Negitoro Don

One of my all-time favourite Japanese foods is negitoro, the combination of raw fatty tuna (maguro) with spring onion served in maki (sushi rice roll), temaki (hand roll) or don (rice bowl). Of course, sushi-grade tuna is quite hard to come by in Malaysia, much less the fatty maguro belly. So I jumped at the chance when I came across some frozen tuna at the supermarket the other day. Here's my take on negitoro don:

*This recipe calls for and serves RAW seafood. Make sure you have a reliable source of seafood and use appropriate hygiene protocols!

Negitoro don (Minced tuna and spring onions on rice)
Serves 1

100-150g sushi grade tuna (maguro) or fatty tuna belly (maguro toro)
1 spring onion, minced
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 bowl of cooked rice - preferably a short grained white rice

1. Mix all the liquid ingredients together with the sugar in a large bowl

2. Mince tuna using a chopper. Mix tuna mince with seasoning sauce

3. Mix in minced spring onions

4. Top negitoro over bowl of rice, ensuring even coverage. Serve and enjoy with some miso soup!

Cost breakdown
Cost per serving: RM6 approx
Tuna cost me RM10 for a 250g block

Sweet Couscous

This recipe is unique in the sense that it is sweet and can be eaten as a meal or dessert.

Either way, it is extremely appealing for sweet tooths and cashew lovers; very filling and comforting on a cold winter night.

Sweet Couscous

250g couscous
150g sultanas
150g cashew nuts
50g butter
120ml honey
600ml boiling water
2 oranges (peeled) - optional

1. Place couscous and sultanas in a large, heat-proof bowl and pour boiling water. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes until liquid is absorbed and sultanas are plump. Use a fork to separate the grains.

2. Heat a frypan, throw in cashews and stir quickly until roasted. Set aside.

3. Melt butter in a pan. Add couscous mixture and honey. Cook stirring well until heated through.

4. Serve pipping hot with pieces of oranges and roasted cashews.

Tofu Don

A recipe dedicated to my love affair with tofu!

You can use silken tofu in this recipe, that is if you have a deep fryer. I found out that no matter how long you wrap your silken tofu in bundles of paper towels, it's really hard to dry out.

But if you're okay with facial injuries, then go for it!

If not, use the safer option: Firm tofu.

* Many thanks and love to Andi who created this recipe!

Tofu Don

320g firm tofu (cubed)
2 brown onions (sliced thinly)
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons soy sauce (preferably Kikoman)
3 to 4 eggs

1. Deep fry tofu cubes and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Pour the mirin, sugar and soy sauce into a bowl and mix until most of the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

3. Fry onions until fragrant and soft. Add tofu and half the liquid mixture.

4. Crack the eggs on to the tofu and mix quickly. When the egg is cooked, throw in the remaining mixture.

5. Serve with hot, steamed rice.

Voila!

Fragrant Garlic & Chicken Rice

Another favorite from home!



Fragrant Garlic & Chicken Rice

(Makes 3 cups of rice)

2 cloves garlic chopped finely
3 lap cheong (Chinese sausage) sliced
3 cups cooked rice
8 or more chicken wings (chopped into smaller pieces if you like)
Minced ginger
Dark soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Salt

1. Marinade chicken wings in soy sauce and peppper.

2. Fry garlic until golden brown. Set aside.

3. Fry lap cheong, add a teaspoon of minced ginger then set aside.

4. Remove chicken wings from marinade and fry until brown. Make sure you fry the wings on a medium to low fire to avoid burning the wings. Add some dark sauce for colour and a dash of oyster sauce.

5. When chicken is cooked and fragrant, add cooked rice to the chicken. Pour in garlic and lap cheong and mix well until fragrant. The trick to this dish is to flatten the rice, allow it to burn a bit, stir, then flatten again. It'll make your rice crispy.

6. Season to taste with soy sauce. Voila!

Nasi Paprik

Here in the northern part of Malaysia, where I'm closer to the Thai border one begins to see a closer melding of culinary influences between these two countries. Nasi Paprik (or Phadprik or phad prik or without the 'h') as it is sometimes spelled is typical of this kind of culinary hybrid Consisting of chicken or beef stir-fried with vegetables in a savoury and slightly-sweet sauce. I'm not sure where the name comes from: nasi is Malay for rice and I'd always thought paprik referred to the green or red peppers in the dish. Phadprik sounds more Thai, of course, and there is a side dish called pad prik, which is a beef and veggie stir fry. So that sounds about right, no?

