Monday, March 29, 2010

This is how a Mantis Prawn (Mantis Shrimp, Squilla Mantis) looks like – How to clean and remove shell (carapace) for cooking.

I posted a Deep Fried Mantis Prawn dish earlier and some of my readers have not seen a live mantis prawn before, so I am publishing the picture here. There are around 400 species of mantis shrimps in the world and the most common ones you see is Squilla Mantis or in Cantonese ‘Lai Lui Har’(Hokkien, Heh Kor). Actually mantis shrimps do not belong to the Shrimps family. It got its’ name from the mantis like look. At a glance, it sure resembles an extra terrestrial creature with hard armored like carapace. Mantis prawns live in rock cavities or burrowing themselves in the seabed. During low tides you can actually see their burrows and an easy way to spot them is by looking for a lump of mud on top of it. As mentioned in my post, Deep Fried Mantis Prawn, I used to dig for mantis prawns at the seaside when I was a kid. It was fun catching and cooking this nice tasty shrimps. Some mantis prawns can grow to around 1 foot in length and they are aggressive creature. They will chase their prey and literally tear them apart with their powerful claws before eating it! I have got a nasty bite from a mantis prawn while catching it and the claw made a hole through the flesh between my thumb and index fingers. It managed to escape and left the claw still attached to my hand! I have to get my friend to prise open the claw from my hand! LOL! The side of the carapace has sharp thorns, so you must be careful when removing the shell. If you are cooking the whole shrimps, it is advisable to cut away these sharp thorns. To separate the thorns from the flesh, cut along the side carapace of the shrimps around the whole shrimp. Then start from the head, peel out the carapace. Then remove the flesh slowly so that you will not break it. Mantis shrimps taste good if they are steamed whole with ginger and wine, fried kung po style or just deep fried in flour.
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Friday, March 26, 2010

When was the last time you ate candy floss (cotton candy)?

I bought this candy floss for my daugther at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Complex

Candy floss is made from sugar that is spun at high speed in a large metal container where the sugar container walls are slightly heated to melt it. Due to the centrifugal force, the sugar form tiny strands which would be collected using a thin bamboo stick or a paper rolled into a shape of a cone. Artificial flavouring and colours are normally added to enhance the taste. The candy floss machine was invented by William Morrison and John C. Wharton in 1897. It became a hit when it was first introduced to a wide audience at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. In USA it is called cotton candy and in some part of the world it is also known as fairy floss. The USA National Cotton Candy Day falls on 7th December. This sticky and sweet amorphous solid treat dissolves in your mouth. The sugar strands will hardened once it gets into contact with water or water moisture in the air and it will no longer be fluffy. Cotton candy is commonly sold at fun fair, although nowadays you can find them being sold in shopping complexes. When was the last time you ate cotton candy?

Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Chinese Style Fish Head Curry Recipe

The Fish Head Curry that is served in Chinese restaurant is normally a milder version compared to the ones you find at Mamak stalls. The fish curry powder that you get off the shelf has more chilly powder added in it but to meat curry powder has less chilly. Chinese cooks would normally add coriander powder (serbuk ketumbar) the fish curry powder or use less chilly, resulting in a milder version of fish head curry. Indian or Mamak fish head curry have very little santan (coconut milk) added or none at all. However the thick curry gravy in of Chinese Style Fish Head Curry has lots of santan (coconut milk) and they are cooked without the addition of mixed halba (halba campur, mixture of fennel, fenugreek, black mustard seeds, and cumin seeds). I cooked this Fish Head Curry using the Grouper fish head from the large whole fish that I bought recently. I asked the fishmonger to chop the fish head into smaller size for me.

