Brinjal in Garlicky Sweet Spicy Vinegar

 

I usually like to deep fry my brinjal as I find it most tasty when done. The same goes to all other deep fried foods like banana, cempedak and sweet potato fritters, vegetable fritters, fish, etc. However, these deep fried foods may not be so healthy. Steaming our food would be a better option at times. So, today I had steamed my brinjal and then drizzled it with garlicky sweet spicy vinegar. This dish can really whet our appetite.

Ingredients:

• 1 brinjal
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 chili padi
• 75-100 ml rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Method:

• Wash and cut the brinjal into 4 width wise. Then cut each piece into 4 quarters lengthwise.

• Steam the brinjal till they are very soft.

• Use two forks to break up the brinjal into strips. This is to ensure that the brinjal can get the sauce later. Set aside.

• Chop the garlic.

• Chop the chili padi.

• Heat up the cooking oil in a wok.

• When the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic to the wok. Saute it till fragrant but not brown.

• Add the chili padi.

• Add the rice vinegar. When the sauce boils, turn off the fire.

• Add sugar to the vinegar. Stir till it dissolves.

• Add the salt. Stir to mix.

• Pour the sauce over the brinjal.

• Serve with white rice.

Purple Sweet Potato Swirl Bread

There is an abundance of various varieties of sweet potatoes in our country. The purple and orange varieties are good natural colours for our baking. They make our bakes not only colourful but also interesting especially when we use them to laminate our dough to make  beautiful swirls in our breads.

 Ingredients:

• 300 g bread flour
• 20 g milk powder
• 4 g yeast
• 30 g sugar
• 4 g salt
• 130 g warm milk
• 1 egg
• 30 g butter
• Paste:
• 275 g purple sweet potato
• 15 g butter

Method:

• Filling:
• Remove the skin of purple sweet potatoes and steam them.
• When they have softened, mash them up and add butter to it.
• Mix well and then let them cool slightly.
• Transfer mashed sweet potato to a plastic bag.
• Roll it into a thin sheet.
• Place it in the fridge while the dough is being prepared.
• Dough
• Activate the yeast:
• Add warm milk to a cup.
• Add sugar to the cup.
• Add yeast.
• Stir and wait for 5-10 minutes for foam to be formed.
• Add flour, milk powder, salt, egg and yeast mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Knead till a dough ball is formed.
• Add butter till it is incorporated into the dough.
• Knead till window pane of the dough is achieved.
• Grease a bowl.
• Transfer the dough to it and let the dough ferment till it doubles in size.
• Lamination
• Flour your counter top.
• Transfer the dough to the counter top.
• Roll out the dough to a rectangle which is double the size of the mashed sweet potato.
• Place the mashed sweet potato on the dough.
• Bring both sides of the dough over mashed sweet potato to cover it.
• Seal the top and bottom edges.
• Gently roll out the dough to as long as possible.
• Fold the dough into the centre.
• Then fold it into half. This forms the 1st 4 folds.
• Repeat 
• Gently roll out the dough to as long as possible.
• Fold the dough into the centre.
• Then fold it into half. This forms the 2nd 4 folds.
• Roll out the dough to a long rectangle.
• Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife or a bench knife to cut into 3 (for 3-braided bread) or 4 (for a 4-braided bread) without breaking off the dough at the top.
• Start braiding.
• For a 3-braided bread, cross the left strand over the middle strand. Cross the right strand over the middle strand. Ensure that the laminated side is facing upwards. Repeat until the dough is fully braided.
• For a 4-braided bread, cross the 1st strand over the second, the 3rd strand over the 1st and the 1st over the 4th. Ensure that the laminated side is facing upwards. Repeat until the dough is fully braided.
• Pinch the ends of braids together.
• Tuck the 2 ends under the braid and transfer it to a loaf pan. (I am using an 8 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch pan.)
• Let the dough rise till about 1 inch below the rim. You may cover your loaf pan or leave it uncovered.
• Baking
• Bake at pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 45 min if covered or 35 min if uncovered.
• Remove bread from the loaf pan immediately after the bread if done.
• Leave it to cool on a metal rack.
• Slice and enjoy.

