Ngo Hiang or Lor Bak

Ngo Hiang or Lor Bak is a local snack which you can find in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. This dish is from the Hokkien and Teochew community.  The stuffing will be rolled inside a beancurd skin and then deep-fried.  It is served with chilli sauce or sambal.

My other half was telling me about his childhood days where he will have ngo hiang with bee hoon as his breakfast. As for me, lor bak is kind of a snack where we will have it during tea time (between lunch and dinner).  Since we were able to find beancurd skin in the supermart...we just had to do make these babies at home..wohoo.

Here's a photo of our Ngo Hiang or Lor Bak.

So happy to say that everyone including our 2 precious loved it!!!
 

Chicken Pie....

Chicken pies.....yummy....this is THE pie which I will safe up my pocket money to buy when I was young.  Oooo...the creamy gravy which oozes out when I bite into the pie....glorious!  I kept pestering my Grandma to teach me how to create these babies and finally, she gave in.  I must say its hard work for a 10 year old but I wrote the recipe down and I got working.  You don't know how I felt when I bit into my very first chicken pie.....I jumped, I screamed....I could still remember that day....haha!

Every since I mastered that pie, my Grandma made sure I made it whenever its on her "To Do List" but I didn't complain coz Chicken Pie was and still is my favourite pie.  I will make sure that I do the shortcrust pastry first and place it into the fridge.  Then I will make the filling.  My Grandma will make the Puff Pastry (her own secret recipe).  When I grew older, she decided to teach me how to create  puff pastry at home and I was impressed.

Here's my version of my Grandma's Chicken Pie.....my family loves it!!!

Have a wonderful pie-day, everyone!!!

Mee Bandung (Bandung Noodles)....are you from Indonesia?

Mee Bandung is not originated from Bandung, Indonesia. Its a 1-dish meal from Muar, Johor, Malaysia.  One of my Malay buddies informed me that Bandung means "Mixed".  Therefore, Mee Bandung means "Mixed Noodles".  Originally, Mee Bandung is a mix of Noodles and Eggs with Spicy Soup. However, through the years, Mee Bandung has added more ingredients into it and it is indeed "mixed".  One of my buddies proclaims that the Mee Bandung in Muar is the BEST and I hope that one day, I will be able to fly myself to Muar to savour it.  Here's my version of Mee Bandung...

My hubby and I ate this delicious 1-dish meal for lunch and dinner....one word - DELICIOUS!!!

Mee Paprik (Paprik Noodles)

Everyone who has been to Malaysia will have if not eaten, heard of the word Paprik.  Most of the time, you will find Nasi Paprik (Paprik Rice) in any Malay hawker stall. Besides the rice, these hawkers have also come out with another dish - Mee Paprik. From what I know, Pad means stir-fry in Thai and Prik means chilli /spicy in Thai. So, I guess Mee Paprik will translate to Stir-fried noodles in spicy sauce, maybe?

Oh well....it really doesn't matter how this dish came about. What matters is that this one-dish-meal is delicious.  My other half can't get enough of it.  Here's a photo of out Mee Paprik.

This is a 1-dish-meal which will always keep us warm in a cold day... delicious!!!

June, June...busy busy month of June

It has been a while since I last wrote. Lots of things are happening in June....birthdays and I mean lots of birthdays and school holidays.  I have been so busy making cakes, cooking for friends and relatives and making plans for the school holidays.

Here's some of the things which I managed to take some photos of....busy, busy, busy...

Deep Fried Fish Soup with Rice

Cream Cakes for the June Birthday Boys and Girls

Winnie the Pooh Cupcakes and 2D Cake for my little Princess.  She turned 5...a big girl now.

Japanese Curry Chicken Rice

Prawn Noodles (Hae Mee)

Cream Sponge Cake for a Customer

Right now, I am busy baking cupcakes and a mudcake for my little Prince's 7th Birthday.  He wants me to create a Minecraft Theme and he wants to celebrate it in school...wish me luck!!!

Happy Mother's Day with Pork Kuey Teow Teng (Pork Rice Noodles Soup Version)

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers!!!

I remember when I was young when my Grandma will be simmering a pot of stock (chicken bones, pork bones, seafood, etc) to make Kuey Teow Teng for Mother's Day. Its a tradition in my family where all Mother's will be served with this delicious one dish meal upon waking up. Besides this delicious broth, there will be all sorts of yummylicious meat and seafood such as prawns, minced pork, fishballs, fishcake, liver, all sorts of seafood, etc, etc, etc which is served with this dish. This is a day where all Mothers' will be pampered to the core and this delicious soupy dish will boost the immune system.

