Ban Jiang Kuih

Ban Jiang Kuih is yet another version of pancake with chopped peanuts and corn kernel filling, asian-sytle of course! The ones I've had are usually made by chinese vendors. It's facinating to watch the seller make them as he will have a number of small kuih moulds arranged in a square with their metal covers over individual fires. It is quite a feat managing the many pancakes cooking at the same time. There are some stalls who have one giant mould which produces a giant pancake which is then cut into smaller pieces. I personally prefer the individual sized ones!

Roasted peanut waiting to be shelled for the filling and the ban jian kuih cooking

Oat Cakes

If you are looking for something special for breakfast that is also good for you, these oat cakes are what you need. Similar to pancakes with oats added into the batter makes it a healthy choice, as for the topping, it's up to you. Keep it healthy with just a light drizzle of honey and lemon juice or indulge with butter and fresh fruit compote or peanut butter...really, anything goes!

Ginger & Brown Sugar Drink

Not unlike the Ginger and Coke served in the Hong Kong restaurant in Tai Pan, I think the restaurant tutup kedai already! There is nothing like ginger to help blood circulation and expel the 'wind' from the stomach! Just take a thumbsize knob of ginger (the older, the better) and and slice thinly, add to water in a small pot and add brown sugar to taste. I added a few shavings of palm sugar to make it a little special. Bring to a boil and keep boiling for a minute. Switch off the fire and leave to steep for 5 minutes.

Warning : If you have a lot of wind, drink alone!!

Bee Hoon Soup

Bee hoon th'ng or rice noodle soup makes a quick and light meal. This is a simple version with a light chicken stock for the soup base. Add some sliced fish cake and 'chai sim' (flowering chinese cabbage), garnish with finely sliced spring onions and fried chopped garlic and the dish is done! Of course, serve with sliced cili padi with light soya sauce!

Chicken Briyani

This is a malay style all in one rice dish, usually accompanied with lightly pickled vegetables. The last time I made this was with lamb, this time I used chicked which turned out just as good. The beauty of this dish is that the meat is buried in the almost cooked rice and baked in the oven to finish. Yumms but be careful not to eat too often else the spare tyres will grow!!

Kenny Roger's muffin

When my sister mentioned that she found good Kenny Roger's muffin recipes on the net to me, it suddenly dawned on me that there are no Kenny Roger's restaurants where I am and so naturally I wanted to eat Kenny Rogers muffins! The recipe turned out well and it also gave me an excuse to use my new silicon cupcake moulds. Thanks Sis!

The fluffy inside with corn kernals & just baked muffins still in the silicon mould

Focaccia

This is the weekend of baking! Since we have just finished painting our kitchen, it is my intention to keep it pristine for a while longer so cooking on the stove is a no, no hence the oven is my new best friend! So for lunch, this yummy italian bread, flavoured with fresh rosemary, olives and sea salt was my choice.

Simply flavoured with 3 ingredients & the uncut bread cooling.

Harissa Chicken with Couscous

Harissa paste is a North African red sauce or paste used to flavour meat for grilling or used simply as a dip. It's ingredients are not unlike the usual Malaysian sambal, just a little more sophisticated with added spices like coriander and fennel. I usually buy it ready made from the supermarket and didn't think it was anything special until I tried making my own. My version of course had a lot more oomphh due to the extra chilli added! Below, the homemade paste used to grill chicken breasts served with simple couscous.

Bak Kut Teh

A friend said to me it's the smell that counts and I agree 100% so you really need a smell-o-blog for this one. I used a ready-made soup mix to make this dish as buying the required herbs is too much of a challenge for me! The soup mix (imported from Malaysia, where else?) came in a large tea-bag like bag which only needed to be boiled in water, add the desired ingredients, in my case, pork ribs and tau pok (deep fried tofu). After 1 1/2 hours of simmering, serve with steamed rice with cut bird's eyes chillies (cili padi laa) in light soya sauce....Blisssssssssss.........

p/s if in Penang, check out the stall in Padang Brown!