Today's Lunch

Idli with sambal tempeh - my two most favorite dishes.

Sambal Tempeh

 

Today's lunch: Sambal tempeh with rice and stir-fried cauliflower in oyster sauce. I love the hot sambal and tempeh and the combination of both is explosive! Herewith is the recipe for sambal tempeh.

Ingredients:

Dried chilies (the amount depends on how hot your want it) (soak it in hot water)

Red chilies (the amount depends on how hot your want it)

1 red onion

2 big onions

Dried anchovies (soak it in hot water to remove all the impurities)

3 cloves garlic

3 tomatoes (diced)

2 tomatoes (blended)

Tamarind juice

Diced tempeh

Sugar to taste

Salt to taste

Steps:

1. Blend the dry and red chilies, dried anchovies, 2 tomatoes, and 1 big onion into a paste. Add some oil to the mixture while blending.

2. Slice the remaining big onion and red onion and garlic.

3. Heat some oil in a wok. When the oil is moderately hot, saute onions and garlic until golden brown. Then, add the chili paste and saute until it is fragrant. This should take about 15 minutes (until the oil and chili separates and is cooked thoroughly - it is ready when oil from paste floats to the top). Use only low heat and stir constantly.

4. Add the tamarind juice, sugar and salt to taste.

5. Add the diced tomatoes and tempeh.

6. Cook for another 5-10 minutes while stirring occasionally. Before serving, remove the excess oil.

7. Serve with rice, idli or bread.

Mashed Potatoes with Tomatoes and Basil

It was raining here in the evening - and the first thing that came to my mind was a warm bowl of mashed potato - my perfect comfort food. To add some nutritional values to the meal, I added some tomatoes and basil leaves. 

Herewith is the recipe:

- Baby potatoes

- Garlic

- Diced tomatoes

- Chopped basil leaves (from our mini-garden)

- Some butter

- Cheddar cheese

- Mayonnaise

- Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil potatoes and garlic.

2. Drain and peel the skins of the potatoes and the garlic.

3. Mash the potatoes and garlic.

4. Add some butter, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Finally, add in the chopped tomatoes and basil leaves.

6. Serve warm.

Sambar (Indian Dhal Curry)

Today's lunch is sambar (Indian dhal curry). It's a perfect vegetarian dish since you can add any vegetables you want - and my favorite is of course the potatoes! Herewith is the recipe:

Step A. Ingredients:

1 cup red dhal (lentils) (these are small lentils which take quicker to cook)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Step A:

1. Wash and clean the dhal.

2. In a heavy cooking pot, boil 2 cups of water and add the dhal, turmeric powder and 1 tsp of oil.

3. Boil until the dhal is soft and then mash it coarsely.

4. If needed, add more water as it is boiling but do not let it get too watery.

Step B Ingredients:

5 small dry red chilies

8 curry leaves

5 shallots

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

Step B:
1. Heat a frying pan under medium flame and add 1 tsp of oil.

2. Once the oil is hot, add the dry chilies, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, and curry leaves and sautee for 2 minutes.

3. Add the shallots and brown lightly.

Step C Ingredients:

3 tomatoes

2 round brinjals

4 drumsticks

5 baby potatoes (boil separately)

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 tsp asafoetida (is an antiflatulent agent - normally used with dhal dishes)

2 tbsp sambar powder (you can get it from Indian grocery shops) 

Step C:

1. Add the sauteed ingredients from step B to the cooked dhal.
2. Stir well and add the asafoetida and the sambar powder.
3. Add the brinjals and drumsticks to the mixture and let it cook. Add some water if the mixture is too thick.
4. Season with salt.
5. Once the brinjals and drumsticks are cooked, add in the tomatoes, cooked baby potatoes and garlic.
6. Let the mixture boil over medium heat.
7. Remove from heat and serve with rice or thosai.

Lunch Menu - Sardine with Tempeh

My favorite soy-based food is tempeh (or tempe in Indonesian). Tempeh is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form - an excellent source of protein for vegetarians and it's packed with flavor! Although it excudes a-not-so-pleasant-smell, once you cook it the smell goes off. The tempeh dishes sold outside are usually deed-fried in order to eliminate the fermented soy odour. For yesterday's lunch I made sardine with tempeh with lots of tomatoes and onions. I included ginger to eliminate the fermented soy-bean smell and it was delicious! - accompanied with brown rice and blanched baby asparagus - a delightful lunch.

