Kailan Ikan Masin

I just love Kailan Ikan Masin but then paying RM3.50 for a small plate of it makes me grumpy. So, one day, I decided to give it a try.. scrutinizing the ingredients in the plate at the stall, I know the ingredients are all very easy and basic.. chilli, garlic, onion, salted fish and Kailan.. Of course the thirst after eating at the stall indicates the use of 'Ajinomoto' which I really hate! So, here it is... Try it!

Ingredients:-

3 garlic crushed with the back of a knife

1 'tenggiri' salted fish washed (in oil-normally sold in plastic bag)

Kailan washed and cut (cut the stem diagonally)
Chilli (optional)

Method:-

1. Heat some oil in the wok, fry the salted fish, until crispy.. try to debone at the same time. Put aside (in the wok).

2. Use the same oil to saute garlic until golden brown. Once quite golden, put the salted fish back into the oil at the same time mashing it.

3. Add the stem of Kailan, once soft a bit.. (not too soft) add the rest of the leaves.. Add little water if you want.. not too much.. you don't want to lose the saltiness because we are not adding salt to this dish! That's about it!

Pajeri Nenas

This is among the very first recipes that I learnt. It's my mother-in-law's speciality and my husband's favourite! His love towards this dish is contagious.. the whole family just love it! I normally serve this with omellete, and 'sambal belacan'. I sometimes add young mangoes once the pineapple is finished! It tastes better if you keep reheating it. Never ever make Pajeri Nenas without enough sugar. Add more ginger if you like it spicy. Try it!

Ingredients:-

4 shallot (or I use 1 big onion)
2 garlic
1 inch ginger
1 packet of Curry (for Meat)

1 stick cinnamon (kulit kayu manis)
5 clove (bunga cengkih)
1 star anise (bunga lawang)

1 small packet dried shrimp (segenggam)

salt and sugar
1 tbpn'kerisik' (optional) - I don't really put this..
1 Kara coconut milk (200gm or 1 coconut)

1 medium sized not-so-ripe pineapple.. peeled and thickly sliced
or
1 apple mango (suka2 hati je bagi nama- mempelam epal)
or
eggplant (don't add water at all and make sure your coconut milk is reaaalllly thick! and don't say I didn't warn you he he)

Method:-
1.Slice shallot, garlic and ginger. Divide into 2. Put 1 part in the mill (blender) together with dried shrimp and curry powder. Add a little bit of hot water once you turn off the mill to make a thick paste.
2. Heat some oil. Be generous with the oil as when you add the curry paste, you need quite a lot of oil. Saute the other part of shallot, garlic and ginger with all the spices.
3. Once golden, add in the curry paste, salt and sugar. Wait until you can see tiny oil bubble (pecah minyak la tu!). If it's too thick, just add little water or else it'll burn.. Don't add too much.. don't forget we have the coconut milk for the gravy.. Pajeri tastes best when it's thick!
Note:
Some prefer to add salt and sugar at the end of the cooking process.. I, on the other hand, prefer to add earlier..so that it'll blend with the rest of the other ingredients.
4. As I used very young pineapple, I put it earlier so that it'll soften a bit. If you use ripe pineapple, put it last so that it won't get soggy!
5. Add in the coconut milk.. and wait till it boils.. This is when you taste the gravy! yummy..
6. Add sugar and salt to taste..

Bak Choy Sos Tiram

A really simple recipe to make.. A dish during lazy days but all of us like it because the bak choy is really crunchy.. Of course the kids didn't even want to try, but then after a few persuasion, they agreed.. it is indeed tasty.. The best part is it takes less than 5 minutes..

Ingredients:-

3 garlic crushed with the back of a big knife

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

water

bak choy

Method:-

1. saute the garlic until they turn brown and crispy on the edges

2. add the oyster sauce, quickly add a little bit of water..

bubbling.. once you add the water..

3. Once it's boiled, add up the rest of the water for the soup.. don't add too much though.. add in the bak choy! Dig in!

