a bulb of garlic
1x1 inch knob of ginger
1x1 inch knob of galangal/lam keong (optional)
Water, enough to get the stuff going
*you can make a large amount of this paste for keeps. This is the basic base for any curry.

Other dry ingredients:
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 pods of cardamom
5 pieces of cloves
1 star of anise or aniseed
1 cinnamon stick (3-4inches long)
5 tablespoons of oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
Method:

1. Marinate your chicken with all those ingredient for about 30mins -1 hour.
2. Heat oil on medium high heat in a pot. Add your mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, star of anise and cinnamon stick in and saute till mustard seeds starts popping.
3. Add your paste, chili powder, coriander powder and stir-fry for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Add your chicken and its entire marinate in, mix to coat well.
5. Let it simmer and stir occasionally until chicken is cooked. It'll take about 1 hour and more. Frankly, I let my curry simmer longer so that it's tastier and the flavors blend.

Ahhhh.....

So once my curry is done, I spooned some rice on my plate, pluck some of my romaine lettuces, add a dollop of sambal on the side and my curry of the other. Ahhhh.....a feast!

Stir fried Kimchi Chicken

Stir Fried Kimchi Chicken

As I said before, kimchi is a very versatile food - you can eat it as a side dish or you can fry it up with your favorite meat and it's just really yummy. Here's a simple recipe of a kimchi stir fry. I don't know how it can get complicated since all you need is kimchi and meat/fish/poultry.

I used chicken this time.

Stir Fried Kimchi Chicken recipe:

500g chicken pieces (thigh or fillet cut into bite size pieces; boneless)
kimchi (as much as you want really) and some of its juice
1 tbsp sesame seed oil*
1 tbsp soy sauce*
1 tbsp sesame seeds*

* these ingredients are optional although they do enhance the flavor of your kimchi stir fry.

Method:

1. Combine ALL ingredients together and let it marinate for about 10 mins.
2. Heat pan/wok on a medium heat with a bit of oil.
3. Pour kimchi chicken mix into the pan and spread evenly on the pan. Let it cook like that for about 3-5mins



4. Stir fry well with a wooden spoon or whatever you use to stir fry stuff :) for about 5-8mins more.
5. Serve it hot with rice and with a bit of extra kimchi on the side ;)



Enjoy!

Chicken Karaage

Chicken Karaage has been a family favorite since....I made some for Chinese New Year this year. It's actually very simple to make. For the price you pay in any Japanese restaurant, I think you should be getting a whole basket full of chicken karaage nibbles but instead you get a plateful of 8 dainty piece (9 if you're lucky).

I have a recipe of karaage chicken that will stay succulent for the longest time without going dry. I mean, I am sure most of you know how KFC turns out when you leave out it there overnight or reheat it - it becomes dry and stringy. Well, not with this chicken! And the reason is there is a special ingredient in there that makes the chicken karaage moist and juicy inside... I discovered it purely by accident - well, last minute food fusion that went REALLY well. For some reason, i was making karaage this one time and i added yoghurt into it thinking that i was making chicken curry instead! My mind was some place else but the results were excellent in the end ;)

Anyway, here's the recipe:-

500g chicken fillet (cut them into two equal pieces or if you like them in bigger pieces, leave them as it is) OR use chicken thigh if you want them to be juicier, just cut them into mouth popping pieces.
2 inch knob of ginger, grated and juice squeezed out
1 teaspoon garlic paste or 2 cloves of finely minced garlic
6 tablespoon of soysauce
3 tablepoon sugar
1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine or sake
2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (or any other clear vinegar)
1/4 cup of plain yoghurt

1 cup or more corn flour for dredging or coating the chicken pieces.

Enough oil to fill up your pan up to an inch of oil - use a smaller pan.


Method:
1. Marinate your chicken pieces with ginger juice. Make sure you squeeze the grated ginger as much as possible. You want to get every bit of the juice out.
2. Add the soysauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, wine/sake and yoghurt in. Mix well and let it marinate in the fridge for no more than 1 hour because the salt in soy sauce will toughen the chicken pieces.
3. After that, heat your oil on medium heat till it sizzles when u put in a pinch of cornflour. That's when you can start frying your chicken karaage.
4. Coat your chicken pieces with corn flour and put it in the oil. Don't put all of them at once - put in maybe 1/4 of your chicken pieces at a time..depending on how big your pan is. Overcrowding will cause chicken to stick and turn out unsightfully ugly although edible. Each batch should take about between 5-10 minutes to cook depending on the size of your chicken pieces.


5. Once the chicken pieces are golden brown, take them out and lay them on paper towels to soak up the excess oil. And below is how the finished product should look like :)


It's incredible with a bit of mayo and lemon juice squeezed on top. I personally like it just the way they are without any sauce...;)

I really didn't think it would be appetizing to post pictures of the chicken pieces uncooked. They look unpretty and quite grotesque actually, much less appetizing. Oh well, this is a no fail recipe and what i mean by no fail is,besides that its easy, even after you leave the chicken piece out for a while in the open, they will still remain juicy and incredibly succulent. How about that? :)

P.S. It's the yoghurt *nods* and incredibly, you won't even know it's there with that first bite!