Fried Sambal Stuffed Fish

So it seems that I haven’t been doing much cooking, actually i have been cooking, just that my food photography skills need to be turned a a few notches, haha. Couldn’t get the photos the way I wanted them to turn out so didn’t post. But to keep you anticipated, I have been whipping stuff like Ayam Buah Keluak, Beef Rendang, Ondeh Ondeh, Insalte Caprese, among others. But here’s something simple and absoultely delicious with frangrant white thai rice.

FRIED SAMBAL STUFFED FISH

Ingredients:

• 2 Hardtail Mackerel (Ikan Cincaru), you may use Ikan Kembong or Ikan Selar

Spice Paste:

• 3 fresh red chilies
• 5 dried chilies 10-12 shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp belacan
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon tamarind pulp, soak in 1/4 cup water, extract juice and discard pulps
• 1/4 cup oil

Preparations:

Clean and rinse fish with water. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep slit from the back of the fish along the bone. Repeat the same on the other side of the fish.

Blend the spice paste with a mini food processor or use mortar and pestle to pound the flavoring paste.

Heat up wok with 3 tbsp oil, add in spice paste and stir-fry with low heat until aromatic.

Add tamarind juice and continue to stir-fry until the spice paste is smooth and somewhat moist, but not overly runny.

Season to taste with salt and sugar.

Dish out and let cool.

Directions:

Stuff the spice paste into the fish on both sides of the slit and also inside the fish stomach.

Heat up 1/4 cup oil in a wok, deep fry the fish until cooked. Serve with white rice or Nasi Lemak Rice.

“BEN 10″ Soup aka………

This is one soup that I managed to get my son to drink, he calls it his “BEN 10″ soup. He isn’t exactly what I would call adventurous with food, and his version of a good meal equates to french fries and fried chicken wings. But when it comes to “BEN10″ soup, he will easily down 2 bowls with 3 slices of bread, that’s even enough to fill me up. It’s a good thing he doesn’t ask for this on a daily basis, cos’ i refrain from anything in a can and this can be a rather expensive soup to make. But for the rest of you reading, this is actually Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Cream of Forest Mushroom Soup

 

Ingredients:

• Chicken /Vegetable Stock (You can make and freeze or buy ready)
• Mushrooms (I use porcini, portobello, white and brown button and shitake mushrooms) – Sliced
• Shallots – Sliced
• White Wine (Optional)
• Cream
• Bay Leaves
• Back Bacon – Sliced
• Black Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Butter
• Flour

Directions:

Firstly to make the thickener, liquify the butter in a skillet, when all goes quiet add in the flour and fry till you get a crumbly texture. Be careful that it’s not too dry. Set this aside.

In a  heavy pot, bring to boil the stock and throw in the bay leaves.

Next take a skillet and add olive oil, when the oil is hot add in the shallots, then bacon, saute till fragrant then throw in all the mushrooms, add some black pepper and the wine, continue to saute till cooked.

When the stock is boiling, throw all the bacon,mushrooms and liquid from the skillet into the pot. ( you can set some aside to garnish)

Bring to boil for about 10 minutes, then use an electric hand blender and blend the mixture, now the tricky part is to slowly add the thickener and blend at the same time till the mixture sticks to the back of the spoon, not too thick or else it will be like eating a paste. Continue to boil the soup for another 10 minutes, then add in the cream and stir for 5 minutes then switch off. Let the soup sit for another 10 minutes before serving.

Garnish with some cream and black pepper, you can pluck some parsley or coriander for color.

Laksa – A Slightly Healthier Version

Well, we all know that Laksa is one of our local favorites, in fact i like it so much that i could eat it everyday, of course this wouldn’t do my gut and cholesterol level any good, so I decided to whip up a SLIGHTLY healthier version of this, it would be next to impossible to totally omit the coconut milk. The good thing about making your paste and cooking from scratch, is that, you can control the amount of oil , salt and sugar to suit your *ahem … healthier lifestyle.

Nonya Laksa

Ingredients:

• shallots
• galangal
• tumeric
• lemongrass
• white belachan
• Chilli paste (I make my own, but you can buy it from most supermarkets)
• laksa leaves
• fish sauce
• cooking oil
• dried prawns
• coconut milk
• water
• tau pok
• fresh milk (erm.. this is the only part that is healthy)
• salt
• gula melaka
• laksa bee hoon (coarse rice vermicelli)
• fishcake – julienned
• cucumber – julienned (another healthy element)
• bean sprouts
• sambal chilli

Directions:

To make the laksa rempah, pound or blend the shallots, galangal, tumeric, lemongrass, belachan, chilli paste and some laksa leaves, then set aside.

Dry roast the dried shrimp in a skillet untill nicely frangrant and roasted, next pound the dried shrimp into a fine powder using the mortar and pestle.

Now add oil into a wok and toss in the dried prawn powder, stir untill it starts to slightly brown, then add in the laksa rempah and mix well, now add in the coconut milk bit by bit till you get a nice paste, next add the rest of the coconut milk and fresh milk, add in water , then salt, gula melaka and fish sauce to taste, let it simmer till cooked, throw in the sliced tau pok till soft.

To serve blanch the laksa bee hoon and bean sprouts, ladle the laksa gravy over and strain a few times, garnish with the cucumber, laksa leaves and egg.

