The Big and Happy Chicken Rice Lunch

Wonderful... a BIG plate of chicken... a BIG bowl of chili-ginger sauce and soya sauce... LOTS of bean sprouts and cucumber... unlimited add-on rice... and hot chicken soup... What more can be better than eating away without having to say "Can I have extra rice/chicken/chili sauce" - Like you always do at Chicken Rice stalls and restaurants??

Eat all you want at home. I love the chicken rice very much. It just has that really yummy taste. Why??? I think, in my opinion, that because the rice is flavoured with the real chicken stock and that the chicken is marinated well with all the honey, soy sauce, and then comes the home made chili ginger sauce that I can't get anywhere else. Of course, there are those really yummy chicken rice out there.. :-) But today, I am just drooling over my mum's hot and delicious chicken rice.
How we cook it.. Well - let me tell you that I am bad when it comes to frying - that is, chicken or fish - they always come up looking like the burnt "thing". I don't recognise them at all. But I guess I do improve, but mum's the best!

As this is a big meal preparation, we had 2 chicken for this. It is firstly cleaned and simmered in a big pot with water. Then, the chicken is removed from the water (which now becomes the stock for the soup and rice) and marinated with kicap manis (sweet dark soy sauce or just simply Maggi dark soy sauce), chopped onions, a little bit of freshly grated ginger, and honey. Mmm... it sure smells nice at this point already! Marinate or a t least an hour or two.

Just before frying the chicken, the soy sauce marinade is saved up as a condiment. The chicken is fried till the outer layer is crisp and then chopped to smaller pieces to serve.
The chicken stock is boiled again, adding 1 cube of Maggi's chicken stock just to enhance the stock :-) and add some salt. You can also add a little peanut - like some do.

The rice is yummy... With some garlic, onions, fresh ginger, and screwpine leaf - it is stir fried, adding some of the chicken stock (according to the rice measurement) and when boiling, add to the rice, and cook the rice in the rice cooker. I just love the smell of the pandan leaf, mixing with the rest of the ingredients...

Enough of chicken - we have the soup - which during serving time, we add some coriander, and salad in the soup. Yummy... And fresh cucumber to cool away. One more delicious dish to have with chicken rice - is the fried bean sprouts with garlic & light soy sauce.

So these completes the Big and Happy Chicken Rice Lunch we always have at home for the family, and friends. :-)

So how do you prepare your chicken rice? I also like steamed chicken rice, but I have never made them before...

Colourful Spirali with Beef Tomato Sauce

On lazy weekends, sometimes I just want to stay away from those tedious cooking preparations and cook simple meals. That means, an all-in-one dish - noodles, fried rice, pasta. And for such a blazing hot day like today, pasta is my choice. Just simply because ... I wanted pasta!

Pasta is probably the first real meal I cooked many years ago. Because I loved Spaghetti Bologna so much. Then spaghetti introduced me to all of its family - penne, spirali, angel hair, fettuccine, farfalle, lasagna, shells, any a whole bunch more. Wow. Don't you just LOVE the amazing choices of pasta available to suit your liking??? My trusted brands are usually Barilla and San Remo's. Plus, they have a whole load of good pasta stuffs!

There is 2 styles I'd cook my pasta - either the Italian/Western way or the Malaysian way. My mum makes it in another version - Malay style with a savoury spiced-up soup. Real yummy, I tell you! Hmm, I'll feature that one one day when I see mum cook it ;-)

Malaysian way - hmm, basically meaning using some ingredients such as chili padi, chili paste, and tomato sauce instead of pasta sauces... And there is no cheesy chweesy ingredients involved (that is just because I forgot to grab some from the groceries...)

Simple preparation on my lazy day. As you can see and guess. I just had these:
Some minced beef
3 garlic, chopped
1 large green onion, chopped
5 cili padi, finely sliced
1 red tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 carrot, grated
1/2 can tomato puree
1/2 can Heinz cream of tomato soup
a few dashes of McCormick's Italian Herbs
1 teaspoon grounded black pepper
and of course,
1 packet of San Remo's colourful spirali pasta

Popia Goreng (Deep Fried Spring Rolls)

Deep fried spring rolls with turmeric prawns and jicama. Have you seen these and tasted them before? Most likely, if you love Asian cuisine - it is one of the must-eat food around!

There are small pieces of prawns in those yummy crispy rolls - and I don't bother much to dig them out before I devour them. Why I said that? Read this and you will know why... Psst! I don't like prawns. But small little portions won't hinder me from food!
Spring rolls are very delicious starters or snacks to serve and be served with. I have not met any one who does not love these crispy golden rolls. Even my guy loves them! And besides, I just love the fact that you dip, dip, dip them in sweet chili sauce each time before you take a bite. Ohh soo yummy... I better stop myself from going to the kitchen again. (There's freshly fried ones in there right now!!!). Otherwise, my brother and dad will kill me when they come back home to see almost empty plates...

