Pondok-Pondok

Kuih sagu with gula melaka sauce

2007-06-30T20:54:00.000Z

You will need:

1 cup Pandan Tapioca pearl (sagu)
4 cups water
1 chunk of gula melaka (you can substitute with brown sugar)

Direction:

Boil water on a medium heat.
Pour sagu in the boiling water and let it simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. You will notice that the sagu will become clear (transparent) and that shows the sagu is ready.
Meanwhile, heat the gula melaka with 5tbs water in a different pan until all gula melaka is dissolved. The consistency is up to your likings. (More water if you like it thin). Alternatively, you may heat the gula melaka with some water in microwave.
Once the sagu is ready, pour in small moulds or ramekins. Leave to set for a couple of hours.
Serve the sagu with gula melaka.

Note: This recipe was observed once upon a time at Auntie Wa's house. The quantity in this recipe is purely guessed.

Double chocolate brownies

2007-05-30T19:32:00.000Z

You will need:

175g unsalted butter (extra for buttering)
250g dark chocolate
250g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
150g walnuts or pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
200g milk chocolate chips (or roughly chopped chocolate)

Direction:

Heat the oven to 180°C. Line the base and sides of a 30cm x 20cm x 3 cm baking tin with baking parchment, then butter.
Melt the butter and dark chocolate together either in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave on a low setting. Stir until smooth and then leave to cool a little.
Whisk the sugar and eggs together with electric beaters until pale and thick. Mix in the vanilla and melted butter and chocolate. Sift the flour and fold into the batter with the chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 35 minutes.
Cool in the tin, then cut into squares. Makes 18.

Source: Olive Magazine, March 2007

Baked raspberry cheesecake

2007-05-09T09:35:00.000Z

You will need:

8 digestive biscuits
50g butter, melted
600g cream cheese
2 tbs plain flour
175g caster sugar
vanilla extract
2 eggs plus 1 yolk
142ml pot soured cream
300g punnet raspberries
1 tbsp icing sugar

Directions:

Heat the oven to 180°C. Crush the biscuits in a food processor (or put in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin). Mix with the butter. Press into a 20cm springform tin and bake for 5 minutes, then cool.
Beat the cream cheese with the flour, sugar, a few drops of vanilla, eggs, the yolk and soured cream until light and fluffy. Stir in half the raspberries and pour into the tin. Bake for 40 minutes and then check, it should be set but slightly wobbly in the centre. Leave in the tin to cool.
Keep a few raspberries for the top and put the rest in a pan with 1 tbsp icing sugar. Heat until juicy and then squash with a fork. Push through a sieve. Serve the cheesecake with the raspberry sauce and raspberries. Serves 8.

Source: Olive Magazine, March 2007

Banana and Ginger Tatins

2007-04-01T07:54:00.000Z

You will need:

200g Golden caster sugar
60ml water
375g pack ready rolled puff pastry
1cm piece root ginger (peeled and finely grated)
4 large bananas (thinly sliced)
2tsp milk
vanilla ice cream OR creme fraiche (to serve)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/ gas mark 7. To make the caramel sauce, dissolve the sugar in a heavy saucepan with 60ml water, then boil rapidly for about 5-7 minutes until it starts to turn golden. Remove from the heat - it will continue to colour.
Cut 6 circles measuring 10cm each out of the pastry. Put a pinch of ginger into 6 holes of a Yorkshire pudding tin. Spoon some caramel sauce on top, then cover with the banana slices and top with a pastry circle.
Press the pastry gently into the tins. Brush with some milk and bake for about 20 minutes until crisp and golden. Invert onto a serving plate while the caramel is still hot (use a spatula to help you hoick out any banana that gets stuck). SErve with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche. (serves 6)

Source: Olive Magazine, March 2007

Udang goreng pedas Wah

2007-03-29T17:10:00.000Z

You will need:

12 medium sized prawns, with or without the heads
3-5 dried chillies
1 medium sized onion
a tiny bit of shrimp paste (optional)
salt to taste
a pinch of sugar OR a tinge of honey (optional)
Some oil to fry

Direction:

Blend together dried chillies, onion and shrimp paste.
Marinade the prawns with the blended ingredients, salt and sugar or honey. Set aside for fifteen minutes.
In a wok, heat oil and fry the prawns until pink and crispy.
Serve while hot.

Source: My Grandmother, Wah.

Note: The original recipe does not include honey or sugar as the prawns are already sweet as they are. I purposely add some honey to counter the heat from the chillies. It caramelised (not hangus!) hence the dark red in colour.

