Nasi Minyak - Flavored rice

For this special occasion, instead of having the usually raya food, I decided to make just a few dishes. I cooked flavored rice called nasi minyak. For side dishes and condiments, there were dalca vegetables and baked honey chicken (asian style) and cucumber pickles ##iwillpostrecipeslater##. This rice dish is usually served for festive occasions and at Malay weddings. Here is the recipe for nasi minyak. 

NASI MINYAK - I found this recipe from Cooking with Marina Mustafa: Nasi Minyak but I made a little change with the steps.

Ingredients:~
3 cups Basmati rice, washed & drained
¼ cup oil
1 tbsp ghee
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
5 cardamom
5 cloves
2 pandan leaves, knotted
2 tsp salt
3½ cups water
2 inches ginger, blended with 1 cup water
½ cup evaporated milk combined with 2 tbsp lime juice

Method:~ 

1. Put the rice in the rice-cooker pot. Do not start yet.
2. In a small pan, heat the oil & ghee.
3. Put in the cinnamon, star anise, cardamom & cloves.
4. Saute the onions & garlic till it becomes transparent. Turn off heat. 
5. Then pour everything from the pan into the rice pot. Stir well, make sure each grain of rice is coated with the mixture.
6. Add pandan leaves, water, ginger juice and salt.
7. Stir everything in and start the rice cooker.
8. As soon as the rice is ready, pour the milk & lime juice mixture over the rice. At this time also, you may like to drop one or more colorings of your choice.
9. Allow the rice to rest for 10 minutes before serving. 

Chicken Curry - Cook and Share a Pot of Curry 2012 event

Today is "Cook and Share a Pot of Curry 2012" event on FB. So I cooked chicken curry and shared with hubby. hehe.. The Curry Team have also created a new Curry page, check it out and LIKE them.  =) I know I posted chicken curry recipes before but this is another version. The following recipe is a mixture from recipes that I collected. I changed and add just a bit here and there to suit my taste. 

Here is our chicken curry with colorful roti jala. =)

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cleaned & chopped into smaller pieces

3 potatoes, peeled & cubed

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled

1 cup coconut milk

3-4 cups water or chicken stock

4-5 tbsp curry powder

2 stalks lemongrass, light part & bruised

1-2 bulb shallot, peeled & slice thinly

8-10 curry leaves

2-3 tbsp ghee or cooking oil

1 tbsp fish sauce

a little sugar

salt to taste

Paste: To grind in the blender or use Mortar and pestle :

3 bulbs shallots, peeled

5 cloves garlic, peeled

3-4 candlenuts

3cm ginger, peeled

1-2 fresh red or green chilli (Omitted, cos if not, it will be too spicy for us)

Method:

1. Mix curry powder with 2-3 tbsp of water to form a smooth paste. 
2. Heat ghee or cooking oil in a large pot, saute the paste mixture, curry leaves, lemongrass until fragrant, stirring constantly.
3. Add the curry paste, sliced shallots and chicken pieces.
4. Cook for 10 minutes to sear the mix. 
5. Add in water and potatoes. Covered and bring it to a boil. 
6. Then add the fish sauce, sugar (amount of sugar is how sweet you want but not too sweet) and salt to taste. Add hard boiled egg.
7. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, semi-covered until chicken and potatoes are done. 
8. Serve with roti jala or steamed rice. 

Here is the link for ROTI JALA. 

Sambal Goreng

Sambal Goreng is a traditional Malay dish that is made out of tempeh, tofu, long beans and shrimps. Growing up in Singapore, this is one of my favorite side dish. 

I was unable to get tempeh and long beans in my area so I used tofu, green beans and shrimps. I always thought it would be too difficult  and a long time to cook this dish, but it doesn't take that long. 

Ingredients:

 ½ cup dried chilli, de-seeded

1 onion-medium size

5 cloves garlic

 3 lemongrass, stalks

1-inch square belacan (shrimp paste)

3-inch galangal

1 tbsp tamarind paste (mix with water to make ½ cup tamarind juice)

2 tbsp sugar

1 (8oz) tempe, cut to 1 by 2 inch blocks

1 (8oz) tofu, cut to 1 by 2 inch blocks

1 lb shrimps, shelled & de-veined

some long beans, sliced (like French beans)

Paste -  Blend chilli, onion, garlic, lemongrass, belacan and galangal. Grind until become paste.