Ingredients
Fish Head, 1 pc (preferably Garoupa or Red Snapper)
Fish Curry Powder, ½ cup,
Coriander powder (ketumbar), 4 tablespoons,
Turmeric, 1 tablespoon
Shallots, 4 pcs, chopped finely \
Serai (lemongrass), 2 pcs, blended
Coconut milk (santan), from 1 coconut
Cabbage, 3 large leaves, (optional)
Ladies fingers, 5 pcs
Salt to taste
Tofu pok,(fried tofu), 5 pcs

Put a little coconut milk into curry fish powder, turmeric and coriander powder mixture to make a paste. Heat up wok and add around 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Sautéed shallots and serai until fragrant. Add in the curry fish, turmeric and coriander paste. Fry until nice aroma permeates the air. Add a little water and put in the fish head. Bring to a boil, and then add in the ladies fingers and cabbage. Pour in the coconut milk and keep on stirring it until the gravy becomes thick. Put in the tofu pok (fried tofu) Add salt to taste.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spicy Kam Heong Crab Recipe – Fresh!


These flower crabs were still alive and swimming in the bucket at the fishmonger stall when I bought them. Fresh flower crabs are very sweet if you cook it immediately after you cut and clean them. Kam Heong crab is one of the most popular dishes in many seafood restaurants. The kam heong sauce is spicy, sweet and has a very nice aroma. Kam Heong lala (shellfish) is also one of my favourite dishes and I prefer it cook this way rather than steaming. Ok, back to the crabs! After cutting and cleaning them, I drain the excess water away because I wanted to fry it dry with the kam heong gravy. Imagine all the nice gravy sticking to the crabs when you eat them! Delicious! LOL!

Ingredients
Crab, 1 kg, cut and cleaned, drain away excess water
Oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons
Dried Prawns, 2 tablespoons
Shallots, 5 pcs, chopped finely
Dark soya sauce, ½ teaspoon
Chili paste, 1 tablespoon
Bird Eye Chilli (Cili padi), 3 pcs, cut into thin slices
Sugar to taste Salt to taste
Curry leaves from 2 stalks
Curry powder, 1 teaspoon
Corn flour and water mixture

Heat up wok and put in around 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Sautéed dried prawns, shallots, chilli paste and curry powder until fragrant. Lower down the heat. Add in oyster sauce, dark soya sauce, bird eye chilli, salt, sugar and curry leaves. Put a little water if the gravy becomes too dry. Turn up the heat and put in the crab. Add in the corn flour and water mixture. Fry until the crab turn red. Serve while still hot!
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Coffee Shop Talk with My American Friend – Banana Power against HIV

I was having coffee with my American friend this morning in Ah Lian’s Coffee Shop..........

John : Hey Pete, The Sun reported today that a research team from Universtiy of Michigan published their report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry about banana lectins ability to stop transmission and prevention of HIV. This is interesting, man!

Me : Wow, this is indeed a breakthrough. Which page? I want to read about it!

John : Page 18. It seems that the isolated jacalin-related lectin known as Banlec is a potential component for an antiviral microbicide.

Ah Lian : Wah, banana so powerful ah?

Me : Ya lorr, next time ask your boyfriend to use banana flavoured ‘cap’ ! ha ha ha!

Ah Lian : Ya, you so clever, next time I see you guys carry banana everywhere lah! Wakkakakakaka! Hey, we should tell Ah Beng about this! You know lah, he visits his ‘girlfriends’ at Lorong Haji Taib very often leh!

Then Ah Beng walked in to the coffee shop holding a
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure
Related post : 1) Jokes – My American Friend got Chased Out from a Restaurant.2) Jokes – My American Friend in the Pub.3) Jokes – My American Eats Satay at Kajang.4)Jokes – A Lady Whacked My American Friend with an Umbrella.5)Jokes – My American Friend Watched Tiger Show in Pattaya, Thailand.6) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-american-friend-went-out-for-date.html7) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-american-friend-celebrates-chinese.html8) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-american-friend-and-ah-lians-cash.html 9)http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-american-friend-and-datuks-indecent.html10)http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-american-friend-and-bob-bull.html11)http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-american-friend-and-food-fight-ah.html12) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/11/facebook-cloudcrowd-and-paypal.html 13)http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2010/01/coffee-shop-talk-with-my-american.html

Shortcut Salt Baked Chicken Recipe


The salt baked chickens being sold commercially are normally baked in heaps of coarse salt in a wok. If you do that at home, you will need at least 1 kilogramme of coarse salt to cover the chicken and you are lucky if the salt don’t damage your expensive wok. I was wondering how I can have a home made salt baked chicken using a simplified way but still taste almost the same like the original ones. I have problem of not having enough time to thaw the chicken that I took out from the freezer. I managed to solve the problem by wrapping the chicken tightly in aluminium foil and bake it in the oven. The oven heat can burn the chicken to create a nice aroma just the one that is baked in salt. The high temperature steam that is created inside the foil helps to make the chicken tender. So, instead of covering the chicken with heaps of salt for baking, I can also control the amount of saltiness to the level that I want. Check this out!

Ingredients
Chicken, ½ bird
Salt, 3 teaspoons or less if you don’t want it to be too salty
Tong Kwai herbs (Angelica sinensis, note : please do not take this herb if you are pregnant! ), 2 slices

Rub the chicken with salt and put in the tong kwai. Wrap the chicken tightly with aluminium foil to seal in all the steam during baking. Bake in preheated oven for 1 ½ hour at 200 Deg C. Garnish with parsley and serve.
PS : Angelica sinensis is known to regulate mentrual cycle, so one should not take this herb if pregnant!
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Monday, March 22, 2010

Sweet Longan Candied Winter Melon (冬瓜糖, Tang Kua, Tong Kua) Dessert Recipe (Vegetarian)

I was clearing my fridge and found some leftover candied winter melons (冬瓜糖, Tang Kua, Tong Kwa) that I used to make longan drinks. Since it is a hot day, I thought it would be nice to have some sweet tong sui (sweet drinks) for dessert after eating my home cooked kueh teow soup with lots of chilli boh in it! Longan (Mata kucing (cat eye) in Malay; direct translation to English, Dragon Eye; simplified Chinese: 龙眼; traditional Chinese: 龍眼, Vietnamese: Long Nhãn) strengthens the spleen and also nourishes the blood. The balance the sweetness and taste of candied winter melons I used some red dates which is a little heaty and also good in improving Qi! For some additional aroma and flavour, I put in around 7 pieces of sweet Chinese Preserved Dates (mutt cho)!

Ingredients
Candied Winter Melon, 1 rice bowl
Longan, 15 pcs
Red Dates (Ang Cho), 10 pcs
Mutt Cho (Chinese Preserved dates), 7 pcs
Water, 7 bowls or more if you don’t want it to be too sweet

Put water in bowl and bring to a boil. Add in all the ingredients and boil for 1 hour. Serve hot or chilled! Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Peteformation Shortcut Ayam Penyet (Flattened, Smashed Chicken) Recipe

If you Google ‘Ayam Penyet’, you will find that there are many versions of this wonderful Javanese, Indonesian recipe. Ayam Penyet, got its name from a chicken that is flattened (or smashed) with a mortar before it is cooked. If you had a bad day at the office, maybe then you might want to smash the chicken on the wall or use it as a punching bag (imagine your boss face) before cooking it! Ha ha ha, just joking! The original ayam penyet are boiled with the marinade ingredients and then fried, but in my version of recipe, I actually marinated the chicken with all the ingredients and then roasted it using an oven. It is common to eat Ayam Penyet with sambal (spicy chilly sauce with toasted fermented shrimp paste and lime juice). I added chilly and lime juice when marinating the chicken so that I do not have to prepare additional sambal sauce. He he he, this is the little ‘shortcut’ here! I also did not use coconut milk (santan) in my version of Ayam Penyet. Check out my shortcut version of Ayam Penyet!