This recipe to me is a simplified recipe of sambal udang, a one step cooking method! I just love it when my Wah cooks this for us. It's her speciality besides her ayam percik, bifstik daging and telur separuh masak (seriously!).

Kak Elle's Beef with spices

2007-03-21T19:49:00.000Z

You will need:

500g beef or lamb
1 big onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 lemon grass
1cm ginger
5 dried chillies (about 5cm each)
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
500ml water
1 piece of asam keping
salt to taste
3-5cm gula melaka (or brown sugar)
2tbs oil

Direction

Blend ingredients no.2 - 9 to a fine texture.
Heat the oil in a preheated wok. Fry the blended ingredients until fragrant.
Add in the beef/lamb and water.
Toss in the asam keping, brown sugar (or gula melaka) and salt.
Cook the beef/lamb until tender.
Serve with rice or bread.

Source: Adapted from Kak Elle's blog. Please refer here for the original recipe.

Note: I used lamb instead of beef for this recipe. Also, I did not have galangal, I don't know why i replaced it with ginger? I have never used galangal in any of my recipes to tell you the truth!

Another thing was, Kak Elle used 'jintan'. In Malaysia there are two types of jintan; manis and putih. When I started cooking her recipe, I realised that I didn't know which jintan Kak Elle was referring to. So I added in both, fennel and cumin (which one is j.putih and manis eh?) Anyway, the outcome was fantabulous! We rarely eat chilli hot food nowadays, so this one has really spiced up our menu for the day! Thanks Kak Elle.

Deep Fried King Prawns wrapped with fresh egg noodles

2007-03-15T21:35:00.000Z

You will need:

12 fresh king prawns
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
48-60 strands of fresh egg noodles
fresh baby spinach, to decorate (optional)

Directions:

Clean the prawns and prepare them to suit your likings. (eg: either to remove the shell or not. You may remove the head for better presentation too)
Add all the ingredients (except the noodles) in a bowl and marinade for 10-15 minutes.
Wrap one prawn with 4-5 strands of fresh egg noodles.
Deep fry in hot oil until the prawns change colour to pink and the noodles become crispy.
Drain excess oil on kitchen paper towel.
Arrange the prawns on baby spinach. Serve while hot with chilli sauce.

Source: From my vague memory of watching one of Ainsley Harriott's cooking programme, about 4-5 years ago! I tried to google for the exact recipe, but there was no match so far. If I'm not mistaken, Ainsley used skewers and removed the shells and deveined the prawns before frying.

Oh yes, I made up the ingredients for the marinade too. But two key ingredients were definitely prawns and fresh egg noodles.

Prawn Baguette

2007-03-07T12:07:00.000Z

You will need

1 loaf fresh baguette (or french bread)
100-150gm cooked prawn (I used frozen ones)
2 tbs mayonnaise
2 pieces of iceberg lettuce, sliced
a pinch of black pepper
butter (optional)
slices of 1 tomato (optional)
slices of half cucumber (optional)
Lemon (optional)

Direction

Slice the baguette length way. Lightly toast in a warm oven or grill. Spread with a thin layer of butter (optional).
Mix the prawns with mayonnaise lettuce and black pepper. Sandwich it in between the sliced baguette.
Serve with sliced tomato, cucumber and a squeeze of lemon. (All are of course optional).

Note

Prawn sandwich or baguette will be my choice when we have to grab something for snack here in the UK. I'm sure there are many versions of prawn baguette, but I love mine simple with crunchy lettuce.

Sambal tumbuk Mbah

2007-03-02T15:08:00.000Z

You will need

5-10 green chillies
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 tbs anchovies (ikan bilis)
2cm shrimp paste (belacan) (quantity is actually up to you)
a pinch of salt (optional)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
lemon/lime juice from half lemon OR tamarind juice from 1tsp tamarind

Directions

Fry the chillies, onion, anchovies and shrimp paste for 1-2 minutes. Drain on a kitchen paper towel.
Using a mortar and pestle (lesung batu), pound the fried ingredients coarsely. (I think it's nicer if the texture is not too fine)
Scoop into a bowl. Add the salt and sugar, if using. Finally squeeze in the lemon/lime juice or tamarind juice. Mix well and serve.

Note

Serve with fried fish or fried chicken, and slices of cucumber.

Source: From my late Johor Grandmother.

