Passions in Life

L is a good friend of mine. We have known each other since we were 11. This is how it happened; we sat together in class because at that time, the teachers arranged us according to our position in class and we so happen to have the same results. From there, our adventures are endless. We clicked and we bond until now, she still remained a very good friend, a confidante and a joy to be with.

She shares one common passion with me, that is the love of writing. We both also have passion in sharing knowledge with the world, our thoughts and dreans and of course we also have the same passion for food. Therefore, once she read this food blog of mine, she complimented me (she was always very supportive) and then was excited to join in the fun. Thus, she became my guest blogger and wrote about her dining experience, which was in Penang. She is currently pursuing her degree in Mass Communication in USM, Penang. Here goes her entry:

Passions of Kerala

If banana leaf cuisine is your weakness, be sure not to miss out Passions of Kerala for the ultimate south Indian food experience. Opened in year 2000 by joint owners, Mr. Gary Nair and Mr. Achuthan Nair, the place is run by Mr. Murly Nair. It is actually a branch from Restaurant Innira’s (name had also been changed to Passions of Kerala) situated in Gelugor, Penang. Passions of Kerala got its name from a type of seasonal flower called Passions that blooms right outside the restaurant and if you observe, the structure and interior of the place is made to look like a typical house in Kerala, situated in Southern India.

Once seated and orders taken, a banana leaf will be spread in front of you. Service is fast where the staff will first serve 4 types of vegetables together with a generous amount of white rice on the banana leaf. There are 16 different types of vegetables served in the restaurant and the order changes on a daily basis. Customers are given 3 choices of curries to choose from, the exquisitely rich dhal, thick chicken curry and fish curry, the spiciest of the lot. The dhal is laden with different types of vegetables namely potatoes, legumes, tomatoes and its rich creamy sauce is definitely not to be missed. Unlike other restaurants all the dishes here are not precook. The restaurant’s policy is making sure every food is served hot and fresh from the stove. Customer’s satisfaction is highly regarded by Mr. Murly Nair for he knows that it is the only thing that will keep them coming back in the future.

Diners have a variety of dishes to choose from, like the chicken and lamb masala, squids, crabs and fish and not forgetting the McNair’s fried chicken, their very own original fried chicken recipe. Every dishes found on the menu are cooked according to the Nairs grandmother’s recipe who originated from Kerala. Also, the restaurant makes and blends all of their spices. After your meal, there’s nothing better than to wash it down with a sweet lassi fruit drink, a blend of home-made yogurt and real fruit. The result is a deliciously thick and creamy drink enough to satisfy the gastronomical challenge pose by the rich herbs and spices found in the Keralite dishes.

While dining, you will be soothed with light and entertaining music played in the restaurant. It is really the perfect place to enjoy a good meal and then unwind with your friends. Staffs are friendly and the food here will definitely keep you coming back for more. I also took the opportunity to ask Mr. Murly Nair about banana leaf etiquette. He said that in every gesture and things that we do lay a meaning behind it. The Indians have a way of folding their banana leaf after eating it according to occasions. During funerals, after the meal, it is a custom to fold the banana leaf upwards, away from our own body. This indicates that they do not wish to attend another funeral as it is an unhappy event. While on happier events like weddings, Indians will fold their banana leaf inwards, towards our own body which signify that they hope that they will have another happy event to graze again.

TC, a British living in Penang frequents the restaurant for the ambience, quality food and the good money value of it. TC who had been eating curries since he was 17 actually had his first banana leaf cuisine in this restaurant, commented that it was love at first taste for him. So, the next time you crave for an Indian meal, be it lunch or dinner, Passions of Kerala will be the ultimate place to dine.

40, Service Road,
(Burmah Square)
10050 Penang
Tel – 04-229 2570
Business hours:
12 noon – 3.00pm / 6.30pm – 10.00pm

Myriad of Tastes for CNY

Back from missing in action. Chinese New Year had been a blast this year. As usual, I will be back in my hometown, Taiping and celebrated with family and friends.

As I am getting back on track from my holiday mood to my working routine, time is slipping away pretty quickly. As for now, I’m leaving you guys with pictures of the wonderful tummy-filled CNY celebration that I had. Enjoy!

Pho Pho (mum's mother) shredding the pre-soaked black fungus

Loh Hon Chai (Fried Mixed Vegetables)

My absolute all time favourite Jiu Hu Char (Stir fried shredded Cuttlefish with Yam Bean)

Another Stir Fried Mix Vegetables with Chinese Mushrooms

Live crab waiting to be cooked. We Chinese only eat the freshest from the sea.

Cooked Crab in Tomato Sauce, a little kick from ginger, spring onion and chillies

Steamed chicken, a must have for every Chinese household on reunion

The steamed chicken chopped and served sprinkled with chinese parsley

My aunt chopping the boiled pork tripe from the soup to bite sizes

Taking out the steamed fish (fresh from the sea too)

Pho Pho enjoying the food while waiting for the fish to steam

Yee Sang - We have it every year over at my mother's side, whenever we can meet up either the reunion day or Chor Yat/Chor Yee (first/second day of Chinese New Year). This Yee Sang of ours is self made, with the carrots and radishes freshly sliced thinly (no shredding as it will sweat too much) and then Pomelo freshly shred to pieces. The hues of greens and beige stripes are papaya pickles. In the middle is our main ingredient of the dish – abalone slices. The red packets contained Five Spice Powder and crushed peanuts ready to be sprinkled over the Yee Sang later.

Once ready to serve , crispy dough crackers are scattered all around the dish. Next the spices and peanuts are sprinkled over follow by pouring of plum sauce over it. We would then gear ourselves with chopsticks and then simultaneously toss the Yee Sang all over. As belived, the higher you toss the better. We usually end up with bits and pieces on our hand due to the crazy tossing by everyone.

Then all of proceed to scoop everything out onto our bowls and devour it. We would of course aim for the abalones but at last, we would end up distributing to each other anyway. The Yee Sang definitely tasted good, with fresh ingredients, right plethora of tastes of sweet and sour plus right textures of soft, chewy, crunchy and juicy all together. I looked forward to it every year. If you want to know more about this, Foodcrazee have an extensive information on his own deconstructed Yee Sang.

Overall, a lovely Chinese New Year, with jeans a little tighter, wallet a bit fatter (from all the Ang Pows), heart a little fonder and of course, smile a little wider!

Sugar not so High Friday #15

Finally I am back in my hometown. These day it was really hectic for me but I just could not pass out the opportunity to join this month’s SHF #15 hosted by Sam in Becks & Posh. So as usual I go for the easiest recipe I can find but of course still very tasty.

Since we are looking for dessert low in sugar and best to feature natural sugar, all I can think of was the Gula Melaka in my pantry. It is an all natural sweet sugar made from the sap of the coconut palm. As the name implies, it is widely known in Melaka and a favourite use among the Peranakans in both meals and desserts. Here in Malaysia, it comes in form of rolled blocks. These sweet rolls have distinct flavour themselves, not light brown sugar or honey or even golden syrup or dark molassess. You got to taste it to know it but as you know, it will always be a star in every sweet recipe if added. Yes it is that distinct.

Gula melaka is usually the star in many of our local Nonya kuih (our local cakes) alongside with the famous pandan leaves that I have kept talking about. It is used to make many other sweet desserts like cendol (I would talk about this nest time). I had even used it to make my macaroons! Really versatile and pair really well with pandan and coconut.

Here I made a really simple recipe using sago pearl. Sago is actually starch from the sago plant which can be made into pudding and is also usually added to many of our local ‘tong sui’like my Hak Lor Mai. This time I made sago pudding drizzle over with little bit of evaporated milk and then drown in gula melaka syrup. Heaven!

