Frog Porridge

Nestled in the busiest streets and being crowded round the clock, Jalan Alor has seen many days and nights. Almost being taken it’s infamous identity last year, this street has never failed with its’ abundance choice of food. One of my favourite supper in Jalan Alor is the  the frog porridge, where the stall is smack right in the middle of the stretch. The frog porridge is a popular supper choice for party goers and sleepless hungry city owls. This is a joint of having it’s food done at it’s best. They only serve plain porridge, frog porridge and ‘kung-pow’ frogs. That’s all.I chose the plain porridge and the must have ‘kung-pow’ frogs.  In a wink of time, the staffs would snips away the ends and into bite sizes from a basin full of frogs and feed it thru the Pyrex wares over the flaming stove. A pretty simple, effective and fast system. Within minutes supper is served, with that lovely steam and that volcanic gurgling. Now usually, kung-pow is a stir fry sauce of cooking dried chillies, cashew nuts with onions and other base. But here, it’s being improvised to this thick gooey sauce  and laden with bird’s eye chillies. Warn you, the heat could set you up to the moon. The best way of eating it is to dilute the heat, so you mix the ‘kong-pow’ frog with the plain porridge. You’ll love the sweet frog texture, like  a cross between chicken+fish+scallop. Yum, I love great suppers and look that crowd.

Sambal Kerang

A long day at work, and reading that nasi lemak post by thenormadgourmand, I brave thru the traffic, did a quick shopping and attempt nasi lemak and sambal kerang.

Nasi Lemak

About 150ml of coconut cream/milk with a knot of screwpine leaves and a thumb size ginger with a pinch of salt. Cook as usual with your rice cooker.

Sambal Kerang

About a kilo of cockles boiled, and peeled off the shells. Pound some ginger, garlic, and add in chilly paste. Heat up wok and saute the ginger and garlic paste. Add in lemon grass and the chilly paste. Salt, sugar and onion rings with few slice of assam keping.  Add in the cockles and adjust the taste accordingly. Don’t cook too long as the cockles would get too rubbery. 

I decided to go old school and pack it with plastic and newspapers. It was pure fun !

At the same time, making the sambal is not difficult but tedious. Peeling the cockles, pounding the paste, making hard boiled eggs and etc.

 

The gatecrasher MayYee got lucky to be fed and the returning from Ghana, Annette got the royal supper. Bless the nasi lemak.

Chai Boey

Just got back from a week-long business trip from China and gosh, it was pretty difficult without facebook and blogspot. In case you don’t know, China blocks these sites. Sigh.

After a week long of bland tasting Chinese food, I’m craving for something strong and exciting tasting.

Chai Boey

I make stock using chicken + dried squids + dried oysters + onion + ginger + garlic. Chai Boey is great with leftovers of roast pork/chicken/duck/etc but since I don’t have any, I brown some pork ribs and shoulder cuts that simply marinated with soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. After that it in the stock I prepared earlier and add in the mustard greens, mushrooms, tamarind and dried chillies. Salt and pepper to taste. And adjust the acidity and the spiciness to your preference.

 

Stir Fry Siew Pak Choy

A simple stir fry siew pak choy with oyster sauce and crispy dried prawns.

 

Ginger, spring onions prawns

Saute ginger then garlic, then add in the prawns. Add in soy sauce, salt and pepper and some water, then spring onions. When the prawns are fresh, the sauce would taste good by itself. It’s really a simple dish.

So, here’s my Sunday dinner.

BURP !

Pusat Penjaja Air Panas, Setapak

One of my very first food hunting adventure.  Been getting raving reviews about this ‘dai chow’ in Air Panas, Setapak.

Pretty hot day, hot crowd and smokin hot kitchen.

The trademark, you won’t miss the stall where they hang Hennesy boxes around.

Spicy, crunchy and goes great with anything. Must have more of this on my next visit.

 

The ginseng red dates tea. Definitely a great thirst quencher. And lunch is served;

Hmm…I will be going back again.

Soon.

