Friday, May 29, 2009

Puri With Beef Curry Rendang Tok Pete (LOL!)


Puri with beef rendang and a closed up picture of beef curry rendang
Puri is one of my favorite meals for breakfast. Puri is easily prepared using Atta Flour. Please refer to the the post in my vegetarian blog for Puri recipe, Vegetarian Puri – Indian Pancake . I normally would cook the curry for the puri one day before so that I will have time to fry the Puri in the morning. Then I can have hot and fresh Puri for my breakfast!

Ingredients
Beef Curry Recipe Rendang Curry Powder (Adabi), 1 packet
Beef chunks, 400gms
Potatoes, 3 pcs, remove skins and cut into large chunks
Cardamoms, 7 pcs
Serai(Lemongrass), 2 pcs, blend
Large Onions, 3 pcs, cut into fours
Garlic, 5 pcs, removes skins
Kaffir Lime (Limau Purut) Leaves, 5 pcs, cut into strips
Tamarind juice from ½ table spoon of tamarind paste
Salt and sugar to taste
Toasted Coconut (Optional)

Heat up 5 table spoons of oil in hot wok and sauteed onions and serai until fragrant. Add the curry powder and cardamoms. Stir fry for a short while and then add the tamarind juice. Put in the beef chunks. Then add water, salt, sugar and kaffir lime leaves. Simmer until the beef chunks are tender. Add the potatoes. Serve the curry with puri!
Curry Recipe Posts :

Barbecue Galore!

Hot hot hot yummy lamb shoulder!
My kids love barbecued food and they would often bug me to prepare this type of food for them. The charcoal fire smell on barbecued food tastes delicious. Luckily, I did not ask my renovation contractor to cement the garden behind my house. At least there is a green patch left in my house, which is suitable for me to carry out my barbecuing activities! Here is some of the food stuff that we barbecued that day! Barbecued lamb often tastes good and you really can’t go wrong with the marinade. I marinated this lamb shoulder with turmeric, pepper, lemon, corn flour, salt and sugar. Then I barbecued them using slow charcoal fire. My kids finished all the lamb shoulder as soon as I cooked them!

Yummy and spicy chicken!

I took a piece of chicken thigh from my freezer and marinated it with chilli, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, sugar and lemon. Then I barbecued it using the slow charcoal fire until the skin turned crispy. My kids love the taste very much. While I was busy barbecuing away, only the chicken bones were left, so I did not get to try it!

Then I marinated some pork belly with five spice powder, pepper, salt and sugar. The burned pork fat leaves some nice aroma, sweetness and taste on the meat. I squeezed some lime juice on it after barbecuing for added flavors! I have also marinated some prawns in lime juice, pepper, a little salt and sugar. My kids don’t take whole prawns, so this dish is all for daddy! Ha ha ha......yummy prawns!

Traditional Turmeric Nyonya Assam Fish (Kurau or Stingray)

I have simplified this Nyonya dish to reduce the time taken to cook it. This dish is great to increase appetite on a hot day, especially to those who love hot, sour and spicy food. The secret to Nyonya cooking is how you balance the sweetness and sourness of the dish to your liking. Some families prefer their Nyonya dishes to be very sour but some prefer the food to be less sour but sweeter! Here is my recipe for Nyonya Assam Fish.

Ingredients
Kurau (Snapper) Fish Cut or Stingray, deep fried until golden brown.
Tamarind Juice from a table spoon of tamarind paste, add water to bring out the juice
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste

Blend
Shallots, 5 pcs
Fresh Kunyit (Turmeric), 1” (You can also use turmeric powder, 1 table spoon)
Fresh Chillies , 5 pcs (or chilli powder, 1 table spoon)
Belachan, ½”x1/2”x1/2”
Serai (Lemongrass), 2 stalks

Heat up 3 table spoons of oil in hot wok and sautéed the blended paste until fragrant. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add tamarind juice, sugar and salt to taste. Put in the fried fish and let it cook for a short while. Serve dish with steamed white rice.
Related Post :
1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/01/fried-stingray-recipe.html

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Pong Tai Hai – Light and Cool Dessert

