I’ve been cooking despite being busy

Haven’t been updating recently, but that doesn’t mean the kitchen ain’t smokin’.

It’s always smokin hot.  Always!!!

In the midst of balancing my corporate side of life, I still made time to tend my lil-balcony garden, rearranging furniture, sing and of course cook.

Over the past few weeks I’ve made:

Spicy grilled fish. With ladies finger and a squeeze of lime.

Ooomphy.Assam Pedas fish, (My mom’s version)

By now most of you would know by now I’m a big fan of assam pedas ( i cook this dish so often)  and I’m lucky to have different people sharing with me their different recipes. Keep em coming!Being adventurous on one of the weekends, I decided to make Penang Assam Laksa. And making this dish means, I have to cook a huge portion out of it. I spent the next hour calling, sms-ing, e-mailing, facebook-ing people to come eat. I just can’t finish it on my own and I’ve love to share my food. :) And I love tiffins too!

Minced meat porridge with salted eggs and century eggs. Using anchovies stock, it gives the porridge the seafood tinge and I flourish the usual blandness of watery porridge using this beautiful taste of salty ‘taucu’ generously.

A good blend of Cantonese style porridge with the Teocheow ‘s taucu sauce.

This is for one of those rainy days, and I want something warm and fuzzy. Blanched baby potatoes, carrots and asparagus. Some rosemary, a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce,  and 4 pieces of medium browned steak (marinated with wine, chopped rosemary, oregano, paprika, salt, pepper) all popped into the oven for the next 20 mins @ 180’c.

Steak is tender, vegetables are crunchy and caramel-ly. Throw in some apricot kernels for the crunch and some easy stacking just to complete the presentation.

So yeah, I’ve been cooking.

Roast Ribs

For more reasons to celebrate life with food, here comes an impromptu lunch. Beer marinated, honey glazed pork ribs with  caramelised onion. Very very un-halal indeed.

About a rack of ribs, soaked in a can of beer (about an hour or so or more …)

And the marinade consist of:

- 3-4 tablespoons of honey,

- 2 tablespoons of chilli sauce

- 2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

-a pinch of cayenne pepper

- a pinch of fennel seed

-a pinch of oregano

- 1 piece of bay leave

- 4-6 bulb of garlic

- 1 onion

- salt & pepper

So after soaking the ribs long enough in the beer, rub the marinade and massage it well onto the ribs.

With layers of sliced onions as the base, roast the rib, bone side up in 170’c for an hour. Then turn over to the meat side up and roast for another 45 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with the balance of the beer with some sugar, salt pepper and a dash of flour.

Now … chomp chomp

a weekend of pound

So over the weekend while camping at home trying to  finish up proposals is, of course stressful. And like my typical way of managing my stress. I cook.

250gm of self raising flour

250gm of butter

200gm of sugar

4 eggs

two tablespoon of milk

a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

handful of mix fruits (raising, orange peel, nuts and etc.)

How difficult to bake? Easy peasy,

40 mins in 160’c and here you go. Fresh aroma of the butter and eggs.

Sitting at the balcony, watching tv and having fresh pound cake with a dollop of NZ icecream-fruits of the forest.

Oh, de-stressing.

Now back to my proposal.

King of all kings

The king of all fruits, the craziest burst of flavours, always the sharpest smell that fills the air and texture one will always remember.

So, my parents came for a visit (yet again) and this time, mum pass me this bag of filled with damp newspaper, and surprise surprise… it’s durian. All the way from Kelantan.

There’s this breed, which my parents would only eat, as they pre-order them when they start to fruit on the trees. No joke here, these breed are in high demand, and over the years my parents had made friend with the orchard owner. It’s the ‘kunyit’  / turmeric breed. And according to my parents, they have lotsa immitation breed claiming they are kunyit durians, and charge you for something it’s not.

Well, having durian the old school way isn’t too bad, and that reminds me of the excitement of ‘opening’ my durians when I younger.

So I decided to do it at the balcony, with newspapers all placed and a cleaver in hand.

First you cut/chop along the lines. Two cuts at least, and after doing so, use the sides of the cleaver to push for space.