Roti John

2007-02-23T15:11:00.000Z

You will need:

Bread

2 x 15cm loaf french bread
200g minced meat
1 tbs rempah sup Adabi / rempah kurma Adabi (optional)
2-3 eggs
1 medium onion, diced
salt and pepper (to taste)

Chilli Sauce (Optional)

3 red chillies
1 small garlic
2-3 tbs tomato sauce
sugar (to taste)
a pinch of salt
2 tsp vinegar

Direction:
Bread

Prepare the minced meat first. Fry in a little bit of oil. Add in the onion, salt, pepper and the kurma powder if you are using it. Set aside.
Beat the eggs.
Cut the french bread length way in the middle. Put a layer of minced meat evenly and then pour the beaten eggs.
Fry on VERY LITTLE oil in a non-stick pan. Press on the bread so that the meat will stick on the bread.
The frying shouldn't take long since the meat has already been cooked earlier on.

Chilli Sauce

Blend the chillies with the garlic until you get a fine texture.
Warm the blended chillies in a small pot with the rest of the ingredients.
Switch of the heat when you see the first sign of boiling bubbles.

To Serve

Eat with sliced cucumber, sliced tomato and iceberg salad.
It is nicer to eat the bread with the chilli sauce. Some may not like the heat, so they can omit the process.

Note
Honestly, this is a 'hentam' resepi based on my old memory of eating my very first roti john in Singapore with my aunt, Mak Jah. I still remember it strongly that it was wrapped in light-brown paper and the veges were all soggy because we waited to reach home to eat it. At least, you will get freshly cut vegetables when you do it yourself at home.

Welcome!

2007-02-16T14:50:00.000Z

Not another masak-masak blog? I'm sorry you all but because I have been asked frequently for some of the recipes that I've tried, so I thought I should have a totally separate food blog. Secondly, I forget easily. Hence, it's a good idea that I should compile the recipes for my easy reference in the future. And thirdly, all the recipes that I have tried are easy and most are my family's favourite.

I have published a few recipes. Feel free to either click on the link provided below or you may browse through the food-categories on the sidebar.

Sushi, originally written by Babah. It's a long and 'eventful' process. It will be much easier once you have mastered the technique especially if you keep on practising doing it. I've also included a video (found in youtube) on how to make sushi.
Yakitori Chicken. It's quite straight forward and seemed to be popular among the younger ones.
Pretty Pink Iced Cupcakes. The most recent recipe that I've tried with D.
Custard Pudding. A popular dessert served by the Malaysian housewives. One has to get the technique right with the custard to get the perfect texture.
Pizza. A recipe I first made in 2000! Home-made bread dough base. I just have to learn how to make this, as our options here are only Vegetarian pizzas.
Soya Bean Drink. My uttermost favourite drink of all time. Looks nice in pink too. Only if you do it yourself ;)

By no means that I am the best cook in the world. Everyone knows that I'm far from perfect but, if Mama Sarah (the lousy cook) can do it, so you can do it too!

Pizza (Bread Dough Base)

2007-02-16T13:45:00.000Z

You will need:
Base

15g fresh yeast or 1 tsp dried or easy blend yeast
90ml / 6 tbs tepid water
½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
175g plain flour
1 tsp salt

Basic Tomato Sauce

1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
200g chopped tomatoes
2 tsp tomato puree (paste)
½ tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Filling

3-4 sliced mushrooms
4-5 sausages, boiled
½ onion sliced
1 sliced pepper (capsicum)
Grated mozzarella cheese for topping

Part I: step 5

Directions:
Part I: Base

Combine the fresh yeast with the water and sugar in a bowl. If using dried yeast, sprinkle it over the surface of the water and whisk in until dissolved.
Leave the mixture to rest in a warm place for 10-15minutes until frothy on the surface. Stir in the olive oil.
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. If using easy-blend yeast, stir it in at this point. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast liquid, or water and oil (without the sugar for easy-blend yeast).
Using either floured hands or a wooden spoon, mix together to form a dough. Turn out on to a floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Place in a large greased plastic bag and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Airing cupboards are often the best places for this, as the temperature remains constant.
Turn out on to a lightly floured work surface and 'knock back' by punching the dough. This releases any air bubbles which would make the pizza uneven. Knead 4 or 5 times. The dough is now ready to use.

Part III: Step 1

Part II: Tomato Sauce

Fry the onion and garlic gently in the oil for 5 minutes until softened but not browned.
Add the tomatoes, tomato puree (paste), sugar, oregano, bay leaf and seasoning. Stir well.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you have a thickish sauce.
Remove the bay leaf and adjust the seasoning to taste. Leave to cool completely before using. This sauce keeps well in a screw top jar in the fridge for up to a week.

