Salt & Turmeric

Lobster Noodle

2010-06-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

Bee of Rasa Malaysia took us out for a chinese lunch a couple of months ago. We had so much food and among the things that we ordered are the lobster noodle. I love noodle. I love lobster. Well, actually that's not quite true. I just love seafood! Normally when I buy a whole lobster from the supermarket, I would just steam them since cutting them into small pieces is not an easy task until I found out at Ranch 99 they do it for you for free!

Those 2 things (lunch with Bee and getting the lobster cut for me) are the reason why I was inspired to make this easy and delish meal on my own. It requires very minimal ingredients, which if you are my regular readers you'd know how I love easy-to-cook dish with minimal ingredients and minimal work as well.

Lobster Yee Mee

1 medium size lobster, cleaned and cut into smaller pieces
Kailan, cleaned and cut
3 garlic, thinly sliced
2in ginger, thinly sliced
2 cups water
1 egg
Salt and sugar to taste
Egg noodle, cooked according to packaging

1. In a big wok or pan, heat 3tbs vegetable oil and saute garlic and ginger, slowly add water and let it boiled.
2. Add salt and sugar, stir and taste. Add lobster and kailan and cover. 2min.
3. Uncover, give it a little stir and break an egg. Stir again.
4. Lastly add the cooked noodle and mix them up. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.
5. It can be eaten with pickled green chili and garnish with green onion.

Our Thanksgiving Feast

2009-12-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

The main star - Roasted Turkey

Stuffing

Steamed Vegetables

Coleslaw

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach - 3S's

2009-09-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Look at those big and juicy shrimp! I got the idea to make these Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach from Justin of Justcooknyc. His sauce is of course more elaborate and basically from scratch while my sauce is straight from the bottle.

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach
serves 2

Spaghetti - I use whole grain
1 cup spaghetti sauce - more if you like extra sauce
10 pcs shrimp - cleaned, de-veined and de-shelled
1/2 bunch of spinach - cleaned and drained
Salt and sugar

1. Cook spaghetti as per the instruction, drain and put on 2 plates.

2. In a pot, heat the sauce on medium heat and add salt and sugar to taste.

3. Add shrimp and stir for like 30sec to 1min.

4. Turn the heat off and add in spinach. Gently fold the sauce on the spinach.

5. Pour the sauce onto the plate of spaghetti and enjoy immediately.

A simple and Easy Breakfast

2009-08-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is among what I would make for myself when I am just too lazy but won't want to settle for toast and butter. I would fry my egg sunny side up and dish up this mixed veggie with a few dash of worchestershire sauce. Have you cooked your mixed veggies like this before? I am not sure exactly how I came to make it this way but I have been doing it for years when I was still living back home. I do like my mixed veggies this way and would make it to accompany my steak or fish.

Mixed Veggies with Worchestershire Sauce

2-3 handful of frozen mixed veggies
1-2 tbs veggie oil
Salt
Sugar (optional)
White pepper (optional)
1 tbs worchestershire sauce

1. Heat oil on medium in a wok or pan and slowly add the frozen mixed veggies. Stir and cover. 2-3min.

2. Uncover and stir. Add all the other ingredients and stir again. 30sec-1min.

3. Serve immediately with toast and fried egg or steak or even fish.

Marble Cheese Cake

2009-08-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

I actually made this Marble Cheesecake a couple of months ago after looking at MamaFami's blog. The moment I saw the pictures and read the ingredients and instructions, I knew I had to make some since it sounded doable and it actually is. As much I love cheesecake, I can only eat so much since I found them a bit too thick and too rich for my taste. And that is why this Marble Cheesecake is just amazing. You get to enjoy cheesecake with half the guilt. *wink* Here is the recipe copied from MamaFami's. Hope you will like it as much as I did.

Marble Cheese Cake

Ingredients :

(A)
185g butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
2 eggs

(B)
250g cream cheese (I used 12 oz Philadelphia cream cheese)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method :

1. Melt butter over low heat. Then add in cocoa powder. Leave to cool.
2. Add in sugar and stir. Add in eggs, one at a time. Finally add in flour and stir until well mixed.. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar till creamy. Add in the egg, vanilla essence and fresh milk.
4. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the cocoa mixture onto the middle of the prepared tin (line with greaseproof paper). Top it with 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture. Continue doing so, until all the mixture finishes.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F C for 45 minutes or until cake is done. Leave overnight before cutting.

