Shrimp & Dried Anchovies Fritters a la Marina (Cucur Udang a la Marina ;P)

excellent snack.. 

I remember my first attempt to make fritters... i was doing my English preparation course at a University in California. I met my first boyfriend there.. and wanted to impress him with my ermm cooking skills.. I lived in the dorms. So all 50 something girls shared both the kitchen and the TV.. :D My roommate then was a Malaysian girl too.. she always made these fritters and we'd have them while watching tv at the lounge with the other residents. I've seen and sometimes helped her out making 'em fritters so I thought.. I could make it too. hahaha boy I was wrong. they turned out uncooked, and with every bite you can see the flour.. OMG it was a disaster! hahaha it was embarrassing then. but now it's just hilarious.. It's been 17 years? boy time flies.. I'm older now... much older... am not in any relationships right now.. but I sure can cook :D But despite my failed attempt at cooking these fritters back then.. It's not that hard to make. My mistake then was that I didn't stir the batter well enough, and the pan was too hot. otherwise it would have turned out great ;p

I made shrimp fritters as I had shrimp. You may substitute it with dried anchovies if you had too. For this recipe I used both shrimp and dried anchovies. You can even make it a vegetarian dish and simply omit all seafood in it. I've never tried it with calamari, crabmeat or any other meat for that matter. Perhaps because mum has always used either shrimp, dried shrimps or dried anchovies for this recipe that I never even thought of using any other protein for this dish.

Usually I make these fritters with just shrimp or dried anchovies and onions/spring onions/chinese celery .. I sometimes add corn kernels and potatoes.. but I usually boiled the potatoes first because the batter cooks so quickly that sometimes the potatoes turn out raw. Then recently I watched Masterchef Malaysia's masterclass, where Chef Jo showed his take on this recipe. He cut it into strips.. so that it cooks much faster.. so I tried that.. and I found that I don't have to cook the potatoes before adding it into the batter.. :) cool!

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 tbsp rice flour (optional - this makes it slightly crispy on the edges)
shrimp (cleaned, deveined)
dried anchovies (fried)
1 potato (cut into strips)
carrot (cut into strips) - same amount with potato
chinese celery - sliced (optional)
onions sliced
fresh chili  (seeded and cut into strips)
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup water


3 cups oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Add all ingredients together. Pour the water little by little until you get the consistency of a pancake batter. 
2. Heat oil in a wok.
3. Drop spoonful of batter into hot oil and fry until golden. Drain with paper towels. 
4. Serve with chili sauce :) yumssss

yummy... 

Easy Fried Vermicelli (BeeHoon Goreng)

Right now I'm so into this game I found on facebook that I don't want to spend too much time preparing for my food LOL. This recipe is perfect for such times.. you know when you're occupied with other .. things :), when you need some easy to make recipes. It's great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper... This recipe took me probably about 1/2 hour, and most of the time spent was on preparing the ingredients.

I'm using Rice Vermicelli for this recipe. If you don't have BeeHoon around, you can substitute the noodle with those cellophane noodles or Tunghoon.. I always have BeeHoon around .. it's dry, can be kept for a long time, and it's easy to cook.You may substitute it with yellow noodle.. but only if you absolutely have to.. :p

The recipe below is for 2-3 persons. But I can finish it all on my own thank you very much.. I guess that's why I look the way I am now.... :p

Ingredients:

3 cups of rice vermicelli (blanched in hot water for 1 minute and no more)
onion - sliced
2-3 cloves garlic - minced
3 tbsp chili paste (blend your favorite chili into a paste - I simply used chili boh)
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
3 tbsp ketchup
2-3 tbsp water
Some celery leaves & spring onions - chopped
salt
pepper
3 tbsp oil for cooking

for garnishing - a one egg omelet - sliced thinly

Method:

1. Heat the wok. It's easier to use the wok to make this dish. Add in oil. 
2. Once the oil is heated through, add sliced onions. On medium heat, cook onions until they are translucent. Add garlic. Keep stirring and make sure that the garlic doesn't burn. 
3. Add chili paste. Let simmer for 1 minute .. add all the other sauces - sweet soy sauce, ketchup and also water. 
4. Let the sauce simmer for 1 minute, add the blanched beehoon. Make sure the beehoon is well coated with the sauce. Add salt, and pepper to taste. 
5. Turn heat low, and keep stirring. Add the celery leaves and spring onions. Stir well. We'd like to have that fresh taste the two ingredients give to this dish. When the sauce is fully seeped into the beehoon, turn off heat. 
6. Serve with egg :)

Cooked Beehoon goreng with egg :)

Enjoy cooking!

