Potato Pork Rice

When we went to Taipei in 2007 I think it was, my then boyfriend and I used to visit this little shop near our hotel to have Minced Pork on Rice. It's a really simple dish of minced pork and potato.

Somehow, I had a craving for that Minced Pork on Rice today so I made my own version of it.

Here's what I used:
About 200g of minced pork, 1/2 onion - chopped, 2 small potatoes - peeled, and cubed into tiny pieces, 1/4 white carrot - peeled, cubed into tiny pieces, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil, 1 tablespoon cooking oil, 1 cup water

Let's cook:

1. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan
2. Pour in onion and minced pork, stir
   
3. Pour in white carrots and potatoes, stir
4. Add in the oyster sauce and light soy sauce and continue to stir
5. Add water when the pan becomes sticky
6. Continue to stir/cook until the potatoes become soft.
   

Potatoes and Pork ready to be put on top of a bowl of steaming hot rice.

Note: In case you're wondering what happened to the boyfriend.... well, I married him a couple of years later!

It's Mother's Day

Nothing cooked in the kitchen today because:
At the church service today, there was a tribute for mothers in attendance done by the Sunday School kiddies. Here's what we got:

Looks like a pretty dress right? But its too small for me to wear.

Tadaaaaa: It's not a dress. It's a towel for my kitchen. Yup, it's in my kitchen now!

Also, at the church service today we had afternoon tea (after the service). This time the refreshments were provided by Pastor Marey who cooked some Indian tidbits for us. I didn't get to eat much because our Mia was really restless. She wanted to join the other kiddies (much bigger than her) playing in front of the church. So, I had to carry her over there so she could "mingle" and have her fun. And fun she did have - shrieking and checking out the pretty necklaces the girls made out of straws, strings and cardboard cutouts.

However, I did manage to snag these to bring home to eat:I don't what they're called but they taste delicious. Not too sweet, and not oily at all.

Anyway, before I end for today, I just want to wish all the mommies out there:

Spicy Saturday Snack

Fried rice may not be exactly a "snack", but for the larger sized me, it is!

I opened up a tin of spicy sardines the other day and it has been sitting in the fridge for days. So rather than waste it, I decided to make spicy fried rice (my husband would otherwise get annoyed seeing it in the fridge after some time, then throw it in the bin).

Here's what I used:
Leftover rice mixed with half a cube of Maggi Tomyam Soup cube, a bit of chopped shallots, minced garlic, Chinese leeks, roasted anchovies, 1 egg - beaten, and of course the spicy sardine.

Let's get cooking:

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan
2. Throw in the shallots and garlic
3. Pour in the egg
4. Before the egg sets, pour in the rice
5. Stir until the rice is evenly coated with egg and egg is cooked
6. Throw in the spicy sardine
7. Last but not least, put in the leeks and anchovies. Stir and turn off the heat.
   

Done. A Superb Spicy Saturday Snack for me: Spicy Fried Rice

Nutty Choc Chip Cookies

My husband has a real sweet tooth. Not for the cake stuff, I now realise. I made a chocolate orange cake last month, he had 1 slice... I'm still in the process of eating the rest of the cake. I made Pineapple Apple Crumble, he took 1 bite, I finished the rest. Either he's not into cakes, or my cakes were plain lousy! And because of this, I've packed on another couple of kilos over the weeks.

But he is into Kit Kat and cookies. So I wanted to make cookies for him. Now, as I didn't want to take a gamble on whether he's going to like my cookies or not, I got a bit of help from Nona:
This cookie dough is coming out of a box! Nice picture of choc chip cookies there.

Open the box, and you get 1 plastic of powder. Hang on, where's the choc chip? This is false advertising. A misrepresentation! Lesson learnt: Unless the packet specifically mention that the box contains choc chips or the like, don't expect anything more than flour.

The powder asks for an egg and 150g of melted butter or margarine. Got both. Now for my special touch... chopped cooking chocolate and almond strips.

Mix everything together and you'll get this really nice dough.

Make little balls of the dough and place them on an ungreased baking tray and sightly press each of them down to flatten them a bit. Just remember though that the thicker you make them, the softer is the outcome. I made my cookies slightly larger and thick because, well just because I want soft cookies this time round.

Preheat the oven at 200C.

Bake the cookies in the oven for 15 minutes or until they become golden brown. 3 minutes into baking, our home smelt like the inside of a cookie jar. Yummy!

There they are: Nutty Choc Chip Cookies...stuck to each other!

Notes:

1. Need to buy larger baking tray, proper mixing bowl
2. Will make more of these delicious cookies for Rosie, Janet & Teresa to try out. Watch out girls!

Fried Chicken with Sweet Hoisin Sauce

I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight YEAH,

I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight
I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight

When I was studying in Australia many moons ago, there was this series of television ads, where those words were sung by actors (ranging from school kids to life savers on the beach) as they 'flapped' their arms in a movement similar to the chicken dance. I have no idea if the ads are on Aussie TV anymore, but the song got stuck in my mind even though its been 14 years since I left Australia to come back to Malaysia.