Sago Gula Melaka

The recipe here is in terms of guessing and estimating as it is to modify to suit ones taste, whether you want it really sweet, or less or more milk or vice versa. Besides, the amount yield would also differ according to your pudding cups. I made mine in little bowls since I have none. Ah, displaying my lack of kitchen tools again.

100g sago pearls
50 gula melaka
½ cup of evaporated milk

Bring water to boil in a pot
Add sago pearls to boil for 10-15 minutes or all the pearls are translucent (best to keep stirring as I have some stuck at the bottom once left unattended)
Remove from heat, pour onto a sieve and wash with running water.
Drain excess water and put aside.
Press the sago pearls into pudding cups, packing it tight together.
Refrigerate it for 1-2 hours then serve cold.

Melt gula melaka in a pot or microwave with about ¼ to ½ cup of water to it. (This amount depends how diluted you want your syrup to be. Chill.

When serving, unmould the sago pudding onto bowl, drizzle over with evaporated milk then drown it with the sweet exotic gula melaka and enjoy an all natural sweetness goodness.

Yields bout 6 small puddings or 3 large ones

Tagged with: SHF # 15 + Low Sugar

Coconut Macaroons

Where have I been? Life has been good I assure you. But it does not mean life had been easy. I am up to my neck with assignments and my final year project. With Chinese New Year coming, this coming Sunday to be precise, we at the university had been trying to cram everything into this week, in order to make way for a week long holiday. I will be homeward bound this Thursday, and I promise many pictures of my beloved Taiping and of course, our huge celebration marking a New Year in the Chinese Calendar.

My friend would also be celebrating her birthday next week, and I promised her a cake. I asked her for the flavours she liked, and she came up with a challenging theme, “Colourful”. How creative! It got me excited, yet I have not even thought of what to make.

Rabbit from Pearl of the Orient is hosting this month’s Hay Hay is Donna Day event, which she had won the last time with her really beautiful swirled self frosting cupcakes. I had joined that too at last minute with my Pandan Kaya Frosted Cupcakes. Now I could not pass up this opportunity.

The base recipe is simple and with lots of place to tweak and improvise. Here’s two version of mine. I tried to make it cute for Rabbit, and readers who would be voting, but could not think of any other way than to spontaneously add the little piggie pouncing at the macaroons. Let’s fight for it else it will be gone!

Lemon Macaroons

This I basically just substituted Rabbit’s lime zest with lemon. These are the bunch on the left side in the picture.

2 cups desiccated coconut
½ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 ½ tbsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 180C
Mix coconut, sugar, egg whites and lime zest in bowl to combine.
Use a spoon to scoop it onto hand and squeeze to it to ball size.
Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 mintues or till light golden.

Makes 12-15 fluffy macaroons

Pandan Gula Melaka Macaroons

This one is an Asian twist to these lovely macaroons. It came on an impulse as I thought of my pandan leaves in the refrigerator. It was in a way inspired by an Asian coconut candy that features basically the same ingredients but cooked till thick and then chilled. This one is really good!

2 cups desiccated coconut
½ cup Gula Melaka (raw palm sugar) or brown sugar
2 egg whites
2-3 tbsp shredded pandan leaves

Preheat oven to 180C
Mix coconut, sugar, egg whites and shredded pandan leaves in bowl to combine.
Use a spoon to scoop it onto hand and squeeze to it to ball size.
Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes or till light golden.

Makes 12-15 fluffy macaroons

Me, Me and Me

Tagging Meme had become a phenomenal nowadays in the blogosphere. I do enjoy Meme-ing and passing on the baton, but how far the tagged person enjoy it I do not know, but I just hope we all join in the fun (if that is not how you feel, you should). My first Meme, was on my Top Ten Favourite Food, tagged by Kalyn. Now, I have two Meme on my list, and they are crying to be pass on day and night! I no longer could keep this here, else it will die here, where the I am the cause. So here goes:

Mumu from A Curious Mix had tagged me with “The Things I Carry”, which actually ask what one would bring when cooking in someone else’s place. Then the witty Mumu, came up with her own version of the other way around which is “What would you hijack from someone’s else kitchen”. How cool is that. I feeling pretty adventurous would be answering to both of this.

I have yet to cook at other person’s place which would be far less equipped than me, shamefully yes, who can ever be less equipped than my poor kitchen of an university student who have yet the income to invest in tools she is dying to have and have yet to have the time to fully utilize them even if she does. But I do know a kitchen that is less equipped than mine, which was my aunt’s, just 5 minutes drive from my place, who do not cook at all. As I remember, as she has, a HUGE refrigerator (where is the justice????), microwave and two gas stoves with some basic pots and pans. I always wanted to go over, cook a feast and feed her and my two skinny cousins to the brim! So if I ever go over to cook, these are things I am most likely to carry along, as I would not do without:

Wok
Granite Pestle and Mortar
Chinese meat cleaver and chopping board plus my trusty mini knife
Blender and grinder
Rice cooker
Olive Oil
Rack of spices

As for hijacking things from someone’s kitchen, I would definitely be choosing my Nanny’s kitchen. Hers is well equipped with years and years of feeding three children and her dear husband. I would also add in my Ah Ma’s kitchen, which she had used to feed me since I was barely walking properly.

Complete supply of Chinese herbs, spices and all the necessary ingredients to cook authentic Chinese cuisine from my Nanny’s.

My Ah Ma’s ‘3-stone fire’ clay stove that uses charcoal as fuel. Ah Ma double boils her soups on this to the perfection!

For thisI would like to tag Barbara from Tigers and Strawberries, because I like to know what she have and treasure in the kitchen. I am always in awe of her overwhelming experience and cookery skills!

Next is 7 Meme for 7 bloggers, which I was tagged by MM from Mana Makan – The Feast Crusade.

7 things to do before I die
Travel to places I have never seen
Eat food that I have never eaten
Record our own album for my band – Addicted to Bliithe
Fly my own jet plane
Have my own business empire

Build a loving and happy family
Learn to speak, read and write Mandarin

7 things I cannot do
I cannot sing for the life of me
I am ‘buta 3D’ – basically mean I cannot direct my character in a 3D game to walk in a straight line, as in no sense of 3D direction.
I cannot grow to the height I want!
I cannot cry in front of people – well at least I tried
I cannot seem to find ‘7 things that I cannot do’

7 things that attracted me to blogging
My tham jiak-ness
My love of writing
My need to be heard
The joy of sharing what I know
A place for me to rant and rave
To promote one self - you never know who is reading out there!
Most of all – the family sense in the blogosphere

7 things I say most often
I love you!
If etc etc etc … how?
Have you eaten yet?
What the hell!
Serious?
Funny!
Oh no!

7 books I love
Anne Rice’s Lestat
Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings
CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia
Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code
R.A. Salvatore‘s The Forgotten Realms
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies

7 movies I watch over and over again
None in particular, I love movies, but not fanatic enough to have one that I would watch over and over again

7 tags
Now for my 7 victims, please do not kill me!

Anne from Anne's Food

Nic from Bakingsheet

Indira from Mahanandi

Glutton Rabbit from Pearl of The Orient

VK from My Dhaba

Meena from Hooked on Heat

Foodcrazee

Smokey Goodness with Rendang

I was cruising down the road right after my afternoon class. The weather was fine and I am feeling fresh, something that is amazing since I had endured few hours of lecture. Taking the usual route on my way back, all of sudden I was greeted by makeshift stall along the road, nearby of TTDI, with smokes billowing to the air. Guess what? No, not open burning. If you’re a Malaysian, you might, just might have guess it. Yes, it is lemang!

Lemang is actually glutinous rice with coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves then packed into a tube of bamboo and then smoked slowly over fire. Phew, such hard work. This delicacy may be available throughout the year but it is usually full blown with temporary makeshifts stalls everywhere during festivals celebrated by the Malay communities in Malaysia. The usual celebrations are the Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji. This Malay delicacy had been highlighted before by Boo from masak-masak. Boo featured lemang from last year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri, from the same place I had acquired mine. As for Robyn, from EatingAsia, she and Dave had stumbled upon it along the Karak Highway.