Rendang Daging

I promised my sister I'll put the recipe here so that she can cook rendang for her housewarming! Not to say it's the best rendang recipe, but I like the way it's written.. easy to measure... I took from mesra.net.. and adapted of course!

Ingredients:
Blend all this together!
2 onion (really big ones)
5 garlic
2 inches ginger
10 dried chillies (cili kering la tu.. with seeds removed, boiled and rinsed)
-the original recipe uses 20 dried chillies but I have starving kids to please!)
5 xtra large lemongrass (original recipe uses 10 lemongrass)
4 baskin-robin-tasting-spoon salt
1 teaspoon tumeric powder (original recipe uses 2" fresh tumeric)

Put this in the mill and process until powdery
1 teaspoon cumin seed (jintan putih)
1 teaspoon caraway (jintan manis) rasanya betul kot caraway.. ;P he he

1 kilo beef cut into 2"x2" (azly asked the butcher to do it!)

500 gm coconut milk

1 tumeric leave (thinly sliced)

Method1. Put everything except for coconut milk and tumeric leave in a wok.
2. Use low heat and wait until the beaf is tender. You don't really have to stir all the time...
3. Add in the coconut milk and continue with the low heat until all the liquid is reduced.. You should have all the spices covering the beef! Easy really!

While waiting.. feel free to dip some bread into the gravy... yummy!

Kelantan Fried Chicken

Since there are 6 of us (+1 who is nursing) .. a single trip to KFC will cost us more than RM60.00, so I decided to give it a try..

Honestly.. the kids prefer home made whipped potato as it's buttery and filling.. it's not as smooth as KFC's but the texture makes it even nicer.

The coleslaw is made using shiela's recipe and turn out to be great! I just have to reduce the sugar a bit.. because I'm already sweeett without the sugar ha ha ha

It's quite a long process... but it's worth it! Try it!

Bahan-bahan:-
1/2 ekor ayam dipotong 8 (suruh je la orang kedai tu potong hehe)
tepung goreng ayam (nina pakai brand kelantan fried chicken, rasa dia sebijik macam hot and spicy kat KFC.. bukan exactly la.. tapi 90% marahla adik ipar den yang kerja kat kfc tu!)

Cara-cara:-
1. rendam ayam dalam air sejuk.. nina siap bubuh kiub ais lagi..

2. Golek-golekkan dalam tepung... jangan masukkan titis-titis air.. karang jadi goreng pisang.. melekit-lekit terus ayam tu jadi togel! tos dulu... (dah kena la tu!)

3. Goreng dan jangan kalih sampai garing sebelah.. nanti hancur...
Tip:- #1 potong dada ayam kiub2 kecil.. jadi popcorn chicken gitu!

Fries
5 biji kentang (dipotong ala fries gitu!) dan digoreng! Pisau ni ada dijual kat supermarket.. syiok! Ini x rangup sangat, kawan nina suruh potong dan masukkan dalam freezer, insyaallah rangup tapi x try lagi.. kalau try komen sikit tau! ada yang suruh rendam air kapur dulu...

Whipped Potato
Lenyek dan campurkan kesemuanya..
3 biji kentang direbus dengan garam sampai betul-betul empuk, baru dibuang kulit
2 sudu besar butter (nina pakai farmcows je..)
black pepper

Fake Gravy
Bahan-bahan:-
1 sudu kecil stock ayam maggie (kiub ayam pun boleh guna half kot)
1/2 cawan air (tambah la lagi kalau masin)1 sudu kecil tepung gandum
black pepper sesedap mata memandang.. jgn byk sgt nanti pedas

kicap (tambah sampai warna jadi kale gravy kat KFC he he)

Cara-cara:-
Masuk semua dalam kuali (kecuali kicap) dan whisk sampai sebati
Ini rupa dia bila dah whisk.. buka api kecil.. whisk laju-laju..

whisk laju2 dengan whisk.. sampai dia pekat.. kalau kurang pekat boleh tambah tepung gandum lagi.. tapi jangan banyak sangat. Tambah kicap sampai warna dia cantik... kan dah rupa gravy tu!
Careful bila dia dah start bubble kat tepi.. sebab dia akan berketul kalau x kacau!
Cepat-cepat masuk dalam mangkuk..

