Rendang Beef

Holidays are here and I have been rather busy, shopping for food, ingredients and cooking and eating (of course).   I would like to wish all foodies Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2011. 

Here is one recipe that I cooked yesterday.  We had friends over for a Christmas get-together. I  cooked my Pak Cham Kai (White cut chicken) served as part of Hainanese Chicken Rice, Rendang Beef and Stir fry seafood with Basil.  All the dishes were very popular with the guests.  For dessert, there was fresh fruit and konnyaku jelly.

Ingredients:

1 kg beef sliced (you can also use chicken or pork)

3 tbsp belacan

4 tbsp curry powder

1/2 cup chili paste (or sambal)
1 can coconut milk, 400 ml

5-6 daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaf)

1/2 cup grated coconut, roasted

2 tbsp sugar

Salt

3-4 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

1.     Heat stock pot with oil at medium heat.  Add in belacan, chili paste, curry powder and kaffir lime leaves. Fry for 5-10 minutes till fragrant.

2.     Add in meat and coconut milk. Simmer the meat for 20 minutes or until the oil floated on the surface. Add in salt and sugar.

3.     Simmer for another 10 minutes or until the gravy become thickened. Add in grated roasted coconut. Keep stirring to prevent burning.

4.      Remove from heat. Serve with rice.

P.S.  You can also serve the Rendang Beef as part of Nasi Lemak.

        If you are using chicken with bones, you will need to cook longer.

        For vegetarians, you can use straw mushrooms.  Cooking time will

        then be shorter.

Fried Sweet Potato Balls

also known as Fan Shi Tan

This is another of my favourite kuihs.  There is this stall in Petaling Street which sells only this kuih.  I can still smell the hot oil on a hot, steamy afternoon.  (Which is generally always the weather in Kuala Lumpur).  Here is my version of Fan Shi Tan

Ingredients

200g orange color sweet potato flesh

120g glutinous rice flour

80g   sugar

80g   grated coconut

¼      tsp sea salt

Method

Skin and cut sweet potatoes into slices.  Steam until tender, about 20 minutes.

Mash sweet potatoes.

Place mashed sweet potatoes in a large bowl.  Add in glutinous rice flour, sugar, grated coconut and sea salt.  Knead lightly to form a smooth dough.

Pinch a small piece of dough and roll it in your palm to form a smooth ball.

Heat oil in heavy pan over moderate heat.  When oil is hot enough, put potato balls in, a few at a time.  Fry until golden.  Remove and drain on paper towels.

 

Serve immediately.  Enjoy.

Chinese Boiled Chicken

Pak Cham Kai

(literal translation from Cantonese : White Cut Chicken)

This is a recipe for chinese boiled chicken or in Cantonese – pak cham kai.  Boiled chicken meat is called for in many other recipes, and is a wonderful basic recipe to have for many uses.  You can use this for Hainanese Chicken Rice, for example.

I like to use free range chicken or corn fed chicken.  The flesh is juicier and firmer when cooked.  I also like to have my chickens yellow in colour.  It makes it so much tempting and mouth watering.  And so, I add a teaspoon of turmeric powder.

Turmeric is one of nature's most powerful healers. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin.  Recent research has revealed that turmeric is a natural wonder, proving beneficial in the treatment of many different health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer's disease.

Ingredients

1 chicken, free range

10 cups of water

2 tbsp salt

1 tsp turmeric powder

Method

Wash the chicken under cold running water.  Remove any excess fat.  Rub chicken inside with about 2 tbsp of salt.  Rinse again under cold running water and drain.

In a heavy pot, put in 10 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add in turmeric powder.

Place the chicken in the pot, chest facing down.  Make sure the water level is higher than the chicken and the chicken is totally submerged.  Turn chicken over midway.  Boil for about 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the chicken simmer  in the poaching liquid for another 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot, drain well, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Serve with ginger and shallots dipping sauce.

P.S.  Chicken can also be chilled.  You can add in some Chinese cooking 

         wine. Sliced chicken, add in the cooking wine. Refrigerate for at least

         2 hours before serving.

         I also use this chicken when I do Hainanese Chicken Rice.  For the rice,

         I cheat a little.  I  buy a packet of Hainanese chicken rice paste.

Tom Yam Meehoon

This is a variation of Meehoon Siam, which I absolutely adore.  It was one of my staples for breakfast.  Meehoon is a Malay term for rice vermicelli.  We used to have Meehoon Siam and curry chicken for birthday parties and get -togethers. 

Here is my version of Tom Yam Meehoon (Rice Vermicelli with Tom Yam Paste).

TOMYAM MEEHOON

(Rice Vermicelli with tomyam paste)

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic

2 big onions, sliced

50g dried prawns

1/2 cup sliced fish cake

500g mee hoon (rice vermicelli)

3 tablespoons tom yam paste, mixed with a little water

½ packet bean sprouts/tau gay

sugar to taste

For garnishing

3 pieces dried tauhu, (bean curd) cut into strips

2 eggs, beaten and made into omelette, cut into strips

a bunch of chives, cut into 2 inches lengths

Method

1. Heat oil and fry garlic.

2. Add sliced onions, dried prawns and fry for a while.

3. Add fish cake and meehoon and stir well to mix.  Add tomyam paste mixed with some water and stir well.

4. Add bean sprouts, half of  the dried tauhu, omelette, chives and sugar. Fry for a couple of minutes. Stir well to mix.