Fry tempeh and tofu separately until golden brown. Fry shrimps lightly. Set them aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok. Add the mixed paste. Fry until fragrant. Add sugar and tamarind juice. Stir often. Remove cooked paste and set aside. 

In a clean wok, heat 2 tbsp oil. Fry the long beans for 2 minutes. Add cooked tofu, tempeh and shrimps. Stir-fry for a minute then add the cooked paste. Stir occasionally and season with salt. Mix well and fry for another 5 minutes. 

Serve with hot white rice.

Mee Prata (Fried Prata Noodles)

Last week, I made some homemade prata (Indian pancake). I remember a while back, I saw a recipe that has prata as one of their ingredients. So I used some of the dough to make Mee Prata (Fried Prata Noodles). I also made some Tahu Telur (Tofu Omelette) to go with it.

Mee Prata (Fried Prata Noodles) ~Source: Aneka Hidang Mi recipe book

Ingredients (A):

400g all-purpose flour

80g margarine/butter

salt to taste

sugar to taste

water  (to mix the ingredients together)

Preheat oven to 350°F Mix all together. Knead until well blended. Keep aside for 5 hours.  Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick. Place on the well-greased tray and bake in the oven for about 10 minute. Remove and slice lengthwise thinly.  (I did not use this recipe since I already made some prata. But mixing and kneading the dough is something like how you make normal prata)

Ingredients (B):

400g ground beef

400g shrimps

200g bean sprouts

200g white choy sum (Chinese vegetables), cut

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tbsp chili paste

1 red chili, cut

1 tbsp curry powder

salt

cooking oil

Sauté the onion until golden brown. Remove from pan. Then fry the chili paste. Add the meat, curry powder, salt, and water. Cook meat until tender. Lastly, add bean sprouts, vegetables, cut red chillies and shrimps. Fry for 5 minutes. Serve hot. Garnish with diced tomatoes and chopped cilantro.

p.s: I don't have the some exact ingredients so I improvised and used what I had; potato, chicken hotdog, tofu, and 1 beaten egg. :)

Vietnamese Deep Fried Spring Rolls ~ Cha Gio

When I came back from Singapore last month, I had made a pit stop to visit my girlfriends in Anaheim and Santa Monica, CA, before flying again to TN. While I was there, we went to an Asian store close to my girlfriend's home. I bought a few items (making sure not too many because I was not willing to pay for the access baggage.. hehe) and a package of Vietnamese deep fried spring roll wrapper was one of the them. 

Vietnamese Deep Fried Spring Rolls are wheat-free. Serve them as appetizers or as snacks. To eat, each person puts a spring roll on a lettuce leaf, adding some of the herbs. Roll them up and dipped in the sauce before eating. Delicious!

Ingredients:

7 1/2 oz very thin bean thread noodles (in small skeins, also known as cellophane or mung bean noodles)

2 oz dried wood ear mushrooms

1 medium shallot

2 garlic cloves

2 cups shredded carrots (4 to 5 carrots)

1 lb ground chicken

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (preferably from Phu Quoc)

1/4 cup plus 1 tsp sugar

2 1/2 tsps black pepper

2 tsps salt

1 lb cooked crab meat, picked clean or coarsely chopped raw shrimp

25 pieces rice paper 

1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

About 6 cups vegetable oil

Prepare filling:

Put noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water by several inches. Soak, pulling noodles apart and stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Drain noodles and cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces (you should have about 3 cups), then transfer to another large bowl.

Put mushrooms in a bowl and cover with hot water by several inches. Soak 15 minutes. Drain and rinse mushrooms thoroughly, then drain again. Trim off and discard any hard parts from mushrooms. Finely chop mushrooms. (You should have about 2 cups.) Add to noodles.

Pulse shallot and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add to noodles along with carrots, chicken, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, and salt. Pulse shrimp in processor until coarsely ground. (Do not overprocess or it will become pasty.) Add shrimp to noodle mixture. Mix with your hands until well combined. Chill filling, covered with plastic wrap, until cold.

Assemble rolls:

Line 2 trays with wax paper.