Then using upper body strength, open the crack! There’s the excitement when you see some of the golden flesh. And the smell…. Yum yum.

Look at those beautiful baby.

 

And without further adieu, you feast.

I like my durian sweet with a tinge of bitter after taste. The bitter aftertaste that lingers in the mouth always give a nice conclusion to it’s early creamy, pungenty texture. And especially if they have those smaller-wrinkly-shrinkly seeds, you know that you’re getting more durian flesh than seeds.

Then came the part you work your way thru other goodies. Squat down and use upper body strength again to crack open them.

Oh what a beautiful day.

Recipe from my 4th Aunt

Coming back from my working trip, I had this cravings of my 4th aunt’s version of ‘assam fish’. So while driving back home, I called her and ask for the recipe. And she’s more than happy to share;

Steamed rice with a sunny side up, and a dash of soy sauce.

Assam Fish with cucumber.

Her version is easy to make, but it doesn’t compromise the taste, in fact, I love it very much. 

All you need is:

1. 2-3 inches of turmeric, a handful (green) cili padi –> all mashed up / blended into paste,

2. 1 tablespoon of rice soaked in hot water, 1 onion, 3 pcs lemon grass, 4-5 pcs of assam keping, 100ml of assam jawa juice, a tablespoon of belachan,

3. ikan kembong – 6pcs (abt 800gm)

4. 1 large cucumber

Method:

1. boil about 2 litre of water, and add in the blended paste and let it simmer for about 35 mins.

2. Add in ingredients #2. and let it simmer for another 20 mins.

3. Add in fish and cucumber (can be replaced with ladies finger too) and let it boil for another 15 mins, and salt to taste.

Simple?

My Sunday Lunch

Winter Melon Soup,

With a handful of anchovies, dried squids, dried oysters, half a garlic and some sesame oil, I had them boiled over 60mins to make the base of the soup.  An hour later, I sieve thru to get clear seafood stock and I add in cuts of chicken and the winter melon. Boil over gentle heat for the next 45 mins and they are ready, with a dash of salt and pepper.

I always prefer my soup to be clear, and sieving helps to keep the soup clear.

And I’ve got some fried rice. Will save some for tomorrow’s lunch at work, since I’ve make quite a lot.

Stir fry sambal French beans

Bought some nice French beans from the ‘pasar malam’ few days ago, and with a twist of my mum’s ‘sambal belachan’ in the fridge, i throw in some minced meat and ‘choy pow’ salted carrots. Fry everything in the hot oiled wok with generous amount of chopped garlic. Simple.

So, that’s my Sunday lunch. What’s yours?

give me my crab

I frequent this place 3 times in 6 weeks. Give me a messy dining table, dirty hands and full load of crabs, I’ll be a happy man.

I’m talking about this fatty crab restaurant in Taman Megah, PJ. 

As usual, from far you’ll spot a crowd sweating while waiting to get a table. There is no first come first basis system, the two experienced lady sort the guess thru the headcounts.

From personal experience, always go there in groups of maximum 4 per table. It’s easier to get a table when you are less than 4 people, cause they have lots of 4-seater tables than bigger ones. Second rule is to maintain regular eye contact with the two aunties so they won’t forget you’re standing in front of the shop waiting and lastly, make sure they take your order before you’re seated, so the food would pop out as soon as you get a table.

So, what do you order when you go to fatty crab:

1. Deep fried chicken wings; this is usually served fast and goes perfectly well as an appetizer.

Fried rice;  how can someone not order our staple food. The fried rice with prawns, carrots, eggs and french beans. All fried to perfection with suffice ‘wok hei’

Now the mains:

Sweet sour chilly crab. No words to describe this. I’ll licking my fingers in front of hundreds of people for this dish. What etiquette?

Look at them, it just scream lick me lick me, hit me with the hammer and take my meat. AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa

Besides that, I also like this soupy Teochew steamed fish. With generous amount of salted vegetable, I find myself keep drinking the gravy for it’s tangy flavour. A good blend of  plum, salted vegetable, tomatoes and fresh essence from the fish.

Well, having 3 times in 6 weeks can be alarming since i never knew my cholesterol level and etc. But hey, anyone want to meet there in the coming Sunday?