Nasi Lemak (Coconut Flavoured Rice)

M. and I love Nasi Lemak (Coconut Flavoured Rice), and I would cook this every month or if not twice a month =)

The side dishes that I would normally cook to eat with the rice are crispy anchovies with peanuts, fried chicken wings, an omelette, some sliced cucumbers and most importantly (to me), my homemade chilli sambal. Sometimes I would fry some spam/ luncheon meat too as an additional side dish.. very sinful meal indeed.

You can get the recipe for the Nasi Lemak here.

Recipe source : Lily Wai Sek Hong's Nasi Lemak Recipe

Watercress Soup

It is getting really cold and windy over here, and all I can think of is to have a bowl of hot soup. This watercress soup is one of my favourite types of soup. Here is my version of cooking this delicious and flavourful watercress soup :


Ingredients

A big bunch of watercress
About 800g of pork ribs or a small whole chicken
8 pcs of red dates
3 pcs of honey dates
a handful of dried scallops
1.5 litres of water
salt to taste


Method

1. Place all ingredient except watercress into a pot.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Cover the pot with lid, and simmer on low heat for about 1 hour.
4. Add watercress into the pot, and simmer for another 1 hour.
5. Add salt to taste.

Beef Rendang

This yummy Beef Rendang is one of my favourite Malay dishes, and it is one dish that I have to order whenever I have Nasi Padang back home in Singapore. It goes well with steamed rice and a simple vegetable dish like stirfried cabbage and carrots. You can cook this one day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator.. and oh my.. the taste is even better the next day =)

Ingredients

570g coconut, white

605g beef brisket or topside

Ingredients A

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp msg (I did not add this)

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsps tamarind, remove seeds

Ingredients B

1 tumeric leaf

2 lime leaves

1 stalk lemon, bashed

1 thick slice galangal

Ingredients C (ground to a fine paste)

6 fresh red chillies

14 dried chillies

30g ginger

1 stalk lemon grass

2 thin slices galangal

2 cloves garlic

2 tbs fried coconut

Ingredients D

1 - 1 1/2 tbs palm sugar

1 level tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp msg (I did not add this)

2 tsp dark soya sauce

Method

1. Dry-fry 115g of the coconut till dark brown. Cool.

2. Season beef with Ingredients A and dry coconut and leave for 2 hours.

3. Squeeze remaining coconut for thick coconut milk. Set aside. Add 225ml water and squeeze for diluted coconut milk. Set aside.

4. Combine Ingredients B, C and D in a saucepan. Add diluted coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add meat and boil, uncovered, over moderately high heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

5. Add thick coconut milk and stir well. Reduce heat, cover pan and cook for 3/4  - 1 hour till gravy mixture turns oily and fragrant.

Recipe source : "The Best of Singapore Cooking" by Mrs Leong Yee Soo

Potato Croquettes

These Japanese Potato Croquettes are nutritous and make a great party dish =)

Ingredients

800g - 1000g potatoes

1 onion, finely chopped

250g lean ground beef *

1 tsp salt

dash of pepper

1 tbs oil

2 tbs green peas, cooked

All purpose flour for dusting, about 2 cups

2 eggs

1 1/2 - 2 cups of bread crumbs

Oil for deep-frying

*canned tuna or salmon can also be used

Condiments

Ketchup

Worcestershire sauce

Method

1. Heat 1 tbs of oil. Add chopped onions and saute until transparent. Add ground beef and cook until done, sprinkling 1 tsp of salt and a dash of pepper. Set aside to cool.

2. Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Boil potatoes in water until done.

3. In a bowl, add potatoes and 1 tsp salt. Mix and mash. Add cooked green peas.

4. Mix cooled meat and potatoes.

5. Shape meat and potatoes mixture into patties.

6. Coat the pattieswith flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs.

7. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Recipe source : "Quick & Easy Japanese Cuisine for Everyone" by Yukiko Moriyama

Chicken Wings Wrapped with Pandan Leaves

I saw this Chicken in Pandan Leaves recipe by Lily Wai Sek Hong and decided to try it out. However, instead of using diced chicken and wrapping it with pandan leaves, I chose to use chicken wings. Verdict? Very tasty and flavourful because of the aromatic pandan leaves and spices that were used to marinate the meat.


Recipe source : Lily Wai Sek Hong's Chicken in Pandan Leaves