【糖醋小排】Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs

清理冰箱的时候发现冰箱里还有一包排骨，本来就是为了做糖醋排骨而买的。后来一忙就忘了。那就动起来做这个酸甜开胃好吃的排骨吧！

I bought some spare ribs not long ago thinking of making this sweet & sour spare ribs but got caught up with things that I almost forgotten.

Saw the packet of ribs again today in the fridge when I was cleaning up the freezer, today it is then, to make this yummy dish.

Grilled Char Siu Chicken 【叉烧鸡】

I made Wonton Mee & My Special Gon Loh Sauce few days back with my homemade Chicken Char Siu, a variation of the Char Siu which is commonly made with pork.

This Char Siu Chicken turned out delicious and very good looking, the secret to the beautiful red color is my homemade Ang Chow, which is a very healthy alternative to food dye, those who have not tried it, should explore and see!

昨天天上了干捞云吞面的帖子之后收到几个朋友的短信询问鸡肉叉烧的做法，这款鸡肉叉烧我经常做，成品拿来做包子，炒饭，炒面都很好。我用的是自制的红糟染的色，让小朋友吃我很放心。

Wonton Mee & My Special Gon Loh Sauce 【干捞云吞面 （附加秘制干捞面酱）】

Wonton mee, a common breakfast, lunch & dinner for Malaysian, it has the soupy and dry (gon loh) version. I personally only ever liked the gon loh version, only GOD knows how many times I have tried to replicate my favourite gon loh mee at home after moving overseas.

I tried so many different combinations of sauces and search through the net for the recipe of a good plate of gon loh mee for the longest time.

I have to say all my attempts turned out OK, not the same, just OK. I can't seem to figure out what is missing and I don't like to settle for OK, not for something I really liked at least.

So the next time when I visited Malaysia, I made sure to pay extra attention to the way wonton mee is made when I visited my favorite store. I figured out the shallot oil the pork lard and the pepper powder part, but never quite able to learn the secret of that pot of dark sauce they used.

I resolve to find a formula that pleases my palate and it should be close enough to call it authentic gon loh mee. It took me so many close, not quiet close and very close attempts to finally come up with a Gon Loh Sauce that tasted the way the gon loh mee I liked back in Malaysia!

I must say one thing ahead though, the sauce is not the only thing to a good plate of gon loh mee, crispy pork lard, shallot oil and the pickled green chilies are all key ingredients, one missing, the gon loh mee will not be the same.

I am sure many fellow Malaysian will agree with me on this.

云吞面，在马来西亚是有干捞和汤面两种的，依我看干捞面在马来西亚的粉丝绝对是远远要比汤面多得多的。每一个星（加坡）马（来西亚）人去到外国首先第一个要想念的肯定是这个干捞面。它是我们在家乡时的早餐，午餐，晚餐和夜宵，它是街头巷尾都买得到的美食，它是美食，也是乡愁。

这干捞面看起来简单但是要做得好吃还真的不容易。在外这么多年，我在家尝试过各种不同的调料配方，做出来的干捞面都不难吃，但和记忆中思念的味道还是相去甚远。网上找来的食谱味道也不对，后来我回乡每次去我喜欢的面摊吃面的时候我就特别留意面家的用料，我发现除了葱头油和猪油/猪油渣外，那一盆每家秘制的黑色调料酱是面好吃的关键，店家一般都事前把酱料调好，所以也无从观察。

然后我的倔犟脾气就出来了，我就不相信我做不出自己想要的味道嘛！然后然后在吃了N盘近似类似仍然不是的干捞面之后，我终于研制出我思念的，喜欢的，家乡的味道了！

今天特意写个帖子记录配方，也希望可以让思念干捞面的马来西亚游子一解乡愁。

有一点是我必须要说的，想要有一盘好吃的干捞面，葱头油，猪油和腌青椒是必须的。所以干捞面制作不难，事前要做的准备也不少就是了。

Edible Garden -- Homemade canned Tomato Paste

I planted 5-6 varieties of tomato at the back yard this year, they were all growing very well and gave us good harvest. My toddler AS likes to go to the raised bed with colander and collect ripe cherry tomatoes everyday and snacked on them. But then he started getting tired of it so we keep collecting tomatoes and fridge it until it took up most of the drawer space in the refrigerator.

I have used the fresh tomatoes in as many dishes as I could think of, yet we still have more than we can consumed!

It is high time to make some homemade canned tomato paste!

Nyonya Achar Awak (Nyonya Pickles)

Achar is a classic Nyonya or Peranakan food accompaniment, whoever has visited the historical town of Melaka will not feel foreign about this side dish. 

One could not forget the experience of having this chilled, spicy, sweet and sour pickled vegetable during hot afternoon.

This Achar makes a good vegetable dish and could be stored well in the refrigerator for months. I normally make a couple of bottles and use it whenever I am making traditional Malaysian meals.

Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Sambal【叁巴番薯叶】

Many people grow sweet potato at their backyard back in my hometown. Not for the potatoes but the leaves. The plant grows fast and spread like crazy in tropical climates.  Many of them have to harvest and share the leaves with neighbors! 

I plant sweet potato too for its leaves at my backyard every summer. Sweet potato leaves are high in nutrients low in calorie. It is also an excellent sources of Vitamin A and C and fiber. 

