Merdeka Open House 2008: Mee and My Malaysia Round Up

UPDATED 2 Sept 2008 12:08PM for another entry. If I've missed out your entry please let me know ASAP as I may not have received your submission email.

UPDATED 1 Sept 2008 11:05am for missing out Tummythoz's entry. Thousands of apologies.

UPDATED 3:44pm for late entries (below my noodle)

Before we start, shall we pay respect to our country by singing the National anthem - Negaraku first?

NEGARAKU

Negaraku
Tanah tumpahnya darahku
Raykat hidup
Bersatu dan maju
Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta

Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta

Time really flies! I felt it was like only yesterday that I had hosted the golden jubilee open house where the theme was Muhibbah. The first was three years ago with Recipe Long Forgotten. This year I had about a month to publicise this event with the theme Mee and My Malaysia and I'm so so glad with the responses this time.

Living in Malaysia, we are never short of noodles, be it at hawker centres, restaurants, fine dining or even home. Noodles are popular here and we can find them ranging from bee hoon (rice vermicelli), koay teow (flat rice noodles), mee also known as yellow noodles, mee suah (wheat vermicelli), yee meen (deep fried noodles), fun si or also known as tang hoon (mung bean noodles), fresh egg noodles that are used in wantan mee, and others. Noodles provides us another source of carbs besides rice that accompanies our meal no matter which ethnic we are from. Noodles can be served in broth, creamy laksa, fried, in a claypot, with all sorts of ingredients and condiments - very versatile indeed.

This year, no difference but a lot simpler than the previous two as I did not imposed a story behind the dish, plus there are a lot of gives and takes haha... so let's roll out the dishes ok in no particular order.

I still clearly remember what Kong Kay served last year which errmm generated lots of curiosity. This year, the serving seems to be a lot milder coming from Kuching. Kong Kay made a killer Fried Beehoon with Kou Rou and Cabbage. The combination is great with the bee hoon soaking up the fatty oil of the kou rou (canned braised pork), a sure favourite for pork lovers.

Little Chef of Yau Tuck Sek submitted a Seremban favourite of Ah Yi Loh Shi Fun. This looks quite similar to one of mine but I can bet that this is a whole lot tastier with dried shrimps and a lot of aromatics in the sauce.

Pink Parisian of haveyoueaten.net made a hearty Chinese Rice Wine Chicken with Vermicelli (Ang Chiew Kuay Mee Suah). This rice wine enhanced soup will certainly warm up the tum nicely. I usually emptied my bowl except for the chicken bones heh.

Hailing from Sitiawan, Jessie, the Hijack Queen, made a similar dish to Pink Parisian's but Jessie uses red rice wine instead. This red rice wine is unique to the Foo Chow's community and usually only the Foo Chows would appreciate tucking into red coloured soup like this. I like this a lot cos I'm of Foo Chow origin but the sesat (lost) type *blushing*... heritage all lost when granpa married my Cantonese granma! Go on and check how to cook up Red Wine Mee Suah.

Cooking Momster, SueSue, ate this yummy Mee Bandung Muar at her Malay colleague's Raya Open House and managed to wrestle the recipe from her. However, a healthier spaghetti was used instead of yellow noodles which I allowed for this entry. I have always enjoy a bowl of hearty Mee Bandung but never knew it's quite easy to concoct.

This year, I've gotten PureGlutton to take part, showing us how to make Assam Laksa. Head on to PureGlutton to view the pictorial ingredients. Somehow, this laksa predominantly known as Penang Laksa is well received all over Malaysia. Could it be due to the sourish tang of the broth that made us hungry for more???

Fancy some Claypot Yee Min? Fantabulous option on a cold rainy day to warm up the body. Jin Hooi submitted this all the way from Melbourne, Australia via Smell & Taste Are My Memory.

My blog buddy from Netherlands, Valisa of Lekker Lekker Lekkerste contributed a lovely Laksa Lemak. With a small baby in tow on top of 2 bigger babies, she spread out 3 days to make this dish! Fret not, you can actually do so within a couple of hours without any interruptions. Thanks Lisa for taking all these pain just so to participate this year. Are you going to cook this for me when you're back?

Bride-to-be, Daphne of More Than Words managed to cook up this Mee Mamak as suggested by the groom-to-be. Mee Mamak seems like a very easy to dish out but trust me, it's not as easy as it looks. Somehow the groom-to-be is very lucky indeed to find his beloved, researching and cooking out this dish that turned out so well even though they're residing in Perth, Australia! Lack of ingredients is NOT an excuse anymore haha...

My fave Ipoh Mali Talak Sombong boy, Jason-da-luscious-lips, balik kampung (went back hometown) just to make his mom to cook something up for this party. She had cooked a Tom Yam Ipoh Hor Fun which I can imagined the broth to be hot and tangy filled with the fragrance of kaffir lime, bunga kantan and lemongrass. Served with smooth and slippery famous Ipoh hor fun (flat rice noodles)... can you feel the slurpiliciousness???

We have another version of Laksa Lemak which is different from Valisa's. Durianberry of The Gastronomic Diary version is also known as Siamese Laksa in Penang. I remember this laksa is totally different from curry laksa in terms of taste. It's slightly tangy and it's rich in santan plus flaked mackerel. The condiments are simpler too. Simple noodle dish but rich in flavour!

We should count our blessings for having access to all sorts of Asian ingredients here. Can you imagine making loh shue fun (rat tail noodles literally) on your own by rolling each and every strand with your palms and fingers??? Well LCOM of Little Corner of Mine did just that! She did enlist her little helper but heh she gave up after a while. Check out the Stir-fry Silver Needle Noodle that she had dished out. They looked exactly like those done up in a restaurant... full of wok hei!

Ken of Food Point of Interest contributed Penang Chicken Soup Lam Mee which is totally different from the lam mee found in Kuala Lumpur. This Penang version has clear broth instead of being dark and starchy. It is served with yellow noodles instead of the thick ones.

I would think this Fried Mee Hoon done up by Lianne of Imbi&Itchy's who has since moved to Germany, a firm favourite amongst Malaysian. We usually see this mee hoon dish appearing virtually at every party held! This mee hoon goes hand-in-hand with curry chicken.

