Prawn Toast

This one was for breakfast. We had some slices of breads at the verge of expiry. So, not to waste anything, I did this. They may look like 'roti telur' but I added prawns for flavour. Kakak loves this one very much.

Bahan-bahan

1. Roti - 6 keping

2. Telur - 2 biji

3. Udang - 10-12 ekor (saiz sedang), buang kulit, basuh dan toskan

4. Garam - secukup rasa

5. Lada sulah - secukup rasa

Cara-cara

- Masukkan semua bahan kecuali roti ke dalam blender dan blend sehingga konsistensinya menjadi seperti 'kaya'. Ia akan lebih mudah disapu pada roti.

- Panaskan skillet dan lenserkan sedikit minyak masak.

- Sapukan pada roti, on one side. Letakkan di atas skillet panas, bahagian bersapu ke bawah.

- Sementara bahagian bawahnya masak, sapukan pula bahagian atas.

- Setelah bahagian bawah masak, pusingkan roti untuk memasak satu bahagian lagi.

- Hidangkan panas-panas.

Lempeng Makaroni & Udang

Having small kids at home means to constantly have food on the table. When hunger strike, they barely know how to be patience (at least my kids lahh..)

Prepared this for tea yesterday.

Bahan-bahan

1. Makaroni - 3 cawan, rebus dan toskan

2. Udang - 1 1/2 cawan, basuh, tos dan potong dadu

3. Bawang besar - 1/2 labu, potong dadu

4. Cili besar - 1 biji, buang biji, potong kecil

5. Daun bawang - 1-2 batang, potong kecil

6. Kiub ikan bilis - 1

7. Telur - 2 biji

8. Tepung gandum - 2 sudu besar

9. Sedikit air

10. Garam - jika perlu, secukup rasa

Cara-cara

- Campurkan semua bahan dan gaul rata. Tambah garam jika tidak cukup masin.

- Panaskan kuali dengan sedikit minyak.

- Gorengkan kedua-dua belah hingga kekuningan.

I did 2 versions. For the kids, I omitted cili and scallion.

Sambal Ikan Bilis

Semalam buat Nasi Lemak for lunch. To accompany the rice, saya buat Sambal Ikan Bilis. Kalau balik Losong (satu kawasan di Kuala Terengganu yang famous dengan keropok), mak mertua saya akan buat sambal yang agak berkuah, siap dengan telur rebus keras, ikan bilis dan juga ikan aye (tongkol) singgang. Boleh berulang-ulang makan. Memang sedap. Di KL susah nak cari ikan tongkol hitam (which my MIL uses). Yang ada pun ikan tongkol 'kurik'.

Bahan-bahan

1. Bawang kisar (bawang merah, bawang putih + bawang besar -> I always keep a tub in my fridge)

2. Halia - hiris

3. Bawang besar - hiris melintang

4. Cili boh

5. Asam keping

6. Gula

7. Garam - Saya suka guna garam kasar. Rasa masakan lagi umphh.

8. Telur rebus keras - buang kulit

9. Ikan bilis - basuh dan toskan

10. Minyak untuk menumis

Cara-cara

- Panaskan minyak.

- Tumis bawang kisar dan halia hingga naik bau.

- Masukkan cili boh dan tumis lagi.

- Masukkan gula dan garam kasar, tumis lagi hingga agak garing

- Masukkan sedikit air dan biarkan mendidih sekejap.

- Masukkan bawang besar, didihkan sehingga agak layu.

- Masukkan ikan bilis dan telur rebus. Didihkan sekejap.

- Masukkan asam keping.

- Masak sehingga agak kering.

Nasi Minyak Tokmi & Gulai Nasi Minyak

These, were what we had for Eidul Adha.. Although we did not get to go balik either my or Tebby's kampung, this Nasi Minyak & its accompanying gulai, surely brought us back.. tho not physically. And I know I accomplish something when Tebby commented 'just like Mi does it'.

I've shared the recipe of Nasi Minyak TokMi here. Last time I did it with Gulai Ala Akhni. This time I made the real Gulai Nasi Minyak. However, as I learned this from my MIL, there's no specific measurement. She simply 'main campak-campak and agak-agak only'. So your judgement is important. But I try to share for about a kg of beef. Here goes the recipe..

Ingredients

1. Meat (I used beef) - Cut into medium sized chunks. Wash and drain.

2. Fried shallot (bawang goreng) - You need quite a lot, for a of beef, you're gonna need about 6-8 tbsp of this. If you're too lazy to do this yourself (like me, but let's call it convenience), you can use the ready-made fried shallot. So far, the best I found is 'Maju Limbat'. Bought it in Pasar Sungei Besi.

3. Rempah Gulai Nasi Minyak - 6-8 tbsp. This, was given by my inlaws. Cap Dayang Suri. I don't know where to get it here. I always got my supply back from Terengganu.

4. Susu pekat manis - 1/2 of small can

5. Susu cair - 1/2 - 3/4 of small can

6. Bawang besar - blend

7. Bawang merah - blend

6 & 7 should come to about 6-8 tbsp

8. Sos tomato - 6-8 tbsp

9. Cili boh - 4-6 tbsp

10. Bawang putih - 2 ulas, hiris

11. Bawang meah - 2 biji, hiris

12. Daun pandan - 2 helai

13. Minyak sapi - 2-3 tbsp MIL advises us to always use BBQ brand

14. Kulit kayu manis, bunga lawang, bunga cengkih, pelaga

Cara-cara

- Mix item 1-9 and leave to marinate for 1-2 hours.