This week on Tuesday, it was the Hari Raya Haji celebration. It is known as the Pilgrimage Day of Celebration, which is to mark the conclusion of pilgrimage activites in the Holy Land of Mecca. What luck I have to get my hand on these ‘lemangs’ as I had missed it last year during Hari Raya Adilfitri. Thus, excited like a school kid eyeing a candy, I scrammed on the break and swerved to the left and came to a halting stop by the side of a stall. (Yes, we Malaysians drive like that). Just as I got down from the car, I was greeted by the enthusiastic seller, whose stall I happened to stop right beside. Since it was, as we Chinese like to call it ‘yuin’ (fate) that I got to this stall I decided to get a tube of lemang from them. They even let me sample one tiny piece. Not too bad I might say. I wanted to get their curries but alas, found my wallet insufficient of money. (I had just paid the bills!).

Once I got home, I thrust the newspaper wrapped lemang to J and asked him to guess what it is. J just tore it off out of curiosity (such impatience) and was as excited as I am for the find too. Ah, but what are we to have it with? J, as the Malay cuisine expert here, said lemang have to have with rendang. Rendang, according to Wikipedia, is actually meat curry, cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until the liquid dried up, leaving a thick coating of spicy condiments on the meat. Sounds good isn’t it. Not to worry as the recipe is to follow.

Well, as this is also an entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging at Kalyn, I am featuring a herb used in cooking rendang. It is daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves). These leaves, as the name implied, impart a strong scent of lime and are really refreshing.

Now let’s go and make some rendang to go with the lemang. Pssst, as I know, it goes well with rice too!

Beef Rendang

This is my first time trying out a tedious recipe but I was adamant. Yet, I was still pretty lazy and had come up with some cheating methods to fasten up the process. I got this recipe, once again from Amy Beh, but had modified the liquid amount, thus reducing cooking time tremendously.

I was shocked by the amount of coconut milk called for in the original recipe and was further aghast by the idea of adding same amount of water. Thus I reduced it by more than half and had even left out the water portion.

When I got to tesco looking for topside beef, there was none but instead I found packets of cubed beef labeled - beef for rendang. Talk about being 'Malaysianised' eh.

Chilli boh is actually just grinded chillies with salt. Thus, if you cannot get it, I would recommend adding 2-3 sliced chillies to the level of spiciness you desire. Just remember that rendang are just spicy-nice, as in not too spicy yet just a tinge of kick.

Next it was the kerisik (pounded dry-fried grated coconut) which I had no idea where to get, so I improvised and bought desiccated coconut. Then I dry fried the desiccated coconut till brown and then pounded it with my pestle and mortar. (If you don’t have one, maybe you can try pounding with your roller pin or something like that. Think creative!)

Ingredients:
500g beef topside, cubed

Grind together:
4 tbsp chilli boh
7 shallots
5 cloves garlic
4cm piece ginger
2 onions
4 stalks lemongrass, finely sliced
3cm piece galangal
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp fennel powder

400ml thick coconut milk (1 can)

1/2 cup kerisik (pounded dry-fried grated coconut)
1 tbsp finely-shredded daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves)

Seasoning:
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp brown sugar or to taste

Method:
Coat bottom of a deep saucepan with a little bit of oil and heat it up.
Add in beef and stir fry briefly till all sides are slightly browned.
Sitr in the ground ingredients and stir to mix.
Then add in the coconut milk.
Simmer over low-medium heat for one hour until beef turns tender and the gravy is quite thick.
Add kerisik and continue to cook until the gravy turns thick and dry.
Add seasonings and daun limau purut.
Stir and cook for further five minutes or until beef gravy is sticky dry

Serves 3 - 4

Exploring My Origin: Teochew Steamed Fish

I have nowadays succumbed to cook in daily since I have my classes and all. If I have the chance, I would cook both lunch and dinner. Admittedly, it is always alternate with leftovers, covered by a new dish, which would end up as leftovers. But once we got the hang of what can be kept and what not, cooking for small amount of people gets easier. I do not have the luxury to cook for a family of 5 or 8 (yes, I consider that a luxury) but I sometimes cook as if I do. J even says that I am crazy. Once I cooked cauliflower curry and it lasted us for five days! Of course not for every meal, but good enough for us to swore it off for a while.

Anyway, it had been quite sometime since I share some recipes worth for “exploring my origin” project. I do most of the time cooked Chinese at home, but most Chinese cookery are pretty simple and in terms of ‘agak-agak’ (estimation). As I have said, we Chinese cook on the whim. When we feel like it we add it, when we taste it with our little fingers, oh yes we Chinese are resistant to heat, we would just add whatever our taste bud tells us to. I have countless times seen my mother’s mother, Pho Pho, did the finger thing. She can easily dip in her finger to a boiling liquid and taste it right away. Of course I’ve tried it a couple of times and burnt my tongue without fail. Maybe one day, when I have cook countless Chinese cuisine, I might just be able to act like a seasoned Chinese cook.

The dish that I am going to introduce today is of Teochew origin. As I had mentioned that I am from a Hokkien dialect, Teochew is another one in our numerous Chinese dialects. They used to say that Teochew are considered Hokkien as well. This is because the Teochew are once Hokkien people, migrating south from the Fujian province to eastern side known as Chaoshan. After some influence from the Cantonese and Hakka, they evolved into a separate dialect.

As Teochew people are also quite abundant in Malaysia, we are very much exposed to their cuisine. Teochew cuisines are well known for seafood and vegetarian dishes. They are also in some way like the Cantonese cuisine, cooking with less flavouring thus enhancing the natural tastes of food, while relying heavily on freshness of ingredients. When I go out to eat in Chinese restaurants, I had a few times tasted a very fine Teochew cuisine, which is their steamed fish. I had tried it in many outlets, though it varies a little, but the main ingredients are there and the taste, are simply superb. If you have the freshest of fish, it would certainly be a heavenly dish.

Teochew Steamed Fish

I had used white Pomfret for this dish but had found those large meaty Grouper fishes I had in restaurants are better cooked in this style. It is because in this Teochew way of steaming, one would end up with a pool of wonderful sour-ish soup from steaming the fish which is really good to lap up with big chunks of fish meat. It is to be warned that this ‘assam’ (tangy) taste soup keeps one hungry till the end of the meal. You just can’t get enough of it.

I had modified a recipe from the trusted Amy Beh at Kuali. Her recipe uses sour plum, which I do not have in hand, thus I substituted with some tamarind slices (assam gelugor) and tamarind paste, which I have in hand all the time because it is used in various dishes, such my Ikan Assam. The result is as close to those out in the restaurants, though it varies a little, but still like I say, superb.

3-5 white Pomfret/ 1 large Grouper (cleaned and gutted)

Ingredients:
50g salted mustard greens (soaked and shredded)
3cm piece ginger (finely sliced)
1 tomato (cut into thin wedges)
2 black Chinese mushrooms (soaked and sliced thinly)

Mix:
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp sugar
2-3 tamarind slices (assam gelugor/assam keluk)
2 tbsp tamarind paste

Garnishing:
1 red chilli (cut into strips)
1 stalk spring onions (cut into strips)
1 sprig coriander leaves (chopped roughly)

Method:
Make two cuts on each side of the fish. Rub lightly with salt and pepper.
Put fishes on a metal or heatproof dish and scatter salted mustard green, mushroom and ginger slices on and around the fish.
Pour in the water mixture onto the fish and arrange tomato slices around fish.
Steam fish over rapidly boiling water for 12 to 15 minutes or until the fish’s eye popped out. (This is an indication that the fish is cooked.)
Garnish and serve the dish steaming with hot soup!