Ooooo we have a submission from Manchester, UK!!! It's from no other than Hazza of A Malaysian Kitchen in Manchester. His Assorted Meat Ho Fun reminds me of wart tarn hor or commonly known as kung fu koay teow (Cantonese fried). Check out his hor fun... looked charred and smoky, just like straight out of a charcoal fire stove.

Gee, I'm so happy that passionfordecor of My Gastronomic Adventure made it this year since her updates has been sparse. I really missed her beautiful stories. This year, she made another Malaysian favourite, Siamese Noodles or more well known as Mee Siam. Well, no doubt the name is Mee Siam, rest assured this dish has been localised. Even the Singaporeans have their version of Mee Siam. I'm not sure about you but I loved my Mee Siam soaked in the piquant sauce.

Coming from North Carolina, United State, we have Kio Chap Kueh Tiaw made by the Kuishinbo~Meow~ - Fish Fish. I've never eaten this and would love to try it one day IF I get to step into Kuching. From the description, I'm already liking it as the gravy is tomato based. It will be very appetising indeed! Any Kuchingite willing to bring me makan (eating) around the meow town?

Originally from Sandakan but now residing in Kuala Lumpur, Jo of Saucing Around, Jo's Deli is serving us my favourite Pan Mee. Her version came with all the proper ingredients for Pan Mee which includes minced meat, black fungus and sayur manis! BTW, it was Jo who came up with this brilliant theme.

Fancy some homemade Chee Cheung Fun (rice rolls)??? HOMEMADE!!! WOW... I really salute Suum Cuique's Kat for painstakingly steaming and rolling her own chee cheung fun roll-by-roll. I guess one would have no choice but have to do this in Abu Dhabi. Check out her blog for the step-by-step pictorial guide.

Next we have Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippet who is now living in Pennsylvania, USA, serving us Minced Meat Noodles. I'm so ashamed of myself haha cos my version of minced meat noodles looked so barren as compared to hers. Her noodles are garnished with omelette, carrots, cucumber, lettuce and spring onions!

Another Malaysian in USA!!! Annie of House of Annie who is married to Nate (pssst he's from Honolulu, Hawaii!!!). Both of them are based in San Jose, California at the moment. Pumpkin Mee with Prawns is Annie's mum recipe. A first for me seeing pumpkin in a noodle dish, must be delish but I can be biased since I love pumpkin.

PureGlutton also submitted another favourite laksa that need no introduction... Curry Laksa that is! This homecooked version has no less ingredients okay including the must have blood cockles. Excuse me please, I need to rush off to Chinatown's Madras Lane for a bowl of Curry Laksa.

And finally my own entry... I'm serving Nyonya Lam Mee which is also known as Nyonya Birthday Noodles which is very apt for this occassion since we're celebrating Malaysia's 51st Independence. I balked at the long list of ingredients but hey... I must conquer my fear of long listed recipes! Anyway, after cooking this, I have to say it is very easy to prepare indeed.

There are a couple of late entries here, well its better late than never. First up, Cokeworld Citizen hauled back fresh kolo mee from Miri and made a Kolo Mee Cantonese style. I loved the bouncy texture of kolo mee and I can never get enough of them. Yums!

Gosh, you guys should check out Mark's family noodle!!! Mark's Makan tai kor :p made a simple delish noodles outta dried instant noodles, canned sambal ikan bilis and sauces and aptly named it Tham Mee. Simple yet so delicious with the topping of the half-boiled egg.

I like what Tummythoz of Tummy Thoughts is serving... Non-Fried Bee Hoon, easy peasy. Just cook the liquid and stir in the bee hoon and ingredients. Sounds like kerabu bee hoon huh? Must have tasted great with the sambal udang kering yumyum!

I loved small packets of mee siam wrapped in banana leaf as the leaf somehow impart a nice fragrant to the mee hoon. I'm glad to see Family First served Mee Siam on a banana leaf which I'm sure worked as well. Check out this version of mee siam which is so simple that I will try some day. Family First served this mee siam with a side of mutton curry.

I would like to thank you to all the participants for making this year's open house possible. Also to Jo of Saucing Around for the fantastic theme. So enjoy drooling over these noodles and pray we shall have another virtual party next year!

Till then... Selamat Hari Merdeka to all.

p.s.: Sorry if the alignment is all jumbled up, html codes are very Greek to me :p

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Mee and My Malaysia: Nyonya Birthday Noodles (Lam Mee)

I never knew that it's this tough to pick my choice of dish for this year's Merdeka Open House. It's just noodles for pete's sake and looking back at my posts, I've dozens of them but what's so difficult? Sighhhh...

Being a Virgoan, something simple might not be as simple as one thinks. Virgoans are perfectionists and I have THREE of them at home, four if my mom is included. Things can get ugly and complicated with two Virgoans around but imagine having more than that? Enough said hehehe... this Virgoan must come out with something apt to suit the occasion. So what is better than serving up a Birthday noodles!

In my family, my mom used to cook for us mee suah soup with two hard boiled eggs on our birthdays. I was thinking along that line but seriously mee suah soup is just too plain and simple to celebrate someone's 51st birthday. It has to be something elaborate, something more fanciful, something grand which got me digging out my dusty local cookbooks for ideas.

I found this birthday noodles... the Nyonya's version in Nyonya Flavours and I read on. I chucked the book aside after seeing the long list of ingredients (yeah I have that kinda phobia *chuckles*) and continue looking thru other books. Somehow, I got back to Nyonya Flavours and reread the ingredients and methods. Hmmm doesn't seems that complicated... and that was how I got on and made this noodle dish. Best part was I made this on my boiboi's lunar calendar birthday, thank goodness he liked it. I hope you'll too...

Nyonya Birthday Noodles (Nyonya Lam Mee)

300g medium-sized prawns
1 tbsp cooking oil

1.5 litres water
1 chicken carcass
250g belly pork
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/8 tsp pepper

Shallot oil & crisps:
150 ml cooking oil
150g shallots, sliced lengthwise

50g chives, cut into 3 cm lengths
200g bean sprouts, tailed
600g yellow noodles

Garnishing:
2 eggs
1-2 drops pink colouring
2 red chillies, halved, seeded and cut diagonally
50g spring onion, sliced finely
50g coriander

Sambal Sauce:
6 tbsp sambal belacan
3 limau kasturi, halved

Method:
1. Shell and devein prawns, keeping the tails. Set the prawns aside for later use.

