Festive Raya Recipe Courtesy of Makan Kitchen: Nasi Briyani Kambing

We're done with the 6 recipes from Bazaar Ramadhan and let's continue with the rest that are usually served on Raya Open House itself. I think this Nasi Briyani Kambing is a great dish for that as one does not want to sweat out on the festive day itself. So this one pot wonder briyani is the way to go.

Nasi Briyani Kambing

Resipi oleh Chef Zul, Malay Sous Chef, 

Makan Kitchen, DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Ramuan dan bahan-bahan:
50ml Minyak Sapi
50ml Minyak Masak
300gm Daging Kambing
1kg Beras Basmathi - direndam dalam air 

10gm Jintan Putih
5nos Daun Bay
5gm Bunga Lawang
5gm Buah Pelaga – Hijau
5nos Buah Pelaga – Hitam
5gm Kulit Kayu Manis 

200gm Bawang
5gm Cili Hijau
10gm Tomato
15gm Bawang Putih – dikisar
10gm Halia - dikisar
15gm Serbuk cili
10gm Serbuk kunyit
5gm Garam Masala
100gm Daun Pudina – dikisar 

2 liter Air
secukup rasa Gula & Garam
10gm Bawang Goreng

Cara-cara memasak:

Panaskan minyak dan minyak sapi ke dalam periuk yang besar. Masukkan rempah (jintan putih, bunga lawang, buah pelaga hijau, buah pelaga hitam dan kulit kayu manis ) dan daun bay. Tumis bahan-bahan tersebut dan masukkan bawang, cili, bawang putih dan halia yang dikisar, kacau sehingga sebati.

Masukkan serbuk kunyit dan serbuk cili, kacau and tunggu sehingga minyak timbul. Masukkan tomato, daun pudina yang dikisar dan daging. Masak selama 10 minit dan masukkan garam masala. Masukkan garam dan gula secukup rasa.

Tapiskan beras yang direndam tadi dan masukkan ke dalam kuali, kacaukan. Tuang air sehingga sama rata dengan beras tadi. Kemudian tutup kuali dengan kertas aluminum dan masak selama 10 minit. Kurangkan api dan masak selama 5 minit. Tutup api setelah nasi sudah masak.

Akhir sekali taburkan bawang goreng sebelum dihidang.

Vegetarian Thursday: Stir-Fried Celery and Tofu

If you have been following my blog, you must have seen countless stir-fries with tofu hehehe yup cos it's the easiest and it's very versatile. I usually just see what I have in my fridge to be incorporated with firm white tofu (taufu korn in Cantonese) which can be kept  for about 3 days in a container soaked in salted water with a daily change of salted water.

This time round, I have celery and some leftover carrots so this is it... very easy peasy but I've taken great pain to weigh out the ingredients haha.

Stir-Fried Celery and Tofu

2 pieces firm tofu
3 ribs (about 250g) celery
50g carrots
80g oyster mushroom
1 clove garlic, slice thinly

Salt, to taste
A dash of white ground pepper
2 tsp water
2 tsp Chinese cooking wine, Hsiao Tsing (optional)

To prepare the celery, use a peeler to remove the fibrous bit. Then slice them thinly diagonally. I would also use the leafy tops as they can be eaten, why waste? As for the carrot, remove the skin. Sliced into half. Then slice thinly diagonally.

For the tofu, slice horizontally once so you'll get 2 pieces of tofu. Then slice into 4 squares. So each tofu, you'll get 8 pieces of squares. Dab the moist tofu with paper towel to dry them up. In a non-stick pan, add a little oil and pan fry the tofu pieces into light golden brown. Dish up and set aside.

Add a little more oil in the same pan but if your non-stick pan is small, do change into a wok or larger pan for stir-frying. Fry the mushrooms till they're caramalised, otherwise I find the mushroom emit a kind of weird smell. Dish up and set aside together with the tofu.

Add a little oil in the same pan. Put in the garlic and saute till light brown. Quickly add in the celery and carrot slices. Keep stirring. Drizzle in the water and let them cook for about 2 minutes. Return the tofu and mushrooms to the pan. Stir to mix them up well but be gentle. Season with salt and white pepper.

Lastly, drizzle in the Chinese cooking wine and stir for another 2 minutes. Dish up and serve with rice.

