Chicken Curry

This is another favourite curry dish of the family. We love this chicken curry for it could be eaten with plain rice, yellow glutinous rice or eat it with plain bread .

I took the opportunity of the long weekend to cook this delicious, hot and spicy chicken curry to the delight of the Piggies. You are right, I do pamper them and they are so blessed…..lotz of good food for them to enjoy during this short break :)) They love my food and I love their company! :)

This curry is so flavorful coz I added in some kaffir leaves to enhance further the flavor of the curry.

I used baby potatoes for this curry...yumm yummy

the kaffir leaves truly enhanced the flavor of the curry

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1.5 kg chicken ( remove skin and cut to pieces)
20 baby potatoes
4 tbsp of cooking oil

(A)
1 tbsp meat curry powder ( Babas)
150 gm of ground fresh curry spices ( from wet market )
1 stalk of lemongrass- crushed
3 kaffir leaves
15 shallots – slice thinly

(B)
1.5 cups of thick coconut milk mixed
together with 5 cups of water

(C)
½ cup of thick coconut milk
salt to taste


Preparation:

Heat up oil in a cooking pot over medium heat and add in the ingredients A and saute till fragrant and the oil has surface . Add in the chicken pieces and stir fry till the chicken is ¾ cooked. Add in ingredient B and the baby potatoes , lower the heat and simmer till the chicken and the potatoes are cooked through. Add in (C) and simmer for another 20 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Vegetables Stuffed With Meat Filling

When my Piggies are back , I will be either busy cooking in the kitchen making their favourite dishes for dinner or busy baking away….and a cuppa of hot green tea with some cookies to soothe the tired soul :p

They asked for this special dish - vegetables stuffed with meat filling enhanced by rich aromatic fermented soybeans gravy..Mmmmm I too loved this dish…it's been a long time since we had this for dinner. So, stuffed bitter gourd, aubergine, long fresh red chillies, firm texture brown tofu and shiitake made up this delicious and appetizing dish. The filling being minced pork, fish paste, dried shrimps and chopped spring onions with added corn starch powder , mixed together and stirred until a thick and sticky paste is formed. The preparation is simple and the end result belies it :))

Lightly fried them in hot oil till they are cooked for extra fragrance and dressed in a delightful aromatic gravy made of fermented soybeans, salted black beans and garlic. This is the family favourite dish :) I think , if I am not mistaken this dish is famous among Chinese families in Asia. They even served them as a dim sum delicacy in some dim sum restaurant :) but I served them as a veggie dish for dinner :p

yummilicious stuffed veggies and shiitake :)

not to forget firm brown tofu....everyone's favourite

and those pungent hot red chillies yumm yumm......

yumm yummm yummy........

filled our stomachs to satisfaction! :))))

Vegetables Stuffed With Meat Filling

Vegetable Ingredients
1 bitter gourd
1 aubergine
2 firm brown tofu
8 pieces of dried shiitake mushrooms – soaked and cut off stem
5 fresh red chillies

Meat Filling

300 gm minced pork
500 gm fish paste
100 gm dried shrimps- soaked and chopped
some chopped spring onions
1 tbsp corn flour

Gravy
2 tbsp of fermented soybeans- chopped fine
½ tbsp of salted black beans
some chopped garlic

1 tsp of thick soysauce
½ tbsp of sugar

Thickening
1 tbsp of corn flour mixed with 3 tbsp of water

Preparation:

Mix all the meat filling ingredients together and stirs with a pair of chopsticks till all the ingredients become a sticky paste. Leave aside.

Cut the bitter gourd and aubergine into ½” thick slices. Remove seeds from the bitter gourd.

Cut a slit through the chillies length wise and remove all the seeds.

Cut tofu diagonally and on each triangle cut a slit.

Soak the dried shiitake till soft and remove the stem.

Stuff all the cut vegetables with the meat filling. Apply some corn flour on the surface of the meat filling before putting them in hot oil and fry till cooked. Dish up and place them in paper towels to absorb the oil from the fried stuffed vegetables.

Meanwhile , heat up the wok with 1 tbsp of oil and put in all the gravy ingredients except the thick soysauce, sugar and thickening and sauté till fragrant. Add in 2 cups of water and simmer till it boils. Add in the thick soysauce , sugar and thickening When the gravy has thicken, add in all the stuffed fried vegetables into the gravy. When it boils, off the fire and dish up and garnish with some chopped spring onions.

Enjoy!

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Tamarind Fish Curry

The fastest curry that I can cook up in just less an hour is this tamarind fish curry. Simple steps in the preparation and yet deliciously appetizing. With this , the whole family gets to enjoy a really nice dinner . Anything hot and spicy will have all the heads nodding in agreement LOL ! So easy to please them as long as it is CURRY!

this is one yummmilicious & savoury fish curry

black promfret is most appropriate for this kind

fish curry :)))

Tamarind Fish Curry

Ingredients:

1 black promfret

1 big aubergine – cut into ½” thick slices
2 tomatoes – quartered
1 stalk lemongrass – crushed
1 sprig of curry leaves

6 shallots – slices thinly
2 pips of garlic- slice thinly

2 tbs of fish curry powder – mixed with 2 tbsp water, into a paste
2 tsp of ground chilli paste
½ tsp of mustard seed

3 tbsp of tamarind pulp – mixed with 1cup of water , into a paste
1 cup of evaporated milk
3/4 cup of thick coconut milk mixed with 1 cup of water
3 tbsp of olive oil
Sea salt to taste

Method:

Heat up the olive oil in a wok, add in the shallots , garlic , lemongrass, curry leaves, mustard seeds and sauté till fragrant. Add in the curry powder paste and grounded chilli paste and continue to sauté till the oil come to the surface. Add in the aubergine slices& tomatoes and the evaporated milk and cooked till the aubergine slices are soft. Add in the tamarind water and the coconut milk and continue to cook for another 10 minutes under small flame. Add in the promfret last, simmer the curry till the fish is cooked. Add in sea salt to taste. Dish up and serve hot with rice.

Enjoy!

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Sea Clams In Wine Soup

I thought I will just steam a fish and blanch some greens for dinner but when I went brisk walking ( my routine exercise ) last evening, I walked past this fish stall outside my housing estate and I could not resist stopping by to see what fishes they have for sale …these fishes are from Pantai Remis ,a coastal fishing village in Perak….the fishes were fresh but triple the cost compared to those frozen ones sold in the supermart but worth buying coz they are so fresh and sweet. I ended up buying some threadfin salmon and black promfret and not least to mention, a kilo of fresh sea clams too…persuaded by the seller of course! :p :p Sales talk as usual, promoting his stuff so I was sweet talk into buying these sea clams but no regrets..it was so sweet that we finished one kilogramme of it :)) He even taught me how to cook them…. free cooking lesson , YAY…wonderful isn’t it ;p

I have never tried this specie before but looking at them I was seduced by their lustrous look and freshness! :))) We had extra dish for dinner last nite and Piggy gal was lucky coz she took the last train back and she too get to enjoy the clams :)) I cooked the way the seller taught me. Cooked them in wine and served as a soup dish….it was so sweet and honestly it is best eaten this way. You get to taste the original sweetness of the clam meat and the soup was heaven on earth….excuse my term of expression , it was really GOOD! :))))

the scent is out of this world.

and the infusion it makes is absolutely magical.

One minute you are entranced by this delicious aroma,

the next it is exploding in your mouth…

Just imagine

how many miles I have to walk

to reduce the calories and burn up the bad cholesterol!!!!!

self restrain!!!

walk walk walk and not pass the fish stall again
I forget to mention, he sell

mud crabs too......

I really have to stay away from this stall..

temptation is too great here....LOL!

Sea Clams In Wine Soup

Ingredients
1 kilo of sea clams – soaked and washed clean, drained

enough water just to cover the clams * I didn’t measure ,so you have gauge yourself :p½ cup of Chinese cooking wine
1 thumb size ginger – julienne
3 pips of garlic- crushed
3 chilli padi
1 tbsp of olive oil
sea salt to taste

Preparation:

Saute the ginger and garlic with the olive oil in a pot till fragrant. Pour enough water for the soup into the pot and boil for ½ hour and let the ginger and garlic infuse into the soup . Put fire to high and let the soup boils rapidly for another 5 mins, add in the clams , chilli padi and the wine together and stir till well mixed. When the soup boils and the shells are opened, off the fire and add sea salt to taste. Serve hot.

