My Kind of Experiment

If scientists conduct their experiment in their laboratories, I do mine in my most favourite place in the house – the kitchen. Since I involve myself in the world of blogging, blog-hopping has been part of my daily routines. This time, I was introduced to a new spice mix called Cajun when I read this entry in Secubit Garam. I’ve tried this recipe some time ago and uploaded the photos onto my PC but it just slipped my mind. Actually, I gave the recipe to my younger brother and he prepared it for Mak’s 55th birthday last May. I asked Mak about the outcome and she told me it was good and I decided to give it a try. My verdict? Simply delicious.

SPICY FRIED SPAGHETTI

Ingredients :

• 300g of spaghetti (cooked till al dente, according to the instructions on the packet, drained and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil but keep 1 cup of the water used for boiling)
• 1 piece of chicken breast (I used 250g of minced chicken)
• 3 pips of garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 large onion                      }
• 1 large tomato                   }
• 1/2 a carrot                        }   (chopped)
• 1/3 of a red capsicum     }
• 1/3 of a green capsicum }
• 1/2 tablespoonful of freshly cracked black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoonful of chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoonfuls of chilli sauce
• 1/2 tablespoonful of cajun (I used McCormick’s Cajun Seasoning)
• 1 cup of water used to boil the spaghetti
• 1 egg (lightly beated)
• salt and sugar to taste
• celery leaves (chopped) (I didn’t put any)

Method :

1. Heat some cooking oil in a wok and stir fry chopped onion and garlic till fragrant.
2. Put in minced chicken and fry till cooked.
3. Next, put in tomato, carrot, red and green capsicum and stir for a while.
4. Then, add blackpepper, chilli flakes, cajun, chilli sauce, salt and sugar. Stir fry till fragrant and push to the side of your wok.
5. After that, put in the egg and fry till it resembles scrambled egg.
6. Put in your spaghetti and pasta water (add less if you prefer your pasta dry) and stir fry till well-mixed.
7. Transfer onto your serving platter and sprinkle chopped celery leaves on top.
8. Serve hot.

 

Oh Chilli, How I Love Thee

I have always enjoyed hot and spicy dish. As a result, I always make sure that I always have my chillies in the fridge. Thanks to the Almighty, Mr KHz is also a big fan of  this red, hot sensation. I’m also very glad that my girl, Atush also shares the same liking but my boy, Daus needs a wee bit more training. So, here’s another recipe using my cherished ingredient – the red, hot and spicy!

‘ TERUNG BERLADA ‘

Ingredients :

• 3 medium-size brinjals/ eggplants/ aubergines
• 2 tablespoonfuls of dried shrimps (soaked for 10 minutes and and drained)
• 10 fresh red chillies
• 5 bird’s eye chillies
• 5 shallots
• 2 pips of garlic
• 1 piece of asam keping
• 3 tablespoonfuls of cooking oil
• salt and sugar to taste

Method :

1. Cut the brinjals lengthwise and deep fried till golden brown.
2. Drain and arrange on a platter.
3. Next, put all ingredients except the asam keping into a blender and pulse. The mixture should be coarse and not finely ground.
4. Heat cooking oil in a pan and stir fry ground ingredients and theasam keping  till the oil separates from the gravy.
5. Add salt and sugar to taste.
6. Spoon onto the brinjal pieces.
7. It’s time to fall in love once again.

 

A Balancing Act

As far as I could remember, Ramadhan, being a blessed and blissful month, has been my platform to try new recipes. You know, the excitement (and no doubt the unsure feeling) on how the dish would turn out to be and taste wise, nice to the palate.  Talking about experimenting, some turned out nice and well-enjoyed by the family members but some remained untouched and had to be finished by, yours truly.

A nice dish to me has to be balanced. It needs to have equal amount of sweetness, sourness and spiciness. Bearing this in mine, I decided to prepare some grilled fish to be paired with this wonderful dip recipe, which I had taken from Ika@Arah. Do give this recipe a try. 

GRILLED FISH WITH DIP

For the fish :

• 4 pieces of  medium size mackarel (cleaned and gutted and wipe dry)
• 5 shallots
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cm piece of ginger
• 2 tablespoonfuls of chilli paste
• 1 teaspoonful of turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoonful of salt
• 1/2 teaspoonful of sugar
• 1 piece of turmeric leaf (finely sliced)
• enough cleaned banana leaves (according to the size of your fish) (I replaced it with aluminium foil but using banana leaves would result in more fragrant grilled fish)
• enough toothpicks

Method :

1. Grind shallots, garlic and ginger finely and put into a bowl. Then,put in remaining ingredients and mix well.
2. To assemble the fish, take a piece of banana leaf and spoon some mixture on it. Place your fish on top of this mixture and top the fish with the spice mixture. Fold the leaf and secure each end with a toothpick. Follow the same procedure if you are using aluminium foil but just fold each end tightly to avoid the spice mixture from seeping out.
3. Ideally, the fish should be grilled over charcoal but I used my iron skillet to do the job. Continue turning your fish over medium heat till cooked.