Check out my other similar tofu stir-fries:
Stir Fry Tofu and French Beans

Stir-Fried Tofu, Zucchini and Mushroom

Mixed Vegetables and Tofu Stir Fry

Stir Fry Tofu and Mushrooms

Stir-Fried Preserved Radish with Tofu and Vegetables

Announcing 7th Merdeka Open House 2012 Theme

Sorry guys, I know a little late... in conjunction with 55th Independence in Malaysia, yes, we shall honour it with true Malaysian style... open house... albeit a virtual one :p

I've gone through my previous posts on Merdeka Open House and there was one suggestion in a poll that caught my eyes. I gave it some thought and well why not??? Since there's always "fights" with our neighbouring countries about the origin of the food... so let's get on with it and lay claims to those food that we know where it originated. Well we can't claim it to be Malaysian 100% as ingredients used are very similar, not helping when we have migrants all over Asia centuries ago either but at least shall we identify that they're uniquely Malaysian? Yes that's it.... the theme is Uniquely Malaysia!!!

Do give the theme a thought of something that is very unique in Malaysia that you know that is only available in our country. Off hands I could think of a few items already such as Char Koay Teow, Hokkien Mee (both Penang and blackened fried ones), Gerang Asam, all the delish laksas from various states (omgs yummy), kek lapis Sarawak, Teluk Intan chee cheung fun, akok, satar, cendol??? Initially I did have my doubts but as I typed in the examples... they just came rolling!

We would love to have the dish introduced and why is it so uniquely Malaysian. You will have to post up the recipe to share with the rest of the world and of course photo is a must. So remember, it's not just recipes and photo but also some words about the dish and how it relates to you.

All Malaysians, local and abroad, are eligible to participate. Spouses married to Malaysians are encouraged too submit their entries too ;-)

What you need to do:

1. For this theme, you will need to cook a local dish uniquely found in Malaysia. We would love you to introduce the unique dish to the world by telling us about the dish, and how the dish relates to you. We do not just want recipes and photos BUT would love to hear a beautiful story.
   
2. Take a picture of your dish, type in your write-up and the recipe (if you have one, otherwise your ingredients and method would suffice if you're the guesstimate/agak-agak type). Do stick to traditional recipe without any shortcuts or replacement of ingredients to make it modern or fusion but it is all right for overseas participants due to limited ingredients. This open house is something for us to cherish our wonderful roots and we hope we could preserve the recipes that our ancestors have hand down.
   
3. Post it up in your blog between 20th - 28th August 2012 to ease me in rounding up by 31st August.
   
4. All entries must reach me by 28th August 2012, midnight Malaysian time at babe_kl(@)yahoo(dot)com. Our virtual party will be on 31st August 2012. In your email, attach a picture of your dish (minimum 500x375 pixels) and please state the following details:
   
   Name or nick
   Location
   Permalink/URL of your post
   Name of the dish

If you do not 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.

I can't wait for your submissions and participation. Anyway, please help to spread the word around so that we have more Malaysians taking part in this event. Thank you :D

A recap of our previous years' themes:

2006 - Malaysians Recipe Long Forgotten

2007 - Muhibbah

2008 - Mee and My Malaysia

2009 - My Sweet Malaysia

2010 - Food From Our Hearts

2011 - Makan Through Malaysia

Bazaar Ramadhan Recipe Courtesy of Makan Kitchen: Kari Kepala Ikan

Next up is a recipe by Chef Fazli - Kari Kepala Ikan (Curry Fish Head). For Westerners, it's always very intimidating when they see a whole fish head sitting on the serving platter or at times claypot! Kekeke at my former company we used to bring our foreign vendors for Curry Fish Head, just to see their reaction especially being face to face with the whole fish head (with eyes intact) staring back at them.

One of my fave place for a mean curry fish head is Restaurant Ahamed Curry Fish Head which is also known as Stadium Curry Fish Head as it was originally situated in Stadium Merdeka. They have moved to Jalan Lumut area now.

Kari Kepala Ikan
Resipi oleh Chef Fazli, Executive Junior Sous Chef, 

Makan Kitchen, DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Ramuan dan bahan-bahan:
100ml Minyak Masak
1kg Kepala ikan (dipotong dan di bersihkan)
5gm Halba Biji
5gm Biji Sawi
5gm Daun kari
5gm Cili Kering
300gm Bawang (di hiris harus)
10gm Cili Hijau (di hiris halus)

Bahan bahan dikisar:
15gm Bawang Putih – dikisar
15gm Halia - dikisar

10gm Tomato
30gm Serbuk Kunyit
20gm Serbuk ketumbar
20ml Air
150ml Santan 

5ml Minyak Kelapa
10gm Daun Ketumbar
Garam & Gula, secukup rasa   

Cara-cara memasak :-

Panaskan minyak ke dalam periuk yang besar. Masukkan rempah (biji halba dan biji sawi) cili kering dan daun kari. Tumiskan.

