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!

 

Posted with Blogsy

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!

 

Crispy kale chips

There has been an abundance of kale in the garden and to keep up with the rate the vegetables were growing, I have started to distribute them to friends and neighbours. One of my friends came back with a superb way of using up the kale which is to simply oven bake them with a light seasoning of salt and sugar. Within 10 minutes, I had a plate of crispy crunchy kale to munch on while watching tv, just a touch healthier than potato chips!

 

Pandan angku (tortoise cake)

Time for another potluck, this time it's to say farewell to a fellow Malaysian who will be leaving for Brunei. I remember she mentioned that she liked eating angku and since I bought mini angku moulds the last trip I was home, I decided it was time I learnt to make this kuih. Angku is normally bright orange in colour though 'ang' really means red and 'ku' means tortoise as this kuih is shaped liked a tortoise. Angku also has its significance as it is usually given by the parents of newborn babies when they reached the month milestone as well as eaten during birthdays to signify good fortune and longevity. Mine however, was green from pandan as I love the aroma of pandan as well as it is a natural colouring rather than an artificial colouring. Anyway, good luck to you Gaye and your family and may you have good fortune in your new home!

The ladies at Gaye's farewell

 

 

Potato salad

This is no simple potato salad, it's got more ingredients than a usual potato salad. The little extras means that the amount of mayonnaise used is less and the overall taste is much lighter and yet has more depth! What's great is that this is a side that can be prepared ahead of time, leaving more time to either cook the main dishes or relaxing before dinner is served, in this case the potato salad is served with homemade turkey burgers in homemade bread, sorry to say the leafy salad and tomatoes were not home grown!

 

Kuih Lapis

Kuih lapis or as it is known in Chinese as nine layer kuih is basically what it is called that is a kuih which is made up of nine layers. It is normally made with alternate layers of pink and white batter with the last layer a bright red but as I was looking for a recipe to try, I came across one that was made using the bunga telang or blue pea flower, this means that the kuih can be made without using artificial colouring and looks lovely and unique too. And since I was due to go back to Malaysia for my annual holiday, it was timely for me to get some dried ones to bring back. So after a trial run in Penang, I made another tray of the lovely fragrant kuih when I came back....one last thing, this kuih must be eaten by peeling each layer off, don't ask why it's tradition!

 

 

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!

 

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!

 

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.

KangKung Belacan

Ooooohh! simply delicious is what this dish is! Spicy, slightly salty and smells great!! At least that is how an asian palate would interprete this dish. For the un-initiated, belacan might smell a tad offensive! Anyway, when I got my hands on a bunch of kangkung from the chinese supermarket, who cares what the neighbouts will think, out comes the belacan and in two ticks, heaven on a plate! yumms!

Potato Ikan Bilis Sambal

Friend Iain grew some vegetables in his garden this year and he gave some potatoes to me... so what to do with them? I remembered that I had some ikan bilis (dried anchovies) bought from Pangkor when I last went home that needed eating so decided to make this sambal side dish with the two ingredients. This is another of my favourite so just the sambal alone with steamed rice was enough to make me a satisfying meal!

Cucumber Acar

This is not quite an acar but more like a very basic salsa. Normally served as a side dish with nasi kandar as it helps to refresh and cool the palate. So goes down really well with hot and spicy food. I made mine to go with my beef rendang.

Great eaten with Beef Rendang and Nasi Tomato