Step-By-Step Pictures of How I Pleat/Fold the Wonton

2009-07-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

Pleating wonton can be tricky but I hope with these step-by-step pictures, my readers would be able to do it in no time. You can get the recipe for Fried Wonton from my previous post but for this pictures, I actually used ground turkey instead of ground chicken and they come out very good that Michael kept on eating them.

Add about a tablespoon of the mix at the center and wet 2 sides of the skin

Fold the skin diagonally, pressing the sides together and get rid as much air as possible

Wet 1 end and gently fold the 2-ends by overlapping them together

This is how the wonton would look like once they are done

Fried Wonton

2009-06-23T07:26:00.001-07:00

G & J were kind enough to bring these yummylicious fried chicken wonton to our 24 event and now they are sharing the recipe with me and my readers. Thank you again G & J!

She promised me that they are easy to make but I did not think it would be very very very easy until she emailed me the recipe and I went, "that's it?". Oh I just love good food and what more if it comes with a simple and easy recipe!

Fried Chicken Wonton
makes between 25-30

1lb ground chicken
3-4 stalks green onion (finely chopped)
1-2 finely chopped chili (optional)
Seasoning salt (G&J use Lawry's or Zatarains creole seasoning)
1 pack wonton skin
Oil for frying

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and taste.

2. Fill center of wonton skin with ground chicken, dampen fingers to seal the wonton skin. (You can also use a mixture of water and flour/cornstarch)

3. Fry them batch by batch until golden brown. Serve with sweet chili sauce.

Kuih Bakar

2009-06-16T07:14:00.001-07:00

I apologise for taking such a long time to put up a new post. My notebook has been in a 'workshop' and I only got it back yesterday. Now I know how much I rely on a computer. hehe.

Back to the food, Kuih Bakar is a traditional Malay kuih. There is no direct translation for the word kuih but for this context kuih means cake and bakar means bake. Well, bakar actually means burn but for this delicacy, it is best translated as 'baked cake' simply because it is baked. Back in Malaysia when I was working with a holding company, there is always meeting to be held at the office. Foods and refreshments would be served and we were always asked for suggestions. Among other must-haves would be this sweet, creamy cake, Kuih Bakar.

I have always wanted to make Kuih Bakar but never gotten around to making it myself. One day I just knew that I have to have it so I started searching for the recipe. There is quite a few out there but I when I made it, they come out tasting good but looking rather weird like crooked and all. With the help from MamFami, we tweaked the recipe until it comes out nicely. This is the easiest cake to make. There is no beating needed. You just need to put all the ingredients in the blender for a couple of minutes and pour them in a baking pan and bake. Even a 5 year old can do it. *wink*

Kuih Bakar Recipe

1 1/4 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp pandan paste
1 can coconut milk (400 ml)
3 eggs
2 tbs butter
1/3 tsp salt
Toasted sesame seed

1. Preheat oven at 360F and butter a baking pan, preferably round and about 2.5in deep.

2. Put all ingredients except sesame seed in the blender and and blend for a few minutes.

3. Pour the mixture into a baking pan and sprinkle sesame seed. (make sure you fill up to 2/3 of the baking pan, lesser and you will get a thin one like mine!)

4. Bake for 1 hour.

If you like the taste and smell of pandan paste, you might also like Tepung Pelita.

Chicken and Beef Satay Recipe

2009-06-03T08:11:00.001-07:00

As promised in my previous post of Foodbuzz May 24,24,24 here is the recipe for Chicken and Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce. Some of you may already know that I have made and posted the recipe for Satay before but since this time I used a different recipe, I thought I would post it as well. This recipe was given to me by my friend Mai, a wife, mom, doctor and student who is doing her PhD in England. Thank you Mai!

Chicken Satay Recipe

(makes around 100 sticks)

5lb boneless and skinless chicken breast, sliced and cubed into 1in sq and about 1/2cm thick

1 pack grated lemongrass (14oz)
1/3 cup cumin powder
2oz fennel seed (grind)
1 1/4 cups sugar
Salt
1/4 cup turmeric powder
1/4 cup water
Wooden skewer (soaked in water 2hrs prior to being used)
Oil + honey/sugar

1. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients (except chicken) together and taste. Add chicken to it and mix well.

2. Transfer them into 2-3 ziplock bags and marinate overnight in the fridge.

3. A few hours before grilling, take them out and let them cool to room temperature.

4. Thread the wooden skewer with 3 pieces of chicken each.

5. Grill on a direct fire. Flip every 15-20sec so the meat don't get burned and baste with oil +honey/sugar each time you flip them.

6. Take them of the grill and serve with Rice Cake and Peanut Sauce.

**For Beef Satay, just replace chicken with beef. The marinate are all the same.

I have posted the easy peanut sauce recipe before but to make it easier for you, here they are again.

Peanut Sauce

24oz (680gm) dry-roasted peanuts, (I use store bought)

3 cups water

1/4 cup sambal oelek (less if you dont like it too spicy)

4oz palm sugar

salt

1. Grind the peanuts in a food processor. Longer if you want a finer peanuts.

2. In a large pot boil the water, sambal oelek, palm sugar and ground peanut. Stir continuously.

3. Once its boiled, turn down heat and let it simmer. Add in salt and taste. Give a good stir every 15-20min.. This will take a very long time. It took me between 2-2.5hrs to get the right consistency. The peanut and water should combined nicely.

The recipe will give you a lot of peanut sauce. Just freeze the amount that you are not using for later use.

May Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 - Summer Party Malaysian-Style

2009-05-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

Grilling Satay - Chicken and Beef

Summer is approaching and although we always have bbq at our place, it was never a 'full-blown' Malaysian-style bbq party. So what better way to start the summer than having a Summer Party - Malaysian Style to introduce Malaysian food to our American friends/neighbours? None of those watered-down version of 'Malaysian' food that is normally served at the restaurants here. I am so honoured that my Summer Party proposal was chosen by Foodbuzz for their May 24, 24, 24 event.

The first thing on the menu was of course Satay. Grilled on a charcoal grill (that I specifically asked my husband to get when we moved to this apartment last year!). Both chicken and beef, together with peanut sauce, rice cake and cucumber. The meat was marinated overnight so the taste infused inside the meat and also makes them tender.

Next is Grilled Jumbo Prawns with sambal dipping sauce. I just realised that I don't have pictured of my sambal but the prawn was so yummylicious. Only minimum seasoning needed to retain the taste. They are seasoned with salt, turmeric and a dash of lime juice and off they go on the grill!

Then we have Beef with Potato Murtabak and Pickled Onion on the side. I usually used spring roll skins but this time I used lumpia wrapper. They are equally good although for pictures, I would have to say that I prefer spring roll wrapper since they give that nice edges while with lumpia wrapper you would not get it since they are softer and thinner.

G and J made these droolicious Fried Chicken Wonton that are to die for! I was too busy (and too tired!) to really eat anything yesterday but I am glad I managed to eat some of these. They are crunchy and their bite-size made it easier to eat while one was going back and forth, in and out of the kitchen and patio.

For something heavier, S made these Mamak Mee Goreng with seafood. They are spicy and very flavourful. 1 of my neighbours is of American/Korean parentage and as expected, Mamak Mee Goreng is her favourite and she could not stopped for talking about how good they are.

Honey Barbeque Chicken

Among all the things that I made for the Summer Party, I would have to say that making Fried Popiah is the trickiest one. They are yummy to eat but rolling them and making sure that they are wrapped properly is a skill that I discovered I have yet to master. Thank god for K who used to worked in a chinese restaurant who helped me with wrapping them.

For dessert, I made this Malay kuih called Kuih Bakar. This pandan and coconut milk based kuih/cake is as easy to make as it easy to eat. They are usually made with a flower design mould that I could not find here until I found this disposable mould with curves that gives a little bit of that flower effect.

I would like to thank all my friends (especially S and K for helping and taking most of the pictures) and neighbours who came (and help!) to the party and also Foodbuzz for choosing my Summer Party-Malaysian Style as part of their May Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 event. My SUmmer Party that started at 4pm ended till past midnight after a game of poker. Everybody leaves happily and with a full stomach.

I hope I have managed to introduce you a little bit of how we Malaysian do our party which basically involves lots and lots of food. I will be posting the recipes in my next post.

Bread and Butter Pudding (Puding Roti)

2009-05-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Simple is usually the best way to prepare food. Don't you agree? Like bread and butter pudding. I just love them and I expect everybody would too only to find out that Michael do not. I really have to change my mentality that not everybody enjoy food. Some people eat because they just have to.

Back to bread and butter pudding. Since I love them, I have tried a few recipes and all of them are too elaborate for my taste. I realised that I don't like 'stuff' like raisins or nuts in them. I remember one time I made it with all the ingredients that you can think of and my friends love it but I didn't. Since then I scaled down the ingredients used in my bread pudding until I am satisfied with the taste. This reminds me of Gordon Ramsey's show The F Word. On 1 episode he and another guy had a showdown on bread and butter pudding. As usual his is very fancy shmancy while the other guy's is very simple and once they are done, were served to the customers 'in the dark'. The result? Well, the other guy's bread and butter pudding won hands down and Ramsey was shocked! I thought that was funny. hehehe.

