Sup Tulang Singapura a.k.a Bonesteak

I got sidetracked!!! Again! This time was for 2 months. Truth is I got lazy. After my one day Hari Raya Puasa celebration, I joined a martial art class, something I never thought of doing, Muay Thai!!! I started going once a week and got addicted to pain so I committed myself to 3 times a week. Sometimes, 4! Hah! Bruised my shins badly in the first month but it didn’t stop me nor slowed me down. Now, I kinda hurt my ankle from yesterday’s training. Gah!!! All wrapped up now, so I am cool. I still cook daily despite the strenuous training but nothing fancy la…the norm. Asam pedas, fish curry, rendang…the easy daily dishes. Also, I got lazy to sit in front of the lappy. There weren’t many activities in my FB too except for whenever I got injured during Muay Thai; I would post up a picture. Konon2 tunjuk terror laaaa…

The kids are preparing for the PKSR now and so I have every reason to sit in front of the lappy, hawking on them. I put this recipe together for our Friday night dinner. Something quite common in the household and amongst close friends but never had a chance to take a good shot. Not that it is the best shot since the photography is normally done at night, in doors, under tungsten light with no other lighting equipment available for me to use. Heh!

This dish memang takde dijual di KL dan kawasan2 yang sewaktu dengan nye. Made popular in Singapore. And Beach Road serves the best of the Sup Tulang Singapura a.k.a Bonesteak.

Kite tengok gambar ye? I am still not doing this full-swing. Laziness still lies in my bones so sesape yang berminat nak cuba, please leave a comment. I will be obliged to share the recipe.

Cantik tak???

Cantonese Fried Yee Mee

I have always been in love with the Cantonese Fried Yee Mee! Oh! Wait a minute!!! I think I’m in love with all cooking style of mee, noodles, bihun…however you called it. Not laksa! Don’t like them! Don’t like them in any cooking style for that matter except, Laksa Lemak Melaka or the Singapore Laksa. Ya, memang aku bias! : p

Here’s for my foodie friends in FB who have requested for the recipe of my Cantonese Fried Yee Mee. Follow my blog also la wei…kasi up sikit itu traffic!!! :D

Ingredient
1 yee mee
5-6 pcs prawns
2 squid - sliced
3 strips of boneless chicken breasts

2 garlic - chopped
1cm ginger – thinly sliced into strips
1 egg - lightly beaten
Pak Choy, cabbage, carrot & young corn (just a small portion of each)

Ingredient A - Combine in a bowl
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. oyster sauce
1 cup chicken stock (I prefer to use my homemade stock to the commercial ones cubed or not.)
1 tsp. pepper
3 tsp. corn flour (mixed with water for thickening purpose)

Salt and sugar to taste
　

Preparations:

1. Heat oil in wok. Add in garlic and ginger. Fry till fragrant.
2. Add in prawns, squid and chicken.
3. Add *A and let it boil.

4. Add the egg, slightly beaten.
5. Add all vegetables and corn flour mixture. Remove from stove and pour over the Yee Mee and serve.

6. Eat! Hehe

I am going to continue baking my Kek Lapis now. Bau pun dah menyucuk hidung ni. Promised my son some pineapple tarts which I am going to tackle next…tomorrow! The girl wants Marmar Carries…ala biskut lama tu la…nanti kite post gambar ek? Need some new upholstery for my day bed, which I will try to shop around for later this evening. Pergh! Busy giler! Macam prem minister! :p

Selamat Berpuasa, y'alls!

 

Economical Vegetarian Bihun

I cooked this easy peasy recipe last Friday. Made a lot to last me for 2 days of buka puasa and 2 pre-dawn meals. The kids were away for the weekend then so...yeah, malas la kan nak masak. If you are ever wondering, no, I have not turned into a vegan. I don't think I can. I can never live without my red meats! I didn't have anything else in the freezer then but had enough vege to finish before they rot so I've decided to put them together and come up with a masterpiece. Hehehe banyak la aku punye masterpiece! :p

So here, try tau jangan tak try...

1. Soak 1/2 packet of bihun in warm water. If you don’t like chewy bihun, use slightly hotter water. 
2. Add 1 tbs each of dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil for bihun to absorb.
3. After half hour or so, drain bihun, but keep the liquid.
4. Fry 1 tbs garlic. Add vegetables/meat if you like. I used slightly more oil than usual. The original economical vegetarian bihun is always glistening with oil. So sebab nak bihun tu nampak gemilang I made it a little oily, kalau too dry tak cantik plak..hehe
5. Add bihun. Mix well to let bihun absorb the oil. If too dry, add some of the liquid that was used for soaking earlier.
6. Add 2 tbs dark soy sauce, 1 tbs light soy sauce, 1 tbs fish sauce, 1 tsp kicap manis (optional), salt and msg (optional) to taste.

