Curry Puff

Curry Puff with Chicken & Potato (25th Apr 2012)

Once a week, I'd buy 3 for RM1.00 curry puffs for Justin to bring to school. For that price, you could only expect a potato filled puff that's smaller than your average Gyoza. On the other hand, you might have seen curry puff the size of your palm that has chicken, potato and egg filling. Whichever type you fancy, curry puffs are a great hit with the young and old in Malaysia.

This is my 1st time making curry puff and I'm glad it turned out well. I did not have a specific recipe so it was all trial & error. I made the curry chicken & potato filling a day ahead ( that was the easy part!). For the dough, I used a basic pastry dough which worked out fine. Next time, I shall attempt to make the spiral curry puff!

Homemade Fish Paste

Fried Fish Cakes

There's really nothing fancy to making a good fish paste. It usually turns out fine if your fish is very fresh. The type of fish you use will also give different texture and flavour so it's good to experiment. I'm using Spanish Mackerel which is readily available in Malaysia. 

Fish Paste in Salted Vegetable Soup

My mum always had fish paste in the fridge for the "can't think of what to cook" nights. It can easily be made into a fish cake pattie and pan fried, similar the what I've done here. I've also dropped balls of fish paste into my vegetable soup to make fish balls. Just last night i fried what's left of my fish paste with egg....a yummy fish cake omelette!

Steps to Make Fish Paste:

The key to a good fish paste is the freshness of the fish. I'm using a 600gm spanish mackerel (the spotted kind)

You should have no trouble filleting this fish. There's very little bones.

Scrap the meat of the fish skin. Do run your finger through to ensure there's no bones.

  

For 600gm mackerel, I used 1 tablespoon of cornflour, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I added these in between chopping.

   

Prepare a bowl of iced salted water. The fish paste is initially very sticky so it's important that you sprinkle the water in between choppings. When the fish paste starts to feel springy, use the back of your chopping knife to hit the paste.

This is how it looks like after I took the ball of fish paste up and slap it down on my chopping board a couple of times.

Hakka Pork Belly with Black Fungus (Char Yoke)

Hakka Pork Belly with Black Fungus (22 Apr 2012)

What can I say.... My family loves pork whether it's Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Japanese or Thai. As long as the taste is heavenly, all pork dishes get thumbs up at home :)

So it's no surprise that this particular Hakka pork dish has become another family favourite. Again, I urge you to prepare a few portions as it keeps well in the freezer. To defrost & reheat, just add 2 tablespoon of water before putting it into the microwave or steamer.




Hakka Pork Belly with Black Fungus Recipe (Serves 4)

Ingredients:
300 gm pork belly, cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces
30-50 gm dried black fungus, soaked in water
2 tbsp garlic mince
1/2 cube fermented beancurd, mashed
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine
Salt & pepper to taste

Marinade pork

Pork Marinade:
1 cube of fermented beancurd (Nam Yue)
1 tbsp of Nam Yue juice from the bottle
1 tsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of Shao Hsing Wine
1 tbsp cornflour
A dash of pepper
1 small egg, beaten

Deepfry pork

Method:

1. Marinade pork belly for a few hours or overnight.
2. Deepfry pork belly until golden brown. Drain excess oil.
3. Cut the softened black fungus into bite-sized pieces
4. Heat up a pot or wok. Add a little cooking oil and saute garlic mince
5. Add the fermented beancurd and black fungus and fry until fragrant.
6. Add the fried pork belly, stirfry for 3 minutes.
7. Pour in water and and turn the heat up. Once boiling, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 1 hour. Add water if necessary. 
8. When almost ready, add wine, salt & pepper to taste.
9. Ready to serve!

Simmer for 1 hour

Fried Glutinous Rice (Sang Chao Loh Mei Fan)

Fried Glutinous Rice (15 Apr 2012)

I hold fond memories of my late maternal grandma. I felt more than just affection and love for this wonderful elegant woman. I secretly wish I could be just like her! My grandma was the Coco Chanel of my household, ever so timeless and chic. The only difference was that my Grandma was probably a much better cook than Ms. Chanel! 