If I had it my way, I feel like chicken every night. But I'm not cooking for only myself anymore so I need to have variety in my cooking. Nonetheless, I (really do) feel like chicken tonight and it is going to be chicken tonight!

I was searching for ideas on how to cook my chicken tonight when I stumbled upon this:

My Recipe folder... full of recipes collected from various editions of the Malaysian Women's Weekly over the years.

And smack right on the cover of this folder is a recipe for Fried Chicken with Sour Plum Sauce.

Seeing that I don't have plum sauce, I decided to make do replace the sour plum sauce with Sweet Hoisin Sauce.

What was used:

For the chicken: 500g of chicken thigh pieces, cut into smaller pieces; 1 egg white; 2 tsp salt; oil for deep frying

For the marinade: 1 large onion, blended; 3 tbsp oyster sauce; 3 tbsp light soy sauce; 3 tbsp ginger juice

For the sauce: 2 tbsp of hoisin sauce mixed with 1/2 cup of water; 2 tsp corn starch dissolved in water

Lets cook:

1. Clean the chicken; rub with salt; rinse with water. Pat dry. Season with marinade. Leave for 45 mins.

2. Dip chicken into egg white; coat with thin layer of corn flour.

3. Heat oil in wok over high fire. When hot, deep-fry chicken until it turns golden brown. Drain; set aside.

4. To prepare sauce, pour the hoisin sauce mixed with water in a clean pan. When sauce is boiling, add the corn starch; stir until the sauce thickens into gravy texture.

5. Pour the thickened sauce over the cooked chicken and serve immediately.

Fried Chicken with Sweet Hoisin Sauce

Black Pepper Pork

Today I got home late from my parents home and didn't have much time to prepare and cook dinner. I needed to make something simple and super fast and I have a fresh piece of pork loin which I bought from the market earlier today. What can be faster than stir frying pork with ready made sauce? So, Black Pepper Pork it is for dinner today.

What I used:

• 200g of pork loin - sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• half a bell pepper (capsicum) cut into small pieces
• 1/4 of a carrot, sliced into long strips
• 1 tablespoon of Lee Kum Kee's black pepper sauce
  

Let us cook:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non stick pan
2. Put in the pork loin and stir fry until the meat is slightly browned
3. Throw in the garlic and continue to stir fry
4. You may add in a bit of water if it becomes sticky
5. Pour in the carrot strips and capsicum and continue to stir fry
6. Add a bit of water to the black pepper sauce and pour it in the pan. Continue to stir fry
7. Turn off the head once the water is dried up and vegetables are cooked
   

Super fast, super delicious Black Pepper Pork

Leeky Chicken

No, the chicken did not leak! It's cooking chicken with Chinese leek for dinner tonight.

I didn't have time to go to the market today mainly because we arrived home late from our outing with the girls. Then the gate guy came around 4.30pm to fix our gate. By the time he was done it was 5pm and Mia needed to have her milk. By the time that's done, its 5.15pm and I couldn't be bothered to join the traffic as people made their way home from work.

So, I had to make make do with what's in my kitchen.

What I used:
400g chicken thigh cut into smaller pieces (this is a staple in our freezer!)
3 cloves garlic, crushed & minced
a thumb of ginger, sliced
3 stalks of Chinese leek
1/2 cup of water
1 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon of cornflour, dissolved in water

1. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non stick pan
2. Put in the ginger into the pan
   
3. Put all chicken pieces in the pan and stir fry until slightly white
4. Pour in the garlic and continue to stir fry
5. Once garlic is slightly brown, pour in a half a cup of water, continue to stir as water simmers then pour in the chicken stock
6. Cover and let chicken cook
7. Once cooked pour in the cornflour and as the sauce thickens, pour in the leeks and turn off the heat
   

Leeky chicken ready to be served

Chicken & Mixed Vegetables

My 3rd food blog in 3 days. We've covered something sweet, a simply snack and now let's have a savoury dish.

The Monday madness that I had today led me to only be able to go to the market at 4pm to buy some veges and meat. I really wanted to buy some fresh pork to cook for dinner. But as luck would have it, the pork seller has closed his stall already by then. Next best thing was chicken thighs. I bought 2 pieces huge chicken thighs at RM10 in total (RM10.40, but the lady at the stall let me have it for RM10).

My Mia was so good all the way to the market and back (though she did make a bit of a fuss coming on the way home. I think she still wanted to go for a walkabout in the market but Mummy's in a rush). Upon reaching home, played with her for a while and then carried her to the kitchen.

With Mia in her walker, I prepared our freshly bought vegetables and meat to cook dinner's main dish: Chicken & Mixed Vegetables. I can't think of a more interesting name... I had a mayhem of a Monday!

