Thai-day Sunday...

It's a Sunday. Busy day for me as usual. Grocery shopping, cleaning and cooking. I decided to do Thai today... Tom Yum, Mango Kerabu and Fried Fish.

When I got home I cleaned the kitchen. I even cleaned the refrigerator... and that's when it happened. Wham! I had cleaned the cabinets but mindless me left the cabinet door ajar. I then proceeded to clean the fridge. As soon as I was done I stood up. Wham! Bang! I saw stars... literally... the pain was excruciating. Tears welled in my eyes. Serves you right for being so careless...

Here it is... it was swollen too... and yes, it bled. And I had my hair cut after I knocked my head... thankfully, the barber noticed it and was gentle with that part.

Anyway, despite my throbbing head I managed to clean the apartment and change the sheets and then started cooking.

This is the Mango Kerabu. A very simple version. You can add other ingredients to it to make it taste better like peanuts, ikan bilis or even dried shrimps. It's entirely up to you. Here's the recipe...

1 large young mango

6 shallots

1 serai

6 cili padi

2 limes, juiced

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp sugar

Julienne the mango and set aside. Slice the cili padi, shallots and serai finely. How much you use is a matter of preference. You can add or lessen the quantity. In a large bowl add all the ingredients and toss. You may need to add more sugar to taste. If you like you can add some chopped cilantro.

This is the Tom Yum. Plain looking as I was too lazy to chop cilantro for garnishing. Nak makan, bukan nak jual or enter a competition.

prawns
1 liter chicken stock
6 slices fresh galangal
2 serai, bruised
2 daun limau purut
10 cili padi
2 tomatoes, quartered
2 onions, quartered
4 limes, juiced
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp roasted chilli paste

In a pot bring your chicken stock to boil. Add the sliced galangal, serai, cili padi and onion. Tear the daun limau purut and add in. Add lime juice, fish sauce and roasted chili paste. Allow to boil for about 10 minutes or so for the flavours to infuse. Add tomatoes and allow to boil for a further 2 or 3 minutes. Add prawns, close lid and turn fire off. Done.

Adjust taste to your preference with lime juice and fish sauce. Lime juice for sourness and fish sauce for saltiness. Do not add more lime juice till after adding the tomatoes as the tomatoes will add to the sourness. Prawns has to be last and fire switched off immediately or it will be hard and overcooked. Oh... you can add other stuff in like oyster mushrooms, cauliflower and what not. Up to you lah.

Aglio e Olio

That's my dinner... it doesn't get any simpler than this when you're not having instant noodles. I'm getting hungry again as I type this. Just the thought of it makes me hungry. Such a simple dish yet so, so satisfying.

1. Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the packet. It's 6 minutes for this, vermicelli. However, I cooked it to 4 minutes and then cold shocked it in running tap water to stop it from cooking further. Then set it aside.

2. Chop some garlic (I used half a BULB) and cili padi (chili flakes if you prefer) and prepare 1 cup of chicken stock. I use Maggis' concentrated chicken stock where you add 1 tsp of the concentrated stock to 1 bowl of water.

3. Add olive oil generously to a pan. Heat should be moderate or the garlic will end up getting burnt and you'll end up with bitter sauce. Add the garlic and cili padi and saute till golden. If you have white wine, splash some in then add your chicken stock.

4. Add your pasta, cook for about 2 minutes or till your preferred doneness (and dryness) and season with crushed black pepper and salt. As you can see I like mine soaked in sauce.

Done. Bon Appetit.

Chicken Curry

I felt like having some chicken curry so I looked for some recipes online. I wanted my chicken curry to be as simple as possible, meaning without me having to go and buy a shit-load of spices. The limitations were, I had to have those ingredients at home already or at the worst be able to buy it from the shop downstairs at my apartment. There was no 100% fit so I had to improvise and put my own recipe together.

Recipe

1 whole chicken cut into pieces

4 potatoes

2 tomatoes

2 star anise

4 cloves

2 inch cinnamon stick

5 sprigs curry leaves

2 serai, bruised

Ingredients to be ground

3 tbsp chili paste

1 large onion

5 cloves garlic

2 inches young ginger

1 inch kunyit

3 tbsp meat/chicken curry powder

10 cashewnuts

1 liter water

1 pkt coconut milk

seasoning

I had almost everything at home so I stopped by at the shop and bought what I didn't have which were curry leaves and the santan. I replaced candlenuts (buah keras) with cashewnuts.

