Salted Fish WIth Coconut Milk and Bird Eye Chilies

Ingredients:
2 bird eye chili, chopped
2 big red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic, finely chopped
A handful of Chinese parsley, roughly chopped
Salted fish, dip in water
Corn oil
1 bowl of thick coconut milk
1/2 bowl of light coconut milk
1 cup of chicken broth/1 chicken cube
2 eggs
1 red chili for garnising
Salt for taste

1. Heat your cooking pot & add oil
2. Add the onion, garlic & chili, keep stirring
3. Add the chicken broth/cube
4. Add the thick coconut milk, slow fire
5. Add the salted fish
6. Add the light coconut milk
7. Bring it to boil and add 2 eggs, no more stir coz egg will cook with the heat from the soup. 
8. Add salt for taste
9. Sprinkle the parsley and its ready to serve

Dried Anchovies Ball

Ingredients:

3 cups wheat flour*
1 handful dried anchovies, slightly pound it*
1 large onion, chopped*
2 large chili, chopped*
1 handful chopped scallion*
Salt for taste*
2 1/2 cups of a really hot water
Cooking oil for frying

1. Mix all the ingredient with (*) label and make a big circle at the center of the mixture
2. Add hot water to the circle and quickly mix all the ingredient. The mixture will become heavy and thick.
3. Make the mixture into small ball size. I prefer to make it slightly small then a ping pong ball. You can use flour while making the ball to avoid from your finger too sticky with the mixture.
4. Heat the oil and fried the anchovies balls under medium fire and its yellowish to slightly brownish. 
5. We done and you can serve this with chili or tomato sauce. Or else, a nice Anchovies Sambal or Sardin Sambal is a perfect match for this Dried Anchovies Ball. 

Nyonya Style Steamed Red Tilapia

1 Red Tilapia fish (500gm to 1kg weight)
1 tbspn cooking oil
2 or 3 tbsp chili paste
1 large green onion, thinly slice
2 stick lemongrass, thinly slice
1 ginger flower, thinly slice
3 cloves garlic, thinly slice
2 tomatoes, cut into 4
1 tbsp dried shrimp
1 cube fish stock
1 liter plain water
Water (if needed)
Pinch of salt and pepper
Chopped Chinese celery

1. Heat your large cooking pan and add the cooking oil.
2. Fry the slice green onion, garlic, until it get brown. 
3. Add the ginger flower, dried shrimp and lemongrass, stir gently
4. Add the chili paste and let it cook for awhile by stirring
5. Add fish stock and the fish into the pan. Make sure the water cover 2/3 of the fish and cover the pan with a lid.
6. After 10 minutes, turn the fish to another side and simmer for another 5 minutes.
7. Turn off the fire and add the tomatoes into the steam mixture. 
8. Move the steam fish and the juice to your serving plate and garnish with chopped Chinese celery

Steamed Grouper Fish with Lemon

1 green onion, slice

3 cm ginger, slice 

3 - 5 red chili, slice

1 tbsp margarine (Or 2 tbsp cooking oil)

1 liter fish stock

Sugar, if its too spicy

1 grouper fish (500gm - 1kg)

2 or 3 tomatoes, cut into 4

Half cup of lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Coriander leave, to garnish

1. Heat your large cooking pan (with lid) and add the margarine.
2. Fry the green onion and ginger, for 3 minute and add the chili.
3. Add the fish stock, and fish. Then cover the pan.
4. If the soup is not enough, you can slowly add some water.
5. Don't forget to turn the other side of the fish and keep it simmer.
6. Finally, add the tomato and pinch of salt. 
7. *I only will add sugar if it is too spicy.

Malay Traditional Dessert, Pengat Pisang

Coming back from my Grandma's normally will lead me to bring back many unexpected things such as a bunch of Rambutan, Bananas and other Kampung "village" stuffs. This time, I will share about how I make this sweet and delicious traditional Malay dessert so called, Pengat Pisang (Boiled Riped Banana with Coconut Milk and Palm Sugar).

