Stir-fried Glass Noodles

Apologies for not writing. I have been rather laidback lately, doing nothing but chilling out most of the time. This was cooked for one of my lunches and I grabbed everything I could find from my fridge. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 small pack of glass noodles -soaked and drained
1 egg - lightly beaten
2 cloves of minced garlic
a handful of vegetables of your choice - I have used spinach in this dish
1 tbsp of chilli powder 
1 tbsp of chilli flakes
2 tbsps of soya sauce
2 tbsps of oil

Method:

1. Heat up oil in a frying pan.
2. Fry garlic till fragrant.
3. Add in beaten egg and fry till cooked.
4. Add in noodles and vegetables.
5. Add in chilli powder, chilli flakes and soya sauce.
6. Fry till everything is mixed and cooked. 
7. Serve warm. :)

Salted fish and minced pork patties

The word salted fish would put a cringe in my hubby's face, so imagine the smell in the house when I fried these patties. I was lucky that my neighbour didn't knock on my door and asked if there was a corpse lying around. Hahaha! These patties were really good. Thanks to my sister who gave me this recipe. :)

So yummy and smelly! 

Ingredients

500g of minced pork

1 small piece of salted fish - about 3 X 3 cm

2 cloves of minced garlic

2 minced shallots

3 tsps of corn flour

20 ml of water

1 tbsp of soya sauce

Method

1. Mince the salted fish into very small pieces.
2. Mix all the ingredients with your hands throughly.
3. Scoop them with a spoon and roll them like a ball before you flatten them.
4. Heat up 2 tbsps of oil in a wok and fry them till thoroughly cooked.
5. Enjoy with a bowl of rice! You need 2 bowls. ;)

Curry Puffs

We were going to a Midsummer party at my BIL's place and we couldn't go empty-handed, could we? So, I brought some curry puffs for their indulgence. They weren't that nice in shapes as there was something wrong with my dough. A tad too soft. I didn't know what was the cause, really. That was the first flop I had in making curry puffs. Hmmmmm.........But luckily, they were still edible. ;)

Spicy potatoes

Eggs

Roll out the dough

Fill each piece with potatoes and shape them as you want
Egg glaze before putting them into the oven

Ready to go!

Sedapppp

Ingredients

Dough

400g plain flour- sifted

1/2 tsp salt

175g butter

180ml cold water

Filling

1 onion - diced into small cubes

200g potatoes - diced into small cubes

2 tbsp meat curry powder - mixed with enough water to form a paste

1 stalk curry leaves - use leaves only

2cm cinnamon stick

1 star anise

100ml water

Salt and sugar to taste

1 cube of chicken stock

Method

Filling

1. Heat up a little oil and fry onions till soft.
2. Add curry leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise and curry powder and fry for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Pour in water and mix in salt, sugar and chicken cube.
5. Cover and cook until potatoes turn soft and filling is dry. 
6. Dish out and cool the filling thoroughly.

Dough

1. Put sifted flour and salt into a mixing bowl. 
2. Rub butter into flour with your fingertips, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Make a well in the centre and add in cold water to bind and form into a dough.
4. Turn the pastry onto a floured tabletop and roll out to 1/4cm thickness. 
5. Cut into a round with a 5cm round pastry cutter. 
6. Put a dessertspoon of filling in the centre of each pastry round. 
7. Fold pastry into half to enclose the filling. 
8. Seal by pinching the edges and you can use a fork to make the patterns or fold it with your fingers. 
9. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
10. Glaze the curry puffs with egg wash and bake for 15-20 minutes or till golden brown.
11. Serve warm and let them cool slightly before serving.
12. Enjoy!

Pineapple Polo Buns

Grow! Grow!

Dough is divided into 12 portions-about 50g each

Topping is divided into 12 portions - about 25g each

A tsp of pineapple filling

Topping is flattened and placed on top of each bun

Fresh from the oven

I didn't have enough pineapple filling. :D

A tinge of sour and sweet in combination

These buns have been in my longest to-bake-list and I have done it today! Yippee! But they were left too long in the oven (I was doing the laundry and forgot the time!) as such, they were not as soft as they should be. A sweet and crunchy top, topped with a sourish pineapple filling, fluffy in the middle and crispy bottom. What a great combination! Taste wise is still not too bad. Just remember to keep an eye on the baking time. :) 

Ingredients

Dough

300g of flour

40g of caster sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

6g of instant yeast

1 egg

170ml of warm water

30g of butter

Topping (Mixed well)

150 of flour

50g of butter

60g of icing sugar

1 egg

Filling

1 can of pineapple, drained and stir-fried

Method

1. Filling: Blend the pineapple till fine and stir fry the paste over low heat until dry. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Dough: Mix all the ingredients well. 
3. Add in butter and beat at medium speed till dough is smooth and stretchable. It takes about 15 mins.
4. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and leave to rise for 1 hour.
5. Divide the dough into 12 portions (about 50g each) and roll them like a ball. Leave to rest for another 5 minutes.
6. Divide the topping into 12 portions (about 25g each)
7. Use a teaspoon of pineapple filling and wrap it into each piece of dough.
8. Flatten the topping ( I use the back of a spoon) and place each topping on one portion of the dough. 
9. Use a butter knife and 'cut' lines on the top.
10. Cover all the buns with a wet towel and leave to rest for another 1 hour.
11. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
12. Bake the buns (in the middle rack) for about 15-18 minutes. 
13. Remove and leave to cool on a rack.
14. Serve warm with a cup of your favourite drink. :)

Mackerel and Potatoes Sambal

Surprisingly, it is a very appetizing dish!

I was wondering what to cook for dinner and a friend mentioned she was going to get some potatoes from the shop. I asked if curry chicken was for dinner but she said nope and showed me a picture of her dish. I was so intrigued with it and did a similar dish with different ingredients. It turned out to be really a delish! Thanks Julia Lim! :)

Ingredients
4 medium-sized potatoes (cut into quarters or smaller pieces, if you wish)
a handful of ikan bilis (dried anchovies-rinsed well and dried)
2 cans of mackerel with tomato sauce
2 stalks of curry leaves (only the leaves are to be used)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 onion (cut into quarters)
1-2 tbsps of chilli powder
1-2 tbsps of curry powder
2 fresh bird's eye chilies (cut into small pieces or 3 parts if you fancy to see them in your dish and do not want to bite into them)
Oil for frying

Method

1. Heat up enough oil in a frying pan and fry potatoes till golden brown, dish out and set aside.
2. Fry dried anchovies till golden brown, dish out and set aside.
3. Next, fry onions till almost cooked and add in minced garlic, curry leaves and chillies.
4. Fry them till fragrant and add in potatoes and dried anchovies. Continue to fry for about 3-5 minutes. 
5. Add in mackerel (without the tomato sauce first) and fry all for about 5 mins. 
6. Add in chilli powder and curry powder, mix well and fry for another 2 mins. 
7. Add in the tomato sauce from mackerel and switch off your heat. 
8. Continue frying the ingredients, mix well and till the sauce is quite dried up.
9. Dish up and serve warm with rice or fried noodles.  
10. Enjoy another spicy dish. ;)

Stir-fried Spicy Thai Holy Basil* Minced Pork

Get yourself a big glass of water

I like spicy food. I guess it is in the genes of many Asians. I have been cooking spicy dishes lately and my husband is 'suffering' (the day after); if you know what I mean. Haha! Try this if you fancy a perk-me-up dish in your meals.

Ingredients
300g of minced pork (you can replace with beef or chicken)
2 packets of store-bought Holy Basil seasoning sauce (I got them from the Asian store)
2 pcs of fresh bird's eye chillies (you can replace with the regular chillies if you fancy a less spicy version)
2-3 tsps of chilli flakes
A handful of fresh Thai basil* (I bought the Italian type from local ICA but you can always get the Thai basil from an Asian store)
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 tbsp of oil

Method

1. Heat up oil in a frying pan.
2. Fry garlic and fresh bird's eye chillies till fragrant. 
3. Add in minced pork and fry till cooked.
4. Add in chilli flakes and fry for a minute.
5. Add in the 2 sachets of ready made sauce and fry for another 8-10 minutes.
6. Dish up and garnish with fresh basil.
7. Serve warm with rice. 

Note: This is the ready-made sauce in sachet form.
Image is taken from templeofthai.com

Sambal Petai

Cheat sheet basics

A piece of brown sugar

Yummmy!

I have been craving for sambal petai for a VERY long time. Found it fresh on the shelf at the Asian store last week. Voila!! 

Ingredients
1 pack of store-bought Tean's Gourmet Sambal
2 medium-sized onions-sliced 
1 pack of petai-seeds discarded
1 small piece of brown sugar
2 tbsps of oil
25ml of water


Method

1. Heat up the oil in a frying pan. 
2. Fry the onions till soft. ( I like mine well-cooked but if you prefer them raw, then fry briefly)
3. Add in petai and fry briefly.
4. Add in sambal sauce, water and brown sugar.
5. Stir and cook for about 15mins.
6. Serve with rice. Ooooooooooo-la-la

Lo Mai Kai (Glutinous Rice)

I love Lo Mai Kai! I like to have this during dim sum sessions. My munchkins love them too! Hmmm....Let's have a feast of glutinous rice. :)

Ingredients

400g glutinous rice (soaked overnight)

400g chicken meat-marinated overnight ( I like thigh meat)

10 pcs of dried mushrooms (soaked overnight,squeezed dry and cut into small pieces)

2 chinese sausages (sliced and fried briefly)

Glutinous Rice (mixed in a bowl)

2 tbsps oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp five spice powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsps light soya sauce

1-2 tbsp dark soya sauce (if u like it darker in colour)

Chicken Marinade 

1 tbsp shaoxing wine

2 tbsp light soya sauce 

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Other ingredients

3 shallots-minced

2 tbsps oil

3 tbsps oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

100-150 ml of water

Hot water for steaming

Method

1. Drain glutinous rice and steam it for 30mins. Set aside.
2. Heat up a frying pan and fry shallots till fragrant and add in mushrooms. Fry briefly.
3. Add in chicken, oyster sauce, soya sauce, dark soya sauce and fry till cooked. 
4. Add 100-150ml of water and let it simmer at low heat for about 15mins. Set aside.
5. Fry glutinous rice in a non-stick pan for about 5-8mins (stirring frequently) and add in seasonings. Stir and combine well. Set aside.
6. Grease some containers for steaming. If you don't have, you can use a heatproof bowl and steam everything. The only difference is it's not individual-type.
7. Layer the chicken, mushroom and sausage at the bottom and glutinous rice on top. Do make sure it's well-packed.
8. Add hot, boiled water into each container till the rice is slightly covered.
9. Steam in a big pot for about 20-30 mins. 
10. Serve warm with chilli sauce and fried onions. 
11. Enjoy!

Steamed Glutinous Rice

Chicken+Mushroom

Fry Glutinous Rice

Seasonings-mixed well

Mix seasonings well in glutinous rice

Place them in individual bowls

Enjoy!

Popiah

It's a dish that has such a great variety of condiments which makes one yearn for more. In fact, the more, the merrier! I can't make so many condiments over here-as I want to get most of the ingredients from the local store without going to the Asian shop, so I make do with about 5-7 items. I can't get 'sengkuang' here so I substitute with white radish and carrots. I miss Rom's popiahs. They were really lip-smacking! Oh! and my munchkins love the popiah skins. They said: Yummy!!! >_<

Ingredients

Main condiment

2 large-sized white radish-cut into strips

2 medium-sized carrots-shredded

5 cloves of minced garlic

2 pcs of dried cuttlefish-cut into strips

3 tbsps oyster sauce

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tbsp salt

1 pack of Popiah Skin from TYJ/Spring Home Spring Roll Pastry 

Side Condiments

4 eggs for fried omelette-cut into strips

100g fried French beans- in small bits 

2 Chinese Sausage - in small bits and fried briefly

1 medium-sized cucumber-cut into thin strips

1 medium-sized carrots-cut into thin strips

200g of blanched small prawns

Optional

Blanched beansprouts

Fried beancurd

Fried peanuts

Fried onions

Chilli sauce for dipping ( I like the Tean's Gourmet Crispy Prawn Chilli)

Hoi Sin sauce for dipping

Method

1. Heat up some oil in a thick bottom pot and fry garlic till fragrant. 
2. Add in dried cuttlefish and salt. Fry briefly.
3. Add in carrots and fry briefly.
4. Add in radish, oyster sauce and dark soya sauce.
5. Stir occassionally and let the ingredients cook at low heat for about 30mins.
6. Set aside and cook the rest of the side condiments.
7. Scoop the main condiment into a siever and drain it on top of a bowl.
8. Start with chilli sauce and hoi sin sauce as the base on the popiah skin.
9. Add other condiments as you wish. 
10. Fold in the sides of the popiah and roll it up. 
11. Voila and start munching!

Garlic and dried cuttlefish 

Carrots and white radish

Side condiments

Main condiment

Gather all your condiments

My hubby's way of wrapping the popiah ;)

My way ;)

Fried Sesame Balls

This is my favourite snack to order when I eat at dim sum restaurants. Unfortunately, it's not easily available here. I had some red bean paste left from making the SH mooncakes so making these was perfect! Well, I'm supposed to get 12 pieces but 6 was burnt and uncooked. The heat was too high. What a pity! Nevertheless, these 6 are just nice and I'm savouring them like a tortoise... ;)

Yippeee!

Ingredients

(A) Dough 30g wheat starch
75ml water

Method

1. Warm wheat starch over a pot of simmering hot water.
2. At the same time, boil up the 75ml of water and mix well with wheat starch.
3. Cover and leave to rest for 10 mins.

(B) Syrup
120ml water
40g white sugar
A pinch of salt

Method

1. Boil up sugar, salt and water in a pot and set aside.

(C) Dough
150g glutinous rice flour-sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1tbsp cooking oil

Method

1. Mix glutinous rice flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl.
2. Add in warm syrup (B) into the flour mixture and combine well.
3. Add cooking oil and wheat starch dough (A), and knead till smooth (about 1 min) cover and leave it to rest for 10 mins.

Filling 
120g red bean paste
Sesame seeds

Method

1. Divide red bean paste into small round balls (about 10g each).
2. Divide dough into small round balls (about 18-20g each) and cover with a cloth.
3. Flatten the dough and wrap red bean ball into the flour dough and roll into round ball. Repeat the rest. 
4. Damp your hand on each ball and roll it on a plate of sesame seeds.
5. Fry the sesame balls over low heat till golden brown.

Recipe is adapted from nasilemaklover.blogspot with minor changes.

Murtabak Parcels

Squares

Triangles

Ugly

Better

Yummy!

Besides roti canai telur, murtabak is my next favourite order whenever I eat in mamak stalls/restaurants in Malaysia. I have some beef in the fridge and murtabak came to my mind. Not very nice-looking but tasted quite good. Hubby ate as many pieces as he could. I'm a happy wife today! :)

Ingredients
300g minced beef
1 large onion-cubed
2 cloves of garlic-minced
3 medium potatoes-cubed
4 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsps Baba's meat curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
100-150ml water
2 eggs - beaten well

Method

1. Mix curry powder, Baba's meat curry powder, chilli powder, sugar, salt and pepper with a few tbsps of water to form a paste.
2. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and fry garlic and onions till soft and cooked.
3. Add in minced beef and curry paste mixture.
4. Fry the minced beef till cooked and try the separate them well.
5. Add potatoes and water and simmer till cooked and water is reduced. (about 20 mins) Leave to cool completely. Add beaten eggs into the mixture and mix well.
6. Lay a piece of spring roll pastry and ladle 1 tbsp of curry beef mixture in it and seal with another piece of spring roll pastry. I seal with some dollops of water.
7. Heat up some oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the parcels till golden brown.
8. Serve warm and enjoy!

Recipe is adapted from mykitchensnippets.com

Apam Balik

I like apam balik. What can I do over here? Get my stuff and make some to satisfy my craving. Not perfect but it's a pass. But....super, duper, yummylicious ones are those sold in Malaysia. :)

Ingredients:
- 160g flour
- 90g rice flour
- 20g cornstarch
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 medium-sized eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
- 180-200ml water
- 130g fine white sugar

Filling:
-130g melted butter
-130g fine white sugar
-1 cup chopped/blended roasted peanuts

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together, strain well and leave in the fridge for about 4-5 hours.
2. Heat up a shallow, non stick pan slightly. (just warm enough for the batter to stick to pan). 
3. Scoop some batter in a laddle, pour into the pan and swirl the pan around so that batter coats the edge.
4. Sprinkle some sugar on the pancake.
5. Continue to cook till the bottom of pancake turns golden brown.
6. Next, add in a generous amount of melted butter and sprinkle some peanuts.
7. Fold the pancake into a half and leave to cool.
8. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

 Recipe is adapted from simply-june.blogspot

SH Mooncakes

Yummmy!

Red Bean Paste

My first attempt! I made some SH mooncakes over the weekend. I'm very pleased with the outcome. Unfortunately, I can't share the dough recipe here as it was given by a friend. (Thank you, Sharon Yet!) But generally, the ingredients are red bean paste for the filling; flour, custard powder, butter, milk, icing sugar and corn starch for the dough. Therefore, it's pretty easy to find similar recipes out there. Try it if you have some time to spare. The tedious part would be cooking the red bean paste. Sit on a chair and have a book in hand while stirring. This kept me awake. ;) 

Red Bean Paste 
Ingredients 
400g of red beans
150g sugar
120ml vegetable oil

Method

1. Soak red beans overnight. 
2. At medium heat,cook red bean in a pot of water till cooked. This takes about 30 mins.
3. Let red beans cool down and blend them in a food processor till very fine. Add some water from the pot of cooked beans.(for easier blending) 
4. Transfer all the beans to a non-stick frying pan, add sugar and stir them continuously. 
5. Add oil gradually and continue stirring all the time. This takes about 1 hour. Do make sure the paste is not burnt. 
6. The paste is ready when it's thick and doesn't drop from the spatula. The time taken to cook the paste depends on the amount of water added during the blending process. If you have added a lot of water, then you would need to cook much longer.
7. Let the paste cool down completely before proceeding to making the mooncakes. 

Dough
Some sites to refer to: Nasi Lemak Lover or Vivian Pang Kitchen

Curry Puffs

Hmmmmmm... these are so good for tea, party, breakfast or supper! :) Made these for a party some time ago and thought I could share the recipe. My brother-in-law requested for 50 pieces (for the party) and he ate 8 or 10, maybe. However, I do miss those juicy big curry puffs from IKEA MALAYSIA.

Ingredients
400g plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
175g butter
180ml cold water

Filling
200g chicken fillet (diced)
1 medium-sized yellow onion (diced)
4-5 medium sized potatoes (diced)
2 tbsp meat curry powder, mixed with enough water to form a paste
1 stalk curry leaves (use leaves only)
2cm cinnamon stick
1 star anise
120ml water
Salt and sugar to taste

Note: Chicken fillet is optional. I omitted and replaced with another 4 medium-sized potatoes. You can add more curry powder and some chilli powder if you like spicy curry puffs.

Egg Wash
2 egg yolks + 2 tsp egg whites

Method

Filling

1. Heat oil and fry onions till soft. 
2. Add curry leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise and curry powder and fry for 1-2 mins.
3. Add potatoes and fry for 2-3 mins.
4. Add chicken and fry for another 1-2 mins. Pour in water and season with salt and sugar, to taste.
5. Cover and cook until potatoes turn soft and filling becomes dry. 
6. Dish out and cool the filling thoroughly.

Dough

1. Put sifted flour and salt into a mixing bowl. 
2. Using your fingertips, rub butter into flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
3. Make a well in the centre and add in cold water to bind. 
4. Turn the dough onto a floured tabletop and roll out to 1/4 cm thickness. 
5. Cut into rounds with a 5cm round pastry cutter. 
6. Put a teaspoon of filling in the centre of each pastry. 
7. Fold pastry into half to enclose the filling.
8. Seal by pinching and fluting the edges. 
9. Splash a thin layer of egg wash on each puff.
10. Preheat oven to 200 degs and bake the curry puffs for about 20 mins or till golden brown. Alternatively, you can fry them in oil till golden brown and drain on kitchen paper.
11. Serve warm or at room temperature.