Transfer one fourth of filling to a small bowl and keep remainder chilled, covered. Wet the rice paper in a bowl of water. Allow a few seconds for it to get pliable and then put in the filling. Do only one at a time. If you try to moisten them all at once, they will get mushy by the time you get to wrapping them. (lesson learnt!! My first few was mushy.. LoL!). Put about 2 tsp of the filling across the wider part of the wedge rice paper, or across each round rice paper, placing it about 3cm from the bottom edge. Roll the edge over the filling, then fold over the sides of the rice paper and roll up tightly. Place the seam side down on the wax paper. Do not stack the rolls.

Put the heat on medium-high so that the wrappers can puff up and become flaky, then they'll turn golden. By the time wrappers are crispy golden, the filling should be cooked. Fry rolls in batches of 5 or 6, keeping rolls apart during first minute of frying to prevent sticking, until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes.

Drain on a brown paper or paper towel and drain the rolls upright 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

To eat, wrap hot or warm rolls in lettuce leaves and tuck in mint and cilantro leaves. Serve with dipping sauce.

## I made some changes from the recipe that I used. Read more from epicurious.

Steamed Coconut Blossom

A while back, I came across this Steamed Coconut Blossoms from Bisous À Toi and even asked my cousin to send me a tub of ovalette from Singapore (which its very hard to get in US). I did made my first steamed coconut blossoms at my friend's place while visiting her but I was unable to take much pictures. So yesterday, I tried to make them again. 

I had a packet of the frozen coconut flakes in the freezer so I decided to use that for the filling. But I think I should have bought a whole coconut and shred the coconut meat, much more finer. If you are making Steamed Coconut Blossoms, I would suggest that you make the filling first and let it cool down first before you start with the batter.

When hubby came home from work, he thought it was a cupcake so he grab one and with the look on the face, I can tell, he did not really enjoy these steamed coconut blossom like I do. :(

Ingredients:

3 nos. cold eggs

250 gm sugar

10 ozs (about 280 to 300 gm.) Softasilk flour or any superfine flour (Hong Kong flour) (I used cake flour)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp ovalette

130 gm (5 ozs.) coconut cream (I used coconut milk)

30 gm pandan juice (blend about 6 pandan leaves) (I did not use)

1 tsp pandan paste (mixed with coconut milk)

Special equipment: 3-tiered steamer

Boil water in the 3-tier streamer.
Beat all the ingredients together until thick and fluffy.

Scoop 1 tbsp of batter into madeleine mould (lined with paper cup), top up with 1 tbsp of coconut filling and then another 1 tbsp of batter.

Steam over high heat for 15 mins.

Coconut fillings:

250 gm grated coconut

30 gm castor sugar

100 gm gula melaka

60 gm water

1 tsp cornflour

2 pcs pandan leaves - cut into small pieces

Cook sugar, gula melaka and water in a wok till sugar melts.

Add in grated coconut and pandan leaves and fry till dry.

Sprinkle cornflour on top and stir till well mixed.

Cool before using.

Inspiration from: Bisous À Toi 

Source: Aunty Yochana

Bubur Pulut Hitam (black glutinous rice dessert)

This was our dessert last night and it's hubby first bubur pulut hitam. After he finished his bowl, he said its good but not his favorite. :( I was disappointed but its OK because this is my favorite dessert. I just think he is not use to eat this dessert.. oh well, I can have it all to myself. LoL!!! There are many variations to make bubur pulut hitam; some added the coconut milk when the black glutinous rice becomes thick. After so many reviews, I prefer to have the coconut milk as a topping and my bubur is not too watery. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup of black glutinous rice

1 pandan leaf

sugar to taste

water

coconut milk

Rinse the black glutinous rice with water thoroughly until the water turns clear. Fill half of the pot with water. Add pandan leaf and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat and add the black glutinous rice into the pot, cover. Cook for 45-60 minutes or until the rice becomes soft and breaks up. Remember to keep checking the water level, add more water if it become too dry. Add sugar to taste. Then simmer for a few more minutes while constantly stirring until the mixture becomes thick. 

To serve, pour into a bowl and a few tablespoon of coconut milk as topping. You may add an extra amount of topping if you prefer creamier ones. :)

Notes:

• Put a porcelain spoon into the pot while cooking so that the rice are cooked faster. 
• You can use brown sugar or white granulate sugar if you do not have gula melaka (palm sugar).
• Leftover bubur pulut hitam, store it in a tight-sealed container and keep in the refrigerator.