Coleslaw (compliments to Chef Shiela @ http://shiela-sweetmomentos.blogspot.com/
1. Campurkan semua
1 sudu kecil cuka
1 1/2 sudu besar minyak masak
1/2 biji bawang besar (chopped)

2. Masukkan ini dan gaul rata

1/4 cawan gula kastor (kurangkan sikit)

1/2 biji carot disagat halus
1/2 biji kubis (chopped)

3. Tambah secukupnya sampai dia wushi wushi.. he he..

mayonaise

4. masukkan dalam fridge (dalam bekas bertutup)

Sup Cendawan

Sup cendawan ni memang plain.. tapi sebab cendawan ni memang good on its own, memang menyelerakan.. ditambah pulak dengan soon.. memang lezat! Actually, this recipe is inspired by my bestfriend, Linda, she puts all sorts of mushroom, inoke, button mushroom and the one I'm using here!

Bahan-bahan:-
Kisar,
1 bawang besar
3 bawang putih
sejemput ikan bilis

1 sudu besar sos tiram

1 paket fishball

1 paket kecil soon

cendawan

Cara:-

1. Tumis bahan kisar sampai garing.

2. Bila sudah garing, masukkan sos tiram, tambah air sikit.
3. Tambah air untuk jadikan satu mangkuk, masukkan fishball, soon. Last sekali baru masukkan cendawan.
4. Udah!

Tips:

#1 memang tak payah bubuh garam.. sebab sos tiram dah masin. Tapi kalau rasa kureng, baru tambah!

#2 Jangan masak mushroom lama sangat! Nanti soggy tak sedap!

Ikan Masak Taucu

It's a childhood favourite. The good thing about taucu is, it's really tasty and versatile.. Cook it with fish, or fried egg.. or even cabbage alone! It's a dish made in heaven!

My kids just love it especially when we have it with fried 'bawal'. Try it with 'tenggiri', 'kembung' or even fresh 'sardin'. A good hint though, 'kuah taucu' is not complete without 'ginger' and sugar.. Never cook masak taucu without them.. Try it!


Bahan-bahan:-

3 ketul Ikan tenggiri / 2 ikan kembung / 3 telur mata kerbau

1 bawang besar / 4 bawang kecil dipotong 2
3 bawang butih dipotong 2
1 inci halia


1 paket kecil taucu (tak payah basuh dulu.. use straight from packet)



1 sudu kecil penuh asam jawa adabi


kubis / timun dihiris kalau timun dipotong panjang macam acar
cili hijau dibelah 2



gula
(pakai garam kalau tak cukup masin je sebab taucu dah masin)

Cara:-

1. Goreng ikan sampai garing.

Tip Goreng Ikan:

Jangan kalih selagi ikan tak garing habis.. kalau tidak ikan akan hancur. Tunggu betul-betul masak baru kalih.. baru ikan cantik..

1. Tumis bwg kecil, bwg putih dan halia sampai garing.

2. Masukkan taucu, goreng sampai garing baru sedap. (boleh standby air sikit, takut kering dan hangit.. tapi jangan tambah banyak sangat)

3. Masukkan pes asam jawa dan tambah air. Kalau guna air asam jawa, jangan guna pekat sangat, nanti rasa taucu tak rasa.. masam je lebih. Jangan guna cair sangat, nanti tak syok.

4. Tambah gula secukup rasa. Jangan tambah garam.. rasa dulu, kalau rasa terlebih asam jawa, baru tambah garam bagi balance.. Selalunya masak taucu sedap kalau kena garam gula dan asam jawa..

5. Bila dah okey garam gula, baru masukkan ikan yang dah digoreng, cili hijau dan sayur kubis / timun. Jangan masak lama sangat.. sayur kalau rangup lagi sedap..

Tip:

Kalau guna telur mata kerbau... Letakkan telur dalam mangkuk, baru curahkan kuah dalam mangkuk.. Nina suka kalau telur half cook .. lagi best!

