Chinese Vegetarian Curry

When I was a child, my mum would sometimes buy lunch back in a tiffin carrier. One of my favorites in the tiffin was vegetarian food and among the vast amount of vegetables and flour-based delights, there was always the vegetarian curry.

What I remember most about this curry was the vast amount of long beans and cabbage. And my god. The tau foo pok. Or tofu puffs. I believe that my unshakable love for tofu stemmed from this dish. The curry itself was thin and very drinkable. At the end of the meal, my face would be practically in the bowl.

Unlike Indian and Malay curries, this curry is very thin, light in taste and doesn't have as much fragrant spices as per normal. Nevertheless, like all curries, this dish keeps well in the fridge and tastes better as the days go by.

Chinese Vegetarian Curry

Spice paste:
1 teaspoon turmeric
5 red chillies
1 tablespoon chilli powder (Baba's brand if possible)
3 stalks lemongrass
2 tablespoons Baba's Fish Curry Powder

2-3 sprigs curry leaves
1 litre water
200ml coconut milk
long beans or french beans
half a head cabbage
1 packet tofu puffs (cut in half)
Salt and sugar to taste

1. Blend the spice paste ingredients in a blender. Add some water to form a paste.

2. Heat some oil in a wok or pot, pour in blended spice paste and curry leaves. Fry until fragrant.

3. Add water and coconut milk. Mix well and season to taste. Bring to boil.

4. Lower heat, throw in vegetables and simmer for 5-1o minutes. Check on seasoning regularly.

5. When vegetables soften, add in tofu puffs and boil for 5 minutes.

6. Voila! Serve with steamed rice.

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

Roti John

It's easy if you know how. Roti John is a colonial-era dish created by Malay/Indian food store owners catering to European tastes. Essentially, Roti John (so named because it was made using "European" bread, and all European white men inevitably were named "John") is a savoury French Toast. It's usually made using a baguette, but I find that sliced white bread also serves as well. You can make the meat mixture ahead of time and leave it in the fridge for up to a week; the egg can easily make 3-4 slices of roti john.

Roti John
The Dry Stuff:
1 pound of beef/mutton/chicken mince, browned with butter
1 small red onion, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
Dash of pepper

The Wet stuff:
1 egg


The Base:
Bread. A baguette sliced lengthwise, if you're a purist, otherwise, sliced white bread will work just as well.

1. Combine the dry stuff and scoop a tablespoon per serving onto a shallow dish. Cover the leftovers with cling wrap and leave in the fridge.
2. Mix beaten egg and dry stuff on a shallow dish. Place bread on top of mixture and press down to let bread absorb as much of the egg mixture as possible.
3. Head a flat pan with a little oil or butter. Place bread, wet side down for two minutes or until egg is cooked.
4. Repeat until you run out of egg mixture!

Tags: roti john bread fried savoury budget recipe

the fish dish that tastes like tom yum

awhile ago , i was having a guest over for dinner . at that time , i was informed that she only ate fish or chicken...not my specialties . anyway , i ended up steaming a fish with a bunch of ingredients . she commented that it tasted like light tom yum soup . there wasn't a proper list of ingredients when i first cooked it...it was a go-as-i-feel . and then she kept bugging me to make it again . as i recreated it , i realized surprisingly after some research , that the ingredients were similar to that in tom yum except i didn't add any tomatoes . i don't know how that came about , but hey...as long as it tastes good right ?

what you need leh ? (i cooked for four)

2 flake fillets (chopped into a total of six shorter pieces to fit in the pot)
2 cups chicken stock
2 small red chillies , chopped (bird's eye a.k.a. cili padi)
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk lemongrass , chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
handful of chopped coriander
ginger , sliced (about the size of a thumb)
3 pinches of ground black pepper

how to do leh ?

there's only one step to this one...simply mix everything into the pot and cook over low heat until the fish is done (which shouldn't take too long or your coriander turns into a color that just ruins your appetite)...or you can just fit everything in a bowl and steam it .

Tags: fish soup tom yum recipe

The Chicken that exploded my nose

I've been experimenting with wasabi powder of late, especially since I discovered wasabi peanuts as a snack. So for may packed lunch this week I decided to experiment a little bit more with all the hot stuff in the kitchen to create the Chicken That Exploded My Nose.


