Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Err.. Padprik?

My friend Lina loves padprik with white rice. Well, at least for now. Until her facination for the food fades, just like nasi lemak sotong :) Since I have defrosted some chicken, shrimp and squid, I thought why not combine all of them in one dish. Hence, the 'padprik campur' or mixed padprik.

I always make this dish whenever I am lazy (and I think I have been lazy a lot lately..). Anyway, this is one easy dish to make.

Just pound a clove of garlic and a little onion, and fry it in a little oil, together with a smashed lemon grass. And you fry the ingredients until fragrant. (Burnt is not considered fragrant ya..) Then put in the 2 tablespoon of blended dried chili into the kuali, stir once in a while. Do this for a few minutes. Then put in your chicken which you have sliced thinly. Take only the meaty part. Let it sit in the kuali until the meat becomes white. Then put in 3 tablespoon of chili sauce, and 3 tablespoon of soy sauce. Put in 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

Then put in the shrimp and squid.

Then put in your vege. I always use long beans (cut into 1 inch strips) and carrot (make them same size as the long beans). I also usually put in some bird'e eye chili (I just put them whole) to make the dish hotter (only if you chew them!). And don't forget, put in some shredded kaffir leaves for a lovely aroma. You can eat it too if you want. And voila! It's done. Super easy eh?

Padprik is a name of a Thai dish but I am not sure if whatever I cooked this morning even came close to what's being cooked there in the white elephant country. But I am learning. And my kids love it. So, I am bit comfortable there in the "padprik land".

You know what, I think I should ask Lina to try my version of the padprik. If Lina likes it, then it is definitely padprik to me, and I shall be happy.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Sambal Asam Jawa



Oh! In case you're asking, sambal asam jawa is a watery version of sambal belacan. The ingredients are:

*** WARNING: HOT!! ******

20 cili api (bird's eye chili)
1/2 inch belacan (shrimp paste)
1/4 onion
1/2 tbsp tamarind paste
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Pound the bird's eye cilli, shrimp paste & onion together
Mix tamarind paste + water and add to the pounded chili
Add sugar and salt

Great with fried or grilled fish. But don't say I didn't warn you if your lips are on fire after eating this sambal!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The not so bitter Bitter Gourd



Went to the market today, as any other Sundays or sometimes Saturdays, depending on the mood. Been planning to go to my mom's house for lunch today, and I intend to bring food. Now what do I cook? I've been asking this question a lot lately. Really, it's always the same thing, over and over again. Chicken curry, ikan sambal, beef soup, you know, the usual. Asking the kids doesn't help either. Whatever, ma.. that's their usual response.

Ok, let's see.. for the kids, I will cook ayam masak kicap. For my parents, I will fry terubok fish, make some sambal asam jawa to eat the fish with. And some ulam would be nice.

And then, I thought of this - bitter gourd. It is always welcomed at my parent's house. Actually this vege tastes quite nice. What you do is pound some onion + garlic + red chili + anchovy and stir fry with the bitter gourd. And some salt to taste, and a little water. The normal process takes about 10 minutes to complete.

For those of you who're 'afraid' of trying this vege, now is the time. The vege is cheap, the other ingredients are also cheap. If you don't like the result, just dump it in the trash. Simple huh?

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Good Company, Good Food

This is what I had this afternoon at Little White Cafe when meeting my long lost friend, Kak Shitah. Nothing beats a good company coupled with good food. This is called mushroom and tomato toasties. There's toasted bread, spaghetti sauce layered with sliced tomatoes, sauteed mushroom and mozzarella on top, then baked to perfection.

Now why didn't I think of this combination before? I mean this could be one of the breakfast menus for my kids. And it's not that hard to make. And this is one versatile dish. Put whatever on top, it will turn out good. Example, leftover chicken, hot dogs, tuna, whatever.. And if you don't like plain bread, by all means, use a baguette. Simple!

I think I am going to make this for breakfast tomorrow!

Simple Nasi Goreng Cina


Believe it or not, I have never cooked Nasi goreng Cina (Chinese fried rice). It's always Nasi goreng Jawa hahaa.. Maybe I will post a recipe on how to make this dish one of these days.

After a quick search on the net on how to make it, I found out that it is quite simple to prepare this aromatic and simple dish. Just fry pounded garlic & a little onion, put in some sliced cili api, then put in shrimps. Then throw in some green peas & whole kernel corn till all blends together. A little salt to taste. Then crack 2 eggs in the center of the kuali and wait till it is about 3/4 cooked. Then dump in the rice. Then exercise your arms for 2 minutes (stir the nasi goreng that is).

Your nasi goreng cina is ready and now you can wake up your sleeping husband and kids!

Ingredients:

3 tbsp cooking oil
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion
4 cili api (bird's eye chili)
200 grams shrimp
4 tbsp green peas
4 tbsp whole kernel corn
2 eggs
4 bowls of rice
salt to taste

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Hello!

Hi everybody! I love browsing for recipes on the internet and almost all the time, facinated by them. Now I have a place where I can share these wonderful recipes that I have tried and will try. You will also get to know if I had success with it or whether it is dumped in the trash can. Chao!