Cucur Udang (Prawn Fritters)

In my excitement I woke up, looked at the window and it was still dark... darn... its not even 6am yet!! After fiddling with my phone, checked my emails I decided the only way time was gonna past faster is if i make breakfast... and so i did..

Today's breakfast is Cucur Udang or Prawn Fritters..

Recipe

10 prawns (de-shelled and chopped roughly)
1 onion (diced
1 potato (diced)
1/2 cup corn kernels (i used frozen corns)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 egg
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chicken powder or seasoning
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda
1/4 cup hot water

oil for frying

Mix all the ingredients the the 1/4 cup of hot water last. Somehow i feel with that addition of hot water the texture of the fritters are softer than without it.

Let it stand for 5 minutes while heating a wok with 2 cups of oil. Once the oil is heated through, drop spoonfuls and let brown on one side and flip it to the other.


Serve with Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce....

Sotong Hitam & Terong Balado (Squid in Ink & Spicy Eggplant) & Pengat Durian

I'm really not inspired today.... the weather is hot, i'm feeling sticky and I can't wait for tomorrow to come quickly...
So today's menu is really simple... typical Malay dish of Sotong Hitam & Terong lado..




Recipe for Squid in Ink (Sotong Hitam)

1 kg of sotong or squid (since it shrinks after cooking!)

I wash and clean the squid, separating the head and body, slicing the squid about 2 cm lengths.

4 tiny bags of the squid ink (removed and set aside from the squid's head)

2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sugar

Blended ingredients

5 onions
3 garlic
1cm tumeric rhizome (kunyit hidup)
10 stalks of dried chilli (soaked and drained)
4 squid ink bags

Sautee the blended ingredients in 1 cup of oil until 'crispy'.. meaning all the blended ingredients are fully cooked and aromatic. Add in the squid and let it cook for about 10 mins... i do not add water as the cooking process of the squid will liquified the gravy. Add salt & sugar to taste. Removed all the squid to your serving container keeping the liquid on stove. Continue simmering until gravy is more concentrated and thick according to your preference.



Recipe for Spicy Eggplant (Terong Balado)

2 long eggplant sliced into 4 cm length

Pan fry both sides for about 5 minutes on low heat with oil until slightly browned & soft.

Pounded items (coursely)

5 stalks of fresh red chilli
2 small cloves of garlic
1 small onion
1/2 tomato

1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Sautee the pounded items in oil for a minute and season with salt & sugar
Pour over brinjal and serve..

Dessert today is Pengat Durian & Kacang Hijau (Durian with Green Beans Soup).. tired of all the cheese the past 2 days so i decided on the king of fruits and its humble accompaniment.. green beans..



Recipe for Pengat Durian & Kacang Hijau

1 cup of green beans (soaked)
2 pandan leaves
1 litre of water
1 cup santan (coconut milk)
a pinch of salt just to bring out the coconut taste
Sugar (white or palm sugar according to preference)
A bowl of durian with seeds

Boil the green beans with water and pandan leaves for about an hour until soft, add in the durian and simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients as well as the santan (coconut milk) and simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes.

Kaasstengel

I have a love hate relationship with the rain.....
I love it when it rains but I hate the fact that I'm always hungry especially when it starts pouring!!

I decided to make a cup hot English Breakfast tea with milk but I needed something to go with that..raiding the fridge and cabinets, i found flour, butter and cheddar cheese... darn it! No Edam in the fridge but I guess better Cheddar than none.. So Kaasstengel it is... In Dutch Kaas means Cheese and Stengel is Straw.. Cheesestraw... but i was hungry and i wanted it done before the rain stops so i used a cookie cutter instead...




Recipe

150g butter
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp salt
40ml cream
125g grated Edam cheese (I used cheddar today)
250g flour
10g milk powder
10g cornflour

1 egg yolk
more grated cheese

Cream the butter, mix salt to the egg and whisk. Add the egg yolk to the butter. Mix in cheese, flour, milk powder and cornflour. While mixing, add the cream slowly until well mixed. Roll the cheese dough and make into logs or long strips.. but today i used a cookie cutter instead. Place on a greased baking tray. I used silicone paper to line my trays. Brush the unbaked cookie with egg yolk and sprinkle grated cheese. Bake in 180 degrees oven for 20 min until brown...

