Ramadan 2015 Day 16 - Break Fasting Party

Another day is spent at a friend's house for break fasting. There are so much food served. I had a great time tasting each of the food.

 I brought these donuts for everyone to enjoy.

 I just don't know where to start...we have pulut panggang, fish in curry gravy, fried fish with sambal, fried bee hoon(rice stick noodles), fruit salad(rojak), stir fry vegetables, fried noodles, more stir fry vegetables.

 Above is the dessert table. There are curry puff, spring rolls, pulut panggang, fried tempe, onde onde, kuih ketayap, and fermented glutinous rice (tapai pulut).

 The same food as shown before...

 Close up on the tapai pulut. They are delicious.

 Spring rolls.

 The green food is called kuih ketayap.

 The hostess signature cake, pandan chiffon.

The drinks...fruit cocktail and watermelon juice.

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Ramadan 2013 Day 13 - Seri Muka

One of my favorite dessert is this kuih seri muka, in direct translation would be "sweet face". This dessert is very sweet. The bottom part is made of sweet rice and the top part is just flour mixed with egg and coconut milk.

 For the top part, I am using one cup of pancake mixed flour and 1/2 teaspoon of green pandan flavoring. I am also using splenda as substitute to sugar. Mix them in 2 cups of coconut milk and egg.

Pressed the cooked sweet rice to the bottom layer of the pan. Pour the green mixture onto the sweet rice and steam this cake for about 50 minutes. Delicious!

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Sardin Roll

Sardin roll is one of my favourite snack. I am using the empanadas skin for this sardin roll. For the filling, mix onion and hot peppers with sardin without the tomato juice. Put a spoonful of the filling to the center of the empanadas skin. Bring 2 sides together and then fold on both ends. Fry in deep oil until golden brown.
Serve with a cup of tea or coffee. Yummy!
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Cucur Badak

Cucur Badak is one of my favorite afternoon tea time snack. Last week, I cooked Serunding Kelapa. I am using the same serunding kelapa (savory coconut flakes) for the filling in this cucur badak. To make this cucur badak is super easy but a little bit sticky to handle.
I am using a can of yam. Drained.
Add 2 cups of all purpose flour and a pinch of salt.
Mix well to form a soft dough.

Flour your hand. Take a small ball of the dough and flatten it. Add a teaspoon of the savory coconut flakes in the center. Fold and cover.
This yield about 10 pieces of cucur badak.
Heat pan with about 1 cup of olive oil.
Pan fry on both sides until golden brown.
Delicious!
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Seri Muka

This seri muka was cooked in the microwave. Firstly, I cook the glutinous rice in a pot. I used an equal part of rice and thinned down coconut milk. I also add half teaspoon of salt and 1 pandan leaf for fragrant. The green top part required some work. I cut about 6 pieces pandan leaf. I blend the pandan leaf with 1 cup of water. I strained the juice.

In a bowl, mix 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of coconut milk. Then add an egg. Combine. Add the green juice from the pandan (screw pine) leaf.  Add 2 tablespoons of hon kwee flour (green color) and 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Mix well.

In a microwavable safe dish, layer the cooked glutinous rice. Pack it smooth. Pour the green mixture onto the rice using a strainer. This will give us a smooth mixture and ready to go into the microwave. Microwave the cake for about 8 minutes on high. Add another minute until the top is cooked. It should feel soft to the touch.

Let the sweet cake cool before cutting.
Enjoy!
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Serunding Kelapa - Spiced Coconut Flakes

Serunding kelapa also known as Spiced Coconut Flakes is one of my favorite food. I like to cook it with simple ingredients.  For my breaking fast dinner tonight, it would be this serunding kelapa with glutinous rice.

Ingredients:

1 bag of sweetened coconut flakes (14 oz./396gm)

1 medium size of sweet onion 

1 tablespoon of chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of red chili powder

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

1 teaspoon of coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon of clove powder

1 tablespoon of chopped lemongrass

1/4 teaspoon of ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small packet of dried shrimp

5 pieces kaffir lime leaf

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method:
In a bowl, grate the onion.
Add all the spices and garlic. Combine.
Add sliced kaffir lime leaf (daun limau purut).
Mix well.
In a big skillet, heat olive oil.
Fry the paste until fragrant.
Add chopped dried shrimps.
Add coconut flakes.
Mix well and cook for 10 minutes.

I serve this savory dish with cooked glutinous rice. To cook the glutinous rice is to mix the water and the coconut milk. Use the same measurement of the rice and the water plus coconut milk. I cooked  2 cups glutinous rice with 1/2 cup coconut milk and 1 1/2 cup water. Add a pinch of salt.