Masukkan bawang, cili hijau, bawang putih dan halia yang dikisar. Kemudian masukkan tomato. Masukkan serbuk kunyit dan serbuk ketumbar. Tumiskan sehingga minyak pecah.

Tuangkan air and kacau. Setelah kari mendidih tuangkan santan dan kacau. Selepas 30 saat masukkan kepala ikan dan masak selama 10 minit. Setelah itu, renjiskan sedikit minyak kelapa ke dalam kari dan bubuh garam secukup rasa.

Akhir sekali setelah masak, hiaskan dengan daun ketumbar sebelum dihidang.

Bazaar Ramadhan Recipe Courtesy of Makan Kitchen: Bubur Lambuk

I have to say, Bubur Lambuk is a dish that is hard to forget its taste. I can still remember how fragrant the beef rice congee (porridge) was peppered with rich spices such as corriander, cinnamon, cardamon, star anise and cloves. Simple ingredients but the combination of them is so flavourful!

I had my first taste of Bubur Lambuk during the month of Ramadhan some years back. One of my Muslim colleague queued for the famous Bubur Lambuk distributed by Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru. Back then, the Bubur Lambuk from this mosque has yet to gain it's royal status (by the late Sultan Salahuddin of Selangor) but we knew it was already famous when my Muslim colleagues were raving about it. My colleague brought back a few packets and generously shared with us. Even though I had very little of it as it was meant to for a taste amongst the non-Muslims but the flavours were etched in my memory. We have tasted it at Tupai Tupai Restaurant and Cafe but it just wasn't the same.

Since now that I have the recipe by Chef Fazli of Makan Kitchen, I can't wait to give this recipe a go!

Bubur Lambuk Ayam

Resipi oleh Chef Fazli, Executive Junior Sous Chef, 

Makan Kitchen, DoubleTree by Hilton KL  

Ramuan dan bahan-bahan:
100gm Beras (dibasuh bersih)
300gm Isi daging ayam (diricik halus)
30gm Bawang merah (dihiris halus)
20gm Bawang putih (dihiris halus)
15gm Halia muda (dihiris halus)
20gm Serai (dititik)
Sehelai Daun pandan (optional)
10gm Bunga lawang
10gm Kulit kayu manis
10gm Buah pelaga
10gm Cengkih
10gm Ketumbar
40gm Minyak sapi
20ml Minyak masak
1500ml Air
50ml Santan putih

Rencah dan perasa (Secukup rasa):
Garam halus
Secukup rasa Lada sulah
Serbuk perasa (Optional)
Secukup rasa Gula kabung (Optional)

Hirisan dan hiasan:
20gm Bawang goreng
15gm Daun sup (dimayang halus)
15gm Daun bawang (dimayang halus)
10gm Cili merah (dimayang halus)

Cara cara memasak :-

Panaskan minyak masak dan minyak sapi sehingga sederhana panas. Tumiskan bawang putih, bawang besar, halia, bunga lawang, kulit kayu manis, buah pelaga, cengkih dan ketumbar sehingga naik aroma dan baunya.

Masukkan beras beserta air kedalam periuk, biarkannya mendidih seketika dan renih sehingga menjadi bubur. Senentiasa kacau supaya tidak berkerak.

Masukkan ayam yang telag diricih halus dan masak sehingga daging menjadi empuk. Tuang santan kedalam bubur dan bahan perasa, kacau perlahan – lahan supaya santan tidak pecah minyak.

Apabila semua ramuan tadi telah sebati, bolehlah dihidangkan kedalam mangkuh dna ditaburkan kesemua bahan hirisan di atas bubur.

Vegetarian Thursday: Tofu With Mushrooms

We're observing vegetarian once a week and Thursday is the day. So I'll see if on the days I'm around to cook I can jot down what I've cooked to share out here. We're not on strict vegetarian basis, just basically no meat, that's it! So if you're not taking garlic and onion, by all means omit them.

I've made this tofu dish when BoiBoi was around as he loves eating tofu. He would be happy with just lightly steamed soft tofu drizzled with shallots oil and dark soy sauce. So this time round, to add more zest to the usual minced meat topping, I've made a medley of mushrooms topping. Easy peasy by just gathering all sorts of fresh mushrooms of your choice and stir fry them with some sauces. Serve by placing the mushrooms on top of steamed tofu... tadaaaa... yes it was just that simple.