I decided to try to make this delicious dish for Mother's Day....its for my whole family on this cold and rainy day.  I made the broth a day before to enhance the taste. As my Grandma used to say, the longer you simmer the broth, the more sedap it will be. I wanted to get all the condiments just like my Grandma but my other half told me not to do so much....just use whatever we have in the house...alamak!!! can die!!!  Oh well, since its raining, I tak kuasa to go to the supermart.  So, in the end, I just use what I can get my hands on.

Here's my version of my Grandma's Pork Kuey Teow Teng.

Got to go now...my kuey teow teng is waiting for me....

Mee Siam (Siamese Noodles)

Mee Siam (Siamese Noodles)....ah, I remember this one dish meal very well.  I had my very first taste of this wonderful dish when I was a junior.  I was so interested in the colour and the "slurp-slurp" sound that the parents, uncles and aunties were making plus their chit-chatting in between that I had take a spoonful of it from my Grandma's plate.  As you guys may have guessed it, I screamed as it was super hot, (pedas - chili hot!!!)... sweet and sourish in taste.  This is not a taste which a junior's taste buds will accept. I stayed away from Mee Siam till I was in kinder and after one spoonful of this delicious dish, I will always ask my Grandma for her Mee Siam at least fourth nightly.

My Grandma told me that she learnt it from her Thai relative and its called Mee Kati and even though we are Peranakan, my Grandma often reminded me that Mee Siam is not an "original" dish from the Babas and Nyonyas, but its from Thailand. That's why its called Mee Siam as its from Siam (Siam changed its name to Thailand in 1949).

So, what is Mee Siam? Firstly, there's 2 version of Mee Siam - the dry version and the gravy version. Mee Siam is a popular one-dish meal in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. It is made of rice noodles (bee hoon) and serve with a special hot, sweet and sourish gravy.  For the dry version, you will still use the same special sambal which you make the gravy from. My other half loves the udang kering (dried shrimps) and whenever I make this dish, I will make sure I increase the udang kering. The special sambal is made of fermented soya bean paste, chili, buah keras, belacan, coconut milk, onions and tamarind. My Grandma will also fry the rice noodles with taugeh (bean sprouts), ku chai (chinese chives) and banana blossom. However, over here, its a little hard to get my hand on some banana blossom and ku chai. Therefore, I will only use taugeh and spring onions.

Here's a photo of my humble Mee Siam.

Oh...oh.....
Before I whisk myself from here to have another round of Mee Siam, here's a photo of the Nasi Lemak which we made this week. Nasi Lemak is just so delicious that we have to make it at least 2-3 times a month.

jəə gan mài kraao-nâa!!!!

Ipoh Hor Fun

I always remember how we will argue about this dish....whenever I mentioned "I want to eat Ipoh Hor Fun" to my friends, they will say "Ehhh, why do you want to have something soupy? Its so hot now...not rainy season yet leh"  This is when we start our arguement about this dish. To a lot of people, whenever you mentioned Ipoh Hor Fun, its hor fun in chicken and prawn soup with shredded chicken, prawns and spring onion on top. However, in my family, Ipoh Hor Fun comes with a delicious thick gravy topped with shredded chicken, mushroom and veggies. My Grandma will braise the mushrooms and make it into that thick gravy sauce for the Hor Fun...yummy!!!!

We were craving for some Ipoh Hor Fun for several days now and on my off day, we decided to make this dish. My two kiddos have never tried this dish before and we were really hoping that they will love it.  My other half was already thinking of what else to cook for them if they do not like the dish..haha! It was a waste of time as our 2 kiddos fell in love with it..

Here's a photo of our Ipoh Hor Fun...

Till next time...let's makan!!!

Chicken Wrap, Chicken Tandoori Wrap and Ham Wrap with Salad

I love wraps as its easy to do and easy to eat. However, I never thought that I would do it at work since I am a Pastry Chef. Well, I guess never say never..haha! When I was younger, it was a special treat for me when my parents brought me to TGIF and I had the chicken fajitas with tortilla wraps. When I grew older, tortilla wraps were everywhere and it was so common. I remembered my parents telling me that tortillas are from Mexico and it means little cakes.  

Wrapping a tortilla wrap is pretty different from wrapping a popiah, but once you get the hang of it, its really easy.  At work, we have quite a number of varieties of wraps - roast chicken wrap, tandoori chicken wrap, roast beef wrap, corn beef wrap, lamb wrap, ham wrap, egg mayo wrap, etc... and all these wraps will be wrap with salads.  This is a delicious and healthy lunch I must say.  Here's a photo which I took at work...

Try a wrap today....it will really make your day!!!

Hainanese Chicken Chop

We have been eating chicken schnitzel and chicken parma for a couple of weeks now and we are quite sian (bored) with it.  My other half was thinking of the Hainanese Chicken Chop which we were so in love with when we were in Malaysia.  So, we decided to try out hands on it after I made several phone calls to my darling Aunty.

Hainanese Chicken Chop is not from Hainan.  I don't think the Hainanese ever heard of this dish.  This humble dish originated from Malaysia and Singapore during the British times.  According to my Grandma, a lot of Hainanese become cooks, chefs, kitchen hands, etc during the British colonial days. These superb cooks / chefs came out with the own local version of the chicken schnitzel.  I remember the good old days when my cousins who studied overseas will come back and correct us all whenever we the children will beg our parent to bring us for "chicken chop" and these cousins of ours will say "No, No, No...its chicken schnitzel, silly" or "No, No, No....its called a chicken cutlet".  We really didn't care if its called a schnitzel or a cutlet...to us, its good old chicken chop and its really sedap (delicious).

Firstly, we crumb the chicken exactly like how a chicken schnitzel is crumbed. Then we proceed in making the potato wedges which we deep fried. Now..the sauce is the one which makes this dish special and it consists of tomato sauce, HP sauce, worchestershire sauce, oyster sauce, chicken booster, seasonings and lastly thicken it with cornflour solution.

Some people eat this with rice and some just eats it by itself.  Here's our humble Hainanese Chicken Chop.

We are so happy to watch our 2 kiddos enjoying themselves and asking for me.  This really brings me back to the good old days when I was just a kid like my 2 children and asking for more too....

Hokkien Noodles (Hokkien Mee)

Back in December 2012, I wrote about Hokkien Mee (Singapore style). Today, I will write about Hokkien Mee (Malaysian style).  Some people call this as Hokkien Char Mee.  This one dish meal consists of yellow noodles (hokkien mee) and it is braised in a fragrant thick dark sauce which is made of soy sauce, dark sauce, pork stock and seasonings. You can add in fishcake, fishball, chinese cabbage, seafood, etc.

We decided to cook this 1-dish meal as we were yearning for some Malaysian delight on this cold and wet day.  My 2 kiddos were overjoyed when they heard that we are cooking Black Hokkien Mee....

Here's a photo of our black hokkien mee.

Black Hokkien Mee is really "beeeeest" with sambal belacan...

Silver Needle Noodles ( Lou Shee Fun)

Silver Needle Noodles....its a much better translation compared to what my family used to call it.. rat noodles...haha!  I guess the reason why its call rat noodles is due to its shape...it looks like a rat's tail.  Lou Shee Fun is made from rice flour and it can be made into soup noodles, stir-fried noodles or claypot style.  When I was young, whenever I see my Grandaunt taking a claypot out from the cabinet, I will shout...lou shee fun, lou shee fun, lou shee fun...

Moving forward, now, my family loves lou shee fun too and I cooked it my Grandaunt's style. I don't even have enough time to clean the claypot as my children were asking for their lunch, even my DH pinched some. So...here's a quick snapshot of my lou shee fun before it was whisked off.  Please ignore the mess around the claypot...just focus on the lou shee fun....

This is a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore.

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice)

Nasi lemak...oh...its one of my favourite food during my childhood year and its still is.  Nasi lemak is rice cooked with coconut milk, slices of ginger, screwpine leaves and a pinch of salt.  Nasi lemak can also be found in economical rice stalls where one can choose between plain white rice or nasi lemak rice and then we can pick whatever side dishes we want. Traditionally, nasi lemak is served on a banana leaf laid on top of a plate or if its a take-away, its wrapped with banana leaves.  For my family, this delicious rice is accompanied with deep fried tumeric chicken, deep fried fishballs, sambal prawns, deep fried anchovies, 2 types of eggs - hard boiled and fried eggs, cucumber and tomato slices. Of course, you can add in any side dishes you want...its really up to you.

Here's a photo of our nasi lemak...

This is just so sedap....

Cornish Pasties & Sausage Rolls

I love making pies...meat pies, gourmet pies, pasties, sausage rolls, etc.  When I first learnt how to make cornish pasties, I felt as though I was making currypuffs..haha!  From what I have read, cornish pasties orginally comes from Cornwell, UK. Furthermore, the word pasty is actually from a French word paste which means pie. Why did the cornish pasties have the side-crimped, one wonders? From what I have heard and read, the side-crimps were created so that the miners will be able to eat their food (pasties) by holding on to the side crimps and eating it safely without touching the food or the mouth. As you know, the hands and fingers of the miners in the good old days are pretty dirty and have traces of arsenic. This is indeed a good way to prevent food poisoning :) Interesting indeed...