As usual, I like to season my meat and let it marinade for a bit so I started with the chicken and marinated it with chicken stock granules.

Skin the potatoes. Quarter the potatoes and tomatoes and set aside. Then peel the ingredients to be ground and proceed to blend to a fine paste.

Heat some oil in a large pot, about 100ml or so. Throw in (not literally lah) the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, serai and curry leaves and sauté for a while. Then add in the grounded ingredients and stir-fry till fragrant and the oil begins to separate. This should be done on medium to low heat so your paste does not burn.

Add in the chicken and continue to fry for about 5 to 10 minutes until chicken is firm. Add in the water and bring to a simmer. Add your potatoes and continue to simmer at a low heat till potatoes and chicken are cooked. Add your tomatoes, cook for a few minutes then add your santan. Season to taste. As usual I season mine in the beginning and just add a touch at the end. I have stated 1 liter of water but you may need more so add more if you need to, depending on your preference on how thick you like your curry. It's easier to add water then to reduce your stock.

I was going to snap a picture with my DSLR but it was out of battery. I somehow left it on and it drained so I used my phone instead. This is after I added the tomatoes and santan.

Here it is, the final product. A picture taken with my phone too with the horrible LED flash.

I managed to charge my battery slightly and it had just enough juice to manage one shot. So, here it is.

My guests swear that it is good and even tapau-ed some home. And they say it is good enough for me to open a shop in the event I lose my job. Hahaha...

Beef Rendang

I got home early today to cook some rendang. I acquired a recipe from Hari Raya and decided to try it out. Did I mention that I love rendang? Heh, heh, heh... ada faham kah? Anyways, back to the recipe. You'll need the following:-

1kg beef, I used topside

2 small packets curry powder for meat or chicken, Adabi

1 inch galangal

10 serai

20 dried chilli, soaked

1 bulb garlic

20 shallots

1 inch young ginger

1 inch turmeric

500 ml water

2 pieces asam keping

1 daun kunyit, finely shredded

2 packets coconut milk

1 packet kerisik

seasoning

Some of the ingredients used. For those who don't know, starting clockwise at the top is serai (lemongrass), kunyit (turmeric), young ginger, lengkuas (galangal), shallots and garlic. Daun kunyit (turmeric leaf) and onion on top.

First of all, slice or cube your beef depending on how you like it. Keep in mind shrinkage over the long cooking process. My guess is almost 40% shrinkage. So if you slice it too small and thin then it would literally 'dissolve' by the end of it. Then marinate the beef with some seasoning and half the curry powder for at least 30 minutes.

Then proceed to peel and prepare the ground ingredients. I'd recommend you split it into two batches, the galangal and serai separate from the others. I'd also recommend that you slice the galangal and serai or even chop it up before blending. Two reasons for this... to preserve your blender's blade and to ensure that it is grounded fine. Obviously you'll need some water to blend the ingredients and that's where you can use the 500 ml of water.

Heat some oil in a large pot or wok, enough to sauté the ground ingredients. When the oil is smoking, add the ground ingredients and remaining curry powder and sauté till fragrant, about 15 minutes. Add the beef and when it begins to simmer add the asam keping, daun kunyit and coconut milk. Allow to simmer gently over a low fire till meat is tender and the mixture thick. I cooked mine for about 3 hours. Remember to stir occasionally to avoid the mixture from sticking and burning to the base. How thick the rendang should be is a matter of preference. Some like it very dry and some like it runny. Add the kerisik in the last 10 minutes of cooking and season to taste. When you've cooked often enough you tend to know how much seasoning is needed and when cooking braised dishes like this I prefer to add my seasoning in the beginning allowing room for 'fine-tuning' add the end. This way the meat will be more flavourful.

If you're too lazy to peel shallots then you can just replace them with large onions which is why there is a large onion there in the picture as I added that in.

This is the end result... slightly runny for me. Alamak, I am hungry already from this blog.

