Sweet and sour spare ribs

I have been remiss in posting but I certainly have not been remiss in cooking! I have to admit though our visits to the Chinese takeaway has been quite frequent since the little one started school. I'm definitely not cut out to be a yummy mummy of which there seem to be lots of, who waltz up to the school gates looking fresh and full of energy on the dot at 3pm. Anyway, back to food, inspired somewhat by the chinese takeaways, I decided to give the sweet and sour pork ribs a go. My concern was that the meat could be tough but try I must. The recipe I tried turned out to be really nice, the sauce was fragrant and I really like having the sesame seeds sprinkled on. The meat? Not tough but I think I will cook it just a tad longer next time...just need it slightly more tender!

 

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Kiam chye th'ng (salted vegetable soup)

This is our family's traditional CNY soup which we have throughout the first few days of CNY ! ! Adding whatever left over dishes along the way. When a friend gave me some roasted pork it was an opportunity to make this soup, with the roast pork added to salted mustard green, duck legs, Chinese mushrooms.

And since the same friend didn't manage to get home for CNY this year, I thought it appropriate to make this soup and invite her round for a CNY dinner! Gong xi fa cai take 2!!

 

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Pork floss (bak huu)

I was speaking to my sis this morning and she mentioned bak huu and I thought it's been a long time since I had any and since I had a pork fillet in the fridge.....why not? I did happen to have a recipe for it, just never tried it so no surfing the net required and it only required 3 ingredients...pork, light soya and rock sugar! So easy, boil everything in the slow cooker till the meat starts to colaspe, shred then fry in the pan till dry. hmmm, need to run to the supermarket to buy bread now as I have nothing to eat it with!

 

Bacon wrapped asparagus rolls

To be honest, I don't know what this called, I so happened to catch it on TV, some chef was making it and I thought it a good idea and tried to replicate it. Turns out, the rolls can be quickly made up and then stick the whole lot in the oven and let it do the cooking, my favourite kind of cooking after a busy day at work. Served with potato and carrot mash..yumm! Next time though I might make a little more effort and make gravy.

 

Bee hoon soup

Bee Hoon soup is one of my go to comfort food when I'm feeling a little under the weather. My version is super simple with just 3 main ingredients, bee hoon, choi sum and pork mince... ala the ones you get at the hawker stall referred to in my family as "cook bowl by bowl" or rather we say it in Hokkien "jit uah jit uah chu" ..hahaha, still it's a little taste of home to perk me up when I'm feeling down.

 

Meatloaf with crunchy cheesy topping

Meatloaf is one of those easy dinner recipes where you just need to scrunch everything into the loaf tin and leave it to bake. This one has a special topping made from crispy pancetta mixed with breadcrumbs and grated cheese. The topping needless to say was yummy but the loaf itself was quite plain. I have another meatloaf recipe that tasted better so next time I'll use the topping from this one on it.

 

Inchi Cabin

It's been years since I had inchi cabin, the crunchy fragrant nonya style fried chicken. So for a simple lunch with a friend, I decided to fry up some chicken wings, and the recipe for inchi cabin caught my attention. It uses a simple marinade of curry powder and coconut milk, the secret is in the frying, it's fried twice over very high heat to achieve the crunch!

 

Cheat beef rendang

A fb friend recommended M&S Malaysian rendang paste, I didn't even realised that they stock such a thing and of course I have to test it out. It turned out to be not bad with a few adjustments that is, it definitely needed a bit more punch so extra chilli powder was added. And next time , I think I will add some kerisik for texture as the paste is ground very fine, other than that it is a good paste. Served with tomato rice and cucumber without the fuss of peeling shallots, chillies, garlic and pounding spices, nothing to complain about!

 

Sweet and sour pork ribs

Finally, I managed to find the time to make this dish. Chopping the ribs into bite size and frying them in batter does take some time but once that is done, the sauce just takes moments. While cooking, I had my kitchen door open to dispel the greasy smell you get when deep frying as a result the smell of the finished dish floated out of my kitchen to a group of my neighbours who happen to standing outside chatting and I heard comments about what a lovely smell, just reminds me of my neighbours when I was a child commenting on lovely smells from my grandmother's cooking.

 

Pork ribs in Vietnamese pho

Hmmm, this is sort of a hybrid dish of the Bak Kut Teh and the Vietnamese Beef Pho. I had some leftover pork ribs but no Bak Kut Teh seasoning, I had some Vietnamese pho paste but no beef, so it was a no brainier, mix the two together and fingers crossed that it will taste right. Next, ransacked the larder, found some mushrooms, ransacked the fridge and found some lamb lettuce, in they go into the pot. Turns put, it's not too bad really, I had it with koay teow for lunch and then rice for dinner, works best with rice and some chilli padi, of course!

 

Corn cakes.

I've never had corn cakes before and these are my first so I really can't say if they taste right. What I can say though is that this is a great way to get my toddler to eat vegetables that have not been mashed into an unrecognisable form. In this version, I had chicken, red pepper and corn and as I write this I also realised that I had forgotten to add in basil when I cooked it! Nevertheless, the corn cakes still tasted fab!

 

Sarah's 2nd Birthday lunch

After as small family lunch on Sarah's actual birthday, its time to party with friends and neighbours on the following Saturday, so its finger food galore!

In the line-up we have :

Marinated figs with mozzarella and prosciutto
This little kebab is described as the modern version of pineapple on a stick. Laced with basil infused olive oil for a dressing, it really does get the taste buds going!

Baked goats cheese with honey
Little medallions of goats cheese lightly baked and drizzled with honey, served on a bed of spinach leaves. I'm generally not a fan of large chunks of cheese but the combination of flavours here (this includes getting a mouthful of spinach) is just right!