2. In a saucepan, saute the prawn shells in 1 tbsp oil until aromatic, about 5 mins. Transfer this to a stock pot with the water. Bring to boil and add chicken carcass and belly pork. Allow to boil 2-3 mins.

3. Dish out the semi-cooked belly pork, cool and slice into thin strips, set aside.

4. Lower heat and simmer stock for half and hour. Strain the stock and return to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix cornflour with a little water before adding to the stock to thicken it slightly. Turn off heat and set aside.

5. Add 1 tbsp oil in the wok and saute the garlic until aromatic. Add in prawns and sliced pork. Stir-fry for 1 min and season lightly with soy sauce and pepper. Remove and set aside.

6. Heat up oil in the wok and fry the shallots until crispy and golden. Remove and set aside.

7. Boil water and blanch chives, bean sprouts and yellow noodle separately. Set aside.

8. Break eggs into separate bowls. Colour one portion pink. Make very thin omelettes with the eggs. Roll uo omelette and slice thinly for garnishing.

9. To serve: Arrange some chives in a deep dish. Place bean sprouts over chives and add in a poriton of yellow noodles. Top with pork strips and prawns. Pour hot stock over and garnish with shallot crisps, sliced omelette in two colours, red chilli slices, chopped spring onion and coriander leaves.

10. Serve noodles with a tablespoon of sambal belacan mixed with lime juice. (This is a must have!!!)

Ref: Nyonya Flavours, The State Chinese (Penang) Association & The Star, Page 150

Wishing all fellow Malaysians a very happy Merdeka Day and may the country be blessed with peace and prosperity.


Technorati Tags: Merdeka Open House 2008

Reminder: 24 Hours to Merdeka Open House 2008 Submission

24 hours to go for you to submit your entry! You have up till midnight of 29th August to do so.

Send your noodles dish to me (babe_kl(@)yahoo(dot)com) with the following info:

Name or nick
Location
Permalink/URL of your post
Name of the dish
A picture (minimum 500x375 pixels) of your noodle dish



Technorati Tags: Merdeka Open House 2008

Citrus Yoghurt Muffins

By far this is one of the most delicious and delectable muffins I've ever made! The citrusy tang and fragrance was absolutely addictive. They doesn't look very attractive though, pretty pale and the top doesn't brown evenly like normal muffins. This recipe is definitely a must keep!

Citrus Yoghurt Muffins

(A)
200g flour
175g caster sugar (I've reduced this so adjust to your taste)
1 tbsp each grated lemon zest, lime zest and orange zest
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt

(B)
225ml fat-free plain yoghurt
115ml sunflower oil
1 lightly beaten egg

Preheat oven to 200C. Grease a 12-cup muffin tray.

In a bowl combine (A) thoroughly. In another bowl, mix (B) until well blended. Add the flour mixture until well combined, do not overmix.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20 mins. Remove from oven and cool for 5 mins. Then remove muffins from pan and serve warm.

Ref: 500 Cupcakes & Muffins, By Fergal Connolly book (published by PageOne Publishing)

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Baskin Robbins Merdeka Triple Treat

Wooohoooohooooo... I'm getting my spoon ready from 29 to 31 August 2008!!! I will be rushing off to Baskin Robbins for their 31% off for handpacked items. Yes yes yes... it's the Merdeka Triple Treat!!! This month the discount is on for 3 days, on the line... get set... GO!

Anyone joining me?

Review: Happy Grass - Fruit Bean Curd Pudding Powder

I've seen packets and packets of these silver foiled packs at most of the baking supply shops. I've ignored them all these while until one day my hubby kpc (busy body) and picked up one packet and ask me what are those. I gave him "that look", as if he's illiterate! Later, he took one and place inside the basket and it was this...

It's actually Happy Grass - Fruit Bean Curd Pudding Powder Mango Flavour. Inside this packet contained 2 packs of powder. The larger pack is the pudding whilst the smaller pack is citrus acid. Just follow the instructions by adding additional evaporated milk and sugar which are quite easy and after chilling, they turned out looking like this...



The texure of this pudding is very very smooth and silky, almost tau foo far like. They're not very sweet and the mango flavour is rather subtle which is just nice. I've used up half of them and the other half, I intend to add in nata de coco and mango cubes (if I can find mango now). I guess I will be buying more of these!

Reminder: 2 Days to Merdeka Open House 2008 Submission

Yes only 2 days to go!!!

Remember to cook and submit your noodles dish to me (babe_kl(@)yahoo(dot)com) by midnight of 29th August 2008 with the following info:

Name or nick
Location
Permalink/URL of your post
Name of the dish
A picture (minimum 500x375 pixels) of your noodle dish

Can't wait for the round up, so hurry!


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Chunky Chicken and Potato Pie

This recipe is from a very old copy of Her World Cook Book. I think it's a 1995 issue cos I like collecting them, never knew one day I would be making dishes outta my collections hehe... very unimaginable! I unearthed a lot of such goodies during my long stay at my parents recently.

Again this is another simple but delish recipe. We all loved this very much especially my boiboi. He asked for second helping! Great way to get kids to eat vegetables.

Chunky Chicken and Potato Pie

2 medium-sized carrots, thickly sliced
1 small head broccoli, cut into flowerets
(I've also added one packet of baby corn)
400g chicken breast
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp milk
salt and pepper to taste

Potato topping:
3 medium-sized potatoes
1 tbsp butter
4 tbsp hot milk, usage of hot milk will make your mash potato light and fluffly. Cold liquid will make the mash gluey
pinch of grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place carrots in a small pan and barely cover with water. Cook until tender. During the last 5 mins add in broccoli. Strain the vegetables and set aside the liquid.

2. Cut chicken into 1 cm slices or cubes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat butter in pan and saute garlic till fragrant. Add chicken and fry till firm. Dust in the flour, cook for 1 min and then add reserved liquid. Cook until sauce thickens.

3. Add milk and pre-cooked vegetables. Season to taste. Transfer fillings into four individual baking dishes or a large one and leave to cool.

4. Meanwhile, scrub potatoes clean and place in a pot. Cover with water and bring to boil. Cook until tender and drain. When cool enough to handle, peel.

5. Mash while potatoes are still hot and add in butter and milk. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

6. Spread mash potatoes over the fillings. Rough up the surface with fork (I've dotted some butter on top). Put to bake in preheated oven at 200C for about 20 mins or until the top is golden brown.

