For the love of Rojak Kucei™

If you like something to quench the palate with fresh crunchy vege (cucumber, jicama and mung bean sprouts) that meets a savory, almost spicy, filling and long lasting meal from protein source of boiled eggs & fried chicken with fried chives fritter, thick slices of fried tofu and a helpful serving of flavorful, fiber-loaded gravy poured over them, then this is the DISH.

Have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, there is no rule of when you can have them.

In my book, like Subs sandwiches in US, it is all about the bread; in Italy, its all about the sauce for their pasta dishes. The filling goes secondary. Malaysia and Singapore has their own set of ingredients that makes the dish for their endless lists of fabulous food. For Noodles, its all about the gravy. Gravy, Gravy, Gravy.

But one, very particular dish is the Indian Rojak or some call it Rojak Mamak, both famous in Malaysia and Singapore.  Rojak means 'a mix ' and in this entry, it's a vegetable and protein mix dish with THE gravy that actually makes this DISH. Without this Gravy, it's just like any regular Salad.

A local gal I will always be, will bring you to very popular place in Kuching, located at Batu Lintang Hawker Centre (Jalan Batu Lintang), Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia is Rojak Kucei (pronounced Koo-Chay). A place so famous for the Indian Rojak that foodies literally compare all Indian Rojak to Rojak Kucei™ in Kuching. It has become a trademark. A must-go-to place. You need to be fast, as they will never make another batch for the rest of the day.

My reason of adding this entry is, one: my sister with her SOS and two: last July, I saw a friend's post on a social network, Mr Mozz Moss, you know you're at fault :) and my crave of Rojak Kucei were unimaginable that I actually dreamt of having it the night after. The only way to suppress this was to make some. I have never made this dish, ever. No worries. A girl has to do what a girl is craving for :) Search the Web and Cook.

My 'best friend,' the internet, is there to serve and save me. Searching for 'Indian Rojak' or 'Rojak India' as keywords.

My search got refined to these two links. Singapore Indian Rojak and Rojak (ala melayu) - Cucur Udang - Kuah Rojak - Rojak India to start. I was imagining the main ingredients that makes a Rojak India and for my case, Rojak Kucei™ of Kuching. Comparing notes with both sites, I went with the first link for the gravy

The Gravy

450g sweet potatoes
5 cups water
4 tbsp oil
1 ½ tbsp tamarind juice in water (more or less to taste)
100g sugar Salt to taste
6 shallots, pounded finely
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp chilli paste
1 tsp Chicken stock
100g toasted peanuts, pounded
1 tsp salt
A little dark soya sauce (for colour) * I opt this out

**I added these ingredients below realizing something is missing in the ingredients above

• 1 stalk of lemongrass, crushed
• half an inch of Galangga, (frozen for easy grating) about a teaspoon grated 
• Added about half a teaspoon of chilli flakes to add more spice

1. Boil the sweet potatoes then blend in separate portions with half amount of water. 
2. Heat oil in a saucepan and fry ground shallots and garlic, chilli paste and chicken stock. 
3. Add in blended sweet potatoes and remaining water. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add tamarind juice, palm sugar and salt to taste. 
5. • Add in the lemongrass, galangga and chilli flakes
6. Stir continuously over a gentle heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until sauce is thick. 
7. Add peanuts [ and a little dark soy sauce for color.]

and the second link for the 'Cucur' or Fritter. I opt to only have the Chives as part of the ingredient and omitting the prawn which was called for in the ingredient.

Chives Fritter

the ingredients may not be much but creates a ton of flavor.

100 g All Purpose Flour
20 g of Rice Flour
** 20 g of Cornflour ( this adds an extra crunch for my batter and soft on the inside)
** 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 green Chilli (pepper) - get rid of the seeds and sliced or chopped
1 red Chilli (pepper) - get rid of the seeds and sliced or chopped
15 stalks of Chives  (I used more of these as I like them)
Water
Salt to taste
Oil for Deep frying

1. Mix three types of flours, baking powder and salt

2. Add in eggs, green and red chilli, chives and water and mix well to a soft not to runny nor too solid of a batter.

3. heat up Oil for deep frying. Drop a tablespoonful at a time and fry till golden brown. Take out of the hot oil and cut into halves or quarters when cool.

Tips from the 2nd link chef: For the fritter dough, the eggs soften the batter, it must not be too hard nor too runny so that the fritter is soft. As a general tip, use one egg for every 300 gms of flour. Let the batter rest for 15-20 minutes before frying.

Fried Chicken

1 (1kg/2 lbs) whole Chicken or Chicken breast (cut according to how big or small you'd like them)
1 tablespoon or more of Turmeric
1 teaspoon of Salt
1 teaspoon of Crushed Black Pepper
Oil for deep frying (or use ones after frying the fritter)

Marinate the Chicken well with Turmeric, salt and crushed black pepper.
Fry Chicken till cooked and drained on rack.

Other 'must-haves' ingredients to make the Rojak complete.

• 200g Bean Sprouts (clean out the root tips, if you like and blanch for a 30 seconds to a minute and put in ice water to stop from cooking further, drain) 
• 200 gms of Jicama (peeled and julienne)
•  1 medium size cucumber (julienne or in half inch cubes) 
• 3 (3x3x1) tofu squares (deep fried and cut into 8 pieces each) 
• 4 boiled eggs (peeled and cut into halves or quarters)

To Serve

Put all the ingredients in a plate: Chicken, Chives Fritter, Eggs, Cucumber, Tofu, Jicama & Bean Spouts (Romaine lettuce, if any, as in picture) Pour gravy over them. Serve Warm or Cold to your liking. I always like mine warm.