Please note these are all estimates, add according to your own taste. I suke campak2 je kalau masak. Baru nampak macam pro! Heh!

Ok lah nanti malam kalau tak penat, kite sambung lagi...with a new recipe, eh bukan, tried and tested recipe...Cantonese Fried Yee Mee, I made yesterday for buka puasa. Sekarang I nak gi jejalan cari sofa baru!

Ta

Mee Kuah Mamak Ala Singapore

Salam y'all! It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy yet again with the professional aspect of my daily routine. That would be my excuse, as always! Nah! Truth is, every time after I break my fast, I will be sprawling on the couch on the balcony, letting the cool breeze of the night lull me to a half-sleep half-zombie state! Now, that’s the truth!

Turkey has been playing on my mind! No! Not that Turkey! Istanbul! I need to get out of here. I need a break and have been planning for another getaway with my favourite girls, my cousins and my beautiful niece. We went away to Bali for a spa retreat in April this year. That was like centuries ago la...I need to go away or I will die….of boredom!!! Urgh!!!

Okies! Let’s get back to business now. I was craving for the Mee Kuah Mamak, Singapore style for a long time now. It is only available in the Fine City and the last time I was there was 3 years ago. Fortunately, I have good friends who commute to Singapore quite frequently and would buy back special spices concoctions that you can never get in KL. And these good friends had generously given them to me to spice up my kitchen with my signature Singapore dishes.

Jom tengok gambar jom!!!

 

I am going to cook vegetarian bihun for tonight's iftar. Not that I'm a vegan but the fact that I don't have much left in the refrigerator to cook up anything fancy. Malas wanna go to the supermarket today! :p

Ciao bellas. Selamak berbuka.

Sago Gula Melaka

Cheap and simple dessert to make. Everyone loves it! Jom belajar cara membuat ni jom...kalau tak nak belajar pun terpaksa gak sebab ni je yang ade untuk entry kali ni hehehehe...

Dinner was simple too. Asam pedas ikan tengiri, some sauteed vege, deep fried oyster mushrooms and telur goreng.

I am guessing many of you know how to make this simple dessert but not everyone knows the smooth consistency that the sago should be. Kan? kan? kan? The sago should be boiled till clear ie. no more of that 'white eye' in the sago. I use 1:4 cups of sago to water. Soak the sago in water for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Boil 4 cups of water in a pot and place sago in the pot when water is really boiling stirring continuously for approximately 7 minutes. When sago turns clear, drain and put them under running tap water to wash away the starch. Put them in moulds and chill in the fridge.

The gula melaka syrup is basically 1 piece of gula melaka to 1/2 cup of water. Boil water and gula melaka with knotted pandan leaves. Drain and leave to cool.

Instead of the norm coconut milk as the accompaniment to the syrup, I've used evaporated milk. Tasted better, I thought. Ade kelazzz la! Try it! :)

I'm starting to take up guitar lessons now so...I'm off to practise my fingering...psssttt...I'm using my sonny's guitar for now...:p

xoxo

Nasi Lemak for Iftar Day 4

Iftar! Presumably, it is Arabic. Never knew of the term until a few years ago. I've always used the commonly accepted terms "buka puasa" for breaking my fast. So, when I first heard of the word 'Iftar' in eg.'iftar bersama kak long dan keluarga', I was, "amende tu Iftar?". haha sekarang baru Mak Nenek tau! Jangan marah arrrr...Mak Nenek tak belajar time sekolah dulu. Time sekolah dulu kita belajar omputih dan bahasa Mandarin je. Tu yang hancur sikit tu kalau menulis dalam BM.

Banyak plak Mak Nenek ni mencecih! Anyways, I was out and about almost the whole of today and only managed to start my cooking game at about 5.30pm. A simple dinner was planned. Nasi Lemak, Sambal Tumis Udang and Kari Ayam with the usual suspects, sliced cucumbers, deep fried anchovies and peanuts. I also made some Sago Gula Melaka for desserts, of which I have not indulged in yet because I am already filled to the brim. Heh! I think I shall keep it for tomorrow night. 

Tonight's Iftar :D

Sempat gak beli daun pisang tu! Food presentation katanya! :)

Nak masak ape agaknye eh untuk esok? Stress! Stress! Stress

 

Bread and Butter Pudding

Salam dolls! Amboi! Mentang2 bulan Ramadhan pembukaan pakai 'Salam'! Selalunya tak kot? Hehehe tak ingat. Takpe lah, janji ikhlas! ;)

I meant to post this up yesterday but was caught up with a few other dealings that required my immediate attention. Heh! Cam serious sangat plak? Bulan2 puasa ni tak boleh serious2...nanti fairy marah!