Ingredients
Chicken, 1 whole, cut through the breast side and flattened
Serai, 1 pc Shallots, 3 pcs
Garlic, 3 cloves
Lengkuas (galangal), 1 small piece (1”)
Serbuk Jintan Manis (Aniseed Powder), 1 teaspoon
Serbuk Jintan Putih (Cumin powder), 1 teaspoon
Serbuk Ketumbar (Coriander powder), 1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder (kunyit powder), ½ teaspoon
Bay Leaf, 1 pc, cut into small pieces
Lime Juice from 2 limes
Palm Sugar, 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
Chilli Powder, 1 tablespoon
Coconut milk (optional), ½ coconut

Blend serai, shallots, galangal and garlic. Marinade the chicken with all the ingredients for at least 40 minutes. Roast the marinated chicken in preheated oven at 180 Dec C for 1 hour. Alternatively, you can also deep fry the chicken just like the original version. Serve while still hot!
Excuse me, I am going to eat my Ayam Penyet for dinner now! LOL!

PS : Check out why a fake hurts, funny video at http://funnycrazyhappyvideo.blogspot.com/2010/03/fake-hurts.html

Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Simple Steamed Garoupa (Grouper) Fish with Soya Sauce Recipe

I would normally buy a large garoupa fish from the market and get the fishmonger to cut it into chunks for me. The meaty grouper is suitable for a steamed dish because the fishy smell is not strong at all if the fish is fresh. Anyway, a meaty fish would be easier for my kids to eat rather than small ones that are full of bones. I would keep the Grouper fish head to cook curry and use the rest of the cut to cook other dishes. The easiest way to cook a grouper is to steam it. This dish takes me only 25 minutes to prepare, including the time for steaming.

Ingredients
Grouper cut, 1 pc
Soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped finely and fried until golden brown
Ginger, 1”x2” size, cut into small slices or strips
Spring onions for garnishing
Chilly for garnishing (optional)

Put the fish in a steaming tray. Add soya sauce, sesame oil and ginger. Steam the fish at high heat for 20 minutes. Garnish with fried garlic and springs onions before serving. This dish is best eaten with steamed rice.
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Friday, March 19, 2010

Baked Spicy Tomyam Cheese Chicken Recipe – A Unique Fusion Dish


I always like creamy and sour dishes with a strong lime aroma. Normally prawns and seafood are used in Tomyam dishes or soup but I was wondering what the taste would be like if I use chicken instead. This experiment resulted in a totally new taste and flavour. At first, my wife and kids were a bit reluctant to eat this dish, but only chicken bones were left after we finished our dinner. LOL! I wrapped the chicken in aluminium foil before baking to seal the aroma inside the dish. For extra spicy taste, you can add bird eye chilly (chilly padi) to it. Try out this ‘dangerously spicy’ east meet west fusion dish at your own risk! Now, I am wondering how the taste would be if I add some durian paste to it! Ha ha ha!

Ingredients
Chicken, quarter cut
Kaffir Lime Leaves (limau purut), 5 pcs
Cheese (Mozzarella), 2 table spoons
Olive oil, 1 teaspoon
Lime Juice from 4 limes
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four
Serai (Lemongrass), 1 pc, smashed
Celery, 3 stalks, cut into bite size or 3” length
Chilly paste, 1 table spoon
Bird Eye Chilli (Cili padi), 3 pcs, crushed (optional)
Nampla (Fish sauce), 1 teaspoon (optional)
Corn flour, 2 teaspoons
Soya sauce, 1 teaspoon

Marinade chicken with all the ingredients for at least 20 minutes. Wrap the chicken with aluminium foil and bake in preheated oven at 200 Deg C for 1 hour. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Simple Crab Curry Recipe – Rainy Day’s Catch at the Kepong Baru Wet Market!

It was raining when I woke up last weekend, so I have to wait for the rain to stop before driving out to the Kepong Baru wet market for my weekend marketing. I reached the market rather late, around 9am and saw a thin weekend crowd there. Since there are not many customers around, most of the vendors, especially fishmongers started selling their seafood at a discount. I bought a kilogramme of squid for only RM7 (USD 2). Then I saw my regular fishmonger have some flower crabs left at his stall and he sold them to me for RM1 (USD0.30) each! What a bargain! LOL! Since I have some leftover serai (lemongrass) in my fridge, I thought it would be a good idea to cook crab curry. I did not use santan (coconut milk) in my curry but you can add it to the recipe if you prefer the creamy taste. Curries that are cooked with crab would be full of natural sweetness and my kids love the gravy very much. Here is my Curry Crab recipe.

Ingredients
Crab, 3, cut into halves
Curry powder, 7 table spoons, mixed with a little water to make a paste
Mixed halba, 1 teaspoon
Chilly paste (optional), 1 tablespoon
Santan (coconut milk, optional), from ½ coconut
Lemongrass (Serai), 2 stalks, blend with onions
Onions, 2 pcs, blend with lemongrass
Ladies Fingers (okra) 10 pcs
Tofu pok, 5 pcs, cut into halves
Vegetable oil, 3 table spoons
Curry Leaves, 3 stalks, (optional)
Tamarind, 1 table spoon, soaks in water to make a paste and remove seeds
Salt to taste

Heat up pan and add in vegetable oil. Sautéed lemongrass and onion mixture until fragrant. Add in the curry paste, mixed halba, santan and chilly paste. Fry until nice aroma permeates the air. Add in the curry leaves and ladies fingers. Pour in a little water and bring to a boil. Then add in the crab, tofu pok (deep fried tofu), tamarind juice and salt to taste. Eat with steamed rice, bread, roti chanai or naan!
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mi Sua (Wheat Flour Vermicelli) for Birthday Celebration

This bowl of Mi Sua for my wife on her birthday!
When I was staying with my parents in my hometown, my mom would cook mi sua for our birthday without fail every year. Now, I am living with in KL and have a family of my own, it is time for me to continue this wonderful Chinese Birthday tradition. Mi Sua is a symbol of longevity, so the longer the mi sua, the longer you life would be after eating them! LOL! My mom would serve the mi sua with hard boil eggs and it is cooked with salt added to it. However, for my wife family, they would cook sweet mi sua which symbolizes many sweet happy returns after eating it! Normally, mi sua do not have preservatives in it because they actually use salt instead. Therefore, it is advisable to add very little salt when cooking mi sua.
In order to cook a good mi sua, you must have enough boiling water or else the mi sua would soak up all of it real fast and you ended up with a mi sua dish that is soggy! Add in the mi sua bundle when the water is boiling and turn off the heat immediately after that, so that the mi sua texture would be just nice.

Ingredients
Mi Sua, 1 bundle
Water, 2 bowls
Hard Boil Eggs, 2 pcs, use a little red colouring to mark it (red is auspicious for the Chinese)
Salt to taste Pork, minced or cut into small pieces, add a little corn flour
Sesame oil, ½ teaspoon \
Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped finely and fried with oil until golden brown
Spring onions for garnishing

Put water in to a pot and bring to a boil. Put in the meat. Boil for a short while. Add salt to taste and sesame oil. Put in the mi sua bundle. Immediately turn off the heat. Put the mi sua in a bowl. Garnish with fried garlic, spring onions and hard boil eggs. How do you cook Mi Sua for birthday celebration?
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Thong Lung Sang Seafood Restaurant