Ketam Masak Lemak a la Marina (Crab curry)

mmm.... yummy 

Actually I'm not sure what this dish is called in English. I'm calling it curry because I saw someone called it curry on tv. Anyway... it's a Malay dish but I don't have all the ingredients required (of course) so I had to do it with whatever is available.

The recipe actually calls for coconut milk. It'll be more flavorful with coconut milk. But I don't keep any at home. I replaced it with low fat milk. Serves the purpose not as nice .. The real recipe also has a bunch of other stuff .. which I don't even know.. So I just go with what I know and I thought would be good in it.. :)

I'm not sure where this dish originated.. but it's really famous in Negeri Sembilan.. and some parts of Melaka. They make it really hot though.. My mum and grandmother don't make it too hot.. In fact I only remember eating "masak lemak" that's mild.. really mild.. like if you can rate the heat from 1 to 10, it'd be a 0. I guess it goes back to what Chasing the Yum's Chef said about taste and flavor.. It's about balancing the flavors and highlighting what you like. :)

Since the crabs I had at home are not really fresh.. (I'm so gonna be scratching tonight) .. so I decided to add fragrance of kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and some heat from bird chilis (lots ... about 6) and ginger. :D These ingredients are easily available in Malaysia.. I'm not sure about other places but when I lived in Pittsburgh way back when ;) I could find these ingredients at Oriental stores.. easy :D

I buy lots of kaffir lime leaves, I don't use all... I use maybe 1 or 2 and keep the rest in the freezer .. the kaffir lime leaves stay fresh in the freezer. so would "daun pandan" or screwpine leaves.. I'm not sure about other herbs though.. hmm.. perhaps I should try other types of leaves and see how they fare in the freezer :D

Anyway..... here's the recipe.. give it a try :)

Ingredients

1 Crab -  cleaned and quartered. (I also used the back of the knife to hit the claws of the crab.. it makes it easier to eat the crab and the curry to seep in :) yums)

Simply delicious

onions sliced
1-2 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 inch ginger - sliced
5-6 bird chili - minced
2 kaffir lime leaves - sliced thinly
lemongrass - sliced
2-3 tbs turmeric powder  - coat the crab with the turmeric powder
1 cup of low fat milk
1 cup of water
Oil for cooking
salt for seasoning






Method

1. Heat the pan.
2. Add oil into the heated pan. I used a small milk pan, and I needed about 2-3 tbsp of oil.
3. Saute the onions, then add garlic, ginger and chili in the pan. Saute for about 1 minute at medium heat. Stir occasionally.
4. Add kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. Saute for 1 minute. Stir. 
5. Add the crab coated with turmeric powder. Stir for about 1-2 minutes. 
6. Add low fat milk and water. Simmer for a few minutes until the crab is cooked. Season with salt. 
7. Serve warm with rice. 

Makaroni Bakar (Baked Macaroni)

just the way I love it :)

Baked Macaroni is actually an altered Mac&Cheese. But unlike the classic Mac & Cheese it incorporates Malaysian flavor.. using curry paste for seasoning.

This Baked Macaroni dish is actually my sister, Ica's favorite dish. It's so simple to make and it took me less than an hour to whip up the dish. I think I spent more time waiting for it to bake .. :) All it needed was some kind of pasta... since it's called baked macaroni, the pasta would of course have to be macaroni hihi :) but it's really up to you.. you may also use other types of pasta. it's ok. no worries. I used minced meat.. because of the seasoning that I use for this recipe, I prefer minced meat. chicken may be a good alternative ... :)  I also used mixed vege because that's the only vege I had available in my very single home kitchen :p Mum always add celery. I love it for the extra crunch and a little bit of kick :)

I used shredded cheddar cheese for this recipe. But feel free to use your own cheese mix. Parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella would be nice also .. oooo yumms :) You'd need an oven for this dish.. and a little bit of time on the stove. :) sounds tedious? mm... it'll be worth it.. :D

Ingredients: 