- Panaskan minyak sapi.

- Tumis item item 14 hingga naik bau diikuti dengan item 10 - 12.

- Masukkan bahan yang telah diperap.

- Biarkan hingga menggelegak sedikit dan air agak kering.

- Tambah air dan garam dan biarkan mendidih hingga masak. (anggaran masa 45-1.5 jam, baru elok empuk)

This is the rempah btw. It comes in plastic-packaging. I transfered the content into a glass jar and cut off its label and pasted it here. Senang nak refer what else can be done with it!

Udang Ala Mamak

This, was done by Tebby. Haven't got the chance to ask him what the ingredients are. Obviously he used lemongrass.

Tebby's Nasi Ayam

Tebby is d*** good at making Nasi Ayam. It sent me eating lunch way before lunch time!

Agar-agar Telur 'Nnisang Kerek'

Agar-agar Ikan, the kids called it. Much to their delight.

The Kelantanese call these 'Nise' as opposed to orang Terengganu - 'Nnisang'

Terengganu people have this inclination to use 'nnisang kerek' when making porridge - namely Bubur Jagung, Bubur Gandum or even as one of the ingredients when making their Gula Ikang Aye (Gulai Ikan Tongkol) to be eaten with yummy Nasi Dagang. Kinda weird when I refer the Terengganu people as 'they' when I myself have blended (hey, I'm married to a man from there) with them.

I remember asking my FIL to bring along some 'kerek' of that 'nnisang' and, like always, he brought more than I asked for. If I requested for just 3, he'd bring along like 7 or 8. This 'manisan' come in round flat disc, around 1/2 inch thick. For those who happen to have have the experience mandi di telaga, you might know that round cement mould stack onto one another to make a telaga. Those are called 'kerek' in my kampung. So I guess that Nnisang Kerek's kerek, refers to that shape (kot - just my assumption) I still have a few discs in my fridge. The other day, I did agar-agar with that.

Bahan-bahan

1. Dried agar-agar strips - soak 1/2 hour and clean

2. Daun pandan

3. Nnisang kerek

4. Gula pasir

5. Air

6. Telur - beat till stiff

Cara-cara

- Cook nnisang kerek in a bit of water until fully dissolve.

- Add water to agar-agar strip and boil till dissolve.

- Add dissolved nnisang kerek (strain through sieve as you do this). Add a bit more of gula pasir if needed. Let to boil a while.

- Add beaten egg and stir until well mixed.

- Strain into mould and leave to cool. Better still, put into fridge.

Ayam Sos Tiram

weekend lepas kononnya nak memasak. buka-buka freezer, alamak.. ada udang dengan chicken breast aje. nak pegi membeli, malas lah pulak. sudahnya masak ajelah apa yang ada. udang saya masak seperti entry sebelum ni. ayam pulak saya buat AYAM SOS TIRAM.

Bahan-bahan:

1. 1 1/2 Dada ayam - potong serong setebal kira-kira 1/2cm, basuh, tos dan dengan menggunakan tuala dapur, keringkan sedikit air daripada potongan ayam

2. 1 biji telur

3. 4-5 titik sos Worchestershire

5. Tepung jagung

6. 5 ulas bawang putih - hiris nipis

7. Halia - hiris nipis

8. 1/2 biji bawang besar - hiris melintang

9. 2 sudu besar sos tiram - dibancuh dengan 1/2 cawan air

10. 1/2 kiub ikan bilis

11. Garam - jika perlu

Cara-cara

Penyediaan ayam

- Pecahkan telur dalam mangkuk, kacau perlahan.

- Masukkan sos Wochestershire, kacau sebati

- Masukkan potongan ayam dalam bancuhan telur tadi dan gaulkan.

- Angkat ayam dan gaulkan dengan tepung jagung (tak perlu bancuh dengan air) sehingga 'well coated'.

- Goreng hingga kekuningan. Goreng sedikit demi sedikit bagi mengelakkan ayam menjadi 'soggy'.

- Angkat dan toskan.

Penyediaan sos

- Panaskan minyak.

- Tumis bawang putih, halia dan bawang besar hingga naik bau dan 'translucent'.

- Masukkan sos tiram. Biarkan mendidih sedikit.

- Masukkan kiub ikan bilis dan kacau rata.

- Masukkan garam, jika perlu.

- Siram di atas kepingan ayam yang telah digoreng.

- Hidang segera bagi mengekalkan kerangupan ayam.

Jika suka pedas, bolehlah ditambah cili. Anak sulung saya tak makan pedas, jadi saya tak masukkan cili.

Udang Telur Masin

First time saya jumpa masakan ni semasa di Manila, April 2007. Rata-ratanya masyarakat sekitar Metro Manila (where Tebby and I was staying for 6 days) memang suka makan 'ba alif ba ya'. Walaupun kami diberitahu KFCnya halal, dek sebab ragu-ragu maka kami tak sentuh ayam or daging sepanjang di sana. Seafood.. YES!! Sehari dua okaylah. Masuk 4-5 hari, naik jelak jugek! Dalam puluh-puluh kedai makan tu ada jugaklah satu dua yang halal dan diusahakan oleh muslim. Kebanyakannya macam lauk-pauk kita juga - ikan goreng, gulai (gulai nangka pun ada!), telur dadar etc.

Saya makan 'Prawn with Salted Egg' di area Greenhills, tempat menjual mutiara berkualiti (saya pun tak tau bab-bab mutiara ni but kawan-kawan yang saya berikan pearls as souvenirs said so) murah-murah. Di samping itu juga ada banyak fake designers handbags (which I did not buy any selepas memborong di Seoul tahun sebelumnya) dan baju-baju branded yang murah-murahan. Kalau tak mengenangkan imigresennya yang muka masam dan garang sesangat tu, harus saya borong sampai sendat-sendat bag.

