Fragrant and Spicy Chicken - 香辣奶油鸡

I got the recipe from this book "杂菜档-1“, which was given to me by my sister-in-law. Just by looking at the photos in this recipe book, all the dishes seem very delicious. So today, without wasting much time, I gathered all the ingredients and cooked this for my dinner.

Verdict:Chicken is tender, spicy and very fragrant. Yummy. I rate it 8/10.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

500 g chicken

1 stalk lemon grass (chopped)

1 twig curry leaves (I put 4 )

8 bird's eye chillies (diced)

1 tablespoon bottled curry powder

2 tablespoon Evaporated milk

1 tablespoon margarine/butter

Marinade:

1) 1/2 egg

2) 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

3) 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce

4) 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce

5) 1/2 teaspoon pepper

6) 1 teaspoon sugar

7) 2 tablespoon tapioca flour

Seasoning:

~ 1/2 teaspoon salt;

~ 1 teaspoon sugar

~3 1 teaspoon chicken stock granule

Method:

~1) Cut chicken into pieces, season with marinade, marinate for 20 minutes. Deep-fry in the hot oil at high heat until golden brown in colour and crispy. Dish out, drain well and leave a side.

~2) Melt margarine/butter in hot wok, add in curry powder, bird's eye chillies, curry leaves and chopped lemon grass. Stirring until fragrant. Add in Evaporated milk and seasoning, keep stirring until it boils.

~3) Add fried chicken, keep stirring over high heat until well combined and the sauce is slightly absorbed. Dish out and serves hot with rice.

材料：

500 克 鸡肉

1 根 香茅（剁碎）

1支 咖哩叶（取叶）（我用4支）

8 条 朝天椒（切粒）

1 大匙 玛芝琳/或牛油

2 大匙淡奶

1 大匙 英国咖哩粉

腌汁：

1/2 粒蛋

1/2 大匙 蚝油

1/2 大匙 酱油

1/2 小匙 胡椒粉

1/2 小匙 麻油

1 小匙 糖

2 大匙 薯粉

调味料：

1/2 小匙 盐

1 小匙 糖

1 小匙 鸡晶粉

做法：

~1）鸡肉剁块，加入腌料拌匀，腌渍20分钟，然后放入热油中以大火炸熟呈金黄香脆，捞起，沥干油备用。

~2）烧热镬，煮溶玛芝琳，加入咖哩粉，朝天椒，咖哩叶及香茅炒香，加上淡奶和调味料煮沸。

~3）将炸好的鸡块加入，改用大火兜炒片刻至收汁，即可上桌。

Decadent Chocolate Dessert Muffin

This is my second try of "easy MUFFINS" recipe book. However, I still find the same problem -the texture of the muffin is hard and dry . Despite the texture, it has better taste than the Marshmallow muffins. I should give credit to the chocolate sauce.

Recipe: (makes 12)

Ingredients:

225 g/8 oz plain flour

55 g/2 oz cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

115 g/4 oz soft light brown sugar

2 eggs

250 ml/9 fl oz single cream

85g/3 oz butter, melted and cooled

85 g/3 oz plain chocolate

Chocolate sauce:

200g/7 oz plain chocolate

25 g/1 oz butter

50 ml/2 fl oz single cream

Method:

~1) Preheat the oven to 200 degree C. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with 12 paper cases. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar.

~2) Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl then beat the cream and butter. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in beaten liquid ingredients. Stir gently until just combined; do not over-mix.

~3) Break the chocolate evenly into 12 pieces. Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared muffin tin. Place a piece of chocolate in the centre of each then spoon in the remaining mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch.

~4) Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir until blended then stir in the cream and mix together. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth.

~5) Leave the muffins in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and place on serving plates. Serve warm with the sauce.

Sharing tips:

I baked at180 degree C for 15 minutes. As in my first try, I baked at 200 degree C , I found that the muffins were over-baked and very dry.

Braised Meat Ball with Chinese Cabbage -红烧狮子头 (2)

这个红烧狮子头食谱的材料和做法实在太简单到不可以再简单了。虽然简单但是味道和口感还是不错的。在此，我要把这个简单又好吃的食谱献给工作繁忙的职业妇女和妈妈们分享。希望你们会喜欢。

This simplified Braised Meat Ball (Lion's head) recipe compared with my older post is so much easier and saves alot of time in the process of preparing and cooking. And yet the taste is not bad at all. Here I would like to share this simple recipe with those busy working career women and mums . Hope you all will like it.