Thai Prawn Noodle Soup

Its nice to have some soup in this cold weather, don't you think??? I've been wanting to have some Thai-inspired soup. Then I found this recipe. It is absolutely delicious and I can't get enough of it. An easy recipe to follow. In the original recipe, red chillies was listed in the ingredients but I decided not to use it as it might get a little spicy for hubby. I think this will be in my favorite monthly-to-cook list. Yum-Yum!!!!

Ingredients:

500ml chicken stock

1 tbsp virgin oil

1 inch piece of root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

small bunch of spring onions, while part only, roughly chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, about 4 inches long

1 tbsp fish sauce

juice of half lime

2 dried wonton noodles (Chinese thin egg noodles) 

150g medium prawns, remove the shells and tails

Garnish:

small bunch of spring onions, green part only, cut on a slight diagonal

small bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method:

Heat oil in a wok or pan over a medium heat. Add ginger, garlic and white parts of the spring onions. Cook for 2 minutes and pour in the chicken stock. Bruise the lemongrass stalk with the back of a knife and add to the stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Then strain the stock, discarding the solids. 

Meanwhile, cook the dry wonton noodles in a boiling salted water for 10 minutes and drained.

Return the stock to the wok or pan and add the fish sauce and lime juice. Bring to a boil then take off the heat, add the prawns leave to poach for 2-3 minutes, until the prawns turn pink. 

To serve, place the noodles into the center of a bowl and surround with cooked prawns. Pour over the stock then garnish with green parts of the green onions and coriander. Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Stir-fry Black Pepper Chicken

It was my good friend introduced the store-bought black pepper sauce to me. I love black pepper sauce dishes and seriously I didn't even know there is a ready-to-use black pepper sauce exist. (where have I been.. hahaha..) A super easy and fast dish that you can enjoy. No fuss and no mess. Cook it with your choice of meat, fish, seafood or just vegetables.

~ if only there's crabs available here, i want some black pepper crabs..... ~

Stir-fry black pepper chicken. 

Ingredients:

100g sliced chicken tenders (You can use other meat or seafood)

1 small onion, sliced

2 clove garlic, sliced

favorite vegetables (I used carrots, radish and Chinese kale)

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp black pepper sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Heat oil in a pan or wok over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until fragrant. Add meat and stir-fry until cook. Add your favorite vegetables. Add water and let it simmer. Add black pepper sauce and stir fry to combine well for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and dish up. Serve immediately.

Chicken curry without using coconut milk

I have been looking for a chicken curry recipe without using any coconut milk or yogurt. I've tried a few recipes and they were not really the right one. Finally, I found a recipe; Aisha's chicken curry without using coconut milk (mesra). I really like this recipe because it is easy, delicious and not too spicy for me! It's a keeper!! :)

Curry chicken without using coconut milk,

adapted from Aisha's kari ayam tanpa santan

Ingredients:

1 whole skinless chicken or equivalent size chicken breasts

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 tomatoes, diced

3 green cardamon

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

daun pudina (mint leaves), optional

a few dry curry leaves, optional

4 tbsp curry powder (Baba's meat curry is the best!)

1 tbsp tomato puree

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 cup water

2 potatoes, cut in four

salt to taste

Blended ingredients:

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1cm ginger

Garnish:

green chillies, thinly sliced

coriander leaves/cilantro

Blend 1 onion, garlic and ginger until smooth (you might want to add a little water to the mix). 

Heat olive oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat. Saute sliced onions, mint leaves, curry leaves, green cardamon, cinnamon stick, whole cloves and diced tomatoes until onions are transparently yellowish.

Add the blended ingredients, tomato puree and curry powder. Slowly stir and mix until all combined. Keep stirring until you see oil separating from the onions and spices. Then add the chicken and water. Cook until the chicken is almost tender, then add the potatoes and cover again. Add salt to taste. Keep the lid closed and let the chicken and potatoes well cooked.

Serve hot with plain rice or roti kirai (lacy pancakes) or baguette. Enjoy!

Notes:

You don't have to use the curry leaves, I used them because I like it. ;)

But it would be much better to add mint leaves because they brings out the flavor and fragrant of the curry.