Ok, back to the recipe.

Bahan-bahan

Udang - 500gm

Telur Masin - 1 biji

Bawang Putih - 2-3 ulas, hiris

Halia - hiris

Garam - secukup rasa

Gula - secukup rasa

Daun Ketumbar - secukup rasa (boleh tukar dengan daun bawang if you don't like coriander leaves)

Cara-cara

- Gaul udang dengan sedikit garam dan perapkan seketika

- Panaskan sedikit minyak dan goreng udang seketika

- Angkat dan toskan udang

- Tumis bawang putih dan halia hingga naik bau

- Masukkan udang dan goreng lagi

- Pecahkan telur masin dan kacau hingga telur masak dan sebati

- Masukkan separuh dari daun ketumbar

- Perasakan dengan garam dan gula

- Hiaskan dengan baki daun ketumbar

- Hidangkan panas-panas

ps - kalau ada rezeki saya ke Manila lagi, harus saya membeli-belah dengan gamak di Greenhills tu... qada balik...

Chicken Ball

I pre-prepared this for weekdays dinner. To add up to a bowl of soupy noodle.


Ingredients:
2 pcs - chicken breasts, washed, drained, cubed
1 pc - chicken cube, grind into powder or use the powder form straightaway
Corn flour - just a bit
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 slice - wholemeal bread, grind, pan-fried without oil until a little bit crispy


Steps:
Mix all ingredients together. Rub a little bit of cooking oil onto your hands. Make balls while ensuring enough oil while doing it to prevent the balls from sticking together.


and VOILA.....

Garlic Rice With Prawn

Did this recipe last two weekends. I modified the original version, which can be found in About.com: Southern U.S. Cuisine. The result was just right in taste and texture.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups - rice, washed and drained
12 prawns - shelled and cleaned
1 1/2 tbsp - butter
1 tbsp - lemon rind, grated
6 cloves - garlic - minced finely
1 pc - chicken cube
A few strand - coriander leaves
to taste - salt & pepper

Steps:
- Heat butter in a pot.
- Add garlic and lemon rind. Fry for about 10 minutes.
- Add prawn and cook until they turn orangy.
- Add chicken cube and a bit of water. Bring to a boil.
- Add more water and add rice. Add coriander leaves.
- Transfer into a rice-cooker.

Udang Masak Lemak

Bahan-bahan

1. Udang - 1 kg - bersihkan tanpa buang kulit.

2. Bawang putih - 5 ulas - A

3. Bawang merah - 5 ulas - A

4. Kunyit hidup - 1-1.5 cm - A

5. Cili - Secukup rasa - A

6. Serai - 2 batang - titik

7. Asam - 1 keping

8. Santan - 2-4 cawan dari sebiji kelapa

9. Sedikit air

10. Gula & Garam

Cara-cara

- Kisar bahan A bersama-sama.

- Masukkan bahan A dalam periuk dan renehkan sebentar kira-kira 10 minit di atas api kecil.

- Masukkan santan dan biar mendidih. Kacau sekali-sekala bagi mengelakkan bergentel.

- Masukkan udang.

- Masukkan gula dan garam.

- Biarkan mendidih 5-10 minit. Kacau sekali-sekala dan masukkan asam keping.

- Sedia dihidang.

TIPS: -

Biasanya saya beli santan yang siap diperah di pasar-pasar. Semalam bapak saya beli kelapa parut. Min-Alif-Lam-Sin punya pasal, saya masukkan dalam blender dan tambah air. Blendkan sekejap, pastu tapis untuk santannya. Senang kan.

Fried Apple-Pie

There's a McD joint near our house where we can just conveniently drive-thru and place our orders and voila, your dinner. Despite the fast-food campaign huh! Anyway, among all, my kids love McD Apple-Pie. The pastry is rightly between soft and crispy and the filling is just righly sweet and sour. Sold at RM2.90 each and if you add one more, they are 2 for RM3.00! Tambah seposen aje tu. If they can sell it at RM1.50 each, imagine how much they mark-up the price!

Anyway, seeing Kakak and Iman munching their pies dengan gamak sekali, it prompted me to try my own. Furthermore, it's fried and not baked. We still haven't bought an oven yet so whatever experiment needs to exclude one with oven. After googling, I found a few recipes on the net.

Naturally, I did the filling first. It reminded me of the good-old-days when Iman was just a baby. His favorite food was applesauce and the apple pie filling recipe is exactly like applesauce. Only with sugar and it is not blended down into saucy-consistency.

FRIED APPLE-PIE
FILLING
Ingredients
1. Green apples - 3-4 apples, peeled, cored and diced.
2. Sugar - 1/2 to 3/4 cup.
3. Good dash of cinnamon powder.
4. A bit of water

Step-by-Step
- Put apples in a pan and add just a little water. You may not want the filling to be watery as this will 'soak' the pastry.
- Add sugar and cinnamon powder.
- Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduced to low flame. Let to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the apples are a bit soft.
- With a fork, mash some parts of the apples while leaving some part solid. So will have a nice combination of 'saucy' and cruchy apples.
- Let to cool.

The next day, I did the pastry and eventually the pie. It was such a tough task. It's hard to get even simple things done when I have many assistants. Kakak insisted to help so she got her portion of pastry that she rolled, knead and whatever until it turned blackish. Iman, who was already sleepy while I was rolling the dough thin, insisted that he needed to sleep right between my legs. So there was I, with all the 'assistance' I needed!

PASTRY
Ingredients
1. 2 cups of multi-purpose flour (I used the usual tepung cap-sauh).
2. 1/2 cup of shortening/butter (I used shortening and I used 3/4 cup of it).
3. 1 tsp salt
4. 1/2-3/4 cup water

Step-by-Step
- Mix flour with salt. Then 'ayak' (apa omputih cakap ayak ek?).
- Rub shortening with your fingers. (of course the mixture got a bit lumpy)
- Add water and knead into dough (the original recipe said 'use a fork' but I prefer to do with my hands)
- Roll the dough into desired size.
- Lay the filling and fold the pastry.
- Use a bit of water to 'glue' the pastry.

Since it was getting late and Kakak got overly excited with the kneading and rolling and Iman was trying his best to fit and snug himself between my legs, I decided to abort the last operation - frying. Maka jadilah 'frozen food'. Malam semalam baru goreng 2 ketul. (I got 6 pies. Had I not throw away some ingredients, I may have gotten 8. Errr... they are all of many shapes and sizes).

Anyway, a few additional information
1. Shortening
2. Rub method

before & after

Garlic-Butter Stick

Lepas 'kejayaan' saya buat pau, saya try buat CAKOI tapi hasilnya amat menghampakan. Tak gebu langsung. Bila goreng, keras kejung semacam aje. Tebby said I'd better stick to pau dulu. Nanti boleh cuba cakoi lain kali. Saya tak buat proper pau afterwards tapi saya buat something else from adunan pau yang diolah-olah sana sini. So, saya buat GARLIC BUTTER STICK. Saya buat sambal telur as pencicah.

Ingredients
1. Wheat flour – 500gm

2. Dry yeast – 1 ½ teaspoon
3. Corn oil – ¼ cup
4. Sugar – 1/4 cup
5. Salt - 1 tsp
6. Garlic-butter - 2-3 tbs
7. Warm water – 1 ½ cup

Step-by-step
- Mix flour, yeast, salt and corn oil in a bowl.
- Add garlic-butter.
- Dilute sugar in warm water.
- Add water into flour-mix bit by bit.
- Knead into a dough. (Approximately 10 minutes) Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Flatten the dough using a rolling pin, about 1cm thick and cut into strips.
- Fry until golden brown.

Nasi Rempah Ber-Ayam

Hari ni Tebby sakit perut! Dek sebab itu, maka kami makan lunch a bit late than usual. Kena tunggu sakit dia reda sikit then only he could pegi beli barang-barang dapur untuk masak. Mula-mula ingatkan nak buat tomyam (which he does all the time, saya tak pernah buat tomyam seumur hidup!). Lepas tu kami ubah plan, buat anything 'nasi'. Nak buat Nasi Daging dah lewat sebab nak kena rebus daging untuk dapatkan beef-stock. Lama pulak nak tunggu daging empuk. Last-last Nasi Daging jugak tapi guna ayam and I changed a bit bahan-bahannya. Ayam pun cepat sikit nak masak. Tebby makan bertambah lunch tadi. Dia kata sedap. *saya kembang*


Bahan-Bahan
1. Ayam - seekor saiz sedang - cut into big chunks or quarter depending on the pot you have. rebus dengan halia+garam kasar hingga 1/2 masak. asingkan 1/2 untuk ditanak dengan nasi dan 1/2 lagi untuk digoreng.
2. Beras Basmathi - 1 kg - basuh dan toskan.
3. Minyak Sapi - 1 sudu besar
4. Marjerin - 2 sudu besar
5. Serbuk Rempah Kurma (3 sudu besar) + Serbuk Ketumbar (1 sudu besar) - campurkan dengan air dan jadikan pes
6. Bahan Tumis A (Kulit Kayu Manis, Buah Pelaga, Bunga Lawang, Bunga Cengkih)
7. Bahan Tumis B (Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah, Bawang Besar & Halia)
8. Cili Boh - 1 sudu besar
9. Tomato - 3 atau 4 biji - dipotong dadu
10. Daun pandan - 2 atau 3 helai - simpulkan
11. Susu cair - 1 gelas.
12. Garam dan Gula.
13 Bawang goreng dan kismis sebagai hiasan.


Cara-Cara
- Panaskan minyak sapi dan marjerin hingga cair.
- Masukkan bahan tumis A. Tumis hingga naik bau.
- Masukkan bahan tumis B. Tumis hingga agak garing.
- Masukkan cili boh dan sedikit gula. Teruskan menumis hingga pecah minyak.
- Masukkan pes rempah kurma + serbuk ketumar. Tumis hingga garing.
- Masukkan tomato dan kacau hingga layu.
- Masukkan air rebusan ayam, susu cair, daun pandan dan garam. Sesuaikan rasanya. Biar mendidih sedikit.
- Masukkan beras dan ketulan ayam.
- Tanak hingga masak.
- Hidangkan dengan kismis dan bawang goreng.


AYAM GORENG
Gaulkan ayam yang telah direbus dengan garam, kunyit, serbuk paprika dan yoghurt. Perapkan 10-15 minit dan gorengkan.


Hidangkan panas-panas dengan air rebusan ayam yang dihias dengan sedikit potongan daun bawang.


