Asam Pedas Ikan Patin

The other day while waiting for the school day to end, I was talking casually with one of my colleague about on famous Malay dish that is Asam Pedas.  According to her, there are many different types of Asam Pedas and that they all vary in taste and thickness.  I was so used to the usual ones that my late mother used to prepare and now the ones that my wife frequently prepares.  

This colleague of mine hails from Melaka and so when she says that she know a thing or two about Asam Pedas, I knew she was being very modest.  After exchanging ideas on how to prepare the ultimate Asam Pedas, she finally shared one with me; a recipe which I have never really tasted and was eager to try.  And so  today, I decided to give her recipe a try.  Thanks Kak Mariya!

1 small ikan patin 

1 stalk vietnamese mint

1 small torch ginger bud

1 tbs fresh ground black pepper

4 tbs dried chili paste

5 shallots

4 cloves garlic

1 small piece shrimp paste ( very small piece!)

1 small piece galangal, bruised

1 tbs toasted coconut (kerisek)

some oil

tamarind juice (I used less to make a thick gravy)

As usual, grind the spices (chili, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste and black pepper).  Heat some oil in a pot and saute the spice mix.  When the spice mix is cooked, pour in tamarind juice (enough to cover the pieces of patin)  When mixture is boiling put in the fish, vietnamese mint and torch ginger.  Finally add in the 'kerisek' and season to taste.

P.S.  This Asam Pedas is a new high for me because after having the dish for lunch, I found myself slurping the leftover bowl of gravy like soup!

Banana Cake II

The school holidays in conjuction with a specific festival is long awaited by school citizens of all races and this time the holidays, which starts today, will be nine days long.  And as always, as a way to release all the stress of school, I have decided to bake!  I searched my pantry and I noticed I had all the ingredients I needed to bake a cake plus there were some over-ripe bananas.  So, the best thing to bake is a banana cake.  I know there's banana cakes and there's banana cakes, but I decided to give this recipe a try!

100g butter (I used salted butter since that's all I had in the fridge!)
100g brown castor sugar (ditto!)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g sour milk (full-cream milk plus juice from half a lemon)
100g mashed bananas (about two 'rastali' bananas)
200g self-raising flour

Beat butter and sugar until creamy and pale.  Add in the eggs, vanilla essence, sour milk and mashed bananas and mix well.  Then, using a spatula, fold in the flour until just mixed.  Pour into a greased and lined loaf pan and bake in a 180C oven for 40 minutes. 

P.S. This is a very moist and very brittle banana cake.  Love this one!



Giving Homok Talay a Try!

Some days you just don't feel like eating and everything just don't seem to tickle your tastebuds.  For me, today is one such day which got me thinking that I should try something new; in fact something that I had wanted to try making for a long time.  It's the Thai version of our local 'Otak-otak'.  Of course I tweaked the original recipe here and there (my apologies to the Thais) since my family do not like the smell of coriander leaves (but I just adore them! Sigh!)  But, anyway here's the reciple, minus the coriander leaves and kaffir lime leaves.

250g spanish mackerel fillets, cut into small portions
1 cup thick coconut cream
2 tbs sliced spring onions
1 tsp rice flour
1 medium egg
1 tbs fish sauce
50 g red curry paste *

Mix all the ingredients together, place in a heatproof container (I used ramekins) and steam for 10 minutes. 

P.S.

The original recipe calls for 2 tbs each of sliced kaffir lime leaves and coriander leaves.  Meanwhile, the red curry paste is made by pounding the following ingredients together to a paste.

5 dried chillies, pounded
1 tsp galangal, pounded
1 tbs lemongrass, pounded
1/2 tsp kaffir lime zest
1 tbs coriander root, chopped finely
3 tbs shallots, sliced
A pinch of prawn paste
1/4 tsp pepper corn
1 tsp salt

Brownies for Brownie Points!

It's been a while, yes, but I've been busy.  Like, today I finished invigilating the PMR examination and setting my own tradition as chief invigilator, I decided to treat my fellow invigilators to a home baked something.  It took me a while to think of what to bake when eventually I decided on brownies.  After all what better treat as brownie points for a hardworking lot of invigilators.

I'm glad the brownies went down well with the group.  Fortunate (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it!) these guys are the last lot to sample my baked treats, at least where invigilating exams are concerned; since I have from this year onwards decided not to invigilate anymore (or so I think!)  Anyway,  hope my fellow invigilators (the ladies at least!) will find this recipe easy to undertake and the result similar to mine, if not better.  Happy baking!