Serves 4

Weekend Herb Blogging #14: Chrysanthemum

This is going to be a short post from me. Pardon my lack of writing but it is due to me buried in my final year project. Yes, this dear “tham jiak” girl is in her last semester now, with her major project due soon. I am going to graduate in May and till then, it would be busy months for me. Yet, I cannot say that I would have more leisure when I work, so I have been warned. Nonetheless, I am excited to join the new phase of life soon.

For now, I am posting for the Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by our lovely Kalyn. I will be introducing a wonderful herb named Chrysanthemum.

It is used in many sweet drinks and ‘tong sui’ in our Chinese cuisine. When boiled, it would be known as Chrysanthemum tea. Since young I have been told that it is good for health. It is particular known for it's cooling properties.

There is a lovely Chinese history(or rather, legend) behind this wonderful herb; I’m quoting from Flowers and Plants Association:

The Chinese legend tells the story of an elderly emperor who had heard about a magic herb that would give him eternal youth. This herb was said to grow on Dragonfly Island and could only be picked by young people. The elderly emperor therefore sent twenty-four children on what proved to be a long and hazardous journey. Much to their dismay, when they finally arrived at the island they found it totally deserted. There was no sign of the magic herb. All they found was a flower - the golden chrysanthemum, which today still symbolises the Chinese people's ties with their country. Later Mao Tse Tung replaced the imperial golden yellow with the red of the People’s Republic.

There is also a Japanese version of history in the site if you are interested.

Now let’s go brew yourself some healthy drink.

Chrysanthemum Ginseng Tail Drink
Source: Kitchen Capers

Ginseng tail is a type of Chinese herbs. If I am not mistaken, it is the tail part of the ginseng root. It is known as “yang seng xu’ in Chinese. This herb is known for its cooling properties. It gives the drink a type of ‘kam’ (golden) taste. Pretty hard for me to explain this taste as only Chinese could identify to it; like how my Ah Ma always says it that way. Feel free to omit it and you will still have a lovely healthy drink.

Ingredients:
75g Dried Chrysanthemum Flowers
25g Ginseng Tail
2000ml water
Rock Sugar to taste

Blanch Chrysanthemum and Ginseng separately with boiling water.
Boil water and add in Ginseng. Boil for 5 minutes.
Add in Chrysanthemum. Boil for another 5 minutes.
Add in Rock Sugar and taste.
Remove from fire and cover for 10 minutes before serving.

Double Cheers For The New Year

This would be my update on the New Year party I had with the pictures I finally managed to get from my friend. Well, there was technical problem last night at MSN messenger, thus she could not send to me. We tried today then it was my connection problem. What luck! At last I resort to asking her email me instead. Finally, all is well now. The pictures are here! Another good news is I managed to get the potato salad recipe too. It is really easy. Do try it out!

My Roasted Rosemary Paprika Chicken:

Spaghetti Bolognaise with asian twist of rich chicken stock and less tomato:

The special Char Chee Cheong Fun (it is hard to take a picture of this black mess but trust me, it is really delish!):

And now for the

Potato Salad

8 – 10 russet potatoes
2 bunches of spring onions
3 cucumbers
10 eggs (hardboiled)
A small jar of mayonnaise (bout 200mk)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut into cubes the potatoes, cucumbers and hardboiled eggs.
Then chop spring onions finely.
Put all in a large mixing bowl and stir in mayonnaise.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve a party of 20-25 people

Cheers For a New Year

I am again late for this New Year entry. I said again because I seem to be always fashionably late for entries. I hope Cooking Diva would pardon me and give me a chance to join in the New Year's Dinner & Recipe Photo Swap, which seemed so much fun! One of my New Year resolutions from this entry onwards is not to be late anymore! I had been late all my life.

I did not get the entry in early enough because the owner of the camera, my friend, who had not sent me the pictures yet! Well, I had to fill in and post up the preparation for my chicken first. The rest of the readied yummy food will follow, by tonight, hopefully. I swear to wring my friend’s heart out if she does not send me the pictures tonight.

New Year started for everyone and a new semester started for me. Well, after enjoying, playing and of course cooking and baking for whole three months, it is time for me to settle down and do what I need to. I will still be posting for sure, but of course, much shorter ones. I love to write, but time is always the limit. I love to research and share knowledge with the world, but again, time and resources is limited.

This year, I celebrated with J in my friend’s place. There is not much variety of food but yet all of it is scrumptious. We had catered for the spaghetti bolognaise, which was rich with chicken stock, not the usual tomato-ey fare but still very scrumptious. Then we had a local flavour of Char (fried) Chee Cheong Fun, which is basically large flat rice noodles rolled up. The usual fare is to serve these with sweet or spicy sauce but as usual, Malaysian loves to fusion recipes to make it our own. If I am not mistaken, these are originated from Hong Kong, commonly known as Cheong Fun. For this Char Chee Cheong Fun, it is actually frying the Cheong Fun like how we would for Char Kway Teow, literary also fried flat rice noodles. Then there was the potato salad, made by my long time friend from Taiping, which was really delish. I had requested recipe from her and of course would be sharing with you guys then. I could not possibly keep good eats to myself, can I? Then there was also some fried frozen nuggets and popcorn chicken. Dessert was canned sea coconut (sleeve palm), yes canned, according to my friend we are suppose to relax and enjoy the New Year, so no working our neck out. After roasting 30 chickens, I could not have agreed more with her. As for me, my humble contribution to the party was

Roasted Rosemary Paprika Chicken

I adapted this dish from a cookbook, but as the usual me, I had trouble following recipes diligently, especially when it comes to cooking. Baking, I might still be a good school girl and not bold enough to twist recipes, but cooking, ah, we Chinese cooks by feel and taste. Try getting recipes out of seasoned Chinese chefs and they would be telling you like, throw in a little of that, then a lot of that, a bunch of this and a handful of that. It is then up to you to improvise, judging for what you had eaten. Usually, it is easy, if you had been eating it most of your life.

As for this recipe, after much tweaking, I find the taste slightly too mild. Maybe I was looking for punch on the spice. Luckily it was saved by the rosemary. I used fresh ones, which does make a lot of differences from dried ones. I pounded the spices on my good ol’ pestle and mortar which I loved a lot. It was from my nanny, a small one but well seasoned. If you do not have one, then just grind the ingredients, but be careful not to make it into a paste.

There was a tip from the cookbook which said that roasting chicken in a non-preheated oven produces crispy skins. It was a little crispier then the previous ones which I roasted after preheating, but I still prefer the method of browning it first before roasting, which produce not only crispier skin, but also more delicious looking roasted chickens. Alongside, I had also roasted some carrots, shallots and whole garlic cloves tossed with olive oil, pepper and salt.

30 drumsticks

Pound/grind:
12 garlic cloves
3 tbsp of paprika
2 tbsp of hot chile pepper
5 sprigs of rosemary (stripped)
2 tbsp coarse black pepper
3-4 tbsp of olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons
Salt to taste

Put together ingredients and pound/grind the spices together.
Clean the chicken and cut out visible fats. Then score two huge slits on the thick part.
Rub spices onto the chicken, and try to stuff those yummy stuffs into the slits.
Line up drumsticks on roasting pan.
Squeeze lemons all over chicken.
Slice the squeezed out lemons thinly spread all over the chicken.
Put it into the oven and left to marinate for 2-3 hours.
Sprinkle salt over the chicken.
Roast chicken in 200C/400F/Gas 6 oven for 1 – 1 ½ hours.

The cheering continues here.

From My Rasoi: Kheema

Since I started blogging, I had known so many Indian food lovers and bloggers alike out there. If you want to be swarm by it, go over and get the links from VK of My Dhaba. Meena from Hooked on Heat had suggested a monthly cookout celebrating Indian cuisines in various forms, called as From My Rasoi, literary meaning, from my kitchen. Every month Meena would come up with a theme and for this month, along with the cold period in half part of the world, the theme is “Winter”.