Sebenarnya saya tak tau nak letak nama resepi. Kalau ikut adik-beradiknya Nasi Daging, yang ini patutnya Nasi Ayam, kan. Tapi Nasi Ayam ni dah lain pulak. Masa Tebby dok gaul-gaulkan nasi tadi, senduk patah! Saya kata kita letakkan namanya Nasi Ayam Senduk Patah! Tapi macam tak kena pulak. So, Nasi Rempah Ayam bolehlah kot?

Tebby's Nudle

Simple recipe.

Just prepare the broth beforehand by boiling slowly chunk of beef with garlic and ginger. Once cool, slice the beef and put as garnishing alongside boiled eggs, celery and spring onion. I'm just lovin' it!

Garlic-Butter Prawn

it's been so long since i last update here, huh!

anyway.

ada sesapa suka makan roti bakar disapu dengan garlic-butter? i do! makan tengah panas-panas, best! alkisahnya selalunya saya tak buat sendiri garlic-butter, sekadar beli yang ready-made. dan selalunya mesti dalam kotak square kecik. agak mahal to me. saiznya kecik aje, harganya no less than R5.00 except those yang dah dekat expiry date. last time i was looking for garlic-butter, jumpa malaysian made at much lower price. apalagi, belilah kan. the result was not satisfactorily. agak hambar. sangat tak berlemak. dah beli takkan nak buang kan. makanya duduklah garlic-butter dalam peti sejuk sementara menunggu expiry date. bila dah expired nanti taklah rasa guilty sangat membuang kan. malam semalam tengah dok fikir-fikir nak masak apa, teringat pulak garlic-butter prawn. apalagi, saya gunakan saya garlic-butter tu. that saves me a lot of effort and money. walaupun resepinya ala sempoi yang amat, saya kongsikan juga di sini..

Ingredients
1. udang sederhana besar (saya guna yang kecik aje)
2. garlic-butter
3. garam

Step-By-Step
- bersihkan udang. buang kulit, tinggalkan bahagian ekor sahaja. belah dua 3/4 badan. ekor biarkan intact.
- basuh dan keringkan udang (i rolled them up in kitchen towel)
- gaul dengan sedikit garam.
- panaskan non-stick pan.
- masukkan udang dan garlic butter.
- goreng atas api kuat sehingga udang masak
- hidangkan panas-panas

rasanya ala-ala buttered-lobster yang makan kat kedai tu. kakak specifically told me to do it again today so karang Tebby kena pegi beli udang. malam semalam pun budak-budak gonek tu dok meratah sampaikan tinggal berapa ketul aje untuk abahnya. err... ummi pun meratah jugak sebenarnya....

btw - here's an easy way to garlic-butter. butter + minced garlic + chives + salt + pepper -> blend.

Nasi Minyak Tokmi & Gulai Ayam ala Akhni

Having a mother-in-law yang cekap di dapur menyebabkan saya 'have a lot to live up to'. Especially when suami saya nak makan 'nasi lemak macam mi buat' atau 'gulai ikan macam mi buat'. Sedangkan saya sendiri, hanya baru-baru ini baru serius 'menceburi' bidang masak-memasak ni. Bermula dengan 'keterpaksaan' dek sebabkan mahu membantu ekonomi keluarga, saya akhirnya mula 'jatuh cinta' dengan dunia memasak. Suami saya, yang sememangnya passionate about cooking, lagilah suka hati dia.

Mak mertua saya, kalau hari raya, saban hari memasak itu ini. Bab biskut-biskut ni memang tak masuk agenda. Kebanyakannya dibeli. Saya salah seorang suppliernya! Bukan saya buat, tapi tukang beli. InsyaAllah, bila saya beli oven nanti, saya cuba buat biskut pulak. Biasanya dari hari raya pertama sehingga ketiga, menunya ialah Nasi Beriani, Nasi Dagang, Nasi Ayam dan bermacam-macam nasi lagi lah. Mulanya saya cuma menonton atau sekadar jadi tukang kacau penumis. Sekarang bila balik kampung, saya pastikan saya bawa balik buku resepi untuk salin.

Baru-baru ini saya buat Nasi Minyak. Kalau Mertua saya, mesti digandingkan dengan Gulai Daging Nasi Minyak, which uses lots of bawang goreng. Sedappp. Tapi weekend lepas, saya cuma buat Gulai Ayam saja. Resepinya saya adaptasi dari Akhni mamafami. Memandangkan Sabtu lepas saya kena bawa Iman ke APSH untuk appointmentnya, saya masak dulu lauknya lepas Subuh. Balik APSH, saya masak nasinya pula.

