Nestum Butter Prawns

Something I cooked up yesterday. Tasty treat.....but NOT for those on diet!

It all started when a friend of mine (in Facebook) asked for this recipe.

Then I remembered the frozen prawns in the freezer. 

I thought if I could thaw 'em before going to work and cook 'em after work.

And so I DID!

It's difficult to get this recipe right the first time.

This is my second try. Still I cannot get 'em prawns to be as crispy as in the restaurant. Maybe because u need a LOT of oil.....really HOt oil to deep fry 'em. 

I don't wanna use up and waste too much cooking oil in the process.

300g big prawns, trimmed, washed and drained.
enough flour to coat prawns
4 cups oil for deepfrying
3 tbsp butter
3 egg yolk, beaten lightly
2 shallots chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
1/2 tbsp chicken stock granules
1/2 tsp sugar
2 sprigs curry leaves
6 bird's eye chilli/cili padi (sliced) 

salt and pepper to taste
5 tbsp Nestum or oatmeal

Method:
Wipe prawns dry. Toss in flour to coat. 

(Tip: It's important to pat dry the prawns to make it crispier)

Heat up oil, deep fry prawns for 1-2 min. Dish and drain.

Leave 1/2 cup of oil in wok, add butter. Heat together till "silent".

Stir in egg yolk. 

(I m just guessing.......but to make strings like in the restaurant, u may pour egg yolk through a sieve. Never tried it but theoretically it may work. I'll try it next time)

Add other ingredients except nestum/oatmeal and continue to fry till fragrant. 

Add prawns and fry till aromatic.
Lastly, add nestum/oatmeal and fry till dry.

Dish up and serve hot.

Kacang Phool (Foul Bean)

This is the famous Kacang Phool near Larkin Firestation.

Thanks Kak Raha. Both of us had kacang phool that u bought for lunch yesterday.

Got this recipe from a  website. I have not tried this recipe yet but it's worthy of mention. This is a basic recipe......why basic? Coz u can add your own secret ingredient if u want!
One day I am gonna try it. Once I did I will add a new photo to this entry.

Ingredients
1 tbs ghee
½ cup veg oil
200 g minced beef (browned)
2 tbs curry powder 1 can foul bean (kacang phool)
1 can kidney bean
2 large onion (blended)
3 cloves garlic (blended)  
2 cm ginger (blended) 

Garnish:
1 large onion (chopped)
6 fried eggs (for 6 people)
10 green chillies (sliced)

Calamansi lime (limau kasturi) cut into 2 

Direction 

1. Fry all blended ingredients & curry powder.
2. Blend half of foul & kidney beans and roughly crush the other half. 
3. Add browned minced beef with a little bit of water if needed. 
4. Season to taste.

5. Serve with fried egg, chopped garnish & toasted bread or French bread.

Foul bean translated to "kacang phool" in Malay.

I have translated this recipe in English for the benefit of all the international viewer of my blog.I noticed that my blog is viewed from all over the world..... from Sweden, USA, UK etc etc.
Thank you all for viewing. 

Chocolate Brownie with Choc Syrup & Choc Ice Cream

Being a chocoholic myself, a chocolate dessert is a must for every occassion. I made this for the BBQ the other day. Very easy to make......there are many versions. This is from my fav Chef at Home, Michael Smith.

Choc Brownie

12 oz bittersweet dark chocolate

8 oz butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tbs baking powder

2 tbs cocoa powder

A pinch of salt

4 eggs

A big splash of vanilla

(You can add 1 cup of chopped walnut or any nut if you want. I did not add any coz I don't have any at the time)

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Toss the chocolate and butter into a small bowl set over a small pot of simmering water (bain marie). This will insulate the delicate chocolate from direct heat and keep it from scorching. As they begin to melt stir until smooth then remove from the heat.

In a large bowl sift the flour, salt and baking powder together.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla together then stir into the chocolate. Stir in the dry ingredients and walnuts.

Lightly oil the bottom and sides of an 8” by 12” baking pan. Sprinkle a bit of flour into the pan and shake until all the surfaces are evenly covered. Tap the pan upside-down on the counter to dislodge any extra. Pour in the batter and bake until set, about 40 minutes.

It took me only about an hour from start (measuring ingredients) to finish baking.

Best served with ice cream (chocolate of course) and choc syrup. 

Triple chocolate dessert!

This is how to make choc syrup......you can buy of course if no time. 

Choc Syrup

1 can unsweetened evaporated milk

2 handfuls choc chips

2 tbs cocoa powder

2 tbs brown sugar (less if you want less sweet or if you use sweetened choc chips)

Splash of vanilla

Whisk over low heat (bain marie)

Refrigerate.

This choc brownie was also a hit like the lamb. However, there's a special request for the Chocolate Molten Cake that I made earlier last December. I am gonna make 'em tomorrow. 

Stirfried Rice with Prawns

Breakfast.....what to eat for breakfast?

Cereal.....boring!

Toasted bread.....boring!

Frozen roti canai.......boring!

A look in the rice cooker & the freezer....... there are some leftover rice & leftover prawns (from bbq the other day).

It's time for a quick stirfried rice with prawns.

2 red chillies (or more if u like some heat)

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

dried anchovies (or dried shrimp...whatever u have)

Pound/blend all the ingredients.

Heat some oil.

Stirfry till fragrant.

Break an egg & stir.

Add prawns. Cook for 2-3 min.

Add rice (my mum usually add salt to the rice beforehand)

Add thawed frozen veg.

Splash of soya & oyster sauce.

Stirfry till rice fully heated.

Garnish with coriander leaves & spring onion if u want.

Quick & easy breakfast .........from leftovers!

Waste not, want not!

BBQ Honey Chicken, BBQ Mint Lamb & BBQ Chilli Prawns

Yesterday I hosted a barbeque for my family & in-laws.

Among the dishes in the menu were bbq honey chicken, lamb chops with mint & citrus juices, prawn with olive oil & chillies and cockles.

Only managed to take photo of the chicken only........ coz the lamb chops were gone in a jiffy before I even get to the camera! It was a HIT!

This is the recipe for the BBQ honey chicken. Basically, almost the same ingredients for satay marinade with honey and a few personal improvisations.

For 1 whole chicken you need:

1 tbs coriander seed

1 tsp aniseed (jintan manis)

1 tsp cummin seed (jintan putih)

Toast these 3 spices in a skillet.

2 inch ginger

2 inch fresh turmeric

2 cloves garlic

2 onions

2 stalks lemon grass

a bunch of dried chillies (as much as u can tolerate)

Put all in blender.

2 tbs sweet soya sauce

1 tbs thick soya sauce

1 tbs oyster sauce

4 tbs honey

Add blended ingredients with chicken in a sealable bag (easy storage in fridge, no washing up & meat and marinade will mix better in a bag)

Marinate for 2-4 hours (overnight if possible)

Take out of fridge well before barbequeing so that meat is at room temperature.

BBQ Mint Lamb

For every 2 racks of lamb chops (12-16 chops usually)

Crush a bunch of mint leaves

Juice from 1 orange & 1 lemon

1 tbs oyster sauce

Salt & pepper

Marinate for 1-2 hours in a sealable bag.

Same as before.....let meat to room temperature before bbqing.

Best served with black pepper sauce.

BBQ Chilli Prawn

Devein & butterfly prawns but keep shells on.

Chop some chillies

Add some olive oil

Salt & pepper

Marinate in a sealable bag.

Cockles (kerang)

Wash 'em.

Then just toss 'em on the bbq.

Easy peasy!

I made a small basket using aluminium foil (double-layer).

Make some holes at the bottom with a fork.

So that they won't roll all over your bbq grill.

Prawn with Coconut Milk/Bird's Eye Chilli (Udang Masak Lemak Cili Padi) & Stirfried Pumpkin

I just had the urge to be a chef yesterday. I feel the need to flex my "culinary skills".

So I figured out a couple of simple dishes to cook.... actually I don't need a recipe book, it's in my head already. Chef Michael Smith always says "the secret of cooking is cooking without a recipe". Yeah! Right! He can say that coz he was trained as a chef...... I am an amatuer cook. Nevertheless, everyone knows how to cook "masak lemak" but there are variations on how to cook it.

Here's the first recipe:

Ingredients:

300-400g prawns

 --> wash with tamarind juice (to get rid of the fishy .... or rather prawny smell)

A bunch of bird eye chillies (cili padi) 

--> the amount is up to you actually.... I like it mild although my other half like it hot hot hot! So she always complains that my cooking is not  HOT enough!

3 shallots

2 garlic

1 turmeric leave

1 lemon grass (bruised)

1 dried tamarind slice or 2 tomatoes (to add sourness)

1 anchovies cube

Enough coconut milk (2 cups or so)

salt to taste

Optional: you can add long beans

Method:

Pound bird eye chillies, shallots & garlic.

Pour coconut milk in a pot. 

Add pounded ingredients, lemon grass, turmeric leave and acnhovies stock.

Simmer on a slow fire and always stir. DO NOT leave unstirred or the coconut milk will "separate".

Let simmer.

When boiling, this is the time to add the long beans.

Then add prawns followed by tamarind slice or tomatoes.

Add salt to taste.

Once the prawns has changed color, remove from heat.

For the next recipe, easy peasy;

Ingredients:

Pumpkin

Shallots

Garlic

Anchovies or dried shrimps

Chillies

Oyster sauce

Fish sauce

Light soy sauce

Method:

Chop up shallot, garlic & chillies.

Heat some veg oil.

Sir fry anchovies/shrimp and chopped ingredients.

Add pumpkin. Stir.

Add sauces and a bit of water.

Cover & simmer till pumpkin tender (NOT mushy!)

VOILA!

Finished in less than 1 hour.

Waited my other half to arrive home.

Had early dinner for 2 at 6.45pm

No candlelight though!

Unfortunately, it was NOT Thursday night! You know what I mean! :-)

Lala with Thai Chilli Sauce

This past 2 days my wife & I have "selera seafood".

Just yesterday we had mussel, scallop & prawn farfalle bolognese. 

Today we have our fourth species of shellfish: "lala" (baby clam)
It's my wife's turn to cook. She has the knack for cooking but unfortunately not the enthusiasm!

She cooks by following recipes from a photo recipe book but every dish turns out FAB!

Ingredients:

1 kg fresh lala

2 inch young ginger

4 red chillies (or if u like add a bit of chilli padi for more HEAT!)

10 cloves garlic

10 shallots

2 tsp Thai chilli sauce

2 tbs oyster sauce

a bit of vinegar

salt

Direction:

Add salt and vinegar in container of water.

Immerse lala in water to cleanse the mud.

Clean lala afterwards.

Saute chopped ginger, chillies, garlic & onions till fragrant.

Add lala & cook at high heat for 15 minutes.

Then add Thai chilli sauce & oyster sauce.

Fry till sauce thickens.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a recipe I got from my favourite pastry chef on Food Channel......Anna Olson (program Sugar). She certainly makes it look so easy to bake!

I made this just this afternoon. Had the urge to bake last night but did not have all the ingredients. It turned out FAB!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F= 180 C

Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.

Tips: 

1. To make chewy-centred cookies, the secret ingredient is cornstarch. If you like crispy cookies, omit cornstarch and replace baking soda with baking powder.

2. It's more convenient to use cup measurement than weighing.

1 cup butter = 8 oz of the stuff

1 cup all-purpose or plain flour, unsifted = 5 oz (140 g)

1 cup cake flour, sifted = 4 oz (140 g)

Buy measuring cups (1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/3) & spoons. Don't rely on normal cup bcoz your biscuits, cake or bread won't turn out as you 'd wished!

Happy baking! 

Farfalle with Mussel, Scallop & Prawn Bolognese Sauce

Yet another Itallian dish today.

This time farfalle (bow-tie pasta) with seafood bolognese sauce....a bit over the top with scallop, mussel & prawns. Just can't resist when I saw 'em at Jusco Bukit Indah.

That's why cooking pasta is easy..........healthy fast food.

Prep time about 1/2 hour.

Shave/grate parmesan cheese during serving.

Baked Creamy Tomato & Mozzarella Rigatoni

I still remember Xmas day when I was in the UK. As a Muslim I don't celebrate Xmas, the experience was nonetheless enriching. My first Xmas was with a foster family in Rugby, Warwickshire. 

Decorating the Xmas tree. Wrapping presents to put under the tree. Stockings. Leaving milk & mincepie (I love those mincepies!) for Santa Claus. The next day lunch: stuffed roast turkey, brussel sprouts, roast potato and gravy followed by christmas pudding. Exchanging presents. Party games. Of course no alcohol for me being a teetotal! Only later I found out about the mistletoe and stuff....u know what I mean.

Jingle bell! Jingle bell! Jingle on the way! Those were the days....

I digressed......

My wife & I  only had pasta bake on Xmas day.

It was my turn to cook. So I chose to cook the simplest dish I know....simple but delish!

Ingredients for sauce

U can buy ready-made sauce but to make it yourself, u need

1 can  tomatoes 

1 capsicum (green pepper)

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tbs mozzarella cream cheese

Chopped onion, garlic, tomatoes & capsicum into chunks. I like it chunky & rustic!

Add cream cheese.

Cook some pasta (roughly 1 mug for each person) in plenty of salted water till "al dente".

Tips of cooking pasta I learned from Chef Michael Smith

1. Do not add oil in water

2. Do not rinse cooked pasta with water

Reason: the starch layer on pasta will let more sauce to stick to it!

There are about 1000 pasta shapes 

Shaped pasta: farfalle (bow-tie), fusilli (spiral), conchiglie (shell) etc

Tubular: canneloni, macaroni, rigatoni, penne

Strand: spaghetti, angelhair, capellini (in descending thinness)

Ribbon pasta: linguine, tagliatelle, fettuchine, lasagna 

Stuffed pasta: tortellini, ravioli

........but I personally like penne. For this dish I chose rigatoni ("ridged large tube" i.e more sauce will stick on and in the pasta)

Direction:

Brown 400g minced beef with olive oil in a separate pan.

Preheat oven 190 Celcius.

Put cooked pasta in baking dish.

Layer browned meat and any vegetable (I put shitake mushroom)

Then pour sauce on top.

Cover with grated mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 15 min or till top brown.

Best served with grated parmesan and an empty stomach!

YUMMY!