When I was first introduced to this dish (ironically, in Singapore) it was the beef version, but chicken and tofu are both worthy substitutes. In any case, the dish is suprisingly simple prepare. For veggies, the lemongrass and capsicum are NOT optional, ie they're mandatory. The rest is up to you, though I'd recommend using at least three different greens for colour and flavour.


Nasi Paprik, aka Nasi Phad Prik or Nasi Phadprik (4 serves)

2 chicken breasts, sliced thin in 1-inch chunks
Vegetation - cut in 1 inch chunks
One stalk of lemongrass, white parts only
One capsicum
(other veggies optional, use at least 3. I used these:)
2 cloves garlic, whole
Small onion
Baby corn
Broccoli
Large red chillis
Carrot
(these are also great)
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Lime leaves

Sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp kicap manis (Sweet black sauce)
Sugar
Pepper
Water or stock
Oil

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the wok in medium low heat and toss garlic for a couple of minutes to absorb flavour

2. Remove garlic, turn up heat to high and brown chicken until not visibly raw. Remove from wok and set aside.

3. Replenish oil if necessary and add vegetables, starting with the harder ones (Like carrots) and ending with onions. Reintroduce the chicken and stir well.

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and make space for sauce. Start with oyster sauce, kichap manis, 3 tbsp water/stock and 2 tsp sugar. Combine thoroughly before integrating with rest of the meat and veggies.

5. Add sugar and pepper to taste; serve with white rice.

Tags: Nasi Paprik

Today's lunchbox: Thai Fish cakes and a quick pilaf

First post for the new year! In today's lunchbox I made a quick pilaf (flavoured rice) and a thai-inspired fish cake.



Thai Fish Cakes
1 kg white fish fillets, minced
3 tbsp Curry paste (store bought or home-made, it doesn't matter!)
1 lemongrass, (flesh only, minced)
1 bunch of coriander, chopped
1 egg
Oil for frying

1. Mix everything except the egg and oil together in a bowl and leave in the fridge to marinade for at least two hours.
2. Crack in the egg and mix well. Form patties or cakes from the paste.
3. Fry fish cakes under 1 cm of oil with medium-low heat, approximately 2-3 min on each side (depending on thickness of patty). Drain well. Makes 6 burger-pattie sized fish cakes

Cost per serving: $1.80 for two patties
Breakdown:
1 kg fish: $3.40 for a pack of frozen fish fillets
Curry paste: $1.50 (that's ready made. Cheaper if you make your own curry paste!)
Coriander: $0.40 a bunch
Egg: $0.20

Quick Pilaf
1 cup of rice (long grained, preferably)
1 cup of water
1 cup of diluted chicken stock
Chopped onions and tomatoes
Dash of olive oil (or any other flavoured oil)

1. Mix everything into a pot and cook under low heat for 15-20 min. Fluff before serving. Serves 2-3.

Tags: Thai fish cakes, Quick pilaf, rice, budget recipe, Fish recipe

One-pot Briyani

I know I've blogged about Briyani before, but it never hurts to revisit an oldie-but-goodie. This isn't a cheaters, budget version, but something a little more authentic to the Dum Briyani, which means the meat and rice are cooked together in the same pot. Besides the usual range of spices, you'll also need a slice of papaya for the marinade. I read somewhere that the compounds in papaya serves as a natural meat tenderiser and so would be great for tough meats like mutton and beef as well. Notice there's no tumeric in this recipe too - the nice brown colour is caused by the brown onions.

Ingredients
4 large onions, thinly sliced
3 chicken drumsticks
1 cup of long-grained rice (basmati recommended)
1 slice of papaya, mashed
2 red chillis, chopped
1 stick of cinnamom
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp fennel

1. Marinade the chicken with the mixture of papaya and chilli for at least an hour
2. Brown the onions in a pot with a little salt, until soft. Remove most of the onions but reserve a layer to coat the bottom of the pot.
3. Pour a third of the uncooked rice over the onions, followed by the marinaded chicken, another layer of rice, and then alternate rice and onions.
4. Pour one and 3/4 cups of water, ensuring all the rice grains are submerged underwater.
5. Cover and cook in low heat for 20 min or until the rice is cooked. Serves 3.