My mum makes lovely yummy popias (spring rolls). She buys the popia skin fresh from the local market, prepares the stuffings and, fries them in the evening for the family and friends to enjoy. Isn't that nice? And since I am so bored sitting at home today (public holiday), all I did was laze around and eat and take pictures of what I eat and cook! :-)

:: Ingredients ::
1 pack of spring roll skins (you can get them in the frozen food section)
1 jicama (commonly, we call them ubi sengkuang in Malaysia), julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1 small bowl of chopped green beans
10 small prawns, cut to small pieces & marinate with 1 teaspoon of tumeric powder (optional, really)
2 shallots, finely sliced
1 red chili, finely chopped

For marinade
a few dash of light soy sauce
a pich of salt & pepper

For wrapping the popia
2 tablespoon corn flour, mix in a little hot water to form glue
1. Stir fry the marinated prawns, add in onion, chili, carrots, green beans & jicama. Stir fry them lightly until soft & tender. Jicama are like turnips or water chestnuts so they are crunchy, yet full of moist in them, so be careful not to over cook them. They are lovely lovely fruit (or vege) and they taste good even without cooking! Set aside to cool. Wrapping the skins would be easier when the stuffing is at room temperature rather than hot. So, relax, watch tv, and get hungry while it cool down! Patience!
Spring roll skin are normally round-shaped here in Malaysia... if you buy them from the local market. In supermarkets, they are frozen, and square-shaped and, large or small in size. Buy the large one. So here's what to do. Have a plastic place mat or a large plate in front of you. Place a layer of skin on it and put about 1 tablespoonful of stuffings on it. If the skin is too dry, just lightly wet it with a little water, using your fingers. Then, start rollin'! Oh those are my mum's hands.. And she is very good at this! I'd probably need a few trys before getting it right.. haven't been practicing since I left my part time restaurant job years ago!

Once done, just before you reach the end of the skin, put some corn flour glue on and seal the spring rolls. Repeat for the remaining stuff that you have...
The skin may dry rather fast sometimes, and to avoid this, simply place a damp (not wet) kitchen paper over it. It will keep the spring rolls moist. Heat up the deep fryer, or pot or wok with plenty of oil, and fry them lovely rolls until golden brown. Deep fries tend to be oily, so ensure you drain the oil from the spring rolls before serving them. It keeps them crispy too! ;-)
Serve warm, with sweet chili sauce, or any of your favourite sauce. Bon apetite... I'm off to the kitchen again!

Stir fried Mixed Vegetables with Soy Sauce

What a bunch of healthy crops. Sugar peas.. cauliflower... broccoli... carrots... My favourite is.. mushroom. But they're not in here.

Do you eat veges daily? Me? Well... maybe on most days I eat a small portion of veges. I don't really like veges... maybe because the veges taste different (sprayed with pesticides?? :-P) Just kidding. Veges are fresh if you keep them properly and cook them nicely.

As these are hard veges, steaming them would be the best. But, we love stir frys, don't we? Look at them veges....

This is convenient and express way to cook veges - simply cut the veges into small pieces and, carrots should be sliced thinly. This would reduce your cooking time. What you need is a large wok so you can stir the veges quickly. The heat must be heated adequately - and for this, peanut oil is the best as it has a high smoking point. For me - normal vege oil shall do the trick as well... as long as the wok is hot enough for frying.

What you need for a stir fry vege dish is simple. Chop some garlic and onions. These add some interesting hint to the veges and they smell good... For sauces, try light soy sauce or oyster sauce.

:: my mix vege recipe ::

Mixed vege - as above, or any others
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
some small pieces of meat (optional) such as chicken or prawns
2 tablespoon cooking oil
a few dash of soy sauce
a dash of pepper

Fry the garlic and shallots until aromatic. Add in meat, fry for a minute or two. Add in the veges, start with the harder ones, to the softer ones. Stir fry them for about 3-5 minutes, and add soy sauce. Add in a little bit of water if you want, and keep frying until veges are soft and cooked. Add the pepper, stir in, and serve while hot.

Fried Prawns with Tomato Sauce

Who does not eat prawns? Seriously, people L-O-V-E prawns, those big fat ones or the tiny small ones. Even when you're allergic to crustaceans, you rather worry about that later. Right? Just grab some anti histamine or cream from the pharmacy later. Right? You rather eat while scratching your whole body.. hehe, i know my brother in law and friends think so...

