'Nai Yau Har' / Buttered Prawns

Today we did not go out coz the weather was hot. Unbearably hot. So we stayed indoor. Me surfing and piggy gal reading her novel. The moment she holds a book...she will be lost to the world. Haizz...so I dozed off after getting no reply from her.

This is what I cooked for dinner. I bought quite a lot of prawns and after asking around how they would like the prawns prepared. This is the outcome of the cooked prawns. High cholesterol so I better not tuck in too much of it.

Nai Yau Har ( Buttered Prawns )

Ingredients:

1/2 kg prawns- cleaned and deveined ( leave the shells on)

2 pips of garlic- chopped finely

5 chilli padi - chopped finely

2 twigs of curry leaves

1 1/2 tblspoon of curry padi

some corn flour

1 tblspoon of butter

salt to taste

oil for frying the prawns

1 egg- whipped

Methods:

• Rub some salt on the prawns and cover the prawns with some corn flour. Heat up the wok and add in some oil. When the oil is hot, put in the prawns and fry till it is almost cooked and fragrant.
• Push the prawns aside and take out the oil from the wok. Add in butter, garlic and the chilli padi and the curry leaves and curry powder. When the curry leaves gives out its fragrant , slowly add in the whipped egg using a fork so that it will come out in streaks.
• When the egg streaks are crispy, it is ready to dish up and serve hot.

Gluttony Continues

Continuation of those sinful dishes.......

The Third Dish - Steamed Drunken Prawns


Ingredients:
1 kg fresh water prawns
2 thumb sized ginger - julienne
salt to taste
chinese cooking wine to taste

Methods:

• Snipped off the sharp end of the prawns' head. Keep the shells but deveined the prawns. Place the prawn in a steaming dish . Seasoned with enough salt. Sprinkled the julienne ginger on top of the prawns.


• Heat up the steamer with water, when the water boils, put in the plate of prawns and steamed for 7 minutes in high heat. Add in the chinese cooking wine and continue to steam for another 1 minute. Off the fire and serve hot.

The fourth dish - Steamed " Ikan Bawal Putih "
Ingredients:
1 big sized ikan bawal putih
1 thumb sized ginger – julienne
a pinch of salt
1 tblspoon of cooking oil
3 shallots- sliced thinly

garnishingspring onions – cut into one inch length and make a few slit in each stalk
soaked in ice cold water till the slits opens up like a flower as shown in the picture.

Methods:

• Washed and cleaned the fish. Rub some salt onto the fish. Place it on a plate for steaming. Add the julienne ginger on top of the fish.


• Heat up the kuali and fry the sliced shallots till light brown, when the kuali is still hot, add in the light soy sauce. Dish up the sauce.


• Heat up the steamer, when the water boils, put in the fish and steamed for 7 minutes. Add the sauce on the fish and serve immediately.

The Fifth Dish - Stir Fry Mixed Vegetables



Ingredients:Young lotus root – sliced thinly
50 gm sweet peas
50 gm snow peas
1 stick carrot – carved into designs and sliced thinly (as shown in the pic above)
1 stick of celery – sliced thinly
a bit of fatt choy
a pich of salt
1 tblspoon of oyster sauce
a drop of thick soy sauce
2 shallots - sliced thinly 1 pip garlic - sliced thinly
thickening
corn flour
water

Methods:

• Heat up the wok, add in 1 tablspoon of cooking oil, fry the shallots and garlic till fragrant. Add in the young lotus root and the rest of the vegetables. Stir-fry the the vegetables briskly. Sprinkle in 2-3 tblspoons of water and bring to the boil over high heat. Add in the fatt choy. Lastly add in the oyster sauce, salt and the thickening . Dish up and serve immediately.

Soup Dish - Lotus Root Soup by Amy Beh

click here for recipe Lotus Root Soup



I am an ardent fan of Amy Beh.... so needless to say most of the recipes are from either her books or from her website. (",)

Have a nice day. Tada.




