Dishes for Mother’s Day Celebration – Flounder Meat with Spring Onions and Baked Kam Heong Soft Pork Ribs

This morning, while at the wet market, I was wondering what to cook for my wife and family to celebrate mother’s day. Then I saw that my regular fishmonger has a few nice and fresh Flounder (Ikan Sebelah, Summer Flounder, Paralichthys Dentatus). I bought a medium size fish and asked him to fillet the fish for me. I thought of making the bones into a basket liked shape to hold the fish meat. Actually, I came across this technique from AFC Yan can cook show. Unfortunately, I broke one of the fish back bone, so my fish basket was a little out of shape. LOL! However, the bones are crispy and nice!

Flounder Meat with Spring Onions Recipe

Ingredients
Flounder, 600 gms, fillet meat and cut into cubes
Ginger, 1”x1”x1”, cut into slices
Spring onions, 1 plant, cut into one inch length
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Shao Shing Chiew (Chinese Cooking wine), 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Corn flour, 1 teaspoon and water mixture

Heat up wok and put in some vegetable oil. Put in the ginger, garlic and onions. Fry until the garlic turn golden brown. Add flounder fish meat and fry at medium heat until it is cooked. Add salt to taste and shao shing chiew. Put in the corn flour, spring onions and fry for a short while. Put the flounder fish meat on the deep fried flounder bones.

Baked Kam Heong Pork Soft Ribs Recipe
I had around 7 pieces of pork soft ribs in my fridge and since my wife loves kam heong sauce, I decided to roast it with my homemade kam heong sauce (Fragrant curry paste). First I fried the kam heong sauce and then put it on the ribs. Then I wrapped the ribs in aluminium foil and baked in oven at 200 Dec C for 1 hour. The soft ribs are very tender after being cooked in the oven and they are very juicy too! Happy Mother’s Day! Have a nice weekend with your family!

Short cut Chinese Pipa Chicken Recipe

Normally, duck instead of chicken is used in this dish. Anyway, since I don’t have any duck in hand, I have to make do with chicken. Pipa is a Chinese musical instrument that resembles a guitar. A Pipa duck is cut at the chest area and when opened up, it does look like a real pipa. The skin of a pipa duck is crispy and I managed to do the same with the chicken. I also made some sweet, sour and spicy chicken rice chilly to go with the pipa chicken.....mmmm, nice! Here is my my shortcut Pipa Chicken Recipe.

Ingredients
Chicken, 1 bird (or you can use duck), cut at the chest area and opened up
Fermented Red beancurd, 2 pcs
Chinese Barbecue Sauce or Hoisin Sauce, 3 table spoons
Sugar, 1 table spoon
Black Vinegar, 1 teaspoon
Chinese Rice Wine, 1 tablespoon
Mak Ngah Thong (maltose), 2 table spoon
Red Vinegar (or you can just use normal vinegar), 1 table spoon

Marinade the inner side of chicken with fermented bean curd, hoisin sauce, sugar and black vinegar. Rub the skin with mak ngah tong and red vinegar. (Normally Chinese cooks would use boiling hot mak ngah tong, red vinegar, rice wine and water mixture to bath the duck/chicken). Hang the chicken to dry for 1 hour or just put it in the fridge. Roast the chicken in preheated oven at 170 Dec C for 1 ½ hours.

Chocolate Bread Recipe

I am experimenting with different types of ingredients to go with my home made bread. One of it is chocolate and brown sugar. The result turn out quite good and my little daughter loves the chocolate bread so much. For a little aroma, I added in some vanilla essence. Vanilla essence is one of the essential ingredients in chocolate based food. I ended up with some extra dough and I used them to make sausage bread by sticking some smoked sausage on the flatten dough.

Ingredients
Flour, 4 cups
Dry yeast, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Sugar, 3 table spoons
Brown sugar, 2 table spoon
Cooking chocolate, ½ cup, cut into small chips
Vanilla Essence, 1 teaspoon
Shortening, 2 tablespoons
Butter, 2 tablespoons
Egg, 1 pc

Mix flour, yeast, salt, sugar, shortening and butter. Add some water and make it into dough. Knead the dough for around 15 minutes. Leave it aside for around 2 hours. Put one layer of the dough in to the bread pan. Sprinkle the chocolates, brown sugar and vanilla essence mixture on the dough. Put another layer of dough in to the bread pan. Again, sprinkle the chocolate, brown sugar and vanilla mixture on it. Keep on doing this until you fill up the bread pan up to around 75 %. Leave the bread dough aside to proof for another 20 minutes. Brush the top of the dough with eggs. Bake the bread dough in preheated oven at 200 Dec C for 15 minutes.

Sen Kee Duck Satay @ Restaurant Hao Hao Kee, Taman Desa Jaya

I took my little toddler for a ride last week after dinner but we ended up food hunting near my eldest son’s former school, SJKC Taman Desa Jaya in Kepong. I have heard about Sen Kee duck satay before this and found the restaurant just opposite the morning wet market which is part of an old theatre. Sen Kee satay stall is located inside Restaurant Hao Kee. I saw a similar Sen Kee stall in MCY Restaurant in Desa Aman Puri, which I think is one of the branches. Anyway, we parked the car and got down to check out the type of satay the stall has to offer. They sell duck satay (RM0.80), chicken satay (RM0.60) and also lamb (RM0.80) sate. The restaurant also offer cooked dishes and I saw there were quite a number of tables filled with customers eating their dinner. I ordered a takeaway set of 10 duck satay and 2 cuts of compressed rice (ketupat, 0.60 per piece). The nice duck satay nice aroma filled my car while I was driving back home and my little toddler kept on saying ‘mum mum’ (eat). Since it is duck meat, you can expect it to have a tougher texture than chicken, but the taste of duck satay is rather unique and delicious. I love the extra creamy satay sauce. This is the first time I ate duck satay but I am going back for more! PS: This area is rather dark and quiet at night, so please be a little extra careful.