:: NASI MINYAK TOKMI

Bahan-bahan

1. Minyak sapi -> 2 sudu besar

2. Marjerin -> 2 sudu besar

3. Rempah 4 Sekawan (cengkih, pelaga, kulit kayu manis dan bunga lawang)

4. Bawang putih -> 2@3 ulas - hiris halus

5. Bawang merah -> 2@3 ulas - hiris halus

6. Daun pandan -> 1@2 helai

7. Susu cair -> 1 tin

8. Sos tomato -> 3@4 sudu besar

9. Beras siam -> 5 pots - basuh dan toskan.

10. Garam -> secukup rasa

11. Kismis dan bawang goreng -> untuk hiasan

Cara-cara

1. Panaskan minyak sapi dan marjerin sehingga cair.

2. Tumiskan rempah 4 sekawan hingga naik bau.

3. Masukkan bawang putih dan bawang merah. Tumis sehingga keperangan.

4. Masukkan daun pandan.

5. Masukkan susu cair, sos tomato dan tambah sedikit air. Biarkan mendidih.

6. Masukkan beras dan garam.

7. Tanak hingga masak.

8. Taburkan kismis dan bawang goreng ketika menghidang

:: GULAI AYAM ala AKHNI

Bahan-bahan

1. Ayam -> 1 ekor - potong into pieces, bersihkan.

2. Minyak -> secukup untuk menumis

3. Rempah 4 sekawan

4. Bawang besar -> 1 labu - potong dadu

5. Bawang kisar -> 2@3 sudu besar

6. Tomato -> 3 biji - potong dadu

7. Serbuk ketumbar -> 1 1/2 sudu besar - A

8. Serbuk jintan (cumin) -> 1 1/2 sudu besar - A

9. Serbuk kunyit -> 1/2 sudu besar - A

10. Serbuk paprika -> 1 sudu besar - A

11. Cili boh -> 1 susu besar - A

12. Daun ketumbar -> 2@3 pokok - optional sebab tak semua orang tahan baunya

13. Garam dan gula

* Campurkan A dengan air sehingga menjadi pes pekat

Cara-cara

1. Panaskan minyak dan tumis rempah 4 sekawan sehingga wangi.

2. Masukkan bawang besar dadu. Tumis hingga perang.

3. Masukkan bawang kisar. Tumis hingga agak garing.

4. Masukkan bahan A. Tumis lagi hingga garing.

5. Masukkan garam dan gula.

6. Masukkan tomato dan tumis hingga lembut.

7. Masukkan ayam dan biarkan 1/2 masak

8. Masukkan air dan didihkan hingga masak

9. Apabila hampir masak, masukkan daun ketumbar

* Boleh juga ditambah kentang bagi memekatkan kuah.

The Nasi Minyak was successful. At least to our and my SILs standards. Next project - Nasi Beriani pulak, insyaAllah..

Fishball Soup - Historically

We had this as dinner last night. This, along with that tofu finger, is an all-time-favorite back in my household. Kakak kept on complementing me while finishing her small bowl. (auwww.. that little girl is such an angel these days, she even handed us a tissue each to wipe our mouth while eating) And she even shared mine and mdh’s. The recipe is easy-peasy that I don’t even have the heart to pen it down here. You know, the usual sautee of ginger and garlic, the adding of water. Then add chunks of potato and finally carrot wedges. The ‘star’ of this dish is homemade fishball.

The homemade fishball was purely coincidental when I first did my FISHBALL SOUP. We were at Pasar Sungei Besi doing our usual shopping for lauk and sayur. Mdh was looking for some crabs for our CHILLI CRAB lunch. They say, when it’s at the middle of bulan Islam, crabs will have more flesh. But I guess living not so near the sea, I can’t use that judgement for buying some. The crabs may have been caught days ago, or even week. Anyway, when it comes to crab, mdh always does the testing and selecting. He’d ‘jentik’ (what’s the word in English eh?) the shell and from the way it sounds, he’d know if the crab has full flesh or not. So, on that day, I was waiting for him doing his testing and selecting. I couldn’t help but to notice the guy at stall nearby scraping the flesh of tenggiri papan. The he pounded the flesh dengan gigihnya until it was all mashed and tender. That was the first time I bought his produce. We came again many times later, more often than not, standing impatiently while he did his job. I remember at one time, he told me that I could very well do that at home actually. He even gave me his trade secret! But I prefer to wait on. There was one time we decided to go have breakfast while he pounded and only remember about that when we were almost at the car to go back home. Nevertheless, mdh fetched it. The guy had already finish selling actually but he waited on for us to take a portion which he had kept. Eventho it was just fish, I was a bit terharu with his gestures.

Anyway, usually I add ‘suun’ (glass noodle) into it but last night mdh suggested that we use dried noodle he purchased from Jusco. I boiled them until tender and put them into small bowls. While sembahyang Isya’ I let the soup to simmer and when I’m done with prayer, I just scooped the steaming hot soup into the bowl. Memang pantang mdh makan soup sejuk or even yang suam-suam. He likes it steaming hot. Itupun dia komplen dah sejuk sikit (sebab sibuk ambik gambo punya pasal). Yang oi, kalau you nak sentiasa mendidih, kenalah makan dalam periuk yang tertenggek atas dapur tu! Anyway, we’re eyeing for that electric pot we often find in steamboat restaurants. Kalau ada rezeki, insyaAllah kami beli.

oh.. it's called Beijing Noodles.. pretty exotic huh?


got halal maaa

That's the history of FISHBALL SOUP. Pretty boring huh?

Crispy Tofu Fingers

It was a hit in our little household. Big and small alike. Young and old alike. Boys and girls alike. Kakak loves it. I had to literally chased kakak and mdh away from the kitchen while I was frying. So, sharing the recipe here..


CRISPY TOFU FINGERS
Ingredients
1. *Egg tofu - 5 pcs - blended finely
2. *Fish meat - about 200gm - blended finely
3. *Prawn - about 200gm - buang kulit and blended finely
4. Salt, sugar and pepper
5. Sesame oil - 1/2 teaspoon
6. Egg - 2
7. Oil - for frying
8. Corn flour - to coat

Step-by-step
- Mix items marked *.
- Add salt, sugar, pepper and sesame oil. Mix well.
- Add eggs. Mix well.
- Steam for 15-20 minutes.
- Let to cool. Cut into fingers.
- Coat in corn-flour.
- Fry till golden brown.


OFI
1. Add bits of carrots, chillies and daun sup to enhance flavour.
2. I need to line the periuk with tracing paper as the mixture stuck a bit after steaming albeit the oil I carefully sental inside the periuk.

