Kenny's Eats

Chicken Noodle Soup, Malaysian Style

2013-08-20T16:34:00.003-04:00

I made this on Sunday night and it was so good and satisfying that I just had to snap a picture with my phone and brag about it on the internet. With tender chunks of chicken swimming in a broth filled with fresh rice noodles and topped with chopped green onions, this warm hearty meal is my idea of comfort food.

I added shrimps to build a more flavorful broth but the soup would still have been delicious without them. If you're going to add shrimps, be sure to leave the shell on because that's where all the shrimpy goodness is. Garnish the soup with sliced red chilies and some caramelized onions - or if you prefer to cut your time in the kitchen like I do, keep a jar of store-bought dehydrated fried onions on hand.

Fresh rice noodles
2 chicken leg quarters and 1 chicken breast
4 shrimps with shell on
1 quart of chicken broth/stock - I use a carton of store-bought chicken broth
Water
1 stalk of lemongrass, trim to the thickest part of the stalk and smash with a mallet (or something heavy)
1 shallot, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 slices of ginger root, about ¼ -inch thick each
2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:
finely sliced green onions
sliced red chilies
caramelized onions

Heat up the oil in a pot and cook the chopped shallot till it starts to turn golden. Then add the garlic and ginger and continue cooking till the garlic starts to brown.

Pour in the chicken stock and water to desired amount and toss in the lemongrass. Add the sugar and season to taste then let it come to a boil. Drop in the chicken pieces, cover and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook the chicken for about 45 minutes to an hour.

When the chicken is done, shred the meat with 2 forks and then put the shredded meat back into the pot. Stir in the shrimps and cook for a few minutes before removing from the heat.

To prepare a bowl of noodle soup, grab a handful of fresh noodles and place them in a bowl. Ladle the hot broth with a good helping of chicken over the noodles and top with green onions, sliced chilies and caramelized onions.

Chicken Popsicles

2013-01-17T15:43:00.003-05:00

The holidays are over (boo..) and I'm ready to start expanding my culinary expertise again. I've been making these little chicken treats for pot luck parties and they are always a hit whenever I make them. I think that's because they're so fun to eat. They may take hours to prepare but they'll disappear in a matter of minutes. There's very little that goes into cooking them, but the effort that goes into shaping these chicken wings into popsicles is what makes them challenging.

About 8-10 wings, separated at the joint and wing tips removed
Oil for frying (about 3 cups)
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine
⅓ cup of rice flour or all-purpose flour
⅓ cup of corn starch
Salt and pepper

Using a knife, make a cut across the skin near the joint. Insert the tip of the knife into the incision and loosen the meat from the bone using the knife. Scrap the meat away from the bone and gradually work your way down to the base. Then pull the meat with your hands and shape into a ball. The technique is easier to describe with pictures:

With the wingettes, since there are 2 bones that you have to deal with, this process is a lot more painstaking. Start from the narrower end (where it was attached to the wing tip) and detach the 2 bones from each other using a knife. Scrap the skin and meat away from one bone until you get to the joint and then pull the bone out so that you're left with only one bone. Then proceed as usual.

Once the wings have been turned into popsicles, coat them with the soy sauce, rice wine, flour and cornstarch.

Heat up a wok or pot with oil. When the oil is hot (about 375°F), drop the popsicles in and fry them in batches of 6-8 at a time. Scoop out when they're golden brown and drain on a piece of paper towel.

I like to serve them with a dip that's made from hoisin sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce and minced ginger.

Mom's Spicy Beef Noodles

2012-08-20T15:36:00.000-04:00

This is my mom's beef mee goreng (literally "fried noodles") recipe with my own twist. She used to make this for Xmas dinner along with chicken curry to go with the roast turkey and stuffing. Yes, interesting combination but noodles and chicken curry are absolute holiday requirements in our household. Mashed potatoes with gravy are so boring and over done.

In this dish, thick yellow noodles are fried with red chilies, tomatoes, eggs and bean sprouts; tossed with fork tender chunks of braised beef and chopped fresh coriander leaves and then finished off with a squeeze of lime juice. It's spicy, tangy and satisfyingly beefy, which makes it a great dish for a festive dinner party.

First, prepare the beef. The beef takes a few hours to cook so it has to be prepared ahead.