1 cup macaroni 

1/2 cup (or more ;)) minced meat - properly defrosted 

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables 

onions - diced

garlic - minced

2-3 tbsp curry powder mixed with 1/2 cup water - use more curry powder if you'd like it hotter

oil for cooking

salt to taste

pepper for seasoning

2 eggs - beaten

2/3 cups of milk - i used low fat milk

1 cup of cheddar cheese shredded

Method: 

1. Cook the macaroni as per on the package instructions. Toss and set aside.
2. Heat pan. Use a pan large enough to mix in the cooked macaroni. Add cooking oil. Saute the onions, and after a minute, add the minced garlic. use medium heat
3. When the onions have wilted, stir the curry powder mixture and let simmer for about 2-3 minutes.. stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to the pan.
4. Add the minced meat. Mix it well with the curry paste and stir occasionally until the meat is browned. 
5. Add the mixed vege. Stir occasionally until cooked. Season it with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat
6. Stir in the cooked macaroni. Mix thoroughly until the macaroni is covered with the minced meat curry. Add 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. 
7. Heat oven to 180degC. 
8. For this amount of macaroni, I used a 6" baking dish. 
9. Pour the curried macaroni into the baking dish. Press the mixture evenly with a spoon or a spatula. 
10. Whisk the egg together with the milk in a large cup. Pour the milk+egg mixture over the macaroni. 
11. Make sure the egg mixture fills up to top of the baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the top of macaroni and cheese mixture.
12. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven..
13. Serve warm.. I personally love it with chili sauce.. so Malaysian.. haha :) 

Go on.. give it a try it :) 

simple & delicious :D

Kerabu Bihun (Thai Vermicelli Salad)

I'm supposed to be on diet. I've gained too much weight the past few months. Probably of all the cake recipes I've been testing and trying.. So I thought perhaps for dinner I'd just have salad. Not just any salad, Thai inspired Salad. I saw the recipe online once... but it's kinda too complicated.. Too many ingredients that I wasn't even sure what they were.. then I saw Nigella made it on tv. It's really simple. Like that Chef who's been Chasing the Yum said, it's all about balance..

Ingredients:

Salad:
Vermicelli - blanched
bean sprouts - blanched
tofu - diced and deep fried
carrot - julienned
egg - boiled (optional - can also use chicken or seafood or meat... your choice)
coriander

Vinaigrette:
Extra virgin Olive Oil (or other neutral flavored oil - soybean oil/canola oil)
lime juice (3 parts oil to 1 part lime juice)
bird chili - sliced
honey/sugar to taste
fish sauce/salt to taste
shallots/ green onions/onions (i used onions.. it's the only thing I had at home)  (sliced)
garlic (minced)
ginger (julienned)

Method:

1. Mix the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Set aside. 
2. Mix the Salad ingredient and toss in the vinaigrette. Mix well. :)
3. Indulge :D

sila makan :D

Tomato-Cilantro Bruschetta

The SEA Games football match between Malaysia and Cambodia just ended and I was starving.. But I didn't want to cook and I wanted something light. Since my vege intake today has only been onions.. I thought of going vegetarian tonight. :)

Tomato-Cilantro Bruschetta

For times like these... I thanked God for Bruschetta. In Italian, bruschetta is pronounced [brusˈkeːtta]. It's an antipasto recipe originated from Italy. Usually consists of roasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. There are many variation to this bruschetta which includes toppings of tomatoes, avocado, cheese, meat.... It makes a great snack or appetizer.. Also great if you want to have something light for dinner. :)

For this recipe, I used the wholemeal loaf I bought from Carrefour. I simply love that bread. It's soft, delicious and it's cheap. It's very versatile too. I use it all the time for mini pizzas, bruschetta, garlic bread.. endless possibilities. :)

This recipe is enough for one.. or two if you're generous. If you're like me.. it'll only be enough for one ;p Enjoy the recipe :D

Ingredients:

3 slices of bread (sprinkled with olive oil)
1 small tomato chopped
some cilantro coarsely chopped
3 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 part lemon juice

black pepper and salt for seasoning

From Top Left: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon, Cilantro/Coriander, Tomato, Lightly Oiled Bread.

Method:

Toast the bread in 180degC oven for about 10 minutes

Toasted bread

Mix Tomato, Cilantro or Coriander, Lemon and Extra Virgin Olive Oil and season it with black pepper and salt. 

Tomato mixture

Top the tomato mixture on the toasted bread evenly.