Winter is a tough theme for a tropical gal like me. In Malaysia, it is either rain or shine here. When it is hot here, it can be burning hot. You would not want to be caught out in the sun especially right at noon. In fact, you can have burning sensation on your head. During my high school days, I was a school basketball players and fanatically, we play till 11am when the sun is high and our head is about to set on fire. Although it is really hot around, we are still lucky as the air is humid and never too dry plus we get a fair share of rain all the time. In Taiping, as I had mentioned as the wettest town in Southeast Asia, I had countless times of enjoying the cooling rain while I sleep.

Sometimes I do wish for four seasons like other countries, where we can enjoy the sun in the summer, catch fallen leaves in autumn, throw snowballs at winter and enjoy rebirth of nature in spring. But sometimes, I revel in the fact that we have consistent weather and nothing to worry about, just maybe occasional floods.

So therefore, my interpretation of the theme may vary a lot from people but I feel, as for winter, it is a cold time calling for hot food! Coincidently, all Indian food is hot! And I meant not just the high heat but spicy and exciting.

As for me, this month I will be featuring a really delectable dish that was introduced to me in a recent food gathering. As I had mentioned a few times, I am actively involved in a Singapore/Malaysia food forum Kitchen Capers, where we had organized a meet up, joint with another local forum that I was recently introduced to - Jo’s Deli, last month for both Malaysian members. There, a member had cooked up a delicious and ‘never get enough of’ dish – Lamb Kheema. Oh it got me dreaming of it day and night after the gathering. So, naturally, when everyone posted up their recipes, I try this one out first straightaway.

Kheema is a hot dish which is not too spicy but yet do not lack in taste. It is really complex in flavours although the ingredients are pretty simple and I am quite sure, readily available. According to Wiki:

This is a traditional Punjabi home cooked dish and is popular with northern Indian/Pakistani people in the Midlands. It is minced lamb curry served with
peas.

Meena had also cooked up some Keema Matar, with ground chicken and peas. I totally agree with her on the part about peas, as I personally feel it is the main ingredient that made the dish at the right texture with the right taste. Not to mention it adds more colour to the dish and of course, more nutrition. Now, without further ado, let me introduce you this hot dish for cold times or to level your winter, if you are in one.

Kheema

I had used ground pork for this dish but found that the lamb that I had in the gathering had much more complex taste, but nonetheless this was also really tasty. This is a simple yet wonderful dish, certainly a keeper in my rasoi!

Grind to a fine paste:
4 slices of ginger (each 1 cm thick)
3 cloves of garlic

250gm minced meat (lamb, beef, chicken or pork)
3-5 tbsps of curry powder (according to level of spiciness)

2 cups of water salt to taste
120 gm green peas (I used 1 can)
1 green chilli (thinly sliced)

Cut into cubes:
2-3 medium sized potatoes (peeled)
2 tomatoes
1 big onion

For frying:
1/2 onion (thinly sliced)
3 cardamoms
4 cloves
1 stick cinnamon - about 4cm long

In a bowl, mix the meat with ginger-garlic paste, curry powder, salt and ½ cup water.
Then heat oil in pan and fry the ingredients for frying.
When onions are soft, add the mince meat and fry till fragrant.
Add the potatoes and stir in 1 ½ cup of water. Bring to boil. Cover and cook till potatoes are soft, stir occasionally.
Then add cubed tomatoes and onions, peas, chilli. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Dish out and devour!

Serves 4

Late Meme: You Are What You Eat

I had been late on this meme from Kalyn (bowing my head in shame), although I had been tagged since early this month. I am really sorry Kalyn, it just had been a busy month with Christmas and new year approaching. I had written it long time ago but have yet to complete it. I will update this post when I finally get the rest of the pictures together, which was the main source of this late post.

Now on to my top 10 favourite food:

Chocolate
Every woman’s secret vice. Chocolate is known as the food for Gods since ancient times and it is not a wonder why. Chocolate is one of my comfort food that bound to help most of the time. Whenever I’m down, chocolate is needed to lift me up and when I’m happy, chocolate is needed to share the joy. So, basically I need chocolate all the time. Naughty me! For me, the darker the chocolate, with richer cocoa taste the better! I eat chocolate anything, from plain chocolate to chocolate cookies to chocolate cakes to hot cocoa to anything! I just have yet to try mole, chocolate with meat, which one day I must!

Cheese
Need I elaborate more on this milky goodness? Yes I do. I had mentioned that it had been J’s weakness; well I must admit it does have quite an effect on me too. I love it in both sweets and savouries. I bow to cheesecakes; I love a thick carbonara anytime and whatever cheesy, you name it.

Milk
I would need a glass every morning (or the time I wake up) to start my day. I had been having it since my pre-school days up till now. Nothing beats fresh milk and now for me, fat-free milk.

Egg

It is the most versatile food I have ever known. If you’re lazy, just fry it and you will have a sunny side up. Or just whisk it around and fry it plain or with anything else that you want. One of my favourite ways is fry it with long beans. Not too sweet and with the right crunch compare to the eggy texture. You must try it if you get your hands on long beans, and I’m sure you have eggs at hand! Besides, eggs are the base for most delicious desserts isn’t it?

Vegetables
Oh, I do eat my greens. When I was young, I refuse to have anything green into my mouth but not anymore. I learn to love my veggies since quite sometime ago. Not only nutritious but it is actually really delectable. Cooking each veggies the right way would make it interesting. But somehow, I love the way we Chinese like to cook it; stir-fry it with some garlic, dashes of soy sauce and chicken/vegetable stock if you’re lucky or water if you’re not. Rest assured, it is one of the best way to enjoy your veggies!

Soup

Ah, one of our Chinese secrets! As I had mentioned, our Chinese soups are blends of the most natural tastes of the ingredients meld together into something really wonderful. One of my comfort food I might say. When I was young, I love to drown my rice in soup and then eat it with dishes; in fact it can even be a complete meal itself. It was Ah Ma that had brought the love of soup to me, and now I must pass it on! Do try out our various soups and indulge in the wonderful flavours.

Sushi

My housemates and I simply adore sushi! When we had the opportunity to eat out, we would pretend discussing where to eat but in the end, we would end up in a sushi bar. In Malaysia, it is either Genki Sushi or Sushi King for us. These are sushi cheap-eats for us but then again, who are we to complain. It still soothes our cravings for some raw salmon and some sweet rice.

‘Bun’ (Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli)

It is not the usual buns but rather it is actually rice vermicelli. Bun is served cold with fresh vegetables, juicy meat and ‘cha gio’ (springrolls). I would always hop over to Vietnam Kitchen (One U) for my fix of bun when I’m looking for a wholesome and fulfilling meal. To know more about what bun is all about, hop over at Fine Cooking.

Mexican

Even the test results revealed that I am a Mexican girl. Yes I am! I love Mexican food for its complex blends of spices and tastes. I loved chillis (which I did for my birthday, will share it one day), tortillas, egg rolls (simply adore these), fajitas, quesadillas and tacos with salsa! Now I am craving for some!

Seafood

Oh how can I leave out this wonderful food? When there are spreads of seafood around, I go week at my knees. This is no exaggeration! I absolutely adore crabs and shrimps. Then there are the fishes, plain ol’ fishes plus much much more ranging from mussels to squids to clams to oysters. What an indulgence.

Tagging (hopefully still available):

Babe_KL from Babe in the City-KL

Tazz from Tazz in the Kitchen

Mumu from A Curious Mix

Mae from Rice and Noodles

Well, the baton is passed. Hope you have a good (or tough) time listing your favourites. *Laugh evilly.

Merry Christmas!

Shoving some lovely red tomatoes your way! Well, just a picture of reds and greens to build some festive mood. Hope your Christmas this year is a bundle of joy, full with laughters and cheers.