Okay, here goes...my Bread and Butter Pudding (gerenti sedap) :-

Ingredients

• 8 slices of sandwich white *roti biase je* (I used Gardenia. Tear them into smaller pieces and place them in an oven-proof dish)
• 500 ml milk (fresh/full-cream) [soak the bread in milk for approximately 30 minutes]

• 4 tbsp fine sugar
• 2 tbsp butter (melted)
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• Raisins (if you would like)
• I have added 1 tsp of cinnamon powder. This is optional but it gives a nice aroma, so you may want to try it. :)

Method

1. Mix the above (except the raisins and cinnamon powder which, if used, to be added last) well over low heat just enough to dissolve the sugar.
2. Pour the mixture over the soaked bread.
3. Bake for 30mins or until done at 180 deg C.

For the Sauce

• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 2 tbsp custard flour
• 2 tbsp sugar

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients over low heat stirring constantly until slightly thickened.

There!!! Senang je. This can also be eaten chilled which is how I've liked it.

Okay, selamat mencuba! Saya nak curik tulang jap...barang setengah jam! ;)

Nasi Tomato

First and foremost, I would like to wish all my Muslim brothers and sisters, Ramadhan Kareem! 

I am posting this entry while waiting for my Bread and Butter Pudding (with added cinnamon powder) in the oven to bake and my Lamb Stew to cook just nice and tender. Ooooh! The aroma!!!! If only I could include in this entry, the 'smell' of what's cooking in my kitchen. I wonder if there is a Fragrant App that I could download to do this. I swear I can make your stomach rumble just by the smell of my Lamb Stew. I know mine is! :p

Anyhoo, pictures of the Bread and Butter Pudding and the Lamb Stew Delhi Style (actually, it's not! I just came up with the name. It's just another of my crazy concoction of spices put together in an old fashioned way) will be posted in tomorrow's entry, Insya'Allah! Today, I will share with you pictures of what I cooked for the first day of Ramadan....

Tadddaaaaahhhh.....

Nasi Tomato

Ayam Masak Merah

                                                          
                          Dalca Kambing

Pacri Nenas

It was a boring Saturday, so I decided to cook up a feast...and a feast it was! It was a dinner for 10 and it took me approximately 3 hours to complete. Not too bad, RazZ! 

For those interested, the following is the recipe for my Nasi Tomato:-

Ingredients

• 4 cups of Bhasmati Rice (washed and soaked for 30 minutes)
• 3 cups of water
• 1 cup Chicken Stock
• 1 cup of evaporated milk
• 
  

• 1 Onion - blended
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 4 cardamons
• 5 cloves
• 4 tbsp tomato puree

• 4 tbsp of butter/margarine
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat up the butter on medium heat.
2. Stir fry blended onion and all the spices till fragrant. Add in the tomato puree and mix well.
3. Add in milk and bring to a low boil. 
4. Pour the milk mixture into the rice pot containing the washed rice, water and chicken stock and cook till rice is done stirring occasionally.
5. Tips for cooking Bhasmati rice: always use a fork to fluff the rice to preserve the nice long grains!

Selamat Mencuba and I really hope you will like it. 

Ciao bellas and Selamat berbuka to those who are fasting!

Oven-Baked Barbecue Chicken

It has been a while since my last entry. I've been really busy. Very busy. Busybody!!!

I've cooked up dinners and kuehs and shot a few pictures of which are still sitting in the hard disk waiting to be uploaded but I'm going to take my time and post the recent ones first. Recent ones being tonight's dinner! It has been raining the whole of today and laziness crept in so I've decided to throw in some chicken legs and made a simple no-fuss dinner for 3. 

The barbecue sauce was homemade. Less sugar and with a dash of vinegar, a slightly more tangy. I had baked scallop potatoes with cheese and rosemary to go with the chicken and some fresh fruits with low-fat yoghurt dressing. The kids are not particularly fond of greens, so I've decided to skip the hassle and serve fruit salad instead. 

I've been eating like a pig for the past weeks so tonight's dinner is a welcomed change. Hah!

Tomorrow, I will try to post up some pictures I took last Saturday of a simple lunch I prepared for a girlfriend, who traveled all the way from Singapore for my Sambal Udang Petai. :D 

Sssshhhh...I think I hear my bed calling me....nanite, beloveds!