Enjoy!
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Corn Pudding

First day of Ramadan today. The weather was very nice. We had rain last night and it was a good soaking rain for the garden. I am as usual not in any mood to cook heavy meal today. This corn pudding is the simplest recipe ever and it was cook in the microwave.

Ingredients:
1 can of creamy corn
1 can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of corn flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:
In a ceramic bowl, mix all ingredients. Microwave for 5 minutes on high.
Then stir the mixture.
Microwave again for another 3 minutes.
Let it cool and then chill in the fridge.

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Kuih Bom

Growing up, kuih bom is one of my favorite kuih. This kuih can be served for breakfast or for an afternoon snack. It goes well with a cup of milk, hot tea or hot coffee. This kuih has been improvised over the years and many recipes are created for the chewy and flavorful kuih bom. This morning, I decided to cook a simple and authentic my mom’s way of cooking this kuih.

Ingredients:
2 cups glutinous rice flour
½ cup all purpose flour
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Sesame seeds
Olive oil to fry

Ingredients for the filling:
2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup brown sugar
1 pandanus leaf
1 cup water

Cook the coconut filling by combining all the ingredients until coconut flakes soften. Remove the pandan leaf.
Set aside to cool.

For the dough, add flour, sugar and salt.
Then add water little by little until dough is formed.
Take a piece of the dough. Flatten it with your hand.
Set a small amount of filling in the center and fold.
Cover the dough with sesame seeds.
Set aside.
Continue making the kuih bom with the rest of the dough and filling.
Heat olive oil at 400 degree F.
Fry the kuih bom until golden brown.


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Homegrown Courgette

Remember the cucumber I found in my garden a week ago? Well, I decided to slice it and drizzle with some ketchup. This fresh homegrown courgette was very sweet.
The picture of the courgette is here
I ate this cucumber as a side dish to my chicken rice and fried eggs. Yes, I love fried eggs with soy sauce. Delicious!
I used to pack this meal for school and it never grow old on me. If I cannot have rice and fried eggs with thick soy sauce at least once a week, I feel my day at work is not complete.
Writing about this favorite meal of mine make me smile. No matter how much I earn for a living, this simple and cheap meal is priceless.
This courgette is the winner in my garden. I will definitely grow this plant in next season.

Fifth Day Ramadan - Roast Beef with Potato and Carrot, Sardine Puff and Stewed Tomato

I was a bit productive at work today. I managed to come up with more codes. Yahoo!
My MIL called and she asked me what time I will pick her up on Saturday. I have not thought about it yet. I asked her if she would like vegetables from my garden. She said yes. Right after work, I stopped by at my garden and pulled some carrots and beets. Then I picked the cherry tomatoes and the green tomatoes. Lastly I plucked some ears of corn for her. I drop them all at her house.

I came home and decided to cook stewed tomatoes. Honey has been asking for it since he saw lots of ripe tomatoes on my kitchen counter. Plus, he likes the stewed tomato I cook couple of weeks ago.
A simple roasted beef with roasted red potato and roasted carrot.
I roast these items separately.
Ingredients for roasted potato and carrots:
3 large red potato. Cut to a bite size chunk.
5 large carrots. Peel the skin with a peeler. Cut chunk the same size as the potato.
Chop fresh rosemary and thyme.
1 tablespoon dry garlic rosemary mix.
salt and ground black pepper.
drizzle with some olive oil.
Broil at 450 degree F for 40 minutes or until tender.

Marinate 2 lbs beef that has been slices into bite size with the following mix:
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ginger powder
1 large shallot ( grated)
Chop fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and sage.
1 tablespoon sugar
some olive oil

Mix all of these ingredients on the beef and let it marinate for 20 minutes.
Drizzle olive oil on the beef.
Broil at 450 degree F for about 30 minutes.
Cover with foil to lock the moisture in.

I love sardine roll. I found the big size empanadas skin brought back my memory to those delicious sardine roll I once consumed. The combination of the taste from the pastry and the right mixture in the sardine blended so well together.
Thaw in the fridge the frozen empanadas skin.
Ingredients for the filling:
1 can of sardine in tomato sauce. Drain the sauce.
1 large red onion. Dice it finely.
1 hot cherry pepper.
1 tablespoon lime juice.

Method:
No cooking involve.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Take one empanadas skin.
Put filling in the center.
Bring all sides together and form half moon shape.
Use the tip of the fork and press along the edges to seal it.
Deep fry in olive oil until golden brown.
Delish!
The recipe for this stewed tomatoes as follows:
Ingredients:
3 lbs ripe tomato ( I am using the lemon boy and the cherry tomatoes)
3 medium size shallot
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh flat leaves parsley
2 tablespoon celery salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3 Sage leaves (thinly slice)
2 tablespoon sugar
salt to taste
1 dry bay leaf

Method:
Chop into chunk of the tomato. Put them in a big pot.
Dice the shallots. Add into the pot together with the tomato.
Heat the stove on low.
Chop all the herbs except the bay leaf.
Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot.
Stir and let it simmer uncover for 30 minutes.
Give it a taste and add salt or sugar as needed.