Mee Goreng (Fried Egg Noodles)

One of my favorite dishes is mee goreng mamak (fried egg noodle Indian style). I have been craving it for a long time. As I am unable to get soft yellow egg noodles in my area, I use spaghetti as a substitute and add shrimps. This is a simple one dish meal and taste great! Seriously, I can't wait to have one when I go back to Singapore. :)

Mee Goreng Mamak, adapted from Aneka Hidang Mi recipe book

Ingredients:

3 tbsp cooking oil (I used EVOO), divided

2 large eggs, beaten

1 onion, sliced thinly

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp sambal oelek

1 green chilli, sliced (optional)

300g soft yellow egg noodles (I used spaghetti, cooked & drained)

1 potato, boiled, peeled, cut into small cubes

2 pieces fried tofu, cut into cubes 

some assorted vegetables (slices of cabbage, choy sam and mustard greens or some beans sprouts)

200gm cooked medium shrimps

Sauce:

1-2 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp kicap manis (sweet black sauce)

1 tbsp osyter sauce (you can use light soy sauce)

Garnish:

1 tomato, cut into small cubes

1 stalk of green onion, cut into small pieces

some fried shallots

Heat wok at medium high with 1 tbsp of oil. When wok is hot enough, add in the beaten eggs, fry as scramble eggs (do not overcook the eggs), then dish out and set aside. 

In the same wok on high heat, add the remaining oil and fry the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add sambal oelek, sliced chillies and noodles*. Add tomato ketchup, sweet black sauce and oyster sauce, stir for 1 minute. Add scramble eggs, potato, fried tofu, vegetables and shrimps. Mix all ingredients well. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes. Dish out and served hot. Garnish with diced tomatoes, chopped green onions and fried shallots.

Notes:

* I prefer to fry my eggs first then add to the dish. But you can forgo this step; after you add the noodles, add a little bit more oil and create an empty space in the center. Add the beaten eggs and mix together with the noodles...

- Also this dish is not from India, it is created by Indian-Muslim in Singapore/Malaysia. :)

Honey Cornflakes Mini Cups ~ Eid-ul Adha

This year raya haji was confusing for me. I thought Eid-ul Adha is on 17th but after chatting with my friend, she said its the 16th here. I have plans to cook some raya dishes but since its a last minute, I whipped up a simple dish yesterday. At first, I thought I would cook the raya food today but after much considerations... hehe.. we are going to have a little different from having the tradition raya food. Will post it soon on that.

This morning, I'm sharing the super easiest Eid cookies that I baked last minute. They are crunchy, yummy and uses little ingredients. Honey Cornflakes mini cups.. You can add raisins, toasted groundnuts, toasted almond slices or just have it plain cornflakes. You can even get your little kids to help out and have fun. Definitely both the kids and the adults will enjoy these Eid cookies. :))

Ingredients:

50g butter

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp brown sugar

3 cups cornflakes

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven at 325 Degrees Fahrenheit. 

In a small saucepan, melt butter, honey and brown sugar over low heat. 

Keep stirring until the sugar dissolved. 

Turn off heat and mix cornflakes and raisins. Mix well.

Fill the mixture into the mini cups. Sprinkles some nonpareils decors on top. (I also sprinkles a little of the fine crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and red sugar decors, they look just fine after baking.)

Bake for 5-10 minutes.

Cool completely before storing in an air tight container.

Happy Eid-ul Adha to each and everyone celebrating. :)

Fried Black Carrot Cake

Here is my fried black carrot cake. Gosh!! I miss eating fried carrot cake (be it white or black) in Singapore. Well, both of which are equally tasty and addictive! However, this can be only eaten moderately and not too often as this dish usually cooked with loads of oil. :))

When you make your own, you can add small shrimps or beansprouts if you like. Next time, I'll add some small shrimps to make it more yummier. hehe..

In the previous post, I've link a video of how to make the carrot cake but this time, I type it out just for you. :))

Radish cake
Ingredients:
350g rice flour
600g water, room temperature
600g hot water
40g carrots, grated (squeeze dry)*
40g radish, grated (squeeze dry)*

In a big bowl, mix rice flour with the room temperature water first. Mix the grated carrots and radish in the hot water. Then slowly pour the hot water mixture to the rice flour. Add salt and mix well. 