Helooooooo, no naughty thoughts on the name of this dessert, okay! LOL! I learned to cook this dessert from Jaymee Ong’s (the Chinese Australian parentage, sultry model) show in Asian Food Channel, Just Desserts. Pong Tai Hai (in Hokkien dialect, scientific name Scaphium Spp, Malay Name Kembang Semangkuk) is a type of fruit that will expand when you soak it in water. Then you have to remove the skins, fibre and seeds before you can cook it. Pong Tai Hai is quite commonly seen in Leng Chee Kang stalls in Penang and also in other northern states in Malaysia. The texture of the flesh is jelly like and smooth. You can purchase this fruit from Chinese medicine shop. Pong Tai Hai has cooling effect on the body and I heard that, over consumption of this fruit can make you bald. So if you want to have ‘botak’ (bald) hairstyle like ‘Kojak’, then you should buy I kilogram of this fruit and consume all of them in one sitting. It is good to safe money on haircut during this economical downturn period! Ha ha ha! Don’t worry, the addition of chestnuts (which are known to be heaty) in this dessert balanced off the cooling effect of Pong Tai Hai. This is a cool and light in taste type of dessert. Very suitable to be eaten on a hot day!

Ingredients
Pong Tai Hai, 9 to 10 fruits, soaked in water, remove seeds, fibre and skins
Chest nuts, 7 pcs, soaked in boiling water to soften and remove the red fibre inside
Chinese yellow pear, 1 pc, slice into thin strips
Rock Sugar to taste 2 bowl of water

 Pour the water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add chest nuts and boil until it turns soft. Add pear, pong tai hai and rock sugar. Boil for a short while. This dessert is best eaten chilled! Pong Tai Hai fruits before soaking in water..........Expanding in water! Final result, fully expanded!...................................The flesh after removing the impurities! Clockwise from top, the flesh, seed and skins.......Skins, fibre and seeds that was removed!

Related post on Dessert : 1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/06/thab-thim-krab-water-chestnut-with.html 2) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/05/pong-tai-hai-light-and-cool-dessert.html 3) http://veganformation.blogspot.com/2008/12/vegetarian-sweet-potatoes-dessert-tong.html 4) http://veganformation.blogspot.com/2008/12/wheat-dessert-with-coconut-palm-sugar.html

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Chinese Yam Cake Recipe

I am a real fan of yam cake and love to eat this wonderful kuih for breakfast. I like yam cake that have solid texture rather than soft and sticky ones. I found the ones that are sold around KL are too soft and have very little yam in it. So, I experimented with the recipe and cooked up a yam cake to suit my taste. Ingredients Yam, 1 small size, remove skins and cut into 1X1X1 cm cubes Equal portion of Rice Flour and Wheat Flour (1 bowl each) Salt to taste Water Garnish Shallots, 5 pcs, cut into small strips and fry in oil until golden brown and crispy Spring onions, 2 stalks, cut into small pieces Dried prawns, 3 table spoons, fried and blend into small pieces Put the equal portion of rice flour and wheat flour in a mixing bowl. Add water into the flour mix slowly and stir until they are well mixed. The amount of water you add will determine the hardness and softness of the yam cake texture. I like yam cake with a slightly hard texture, so I normally make the paste as thick as possible. Add salt to taste. Mix well and add in the yam. Pour the mixture into a shallow metal baking tray and steam in high heat for 45 minutes to soften the yam. Let the cooked yam cake cool down and then garnish it with fried shallots, dried prawns and springs onion. Cut the yam cake into diamond shaped pieces and serve with chili sauce.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Papa Tan Instant Curry Paste

My friend, MC gave me a packet of Papa Tan Instant Curry Paste. It comes in nice packing and I think it will be good as gift for friends or relatives who are leaving for overseas. The curry paste will comes in handy whenever they have craving for Penang Authentic Curry Chicken or Meat. Anyway, I tried to cook it last week. The instruction is really simple to follow. Just add 400ml of water (1 ½ glass of water) to the paste. Then add 1 kg of meat or chicken and potato. Cook it for 15 minutes and ‘teng teng teng’, your chicken curry is ready. It will be great for bachelors who want to impress their girlfriends or ladies who want to impress their future husbands or in laws.......ha ha ha! Well, the curry has strong aroma of spices, especially cloves. If you like Penang Nyonya style curry that has strong aroma of spices and bursting with flavours, this curry paste is suitable for you! I am not sure which shop in KL stock this curry paste but here is the manufacturer/distributor address. Teow Joo Sdn Bhd No. 36, 38, 40 Jalan Perda Timur, Bandar Perda Distripark 14000, Bukit Mertajam, Penang. Email : teowjoo1@streamyx.com

