Roti Jala (Malaysian Net Bread) with Curry Chicken

Roti Jala means Net Bread.  This is a special dish which my Grandma will prepare to celebrate a special occasion...like birthdays, baby fullmoon, wedding...the list goes on.  My Grandma will make the batter in a bowl, sift it and pour the batter into a special 5 hole ladle. Then she will swirl it round and round a flat pan till it looks like a fish net.  We will eat this roti jala with my Grandma's curry chicken. 

Since I wanted to introduce this special dish to my children, I decided to make it for dinner today.  However, I do not have that special 5 hole ladle which my Grandma used to make Roti Jala. Therefore, I improvised and use a squeezy bottle.  It may not look as professional as my Grandma's, but the taste it just the same....I miss my Grandma so so much.

Here's a photo of my Roti Jala and Chicken Curry.

I am so glad my children love it as much as I do....wohoo!!!

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!!!

Busy in the Kitchen.....Cakes, Desserts, Noodles, Rice and everything nice...

I have not been blogging for a while as I have just started a new job and am trying to familiarize myself with my new position. Since today is my off day, I decided to blog a little.

Pongteh is a peranakan dish and when someone mentions pongteh, people who knows this dish will directly have an image of a non-spicy dish with pork, pig trotters cooked with preserved fermented soya bean paste.  However, as I had lots of chicken meat in my freezer, I decided to whipped up another version - Chicken Pongteh. Furthermore, my 2 kiddos love hard boiled eggs and I made sure I included that inside the dish.  I often add in stuff which are not suppose to be added in.  However, for a busy Mom like myself, as long as everyone in the family is happy and is eating well, adding or taking out an ingredient is not a big deal for me.  Here's a photo of my version of Chicken Pongteh.

A friend of mine just loves pandan chiffon cakes and she is willing to travel miles just to buy a couple.  As I had some pandan leaves and coconut in my cabinet, I decided to make a pandan chiffon cake for her. Pandan is actually known as Pandanus Amaryllifolius Leaves and chiffon cake is a light airy cake made from oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and flavourings ( in my case, its pandan).  I was quite fearful at first as I did not have a chiffon cake mold and I was using my silicon bundt mold but thankfully, it came out pretty OK.  Here's a photo of my pandan chiffon cake.

Noodles...that's like a staple food in my family.  My 2 kiddos just love noodles..just like their Mommy and Daddy.  So, what did I make recently?  A simple version of Wat Tarn Hor (Flat Rice Noodles in Egg Starchy Gravy).  This is a hit with my kids and I suppose its a much loved dish for a lot of kids.  Most of the time, I will just ask my kids what they want for lunch / dinner and then go searching for the ingredients in my fridge.  So, if I run out of one ingredient, I will substitute with another...haha!  Here's a photo of my simple version of Wat Tarn Hor.

I had a friend from USA visiting us recently and we were talking about General Tso's Chicken which is a famous chinese take-away dish in USA and we decided to make it at home.  I did some research and I found out that this dish is not originated from China but from New York, USA.  So, here's our version of General Tso's Chicken and its really yummy with white rice.  My friend gave me 2 thumbs up... :)

Moving on.... I had to do some cupcakes for a function.  They wanted chocolate cupcakes and it must be a little fancy too.  So, I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with a dallop of ganache inside of it and I pipe roses on top of it.  Thank goodness everyone loved it.  Here's a photo of my chocolate cupcakes.

My other half wanted some lor mai kai which is a popular item in a dim sum menu during yum cha hours.  Since I still  have 1/2 packet of glutinous rice left, I decided to make him some since dim sum also mean touch your heart. So, gonna make some lor mai kai to touch my other half heart...haha!!!  Here's a photo of my lor mai kai.

I also made some macarons for a friend of mine who is gluten free.  She just loves macarons and what better way to spoil her than make her a batch of her favourite cookies.  Here's a photo of my macarons.

Had some over-riped bananas in the kitchen the other day and I decided to do some Cokodok (Banana Fritters) which is a traditional Malaysian snack made of flour and bananas and its deep fried.  This snack is delicious when its hot or cold.  Here's a photo of my Cokodok.

And since I am on the topic of snack, here's another delicious snack which I often make when I want something Malaysian.  This is my version of cucur badak (lazy version) and here's my photo of it.

Lastly, I made cupcake bouquet for my lady boss. It's her birthday and I decided to make something so that she can share with her family when they celebrate her birthday with her.  Here's a photo of my cupcake bouquet.

These are some of the things which I made for my family and friends last month.  Most of the time, I just totally forgot to take photos of the things I made as I am always rushing, rushing, rushing...haha!!!  Will update soon.  In the meantime, have fun in the kitchen and see ya!!!

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!!!

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.

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!!!

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!

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....

Tom Yum Noodles

Tom yum....mmmmm....yum!yum! This soup comes from Thailand and its known as a clear spicy soup. Some people calls it the hot and spicy soup.  Winter is just around the corner and any hot soup will be a welcome in this household.  I love to add cauliflowers, baby corns and of course the other ingredients which I use for hotpot into the tom yum soup...yum!!! This time around, I added yellow noodles to it too.

I quickly took this photo as I saw the fork and spoon heading towards the bowl....haha!!!

Till next time....happy tom yumming!!!

Mee Goreng

Whenever I mentioned Mee Goreng, my friends tend to think its an Indian dish. However, mee goreng is a famous 1-dish meal from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Each race (Chinese, Indian, Malay and Eurasians) have their own version of this humble dish.

