.

Every month a bunch of us over at twitter pick a food item and cook/eat/shoot it together on a Monday. It is a whole load of fun to see all the excitingly delicious and creative use of inggredient – and I always make sure that I participate if I am around. I think I missed last month’s as I was laid in bed sick as a dog, but this month it was a source of inspiration.

I have been on a crazy spate of cooking and recipe-developing recently….I have no doubt that it will stop as soon as I no longer fit in my jeans – all this FOOD is not exactly good for the ole waistline!!!! Either that or I’ll be running out of inspiration pretty soon. Coupled with bacon being on a crazy cooking spree, we are in serious need to cut down ; so by the time you’ve read this, some of the ‘cookies’ had already winged their way to family & friends.

Whilst browsing the interweb last week, I came across the crazy notion of pizookie. Invented by a restaurant from Santa Ana, CA, BJ’s have been making pizookies addicts for a long time. It is essentially a cookie – shaped like a pizza!! I had certainly not heard of it before. I guess the boring description would be a deep dish cookie. They bake it into a flat ramekin that looks pretty big (5 inches across?) and it is served with ice cream. Mmmm….yummy, but the size is slightly too big to be a personal serving. Not quite personal pizza

I came up with my own take on the pizookie – I changed it slightly and it turned into a cakookie. Lols. Using a simple cake-like base, the cookie still has the chewy crispy cookie top, whilst in the middle it taste slightly like a chocolate chip cake. Mmm…I likey. I used smaller ramekins, not only because they were the only ones I had, but it was probably for the best portion-wise. The best part about this was? Leaving it overnight hardened the cakookie up wonderfully;taking on the lovely chewy texture of a traditional cookie. WoohoO! Just heat in the microwave for a minute, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And maybe a sprinkle of nuts. Or chocolate sauce. YUM.

.

Cakookie

100g / 3.5 oz/ 0.8 stick of butter (room temperature)
100 g/ 1 cup plain flour, unsifted
1 egg
100g/ 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tbs baking soda/sodium bicarbonate
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

60g/ 2 oz chocolate chips
60g/ 2 oz pecans, chopped
6 pecans, whole

.

Crank the oven up to 180-200C / 350-400F
Cream sugar and butter until pale (and yummy )
Add egg and vanilla and continue beating until well mixed
In batches, slowly add in the baking soda and flour, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.
The batter should now be scoopable. There should be enough batter for 8 regular -sized ramekins. Do not overfill, you can fill up to 1/2 or 2/3 of the ramekins. Filling it up to 1/2 will allow enough headspace for a scoop of ice cream. mmm..

.

Want to join us? Check us out on twitter!!

.

.

Lately I seemed to be in a craze of cooking food from my childhood. Maybe it’s the Chinese New Year spirit reminding me of home, or maybe it’s just I really needed some low down comfort food because of the spate of grey weather we’ve been experiencing. Maybe its bacon. Whatever it is, this is another dish that I cooked upon his request. I have not made this in ages, but it is one of bacon’s most favourite dish. I very rarely cook this because I had only recently got a food processor – spending ages pounding and grinding it with a mortar and pestle. So lucky bacon!

It is again, another dish that goes well with nasi lemak. It is usually available in ‘pick-your-own’ food stores as well, from the chinese ‘chap farn’ to the mamak nasi kandar stores. It is more typical of being a side dish rather than the main dish; you can have this with curry chicken or perhaps rendang and a side of cucumber salad or stirfried veggies.

.

Sambal telur – Egg coated in spicy tomato paste

1 large onions, cut in rings
2 cardammon pods
2 ripe tomatoes,deseeded and diced
2 tbs sugar (or to tasteI
1 tbs soy sauce
1/2 cup tamarind water (from 1 tsp tamarind paste, sieve out seeds)
handful of coriander

6-8 hard boiled eggs
oil to deep-fry

spice paste
1 inch prawn paste – toasted or use the paste-form
3 lemongrass, use only the white section
2 inch ginger
5 shallots
2 clove garlic
4 dried chillies – deseed and soaked in hot water

.

1) Boil the eggs.

2) Chop & blitz all the paste ingredients in a food processor, adding a little oil to make it smoother

3) Peel the boiled eggs, and prick it all around with a fork. This is so the eggs do not crack or spit whilst deep frying. Heat oil up, and when it starts to develop a haze, drop the eggs in gently. Let it fry until golden brown. I sometimes skip the deep frying part, but the deep frying definately adds to the texture of the dish.

4) Meanwhile, toast the cardammon pods in a dry pan. Once the flavors starts to release, put in 1 tsp of oil, and sautee the onions. When the onions are soft and transparent, pour in the spice paste, and sautee until fragant. Add in all the other ingredients except the coriander, and simmer until it is pretty thick.