Pancakes with Coconut Milk

I ate a lot of traditional pancakes in my youth; my mother used to make them for us. They were made from flour, eggs, sugar, milk, water and baking powder. This is the first time I have added coconut milk to my batter and the pancakes were delicious. They will certainly become a regular fixture in my breakfast menu.

Ingredients:

• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 35 g sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup santan
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

• Sieve all-purpose flour into a bowl.

• Add sugar and salt to the bowl. Mix well with a whisk.

• Break the egg into a bowl with santan and water. Stir.

• Add the egg mixture to the flour.

• Mix the ingredients into a smooth batter.

• Oil a non-stick pan with a piece of kitchen towel.

• Heat up the pan.

• Scoop a cup of batter into the centre of the pan.

• Swirl the pan in a circular manner to spread the batter.

• Cover the pan.

• When bubbles are seen on the batter, open the cover and flip the pancake to cook the other side.

• Transfer the pancake to a serving plate.

Udang Masak Lemak Nenas (Prawns and Pineapple Curry)

A famous nyonya dish, Udang Masak Lemak Nenas, is delicious. It is accepted by all the members of my family. It is rich in coconut milk, is spicy, sour, sweet and salty and really brings out the aroma of the fresh turmeric, galangal and ginger. It can really whets one's appetite and one bowl of rice is definitely not enough. For us, we like the sauce to be thick and spicy. However, one can add more water if a thinner sauce if preferred and reduce the amount of chili for a less spicy sauce.

Ingredients:

a. For blending

• 10 g chili padi
• 8 g dried chili
• 75 g shallots
• 25 g garlic
• 50 g lemongrass (white part only)
• 20 g fresh turmeric
• 20 g galangal
• 20 g ginger
• 25 g belacan, toasted
• 15 g candlenut
• 1 cup water

b. For cooking

• all of the blended ingredients
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 350 g pineapple slices
• 3 g assam keping
• 1 cup water
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised 
• 1 cups thick santan
• 2 pcs of kafir lime leaves
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 8-10 pcs big prawns

Method:

• Blend all ingredients stated above under "For Blending".

• Heat up pan with cooking oil.

• Add all of the blended ingredients to the pan.

• Fry them till they are fragrant and oil splits from the ingredients.

• Add pineapple slices.

• Add water.

• Cook till the pineapple slices are soft.

• Add water, assam keping and lemongrass.

• Let the sauce slowly simmers for about 5 minutes.

• Add the santan and let it boil. (If sauce is too thick, add some water. It should not be too thin either.)

• Add kafir lime leaves.

• Season with salt and sugar.

• Add the prawns. (Do not overcook.)

• Garnish with kafir lime leaves.

• Serve with white rice.

Kuih Ketayap

Kuih ketayap also known as kuih dadar is a very popular traditional Malay kuih. It is pandan pancake rolled up with coconut fillings in it. This kuih can be easily found in most markets. However, we can easily make it at home. We can break up the processes into 2 parts by making the fillings one day before we make the pancake.

Ingredients:

For the fillings:

• 250 g fresh coconut flakes
• 100 g gula Melaka (can add more)
• 50 g dark brown sugar
• 2 - 3 pandan leaves
• 80 g water
• 10 g corn flour + 2 tbsp water to form a solution

For the batter:

• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 400 ml thin coconut milk
• 100 ml pandan juice (blend 6 leaves with 150 ml water)
• 2 tbsp corn oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

For the fillings:

• Add the gula Melaka, dark brown sugar, pandan leaves and water to a saucepan.
• Boil the water till the gula Melaka and dark brown sugar melt and the syrup is aromatic.
• Sieve the syrup into a non-stick pan.
• Let it cool down a bit before adding the corn flour solution to it. Stir so that they are mixed together.
• Add the fresh coconut flakes to the syrup.
• Stir the coconut flakes till they absorb the syrup and slowly cook them till they are slightly dry.
• Let the coconut flakes cool down.

For the pancake:

• Add flour, coconut milk, pandan juice, egg, corn oil and salt to a bowl.
• Stir till the batter is smooth.
• Sieve the batter.
• Heat up a non-stick pan over very low heat. (My pan size - 24 cm.)
• Use a piece of kitchen towel to grease the pan with a thin layer of oil.
• Scoop 1/2 cup of batter to the pan.
• Swirl the pan so that the batter covers the pan thinly.
• Cover the pan.
• Remove the pancake when it is done to a plate.