Enjoy! :)

And to my sister who has the SOS out in Kiwiland, here's the recipe to the rescue. Please adjust to your liking :)

To All out there, I thank you for visiting and happy cooking :)

11.11.11 Elevating my mind & creativity through my senses

A wonderful morning I had even though it was 36ºF/2ºC out today, but I brave myself for another day of bike ride to work. Such lovely day should not be wasted. Not an eventful day, but it was a good one.

Kampua Mee at Rafie Cafe, Sibu. Delicious! :)

Last August, I had a blast, traveled back to my roots for  4Fs ~ family, friends, food and fun! :) I still miss my family and the food, after a couple of months back into reality, work and daily routine. Recently, I tried recreating what I still crave, The Kampua Mee of Sibu. My first taste of Kampua Mee was at Rafie Cafe in Sibu, Sarawak, during one of the most spontaneous and best trip I had -- driving from Kuching, Sarawak to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, with my sister and her 2 girlfriends. Simply delicious. With just little ingredients, the noodle satisfies all your taste buds. Since then, I have been craving for more. Too bad, we were in Sibu for only a few hours, stopping by for lunch and Durian.

Now, back in my own kitchen, I tried to recreate the Kampua Mee through my taste buds memory. Below is what I would think some of the ingredients would be, but with a twist as I am being my own cook.

Kampua Mee Style Noodle How-to.

My version of 'Kampua Mee' Style Noodle.
Ingredients
5-6 shallots
3-4 ( i like it a lot)  cloves of garlic
half a teaspoon dried chili flakes
3 tablespoon olive oil
half a cup of raw Shrimp (cut to smaller pieces, as I find that it flavors better in cut into small pieces.)
a cup of cut Gailan (optional)
a cup of sliced carrots (optional)
1 packet ( 1lb) of Hongkong style noodle ( pre cooked noodle)
2 tablespoon of light soy sauce.
Salt and pepper to taste.

my 'Kampua Mee' style noodle.

Heat up oil on medium, add onion and let oil infused the onion for about 5-10 minutes, Add garlic, do the same. Let the onion and garlic in the oil for about another 10 minutes, keeping the heat on medium till the onion and garlic gets caramelized. Add in half a teaspoon of chili flakes. less if you like it less spicy. I like mine a bit with heat. I added Gailan & Carrots for my recipe. You can omit this if you like. Mix well for about 5 minutes, then add in the Noodle. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Mix the ingredients well for about 10- 15 minutes, making sure the noodles are well blended well with flavors of the oil.

Cooking takes less then 30 minutes for this dish. I hope you'll try them and you will like this simple but flavorful dish.

Masala Vadai aka Cucur Rodei

Masala Vadai, or Cucur Rodei  we call it back home. One of my favorite savory snack food. My mom knows me too well and always reminded me in case I ever forget:)  She knows I always look forward to my favorite Cucur Rodei from this one Indian lady at her small spot in Kuching Sunday Market, buying a bag full to bring home to family, with extra eaten with freshly squeezed sugarcane juice on my way home. Heaven! I can eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Her Cucur Rodei is perfectly cooked, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Thank you Auntie, for the best Cucur Rodei in Kuching! Nothing beats this.


Recently with my crazy cravings for food from home, I cannot just go out and get one like I used to. I have to make some myself and I had tried making these before, perfecting the recipe each time through taste bud memory and with the help of the world wide web. What I thought all those while, that the lady's famous masala vadai has dried shrimp, I was so wrong. The flavorful taste of it tricked me, and I did a few trial and error till this came out. This is one full vegetarian snack that you would love, entirely.

For my friend Rosalind, here's my simple recipe for my Masala Vadai.

Main ingredients

Masala Vadai ~ by FreezerNinja
Ingredients
• 1 lb of Chana Dhal ( soaked 4-6 hours or overnight)
• One medium Onion
• 1-2 fresh Chillie ( or you can also use dry chillies, ground, some people like it cut in pieces or 1 teaspoon of chillie flakes) ~ heat of chillies to each one's taste bud
• 2 tablespoon of chopped Parsley (optional * I love the flavor of parsley in my mix)
• 2 tablespoon of chopped Cilantro
• 2 tablespoon of chopped Curry leaves ( fresh or dry)
• 1 teaspoon of Coriander powder ( you can use Coriander seeds and grind them coarsely instead of powder, I love these to create more texture)
• 1 teaspoon of Cumin ( ground or whole)
• 1 teaspoon of salt ( to taste)
• Oil for frying

Process

1. Grind Chana Dhal coarsely, not fine.
2. Grind Onion with Chillie, Parsley, Cilantro and Curry leaves together.
3. Add ingredient 2 into 1. Add Salt to taste, Cumin & Coriander to the mixture.
4. Make into balls and flattened into patties.
5. Heat enough oil for frying.
6. Drop each of the patties gently into the hot oil.
7. Fry about 4-6 mins, flip them once you've seen the sides get golden brown but make sure not to disturb them before this happens or else will break  and get it crumbly in the oil if its not cooked & adhere to each bean.
8. Deep fry till golden brown.
9. Take it out of the fryer, on a rack to get access oil out or on a paper towel.