Ref: Her World Cookbook, Your Festive Guide, Page 37

After plated...




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Black Bean Soup

Pablopabla of Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food is running a contest and don't say I didn't inform you guys that he's giving away more than USD100 as the prizes!!! It's very generous of him and the closing date is 31st August 2008. Head on to his blog to check the details of this contest. Hurry!!!

Now back to my entry... since I'm feeling lucky as it's my Birthday, I decided to post this up today haha... Based on his Black Bean Soup recipe, this is my version done in a pressure cooker.

Black Bean Soup

200g black beans
1.5 litre water
1 free range chicken carcass
10 - 15 red dates

Wash and soak the black beans for about 30 mins.

Chucked everything into the pressure cooker and boil till steam rises out of the vent. Reduce heat to medium low and start clocking for 20 mins. Turn off the heat and let the pressure go off on its own. When done, open the lid and serve the soup hot. You may add in some salt if you like.

The beans turned out super tender and the soup tasted of natural sweetness of the 3 ingredients. I simply loved this soup. This soup is very good for ladies especially during confinement period.


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Another Birthday...

Yeah you hear me... August is full of birthday babies, mine included... a day after my boiboi's. For the full story on how it happened 6 years ago, check here.

Also, Birthday shoutouts to Dafthamta (26th), Lyrical Lemongrass (27th) and my mom (29th). Many happy returns of the day!!!


p.s.: sorry guys for making you all to send me and boiboi non-stop wishes :p hehe... thanks so much!

My BoiBoi is SIX today!

How simple it is to make a difference in the lives of others. -Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen
Happy Birthday to someone who's made a beautiful difference in our life.

Love, Mummy & Daddy... xoxo …and a million hugs and kisses! Xoxo

Sugar high candy and chocolate filled cake is every child's dream to have in a cake. It's a basic chocolate butter cake which I've made, topped with chocolate fudge and chocolate raisins, nuggets, Reese peanut butter candies and honeycomb crunchies. The cake topper of boiboi's fave car - Subaru Impreza WRX, well not made by me of course. HandFullOfFlour of Floury Moments took the challenge and painstakingly made this as close to the model as possible.

Thank you Aunty HandFullOfFlour so much for spending hours on the fondant car. Boiboi loved the car especially the stickers on it! More car modelling? Hehehe...

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

I love cinnamon!!! I guess it must be the heady sweet smelling fragrance that wafts outta the oven or pot whenever cinnamon is used. Hence, when I saw this Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins over at Laura Rebecca's Kitchen, I just couldn't resist but made a batch myself.



The texture is of those doughy donuts which I liked. Best part was the topping of course! Just like how donuts should be treated in the old fashion manner... rolled in sugar but for this, there is the additional cinnamon powder in the sugar. I find that this muffins is best eaten on the day itself as the next day I find the muffins a bit tough.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

2 large eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 stick butter, melted (about 55g)
1/4 cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Position oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 200C. Line a standard muffin pan with paper cups.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix with light strokes until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Don't overmix; batters should not be smooth.

Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in one or two of the muffins come out clean, 12-15 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, melt 1/2 stick butter and place in a bowl just large enough to hold a muffin. Combine ½ cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a small, shallow bowl. As soon as the muffing are done, dip them one at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Set on a rack to cool.

Yields 12 standard muffins.

p/s: I've added 1 tbsp of cinnamon powder in the flour mixture for an extra cinnamon oompphh which you can omit if you're not a big fan of cinnamon.

Ref: Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins, Laura Rebecca's Kitchen

If you're a cinnamon lover like me, check out these recipes:
Banana Cupcakes with Cinnamon and Oats Crumble
Apple and Cinnamon Tea Cake
Baked French Toast
Apple Crumble
Carrot Cake


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Review: Restoran Bak Kut Teh Foong Tak Sing

**Non-Halal**

I took note of Restoran Bak Kut Teh Foong Tak Sing in Taman Connaught after they were featured in Ho Chak sometime back. Never got round to try it until recently since we're not big fans of bak kut teh. We just ordered two portions of bak kut teh in claypot, two bowls of rice, braised tofu puff, yau char kwai (crullers) and a pot of tea which came up to RM19.20.



Somehow the soup seems to be lack of oooommphh. The herbal taste is not strong enough and it's pretty mediocre. Just like boo_licious, I'm beginning to have doubts in those places that these TV shows are featuring but then not all I guess as some that I've been are quite all right.



For Cheras region, I still prefer Yew Kee Bak Kut Teh.


Restoran Bak Kut Teh Foong Tak Sing
12 Jalan Waras 1
Taman Connaught
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 6012-205 9983
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 2:30pm and 5:30pm - 11:00pm
Closed on Monday

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + bak kut teh

Sardine Fried Rice Version 2.0

Earlier, I've posted this Sardine Fried Rice but that version was more like mine using flaked sardines. This version is of my hubby's where the sardines were mashed up finely before mixing into the rice. I liked my sardine chunky but hubby preferred his all mashed up.

Just like normal fried rice, it's rather easy peasy. First, remove the bones and innards from the canned sardines in tomato sauce before mashing them up finely. Set aside. Fry some chopped garlic in some oil till fragrant. Add in the peas (I've used the frozen ones, defrosted of course) and cubed carrots. Sprinkle in some salt to taste (use just a little bit cos the sardines are tasty enough) and stir. Pour in day-old rice and stir quickly coating them with oil. Next, add in the mashed sardines and mix thoroughly. Once they are evenly mixed up, dish up and serve hot.

If you're not eating this immediately, you can keep the rice warm in a rice cooker under "Keep Warm" setting.

Note: Hubby did not cook this!


Technorati Tags: malaysian food + fried rice + rice

Beef Stew Version 3.0

This was the version of Beef Stew that made Yozora dashed to the store for a pressure cooker. The method is quite similar to my Version 2.0 with a change of some vegetables. Other than the usual onions, tomatoes, button mushrooms, carrots and potatoes, I have fennel and zucchini (green and yellow).



Whilst the marinade and sauces are basically the same but this round, I fried the flour dredged beef in batches in the pressure cooker and set aside. Next, fried the chopped onions and fennel. Put in the beef and top with water plus all the necessary sauces like oyster sauce, Marmite and few dashes Woscestershire Sauce. I've also added in a can of whole tomatoes (use the spatula to smash them into smaller pieces). Cover up the cooker and cook for about 15 mins. Depressurised to open the lid to add in the vegetables. Top up with some water and cover the lid to cook for another 10 mins. Depressurise again to open the lid. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Serve with crusty bread.


