Pasta Ragù

Though the name sounds foreign, it is actually somewhat like a Bolognese, with a twist : )

So here goes...

First, prepare your ingredients. For your information, this dish is from Jamie Oliver and it was featured in his 'Jamie's 30-minute meals' TV show. He used a food processor to whaz up almost all the ingredients. I do not have a food processor, hence, I used the old school method - manual chopping. You can find out the exact recipe via the Internet as mine had some modifications due to insufficient ingredients : P

Chop up spring onions, carrots and chillis into smaller bits. Then fry them in a pan with some heated oil. Remove the linings of 4 sausages and put the meat into the pan as well. As you fry, try to 'mince' the meat up into smaller pieces and pour some oregano/mixed herbs.

Fry fry fry and mince mince mince!

Since the ingredients are not whazzed into fine bits, continue to fry the mixture a little while more to ensure everything's cooked and softened. While leaving the mixture to simmer away, pour in some balsamic vinegar onto the meat and let the liquid reduce. Slice up some garlic and put it in too! Finally, pour in a tin of plum tomatoes and season the sauce. The Ragù is done!

As for the pasta, boil the penne pasta until it is softened. You can boil this while preparing the sauce. Once the pasta is ready to be drained, scoop up some of the pasta water out and put it aside. Remove the sauce from heat and mix the pasta into the sauce. Add in some of the pasta water to make a more sticky texture.

Although the ingredients are kinda chunky, the taste was refreshing. It has the usual bolognese taste but with a hint of spicyness. It's like an adult version of bolognese. As for the meat, I would prefer mince meat instead of the sausage fillings. This is because I like the meaty texture than the 'processed' meat texture. Also, using spring onion gives a milder onion sweetness - great for people who prefer a milder onion taste in their pasta.

TheLoyalFan says: 'The balsamic vinegar and chillis give the dish a fresh taste.Tangy, slightly spicy and sweet..very nice!'

Yum yum! We made such a big pot that we have leftover for our next day's lunch. Mmm!

Next up - Chinese Steamed Chicken! Yum yum yum for me!

Stir Fried Cucumber with Egg

When this dish was first introduced to me, I thought that this is quite a weird combo. From the day I knew how to eat, cucumber has been eaten raw in my family meals. From cucumber slices as a side for Chicken Rice or as a main ingredient in my father's cucumber salad, somehow I have never eaten cucumber that has been cooked. (This doesn't count old cucumber that is boiled in soup.)

TheLoyalFan introduced this dish to me one day at his home and the moment I ate it, I LOVED IT! Yum Yum Yum! I never knew that this combo was so good and I always try and eat as much as I can especially when I'm having a meal with him : P

First, cut the cucumber into half lengthwise (sounds like a tongue twister : P). Half the cucumbers again. You should have 4 long cucumber quarters. Then cut off the seed or the core and slice them into medium chunks. Prepare some garlic for Chinese stir fry style.

Heat up the oil and stir fry the garlic. Once the garlic is fragrant, pour in the cucumbers and continue to fry. Season it with oyster sauce. Perhaps slosh an extra dollop of it for good measure : ) Once the cucumber has been fried for about a couple of minutes, create a 'crater' in the center of the wok. Beat an egg and scramble the yolk and white together. Let the egg set  for a while and stir fry the cucumber together with egg.

This is a simple Chinese stir fry vegetable and it is simply delicious! You don't really need to add water into this dish because the cucumber will release water from itself. One thing to note is to ensure that you do not let the cucumbers boil or stir fry too long. Reason being is to maintain its crunchy and 'bouncy' texture when you eat them.

TheLoyalFan says: 'Tasted just like home, even with the British cucumbers. Full of eggy 'wok hei'... nom noms!'

We're hoping that we're able to cook this more often since Spring is here... and hopefully the supermarkets are selling them cheap too! LOL!

Have a great weekend, folks! Ta!

Assam Laksa

Yes. You read it right : ) We all know that Assam Laksa is quite a tedious dish to prepare. If I read correctly from the Internet, you'll need to prepare a lot of ingredients such as the Ikan Parang, Assam Keping, Belacan... the list goes on. However, my mother-in-law taught me this version of Assam Laksa - almost instant and economical. I couldn't believe it myself and decided to learn and try it too!