* Do not overcook the clams, the meat will become hard and shrink in size.

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Aubergine Mango Chutney Salad

I heart aubergine and I will have them at least once a week …and this time I tried turning them into salad. The tangy sweetness from the chutney blends well with the aubergine though. A tasty dish that can be served as a side condiment for roast chicken or any roast meat. Thanks Zurin for sharing this aubergine salad with me :)

this aubergine mango chutney salad can be

served as a side condiment for roast chicken....

exotically yummy :p

Aubergine Mango Chutney Salad  - adapted Zurin 

Ingredients:

4 small brinjals
3-4 whole green chillies * I omitted the chillies
5-6 shallots peeled and left whole

2 pips garlic, peeled
1 inch ginger, skinned
1/2 inch cinnamon
ground black pepper
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp sugar
1 or 2 tbsp of mango chutney (or other fruit chutney)
1 -2 tsp rice vinegar (I used apple cider) or you clould use tamarind juice (yum)
2 tbsp or sauteed mustard seeds pounded to a paste

a handful of dried anchovies fried to a crisp (optional)

Method:

Pound garlic, ginger and cinnamon bark in a pestle and mortar using some salt as an abrasive.

In a medium bowl put in the ginger/garlic paste, add tumeric powder, some ground black pepper mango chutney, vinegar and the lovely mustard seed paste. Mix tehm all around and add some pepper or cayenne pepper if you like to spice it up.

Cut the brinjals into thickish strips (very much like chunky fries) and deep fry the brinjals, shallots and whole chillies in hot oild briefly just until the brinjals turn light brown. Drain
of excess oil and put them into the bowl of dressing.Add the fried anchovies and mix them up like you would salad. Adjust flavours by adding a little more salt,vinegar or chutney to your taste. Serve

Enjoy !


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Homemade Mango Chutney

I have always wanted to try making mango chutney and I managed to pull out the lazy bones out of me and tada , a bottle of mouth watering mango chutney. I dedicate this to Zurin of Cherry On A Cake.

On July 27, she introduced a dish named Sri Lankan Salad Moju which uses fruit pickle , more specifically mango chutney. It’s hard to find mango chutney off the shelf over here, so I decided to make my own, I searched for homemade mango chutney and I knew that this one will turned out delicious! There are so many variations but I chose this one and I was not disappointed. Good things are for sharing :p This mango chutney can be eaten as a side condiment or use it to make salad as Zurin had done. It can be taken with roast chicken too…yay.. this mango chutney can be used in many ways! Just the thought of it....many dishes come to mind...so stay tuned :)))

cubed mangoes, diced onion, mustard seeds, golden raisins,
crystilised ginger , sugar, distilled vinegar, chilli flakes

are the ingredients used for making this mango chutney

after 1 hour of stirring and stirring the mango mixture,

inhaling this golden richness that so arouses my

salivary glands....mmmmm worth my time standing

over the stove stirring this golden richness !

the above amount was enough to fill up one glass jar

content of 500 gms

I could not resist taking a close up shot :p

you can slurps it off from your screen or try it out and
slurps the real thing...haha juz kidding :) ;)

Homemade Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

· 3/4 cups sugar
· ½ cup distilled white vinegar
· 3 cups mangoes (3 mangoes), peeled and cut in 1/2-inch pieces
· 1 medium onion, diced
· 1/4 cup golden raisins
· 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
· 1 garlic clove, minced
· 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, whole
· 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes (hot)

Method:

Combine sugar and vinegar in a pot; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, until syrupy and slightly thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir occasionally during cooking.

Pour into clean jar and cool it before keeping it in the fridge .