What I used:
500g chicken thigh, cut into bite size pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
half a carrot, peeled and diced
a quarter of a radish, peeled and sliced
3 baby corns, cut into small pieces
half a bell pepper, cut into small pieces
1 Chinese leek, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of cornflour - dissolved in room temperature water

1. Heat a bit of oil (about 1 tablespoon) in a non stick frying pan
2. Throw in the garlic and stir
   
3. Pour the chicken pieces in and stir fry until chicken pieces turn white
4. Add in the carrot, radish, baby corn and continue to stir fry
5. Add half a cup of water into the pan and let it simmer
6. Add the oyster sauce, bell pepper, and continue to stir
7. Once cooked, pour in the cornflour and the sauce will thicken
8. Turn of the heat and pour the Chinese leek in, and stir

Chicken & Mixed Vegetables ready to be served!

And all the while, 1 happy baby keeping me company in the kitchen.

1Malaysia Egg Pancake

Here's a snack that's easy to make. It's a variation to the Taiwanese egg pancake with a 1Malaysia twist to it.

Why 1Malaysia? Well, I was scavenging through our fridge (as I always do when wanting to cook - we don't have much stuff in there but with the few things there, I can always whip up something in a jiffy), and found stuff which truly are representative of 3 races in Malaysia. Do you notice how the ads on Malaysian TV these days have the same theme to their "starring" characters? From promoting healthy living to smart consumerism, these ads must have 3 main characters from these 3 racial group. We'll, here's my take of what a 1 Malaysia Egg Pancake would be like.

What I used:

• 1 frozen paratha skin (you can buy a packet of 5 of these from the supermarket's frozen food section)
• 2 prawns - peeled, chopped into little pieces
• diced carrot
• diced shallots
• 1 egg, beaten
• chopped spring onions
• a bit of roasted anchovies (ikan bilis)
• a pinch of salt

Note: Just make sure you don't have too much fillings (aside from the egg), otherwise they will not stick well and would be difficult to cut & eat.

To make it:

• In a non-stick frying pan, lightly grease the pan and pan fry the frozen paratha skin (do not thaw) on medium heat till golden brown. Remove and set aside.

• Heat up a little bit of oil in the pan and stir fry the prawns, carrots and shallots.
• Once the prawns are nearly cooked, throw in the egg.
• Add the spring onions, anchovies and a pinch of salt.

• Immediately place the cooked paratha over the egg (before the egg mixture starts to set).

• When the egg is set, flip the paratha over so that the egg-side is facing up. Turn off the heat.
• With a spatula, roll up the paratha, flatten the paratha with the spatula as you roll. This will make a slightly flattened roll.
  
• Cut into bite size and serve immediately.
  

There you have it, a 1Malaysia Egg Pancake! Best served with tomato ketchup

Note: This version may not be so suitable for kids as the anchovies gives it a bit of a bitter taste. You can replace the prawns and anchovies with 1 slice of ham or chicken, chopped into small pieces. Or you can forgo the "meaty" stuff altogether and just have egg, spring onion and carrot - everything will stick just nice and still taste yummy. After all, the whole concept of 1Malaysia is "Unity in Diversity".

Pineapple Apple Crumble Pie

One of the great things about my parents place is that they have fruit trees & plants all around their compound. Mangoes, rambutans, coconuts, bananas, papayas, and pineapples just to name a few.

The other day when I went over for a visit, my dad asked me to take home a ripe pineapple. When I got home, I made sweet and sour prawn with pineapple chunks thrown in. But I only used half of the pineapple because I was cooking for just the 2 of us.

So what am I to do with the other half? I looked into our fridge and also found some apples given to us by my father in law which we haven't got round to eat. They've been there for 2 weeks now! So I decided to make use of the pineapple and apples to bake something new: Pineapple Apple Crumble Pie!

What I used:

Crust

• Store bought
  

Filling (Apples)

• 1 1/2 red apples, peeled, cored, chopped into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Filling (Pineapples)

• 1/2 small pineapple, peeled, chopped into small pieces
  
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Topping

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

For filling:
In one bowl mix the apples with its ingredients to coat the apples. In another bowl, mix the pineapple with its ingredients to coat the pineapple.

For topping:
Blend all the ingredients together.

Transfer the fillings into the crust, higher in the center - half apples, half pineapples.

Sprinkle and pack the topping over and around the apples and pineapples.

Pre-heat the oven at 200°C. Bake pie until topping is golden brown, about 50 minutes at 200°C. Bake until apples and pineapples in center are tender when pierced and filling is bubbling thickly at edges, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for about an hour or two until warm.

There you have it. Pineapple Apple Crumble Pie. Best served with ice-cream!

Note:
I think that when making the topping (the crumble topping), it's best to just mix the ingredients in a large bowl using your fingers. It'll be a bit messy, but the consistency will be better.