Sausages rolls originated from the UK too, it seems. Its a savoury pastry and it was commonly sold as a take-away food as its easy to hold and eat. Do you know that there's a National Sausage Roll Day too which is on 10 Oct? On this day, a town called Sausage Roll in Queensland, will prepare a giant sausage to celebrate this national day with a giant pinic where everyone is wellcome to join in.

Here's a photo of my cornish pasties and sausage rolls.

One word.....yummylicious!!!

Hokkien Mee

When Malaysians and Singaporeans talk about "hokkien mee", they are actually talking about different kinds of noodles. In Singapore, when someone mentions "hokkien mee", is actually hokkien noddles cooked in prawn stock. However, when a Malaysian mentions "hokkien mee", its fried noodles in dark sauce. In this household, we love both types of "hokkien mee".

We were yearning for some local food from our childhood days and my hubby decided that we should whip-up some Singapore style "Hokkien Mee".  We made our prawn stock with prawns and pork bones. We even made "chee yau char" (deep fried pork lard). Here's our humble "hokkien mee"...it was gone before we could even count to 10....haha!!!

Hokkien Mee is really sedap with freshly cut red chilli with soy sauce.  Some people prefers sambal belacan.  No matter what, its just delicious!!!

Japanese Curry

I just love curry especially peranakan style. However, ever since my group of buddies have been patronizing a Japanese restaurant quite regularly, I have fallen in love with their Japanese curry rice. This got me thinking as I am paying about $10 for my lunch and I also found out that the pre-mixes have lots of palm oil, MSG and such.  So, what about making it from scratch? Then I can control what ingredients to use. We did some reading online and in the library plus bookstores and here's what we came out with.  Here's a photo of our homemade Japanese Curry Chicken with Rice!  Verdict - Yummy!!!

Oishii!!!

Beef Hor Fun

Beef hor fun is a hawker delight which is a favourite to all beef lovers.  However, my Grandma often said that even though it looks easy, it isn't really that easy to cook. For example, the hor fun must be loose, like one piece by one piece and not in clumps. Also, the hor fun must be brownish with a hint of burnt on it. Even though one can pass this stage, the beef itself may be a problem...too tough, no taste, etc. Lastly, the gravy...it must have the oomph!!! Aiyoh...its pretty leceh but whenever I cook this, my family seems to love it.  So..here's a photo of my humble beef hor fun.

That's it for now...till next time...happy wok-ing!

Budae Jjigae - Korean Army Stew

Budae Jjigae or Korean Army Stew is a one dish meal which is loved by my other half and myself. Since I have 2 kiddos and they are not into hot chilli pepper, I often cook this is a claypot without kimchi and gochujang.  Once I have taken out their portion, then only will I add in the kimchi and the gochujang.  From the stories which I have heard personally and which I have read in the internet, it seems that this dish was created after the Korean war when food was scarce and limited. The can food which the US Army left, the local made use of the cans of spams and hotdogs and incorporated it into their soup which consists of kimchi, gochujang, etc and the locals will boil it in a huge pot and place it at the centre of the table and share it with everyone in the family.  Till today, budae jjigae is still very popular.

Here's some photos of my budae jjigae.

Once can really get creative when you whip-up the budae jjigae.  Sometimes, I even add in all the ingredients which I use for steamboat when I do this one-dish meal.  Seriously...this is awesome!!!

Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Noodle Rolls)

We have been yearning for some chee cheong fun and I was searching for a way to make it as quick as possible and opted for the MV version.  I didn't have any wheat / tapioca flour...so, I used cornflour instead.  After mixing the ingredients (rice flour, cornflour, sesame oil, canola oil and salt) together, I spooned it into a MV plastic container and MV for 2 mins. I am not too sure what I did wrong but I find that the sides crust a little ( a little hard). However, beggars can't be choosers. Will it was still hot, we makan kau-kau. As for the sauce, we just used rojak paste, soya sauce, sweet sauce and sugar. Here's a photo of our MV chee cheong fun.

The MV chee cheong fun must be eaten ASAP.  If you let it sit, it will become hard.  Will try the steam version next time....

Baked Pasta (Casserole)

I have never ever made baked pasta before. However, I am fascinated with one dish meals and I just had to try it.  Firstly, I boiled the pasta to al dante and drained. Then I pre-heat my sauce and made my sauce.  After that, I threw the pasta into the sauce and mixed it thoroughly and pour 1/2 of it into the casserole dish, sprinkle sauteed ham and cheese over it, pour in the other 1/2 of the pasta and sprinkle cheese on the top. Lastly, I baked it.  One word - YUMMY!!!  Here's a photo of our baked pasta.  

Since it was a hit, I made this again for the potluck and it was a hit again...yippee!!!