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Review: Spices of Asia

Hubby took me to this Malay cafe, Spice of Asia, and we were both taken by their signage Laksa Johor (RM5.00) pasted at the glass display. We were hankering for a very good Laksa Johor we have long time ago so we ended up ordering a bowl each.

From the outside, Spice of Asia, looks like typical Malay warung with food displayed up front but as one walked inside, a nice and cosy cafe is revealed. There is an aircon section too.

Our laksa came looking like this... kinda unappetising... with a bowl of sambal belacan to go with it.



When we dug in, tada... the noodles, in this case spaghetti (it's common that spaghetti is used for Laksa Johor), and the condiments (cucumber, onions, beansprouts, bunga kantan etc) were actually hidden underneath the thick laksa gravy. The gravy consisted heavily of fish meat and I tasted a variety of herbs (ulam) and spices. This is not too bad but I've tasted better. I have to say that the sambal belacan is really great.



Hubby had a bowl of bubur cha cha that came purplish looking with strands of colourful errr I'm not sure what do you call those but should have been made outta flour and large sago balls. They looked like cendol strands but it's not soft, just slightly chewy. These colourful strands can be found at supermarket's dry food section. So far I've found the Malay style bubur cha cha have such floury strands. Hubby dug and dug but couldn't find the usual yam and sweet potatoes inside. Is this how a typical Malay bubur cha cha looks like? Hmm I doubt so since we have eaten one of the best around recently and have yet to find another to match this stall in KL.



All in our bill for 2 bowls of Laksa Johor, one bowl of bubur cha cha, one glass of syrup bandung and another glass of plain water costed less than RM15, sorry can't remember the exact amount. Other than these, they have nasi campur (mixed rice), various fried noodles and rice plus ala carte dishes to go with plain rice.


Spices Of Asia
52 Jalan Datuk Sulaiman
Taman Tun Dr.Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-7725 5875


Technorati Tags: malaysian food

50+1 Malaysia

I've just gotten my copy of 50+1 Malaysia from Quachee Enterprise. I was kinda surprised when I saw the content of the envelope cos I was expecting a coffee table kinda book hahaha but nevertheless this palm sized booklet packed up a lot of punch. I loved the size, weight and quality of the booklet... not to mentioned it's contents!!! It will be so easy for me to send this overseas or pass on to tourists or visitors to Malaysia.

It's so easy to read with the few categorisations, placements and I'm glued to all those photos that QuaChee had sourced from blogs and flickr. Browse and look for my photos! (Hint: don't expect to see my photos in the Food section though bwahahahaha...)

If you wish to grab a copy of 50+1 Malaysia, you can do so by dropping by themalaysiapage now as this book is going on sale for RM19.90 only with free shipping thrown in within Malaysia! Alternatively, you can get a copy from your favourite bookstores in Malaysia.

Thank you QuaChee for allowing me to be part of your project.

Reminder: 11 days to Merdeka Open House 2008 Submission

11 days for you to cook up your choice of noodles for Mee and My Malaysia!!!


Technorati Tags: Merdeka Open House 2008

Chocolate Mud Cake

Did I tell you guys that my boiboi loves to read my cook books?? At times he will dictate tell me to make those stuff for him. Sometimes he will help me in the kitchen by reading to me the ingredients and amount needed. Well, I think its better this way rather than having him messing stirring up in the kitchen hahaha... Anyway, these cupcakes which graced the cover of 500 Cupcakes & Muffins caught the attention of my boiboi ever since I've gotten this book. I've promised him the longest time ever to make these and I finally did.

These cupcakes needless to say is soft with a gooey centre but mine did not flow out cos I've slightly overbaked them. They still tasted good nevertheless.

Chocolate Mud Cake

300g plain choc chips
300g unsalted butter
5 eggs
115g caster sugar
115g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder for dusting

Preheat oven to 160C. Place 12 paper case in muffin tray.

In a medium bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, melt choc and butter together, stirring well. Leave to cool a little.

Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick. Fold the flour into the egg mixture. Stir in melted choc and butter.

Spoon batter into paper cases and bake for 20 mins (my oven required less than this, so keep a watch over your oven).

The cupcakes will be soft and gooey in texture and appearance. Remove tin from oven and cool for 5 mins, then remove cupcakes and serve swiftly, dusted with cocoa powder.

Ref: 500 Cupcakes & Muffins, By Fergal Connolly book (published by PageOne Publishing)

Technorati Tags: cupcake + chocolate

Accidental Chicken and Tomato Stew

Sometimes I marvelled at myself for being creative in the kitchen department. I'm not talking about bakings and decoratings, just the basic day-to-day cooking. This dish came about when I have only 3 ingredients left! Yes, three - 2 chicken thighs - chopped into pieces, 2 onions and about 4 large tomatoes.

I was cracking my head what to cook for my boiboi's Sunday lunch as I did not managed to go to the market that day. I could always take him out for a bite but it's so hot outside... too lazy to even walk across the road hahaha sighhh it's actually very convenient for me to eat out as the shops are just a stone throw away!

Anyway, what I did was just brown the chicken pieces in some oil. Remove and set aside. Using the same pot, fry the quartered onions. Best if they're caramelised as it will lend a natural sweetness to this dish. Put the chicken back in there and pour in water to cover the chicken. In fact if you preferred a rather soupy deal, add more water. Add the quartered tomatoes, oyster sauce to taste, and a wee bit of sugar to balance the tartness of the tomatoes. Put on the lid and simmer for about 20 mins before adding some black pepper. I've used more of these than usual which gave this dish a very nice fragrant peppery taste. Stir and serve with rice.

Errmm the soupy part is an accidental thingy hahaha cos I've added a lot more water than required and I didn't wanna continue to simmer as my chicken pieces have already gone very tender. It turns out to be a rather soupy stew and guess what? This dish turned out to be a hit! We lapped up everything, meat, soup and all!!!

Sweetish, tangy and peppery - it's so flavourful. The one depicted is another version that I've made the next round which contained canned buttoned mushrooms. Worked as well.




