Tuesday, September 29, 2015

【Chai Buey 菜尾】 (Sourish Spicy Vegetables Soup/Stew)

这道菜的名字应该要用闽南话来念, “Chai Buey”在闽南语里就是“剩菜”的意思,这么一说,听起来就不像很好吃的样子,可殊不知这道菜是许多马来西亚家庭过节时最喜欢的一道菜。

这道菜通常在春节年初三的时候做,为什么是年初三呢?因为自除夕夜的年夜饭至年初一、二连续三天的大鱼大肉之后,冰箱里大概已经堆积下许多吃不完的肉菜,而大伙儿的肠胃也快开始吃不消了。

这道菜的主要调味料亚参片/Assam keping--"Garcinia Cambogia", 是一种亚热带产的酸果,在东南亚经常拿来入菜,因为它味酸,有开胃消脂的作用,西方许多天然减肥产品里都带有这个果子的成份,它可堪称为东南亚的山楂呢!

过节时在家来一碗菜尾,即开胃消食又不浪费,是不是很能代表闽南人&客家人节俭又勤奋的传统呢?这道菜因为各家用的剩菜都不一样,所以每家每次做出来的味道也都稍微有点不同,让这道菜更耐人寻味呢!


The name Chai Buey literally means 'leftovers', in many Malaysian Chinese households, this is one of the essential parts of the any celebration especially Chinese new year, after days of cooking and eating big (meat) meals for celebration, all we and our stomach want is probably just a simple easy to digest dish.

This dish is also a very clever way to use leftover meat dishes, the main ingredient used in this dish is Assam keping--"Garcinia Cambogia", a potent ingredient that gave the dish its distinctive sourish taste. Assam Keping/Garcinia Cambogia is also used to aid digestion and weight control in the west, you can find it in capsule forms too.

By the sound of it, you can already feel that this dish is not only delicious, it also gives our overworked digest system a much needed break during the weeks long of celebration.

Preparing it is also easy and effortless, it is just a matter of adding all the leftover meat dishes and vegetables into a big pot and simmer until everything is tender and flavor well blended. The Assam keping and dried chilies came in to give it a sourish and spicy kick. Since the leftover dishes added may be different every time every household, we can safely say that this dish could turn out slightly different every time it is made!

Which is another reason why it is so enticing!

Monday, September 28, 2015

Toddler Meal -- Mini Turkey Bagel Burger


This homemade Mini Turkey Bagel Burger is low in fat, healthy and delicious!
Serve it with apple "fries" to make it a wholesome and yummy meal for toddler.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Mee Kari/Curry Mee 【马来咖喱面】



Being out of Malaysia means a good bowl of curry mee is hard to come by, even back home though, it is getting harder to find good curry mee around. Too many hawker owners either taking shortcuts in preparing the broth or using inferior ingredients to prepare the dish.

I received multiple requests for the recipe for this dish over the years and made too many rain-checks that I am starting to feel guilty.

It took me sometimes to finally work on it for gathering ingredients itself takes quite a bit of time, the actual cooking process too is no brisk walk, it is tedious and lengthy.

But it was so well worth it when I finally got to sit down to enjoy a bowl of this delicious dish, craving fixed and recipe recorded. Sigh of relief!!

叻沙/咖喱面是马来美食里一个很有代表性的面食,汤汁鲜香浓郁,加上各种的配料,一碗下肚很容易就大汗淋漓,感觉很爽!

近年来即使在马来西亚也越来越难找到原汁原味的叻沙/咖喱面了。繁琐的工序和多样化的材料让很多小贩都在工序和材料上找捷径, 那些让人缅怀的味道也只有在家不怕麻烦地重寻了。

这些年来我收到不少朋友有关咖喱面/叻沙食谱的询问。也答应过不少的朋友有机会要做一次。但因为汤料费时费事,所以一直都没有机会好好记录。上周刚好有空,就做了这个咖喱面,老公和朋友吃了说非常好!

【芭提雅蛋包饭】Nasi Goreng Pattaya (Pattaya Fried Rice)


这个蛋包饭是马来西亚小食摊相当有名的一道饭食,和美极辣椒酱一起吃很美味。

它其实就是简单的炒饭用蛋饼包上了,卖相马上就特别不一样啦!

This fried rice dish is a very common dish one could find in almost all of the Malay food stalls in Malaysia.

It is basically fried rice wrapped in thin omelets, a very elegant presentation that brought this simple dish to a complete new level!

Monday, September 21, 2015

Toddler Meal -- 3 minutes Microwave Milo Cake


This infamous milo cake has gone viral on our Malaysian in USA group on FB. I made this for AS over the weekend with a little twist of my own.

This cake is so easy that even my 3 year old can do it. (With mommy's assistant of course). I let him measure out the ingredients and do all the stirring work, it was a fun filled math and cooking lessons and great family activity, not to mention yummy and quick!

Steamed Lobak (Radish) Cake 【腊味萝卜糕】



Steamed radish cake (Lobak kuih) is something I never missed when I go for Chinese dim sum. 

It is also not very difficult to make at home, though. You can also turn it into fried lobak kuih the next day, a good breakfast choice I dare say.