The Chicken That Exploded My Nose
Ingredients
Chicken breasts, cut in strips
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp wasabi powder
1 tsp chilli powder
Breadcrumbs

1. Create a marinade using the mustard, wasabi and chilli powder to marinade the chicken with. Leave in fridge for a couple of hours.
2. Coat strips with breadcrumbs and deep fry until golden brown.
3. ALTERNATIVELY, coat breadcrumbs, spray with oil and bake for 20 min.

The picture you see is the fried version. Unfortunately, it didn't explode my nose as expected and was VERY much less spicier than I intended it to be. So I decided to make a dipping sauce to go with it.

The Dipping Sauce for the Chicken That Exploded My Nose
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 tsp wasabi powder

1. Mix everything together. Use as condiment for the chicken and poultry.

Tags: chicken wasabi fried baked mustard dip recipe

Chicken Tikka

This is my version of the Indian tandoori dish, from scratch. Obviously, I don't have a large clay oven hanging at home, so one uses the conventional oven to bake and then broil this dish. Also, I used breast meat which is dryer, but makes it easier to cut into huge chunks. My favourite tandoor usually uses rolled up chicken thighs that are more juicier.

Noel's Chicken Tikka

Marinade:
1 small package of yoghurt
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp coriander, ground
3 tsp tumeric, ground
5 tsp chilli powder (or to your taste)
1 tsp black pepper, ground
1 tbsp sugar
juice of one lemon
1 one-inch piece of ginger, grated with juices

Chicken pieces, cut in 2" chunks
Aluminum Foil

1. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade together, reserve 1/3 for later. Marinade chicken in remaining 2/3 portion, in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Make a foil pouch and bake tikka in oven for 15 min.
3. Set oven to grill at 200 degrees. Remove pouch cover (we're going to put it back to the oven). Dip baked chicken in reserved marinade and grill on each side for 5 min. Serve with rice and curry! =D

Tags: chicken tikka tandoori filling budget recipe

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

Noel's Spiced Embutido

An embutido is, strictly speaking, a sausage (complete in its intestine-encased glory) - but in the Philippines it's become more like a steamed meatloaf. I adapted this recipe from a Filipino cookbook lying around the house. It's a little more spicier, but on hindsight it could also have been a little more sweeter by adding sultanas in the mix.


Noel's Spiced Embutido


1 cup of croutons
500g minced pork
2 hard boiled eggs
Milk
Pepper
Chili powder



1. Run the croutons through a blender until fine (breadcrumb) consistency. Pour enough milk to just cover the crouton-crumbs.

2. Mix pork, crumbs and spices together well. Split into two portions.

3. Spread each portion on a piece of aluminum foil. Lay sliced hard-boiled egg on each portion, the roll foil to form a meatloaf cylinder.

4. Steam for 20 min. Served warm or cold. =D

Tags: meatloaf pork embutido budget recipe

Sweet & Spicy Meat Balls

This is my housemate, Kevin's recipe. I usually never like meatballs but these are the only ones I'll touch.

Sweet & Spicy Meat Balls

500g beef sausage mince
Sultanas
Fresh Parsley
Chilli flakes

1. Empty the beef sausage mince in a large bowl.

2. Throw in a generous handful of sultanas, some fresh parsley and chilli flakes into the beef sausage mince (there are no exact measurements for this recipe: If you like sultanas, be generous; if you love chilli, go wild. Just estimate.).

3. This is the fun part: Start mixing everything up with your hands. Hands are the way to go. It's the best way to make sure everything's mixed in.

4. Create some rough-looking balls (no need for perfect rounds). Not too big, about half the size of a tablespoon. 500g of beef sausage mince should give you about 20 balls.

5. Heat a generous amount of oil in a frying pan.

6. Fry up meatballs until the inside is cooked. Set aside on paper towels.

7. Voila!

This is a perfect snack because you can keep it for a few days and you don't need to heat it up before eating.

Big yum. Seriously addictive.

* Courtesy from Kevin *


Tags: meatballs sweet spicy budget recipe

Spiced Steak

Wet-market butchers aren't all that known for custom cuts of meat - in my wet market, most of the butchers either sell pork or chicken. Only one stall sells the red meat, mutton and beef, so there wasn't a high chance of getting the "western" style cuts of meat like ribeye or tenderloin. But, I felt like a steak for lunch. So I went up to the Indian butcher and told him:

"I feel like a steak for lunch!"