Bread and Butter Pudding

6 slices of bread
3 eggs
1 3/4 - 2 cups milk
1 tbs vanilla extract
6-7 tbs sugar
3 tbs melted butter
Chocolate chips
Cinnamon powder

1. Butter baking dish or use cooking spray

2. Cubed 4 of the bread and lay them on the baking dish. Add chocolate chips on top.

3. In a bowl, whisk the egg, add milk and vanilla extract.

4. In another bowl, add sugar with butter. Butter the other 2 slices of bread with them and sprinkle with cinnamon powder. Cut into 4 pieces each. Set aside. (This is for the topping)

6. Combine the egg mix with butter and stir well. Pour them on top of the bread in the baking dish. Let it rest on room temperature for 30min.

7. Preheat oven to 325F.

8. Add the topping to the baking dish and bake for 1 hour.

*** I got the idea for the topping from here.***

Green Beans with Egg

2009-04-29T14:02:00.001-07:00

I just realised that I do not eat enough vegetables although I love them. Maybe because Michael is not a huge fan of vegetables and the vegetables that they sell at the asian supermarket usually came pre-packaged. Huge packages. So recently I got myself a (huge) bag of green beans. I actually prefer long beans but they are hard to come by and when they do they are usually not fresh and skinny. I like my beans to be fat!

I made this Green Beans with Egg to go with my Squid in Soy Sauce. Of course back home it was long beans instead of green beans but the taste is still there so I am happy. This recipe is very easy to make and would take you less than 20min from preparation to cooking to cleaning.

Green Beans with Egg

2 1/2 handful of green bean, cleaned and cut in half lenghtwise
2 garlic, thinly sliced
1 red chili, sliced
1 egg, whisked
Salt and sugar to taste
2-3 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs vegetable oil
Water

1. In a wok, heat the oil and saute garlic. Slowly add water before the garlic becomes crunchy. Stir. *be carefulof splatter when you are doing this*

2. Stir in oyster sauce, salt and sugar and then only add green beans. Toss a little bit, increase heat to high and cover. 30second.

3. Uncover, add chili and egg, stir well.

4. Served hot with warm white rice.

Squid in Soy Sauce / Sotong Masak Kicap

2009-04-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

Crazy is the perfect word to describe the weather here. We had kind of like a heat wave Saturday-Tuesday with temperature soaring up to 100F eventhough here in Huntington Beach I think we maxed at 97F. And guess what is the temperature now? It is like high 60s to low 60s. I don't really like to cook or be in the kitchen when it is hot since we do not have a/c in the apartment. If I can help it, I would totally avoid cooking when the temperature is higher than 80F but of course that is not possible. We all need to eat don't we?

We went to the asian supermarket last weekend (when it was hot and humid!) so I have quite a few goodies and squid is one of them. Actually I wanted to get some durian but unfortunately they didn't have any. Looks like this weekend we have to go to a different store to get my fix of durian. Anyways, back to my squid soy sauce. It is one of the easiest dish to make. No pounding or grinding or processing needed. Just cut the ingredients and stir fry and voila! You are good to go. Here is how I make my squid is soy sauce.

Squid in Soy Sauce
serves 2-3

1lb squid, clean and cut into rings (I used frozen readily cut)
2 garlic, sliced
1in ginger, sliced
2 red chili, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/4 cup water
4tbs sweet soy sauce
3tbs light soy sauce
1tbs thick soy sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper (optional)
Salt and sugar to taste

1. In a big pan, heat some oil and saute garlic and ginger.

2. Add in the squid and give it a quick stir.

3. Add water, all soy sauce and all the other ingredients. Keep on stirring for 1-2min.

4. Serve immediately with a plate of warm white rice.

Kalamansi Lime

2009-04-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading and/or following my blog, you would realise that I have mentioned the name kalamansi lime a few times. It is to me, the best kind of lime. It looks like key lime but with a much softer skin. It is the most popular lime used in Southeast Asian's cuisine and drink. I have been looking for it for quite a while. Going in and out of Home Depot, nurseries, asian supermarkets and Lowe's only to be very disappointed. Not only they don't have it, most of the times nobody would even know what I was talking about. But my luck was about to change.

