Acar Timun Mudah

A simple pickled cucumber and carrot relish..

Ingredients

1 large cucumber - discard the pulp, and cut into 2inch strips
1 large carrot - peeled and cut into 2inch strips
10 small round baby shallots - peel and crushed a little
1 red chilli - slashed
1 green chilli - slashed
a few slices ginger
a few cloves of garlic
1 tsp tumeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder or chilli paste
1 and 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (biji sawi)
3 tbsp of oil
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
salt to taste

Sprinkle some salt generously over cucumber,carrots,ginger,chillies,shallots and garlic and leave it aside for a few hours, turning the veg now and then. The salt will leech out any excess moisture from them , making them crispier and not soggy.
Drain.

Heat oil, add chilli paste,mustard seeds and tumeric and saute till fragrant. Add water, vinegar, sugar and salt and stir till sugar dissolves. Add the drained veggie,stir for abt 5 mins and quickly turn off the heat. Do not overcook or veggie won't be crisp.

Serve with the Rendang..

Tahu Goreng

Deepfried Beancurd with Spicy Peanut Sauce

MMmmm.... I made this after I got tired of the usual menu spread of rice..NO..let me rephrase that...I DIDN'T get tired...I was thinking of a little change,...so I decided that we shall go meatless for a day... Still , this is superb! (if I can say so myself)

Ingredients

4 Large beancurds - deepfried, cut into cubes
1 cucumber - peeled, and shredded into long strips
1 carrot - peeled and shredded into long strips
some beansprouts - scalded

For the Sauce

10 cloves of garlic(best roasted lightly)
12 cili padi (bird's eye chilli)
2 tbsp vinegar or apple cider or lime juice
3/4 cup of palm sugar (gula melaka)- melted
1 tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup of soya sauce(kicap)

1 and 1/2 cup of coursely ground roasted peanuts

Grind the sauce ingredients till fine and mix together. Add in the peanuts and mix well. Pour over freshly hot fried beancurd cubes and top with the cooling cucumber and carrot strips with crunchy lightly scalded beansprouts.

Oh..baby...simply...delicious!...

Chicken Curry - Egg Salad - Veggie StirFry

Initially I was planning to make Roti Kirai to go along with the dishes - but somehow,...I became too lazy to cook anymore...So I ended up eating these with plain rice and bread...hey!...that's fine too!,..and who said that we can't succumb to laziness?......hehe..



Use this recipe for any kind of veggie stirfry..u won't go wrong..just remember never to overcook the vegg. For this, I used celery, carrots, mushrooms, capsicum, broccoli, and u can add anything u want,...just make it colourful.



The Chicken Curry:
U can use my Ayam Kariana for this recipe...mmm..thick and spicy..



For the egg salad with peanut sauce :

Hard-boiled eggs - sliced neatly with an egg-slicer
Cucumber - skinned, raked with fork and sliced thickly
Tomatoes - sliced thickly
Onions - sliced into rings
Some lettuce/daun salad

The Peanut Sauce

12 dried chillies - soaked to soften
2 cloves of garlic
Grind the above till fine

3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp vinegar
1 potato (or sweet potato) - boiled and pushed through a sieve.
salt to taste

1/2 to 3/4 cup of coursely ground-roasted-skinned peanuts

In a saucepan, put chilli-garlic paste, brown sugar, water, salt and tomato puree and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the mashed potato and vinegar. Reduce heat and continue stirring all the time till thick. Add the ground peanuts, stir and remove from heat.Season with a little salt. If using sweet potato, reduce the amount of sugar.

Saujana Seafood Set

Was inspired to cook this set after a visit to Saujana in Johore after my Melaka trip. Unfortunately, for some reason, I can't find any seabass today and so decided to skip Ikan Tiga Rasa...had Sweet Sour Fish instead..anyway,..the kids loved it and so do I...only setback was, I can only eat a little coz I have this condition - I can't eat much when I'm tired!....*smile*



The fried rice is quite similar to the Nasi Goreng Ananas in my previous entry.....just omit the pineapples and use a combi of veg oil plus a little sesame oil for sauteing..