To thicken the mixture: Using a large pan/wok, add some water. Pour the mixture in a heatproof bowl. Now, you put your heatproof bowl in the large pan/wok. Stir, and mix well under a low heat until the mixture is smooth and thick. Transfer to a greased round pan (I used 8-inch round pan).
Steaming: Carefully, fit the round pan into the steamer, cover, reduce the heat to a simmer. Steam for 30 minutes or just until the radish cake is set and is firm to the touch. Check the water level regularly and replenish with boiling water, if necessary. Remove the pan from the steamer and allow to cool before using it.

(*changes: different from the previous post)

Fried Black Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

4 tbsp vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1-2 tbsp chai poh (preserved radish)

2 nos eggs, beaten

1 tbsp fish sauce

1-2 tbsp thick black sweet sauce

sambal (chilli paste) (how spicy you want it to be)

dash of white pepper

1-2 stalks spring onion, chopped

coriander leaves, chopped

Cut up steamed radish cake into small chunks.

Using medium high heat, in a non-stick skillet, fry garlic until just brown. Add radish cake chunks and fry till lightly browned and slightly crisp. Add chai poh. Fry till aromatic. Drizzle a little more oil if it is too dry. 

Add sambal (chilli paste) if you like and white pepper. Stir to coat evenly. 

Mix fish sauce in the beaten eggs, then pour in the beaten egg mixture. Allow the eggs to set slightly before flipping over in sections. 

Drizzle thick black sweet sauce and stir fry to mix well.

Before serving, sprinkle some chopped spring onions and coriander leaves on top. 

Notes: 

• Cut the steamed radish cake into smaller chunks as they will crisp better. Crispy on the outside and soft interior. Yummy!!!!
• If you like the fried black carrot cake to be a little wet, add some water after adding the sweet black sauce to fry until it has become softer and wetter.
• You can make the radish cake ahead of time. Keep them refrigerated for days before frying it. 

Fried Carrot Cake

To my readers, I apologize for not been updating my blog lately as I was away for about a month. But now I'm back!!! :) So today's post is about Fried Carrot Cake (Chai Tow Kway). This is not that cake you see at the dessert corner. This is a popular dish with Singaporeans eaten throughtout the day, breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper. When I saw Makansutra website and videos... dang!! its making me super hungry and missing Singapore's local food... :(

The main ingredient is white radish. It is grated and mixed with rice flour. Together with water, the mixture is stirred while cooking. Then the thick mixture is poured in a round pan and steamed to form the carrot cake. The carrot cake is cut into pieces and stir with eggs, minced garlic, spring onion, preserved radish. You could even add sweet black sauce if you want the dark version of fried carrot cake. If you like you could even add small shrimp or diced mushroom to give it added texture and taste.

A skillful hawker will not burn the egg when it is stir fried with the carrot cake and will also making you drool with just the aroma alone. If you like it a little spicy, you can ask the chef to put in a small amount of chili.. yum yum!!! I would recommend all visitors to Singapore, should try Fried Carrot Cake. :))

My white fried carrot cake did not look like Mr See Toh's carrot cake pizza.. but it still taste good!!! gonna make the black fried carrot cake next time..

Ingredients:

Radish Cake:

350gm rice flour

600g water, room temperature

600g hot water

20gm carrots, julienned

20gm radish, julienned
1 tsp salt

Fried Carrot Cake:

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp preserved radish, chopped

2 nos eggs, beaten

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 sprig spring onion, chopped

Optional:

20gm ikan bilis 

30gm beansprouts

Here is the VIDEO (<--Click) to make Carrot Cake from KF See Toh, Ambassador of Food or many have called him the Makan Guru. :)

Some pics of the carrot cake I whipped up..

My white fried carrot cake with sambal (chili paste) on the side.

Yum-Yum!!!

Bubur merah, bubur putih

This dessert is not unusual with Malay families in Singapore. Usually served at birthday parties or at a thanksgiving feast. My mom would make this dessert using the red color sugar but since I am unable to get any red color sugar here, I used the brown sugar. Many used the glutinous rice but others would use regular rice. The brown/red part is usually sweet and the white part is a little salty. My first time to make this delicious dessert. Wonderful.