Crunchy on the outside, medium soft on the inside. Yummmm!

yummmm!

I hope you would love these as much as I do. Its a flavorful & fiberful snack. Vegetarian all the way!:)

Note: I did try baking them, instead of frying, I put them on a baking sheet, drizzle olive oil and bake them till it is golden brown. I find that it gets a bit too dry, but not so bad. I still prefer it fried. Double yumm!:)

Enjoy, All:)

From Red Turtle to Red Velvet

my very first Ang Ku Kueh made, sans mold

Once very young, I always look forward to my Mom's question, 'Do you want to go out to the 'Pasar'* with me?" My eyes would say, 'Yes!' before my voice came out! At this age, I am thinking selfishly that I am my mother's only child. ~I am in my own world, but I love you no less dearest sisters and I am thankful to have all of you & will never ever trade you for any luxuries in this world. :)

These are times I treasure most, I would create a mental album of images around me. I was only half the height of my own petite beautiful mother. Everything is big. One image among many caught my attention ~ A stall near the bus station with arrays of delicacies, desserts. One particular Chinese dessert. The most beautiful, in my mind ~ Red, delicate with beautiful pattern embossed, oval shaped dessert placed nicely on an oval cut banana leaf. That time, I must feel like I have eyes of a goldfish ~ goggling, snapping, capturing all those beautiful colors. I would just stared quietly, never dare to ask if I can have some, only if my mom offers to.

Years may have passed, it still sticks with me ~ that bright red kueh* at the stall. Till one day, at school, a friend gave me a bite. What a delicious treat! Where can I have one, more? That was my very first Ang Ku Kueh. Such delicate skin with not too sweet of a filling, fills my brain with happiness. Oh, so good!

That seems eons ago and recently, craving for one. I cannot get one here and have never made one either. I searched for recipes and found a few. One from MyKitchenSnippets, caught my most attention. Comparing ingredients with what is available to me here. No mold, I thought. No steamer, I will improvise. No problem. The taste is key and the color of course. Why the color? Ang is Red in Chinese and Ku is Turtle. Hence its name, Ang Ku Kueh. Red Turtle Dessert.

Only after my first time making this, I know now why it is different from most Malay dessert. The filling and the ingredient in its skin. Two key and very healthy ingredient. Mung Bean and Sweet Potatoes. They are fiber loaded.

Ang Ku Kueh Recipe

filling

1 cup of mung bean
2 tbsp canola oil
3/4 cup of sugar

skin

2 cups of glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup hot water
a few drops of red food coloring

Ingredients with step by step images

1. Soak mung bean overnight and steam till soft.
2. Steam Sweet potatoes till cooked.
3. Add the steamed mung bean while its still warm with canola oil and sugar into a blender. Blend till smooth.
4. In a bowl, mix glutinous rice flour, sugar, mashed sweet potatoes, add in hot water and mix into a dough.
5. Add in a few drops of red food coloring, and knead into the dough.
6. Get the steamer ready, here I am using a wok with a rack and layered with banana leaves.
7. Make the filling into balls.
8. Divide the dough into 16 balls. Flatten dough, put the filling in the center and start pinching, closing the dough to form a ball.

Before & After. Red & Orange Ku.

9. Rubbing a little bit of oil on each, then put them on the banana leaf in the steamer. Steam for 8 minutes.
10. Cool and serve. Yumm.

I made a batch without the red coloring and had the natural sweet potatoes orange color for the skin.

Chomp! to give you the cross section:)

Orange Ku - naturally colored with sweet potatoes as one of the ingredients

Enjoy!

* Pasar ~ Market; kueh ~ sweet dessert in Malay

Added March 6th, 2011.

Ang Ku mold . Thanks Julia!:)

I got this yesterday in my mail from a friend, Julia Lim:) Thanks so much Julia.

my first trial, a bit too big for the mold.

the finish product, Ang Ku Kueh. The way I first saw it

-------------------------------------------------

From my love for Red Turtle Dessert to my fascination of Red Velvet Cake.

Red Velvet Cupcake

The famous southern dessert which made me stare at the TV every time a chef makes them. May it be on a throwdown, or a regular food show, I am glued to the screen.

Finally, I had an urge to make it last Christmas for gifts. I found out how easy it is to make this. The recipe search started, comparing each one that I have seen and at last, I found three that I like very much and used this recipe.

From cupcake to the ice cream cone. I am on a Red Velvet cupcake baking mode!:) I made a regular cupcake and the other putting them in an ice cream cone. Kudos to those who came up with this brilliant idea:) perfect for a little kid's party cake.

Red Velvet process

These are images from my trials in my magic kitchen. My therapeutic space.

Red Velvet in Ice Cream Cone

I hope you will try and enjoy them as much as I did. Click this recipe. Happy Baking!:)

Bananarama II: Steamed Banana dessert - Pais Pisang/Lepat Pisang

Bananas for banana I am as you may have seen from my previous entry, 'BananaRama- I run for bananas!' During these past few weeks, the bananas I have bought have been ripened at a speedy rate, I cannot even keep a perfect ripe one longer than 2 days even though I bought them while they are still green! the temperature has been so high lately. Those oh so ripe bananas do not go to waste in my kitchen. Made them into fried banana dumpling (picture at bottom of page) and just now, steamed banana dessert that is wrapped in banana leaves. This brought me back to my Mom's kitchen.