2 lb beef chuck/shank/brisket
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
4 whole star anise
4 whole cloves
¼ cup of dark soy sauce
¼ cup of rice wine
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 cups of water or just enough to submerge the beef

Throw everything into a pot and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and let it simmer, covered, for about 2½ - 3 hours till the beef is tender.When it's done, put the pot in the fridge for about half an hour to an hour to let it cool. The beef is easier to slice when it's chilled. If you try to slice the beef when it's still hot, the meat will crumble and fall apart.

Slice the chilled beef thinly across the grain. Then set aside and start on the noodles.

Blended ingredients:
2 shallots
3 red chilies
4 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of belacan (funky shrimp paste)
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of coriander powder

About 2lb of fresh Chinese egg noodles (2 packages)
1 tomato, diced
2 eggs, beaten
About 2 cups of bean sprouts, washed and with the roots snapped off
A handful of chopped fresh coriander
1 sprig of curry leaves
¼ cup of the braising liquid from the cooked beef
Juice from 1 lime
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
Salt to taste

Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the noodles for a few minutes before draining.

Roughly chop the shallots, chilies and garlic and toss them into a food processor or a Magic Bullet along with the shrimp paste, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Blend into a thick paste. If you're having trouble blending the ingredients, add about 1-2 tablespoons of water at a time to help move it along.

Heat up the oil in a wok on medium heat. Fry the blended ingredients for a couple minutes until they start to brown and smell awesome. Then stir in the diced tomato and curry leaves and stir-fry for a second before turning up the heat and throwing in the noodles.

Stir-fry the noodles until they're well coated with the spices, making sure to scrap off any of the caramelized bits that are stuck to the bottom of the wok. With the spatula, push the noodles aside and make room for the eggs. Pour the eggs into the free space and wait for few seconds before covering them completely with the noodles. Then continue to stir-fry so that the eggs are cooked and mixed well with the noodles.

Season the noodles and give it a taste. Once you're satisfied with the amount of seasoning, stir in the bean sprouts, chopped coriander and beef. Give the noodles a quick stir-fry, gradually adding the beef braising liquid so that the noodles don't dry up. Once you've added the bean sprouts, don't fry for longer than 2 minutes or the bean sprouts will be overcooked and soggy.

Put the noodles onto a platter and finish it off with a squeeze of lime juice. The lime juice will cut through the spiciness and give the noodles a light citrusy tang.

Easy Peasy Rice and Jerk Chicken Dinner

2012-05-04T12:05:00.004-04:00

Jerk chicken is one of my favorite things to make at home and I usually make it during the week for dinner and on the weekend I throw it on the barbecue. For an easy no-fuss dinner, I rub the jerk seasoning on some chicken legs, bake them in the oven and serve over some "rice and peas". When I feel like bbq I marinade the chicken overnight and cook them in the oven first for about half an hour before grilling them.

I used to use store-bought jerk seasoning until I found the recipe online (and adjusted it). Now I always make my own jerk seasoning because it's miles better than the bottled stuff and it's just as good as (if not better than) the jerk chicken I've had in the Jamaican restaurants here in Toronto. The rub also goes really well with pork.

4 chicken leg quarters

Jerk seasoning:
1 teaspoon of allspice powder
½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder
½ teaspoon of coriander powder
¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
6 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 onion
1-2 scotch bonnet peppers with seeds removed (or not, depending on how burn-resistant your mouth is)
2 tablespoons of rum (optional)
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce + 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
Juice from half a lemon
⅓ cup of water
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of thyme leaves (dried or fresh)
Salt and pepper (about ½ teaspoon of salt)

Put all the ingredients for the jerk into a food processor and blend till smooth. Pour over the chicken and mix well. Put the chicken pieces on a baking tray, cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 375°F for an hour. Then take it out, take off the foil and baste the chicken. Pop it back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, uncovered, until the top of the chicken is brown and crusty.

Jerk chicken goes best with rice and peas and I make mine with black beans and coriander. While waiting for the chicken to finish cooking, I go ahead and prepare the rice.

2½ cups of basmati or long grain rice
3 cups of water/chicken stock
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 bay leaf
1 cup of canned black beans
About 1 cup of chopped coriander leaves
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Heat up the oil in a pot and saute the onions for a few minutes. Toss in the ground coriander and rice and fry for a few minutes before stirring in the water or stock, beans and bay leaf. Bring the rice to a boil. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves over the rice and then cover and simmer on low heat untill the rice is done, about 15 minutes.