For me, I have my own version too which is passed down by my Grandma. I firstly prepare the mise-en-place which consists of garlic, shallots, fishballs/fishcakes, cubed potatoes, cubed chicken meat, beansprouts (taugeh), eggs and the sauces (dark sweet sauce, chilli paste, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, soy sauce and seasonings). Once I get my mise-en-place, its cooking time. Heat up the wok with some oil, and fry the garlic and shallots till fragrant. Add in potatoes, fishballs/fishcakes, cubed chicken meat and goreng (fry) till the meat is cooked. Add in the yellow noodles, fry for a minute or two, make a well and add in the eggs.  Scramble it and mix it with the noodles. Add in the sauce and lastly the taugeh.  Serve it hot (that's the best) and top some fried shallots, a squeeze of lime and red chilli.

Here's a photo of the mee goreng we had tonite....

One word... S E D A P !!!

Oh...before I forget, remember the soft buns which I made...its still pretty soft today!!! :)

Till next time....

Happy cooking!!!

Wat Tan Hor

Now...this is my another all time favourite 1-dish meal. Wat Tan Hor is a really popular dish is South East Asia countries like Malaysia and Singapore. I even found this dish in Thailand. Some places even sell is with ngau yoke (beef slices).  However, we don't eat beef due to our religion. Therefore, instead of beef, I tend to use chicken and other meat as a replacement.  It a simple dish to prepare...

Firstly, fry the hor fun (flat rice noodles) with oil and sesame oil. Add in some soy sauce and dark caramel sauce to give it some colour.  Fry it till the corners get a little burnt. Scoop and set aside.

Next, prepare the gravy. Just heat up the wok, add is some oil, garlic and ginger.  Add in the meat and stir-fry till its cooked. Add in the stock and bring it to boil. Throw in the fishballs, fishcake and other veggies. Add in cornflour mixture (to thicken the gravy) and seasonings. Once its cooked and just before dishing it out, add in the egg and stir till its cook. Pour the gravy over the hor hun and serve. Sedap!!! (Yummylicious!)

Here's a photo of my humble wat tan hor.

Till next time... Happy wat tan hor-ing!!!

Whistling Pasta

Remember when I was talking about the whistling pasta the other day...my little Price kept asking me to cook it for him and his sister and I finally got my DH to buy some Penne pasta and we made this for dinner yesterday. My little Prince stood at the gate between the kitchen and the living room and watched me cooked it. So, I became his "Master Chef" for the day as he puts it.  He wanted the creamy pasta instead of the tomato base ones. He also told me that he wanted ham, cheese, this and that in his whistling pasta. My little Prince is growing up... *teary eyes*

So, here's a photo of our humble dinner...

What will my little Prince wants for dinner tomorrow?

Till then...tadaa!!!

 

Chinese Fried Rice & Beanshoots Fried Noodles

As its the holiday seasons, visitors do pop by now and then and the fastest way to whip up some tummy filling food is to fry some noodles or rice (that's if you are lucky enough to have overnight rice in your fridge).  I am also pretty happy when these 1-dish meal turns out to be yummylicious and my guests ask for seconds. Here's two photos which we took before we gobbled up these 1-dish meals.  I am trying to improve my photo taking and one of my friends suggested for me to have a red background....it looks pretty good, ya?!  *wink*

Simple Chinese Fried Rice

Beanshoots Fried Bee Hoon

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New Project - S E W I N G

Yup, you heard right. Besides cooking, I am going to start sewing. My other half bought me a Toyata Sewing Machine. He said that its time for both of us to start sewing....ha!ha! Well, I have sew a few simple clothes before...a recon of my other half's Polo Shirts to toddler's pants, onesies to dresses, etc. That really saved lots of money for me as kids' clothing is as and even more expensive than adult clothing.  So, what's on my sewing list so far:

a) Ben10 printed pants for my prince
b) Dora printed dress for my princess
c) Jeans pants for my prince and princess
d) Summer dress for little old me

Wish me luck!!!

Chow Mein (Stir-Fried Noodles)

Noodles like rice is a staple food in my family. So, its very common to see us eating rice and noodles every single day. In Chinese, chow means stir-fried and mein means noodles. One can really get creative when you want to whip up this 1-dish meal. You can go from plain vegetarian to assorted meat and seafood combo. Today my kiddos requested for a wetter version of the chow mein. I saw this chow mein at safeway and decided to buy a packet to try...just to see if my kiddos will like it as much as the fresh noodles.

Here's the photo of the dried chow mein which I bought.

As I was rushing for time, I made the simplest version. Fried some garlic, ginger and onion and add in chicken meat and fishballs and stir-fry till its fragrant. Next, I add in the sauces, carrot and cabbage and lastly the noodles.  When its boiling, I add in the beaten eggs and sauce cornstarch water to thicken the sauce. Here's a photo of the final product.  Verdict - my 2 kiddos loved it...ha!ha!  That's what every mother will want to see and hear... :)

Fried Bee Hoon (Fried Rice Vermicelli)

This is another simple 1-dish meal which I tend to cook for lunch. This is another favourite dish in my household. This is another recipe which has passed down to me from my Grandaunt.  According to my Grandaunt, the beehoon has to be soaked in soya sauce water for at least 2 hours. I have asked her countless of times why I should do it and she just said "yap mei" (the flavour of the soya sauce will enters into the beehoon). For this dish, the ingredients are quite basic - garlic, onions, fishballs or fishcake, soya sauce, black caramel sauce, oyster sauce, any vegetables and seasonings. That's it...tadaa!!!