Mmm..still steaming as I took that picture. For my friend, Haniz:) here's the very simple step you can follow.

Ingredients:

Banana leaves for wrapping ( cleaned and cut them into 6 inches wide, making sure to handle them ever so gently, as the leaf tears easily )

8-9 large ripe banana
1/2 cup of shredded Coconut (optional)*
1/4 cup sugar ( optional especially when the bananas are so ripe. it is sweet on its own)
pinch of salt
2 cups of All Purpose Flour (or more if you like it firmer)
[an option of replacing 1 cup of AP flour with 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour]

* this ingredient reminds me of a lady whom we waited every morning at our college dormitory for my favorite version, lepat with coconut center.

Mix them altogether.

On one leaf, scoop about 3 tablespoon of the mixture, fold part of leaf as shown, then fold the other half to cover. Finally, fold the ends and tuck them at each end, like shown.

Get your steamer ready. As you can see, I am using a wok with a rack placed halfway with water enough for steaming. Make sure you have the water boiling and ready to steam. Put the ready wrapped banana mixture onto the rack. Cover and steam for about 15-20 minutes till it is firm to touch.

Makes about 18-20.

Voila! you have yourself, wrapped steamed banana for dessert. Enjoy!

Ah, I should not forget my all time favorite. Cekodok pisang. Fried Banana Dumpling. Cucur Jompot in my language.

'cekodok or jemput pisang' in Malay, more like a banana fried dumpling [cekodok - looks more like a toad, hence the name, a dark frog curling its body; jemput pisang is little drops of banana. ]

Coconut Chocolate Marble Tea Cake

I was working on some designs and my head was not where it was supposed to be. I kept thinking of what I have in my pantry and how much eggs in the fridge. It's baking, again. Remember the Coconut Tea Cake that I had here? I have been playing and tweaking the recipe. This time, I lessen the sugar and oil and added 3 more ingredients. Cocoa, Vanilla & Water which was absent in the first one. So here goes,

Coconut Chocolate Marble Tea Cake
- by yours  truly:) first made successfully on March 8th, 2010.
Rich & moist without too much guilt, I think:) eat at yr own risk:)

Heat your oven to 325ºF

Plain Batter:
Ingredient 1A:
2 eggs
1/2 can coconut milk ( 200 gm)
1/2 cups sugar ** ( see notes below)
1/4 cup canola oil ** ( see notes below)

Ingredient 1b:
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder

Ingredient 1c:
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tblspn of water

Chocolate Batter:
Ingredient 2a:
2 eggs
1/2 can coconut milk (200 gm)
1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup canola oil

Ingredient 2b:
1 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup of cocoa
2 tsp of baking powder

Ingredient 2c:
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 tblspn of water (**I find that cocoa seems to produce a bit of a dry cake so adding this would help)

Get ready two separate bowls,  one for the plain batter and the other for the chocolate. Both ingredients are pretty much the same. The only difference is the Cocoa, for chocolate batter.

Mix ingredient A well till nice and smooth but not over mixing in each bowl. Then, add in Ingredient B, then C.

Making the Marble.

Pour the plain batter one layer, and pour the chocolate batter next and repeat. It will spread flat so don't worry if it looks a bit messy.
I am using 2 loaf pans but you can use 8x8 pan.
Pour in a greased and floured or lined with parchment/grease proof paper.

Bake in 325ºF for about 1 hr or till skewer comes clean.

**NOTE: I have reduced the sugar from the original recipe from  a total of 2 cups to 1 cup. I prefer it less sweet and with the cocoa being 1 cup, it will taste more like dark chocolate. Feel free to add sugar if you like. The same goes to the Canola Oil. Reduced from 1 to half cup. I found it is still moist because of the coconut milk.

*Conversion:
1 all-purpose flour - Cup US = 125 gram - g
1 cup oil = 8 fluid ounces( fl oz)

Happy Baking, Bakers!:) these are really good with plain unsweetened hot tea or coffee.

Chicken with Tomatoes. Recipe by Ramona Ariffin

My tummy was rumbling and I was out of ideas of what to make for dinner today. I suddenly remembered the recipe given to me by a dear friend from back home while chatting. Here's to you Ramona, I have made this today and it is superb! Simple yet so tasty! My kind of recipe:) Thank you.

This recipe is given to Ramona by her sister-in-law. Just by its little and fresh ingredients, I know I have to try it! You can try them too and tell us what you think of it.

Chicken with Tomatoes. Recipe given by Ramona Ariffin.

Ingredients
Half a chicken ( cut to small pieces)
1lb or half a kilo of tomato, diced or thinly sliced
Sliced red/green Chilie peppers - to your own heat level
1 large Red Onion OR 3 to 4 small yellow onions
2-3 tablespoon of Oil [I prefer olive, for sauteing]
Salt to taste

Saute onions till caramelized, add in the diced or thinly sliced tomatoes. Once tomatoes are softened and well mixed, add in chicken, salt to taste.

Notes:
**~to add more flavor to the the dish, Cloves, Anise Seed, Cinnamon can be added while sauteing the onion. Add fresh ground pepper towards the end.
**~ if you like it to have curry taste to it, then you can add Curry powder to the ingredient

Recipe was passed to Ramona by her Sister-in-law.