Assembly:

• Scoop some coconut fillings onto the bottom side of the pancake.
• Bring the two sides of the pancake in.
• Roll up the pancake from the bottom to the top.
• Serve.

Mozzarella-filled Bread

 

The Mozzarella-filled Bread is a yummy and rich bread. It is a very easy-to-make bread as there is no intricate shaping of the dough. It took me only 1 1/2 hours to make it.

Ingredients:

Dough

• 250 g bread flour
• 25 g sugar
• 5 g yeast
• 1 egg
• 2 g salt
• 1 egg
• 125 g milk
• 40 g butter
• Egg wash - 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk

Filling

• 150 g grated Mozzarella cheese

Topping

• 50 g grated Mozzarella cheese

Method:

• Put all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.

• Add the milk.

• Knead till a smooth dough ball is formed.

• Add butter to the bowl.

• Continue to knead till window pane is achieved.

• Transfer the dough to a greased clean bowl. Cover the bowl with a moist towel.

• Let the dough proof till it is double in size.

• Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it onto a greased parchment paper.

• Knead the dough back into a round ball.

• Roll the dough into a big round circle.

• Spread the grated cheese on top of the dough.

• Bring the edge of the dough together to seal the dough.

• Turn over the dough so that the seamside is at the bottom.

• Gently roll out the dough so that it is flattened.

• Egg wash the dough.

• Spinkle grated cheese on top.

• Transfer the parchment paper with the dough onto a baking tray.

• Bake the dough in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for 20-25  min or till the bread is golden brown.

• When the bread is done remove it immediately from the parchment paper and transfer it  to a wire rack to be cooled down.

Assam Laksa

Most of us in the family love Assam Laksa; it is spicy, sour, sweet, salty and aromatic. The aroma comes from the torch ginger flower (bunga kantan), the lemongrass (serai), the galangal (lengkuas) as well as the fish used in preparing the soup. I love to use the mackeral (kembong) in my soup. However, some prefer to use the sardine. The thick soup is served over the thick rice noodles and the dish is garnished with cucumber, pineapple, onion, torch ginger flower and mint. Some of us love to eat it with more shrimp paste (hae ko) added to it. Usually one bowl is not enough for each person. Thus, we always have to prepare a lot of soup, noodles and the garnishes so that everyone can eat to his or heart's content.

Ingredients:

• 450 g rice noodles (for 4 pax)

       For blending:

• 100 g red chilies
• 10 g dried chilies
• 70 g big onions
• 70 g shallots
• 3 lemongrass stalks, the white part only
• 1 inch belacan, toasted
• 1 inch galangal

    For the soup:

• 1 kg ikan kembong
• 2-2.5 litres water

• All the blended spices above
• 100 g daun kesum
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 2 torch ginger stalks (bunga kantan), quartered lengthwise
• 6 pcs of assam keping
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2.5 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 tbsp shrimp paste

    For Garnishing:

• cucumber
• pineapple
• big onion
• torch ginger
• bird's eye chilies
• mint, optional
• lettuce, optional
• egg, optional

Method:

• Prepare a big pot of boiling water.
• Add the rice noodles to the boiling water.
• Let the water continue to boil for 15-20 minutes.
• Cover the pot, turn off the fire and let the noodles sit in the pot till they soften.

• Boil 2.5 litre of water in another big pot.
• Add the kembong to the pot and let the fishes cook.
• Once they are cooked, remove them from the pot.
• Remove the fish meat from the bones. Mash the fish meat and return them to the pot.
• Add the bones to a blender. Add some water to blend the bones. Once done, sieve the fish bone water to the pot. Discard the mashed up bone.
• Add all the blended ingredients to the pot.
• Add the daun kesum, the bruised lemongrass, the quartered torch ginger flower, assam keping, sugar, salt and shrimp paste to the pot.
• Let the soup boil. (The longer you boil, the more fragrant and tasty the soup will be.) 
• Test for sourness, saltiness, spiciness and sweetness. You may add more assam keping, salt, chili, sugar or shrimp paste.
• The soup is ready for consumption.

• Garnishing:
• Julienne the cucumber.
• Slice the onion as thinly as possible.
• Slice the pineapple thinly.
• Cut the bird eye chilies.
• Slice the torch ginger flower thinly.