 

p/s: Next stop, China for a week.

Salted Fish Curry

Something you don’t find it everywhere, is this salted fish curry. It’s pretty simple and it’s full of great flavours. So I had flabby Nick to join the dinner and I have; salted fish curry, stir fry spinach with lentils, acar and some leftover hamchoy soup.

 

 Salted fish curry

3 portion of salted fish bones (ikan kurau)

1 portion of  salted fish (meat chunks)

4 onions

2 tablespoonful of garlic and ginger pounded to paste

A dash of mustard seeds

Fish curry mix

Egg plant & ladies finger

 

Saute the garlic & ginger paste with the mustard seeds, then add onions. Once it brown a little, add in the curry paste. Let it simmer then add in the salted fish. Add two bowls of water and let it simmer on low heat for the next 45 mins. Add in the egg plants and the ladies fingers.

 

 

Simple acar

Half a pineapple

1 Carrots

2 Cucumber

4 Chillies

1 Onion

Vinegar, salt, pepper & sugar.

A handful of mint leaves

 

Julienne everything and toss it with the sauce. Keep it in the fridge.

 

Stir fry spinach with lentils

A bunch of spinach

A handful of lentlils (soak in water for about an hour)

2 Dry chillies

1 tablespoon of garlic & ginger paste

Fry the dry chillies then add in the garlic & ginger paste. Then add in the lentils and keep frying on low heat till everything is soft. Then add in the greens and salt and pepper to taste.

Leftover charchoy soup

A simple leftover soup using charchoy and old chicken.

I must be mad for cooking so much for a Wednesday dinner.

 

p/s: dear Sandy (my colleague), Yes I am saving some curry for you and will bring it to the office tomorrow. Don’t worry I didn’t put lizards in it.

There was a time.

Breaking away from the usual cooking and food post. I met some friends and got reminded one of the best times in my life.

It was about 8-9 years ago. I was between college and university and decided to work a lil to get some money.

So being in my early twenties, I took up this table waiting job, in a cafe right opposite Hock Choon Supermarket and a stone throw away from my aunt house.

So I take orders, send the food, clean the tables, make coffee and all that. And I get to spend time helping the cook to prepare the ingredients for the next meal. So one day, the grumpy-owner had a big fight with the cook and she immediately pack her stuffs and walk off.

So, no cook and guess who step up to fill in. Me.

I still remember the stares and the laughter from my other fellow table-waiting colleagues.

“I can cook mrs. Kwek” I repeat myself.

So the next morning and for the rest of the 8 months, I was the cook until I had to stop working and go back to uni.

That 8 months passes so quickly as I was counting moments of planning the menu for the cafe, making shopping list, and adding twist to the usual menu.

And I remember the compliments from the lunch crowds. It’s an embassy area, where dine-customers are mainly foreigners and they do ask for the chef whenever they tasted something they like.

There was a time, where life is good.

p/s: nice meeting with you guys,  thenomadgourmand & UnkaLeong.

Garlic Chilly Prawn Spaghetti

I know I’ve been missing. But it’s always with the usual things, work and all. This is my late lunch after I got home from Saturday meetings. Yes, I’m workaholic.

The ingredients:

A handful of prawns, shell them and deveined it.

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 Chilly (of cili padi variety), diced

1 Onion, diced

A handful of  sweet basil leaves, chopped

A handful of brown Mushrooms, sliced

Spaghetti (of course)

 

The Process:

Suffice olive oil, in a medium-heat skillet (you don’t want to burn them) and fry the garlic and onions. Add in the chillies then the prawns. Once the prawns turn orangey, pour in enough (it means to your own preference) of white wine. Depending of the whites you have, you have to taste and adjust the acidity of the sauce.

Once reduced, add in the cooked spaghetti and give it a good swirl and add in the basil. I prefer my basil to be raw-ish.

Dish onto a plate.

Now the mushrooms, simply fry it on the same skillet with butter, pepper and salt.

Same recipe goes well for clams & mussels.

Easy? So what did you had for a late Saturday lunch?