Kerabu Mango

Sometimes we find ourselves craving for a certain food. If we are not able to satisfy this craving immediately, we will keep on thinking about it for a long time. Well, I have been thinking about eating Kerabu Mango for a few weeks already. Each time when I went to the wet market and saw the green firm sour mangoes which are suitable for making kerabu, I kept on putting off buying them. The thought of the work involved - to julienne the mangoes and to slice the shallots - made me postpone and delay making my kerabu. However, my craving persisted. Finally, when I saw the mangoes again, I told myself to just do it and satisfy my cravings.

Believe me or not, the work involved was not so bad. Doing each task involved in the process slowly and steadily, I managed to make my Kerabu Mango in no time. It is appetising and can whet up one's appetite. Just looking at it cause the mouth to open and to drool.

So, for those who are interested in making them, here are the ingredients and method.

Ingredients:

• 600 g of green and firm mangoes
• 50 g shallots
• 50 g dried prawns, pounded and fried in oil (optional)
• 1 bunga kantan (optional)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
• 3 green chili padi
• 3 red chili padi
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice

Method:

• Wash and peel about 600 g of mangoes (or 3 big ones) and julienne them to get 550 g of mangoes. Put them into a big mixing bowl.
• Peel 50 g of shallots and slice them as thinly as possible. Add them into the mixing bowl with the mangoes.
• (Optional) Wash about 50 g of dried prawns. Pound them and fry them in oil till they are crunchy. Dish out the dried prawns into a bowl without the oil. Set it aside. However, you need not fry the dried prawns if you do not want to. You can just add the pounded dried to the mangoes and shallots.
• (Optional) Wash 1 bunga kantan and slice them very thinly. Add them into the mixing bowl of mangoes, shallots and dried prawns.
• (Optional) Take 4 kaffir lime leaves. Wash them and remove the main veins. Julienne them and put them into the mixing bowl.
• Wash and chop up 3 green chili padi. Add them into the mixing bowl.
• Wash and chop up 3 red chili padi. Add them into the mixing bowl.
• Add 2 tbsp of sugar into the mixing bowl.
• Add 1/2 tbsp of salt into the mixing bowl.
• Add 2 tbsp of lemon or lime juice into the mixing bowl. If you want your kerabu to be very sour you may add more.
• Stir all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix them well.
• Let the kerabu sit for a minimum of an hour before you dig into them.
• For those who have fried the pounded dried prawns, put them into the kerabu just before you eat so that they are crunchy when you eat them.

Stir-Fry Chicken

 

 

Sometimes when we come home late and we have to get dinner done within a short period, we need to find a dish which is easy to cook at the fastest possible time. Stir-Fried Chicken is one of such dishes that will make everyone happy as it can be cooked within ten minutes and laid down on the table in time for lunch or dinner.


Ingredients:

• 300 g of chicken breast
• 1-2 stalks of spring onions
• 3-4 slices ginger
• 2 chili padi or 1 big red chili
• 1/2 tsp pepper, optional
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

• Wash and slice chicken breast.
• Wash and cut spring onion into 1-inch pieces.
• Wash and slice ginger to obtain 3-4 slices.
• Wash and chop up 2 chili padi or 1 big red chili.

• Heat up wok with 1 tbsp of cooking oil.
• Saute the ginger.
• Midway, add in the garlic and saute both the ginger and garlic until they are fragrant.
• Add in the chicken slices. Add some water so that they do not stick to the wok. Stir until they are cooked.
• Add in the chopped chili padi or red chili.
• Add in the pepper (optional).
• Add in the soy sauce and stir.
• Add in the spring onions.
• Stir and dish out.

Sesame Loaf

               

I have experimented with the dough many times by adding different flours like whole wheat flour, wholemeal flour, rye flour, rice flour, etc. and ingredients such as cereals, various types of nuts and seeds available to come up with healthy breads which are fragrant and tasty for my family. One of the recent ones that I made was the Sesame Loaf.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of wholemeal flour 
• 1/2 cup of high protein or bread flour 
• 1/4 cup of multi-grain cereal (to bring out the fragrance)
• 2 tablespoons of sugar (You may replace it with brown sugar which I sometimes do.) 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoon of yeast 
• 1 cup of warm milk 
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons of oil (I use corn oil. Sometimes I use pure butter.)
• 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds, roasted
• 1 teaspoon (or more according to preference) of sesame seeds, roasted (for sprinkling the top of the dough)

The method:

• Grease and line a loaf pan 8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch. Set aside. 
• Put the flours, cereal, sugar, yeast and salt into the mixing bowl. 
• Pour the warm milk into the bowl.
• Break the egg into it.
• Add in the oil if you are using oil. However, if you are using butter, it should be added at a later stage.
• Start kneading the ingredients into a smooth dough. This will take about 20 minutes or slightly more by machine. (It does not matter if you do not have a machine. You may do it manually.)
• When the dough has formed into a ball, add the butter (for those using butter).
• Add the 2 tablespoons of roasted sesame seeds into the dough and knead the dough until the sesame seeds are evenly distributed.
• Grease a bowl with oil. 
• Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and put it into the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap. 
• Leave the dough to proof until it doubles in size.
• Once it has doubled in size, remove the dough from the bowl onto a slightly floured table-top. 
• Knead it manually for about 5 minutes. 
• Then form it into a oval shape to fit the loaf pan. (You may also shape them into buns. Weigh the dough and divide it according to the number of buns that you wish to have. I usually divide my dough into 9 parts to obtain 9 buns.) 
• Cover the loaf pan with a wet towel. 
• Let the dough double in size. 
• Pre-heat oven to 175 degree Celsius. 
• Once the dough has doubled in size, wet the top of the dough gently with some water. Sprinkle the 1 teaspoon of roasted sesame seeds on it. 
• Bake the dough in the oven for about 30 minutes. 
• Once the bread is baked, remove the pan from the oven. 
• Remove the bread immediately from the pan and let it cool down on a metal rack. 
• Slice the loaf once it has completely cool down

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Fried Taro Cluster or Talas Goreng or Uyen

I love eating yam. However, as I had mentioned before, I either deep fried them, made them into yam kuih, cooked yam rice with it or stewed chicken with it. So when a member of a cooking blog introduced the yam fritters to us, I took the opportunity to try it out and I would say that it is delicious. My children were of the same opinion. This dish is called Fried Taro Cluster or Talas Goreng or Uyen (Indonesian). It is a savoury dish and can be taken as a snack. The fritters are crunchy on the outside and soft inside. I had made some changes to the recipe to suit my taste. You should try it out to find out if you like it.

Ingredients:

• 500 g yam
• 100 g fresh prawns
• 1 small garlic bulb
• 50 g shallots
• 1 - 1 1/2 inch ginger
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar, optional
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• 4 - 5 chili padi
• 3 stalks of spring onion
• oil for frying

Method:

• Peel and wash 500 g of yam. Then grate it and set aside.

• Wash, peel, de-vein and mince 100 g of prawns. You may replace this with driPed prawns. (If you are using dried prawns, then wash, dry and pound the dried prawns. Saute them till they are fragrant.)

• Peel the garlic, shallots and ginger. Then wash and blend them into a paste.

• Wash the chili padi and chop them up.

• Wash and chop up the spring onion.

• Put the grated yam into a large mixing bowl.

• Add the minced prawns or sauteed dried prawns into the bowl and mix them up with the yam.

• Add the blended ingredients, chili padi and spring onion into the yam mixture. Stir so that they are evenly mixed up.

• Add in the salt, sugar (I omitted it), pepper and rice flour. Stir and mix them up.

• Heat the cooking oil in a wok.

• When the oil is hot, scoop up the yam mixture with a spoon. Use another spoon to make the mixture into a ball and then flatten it. Slowly, push it into the hot oil.

• Fry the yam on one side till it is golden brown. Then flip it to the other side. Once it is browned, remove them from the wok onto a kitchen towel so that excess oil will be soaked up or onto a netting scoop for the oil to drain off.

• Serve them as they are or with chili sauce or tomato sauce. They are best eaten when they are still hot.

Deep Fried Pork Balls

Pork balls are easy to make as the process involves just cutting, mixing and frying. Besides, they are tasty and aromatic. They can be eaten on their own or with chili or tomato sauce. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 300 g pork
• 1/2 a carrot
• a bunch of parsley
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• salt
• light soy sauce
• pepper

Instructions:

• Wash and mince 300 g of lean pork. You may add a bit of fat meat for a smoother and moist texture when you chew the pork balls. The use of just lean meat will result in drier and harder pork balls.

• Peel, wash and chop up the carrots. You may add more if you wish.

• Wash and chop up a bunch of parsley. You may use coriander.

• Put the mince pork, carrots and parsley into a mixing bowl and mix them up.

• Add in 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, 2 eggs, salt, light soy sauce and pepper and stir the ingredients well. The amount of salt, light soy sauce and pepper depends on your taste buds.

• Heat up wok with oil.

• Using 2 spoons shape the batter into a ball and put it into the hot oil. Repeat this until all the batter is used up.

• Fry the balls until they are golden brown.

• Scoop them up into a wire-mesh ladle and let the oil runs off.

• Serve them with chili or tomato sauce or you may just eat them as they are.

Chicken Slices in Vinegar

 

     

 

There are thousands of chicken recipes on the World Wide Web and the resultant dishes from these recipes include roast chicken, grilled chicken, baked chicken, stewed chicken, chicken curry or rendang or satay, chicken salad and so on. However, I have done any of the above. Instead, I have created a new recipe with a simple stir fried chicken.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 a piece of breast meat (about 200g)
• 1 big onion
• 2 nos. chili padi
• 2 nos. dried chili
• 1 stalk spring onion
• Garlic, chopped.
• Cooking oil.
• Salt.
• Rice vinegar.

Method:

• Slice the breast meat.
• Cut the onion into rings.
• Half the chili padi, lengthwise.
• Soak the dried chili in hot water.
• Cut the spring onion into 1-inch length.
• Heat up the wok with 2 tablespoons of cooking oil.
• Add in the onion and fry the rings until they are soft. Then, dish them up and set aside.
• Put in the chopped garlic and saute them till they are fragrant.
• Add in the chicken and stir-fry them until they are cooked.
• Add in the chili padi and dried chili. Stir them so that they are mixed up with the chicken.
• Add in the onion rings.
• Add in the salt, the amount according to your taste.
• Add in 2-3 tablespoons of rice vinegar. (You may add more if you want your dish to be more sour.) Stir until the chicken slices are covered with it. Let the sauce simmer for a while.
• Add in the spring onion.
• Dish out and it is ready to be served with hot rice.