He reached in his chilled meat compartment and took out a hunk of sirloin. "How thick do you want it?" I got a 3/4 inch piece of sirloin steak for $3. Seeing how I don't usually eat steak at home, I felt inspired to dress it up a little:

Noel's Spiced Steak

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp olive oil
A nice piece of steak

1. If you have the time (like I did), use whole cumin and coriander seeds, toast them lightly on a pan before grinding them into powder.
2. Form a paste using the cumin, coriander, chili powder and oil.
3. Marinade the steak, rubbing the spice paste of both sides of the steak before leaving in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour (I gave it two)
4. How to cook a perfect steak: On a medium heat, heat a little oil on a grill pan. Once hot, place steak on pan AND LEAVE ALONE FOR 4 min. Then flip over, for another four minutes. That's right. JUST FLIP ONCE. After that, move to a plate and cover with a pan cover, or something. For another FIVE minutes.
5. Serve with nasi padang, like I did. =D

Tags: spiced steakbudget recipe

Nak Ji bo Kum

"AhnYoOng-ha-sa-yoO"~ yes...my spoken Korean has been improving *proud grin*I took a brief break from cramming my lecture notes for a small dinner party last night. I put 3 willing+eager UNSW students to the true "Malaysian test" -- "How spicy do you like it?" Us Malaysian youngsters have a relationship with spicy food; from the usual spicy red chilies, curries, sambals and our favorite killer-hot birdseye chilies; but Koreans;......they take spicy to a whole different level.You can tell it's heaps of 'fun' when the tissue box is pulled out and the sound of giggles, sniffles and slurps fill the table. Suffering with joy...I would say. *laughs* I don't mean to torture my guests...but COme-On~ just look how much they're enjoying themselves! *grin* I didn't want to be the party-pooper holding back on the chilli powder. *wink*. Qimyi + the 2 housemates of very Indian roots (Pinky+ Amrit) were 'A-o-kay'. Pretty lil Amanda, "Viking" and I had a slight struggle with the sniffles...but I would do it all again just for another scoop of that fiery-hot broth. *MmmmMmm*...
I remember the question "What are we having?" being continuously repeated through the evening. I was consistently replying; "Nak ji Bo Kum" but I guess it was hard for everyone to register/comprehend what those four strange sounding syllables were. I finally gave up with a lazy answer I made up in English: "Spicy octopus-thing". I honestly didn't have a clue what Nak ji bo kum meant myself... well..not until I checked it out online this morning *grin*

Nakji Bokum is a very spicy octopus dish enjoyed by many Koreans. Octopus tentacles are cut into bite-sized pieces then pan stir-fried with spicy kochujang paste along with chili powder, sesame oil, red or green chili peppers, green onions, carrots and onions. Different variation of this dish do exist as the octopus can be substituted with squid for less chewy texture and taste. Non-Koreans may find this dish too spicy even diluted with rice that accompanies this dish. (www.trifood.com)

Here's the recipe for those interested in having a go at this devilishly hot dish. Having it with a bunch of friends is so much more enjoyable...reminds me of noisy Chinese hot-pot nights. I do however feel a need to add a tiny warning to those who share bunks/roommates ... digestion of excessive spicy food often creates an unwanted amount of gas during the night *blush* :P

1lb octopus defrosted
1/2 lb frozen tiger prawns
2 onions chopped into thin rings
1 carrot sliced into thin strips (Use a grater for beautiful carrot curls)
1 large pack Golden enoki mushrooms
1 bowl sugar snap peas
1 pack korean rice cake (sticks)
3 stalks mint leaves plucked
2 stalks coriander leaves roughly chopped
1 slab asian fish-cake diced into fairly thin pieces
1-2 tbsp sesame oil for stir-frying

Sauce: 3 tbsp Go chu jang (Korean chilli-paste), 2 large cloves garlic diced fine, 2 heaped tbsps honey, 4 tsp fine chilli powder(less if you like), 2 tbsp sesame powder, salt to taste(about 2 tsp).

Mix all ingredients and combine with washed octopus. Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

The cooking process is fairly simple. Heat the oil in a electric multi-cooker on medium heat, add onions, fish cake and vegetables. Saute till fragrant and fairly softened. Dump in the octopus mixture and give it a good stir. Pop the lid onto the cooker and leave to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the prawns in and cook till the seafood is fairly cooked. The sauce should have increased by 1/2. The octopus releases moisture when cooked. When the prawns are pink, add in the rice cake sticks and the green herbs. stir well and replace the lid for another 1-2 minutes. Serve with lots of white steamed Japanese rice/Korean sweet rice or "somen" noodles if you like.I gently blanched and cooked the noodles in boiling anchovies+ garlic stock earlier that evening; ran the strands through cold water and made small noodle servings to go with the spicy octopus broth. I personally prefer having it with noodles...but the boys seemed to like the rice with it too. This dish eaten with Rice is refered to in Korean as "Nak Ji Bo Kum Bop"
Thanks everyone for coming over for dinner...it was a lots of fun, for me at least; I bet it was too for those who've already finished their exams~ *grrr*...I still have that last paper in the morning tomorrow; and it's off to Melbourne for me~~ CANt WAit!! *excitedly skips around the room*

Tags: nak ji bo kum seafood stew octopus prawn budget recipe

Hush Puppies

Monthly food magazines often spark creative ideas in my kitchen. They bring to my attention what's fresh, in season, matching herbs/ingredients and educates this little amateur cook about storage, food handling tips and a wide range of various food cultures. This month, the GoodTaste magazine introduced Creole cuisine. I was thrilled!! "Creole" was a new term for me..but as I flipped through the pages I recognized it's native dishes such as the Jambalaya, Cos Chef salad and crab cakes! I've had them before...just never knew where they came from!
A strange learning habit I have is to "Google-it" whenever I craved more information...
I google everything..... i mean...EVERYTHING! LOL
Wikipedia is probably one of my favourites too.
Here are snippets of what they had to say about Creole culture, background, cuisine and its origins.

The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings. Those terms are almost always used in the general area of present or former European colonies in other continents, and originally referred to locally-born people with European ancestry. However, this original meaning has often changed over the last five centuries, and in many cases the term has come to designate some distinct local ethnic group — often, but not always, of mixed European and native ancestry.

In Spanish-speaking Latin America, the word criollo (cognate and closest equivalent of English Creole) generally refers to people of unmixed European (typically Spanish) descent born in the New World. According to the Spanish caste system, people with European and indigenous origin who possessed 1/8th or less of Amerindian ancestry, were also considered criollos (unlike people with mainly European and some black African ancestry, who were deemed to be mulatto or mixed-raced regardless of their percentage of white ancestry). In any case, the expression Spanish American criollo is only applicable to people born in the New World. Throughout the colonial period, a caste system was effectively in force, where the local-born criollos ranked strictly lower than governing peninsulares ("born in the Iberian Peninsula"), despite both being of European ancestry. By the 19th century, this discrimination eventually led the criollo to rebel against the Spanish rule. With the support of the even lower classes — castizos, mestizos, cholos, mulattos, amerindians, zambos, and ultimately blacks — they engaged Spain in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821) and the South American Wars of Independence (1810–1826), which ended with the break-up of former Spanish Empire in America into a number of independent republics.

The word Creole may refer to

• a person of Spanish (or French or Portuguese) ancestry but born in one of the Spanish (or French) colonies, as opposed to a Spaniard (or Frenchman or Portuguese) born in Spain (or France or Portugal)any of the Creole peoples,
• a number of distinct ethnic groups in various countriesa creole language
• casual reference to mean "pertaining to New Orleans" or aspects of its culture

What I love about Creole cuisine is its fusion of tantalizing flavours from French, Spanish and African influences. It reminds me of food-from-home (Malaysia) where it's a jumbled combination of Malay, Chinese and Indian flavours. The cultures, food preparation techniques and eating etiquettes are so different, but yet the different flavours have been carefully and creatively harmonized to create a separate cuisine type of its own. According to the magazine, Creole food originated from New Orleans. A huge pat on the back for the creative geniuses whove finally came up with something made from Polenta that I LOVE! ....seriously...like WOW... Those who have been following my torturous attempts of learning to enjoy polenta through the many months will probably understand. TRY THIS RECIPE! ....I'm not kidding.....I was blown away.... *wink*

HUSH PUPPIES

2/3 cup fine grain polenta
1/3 cup plain flour
1 tbs cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 green shallots finely chopped
1 tbsp dried chilli flakes
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
Vegetable oil to deep fry.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add egg, milk and beat lightly with a balloon whisk to combine. Heat oil in a deep saucepan on medium heat. Dash in 2-3 grains of salt to check for a fizzle when the oil is hot enough. Reduce your stove flames a little and carefully drop spoonfuls of batter into the oil 3-4 at a time (Don't overcrowd your pan). Flip them gently in the oil till theyre golden and crisp. Should take less than 5 minutes each turn. Soak excess oil on a paper towel. Serve piping hot!

