Fried Green Tomatoes

I've been in TN for a little bit but I never knew about fried green tomatoes until last week. We went to visit our friends whom we haven't seen each other for a while. They had a big garden and before we were about to leave, they asked if we want some chillies and I was like yea, that would great, thank you. As they were picking some chillis, someone mentioned something about fried green tomatoes... you could make fried green tomatoes and I'm like huh?? really you can actually fry tomatoes? Then hubby goes... well its a southern food.. For the first time, when I heard about fried green tomatoes, I was intrigued. So when we got home, I prepared this little appetizers. #ohmygosh# when I tasted them, I was pleasantly surprised. they were indeed delicious... now this is a keeper.. hehe.. :D

Fried Green Tomatoes 

(Outstanding recipe from Southern Living but I adjusted the recipe a little bit. You can get the recipe from MyRecipes.)

Ingredients:

1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ cup all-purpose flour, divided  

½ cup buttermilk cornmeal mix
1 teaspoon salt  

½ teaspoon pepper
3 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into ⅓-inch slices
Vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Method 

Combine egg; set aside.  Combine ¼ cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. 

Dredge tomato slices in remaining ¼ cup flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture. 

Pour oil to a depth of ¼ to ½ inch in a large cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°. Drop tomatoes, in batches, into hot oil, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels or a rack. 

Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt (i did not do this).

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.

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.

Beef & Mushroom Stew

Recipe for the Beef & Mushroom Stew.

Ingredients:
500gm cubed beef stew meat
3 cloves garlic - minced
2 red onions - sliced
2 star anise
5 cloves stems
1 cinnamon stick
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
3 tablespoons chili sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce or sweet soy sauce
10 pieces button mushrooms - sliced ​​into half (I used the morel mushroom)
Salt to taste
A little cooking oil for frying

Garnish:
2 stalks green onions - chopped
2 sprigs parsley - chopped

Method:

Heat some cooking oil in a wok or large saucepan. Saute garlic, onion, star anise, cloves and cinnamon. Once fragrant and golden, add meat, chilli sauce, tomato sauce, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Cook over medium heat until meat is tender. After the meat is tender, add mushrooms until just wilted. Add a little more water if you want a little gravy. Allow to simmer for a moment before you turn off the fire. Dish out and sprinkle with parsley and green onions. Ready to be eaten with hot rice.

Morel Mushrooms

Morel Mushrooms - These are wild mushrooms and typically arrives in the spring months here. I love to eat mushrooms. As for these mushrooms, I have not seen or eaten these mushroom before and I must say they are so good. I'm thankful to hubby's colleague who has been giving these mushrooms for free. It is so nice of him.. so in return, I made some Asian snacks for him for lunch.. 

When we went to our friend's house, he brought us to his big backyard.. I found three small ones, and the fourth one was found by our friend. I was very happy that day because it was my first time mushroom hunting and I found some. :)) 

The first time, I followed what hubby said, dust with some flour, salt and pepper, then pan-fried with some oil. After that, I tried something different... 

• Cut into strips, pan-fried and seasoned with salt and pepper and served it on top of fried egg.
• Same thing as above and mixed with potatoes.
• Cut into halves, and mixed in the beef stew.
• Make a batter using rice flour, salt, pepper and some water, dipped the mushrooms and deep-fried.

I forgot to take pictures on all but here are two pictures that I had...

Fried Macaroni

The weather is quite upsetting these days. Cloudy days, rain with thunderstorm is no fun at all... I hope the weather gets better soon.. Anyway, it's been a while since I cooked fried macaroni. A friend on mine who is located in Korea shared this recipe with me. The caramel sauce or sweet sauce will add texture to the food but you can use sugar in replacement. Be sure to turn on your kitchen range hood/ventilation fan, open up your windows and put those candles or scented oil to work because while frying the paste, your place is gonna smell for a while.. hehe.. Although the smell is strong, but trust me the fried macaroni will turn out great!! :))

Ingredients:

500g macaroni - boiled until al-dente, drained
250g chicken meat - cut in small cubes

mixed vegetables (your choice of vegetables)

slices of mushrooms

oil to fry

To grind until become a paste:

4 cloves garlic

1 onion

3-4 tbsp blended dried chilli (I used 2 tsp of chilli powder)

2 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked with water until soft, drained

Seasonings:

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp heavy salt-soy sauce

2-3 tbsp sweet sauce or caramel sauce

1-2 tbsp sweet soy sauce

ground white pepper

1 tsp sesame seed oil

salt to taste

Garnish:

slices of omelette

fried shallots

chopped green onions

chopped cilantro

Method:

Heat some oil in the wok. Fry the grinded paste until totally cooked. Add chicken meat, vegetables and mushrooms. Cook until the chicken is cooked and vegetables is soften. Then add the seasonings. Stir for about 1-2 minutes then add the macaroni. Add salt to taste (if required). Stir well and remove from heat. Serve hot with slices omelette, chopped green onions and chopped cilantro for garnishing.

Thank you Mrs. D.B. for the recipe. :))

Oven-baked potato wedges

Oven-baked potato wedges.. I like to flavor them any way I want. This is a simple and no mess recipe. Feel free to spice them up.. :))

I used 6 russet potatoes (or potato type of your choice). Wash and pat dry. Place the whole potatoes (do not poke) into microwave-safe covered dish. Microwave on HIGH for 3 to 4 minutes. Let them cool before you cut them. Then cut each potato lengthwise into 8 even wedges. Coat wedges with 5-6 tablespoon of olive oil.