Pau Kacang Merah

THE CHRONOLOGY OF PAU KACANG MERAH

9.35 a.m. – Began careful mixing of ingredients while thinking what to do with Nurul Athirah to entertain her other than breaking promises to go round-round petang nanti since it rains almost everyday late afternoon. Berpeluh wei, the recipe says kneading should take about 10 minutes, at least. Memula buat kat counter-top, then went down on the floor then went up back when Iman started to showed interest in what I was doing.

9.45 a.m. – Kneading ended. Decided to bring Kakak and Iman to Jusco. Told mdh, in English. Kakak was getting curious at the word Jusco (our official language at home is Bahasa Melayu with heavy accent from the east-coast, English is used as secret codes) and demanded explanation. Told her about the plan but we were not going until I’m done with my pau thingy. Divided the big dough into small balls. Uneven tho. I was tensed inbetween Kakak’s interrogations and my curiosity on how well will the yeast react.

10.00 a.m. – The dough was well rested I guess, so I started to press them flat and put the filling and shaped them back into balls. Placed them on tracing papers which was unevenly cut. (I was tensed, she kept on asking me when we were actually leaving for Jusco).

10.30 a.m. – Prepared the steamer.

10.40 a.m. – Steamed first batch. Kakak was getting upset and impatient. I had to pretend I was busy preparing for the outing. I paced around with a backpack while she paced around alongside me.

10.50 a.m. – Voila, my first effort in doing pau. Bangganya hatiku bila pau kembang gebu dan menawan. At this point, I couldn’t take it anymore with Kakak. I just left the other batch, covered with damp towel and left for Jusco. Bring along 2 sampels to taste and received good comments from mdh and Kakak.


1.00 p.m. – Came back from Jusco. Full stomach from the lunch we had in Johnny’s. Kakak got herself a storybook ‘Barbie – 12 Dancing Princesses’ and Iman ‘Dance Along with Baby Mumble’ (Happy Feet – but he says it as happy tits…. ngeh.. ngeh.. ngehh..). But look at my dough… uwaaaa…… they became overly fluffy and grew so big that they stuck together. Even Kakak said, ‘macam bungalah ummi’. Yarrighttt Athirah, you are among the contributors that caused them so big. I think they even resembles cleavage in some ways, don’t you think? But I steamed them anyway.


3.00 p.m. – Done eating all pau. In total we ate 10 pau that day.

OFI (Opportunity for Improvement)
1. I need to mash the filling more finely and put a little bit more sugar and … the great ‘nnesang kerek’
2. Do not leave your uncooked pau unattended for a longggg time, they’ll act funny and turn out funny

CURIOSITY
1. Does yeast makes you fart more?
2. Can I use a mixer to do the kneading? If so, which ‘pemutar’ should I use? I’m sure it’s not the thing that resembles a whisker, right. Is it the thing that looks like spring tu ke? Can somebody tell me?

Btw, the recipe is here..
:: PAU KACANG MERAH (it goes in 2 parts: i. The filling ii. The dough)

FILLING
Ingredients
1. Red beans – 2 or 3 handfuls
2. Sugar – 6 tablespoon (I used 4 tablespoon + ¼ nnesang kerek)
3. Cooking oil – just a bit
4. Water

Step-by-step
- Soak red beans, preferably overnight. Wash clean and put in a pot.
- Add water and boil until tender.
- Add sugar and nnesang kerek.
- When the water recede, add a bit of cooking oil and continue cooking until the water dries off.
- Mash finely.

DOUGH
Ingredients
1. Wheat flour – 500gm (I used tepung pau from Blue Key)
2. Dry yeast – 1 ½ teaspoon
3. Corn oil – ¼ cup
4. Sugar – ½ cup 5. Warm water – 1 ½ cup

Step-by-step
- Mix flour, yeast and corn oil in a bowl.
- Dilute sugar in warm water.
- Add water into flour-mix bit by bit.
- Knead into a dough. (Approximately 10 minutes) and divide into small balls. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll flat the balls and put in the filling.
- Roll back into a shape of a ball and place them on tracing paper.
- Leave to rest for 40 minutes under damp towel. They’ll double the size.
- Steam for 10 minutes.

Nasi Dagang & Gulai Ikan Tongkol

Nota ~ bukan hasil masakan kami. Ni dibeli di pasar malam semalam

Balik Raya Haji baru-baru ni, MIL buat Nasi Dagang. Katanya mdh yang nak makan. Bila saya tanya mdh, dia kata takde pun dia berhajat gitu. Anyway, dah terlanjur membuat tu, saya salin resepinya. It comes in 2, one part untuk gulainya, the other untuk nasinya. Sebenarnya ada acar tapi masa tu kami tak buat.

Nota:
:: Do you know ikan aya/tongkol comes in at least 2 types? One is all-black body, the other is grey-black (aya kurik, as the trengganuspeak goes). Opt for all-black. The flesh is more tender and tastes better.

:: Do you know ikan kerisi (ikan uji rashid) also comes in at least 2 types? One is all white-orange while the other has a yellow-stripe that goes from the body right up almost to its tail. Choose the one without. One with the stripe has harder flesh.

Back to our recipe..