Cost Per Serving: $2.30
Breakdown:
Chicken: $3 for three pieces
Spices: $0.50 (averaged)
Rice: $1 for a cup (basmati)
Papaya: $0.70
Onions: $1.50

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi is a pickled vegetable salad unique to and ubiquitous in Korea. The stuff is obviously salty, and generally spicy and usually served cold. A bottle of kimchi can be a little pricey, but it goes a long way because it can last a while in the fridge. It makes a great addition to the fridge as instant food, because it can be eaten with just about anything. Late night snack? Enliven your instant noodles with a side of kimchi! =D

I was walking through a food court yesterday when I saw a menu offering kimchi fried rice. Having some kimchi stored in my fridge, here's my version of the dish. You can use any meat you like, although I imagine the white meats go better with this dish than the red ones. And char siew (Chinese barbecued roast pork) might also not go well with the dish as the sweetness of the char siew will interfere with the kimchi.


Noel's Kimchi Fried Rice
(serves 2-3)

2 cups of cooked rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tomato, chopped
1 spring onion, chopped
Cooked meat: for this dish I had sliced chicken breast and roast pork.
2 servings of kimchi - bear in mind that it should be 1/3 a regular serve of vegetables because of the salt.
1 tbsp of kimchi "juice" (the liquid that is left from the kimchi)

1. Fry egg on wok. Bunch on side of wok while adding rice to heat.
2. Mix cooked scrambled egg with heated rice, add spring onions and tomatoes, followed by meat.
3. Turn off heat. Add kimchi and kimchi juice last, stir in warm wok (without the fire on). Serve.

Tags: kimchi fried rice budget recipe

Spiced Indian Rice with Curry Chicken

Yes, yes...It's been a long time. So long that I actually forgot my username and password!

But it's back to business from now on. I've definitely expanded my menu now that I've become an actual uni student again.

Before I start, I apologise beforehand for all the photos that I'll post here. I think I'm the only person who still believes in film cameras and the only modern camera I have is my crappy 1.3 megapixels phone camera.

But who cares about pictures? We need to eat!

* note: I haven't put in exact measurements for how much rice or chicken to use. It really depends on how many people you're serving. Just adjust accordingly. *

Spiced Indian Rice

Basmati rice
1 red onion (huge if possible) - diced
A tiny bit of minced ginger
1 carrot - grated
Butter
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 cloves
1 teaspoon tumeric powder (a.k.a kunyit)
Sultanas

1. Wash the Basmati rice and drain off the water. Set aside.

2. Heat about 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a wok/frying pan, throw in the cinnamon, cloves and onion. Fry until onions are soft and fragrant but not brown.

3. Pour in the rice and carrot. Stir fry for a bit. Then add in the tumeric powder and mix well. The rice will turn yellow. Add a bit of salt.

4. Transfer the rice into a rice cooker. Flatten the rice so it sits in nicely then pour in some water. Just enough water so that there's a thin layer of water above the rice.

5. Leave the rice to cook. Once the rice is done, mix in sultanas.

6. Voila!

Curry Chicken

Chicken breast or drumstick (depends what you prefer)
1 red onion (huge if possible) - diced
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 cloves
A bit of curry leaves
1-2 teaspoons of tumeric powder (just enough to marinate chicken)
2 tablespoons dry curry powder
2 tomatoes - wedges
2 potatoes - wedges
1 zucchini - sliced
2 tablespoons santan powder mixed with water or coconut milk

1. Wash chicken, pat dry and rub chicken with tumeric powder and salt. Set aside.

2. Heat oil, throw in cinnamon stick, cloves and onions. Fry until onions are soft and fragrant but not brown.

3. Add in chicken and stir fry. Add curry powder and continue to stir fry. If chicken starts to stick to the wok, add in tomatoes or a bit of water. Throw in curry leaves.

4. Add in potatoes, zuchinni and some water. How much water depends on how much gravy you want.

5. Turn the heat down to medium and wait until the potatoes are cooked and soft.

6. When the chicken and potatoes are done, stir in santan. Add in more santan if you want your curry to be thicker.

7. Add salt to taste and serve with spiced rice.

8. Voila!

Tags: indian spiced rice curry curry budget recipe

Black olives fried rice & Baked basil eggplant in less than 30 mins

**Ready to eat in less than 30 mins!**

Black olives fried brown rice

ingredients:

2 T black olives paste (bought from oriental market...usually eaten in plain jook as its salty)

OR 15 black olives (chop it and seasonings will need to be increased)

3 cloves garlic

3 cups cooked long grain brown rice*

2 eggs

1/2 large red onion

3 stems green onions, chopped.

seasonings: pepper, soy sauce, mushroom seasoning, salt

Directions:

1. Peel onions and garlic and fry in an oiled pan. Add cooked rice.* Remove from pan.

2. Beat egg and add pepper, soy sauce and mushroom seasoning.

3. When the egg is almost cooked, stir in the cooked rice. Add in preserved olives and mix well!

*Note: **If over night rice is too dry, add water while cooking.