5. Garnish with remaining tauhu, omelette and chives.   Enjoy!

P.S.  Add more tomyam sauce, pepper and soy sauce if you wish

        to make it spicier.

        You can also garnish with sliced chilli and sliced mushrooms

        for a fancier look.
        You can also add prawns and calamari to make it

        non vegetarian.

Kuih Dadar

Kuih dadar which is also known as Kuih Ketayap is a pandan crepe with coconut filling.   The crepe itself is absolutely yummy on its own.  With the sweet coconut filling inside, that makes it doubly yummy.

Here is my version of it.

Ingredients:

To make Pandan Juice
5 pandan leaves, chopped
3-4 tablespoons water

For the Crepe Batter
120g all purpose flour, sifted
1 egg
300ml light milk (or coconut milk)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon pandan juice

For the Filling
100g Gula Melaka (Malaysian palm sugar), chopped into pieces
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pandan leaf, knotted
100 ml water
5 oz grated coconut
1 tsp corn starch

Method:

Combine the pandan leaf and water in a blender and blend for a minute. Squeeze to extract the juice or strain through a fine sieve. Set aside.

Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and crack in the egg. Gradually add in  the salted milk (or coconut milk) and 3 tablespoons pandan juice.  When all milk is added, whisk to remove all lumps.  Set aside.

Cut the palm sugar into smaller pieces and combine with the sugar, pandan leaf and water in a pot. Cover over a medium flame until sugar dissolves. Add in the coconut and corn starch and continue to cook for a few minutes. Set aside.

Heat up a shallow frying pan over a low flame and grease lightly with oil. Pour 2 tablespoons of the batter in the preheated pan  and swirl the pan to coat it to form a thin crepe. 

Cook both sides on low heat till cooked. When the crepe is cooked, transfer it onto a chopping board or plate.

Place 2 heaped teaspoons of filing on the crepe and roll it up like a spring roll.

Serve immediately.  Enjoy !

P.S.  You can opt not to put pandan colouring, leaving it original pancake colour. Most foodies are used to green colour as it is more authentic.

Ondeh-ondeh

I first learned how to do this ondeh-ondeh way back in home science class in secondary school.  My alma mater was Convent Peel Road, Kuala Lumpur.  I remember being so impressed when the little balls floated up and ta-da, it was cooked!

There are many versions of this kuih.  Some people favour using glutinous rice flour, others like myself prefer the original version using sweet potato and glutinous rice flour.  I have tried both versions and have found that the glutinous rice flour only ondeh-ondeh is a bit chewy.

I try not to use too much colouring in my food.  Authentic ondeh-ondeh is small little green coloured balls filled with finely chopped palm sugar.  My favourite version is orange coloured (natural colour from orange sweet potato).  And of course, coated in lots and lots of grated coconut.  So sinful.

In Sydney, it is very hard to get fresh grated coconut.  I have been using the dessicated coconut.  There is actually not much difference.

Ingredients

500 gm steamed and mashed sweet potato
150 gm glutinous rice flour
20 gm all purpose flour
100 gm gula melaka (palm sugar), finely chopped
100 gm dessicated coconut
A pinch of salt

Method

Steam and mash sweet potato. 

Mix mashed sweet potato with glutinous rice flour.  Knead lightly.  Add a little flour if dough is too sticky.

Take one portion of dough and roll into a small ball.  Flatten slightly.  Fill center of flattened ball with palm sugar.  Close up the ball and roll slightly to make it round.  Follow same procedure for the remaining dough.

Bring a pot of water to boil.  Put a few balls into water.  When the balls float to the surface, remove them with slotted spoon.  Shake off excess water. 

Roll the balls in coconut and serve immediately.   Enjoy!


P.S. 

I have re-tested my earlier recipe and tweaked it slightly.  Here are some latest photos.

It is better to put in a few balls at any one time.  Otherwise you will be stressed out when all the balls float up at the same time and you have to remove them individually and roll them in coconut.  Unless you can work at the speed of lightning, believe me, it is rather stressful.  Takes the joy out of making this delicious kuih.

Please make sure you cut up the sweet potato into chunks rather than steaming them whole.  The time taken is less and the sweet potato softens so much faster.

Kuih Lapis

Thank you to all foodies who have read my blog.  It is exciting to know there are like minded people out there who share my love of food.  For those who are not Malaysian, I would like to explain that the word "kuih" or sometime spelled "kueh" is a Malay term for cake.  It can be loosely translated  to mean as sweet or desserts.

Today, I would like to share my version of Kuih Lapis.  Translated it means "Layered cake".  We sometimes called it Nine Layer Cake as originally it has 9 layers.  You can make as many layers and colours as you like.  The sky's the limit.