Yummy plate of hot curry chicken. Curry Recipe Posts : 1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/05/puri-with-beef-curry-rendang-tok-pete.html 2) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/09/simple-recipe-curry-chicken-without.html 3) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/07/peteformation-authentic-mamak-curry.html

Friday, May 15, 2009

Penang Road Teowchew Chendol At Giant Subang Jaya

NOTE: This stall is no longer in operation here because this Giant building have been torn down to make way for a new building project.

Cleffairy recent comments on where to find good chendul in KL in my post Penang Food – Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Penang Road Chendol & Joo Hooi Cafe reminded me that I have this Giant Subang Jaya Penang Road Chendul photo embedded somewhere in my computer hard disk. I am not very sure if this is really the branch of the famous Penang Chendul but it tastes as good as the original one. The logo used in this stall is similar to the one in Penang. This Penang Road TeowChew Chendol stall is located in the Giant Subang Jaya food court and I have been savoring the nice and cool chendol for quite some time. I often meet my friend from Klang in this food court because he likes the chendol so much. The taste of chendol with lots of giant red beans is out of this world. ‘Wa lau leh’, yummy dessert on a hot day!........drooling.......... LOL Map to Giant Subang Jaya, Selangor
Related Post on Nice Penang Food in KL

Peteformation Nasi Lemak (Malaysian Coconut Milk Rice) Recipe

Nasi Lemak (coconut milk rice) is one of the most popular foods for Malaysian especially for breakfast. I have modified this nasi lemak recipe a little bit to suit my children taste buds. Instead of using normal anchovies, I used dried white bait anchovies which is more crispy and easy for them to eat because they are smaller in size. I cook vegetarian curry with long beans and okra as gravy for the nasi lemak.

Rice
Milk from ½ coconuts
Rice, 2 small cups
Pandan (screw pines) leaves, 3 pcs
A little salt

Wash rice and add in the coconut milk up to around 2cm above the rice. Put in the pandan leaves and salt. You can steam or cook the rice in a rice cooker. Stir the rice with a fork or wooden ladle immediately after it is cooked so that the coconut milk will be mixed well with the rice.

For vegetarian curry, please refer to my vegetarian blog through this link Simple Recipe – Vegetarian Curry - Halal The nasi lemak is best eaten with hard boil eggs and cucumber garnish. Bon appétit!


Related Post
1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/12/nasi-lemak-and-teh-tarik-breakfast-at.html 2) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/10/chinese-nasi-lemak-chai-leng-park-wet.html

Quickie Fried Maggi Mee Recipe

Sometimes whenever it is too late to go out for supper, I would cook Fried Maggi mee for my kids. I don’t really like to let them eat too much artificial flavours so I only use very little of the flavouring powder provider in the packet. Ingredients One packet of Maggi Mee Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely Maggi Mee, blanced in hot water until it turned soft Egg, 1 pc A little flavouring powdered stock (Comes with the instant noodles) Dark soya sauce, 1/3 teaspoon Light soya sauce, 1/3 teaspoon Sautéed garlic in a little hot oil until fragrant. Add in the mee and fry for a short while. Add a little more oil and then put in the egg. Add dark and light soya sauce. Then add the favouring. Garnish with spring onions and serve. Related Post : 1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-way-to-eat-maggiinstant-chicken-mee.html 2) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/07/nissin-tomyam-instant-noodle.html 3) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/08/maggi-mee-assam-laksa-with-bacon-and-fu.html

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Penang Food – Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Penang Road Chendol & Joo Hooi Cafe