Here’s a little ode to you:

Christmas is
A time for gathering
and a time for sharing
A time for giving
and a time for receiving
A time for rejoicing
and appreciating
A time for embracing
and a time for reminding
How much we are loved

Merry Christmas to all!

Popcorn Endeavour

I have been a fan of popcorn since the day Cineplex conquered Malaysia. Cineplex is actually cinema, a movie theatre in a shopping complex. This Cineplex fever had hit Malaysia about 8 years ago ( if I’m not mistaken) and people just love the idea for a one stop entertainment, where they will go there to eat, window shopping or do some buying and then go for a movie.

We used to have cinema in Malaysia, where a particular huge building with car parks itself is cater just for movie watching. At that time, cinema is a huge hit. Back in Taiping, Lido is one of the most famous cinemas, where during peak times like Chinese New Year; the tickets had to be booked a week ahead to get a seat for those usual 'Jackie Chan-good prevails-action kicking' kind of movie. I for one is lucky as my Lai Ma’s (nanny) husband Lai Pa, is the manager of the Lido cinema, which means easy booking for me. At times, during non peak season, I even have the privilege to watch a movie free; sometimes I would slip in a friend or two. After that, pirated VCDs invaded Malaysia and people no longer want to spend the money to watch in cinema when the price of one admission can get a CD for viewing by the whole family. Besides, Astro (our local cable television) came along and had also rendered many to their sofas. Then Cineplex became a trend and thus many cinemas close down one by one, and by 1999, Lido shut down too. I was particularly sad as I have many fond memories there, not just in the theatre but times I spend hanging out at the office with my Lai Pa.

Although I would love to have popcorn every time I go to a movie but sometimes, it is just too costly for me. After that I read about in blogs where people make their own popcorn. So one day, while J and I are out groceries shopping in the shopping mall (yes, shamefully that is where I get my food, just do not have the strength to wake up in the morning for a walk in the market), I just casually mentioned about popcorn. Now, I actually do not know how raw corn would look like and commented to J on how great if I know how to make own popcorn, as in not those costly pre-packed ready to pop in foil kind. J had a fit of laughter and was pretty amused. He was smug too as finally, there was once, he know something about food more than me. This was not the usual case where usually, during groceries shopping, he likes to enquire endlessly about food things from really negligible things to some I myself could not answer. Sometimes, I suspect he does all this just out to amuse himself while I do the boring “si lai” (housewife) shopping. Anyway, as I was saying, J pointed out to me what the raw corn was, of course after he gets a good laugh at me and a reluctant credit from me, as he had in fact seen his mum made popcorn before with the microwave. I was delighted in my new find - maize.

Well, J might have seen his mum did it before; typically he was not sure how exactly was it done. At that time, I do not have a microwave yet and decided to do it over the stove. It did pop but only half of it, with the other half burnt and stuck to the bottom of my saucepan. I have a similar problem, but with 70% success rate at second try. Then finally, I chuck my maize away in the corner of the cupboard. Then recently, I got my microwave! Hurray! So J and I put it in a container, with a knob of butter and finally it did came out nice, but sadly, still with about 15% non-pop at the bottom while also, unfortunately, slightly disfigured my container. I nearly gave up on my popcorn adventure but no, yesterday night, I just had the urge to finally make it right. I decided to use my trusty non-stick pan this time and finally had a 100% success rate! I was ecstatic.

Do try out making your own popcorn as, my huge bowl of popcorn, which cost me around RM1-2 compared to the popcorn sold in the cinema at RM6++ for maybe less the amount. You do the math. Besides, I’m pretty sure my popcorns are much healthier too, with no butter or preservatives plus more delicious with extra own spices. Now I am thinking of sneaking these lovelies into the cinema; lets all be converted together! But first I got to find a big hand bag.

Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn

2 handful (1/3 cup) popcorn
1 tsp oil

Drop oil on pan and use a tissue to spread it all over, coating the pan.
Heat it till hot.
Add in popcorn and cover. It would helped to use a glass cover so that you can watch the corn popping, not only for pleasure, but to know how to handle it.
While it heats up, do some other stuff, watch TV, surf the net, clean the kitchen (as if) or just sit down and dream.
It’ll be quite sometime till the first “pop” is heard.
From here, you have to watch over it.
Shake the pan once a while. This is to avoid some un-pop corn and also burnt ones.
After some fascinating ooh ahh seeing the corn popping and also some shakings, the popping stops. Remove from heat.

The coating:
4 tbsp of brown sugar
2-3 tsp of cinnamon

Heat brown sugar and cinnamon over a saucepan.
Stir it occasionally to avoid burning.
The brown sugar would soon sweat and then melt into a lovely caramel.
From here take note not to over cook it or you’ll get black and bitter stuff.

Put in the popcorn by batches on the caramel and coat it roughly. You might not be able to coat all but just the better else it would be too sweet. You’ll then get huge chunks of popcorns sticking together from the caramel. Yum!

Now I'm thinking of all the other spices or maybe coffee powder to use instead of cinnamon. Imagine all the possibilities! More adventures for me!

Makes one huge bowl of finger sticking and licking popcorns

Weekend Herb Blogging - Lemongrass

It has been a while since I’ve been blogging. This had certainly been a busy week and it whizzed pass in no time. Nevertheless, I have still kept on cooking and baking, experimenting in the kitchen. Somehow cooking is therapeutic to me. No matter how long I spent the day inside that tiny little space of mine, I somehow emerge from there feeling victorious. Yes, even after a bunch of burnt cookies.

No matter how busy one is, we always have time for food. The first thing we thought of when we wake up is what to have to break the fast. It might not be breakfast, as sometimes (or usually) I break my fast with lunch. Ah, lazy me. Then in due time we would be thinking what to have for dinner. Such gluttony! But aren’t human born to live like that?

Anyway, to keep this post short and to rumble back to my busy dailies, I would continue on about the main thing you must be asking, “Where is the herb?” Pardon my long windedness, so here goes this week’s herb, Lemongrass (Serai).

This particular herb is featured mainly in Thai, Malay and Nonya cuisines, giving an instant lift to any food. Lemongrass is one herb that leaves a sweet lemony smell to your fingers after you cut it and it will instantly jazz up your spice mixes once grinded or pounded to release the aroma. It is widely used especially in cooking curries, soup (like the famous Thai Tom Yum soup that relies practically on this herb) and other spice mixing recipes. It can also be used in making of drinks like tea or honey. I once had honey lemongrass drink with the herb stalk itself used to stir the drink, exotic and certainly refreshing.

The recipe that I will be showing using this sweet herb is from the Nonya cuisine. Nonya is basically the people from the marriage between the Chinese and Malay, creating a new generation of Peranakan. Although they are half Chinese, these Peranakan had adopted Malay culture wholly with a little of their own influences, causing a new hybrid of culture that they call their own. These generations of people are prominent from Penang and Malacca but it is in Malacca that is left with many remnants of it. When one culture is created, most certainly a new cuisine of its kind emerged. Nonya cuisines are fusion of Chinese and Malay cuisines with Thai and Indonesia influences. There is an extensive explanation of Nonya cuisine over at Malaysian Food, if you are inclined to know more.

Well, I suppose this following recipe of mine must be of Thai influence with the usage of lemongrass, and it is a little bit spicy with a strong smell of belachan(shrimp paste), another acquired taste food. When frying the belachan, one is bound to be caught up with the strong aroma rising which would choke right up the nose, down the nasal to the throat. I’m not kidding here! I can still remember the days when my Nanny cook up a storm of Sambal Belachan (chilly fried with belachan paste), the whole house would be choking in the strong aroma. But secretly we would be smiling with glee anticipating what would appear on the dinner table next. Well, after a nasal war just now, I whipped up a sour fishy Nonya dish.