For this kailan, I added sliced fishcakes.

A handful of baby kailan
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
1 red chilli - sliced
1 small shallot (small onion)- sliced thinly
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt or to taste, as the oyster sauce is already salty

Boil some water in a pot.Add some salt and 1 tsp of oil. Blanch veggie for a couple of minutes. Prepare a bowl of ice cold water in the meantime.Take out veggie and dunk into the bowl to stop the cooking process. U'll get a nice green colour without overcooking yr veg. Drain well.
Next,in a wok,heat 1 tbsp of oil,mixed with a few good dashes of sesame oil. The combi of oil will produce a glaze effect on the veg later. Saute onion,garlic,chilli and add the oyster sauce.Pour a little bit of water to mix.Add some sugar and salt.Simmer till boiling,then then turn off heat. If sauce is too dilute,u may add some cornflour solution (1 dsp cornflour + 1/4 cup of water )to thicken it.Arrange veg on a plate and pour sauce over...eat it hot!



Similar to the soup in my Tom Yam Noodle...just add in any 'protein' seafood u want..



Ingredients

1kg battered fish slices - fried, and put aside

The sauce :

1 cup chilli sauce
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup sweet sour sauce
2 tbsp plum sauce
3 tbsp vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
salt to taste

2 onions - wedges
a few slices of ginger
2 cloves of garlic - finely minced
1/2 green capsicum - cubed
1/2 red capsicum - cubed
1/2 yellow capsicum - cubeb
1/4 cup of finely cubed pineapple

1 tbsp veg oil
1 tbsp sesame oil

Heat the oil combi and saute the onions,garlic,ginger and add all the capsicums and pineapple. Don't burn the aromatics. Add the sauce ingredients. If it's too thick, add some water till u get the consistency u want. Avoid making it too dilute. Taste and adjust accordingly. It shud taste spicy , sweet and sour all in one. Add whatever that is lacking. Pour over fried fish slices when u are abt to serve to prevent sogginess.

Chap Chye

Ingredients

some cauliflower
some snap peas
some broccoli
some shitake mushrooms
a fishcake - sliced
red or green capsicum
some carrot slices
3 cloves of garlic - sliced
1 onion - wedged
1 red chilli - sliced
1 tbsp of light soya sauce
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
sugar to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 cup water
cornstarch solution (abt a few tbsp)

Heat abt 1 tbsp of oil plus a few dashes of sesame oil. Saute the onions, garlic and chilli till fragrant. Add the veggie and stir. Add the rest of the seasoning. Add some water for a little gravy and u can also add some cornstarch solution at the end to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Kangkong Belacan

Water Convulvulus in Spicy Sambal

Another simple but appetizing veggie dish to eat with your rice.

Ingredients

2 bundles of kangkong, washed and drained
2 red chillies - sliced

Blend together :
15(or more) dried chilles - seeded,soaked to soften or microwave for 10mins in a bowl of water
a really huge pinch of belachan(shrimp paste)
5-6 cloves of garlic
2-3 big onions
1 tbsp of ikan bilis(anchovies) granules

Heat oil in wok and saute the blended ingredients till fragrant.
Add chillies and kangkong. Stir fry till veggie is wilted but not overcooked.
Add a little sugar(optional).No salt needed as the belacan is already salty enuff.
Serve with a sprinkling of fried shallots.

Cabbage Stir-Fry

A very very simple veggie dish to accompany with yr rice.

Ingredients

1 head cabbage - cut into large leaflets
1 carrot - cut into a desired size

Aromatics

2 onions
3 cloves of garlic
2 red chillies - sliced diagonally

salt + pepper + sugar to taste

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in wok. Saute the aromatics till fragrant. Add in carrots and cabbage. Mix well. Add seasoning, and a little water if it's too dry. Do not overcook veggie. Remove from heat. Serve hot, with a sprinkling of fried shallots.(optional)

Lemak Putih

Cabbage in Coconut Milk

mm...a re-run, I think..it's the same as the Lemak Gobes. The only difference is that I omitted the tumeric powder, hence, the white colour. Serve hot.