It was way passed lunch time after the ladies finished shopping. My brother in law and I were very hungry. One of the shop owners suggested that we try the food at Thong Lung Sang Seafood Restaurant (air-conditioned). She told us that the food there is quite good. So that is how, we ended up in this restaurant which is located in Metro Perdana, near to Carrefour Kepong. We ordered Steamed Lala (shellfish), Yam Ring, their signature dish Steamed Tilapia (St. Peter’s Fish) with salted vegetable and a stir fried Yau Mak (Romaine Lettuce). The service was rather slow and when we questioned them, they told us it was because the chef has just changed shift. Anyway, after waiting for a while with hungry growling stomach the food finally arrived. Here are my reviews of the dishes served.
The steamed lala was quite plain but you can taste its’ natural sweetness. This dish is definitely for those who like lala with lots of spicy and flavourful gravy. The steamed lala is just so so only!
The yam ring dish is quite nice or maybe it was because everyone was very hungry! LOL! I love the crispy fritters that lined the rim of the plate. The yam ring is crispy on the outside and soft inside. This dish is good.
The Steamed Black Tilapia (St Peter’s Fish) serving was too large for 4 adults and 3 children. There is nothing special about this dish and we had a hard time finishing it. They should have given us a smaller fish.
The Romaine lettuce (yau mak) that is stir fried with kei chi (wolfberries) is crunchy and fresh. The total bill came up to be RM119, very pricey because of the large Tilapia fish!

 Address: B. G. 17 Jalan Metro Perdana1, Taman Usahawan, 52100 Kuala Lumpur HP : 012 2312138 , Tel 03 62594816 Air conditioned
Business Hours 11.30am to 12 midnight

Map to Thong Lung Sang Metro Perdana, Kepong
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sausage and Bak Kua (Sweet bbq meat) Rolls Recipe


I tried to make sausage roll after reading It’s Raining Icecream and My Kitchen Snippets blogs. I did not follow the exact measurement but I used 3 cups of flour which was just enough for me to make six sausage rolls and four bak kua (sweet bbq meat) rolls. Actually 4 cups would be ideal to make the sausage to have more bread body. Anyway the bread turned out quite nice in taste but I am not good in making the little patterns on it, so my sausage rolls are not as nice looking as compared to the ones you see in It’s Raining Icecream and My Kitchen Snippets blogs. My kids love the bak kua version and they finished off them real fast.

Ingredients
Flour, 4 cups
Yeast, 1 teaspoon
Sugar, 3 table spoons
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Butter, 20 gms
Water
Shortening, 2 table spoons
Sausage, 8 pcs
Bak Kua, 4 pcs

Put yeast, sugar, salt, butter and shortening into the flour. Mix well and slowly add water into it until the mixture forms bread dough. Continue kneading the dough from around 20 minutes. Cover the dough with a towel to let it rise for around 2 hours. Divide the dough into equal size around 2 inches in diameter. There are two version of pattern you can make. First is to flatten the dough into an oval shape with a rolling pin. Then cut the side of the flatten dough a shown in the photo. Then put the sausage on it and fold the dough in a criss cross pattern. The second method which is easier, first roll the dough into a long strip. Then use the long dough to wrap the sausage. After you have finish wrapping the dough around all the bak kua and sausages, let it proof (prove, dough rise for second time) for around at lease half and hour. Then bake them in a preheated oven at 180 Dec C for 15 minutes.
The dough before and after yeast fermentation!
The first method of wrapping the sausage
The second method of wrapping the sausage.
My bak kua roll ready to for proofing and baking!
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Ice Cream, Sorbet or Ice Lolly? Simply ‘Hentam’ Dessert!

Initially, I wanted to make the same ice cream similar to the one that Anncoo made. Anyway, I don’t have double cream in stock and a little lazy to cook the ice cream ingredients. Therefore, I made do with whatever ingredients I have in stock and settled for a short cut frozen creamy dessert just like ice lollies. Instead of whisking the ingredients, I put all of them in the blender and mixed until they turned foamy! Therefore the texture is a little hard but creamy on the top. I made three flavours; strawberry from the leftovers fruits in my fridge, chocolate and vanilla. Ok lah, boleh makan juga! Ha ha ha! (Ok, can be eaten also). Good to have some nice and cool desert on a hot day!