Quote taken from " Words to Warm a Mother’s Heart "

Slow down awhile! Push aside the press of the immediate. Take time today,
if only for a moment, to lovingly encourage each one in your family –
Gary Smalley & John Trent

The Temptation of Sinful Dishes - Gluttony

Haha... I have uploaded the most alluring sinful dishes we had for our reunion luncheon. I am the most sinful piggy when it comes to food. Gluttony is a sin and yet I have committed it....haizz

But when I see the piggies tucking in and enjoying every morsel of it.... it was worth committing the crime (",)

The first dish being Ju Hu Char ( Fried Julienne Turnips with Dried Cuttlefish ) is to be eaten by wrapping them in raw lettuce. It is a fantabulous dish.

Fried Julienne Turnips With Dried Cuttlefish

Ingredients 

1 turnip - julienne 1 carrot - julienne

8 dried black mushrooms (soaked and shredded )

200 gm of lean meat ( shredded )

40 gm dried cuttlefish ( buy the ready shredded type) - soaked till soft

a drop of thick soy sauce

salt to taste

Garnishing 8 shallots - sliced thinly

Method

• Heat wok with 4 tblspoon of oil and fry the shallots till lightly brown and crispy. Dish up and put aside. Using the remaining oil, fry the julienne turnips and carrots till half cooked. Dish up the turnips and carrots and put aside. Add a tblspoon of oil to the wok, add in the rest of the shredded ingredients and fry till the cuttlefish is fragrant, then add in the turnips and fry till it is well mixed and the turnips are soft. Add in salt to taste and a drop of thick soy sauce for coloring. Lastly, add in the fried shallots and mixed well. You can keep some of the fried shallots for garnishing later when serving.

Note: This dish can be eaten alone by itself as a dish or eaten with raw lettuce.




Second Dish - 




Braised Mushrooms with Sea Cucumber

Ingredients:
100gm dried black mushrooms - washed soaked overnight till soft
1 piece of dried cuttlefish - washed and soaked
250 gm piece of pork ( thigh part ) - cut into chunks
2 sea cucumber - sliced thickly
thumb-sized ginger
200 gm of dried oysters - washed and soak
50 gm fatt choy - soaked and washed
3 tblspoon oyster sauce
thick soy sauce
salt to taste

Thickening
corn flour
water

Broccoli for decoration - scald in hot boiling water


Methods:

• Heat up some oil in a medium size pot, add in the ginger and stir fry till fragrant . Add in the dried cuttlefish, mushrooms, the chunks of pork and the dried oysters and fry till semi cooked. Add enough water and braised till the mushrooms and oysters are soft. Add in oyster sauce, salt and thick soy sauce. When it is half way through the cooking add in the sea cucumber. When the sea cucumber is soft, this dish is ready for serving. Add in the thickening and the fatt choy last.

Note: This dish will taste better if it is braised the night before.

continue next post

Chinese New Year Greetings

Wishing all bloggers and friends a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year

" Gong Xi Fai Cai "

A Blissful Sunday

A well rested day for me. Blissful....a day whereby there is no rush to beat the traffic lights . No rush to punch the card in the morning . Just a day to relax unto the Lord. I don't know about you, but I am most relaxed on a Sunday...the Sabbath day. I am most at peace too on a Sunday. Maybe it is becoz I can feel the presence of God in church. I enjoyed all the worship songs that we sing every Sunday. This is the only time that I can sing unto the Lord without caring whether I sounded good or not. The Lord appreciates even if I croaks like a toad. Angels will applaud when I sing sincerely unto the Lord. Haizz...can't describe how blissful it is (",) unless one experiences it.

A Blissful Breakfast and a Blissful Dinner for the family. Piggies luv these food. Thumbs up (^0^)

Soft-boiled Eggs on Golden Toast

I used the 'soft boiled' egg maker...told you I am not a pro. Put two eggs into the maker and poured boiling water to the level marking imprinted on the maker. The eggs are ready when the water drained off totally. Take it out and crack the egg shell to take out the ready soft-boiled eggs and placed it on top of the toasted bread. Spread a bit of butter on the hot toasted bread if you like. Dash some pepper and soy sauce on it for taste. Wow...is it better than Kopitiam? Haha just kidding.

Piggy gal , hubby and I love it but piggy boy doesn't like it. For hubby and I, we have to take care not to take in too many eggs a week. That's why I call this a blissful breakfast whenever we can tuck in this simple yummy breakfast.

Vermicelli ( Mee Suah ) with Special Minced Meat Soup

Ingredients:

1 bundle of vermicelli (mee suah) for 1 person

Soup

some minced pork/chicken

one handful of plucked mint leaves - washed and cleaned and chopped

some chopped garlic

some chopped chilli padi

1 tsp of cooking wine

salt to taste

dash of white pepper

1 bowl of water

Sauce

chopped finely some garlic and chilli padi. Add a bit of soy sauce. It is now ready to eat with the mee suah.

Garlic Oil for garnishing. Chopped up some garlic and fry with some oil in low fire. When it is light golden, dish up and add one tblsp as garnishing.

Method:

Add to the minced meat, the chopped mint leaves, garlic, chilli padi, cooking wine and salt ,stirred and mixed evenly . Formed into meatballs. Leave aside.

Meanwhile, boil a bowl of water, when the water boils, add in the meatballs. When the balls floats on the surface it is cooked. Add salt to taste.

Scald the vermicelli in hot boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and place in serving bowl.

Pour the soup over the vermicelli (mee suah ) and serve hot.

************

Saw this single blissful rose that just bloomed this morning. I am so blessed. A beautiful sight to behold for the day. Praised the Lord for a beautiful Sunday.

Scripture Verses for the day:
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The Wonders Of Garlic and Aromatic Herbs

I love garlic and aromatic herbs such as Kaduk Leaf (daun kaduk) , Screwpine Leaf (daun pandan) , Curry Leaf ( daun kari ) , Mint Leaf ( daun pudina ) , Double Lime Leaf ( daun limau perut) and many many more but those herbs listed above are my favourite ones and which I have them planted in my little paradise . Thank God, our Mighty Creator, did not leave out these wonderful aromatic herbs when he make the Garden of Eden. (",) Making our food more flavorsome.

I uses a lot of garlic in my cooking. Garlic is a part of the allium genus and is related to the onion. It is best known as a cooking ingredient used for its wonderful taste. It would be better to say "tastes" plural since it can take on a completely different taste depending on how it's cooked - everything from a subtle sweet flavour to a strong almost overpowering one.

My family loves to have raw garlic/chilli padi mixed with soy sauce as dip to go with meat and fish dishes. It is a must have, if we are eating 'mee suah' with any form of soup. And I understand garlic eaten raw is good for health. It has antibiotics properties and have been confirmed by modern science. I can visualize the aromatic fragrance of the garlic even as I am typing out this post..haha I can't leave garlic out in any of my dishes. And I just found out that ancient Greek uses garlic to combat vampire.....

Mint leaf ( Mentha Rotundifolia) known locally as daun pudina is oval shaped and has wrinkled appearance. It has a pleasant nice smell. Very refreshing and it is one my favourite herbs. Easy to grow too. I uses it in my soup, omelette and sometimes in my cuppa of tea. Very aromatic and good for health.

Kaduk leaf known locally as daun kaduk is a local aromatic herb used in making nyonya dishes like ' Perut Ikan' , ' Otak-Otak and ' Nasi Ulam' . We love these mouth watering dishes and I cook them quick often.

Screwpine leaf known locally as daun pandan. Extracted for its essence and and is used in cake making and Asian sweet desserts . It is easy to grow and they grow fast. My screwpine plant is fast growing into a bush already. I use it as a decorative plant...helps to landscape part of my small garden...haha helps to cover up some flaws in the garden too.

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii) - Curry leaves are important to Asian food as bay leaves are to European food. I am lucky to have a plant in my small little garden. It is very convenient for me as I cook curry very often. Why the hassle of going to wet market just to purchase a small sprigs of curry leaves when one can just pluck them from one very own garden. The spicy fragrance adds flavor to meat dishes too.

Double Lime Leaf is known locally as ' daun limau perut '. I use it to cook 'Beef/Chicken Rendang', 'Tom Yam' and 'Perut Ikan'. Has a pleasant lime fragrance. A must have in my garden. See the shape of the leaf...it is beautiful....again God is a great designer. (",)

Am wondering why I am blogging about these aromatic herbs.... maybe I love nature or maybe inspiration came when I was cleaning and clearing up my garden this morning. (",)

I found out that my chilli padi plants are not flowering and my lemongrass are not producing either...thin and drying..haha so I pulled them out and will replant them at a later date. From now on , I will add more herbal plants to my little garden. Save time and money...hahaha .Pray that God will endow gardening talent unto me.