1 comb banana, cut into your desired size

1/2 liter thin coconut milk

1/2 liter thick coconut milk

1 piece palm sugar, cut into small pieces

4 tbsp white sugar

1 pandan leave, knotted

1/2 cup sago seed

Pinch of salt

1. Boil thin coconut milk with palm sugar, pandan leave and salt. Keep stir until now and then.
2. Once it boil, add in the sago seed and wait until its turn to be crystal clear. Keep stir until now and then.
3. Add the banana, lower the fire and simmer for about 30 minutes. Normally I will put the cooking pot's lid on. 
4. Add the thick coconut milk and when it's boiled again, turn of the fire.
5. You can serve this cold or hot, as you wish. 

Saturday Lunch: Javanese Style of Fried Sambal

This Javanese style of fried sambal is one of my lifetime favorite. Even the name is Sambal which normally refer to the heat of chili, this sambal is not spicy at all. Till now, I am still wondering why people call it Sambal Goreng (fried sambal).

This dish is very popular especially for the Javanese people in Johor state of Malaysia and also one of the must have dish during Hari Raya (Eid Mubarak). 

Ingredient

• 3 clove of shallot (chopped)
• 2 clove of garlic (chopped)
• 100 gm of dried shrimp (dry blended)
• 50 gm of dried anchovies (dry blended or optionally you can use Anchovies stock)
• 1/4 cups of tamarind juice
• 400 gm of glass noodle (soften with water)
• 300 gm of dried tofu (cut into small and soften with water)
• 3 pieces of wet tofu (cut into 12 for each pieces and fry it)
• 300 gm of potato (slice and fry it)
• 100 gm of red chili (slice it)
• 3 pieces of Tempeh (cut into 12 for each pieces and fry it)
• 4 table spoon of cooking oil for stir-frying
• 2 table spoon of food caramel or thick soy sauce
• 2 table spoon of light soy sauce
• 4 table spoon of sweet soy sauce
• Salt for taste

Method

• Add cooking oil into the cooking pan.
• Add shallot, garlic, red chili, blended dried shrimp, dried anchovies and let it cook.
• Add the dried tofu, glass noodle and some water.
• Add the sliced fried potato, fried wet tofu and fried Tempeh and mix them well.
• Add 2 table spoon of food caramel, 2 table spoon of light soy sauce and 4 table spoon of sweet soy sauce. 
• Stir all mixtures well, add some salt, tamarind juice, and taste.
• If the colour is not enough black for you, add more food caramel into it. You can balance up the taste by adding more sweet soy sauce or salt.

Lunch Box: Blackpepper Chicken & Pak Choy

I always prepare lunch box for me and my housemate as early as 5.45am before leaving to office at 6.45pm daily. 45 minutes to cook, shower and get prepare to work make me very rushing at every morning but I still happy with it.

Here I shared about how I made this Blackpepper Chicken, and boiled Pak Choy.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes 

Note: Normally I will go shower and get dress for work while waiting the dish ready (under small fire)

Ingredient

• 400 gm chicken with bone (Cut into small size)
• 200 gm of potatoes (Cut into big chunk)
• 1 inch of ginger (Chopped)
• 3 cloves of garlic (Chopped)
• 3 table spoon or enough amount of Cooking Caramel or Thick Soy Sauce (For colouring)
• 8 table spoon or enough amount of sweet soy sauce
• 2 table spoon of enough amount of light soy sauce
• 4 cups of water (or chicken stock)
• 3 table spoon of corn flour
• 4 table spoon of black pepper
• 3 table spoon of cooking oil for stir-fry
• Salt for taste

Method

• Add the cooking oil into your frying pan. Once it hot, add the chopped garlic, chopped ginger and wait until it turn brown with nice smell.
• Next, add chicken into the pan, food caramel, sweet soy sauce, light soy sauce and black pepper.
• Add some water, or chicken stock and cover the pan for few minutes.
• Open the pan's lid and add the chunks of potatoes and more water if necessary.
• The chicken and potatoes normally will ready after 15 to 20 minutes on medium fire. Continuously add water if you see its going to get dry. You also can add more soy sauce and salt based on your personal taste. 
• To end up the cooking process, add 3 table spoon of corn floor into small bowl and add some water. Stir it and pour it into the pan. Mix well all ingredient and turn of the fire when the chicken get sticky and thick.
• To garnish, you may put some chopped scallion on top of your serving plate.

As for the Pak Choy, I just boiled some water in a cooking pan, and once it boiled, I add the veggies for about 2 minutes and drained it.