Bruschetta ready to be eaten :) 

Sardine Rolls for brunch :)

my brunch with a grande cup of
hazelnut white coffee:)

It's Sunday, and you have half a loaf of Gardenia bread that's supposed to have expired about a week ago in the fridge, so what's a girl to make? Sardine Rolls of course. I always have a small can of sardine in the pantry. For rainy days.. actually more like days like this when I don't feel like creating a buffet of dishes.. or simply felt like having easy snack like foods like this.

Since I already had an egg-milk mixture leftovers from the mini quiches I made for YM aunty yesterday... All I needed was to make the sardine rolls filling. It doesn't really matter how you want to shape the rolls.. I made it into a roll because I prefer it rolled. Some just make it in the triangle shapes. If it's in the triangular shape, then you need not roll the bread first with rolling pin. Simply cut it into triangles and sandwich the sardine mixture. That'll do. But that's no fun ;p

Ingredients:

Sardine mixture

1 can of Sardine (small can will make about 6-7 rolls)

onion (small - sliced thinly)

bird chili (I used 2 small one and sliced thinly for heat)

1-2 tbs lemon/lime juice (this to get rid of that sardine smell)

2 eggs (beaten) + a bit of salt

6-7 slices of white bread (rolled with rolling pin - or just use the back of the pan, lined and smack the bread)

oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients for sardine mixture together. I personally drained the tomato sauce in the sardine because I don't it to be too liquidy, thus absorbed by the bread and it becomes soggy. Plus it smells fishy.. :( Mash it up so the sardine is broken into smaller pieces.
2. Roll the bread with a rolling pin. Or if you don't have any rolling pins, use the back of your frying pan. Smack your bread with the back of your frying pan. Line it first though :p. This will make the bread easier to roll :)
3. Heat oil. I heated the pan first and then added the oil so the oil heats up quickly.
4. Take about a spoonful and a half of the sardine mixture and put it on the rolled bread. Just spread it on 1/3 of the bread. Roll it over.
5. Dip the rolled bread into the eggs and use the eggs to seal the bread.
6. Fry the roll in the heated oil until golden brown.

hehe my rolls.. a lil more brown than golden but who cares? :p 

Cheesy Shrimp Tortillas

I was out shopping at Alamanda for groceries one day and I bought some wheat tortillas at Carrefour.. I came home and I didn't know what to do with the tortillas. So I was browsing for recipes on the internet and I found a Cheesy Shrimp Tortillas recipe. I tried looking for it again and I couldn't find it anymore. Perhaps the Rachel Ray Cheesy Shrimp Tortillas made more hits .. so it's pushed that recipe down.. But no fear.. I have the recipe in my head.. I've made it twice last Ramadhan. It shouldn't be that difficult kan? :p

The recipe called for shrimps but I think chicken can also be used. I've also changed the flour tortillas to wheat tortillas .. I thought it would be healthier ;p. but it kinda darken a bit when baked .. how long it needs to bake actually depends on the oven.. and your preference. I bake it until the cheese melts. It'll probably take about 10-15 minutes depends on your oven :) sometimes i bake it until the tortillas darken.. that way it'll crunch a bit.. awesome!

I've changed the ingredients so much so that it fits to what's available in Malaysia. So cili boh instead of chipotle.. hihi... have fun in the kitchen.. if u don't have the ingredient.. no sweat.. use something else that fits.. it'll be different. it'll be yours :)

Ingredients:

Tortillas
1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
shrimps (i use about 6 shrimps per tortilla...) -cleaned. Shells removed and deveined
onions (sliced)
red pepper/capsicum (julienned)
oil
cili paste/puree (depends how hot u want it to be)
shredded cheese (i used mixture of mozza and cheddar.. loves the pungent cheddar and gooey mozza)
coriander
salt to taste

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180degC
2. Heat the oil. 
3. Saute the garlic. Don't let it burn.
4. Add the chili. Stir until it cooks. 
5. Throw in the cleaned shrimp. When the shrimp cooks, it'll take about 3-5 minutes on medium heat, stir in the coriander leaves. 
6. Turn off the heat and set aside.
7. In a clean pan, heat oil. 
8. Cook the onions until they wilt. Set aside.
9. Using the same pan and leftover oil from the onions, cook the red pepper until they soften. Set aside.
10. Put one tortilla on a big plate. 
11. Take the onion, scatter them on one half of the tortilla. Put lots of onions. Yummy :)
12. Then scatter the cooked red pepper on top of the onions evenly.
13. Then arrange the shrimps so that they are distributed evenly on half of the tortilla. We are going to fold it.
14. Shred the cheese on that half of the tortilla. 
15. Fold the tortilla. It won't hold. So I used toothpick to hold everything together. 
16. Bake the tortilla for about 10-15 minutes or until the cheese melts.
17. Cut in half and serve with salsa. 