Grandma made simple delicious dishes with her perfectly manicured nails and diamond encrusted lavender jade ring on her pointer. She'd also be in her tailored silk blouse and hair coiffured like a beehive, but guess what? After all that cooking, nothing goes out of place and not a speck of oil on her! How does she do that?? I, on the other hand, look like a mess after each cooking marathon :(

Fried glutinous rice is one of granny's dishes that I thoroughly enjoy. I've even prepared this dish during my uni days for my housemates. It's a dish you could prepare in bulk and freeze it for later consumption. I like keeping the rice in little metal bowls, not unlike the ones you use to make "Loh Mai Kai" and steam the bowls until the rice is soft and moist again.

Fried Glutinous Rice Recipe 

Ingredients:

2 cups of glutinous rice, soak in water for min 3 hours

1 tbsp of dried shrimps, soaked and chopped

1 shallot, sliced finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Chinese sausage, diced
4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and diced
1 bowl of water

Seasoning:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tbsp Shao Hsing wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper

Method:

1. After soaking the glutinous rice for 3 hours, drain it well. Prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Heat up 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in wok. Saute dried shrimps first until fragrant then add the shallots and garlic. After 1 minute, add the Chinese sausage and mushrooms.
3. Pour the rice into the wok and on medium heat, keep stirfrying the rice and sprinkle water as you are doing this so that the rice does not stick to the wok.
4. Add the seasoning and stir well. Keep sprinkling the water while you are at it. Stir fry for another 5 minutes or so. Turn off the heat.
5. Prepare a steamer. Pour all the rice mixture into a steaming tray and steam the rice for 1 hour or until the rice turns translucent. 
6. Ready to serve!

Meehoon & Fish Slices in Salted Vegetable Soup

Ham Choy Yu Pien Mee Hoon Tong (11th Apr 2012)

Missing last weekend's cooking session as my hubby treated the family to a weekend getaway . We went to Port Dickson and had a most enjoyable time! We also found a wonderful family run restaurant which served up some pretty good Chinese dishes. So it was all play, eat, play, eat all day long....

The guilt has set in.... Subconsciously, my mind tells me I have to eat something light to counter all that previous gluttony (not like one meal can wash away the cholesterol) and noodle soup always makes me feel like I'm are eating diet food! Hahaha!

Noodle in salted vegetable broth is very common in Sabah. It is usually served with fish slices or you could add an assortment of fresh seafood as well. It has a sourish flavour (not unlike the Phillipino Sinigang) which comes from the salted mustard greens and salted plum.

Meehoon & Fish Slices in Salted Vegetable Soup Recipe

(Serves 4 person)

Ingredients:
600gm Mee hoon (roughly 150gm each but do add more if required)
400gm sliced white fish (garoupa, snapper, pomfret, etc) 
Salt & pepper to taste 
1 tbsp of Chinese wine

Soup Stock:
Fish bone
Pork/ Chicken Bones
2 litre of water
1/2 inch of ginger
2 shallot
300gm Salted mustard green, sliced
3 ripe tomatoes, cut into 4
4 wet salted plums

Garnish:
Freshly prepared garlic oil

Method:

1. Prepare the soup stock 2 hours in advance. First, blanch the bones to get rid of the scum. Then put all the ingredients and bring the stock to boil. Continue to boil on medium heat.
2. Slice your preferred fish and marinade with a little salt & pepper. Leave in refrigerator.
3. Soak the meehoon to soften it. When ready to serve, blanch in hot water and put in indivudual serving bowls.
4. Put fish slices into boiling hot soup for 1 minute. Remove and place in serving bowls.
5. Finally pour hot soup over your noodle and garnish with garlic oil. Ready to serve!