Crispy Wings with Spicy Coconut Dressing

2012-02-24T15:24:00.001-05:00

I've been M.I.A. for a while due to my partaking in the P90x program which requires a healthy diet of dull, uninspiring food but now I'm back with my first post for the new year - chicken wings that have been deep fried in a ton of grease till they're crispy and golden brown and then smothered with a creamy blend of coconut milk, mayonnaise, sour cream, cayenne pepper and honey. Obviously, I'm not strong enough to stay off carbs and fried foods...

About a dozen wings, separated at the joint and wing tips removed
Oil for frying (about 3 cups)
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
⅓ cup of rice flour or all-purpose flour
⅓ cup of corn starch
Salt and pepper

Dressing:
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
3 tablespoons of sour cream
2 tablespoons of canned coconut milk
1 teaspoon of dried dill
2 tablespoons of honey
½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
juice of half a lime

Fill up a wok or pot with cooking oil and heat up the oil. In the meantime, sprinkle the wings with some salt and pepper and coat them in the soy sauce, flour and corn starch.

Once the oil is hot (about 375°F or test by dropping one wing into the oil), fry the wings in batches of about 6-8 at a time. Fry the wings till they're golden brown and then set aside and drain on a piece of paper towel.

Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the dressing into a bowl and mix well. When the wings are done, pour the dressing over. The dressing can also be served separately as a dip.

And now I'm off to burn those calories..

Steamed Chicken with Ginger

2011-11-05T16:40:00.000-04:00

I'll keep this short and sweet..Here is my take on a classic Chinese dish. It's healthy and delicious and best of all it's quick and requires little to no effort to prepare. And it looks pretty. All you need is a steamer, or a steam rack with a wok or pot that's large enough to fit the dish when covered.

2 chicken breasts with the skin on and bone in
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (optional)
2 tablespoons of Chinese rice wine (optional)

Garnish:
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into long thin strips
Some coriander leaves about ¼ cup
1 green onion, finely sliced
1 red chili, sliced

Dressing:
3 tablespoons of good quality soy sauce
1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons of cooking (vegetable/canola/peanut/sunflower) oil

Boil the water in the steamer or pot and then bring down to a simmer. Place the chicken breasts in a bowl or dish along with the crushed garlic and rice wine. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper, then cover and steam until the chicken is done for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, get the ginger, green onion, chili and coriander ready. Peel and slice the ginger into really thin threads. You need a sharp knife to do this. Try to make them as thin as possible - biting down on thick pieces of ginger makes for an unpleasant eating experience.

When the chicken is done, set aside and let it cool for 5 minutes. Remove the breast bone from the chicken. You can use your hands to pull the bone apart, or if it's too hot to handle, use one hand to hold the breast down with a fork and with the other hand, remove the bone from the meat using a knife.

Slice the chicken breasts and transfer to a plate. Sprinkle with the sliced ginger, green onion, chili and coriander leaves and pour the soy sauce over the chicken.

Heat up the cooking oil and sesame oil in a saucepan. When the oil's hot, quickly drizzle it over the dish. You should hear the vegetables sizzle as they come in contact with the hot oil.

That's it...serve with a bowl of hot steaming rice.

Baked Curry Puffs

2011-10-19T00:47:00.003-04:00

Curry Puffs, or "karipap" as they're called in Malaysia, are sort of like Indian samosas or Spanish empanadas but stuffed with a curried meat filling. They're usually fried, but I wanted to make a somewhat healthier and less greasier version by baking them (I really shouldn't be eating these at all since I'm trying to tone down but what the heck). Of course everything tastes better fried, but these baked curry puffs are so light, flaky and buttery that you'll never crave for the fried version.