Part III: Step 2 & 3

Part III: Assembling the pizza (Mama Sarah's style)

Roll out the dough on a 25cm diameter oiled roasting tin.
Spread with a little bit of cheese, then cover with tomato sauce and the rest of the filling.
Sprinkle with the grated mozzarella cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven, 180-200 C for 18-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and crisp around the edge. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Part III: Step 4

Source:
The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, Edited by Veronica Sperling & Christine McFadden

Custard Pudding

2007-02-16T13:00:00.000Z

You will need:

Custard

1 cup Bird's Eye Custard Powder, mixed with 1 cup water
5 cups water
1 tbs sugar
3 tbs evaporated milk

Sauce

1 tbs Custard powder, mixed with water
1 can (normally 340g) evaporated milk
1 can water
sugar (to taste)
a pinch of salt
1 can of mixed fruits

Direction:
Custard

Boil water in a saucepan. Add in sugar and evaporated milk. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Reduce heat immediately. Add in the custard powder mixture. Stir well.
Pour into small moulds or in any type of moulds of your preference. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving.
note: the perfect texture of the chilled custard must be soft, not too tough or chewy.

Sauce

Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil.

To serve

Pour the sauce over the custard.
Sprinkle a little bit of mixed fruits.
Best served cold.

Source:
A verbal recipe from Mak Nab, my aunt.

Yakitori Chicken

2007-02-15T22:57:00.000Z

You will need:
6 boneless chicken thighs (with skin)
bunch of spring onions
seven flavour spice (shichimi), to serve (optional)

For the yakitori sauce
150ml soy sauce
90g / 1/2 cup sugar
25ml / 5 tsp sake or dry white wine (I substituted with rice vinegar!)
15ml / 1 tbs plain flour

Directions:

To make the sauce, stir the soy sauce, sugar and sake or wine into the flour in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce is reduced by one-third. Then set aside.
Cut each chicken thigh into six chunks and cut the spring onions into 3cm long pieces.
Thread the chicken and spring onions alternately on to 12 bamboo skewers. Grill under a medium heat or on the barbecue, brushing generously several times with the sauce. Allow 5-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked but still moist.
Serve with a little extra yakitori sauce, offering seven flavour spice with the kebabs if possible.

Source:
Classic Japanese Cooking Course, Masaki Ko

How to make Sushi (originally posted by Babah Sarah)

2007-02-15T22:00:00.000Z

Here, I would like to share how Babah made sushi. The post was originally written by Babah on 22 April 2006. By the way, you might find this link useful if you are interested to find out more about sushi.

How to make sushi: the rice

I'm back! and thanks to wireless technology I'm blogging straight from the kitchen.

So firstly, I'm preparing the rice. If you look closely at the picture above, you'll notice there are two types of rice. On the left is Japanese rice, which is shorter and rounder and on the right is Basmati rice which is long and thin. For sushi, we'll be using the Japanese variety of rice.

How to prepare the rice for sushi:
1. Wash the rice using lots of cold water to get rid of dust and most of the smell.
2. Here, I'm using a Phillips non-stick rice cooker. I measure 1 cup of rice and add in water up to the number 1 gauge.

Finding the right balance of water and rice is difficult, and I cannot honestly say my balance is 100% perfect. The balance we want is rice that is not too soggy but not too dry. The shape of the rice must also be preserved, too much water will cause "mushy" rice.
3. Cook the rice as you would normally (read: just press the on button on the rice cooker).
4. While waiting for the rice to cook, lets prepare the vinegar.

How to make sushi: the vinegar

Once the rice is cooked, place in an open plate and add the vinegar mixture (I’ll explain how to make the vinegar later). Mix the rice and the vinegar well, but not vigorously as not to destroy the rice’s texture.

The rice is now let to cool and cooling is aided by fanning over the rice.

Here is how to make the vinegar mixture:

150 mls of rice vinegar

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 heaped teaspoon of salt

The ratios of vinegar-to-salt-to-sugar is extremely important, and I’ve read in Japan, whether a restaurant is successful or not depends hugely on the taste of the vinegar mixture.

Above is my personal ratio, although by no means perfect. I’m still constantly micro-tweaking to find the best taste.

Now, heat the vinegar in a saucepan over a medium fire, and reduce the volume to one-third. Once the vinegar is thick and syrupy, put aside to cool.

How to make sushi: rolled egg

Ingredients:
3 eggs
One level teaspoon of salt
One heaped teaspoon of sugar
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of soy-sauce

Crack all the eggs into a bowl, then add the soy sauce, salt and sugar. Using a pair of chopsticks “cut” through the mixture back and forth to mix evenly.

Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan.

Spread an extremely thin layer of oil onto the frying pan. To do this, soak a kitchen tissue with oil, then spread onto the pan. A thin layer of around 1-2mm of oil is ideal. Heat the oil over a medium fire.

Now, Starting from one end of the pan, pour the egg mixture to form a thin layer. Tilt the pan 45 degrees to allow the egg mixture to spread thinly over the whole pan surface. Allow the egg to cook.

When the outsides of the egg starts to harden but the insides are still runny, roll the egg from one end to the other.

Put the rolled egg to one side, and pour the egg mixture onto the opposite side, again spreading the mixture thinly by tilting the pan.

Repeat until the egg mixture is finished.

Put the rolled egg aside to cool.

How to make sushi: Assembling / Rolling

This is probably the most difficult step, and it takes lots of practice to get it right.

Place the nori sheet right towards one edge of the bamboo mat.
Now, using the bamboo mat, fold the nori and ingredients on top of itself forming a tube. It takes around 2 and a half rolls to form the tube.
Again using the bamboo mat, squeeze the tube tight. At this point, you can also change the shape of the tube to a triangle or square to make shaped sushi.
Unroll the bamboo mat from the sushi, and we’re ready for cutting.

How to make sushi: Yukiwa Maki

Uncle and Auntie De called today to say they're coming to pay us a visit. I felt so guilty last time I was practising making sushi as I have forgotten to invite the De's. So I thought their visit this time would be an excellent opportunity for me to make and also blog about making Yukiwa Maki or "inside out rolls".

Please refer to my previous posts on how to make sushi to prepare the following:

Spread the rice over the nori (seaweed sheet), however unlike last time, spread the rice right to the edges of the nori without leaving any margins.

Sprinkle a generous amount of mustard seed (or sesame seed) on the rice, like the picture. Then, spread enough cling film to cover the whole bamboo mat (makisu).
Flip over all the layers so that the cling film is now right above the bamboo mat. The layers from the top will now be the nori, the rice, the cling film, then the bamboo mat. Arrange the fillings across the nori as pictured. For today's sushi I've used prawns, strips of rolled egg and cucumber.

The rolling process is the same as before, the difference being the upside down layers and the cling film ontop of the bamboo mat. The cling film will prevent the rice from sticking to the mat.

Notice in the picture that I was compressing the sushi using the mat to make a triangular shape. Likewise, you can make any shape you like be it squares, triangular or plain circular.

(Above) Using the bamboo mat, you're able to make various shapes.

Remember to cut with a very sharp knife. Before cutting, wet the knife with cold water to prevent the rice from sticking.

(Below) The finished product: Yukiwa Maki or inside-out rolls

I hope those who have asked for the step-by-step recipe are happy with this long entry! Don't forget to watch the videoclip for a visual tour of how to make and roll sushi. Good luck!

Soya Bean

2007-02-15T19:22:00.000Z

You will need:

300g soya beans (soak in water for at least 4 hours, and not too long either)
1.5l water (or more)
Sugar (to taste)

Step 3

Directions:

Clean the soya beans that has been soaked for at least 4 hours.
Blend one cup of soya beans with 3 cups of water in a blender.
Use a muslin cloth to sieve the blended mixture into a suitable sized pot.
Repeat step 2 and 3 until you have used up all the soya beans.
Add in sugar and bring to a boil on a very low heat. Stirring all the time to prevent an overflow.
You can adjust the consistency of the drink to suit your likings by adding more water.
I have also added some red colouring just to get a 'pink' coloured soya drink for my little girl.

Source:
From my aunt, Mak Nab.

Sushi: Video

2007-02-15T19:00:00.000Z

This is a video of how you make sushi.

Pretty Pink Iced Cupcakes

2007-02-14T19:00:00.000Z

PRETTY "PINK" ICED CUPCAKES

You will need:

250g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
290g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
185ml milk or cream
250g icing sugar
red food colouring
cake decorations

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. In a large bowl, thoroughly beat together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one goes in. Add the vanilla and then sift in the flour and baking powder. Beat well, adding the milk a little at a time. You should have a thick and creamy batter.
Spoon heaped teaspoons of batter into small paper cupcake cases. Don't put in too much batter or the cakes will puff up too much. The cupcakes look best when the icing is flush with the top of the paper cases.
Put the filled paper cases on baking trays and bake in batches for 15 minutes or until they are golden on top. Cool completely before icing.
For the icing put the icing sugar in a bowl, add a few drops of food colouring and gradually stir in three tablespoons of cold water until you have a smooth but thick icing that is stiff enough to cling to the cakes. Add more colouring if you think you'd like it brighter. Working a few at a time, drop about a teaspoon of icing on top of each cake and spread it gently with the back of the spoon so that it covers the top. If the icing gets too thick add a few more drops of water to the mixture. Sprinkle on any decorations before the icing dries.
Once the icing has dried, the cakes can be stored in a biscuit tin for five days.

Source:
Your Home Magazine, March 2007