Kuih Keria

...or as my son would say, 'Malay Donuts'.

I had some leftover sweet potatoes from the Mee Rebus' recipe of last week, or was it from 2 weeks ago? Since this is yet another easy recipe, where I can just agak2 and campak2, I decided to make some for tea.

I boiled and mashed the sweet potatoes in the morning and got the flour in the measuring cup before I flee the house doing about my professional routine. So, by the time I got home in the late afternoon, I need only shape and fry them up, put the kettle on and have my own little tea retreat on the balcony. Oh! I had only one piece! Percaya tak? :p

I'm gonna catch a movie on the box now...Dream House with Daniel Craig on it. Sexayyy!!! Ciao bellas!

Buah Melaka a.k.a Ondeh Ondeh

Tea time delights for a lazy Tuesday. This is one of my 11 year old daughter's favs. She is another Mak Nenek! It is rarely that you can find a girl her age who likes traditional and nyonya kuehs. Anyhow, on the way to school this morning she asked if I could make Ondeh Ondeh for tea this afternoon. Well, she did not actually said Ondeh Ondeh, but rather 'the round green kueh which pops in the mouth'. Although I am still nursing a sore shoulder from trying too hard on Shaun T's Insanity Workout (a woman gotta do what a woman gotta do, ya know!), I obliged as it is not at all tedious.

I mainly used pandan juice and glutinous rice flour for the dough. No artificial green colouring was used for this particular one. Just the natural colour of the pandan leaves. Also, no exact measurement of the ingredients were used. I agak2 je la...knead till you can form a smooth pliable dough. I steamed the grated coconut with a pinch of salt before rolling the boiled kueh onto it. And the gula melaka fillings has to be a lot...baru yummmssss...oozes out as it pops in your mouth!

Arrrgghh!!! I am so going to bed early tonight...with koyok, yoko-yoko on the sore shoulder. Ciao babehs!

xoxo

Apam Beras Gula Merah

This morning was my 9 year old son's school Sukaneka and mommy made some Apam Gula Merah for the other mommies in attendance. Mommy made them late last night before bed time and steam the grated coconut early this morning. There were food contributions from others like chocolate muffins, chocolate cakes, brownies, fancy cuppies, meant for the little ones but this Mak Nenek mommy decided to bring some kampung style breakfast, Apam Gula Merah!

It was a hit with the 'bigger ones'. Light and spongy and went very well with Kopi O kaw! And one of the mommies asked if I do those colourful ones too! She wants pink, yellow, green and whites for a kenduri next Thursday. *grins*

I personally prefer this recipe as it does not call for tapai nasi as one of its ingredients. Tapai nasi is not easy to do (spoiler: Author doesn't know how to do!). Some apam recipes require Eno and again, I don't like the 'sulphuric' taste/smell of Eno. Yeah, I'm that fussy. Oh, this is also good with leftover sambal tumis udang...yummmsss...

So, for those of you who are as fussy as me, here is the simpler version of Apam Beras (Gula Merah):

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked rice
2 1/2 cups of water
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cups sugar

*Blend all the above till smooth

2 cups of rice flour
2 cups of plain flour
1 tsp of yeast

• Mix the above together and pour in the blended mixture and stir them thoroughly until light and smooth.
•  Cover and leave for 3-4 hours.
• When ready, pour into small cups and steam over high heat for 15-20 mins.

For the grated coconut, simply add salt to taste and steam for 15 mins. (Sorry, I normally 'agak2' je :D)

Lemme know how it goes for you ya....Selamat Mencuba!

Mee Rebus Johor

It is not easy to get your hands on a bowl of good old Mee Rebus Johor, here in Kuala Lumpur dan kawasan2 sekitarnye! Last Sunday, I ventured in to Kampung Bahru in search of a nice Mee Rebus Johor. I decided to settle with a 24hour kedai kopi claiming they serve this. It was nothing like it. Tipah teripu!!! The gravy was thin and super sweet. Mak Nenek almost choked with anger. The next day, I decided to cook it my own. The good old style. Knowing my 2 monsters don't really like this particular dish, I made just enough for dinner. Suke ke tak suke kene makan gak la kan? Mummy dah masak. [Mummy yang nak makan sangat sebenarnye]

Tengok gambar tu...Slurrppsss...kan????

I didn't have beef rump then, which is best for this dish. I used whatever there was in the freezer [heh, my style of cooking!] It turned out pretty well. 