You can use store-bought puff pastry if you don't feel like making them from scratch, but I find that I get a sense of pride and accomplishment from knowing that I made the food with my bare hands. After hours of sweat in the kitchen, I was finally able to produce a delicious pastry that has just the right amount of flaky goodness. The secret is to create a dough that consists of hundreds of thin layers separated by solid fat (butter, lard, shortening, etc.) and to prevent the fat between the layers from melting by keeping the dough chilled.
The Filling:

About 1lb of ground meat - chicken, beef, turkey or lamb
3-4 shallots, diced
5 cloves of garlic
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled
1-inch piece of galangal, peeled (optional)
1 stalk of lemongrass
2 dried/fresh red chilies
1 tablespoon of Malaysian curry powder
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds (optional)
A sprig of curry leaves (optional)
1-inch piece of cinnamon stick (optional)
4 cloves (optional)
1 whole star anise (optional)
1 cup of frozen peas
2 large potatoes, cubed
2 cups of water
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons of sugar

Making the filling is the easiest part. First, prep the vegetables - dice the shallots; peel and cut the potatoes into small cubes; roughly chop the garlic, ginger, galangal, lemongrass, chilies and blend them into a paste (this is when a Magic Bullet comes in handy).

Heat up the cooking oil over medium heat and saute the diced shallots. Add the whole spices - cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves and star anise and fry the spices along with the shallots. When the shallots start to brown, stir in the paste and fry for a minute or so before adding the ground meat.

Turn the heat up and cook the ground meat until all the excess moisture has evaporated and the meat starts to brown. Then throw in the potatoes. Add the curry powder and stir until everything is well coated with the curry powder. Then pour in just enough water to cover the meat and potatoes. Toss in the curry leaves and bring to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil, season with salt to taste and add the sugar - this is optional; I find that adding just a tad bit of sweetness brings out the flavor in curries. Then put the lid on, turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are done. Finally, stir in the frozen peas, put the lid back on and simmer for another 2 minutes. Put the curry in the fridge to cool down while you prepare the dough for the pastry.

The Pastry:
I used the classic puff pastry method which involves wrapping a slab of butter in the dough and then folding it repeatedly.

2 cups of all-purpose flour
About ¾ to 1 cup of cold water
1¼ teaspoon of salt
¾ cup of butter

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly add the water, mixing as you pour, until the flour comes together. Knead for a few minutes to form a smooth dough.

Put the butter on top of a piece of a piece of wax paper and cut into cubes. Sprinkle liberally with some flour and squash the cubes with your fingers. Place another piece of wax paper on top of the whole mess and pat it down to roughly shape the butter into a square. Refrigerate the dough and butter for about 15 minutes.

Dust your work surface with a generous amount of flour before proceeding. Then roll out the dough into a square of about 12 inches or so and place the slab of butter in the middle. Fold the dough over the butter so that it is completely enclosed.

Pound the dough gently with the rolling pin to flatten out the butter and then roll it out into a long rectangle, about 20 by 10 inches.

Fold into thirds.

Then rotate the dough 90° - this is called a turn. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Repeat this process a couple more times - roll, fold, rotate and refrigerate. In the 1st turn, you create 3 layers of dough separated by butter. By the 6th turn, you will get 6 x 3 = 18 layers. The more turns, the more layers and the flakier the pastry - but don't overdo it since the thin layers of dough will tear easily and the dough could turn into a buttery mess.

Once the dough is ready, roll it out into a 12-inch square. Then starting from one end, roll up the dough into a tube and cut into strips of about ¼ inch thick.

Working with 1 strip at a time, flatten with the palm of your hand and roll out into a circle of about 6 inches in diameter - the size of a taco shell. Put the filling in the center of each shell and fold in half. Pinch the edges of the dough and pleat to seal.

Brush the curry puffs with an egg wash to give them a golden glaze and pop them in the oven at 425°F for about 30 minutes and voila!

Basa Fish Fillets in Sweet and Sour Tamarind Sauce

2011-07-27T14:17:00.003-04:00

I came home from work yesterday feeling lazy and tired after 1 hour and 15 minutes of commuting. I wanted something quick and easy. I looked in the fridge and found frozen basa fillets and a yellow bell pepper and so sweet and sour fish immediately came to mind. With just a couple more ingredients I was able to whip up this amazingly simple but delicious dish in about 30 minutes. The fillets were coated with corn starch and fried till they're crispy on the outside, but still soft and succulent on the inside, then covered in a simple sweet and sour sauce that I made using tamarind paste. So good...I'm definitely making this for dinner again on the weekend.

2-3 basa frozen fillets, defrosted
1 cup of corn starch
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
Enough oil for deep frying

For the sauce:
1 onion, diced
2 slices of ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red chili for a little heat, sliced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon of tamarind paste (check the Thai aisle in your local Asian supermarket)
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1½ cup of chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon of corn starch for thickening

Heat up the oil in a wok or a pot. Meanwhile, sprinkle the fillets liberally with salt and pepper then mix them with the beaten egg. Put the corn starch and fillets into a big zip-lock bag or a plastic bag and then give the bag a good shake so that the fillets are completely coated with the corn starch.