Smoked Salmon with fennel slaw on toasted spelt bread

To tingle the taste bud further, there is smoked salmon given a sophisticated twist with fennel slaw, sprinkled with fried capers (who would have thought to fry capers! When fried, they become little salty crispy nuggets, yumm indeed!). All this served on toasted spelt bread. Oh yes, don't forget, topped with avocado too!

Chicken and mushroom pastry puffs

And there is something for the less adventurous, triangles of puff pastry filled with chicken and mushroom pie filling. Get them while they are hot!

Sausage, cheese, tomato ciabatta squares
This is one for the kids and the kids in adults, I mean who doesn't like sausages, right? Since this is a finger food party, the sausages are sliced and placed on top of ciabatta squares, spread with tomato sauce (proper sauce mind you, not maggi tomato ketchup) and topped with mozzarella. Pinned in place with a cocktail stick and then toasted till the cheese is melted and golden!

 Bread Salad and Apple Coleslaw
To accompany the food, there is of course the salad. I made two types of salads as I've noticed that there are two kinds of vege eaters, one that goes for the green leafy variety and the other that eats vegetables but not the floppy green kind! So the two selected to cater to everyone's perference are a bread salad with an Italian dressing (the green leafy one) and a simple apple coleslaw ( for those adverse to all things green and leafy)

Vanilla ice-cream with balsamic blueberries
To end the meal, a nice creamy vanilla ice-cream topped with balsamic blueberries and a piece of wafer. The balsamic blueberries were made by simply heating blueberries with sugar and balsamic vinegar till just the berries are just about bursting. And no, I did not make the ice-cream but I did grow the mint!

Pineapple rolls
And lastly, something to keep the hand occupied while we talk away, pineapple rolls. This is a typical cookie during festivities at home. Made with melt in the mouth pastry and homemade pineapple jam.

And that is the end of one of the biggest solo cooking feat I have attempted this year, now to put my feet up and let someone else feed me for a change! :)

Belacan fried chicken

It's our last pilates class and we planned to have a potluck lunch after the class, so once again my head is spinning trying to think of something to cook. Since this group is not keen on spicy food as well as there will be kids, it had to be something without chilli. The day before the potluck, I was at the supermarket, wandering the aisles for inspiration. I ended up with chicken wings and some odds and ends and no ideas! 

There's a saying that when you are stuck for answers to sleep on it. Sleep on it I did, and I got up half an hour before the alarm clock wnet off with belacan chicken in my head! Problem solved, I had chicken wings and the other ingredients were staples in my storecupboard...err, I did have to do a run to the shops for oil though..but to cut a long story short, I happily contributed my belacan fried chicken wings to the potluck and even the 5 year old girl loved it, and I was then christened the 'fried chicken wing auntie'!



Penang Loh Bak

Loh Bak is pork rolls wrapped in bean curd skin (tao puih). Although found in most food courts, when I think of Loh Bak, what comes to mind is always the long stretch of temporary stalls set up next to the chinese opera theater (which by the way is also temporary). These stalls normally carry the same combination of food, the rice porridge stall, the 'sik koh thng' stall, the mua chi stall and of course the stall that sells Loh Bak (normally served tapas style with fried bean curd, prawn fritters, century egg and a few other things). I have wanted to make these for a long time, a lonely packet of bean curd skin sat in my larder will bear testament to how long! Finally the incentive came via an invitation to a potluck at a fellow Penangite's house. I'm happy to report that everyone thought they tasted yummy and none but 2 morsels out of the 10 rolls I made was leftover.

Italian meatballs

After a bout of un-mentionable illness in the house, one which required a strict diet of cream crackers and water (yes, you know what I'm referring to), I found myself with a load of cream crackers to spare. I then came across Jamie Oliver's Meatball recipe which used crushed cream crackers instead of breadcrumbs. The meatballs turned out great and guess what, no cream crackers leftover, hooray!!

Lamb Shank

3 days in the making! This slow roast lamb shank is well worth the 3 days it requires to prepare, marinade and roast. The long marinating time allows the meat to absorb the lovely flavours from the herbs and the slow roasting produces tender, falling off the bone meat. However, next time I'll order from a restaurant as waiting 3 days is a bit too much!

Murtabak

This is another dish that I've been craving for, for a while now. It will sound strange but it is actually the pickled red onion that I crave for rather than the roti itself. When bought from the stalls, you usually get a tiny amount of the pickled onions. So since it has been a successful attempt, the murtabak man can keep his pickled onions as now I know how to make them myself.

Pork ribs soup

This is an adaptation of the nourishing chicken soup that my friend taught me to make during my confinement so it does not have a proper name and therefore I shall call it pork ribs soup akin to calling a spade a spade. I used pork ribs in place of chicken and the result is tender meat falling off the bone. Dunked in soya sauce with cili padi (because it is not for confinement) and eaten with plain boiled rice, leaves a warm feeling in the tummy, perfect for a cold winter's day!

Nourishing Chicken Soup (Confinement)

During my confinement, my friend, Christine made this delicious and nourishing soup for me. With a slow cooker, I was able to replicate the soup which is made with red dates, black dates, longan, goji berry (kei chi) and ginger. Place everything into the slow cooker and let it simmer happily away for 4 hours or till the chicken meat is tender.



The key ingredients: red dates, black dates, longan, goji berry and ginger.

Ginger Beef and Asparagus stir fry

If you like ginger then this is the dish for you. Slivers of ginger are fried till golden and fragrant then seasoned beef and asparagus is added. Stir-fry for a few minutes till the asparagus cooks to the desired 'crunch', dish up and serve with steamed rice...delicious! I like to eat this dish with chopsticks and rice served in a bowl, a strange quirk but somehow it tastes better this way!