Meet the ingredients! As you can see, most of the stuff are in a can. (Cheap cheap!) Hehehe and I think most of these stuff can be bought at the normal supermarket. I think the prawn paste, chilli powder (of which I forgot to place in the group photo) and assam keping might need to get it from the Asian Supermarket. Apart from that, you're ready to roll and make your own Assam Laksa! Weee!

First, chop and slice up the onion, cucumber and pineapples. Then, using a can opener, open up all your tinned fishes (Tuna & sardine, or both sardines) and tomato. I used peeled plum tomatoes because it is cheap! Once done, you're ready to move on the next step.

Stir fry a little bit of onion in a pot until fragrant. Then pour your tinned fishes and tomatoes and give it a good fry. Add water to increase soup volume, otherwise, the soup would be lumpy than the 'soupy' texture. As an alternative, I think you can add another can of tomatoes if you're cooking for more people.
For its sour and spicy taste, put in some Assam Keping. Do note that the assam keping needs to be boiled for a good half an hour so that the sour flavouring will be released into the soup. Add in chilli powder or dried chilli for the spicyness.

If you find that your soup has become too sour, balance it out with some sugar. Not sour enough? Add more assam keping lor... ^ ^ Let the soup simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the meat does not stick at the base of the pot. Season with salt if you find it too bland.

Usually the noodles would be thick rice noodles. However, we can't seem to find it in our Asian Supermarket and hence, decided to use... spaghetti! Hehehehehe. So boil the noodles as the usual method and we're ready to serve.

Turns out that our Assam Laksa was quite good. With some prawn paste added into the noodles, the dish just reminded me so much of Penang's Assam Laksa. We didn't make it too spicy as TheLoyalFan was having sore throat. Nonetheless, adding more dried chilli or perhaps fresh chilli will make the soup more spicy. If you are able to find the Daun Kesum (Completely clueless in english) and mint leaves, splendid! The spaghetti? Well, we think that it was a good choice as the noodles does not change the taste of the soup. In fact, it gave a more 'Al Dente' texture compared to the rice noodles. Oh yes, spaghetti is a cheaper ingredient than other noodles in the UK too : )

TheLoyalFan says: 'Had to force myself to eat slower in order to savour every last yummy bit! Cleaned out my whole bowl'

I agree! I ate mine really slow and enjoying every bit of the soup. And after cooking this method, I think I can cook Assam Laksa anytime that I want or have cravings for it. It is so easy and the ingredients are easily available in supermarkets.

Fried Nam Yee Pork

Nam Yue or 'nam yee', is fermented bean curd that is sold in bottles or in tins. This bean curd is fermented with salt, rice wine, sesame oil or vinegar and red yeast rice. Do not be confused with Foo Yue, which is also another type of fermented bean curd. The difference is that the foo yue is not soaked in dark red brine. Both of these are easily available at Chinese or Asian supermarkets. Here's a photo of the nam yee that I bought earlier this year : ) Usually back home, the nam yee that we buy is in bottles - small or big bottles. 

Nam Yee is the tin on the right. Wordings and picture are shown to ensure you have bought the right thing : P

Many chinese dishes use this ingredient for cooking such as the vegetarian dish that we eat during Chinese New Year, stewed nam yee pork and... fried chicken wings/ pork belly/ ribs at Chinese restaurants back home!  I had some extra nam yee and decided to make fried pork instead : )

This dish is really simple and anyone from any age can do it. First, take a cube of nam yee and mash it up into a paste. You can scoop out some red sauce and pour into the same plate. Then, marinate your pork pieces and let the marinate seep into the meat for as long as you want. Some people leave the marinate in the fridge/freezer a day or longer, and for some, I think half an hour will do the trick too! (That would be me... all excited to fry them and eat them up! Yums.)

Heat up the oil in a pan or wok, just like how you would prepare for deep fry. While waiting for the oil to heat up, place the pork pieces into a batter. This time, I prepared my batter on a separate plate and I used plain flour and corn flour. I wanted to try which method will be nicer (wet or dry batter).
Once the oil is ready, then let the frying begin! *Feeling all excited*

As you can see, mine are a little burnt. LOLS! Apologies on that. I forgotten to lower down the heat for the oil while frying. Hence, the burnt. The proper method would be, when heating up oil - high heat; and when you start frying, medium heat. Reason being is to ensure your meat is thoroughly cooked. When there's too much heat, the crust will be cooked very fast but the core may not be cooked. Hence, the burnt porkies. Poor porkies...

Aside from the burnt, the pork is super yummylicious. Tasty, aromatic and crispy! As for the batter, dry batter would produce a crispier texture on your meat. However, dry batter would cause a thick of layer of sediments in your oil as it is easier to come off from the meat.

TheLoyalFan says: 'Very crispy and it reminds me of economy rice back home...'

Well, our nam yee supply has finally finished and we're off to try another ingredient... soon!

Have a great weekend folks!

Bangers and Mash

Also known as sausages and mash potatoes, this dish appears in most restaurants' or pubs' menu. Basically, this dish consists of sausages, mash potatoes and vegetables as sides. Plus, it is really easy to prepare since this is a common English recipe. All ingredients are available at the local supermarkets and it is not expensive at all!

Preparation is quite easy too! 4 actions needed - slicing/cutting, boiling, mashing and frying.

First, chop up the potatoes into cubes and put in boiling water to soften them. Depending on the type of potato, it is important to boil them really soft so that it will be easier for you to mash. For me, I use a fork and poke through the cube to check whether it is soft for mashing. Once the potatoes are ready, drain the water out. Add in a knob of butter, milk and some salt and pepper for seasoning.

For the sausages, simply fry them until they are cooked : )

Oh yes, prepare some brown gravy to complement your mash and sausages too! Hahaha, I almost forgot : P
For this, I used brown granules again ^_^ However, if you don't have instant brown granules, you can read my previous post for the D.I.Y. version.

Tadaaa!

For the vegetables, please feel free to use whatever greens you like. Since fresh mushrooms are cheaper here, we bought some and fry them. Yum yum yum!

Needless to say, the sausages were really yummy - meat is always yummy! Hehehehe... the mash? If you like mash, I think there's no need to describe the yummy-ness of it too! This dish is really simple to prepare and I think one doesn't need to go to a pub to eat one... Well, unless the sausages are custom made : )

TheLoyalFan says: 'The new, more 'atas' sausages were yummy! Had a spring in them and full of flavour. Were matched perfectly with creamy mash and a tasty gravy... slept happy!'

It was indeed happy and satisfying for both of us. We will be missing the variety of sausages and potatoes when we leave here... *sob sob* So now, we must savour every moment of it!

Till then, keep nomming!

Nasi Lemak 2.1 Beta

Nasi Lemak - another Malaysian's favorite. I'm very sure that everyone has eaten this at least once in their lives. Well, we love Nasi Lemak and in times when you're not in your home country, you'll miss it... alot!

Simple as it looks from the Nasi Lemak stall that we often buy our favorite food, this dish is actually quite tedious. However, some things can be prepared in advanced and one will find this whole preparation a very fulfilling and satisfying adventure : )

Here's what I've prepared for our version of nasi lemak...

Rice
Most important ingredient for a nasi lemak. Prepare your rice for your usual boiling in a rice cooker. Chop up some onion and ginger then place them into the rice cooker. Pour in coconut milk into the cooker as well. If you have some pandan leaves, get a couple of it and tie into a knot and throw in together. Last but not least, add a pinch of salt. Close the lid and start the boiling!

Ikan bilis (Anchovies) and peanuts
This is the fun part! You might be thinking that you'll need to roast them thru slow frying in a wok or using the oven. But hey! We used the microwave - one of man's creation to make our life easier and shorten preparation time. Do both ingredients separately. First, give a quick rinse on the ikan bilis. Then, without a lid, set 1 minute in the microwave and keep repeating until your ikan bilis become crispy.
Same goes for your peanut. We didn't have peanut so we made our ikan bilis only and made them a couple of days in advance ^_^

Curry
This one ah... instant curry paste! Da best! Need no says... definitely easy to cook and sure very goods! : P

Sambal 'chutney'
Hmmm... this one was kinda tricky. Well, point no. 1 - I've never cooked sambal in my life before. Whenever we cook nasi lemak, we either buy it from the nasi lemak stall or we have ready made sambal paste. Point no.2 - We don't have belacan and fresh chillis. So, I've decided to experiment with... tomatoes.
I soaked some dried chilli and serai (lemongrass) in hot water the night before. I've added in an assam keping into the bowl as well. Then, fry some onion in a pan / wok and pour in diced tomatoes and the soaked ingredients (without the water). Continue to fry on medium heat and mash up the ingredients to form into a paste. Finally, add water and season the paste with salt and sugar.

Cucumber and eggs
Simples! Cucumber - slice them up. Eggs - wash the eggs and place into the rice cooker and boil together with the rice. Hehehehe...

*Drum rolls, ends with a crash of the cymbal*

The outcome of this dish was really tasty. I added in the remaining coconut milk into the curry and it was very smooth! Mmm. The rice turned out well too! Every grain of rice was scraped from the base of the cooker : ) The sambal? Well, it sort of became a chutney because of the tomatoes. Nonetheless, it was still spicy and really complemented the rice. Something different but very refreshing for us. It was also the first condiment to finish for this meal.

TheLoyalFan says: 'I've always liked home cooked nasi lemak... it's the best! You get to customize your plate of goodness and add lots and lots of the stuff that you like. You don't have to tell the man to 'tambah nasi' because you can simply help yourself to another plate. "Relatively" healthy too! No added MSG and preservatives. Hehehehehe... somewhat lah! (trying to ease my conscience...nom nom nom)'

Oh, what a meal! I think we were so stuffed that we needed to lie down in order to 'stretch out' our stuffed tummy. 

Yummy yum yum...

Garlicky Pork

Since there is only pork in our fridge this week, I found a recipe on a blog (Lily's Wai Sek Hong) that was recommended by my cousin. Go check them out if you like to try some Chinese cuisine : )

This dish is very simple. First, smash up some garlic, cut them into slices and fry with oil in a pan. Once the garlic is quite fragrant, put in sliced pork (pork chops or pork bellies) and give it a good stir. When the meat has become brown on all sides, season it with white pepper, soya sauce and sugar. Continue frying until the sauce has dried up and left only oil in the pan.
Finito!

Although this is a very simple dish, it turned out to be really delicious! The oil that seeped out from the pork complemented well with rice too! Yum Yum! Also, you might think that the meat would be dry and tough. But it was completely the opposite - it was juicy and tasty... Truly a chinese dish...mmm~

TheLoyalFan says: 'Taste like caramelised siew yoke. The fatty bits were yummy!'

Oh yes, the fatty bits were really soft and melts in your mouth. *slurp*

Till then, keep nomming and have a wonderful weekend!

Pork Curry Noodles

Curry. Malaysian's all time favorite dish. Ahh, yes and now the Brits too! I think their favorite is Tikka Masala which I haven't had a chance to try it yet... but soon I will try : )

Anyways, I think curry can be either easy or tricky to prepare. The easy version - just get instant curry paste. It's foolproof and definitely taste good. The tricky version - fry your own curry powder. I've tried this once and I burnt the powder because TheLoyalFan had told me to fry the powder until the oil 'seeps' out of the powder, which it didn't happened at all and the powder became black and burnt : (

This time, we've decided to give it another go although we do have the curry paste. And, we're trying to finish our ingredients here before our rental ends in September...

Let the Curry cooking begins!

First, fry up some ginger and onions with a generous amount of oil. Perhaps double the portion of your usual meat frying oil volume. Then, pour in some curry powder. If you want more spicy, you can add in some chilli (fresh / dried ones) or chilli powder. Give it a good sitr fry for about 1 minute and pour in your meat. I use pork today because... there is only pork in my fridge. LOL!

While frying the pork and the curry mixture, you may need to add some water to prevent your curry from getting burnt. Add a little bit of water to make the paste more 'smooth' rather than lumpy during the frying. Then add more water. This will depends on how thick you want your gravy. More water will dilute the gravy and the spiciness. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Season the curry with salt and pepper to ensure there is enough taste. Add in some milk / coconut milk / yogurt (either one will be fine) into your curry, give it a good stir and serve!

This is the usual method for our curry cooking - simple and simply delicious!

As you are simmering away your curry, it is nice to have some carbs to compliment them. We've had spaghetti for this and we've fried a dish of celery for a balance meal ^_^ Bon appétit! 

I'm glad that this time I didn't burn the curry powder. Thanks to my mother-in-law's advise when she was here. However, I OD-ed the curry powder a little and we were having watery nose and a glass of milk for me to reduce the spiciness : P We concluded that 3 tablespoons of curry powder would do the trick for a 2 persons' curry. Also, if you wish to make extra portion for your next meal, it is better to use milk than coconut milk. Apart from that, it was really, really, really good and satisfying!

TheLoyalFan says: 'As close as we can get to Curry Mee lah! Hehe...'

Om nom nom noms... Curry dish checked and on to the next dish!