When the oil is hot enough, gently slide the fillets in and fry them for a few minutes until they're slightly brown and crispy. Then "fish" them out and place them on the serving platter. Throw out the oil but leave about 1 tablespoon for the sauce.

To make the sauce,stir-fry the onion, ginger, garlic, chilies and pepper until fragrant. Mix the tamarind paste, stock/water, soy sauce, sugar and corn starch and then pour it in. Let it come to a boil and give it a taste. If it's too sour, add a little more sugar.

Pour the sauce over the fish fillets and serve with some hot steamed rice.

Chinese-style Braised Pork Belly Sushi

2011-06-21T19:26:00.004-04:00

Sushi? Yum...
Braised pork belly? Drool...
Put the two together? Hell yeah!
I'd like to think that this was an original idea of mine but I'm sure someone out there has already beaten me to it. Anyway, this is how I imagined what food would look like when you fuse Chinese with Japanese cuisine. The melt-in-your-mouth pork belly that's braised using a traditional soy-based Chinese recipe (dong po pork), combined with the simple elegance of the sushi roll creates an interesting meld of flavors and textures.

Sushi is one of those things that look deceivingly challenging to prepare but is actually really easy and quick. It's one of my favorite things to make at home when I want something light and healthy. I actually prefer to make it myself because I dont normally eat raw fish and I usually make the Korean version - kimbap - using kimchi, eggs, avocado and imitation crab meat as the filling (I don't really know what the difference is between Korean kimbap and Japanese sushi - I just prefer to call mine kimbap because kimchi is a distinctly Korean ingredient). All you need is a sushi mat, a few sheets of nori, sushi-grade rice, rice wine vinegar and your choice of filling and you're good to go. If you've never made sushi/kimbap before, here's a good instructional video from Maangchi: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimbap.

I first braised the pork belly ahead of time so that I can get rid of the excess fat that floats to the surface of the braising liquid when it cools. Here's how I cooked the pork belly:

Pork belly, cut into squares about 2 inches thick 3 cups of water
1 cup of Shiao Xing rice wine
1 tablespoon of Chinese black vinegar (Chin Kiang vinegar)
4 tablespoons of dark brown sugar or honey
1/3 cup of light soy sauce
2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
4 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 dried red chilies
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into a few slices
2 stalks of green onions, cut in half

First boil the pork in water until it turns white and then drain. This will help to reduce the fat content and also prevent any scum build-up in the braising liquid. Then put the pork back into the pot along with all the ingredients above, bring to a boil, then cover and let it simmer for 2-3 hours. When done, slice the pork belly lengthwise. Make sure to use a sharp knife so that the tender layers of meat and fat don't crumble and lose its shape under the pressure of the knife.

In the meantime, prepare the sushi...

For the rice:
2 cups of sushi-grade rice
2¼ cups of water
½ teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of sugar

Sushi filling:
Egg omelete sliced into long strips, made from 4 beaten eggs
Thinly sliced strips of seedless cucumber, or avocado slices, or both

Nori sheets
Sesame seeds

Cook the rice - 1 part of rice requires a little more than 1 part of water, about 1¼ parts. Once the rice is cooked, mix in the vinegar, sugar and salt, then give it a taste - it should have the perfect balance of sweet and sour. Then cover the rice and refrigerate it while you prep the filling.

When the filling's ready, lay a sheet of nori over a sushi mat and spread the rice over the nori until it's completely covered

Sprinkle some sesame seeds over the rice and then flip the nori sheet over so that the rice is on top of the sushi mat. Line the cucumber and omelete strips in the center of the sheet and then proceed to roll using the sushi mat.You can wet your fingers with cold water to prevent the rice from sticking to your hands.

Putting it all together:
Wet a sharp knife with some cold water, then slice the roll into 5-6 pieces. Place the pork belly slices over each piece and then spoon the braising liquid over. Garnish with sesame seeds and some coriander leaves and then take a step back and admire your work of art.