The common way to prepare this delicious and healthy vegetable in my home country is to stir fry it with Sambal Tumis, it is a spicy, tasty vegetable dish that goes well with rice!

番薯叶/地瓜叶/红薯叶在我的家乡是几乎每家每户都会在后院种一大片的绿叶蔬菜。我们平时吃的都是邻居后院长得控制不住了一大把一大把剪了送来的，几乎从来不必买。红薯叶是个高营养高纤维低热量、又抗癌的好东西。

今年我在前后院都种了番薯叶，第一茬摘来用马来西亚的多用途叁巴辣椒酱炒了吃，味道类似马来风光，非常好吃。

【手工肉燥 & 卤肉饭】Taiwanese Braised Pork & Braised Pork over rice

作为闽南人，葱油香是许多家乡菜不可或缺的味道。我喜欢台式料理跟它接近我的家乡口味有很大的关系，所以经常到附近的台式餐厅吃卤肉饭加一碗肉丸汤，或一些卤味。

第一次吃手工肉燥是多年前刚到美国时，和前私房版主爱厨第一次见面时她给我带的，爱厨的手艺实在让人惊艳不已，肉燥比绞肉做的要好吃太多，自此我每每做肉燥都会不厌其烦地手工把五花肉切丁。这么多年来，我经常炖一锅肉燥摆冰箱里，忙碌的日子里让自己回到家可以很快地就吃上晚饭。

肉燥我尝试过好几个不同的食谱，有加香料的，有加五香粉的，有加老抽的，甚至有的还加蚝油，最终我还是最喜欢单纯的葱油和酱油熬制出来的肉燥。

今天写个食谱，记录单纯而美味的古早味，美食，其实并不需要那么复杂哦！

I liked Taiwanese cuisine for a very obvious reason-- it is very close to Hokkien cuisines and relatively light in its seasoning. I also like the taste and fragrance of fried shallot and shallot oil in many of its dishes.

This Taiwanese braised pork is normally made with minced pork here in many restaurants, the first time I had it with cubed pork was a box given by a good friend Wendy who is originally from Taiwan. Since then,  I will take my time to cubed the pork belly whenever I make this dish the taste and texture is simply incomparable.

I have also tried many different recipes for this dish after years of trying and testing, I concluded that the best recipe for this braised pork is the simplest of all, just a good amount of shallot and a little shallot oil with a good soy sauce is enough for giving authentic and unforgettable flavor to this dish.

Here is my version of Taiwanese braised pork, goes well with rice and noodle, very handy on busy days, have a pot of it in the fridge and dinner could be ready under 10 minutes!

Japanese Marinated Soft Boiled Egg (Ajitsuke Tamago/味付け玉子)

When I have egg in whole, I love my egg yolk runny, be it fried or boiled. It is no doubt that this Japanese soft boiled egg that normally accompanying ramen could have my fancy from the day we met, I liked it so much that I will go for Ramen just for the egg!

My son AS probably get it from me, he too, loves soft boiled egg, whenever I don't feel like cooking, especially in winter time，I will pick him up from the daycare and go straight to a nearby ramen store and shared a good bowl of ramen with him, with one extra Ajitsuke Tamago.

Talking about that ramen store, it is currently closed for renovation, I am really hopeful that they will make it in time to re-open in winter so that I can have my hearty bowl of ramen again!

Toddler Food -- Scissor Noodle

I made this Scissor noodle for Arjun when I made Pan Mee/Mee Hun Kueh, this noodle is made using scissor, much easier to shape than pan mee, and it is just nice in size for a toddler to scoop or handle.

He loves this meal so much that he keep pointing to the noodle when I fed him!

Pan Mee a.k.a Mee Hun Kueh【板面/面粉糕】

Some called it "Min Hun Kueh" Some called it "Ban Mee". It has dried and soupy version, some like one more than another, but I have yet to come across any Malaysian who doesn't like Ban Mee!

Oh well of course beside my cousin Jeisry who hates literally anything made with flour... well but THAT is exceptional!

在马来西亚，有把这个面食叫做“面粉糕”，也有人叫它“板面”。它是个老少咸宜、大街小巷都可以找到的食物。也是家家户户经常做的一道家常面食。它使用的材料简单，做法也不难，一个小时内就能整一锅让一大家子饱食一顿呢！

板面有干捞（拌）和汤面两种选择，一般的配料就是香菇肉燥，肉丸子，肉末，青菜（油菜心、树子菜、青江菜，绿叶蔬菜都可以），还有炸脆江鱼仔和红葱酥。 朝天椒和酱油也是不可或缺的沾酱哦！

Shallot oil & Fried Shallots

Shallot oil and fried Shallots are two essentials in many of the Malaysian and Singaporean dishes, it was a tradition brought forward from China generations ago by the Min Nan clan from Fujian province. It is so important that many families actually keep a bottle of this oil in the kitchen all the time.

The Taiwanese and Thai too use fried shallots in their cuisine, but they use more of the fried shallot itself and like it crunchy and crispy, thus the oil and fried shallots are stored separately to retain crispiness. We Malaysian used it more for its potent fragrance, thus it is almost always stored together with the oil.

I normally make this fried shallot and oil in small batches as I don't need big quantity in cooking. When I do need it in bulk though, I will slow fry it in wok. More often than not, I "fry" it using microwave, it is fast and easy, resulting in same if not better fried shallots!