....and if you're eating with Malaysian students...drench the pile in maggi chilli sauce *MMmMmmmmm* HAha! ... this household is hopelessly Malaysian to the core. *blush*

Tags: polenta puffs budget recipe

gyutan don

awhile ago , i was a regular patron of a cozy japanese place until i became loyal to this particular item on the menu . the only catch was that , for the longest time , i never bothered to figure out what it was exactly .

it's understood that many will be uncomfortable even with the thought of using the main ingredient .

why ?

gyutan is japanese for ox tongue .

i can already sense the squirms...but hey , at a mere flat market rate of 3 bucks per giganormous piece , it's will save you loads of money when it comes to meals , expecially with such a simple recipe . at this price , you'd be wondering how much those korean barbeque places earn . peculiarly , i've encountered gyutan don only in the japanese place i mentioned .

just a few notes before you attempt this ( if you actually want to ) . when working with ox tongue , understand that you need to wash it very thoroughly with cold water and then wash it even more thoroughly again and again . get the point ? haha...why the cold water ? it's extremely difficult to manouver around and slice when it's not stiff and almost impossible without a sharp knife . also , make sure you skin it and only use the meat . one final thing , don't chop it into chunks like me...really...only use very thin slices .

there are absolutely no recipes for this online , so i had to come up with one myself...a not so japanese but simple one .

what you need ar?

1/2 ox tongue , sliced very thin
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon oil
spring onion , chopped
small red chillis (a.k.a. cili padi) , chopped

how liao ?

see how short the ingredient list is ? simply marinade the well-washed tongue slices in mirin and dark soy sauce for an hour or two . grill on an oiled pan until cooked ( which would take only a couple of minutes if you use slices hor ) . towards the end , season with a touch of mirin and off the fire . just before serving , briskly toss it in the spring onion and chillis to give them that extra oomph . it's that simple lor .

Tags: beef japanese ox tongue gyutan don budget recipe

chilli con carne !

i shamelessly admit that this is similar to noel's chilli , with a few exceptions of course...i maintain mine is a mexican version (haha) and it's capable of standing as a dish alone...but still simple. furthermore, with the heat wave now, i was too lazy to obtain the fresh tomatoes.

what you need ar?

500 g minced beef (doesn't matter whether it's premium or lean)
1 whole white onion, chopped ( i tend to shape them as rings, but diced also can lar)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 whole red chilli (note that they're actually called capsicums here) , cored , seeded and diced
5 small red chillis (erm...a.k.a cili padi...the thin ones...not capsicums) , chopped...of course , to be truly mexican , you'd add jalapenos here...but i can't seem to find any .
1 standard 400 g chopped/diced tomatoes
1 standard 400g red kidney beans, drained
1 cup beef stock/water mixture
5 teaspoons ground cumin seed
3 teaspoons chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander

how liao?

in your pot , sautee the onion and garlic on a low fire until soft . then , chuck in the minced beef and cook the mince until it loses its reddish pink colour....make sure to break the meat up hor ( a fork will execute this just fine ) . add in the can of tomatoes (with the juice hor) , the diced capsicum and the chopped small chilllies . stir and simmer for 10-15 minutes ( let the meat absorb the main flavour hor ) . next , add in the beef stock/water mix and season with the ground cumin, chilli power and ground coriander . cover the pot and simmer over gentle heat for 45-60 minutes ( depending on your desired consistency lor ) . finally , add the drained red kidney beans and cook for another 10-15 minutes . tenga...fruir la aji .

warning : please never underestimate the spiciness of this recipe under any circumstances .

notes: you may wish to season with some fresh ground black pepper as well but i don't think it makes much of a difference and for those of you who are willing to be adventurous , add a couple of blocks of dark chocolate too (make sure it's >70% cocoa hor)...and you'll have dark chocolate chilli con carne .

extra note : i realise that the amount cannot be finished within a single siting ( unless you share) but that was done on purpose...because chilli tastes better a day old...or more :)

Tags: chili con carne beef budget recipe

The Ribs of Beer and Honey

Sometimes, you just gotta indulge. And after hearing about Hobart's latest foray at the all-you-can-eat ribs night at HRC, i felt like making ribs of my own. This recipe is based on the ribs recipe by Alton Brown. Alton Brown hosts the show Good Eats, which is the *only* cooking show that I watch - You should check it out if you have the chance. Yeah, so while this recipe is based on Alton Brown's, you'll find that I've switched around a lot of the ingredients because, hey, I am on a budget. Warning: this isn't one of those meals you can fix in a jiffy. Cooking time is about 3 hours, plus plus! But I'd say, finger-licking worth it.