Fusion Salad with Orange-Balsamic-Vinegar dressing

Menu for today's dinner: Fusion salad with orange-balsamic-vinegar dressing. Deliciously crunchy and a wholesome balanced meal.

Ingredients for the salad: Organic raw pea sprouts, blanched asparagus, oranges (sliced), tomatoes (sliced), baby potatoes, and boiled eggs.

Ingredients for the dressing: Fresh orange juice, mustard, balsamic vinegar, honey, and olive oil.

 

Delicious Char Kuey Teow

I don't normally like to eat this delectable dish outside for health reasons. So, this time I took to making this dish at the comfort of our home - and the result ----> pipping hot kuey teow with melt-in-the-mouth cockles and sweet succulent prawns - simply scrumptious! And the look on the face of your loved one tucking into his plate of char kuey teow - priceless!

As I was reading though some blogs, I learnt that the secret to making a good char kuey teow is the high heat of the wok & the control of the timing of cooking and the use of the freshest ingredients. My favorite ingredients in any char kuey teow is the prawns and half-cooked cockles - love 'em! The reward of cooking this at home is that you can add as many prawns and cockles as you wish.

Herewith is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the chili paste:

3 fresh chilies

12 seeded dried chilies (soak in hot water until it softens)

3 small shallots (peeled and sliced)

1 tsp of oil

A pinch of salt

(NOTE: Blend all these ingredients together until fine)

Sauce:

5 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp salt

(NOTE: Mix all these ingredients until the sugar and salt is dissolved)

Main ingredients:

14 shelled and deveined prawns (submerge in ice cold water and add 1 1/2 tbsp of sugar - leave aside for 30 minutes or so - this gives the prawn the succulent, juicy & sweet taste)

500 gm kuey teow (flat rice noodles) - the best will be to get the fresh ones; but, since it's difficult to find the fresh one, I bought packed kuey teow from Tesco. Make sure the kuey teow is completely loosened and there is no clumps.

500 gm bloody cockles (extract the cockles by opening its shell - this is very time-consuming but well worth the effort!)

A bunch of fresh bean sprouts (soak in cold water before using to maintain its freshness and crispness)

A bunch of chives (kucai) (remove about 1-inch of the bottom section and cut the remaining chives into 2-inch lengths)

4 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)

2 eggs

Steps:

1. Heat up the wok with 1 tsp oil and stir-fry the grinded chili paste until aromatic. Dish out and set aside.

2. Clean the wok thoroughly and heat it over high flame until it starts to smoke (this is the secret to making a good char kuey teow - a super hot wok).

3. Add 2 tbsp of oil into the wok and add the chopped garlic. Do a quick stir. When you see the garlic browning, it's time to add the next ingredient.

4. Drain the prawns from the ice water and add it into the wok. Make a few quick stirs until the prawn starts to change color (this has to be quick as to prevent the prawn from over-cooking).

5. Add the bean sprouts into the wok and immediately followed by the kuey teow (flat rice noodles).

6. Add about 3 tbsp of the sauce into the wok and stir vigorously to blend well. (taste and if needed, add more of the sauce). (There will be balance of the sauce which you may store for later use).

7. Using the spatula, push the noodles to one side, and add a little oil on the empty area and crack 2 eggs on it. Use the spatula to break the egg yolk and stir to blend with the egg whites. Flip the noodles and cover the egg; and wait for about 15 seconds for the egg to cook.

8. Add about 2 tbsp of chili paste (this is the spicy version!).

9. Continue to stir-fry and make sure the egg is cooked through. Turn off heat.
10. Add the cockles to the wok. (I love the cockles to be half-cooked - the heat of the noodles will slowly cook the cockles).

11. Finaly, add chives. Do a couple of quick stirs, dish out and serve immediately.

( NOTE: In all the steps above (Steps 2-9), the secret is to stir-fry it quickly using a high flame)

Indulge! Mouth-watering and so darn good - my husband couldn't stop praising me :)

Red Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup red beans
Gula Melaka (palm sugar) to taste
Low fat milk
Evaporated milk

I slow-cooked the red beans in a multipurpose cooker for about 2 1/2 hours until the red bean is soft (for fast cooking, you can soak the red beans overnight). I love to have it pipping hot - a simple comfort dessert on a cold-rainy day.

Penne Pasta with shitaake mushroom

Today's dinner: Penne Pasta with Shitaake Mushroom. Head chef ----> Alfred. It was good :) Topped with lots of mozarella cheese - yummy!

Fettucini Marinara with Prawns

Menu for tonight is fettucini marinara with prawns - a meal that I used to have almost everyday when I was staying in Puchong last time. It's a quick dish - can be whipped up in less than an hour and it's delicious. I added prawns to the sauteed tomatoes, garlic and onion and served with grated parmesan cheese.

Nasi Paprik

Tonight's menu: Nasi Paprik (this is the modified version according to the ingredients that I had).

Ingredients:
Prawns (shelled and deveined)
Cauliflower
Capsicum
Tomatoes
Green chillies
White tofu
Garlic
Ginger
Big onions

Seasoning:
Thai stir-fry sauce
Tomato sauce
Chilli sauce
Oyster sauce
Sweet black sauce (kicap manis)
Lime juice

Serve with brown/white rice. Bon-a-petit!

Dragon Fruit and Lettuce Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

The menu for tonight's dinner - Dragon fruit and Lettuce salad. It's a delicious wholesome and healthy meal - with a mix of sweet-crunchy-and-tangy-taste.

Ingredients:
Garden salad mix
Dragon fruit (flesh chopped)
Hard boiled eggs
Cherry tomatoes

Dressing:
A dash of balsamic vinegar
A dash of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Saturday – Cooking and dining with family

Saturday was family day. My in-laws came over on Saturday to our place for lunch and my mom and sisters came down from Melaka to visit us and join us for lunch. I cooked mutton rendang curry - which is my first attempt at cooking a mutton dish - for I don't consume red-meat. And I got positive feedback on the dish. I also made deep-fried ladies-fingers with yogurt - it was a hit!

You know, it's a high-pressure venture for me to be cooking for my in-laws for the first time - my mother-in-law is a great cook and my father-in-law is a food critic. And to receive a good feedback on my cooking skills from them, I am definitely beaming in pride. Alright, alright, enough of me bragging here. But I definitely felt that all the effort put into cooking the rendang curry was worth it! And my sister kept complimenting me for the mutton.

We invited my aunty, uncle, and cousins over for dinner at our place. I made pizzas for dinner.

We had a great day (despite the tiredness) - a great family get-together - sharing jokes, laughter and fun. I was really happy to have my family over at our place. My dad joined us for dinner later at about 9 p.m.

A Mini Party

Last Saturday, after Balok Beach, we organized a mini party for Alfred's close buddies. He wanted to throw a thanksgiving party and invite some of his friends over. 5 of his friends came over and we had a fantastic party. I made pizza and Alfred made vegetarian lasagna and raita.

I used the same recipe that I posted last time for the pizza dough and it turned out just great (his friends thought we bought the pizzas, hehe). Pizza topping varieties: Hawaiian chicken pizza; tuna with pineapple pizza; mushroom with 3-cheese pizza (for us, since we were vegetarian for 1 week). And we had guests bringing over doughnuts - J. Co and Krispy Creme - 2 big boxes (I could only take so much and told myself 'enough') - a sinful indulgence for desserts.

And the party came to an end with tear-shedding-laughter from Russell Peter's performance.

Chinese Pau recipe

This attempt was much better than the last time I made pau - this time, the pau skin was softer and more supple - and the dough was easier to handle. Most of the pau skin recipes that I googled used vegetable shortening as one of the ingredients - the ingredient which I wanted to avoid due to its trans-fat content (hydrogenated vegetable oil) which have been linked to a number of adverse health effects (yes, I am turning into a health freak - although I still find it hard to avoid sweet stuff :)). So, this time I have substituted olive oil for the vegetable shortening which I used in my previous recipe for pau skin. And the result was great - a softer pau skin. The recipe for pau skin as follows:

Ingredients (makes about 15 medium-sized paus):
- 250 gm warm water
- 1 1/2 tsp yeast
- 500 gm superfine flour
- 2 tsp double action baking powder
- 100 gm sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil

Steps:
1. Mix warm water with yeast and let it rest for 5 minutes.
2. Sieve flour and baking powder together into a mixing bowl and stir in sugar till well mixed.
3. Stir in salt to the flour mixture.
4. Pour yeast solution into flour mixture and knead to form a smooth dough. Ensure that there are no holes in the dough.
5. Divide dough into 15 equal portions.
6. Shape into rounds and cover dough with damp cloth and allow it to proof (to increase in volume) for 15 minutes at room temperature.
7. After 15 minutes, use a rolling pin to roll out a portion of dough such that the edges are thinner than the center part.
8. Place some filling in the center and wrap and pleat to form a pau.
9. Place pau on a piece of greaseproof paper and let it proof for 20 minutes at room temperature.
10. Steam pau over rapidly boiling water for 10 minutes (I read from somewhere that if you add 2 tbsp of white vinegar to the boiling water before steaming the pau, the pau will be white in colour; I didn't try it out this time, though).

I made 2 types of fillings for the pau. For one of the fillings, I stir-fried some sardines with onions, garlic, chopped tomatoes, and some dry chillies. For the other filling, I stir-fried green peas with baby potatoes and dried garlic in oyster and dark and light soy sauce.

Popiah

Last Saturday I got excited thinking that I am going to make popiah skin - such is the euphoria I experience when it comes to cooking/baking something new - I'd be thrilled to indulge in new culinary experience - compared to the thought of PhD, gosh! So, I got myself busy with the business of making popiah skin ;)

There are few variations in recipes that I googled from the net - decided to try the following recipe for popiah skin and it turns out pretty good - elastic and springy.

Recipe for Popiah Skin:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups wheat flour
- 1/2 cup of corn starch
- 3 cups of water
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/2 tsp of oil
- 1/2 tsp of sugar

Steps:
1. Add all the ingredients and mix well in a bowl (dissolve all the lumps of flour until you have a smooth mixture) - the mixture will be runny and smooth.
2. Take a COLD flat pan (I used non-stick) and rub a little oil on the pan so that the batter doesn't stick on it.
3. Add just enough mixture to cover the pan surface (rotate the pan around so that the mixture coats evenly on the pan surface - until you have a smooth coating on the pan).
4. Use low to medium heat and allow the batter to fry until it cooks - you will see a thin layer of coating bubbling up in the pan - forming a skin over the pan.
5. Do not overcook the skin else you will end up with a flat cruncy biscuit.
6. Carefully turn the skin over to a plate and dry the other side. You have to allow the skin to cool completely before stacking them up on each other. So, what I did was I placed 3 plates and placed the skins separately until they cool completely - that prevents them from sticking to each other when you stack them up later.
7. Allow the pan to cool down before frying the next skin - this is important so that the batter don't end up sticking way too early when you want to rotate the pan to form the skin layer. So, I had to use separate stoves to do this to save time - when I turn the skin over to the plate from one pan, I allow the pan to cool in a cold surface (not on the stove) and while waiting, I coat the batter in another pan and fry it - and the process continues until you finish all the batter.

For the filling:
- I used white carrot since I couldn't find turnip
- red carrots
- scrambled eggs
- beansprouts
- fried onions
- garlic paste
- chilli paste
- oyster sauce
- dark soy sauce
- light soy sauce

Food oh Glorious Food

What to have for dinner tonight? Same question everyday... Great that I can choose to vary my dining experience every day - whip up different answers everyday to the same question. Last night's dinner menu was toasted sardine sandwich with tomatoes, green peas + corn soup with croutons and yogurt, and apple + deseeded grapes - blissful dinner :)

Pau (Chinese Bun) Recipe

Yesterday I made pau again - trying to improve the recipe from the last time I made it. This time the texture of the pau skin was softer and smoother - what I did differently this time is that I let the dough to prove until it doubles in volume and kneading it for a while - thereby the dough is easier to work with. And I rolled the dough as thinly as I could so that the skin is not too thick. Herewith is the recipe for the filling and the pau skin:

Ingredients for the filling:
- garlic and ginger
- big onions (sliced into cubes)
- soaked shitaake mushroom (sliced thinly)
- finely chopped brinjals
- green peas
- stems of Chinese mustard leaves (chopped finely)
- vegetarian oyster sauce
- dark soy sauce
- light soy sauce
- green peas flour (as thickening agent) (Mix the green peas flour with a little water until it forms a paste)
- a dash of white pepper

Steps: Saute garlic, ginger and big onions in a pan with little oil. Add in all the other vegetables (mushroom, brinjals, green peas, and stems of mustard leaves). Add some oyster sauce, and dark and light soy sauce. and add the green peas flour paste. Season with white pepper.

Ingredients for pau skin:
Starter dough:
- 175 gm cake flour
- 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 75 ml warm water

Steps: Dissolve yeast and sugar in water in a separate bowl, then add to the cake flour. Mix everything together and prove until doubled (takes about 2 hours or so). Note: Cover it with plastic foil to avoid the mixture getting dried. This mixture is still slightly sticky.

Main dough:
- Starter dough
- 50 gm sugar
- 2 tsp double acting baking powder
- 3 tsp warm water
- 100 gm all-purpose flour
- 20 gm vegetable shortening

Steps: Mix sugar with warm water until sugar dissolves. Let it to cool. In a separate bowl, add baking powder and shortening and mix it with the sugar mixture until smooth. Then, add flour to the mixture and mix everything together. Add this mixture to the starter dough and knead for a few minutes until you get a smooth dough. (Note: At this point, the dough will still be sticky and sticks to your hand when you try kneading it. You have to add some flour until it doesn't stick to your fingers - if you add too much of flour the pau skin tends to be firmer and harder - so, add flour to the point where you can knead it a little - the dough texture should be neither too sticky nor too hard). Leave this dough to rise for 20-30 minutes. After 20-30 minutes, portion the dough to small balls. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible and then wrap filling and pleat the top into a pau. Steam immediately after wrapping. Steam pau with high heat for 10 - 15 minutes or until the pau is cooked. Serve hot.

Vegetarian Chinese Pau (bun)

Two days back, I was itching to experiment a new recipe - and the first thing that came to my mind was PAU. I love eating pau - especially the vegetarian pau. Unfortunately, there's not much alternatives for that category of paus. The common ones that you can find from restaurants are the char siew (pork) and chicken curry paus. So, normally we'd buy the frozen version of vegetarian pau from Tesco. It's tasty - but one thing that comes to my mind when eating frozen stuffs is the PRESERVATIVES.

And that gives me the joy of making my own pau skin and its stuffing - healthy, delicious and satisfying. I still need to perfect my skills for the pau skin - although my mom said it was nice. The pau skin that I made did not turn out super white after steaming it like the ones that we normally buy from the shop - instead it looks yellowish. I read from somewhere that yellowish pau flour is much preferred than the very white Hongkong flour used for making pau. The type where it is super white contains a lot of bleaching agent in the flour.

I am looking forward to experiment with different recipes for the pau skin - and it's also fun to learn the skill of making pretty pleatings for the pau (like the ones that you buy outside). Although it's too much of a chore, I enjoy making it.

For the stuffing, I used the leftover food that my mom cooked for lunch on that day - scrambled tofu with shitaake mushroom and some green peas with potatoes - it was yummy! It's truly rewarding to cook your own meal. I am planning to do more of that in times to come ;)

Thai Ponggal 2009

Thai Ponggal is a harvest festival equivalent to a thanksgiving event celebrated by Tamils across the world. Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over or spill over." The act of boiling over of milk in the clay pot is considered to denote future prosperity for the family. [Source: Wikipedia]

Thai Ponggal fell on 14th January last Wednesday and my mom made a variety of delectable meals to go with my favorite dessert, payasam. The main highlight is the sweet rice called ponggal sorru - a delicious concoction of rice, moong dal, brown sugar and milk is boiled in the pot on an open fire. We didn't make ponggal rice this year because two of my aunts brought us some of the ponggal rice they made.

Ponggal rice

Tomato rice with vegetable kurma, cucumber with chilli and tomatoes in yogurt, vegetarian fish in soy sauce, and freshly made pudina paste - yummy!

Tomato rice

Payasam (a sweet Indian dessert - with fresh milk and vermicelli and sago)

Vegetable Kurma