For the seasonings, I have chosen; 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dry basil, 1 teaspoon dry thyme, 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder. Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Mix with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. You can use fresh herbs if you like. I do not have fresh ones so the dry ones works. Then coat the wedges with the seasonings.

Arrange the potatoes and garlic in a single layer on a baking sheet. Do not let the fries touch while on the baking sheet, let some space between them, otherwise they will steam and become soggy.

Bake for 10 minutes in a preheat oven at 400 degrees F until the potatoes are crisp, rotate and cook an additional 10 minutes until dark golden brown on all sides.

Transfer to a plate and serve with mayo or any dipping of your choice. :))

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. :)

Green Bean Casserole - Thanksgiving Side Dish

Green bean casserole is one of the side dish which is often served on Thanksgiving day. It is a casserole consisting of green beans, cream of mushroom soup and French fried onions. A comfort food that can be served any day and it is easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter or olive oil

5-ounces fresh white mushrooms, brushed clean, trimmed, and sliced

1/2 cup diced onions (optional)

1 pound fresh green beans, blanched

1 can (10-ounces) undiluted condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup heavy cream/ half-and-half or milk

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 can (2.8-ounces) French-fried onions, divided

pinch of garlic powder

freshly ground black pepper to taste

kosher salt to taste

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.

Place a heavy skillet over medium high heat. When pan is hot, add butter. When the butter has melted, add mushrooms and diced onions. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Saute mushrooms until they release their liquid and mushrooms begin to soften, Transfer to a large bowl.

Add green beans, cream of mushroom soup, heavy cream, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, half of fried onions, garlic powder and pepper, and salt to taste. Stir well. 

Pour green bean mixture into a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with the cheddar and the remaining half can of fried onions. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted and onion topping is browned and crispy.

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. 

Spinach Spaghetti with Shrimps

Here is a recipe that I would like to share.. I did not have some of the ingredients, I changed to my version. They turned out to be very good! Yum-yum!!

Hope y'all have a good Halloween weekend and be safe.. :))

You can get the original recipe here.

Below is my version....

Ingredients:

1/2 pound dry spaghetti

6 tablespoon olive oil, divided

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach

3/4 pound shrimps (medium to large)

4 cloves garlic, sliced, divided

1 small can sliced mushroom, drained

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup

1 cup chicken broth

salt and black pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until 8 to 10 minutes, drain and reserve.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat and add spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Saute spinach until wilted and no longer watery, about 8-10 minutes. Remove spinach from skillet and toss with pasta; transfer and keep warm.

In the same skillet, heat 2 more tablespoon of olive oil and add 2 cloves of sliced garlic and shrimps. Season with salt and black pepper, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes or longer for larger shrimps, or until they appear opaque. Remove and keep warm.  

Using the same skillet again, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the remaining sliced garlic and saute until golden. Add mushroom, soup and chicken broth to the skillet. Stir occasionally until sauce is a smooth consistency. While the sauce is simmering, place the mixed spaghetti and spinach on to plated or bowls. Top with sauce and shrimps. Serve hot with home-made garlic bread.

Delicious Stuffed Potato Pancakes

I was browsing for some recipes online and I found a recipe that sounds and looks delicious. Delicious stuffed potato pancakes. Potato; checked! Ground beef; checked! So I decided to make these for dinner. Well, I think this dish can be eaten any time.. be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or maybe supper..

I do agree with the contributor, this is just a basic recipe. One can add spices, herbs and cheese or use sausage instead of beef and top with sour cream.. Yum-yum!!!  You will enjoy it more if you make it your way... :)


Ingredients:

8 potatoes, peeled and shredded

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

salt and black pepper to taste

Filling:

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 onion, grated

1 pinch garlic salt

1 egg

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tsp vegetable oil

Mix together the potatoes, flour baking powder, eggs, and salt and pepper in a bowl. In another bowl, for the filling, mix the ground beef, onion, garlic salt, egg and bread crumbs until well-combined.

Heat the 2 teaspoon vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, and drop a rounded tablespoon of potato mixture into the hot skillet. Spread and flatten the pancake out a little, and place about 2 teaspoons of beef mixture on the pancake, spreading the filling out almost to the edges of the pancake. Drop another rounded tablespoon of potato mixture on top of the beef, and spread it out to completely cover the beef. Fry until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown, about 5 minutes, then flip and fry the other side until golden, 1 to 2 more minutes.

"Sorry, forgot to take a pic to see the fillings. was too hungry.. LoL"

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!!!

Chicken with mushroom and mozzarella

Yesterday was a rush! I did not have the time to cook what I wanted for Iftar yesterday. So I browsed my recipe book and I found this simple and easy chicken recipe. Made some balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing to drizzle over the spinach and tomatoes..  I had this recipe for a long time in my recipe book but never thought of giving it a try. I'm glad I did last night... It was delicious.  Yummy!!!

Ingredients:

4 pc (600g) chicken breast

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp flour for dusting

3 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, sliced

2 clove garlic, chopped

250g mushrooms (stems removed), sliced

1 tbsp dried mixed herbs

150g mozzarella cheese, sliced to 5mm thickness (used shredded mozzarella)

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dust with flour and set aside. Preheat oven at 350F. Heat 1 tbsp butter. Fry onion and garlic till soft. Add mushroom, stir fry for 3mins or until soft. Remove and set aside. Same pan, heat remaining butter. Brown chicken for 4-5mins. Remove chicken and place in a baking tray. Pour stir-fried onions/mushrooms over chicken and sprinkle with herbs. Top with mozzarella slices. Bake for 15-20mins. 

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!! :))