Ingredients:

1 cup glutinous rice, washed

2 pandan leaves (screwpines), knotted

water

1/2 cup coconut milk (used 1 cup regular 2%milk)

salt to taste

brown sugar or gula melaka

sugar

In a pot, cover glutinous rice with enough water and milk. Add the pandan leaves and salt to taste. Let it boil under a medium heat. Stir often to avoid the rice from sticking on the bottom of the pot. Once the rice has soften, from 1/3 of the amount of rice. Set it aside. The remaining 2/3, add the brown sugar and stir well. Add the white sugar is not sweet enough.

To serve,  scoop the brown glutinous rice first then drop a tablespoon of the white glutinous rice. Enjoy!

Mee Hailam PHALINN OOI

Singapore Flag

August 9 is Singapore's National Day. I'll like to take this opportunity to wish Singapore a Happy 45th Burfday!!!! Being so far away, made me miss the place I called HOME and is always in my ♥ ♥heart♥ ♥. In the morning, I got a chance to watch the last part of the "LIVE" webcast and when the announcer said to the audiences to stand up for the National Anthem and Pledge, I actually stood up, sing the National Anthem and Pledge. Though I'm so far away but hey, I'm a Singaporean and I am proud of my country... ;)

Often, I would check out MamaFami's Fotopages for recipes. When I saw Mee Hailam Phalinn Ooi, it really looks good. Both MamaFami and Phalinn Ooi said it is easy and delicious. I just had to give it a try. Yes, indeed, it is delicious and easy. Thanks Phalinn Ooi and MamaFami for sharing the recipe. :))

 

Ingredients:

yellow noodles or spaghetti (used dry chinese style noodles)
beef fillet-sliced thinly, boil for 5 mins & keep the stock (not used) 

chicken fillet-sliced (cubed, boiled and used the stock)
onion-thinly sliced
garlic-chopped 

chicken cube
chilli powder (not used) 

oyster sauce 

sweet soya sauce

light soya sauce

tomato sauce (used tomato paste) 

vegetables (used cabbage and pre-cooked carrots)

fish ball (added) 

cornflour mixed with water-to thicken the gravy

vegetables oil for cooking 

Boil the noodles till soften. Drain and leave aside. Heat the oil in a wok and saute onion and garlic. Add the meat and fry for about 3 minutes. Add in the crushed chicken cube and chilli powder. Stir well. Pour the beef (chicken) stock. Add in oyster sauce, sweet soya sauce, light soya sauce and tomato sauce (paste). Stir well and let it boil. Add in eggs and vegetables. Pour in the cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy.
 

To serve : Put the noodles in a bowl, pour the gravy on top. Garnish with chopped spring onions and fried onions. 

Potato Balls Soup (Sup Berbola Kentang)

Hubby said to me "what took you so long to cook?? I'm hungry!!!" LoL!!!! It's not that I'm taking my own sweet time to cook dinner last night but there were so many steps to make this dish.... the fillings, potatoes, soup then frying the potatoes balls..

Although it took a little while more, its worth waiting. Simply delicious!!! I'm glad he waited for it as he had three servings of my potato balls in soup... hehehe.. 

The recipe is from Ms Adidah Anang that I copied from Suria website. However, I made some changes to it. 

Ingredients:

A) 900g potatoes, peeled, cubed, boiled and mashed

    300g breadcrumbs

    2 eggs, beaten

    salt to taste

B) 300g ground beef

    2 cloves garlic, minced

    1 onion, cubed

    half of green pepper, cubed

    30g meat curry powder (BABA's)

    300g carrots, cubed

    300g corns

    300g peas

    salt and black pepper to taste

C) 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce, (Habhal's Sweet Soya Bean Sauce)

    1 tbsp tomato sauce

    1 onions, sliced thinly

    2 cloves garlic, minced

    2cm ginger, minced

    spices (1 cinnamon stick, 2 green cardamon, 2 star anise, 3 whole cloves) (optional)

    5-6 cups water

    4 cubes beef or chicken stock (small)

    salt and black pepper to taste

Garnish

cucumbers (sliced thinly or shredded)

chopped spring onions

chopped coriander

fried spring onion

spicy soy sauce

Heat large frying pan with some oil. Saute garlic, onion and green pepper until fragrant. Add ground beef and carrots. Add the meat curry powder and stir well. Last add the peas and corns. Season with salt and black pepper and mix well. Leave it aside to cool.

In a soup pot, saute the onion, garlic, ginger and spices in the oil until the onion is translucent, 5-10 minutes. Add water, sweet soy sauce, tomato sauce, black pepper and cubes beef stock. Add salt to taste if necessary. Cook in medium-low heat until boiling.

