Baked Malaysian Satay

On Sunday at the last minute I decided to try out this satay recipe that I've seen the night before. I have to say I did not follow the recipe completely due to lack of ingredients. Despite this, the meat turned out satisfying especially it was done in the oven and not bbq.

Chicken satay
Recipe by : Lauren's Kitchen

Ingredients A For Chicken satay :
Makes: 25-30 skewers
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
4 stalks lemongrass ( white part only)

15g ginger
25g galangal
15g turmeric

600g chicken meat
1 tsp salt
2tbsp sugar
1 stick lemon grass (to spread oil on satay while bbq)

Method:
1. Blend all the ingredients (A) . Mix the blended ingredients with chicken , add salt and sugar , combine well . Cover with cling paper and marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hours or even over night if you want.
2.Soak Skewers in water while you are marinating chicken to prevent them to burning.
3. Thread the marinated chicken onto the skewers .
4.Grill it until cook using bbq method / grill in oven (180°c ,10-15min both side) , brush oil on top (both sides) using lemon grass stick .

served with peanut sauce and fresh vegetables

Using the stove to add some smoke flavour

Coconut custard puff / Kaya Puff / Kaya kok / 加央角

Couple of days ago, photo of this Malaysian pastry appeared on my facebook feed. Since there are some left-over baking ingredients from xmas and new year, I couldn't resist baking again!

Kaya literally means rich in Malay ; while in the food dictionary it is known as a type of Coconut custard

Go check out the recipe and step-by-step at My simple food

I'm satisfy with this recipe. with some tweaking :-

1) Butter sold over here is unsalted ; hence, I would add 1/4 tsp of salt to bring the pastry to life.

2) Additional 10 mins. in the oven to further brown the pastry.

Steamed pumpkin cake

Steamed Pumpkin Cake
via Babe in the city KL

Ingredients :-
4 tbsp oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 shallots, chopped
60 g dried prawns, soaked, rinsed and roughly chopped **substitute w anchovy paste
1 pair Chinese sausages, diced **didn't add
200 g minced pork meat ** didn't add
800 g pumpkin, seeded with skin removed will yield about 600 g, coarsely grated
Salt and ground white pepper to taste
Batter (mix them together):
300 g rice flour
60 g tapioca flour
1 litre water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Garnishing:
Spring onion, chopped
Fried shallots
 
Preparation :-
In a fairly large pan or wok, heat oil and fry up chopped garlic and shallots till soft and fragrant. Add dried prawns and continue to stir fry till fragrant. Next add in sausages and minced meat. Stir fry until meat is cooked and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Give the batter a stir before pouring into the stir fried mixture together with the grated pumpkin. Add in salt and pepper. Keep stirring until batter became thick. Taste and adjust seasonings. Turn off the heat.
Pour mixture into a 22 cm square or even round tray. Even the surface with the back of a spoon or spatula. Steam on high heat for about 45 minutes. The surface should be quite firm. Remove and leave to cool completely.
Garnish the cake by scattering chopped spring onion and fried shallots on the surface before slicing. Serve with garlic chilli sauce.

Savoury Chinese 5-spice doughnuts { Ham Chim Paeng }

Deep-fried savoury doughnut is typical hawker fare back home; which is usually consumed in the morning or during tea.time. To make this deep-fried savoury doughnuts at home has been on my to-try list for the longest time! I'm so glad that it has been crossed-off from the list.


Please visit My Kitchen Snippets for the recipe.

Homemade rice noodles in sweet sauce a.k.a. chee cheong fun

My 2nd time making rice noodles. The last time was at least 5 years ago! Still have not mastered the method; but am still glad that I've decided to try the recipe again.

Please go to Lily's blog  for full recipe and instructions.

Steamed coconut milk Glutinous rice and custard { Kuih Seri Muka } (Vanilla)

Kuih Seri Muka
serves : 8-10 pax
Base :-
1 cup Glutinous Rice, washed and soaked over night
150ml coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt

Coconut custard
2 egg yolks
3 Tbsp sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
2.5 Tbsp plain flour
250 ml coconut milk

Method

1) Wash and soak glutinous rice the night before you intend to serve the "kuih"
2) Get the steamer ready.
3) Drain soaked glutinous rice, mix in the coconut milk and salt. Mix well. Pour into a greased square steaming pan**. I used about .........., which I think makes the base too thick. Next time I'll use a slightly bigger pan for thinner layer of rice.
4) Steamed for 30 mins. or until the rice is cooked. Do not fluff the rice, just leave it as is.
5) Make the custard by placing 2 egg yolks in sauce pan. Beat in the sugar and add a little coconut milk and slowly beat in the plain flour, ensuring no lumps. when you get a smooth paste, then add in the rest of the coconut milk.
6) Cook the custard until thicken, then pour onto the glutinous rice base. Place the square pan back to the steamer and steam for 15 mins. If it is not quite set, steam a bit longer. When it is wobbly, remove steamer from heat and let the rice in for another 10 mins. before removing from steamer.
7) After 10 mins. remove from steamer and let it cool fully so that the custard to set fully.
8) Serve at room temperature. If you have left over , keep in the fridge and steam lightly when you want to eat again.

Check out the video if you're still unclear http://www.abc.net.au/tv/pohskitchen/stories/s2924623.htm

Sticky Yellow Rice {Nasi Kunyit}

Sticky rice or Glutinous Rice is commonly featured in SE Asian cuisine. It could be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. As the rice could be quite rich, we consume only in small quantity, and even on special occasions.
I followed the easy instructions given in the video below. I think I added too much water; hence, a bit too sticky. Since I didn't have a proper steamer, the result is satisfactory for now.

Yellow Sticky Rice

For soaking overnight :-
Glutinous rice
turmeric powder, to taste
tamarind pieces (sub. with lemon juice)

Seasoning
white pepper corns (sub. with white pepper powder)
coconut milk (see video)

1) Clean and soak rice in soaking ingredients with enough water to cover rice, overnight.
2) Drain rice, place rice on steaming dish. Heat up steamer.
3) Cook rice as per video instructions.

Soy milk pudding (Tofu fa)

Soy milk pudding (Tofu fa)
serves : 1 - 2 pax

Ingredients
200ml soy milk
30ml cold water
1/2 Tbsp powdered gelatine

Sugar syrup
3-4 Tbsp sugar , or to taste
1/2 cup water
few slices of ginger, optional

Steps
1) Heat soy milk gently, do not boil. I heat the milk for 1:30 mins. in the microwave. Set aside while you get ready the gelatine
2) Put double boiler on stand by while sprinkle powdered gelatine over cold water and let it sit for 5 mins. untouched. After 5 mins. heat gelatine over double boiler until gelatine dissolves. Do not let it boil.
3) Mix together gelatine and heated soy milk. Let it set in the fridge for at least 6 hrs. or over night.
4) Cook ingredients for syrup. Serve soy milk pudding with either cold or hot syrup.

Spicy pickled vegetables { acar }

Whenever I have excess cauliflower I like to make this pickled salad to accompany meat dishes.
To learn about its origin, please read here .
As I intend to eat the salad on the same day that it's prepared, I didn't follow the usual process of pickling. What I did was ...

Spicy "pickled" vegetables
Ingredients :-
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Carrots
ginger
garlic
vinegar
sugar
turmeric
fish sauce
spicy Hungarian chili paste (erős pista)
sesame seeds, toasted , for sprinkling


Method
1) Blanch the cut vegetable in boiling water. Start off with carrot (longer to tender) followed by cauliflower and finally cucumber. Do not over cooked as you want a little bite to the vegetables.
Set aside to drain off excess liquid on a kitchen towel. Put aside some of the boiling water to wet the salad later.
2) Grate ginger and garlic. Heat a little oil in a pan and saute the grated ginger and garlic. Once fragrant, sprinkle a pinch of turmeric and stir a bit. Next add in the spicy Hungarian chili paste, sugar to your taste and few dashes of fish sauce (not too much , as the sauce is very salty). Set aside until assembling salad.
3) Place drained vegetable into salad bowl, splash a few dashes of vinegar, and add in the cooked spiced mixture . Coat salad evenly. Taste to check the balance of sweet and sour. If needed add the water earlier.
4) Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving

Creamy Masala Chicken

This taste rather authentic considering the simple list of ingredients, a definite new favourite curry recipe for me. I used the left-over for samosa and wow, its just lovely!

Creamy masala chicken
Recipe from BBC Good Food

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts , cubed
3cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
2 garlic clove , chopped
1 tsp mild chilli powder
2 tbsp fresh coriander , chopped {replaced with parsley}
juice of 1 lime {replaced with lemon}
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion
1 red chili
1 tsp ground turmeric
284ml carton double cream {replaced with 150ml of coconut milk}
juice of ˝ lemon
basmati rice and naan bread, to serve

additional spice - Hungarian paprika

Method
Put the chicken, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, coriander, lime juice and 1 tbsp of oil in a bowl. Stir, and set aside. Chop the onion, and seed and chop the chilli.
Heat a large shallow pan. Tip in the chicken and marinade and fry for about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a pan and fry the onion and chilli for 3-4 minutes until just soft. Add the turmeric and stir fry for 1 minute. Lower the heat, pour in the cream and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add the chicken and simmer for 5 minutes, or until cooked. Season and stir in the lemon juice. Serve with rice and naan bread.