Ma Po Tofu

Ma Po Tofu (1st April 2012)

Having tried many versions of Ma Po Tofu, I still prefer the Cantonese adaptation of this Szechuan dish. I don't really like too much chilli oil and the numbness of the Szechuan pepper is really too much for the kids to handle. My kid-friendly version may be adapted to suit your tolerance of heat! Just add szechuan pepper as you begin to saute the garlic and when the dish is almost ready, feel free to add chilli oil on top!


Ma Po Tofu Recipe

Ingredients:
1 box of silken tofu / regular tofu, diced
150 gm of minced pork
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced pickled radish (Choy Bao)
1 tbsp cornstarch

Seasoning:
2 tbsp Chili Bean Paste
1 tbsp Tau Cheong
1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
Salt & pepper to taste 
1/2 cup water


Pork Marinade:
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp oyster sauce

Method:

1. Marinade minced pork at least 15 minutes before use.
2. Heat up wok and add 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Saute garlic and pickled radish.
3. Add pork mince and stirfry for a minute.
4. Add the seasoning except for water. Stirfry until fragrant. 
5. Gently place tofu into the wok and flip the tofu over a few times to mix well. Add water and cover wok with lid. Turn the heat up to boil for 2 minutes.
6. Just before serving, pour in cornstarch and stir well.

Penang Char Kuey Teow

Char Kuey Teow (1 Apr 2012)

My love affair with Penang hawker food started when I was a little girl. I recall sitting in a small hut, having my first bowl of Penang laksa with a view of Kek Lok Si temple. Later that day, I seated again in another small shop somewhere on McAlister Road, waiting for what felt like ages for another plate of delicious fried Char Kuey Teow. That was my earliest recollection of my Penang trips- hopping from one place to another, sitting and waiting and eating, over and over again! 

As I grew older, I understood what the fuss was about. Even 30 years back, my parents had brought me to the same stalls that I try to bring my children to recently. Small windy paths and dirty alleys weren't my children's cup of tea but the food sure changed their mind! All that wonderful Penang Laksa, Prawn Mee, Char Kuey Teow, Penang Lobak, Nasi Kandar, Kuey Teow Th'ng - there's just not enough time to try everything! No wonder Penang is listed as one of the top 10 greatest street food cities in the world!

My hubby misses his Penang Char Kuey Teow so much that his missus had to do something about it! The ingredients were simple enough but to make it as authentic as it can be, I bought duck eggs instead of chicken eggs this time.

Verdict: The family thoroughly enjoyed my Char Kuey Teow. If anything was missing, it was the MSG & lard!

Penang Char Kuey Teow Recipe (for 1 person)

Ingredients:
120gm flat rice noodle/ Kuey Teow
1 tbsp of garlic, chopped finely
1 tbsp of dried chilli paste (optional)
6 thinly sliced Chinese sausage
3-5 prawns, shelled and de-veined 
1/2 cup of cockle, shelled and cleaned
A cup of beansprouts
1/4 cup of chives
1 duck egg





Seasoning:
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
A dash of pepper

Method:

1. Frying a plate of Char Kuey Teow takes less than 5 minutes, so it's best to have all your ingredients ready and at arm's reach. Mix the seasoning in a bowl too.
2. Heat up the wok until smoky hot. Then, add 2 tbsp of oil and garlic. Saute until fragrant.
3. Add prawns and Chinese sausages. Stirfry for 20 seconds or until the prawns turn pinkish. Add chilli paste and fry for another 10 seconds.
4. Add the flat noodle quickly and seasoning. Stirfry vigorously or as my grandma likes to put it "chan the wok" (literally means bash the wok) Do this for 30 seconds.
5. Push the noodle to one side of wok and break the duck egg on the other. Break the egg yolk and give it a good stir.
6. When you see the omelette forming, add the chives and beansprouts to your wok and mix everything well together. 
7. Serve hot!

Yummy!