For the potato balls... Mix all the ingredients together. First, I took some mashed potatoes and flatten on my palm. Scooped some of the filling and put in the middle, then covered with another mashed potato. Shape into balls. Dipped in the beaten egg and fry in hot oil. Drained. 

Place fried potato balls in soup bowls and cover with boiling soup. Garnish with cucumber, spring onions, coriander and fried onions and spicy soy sauce. YUM-YUM!!!

Chicken chop - Mamak Style

Another favorite Indian Muslim food (also known as Mamak food)... Mutton Chop. I looked at my recipes books, unfortunately no recipe for mutton chop. I was surprised, I couldn't find many website for the mamak mutton chop recipe too. However, I found a blog that has mutton chop recipe. YAY!!! It would be nicer to have mutton but I cant get mutton so I used chicken breasts instead and I made a little changes. 

You'll need:

chicken breasts (used two)

chilli paste

tomato paste

tomato sauce 

sweet soy sauce

light soy sauce

brown sugar (can also use regular sugar)

ground coriander seeds

potatoes (wedges/fries)

peas

fried egg

lettuce

slices of tomato

*I do not have the exact measurement for this dish, its all estimation. 

I cut the chicken breast into bite-sized. Marinate the pieces with sweet soy sauce and light soy sauce for about 30 mins. Heat the oil in the large wok, fry the chicken. Remove and leave some of the oil in the wok. The secret to make a good chilli sauce for the dish is using the oil that was used frying the chicken. Then combine, chilli paste, tomato paste, tomato sauce, sweet soy sauce in the wok and sprinkle some brown sugar to taste. If you want it hot, add more chilli paste; more sweet, add sugar and soy sauce. When the sauce have simmer down, add a dash of ground coriander seeds. Just before you turned off the heat, mix the chicken together with the sauce. Serve with peas, fries, fried egg, lettuce and slices of tomatoes.

My chicken chop is served with steamed peas, baked diced potatoes and sweet potatoes and fried egg. I do not have lettuce and tomato in the refrigerator. I think I'll use the beef the next time... Have a good Thursday yall!! :)) 

Rojak

ROJAK.. I like Rojak, even a simple Yu Char Kway Rojak.. The term "Rojak" is Malay means “wild mix” or “combination of ingredients”. A popular dish in Singapore and you can find it anywhere in Singapore. 

Rojak is also used as a colloquial expression for an eclectic mix, and in particular is often used to describe the multi-ethnic character of Singaporean and Malaysian society. 

There are Malay, Indian and Chinese style. Malay and Chinese rojak are almost similar. They are built on a vibrant assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables, which may include pineapple, cucumber, sweet turnip, water spinach, green apple, bean sprouts, water apple, green mango, guava, slivers of lime zest, and shredded ginger bud. Except for Chinese Rojak, toasted Yu Char Kway (a crispy length of deep fried flour) and toasted Taufu Pok (bean curd), cut into bite-sized, are added to the fruit salad. The sticky prawn paste is mixed with a little lime juice or tamarind juice and some sugar. Chilli paste may be added for some spice. A dusting of ground peanuts gives further texture. The paste is then mixed thoroughly. Once it is well mixed, the mixed vegetables and ingredients are added. Finally the mixture is garnished with a dash of finely cut ginger flower. 


Indian Rojak is an assortment of potatoes, eggs, fried greens, steamed fishcakes, bean curd, prawn fried in batter. The Indian version is also tossed in peanut sauce, although this version has an added red flavoring and color for that tinge of spiciness.

The picture here is my Yu Char Kway Rojak. I did not add any fruits or vegetables because, I just preferred to have plain Yu Char Kway. ;)

I used the whole bag of frozen Yu Char Kway. You can get at any Asian store in the US. To make the paste: mix 4 tbsp sticky prawn paste, 1-1/2 tbsp lime juice, 1/2 tbsp lime rind, 5 tbsp sugar and some grounded peanuts. Mix thoroughly. Drizzled the sweet sour sauce over the bite-sized Yu Char Kway. Garnish with extra crushed peanuts. 

Rojak is often served as a side dish, appetizer or as a main meal. I cant wait to go back to Singapore and have me some Singapore ROJAK!!!! *winks*