Kuih Talam Gula Melaka

It's been one of my aspirations to make kuih talam, finally I decided to take the plunge and go for it. Unfortunately, it happened to be on a day when I've cleared my freezer and didn't have any pandan leaves! So on to plan B, which is to use pandan extract and cheat with some green food colouring. Alas, it was looking like it was not to be as the supermarket was out of green food colouring, all the colours of the rainbow except for green...sigh! But I really wanted to make this kuih, so on to plan C, palm sugar kuih talam....now palm sugar is something I had in plenty, yay! After much stirring over the hot pot, recipe said to stir till thicken but didn't specify that it took a long time! And then steaming, I think I had to steam 3 times the specified time, my kuih talam was done! Taste test = yummy! But something still wasn't satisfied, I think In my mind I was still thinking of the green pandan kuih talam....we shall prevail and try again, soon I think!

 

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!

 

Pistachio, cranberry and white chocolate cookies

Another moreish cookie to add to my repertoire! American style cookies like this one always taste fabulous, unfortunately they are also not very healthy hence only to be eaten occasionally! So this batch is to go to the office to be shared with others else it will all end up in my tummy!

 

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!

 

Individual chicken pie

Individual chicken pie...this is my cheat recipe for days when I'm too tired to cook from scratch. Simply get hold of ready made puff pastry, a tin of cream of mushroom, frozen peas, carrots and chicken breast. With a quick flash in the pan to stir fry the chicken, leave to cool. While waiting, roll out the puff pastry and then add a little of each ingredient followed by 15 minutes in the oven...serve with a salad and you will end up with a simple meal cooked in no time and very little washing up..yay!

The cut open pie...

 

Assam Pedas Fish

I have made Assam Pedas fish a few times now, though the taste is passable, the fish is not. What I mean is I'm not used to the type of fish found in this region and is fast discovering the most of them don't cook well in curries, most disintegrate into the curry so I end up with fish flavoured curry rather than curry with pieces of fish in it! However, my search for the perfect fish to curry here seems to be over as the plaice that I used seemed to hold together pretty well and tastes quite similar to the ray or pari which goes really well with the assam sauce. This time round, I also have my daun kesom or Vietnamese coriander which makes it a truly fragrant dish...Yumms!