Technorati Tags: poultry

Double-boiled Chicken with Dong Guai and Hark Joe

Other than the usual double-boiled chicken with dong guai (angelica), one can add black dates (hark joe) to the concoction. Just simply placed one chicken thigh in a double-boiler or slow cooker. Scatter dates and dong guai all over. Pour in hot water just enough water to cover the thigh. Cook for 3 - 4 hours.


Technorati Tags: confinement food

Perfect Party Dishes: Baked Donut

I've received an invite from Dhanggit of Dhanggit's Kitchen to participate in her Perfect Party Dishes Blog Event. It's a very brilliant way indeed to source for party recipes in celebration of her daughter, Mayumi, first Birthday party!!!

Actually I've made Hazelnut Chocolate Crescent for this event but being a noob, my puff pastry puffed outta shape and they looked too ugly to be served as party food... and I was lazy to defrost more pastry for the same thing, instead I made these easy peasy AND again extremely healthy treats - Baked Donut! Don't they look pretty? Very healthy cos only uses one tablespoon of oil!



I first saw this in Peony's My Culinary Journey. Then it got refreshed in my mind recently with Belacan's post. Belacan of Little Corner of Mine did a great thing by giving a tip to place chips or coconut flakes on the mini tube pan before pouring in the batter. Since I've gotten my mini tube pan sometime back but haven't got the chance to try out the recipe, this is the chance then.

I checked my larder and I have all the ingredients except for plain yoghurt. I sub it with strawberry flavoured one which turned out to be great! The donuts have mild strawberry flavour but smell wonderful. I've used chocolate chips, strawberry chips and black and white chocolate chips. I guess it must have been our weather as these chips kinda looked melted, very different from Belacan's. The strawberry chips yielded a very heavy strawberry flavour which was nice where else the black and white chips came out looking patchy but I think it looked cute.

I find this Baked Donut will be a great party recipe as one can make this earlier in the morning before serving at the party in the afternoon or evening. Very convenient, easy, healthy but delicious! Dhanggit, I hope you'll love these.

Dearest Mayumi,

Just a little birthday wish from across the miles…
Hope you know there are plenty more where that one came from, too.
Happy Birthday!

Baked Donut

(A)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

(B)
1 egg
1 tub (150 gm) plain yogurt
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings: ranging from sweeten coconut flakes, chocolate chips & peanut butter chips

Method :
1. In a big bowl, combine (A).

2. Push the flour to the side and in the center, add in (B). Mix (B) well with a spatula and mix the flour in to just combine. Set aside.

3. Spray the donut pan with nonstick cooking spray and divide the sweeten coconut flakes and chocolate chips at the bottom of each of the mini tube pans. Divide batter among pans. Place the batter only half full so that you will see donut hole when baked. 3/4 full will not be able to see any donut hole when baked.

4. Bake at 160°C for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire rack.

~Yield 12-18 baked donuts

Note: Still soft the next day but best eaten on the day it was baked. Belacan had warned not to use coloured sugar coated chips or sprinkles as they will discoloured.

Ref: Healthy Baked Donuts, Little Corner of Mine

Technorati Tags: donut

Of Alf and Jabba the Hut...

**This is halal, just the shape is NOT :p**

This reminded me of Alf... No?



How about these??? Jabba the Hut!



LOL sighhh that was how my so called Moon Cake Festivity Biscuits turned out! Will experiment more with this, well, when I'm not lazy.

I've used the recipe from Famous Cuisine magazine and it's quite easy peasy as the ingredients including the golden syrup are easily available at the baking supply stores, otherwise I nearly flipped when I read that I need to store homemade golden syrup for 2 months before I can use it! The dough is made the day before and I kept them in the fridge. Remove the dough and leave to soften a bit in room temperature.

Next, I measured out the fillings ie. dau yoong (I've no idea what's this in English) and dau sar (red bean) - both also store bought; and roll them into balls. I kept them refrigerated whilst I measure out the dough portions.

For the freestyle round piggy or rather Jabba the Hut, the filling is 20g each and the dough is 30g. The large wooden piggy mould that I've gotten is best fitted with 50g fillings and 60g dough. Anything more than this, will spilled over at the base and won't turn out so nice looking. The eyes were fitted in by boiboi with halved black beans (noticed how some of them looking cock eyed hehehe). To shape the fillings easier, just need to oiled my hands a bit. For the dough, use some flour to prevent sticking.



Once everything were measured, then it's rather simple especially those moulded with the wooden piggy (pre-oiled). All I need to do was roll the dough slightly elongated in my floured hands and wrapped the fillings with it. Next, flour the mould generously and pour out the flour. Place the dough into the mould and slowly spread the dough around to fit everything inside the mould. After that whacked the mould a couple of times on the table and the dough will come out perfectly. Place biscuit on a lined tray.

For the free style version, roll dough into round shape and wrap it around the filling. Place on a tray and repeat with the rest. Next, shape the snouts, ears and tails to decorate the rounds into a piggy. Press in the eyes. The reason I've gotten Jabba the Hut instead of piggy was the dough rounds got soften and sorta melted at the bottom. I guess I need to refrigerate these whilst I tend to other things like what I did! I went and shaped the rest of the doughs in the wooden mould before placing everything into the oven. Thinking of saving some hot energy by stuffing all 3 trays in on go *stick out tongue*

Moon Festival Cutey Biscuits

Ingredients:
600g low protein flour/plain flour
600g golden syrup
1 1/2 tbsp alkaline water
100g peanut oil

Topping (beaten):
1 egg + 1 egg yolk

Method:

1. Mix golden syrup with peanut oil and alkaline water, gradually add in flour, mix well till combined and soft.

2. Wrap the soft dough with cellophane paper, rest for 1 day or overnight. (All I did was cover the mixing bowl with cling wrap and
stored in the fridge overnight.)

3. Divide dough into many portions, form into rounds. Dust some plain flour into the biscuit moulds, then press douigh into mould. Next, invert onto baking tray.

4. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 10 mins. Remove from oven, leave to cool, and brush some beaten egg on the surface, and continue baking for another 10 mins until golden in colour. Leave to cool before serving.

Ref: Famous Cuisine Vol. 51 July-Aug 2008, page 7

Tips:
1. For freestyle shaped biscuits, store dough in fridge in between shaping the biscuits to prevent dough from sagging or get out of shape.