5) Taste the sauce, ensuring that it is sweet/salty/spicy enough. This is not supposed to be a fiery dish, more of a sweet,tart, slightly spicy and fresh flavour. Once the sauce is seasoned to taste, add in the fried eggs and completely coat the eggs with the sauce. Serve with nasi lemak or white rice, with a generous garnish of chopped coriander. You can do without, but I love my coriander .

.

.

.

For me, Rendang is the curry that defines Malaysian food. Admittedly, it came from the Minangkabaus who migrated to Malaysia from Sumatra, it is now so widely recognised across the country that most people can probably not imagined life without it. Slowly simmered for hours to achieve the tender melt in the mouth texture, this is not for the faint hearted or impatient cook. It is also not something that is eaten on a day to day basis by the Minangkabaus, rather, it was reserved for celebrations or special occassions due to the long cooking time.

When I lived in Malaysia, I would have rendang at least once a week. Nasi Lemak (see my recipe here ) topped with a fried egg, sliced cucumber and rendang. I buy it on my way to work, get my parents to buy it for me, order it after a rough night out, have it for lunch – the list goes on. If nasi lemak is the go-to food for Malaysians, the rendang is the sauce that goes with it.

And now that I live here, I only get to have rendang on the occassions when bacon heads to Birmingham for work. It is usually drowning in oil, but beggars cannot be choosers….definately one of the worst rendang I’ve ever had, but I still ate it. When he was last down in Birmingham last week, he wanted to get rendang again, but I stopped him as I cannot stomach the more oil than meat ratio. He loves rendang and nasi lemak almost as much as me, so I promised him that I will make him some rendang as he was pouting at me for cutting short his rendang dreams.

.

Beef Rendang
adapted from the ever-wonderful Rasa Malaysia

.

2lbs stewing steak, cubed
1 tin coconut cream
1 cup tamarind water (from 2 tbs tamarind paste, sieve out seeds)
3 tbs palm sugar
100g kerisik (toasted dessicated coconut)
5 dried kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemongrass – crushed
cooking oil

dry-toast
6 star anise
3 cloves
8 cardammon pods
1 cinnamon stick (6 inch)

paste
5 stalks of lemongrass
8 shallots
3 inch ginger
5 cloves garlic
3 inch galangal
1 inch fresh tumeric (1 tsp powdered)
20 dried chillies, deseeded & soaked in hot water

.

.

1) Chop the inggredients for the paste, and blend it in the food processor with 2tsp of oil.

2) Dry-toast the spices in a pan until it is fragant. Remove the spices, and place it into a heavy stewing pot. Using the same pan, toast some dessicated coconut, making sure to turn and toss often until it is a even nutty brown color.

3) In the stewing pot, heat up the toasted spices with 3 tsp of oil. Stir in spice paste, and sautee until fragant. Place beef in the pot, and brown evenly. Mix in the braised lemongrass, and cook for a further 5 minutes.

4) Once the beef and lemongrass is completely coated with the spice paste and starts to smell wonderful, pour in the rest of the ingredients. This would cover the beef and look something like a thin curry.

5) Now comes the hard part – let it simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours. The house would be premeated with the wonderful smells of from that boiling pot, but you MUST refrain from eating it! It is ready when it is nearly dry, the spice paste coating the beef pieces which should be melt-in-the-mouth.

.

Serve up with a wamn serving of nasi lemak (or steamed white rice) immediately, and save the rest for the next day. The flavours only intensifies with age, and at this stage the beef is almost ‘preserved’ with the spices. It is thought that rendang was also a way to preserve beef back before refridgeration was available. I stored most of it in batches in my freezer, but it is supposed to keep without freezing for at least a week.

.

.

.

.

Growing up in a typical Chinese family, dinners were always dishes with steamed white rice – eaten family styled. This is probably the norm for about 99% of the time. Even when we ate out as a family it was usually rice and dishes. When we would have hawker (or more precisely, street food) food for dinner, it would be something typically Malaysian Chinese consisting of noodles or another rice dish.

As a child, it was a treat to have anything that is out of the ‘Chinese food’ classification. I was regularly treated to KFC & McDonalds and the such; but what I loved most was the cheaper (and local) version of ‘Western food’. For the longest time I was under the impression that people who live in ‘western’ countries live on a diet of steaks, chicken chops, fish & chips, chicken maryland and ‘hawaiian fried rice’ . I think most people that grew up in Malaysia pre-90s did. It was a while before I realised that chicken maryland & chicken chop does not exactly exist anywhere else other than in Malaysia, and calling butter,pineapple & ham fried rice ‘Hawaiian’ is probably the ultimate insult to any self-respecting islander. Fish & chips made with crinkle cut fries and panko is totally different from the original english version that they shouldn’t even be called the same name .