Spicy Skate Wrapped in Grilled Banana Leaves (Ikan Panggang)

2011-06-01T20:04:00.002-04:00

Just take one bite of this fish and you will experience an explosion of exotic flavors and spices that will transport you to the tropical beaches of Malaysia. You can almost picture yourself sitting under the cool shade of a coconut tree as the ocean breeze gently blows grains of sand on your face...(ok, maybe a little over dramatic)

In Malaysia, this dish is usually prepared with skate, but you can also use any sort of fish that flakes easily like red snapper or tilapia. Skate is actually a cousin of the sting ray and may not be readily available in local supermarkets due to overfishing. It was my first time cooking with skate, and I was surprised at how well it goes with the spices and how soft and tasty it is. The fish is first smothered with sambal, a spicy Malaysian/Indonesian condiment which is a fragrant blend of almost a dozen ingredients including shallots, garlic, lemongrass, red chilies and belacan - a funky-smelling salty paste made of fermented shrimp that's commonly used as a cooking ingredient in Southeast Asia. The fish is then wrapped in banana leaves and placed on the barbecue until the leaves are charred. The grilled banana leaves impart an additional layer of flavor and perfumes the fish as it steams with the sambal inside the leaves.
Some of the ingredients used are not the typical items you would find in your pantry, but they are available in most asian supermarkets, including the belacan and even the banana leaves. The banana leaves are imported from Thailand or the Philipines and they come frozen. Belacan may be harder to find, but you'll most likely find it in the Thai food section, under a different name (don't know what the Thai term is for belacan).

For the sambal:
4 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
1 stalk of lemongrass
4 red chilies
2 dried red chilies, or about 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 inch piece of galangal, peeled
1 tablespoon of tamarind paste
3 tablespoons of sugar
¼ teaspoon of salt
about 1 tablespoon of belacan
1 teaspoon of tumeric powder
4 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 tablespoons of chili oil
Juice from half a lime
2 banana leaves

First, prepare the sambal. Roughly chop the shallots, garlic, lemongrass and galangal and then put them in a blender along with the chilies, tamarind paste, sugar, salt, belacan and turmeric powder. Blend into a smooth paste. Then heat up the oil and fry the paste on medium-low heat, stirring continuously until the paste thickens and turns a dark reddish-brown colour. Be careful not to burn the paste; you want to fry the paste slowly on a low heat until the vegetables caramelize.

Give the sambal a taste. Add a little more salt if it's not seasoned enough. The belacan may give the sambal a slight bitter taste - if you find that it's a little too bitter, add a little more sugar to offset the bitterness. The sambal should be spicy, salty and sweet, with a slight tang from the tamarind paste.

Now, to prepare the skate, first give it a rinse and then pat it dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt on both sides of the fish. Overlap 2 pieces of banana leaf so that they form a cross and place the fish in the center. Smear the fish on both sides with the sambal. Drizzle with the chili oil and squeeze the juice from half a lime over the fish. Then bring the ends of the leaves over and secure the wrap with 2 pieces of string.

Fire up your barbecue and turn the heat down to medium-low before putting the wrap on. Tip: use a grill topper or a grill basket to prevent the burnt banana leaves from sticking or falling through the grids. You can also serve the wrapped fish on the grill topper/basket without having to transfer to a serving platter.

Cook the fish for 10-15 minutes with the lid down, flipping the wrap once halfway through cooking.

Once done, bring the wrapped fish to the table and open up the leaves. Serve with steamed rice that's been flavoured with coconut milk, or just plain steamed rice, alongside a few lime wedges.

Pork Shoulder Braised in Soy Sauce and Jasmine Tea Leaves

2011-05-10T21:29:00.126-04:00

Mmmm...pork. Nothing hits home and brings comfort like chunks of tender and succulent pork that just melts in your mouth. I was grocery shopping at Longo's last weekend and saw a fresh piece of pork shoulder blade (also known as pork butt for some reason even though it comes from the shoulder and not anywhere near the butt area) on sale. Being the pork fanatic and cheap shopper that I am, I wasted no time in purchasing this fatty, artery-clogging cut of meat and hurried home so I can start the lengthy cooking process.

My first thought was to braise it in BBQ sauce and make pulled pork sandwiches, but then I thought, how can I "asianize" it and make it more interesting? So I decided to cook the pork in a classic Chinese soy sauce based braising liquid and then made some sweet and fluffy Chinese steamed buns (Mantou) to go with it. I filled the steamed buns with some of the fork-tender pork and chopped green onions and there you have it...a Chinese version of the pulled pork sandwich.
The next day I had the pork over some plain steamed rice and spooned some of that delicious braising liquid over and it was just as awesome.