Plain Nasi Goreng Cina

My kids just love this plain Nasi Goreng Cina. The more egg and garlic you add, the better! If you like, you can add cooked chunks of chicken breast, mixed vege or even a dollop of butter. But my kids loves it plain with soy sauce! (kicap le tu - cap lembu melaga! ha ha ha)


Bahan-bahan:-

Nasi sejuk (3 pot - air sama banyak, kalau masak utk makan, nina tambah air lebih sikit bagi lembut!)

4 bawang putih, dititik
2 biji telur
lada sulah / lada putih
garam

kacang buncis - optional dihiris bulat-bulat pendek-pendek

Cara:-

1. Titik bawang putih dengan pisau besar. Masukkan minyak dan tumis sampai garing .. baru sedap.
2. Pecahkan telur 2 biji,
kacau bagi hancur.. tapi jangan hancur sangat nanti tak cantik.

3. Masukkan nasi yang udah digembur! Kacau rata..

4. Last sekali, baru masukkan garam dan lada sulah.. ingat! kalau nak bubuh garam mesti 12 inci dari kuali (chef la kata!) barulah garam sekata.. masukkan lada sulah!
5. Gaul rata ! I'm loving it!

Tips:
#1 kalau tambah telur lagi best!
#2 Nasi sejuk jangan dibuang.. because it's effortless.. it's a good menu for breakfast!
#3 Nasi sejuk boleh disimpan dalam 'fridge', tambah je air, lembutlah nasi tu!

Banana Smoothie

I once bought this smoothie at Mid Valley, the price was almost RM6.00. That was the only time I bought it.. I tried making it at home and the rest is history.. It's super easy.. need no recipe actually.. It's sinful almost like vanilla shake! Try it!




Ingredients:
3 riped banana
sugar
UHT milk


Method:-
1. Simply put the banana and sugar (about 3 tablespoon) in the blender.

2. Add milk up to half the blender.

3. Blend the banana, sugar and milk until everything is smooth.
4. Add ice cubes to fill up the blender. Give some space so that it'll not spill!

5. Pulse.. then blend until it's super smooth.. yummy...

Masak Lemak Ikan Rebus

This is my mother's speciality. We normally have big 'ikan kembung' together with fried 'ikan rebus' and 'sambal kicap'. Sometimes, my mom even add 'petai' or 'daun kunyit'. The vege keeps changing from time to time.. It can be 'timun' or 'kubis'. My kids really love this dish especially when it comes to finishing the fried 'ikan rebus'. Try it!

Bahan-Bahan Ikan Rebus

3 ikan rebus saiz besar (nina goreng semua, masak lemak ada sayur je.. lagi syok!)
garam kasar
Asam gelugur / asam keping

Tip:-
#1 There's no recipe when it comes to coarse salt and asam keping. Simply sprinkle coarse salt evenly, and add asam keping as you layer the fish.
#2 I'll make more than 3 kembungs. I'll keep in the fridge, it'll last for the whole week!

Bahan-bahan Kuah
1 bawang besar dipotong wedges
3 bawang putih dihiris
1 serai dititik
serbuk kunyit

Air Rebusan ikan rebus

santan (1/2 kotak kara atau 1/2 biji kelapa - memang cair)

1 daun kunyit (kecil) dicarik-carik(optional tapi bubuh memang sedap)
1/4 biji Kubis dipotong / timun dihiris serong besar-besar
1 cili hijau dihiris

Kobis yang telah dipotong dengan cili hijau!

Cara Membuat Kuah:-

1. Masukkan semua bahan kecuali daun kunyit dan kubis


2. Masukkan air rebusan, masak atas api kecil
3. Masukkan santan, kalau pakai kara, tambah air sikit

4. Bila menggelegak, masukkan sayur kubis, ikan rebus (jika mahu) dan akhir sekali baru masukkan daun kunyit.

5. Rasa garam dia.. tambah jika perlu

Cara Menggoreng Ikan Rebus:-
1. Toskan ikan rebus
2. Panaskan minyak, guna minyak agak besar supaya di luar ikan garing tetapi di dalamnya lembut.
3. Kalihkan bila dah garing..
4. Letakkan atas tisu..

