Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
500gm chicken - cut into small chunks
3 medium-sized potatoes - peeled & quartered
4 tbsp of meat curry powder - mix with some water to form a paste
1 tomato - cut into medium-sized cubes
½ yellow onion - sliced
2 stalks lemongrass - bruised
1 cinnamon
3 cloves
1 star anise
3 cardamoms
Oil for fying
Salt
75ml water

Pounded Ingredients (or blended in food processor):
1 fresh red chili
6 shallots
6 cloves garlic

Method:
1. Heat up enough oil in wok and fry potatoes until golden - drain to remove excess oil and set aside.
2. Pour off all but approximately 2 tablespoons of oil from wok and fry the pounded ingredients until fragrant.
3. Add in the lemongrass, onions and spices (cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamoms) and fry until onions turn transparent.
4. Add in the tomatoes and fry until they soften.
5. Add in chicken and fry for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the curry paste and fry for another 5 - 7 minutes.
7. Add water and potatoes and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt according to taste.
Curry is now ready to be served. Best eaten with steamed rice/basmati rice/bread.

Ikan Masak Tauchu (Fish with Fermented Soy Beans)

Ingredients:
1 whole fish (500g/1lb) - rubbed with some salt
3 cloves garlic - coarsely chopped
2 bulbs shallot - thinly sliced
2x4cm fresh ginger - thinly sliced
2 tbsp fermented soy beans
some cherry tomatoes - halved
few stalks of scallions - slice into inch-long slices
fresh red & green chilies - slice diagonally
100ml water
1tbsp corn flour
salt
oil for frying

Method:
1. Heat enough oil in a wok and fry fish until cooked and brown on both sides. Drain on paper towel and set aside.
2. Pour off all but approximately 2 tablespoons of oil from wok and fry ginger, garlic and shallots until golden.
3. Add fermented soy beans and fry for about 2 minutes.
4. Then add the tomatoes and chilies and fry for another 2 minutes or so.
5. Disolve the corn flour in water and pour into the wok and let it simmer until gravy thickens.
6. Season with salt according to taste.
7. Add in scallions and stir for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
8. Pour gravy over fish and serve.

Step 2

Step 7

Step 4 - 5

Step 8

Udang Asam Pedas (Hot and Sour Prawns)

Ingredients:
2 fresh red chilies *
6 bulbs shallots *
3 cloves garlic *
500g (1lb) shell-on prawns
2 stalks lemongrass (bruised)
50ml tamarind concentrate
100ml water
½ tsp sugar
salt to taste
Cooking oil for frying

* Spice paste ingredients

Method:
1. Pound/grind the spice paste ingredients.
2. Heat some oil in a wok and fry the spice paste for about 5 - 7 minutes or until fragrant.
3. Add in the lemongrass and fry for another 2 minutes.
4. Add in the tamarind concentrate and stir for another 2 minutes.
5. Pour water and let it simmer for 5 - 7 minutes. Add sugar and salt to taste.
6. Finally add in the prawns and stir until they turn red and curled up.

Step 2

Step 5

Cooked and ready to be served

Umai

While in Dubai on our recent trip to the Middle East, my good friend from college, Oya, asked me to make Umai. Here is the picture of Umai that I made.

Here you go Oya. Next time when I see you, I will expect you to make this dish for me :-)

Ingredients:
Deboned fresh fish - red snapper or flounder (any white fish will do)
Fresh red chili peppers
Vidalia Onion (or any yellow onion)
Fresh ginger
Lemon/Lime juice
Salt
Cucumber slices or lettuce leaves for garnishing

Method:
1. Slice fish into strips and season with salt. Add in lemon juice, mix with fish until they turn opaque.
2. Pound chilies in mortar & pestle (or blend in a food processor) and add into the fish.
3. Slice the onion and ginger into thin strips and add into the fish
4. Add more salt if needed.
5. Chill in the fridge before serving

Serve with cucumber slices or lettuce leaves

Fish Curry

Ingredients:
500g fish (i used red snapper)
1 stick cinnamon
3 cloves
3 cardamom pods
1 star anise
2 stalks lemongrass
50ml tamarind concentrate
25g pack Baba's fish curry powder (mix with a little bit of water to form a paste)
some tomatoes
some okras
cooking oil for frying
250ml water
salt to taste