Ingredients
Evaporated milk, 1 tin
Sweetened condensed milk, ½ tin (use all if you want it to be sweet)
Water, ½ cup
Sugar, to taste
Flavours Vanilla Essence, 1 tablespoon
Chocolate powder, 2 table spoons
Strawberries, 10 pcs

Put evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla essence, water and sugar in a blender. Blend until the mixture turned foamy. Divide the mixture into three portions. For the vanilla flavour add in a little more vanilla essence. As for the chocolate on put in the second portion in to the blender and add in the cocoa powder. I added some cooking chocolate to it also to have a little chunky texture in it. Then blend until they are well mixed. Do the same for the strawberry flavour ones as well. Put all the mixture into the freezer overnight!
Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Monday, March 15, 2010

Stretching the Ringgit – RM1 Al Safa Curry Fish Gravy and Home Made Roti Bom (Prata)

Rm1 per packet of Curry fish gravy with two ladies fingers!

'Flooding' the rice with curry fish gravy, long beans and hard boil egg!

My kids love to flood their rice with the spicy Mamak (Indian Muslim) curry fish gravy. I bought a packet of curry fish gravy only with 2 ladies fingers as additional dish for dinner from Al Safa Bandar Sri Damansara . It only cost me RM1 (USD0.30) for this packet of curry gravy which is about the volume of a rice bowl. I did not buy the fish because I already have steamed pomfret fish (bawal, tau teh) at home. Then I used my rice cooker to make 2 hard boil eggs. The Mamak fish curry gravy taste good with hard boil egg

Anyway after finishing our dinner, there was still some curry left, so I thought that it would be a good idea to make some roti canai to go with it for supper. Unfortunately I used only two cups of flour but added much butter and one egg is over the required amount to make a good roti canai. So the texture of the dough turned out too soft for me to throw and flip it to make roti canai like what you use to see at Mamak stalls. Therefore, I rolled them up to make roti bom or some might call it roti prata. After frying it using my non-stick pan, I found that it has the aroma and taste of roti bom or roti planta but the texture is flaky rather than springy like roti canai. Apart from the flawed texture, it actually tasted very good because the amount of butter and eggs used! LOL!

PS : Would you try the roti canai made by a Chinese if you come across such stall?

Making the dough and dividing it to golf ball sizes. Roti chanai turned out to be roti bom instead. The final product with fish curry gravy! Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

A Nice Gift from Ladyviral

This letter was delivered by the postman to my office last Friday. When I opened the letter, I saw this nice gift from Ladyviral, In My World. It a keychain with the Singapore Merlion engraved on it. Ladyviral has just got married and moved to Singapore recently to be with her husband. Ladyviral, wish you all the best in Singapore! Thank you for the nice gift! Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Weekend Meal of Deep Fried Prawns with Flour – Recipe

Everyone in my family loves deep fried prawns with flour. I have some prawn that I bought last week in my fridge and it is time to clear it out before I go the wet market again this weekend. I like to use equal portion of corn flour, wheat flour and rice flour because this composition would stick well to the prawns and make the dish crispy! I made a deep cut through the top part of the shelled prawn and turned it around like what Chef Martin Yan did in one of his show. This resulted in a prawn with attractive looking shape....LOL! My family had a nice meal of Deep fried prawn with flour as one of the main dish for dinner.

Ingredients
Medium size Prawns, 600 gms, shelled with tail remain intact
Corn flour, Rice Flour and Wheat Flour, equal portion to make up half a rice bowl
Salt to taste
Pepper a dash
Vegetable oil for deep frying
A little water for the batter

Add water to the flour combination to make a batter. Add in salt and pepper. Put the prawns in the batter and deep fry them in hot oil. Remove and drain away excess oil when the flour that coats the prawn turned golden brown. Serve while it is still hot and crispy! It tastes good with chilly sauce.

Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure