spaghetti aglio olio



i love pasta. i love, love, LOVE pasta. it's so sedap. simply put. i made this for dinner. actually, narnee and i found this recipe here last ramadhan. i think between narnee, robot and i, we ate one whole packet worth of spaghetti. ha...amek ko! we were all fasting and craving for pasta, i went online and saw this recipe...earlier on, we bought all the stuff for some portobello pasta that narnee was supposed to make. aneeway, we found this recipe and the rest is HISTORY. sedap giler...very simple yet satisfying...no more will we go out and buy our aglio olio. buat je kat rumah. easy peasy. you want the recipe?

ingredients:

spaghetti, cooked al dente

a few cloves of garlic, chopped

2 stalks of dried chillies

chicken stock

olive oil

here's the best part about aglio olio...you can add in anything else that you want...this time round, i added, some sliced green and red capsicum, some brown swiss button mushrooms (no portobello in sight...boohoohoo), some sun dried tomatoes and some chicken fillet.

the how to:

1)  saute the garlic and dried chillies, be extra careful to not let the garlic brown.

2)  add in anything else that you want.

3)  then in goes the pasta.

4)  after that add in the chicken stock. if you want to add salt, please be careful because the chicken stock is already a tad salty.

5)  stir for a bit, or what i do is, i like to let everything simmer for a bit so that the pasta sort of like take in the stock. and then, you're done!

luck luck you guys!!!

Tenggiri Goreng Asam

spanish mackerel cooked in tamarind juice.

today, we shall go to Negeri Sembilan. A state located in the western coast of the peninsular Malaysia. Known for its very, very spicy dishes using bird's eye chillies. Podeh! i took the recipe from this book i bought a while ago...

tastewise it is waaaay better than a similar dish i blogged about some time ago... this one has a more sourish taste...something that i am craving for these days.

ready for the recipe? wait...you want to see a photo of this dish? here it is: :-)

okay, now for the recipe:

ingredients:
(a)
spanish mackerel, how ever many you desire
3 shallots, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1" ginger, sliced thinly also
10 red bird's eye chilli, i used 3 only (i know, i sissy...hehehe)
5 green bird's eye chilli, i used 3 also...these two you need to slice
1 big onion, cut into circles
salt to taste
oil for frying

(b)
1 cup of tamarind juice
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tomato, cut into 4 - i made mine into 6...saja je...

the how to:
1)  coat the fish with some turmeric powder and salt, fry till cooked and golden brown.

2)  set the fish aside, remove most of the frying oil and leave some so that we can use it to saute (a)

3)  saute (a) till they are all soft and shiny.

4)  add in the tamarind juice, tomatoes and the turmeric powder.

5)  once the gravy starts to boil, put in the fish, stir it for a bit and heat off.

6)  you can enjoy this with hot rice. YUM!!

that's it for today folks. please try the recipe and lemme know okay? ta!

KK, or

kuih ketayap, but then again, KK can also be kuih keria or kuih koci...or...okay, okay...you get my drift, right? in this book, it is called kuih gulung. how come ah?

aneeways, i like the taste of the kuih. the only thing i would change about this recipe is to reduce the amount of sugar in the filling. too dayum sweet!! other than that, it is okay...

don't you be asking about the irregularities in the size of the kuih, okaaay...first timer, but i think i did good...ehem! *file nails* haha!

here's the recipe for you guys to try out:

ingredients:
(a)
2 cups flour
2 cups of pandan leaf juice (blend about 7 pandan leaves)
½ cup coconut milk, or fresh milk
3 tbs cooking oil
1 tsp green food coloring
1 tsp salt

(b) for the filling
1 cup of grated coconut
½ cup of palm sugar
½ cup of caster sugar
½ water

the how to:
the batter for the pancake

1)  add in all ingredients, stir everything and then strain into a big bowl.

2)  heat pan and brush a little bit of oil on top.

3)  pour one ladle full of batter onto the pan and spread the batter evenly.

4)  when the pancake is ready lift and place it on a plate.

5)  spoon in the filling.

6)  fold both sides of the pancake first, and then you can roll the entire pancake, just like making spring rolls.


filling (inti)

1)  in a wok add in (b).

2)  cook with medium heat and stir till everything is well blended and slightly dry. take off heat and let it cool before use.

we had this for tea, although i think there's still some room for improvement, i was generally quite satisfied with the results.

try kay? :-)

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi by chef hanieliza.

fish head curry

or, kari kepala ikan...

once again, i took this recipe from this book, 1 hari 1 resipi. i've never attempted to cook fish head curry before, mainly because i don't think i'll ever come close to my mum's version. but since this is the try-everything-once year, i thought, why not. so, here's my fish head curry, using chef hanieliza's recipe.

what?? can't hear you...where's the fish head?? tuuuu...okay, okay fine, the recipe calls for jenahak  or tenggiri fish head, but since i don't have those and plus it's just for the two of us, i used the head of ikan nyoknyok for the curry. :-p

ready for the recipe?

ingredients:

(a)

head of tenggiri or jenahak, i used ikan nyoknyok

5 tbs fish curry powder, mixed with some water

2 round aubergine, i didn't have any

3 green chillies, i didn't use

2 tomatoes, cut into 4

1 cup tamarind juice

1 cup coconut milk, i used M&S UHT coconut milk

cooking oil

salt to taste

(b) to saute

5 onions, pound or sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, pound or sliced thinly

1 inch ginger, pound or sliced thinly

1 tsp of mixed spices

some curry leaves, i don't have :-(

the how to:

1)  heat oil in wok and saute (b) till fragrant.

2)  add in the curry powder that has been mixed with water, and saute till it's cooked.

3)  next, in goes the tamarind juice and the coconut milk. let it simmer till it starts to boil.

4)  put in the fish head and aubergine.  add in a little bit of water so that the coconut milk will not be too thick.

5)  reduce heat and let it simmer.  once it starts to boil, add in the tomatoes and salt. let it simmer a little bit more and take it off the heat.

6)  ready to serve.

now for the taste, well, the taste is quite good, although it's the mamak version that we're used to, but still edible. haha!

trylah and lemme know okay?

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi by chef hanieliza

OMG!!!

has it really been this long?? really?? forgive me...i initially wanted to write about my trip, my ultimate vacay...but suddenly i found that there are a lot to write about, the trip, i mean, so i've decided to put that on hold for a while and see if i can somehow write about it...if not, then soli. if yes, then okaylah...

so, jet-lag pun jet-lag ler jugak, but the kitchen must go on. haha!

today, i am making asam pedas daging. i've eaten it before, the original version, from Melaka, of course. sodaaaap.

i bought a few (read: 9) recipe books for my aunty to bring back to sweden. it has all the famous recipes from each state of the country. i only have 9, but knowing me and my 'condition' i will try to get the rest as soon as i can. right now, i have Sabah, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan,Terengganu, Perak, Pahang, Johor, Kelantan and Melaka.

the cover of the book (hamboi, kemain lagi posing chefnya ye...jangan marah chef...) claims that the recipes are 'gerenti jadi', i thought before i give it to my aunty, why don't i try one. yes? yes. since i have all the ingredients, why don't i try the asam pedas. very daunting? yes, very daunting. but if i don't try, then i'll never know, right?

okay, are you guys ready for the recipe? here is the recipe:

ingredients:
(a)
250g beef (in a pot of water, cook the beef till it's tender and keep the stock)
½ bowl of tamarind juice
cooking oil
some 'daun kesum' or viatnamese mint
1 tomato, cut into 4
salt and sugar, to taste.

(b) items to blend
1 big onion
½ inch galangal
½ inch ginger
7 dried chillies (soaked in hot water prior to that)
1 inch belacan or shrimp paste
1 lemongrass

the how to:
1)  heat oil in pot and saute item (b).  once it's cooked and fragrant, add in the beef stock.

2)  next, in goes the beef that has been sliced, tomatoes, the tamarind juice and also the daun kesum.

3)  add in salt and a little bit sugar.

4)  simmer till it boils and take it off the heat.

5)  ready to be served.

what i like about this book is that, the way to cook each dish is really easy, five steps and you're done! way to go Chef Salbiah!

now, for the taste, well, as per claimed by the book, the recipe 'memang jadi'. i like the taste...it's really sodaaaap. aaaaandddd yang paling penting sekali, my roomie also said it's sodaaap. alhamdulillah... ;-)

what are you waiting for? give it a go!

recipe source: Cita Rasa Malaysia - Melaka, by Chef Salbiah.
photo of daun kesum/viatnamese mint: Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages