Masak Lemak Cili Api Ikan Parang

This is a Malay dish that mum learnt from the cook at her workplace and eventually cooked for dad and I. I personally love the aroma while cooking this dish and the combination of flavours are oh so yummy. Do adjust the number of chillies if you want it more or less spicy.

Ingredients:-
– 2 to 3 pcs of ikan parang (herring fish)
– 10 cili padi (bird’s eye chilli pepper)
– 1.5 inch of tumeric
– 6 cloves of garlic
– 3 x lemongrass
– 2 x tumeric leaf
– 3 x assam keping (acid puck)
– 2 x coconut (desiccated)
Mixture 1: 50ml thick consistency of coconut milk
Mixture 2: 1L coconut milk
– 1 tsp of salt

Method:-
1) Pound the cili paid, tumeric and garlic till fine
2) Add 2 tbs of oil in the wok and stir fry item (1)
3) Add lemongrass
4) Add mixture 2 of coconut milk and salt
5) Add fish, tumeric leaf and assam keping and boil (middle fire) for about 15 minutes
6) Add mixture 1 of coconut milk and boil on low fire for about 5 minutes. Turn off the fire once done.

Bah Kut Teh (Meat Bone Tea)

This is my lazy, one pot dish that’s nutritious yet yummy. Serve with “you tiao” (oil strip) and fried shallots, you can have them with oily shallots rice OR even noodles. Oh, you can always replace pork with chicken but the taste will run slightly. However, overall, I think it still taste pretty good 🙂

Ingredients:-
– 1 packet of herbs
– 5 black garlic
– 1.5kg pork soft bones / pork ribs (or mix)
– 5 shitake mushrooms (halved)
– 5 button mushrooms (halved)
– 2 packets of straw mushrooms
– 6 beancurds (tau pok)
– 3 flat sheet beancurd (tau ki)
– 1 small lettuce
– 4 tbs thick dark soya sauce
– 4 tbs light soya sauce
– 1 tbs of salt
– 3L of water (approximately)
 

Method:-

1. Boil the pork in clean, boiling water for about 5 minutes. Remove from water.
2. In another pot, boil about 2.5 to 3L of water with the BKT herbs and the “cleaned” pork. Add 5 black garlic, dark soya sauce, light soya sauce and salt. Boil or 1.5 hours.
3. Add in the shitake mushrooms and button mushroom and boil for another 20 minutes.
4. Add in straw mushroom and both types of bean curd. Boil for 5 – 10 minutes. Taste to see if enough salt. Add salt if insufficient. I usually add one tbs of sugar just to give it a less bitter taste.
5. Just before turning off the fire, add in the lettuce and boil for about 1-2 minutes then turn off the fire.

Hot Fry Chicken

A chicken dish that’s full of flavour, if you have a preference for spicy food, try this as it goes very well with plain rice and a serving of green, leafy vegetables.

Serves about 3-4 adults

Ingredients:-

– 1/2 chicken cut into medium size pieces and skin removed
– 1 bowl of shallots sliced thinly
– 8 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
– 9 dried chillies cut into 1cm length
– 6 curry leaves
– 2cm ginger julienned
– 4 tbs of oil
– 1 tbs of tumeric powder
– 1 tsp of salt
– 2 tbs of thick dark soya sauce

1. Marinate chicken with tumeric powder & salt for 1 hour
2. After 1 hour, fry onions and garlic in oil till slightly brown. Add dried chillies.
3. Add chicken and ginger.
4. Add curry leaves
5. Add water sparingly (to keep wok from drying up) and stir fry for about 15 minutes
6. Add 2 tbs of thick dark soya sauce
7. Add 4 bowls of water and boil for about 1 hour. Add salt to taste.

Yam Rice

Serves 3 – 4 pax

Ingredients:-
– 1 small yam (cut into cubes & steam till soft – about 10 to 15 minutes, then mash)
– 5 shallots (cut into onion rings)
– 1/2 small bowl (abt 50g) of dried prawns
– 3-5 shitake mushrooms minced 
– Chicken meat x 100g minced (marinate with 1 tsp of soya sauce & a dash of pepper for about 1 hr)
– Rice x 1 1/4 cups (usual portion for 2 adults) washed & excess water removed
– Dark soya sauce x 2 tbs
– 1 tsp of salt

Method:-
1) Fry shallots in about 3 tbs oil till golden brown
2) Add dried prawns, minced meat & mushroom & stir fry for about 5 minutes
3) Add rice, dark soya sauce & salt & stir fry for about 3-5 minutes
4) Transfer everything into rice cooker and add sufficient water (just like how you’d usually cook rice… need trial and error to get the right texture)
5) Cook yam rice in rice cooker and serve once done 

Lemak Sayur Manis (Sweet Vegetable in Coconut gravy)

In a family of three with me being the only child, mum used to say that it’s difficult to cook dinner as the portions are very small and little variety available. So, we used to eat the same dish every consecutive night. This dish that mum used to cook on Fridays was a dish mainly made out of vegetables (sayur manis) and I would usually fill up my plate of rice with so much vegetable and gravy, my mum used to call my plate a “drain of rice” 🙂

Ingredients:-
– Sayur manis x 1 bunch
– Coconut x 1 (grated & desiccated)
* 1st squeeze of coconut – 150ml water
* 2nd squeeze of coconut – 1.5L water
– Red onions x 250g minced / pound till fine
– 3 cloves garlic minced / pound till dine
– 200g of small prawns
– Mum’s special sambal belacan

How to make mum’s special sambal belacan:-
5 x red chillies
3 x tbs of belacan
1/3 tsp of salt

1) Break the red chillies into 1 inch lengths
2) Gradually pound the chillies, belacan & salt till very fine, turning into a chilly paste

NOTE: The sambal belacan is not supposed to be watery. The excess liquid came from the shallots & garlic. Remove all excess liquids before cooking.

Method:-
1) Fry sambal belacan & minced onions + garlic in 2 tbs of oil
2) Add prawns
3) Add 2nd squeeze of coconut & boil for about 10 minutes
4) Add sayur manis and boil for about 5 – 10 minutes
5) Add 1st squeeze of coconut & boil for about 5 minutes. Turn off the fire.