1. GULAI IKAN AYA
Bahan-bahan
1. Ikan aya hitam – 1-2 ekor (cut into big chunks and ‘mati air’)
2. Rempah gulai - 1 1/5 senduk
3. Bawang kisar – 5 senduk (aiseh, this one is available in abundant back in Tgg, kat KL tak sure nak cari kat mana, nanti kalau saya balik kampung boleh order)
4. Cili boh – 3 senduk
5. Halia+kunyit+lengkuas (kisar)
6. Nnesang kerek – ¼ kerek
7. Santan – 750 ml
8. Asam keeping

Cara-cara
- Panaskan minyak dalam periuk
- Tumis bahan 2-6 hinga wangi dan pecah minyak
- Masukkan asam keping.
- Masukkan air, biarkan mereneh.
- Masukkan santau, biarkan mendidih.
- Masukkan ikan.
- Didihkan hingga masak.
*Lepas dimatikan api, boleh masukkan cili padi. Tak perlu potong. Whole cili padi.


NASI DAGANG
Bahan-bahan
1. 12 pot beras biasa
2. 1 pot beras pulut
(1&2 dicampur dan direndam semalaman atau 6 jam, kemudian basuh dan toskan)
3. Santan – campurkan dengan sedikit garam dan gula pasir
4. Halba
5. Halia – hiris halus (matchstick)
6. Bawang merah – hiris halus

Cara-cara
- Kukuskan beras selama 45 minit - 1 jam. Lapik kukusan dengan daun pisang supaya beras tak jatuh masuk dalam air kukusan)
- Angkat dan gaul rata. Tambah sedikit air dan gaul lagi.
- Kukus lagi selama 45 minit – 1 jam
- Angkat dan gaul sekali lagi
- Masukkan santan. Gaul rata
- Masukkan halba, halia dan bawang merah (ramas-ramas sikit waktu nak tabor tu). Gaul sebati
- Sedia untuk dihidangkan
*Lepas masuk santan, nasi tak dikukus lagi. Tak sesuai kalau nak simpan lama-lama, takut basi.

IKAN MATI AIR
Rebus ikan dengan halia, lengkuas, asam keeping, garam dan sedikit nnesang kerek hingga masak.
Kalau goreng pun sodapp. Atau buat sambal berlada makan dengan nasi lemak. Perghh.. kalau mak mertua saya masak, suami saya mesti makan banyak. Dia mesti refer, sambal nasi lemak mi. I have a lot to live up to, don’t you think?

Eating In vs Eating Out

It used to be such a ceremony when we ate at home. It was like a celebration in a way. Reason being, we rarely ate home. Likewise celebration, it is done once in a while only. We don't celebrate everything everyday, right. Things changed when we got older and have more kids. It is no longer economical to feast outside plus, at home we need not worry where Iman roams. We can still enjoy our meals when he does that. The other reason - it is better for our health. Note - we still eat outside but minimally.

I always got the impression that cooking will take a lot of our time as opposed to eating outside. It's true but somehow we are managing ourselves better. Somehow, for some reason I cannot explain, we now have better time management, our home is much more neater and cleaner. I even mop the house 2-3 times a week. I can get up earlier and I feel much heathier and energetic (plus, I take ELKEN spirulina and drink a lot of water). I rarely have bundles of laundry sitting on the couch like I used to. You really have to try this out (eating in or ELKEN).

By venturing into this, there's a lot that we've learnt and there's more to come, undoubtedly. We explore new recipes, new ways of cooking. We asked around and been told of hows, whats and wheres pertaining to cooking. And that is one of the reason why my inlaws packed us such a huge bundle of beef during recent Eidul Adha (hence, the Daging No49 and Murtabak. Murtabak has been 2 weekends in a row already!)

We hope to get ourselves an oven so we can move into baking and roasting and explore into break, buns and cakes in future.

Anyway, I'm sharing 3 recipes (refer to my 3 recent posts before this one). Please note that I don't write the quantity. This is something hard when you use your opinion and calculated everything based on experience and gut-feeling.

Despite that, I hope you can still enjoy what we share here.

Murtabak Daging & Kari Ayam Sempoi

We had these for today's breakfast. Easy yet tasty. The murtabak filling, specially prepared by mdh the night before. We didn't prepare the skin tho, we used the instant one instead. I don't know about KL but in mdh's hometown, it can be easily purchased. We intend to do it ourselves in future. So, if you know how, please share it with us.

I prepared the Kari Sempoi, to be eaten with Murtabak. I used chicken fillet and instant coconut milk aje.

So, here goes the recipe

:: MURTABAK

Ingredients

1. Murtabak skin

2. Beef - minced finely

3. A bulb of onion - diced

4. Coriander leave - minced

5. Kurma powder

6. Salt, sugar & pepper to taste

7. A bit of water

8. Garlic - minced

9. Egg

Step-by-step

- Mix beef with kurma powder, set aside

- Heat oil in a pan/wok

- Fry garlic until fragrant

- Add beef and fry for a while

- Add water and let the beef to soften

- Add diced-onion and coriance leave - mix well

- Add salt, sugar and pepper to taste

- Leave to cook

- Set aside to cool a bit.

- Break egg into the mixture, mix well

- Set in the skin and fold to cover

- Fry with just a little oil until fully cook

:: KARI AYAM SEMPOI

Ingredients

1. Chicken fillet - diced

2. Bawang kisar

3. Chilli boh

(Mix 1,2 and 3. Set aside)

4. Rempah-4-sekawan (cinnamon stick, cardamom, star anise and clove)

5. Salt and nnesang to taste (Nnesang ->gula kelapa or known as nisan kerek)

6. Asam keping

7. Santan

8. A bit of water

Step-by-step

- Heat oil in a wok/pan/pot

- Fry rempah-4-sekawan till fragrant

- Add chicken, fry for a little while

- Add water and let to simmer

- Add santan and let to boil. Stir occasionally

- Add salt, nnesang and asam keping

- Let to boil until cooked