I pour this stewed tomato into my roasted beef to give the beef some moisture.

I am drinking diet mountain dew tonight.
Enjoy!

Sago in Strawberry Milk

Everytime I go to the Asian store, I like to buy a packet of the tapioca pearl. For this evening, I decided to eat the sago or tapioca pearl with a cup of strawberry milk.

Boil 1 cup of tapioca pearl in about 5 cups of water for about 5 minute. Drain the water. In a strainer, run the cooked tapioca under cold water. This tip is given by Kak Aishah. Thanks to her.
In a bowl, add icing sugar. Depending on how sweet you like your sago, first add 1/2 cup and taste it. If you like your sago sweeter than add another tablespoon of icing sugar. Pour the sago in a container and store in the fridge.
Cut the sago each time you want to eat it. You can also roll this sago in coconut flakes.
If you cannot drink milk, you can use soy milk or just strawberry syrup drizzle on this sago. Serve cold.

Kosui or kasui

I follow this kosui recipe from Kak Lily of Lily Wai Sek Hong but I had to use the "lompang" mould since I don't have a bigger steamer. I also had to measure my own ingredients since I am only making it for myself.
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup dark brown sugar (taste until you satisfied with the sweetness)
2 screw pine leaves (knotted)
2 tablespoons powdered coconut milk
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup glutinuos rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tablespoon alkaline water (lye water)

To coat:
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (sprinkle water and microwave for 30 second if dry)
2 teaspoon sugar
a pinch salt

Method:

Heat a big skillet on low. Pour in water, screw pine leaves and brown sugar until sugar dissolved. Then add rice flour, glutinous rice flour and tapioca flour. Mix well. Then add alkaline water. Stir for about 5 to 6 minutes until slightly thicken.
Prepare the steamer. Pour the batter into the mould. Like me, I had to use small lompang mould. If you have a bigger steamer just pour the whole batter into 8 inch round cake pan with 1 to 2 inch depth. This kosui is not going to rise. It will stay flat and hardened as it cooked for about 30 to 40 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Wet the knife to cut the kosui as it will be sticky. Roll it in the coconut flakes mix. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Kuih Kole

Kuih Kole is Malaysian popular kuih or treat. You can find this sweet kuih sell in most coffee shops in Malaysia.

Ingredients
200 gm green beans flour
1 can of thick coconut milk ( I used coco king brand- you can find this at the asian store)
2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 pandan leaves

Method:
Fry green beans flour without oil till light and yellowish.
Then heat non stick pot on medium. Add plain sugar, brown sugar, pandan leaves and coconut milk and water. cook till sugar dissolves.
Add green beans flour bit by bit and mixed well. Cook the mixture over a gentle low heat into a thickened batter. Continuously stirs to avoid burn and till batter cooked.
Pour the cooked batter into baking pan and smooth the top with wet knife. Put aside to cool.


Process to cook the granules (tahi minyak) for topping.
I use another can of thick coconut milk. Pour it into a pan on medium heat. Let it boil and stir occasionally.

Cooked the coconut milk until turned granules (also known as tahi minyak). Put aside.

Spread evenly tahi minyak (granules)over the battered. Cut your desire shape with wet knife and serve.

Fried Tapioca

While at WEIS looking for vegetables to buy the other day, I saw tapiocca sold in the freezer isle. I always love tapioca. Tapioca is a flavorless, colorless, odorless starch extracted from the root of the plant species Manihot esculenta as described in the net. This vegetable root is native to South America and easily found in the freezer section for spanish foods. My father used to grow this vegetables in our backyard for family used.

Frozen tapioca can easily thaw. I soak it for 15 minutes in warm water for quicker method or let it sit on the kitchen counter for more than half an hour.
I slice them thinly. I like my fried tapioca extra crispy. So, I fry it a little bit longer.
My recipe for this delicious crispy snack is as follows:
1 small packet of frozen tapioca (thaw and thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon flour
Olive Oil for cooking

Method:
In a bowl, mix all powdered ingredient with tapioca except the flour. Stir well to coat the tapioca. Lastly sprinkle the flour and stir lightly.
In frying pot, heat the olive oil to 400 degree F. Fry the tapioca until golden brown.
This fried tapioca is good to dip in chilli sauce or hot and spicy soy sauce. It can also be eaten just like that without any dipping sauce. Serve this fried tapioca with a cup of hot coffee for breakfast.
The square puffs in the picture are sardine puffs.