Ikan Assam (Spicy Fish in Tamarind)
Source: Female Appetite (Edition 1)

I did not have ginger flower and had omitted eggplants and lady’s fingers, adding more tomatoes instead, but I guess with those, it would had been much more flavourful and of course much more colourful. I ran out of lime thus added more tamarind for the sourness. I had also added 1 inch of Galangal (Lengkuas) just for fun, as I feel it would be appropriate, ah a cook’s whim.

4 tbsp oil
15g tamarind paste
500ml water
1 eggplant, julienned
1 tomato, cut in wedges
4 lady’s fingers
400g fish fillet
2 tbsp lime juice
Salt and sugar to taste

To grind:
30g dried prawns
20g shallots
30g onions
2cm belachan (shrimp paste)
20g dried chillies
20g red chillies
1 stalk lemongrass
1 stalk ginger flower

Heat wok over high flame, add oil and lower the flame.
Sitr in grounded ingredients and tamarind paste until aroma arises
Add water and bring to boil
Reduce heat and add eggplant, tomato and lady’s fingers. Cook for about 10 minutes before adding the fish.
When fish is cooked, add lime juice, salt and sugar.

Serves 4 - 6 (depending on edacity of guests)

Note: This spicy dish tasted much much better overnight (we got plenty leftovers) and reheated, the complex flavours developed more and had taken it to a whole new level. So next time, I would cook it and leave it soaking at least few hours first before devouring.

Update: Check out the list of herbs for this week over at Kalyn's.

A Tribute to Ah Ma

I had many wonderful childhood memories with my father’s mother, who I called Ah Ma (Grandma in Hokkien). For one period of time, when I was 5, Ah Ma stayed with us in our rented house back in Taiping. That time, was when I had many quiet evenings with Ah Ma after my nursery school everyday. I still remember at one point of time, she was really into knitting, and would be sitting by the sofa everyday, knitting away. She would knit scarves, jacket and gloves, which she said is for my aunty and uncle away in Australia (we would never dream of wearing those in Malaysia’s hot weather, which would spell madness). I would usually sit by, just staring at her fascinated for hours. In due time, my impatience grew, and Ah Ma know she got to give me something to do or else I would not stay put. She gave me a knitting kit myself plus a block of wool and taught me the most basic in knitting. I set down to do my own version of a scarf. Well, I could not remember finishing a decent one, but little did I know, 7 years down the road, I would consult her again to refresh my memory and knit a scarf for my school project.

Then other times, when it was not knitting season, I would sit around listening to her talk. She taught me a lot of things, from general knowledge to stories of yesteryears. I even remember that I learnt to read the time from Ah Ma. For one, Ah Ma is very much educated unlike most old people here. I did not mean that old people here are uneducated, it is just that most of us Chinese here, at that time, does not have the luxury to get proper education and mostly would be working since young to feed themselves, like my mother’s mother who came from China. This is mainly because Ah Ma was born in a rich family and had proper education up till she was 12, where the war started and her whole family was forced to hide in plantations. From there, she had continued to read and learn herself. For a grandmother from her era, she can practically read any English book, watch documentaries and converse in it fluently, much to amazements of my friends. This is also partly because she is still quite young as she got married to my Ah Kong (Grandpa in Hokkien), when she was just merely 17.

From the stories I heard from her and also my dad and aunts, I had gather a pretty thorough life story of Ah Ma. Ah Ma is a first born in her family, and had been pretty bossy since young, acting as the big sister. She took care of her lot of young siblings and had assumed whole authority when the women and children had sought refuge in the plantations during war time. After that, peace came and the whole family moved out to town again (Taiping) and so happened she stayed right next door to my Ah Kong. Little did she know she would be marrying her neighbour, one of the richest man in Taiping, at the tender age of 17

My Ah Kong is another remarkable man. When he was just in his early twenties, his brother passed away leaving behind four children. Being a compassionate man, Ah Kong took them as his own kids and raised them the best he could. At that time, he was just venturing into tin ore business and he had already decided in his heart to just concentrate on career and treat all his nieces and nephews as his family. By the time he was nearly 30, he had became one of the most successful man in business. At that time, tin ore business is a flourishing in the rich soils of Taiping. So after being really stable in his business, someone decided it is time he thinks for himself. Therefore, he was introduced to the girl next door, my Ah Ma, and then, to make an arrange marriage short, they got married.

Back to my Ah Ma, just imagine, at the age of 17, she was all of the sudden, married to a rich man and not only that, became a mother of four pretty grown up children. She could even be their sisters, but no, Ah Ma is more than that. For a young girl, she was pretty tough, trained from being a big sister since young, she assumes authority in the household quickly and took care of all the young ones. She then bears my Ah Kong, seven children all together, two daughters and five sons. It is a wonder how last time people can handle so many children altogether. I guess my Ah Ma had a big heart, as in overall, she would be giving love out to 11 kids now. According to Dad, Ah Ma treated them real strict, unlike how she had treated the 4 children earlier. Maybe it was her motherly instinct kicking in. Dad said, all of them would have to sit down to do their school work every night after dinner and no noise is allowed. By 9pm, all would have to be in bed and no objections allowed. Of course when they grew up, my Ah Ma tame down, don’t they always do?

As a grandmother, Ah Ma is a real softie. She had never once scolded any of her grandchildren and with her big heart still, she showered all of us with love. Once a while she does give some advice but she never nags for long. She had even taken care of my cousin brother his whole life, because his mother was away working in America.

Ah Ma cooks really good home cook food, we all says our home cook food is the best, and I guess it is true in our very own way. Food laboured with love is always the best. I am really lucky to be able to enjoy her cooking, as we stayed next to each other in Taiping, after the shift from the rented house. although she stopped cooking daily since my teens, for my uncles all objected it and wanted her to “heong fook” (which means enjoy prosperity) instead, she did whipped up some of my old favourites occasionally. One my favourite for all time is the Pork and Potato in Sweet Dark Soy Sauce. Oh, I must make it again, the way Ah Ma would, another worthy “exploring my origins” project. Ah Ma is not the type to cook fancy food. Her cooking style is in some ways like her roots, Cantonese, which is famous for simple yet delicious food. Cantonese people are good in bringing together simple few ingredients that complements real well and thus showcasing the authentic taste of each ingredient. It is never laden with spices, mostly just soy sauce or salt, as most flavours comes from the main ingredient itself. As far as I know, our famous Chinese soups mostly originated from the Cantonese who had brought together wholesome ingredients and brew to fuse all the wonderful flavours together which are light but a delight to the palate. It is from Ah Ma that I learnt to appreciate simple food, and I am really accustomed to food that is bland. When I go out to eat, I sometimes find food too salty or too sweet or too pungent. But of course, I still enjoy flavorful food laden with spices like the Indian and Malay cuisines, and some other more adventurous Chinese cuisines. But when I seek for home cook food, I always crave for the simple fare of Ah Ma’s cooking.

Ah Ma had came a long way since, and now, as the oldest in the family tree, she is really well respected. During Chinese New Year, all relatives will gather at her house without fail. Every year, on the first day of New Year, her house would be full with relatives from far and wide, her brothers and sisters, her cousins, her four step-children and her own children, which all bring the next generations and some even with the following generations. Ah Ma had just become a great grandmother last month as my cousin; the first boy in the family just had a new born baby girl.

During the weekend, I had went back to celebrate Ah Ma’s 80th birthday, which was attended by relatives from near and far, even my aunt, uncle and cousin from Australia came back. We occupied about 3 wedding sized table, accounting to more than 30 people. What a bash it was and my dad had ordered nine dishes all together (which we found out that it was just too much later) and it was certainly a wonderful tummy-rubbing feast.

