CHILLI SAMBAL

                         This is one of my favourite dipping sauce in Malaysia. It is a mixture of taste of sour, hot, sweet and tangy. It's a perfect dipping for fried fish or simply steamed veggies of your choice(okra,beans,eggplant etc.). I love it in my fried rice, it adds a bit of an oomph for it.

                                                  Ingredients:

                                                     5 pieces dried chillies, deseeded
                                                     5 pieces fresh finger chillies
                                                      2 pcs. Shallots, peeled
                                                      2 pcs. garlic cloves
                                                      1 inch of ginger, peeled
                                                      5 pcs of calamansi juice or 1 lime
                                                      1 kaffir lime leaf (optional)
                                                      inch by inch piece of belachan or shimp paste
                                                       1 medium ripe tomato
                                                       1 tsp. palm sugar(brown sugar will do)

              Here's how to make it:

                    1.)    Soak the dried cillies in a hot water for at least half an hour before you start preparing..

                    2.)     Prepare the remaining ingredients. Wrap the belachan or shimp paste in an aluminum foil and roast it in the stove (direct fire) for 3 minutes.

                    3.)     Slice the chilli, shallots, garlic, ginger and tomato. Strain the soaked dried chilli. Put all the prepared ingredients in a blender, including the belachan or shrimp paste, fresh kaffir lime leaf( if using) and the juice of the lime or calamansi and sugar. Blitz it altogether and voila! Serve with your lunch or dinner.

SOUR PRAWN SOUP

                                                          Filipino Sour Prawn Soup
                                              
                                                         (SINIGANG NA HIPON)

This soup is one of my favourite, specially on chilly winter days. Sour and tasty with a little oomph of a jalapeño chilli. Eat it with rice or on it's own, so refreshing and mood lifter. So simple and easy to prepare. Fresh prawns are recommended with this recipe.

                                    Ingredients:

                                               500g Tiger Prawns (I used thumb sized ones)
                                               2 medium tomatoes
                                               3 stalks spring onions
                                               an inch by inch fresh ginger
                                               3 finger chillies
                                               handful of beans or okra
                                               handful of napa cabbage or kangkong if you have
                                               2 tbsp. of Tamarind paste concentrate(or juice of 1 lemon)
                                               3 cups fish or chicken stock (I used 1 chicken stock cube diluted in
                                                      3cups of water)
                                               pepper and salt to taste


      Here's how to cook:

                  Clean the prawns and prepare all the vegetables, cut in the sizes you desire.In a saucepan, pour in the stock, cover and let it boil. Once it's boiling, add in the beans or okra, tomatoes, onions, ginger (or any similar vegetable you are using) (leave the leafy veggies and chillies last to cook). Leave to cook for about 7 minutes then pour in the tamarind paste or lemon juice. Add in the prawns and napa cabbage or kangkong leaves. Simmer for another 10 minutes or till the prawns cooked. Season well with salt and pepper. Serve with steam rice and enjoy.

Chicken Rice (Malaysian style)

Chicken Rice 

(Malaysian style) 

This is my version of Malaysian chicken rice. I used to eat this often in KL back when I was working there. I wasn't aware that it is quite easy to cook it on your own kitchen as long as you got all the ingredients on hand, which is not hard to find wherever you are in Europe now. 

Ingredients:                                                               

One whole medium chicken

3 lemongrass stalks             

1 pandan leaf                        

3 sprigs of spring onions      

thumb sized ginger               

1 clove of garlic                    

3 cherry tomatoes                 

              2 dried chillies soaked in hot water   

2 red finger chillies             

         2 tsp light soya sauce                   

1 tsp sesame oil                  

2 liters of water                   

 1 chicken stock cubes           

salt and pepper to taste         

                                    sliced cucumber and coriander leaves for garnishing

How to cook:                                                                                                         

1.) In a big stock pot, pour in the 2 liters of water. Smash the ginger, 2 spring onions, 2 stalk lemongrass, add all in together in the pot with a teaspoon of salt and chicken stock cubes. Bring to boil.

2.) Rub the chicken with salt until the skin looks very clean and then rinse nicely in running water. Pat dry with kitchen towels. Then once the stock boils, put the chicken in and put back the lid on. Leave for at least another 5 minutes on medium fire then off the stove. DO NOT OPEN the lid of the pot to allow the remaining heat to cook the chicken through. Leave it for 45 minutes (this is according to the 1.5 kg chicken I cooked).

3.) While the chicken is on the pot, you can prepare the sauce. Slice the remaining ginger, garlic, tomatoes and chilies and blend them altogether (I used pessel and mortar). Then season it with soya sauce, set aside. Add some chicken stock later to thin a bit and add some taste too.

4.) After 45 minutes, Prepare the rice, wash nicely in a pot, smash the lemongrass and fold the pandan leaf and add into the rice. Take some stock on the pot where you cooked the chicken and use it to cook the rice(about 4 cups of it). Cook it as usual.  (Take some half a cup and add to your sauce too.)

5.) When your rice is nearly done take your chicken out and let it rest for few minutes before cutting to serve. Slice some cucumber on the side. Use the remaining stock as a side soup by seasoning with salt and pepper, bring it to boil, then garnish with chopped coriander. Serve it as pictured, enjoy!

               

Lengua Steak (ox tongue steak)

This recipe is one of my favorite, though it's very rare to find an ox tongue in the supermarket. I go to our local butcher to order from them but it won't be available for few days. Ox tongue has a very unique and tasty if you know what/how to cook with it. It is rich in protein and fleshy(not fatty at all). Easy to clean and prepare, and it will turn out such rewarding when yummy meal when cooked. Now, here's my version of  recipe that you will love and will change your mind about (not so) offal.