It has been quite some time since I last took my family out to Penang for some nice hawker food. I went over to the island recently and checked out some of the old and famous coffee shop that serve some of the famous Penang Lobak, laksa (sweet, spicy and sour noodle dish), char kueh teow (fried flat noodles), chendul (local dessert) and tuapan (wat tan hor). I parked my car at an open air parking lot opposite Ho Ping Restaurant, Penang Road. Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Penang Road Our first stop, Ho Ping Coffee shop which has been around for ages. Ho Ping is located at the junction of Lorong Kampung Malabar and Penang Road. I ordered two plates of Char Kueh Teow, one Tuapan (wat tan hor, braised fried wide flat noodles) and lobak. As usual for most of Penang food, the lobak tasted great! I also ordered prawns fritters and tofu as side orders. I must say that the chili that comes with the lobak was really nice. The price of 2xlobak, 2xchicken fritters and 1xtofu cost RM4.80. The Char Kueh Teow man was busy frying away kueh teow in his hot wok. There was a good early morning crowd in this restaurant. The CKT cost RM2.70 per plate. I love every Penang style Char Kueh Teow! Yummy! The Tuapan is good, have nice aroma and the gravy is thick. This nice Penang Tuapan, served with liver, prawns and meat, cost RM4 per plate. The wide flat noodles was fried to perfection and have really nice ‘wok hei’ smell, which is typical of Penang Tuapan. I really miss Penang Tuapan whenever I am back to KL. However I have found a place to get Penang Style Tuapan in KL, which I was supposed to post in my blog quite some time ago. A plate of tasty Char Keow Tiaw. The stall owner busy 'wokking' away! The lobak dish..............................................................Tuapan with starchy gravy! The morning crowd a Ho Ping Penang Road Teowchew Chendul (Chendol) After filling our stomach with all the nice food at Ho Ping, we hopped over to Lebuh Keng Kwee (off Penang Road) to eat the famous dessert, Penang Teowchew Chendul. As you can see from the picture, there was a good crowd surrounding this stall. One bowl of this sweet dessert cost RM1.70. The afternoon sun was already getting really hot and we quickly finish the chendol. Somehow, I still wonder how come the chendul from this stall is so famous because, to me the taste was not really that impressive. I guess people like to buy from stalls that are crowded. There is another stall directly opposite it which was virtually almost without customer. Chendul....................................................................The crowd around the stall Joo Hooi Laksa, Penang Road After finishing my chendol, I smell the aromatic laksa gravy. I looked for the source and found this laksa stall in the Joo Hooi Cafe next to the Chendol Stall. There was a long queue of customer waiting to buy the laksa. I found myself standing in the queue and order a takeaway for tea time. Ha ha, you cannot stop eating when you are in Penang. The laksa tasted good with a good balance of sourness, sweetness and spiciness. A packet cost RM3.50, quite pricy! Joo Hooi Laksa........................................................Scene outside Joo Hooi Cafe Then, took my children for a Ferry ride back to mainland. These pigeons are clever enough to hitch a ride on the ferry. I quess it must be too windy for them to fly to mainland that day! LOL. Map to Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Penang Road Chendol & Joo Hooi Cafe, Penang Road

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Hard Rock Cinnamon Roll

It’s school exam season again and somehow my daughter’s would have good appetite during this time. She would always request me to cook nice food for her at night. I made this cinnamon roll for her to eat for supper in a rush and the bread turned out to be very hard but crispy. I did not wait for the dough to rise properly and was out of vegetable shortening. However the cinnamon roll was quite tasty and have nice aroma when hot out from the oven. The skin is crispy, soft inside but not as fluffy as the one you buy from the bakery. It turned as hard as a rock when it cooled down and exposed to air until the next morning. My daughter giggled not stops when she tried to sink her teeth in to it the following morning. Can be used as weapon against Mat Rempit! LOL

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Eastcourt Restaurant, Sungei Wang Plaza, Jln Bukit Bintang