One of my personal favourite is the chicken chop. A piece of panfried/deep fried boneless chicken thigh & leg smothered in a Hainanese-styled sauce served with peas and chips/wedges. Chinese of Hainanese descent were very popular hire as chefs and cooks back in the colonial days. They would pick up on the tastes of their employers and create their version of ‘western’ dishes. This includes the super delicious sauce seasoned with foreign ingredients like ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, mixed in with oyster sauce and soy sauce. Proper fusion back in 1920s . So nothing about it is typical, rather, it is more of a chinese intrepretation of what they think the British ate

The initial idea came from a friend, but as I did not have some of the ingredients, I basically butchered and chopped the recipe to suit my needs. And you know what? It is the most AMAZING chicken chop I have ever had in my life. Hands down.

Recipe for Hailam Chicken Chop

to marinade:
2 chicken dark meat segments – deboned
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 tbs soya sauce (I used regular Kikkoman)
black pepper

- Pound the chicken to tenderise it ( I did not actually do this)
- Prick the chicken with a fork, and marinade it with the rest of the ingredients for a good couple of hours. I left mine overnight for maximum flavour penetration.

to fry:
1 egg, beaten
cornflour & pepper, to dredge

- Remove the chicken from the marinade, drip dry.
- Coat it in the beaten egg, and then dredge it the cornflour
- You can leave the cornflour out, or replace it with breadcrumbs. I just felt like a fried cornflour day
- Shallow panfry the chicken, skin-down. You can deep fry it if you like, but I am trying to cut down on my fried chicken consumption -I eat way too much fried chicken.
- After frying 5 minutes on each side, pop it on a baking tray skin-side up.
- This is going into the oven at 180C for the 30 mins it takes to cook the wedges

to make the wedges:
3 waxy potatoes, cut into wedges
salt + pepper
2 tbs olive oil
herbs,chilli and other seasonings.

- Mix it all up on a baking tray.
-Goes in the oven with the chicken for 30 minutes 180C

to make the sauce:
1 onion, cut into rings
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 stalk celery, diced (just because I had some in my fridge)
100g sliced button mushrooms (because I had some)
leftover marinade
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs Oyster sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs ketchup
a splash of vineger
water

- Sautee garlic with butter, and brown onion rings.
- Add mushrooms & celery, and sautee until soft and lightly browned.
- Add seasonings, making sure to keep tasting and adjusting to taste.
- When you’re happy with the flavours, thin out with a little water combined with corn flour to thicken it. I did not actually do this as I had used the leftover beaten egg & cornflour from the chicken.

.

At this point, the chicken and wedges should be done and ready, but make sure to test it by poking a fork through the thickest part of the chicken and ensuring no blood comes up to the surface.
Serve up with some peas and carrots seasoned with butter and pepper.

The frying-baking of the chicken turned the chicken skin ultra-crispy, whilst the day-long marination process ensured a juicy and well-seasoned chicken. I would have happily munched on the chicken just by itself, but the wonderful fusion sauce beautifully complemented the chicken. I scooped up the remainder of the sauce with the wedges, which crisped up in the oven and was just right. Two thumbs up, if I may say so myself!!

.

.

.

We are now right in the middle of the 15 day Chinese New Year celebrations, and I am still not over with making goodies yet! I always remember the first week of CNY celebrations in Malaysia as being given unfettered access to the swingsets that are installed in most homes in Malaysia – I love just chilling out there, chatting and of course, eating!

Another one of my favourite Chinese New Year goodies (other than pineapple tarts , bah kwa and yee sang) is Kek Lapis, or Indonesian spiced layer cake. Made by slowly grilling each layer individually, this is a very expensive and back breaking process. The end result though, is so completely worth it.

Just look at this beauty…

.

Pack full of butter, egg yolks and allspice, this is a super fragrant and rich cake. Eaten only around South East Asia , this cake is also known as speokkeok. Very similar to the german baumkuchen, the difference is that this cake is scoop-and-grill whilst the baumkuchen is pour and twirl. I halved my recipe as I did not have 20 egg yolks, but baked in the loaf tin, it came out very delicious . You may want to consider baking it in a square tin and doubling the ingredients.

.

.

Indonesian Kek Lapis (adopted from RasaMalaysia‘s recipe)

6 oz butter (softened to room temperature)
2 Tbsp condensed milk
2 Tbsp evaporated milk (or just normal milk)
10 eggs yolks
2 oz icing sugar
1 oz superfine flour, sifted with
1 Tsp all spice
2 Tbsp brandy

Method :

1) Line the bottom of a loaf tin (circa 1l in volume) with greaseproof paper.
2) Beat butter (softened) with brandy, condensed milk and evaporated milk
3) Beat egg yolks until smooth, and add icing sugar and beat until pale.
4) Fold butter into the egg mixture, and sift in flour and allspice powder.
5) Turn on grill/broiler function on your oven.
6) Scoop batter into the pan, ensuring that it is measured because each layer needs to contain the same amount of batter. I use a 1/2 cup scoop.
7) Grill until the batter is golden brown and even. Poke any air bubbles with a fork – I didn’t do mine very well and had air bubbles in my final product.
Repeat steps 6-7 until the batter is finished.
9) Once the final layer have been grilled, turned the oven to bake at 180 C and bake for 15 minutes.