Here's how I braised the pork...Don't trim off any of the fat from the meat! You need all that fatty goodness to render the pork tender and juicy:

1 pork shoulder blade (about 2-5 lbs)
8-10 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 slices of ginger, about ¼ inch thick
2 dried chilies
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons of loose jasmine tea leaves
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup of Shiao Xing rice wine
4 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
8 cups of water
Salt and peper
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Mix 1 tablespoon of corn starch with a few tablespoons of water for thickening

Pat the pork dry with a paper towel and then rub it with a liberal amount of salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pot on high and then sear the pork on all sides until brown. Then take it out and set it aside.

Now, to make the braising liquid, toss out some of the excess oil from the fat drippings but leave just enough oil behind to saute the garlic and ginger. Turn the heat down to medium and then throw in the garlic, ginger, chilies and tea leaves and saute for a few minutes until the garlic turns slightly brown. Then pour in the water and add the rest of the ingredients - the rice wine, soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon stick and sugar. Stir and let it come to a boil.

If you have a dutch oven or an oven-proof pot, put the pork back into the pot and close the lid. I didn't have either so I used a roasting tray instead - I transferred the pork and braising liquid to the roasting tray and then covered it tightly with aluminum foil.

Put the pork in the oven and cook at 325°F for about 5 hours. You'll know it's done when you pierce it with a fork and the meat just gives way without any resistance. If you're using a roasting pan, make sure to baste it at least twice during cooking and top up with water to prevent the braising liquid from drying out.

When the meat is done, remove the meat and put the pot with the braising liquid back on the stove. Bring it to a boil and add the cornstarch and water mixture to thicken it. If you find that the liquid is a tad too salty, add more water and adjust to taste. Now, if you're concerned about your arteries or waistline, you can try to remove the fat from the liquid by cooling it in the refrigerator until the fat separates into a white foam on the surface. You can then skim it off with a spoon.

Place the pork on the serving platter on top of some blanched leafy greens such as bok choy or choy-sum. Ladle the gravy over and enjoy.

Fried Rice Noodles (Kway Teow) in "Tomato" Sauce

2011-04-30T18:01:00.008-04:00

I've been craving for this noodle dish that I loved as a child growing up in Malaysia. I also wanted to whip up something fast and easy when my mom, sister and nephews came over for dinner last Easter weekend. I've had a variant of this noodle dish in Thai restaurants but in this version from my homeland, a few dollops of ketchup are added to the gravy to give it a slightly sweet, tomatoey flavor. Hence the term "tomato sauce" - ketchup is known as "tomato sauce" in Malaysia. This is a quick and delicious meal, not to mention healthy - you get a good dose of carbs, protein and veggies all in one dish.

For the noodles:

Fresh flat rice noodles from your local asian supermarket
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Put the oil in a non-stick pan or wok and stir-fry the noodles over medium-high heat. Stir in the dark and light soy sauce and continue stir-frying for about five minutes until the noodles are slightly charred. Then set them aside and make the gravy.

Gravy:

1-2 skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
6-8 shrimps, shelled and deveined
5-6 stalks of Chinese greens (yu-choy in Mandarin, choy-sam in Cantonese, chai-sim in Hokkien), washed and chopped in half
2 stalks of green onions, chopped
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 slice of ginger
1 tablespoon of corn starch and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce for marinading the chicken
1 tablespoon Shiao Xing rice wine (optional)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
3-4 cups of water or chicken stock
Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water for thickening the gravy
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste

First coat the chicken with corn starch and fish sauce and let it marinade for a few minutes. The cornstarch will give the chicken a smooth texture and keep them tender.

Heat the oil in a wok or pot on high and then throw in the chicken. Stir-fry until the chicken starts to turn white and then stir in the garlic, ginger and about half of the chopped green onions. (save the other half for garnish later).

Once the garlic and ginger become fragrant, pour in the water/stock. Add the rice wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce and ketchup and bring it to boil. When the sauce is boiling, toss in the shrimp and let it cook for a few minutes (don't overcook the shrimp!).