Thanks Ramona, for sharing!!:)

I tested it today and it came out amazing! Just as I thought it would. Image seen here is from sauteed Onions, caramelized, add Cinnamon, Star Anise, Cardamom, Cloves & a quarter of teaspoon of Chili flakes (replacing fresh sliced chili.) Add sliced Carrots, then diced Tomatoes. Once tomatoes have softened, add in Chicken, simmer till chicken is cooked and tender. Salt and freshly cracked Pepper to taste. Serve. Enjoy!:)

Another friend, Musdi, posted his picture (above) of what he had made from the same recipe. We'll see how many will be trying this recipe.

Tart Nenas : Pineapple Tart

I was craving again last night, for my all time favorite, the Pineapple Tart. A very good friend, Sherry, sent me a tray together with chocolate chips cookies, all the way from home and I cannot get enough of it! Bless your heart & Thank you Sherry!

These are a must have, almost in every household during religious festivals back home, in Malaysia. May it be Chinese New Year, the Eid and other religious holidays or festivals, you will find them. It is delicious almost crumbly yet buttery on the outside; sweet, tart and almost chewy in its filling. Super delicious! Like Rugelach as my all time favorite in the States, these are the Ultimate Cookie back home, well next to Kuih Makmur [Mexican wedding cake in States] of course.

So, I went to my computer for recipe search and its among the top listed searches for 'Tart Nenas.' Of course everyone have their favorite ones. I got a few. After so many days of searching for the best ingredients, I came out with my own which came from a combination of so many recipes. I want my crust to be buttery, not too crumbly yet with a little crunch, enough to hold the pineapple jam that I made. This will be my 3rd recipe that I dare to come up with, according to what my taste bud likes.  I am making this tart without any rolling pin but just roll and press them with my fingers to make it into its shape. It may not be as pretty, like what I have seen online, but I think I got the taste to be just perfect. Just the way my FreezerNinja taste bud likes:) I would say, it taste like having thick almost chewy fruit jam on a shortbread. Something like that. Oh, and the cloves, made a world of difference in taste, that is if you like cloves:)

I first made them on Oct 14th with successful alteration last night, Oct 17th, 2009. So here goes, my avid reader.

Pineapple Tart. ~by FreezerNinja.

Pineapple Jam
1 Large Pineapple (ripe)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoon of cornflour

Peel, get rid of the core and grate or put them in your food processor.
Put the grated pineapple into a pot with sugar, salt, cloves and cinnamon and mixing them well, bring them to boil. Cook them till it gets thick, no more juice and add in the cornflour. Mix well, simmer and let it cook till further thickens, making sure to stir them from time to time.  This process took me about half an hour or so. I divided this to 4. The Tart dough below uses only a quarter of this Jam recipe.

Tart dough (makes 25 tart or cookie)

4 oz of butter
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
3 tbsp cornflour
1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour

Beat butter till creamy.
Add in confectioners sugar and salt.  Mix well.
Add in egg. Mix well.
Add in flour and cornflour.

Mix well till the dough forms into a ball and do not stick to the bowl.

Heat your oven to 350ºF. My recipe will use only a quarter of the jam that has been produced from one large pineapple. So you know what to do if you want to finish the jam:)

Divide the dough into 25 small portions.
Roll them in an oval shape, about 1/8" thick.
Put about 1/2 of a teaspoon pineapple jam in the middle of the dough and roll.
Put them about and inch apart on a parchment paper lined baking tray.

NOTE: If you like to add egg wash on the tart, this is the time to do it, just beat 1 egg and brush them before you put them into the oven.

Some of the tart/cookie, I stick one clove in, just because I love the taste of clove in my pineapple tart. I have a bit of a weird taste buds. This is optional.

Bake them about 30 mins or until the tart has turned a bit golden.

Happy Baking! Enjoy.

OnineOnineOnine:) & my fresh garden Pizza

o9o9o9 - a date that most think as lucky and for some, because of how it sounds in a certain language, means otherwise. To me, below is what is interesting about this number 9.

"In base 10 a number is evenly divisible by nine if and only if its digital root is 9. That is, if you multiply nine by any natural number, and repeatedly add the digits of the answer until it is just one digit, you will end up with nine" - wikipedia

I am not going to talk about numbers in this entry but just sharing a little knowledge I got from the web.

I will be talking about my summer obsession with my little garden. Little pots of flowers, herbs, peppers, tomatoes and zucchini.


Recently, I had harvested and made my very own garden produced vegetables into a quick pizza using pita bread that I bought fresh from a Mediterranean Market nearby, also topped with Spanish cheese. I have always wanted to try Spanish cheese when Rachel Ray used it in her sandwiches one time.

Firstly, I had sauteed onion, bought; bell pepper from my garden and sliced thinly beef in a pan for my meat portion of the pizza, then I sliced the cheese thinly, arranged so it almost covered the pita, topped with sliced tomatoes and zucchini from my garden. Since i did not have any basil, I chopped some cilantro then top it off with the sauteed beef. Everything were just eye-balled into each piece of pita that I have. Drizzle, extra virgin olive oil on top of the pita and put them in a 35o deg F oven for about 20 minutes or till the cheese melts.

Thinly crusted beef pizza. No sauce, just sliced cheese, tomato and zucchini and cilantro with a drizzle of extra Virgin Olive Oil. Voila!