Bening Bayam

Spinach Soup

An old, but not forgotten classic..this dish reminds me of those years back when I was a kid(what else?)..with Grandma,..I felt fearless even when we didn't have much to eat..hey..simplicity at its best, packed with nutrients, no wonder it's Popeye's favourite!

Ingredients

Spinach - cleaned and cut
1 onion - sliced
3 cloves of garlic - sliced
2 red chillies - sliced
1 ikan bilis (anchovy) cube
some fishballs
salt to taste
sprinkling of fried shallots
4 cups water or more

Heat abt 3 tbsp of oil. Saute the onions, garlic and chillies till fragrant. Add water and stir to a rapid boil. Add ikan bilis cube and fishballs. Season with salt.
Add the spinach leaves and stir a little and then switch off the heat.Do not overcook the veggie. Serve hot,with a sprinkling of fried shallots.

Terong Balado Tomato

Brinjals in Spicy Chilli & Tomato....hhmmm..

I don't know how it came about to have a few names..brinjal, eggplant, aubergine and what not...We malays have only one name to call it - TERONG. In my home, I like to fry the brinjal slices or bake them to a light crisp. My family could finish about 8 to 10 brinjals in a day..unbelieavable?...u better believe it...and that includes my two girls!

I love to cook mine just like this. No compromise.

Ingredients

Brinjals - cut into any shape u want.
just dab them with kitchen paper and fry to a sweet brown. Set aside

To be grounded

abt 20 or so dried chillies - soaked to soften
3 onions
5 cloves of garlic
an inch of ginger
1 tbsp belacan
1/4 cup of dried shrimps - soaked to soften

5 tomatoes - diced
4 tbsp sugar or to taste
salt to taste
abt 1/4 cup of water
some fried shallots

Heat abt 1/2 cup of oil in wok. Saute the ground ingredients till chillies are cooked and fragrant,stirring constantly. Add in the diced tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are softly squished. Add water, salt, and sugar. Cook gently over medium heat till gravy is a little thick. Remove from heat.

Arrange fried brinjals on a plate. Pour over the gravy and sprinkle with some fried shallots and more diced tomatoes,if u prefer.
Alternatively, u may want to mix all the fried brinjals into the gravy and give it a stir. It's up to u.

Lemak Kubis Muda

Baby Cabbage in Coconut Milk Gravy

Kubis? Kobes? or Gobes?...Ahh..whatever the spelling or pronunciation, I still mean to say CABBAGE..the young ones..the baby ones..why?...because I feel that this breed retains it's beautiful chatruse colour even after it's cooked. Not over-cooked,ya..
Sometimes, I add in su'un(vermicelli)..but for this, I did not. Why?..Because I don't have it....hehe

Ingredients

1 baby bright green cabbage - cut into big sizes
1 carrot - sliced

The Aromatics

1 onion - sliced
4 cloves of garlic - crushed
2 red chillies - sliced at an angle
2 tbsp dried shrimps - soaked, diced coarsely

4 cups of water PLUS 1 tbsp tumeric powder (mixed together)
200ml thick coconut milk
salt to taste

Method
Heat abt 1/2 cup of oil in wok. Saute the aromatics till fragrant. Add water + tumeric powder. Add in cabbage and carrots and allow to simmer rapidly. Add coconut milk and season with salt. Continue stirring to avoid coconut cream to curdle.Do not overcook.Remove from heat and serve.

Bende Sambal Belacan

Fried Ladies' Fingers in Spicy Shrimp Paste.

You may use your favourite sambal belacan for this. I added an egg at my kids' request. You may omit it if u want.

Ingredients

Ladies' Fingers - diagonally sliced
1 onion - sliced
3 cloves garlic - minced
2 red chillies - sliced
1 heaped tbsp of sambal belacan
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
some fried shallots for garnishing (optional)

Heat enuff oil in the wok and saute the onion, garlic, sambal belacan and red chillies till fragrant. Add in the ladies' fingers and mix well. Season with salt and sugar. Add in the egg and fry for another minute. Remove from heat, sprinkle with some fried shallots and serve hot over a bed of carrot strings. Do not overcook.