                           Ingredients:


                            1 whole ox tongue (about 2kg more or less)
                             half a cup of vinegar
                            2 medium onions
                            1 lemon
                            1 tbsp. soy sauce
                            1 tsp black peppercorns
                            1 whole head of garlic
                            3 pcs bay leaves
                            1 tbs salt
                            1 1/2 litre of water

       METHOD:

                 1.) Clean the ox tongue by brushing or rubbing the rough part of it and rinse. In a basin put
                         the vinegar and rub the meat with it for 2 minutes.  Then rinse thoroughly.
                 2.) In a Pressure cooker, put the meat, 1 onion quartered, garlic(cut in half and unpeeled),                         bay leaves,
                       peppercorns, salt and water. Close it nicely locked, then boil it for about 45 minutes,                            off  the stove and leave it to cool down.
                 3.) Once it cold enough to handle, take the meat out, keep the stock. Peel the outer layer 
                       of the tongue and rise. Pat dry with kitchen towel and slice it crosswise (round).
                 4.) Slice the remaining onion, stir fry in a pan with a bit of oil until translucent, put it in a
                      bowl, save for later. Put in the same pan the meat and stir fry it for a minute, add the soy
                      sauce and about 1 cup of the stock that you used to boil the meat and juice from  the                        lemon. Let it simmer for
                       15 minutes or until the sauce is thick-ish. Then serve, garnish with the onion on top.

BON APPETITE!
                    
                  
                      

Beef and Glass Noodles, Vegetables Salad

Ingredients:

2 pieces Beef steak portion size
1 small packet of glass noodles(soaked in hot water for 5mins. then strained)
1 medium carrot
3 pcs green beans
1 cup beans sprouts
5 pieces cherry tomatoes
Half a cup chopped coriander
1stalk green shallot
5 mint leaves
1 lime (zest and squeezed)
2 tbsp fish sauce
1tsp brown sugar(palm sugar if available)
1 tbsp chopped peanuts or sesame seeds(optional)
salt and pepper to taste.
Iceberg lettuce to serve(optional)

Method:

Soak the beans sprout in a cold water (enough to cover it) with a teaspoon vinegar for a couple of minutes then rinse nicely with cold water, strain. Season the beef with salt and pepper and pan grill it for at least 2 minutes each side, set aside. Prepare the veggies, slice the carrot(I used the peeler by shaving it through repeatedly), chop the tomatoes finely, chop the coriander and green shallot,mint leaves. Now prepare the sauce, by mixing together lime zest and juice,fish sauce,sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Put the all vegetables and  the glass noodles in a big salad bowl, slice the beef into strips, add into the bowl, pour the sauce and sprinkle the chopped peanuts or sesame seeds ( if you're using). Mix altogether nicely, then serve it with a lettuce as shon on the photo.

OVEN BAKED SEA BASS

Oven Baked Sea Bass

This is how I cook a whole fish, I add some herbs and seasoning. For some of us who doesn't like bones, you can use a filleted fish but cook it in lesser time. This recipe is perfect to eat with white rice or boiled potatoes. Eat it immediately once it's cooked to achieve a fresh and scrumptious fish dish.

Note: please adjust your ingredients to smaller or bigger portion, depends on how many servings you   want.

Ingredients:

1 (380g) whole cleaned and gutted sea bass
1/4 C chopped parsley
2 pips of garlic
1 medium onion, quartered
1/4 bell pepper
4 pcs cherry plum tomatoes
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
pepper according to your taste

Method: 

 Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Clean and wash the fish thoroughly in a cold running water. Remove all the sinews and blood in the gut. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. Get a roasting dish and line it with aluminium film that is long enough to fold it close later. Cut the tomatoes into halves, line some in the dish with the chopped garlic. Lay the fish and sprinkle some salt. Mix the parsley, tomatoes,  and onion, add into the fish. Peel the lemon, cut into half and squeeze it into the fish. Then put the lemon peel and bell pepper on top then sprinkle the remaining salt and pepper. pour olive oil and fold the foil to close. Bake for at least 30 minutes then turn it down to 200degrees and leave it for another 10 minutes. Take it out from the oven. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes[without opening the foil] before serving. Enjoy!

Quick Stir Fry Noodles

Here's a simple noodle recipe for a quickie lunch or dinner. I have used our left over chicken from last night, I shred it to pieces and i had some asian fish cakes took from my freezer that I cut into cubes to add more protien and texture in it. But actually you can use whatever you have in your fridge like cold cuts and left over roasts. As well as vegetables you can use any of the similar veggies in this recipe. Like broccoli, or cauliflower or even brussels sprouts. you can just add in the vege according to how long it's gonna cook. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

half a cup sredded chicken
1 block of fish cakes / or fish balls if you have[optional]
2 pips of garlic
1 medium onion
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
3 tbsp light soya sauce
1 cup water
1 small carrot
half a medium bell pepper
quarter of a medium cabbage
50g of dried egg noodles
80g of dried rice noodles
half of a chicken stock cubes[like oxo or knorr]
 spring onions to garnish [optional]

Method:

Heat your pan/wok then put the oil in, sauté garlic and onion until transluscent then add in the shredded chicken. Stir fry for a bit then pour the soya sauce on, give another stir then add water, carrots and stock cube and salt if needed. Leave it to boil then add in the fish cakes, noodles, cabbage and bell pepper , leave the stove in medium to low fire and let it boil cooking the noodles till it almost absorbed all the liquid. Stir it nicely till it's dry, then take it off the heat. garnish with spring onion and serve it with a lemon wedges.