Saturday, December 31, 2011

Trotter in Fermented Tofu Paste 【南乳元蹄】


There are only so many trotter dishes in Chinese, mostly called for simmering in sweet soy sauce for a long period of time until the trotter becomes completely soft and tender.

This particular recipe uses fermented tofu instead, it gives a very distinctive fragrance and taste. 

I made this dish for our Christmas party the other day, when served with the steamed buns brought by a friend, it was irresistible and everybody loves it!

元蹄的做法一般就是冰糖或红烧为主,换个做法做这道南乳元蹄。咸香好吃,聚会的时候就着朋友带来的金丝馒头,异常受欢迎呢!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

【椰浆黑糯米粥】Bubur Pulut Hitam (Black Glutinous Rice Dessert)


黑糯米是非常营养的杂粮,做成甜汤/糖水也特别好吃哦!

Black glutinous rice is a very nutritious wholemeal widely consume in Asia. It has a good amount of protein, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1 & B2 ect. The Chinese herbal medicine books also believe that black glutinous rice could aid in increasing blood and its circulation, it could also help in preserving or to increase "qi" or energy.

This beautiful grain is normally made into sweet dish in south east Asia. This sweet porridge is one of them!

Monday, December 26, 2011

【南瓜椰丝球】Pumpkin Ondeh-Ondeh (onde-onde)

Ondeh-Ondeh(或印尼语Onde-onde)在马来语里就是丸子的意思,是一个有名的娘惹甜点,可以用各种不同的材料制作丸子皮,如紫薯,番薯,南瓜,香兰叶汁等等。

这类丸子的内馅一般用的是切碎的椰糖,煮好的丸子里有融化的椰糖,吃的时候一口咬下去,就会有带着浓浓椰香的椰糖汁溢出,混合着椰丝的香味,真是一场味蕾的热带体验!

Ondeh-Ondeh(or Onde-onde)is a generic term for a kind of dessert in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a bite size ball with palm sugar fillings and coated with grated coconut.

The skin is made of glutinous rice flour and tapioca flour, the taste and color of the dish normally came from the ingredients used such as sweet potatoes, pumpkin, or Pandan juice.

I love it when the melting palm sugar breaks out from the balls at the first bite, the sweetness of palm sugar combined with shredded coconut is just perfect for an afternoon snack!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Banana Bread Pudding


Its holiday season and my loving neighbors were sending food to us one after another. It was cheese cake and muffins yesterday and famous New york Levain Bakery's cookies for Santa today.

I am always lucky to have lovely neighbors wherever I go, they are there whenever I need something,and whenever I need some help!

So I decided to bake a simple warm dessert as return of favor!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Ikan Masak Taucu (Spanish Mackerel in Fermented Soy bean Gravy) 【豆酱马鲛鱼】


Spanish Mackerel is something I grow up eating a lot. It is found in markets in Malaysia all year around, fresh and economical.

This fish can be prepared in many ways, it is tasty even as simple as pan fried until crispy and drizzle some light soy sauce, this itself made a wonderful side dish. I could eat it just like that and never got tired.

We also make curry, fish balls, fish paste, fish cake, fish stew out of this beautiful fish. This particular recipe I made today is very common in my house, my mother use to make it at least once a month... it goes well with steamed rice and con-gee. And stays as a sweet childhood memory......

马鲛鱼也叫鲅鱼,是东南亚日常吃得很多的鱼类.香煎,红烧,做鱼胶都用它。新鲜的马鲛鱼煎香了滴上几滴酱油就可以让人空口吃好几块,鲜甜美味。

这道豆酱马鲛鱼是我母亲经常做的一道菜,是一道下饭配粥都适宜的家常菜。

Monday, December 19, 2011

Lauki Ka Kofta (Bottle Gourd Balls in Tomato Gravy) 【葫芦素丸子咖喱】

 

I first tried this kofta in India, and was amazed by the taste. It went so well with flat bread, the kofta just melt in my mouth! 

This summer I harvest the Chinese bottle gourd that I curiously planted in spring, it flourishes and gave me two beautiful bottle shape gourds. I mean... really, coca-cola bottle kinda bottle shape... it was amazingly beautiful. 