Quick and Easy

It’s always good to have pesto on hand, be it freshly made and kept ever ready in the fridge, or bought. Pesto is easy enough to make and kept in batches. Basil pesto just needs pine nuts, basil, garlic and olive oil, (you can get loads of recipes and variations over the internet) Sun-dried Tomato Pesto, just substitutes basil for as the name implies sun-dried tomatoes. It was a long Saturday for me, and feeling rather exhausted, i decided to whip up a quick and easy pasta meal.

Penne in Pesto Sauce with Garlic and Almond Chicken Tomato Concasse

Ingredients:

• Penne (Obviously, but you can use any other type of pasta)
• Chicken Breast
• Sliced Garlic
• Toasted Almond Slices
• Sweet Basil
• Tapioca Flour
• Basil Pesto
• Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
• Olive Oil

Directions:

Slice the chicken breast, add tapioca flour, massage through and set aside. Saute the garlic in olive oil till brown, add the tomato pesto, when the fragrance hits you, add in the chicken and saute till 80%, add in the basil leaves and almond flakes, continue to saute till cooked and set aside.

Now in a pot of boiling water, add in the penne and cook according to instruction, drain and set aside when done.

Heat up a pan, then add the basil pesto, on medium heat throw in the penne and toss till well coated.

To serve just put the penne on a plate, spoon the chicken on top and garnish. Voila… there you go, quick and easy… and satisfying.

Healthy Night Tonight

After last nights; mexican and this morning’s big breakfast, my body was telling me that it needed a break from all that rich food, so it was time to take it easy, it helps when you listen to your body. Your body really does not tell you chocolates, cakes and lard all the time, neither does it tell you, char kway teow, chicken rice and laksa, so don’t kid yourself as much as you would want to.

So for dinner I made a simple cabbage salad and grilled mackerel fish (You will see that I am using the almond and sesame seed mix from the night before).The focus here is the salad so here goes:

Shredded Chinese Cabbage with Almonds and Sesame Seed Salad

Ingredients

• Chinese Cabbage

Garnish

• Roasted Almond Slices
• Toasted White Sesame Seeds

Dressing

• Garlic
• Ginger
• Light Soya Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• White Vinegar
• Sugar

Directions

Honestly if I really have to give instructions here, you ought be shot in the head. But for the culinary impaired, use a peeler to shred the chinese cabbage (I use this peeler from Kai which is excellent). For the dressing, finely grate garlic and ginger then put it into a bowl, add the vinegar, light soya sauce, sesame oil and sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves. To serve just toss the shredded cabbage drizzled with the dressing and top it with the almonds and sesame seeds.

Chorizo Big Breakfast

This time the credits go to Nicole, really appreciate her for making the effort to air fly  these superbly home made Chorizos (Spanish Pork Sausages). Her brother home makes these wonderful sausages, without preservatives, so you really have to eat them fast as they can’t keep for long, plus point is that it’s not too salty as most bangers are.

My comments for the Chorizos – Not too fatty, less salt, no preservatives and the skin has that nice bounce when you bite down – Two Thumbs and Two Toes Up.

Honestly sometimes all you need are really good, and fresh produce and almost anything you touch (cook) turns to gold. Brunch this late morning would be grilled chorizo and tomatoes, sauted fresh button mushrooms (olive oil, salt and black pepper)and my ever popular creamy omelette. ( I beat with cream and milk, and fry with butter, how much more decadent can you get)

Pot Luck Mexican

It’s was the week end again and another opportunity to (fei-lo ship) with our friends, the theme was a mexican pot luck, Eva and Alvin prepared the Tacos, Elaine (minus Chad as he was overseas) prepared Guacamole and Salsa, and I was in charge of dessert.

Mexican restaurant food eaten outside is pricey and definitely not my first choice of food if I had to eat out. In fact I’ve never really eaten much mexicans food except for fajitas (pronounced fa-hee-tas, the mexican way of pronouncing “j” as “h”, being which meant I stayed at Sau-Ha-Na, haha… feels exotic just saying it)

The Tacos were amazing, with juicy beef fragrant with cumin and other spices, fresh diced tomatoes, jalapenos (ha-la-penos), with mixed cheese oozing from crisp healthy corn Taco shells. The salsa had just the right amount of spice and natural sweetness, the Guacamole was just so creamy and …ooohhh and aaahhh…. this is the first time I’ve ever tasted Guacamole, and I’m now a proud convert. I’ve even learnt something from Elaine. Did you know that to prevent your Guacamole from discoloring, you had to leave one seed in it? – Don’t ask me why, it just works.

For dessert I prepared Platanos Machos, a mexican banana dessert, I added my own twist into it just to make it interesting. I call it

Platanos Machos Asiago

Ingredients

• Bananas
• Butter
• Orange Juice
• Brown Sugar
• Amaretto
• Roasted Almond Slices
• Roasted White Sesame Seeds

Directions

First heat up a skillet and add the butter, when the butter silences, add the quartered bananas, fry till slightly browned. In a cup add orange juice and brown sugar, stir till sugar is dissolved. Now add the mixture to the skillet and let the mixture caramelize with the butter, then add the amaretto and turn off the heat. Transfer the finished bananas to a serving plate and generously sprinkle the roasted almond slices and toasted sesame seeds.