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Pan Fried Threadfin Salmon With Salted Black Beans

This is a very tasty way to cook Threadfin Salmon aka Ikan Senangin in our local Malay language. We , Chinese called it 'Ma Yau Yue ' . Pan fried it with a little olive oil in a non-stick pan till both sides are lightly browned and cooked. Put the fish aside. Saute some garlic, chilli padi, salted black beans and fermented soybean till fragrant. Dish out the fish and scoop the sautéed black beans mixture on to the fish. Serve it with hot rice….yum yum yummy, the aroma of sautéed black beans mixture will whets up your appetite and it complement the fish well. This is also one easy way to cook a fish for dinner especially when one is rushing for time :)) ME... :p

Mmmmm ...........delicious

with those aromatic sauteed black beans mixture

I love simple preparation...the easiest , the better

and this one takes only 1/2 hour to prepare...

20 minutes to pan fried the fish and 10 minutes

to sauteed the black beans mixture....fast enough?

this was so delicious that I wanted to have the whole fish all to

myself :p...no that would be greedy...:))))

MMMmmmm......slurps slurps slurps

this is the brand of preserved black beans
that I used for this recipe..I bought it from a shop
in Ipoh old town, opp Kwong Fatt Textile

Pan Fried Threadfin Salmon With Salted Black Beans

Ingredients
1 Threadfin Salmon – degutted and remove the scales and rub all over the fish with
a bit of salt and corn starch
3 pips of garlic – chopped finely
1 tsp of fermented soy bean
1 heaped tsp of preserved black beans – washed
1 chilli padi – chopped finely

1 tbsp of olive oil

Method:

Pan fried the fish with a little olive oil in a non-stick pan till both sides are lightly browned and cooked. Put aside the fish. Saute garlic, chilli padi, salted black beans and fermented soybean with the remnant of the olive oil in the pan till fragrant. Dish out the fish and scoop the sautéed black beans mixture on to the fish. Serve hot .

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Stir Fry Tofu With Mint Mango And Enoki

Yesterday, I was in the mood do a bit of cooking, actually I felt remorseful becoz my other half had to endured those one dish meal I prepared for him lately :p . So I decided to go back to cooking rice for him, being the staple food for him…haha I can go without rice for a month but he can’t, he is a ‘fun thung ’ meaning he is rice taker :))) So I pan fried a fish ( cuming up in my next post ) and cooked this savoury tofu dish for us.

I have been cooking tofu the same normal way day in day out , either steamed them with fish paste or baked them with toppings but for this time , I stir fried them with mint leaves, mango and enoki with a dash of paprika and chilli flakes with lotz of chopped garlic and olive oil. Well…the beautiful exotic aroma filled the room as I was frying this dish…Daddy ran to the kitchen asking me “ what are you cooking that even Chaco sneezed! ” The garlic blends well with the paprika and chilli flakes powder and when the mint leaves were added into the dish…mamamia! Perfect combo and thus making this bland tofu into a delicious dish. If you love garlic & mint leaves that is…this is one best way to cook the bland tofu.

I used the firm white tofu and some remnant seaweed tofu
to make this dish

this dish can be eaten alone or with hot rice

bland tofu can be turned into a tasty one with lotz of
chopped garlic and paprika and the chilli flakes will make it
spicy....this tofu dish is tasty and aromatic !

Stir Fry Tofu With Mint, Mango & Enoki

Ingredients:

2 pieces of firm white tofu – diced
½ piece of seaweed tofu – from the supermarket

some mint leaves – washed and drained
enoki
1 firm ripe mango – diced

5 pips of garlic – chopped
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of chilli flakes
salt to taste
3 tbsp of olive oil

Method:

Pan fry the diced tofu with olive oil on a non-stick pan. Push it aside and sauté the garlic till fragrant but not browned . Add in the enoki to the tofu and continue to stir fry till the tofu and enoki and well combined. Add in the mint leaves and mango. Sprinkle the paprika and chilli flakes onto the tofu mixture and stir fry till aromatic. Add salt to taste. Dish up and serve hot.

This dish can be eaten alone or serve with hot rice.