KUIH LAPIS

Ingredients

150g rice flour

30g mung bean flour (green bean flour)

560 ml coconut milk

Syrup

170g castor sugar

1 pandan leaf (knotted)

150ml water

¼ tsp salt

A few drops of red colouring

Method

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan.  Add in pandan leaf and  bring to boil.  Strain and cool.

Mix rice flour and mung bean flour in mixing bowl.  Add coconut milk gradually.  Leave aside for 40 minutes.  Add in salt and mix well.

Stir in syrup.  Strain batter to ensure free from lumps.

Divide batter into 2 batches. Add in colouring (just enough to make it pink).

2^nd batch – leave it uncoloured.

Greased an 8 inch tray, put in steamer for 5 minutes.

Pour 4 fl oz (1/2 cup) of pink batter into heated tray.  Cover and steam for 5 minutes or till set over medium heat.

Pour 4 fl oz (1/2 cup) of uncoloured batter over pink layer.  Cover and steam for 5 minutes.

Repeat alternate colours till batter is finished.  For the last layer, add in more red colouring to make it darker.

After final layer (red), steam kuih lapis for another 15 minutes.  Make sure to open lid to release steam midway.  Cover and finish steaming.

Let kuih lapis cool for at least 6-8 hours before cutting.

P.S.   You can cut into diamond shapes or rectangle shapes.  For this 
          recipe,    it  takes about an hour to complete steaming.  The more        
          layers  you have, the longer it will take. 

P.S2  You can add more colours.  Just divide the batter equally and add the  
           colouring.

Pulut Inti

Another of my favourite kuih is Pulut Inti.  It brings memories of childhood where these lttle parcels of joy are sold at the wet markets.

 

Pulut Inti (Glutinous Rice with Coconut Topping)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups glutinous rice – wash and soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight
1/2 tsp salt
150 ml water coconut milk
1 pandan leaf, tied into a knot

Coconut filling:

120g palm sugar or gula Melaka
4 tbsp water
1 pandan leaf, knotted
1 1/2 cup grated coconut

Banana leaves – 10-12 pieces - cut into 4 x 6 inch, blanched in hot water to soften for folding.

Method :-

Drain the rice in a strainer. Place the rice in a heatproof dish. Mix in the salt and coconut milk to the rice. Add pandan leaf in the rice and steam over high heat till it is cooked for about 20-25 minutes. Check from time to time and stir. Remove from heat.

For the coconut filling,  dissolve sugars in the 4 tbsp of water in a saucepan. Simmer until liquid starts to thicken and become syrupy. Add grated coconut and pandan leaf. Cook till the mixture is soft and dry about 10 to 15 minutes. Most of the liquid should have evaporated. Remove from heat and let it cool.

To assemble, place about 1 1/2 tablespoon cooked glutinous rice on the center of the banana leaf. Flatten it slightly in the middle. Add a generous teaspoon of filling on top of the rice.

Fold both ends of the leaf over the kuih; ensure that the top is slightly open to show a bit of the filling. Tuck both ends under the packet.

Banana leaves are not plentiful in Sydney.  If you cannot find any, just serve on little plates or bowls.

Sweet Potato Angkoo

This is my very first blog.  Not really sure how to go about it, but here goes.

My main reason to start this blog is I really love food.  My motto is "Live to Eat", definitely not "Eat to Live".  Having migrated to Sydney from beautiful KL, where food is so easily available, I sometimes crave for authentic Malaysian food. In Sydney, there are many Malaysian restaurants but sad to say, the food is sub-standard and definitely not authentic.

The recipes I post will be derived from a variety of sites/blogs but with a bit of tweaking and much testing. 

One of my favourite kuih is the Angkoo Kuih which is almost always red/orange in colour with mung bean filling.  I saw this Sweet Potato Ku from another blog and amended it slightly.  Angkoo mould is practically non existent in Sydney.  I am using the konnyaku jelly mould for this sweet potato ku with no preservatives or colouring.  Here is how it look before steaming.

And after steaming.

SWEET POTATO KU                                                                                                        

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

150 g orange sweet potato - steamed and mashed (keep warm)

150 g glutinous rice flour

50 ml water

¼  tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
Pre-cooked cooking oil for glazing
Baking paper - cut into rounds

Filling of your choice

Method:
Sieve glutinous flour with salt.

Add warm mashed sweet potato to the glutinous flour and add in the oil and water a little at a time, knead until a dough forms.  Extra water is to be added only if the dough is too dry. Knead dough well until it is shiny. Rest the dough for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into equal portions to fit mould and roll each into a round ball.  Flatten each ball of dough slightly and add a small ball of filling.  Pinch and seal the edges to enclose the filling.

Spread some oil over the dough and press into a kueh ku mould.  Knock mould lightly to dislodge kueh and place on a piece of baking paper.

Steam kuih over low heat for 10 minutes.  At 5 minutes, uncover the steamer to lower the temperature of the steam otherwise the pattern will be lost if too high heat is used for steaming. Cover and continue to steam until cooked.

Remove from heat and glaze surface with the precooked oil