For Singaporeans and Johoreans in KL who are craving for the original Mee Rebus Johor, here is the recipe to try. Lemme know if you liked it too. :)

Ingredients to blend:~

• 2 large red onions
• 15 bulbs of shallots
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 inch of ginger
• 3/4 cup curry powder

Other ingredients:~

• 250gm beef (beef rump is best), cut into small pieces & boiled till tender. Keep the stock
• 1 handful prawns, trim the legs
• 2 tbsp fermented soya beans (tauchu)
• 3 inch galangal, bruised
• 5 stalks of lemongrass, bruised
• 3 medium sized sweet potatoes
• 2 large potatoes, boiled & coarsely mashed
• 2 cups coconut milk
• salt

~Method~

1. Heat oil in a large deep pot. Sautee’ the blended ingredients till the oil separates.
2. Put in the beef as well as the stock.
3. As it boils, throw in the galangal, lemongrass and salt.
4. Finally, pour in the coconut milk, tauchu, sweet potato & potato.
5. As the gravy thickens, drop in the prawns.
6. Salt to taste

Mee Rebus Johor is usually served with the following condiments: prawn fritters, deep fried tofu (cubed), beansprouts (scalded), Chinese celery and spring onions (sliced), green chillies (sliced), lime and fried shallots.

Prawn Fritters:~

• 1 ¼ cup rice flour
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 2 cups fresh small prawns
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• Oil for frying

Blended & Ground Ingredients:~

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp fennel
• 8 shallots
• 3 garlic
• a little tumeric if you'd prefer

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok on medium heat.
2. Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Fry in drips till brown and crispy. It can be stored in an airtight container when cool.

Enjoy :))

Kueh Talam Pandan

This is an all-time favourite. Easy peasy to make too. I cheated on the pandan part though. Did not have enough pandan leaves so had to settle on the artificial pandan flavouring and added a few drops of green food colouring. My advice, use the natural ones if possible! I didn't quite like the taste of the pandan flavouring that comes in a bottle. 

I'm having some friends over for after dinner kopi2 mak nenek session now. We are going to have these, some curry puffs I made and another mak nenek bringing over bubur kacang hijau with durians. Yumssss...I swear that I will run for an extra 20 mins on the treadmill tomorrow morning. [Yeah right!]

Ciao babehs! Mak Nenek gotta put the kettle on now...

Updated: A few sweethearts requested for this particular recipe. So here it is! Would love to hear your comments/feedbacks on this recipe. Selamat mencuba!

• LOWER LAYER (PANDAN LAYER):*
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 1/4 cups rice flour
• 1/3 cups plain flour
• 5 1/2 cwn pandan juice (10 helai daun pandan)
• 1 1/2 tbs alkaline water (air kapur)

• UPPER LAYER (COCONUT LAYER):**
• 1/3 cups rice flour
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 4 tbsp corn flour
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Mix well all ingredients in *. 
2. Cook over low heat till sugar dissolves.
3. Pour into greased mould and steam over medium heat for 15-20 mins.
4. Do the same to ingredients in **. Pour onto the first layer and steam again for another 15-20mins.
5. Let it cool thoroughly before serving.

Senang kan???? Cuba la..jangan lupe share experience tau... tata

Kueh Koci Labu

The traditional Kueh Koci with a twist! I've halved the glutinous flour portion and added mashed pumpkin to it to form the dough. Nice texture, I must say! Lovely tint of orange too. Unlike the full glutinous flour version, this recipe gives a less starchy or should I say, 'gummy' dough. So sape2 yang pakai gigi palsu boleh la makan tanpa ragu2 dan was2!

 

I'm not baking this weekend...lepak mood! Next on the list would be...Apam Beras or Ma Kuo Kueh. So, stay tuned...;)

 

ps. I will do an Indonesian version of this Kueh Koci, the Kueh Bugis, soon. Some time...soooooonnnn :D

 

xoxo

Relocating from Wordpress...

Earlier this week, I started a blog of the same using wordpress.com but had decided to run over to blogspot as I had difficulties in making it look 'nice'! Heh! 

Last night, when I wanted to change the template to a new theme downloaded from the web, I was instructed to upload the zip file via an FTP account, create a folder in the client account with a given example....I re-read the first instruction and went berzerk! What's an FTP account la wei???? After like 5 minutes, which seems like forever to a non-whatever-account-savvy Mak Nenek...I gave up and went out for teh tarik with girl friends! Too difficult! :(

So, here I am, in blogspot.com. After tweaking the template for a bit, I have decided to post my maiden entry...not like a virgin la...been here before but not a regular contributor, so I kinda forgot the names, passwords of all my other blogs. Haha...

Oh well, my next task will be to transfer my recent entries from the Wordpress hosting to blogspot. It should not be that bad. Right? Copy and paste je kot....let's see....