One Sunday night, I took my kids to Sg Wang Skateline Shop to check out the inline skates there. I have not been to Sg Wang Plaza for quite some time. The inline skating ring is located near the rooftop parking. There are many teenagers hanging around outside the skating arena and I actually felt out of place. LOL! Well, then I hopped over to the restaurant next door to check out the menu and found that they have some set meal with discount up to 30%. It was rather late for dinner so we decided to eat here for convenience sake. The restaurant was quite empty, only 4 tables are occupied; maybe it was a Sunday night. The set meal of rice with a choice of meat, eggs, and vegetable plus one free tea cost RM5.90 nett. Other dishes have 30% discount. We ordered two sets of Sweet and Sour Meat plus free tea (RM5.90 x 2), a set of Kam Heong Meat plus free tea (RM5.90) with rice, one lime juice (RM2.50 less 30%) and one set of Bak Kut Teh (RM9.90 less 30%). The sweet and sour meat is nice, so much nicer than the one served in many big restaurants that I have eaten in. The Kam Heong dish is nice too and my children loved it very much. The Bak Kut Teh which was served with Yau Char Kwai does not have strong herbal taste but overall it was good! However, they were a little bit slow in serving the meal and I have a little bit of language problem with the foreign waiter. Anyway we were quite satisfied with the food served. The total bill for 3 set meals, 1 Bak Kut Teh Set and lime juice came out to be RM27.70 nett. A reasonable price for quality food in a cosy and ambient restaurant in town centre! Address : Eastcourt Restaurant (Shanghai 10) 3rd Floor, Sungei Wang Plaza Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100, Kuala Lumpur Tel : 603 - 21431337 Bak Kut Teh with rice and Yau Char Kwai
Sweet and Sour Meat set (Sorry, my kids already started eating before I can take pictures). Second picture is the Kam Heong Meat Set
Did not try the Dim Sum!.........................The Eastcourt Restaurant!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Super Long........hey! What is that? & Pizza Recipe

My son got a shocked when he opened the food cover to have his breakfast. I have cooked a long Australian Beef sausage (nearly 4 feet in length, RM13.00) that I bought from Giant Kota Damansara the day before. Well, don’t let the looks deceive you. The sausage is very succulent, meaty and tasty. It was well marinated with spices. Anyway I have to coax him to eat it and after trying out a few pieces he liked the taste. Since the portion is quite big and my wife does not take beef, I used the leftover to make this delicious pizza. Here is the pizza recipe.

Pizza Dough Ingredients
250 gms of flour
½ teaspoon of dried yeast mixed with warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar
Salt to taste

Toppings
Sausage, cut into thin slices
Pineapple, cut into small pieces
Onions, cut into slices
Cheese, amount to taste
Tomato Sauce
Frozen Vegetable mix, corn, carrot and green peas
Oregano, ½ table spoon

Pour the dried yeast water mixture on the flour and add salt. Knead the dough and let it rest for around 1 hour. Take the dough and roll it into the shape a ball. Use a rolling pin to flatten this dough to fit the shape of your baking plate. Apply a layer of tomato sauce on the dough. Arrange all the toppings on the pizza and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180Deg C. If the pizza is too dry after baking, just add more tomato sauce or barbecue sauce before serving.
My thin crust pizza!
Related Post 1) http://veganformation.blogspot.com/2009/06/spicy-thin-crust-vegetarian-tom-yam.html 2) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/09/pizza-for-50-students-teachers-day.html

Soccer Kid Cute Commercial

Can you guess the meaning behind this commercial? Real cute! And......then see this video. The baby is cute! Look at how he shake and dance when the goal is scored!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Rakuzen – Desa Park City

Nice exterior deco...........................................................and dining sets
California roll.............................................................Maki and ebiko

Tempura and Soba set My son loves Japanese food. He would always request us to eat in Japanese restaurant or buy sushi from hypermarket counter. Actually we were supposed to eat at a shabu-shabu restaurant next to Carrefour Kepong but it was closed and we later found out that it only opens daily from 3pm onwards. So, we ended up in Rakuzen Desa Park City instead. As usual he ordered his favourite ebiko, california rolls and maki. He finished everything within minutes and ordered another California roll. As I was not really hungry, I just ordered a simple tempura and soba set. Well, one thing for sure the quality of the food and service here is worth the price paid. I have lost the bill but I remember it was around RM60 for all the food that we ate!
Map To Rakuzen Desa Park City