Engkalak: The Jurassic fruit of Borneo:)

I was tested by an old friend, aPayne, today, on having Engkalak as a my breakfast drink while having an online conversation. I would take that even though I have never tasted it in a form of a drink. It might taste good. Like avocado in a smoothie?:) mmmm:)

Engkala or Engkalak is a fruit that most in Borneo eat for lunch and only found on that island, as far as I know of. Its scientific name: Litsea garciae. It has a hint of sweetness to it when its ripe. The texture and taste of this fruit is very much like avocado, maybe a bit more softer. Green, when its still on trees and when ripe, it turns to this pretty shade of blush pink! Eaten when its totally ripe or to speed up for consumption, pour warm water on the pink, cap off, fruit. Cover it for a few minutes. It will soften in no time. Drain, sprinkle with salt and you're good to go. I would eat this alone or best with hot white rice. Just that. Nothing else and I am a happy camper!

The taste is like having creamy avocado sprinkle with salt and eaten with hot rice. The sprinkled salt enhanced the the overall flavor. A hint of sweetness and lots of creaminess. You do not eat the skin, just the fleshy part of the fruit. It does have a pit that just pops right out when you squeeze it.

Many may not dare to eat this fruit, even locals, because of its appearance when you take off the cap:) or maybe the elderly may just want to have it to themselves and not let the kids have them, so they tell you weird stories! But, like some jungle or tropical fruit, looks can be pretty deceiving. Try it, once, you may like it. Payne, I dare you!:)

My very own first recipe: Coconut Tea Cake

I missed my Mom and her delicious Coconut Cake that she bakes in one of her Brass Dutch Oven. ~ ooh, the crust!!! I don't have a dutch oven but I do have a regular one as in many households nowadays. My cake version was not even close to my Mom's whose cake is so authentically classic. Shredded Coconut with lots of Eggs, sugar, butter and flour but, at least the flavor is there. I was thinking, a Light cake for tea.

This cake was first made on a recent Mother's Day, created for a very good friend, Naomi on her 1st Mother's Day. I was out of the regular ingredient for my favorite French-Style Lemon Yogurt Cake and since I am making her a Malaysian Home cooked lunch, I thought its time to brave myself in a new cake creation based on that Yogurt Cake recipe. I always have coconut milk in my pantry anyways. So here goes:)!

Sharing with all the bakers out there who has been hit by the baking bug:)
look at the close up shot, I can't resist but peel of that corner crusty top layer when the cake just got out of the oven. a habit of mine. oooh..:)

Coconut Tea cake - by yours Truly:) first made on May 10, 2009

Heat your oven to 325ºF

Ingredient A:
4 eggs
1 can coconut milk ( 400 gm/13.5oz)
2 cups sugar** ( see notes below)
1 cup* canola oil

Ingredient B:
3 cups* of flour
4 tsp of baking powder

( Time for all this prep is only about 15 mins)

Mix ingredient A well till nice and smooth but not over mixing. Then, add in Ingredient B. Pour in a greased and floured 8x8 pan.

Bake in 325ºF for about 1 hr or till skewer comes clean.

**NOTE: My sister, the first tester on the other side of the globe, said its a bit sweet with 2 cups of sugar, you may want to reduce it to 1 1/2 if you like:)

*Conversion:
1 all-purpose flour - Cup US = 125 gram - g
1 cup oil = 8 fluid ounces( fl oz)

Happy Baking, Bakers!:) these are really good with plain unsweetened hot tea or coffee.

Feastication VI: Breakfast at Ammah Curry House

I forgot to upload this part of my vacation and food feast back home. This one was a Sunday breakfast with my family. Yes, breakfast I said with Curry and spicy in mind:) Images from left to right, top to bottom; Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice served with sliced cucumber, fried anchovies, sambal , spanish peanut and an egg on a banana leaf,) Roti Canai or Pratha (crispy layered bread - pan toasted,) Roti Canai with Cheese (not being home for so long, this one is new to me,) Teh Tarik (pulled tea, my fav,) Ammah Curry House, the damage done after all the food was gone, a shot of how Canai was made, Malaysian style fried chicken (oh yumm,) Dosai or Thosai ( very thin and flat bread) and a shot of the store.

I am drooling just describing those images. I love Indian Food, but I must say, Malaysia has the best array of Indian stalls and restaurants. I think one of them that I had just discovered was this place. It is located at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, behind Impiana Hotel in Kuching. I am wishing, while writing these, that I can just hop on into my bug and drive there especially at this 33ºF/3ºC out! It will warm me up in no time! hmmm...I can only drool right now:(.

i miss my family:(

Ammah Curry House
Lot 83, Section 21,
Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce,
93150 Kuching, Sarawak,
MALAYSIA.

Kaya Toast

My first entry in 2009. click image for a larger view and drool.

Yumm...Kaya* Toast! It is very common to any breakfast or coffee shop in Malaysia or Singapore. A must for me to have if I go out for breakfast. Not that I cannot make them myself, like Grilled Cheese Sandwich, making it to me is an art by itself. I'm serious about how these two sandwiches are made:) It is not merely smearing Kaya on the a well toasted white bread with either butter or margarine, but how much you put on the bread is key, so it would not taste too sweet. Have it with coffee or tea and your tummy will be happy! oh yummm..

Kaya, a coconut spread or jam that is made of coconut milk, eggs, sugar and juice of pandan* leaf, cooked together till it thickens. Now you can find them commercially produced and packed in cans. The word Kaya in Malay means rich. Therefore, this is a rich tasting toast! double yumm!