125g butter

100g dark chocolate

2 large eggs

200g sugar (I used brown sugar)

150g all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

100g hazelnuts

Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler.  Remove from heat and beat in the eggs.  Add this mixture to the sugar, flour, baking powder and hazelnuts and beat until well-mixed.  Spoon into a lined and greased 9-inch tin and bake for 40 minutes in a 170 C oven.  Be sure to completely cool the brownies before cutting into squares.

P.S.  I prefer my nuts roasted prior to being used in a cake.  So I dry roasted them in a pan, removed the skin and bashed them a bit before chopping them!

Simple Burrito!

During the week long festive holiday, my family and I eventually got tired of eating the delicacies prepared during the occasion and thus decided we wanted to have something simple for breakfast.  I rummaged through my fridge and found some pieces of potato tortillas, some cold cuts, a few slices of cheese and two very ripe tomatoes.

With all the ingredients at hand, I really didn't need further encouragement from my family to prepare my version of burrito.  Quite simple actually!  I merely spread the tortillas with thick lashings of mayo, arranged slices of cold cuts (which I had blanched earlier!), a few pieces of cheese and some slices of tomatoes.

The result, as it turned out, was a very hearty and satisfying breakfast which my children and I enjoyed.  The same could not be said for my wife because she opted for a more traditional breakfast; bread with butter and jam!  Well, that meant an extra burrito for me!



Pretty Pudding in Pink!

Fasting means to abstain from consuming food from dawn to dusk but it does not mean one cannot talk about it.  This is the thing that happens every month; when we can't eat food, we talk about it.  And in the process many recipes are exchanged between friends especially those that can be tried for Iftaar.  I am no exception because, since custard pudding is not my forte, I asked a friend for the recipe of this particular pudding which she made for one of our teachers' potlucks!  Of course, I tweaked the recipe here and there to cater to my own taste.  Luckily it turned out okay.  The only setback was it turned out pink!  Well, who cares about the colour as long as the taste was marvellous.  Thanks Fauziah and Faezah for tthe original recipe.  Here's my tweaked version!

4 cups plain water

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup cornflour

1 tin evaporated milk

1 tin fruit cocktail

1 packet powdered jelly (20gm)

1 large bottle yogurt drink (I used mango flavoured!)

Boil water, powdered jelly and sugar together.  Mix cornflour with the syrup from the fruit cocktail and the evaporated milk and add this to the sugar syrup stirring continuously until mixture thickens.  Cover bottom of a dish with half of the fruit cocktail and slowly pour the mixture into the dish.  Leave to cool then put in the fridge to set for a few hours.

To serve, cut the pudding into manageable sizes, put into a serving bowl and serve with more fruit cocktail poured over with some yogurt drink!

P.S.  You can tell this is not my recipe because most of the measurements are in CUPS! :)

Rozy's Roast Chicken

I must say that watching countless numbers of cooking programmes on my favourite channel has some how increased my confidence in cooking.  Today, after countless snide remarks by my children that I only watch the programmes but never try any of the recipes, I finally decided to try one.  This one is my version of Gina Steer's Oven Roast Chicken.  I used Italian herbs (since that's all I have in the pantry!) instead of oregano and thyme, plus I included carrots to add some vegetables to the roast.  Needless to say, my family enjoyed the roast chicken which we had for Iftaar, especially my son who consumed almost half the chicken.  I suppose that's a good thing because at least I know likes my cooking!  Anyway, do try this recipe and see if your family likes it too.

1.5kg to 1.8 kg chicken (no giblets please!)

4 large potatoes, quartered

6 small Bombay onions, halved

2 large carrots, cut approximately the same size as the two vegetables above

half a lemon, cut into four
1 head garlic, left unpeeled

50g butter

1 tbs dried Italian herbs

salt and pepper to taste.

Clean and prepare the chicken.  Mix the butter with the herbs and rub all over the chicken including under the breast skin for flavouring.  Rub the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper then stuff two of the onions into the cavity.  Place the chicken into a casserole dish.  Arrange the vegetables all around the chicken and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.  Cover the chicken with foil and roast in a 200C oven for one hour.  After that remove the foil and continue to roast for another half an hour at 180C until the skin turns golden.  Don't forget to squeeze the roasted garlic out of it's skin, mash it and mix it into the chicken juice to make the sauce!

Alternatively, for the potatoes, you can do like I did.  I actually boiled the quartered potatoes separately because my dish was too small.  When the potatoes are tender, heat some butter in a pan and fry the potatoes until golden brown and crispy (my children couldn't have enough of the fried potatoes!)