材料：
300克肉碎
400克黄亚白，切粗条或大片

调味料A：
~1/2 小匙蚝油
~1/2大匙生抽
~1大匙粟粉
~1/4小匙盐
~少许麻油和胡椒粉

调味料B：
~400克水
~1大匙蚝油
~1/2大匙生抽
~1小匙黑酱油
~1小匙麻油
~1大匙粟粉和水打芡用

做法：

~1）肉碎加入调味料“A”拌匀，分成4-6 份。做成圆扁形，然后放入热油中炸至金黄色，捞起沥干油分。

~2）调味料“B”倒入锅里煮滚，加入大肉丸和黄芽白以小火焖煮20分钟捞起上碟。

~3）汁料加入粟粉水打芡淋上即可。

Crispy pork with Red Fermented Beancurd-炸南乳三层肉

This is one of the popular dishes in restaurants. Many families like this dish to go along with rice, porridge and beer. The versatile red fermented beancurd (南乳) can be used for vegetables, chicken, pork knuckles, and many others. It has a unique taste and smell. If you are not used to the taste, I think you need sometime to acquire a liking to it.

For the above dish, I prefer 30% fat-70% lean belly meat. This is because the natural lard, when fried, delivers its own unique porky flavour. The juicy lard ensures that the lean meat does not feel too dry or tough.

You had better cook more rice tonight.

Recipe

Ingredients:
400 g pork belly

Marinade:
2 pieces ( cubes) red fermented beancurd （南乳）
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 small egg, beaten
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine （玫瑰露）
1 teaspoon pepper
3-4 tablespoon tapioca flour

Method:
~1) Cut pork belly into stripes (or cut into pieces), season with the marinade, mix well. Leave aside for 1 hour or in the fridge for over night.

~2) Heat up oil in the wok. Deep-fry over medium-high heat until cooked. Dish out. Turn to high heat, deep-fry again the pork belly until golden brown and crispy. Cut and serve.

Marshmallow Muffin - 棉花糖玛芬

Yesterday, we drove in to Johor Bahru to pay a visit to my niece, who has just given birth to a girl, her 3rd baby. After that, we headed to City Square to have our lunch and shopping. In the Popular Book Shop, I saw this book "easy MUFFINS" on the shelf. I browsed through the book and I like this book because they have my favourite recipes and the method is very easy to follow. So today, I bake this Marshmallow muffin as my 1st try of the recipe of this book. Looks like they will be many other interesting recipes of muffins on the way.

Recipe

Ingredients:

~ 280 g/10 oz plain flour

~ 6 tbsp cocoa powder

~ 3 tsp baking powder

~ 85 g/3 oz caster sugar

~ 1 egg, beaten

~ 300 ml/10 fl oz milk

~ 70 g/2 1/2 oz butter, melted

~ 100 g/3 1/2 oz milk chocolate chips

~ 55 g/2 oz white mini marshmallows

Method:

~1) Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Grease a 12- cup muffin tin or line with 12 paper cases.

~2) Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar.

~3) Beat together the egg, milk and butter in a large bowl until blended. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the beaten liquid ingredients. Lightly stir in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Stir gently until just combined, do not over-mix.

~4) Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch.

~5) Leave the muffins in the tin for 5 minutes then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

verdict: the texture of the cake is slightly on the dry side, and it is a bit sticky which could be due to the melted marshmallows. And the taste of flour is quite strong. One credit to the cake is it is not sweet.

Colourful cup kuih- 彩色小米糕

Take a look at my colourful creations. I think the many colours reflect the vibrancy of my kitchen and the beautiful stories that my recipes churn out.

For those who prefer a natural and healthy method to produce the colours, I will recommend the followings.

~ Red - red dragon fruit
~ Yellow/Orange - papaya
~ Brown - cocoa powder/ coffee powder
~ Green - pandan leaves / green tea powder

Simply extract the juice and mix together with your recipe.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
A)
~100 g caster sugar
~250 ml water
~ 2 pandan leaves

B)
~ 120 g sago flour
~ 40 g rice flour
~1/4 teaspoon salt
~ 100 ml coconut milk (santan)
~ 200 ml water

Method:

~ 1) Boil (A) till sugar dissolves, discard pandan leaves and leave to cool.
~ 2) Place ingredients (B) into a mixing bowl, pour in ingredient (A) and stir well.
~ 3) Divide batter into 4 equal parts, add in your desire colours into each part.
~ 4) Steam small Chinese tea cups for 5 minutes.
~ 5) Pour batter into small tea cup, steam for 8 to 10 minutes.
~ 6) Allow the kuih to cool slightly before removing from the moulds.


Note: Kuih or Kueh （糕）is Malaysia and Indonesia Language. It means cake/pudding made of rice flour, tapioca flour, plain flour and many others with/without coconut.