萝卜糕是我每次去喝广式早茶必定要点的点心之一,稍稍煎过之后更是香气十,
怎么吃都不够。
萝卜糕在家里制作其实不难,花点时间蒸一盆,还可以变化出炒萝卜糕和鸡蛋萝卜糕呢!是早餐很好的选择。秋天是萝卜丰收的季节,趁萝卜肥美的时候做一盆腊味萝卜糕,早餐就有啦!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

【中式烤鸡翅】Chinese Style BBQ Chicken Wings



我喜欢利用家里现有的调料腌制鸡翅,周末时和老公一边看电影一边啃鸡翅,老公说这是中式烤鸡翅。
这款鸡翅做法很简单,腌好烤制即可,非常方便而且无油烟,不加辣椒粉的话,俊宝都能吃三只呢!

I like to create my own version of BBQ sauce using the sauces available at home, hubby called it the Chinese BBQ, it is very tasty even my toddler can eat three at a time!

This easy BBQ chicken wings is our all time favorite, easy to make and a good company to a good movie!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

【香辣茄子泥-食谱 2】Baigan Ka Bharta (Mashed Roasted Eggplant)- Recipe 2



俺猪妹妹前些日子给我送来两只她家里种的大茄子,长得比超市买的都好。大茄子水份比较多,也比较甜糯,做中式菜肴比较不适合。

想起不久前和一个巴基斯坦朋友聊起香辣烤茄子,她说印度的做法和巴斯斯坦的做法有点不一样。味道也不太一样,我当时问了她的做法,回家就马上做了这个巴基斯坦式的茄子泥。

果然别有风味,非常好吃呢!材料还更加简单了。

One of my very good friend sent 2 large brinjal/eggplants she harvest last week, the sweet taste and mushy texture of this large eggplant are just perfect for the mashed eggplant recipe I wanted to try for quiet sometimes, this recipe require lesser ingredients and taste better, well...really suite my taste butt !

Tamarind Chutney (Imli ki Chutney)



This sweet chutney is an essential condiment for many snacks in India, it is normally used as a dip or in some cases, as dressing with other types of sauces to make flavorful Chaats.

It can quiet easily made at home and could be stored in airtight container for months.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Toddler Meal -- Homemade Flaxseed Turkey Nuggets


My son AS is all about shapes and play dough recently, he will try to make out shapes of his foods and will eat a lot more if he recognises shapes in his food. He has also started getting more interested in chicken dishes as nuggets being one of them.

I have been wanting to try making something healthier than frozen nuggets for sometimes. Since work is a little relax these days, I made these yummy (and hopefully healthy) turkey nuggets for dinner. 

It turned out really juicy and tasty, AS had fun sorting out shapes and eating!

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Microwave Version Of Sambal Belachan




The traditional way of making Sambal Belachan are normally simmering slowly over slow to medium heat until it is fragrance. Those who lives oversea know this is definitely not meant for the western kind of kitchen... the smell of cooking could linger for hours, if not days...

My solution for this is normally to cook my sambal at the backyard during summer time with a electric cooker. For winter,  I tried this microwave version, and it works too!

Spicy Chicken Feet Stew - Chinese style



This is something my hubby STILL find it hard to believe when I eat.

Well.... as stubborn as I could be, and a hardcore Chinese food eater...I just can't help but making it once in a while, when the man of the house is out of sight or out of station...I would make a big pot of it and keep chewing it whole day long!
This particular recipe is tried and tested, and is well love by some of my friends.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Sweet Sauce a.k.a Tim Cheong


I love Chee Cheong Fun (Chinese Rice Noodle Roll) is my favourite breakfast, though I can find pretty decent Cheong Fun in the local Asian supermarket, the sauces provided is the Hong Kong sweet soy sauce which is not the same as what I am used to since young.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Chinese Steamed Bun -- Shang Yuk Pau 【生肉包】


I have been craving for Malaysian Shang Yuk Pau for a long time now. This is my 3rd attempts on this pau and is by far the best and I had two immediately when it was out of the steamer!

前阵子网上排山倒海的都是主席吃包子的新闻,让我对大葱肉包子馋得不行。结果肉买了,却找不到大葱。
想想马来西亚的生肉包我也想做很久了,今天午餐就它了。

注:原食谱写于2014年1月14日,今天再做,也把食谱进行调整,出来的效果很好,上个帖子分享。

Homemade Yellow Noodles /Alkaline Noodles【碱水面/油面】


When I first came to the United States, I was so glad to see the yellow noodles/oil noodles available in the Asian supermarket. Until I started using them for my Malaysian dishes~~~It lack the unique pungent taste that the noodles back home carries and it is also much less springy which in my opinion is a huge turn off in gon loh (dry) and stir fry dishes.

I planned to make Harmee yesterday and figured that I have all the ingredients needed at home but yellow noodles.

Since I have sometimes at hand before dinner, I decided to make this alkaline noodles at home. And man, am I glad! My Harmee turned out to be better than ever!

家乡的炒面,干捞面,汤面用的都是碱水油面,来美国之后也买过美国亚洲超市的油面,长得和家乡的油面很像,但口感还是欠缺弹性而且少了碱面特有的味道,吃着总有点不太习惯。

昨天在家做了思念已久的虾面,熬制汤汁的时候顺便制作了这个油面,自己做的手工面就是好吃呀!