Pandan or Screwpine leave is a tropical plant that is mainly use in many Southeast Asian cooking. Mainly for its aroma, it is used either whole in cooking or by extracting its juice for desserts, almost as vanilla is commonly use.

Fruits of Borneo Island: Asam Embang

Ahhh...I am puckering my lips right now while writing this. Asam Embang, is what we call this almost prehistoric looking fruit, one of the mango family, with its scientific name, Mangifera Panjang. It is found almost everywhere in Borneo and in Kuching, Sarawak, you can find this at the market. The brown almost scaly skin is almost half an inch thick and the only way to get those juicy fibrous flesh is by scoring the skin about quarter to half an inch with a knife in sections. Just be careful with the sap that comes out of its skin, as it will burn your skin a bit. (click on image for a bigger view) The skin of this fruit is edible. The yellow flesh is sweet and sometimes a bit on the tart side when not completely ripe, and can be eaten either raw as is, into mango relish or added in your dish to add the sweet sour flavor of the fruit. Either way you have it, is good.

My favorite is like how my mother and grandmother did it to keep us quiet. Chopped the flesh of the fruit and add water and a bit of sugar and pour it cold into a glass especially when its so hot outside! Yeah, that will keep us quiet and content when we were kids, chewing the fibrous sweet fruit and drinking at the same time.

Then, when we are able to stand the heat in food, the relish is served. Made by, again, chopping the fruit small, add it into the sambal that is of shrimp paste, chili, a bit of anchovies pound together. This is eaten with warm rice. Ahhhh..divine!

Adding this to a fish dish made of a mix of crushed lemon grass, dried chili, a bit of turmeric, half of an onion, cut in wedges, crushed garlic, fish of your choice, I prefer white flesh fish, or better yet, dried smoked fish and sliced Asam Embang. All these ingredients into a pot with water just enough or a bit more covering all the ingredients makes all the difference. Simmer away. yummmm...

The Sambal Asam or Mango Relish with the Sweet Sour Fish and Hot White Rice, a sunny day, a soft breeze and coconut trees rustling in the background is a beautiful imagination in my head when the truth is, its cold and white outside my window right now.

A Merry Christmas, everyone!

As of now, I am still in a quest of finding another mango which most called the Asam Binjei or Binjai. White Flesh Mango! An opposite texture to this Asam Embang, white and silky smooth, but oh so good!

Feastication V. The Ultimate Rice Salad: Nasi Kerabu

Nasi Kerabu or Nasi Ulam to some. One of the many rice dish offered by multi-cuisine Malaysia and is one of the food on a must have list when I got back home during my last vacation. The first time I had this was in college during Ramadhan and I have not stop any chance I can get on these interesting, colorful multi-textured and flavored, delicious dish. The blue rice, the fried fish, the Solok Lada, the never ending list of vegetables julienne, the gravy and sauces that goes with this dish just entice your taste buds with all the texture and flavor it has to offer. And the Keropok.

This dish is originally from Kelantan, Northeast of Peninsula Malaysia. Before I get into details, if you are ever in Malaysia, especially Kelantan and Trengganu, go to where the lines are long, that's where you get the best Nasi Kerabu. Then again, you can always get them anywhere in Kuala Lumpur and I still go to smaller food stalls or restaurants for the best. I would stay away for the commercially flashy, contemporary restaurants, just because the food don't taste as good as it is suppose to. Sad.

I will be breaking this down. Drool at your own expense:) Here goes.

The Blue Rice - the version I like. This captured my attention ever since. It seems that they have different version, blue, black, red and or simply white. The tinted rice are done by using different herbs that produces the color. The blue rice is tinted with dried Bunga Telang, in English, the Blue Pea or Clitoria flower.

The Ulam or the Salad. Raw vegetables like cabbage, long beans, Kangkong (water spinach) and herbs such as Bunga Kantan ( Torch Ginger Bud,) Daun Kunyit (Turmeric leave,) Daun Kesom ( Vietnamese Mint,) Daun Selasih ( Basil) among many herbs were jullienne with added bean sprout for more added crunch!

The Sambal Kelapa. Coconut Sambal, a condiment. Pan fry with finely chopped black pepper, onion and fresh ginger which is then ground for another time after all have been toasted.

The Sambal Ikan. Fish Sambal. Another condiment that made this dish. It is made of grilled Ikan Kembung (Indian Mackerel,) finely ground onion and ginger. These ingredients are mixed together and pan fry till toasted.

Solok Lada. Stuffed chilli. This was made with again, Indian mackerel, ginger and onion, ground finely and added to grated coconut, stuffed into the chillie and boiled in rich creamy coconut milk till the coconut milk dries.

Writing this makes me drool. I don't have the patience to do this, but I love, love, love, this dish.

Then, the ingredients to this did not end there.

There's more fish. Deep fried and coated with turmeric powder, rice flour , a bit of salt and lime water.

Last but still not the end of condiment's list, Sambal Budu. Fish sauce sambal. This is another must, to me, in this dish. Made with dried chilli, red onion, garlic, ginger, all finely ground, with crush lemongrass, sugar, coconut milk and tamarind juice. the coconut milk is first boiled then added with rest of the ingredient and boiled again till thick.