Tofu With Mushrooms
(Serves 4 - 6)

Combination of fresh mushrooms:
60g enoki mushroom
60g shiitake mushroom
90g oyster mushroom

2 blocks Japanese silken tofu
3 cloves garlic, sliced/chopped
2 stalks spring onions, sliced into 4 cm length
2 Tbsp oil

Sauce (mix together):
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
Dash of ground white pepper
1 tsp corn flour (optional for a lightly thickened sauce, I did not use this as I prefer no starch in my sauces but it will look nice on the dish when served)

1 - 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (Hsiao Tsing), optional

Heat a pan and add in the oil. Stir in all the mushrooms. Let the mushrooms sit a while in the pan so that they'll caramalised before stirring. Once they're browned thoroughly, add in the garlic and stir. As the garlic turned fragrant, stir the sauce ingredients before pouring into the pan.

Let it come to a boil, taste and adjust accordingly as my tasted is more on the low salt side :p

Add in the spring onions and Chinese cooking wine. Turn off the fire. Pour on top of lightly steamed tofu (you can do this in the microwave if you do not have a steamer. Sometimes I just place the tofu on a heatproof plate and put on top of the cooked rice in the rice cooker under keep warm mode.). Serve hot with rice.

Babe in the City - KL Turned 8

Hohoho Babe in the City - KL turned 8 on 23 July 2012 and I've missed it totally for once! So embarrassing ;-(

Lots of things happened over the past one year, seems like blogging activities have slowed down but not the eating though. I've cooked quite a fair bit and even start to measure the ingredients so that I can share my recipes out but it's a slowwww process as most times I tend to forget about it and missed out in the middle while I pour in sauces into my dish lol. I'm so sorry about that hence that's why it takes some time. I'm totally not diligent enough and dedicated on this, my bad!!!

I've also been questioning myself... is food blogging a fad and had seen it's days? What do you think? Strangely my stats are telling me otherwise. Even though I've slowed down but not my hits o.O it went upwards instead, very mind boggling I tell ya!

I know quite a number of bloggers had "fly" and earn handsome money by just blogging. I was asked by Fay Khoo (yes THE Fay Khoo!) about making money in blogging... yes one can but as for me, it just doesn't work as for one I may not be true to myself. I do not like to fabricate my words just because I'm paid or fed by advertisers/PR agencies/restaurants etc AND for the record, I've not received any payment for reviews.

Free invites, yes I have some but if you've noticed, I've not had much invited reviews of late, well one was because they tend to clash with my work days. You see, I do not hold a 9-5 desk job. I'm part timing and my working hours varies from early morning till afternoon or from afternoon to evening depending on the timing of the classes/events. If I'm special projects, then I may be standing on my feet for 10 hours straight in the kitchen to make things right for clients. So if you've been sending me invites and I've been turning them down one after another, I'm sooo sooo sorry.

The other thing was, Capt'n Hook and I are not very fond of invited reviews being that hmmrrpphhh how to say arhhh... when you're on an invited review, the chefs knew you're there to give them publicity, hence the food tend to taste good and look good plus the service staff and manager will give you their 100% attention. When we return subsequently, then we'll see the differences (yes most times they don't recognise us hehe). It's not only based on our own experience and observation but we do get feedbacks and they really made us look bad, don't you think?

On Fay Khoo, I was "interviewed" for her new radio show on food coming up in September but the date is not firmed yet, so I'll let you guys know once she inform me. Wait wait, don't congrats first hahaha cos I don't think I'm the only food blogger got interviewed but quite a number if not mistaken. So let's stay tune ok.

I may step on some toes in this interview but seriously being the pioneer in food blogging in Malaysia, I guess my 8 years worth of experience does hold it's 2 cents worth. If one want to food blog, then there's the due price to pay. It's not as easy as visiting a restaurant, take some pictures of food, and post them up. Care and responsibility have to be taken.

Whoa enough ranting and what's next... it's August already which means I ought to kick my arse to start off our Merdeka Open House!!! Let me give it a thought and set up this year's theme. I can't wait to get it rolling!

So for the past one year, thank you so much for your support, taking time to read my posts and commenting on them. We really appreciate all that.

May Babe in the City - KL serves more delicious post in the upcoming year ;-)

Thank you once again!