For the dip :

(A)

• 4 pieces of bird’s eyes chillies (add more if you want it to be more spicy)
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoonful of tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoonful of chilli sauce
• 1 tablespoonful of fish sauce
• 60ml of tamarind juice (add more water if your prefer a runny dip)
• 1 teaspoonful of sugar (or add more to your liking)
• a pinch of salt

(B) 

• 1 to 2 shallots (chopped finely)
• 1 to 2 ripe tomatoes (chopped finely)
• 1 stalk of coriander leaves ( I used celery leaves (daun sup/sadri)) (sliced finely)
• 1 fresh red chilli (cut into rings)

Method :

1. Put ingredients (A) in a blender and grind finely.
2. Put in ingredients (B) and mix well.
3. Serve with the grilled fish.

 

Quick, Easy and Yummy!

I came across this dish in Dari Dapur Kak Jee and instantly copied her recipe to be included in my recipe folder. I have been meaning to try cooking it for quite some time but I was just being lazy to drive to the wet market to get my beef and my Thai basil. Yesterday, I finally got hold of these two ingredients so both Mr KHz and I had the dish for Iftar.  The taste? I love the smell and unique taste of the Thai basil which make this dish different from other beef stir-fry dishes. Furthermore, the ingredients are very few and the cooking process is straight forward which puts this dish one of my new favourites. I would definitely cook this dish again.

‘DAGING ALA KAPRAU’

Ingredients :

• 250g of sirloin beef (batang pinang) (thinly sliced)
• 2 tablespoonfuls of tom yam paste ( I used Adabi brand)
• 6 pieces of bird’s eyes chillies (bruised)
• 1 onion (cut into eight segments and loosen the layers)
• 1 tablespoonful of sweet soy sauce
• 1 tablespoonful of  Thai Chilli sauce ( I used Life brand)
• 10 t0 15 pieces of Thai basil leaves (daun selasih/ kemangi)
• 3 tablespoonfuls of cooking oil

Method :

1. Marinate beef pieces with tom yam paste and keep aside for half an hour.
2. Heat cooking oil in a wok and stir fry onion pieces and chillies till fragrant.
3. Next, put in beef pieces and keep stirring till tender.
4. Then, put in soy sauce and chilli sauce and keep stirring. Put in Thai basil leaves and stir till the leaves are slightly wilted.
5. Serve hot with plain boiled rice.

 

Why It Is Worth A Try

Desserts are rarely served on the dining table for I would be the only one interested in preparing and later finishing it. As a result, whenever I feel like trying a new dessert recipe, I would bring the end product to school. However, this particular dessert is definitely my cup of tea for I didn’t mind finishing every single bit. It’s very easy to prepare and very suitable to be served for Iftar.

LYCHEE PUDDING

Source : Secubit Garam

Ingredients :

• 10g jelly powder
• 5 cups of water
• 8 tablespoonfuls of sugar
• 1 tin of  lychees (drained but keep 1 cup of the syrup)
• 1 tin of evaporated milk

Method :

1. In a tall pot, boil jelly powder and water till dissolved. Put in sugar and let to continue boiling.
2. Put in the lychees and the syrup into a blender and grind.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn off the heat.
4. Pour in milk and ground lychees mixture and stir well.
5. Spoon into moulds and to cool before chilling in the refrigerator.
6. Serve cold.

 

A Time To Remember

I shall break the long silence by praising the Almighty for giving me the opportunity to welcome and be a part of the blessed month of Ramadhan. May I be given the strength to seek the Almighty’s blessings throughout this most awaited month for the Muslims, InsyaAllah.

Ramadhan for me, has always been full of fond memories, and stating the obvious, part of those memories, do include food. I hail from the historical city of  Melaka and I grew up surrounded by colourful dishes and mouth-watering kuih served at Iftar and for this reason, I’ve decided to try a recipe that uses ingredients from one of my favourite desserts for Iftar, which is cendol. Here’s the photo and the recipe if you wish to try.

PUDING CENDOL

Source : Yani@decochoco.blogspot.com

Ingredients :

Bottom layer

• 10g  agar-agar powder
• 500ml water
• 180g sugar
• 300ml thick coconut milk
• 500g cendol
• a pinch of salt

Top layer

• 10g agar-agar powder
• 200g of palm sugar
• 500ml water
• 300ml thick coconut milk
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg yolk

Method:

1. For the bottom layer, put in water, sugar and agar-agar powder in a tall pot and cook till dissolved.
2. Then, put in the coconut milk and salt and let to boil over medium heat.
3. Next, put in cendol and stir well.
4. Rinse your pudding mould/baking tin with water.
5. Pour in the mixture and let to cool till hardens. Once harden, take a fork and pierce the pudding surface.
6. For the top layer, put palm sugar with 200ml of water and boil till dissolved. Strain the sugar syrup.
7. Next, put in the sugar syrup, the remaining water and agar-agar powder and cook till dissolved.
8. Beat the egg yolk into coconut milk mixed with salt  and pour into the pot with the agar-agar mixture. Stir well and ladle slowly onto the bottom layer. Chill till hardens.
9. Cut into squares and serve cold.