Japanese Beancurd

Actually, this has to be served on a hotplate but since I don't have one, I didn't..hehe..

Ingredients

2 tubes of silken japanese tofu, sliced thickly - deepfry until golden brown

1 onion, wedged
2 cloves of garlic, minced
a few mushrooms - shiitake, portobello, fresh button...anything - sliced thickly
1 red capsicum - cut into strips
2 stalks of spring onions and flat parsley, chopped

The Sauce

4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp blackpepper sauce
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water

a few tbsp of cornstarch solution

Method

Heat abt 3 tbsp of oil in wok. Saute onions and garlic till fragrant.Add mushroom and capsicum. Mix. Add in the sauce mixture. Adjust consistency by thickening gravy with the cornstarch solution.
Arrange beancurd on plate/hotplate. Pour over gravy and sprinkle with spring onions and parsley and a dust of fried shallots, if u would. Serve piping hot.

Veggie Puffs

a veggie version of the curry puff, we malays call it dearly as epok-epok sayur...
Eat it as breakfast, or , again....at ANYTIME...hehe

Pastry

400g flour
2 tbsp butter (melted)
40ml oil
150ml warm water
1/2 tsp salt

Work the above into a pliable dough. Don't overknead. Set aside, covered with a damp cloth to avoid it to dehydrate and cause a cracky skin to form on the surface. I used the pastry from Abg Rozzan.Thks A R!

Filling
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
abt 4 cups of beansprouts(taugeh), tailed.
1 carrot, finely cut into strips
1 big beancurd (firm tofu), cubed and deep fried
2 stalks of kucai(chinese leeks), chopped
2 red chillies. de-seeded and cut into thin strips
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
dash of pepper

Heat 3 tbsp of oil in the wok. Saute onions, garlic and chillies till fragrant. Add beansprouts,carrot, fried beancurd and kucai. Add soya sauce, salt, sugar and pepper. Don't overcook veggie to retain its crunch. Set aside, draining excess liquid over a strainer.Cool completely.

Roll out dough, cut into rounds of desired size. U can also use the edge of a cup. Scoop a spoonful of filling.


Flute the edges.

Deepfry over a medium fire till golden brown.

Serve hot with dipping sauce. U may want to dilute it a little.
Enjoy!

Veggie Rolls

This is nice as a snack during tea time or...ahh..just face it..ANYTIME...hehe..

Ingredients

1 packet of popia skin / spring roll skin (any size will do)
If frozen, thaw as instructed on the package until ready to use.
Filling

1 yam bean (sengkuang), peeled, cut into fine strips
2 carrots, cut as above
1 onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp light soya sauce
salt and sugar to taste
pepper

Method

Heat 3 tbsp of oil in wok. Saute onions, garlic till fragrant. Add in the yam bean and carrots. Stir. Add sauce, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and a dash of pepper. Fry till evenly mixed but make sure the veggies retain its crunch. Do not over cook. Remove from heat and drain excess liquid over a strainer.

Place a spoonful of filling on one end of the popia skin. Roll over the corner over the filling, tuck in both sides and continue rolling forward. Seal ends with cornflour mixture. Deepfry to a golden brown and drain excess oil over a wire rack. Serve hot with dipping sauce from the Onion Fritters.

Spanish Onion Fritters

This one is a simple version. U can actually include whatever that u like. I love to fry it over a medium fire and see it brown to a sweet crisp when the onions began to caramelize.

Ingredients

5 spanish(purple) onions, thinly sliced
2 red chillies (deseeded and sliced thinly)
2 stalks of spring onions, chopped
2 stalks of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 egg (very optional)
salt to taste (1 tbsp or so)
500g all purpose flour
sufficient water to make batter

Method

Mix the above and adjust water to get a nice batter to a dropping consistency. Heat enuff oil in the wok for deep frying. Drop spoonfuls of mixture into the hot oil and bring the fire to a medium. Fry on both sides till a crisp golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with sweet chilli dip.