Last month when we went to Home Depot on Warner Ave, Huntington Beach to get a couple of plant pots, I decided to again try my luck. Michael keeps teling me that they are not going to have it but I told hm I will ask anyway. Asking is by the way, free, no? So I asked the guy at the nursery section about kalamansi lime. After a few misunderstanding and long conversation, he took me to the lime/lemon tree areas and we looked and searched one by one. The he asked me, "what is it called again?". So I told him it is kalamansi and he showed me this tree and said, "is that it?". There in the middle of the jungle (ok, that's an exaggeration :P) stood 3 kalamansi lime tree. Not 1. Not 2. But 3 of them! You can't imagine how happy I was to have found it. Already I am thinking of hot spring/summer and sipping ans ice cold lime juice made from kalamansi lime. Well, I am not sure when exactly will I get to see the fruits but I sure do hope very soon. I just hope that those pesky insects would leave my kalamansi lime tree alone.

So if you are a fan and/or have been looking for kalamansi lime tree, go to Home Depot. As you can see from the picture, it is stated as calamondin / kalamansi lime. Good luck!

Sotong Kangkung

2009-04-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Roadside stall food. Just thinking about it makes me miss Malaysia so much. You know, the part where whenever you feel like eating something, you can just drive your car to the location. Or if you wakes up at 2am and feel like having something to munch be it Maggi Goreng (fried instant noodle) or Roti Canai or Nasi Lemak, all you have to do is get in your car and drive to the restaurant or stall. Lots of places are open 24/7. No more feeling cranky during that time of the month where you are just too lazy to cook yet you want to eat that delicious ............... (fill in the blank yourself).

Well, since I am not in Malaysia, the next best thing that could happen to me is when I found something at the asian store where I could make something that is familiar to me. Like this sotong which gave me the idea to make Sotong Kangkung. Sotong is squid although I think for this dish, cuttlefish is the more correct definition while Kangkung is water spinach. So I guess it would be 'Cuttlefish Water Spinach' in English? Hmmm... doesn't sound right to me and that is why I only put the title in Malay instead of Malay/English.

Sotong Kangkung

1/2lb cuttlefish
Water spinach, cut the root and rinsed thoroughly
2.5 tbs Rojak sauce, I used Boy Scout brand
1 tbs Shrimp paste, also Boy Scout brand
1 tsp Sambal oelek
1-2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup water
Coarse ground peanut
Salt
Toasted sesame (for garnishing)

1. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except cuttlefish, water spinach and sesame. Taste and adjust according to your liking.

2. In a big pot, boil some water and blanch the cuttlefish for about 2min. Drain and cut into 1-2in. Keep aside.

2. Blanch water spinach for about 1min, drain and cut.

3. In a big bowl, mix cuttlefish with water spinach and rojak sauce well. garnish with toasted sesame and serve immediately

Egg Rendang - Rendang Telur

2009-03-30T08:04:00.001-07:00

After I made Beef Rendang recently, I found that Ummi fr Home Sweet Home made Egg Rendang and being typical me, when I just learned about making something new, I tend to make them a lot. I Immediately boiled some eggs and decided to take it up a notch by deep-frying them too. I love to deep-fry hard-boiled egg. I have done it for my Sambal Telur / Egg Sambal before.

Egg Rendang / Rendang Telur
serves 2-3

3-4 eggs, boiled and de-shelled
1 tsp sambal oelek
1 tsp coriander powder
2 shallot, thinly sliced
1in ginger, thinly sliced
1 garlic, thinly sliced
2-3in lemongrass, thinly sliced
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 small can coconut milk
1 tbs kerisik
Salt and sugar to taste

1. In a pot, heat some oil on medium heat and deep-fry the eggs until brown. The outer skin would get a bit wrinkly. Keep turning them until all sides are brown and wrinkly. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in a different pot and add in the sliced ingredients. Fry till fragrant.

3. Add in sambal oelek, lemongrass, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Stir well.

4. Add in coconut milk, salt and sugar and mix well.

6. Stir continuously and let the rendang cook on medium heat until almost dried and add in kerisik and eggs.

Chinese Fried Rice

2009-03-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

Fried rice is an easy all-in-one meal that everybody can make. Especially Chinese Fried Rice. When I make it, I would use minimum ingredients with no meat or seafood. Just rice, mixed veggies and egg. Well, maybe some oil for frying, garlic and salt and pepper to taste too. Now, how can you not say that it is the easiest meal to make?

Yet as simple and easy as it is, I hardly ever made them. I am not sure why but maybe because when I cook white rice, I just do not cook extra and since I am the only one eating it, there is hardly ever any rice left that is enough to make fried rice. Until recently of course. I reminded myself to cook extra rice since it has been a while that I have homemade fried rice.