Tip:-
#1 Minyak goreng ikan rebus memang hitam. Selalu nina pakai sekali atau dua sahaja, jadi jangan guna minyak banyak sangat.
#2 Api memang guna api besar, tapi janganlah besar sangat.

Bahan-bahan Sambal Kicap
Bawang Besar dihiris
3 Limau Kasturi
3 cili Padi dihiris
Kicap Masin

Cara-cara Sambal Kicap
1. Hiris Bawang
2. Perah Limau atas Bawang dan cili
3. Percikkan kicap masin, jangan banyak sangat. Sedap kalau masam-masam...



air rebusan ikan rebus

Excellent Ways to Eat Bread

Bread is a staple food in our home.. Ever wonder why it is in descending order? Because the list is endless!

#23 Roti with Kaya n Peanut Butter (Ini kerja Haziq.. yuck for me Yummy for him!)
#22 Roti John..
#21 Dip with Rendang
#20 Toast Bread with Bolognese Sauce on Top!
#19 Bread Butter Apple Pudding with Raisin! Yummy!
#18 Bread Butter Pudding with Caramel Sauce
#17 Bread with Butter and Brown Sugar / White Sugar
#16 Bread with Sunny Side Up Fried with Kicap Manis! (Telur mata kerbau la tu)
#15 Bread with Plain Jam
#14 Bread with Cold Butter and Serunding Daging!
#13 Kaya Butter Sandwich
#12 Toast Bread with Melted Butter
#11 French Toast (Roti Tulur la tuh!)
#10 Dip with Kurma Ayam
#9 Dip with Masak Lemak
#8 Dip with Yesterday's Curry (Yummy!)
#7 Peanut Butter Choc Sandwich
#6 Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich (Grape or Strawberry)
#5 Peanut Butter Sandwich
#4 Dip with Half-Boiled Egg and Pepper
#3 Bread with Scrambled Egg and Thai Sauce
#2 Chicken Mayo Sandwich
#1 Tuna Mayo Sandwich

Creme Caramel

I got this recipe from the net and adjusted because it's just sooo sweet. This might not be the common "malay creme caramel", because it's really soft and wobbly. If you like it nice and firm this might not be the recipe! But I like it wobbly and soft, melt in your mouth. It's more like 'creme brulee' texture, soft and inviting! I dare not flip it over so that the caramel be on top.. So, we just scoop it from the serving plate! Try it!


Ingredients:-
Caramel
1/4 cup coarse sugar
1/4 cup water

Creme
4 eggs
1 yolk
3 cups UHT milk
3/4 coarse sugar
vanilla

Method:-
1. Put the 1/4 cup course sugar and 1/4 cup water in a 9" pie dish and heat in a microwave for about 6 minutes.

Tips
#1 use high, don't just gamble, wait and when the syrup bubbles vigorously, it's almost ready. The time will be determined by the dish you use. Using glass will take lesser time as it retains the heat.
#2 Don't wait until it's all brown, when the middle part of the syrup is brown, it's done. Take out and stir quickly, it'll continue cooking once it's out of the microwave.


2. Beat the eggs and yolk
3. add and stir using a whisk the 3/4 cup coarse sugar, milk and vanilla. Make sure there is no lumps or white eggs. If you do see lumps of white eggs, you might want to filter using a sieve.

Tips:-
I don't really use the "Star Brand Vanilla". I really but the imported one sold at the baking supply shop. It smells nicer and more tempting.

3. Steam-bake in the oven for an hour at 160 c.

Steam bake or bain marie means baking the dish with water underneath.. so, you have to have a bigger pan underneath and fill up with water, not too much though, you don't want to spill the water into your caramel - been there he he)


This is what you'll get if you don't beat the egg properly and filter the egg white.. the texture is definitely different.



This is what you'll get if you do it properly.. the texture is super smooth.. yummy~!