Spice paste ingredients (pounded/blended - I pounded mine using a mortar & pestle because I personally think it makes the curry taste better):
3 fresh red chilies
6 bulbs shallots
4 cloves garlic

1. Season fish with some salt and set aside.
2. Heat up some cooking oil and fry the spice paste until fragrant and oil starts to separate. Add in the lemongrass, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamoms, and star anise. Fry for a couple of minutes.
3. Add in the curry paste and tamarind concentrate and stir for another 2 minutes.
4. Pour in the water and let it boil. Add salt according to taste.
5. Add fish, tomatoes, okras and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes until fish is cooked.

Best served with warm rice.

Steamed Rice Cake

Rice Cake batter ingredients:
200g rice flour
40g corn flour
800ml water
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp cooking oil

1. Mix the two flours into a bowl and pour about 300 ml water. Mix well until they form into a smooth batter.
2. Bring the remaining 500ml water, salt and oil to boil. Reduce heat to low and pour in the batter. Stir until it thickens. It will become a bit lumpy but it is ok.
3. Pour the batter into a greased heat proof tray. Place on a steamer and steam for about 30 minutes.
4. Cut into desired shape and serve with radish topping and fried shallots.

I serve mine with a sprinkle of sweet soy sauce.

Radish Toping ingredients:
5 cloves garlic (chopped)
50g preserved radish/chai poh (chopped)
50g dried shrimps (pounded)
2 red chilies (chopped)
5 bulbs shallots (thinly sliced)
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt

1. Fry shallots until slightly brown and set aside.
2. Fry garlic until fragrant. Add in the radish and fry for about 5 minutes.
3. Add in the dried shrimps and chilies. Fry for another 5 - 7 minutes..
4. Finally add in the oyster sauce, sugar, salt.

Sayur Daun Timun

This is one of the veges that I have on my "to-eat" list when I go home. A few weeks ago, my kind cousin in California sent me some daun timun along with the buah timun to me. I stir-fried it with sambal. Simple and yet delicious!

Sambal Ingredients (pounded):
Fresh red chilis
Shallots
Garlic
Dried shrimps

Bison with Ginger & Scallion

This is one of my favourite dishes. You can get it in most chinese restaurants back in Malaysia. Growing up, my mom would make this dish once in awhile. Last weekend, when I was passing by the meat section at the grocery store, I found bison meat. I picked it up instead of beef and decided to cook it with ginger and scallions. Bison meat is similar to beef but much leaner. It is also lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than pork, beef, chicken or even turkey.

Ingredients:

A pound of bison meat or beef
3 inches fresh ginger root
3 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
A few stalks of scallions
A few stalks of chinese celery
some cornflour (enought to coat the meat)
some oil for frying

Marinade ingredients:
1 tbspoon oyster sauce
1 tbspoon dark soy sauce
1 tbspoon sherry/brandy
1 tspoon sesame oil

1. Coat the bison slices with cornflour
2. Mix the meat with the marinade ingredients and let it marinade in the fridge for about 30 - 45 minutes
3. Heat up some cooking oil and fry the bison meat until brown - set aside.
4. Heat up some cooking oil - fry the ginger slices until they turn golden and add in garlic. Sautee until fragrant.
5. Add in red peppers, scallions and celery - fry for a couple minutes.
6. Add meat and fry until cooked.

Best served with warm rice.

Fiddle Heads

Fiddle Heads / New England's Midin

Comfort Food

One of my favourite things to do when I'm in the mood for the taste of home is cooking. I'm considered lucky because in the area where we live, there are quite a number of Asians, thus getting the produce/supplies needed for Asian cooking is easy.

Lady's Finger / Okra with Sambal

Lady's Finger / Okra and Enoki Mushroom with Sambal

Cekur Manis with egg

Cekur Manis with chili and whitebaits

Cekur Manis with Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin) - not sure what's the English name for this green vege

Kangkung / Water Spinach with Taucheo (Salted Soy Beans) and Chili

Fish Umai - my all time favourite - Sarawak version of sashimi

The one & only Sarawak Laksa