I decided to use it for this dish, hubby's favourite.

春天的时候好奇种了颗葫芦,后来结了两只大葫芦瓜。俊爹点菜要我拿来做这个素丸子。

这个食谱在印度是用长条状的瓠瓜做的,味道一样。都很好吃!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Economical Fried Rice Vermicelli 【经济炒米粉】


Every morning on work day in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. As working people rush toward the offices, with traffic moving at snail speed. The city awakes, and slowly get into busy mode.


At the same time, at some obscure corners of all office buildings, you will always find some small breakfast stalls, with those who manage to reach office a little ahead of time, lined up for a quick fix for breakfast and the stall owner busy packing a variety of  simple fried noodles/rice and some sides such as fried egg, luncheon meat, chicken nuggets, fried sausages.


This simple, economical breakfast serving thousands every day in the city I once called home. Never failed to  satisfy those hungry stomachs. God bless that city and its people!


吉隆坡的早晨,跟着太阳冉冉升起的是车水马龙,是人潮是喧哗。地铁站挤满了匆匆赶往办公室的人群,路上堵满了车子,就连空气,都似乎充斥着忙碌。

那些办公大楼隐晦的角落里,隐约可以看见西装革履的人们排着队,站在小小的熟食摊前。小贩忙碌地在为点餐的人们包装食物。那里卖的,是简单的炒粉,炒饭,另有几盆煎鸡蛋,午餐肉,香肠,炸鸡等等配菜。

这,就是很典型的马来西亚早晨街景。马来西亚人炒粉喜欢下“黑酱油”,就是略带甜味的老抽,颜色漆黑油亮。一盘火候十足,黑黑亮亮的炒粉再加上一小块午餐肉,或一只煎蛋,就是许多马来西亚人心中简单而实惠的美味 。

这样的早餐,我们叫它作:经济炒粉!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

【奶豆腐三文治】Paneer Sandwich (Grilled Indian Cottage Cheese Sandwich)


天冷就一早起床就想吃点热的,弄个热三文治,再来杯热巧克力。想起就让人活力充沛呢!

As the weather gets colder, I could only think of warm food in the morning, such as this sandwich.

With a cuppa hot chocolate it not only gives warmth to my stomach, it also kicks start my day with good energy!  It is energizing enough just by thinking of it!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Rempah Ayam (Spicy Nyonya Chicken Dish)【马来娘惹菜 -- 隆巴咖喱鸡 】


This Nyonya dish is one of my favourite chicken dish, it is spicy, and goes extremely well with steamed rice!

香料咖喱鸡是马来娘惹菜,黑胡椒的比例比较高,是道很香辣很下饭的咖喱菜。

Saturday, December 10, 2011

【椰香干煸鸡块】Chicken Chukka/Sukka(Dry Coconut Chicken)


这道椰香干煸鸡块和马来西亚的冷当鸡味道有点相似,工序却简单很多,不用椰奶让这道菜比冷当鸡肉稍微更健康一些。带着浓浓的椰香,是很下饭,下酒的好菜!

This delicious dish from Southern part of India reminds me greatly of the famous Malaysian Curry -- Rendang. The taste and texture of it resemble Curry Rendang a lot, it too has very nice coconut fragrance and is very tasty and spicy.

But the preparation of this dish is a  lot easier than rendang and it doesn't call for coconut milk/cream. The marinated chicken cooked slowly in spices and tomato paste until almost all liquids are gone and the final result is chicken pieces covered with thick flavorful gravy.

It is best served with steamed rice and could also work very well as a starter!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

【土豆馅饼】Aloo Paratha (Stuffed Potato Paratha)


每个印度人一想起土豆馅饼,脑海里就会出现周日早餐手握一杯香料茶,几张热腾腾的土豆饼,加上一小块牛油/黄油。这是最让人满足的早餐了。

If  you ask any Indian from northern part of India about their ideal breakfast... the answer is quiet likely to be "some hot stuffed parathas" !

With some hot spicy masala chai... the best, they said!