I had mentioned earlier that I would be baking a cake for her, which is non-dairy as Ah Ma could not stand butter or milk or cheese. Thus I decided to go on a quest to make a cake she would not only be able to tolerate; it would be one she would enjoy. After some tweaking, sweating and praying, yes I did, I had finally came up with a cake for Ah Ma:

Chocolate Blueberry Cake with Chocolate Soy ‘Ganache’

A fellow cooking friend, C, from KC, recommended black forest Cake that she had just made. Looking at her delicious looking cake, I decided to give it a try. I saw the absence of butter but it called for whipping cream, which I’m sure, is a no no for Ah Ma. C had suggested non-dairy whipping cream but I’m not too keen as the look itself would still deter Ah Ma from trying it. Thus I tweaked the recipe a bit. Well actually a lot. I practically changed the whole thing and only used the basic chocolate cake. I had substituted black cherries with canned blueberries and forego the whipping cream altogether.

It was my first try at whipping the egg whites and I had troubled whipping it to stiff peaks. I was worried I might over whipped and thus ended up under whipped it. In the following recipe, I had added extra instructions in whipping the egg whites and how to incorporate the ingredients, a tip I learnt later from C. It was still bit runny but I gave up on it and use it anyway. This resulted in a disastrous not-fully-risen cake. To make matters worse, I had overlooked the recipe calling for 8-inch pan and had used a 9-inch one instead. Now you can imagine how short the cake it. Nonetheless, I persevered and sliced it anyway and sandwiched blueberries in between. I got a crack at the top of the cake, which C had also experienced and I had thought of a sly way to hide it. I sliced the cake into two, and put the cracked slice face down at the bottom instead and top with the other better looking slice. How would this affect the cake I’m not sure though, but if any of you do, please let me know. Anyhow, it solved the ugly part, but somehow it still lack the lustre of a cake fit to cater for a birthday bash.

After some head cracking, I had decided to do a ‘ganache’ for the cake. But of course, this would mean I need whipping cream again, thus I substituted and used soy milk instead and somehow came up with a spreadable cream which frosted the cake pretty well. Then back in Taiping, I rushed to the supermarket and got myself fruits to decorate the plain top. Should had gotten the strawberry instead as the canned pineapple was dull looking, much to my horror when I open it and I found that I overlooked that the dark purple grape would not stand out against the chocolate cake. Anyhow, my relatives were all very supportive, they said it looked wonderful and they ate it up with a resounding yum. I guess there were just being nice, as for me, I found the cake a bit tough, due to poorly risen, but other than that, it tasted great and no one realized the absence of dairy or the presence of soy. Even me. What a healthy alternative to a decadent looking and tasting cake.

Wet:
4 egg yolks
40g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp brandy

85ml corn oil warmed (I used EVOO)
25g cocoa powder

135ml warm water

Dry:
125g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

4 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
50g sugar

Filling:
1 can blueberries (bout 500g)

Ganache:
150g dark chocolate
4-6 tbps of Soy Milk

80g shaved dark chocolate(I did mine with a knife on a block of cooking chocolate)
Fresh fruits

For the base:
Mix the A well with a hand whisk
Next stir in cocoa powder into a warmed oil (I used the microwave) until dissolved and then pour into wet mixture.
Stir warm water into the mixture.
Next, sieve the dry ingredients and then stir into the wet mixture.
Whip egg whites in a mixing bowl until bubbles form. Add in the cream of tartar and whip until white. Then divide the sugar into 3 portions and add one at a time slowly into the egg white while whipping. Whip until stiff peak.
Pour some of the egg white into the mixture, incorporating it with a cutting movement of a spatula.
Pour in the rest of the egg white and mix till well blended.
Pour batter into a clean 8 inch baking pan.
Bake at 175C for 45 minutes or until the tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and let cool on the rack.
Cut the cake into half.

For the ganache:
Put the dark chocolate and the soy milk in a microwave proof bowl and microwave on medium for about 4-5 minutes.
Then stir to incorporate.
Add chocolate if it’s too thin or add soy milk if it’s too thick and microwave a minute more. Stir.

Next spread out the blueberries on top of the bottom half of the cake slice.
Top up with the other cake slice.
Slowly spread the ganache onto the cake with a spatula.
Freeze till harden and then return to chill overnight.
Decorate with fruit slices as deem appropriate.(Strawberries would look good, and don’t get dark coloured fruits as it would drown on the dark cake, oh I nag like an Ah Ma)

Make a good 8 inch cake
(or a short 9 inch- which actually served more people, *laughed evilly)

Weekend Herb Blogging - Pandan Leaves

I totally forgot the weekend herb blogging last week, sigh what a shame but it’s alright, I have every week to make it up to it. As I will be going back to my hometown tomorrow, for my grandma's birthday, this post is early, as on today.

Anyway, this time I would be introduce a wonderful herb available locally in Malaysia. It is always used in both savoury and mostly sweets cooking. They are green in colour and make your food go green but no they are not vegetables, they are actually, pandan leaves.

I have talked bout these pandan leaves before where they were added into our kaya (local coconut jam) as additional flavouring. For me, pandan has the special fragrant smell that is not too strong but yet distinct enough to show its presence while not overpowering the entire dish.

Pandan leaves are a favourite in cooking together with rice like nasi lemak (coconut rice), nasi biryani or chicken rice (we locals here usually have our special Hainanese style oily rice cooked with chicken stock and pandan leaves to go with braised or roasted chicken). It will emit an extra fragrant aroma to the otherwise plain rice. Some people might not even realize its presence but will note how much more fragrant the rice is.

As for the sweets, we locals like to use it in ‘tong sui’ (sweet soup) and also in ‘kuih-muih’ (local cakes). Chinese had always been real good in tong sui making, we have huge varieties with different types of healing properties. I might blog more about it in future, featuring various tong sui that we usually have in Chinese cuisine, ah it can also be part of my ‘exploring my origins’ project.

Well for now, the limelight is on this week’s herb, pandan leaves. I have choices of so many favourites above, but somehow the alluring thoughts of tong sui evaded me and I succumbed to my old time favourite Hak Lor Mai (Sweet Black Glutinous Rice). My grandma use to make this only on occasions, and I would always be thrilled to have a bowful, then another helping, then another and another and...ok, too much! I just love the nutty flavours it emits (though no nuts here), and the crunch of the glutinous rice.

Usually, this Hak Lor Mai would be served with a drizzle of coconut milk, freshly squeezed and this is important as it will affect the flavour of the Hak Lor Mai. Some like a lot of coconut milk, some don’t, and I am one who loves my Hak Lor Mai black, just a little coconut milk plus whole load of pandan smell. Ah, bliss.

Hak Lor Mai (Sweet Black Glutinous Rice)

As now I am no longer in my teens where I can have a bowful and another and another without effect, I had become much more health conscious. Though delicious, coconut milk is not good to be consumed in excess. Therefore, I had substituted it with evaporated milk, and I personally like it much more. Though, this is strictly individual preferences, and most would gaps at this un-authenticity. Anyhow, J seems to prefer the evaporated milk version too, oh that vain boy!

300g Black Glutinous Rice
2 litres of water
4 pcs Pandan leaves

250g Gula Melaka (Palm sugar)
150 ml coconut milk/evaporated milk

Dump everything, except the gula melaka and coconute milk, into the slow cooker and put on auto/low for about 8 hours or overnight.
Next, add in gula melaka and cook till dissolved, bout 15-20 minutes more.
Serve a bowful of Hak Lor Mai with a drizzle of coconut milk or like me, evaporated milk.
This yummy tong sui goes well served warm or chilled.

Alternative method from KC:
Soak rice overnight.
Drain and wash rice the next day.
Put rice into rice cooker to cook.
Add enough water to cook the rice.
When rice is cooked, removed.
Boil water with gula melaka, pandan leaves till sugar is melted.
Add cooked rice to it and simmer over low heat for 2 hours.
Add more water if it dries up.
Served as suggested.

Makes for a person who can finish a bowl, then reach for another, and another, and another and….till the sixth bowl, if still possible ;) To be safe, share these quickly!

Update: Get all those herbs over at Kalyn's Kitchen