Dipping Sauce

5 red chillies
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of water
1 tbsp vinegar or lime juice
sugar and salt

Ground the above ingredients and cook over a medium heat till sauce is cooked and reduced to a semi-thick consistency. Adjust water. Not too runny though. Taste. Shud be sweet,sour and spicy.

Kampung set

Just wanna share with u what I ate when we went back to kampong. Will give u details later. Just drool on the pics 1st..hehe.

Kailan Oyster

Very simple, cooked to a minimum but refreshing in taste...who said that the humble veggie is a turn off?..try this..

Recipe

A handful of baby kailan/broccoli - u can cut or leave it whole
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
1 red chilli - sliced
1 small shallot (small onion)- sliced thinly
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt or to taste, as the oyster sauce is already salty

Boil some water in a pot.Add some salt and 1 tsp of oil. Blanch veggie for a couple of minutes. Prepare a bowl of ice cold water in the meantime.Take out veggie and dunk into the bowl to stop the cooking process. U'll get a nice green colour without overcooking yr veg. Drain well.
Next,in a wok,heat 1 tbsp of oil,mixed with a few good dashes of sesame oil. The combi of oil will produce a glaze effect on the veg later. Saute onion,garlic,chilli and add the oyster sauce.Pour a little bit of water to mix.Add some sugar and salt.Simmer till boiling,then then turn off heat. If sauce is too dilute,u may add some cornflour solution (1 dsp cornflour + 1/4 cup of water )to thicken it.Arrange veg on a plate and pour sauce over...eat it hot!

Beef Fries

Omitting rice throughout the day, my family could eat kilos of this. My late grandmother made these in the late 70s and I remember we offered this during my high school hari raya outing with my schoolmates. They loved it after the usual trade of ketupat and rendang at every house stop. Potatoes made into fries and sauteed with minced beef, garlic, eggs and spring onions. Argh...don't forget yr chilli dip.

Ingredients

2kgs or more of potatoes,skinned, cut into thick slices or wedges,fried to a golden brown
1/2 kg minced beef, fried slowly over a lightly oiled wok till dry and crumbly
4 sweet shallots, sliced thinly
5 cloves of garlic, minced
3 fresh red chillies, thinly sliced
2 eggs

*garnish*
fried shallots
chopped spring onions
carrots - julliened
cucumber - skinned,julliened

Method

Heat abt 3 tbsp of oil in wok. Sweat sliced shallots, garlic and chillies till fragrant. Add beef and season with salt and pepper. Throw in the fried potatoes,coating evenly with the aromatics. Break the eggs in, stir for a couple more minutes and remove from heat. Serve, with the garnishings.

Broccoli with Oyster Sauce Stir Fry

Broccoli..I can't even remember since when it has been a favourite veggie for me and my kids...not hubby though...and I really MEAN FAVOURITE...stirfry with a little oyster sauce and garlic..eat it with piping hot rice..ahh..the feeling is fresh from the field...I mean...garden..

Ingredients

2 bunches of broccoli
1 carrot, sliced
1 red capsicum,thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
1 red chilli - sliced
1 small shallot (small onion)- sliced thinly
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt or to taste, as the oyster sauce is already salty

Boil some water in a pot.Add some salt and 1 tsp of oil. Blanch veggie for a couple of minutes. Prepare a bowl of ice cold water in the meantime.Take out veggie and dunk into the bowl to stop the cooking process. U'll get a nice green colour without overcooking yr veg. Drain well.
Next,in a wok,heat 1 tbsp of oil,mixed with a few good dashes of sesame oil. The combi of oil will produce a glaze effect on the veg later. Saute onion,garlic,chilli and add the oyster sauce.Pour a little bit of water to mix.Add some sugar and salt.Simmer till boiling,then then turn off heat. If sauce is too dilute,u may add some cornflour solution (1 dsp cornflour + 1/4 cup of water )to thicken it.Arrange veg on a plate and pour sauce over...eat it hot!