What did I say about enticing of the taste bud. This alone has created one group of flavor that dances around those teenee taste buds. Its salty, sour, spicy and sweet. All in just this one condiment.

Oh how could I forget, the Keropok! The Fish Cracker. The magic cracker, as I call it! Crunchy, slightly salty goodness made of Fish, flour, salt and some added spices, mixed into a dough, boiled, thinly sliced, sun-dried and packed for us to use. Most keropok would be packed in plastics and all you have to do is fry them like you do chips but, this frying only takes seconds as the small dry compact slices blooms into a huge dessert plate size crackers. That's why I call it the magic cracker!:) You may want to try with one small chip first and see the magic transforms! I play with my food:)

The above picture was taken when I had my lunch in Section 18, Shah Alam, Selangor with my two lovely couple, Nizam & Ziela, my very long time friends from college whom I have not seen for more than 13 years together with their 2 lovely daughters and my sister & my nephew, Mumble:). It is so good. Added to it is sliced grilled beef. I cannot say more but one word. Yummmmy!

Good company and good food.

Feastication IV. The Art of Cake Layering

Kek Lapis Sarawak or its translation, Sarawak Layered Cake.
Roll over and/or click on images for more hd visual:)

If you said you have seen layered cake, you have not seen enough just yet. These cakes you see above are a well known art by cake bakers from Sarawak, Borneo. I would say, its the Art of Constructing & deConstructing Layered Cake. They are not only beautiful, but deliciously moist and flavorful. These are only a few of many you can see during festive seasons all across Sarawak, Malaysia.

I have experienced the painstaking detail (to me) and its tedious process of making this type of cake. Mixing the ingredients, eggs, lots of them, butter, sugar, flour, then comes the spices or color, depending on what you will flavor your cake. The lists are endless. Then come layering it, one at a time making sure the cake is not over baked or over steamed. yes, some of the recipes requires only steaming. yummm...

Now, the even more creative professional bakers made it even more complicated, like one you see above. As for me? I just layered them plain. Nothing special at all. Blah! They, the professional Kek Lapis bakers, will be constructing it like as if they would weave a mat. I bet Martha Stewart have not seen anything like this yet!:) Making these cakes was, I think a few baking experience that I have not done for a long while.

Those in the pictures above and below, no, I did not make those. These pictures are taken from one of my sister's house during the Eid. I have to ask my sister what they named these cakes, yes, they have names, as creative as the cake itself. All of them, are oh so yummy! Just watch your weight as these cakes do not skim out on ingredients. No, M'am! Eat at your own risk as you can never stop. These are serious cakes! Seriously!:)


Layered cakes were first introduced to Sarawak by the Indonesian who layered their cake with ground spices, which was introduced to the Indonesian by the Dutch during its colony. Spekkoek. A Thousand Layer Spice Cake.

BananaRama- I run for bananas!

Pictured above are Pisang Keling or Pisang Rastali.

Pisang. Banana in English. These are fruits that most love and some may not like. I love, love bananas. I started to learn the different names when I was a "banana runner" for my late Great grandmother. She would ask me to run to the small stall to get bananas just for her. Hmm...I love running errands for my mom, running back and forth just for for fun of it. As a 7-8 year old, what the heck. My mom said to obey the elders so I did. In my mind, I would get my "fruitful" reward:)

My great grandmother says bananas. I run! To the stall of course. She would say, "Get me Pisang Madu" - Honey Banana, a small pinky finger sized banana that is super sweet. As sweet as honey. Hence the name. Or Pisang Keling (Pisang Rastali in Bahasa Melayu ) a dark dotted banana which is almost with a slight tartness to it, my other favorite, or Pisang Embun (Embun is Dew in Malay) the closest to most banana species sold in most supermarkets around the world. Then there is Pisang Otel (Pisang Lemak Manis in B. Melayu with English direct translation as Creamy & Sweet Banana) my true favorite. It's small & sweet. Smooth yellow skin, when ripe with a green tip and almost has its own sweet fragrance.

Pisang Pisang. This banana mostly use for baking, is very good for Cekodok Pisang - fried banana dumpling. Made with just flour, mashed banana & a pinch of salt fried to perfection & Lepat Pisang - a banana kueh, made with mashed ripe banana with flour and a bit sugar and sometimes with grated coconut, wrapped in banana leaves, steamed till cooked. Yes, Add a pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness of this fruit.

Pisang Nangka - A banana species that taste like that of Nangka - Jackfruit. Interesting enough. Pisang Tandok (Plantain) - Tandok/Tanduk is Horn in Malay as most of these bananas are the size of a water buffalo horns. It is mainly use for cooking, frying will be best. Fried ripe plantain, where its sugar caramelized when fried, oozing through the crunchy fried flour batter. You can see small stalls selling these in the afternoon near roadsides and do ask for Pisang Goreng (Fried Banana.)
Pisang Mas - Sweet but not as good as Pisang Otel to my taste bud, also known as Baby Banana in most Western supermarkets.
Pisang Kapok (Pisang Kapas in B Melayu & kapas is cotton in Malay) Like that of Plantain and Pisang Pisang, this is best for cooking and be made into fried banana.

There are about 9 names of bananas that I knew and can differentiate when I run banana errands for my late great grandmother. I thank her for this knowledge she had given me, yet I know, even after all these errands, she do not like me much. I assumed of my mischievousness :)
Pictured above are Pisang Otel or Pisang Lemak Manis.