Chinese Fried Rice
serves 1-2

2 cups 1-day old cooked white rice
2 garlic, sliced
1 cup frozen mixed veggie
Half medium size onion, sliced
2 eggs
Salt, sugar and white pepper to taste
2 tbs veggie oil

1. In a frying pan, heat the oil and saute the garlic.

2. Add the mixed veggie and cook until they are soft. Add in the rice together with sliced onion, salt, sugar and white pepper. Stir well.

3. In a small bowl, break the eggs and whisk a little and add into the pan. Stir until the egg mixed well with the rice. Serve immediately.

Please also check out my Belacan and Salted Fried Rice.

Lobster Tail with Lemon Curry Butter

2009-03-19T01:31:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky to live in SoCal where seafood is easy to get and not too expensive. My girlfriend who lives in Germany always complain to me how she missed eating seafood since they are not easy to get. But then again, she goes back to Malaysia at least twice a year and where she lives, Titisee/Black Forest, it is just so beautiful. So I guess that was not too bad eh? Talking about Black Forest, reminds me of Black Forest Cake. I am not quite sure if they are available here but they are in Malaysia and it is 1 of my favourite cakes and they are so yummy. I had a huge slice when I was in Black Forest and it took me by suprised by the overwhelmingly taste of alcohol in the cake unlike those available in Malaysia.

I think I am confusing my readers now since the title and pictures posted here are not of cake of any kind. No, you are not wrong. I was just reminiscing all the travelling that I did during my younger years. *wink* Now back to the title and pictures, I made Lobster Tail with Lemon Butter Sauce after I saw it at Maya's My Feasts. This is the 2nd time I cooked lobster on my own. The first time, I just boiled it and eat it with chili sauce. I know! Sad huh? After seeing it at My Feasts, I decided to make some myself. Here is my version.

Lobster Tail with Lemon Curry Butter

1 lobster tail, halves
2 garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 tsp hot chili powder
1 tbs curry powder
1/2 stick unsalted butter -softened
1 tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

1. Saute minced garlic and shallot with 2 tbs of butter.

2. Add in chili and curry powder and saute for 1 min. Let it cool and add in lemon juice. Keep aside (or you can refrigerate) until ready to use.

3. Seasoned lobster tail with salt and pepper. Lightly butter a frying pan and cook the lobster tail. (Just like shrimp, this should not take long)

4. When the lobster is done, pour some of the Lemon Curry Butter on top. Eat with steamed vegetable like broccoli and carrot. You can also drizzle some of the Lemon Curry Butter on the vegetables like I did.

Crab Curry with Pineapple / Kari Ketam Nenas

2009-03-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Last week the weather has been kind of cold. Too cold and gloomy that we did not even go for our walk on the beach last weekend. Of course it was not as cold as in the East Coast who got another round of snowstorm but still cold for Orange County in March. In a way, it is good since it makes me want to cook even more. And I really cook a lot more last week.

I have been meaning to cook Crab Curry with Pineapple for a while but I never remember to get canned pineapple when I go groceries shopping, until recently. I may not fancy curry much but every once in a while I would have this craving for some. Here is my Crab Curry with Pineapple recipe. I hope you will try it and love it as much as I did.

Crab Curry with Pineapple
serves 1-2

2-2.5lb crab, cleaned and cut (I separate the claws and cut the body in half)
3 shallot, sliced
2 garlic, sliced
2in ginger, sliced
4-spice (2in cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 4 cloves and 4 cardamom seed), rinsed and drained
2-3 tbs curry powder, mixed with a little water to form a thick paste
3-4 pineapple ring, each cut into 4-6 pieces
1 small can coconut milk (165ml)
165ml water (I used the coconut milk can)
Salt and sugar to taste
3 tbs vegetable oil

1. In a wok or big pan, heat the oil and add the 4-spice until fragrant. Add shallot, garlic and ginger. Stir until fragrant.

2. Add water and coconut milk, stir until boil. Add sugar and salt to taste.

3. Once boiled, add in the crab and give a little toss so all the crab parts are covered by the sauce. Cover and let it cook. Just like other seafood, this should not take too long. Once the shell is bright orange, they are cooked.

4. Take the lid off, add the pineapple and stir well. Taste and serve with warm white rice.

Beef Rendang / Rendang Daging

2009-03-12T07:20:00.001-07:00

I made Kerisik in my previous post. I am sure some of you already know what it was for. Yes, it is Beef Rendang. Rendang is an all time favourite of Malaysia and Indonesia. In Malaysia, rendang is popular among the Malays and is usualy served during wedding reception, family gathering and special events. I finally made Beef Rendang from scratch! Thanks to MamaFami whose recipe I think is the simplest with minimum easy to get and/or substituted ingredients. According to her, the dish was her late father's favourite. I am happy to share with you the easy-to-make Beef Rendang. Try this Beef Rendang recipe. You won't regret it. It is easy to make yet it tasted so good.

Beef Rendang / Rendang Daging

1 lb beef, cut into small chunck
4-5 shallots, sliced
3-4 garlic, sliced
2in ginger, sliced
1.5 tbs sambal oelek
2 tbs coriander powder
1 lemon grass, thinly sliced
1 tsp turmeric powder
3oz coconut milk, about half small can
3 tbs brown sugar
Salt
3 tbs sweet soya sauce (for color)
1-2 kaffir lime leaves
2-3tbs Kerisik

1. Heat oil in a pot and add in the sliced ingredients. Fry till fragrant.

2. Add in sambal oelek, lemongrass, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Stir well.

3. Add in the beef and let it cook on medium heat.

4. Add in coconut milk, brown sugar, salt, sweet soya sauce and kaffir lime leaves. Mix well.

5. Let the rendang cook on medium heat till almost dried and add in kerisik.

6. Mix well and remove from heat. Enjoy with warm white rice or toast or nasi impit.

Kerisik / Toasted Grated Coconut

2009-03-09T08:03:00.001-07:00

Malay cooking is very tedious and uses a lot of ingredients especially if you really follow the kampung (village) recipes. Those that I have posted so far have mostly been 'modernised' thus they are some-what easier to make without compromising too much of the taste. Some of the ingredients are also readily available (pre-packed/instant) at the store like curry paste, rendang paste, sweet and sour paste, kerisik and etc. When I told my aunt that I uses instant kerisik, she (and my cousins!) pooh-poohed me for not making my own kerisik.

For those who are in the dark, kerisik is toasted grated coconut. One of the many important ingredients in Malay cooking. It is used in making among other, rendang and nasi ulam. To make kerisik, you will need if possible, freshly grated coconut flesh that has not been squeezed of the coconut milk yet. Alternatively, you can use the frozen grated coconut (thawed). That was what I used.

Kerisik / Toasted Grated Coconut

8oz grated coconut

1. Add freshly grated coconut in a non-stick pan, stir continuously on low to medium heat.

2. Stir until it becomes golden brown. Turn the heat off.

3. Grind in the food processor or pound using mortar and pestle.

Sambal Tumis Tempeh dan Ikan Bilis / Anchovies and Tempeh Sambal

2009-03-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

Tempeh, a fermented soybean is mostly associated with Orang Jawa or Javanese. Like tofu, tempeh is made of soybean but retained in whole soybean shape. Since Malaysia is close to Indonesia, it is no wonder tempeh is very popular especially in the state of Johor. Actually I only know of this fact after talking to my ex-schoolmate yesterday. My father is a Johorean so we eat tempeh all the time and so I thought everybody eats tempeh too. Apparently I was wrong.

While tempeh is easily found in Malaysia, here in the US you can only find them either at the asian stores or specialty stores like Trader Joe's (California) which is of course a bit more expensive. My friend Gert of My Kitchen Snippet brought me some tempeh when she came here for a holiday and I just deep fried and eat them with sambal kicap (soy sauce sambal). When I managed to find some more tempeh from the asian store, I decided to make Sambal Tumis Tempeh and Ikan Bilis. Here is the recipe and I hope you will enjoy it.

Sambal Tumis Tempeh dan Ikan Bilis

4oz Sambal Tumis
A block of tempeh, cut into small pieces
A handful of anchovies - cleaned, rinsed and drained
1/2 onion, sliced
Oil for frying

1. In a frying pan (or pot), fry the tempeh, set aside and then fry the anchovies and set aside.

2. In another pan, heat about 2 tbs of vegetable oil and sauteed the onion. Add sambal and stir until it thickened.

3. Add in tempeh and anchovies and stir until they are fully coat by the sambal.

4. Enjoy with warm white rice or on toast.

More interesting recipes, click on the titles;

Fried Eggplant with Sambal

Deep-Fried Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce

Steamed White Pomfret

2009-02-25T10:43:00.001-08:00

I love going to the asian supermarket. Maybe because I am asian. :P Finding stuff that I am familiar with and in the shape that I am accustomed to and with price tags that would not make me cry. True isn't it? Somehow the stuff sold at the asian supermarkets are cheaper and fresher (for veggies and seafood at least). I don't buy prawns/shrimps at the regular supermarkets where it would cost me maybe $5-$8/lb since I can get them for $4/lb at the asian supermarket. They also have a wider varieties of fish and would clean them for you which is the way I like it since for the life of me, I can not clean them myself.

Anyways, the last visit to the asian supermarket, I bought a few types of fish and usually would eat them for a whole straight week. Previously I posted Baked Trout with Vegetables so today I am going to post my Steamed White Pomfret recipe that I made a few weeks ago.

Steamed White Pomfret

1 whole white pomfret, cleaned (mine was about 1.5lb)
2-3in ginger, thinly julienne
4 shallot, thinly julienne
2 garlic, thinly sliced
2-3 thai chili, sliced (or 1/2 serrano chili)
1 red chili, sliced
Juice from 2 lime
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

1. Make 2 slits on each side of the fish and set aside.

2. In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients well and taste. Add salt or sugar or lime juice to your liking.

3. Pour some of the juice into a pyrex bowl (or any bowl that you are using to steam the fish), lay the fish and pour the rest of the juice on the fish. Let it marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. I did mine overnight.

4. Take the bowl out of the fridge an hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature.

5. Put it in a steamer and steam until cooked. You will know the fish is cooked when the meat will flake easily with a fork or chopstick.

The Best Chili Sauce

2009-02-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

Everybody have their own favourite brand. Be it the burger patties, frozen roti pratha, pastry shells or even canned coconut milk. I guess the same goes with me. Among other things that I am very particular with is chili sauce, not very common here in the US as people would usually go with kechup. I used to eat everything with chili sauce. When I get some KFC, I would use so much chili sauce that my colleague would tease me and say to me, "Farina, do eat some chicken with your chili sauce".

As you can see from the pictures, my personal favourite brand is Lingham Chili Sauce. When we first moved to California, I would get my supply from the World Market but then they discontinued bringing them in and I was left very very very sad. I was told that the closest I would get to the taste is the Mae Ploy chili sauce. Well, to me it is pretty good but it now Lingham Chili Sauce and I was not the only one thinking that way. Michael is not the type who would eat sweet chili sauce but he loves eating Cekodok with Lingham Chili Sauce and Lingham Chili Sauce only. When we ran out of supply and had to eat with Mae Ploy, he complained about the texture and the taste. Can you believe that? He is the type who eats so that he is not hungry while I, eat because the food is good.

Recently we went to Ranch 99 store in Irvine and saw them on the shelves! I was ecstatic beyond believe. Lingham has a few varieties of the chili sauce but we both like the regular hot sauce. It is a sweet chili sauce but not too sweet that you can only taste the sugar. So the next time you visit your asian store, do see if they carry Lingham and if they do, get a bottle and give it a try.

Baked Trout with Vegetables

2009-02-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons why I love blogging. From getting to 'meet' people from around the world, sharing experiences to learning different cultures and cuisine. One of my newly found friend is Olga of Mango & Tomato. A couple of months ago while browsing her blog, something caught my attention. Her dad was her guest blogger that day and he just made Baked Trout with Vegetables. I love fish. And vegetables. But I have never bake them together. In fact I have never baked any fish before.

I told her that I will try that recipe once I got hold of some trout and last weekend I finally got some .. err actually just 1. As usual I would add a few others of my favourite vegetable and ingredient. Here is my version of Baked Trout with Vegetables.

Baked Trout with Vegetables
serves 1

1 trout, cleaned and make 4 slits on each side
2-3 medium size potato, peeled and cut into chunks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
1 eggplant, cleaned and sliced 1cm thick
A handful of green beans, cut both ends and halves
1 red chili, core removed and julienned
Juice of 1 lime (or 2)
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
2 garlic, finely chopped
Salt
A dash of cayenne pepper
Tarragon
Oil

1. Preheat oven 375-400F

2. Season the fish with salt (inside and out) and lay it on the oiled pan.

3. Put lime juice, soy sauces, garlic, salt, cayenne pepper and tarragon in a bowl and mix well.

4. Lather the fish with the mix making sure that you stuff some of the coarser ingredients in between the slits and the inside of the fish. Pour the rest of the ingredients on to the fish.

5. Start laying out the vegetables around the fish and drizzle some salt and oil on top.

6. Bake for 20-30min.