**Overnight rice cooks better

**I allowed the rice to be a little "burnt" on the pan; just like bibimbup on stonebowl

~~~::~~:::~~~::~~~
Baked basil eggplant.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplant, bunch of FRESH basil leaves, 4 cloves chopped garlic, 2T sesame oil, 5T vegetable oil, 2t soy sauce, 3t onion powder, 2 T spicy eggplant seasoning, pepper, salt, sugar.

Directions:

1. Slice eggplant 1/4" thick. Place it into a bowl and add in all the ingredients above. Place it on a tray and bake at 500F for 20 minutes to get ~~ fragrant and tasty eggplant! *_*

~~~::~~~:::~~::~~~

Note: the seasoning noted here is the approximate amount used. Be adventurous and substituted with what you have and like when cooking!
*that's why i love chinese cooking...feel so free~ & easy~!*

Tags: olive fried rice basil eggplant budget recipe

Fried rice for lazy days

Jacklyn, a reader of this blog, emailed us to share her recipe. Many thanks, Jacklyn!

Fried rice for lazy days

To serve 2-3,you need:
a. 2/3 - 1 full cup of rice -remember to cook rice first!
b. 2-3 eggs -beat and add a little pepper
c. half a can of luncheon meat
d. some cabbage-optional or any other vegetable
e. mixed vegetables-portion up to you
f. and this is the most important secret ingredient! one can of...Spicy Pork Cubes.


Just fry the items in this order:
Heat a little oil in the pan.
a. cabbage/vegetable
b. eggs
c. luncheon meat
d. mixed vegetables
e. Spicy Pork Cubes
f. rice

Toss and fry till rice has been evenly cooked. And Serve!

Tags: fried rice budget recipe

salted fish and prawn fried rice

got leftover rice ? don't know what to do with it leh ? this recipe is for you .

following the aftermath of C.O.S.D.U's post-welcome mass home-cooked food fest , the leftover rice was donated to me and jon . after having aged it overnight , i set out to fry it ala chinese-y style .

what do you need ar?

i don't have a scale at home , but i measured the cooked rice and it amounted to 6 cups (250ml) .
150 grams of salted fish .
350 grams of prawns (peeled) .
4 stalks of spring onion (chopped) .
8 tablespoons oil .
2 tablespoons sesame oil .
5 eggs (beat) .

2 tablespoons chicken stock .
3 tablespoons soy sauce .
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar .
2 tablespoons salt .
5 tablespoons white pepper .

how liao ?

heat the oil and fry the salted fish until nicely crispy golden . set the fried salted fish aside but leave the oil in the wok / pan hor (don't wanna lose all that flavour) . add the sesame oil now and cook the prawns in this oil mixture . after making sure the prawns are cooked , add the rice and stir the mix together briskly . whilst stirring , add in the chicken stock , soy sauce , sugar , salt and pepper . next , make a well in the centre of the rice / prawn mix and pour the beat eggs into it . envelope the egg well with rice for a minute . then stir everything again to let everything meet each other . add the spring onions and stir once more for a couple of minutes . switch off the fire and mix in the salted fish again . always make sure everything's properly mixed hor . garnish with some more chopped spring onion and a small red chilli .

here's what half of the amount i cooked looks like in a bowl :



this amount should last three to four normal serves (but only serves two hungry guys) .


Tags: salted fish prawn fried rice budget recipe

budget briyani and butter chicken

i started this blog with an indian recipe, so it's quite apt that i start the first recipe post of the year with another indian recipe.

Budget briyani

1 cup rice (plain white or basmati preferred)
1 and 3/4 cup water
1 half onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
4 cloves
Black pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter

1. In a rice pot or rice cooker, soak the rice in the water.
2. Heat butter in pan, fry onions and shallots until fragrant. Add tomatoes and rest of the spices.
3. Pour the mixture into the rice pot, mix well before cooking rice.


Butter chicken

Cooked chicken pieces (leftover chicken will be ideal, if not roast raw chicken in oven for 25 minutes)
3/4 stick of butter
1/2 cup tomato paste
Half an onion, sliced
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp crushed black pepper
2 chillis, sliced

1. With a little butter, fry onions until fragrant.
2. Add tomato paste and fry a little to cook it. Add rest of the butter and spices and mix well.
3. Add chilli slices into the mix. If you're worried about spicyness, don't worry! It's not spicy at all, even with the seeds in. But they add a richer flavour into the sauce.
4. Finally, add the cooked chicken. Coat evenly with sauce and cook another five minutes.