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Udon In Seafood Soup

Our dinners menu lately are mostly all in one…cooking one dish meal is so time saving and less washing :) and it is normally a well balanced preparation . Tonight’s dinner menu was Udon In Seafood Soup. There were veggie , seaweed tofu, fresh Korean mushrooms, enoki , prawns and sea clams. The soup base is chicken flavoured undertone and I added konbu to make it more tasty and aromatic. The soup was boiled for ¾ hour under small fire to allow the flavor from the konbu to infuse into the chicken soup. I added in the prawns and sea clams to make up the soup base. Once the prawns turned red and the sea clams has opened up, I added in 1 tablespoon of sake mirin into the soup for extra flavor. Whoaa..the soup was tasty and flavourful. I included some bok choy , korean mushrooms, enoki and seaweed tofu to the Udon thus making this one dish meal a delectable one! And to make it more complete, I garnished it with some nori strips..YUMMY is the word!

My better half has no complaints….seeing him attacking the Udon with so much enthusiasm made me a happy other half… so more one dish meals in the coming days :p

Udon In Seafood Soup - 2 persons

Ingredients

Soup base

1 cube chicken stock
1 4” X 4” piece of konbu
1500ml water

6 pieces of fresh prawns
10 pieces of sea clams

Ingredient accompaniments for Udon
bok choy – for 2 persons
seaweed tofu – 1 piece - diced
enoki – 1 pkt
some fresh Korean mushrooms

some nori strips for garnishing

* some fried garlic & garlic oil - optional

2 pkts of Udon - Blanch in hot boiling water - drained

Preparation

Boil the above soup base ingredients in a soup pot for ¾ hours under small fire till the flavor of the konbu is infused into the soup. Add in the prawns and sea clams and boils till the prawns turned red and the sea clams are opened up. Add salt to taste.

Turn off the fire and leave it aside until needed.

Blanch the bok choy, seawood tofu, enoki and the fresh Korean mushrooms. Drained and leave aside.

Serve the Udon in a bowl with all accompaniment ingredients , pour the seafood soup over it. and garnish with nori strips ,fried garlic and some garlic oil.

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Quiche Lorainne

First time baking a quiche…and to my surprised it turned out delish! I baked this Quiche Lorainne for Piggy Cuz... for I know she loves quiche :) While it was baking in the oven, the wonderful smell of bacon and cheese filled the air and ‘ Chaco ’ ( my 4 legged son :p ) was eyeing the oven all the time :)) Hoping it will pop out of the oven into his bowl…wishful thinking on his part!

It was quite easy to make and the recipe was juz nice for my 9” tart pan with detachable bottom. I will definitely make this again when the Piggies are home…this is just a try out.

It was a good bake, full of cheese and bacon , less butter and less eggs…no sugar, no salt…a healthy one and I know of one person who will love this and who will not mind paying RM 7 for a small slice of tuna quiche…she is none other than my Piggy gal :)

the quiche was evenly browned and

the aroma was saliva-inducing :p

there are two types of cheese in this quiche :p

mozzarella and cheddar cheese !

cheesy-li-cious!

yum yum yummy :))

Quiche Lorainne

Ingredients:

For the crust
100 gm grated cheddar cheese
120 gms plain flour
120 gms butter ( melted )

For the filling

3 large eggs
80 ml fresh cream
2 red onions – sliced
120 gms thinly sliced bacon
40 gms grated cheedar cheese
120 gms grated mozzarella

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 200 ̊ C

2.Bake the sliced bacon for 7 minutes in the oven. Take it out and leave to cool.

3.Melt the butter.

4.Mix the grated cheese with the flour , add the melted butter and knead it into a ball

5.Grease the 9” tart pan with a detachable bottom .

6.Put the dough in and press till the whole tart pan is lined with the dough.

7.Beat the eggs together with the fresh cream , add in the mozzarella cheese, grated cheddar cheese and onions to the egg mixture and mix together till well combined.

8.Crumble the bacon slices into the egg mixture and stir till well mixed.

9.Pour the filling mixture on the crust and spread out evenly.

10.Bake the quiche for 30 minutes or till evenly browned. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then serve with salad of your choice.

Happy Baking !

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