I served the curry with simple Sambal made with

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium-sized Onion
a touch of erős pista (hunagrian ground chilli)
a touch of fish sauce
sugar (to taste)

Roti Canai (prata)

Reading WokandSpoon's review on the roti canai recipe ignite my crave for this popular Malaysian breakfast (or lunch or dinner - you can find it 24/7 at any Indian muslim stalls).
.
The outcome this time round is definitely encouraging than my first (recipe from Amy Beh; which was tough and flourry). Tastewise, it's near to the original. Texture wise, I should certainly practice and improve the kneading technique on the remaining 3 dough in the fridge. Compare mine with this, not bad right?

Best eaten with your favourite curries or dhal.

Fish head noodles 魚頭米

I hardly ordered this at hawker stall back home. - not more than 10 occasions in my entire life! Though I like the taste, I rarely crave for it. The strangest tins was that I requested my sis to source for the recipe the first thing I arrived here. In fact this was the second malaysian recipe that I tried out in my kitchen. Right now it's one of our fave. soup recipes, wholesome and comforting.. just reminding me of home.

Verdict : Even with some ingredients substituted, I dare say the taste is quite near to the original.



Fish head Noodles
(Serves 3-4person)

Ingredients:
1kg fish head (cut into pieces and seasoned with salt & pepper) *used frozen fish meat instead
100g young ginger slice thinly
150g rice vermicelli (soak in water till soft before blanching) *used angel hair pasta or spaghetti

(A)
3-4 tomatoes(sliced)
150g salted cabbage (Ham choi) shredded and soak in water for 20 minutes *sub. with Hungarian pickled cabbaged added (soaked) with salt

(B)
1/2tsp pepper
1 sachet ikan bilis granules *sub. with Hungarian fish stock granules or plain chicken stock

1 litre hot water
salt to taste
100ml evaporated milk *sub. with UHT milk / full cream

A few stalk chinese parsely & spring onion for garnishing

Method
Blanch rice vermicelli in hot water until soft.

Deep fried fish head pieces until golden brown and crispy.

In a clean wok, add 2 tbsp oil fry young ginger until it's fragrant ;add (A)&(B) allow to simmer. Add fish head and cook rice vermicelli for 5 minutes when boiling, pour in evaporated milk. Garnish and serve immediately.

Asian Jam

"Kaya" a type of jam made of eggs, coconut milk and sugar. The word "kaya" means "rich" in Malay. Not sure how the name was derived. All I remember was as much as we (siblings) love the jam, we dread whenever mom decides to cook it. It takes ages to thicken to the consistency required. As mom gets older, she stopped making it and anyway, its easily available at the markets these days.

welll, I finally got into action in trying this recipe. I was ready for some serious hand exercise. Surprising, it only took me 2 hours all in to achieve the texture required ;)


Eat it like any jam ; however, it is best with toasted bread, combined with magarine (or a slap of cold butter) a.k.a Hainanese toast. Try it and you'll love it.

Recipe from here

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup sugar *too sweet for my taste
1 1/3 cup coconut milk (fresh / canned)
5 eggs (XL size) *fresh

Beat eggs and sugar till well blended.
Cook in a slow cooker over low heat.
When slightly thickened, pour in coconut milk in a thin stream.
Stir well until liquid mixture is thick and gooey.
The color should have changed from yellow to a darker shade in 1-2 hours of constant stirring

Rice in cream

That's the translated name of "nasi lemak", the supposedly national dish of Malaysia. Nasi lemak is a dish of rice cooked in coconut cream/milk. Fried anchovies, egg, spicy chili sauce (sambal),peanuts and cucumber are the basic condiments to go with the rice. Of course you have the choice of more side dishes.

Believe it or not, this rich dish is one of Malaysian's favourite breakfasts! The breakfast version is lighter, with simpler condiments. It's usually not cooked at home as it's available at hawker stalls/restaurants and road side stalls at anytime of day. Some of the sellers are so famous that many don't mind travelling far just to sample their favourite food ;)

Enough of intro., already. The recipe I'm sharing is going to be for the spicy chili sauce that goes with the rice. ..pulling this photo from the archive made me crave the medley of creamy rice and spicy *drool* I can't wait to taste the authentic ones back home ..

Spicy Eggs (Acar Telur)
More like a sambal, the thick gravy is sweet, sourish and spicy. It is very appetising and takes off the heavy edge from the nasi lemak.

Ingredients
5 eggs, hard boiled

Ground ingredients:
5 cloves garlic
5 shallots
1 big onion
2cm knob ginger

2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cili boh*
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Method
1. Shell the hard-boiled eggs and heat enough oil in a wok to deep fry the eggs until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

2. Blend, or pound the ground ingredients to a paste.

3. Heat oil in a wok and saute the ground ingredients until fragrant.

4. Add the cili boh. Fry until aromatic before adding the eggs, vinegar and tomato ketchup. Season to taste with sugar and salt.

*dried chili pound into paste