2. Brush the egg wash evenly to achieve even colouring of the biscuits. Otherwise, it will look patchy.

3. Do not over bake, watch the biscuits in the oven after the egg wash. Remove from oven immediately once it's golden in colour which may be less than 10 mins stated in the recipe depending on your oven. Else, the biscuits will crack or streaks will form on the egg wash (looks like stretch marks).


Technorati Tags: mooncake festival + mid-autumn festival + mooncake

Reminder: 19 days to Merdeka Open House 2008 Submission

19 days for you to cook up your choice of noodles for Mee and My Malaysia!!!


Technorati Tags: Merdeka Open House 2008

Review: Restaurant 88

**Non-Halal**

On this auspicious day, I managed to dig thru my files and found these pics. It must have been fated that I didn't blogged about Restaurant 88 earlier LOL!!!

Hubby took me to this dai chau (big stir-fry) place in Sunway Mas one evening. He said it's one of the place they will go after their prayer sessions. He dictated the usual pai kuat (ribs) dish and I picked the Marmite version. A very lethal combo indeed... the tender ribs coated with a sweetish and sticky Marmite sauce.



Next, we have their signature tofu dish - choy hiong tau foo. It's basically deep fried homemade eggy tofu topped with a stir-fried mixture of minced pork meat, dried shrimps and choy poe (a type of preserved vegetables). I like this a lot as the stir-fried topping is very fragrant indeed and especially when the choy poe are crunchy!



We have the usual vege dish of fu yue yau mak (stir-fried romaine lettuce in fermented/preserved bean curd).



All the three dishes + 1 bowl of rice + 1 glass of chuk cheh sui (boiled sugar cane) and 1 coconut came up to RM30.30 for two of us. 88 Restaurant is a corner coffee shop, diagonally opposite My Kitchen.


88 Restaurant
Jalan PJU 1/38,
Sunway Mas Commercial Centre,
47301 Petaling Jaya


Technorati Tags: malaysian food

Quick Stir-fry Vege for 15 Minute Asian Light Meals

Today not only mark the special date of 08.08.08 and the opening of the Olympic Games at 8.08pm... it's also Jaden of Steamy Kitchen's birthday! Happy Birthday Jaden!!!

In conjunction with her birthday, the very generous Jaden is running a 15 Minute Asian Light Meals contest. So, here's my entry...

Quick Stir-fry Vege

Chop up some celery, carrot, baby corn, yellow capsicum and enoki mushrooms. In a wok, fry some chopped garlic in some oil until fragrant. Chuck in all the vegetables and stir quickly. Add in a couple of dashes of oyster sauce to taste and sprinkle a wee bit of water in the wok. Keep stirring until water dries up. Dish up and serve hot with rice.

Note: You can virtually use all sorts of vegetables for this dish.

Technorati Tags: vegetable

Review: Restoran Claypot Brothers @ TTDI

**Non-Halal**

We tried out this place next to Mama's Kitchen (hmm funny I didn't have a post on this, must dig out the pics one day) in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, called Claypot Brothers. As we walked in, right at the left entrance... there is a cooking station for the cook to fry oyster omelette and cooking claypot rice plus a row of pre-cooked dishes and desserts available. Oh the right is basically the chopping station for lor ark (braised duck) and porridge.

After scrutinising their simple menu, I noticed that they're of mainly Teo Chew dishes. Other than serving claypot rice, they have a variety of porridges other than plain ones to go with the pre-cooked dishes. There is orh nee (yam paste dessert) in the menu too!

For ourselves, we ordered a serving of peppered pig's stomach soup (RM6.00) which came in a rather low in height clay bowl. Hmm... I thought I've ordered a soup but the bowl is filled to the brim with slivers of stomachs and harm choy (pickled mustard cabbage). It's my first taking a stomach soup with harm choy. It's not too hot nor peppery, would be just nice for those who can't stand them. There isn't much soup in the bowl so hubby asked for refill which they gladly did. We drank them all up, no sweat at all. Perhaps the place was airconed??



Next came the oyster omelette (RM8.00) which certainly paled in comparison the one we had in New World Park, Penang. I think it lacked the wok hei even though the oysters were plump.



Finally, our minced pork with salted fish claypot rice (RM18.00) came. It smelt great! It's basically a disc of minced pork cooked on top of the rice. The rice were left as it is - plain and white. The sauce is served separately. Frankly, I think it's not worth its money for the minced patty is kinda thin and there isn't that much of salted fish. Well...



Overall, the place is decent and clean with the exception of flies flying around, most likely due to the smell of salted fish which is as expected but it was rather annoying indeed. The foreign waitresses dressed in traditional uniform which my hubby claimed its typical Hakka ladies clothings back in the olden days but the lady boss of Claypot Brothers doesn't seems to know, to her it's just another traditional Chinese costume.

5% service charge is charged on the total bill.


Restoran Claypot Brothers
50 Jalan Datuk Sulaiman
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
Tel: 603-7710 9289
Coordinates: 3°8'31"N 101°37'45"E

Seapark branch:
8, Jalan 21/19, Seapark,
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603-7877 8931

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + claypot

Review: Pacific West Tempura Fish Fillets

Let's do a product review today. This Pacific West Tempura Fish Fillets was introduced to me by Yozora. I bought one box (about RM15 thereabout if I'm not wrong) and kept in my freezer for some time before cooking them over the weekend. I didn't go to the market and was sort of ran outta fresh food, save for a couple of yellow capsicums and half a head of iceberg lettuce. Thank goodness for the convenience of having frozen food around!



I shallow fried the fillets straight out of the freezer as stated instead of deep frying them. Lucky my experience had told me that these frozen stuff will cause hot oil to splatter all over as it cooks. Well, I manage to contain the splatters with a lid over my pan hahaha... phew, otherwise cleaning up will be difficult let alone getting burn marks all over my arms! Easy peasy...

Back in my head, I decided to make a super simple pasta salad to go with the fish fillets. I made these before frying up the fish so that they can be served chilled. I diced up the yellow capsicum and tear iceberg lettuce into small pieces. Cooked some elbow shaped pasta, drain them and dumped them into cold water to prevent them to cook further.

Next, I found a pack of edamame the same time in the freezer and decided to make use of them. Cook them according to the instructions then I removed the beans from the pods and dump them into cold water for the same reason with the pasta. Whilst I was doing this, my boiboi came and kaypoh asking me what I was doing. I gave him one edamame which he chewed and told me it tasted horrible. I disallowed him to spit out (bad mummy huh? hehe), hence he swallowed them reluctantly. So how to get him to eat them???