Tags: briyani Indian flavoured rice butter chicken budget recipe

Cheater's Chicken Rice

Last night, before I slept, I found myself craving for chicken rice. So i told myself i would make some for lunch today. It's a cheater's version of chicken rice, meaning that this is the super-budget version of chicken rice: not full-on enough for the heavy preparation (making the chicken soup stock). The second reason it's a cheater's recipe is bacause it uses roast chicken rice recipe, and not the steamed chicken. But the best part is that it'seasy to prepare and it tastes like the real deal.

Cheater's Chicken Rice
(serves 2)

For the rice:
300 ml white uncooked rice
Chicken fat - skim some off chicken thighs and render them under heat
A few slices of ginger
450 ml Water (or chicken stock, if you have time to make the real deal)
1 tsp salt

For the chicken:
Supermarket ready-roasted chicken, enough portions for two people
1 tbsp light soy
1 tbsp sesame oil

1. Prep the rice! Heat the chicken fat (you want the oil) and fry the ginger slices until fragrant. Add uncooked rice and coat everything with the oil. Yes, it sounds disgusting, but this is what makes the chicken rice so tasty. Another reason why you shouldn't eat so much chicken rice back home!

2. Pop everything - rice, oil, ginger - into rice cooker and add water and salt. Stir well before cooking. The rice to water ratio should be 1:1.5. Cook in rice cooker (or, if you're like me, in the microwave).

3. Cut up chicken in portions, paying special attention to parts with skin. Skin is good! Helps soak up the seasoning and give taste. Also adds the fat content to this recipe, so again, don't be eating chicken rice night and day. Good parts for portions: the breasts and drumsticks. Thighs are a bit oily. Make sure you lay them out skin side up.

4. Heat up oven - 160 fan forced. We're not going to cook the chicken again, just heat it up and baste it. Mix the soy sauce and sesame oil and brush half the mixture over the chicken. Place basted chicken in the oven for a couple of minutes, and then baste with the remaining mixture. Place in oven again and switch off. Let heat keep the chicken warm while the rice finishes cooking.

5. Dish out rice and serve with chicken on top! Drizzle with soy sauce and sesame oil if desired, serve with sliced cucumber if you have it. Share with depressed housemate.

Tags: chicken rice cheat budget recipe

Humble Porridge

Towards the end of my period of no-moolahness , I had to settle for a bowl of humble porridge...didn't even have money to buy meat...so I cooked a bowl of something with what i had left around...so here we go:

What you need hor:
1 cup of rice (doesn't really matter what type of rice...its up to you how much you want to spend hor)
4 cups of chicken stock / water mixture
Some chopped cilantro a.k.a coriander
a touch of milk
Half an onion (chopped)
Some sliced ginger ( about 6 cm unchopped length)
2 tablespoons of oil (doesn't really matter what type...olive oil or vegetable oil preferred though)

and lots of sides...I was lucky enough to have a mum who smuggled pork floss for me to Melbourne...i hope no Customs officers are reading this...she packed some Malaysian style ikan bilis a.k.a anchovies too along with some acar (sourish thingies made with pickled vegetables seen as the greenish slimy stuff on the sort of upper left hand corner of the bowl of porridge in the picture...goes perfectly with keropok...which i don't have)

What you do leh?

Boil the chicken stock / coriander mixture , touch of milk and half the ginger (chooped) together in a pot because there's just a slightly reputable divine taste from this combination ya...Then after washing the rice till you happy with how clean it is , drop it all into the boiling mixture to let the rice expand and absorb the delicious broth by reducing the heat to a low one(don't use high heat lar...later the broth all evaporate too fast before can absorb)...Whilst waiting , fry the rest of the ginger in the oil in a saucepan to make ginger oil...after frying the ginger to a golden brown , remove the pieces and chuck them into the bin unless you can find something to do with it.Just as your stuff in the boiling pot begins to resemble porridge...which actually takes quite long so be patient , fry the chopped onions in the ginger oil . Then pour out the porridge into a bowl and top with the fried onions along with the other sides or serve these separately...of course...if u have meat...pop it in with the boiling mixture earlier in the form of meatballs...and there you have it...a humble bowl of porridge lar...enjoy hor but don't blame me if it doesn't reach your expectations...

Tags: porridge budget recipe