The Ribs of Beer and Honey

The Rub
8 parts brown sugar
3 parts salt
1 part chili powder

The Sauce
1 can cheap beer
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp honey

The Rib
2 racks of ribs. Spare or prime, depending on budget and availability

Step 1: The Rub
Combine the proportions of brown sugar, salt and chili powder (8:3:1) and mix well. On a heavy sheet of aluminum foil, lay out ribs (one rib per sheet) and pat both sides with a generous amount of the rub. Pull sides of foil together to make a pouch with the ribs in the middle, and fold ends of puch to make the pouch watertight. Place in fridge for at least an hour - better if overnight.

Step 2: The Sauce, part 1
Preheat oven to 110 degrees (celsius). Whisk all the ingredients of the sauce together. Remove ribs from the fridge and open one end of each pouch. Divide the sauce base into two portions and pour a portion into each pouch. If you're using only one rack of ribs, use half the amount of liquid. Make sure liquid is evenly distributed along the each entire pouch before placing in the over for two and a half hours.

Step 3: The Sauce, part 2
After two and a half hours, remove ribs from oven. Drain liquid of both pouches onto a saucepan (you might want to place a pouch over a saucepan and snip a hole in the middle to let the sauce drain out). On high heat, reduce sauce until thick. Baste sauce onto ribs and broil for a minute. Cut ribs and toss in the remaining sauce. Eat and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Tags: beer oney ribs budget recipe

Number Three part 2&3

I bet you thought i had forgotten...haha...i just decided i should do a two for one day...you know... buy one get one free?

so here are the remaining lamb recipes...

feast your eyes on the lamb cutlets at the bottom of the plate (or 4 to 8 o'clock of my rosemary clock) from the picture of the previous post...and you'll see one of my favourite yet all so simple recipes i stole from mum :

sour spicy lamb

what you need ar?

marinade :
1tbs soy sauce per cutlet
1 clove chopped garlic per cutlet
1 ts pepper per cutlet (again...Sarawak pepper is highly recommended...and yes...there is a difference as testified by everyone who has tested my food...haha)

sauce?
so simple...decide how much sauce you want...divide that amount into two parts...one part tomato sauce and one part chilli sauce...but bear in mind to get good quality chilli sauce...none of those sweet chilli ones hor and those that are actually hot hor.

how leh?

just marinade the lamb for at least half an hour , grill and then fry with sauce over high heat so the sauce sticks...but make sure you don't burn your lamb .

now...look at the lamb rack...the one that occupies the 12 to 4 o'clock partition of my rosemary clock and you will see sweet chilli mint lamb rack

what you need ar?

marinade :
1 tbs sweet chilli sauce (preferably the thai one) per cutlet in rack
1/2 ts of fresh mint leaves chopped per cutlet in rack
a touch of fresh rosemary
1/4 ts ground black pepper per cutlet in rack

sauce?
even simpler...almost identical to the marinade but simpler...just decide how much you want...and heat that amount of sweet chilli sauce over low heat in a pan...add freshly chopped mint leaves to desired taste...or if you're lazy , just make more marinde and heat the leftovers as the sauce.

how leh?

lamb racks take a bit longer to cook/grill (obviously)...i suggest as with all my grillings to set the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 4 minutes per side and then raise to 220 degrees celsius till desired doneness. serve with hot sauce :)

coming up...beef recipes next week :)

Tags: sour spicy lamb sarawak pepper budget recipe

thai-style sausages and hash

Yup, folks, this is a make-it-yourself sausage recipe. Actually, I was rather surprised how easy it was to make your own sausages. Skinless, of course - I couldn't be arsed to get intestines to stuff sausages in anyway, and the sausage mix is good enough to make meatballs or meatloaf. I was toying around with the idea of sausages because well, i felt like it. Sausages get a bad name because sometimes they're made up of all the crud that one doesn't normally eat. But if you can control the composition of the sausage meat, then you've got one truly satisfying sausage. This Thai-style sausage was made with ingredients I had lying around in the spice racks and in the pantry. I call it thai-style primarily because of the lemongrass and the fresh chillis that I used to spice up the mix. Believe me, the end result isn't even remotely spicy.

Thai-style sausages

2 big red chilli
1 stalk of lemongrass, cleaned and sliced finely
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic powder
Olive oil
1/2 kg minced pork
1 cup of breadcrumbs (I used Japanese breadcrumbs, but only because they're the only ones i have in the pantry right now)


1. Blend everything except the minced pork and the breadcrumbs until it becomes a fine paste. Use olive oil to help with achieve paste-y consistency and make sure the lemongrass is chopped finely or you'll end up with strands.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the the spice paste, pork and breadcrumbs together. Best to mix with wet hands so that it doesn't stick. Once mixed through and through, cover with cling wrap and leave in the fridge for an hour or so.
3. Shape sausage mix into, well, sausages. Or meatballs. or patties. Pan fry on each side until golden brown. Makes many many sausages. About 15 - 30 sausages, depending on the size you want them to be.


Hash

To go with the sausages (it was lunch time), I decided to make a quick and easy hash using thre two basic ingredients, potatoes and onions. Everything else was improvised and you can stir in your choice of spices.


1 large potato, cut in 1-cm cubes
1 onion, chopping in 1-cm pieces
1 clove garlic, mashed
Salt
Oil or butter for frying
Olive oil
Spices: I used oregano, chilli powder and black pepper

1. Heat a little oil or butter on low heat and toss in potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with salt. When onion becomes translucent, toss in garlic and continue cooking.
2. Cook for 20 min, stirring occasionally. When whole mix is soft, turn off heat, sprinkle with spices and let cook without direct heat.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, stir and serve. Generally 1 potato and onion per person.

Tags: Thai lemongrass pork sausages homemade hash budget recipe

happiness is...

a hot serve of chili dogs, especially after your friend tuahs you for dinner.

For the longest time, like, since I was a kid, I was always facinated by the Americanese version of chili. For starters, they weren't chillis. As in the hot pepper,but more like a thick beef stew that used to garnish the tops of hot dogs. I loved them the moment I saw them on TV. I loved them even more when I first ate them as A&W's coney dog. Then only recently I discovered how easy it was to make it... and the rest is history. The best part is, it's really made up of the simplest of ingredients!

Noel's Chili

One small onion, chopped finely
Two red chillis, seeded and chopped*
Two tomatoes, chopped*
200 - 300 gm of minced beef
1 tbsp butter
5 tsp cumin
2 tsp chilli powder
1 cup beef stock

1. On medium heat, fry onions in butter. When softened, add beef.
2. Once beef is browned all over, add red chillis, cumin and chilli powder. Mix well, unti fragrant.
3. Add chopped tomatoes, including liquids, and stir in beef stock. Bring to a boil and let simmer until desired thickness.
4. Eat with hot dogs! or nachos and guacamole!

* For better consistency, try running the red chillis and tomatoes through a blender. Just an idea. Haven't tried it out myself.

Tags: beef chili con carne budget recipe

B.L.L.F.

or... Banana Leaf Lemak Fish.
I didn't know what to name it. All I knew was, I had some fish and some banana leaf and NO lemons and lots of onions. So this is what I did.



Chopped green spinach
1 white fish fillet (i used dory)
Banana Leaf

(sauce)
2 small onions, thinly sliced
Milk
Salt and pepper
1 tsp flour
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp corainder powder
1 tbsp Butter

1. Preheat oven to 180, fan forced.
2. In a saucepan, fry onions in butter until tender. Sprinkle a little salt to draw moisture out.
3. When soft, add milk to just cover the onions. On low heat, cook for five more minutes. Bring away from heat and let cool.
4. While the onion sauce mix is cooling, bring it away from the stove and let cool. In a shallow dish, place banana leaf and lay a bed of chopped spinach on it. Place fish fillet on top.
5. Blend onion milk mixture, adding the the tumeric, coriander, flour and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture evenly over fish, wrap banana leaf and fasten with toothpicks.
6. Bake in oven for 25 minutes. Enjoy with prata (Or canai, for you malaysians...).

The whole thing reminded me of otak when it came out of the oven. Maybe I'll try that later...

Tags: banana leaf baked fish 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