Simple Sambal Ikan Bilis with Potatoes

Sometimes I come home feeling sooooo hungry and I don't want to spend too much time cooking.. I want something quick and delicious... I want it express.. hihi *feeling like Nigella*

Spicy Sambal is a really easy dish. It's one of those first dishes I learned how to make .. in my recipe I use ikan bilis or dried anchovies and potatoes sliced thinly. You may also use tempeh, peanuts, chicken, fish.. anything you fancy. I use dried anchovies and potatoes because they are my favorite and I usually have them in stock during ermm dry days ;) There are many kinds of dried anchovies.. I prefer the tiny ones because they are really crunchy when fried. The bigger ones I typically use in my sambal tumis.. that's a different recipe.. Maybe in the future we'll see sambal tumis ikan bilis here ;)

In this recipe, I use cili boh.. quick and easy. You may also make your own cili boh.. by pureeing dried chili that's been blanched in hot water. You can also use fresh chilies but it won't be as spicy...

Ingredient

1/2 cup dried anchovies (cleaned)
1 medium/large sized potato (peeled, sliced evenly)
small onion (chopped)
3-5 tbs  chili pureed
sugar and salt to taste
oil for frying

Method

Fry the dried anchovies until crispy and set aside.
Fry the sliced potato and set aside.
Heat the oil used for frying the anchovies and potato and saute the onion.
Add the chili puree and stir it so it won't stick. Make sure the chili is thoroughly cooked. We don't want to end up with stomachache later.
Add the sugar and salt to taste. Stir
Stir in the fried dried anchovies and also the potatoes. Make sure the chili covers them all. Turn off the heat and serve it with rice or bread :)

Powder Puffs

I love watching Laura Calder on French Food at Home. She's so adorable.... and I just love her dresses.. The recipes on her show are really easy too.. I've tried several recipes I got from the show .. so far so good :)

Anyway one night while making dendeng for my customers at Dendeng, Etc I felt the urge to eat something sweet. Plus, I just watched her show .. and she was showing how to make Powder Puffs. It's a bit too sweet to my taste so I reduced the sugar a little. From 3/4 cup of sugar to a little bit more than 1/2 cup. She also used some really expensive raspberry jam.. I only had this blueberry jam which was more like jelly than jam. Coincidentally I had some whip cream leftover in the fridge. Wouldn't want it to go bad ;)

The decision was worth it. They tasted so good! I didn't have cornstarch at home.. so I substituted it with flour. It was a success.. Brought some for Kak Ina and Kak Ida to taste. They loved it. Kak Ida even ordered some from me.. hehehe :p

Some tips on separating the eggs... I got this from Joy of Baking website I think.. can't remember... Anyways, separate them when they are cold. then leave the eggs covered to warm up to room temperature before whipping the egg whites :)

Anyway the original recipe can be found here .. Here's my take on the recipe :)

Powder Puffs

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs, separated
1/2+  cup caster sugar
1/2 cup jam
3/4 cup whipping cream, vanilla flavored for filling

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. 
2. Blend together the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Set aside. 
3. In another bowl, separate the egg whites from the yolks. Set yolks aside. 
4. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. 
5. Add the sugar in three stages, beating after each addition to make a stiff, glossy meringue. 
6. Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. 
7. Sift the dry ingredients together, then sift them over the egg mixture and fold in with the whisk, without beating or you'll lose volume. 
8. Pipe or drop by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving room between so they can spread. They just grow in size..like nobody's business! 
9. Bake until lightly golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. They will harden slightly. 
10. Sandwich the rounds together with jam and sweetened, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream. Let sit an hour or so to soften before serving. (This is important. They will not be sponge-like right away, and you want them to be.) Dust with icing sugar before serving if you like.. I didn't. .. already too sweet :D

Welcome to MY Recipe Book :)

Salam.. so after much thought... I've decided to publish all favorite recipes that have been tried and tested here on Blogger.com. I hope it'll be a good reference to everyone.. :)

Now everyone can cook! ;)