Semur Daging aka Daging Masak Kicap

Today I'm in need of some comfort food... after having a very mediocre lunch yesterday and sleeping early because of my pounding headache.. I'm starving!



Recipe

5 Bombay onions
3 cloves garlic
2cm ginger
4cm length of lemongrass
10 stalks of dried chilli (soaked)

Blend the above ingredients and sauteed in oil until 'crispy'.

2 cinnamon sticks
4 cardamom
3 star anise

Add into the above mixture and sautee..

5 potatoes cut in wedges and deep fried. Set aside after turning golden.
1 tomato (diced)
2 carrots (chopped into 3cm lengths or as preferred)
1kg beef (I like mine thinly sliced)

3 tablespoon of Kicap Bango (or sweet soya sauce)
4 tablespoon of Kicap Masin (I used Habhal Kicap Masin/ soya sauce)
2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
500ml water

Add all the above to the sauteed mixture and simmer for 30 minutes until you get the consistency desired. Serve with steamed white rice... for me... its a slice of heaven...

To ride or not to ride?

A lot of the things I've done in life is to replicate my peers.. I went to Crescent Girl's because it was my Aunt's Alma Mater.. I played hockey because another Aunt played and my own Mom was a goalie ... So I became a goalie... What have I done for myself that's truly for me? I honestly don't know... there's too much influence around me I guess..

Anyway, back to the main topic.. the reason I write this is because I've always yearned to ride into the sunset on a dusty road with a KTM Scrambler... Seeing ANY scrambler makes me reminisce my childhood when my Uncle would take me for rides on his Yellow scrambler... I SO badly want to take riding lessons now!! Even Faris is into bikes... The moment he hears a rumbling engine of a Harley, his eyes open wide and he excitedly goes "Mommy Mommy did you hear that? Did you see that??" and so he tells me he can't wait to grow up and learn to ride too...

There is this really cute Vespa that's always parked at the entrance and it's beckoning me feel it its smooth surface..to bask in its 'cuteness'. My Papa had a green Vespa when I was little and maybe that's another reason why I'm drawn to it. Maybe its also a more logical choice for me instead of menacing machine right??


But with Hubby not around to 'protect' me, he's made me promise that the only time I can live my dream of riding a bike is when Faris is big enough to ride so that I can chaperone him! Bleaarrgghh... and thats 10 years from now!!!

Quick & Easy Cinnamon Roll

I was bored and it was raining heavily last week ... somehow rainy weather always make me feel peckish... and lately i've been going crazy over Mac D's Cinnamon Melts... wonder where Saint Cinnamon has gone to... I loved the Cream Cheese Version!



Anyway I decided to make make some.. very easy recipe.. nothing beats Saint Cinnamon of course but this will do just to ease the cravings..

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
3 1/4 cups flour
1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg

1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened

Heat the milk & butter (i used the microwave)...in a mixing bowl, add 2 cups & 1/4 cup flour, yeast, salt, sugar, water, egg & the heated milk & butter mixture.. knead (i use a normal mixer attachement) until well blended for about 5 minutes. Mixture will still be sticky. Add in the balance 1 cup flour and knead (i change to a dough hook) and knead for another 5 minutes.

Let it rest for 10 min and then roll on a floured surface to about 5mm thin. Mix the cinnamon mixture and spread across the rolled dough.

Leave some cinnamon mixture for topping. Roll as tight as possible and cut into 1 inch rolls.

Grease the baking container (you can use baking tin but i prefer to use a square serving bowl) and arrange the rolls loosely apart as rolls will rise and expand.

Spread more cinnamon mixture over the top.

Let it rest for another 10 minutes before popping it in the over for 30 minutes on 180 degress oven..

Serve with cream cheese topping or as for me (because i had no other options that day) I made a simple sugar glaze.