Well I have a confession. ... I DON'T eat prawns. Not allergic. I don't like prawns. I like them alive in the aquarium, they're beautiful sea creatures, but I just don't eat them. (If you see me out in restaurants - those who sit beside me, are probably those aiming for extra prawns from my plate). Maybe the taste.. it just don't taste good to my liking. I do eat other seafood, I LOVE seafood EXCEPT prawns. Funny huh? Yeah you go ahead and devour the lobster. I'll just grab a small bite really.

But, I love to cook and I think prawns make really cool, impressive meals. This is a recipe from my mum, and, she usually only cook this on more special occasions. Today, there was no special occasion tho, so, how lucky am I to actually have the pleasure of writing about it now! :-)

Fried prawns in tomato sauce

:: Ingredients ::
About 10 large fresh prawns, cut off the spiky head. Leave the head and tail intact and these part adds ALL the prawny flavour to the dish.
1 Big red onion, ringed
1/2 cup of frozen mixed vege
1/2 cup tomato sauce (we used Maggi's)
Some fresh curry leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Fry the onions and curry leaves in the wok until soften, then fry the prawns, until they are about half cooked.

Add in the tomato sauce, frozen vege and stir. The juice from the prawn will enhance the tomato sauce flavour, and make it a little less thick which is ok.
Sprinkle the salt and sugar, and have a taste :-)

Bon Apetite!
It is a very, very simple dish, like I said, prawns really do make impressive meals. Just grab those big fresh prawns, and with a simple recipe - a GREAT dish!

For Two or More, Italiannies at One Utama

Dining out is wonderful and truly enjoyable - with that special someone or with friends and families. Italiannies is certainly a place for the bigger group. Large sharing portions just don't fit my style when I'm always, well, usually, only in twos. Nevertheless, it does not stop me from enjoying the food at Italiannies.
Big portions of food, large restaurant with great ambience, and friendly waiters. There were one or two instances where I almost concluded that the service was rather slow... bu then again, it was probably because we choose to sit outside, far far away from the crowd and sight of the main area... :-)

I like the decor of this place, it is very Italian... a really nice place to hang out with the larger crowd, really. It's very casual, but very pretty.. the walls resembles those olden stained orange walls and the many bottles that decorates the place makes it feel different than other places.
Once you are seated, the waiters will bring you some freshly baked bread loafs, and I tell you, they are so soft and tasty... it is baked there itself and you just need to dip it in some of their olive oil and balsamic vinegar for that Italian oomph.

Soft drinks are mostly refillable and my favourite is coke... Yes, I am one of those who loves coca-cola... Day and night.
My guy and I came here right before we were suppose to hit the highways back to Penang (of course I did requested we stop by Ikea for a "little while"...) As we were not that hungry, but had not had any proper meal, we decided to order just one starter and one main meal to share.
We had the stuffed baked mushrooms with lots of melted cream cheese. Ooh this was just so heavenly. I really loved this one a lot! It looks similar like my stuffed baked mushroom, just.. different style and ingredients! He he he..
We also ordered the shell pasta with garlic tomato sauce... I really cannot remember what name they gave for this one, but it was nice. Really huge portion, even for the two of us... I soo wanted to taste some of its dessert but no way can i stuff myself any further.... Maybe next time...

Tandoori Chicken Rolls

I want some meaty pastry for the evening snack, and decided to be less lazy and make some. Those pastry I bought some time back is screaming to be baked anyway. And... plain potato filled curry puffs that we normally buy anywhere is way too boring this time around. I always find it more satistying to make your own home cooked meals... :-P

Previously, I made these curried chicken rolls and everyone loved it. Back then, we made our own pastry. This time, too lazy to make the pastry - it is widely available in the frozen food section of any supermarket, and it is so convenient to just grab a pack!

To add some twist to my previous version of the rolls, I used tandoori as the flavour. Yummy. Seriously...

:: Ingredients ::
1 pack frozen puff pastry
Minced chicken
2 tablespoon tandoori powder mix
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped spring onions (optional)
1/2 carrot, grated
1 potato, cut to small cubes
1 green onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
A dash of salt & pepper
1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
Some milk for glazing
Some white sesame seeds for sprinkling

What I did was to stir fry some of the ingredients, before rolling them for baking. Marinade the mince chicken with the tandoori powder before hand.

Fry the onions, garlic until aromatic. Add in minced chicken and potato, stir fry. Add in a dash of salt & pepper, finish with that lemon juice to enhance the tandoori taste. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

Add in the grated carrots, spring onions and bread crumbs and combine well.

Pre-heat the oven and grease the baking tray with some butter.

Place a layer of pastry in front of you, pour on a spoonful of the chicken mixture, and roll them. It was slightly difficult initially, but I got used to this after the first try. The chicken mix might come out from the sides of the rolls, but you can fill it up again by just adding some meat in and stuff it a little. :-)

Repeat for the remaining pastry and, when you're done, glaze the top part with some milk, and sprinkle sesame seeds generously... I love sesame seeds and, as you can see, I am very generous with it!

Bake in the oven until pastry turns golden brown. Serve with chili sauce, or mint sauce.

This was really nice... I liked it very much! I did deep fry one of them, just to try, bu it turned out rather oily and I do not like it that way... Pastry are best baked in the oven!

Black Pepper Beef

How do you cook your black pepper beef? There is this inspiration from those hot barbeque grills.. where those smokey, juicy beef steaks are cooked. It is not so common to have a lunch barbeque here in Malaysia... the weather is hot enough to sweat you, so bbq's are normally left for the night scene. But somehow, some of us want to eat that bbq steak in the middle of the day!

I simply call this meaty dish - Black Pepper Beef. Lots of pepper, green onions, and a bit of the delicious dark gravy to compliment the beef. This is very Fusion... Western eat this as real steak, grilled and dry, while Asian likes a touch of gravy to the meat.

There are ready made gravy mixtures in the stores, some may be tasty, some may not. I still think making it on your own is the best, especially for simple dishes like this one!

:: Ingredients ::
Beef steak, cut to think slices
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grounded black pepper
1 large green onion, ringed

Lightly fry the steak with some oil. Bring the water to boil, and over medium heat, add in the sauces. Cover and cook until the water is absorbed and thickens. Add salt & pepper, and cook further till the gravy gets thicker (but not dried). Add the onion rings and cook for 1 minute. Serve hot, and garnish with more onion rings.

This also goes well with some leeks or spring onions in it too. I like the fact that it tastes like grilled steak, and at the same time it is very moist. Love the green onions in it... I do favour onions a whole lot! :-)

Spicy Mango Salad

Want a dish with a twist? Try this super tasty Malaysian styled mango salad (called Kerabu mempelam in Malaysia). A trail of zesty fresh mango, spicy fresh little chilis, crunchy shallots with some extraordinary blend of you'll never guess what. Read on!

29 March - It was such a waste I did not write on this day. Too bad. I'll ever get to write in this leapy day in the next 4 years! Well, I could not help it. I was unwell and I was sleeping most of the day or, was craving for my busy man's attention. Yes, I am an attention addict when I'm unwell. Aren't we all? :-P

And when I wake up Saturday morning, I saw mangoes. Yummy. I can imagine soo many different mango food already: Mango chutney, mango cheesecake, mango lassi, mango cake, mango pudding, fish curry with mango, rojak, mango salad... I could eat mango everyday of the week. I have 3 different types of mango tree in my garden: apple mango, sweet mango, and those small soury mangoes.
For today, mango salad was the choice. It is very delicious and refreshing. Light and it is best served with the main dishes. Sort of like a side dish. The best type of mango are those half ripe ones - where the flesh is pale yellow-orange and it is not soft - that gives the sweet and sour crunch.

A small little portion of roasted coconut and lightly fried dried shrimps is the only cooked ingredients needed to make this salad. This is what gives the salad the unique taste!

:: Ingredients ::
2 medium ripe mangoes, julienned
5 shallots, sliced
2 tablespoonfuls fresh grated coconut, roasted
5 birds' eye chili, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or white)

Note: The grated coconut is heated up on a small pan over a very small heat, and continuously stirred until browned, be careful not to leave it or you will end up with charred ones... which happened to me this morning.... so I was just up from bed! :-(

Dried shrimps are sold loosely or in small packets in the local market. If you're overseas, they can be found in typical Asian groceries in the dried or frozen dried food section. What I did was lightly pound the shrimps using a mortar and a pestle before lightly frying them. No oil is required to do this.

Basically, you mix the mangoes, shallots and chili. Add salt and sugar, mix well. Lastly pour in the fried shrimps and roasted grated coconut, mix well. It is ready to be served.

We usually serve this as a side dish, with rice, and other vegetables and meat dishes. Malaysian loves a mix of dishes with their rice, so we tend to cook at least 4-5 different main dish to go with our rice. Salad adds as a great healthy appetizer, and so it is a healthy dish as well. I recommend you do not eat this on its own entirely, as mangoes are pretty sour, plus with the spicy little chilis, you might not be able to take the acidity like me. :-)