My Daily Cup

Everyone has their daily ritual. I know Lian’s was being gloomy for the first hour of her day… ha, ha, ha… don’t know if she still is. Would be bad if she still is as the weather where she’s residing in now is just as gloomy all year round. Hah!

My ritual is *ahem* visiting Bank Negara every morning but that is after I have my daily cup. My daily cup is extremely important as it makes the visit to the bank ‘smoother’ and it also prevents me from getting a severe headache. My daily cup is essentially coffee... not just coffee but strong coffee. The recipe is basically the same but the coffee I use varies depending on what’s on sale at the supermarket. My recipe is:

1 packet 3-in-1 instant coffee

1 packet Anlene milk

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1 teaspoon condensed milk

Pop the milk in the microwave for 2 minutes, add all other ingredients and some hot water and ‘tarik’ for about 10 times.

This is my daily cup... a nice 'tarik-ed' cup of deliciously strong coffee. And I have it in this same mug every single day. Got this mug back in 1997 as the pre-opening team. How time flies...

My preferred variation is Nescafé Gold 3-in-1 with a teaspoon of Nescafé Gold and the alternative would be Nescafé 3-in-1 Rich with a teaspoon of Nescafé Classic. Obviously the preferred variation is more expensive. The Gold range seldom has offers whilst the Rich type often has offers where you get 5 sticks extra… so since it is already cheaper and you then get 5 sticks extra it becomes a no-brainer, No?

Anlene is the milk of choice due to the extra calcium but I limit myself to no more than 2 cups of milk a day as I have the opinion that milk is a carcinogen. I read an article somewhere and I just believed it. This is not scientifically proven but... hey... what have I to lose?

When I have brewed coffee then it is different…. I take it black, no sugar. Ummppphhhh!

Daging Masak Kicap & Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day so I decided to clear the freezer. I had prawns, beef and chicken drumsticks in the freezer. A quick rummage through the refrigerator and I decided on the menu. It was to be Spicy Prawns, Daging Masak Kicap and Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi.

The Spicy Prawns. This is definitely a better picture compared to the previous one. Recipe is here...

Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi. I don't know what the authentic version is like but this is my adaptation from my memory based on what my mom taught me.

1 inch kunyit

15 cili padi

1 garlic

10 shallots

1 asam keping

1 serai

1 daun limau purut

1 cube chicken stock

1 tomato, quartered

1 nos coconut milk

Blend the ingredients. Bring the ingredients to boil with about 500ml of water and the chicken stock. Throw in the asam keping, serai, daun limau purut and chicken. Simmer till chicken is cooked. Add tomatoes then add coconut milk. Bring fire to a gentle simmer to avoid the coconut milk from curdling. Season to taste with salt and you're done.

Daging Masak Kicap. Again this is my adaptation done the Chinese way...

Marinade

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp osyter sauce

1 tsp corn starch

pepper

1 dry chili

1 bulb garlic (whole, skin on)

1 star anise

2 cm cinnamon stick

4 cloves

1 large onion, quartered

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar or to taste

Slice the beef and marinate for about 30 minutes.

Heat some oil in a pot. Stir-fry the beef in very hot oil to seal the meat. Add about 500ml of water and add all remaining ingredients except sugar. Simmer till beef is tender adding water along the way if it is too thick. Add sugar to taste and you're done.

By the way... the garlic is thrown in whole for taste. If you peel it, very likely it will break up through the cooking process. The garlic is damn layan like this... syiok... kind of like roasted garlic.

Steamed Sea Bass with Supreme Soy Sauce

I was doing my grocery shopping at Giant on Sunday and saw some nice Sea Bass which were going quite cheap. And I said to myself, "What the heck, let's have steamed fish one of these days". So, I got myself one and had it gutted and butterflied by the 'butcher'. For some strange reason he butterflied the fish from the back as opposed to the norm in restaurants which was from the stomach. Anyway, it didn't matter to me... it was butterflied so that's that.

I was missing of a few items but it was still quite good. Here's the recipe...

1 Sea Bass

2 pieces ginger (about 3 inches each), julienned

salt

1 bunch cilantro (Chinese parsley)

6 tbsp light soy sauce

1 cup water

2 tbsp sugar

drop or two of dark soy sauce (for darker colour)

1 tsp chicken granules

1 tbsp rice wine (Optional)

Pick some Cilantro leaves to be used as the garnish and put aside.

Clean the remaining Cilantro properly (tends to have a lot of sand). Cut the roots off and use the balance, including the stalks for your sauce. Place all the ingredients in a small pot and bring to boil. Allow to simmer until it is reduced to your preferred consistency and taste.

Season the fish lightly with salt. Half your julienned ginger. Half goes as a bed on the platter and the other half is to be spread on the fish. Place 2 chopsticks under the fish to avoid it from sticking to the platter (see picture below). Steam the fish for about 15 minutes.

Remove the chopsticks and ginger from the platter. Best to transfer the fish to a fresh new platter. Place the cilantro leaves on the fish. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil till it starts to smoke and pour over the cilantro leaves. Add your sauce and you're good to go. Enjoy.

Tandoori Chicken

I think it is time for a recipe and I have chosen Tandoori Chicken. I put this recipe together last Ramadan and it was received with great success in Kuantan and this Ramadan, I passed it on to my chef here and had him try it out with success too. It is quite good actually, if I do say so myself. Ha, ha, ha...

Ingredients

large whole chicken – skinned and cut into 4 large pieces

lemon juice - 2 nos

salt - 10gm

Marinate the chicken for at least an hour.

Spice Ingredients

shallots - 100gm

ginger - 50gm

garlic - 30gm

dried chilli - 10gm

chilli powder - 30gm

garam masala - 30gm

coriander seed - 10gm

Grind or blend dried chillies, coriander seeds, ginger and garlic. Mix the paste with masala and chilli powder. Grind or blend the shallots. Heat a wok and sauté the shallots, add the mixed masala and and sauté till fragrant. Allow to cool.

Marinade Ingredients

salt - 5gm

chicken granules - 5gm

yogurt - 500gm

red colouring

Add the spice ingredients with the yogurt, salt and chicken granules and stir well. Add red colouring till desired colour is achieved.

Arrange the chicken pieces in a dish and pour the yogurt mixture over. Refrigerate and marinade overnight or at least 6 hours.

Arrange the chicken on a broiler tray and roast it in a pre-heated oven at 220°C for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and brush the chicken with the balance of the yogurt mixture and grill the chicken for 5 minutes till done. If you don't have a grill then pop it back in the oven at the highest temperature available.

Cut into bite-size pieces when done.

Have fun and enjoy...

Spicy Prawns and Steamed Egg Custard

I got home feeling absolutely famished and I felt like having rice. Made a quick recce of the fridge and decided on my menu for dinner... as the title says...

Here are the recipes...

Spicy Prawns

Prawns (large ones are better especially Tiger Prawns)

2 inches young Ginger, chopped

3 cloves Garlic, chopped

5 Shallots, chopped

4 Chilli Padi, chopped

2 tbsp Oyster Sauce

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce

2 tsp Sugar

4 tbsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiao wine

Sesame oil

Trim the prawns.

Heat some oil and saute the ingredients. Add the wine. When reduced and fragrant, add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Add prawns and stir-fry well till reduced to desired consistency or you may thicken with corn starch. Add a few dashes of sesame oil and Voila!.

I managed to snap a picture with my handphone. I was so hungry that I almost forgot about it which I did forget on the steamed eggs. As you can see from the picture I added chopped big onions. That's optional. In cooking, it's really up to you what you add as long as you have the base ingredients right. If you want your prawns to taste and look better then you should deep-fry them in very hot oil first then remove it before proceeding with the rest of the steps but it was too leceh (troublesome) for me. I absolutely HATE deep-frying. Since I was only having this and steamed eggs I opted to make this with a wee-bit more gravy. It should be drier.

You can cook without the Shao Hsing wine for a halal version but it will lack some Oomph! la...

Steamed Egg Custard

Eggs

Water

Seasoning

This is absolutely simple. Just beat the eggs. Add water and seasoning, beat again then strain. The proportion of eggs to water is 1:2. Then pop it into the rice cooker just as the rice is starting to set. The amount of water determines the smoothness of the eggs. Start off with the recommended proportions and adjust it to suit your liking for future tries.

Have fun... I definitely did...