Season the gravy to taste with some salt and pepper. Then thicken it with the corn starch and water mixture. To finish off the gravy, quickly stir in the greens and take it off the heat. You want the greens to be cooked but still remain crisp.

To serve:
Spoon the gravy over the noodles and top with some chopped green onions and freshly cut chilies if you like and that's it..easy.

Beef Wrapped in Green Onion Pancakes

2011-04-17T23:18:00.006-04:00

If you are reading this, welcome to my first post! I will be sharing with you the recipe for these delicious Chinese-style beef wraps. Tender chunks of shredded beef stewed in soy sauce and five-spice are smothered in sweet Hoisin sauce and then rolled up inside savoury, crispy green onion pancakes - which are also delicious on their own. The total prep time may be long but there isn't much actual work involved in making these wraps. Once the beef and pancakes are done, it's just a matter of preparing the simple sauce and then assembling the wraps. Not something you want to attempt if you are looking for a quick meal, but these wraps will definitely impress your guests at a dinner party.

Beef Filling:

What you will need:
3 lbs Beef shank/chuck
1 chopped shallot
6-8 cloves of garlic, crushed
1-2 dried red chilies
1 teaspoon of Chinese 5-spice powder
2 shitake mushrooms, dried or fresh
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
¼ cup of dark soy sauce
2 star anise
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into about 4 slices
3-4 cups of water, just enough to submerge the beef
2 tablespoons of cooking oil

Add the oil to the pot and sear the beef on all sides on high heat. Then remove the beef and set it aside.
Throw the chopped shallot, ginger and garlic into the pot and saute for a few minutes on medium heat until the shallot and garlic turn slightly brown.
Put the beef back into the pot and add enough water to cover the beef. Then stir in the rest the ingredients - the five-spice powder, brown sugar, soy sauce, star anise, mushrooms and chilies.
Bring it to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for about 3 hours.

While waiting for the beef to finish cooking, go ahead and prepare the dough for the green onion pancakes.

Savoury Green Onion Pancakes:

What you will need (Makes 4):
2½ cups of all purpose flour (I use unbleached)
1 cup of hot water
1 teaspoon of salt
A good amount of vegetable oil
2-3 stalks of green onions, finely chopped
Sesame seeds

Put the flour and 1 teaspoon of salt into a bowl and give it a good mix with your hands.
Slowly stir in the water using a wooden spoon. Then, using your hands, form the mixture into a ball.
Take the dough out and knead the dough with your hands for a good 10 minutes or so on a flat surface. The dough should be soft, moist and a little sticky, but no so sticky that it leaves clumps of dough on your hands. If you find that it's too dry, wet your fingers with water and continue to knead. If it's too wet and sticky, dust it with a little flour and knead.
Dip your fingers in some oil and rub a generous amount all over the dough. Then put the dough back into the bowl and cover with cling wrap. Let it rest for about 2 hours at room temperature.
After 2 hours the dough should be moist and elastic. Divide it in two, then divide the halves in two again to make 4 equal portions.
Shape one of the portions into a ball and then press it down flat with the palm of your hands. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a round shape of about 12 inches in diameter. Grease your fingers with some oil and then pull the edges of the dough and stretch it out to make the dough thinner. Don't worry if you make a small rip in the dough.
Smear the surface of the dough with a little oil and then scatter a handful of green onions over the dough. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
Roll up the dough into a long, thin cylindrical shape. Then starting from one end of the dough, roll it up again into a spiral-shaped bun. Tuck the loose end under the bun, bring it over to the top and press it down into the center of the bun.
Flatten the bun with the palm of your hand and then roll it out with a rolling pin into a circle of about 10-12 inches in diameter. It will start to get messy as some of the green onions burst out from the edges of the dough. That's ok, just pick them off and continue rolling. Grease the rolling pin with oil if it sticks to the dough.
Sprinkle the top with some sesame seeds and give it one last roll with the rolling pin to embed the seeds into the dough.
Coat the frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the pancakes over medium heat. Fry on both sides until they're browned. Use a little more oil for crispier pancakes.

Sauce:

What you will need:
½ cup Hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons of the broth from the stewed beef

Put all the ingredients for the sauce into a bow and give it a good mix.

Assembling the wraps:
Shred the beef and spread some of the beef over a pancake. Drizze the sauce over the beef and then roll up the pancake. Cut the wrap in half and serve.