Very easy actually... just toss the edamame together with the lettuce, capsicum (something he won't eat on its own as well) and pasta with some Japanese mayonnaise and lots of freshly grounded black pepper. Chill in fridge before serving. My boiboi lapped these up after he has finished his fillets without any questions ask what's inside the salad!



A very satisfying lunch indeed. Thanks Yozora for the recommendation ;-)


Technorati Tags: frozen food + pasta

Chicken with Black Fungus and Lily Buds

I don't have the exact recipe for this. From my experience, fry ginger slices in some sesame oil. Add in the chicken pieces and cook till lightly browned. Next, add in soaked black fungus and lily buds. Pour in just enough water to braise the chicken. Add in some abalone sauce to taste. BTW, if you've noticed, salt is not added in any of the confinement food.


Technorati Tags: confinement food

Merdeka Open House 2008: Mee and My Malaysia

Updated 4 August 2008 14:20pm

The poll is closed and the result is very clear indeed. 67% of respondents have voted for the usage of non-halal meat and beef for this year's event. So there you go... you may use non-halal meat and beef!



Thank you for your participation.

------------------
Updated 17:20pm

There are some requests to allow the usage of non-halal meat and beef which I think to a certain extend could make the noodle dish more authentic. Well, to make things easier, I've set up a poll right above my posts for the mass to decide. Go vote now!

------------------
31 July 2008 14:20pm

Thank you for all the suggestions. After going thru them, I think Jo's theme is the best fit. Hence, I don't need to set up a poll to pick the most popular one. Her suggested theme was Mee and My Malaysia with the reasons that there are many ways of cooking noodles be it laksa, fusion spaghetti (I presumed laksa Johor??), char kuey teow, mee goreng mamak, Hokkien mee and etc. She was very spot on that we, Malaysians, are never short of mee. I think this was brilliant!

It's not easy to pick and come out with a theme where virtually everyone can participate eg. if the theme is based on kuih-muih or colour of Jalur Gemilang; not everyone would know how to make kuih, plus it's quite tedious to make kuih... when it comes to colours, I guess we have a certain limitation in terms of ingredients that come in blue which I can only think of bunga telang.

This year, I'm going to let the cooking bit to be on an easier side cos the previous two are pretty challenging. Nevertheless, I was glad there were growth in terms of participations. I hope this year, we'll have more bloggers supporting this virtual party of mine. The challenging bit would be some write up about the dish.

Let's sum it up okay... Mee and My Malaysia theme would require participants to cook up a noodle dish of any Malaysian ethnic, of course the rare and unique ones from your family, hometown, kampung or some ulu place are most welcomed. Your noodle dish has to be something original and not fusionised or tweaked to fit the modern age. However, this rule will be relaxed for overseas participants since it's not easy to source for local ingredients. Don't forget, if you can't cook... try not to get away with store bought noodles hahaha just go charm your mom, dad, grandparents, sisters, aunties, uncles or whoever the cook in your family to come out with a noodle dish.

Next, take a picture (minimum 500x375 pixels) of your noodle dish, type in the recipe (if you have one, otherwise your ingredients and method would suffice if you're the guesstimate/agak-agak type) and write a post on why you cook up this noodle for this virtual party, if the noodle dish your favourite; if yes, tell us why and how you came across this noodle dish. Well, if you can write your entry in BM, it's all the better but I don't think I can round them up in BM cos I have left school aeons ago and it's very rusty hahaha...

Post it up in your blog by 29th August 2008 but of course if you can do it earlier, it’s all the better to ease me in rounding up on 31st August. Those who doesn’t own a blog but wish to participate, kindly do your write up and send it together with the picture to me. I’ll post it up for you.

As long as you’re a Malaysian, you can participate no matter where you’re located. Do note that you must be sensitive to our multi-racial and multi-religion society, hence you'll have to be wise in using certain ingredients that are sensitive to certain religion (ie. dish must be halal and try not to serve beef to our Hindu friends as well).

All entries must reach me by 29th August 2008, midnight Malaysian time at babe_kl(@)yahoo(dot)com. Our virtual party will be on 31st August 2008. In your email, please state the following details:

Name or nick
Location
Permalink/URL of your post
Name of the dish

Looking forward to your entries and happy noodling!


Technorati Tags: Merdeka Open House 2008

Durian Cream Puffs

I've some remainder durian pulp from the Tropical Durian Cake, so I decided to make some choux pastry to turn them into Durian Cream Puffs. The texture of my previous attempted recipe wasn't fluffy and crispy, I went thru my books and found Donna Hay's Profiteroles recipe. I decided to use her recipe since most of her recipes have never failed me.

The pastry did came out nice and crispy. I halved them before placing the durian pulp as filling. I was too lazy to whip up any cream to be mixed with the durian. It turned out lovely but D24 or better quality durian would have otherwise made them perfect! BTW, there is an abundance of durians now and I've heard the prices for D24 and the good quality ones have dropped. Time for more durian?

Profiteroles

1 cup water
100g butter, chopped
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
4 eggs
melted dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Place water and butter in a saucepan over low heat and cook till butter is melted and mixture started to simmer. Add flour and beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Cook, stirring, over low heat until mixture leaves the side of the pan. Remove from heat and gradually beat in eggs. (You'll noticed your mixture looked shiny).

2. Place mixture into a piping bag. Pipe or drop 3 tsp of the mixture onto baking trays lined with non-stick paper. (I've dropped in 1 heap tsp and the puff expanded to about 2 inches in diameter after baking).

3. Bake for 30 mins or until golden brown. Turn off the oven, keep the door slightly open using a wooden spoon and leave the profiteroles in the oven for 15 mins or until hollow-sounding when tapped. Cool on wire racks.

4. Place a creamy filling of your choice, such as whipped cream, creme patissiere or chocolate mousse in a piping bag. Push the nozzle thru the base of the profiteroles and squeeze in enough mixture to fill it up.

5. To finish, dip the top of the profiterole in melted chocolate or hot toffee and allow to set. Makes 30.

Ref: Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2, pg 46

If I've tantalised you and you need a quick fix of these Durian Cream Puffs, head on to Happy Meal...


Technorati Tags: durian + cream puff