Address and map to: Sen Kee Duck Satay @ Restaurant Hao Hao Kee 27, Jalan 13, Taman Desa Jaya, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur

Handphone contact: 019 2187538, 019 2492572

Closed on Mondays Google earth coordinate : 3.215984,101.62846

Check out Smallkucing review about the Chi Chow dishes and the duck satay at http://smallkucing.blogspot.com/2010/05/restaurant-hao-hao-kee-taman-desa-jaya.html

Creamy Curry Stingray with Okra Recipe

Eating my curry stingray with durians! Yum Yum!

I have been cooking and eating too much creamy food recently. Luckily it is very hard for me to put on weight, which is a blessing in disguise because I can eat as much as I desire! LOL! I thought the durians that I bought would go down well with some creamy stingray curry, so it is time to hit the kitchen to cook the stingray cuts from my freezer. I always have okra and long beans in my fridge, which explain why I often use these vegetables in my curry dish. Furthermore my kids love long beans and my wife loves okra in curry. You can also use cabbage and brinjals (eggplant) in this recipe.

Ingredients
Stingrays fish cut, 10 pcs
Curry Powder, 5 table spoons, mix with water to make a paste
Chilli Paste, 1 table spoon (optional)
Coconut Milk (santan), 1 coconut
Mixed halba, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Shallots, 5 pcs, chopped finely
Okra (ladyfingers), 5 pcs
Long Beans, 3 pcs, cut into one inch length
Serai (lemongrass), 1 pc

Heat up pot and add in around 4 table spoons of vegetable oil. Sauteed shallot until it turns golden brown. Add in the serai (lemongrass), curry paste, mixed halba and chilly paste. Fry the mixture until nice aroma permeates the air. Add coconut milk. Bring to a boil and add in the long beans. Add in the stingray cut and let it boil for 1 minute. Put in the okra and add salt to taste.

Braised Pork with Lemon Rind and Tofu Recipe

I bought a nice cut of pork with the skin and some fat intact. It is time for me to bring out my pressure cooker from the cabinet again. I need to cook this thick slab of pork until it is tender. Apart from using the normal spices like cinnamon and star anise, I also added some lemon rind for a little tangy flavour. Some tofu came in handy in order to provide a little balance to the rich and oily pork gravy.

Ingredients
Pork with skin and fat intact, 1 slab, 600 gms
Star Anise, 2 pcs
Cinnamon, 2 pcs
Lemon Rind, a little
Tofu, 3”x3”x3”, cut into cubes
Light Soya sauce, 2 table spoons
Dark Soya Sauce, 1 table spoon
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Corn flour, 1 tablespoon
Garlic, 1 whole bulb
Spring onions and Parsley for garnishing

Marinade pork with light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, sugar, salt, lemon rind and corn flour. Put pork in pressure cooker and add desired amount of water. Put in the star anise, cinnamon and garlic. Cook at high pressure for 45 minutes. Let it cool down a little and release the pressure valve before opening the lid. Add in and tofu bring to a boil without putting the lid on. Garnish with spring onions and parsley before serving.

Deep Fried Sole (Cynoglossus spp., Ikan Lidah, Tongue Fish)

I went to the wet market rather early last week and managed to buy some fresh sole or better known to the locals as ikan lidah (tongue fish). Ikan lidah belongs to the flat fish family, ie Soleoidei. Like its namesake, this fish do really look like a tongue! LOL! Tongue fish are normally deep fried until crispy or cooked with fermented bean paste. After cleaning the fish I decided to deep fry them. Unfortunately, I was busy cooking other dishes and my fish was a little burned! Anyway, the crispy fried sole still taste delicious! Evens the bones are crispy and edible!

How do you normally cook sole?

Pineapple Sunflower Prawn Fritters Salad Recipe

This is the first time I tried roasting pineapple and I was not really sure how the taste would turn out to be. I was quite surprised to discover that roasted pineapple has nice aroma, is sweet and juicy as well. For a little crunchy texture, I added prawn fritters to the pineapple salad. Then I used some carrots as branches and lettuce as leafs for my pineapples sunflowers theme salad. I used a blue and white plate to give the dish a little contrast. After adding all the final touches to my Pineapple Sunflower Prawn Fritters Salad, it looked like an oil painting! LOL!
Ingredients
Pineapples, 5 pcs, cut into round shapes (Ray Flower)
Carrots, 1 pc, cut into strips and five into round shapes to decorate the flower (Disc Flower)
Lettuce, 4 to 5 small leaves
Sugar, 1 table spoons
 Olive oil, 2 table spoons
Pepper, a dash
Thousand Island Salad Dressing, 3 table spoons
Prawn Fritters, you can use this link to my prawns fritters recipe

Sprinkle the sugar on the pineapples. Add a dash of pepper and olive oil. Heat up oven to 200 Dec C and roast pineapple for around 5 minutes or until the sugar caramelised. Cut the pineapple into bite sizes and arrange them back into the round shape on a plate. Decorate the plate with the carrot, lettuce and prawn fritters as the flower bed. Put the thousand island salad dressing on the pineapple flowers and the whole dish.