Udang Asam Jawa

Recently, I learned a new recipe from my cousin. I didn't catch its name but, its something like Udang Asam Jawa. She told me it's a nyonya recipe. Here it is:


Ingredients:


a. Prawns - deveined & cleaned with skin still intact
b. Tamarind juice - not too thick nor too thin
c. a clove of garlic - chopped
d. big onions - sliced
e. red chilies - sliced (if you want it hotter, add cili padi)
f. salt & sugar
g. oil


How to:
1. Make your tamarind juice and marinade the cleaned prawns in it for at least an hour
2. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the chopped garlic.
3. When garlic is browned, pour in the marinaded prawns and tamarind juice, stir occasionally. The liquid will thicken.
4. Add the onions and chilies.
5. Add salt and sugar till you have a balanced taste of salty, sour & sweet.
6. When you have the taste that you want, the onions and chilies have wilted and the prawns are cooked, the dish is ready :o) Serve with hot steaming white rice :o)






yummy!

BUTTER CHEESE CAKE (silver cloud)

INGREDIENTS

250 gm butter
250 gm cream cheese (use KRAFT Philadelphia cream cheese)
240 gm castor sugar
5 eggs
250 gm self raising flour sift

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

METHOD

Preheat oven to 170 º C. Line and grease 9 inch round cake tin. Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and creamy. Add in eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla essence. Fold in flour and baking powder. Pour mixture into tin. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked.

Potato croquette david rocco

Boiled n mashed potatoes
Salt & black pepper
Chopped parsley
1 egg
Grated parmesan

- mix all

make small pancakes n insert pieces of mozzarella cheese (rocco’s choice – op)
make into a ball or ‘tube’
roll in egg and breadcrumbs
fry it.

** advice: make sure the extra virgin olive oil is really hot so that the mixture don’t absorb the oil and the exterior is crispy

Kari ketam & nenas (mama)

3 ekor ketam, dicuci & dikerat 2
Segenggam besar bawang merah & seulas bawang putih, dikisar
Satu sudu besar cili boh @ cili kering dikisar
1 ½ @ 2 sudu besar serbuk kari ikan
Santan ½ kelapa. Diperah 2 kali dgn secawan air setiap kali. Jika hendak yg lemak, santan dari sebiji kelapa.
Nenas hampir masak dihiris jurai atau cube
Garam untuk secukup rasa
Minyak untuk menumis

1. Panaskan minyak
2. Tumis bahan2 kisaran hingga wangi & pecah minyak
3. Masukkan serbuk kari & tumis hingga pecah minyak
4. Masukkan santan, sentiasa kacau & pastikan bahan2 sebati dgn santan
5. Masukkan ketam
6. Masukkan nenas
7. Masukkan garam secukup rasa
8. Kacau perlahan supaya ketan tidak hancur

Buat siang hari utk makan malam, kemanisan air nenas akan meresap & menyedapkan kari.

Ikan Asam Pedas Tumis (Resipi Mama) – 2 orang makan

Bahan-bahan: sukatan ikut kuantiti ikan

A.
Ikan tenggiri 2 kpg
Minyak

B.
Bawang merah kecil 10-12 biji
Bawang putih 1 ulas (besar) @ 2 ulas (kecil)
Halia sedikit
Lengkuas lebih dari halia
Lada hitam 10 biji (jika hendak pedas, tambah lagi)
Buah keras 3-4 biji
Lada kering 2 sudu besar (yg telah dikisar)
10 biji, direndam & dikisar
- jika hendak pedas, tambah lagi

C.
Air (jgn cair sangat)
Asam keping 2-3 kpg @ asam jawa secukup rasa
Serai 2 btg diketuk
Daun kesum @ Bunga kantan
Terung
Kacang bende
Garam

1. Bahan-bahan B dikisar halus & ditumis hingga garing & harum
2. masukkan air dan asam keping
3. masukkan serai
4. garam secukup rasa
5. masukkan ikan
6. akhir sekali sayur2an – bende, terung & daun kesum

crispy potatoes

Several days ago, I went out for lunch with a friend at a trendy restaurant. I just love the food there but this is not why I am writing this entry for.

I just want to save a lil recipe.

I had fish as the main dish & it was accompanied with cubed potatoes. What's interesting was the potatoes. Crispy. I think the chef boiled it first, then sprinkle some cornflour + salt + (maybe) tumeric powder for colour & then fry in hot oil. Hence crispy on the outside but melting in your mouth.

:o) :o) :o)

Macaroni Soup

A few friends wanted to come by at 2.30pm today. What should I serve that is not too heavy because I'm sure they've eaten lunch before coming over to our home? At first I wanted to make makaroni goreng but, hubby made a request for macaroni soup (my mother's recipe).

Here are 2 pictures of the final product. I'll post the recipe tonight because right now we're going out.

Jap deh ...


Ingredients:

1. 1/2 packet of macaroni or any type of pasta you desire, cooked 3/4 done based on the packet's instructions. It will cook some more later when you add the macaroni to the soup.

2. 3 big yellow onions + a small bowl of small/red onions + 2 medium sized garlic cloves - all blended together

3. 1.5 tbsp of chili paste/ciliboh (I made my own. dried chilies cut into 3-4 pieces to get the seeds out. soak in hot water to soften for 15 minutes, strain & then blend)

4. 2 tbsp curry powder

5. chicken fillets/strips cut into bite sizes

6. 2 litres of water

7. celery, young corns, cauliflower & carrots cut into bite sizes

8. Maggi tomato sauce (hubby loves the sweetness of tomatoes, so I used a lot of tomato sauce. How many bottles depend on your tastebuds & how much liquid you've put into the pot. For this recipe I used 1.5 large bottles of tomato sauce)

9. salt for taste

10. garnish: chopped daun bawang(scallions) & daun sup (celery), bawang goreng (fried onions)

11. cooking oil


Note:
~ amount of water, chili paste & curry powder can vary depending on your preference for the soup - soupy, spicy or tomatoey taste.


Steps:

1. Heat oil in pot, fry blended ingredients until fragrant. (bawang & lada garing @ pecah minyak)

2. Add curry powder and fry till oil separates from the mixture. (pecah minyak)

3. Add chicken pieces and mix well. Fry till chicken meat changes colour. (isi ayam masak skit & pecah minyak sekali lagi)

4. Add water & veges. Let it boil. The young corn will help to thicken the broth abit. (if you do not have young corn, you can add a little cornpowder mixed with water)

5. Add tomato sauce & salt to suit your taste.

6. Add macaroni & meatballs (optional)

7. When taste is up to your satisfaction, serve in a bowl & sprinkle the garnish.


I like to add meatballs to the soup, it adds flavour & texture. Here is the recipe for meatballs:


~ 300gm minced meat
~ 1 clove of garlic & 1" ginger - pounded finely
~ white pepper, black pepper, salt, sugar & lite soy sauce to taste (mixed first b4 adding to mince meat)
~ a tbsp of cornflour
~ mix everything well, make into balls (size by preference) & fry (for this soup, I made them small - bite size)


mMmmMmmmMmmmmMMMMmmmm :o)

Fresh Fishball Soup

This was tonight's dish for dinner. The fishballs were freshly made from scratch this evening. My mother's recipe.

Each had a bowl of fishball soup with green leaves & bits of macaroni, served with light soy sauce with cilipadi. Dessert was fresh nectarines with mint lemon tea (no sugar).

I have loads of pics on how to make the fishballs but they were taken using the phone camera. I forgot to bring along the digital camera.

I'll upload the pics, how-to and ingredients later.





:o)

Salad

Being on a diet, I have to be creative when it comes to dinner. Hubby does not want rice and neither do I. So, here's my first recipe in this blog. It's a salad and I don't have a name for it hehehe

No special recipe, just threw a few things together. Documenting it here :o)




I first marinated a few squids with abit of olive oil, turmeric powder, salt & pepper. I left it in the fridge for about an hour. Then I started grilling it.







After grilling them for a few minutes, I cut them into smaller pieces and grilled for a few more minutes.









To add crunch to the salad, I crushed a few roasted almonds. The pestle and some wrist work did the job ;o)








The base of the salad is made of butterhead salad. You can get it at Giant or Cold Storage supermarket. The leaves are crispy and I love its sweet taste.








I also prepared some shreded carrots, slivered capsicum & celery.











At first I wanted to make the dressing from scratch but changed my mind and used the Italian dressing that was in the fridge. I love the tangy taste of this dressing.
























Mixed everything up and here's the result.




Each had a bowl of salad, a glass of oatmilk, a glass of water and an apple. Kenyang :o)

Nasi Goreng Orang Malas

For 1 person.



What you need:



1 small bowl of rice (preferably last night's rice or cooled rice)

1 clove of garlic (sliced @ chopped)

2 red onions (sliced @ chopped)

achovies @ ikan bilis (fried separately)

1 egg (lightly whisked)

2-3 stalks of lemongrass (serai) (thinly sliced)

salt

soy sauce (brand Kipas Udang ~ manis)

oil





How to make it:



1. heat oil in wok & fry onions & garlic till browned

2. add egg & fry till egg is well done

3. add rice & anchovies. mix thoroughly

4. add salt to taste, soysauce for colour

5. add lemongrass, mix well



all done & serve

A Wannabe Chef in the Kitchen

I love to eat.

I love to cook what I love to eat.

I am forever seeking old & new recipes.

I can cook but simple dishes.

One of my 2008 resolutions is to try my mom's recipes. Cook them on my own. Usually she does the cooking. This time I will cook her recipes & then present to the Guru (my mom) & my family for the final evaluation.

InsyaAllah, I will try one recipe a week. Everything will be reported here.

I will start in February after January 2008 has settled.

.

** BTW, I'll be trying other recipes too :o)


19th Feb 08 ~ Reading this entry, I've realised an error. I do not want to be a chef, to be one I'd have to have a formal training. What I want to be is a good cook like my mom. Family & friends come from near and far for her dishes. Her children, no matter where there are, even on their way back from a business trip would swing by for her dishes.


.

You Are an Excellent Cook

You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire...

Are You A Good Cook?