RICE COOKER CHICKEN

 *RICE COOKER CHICKEN*

Easy-peasy chicken for your busy day. (Serves 4)

1. Choose a free range chicken of abt 1.5-1.7kg. Chop off head and legs.

2. Marinade chicken with sea salt, 2 tbsp light soya sauce and 2 tbspn ginger juice for about 3 hrs.

3. Rub skin of chicken with extra 1 tbsp light soya sauce and 1/2 tspn dark soya sauce

4. Add in a small piece of cinnamon, 2 star anise, a teaspoon of szechuan peppercorns and 3 cloves of crushed garlic into the rice cooker.

5. Put a bunch of spring onions and a piece of crushed ginger into cavity of chicken. Place chicken into rice cooker and drizzle about 1/3 cup of chinese rice wine (or sherry) over chicken. Include d liquid of marinade too and 1/2 cup water. Turn on rice cooker.

6. After rice cooker has switched off, turn it on again after 10 minutes. Leave to stand for a further 10 minutes after it has switched off.

7. Remove and cover wrapped with aluminium foil while leave to cool slightly before chopping into pieces. Reserve the sauce for serving later.

8. Drizzle sauce on chopped chic before serving and garnish with coriander leaves.

PASSIONFRUIT AND ORANGE JAM

 PASSIONFRUIT & ORANGE JAM

1kg Passionfruit for pulp

4 Valencia oranges, juiced

2 lemons, juiced or

1 tspn pectin

1 kg sugar

750 ml water

1. If you don’t like the Passionfruit seeds, you can pass the pulp through a juicer to strain. Otherwise you can use them as it is.

2 Measure water and put all juices into a large heavy-based stainless-steel pot.

3 Bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes, cover.

4 Off fire and leave to stand for 8 hrs or overnight.

5. Add sugar to mixture and bring to boil. Boil rapidly in high fire until jam has been reduced to 2/3 in volume.

6. Test for jam for setting by taking a teaspoon of mixture and put in freezer for a minute. If it wrinkles with a push of your finger on the jam it means the jam is ready.

7 Pack jam in sterilised jars while still hot. Cap and let cool before refrigerate.

MAMAK (INDIAN MUSLIM) BLACK BEEF CURRY

 MAMAK BLACK BEEF CURRY

This is an Indian-muslim style of beef curry that uses sweet black soy sauce as seasoning. Its a must-have dish in every Nasi Kandar restaurant.

1.5 kg beef, cut into large chunks of 2”x2”

6 tbsp cooking oil

4 sprigs curry leaves

1” pc Cinnamon stick

3 Star Anise

4 Cardamon pods

6 Cloves

2 pkt meat curry powder

1 medium tomato, diced

Ground Ingredients: 2 large purple onions, 6 cloves garlic, 1” pc old ginger

1/2 cup sweet dark soy sauce (kicap lemak manis)

Light soy sauce to taste

Method:

1) Heat oil in a pot and fry grounded ingredients with the spices and curry leaves until aromatic and oil separates.

2. Add in curry powder and continue to fry in low heat until fragrant. Add a little water if the paste sticks to the pan.

3. Add in the beef and fry to seal in the juices. Stir in diced tomato and fry lightly.

4. Add water to cover the meat. Bring to boil and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 hour.

4) Add in the 2 types of soy sauce.

5) Gravy should be dark and thick.

6) Remove from fire and serve with rice.

Note: You can substitute beef with mutton or lamb.

THAI MANGO SALAD

 THAI MANGO SALAD

Serves 4

1 medium size (600g) green mango, shredded

100g Thai Basil leaves

150g Mint Leaves

1 Torch ginger flower petals, shredded fine

1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded

1 medium purple onion, sliced into thin wedges

Dressing:

3 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce

1. Wash herbs, spin dry and refrigerate. Shred mango, carrot and ginger flower.

2. Mix salad dressing ingredients in a bowl and stir with whisk to combine.

3. Put salad ingredients into a salad bowl. Toss salad with dressing just before serving.

NYONYA KAYA (COCONUT CUSTARD)

NYONYA KAYA (COCONUT CUSTARD)

(Makes about 2 cups Kaya)

This is cooked by steaming which will result in a thick, granules-like texture sweet coconut custard. The reason being the Nyonyas eat it with their rice cakes or kuih and require it to be thick and not drip over but stay as a lump!

Ingredients:

6 kampung eggs

280 ml coconut milk

500 g sugar + 3 tbsp extra

5 Pandanus leaves

Method:

1. In a double boiler, mix eggs with sugar and stir until almost all sugar melted. You cannot get all d sugar melted because it wld have reached a saturated point.

2. Prepare water in the bottom half of the double boiler and put to boil in medium heat. Put your egg and sugar mixture that has been mixed in the double boiler over the water bath and continue to stir until all sugar has melted. Add the pandan leaves to the mixture.

3. Pour in the coconut milk and stir to mix well. Cover and let it steam for 1 hour.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 3 tbsp sugar in medium heat and let it caramelised to a rich brown colour. Be careful not to burn the sugar.

5. Pour the caramel into the kaya mixture and stir gently.

Cover and continue to steam for another 2 hours.

6. Remove from fire and spoon into mason jars while still hot.

Alternatively you can let Kaya cool completely before storing into airtight plastic containers.

Tip: The most important step is to get the sugar crystals all melted without cooking the egg and before adding d coconut milk. You can do this over a warm water bath. Once the coconut milk is added to the mixture the custard will start to set and the unmelted sugar cannot be dissolved any more.

YUE FU (FISH TOUFU PUFFS)

Today I made Yue Fu 鱼腐 (Fish toufu puffs). Use them in your vegetable soups or add them to your noodle soup.

YUE FU (鱼腐)

1kg whole Tofu fish or Spanish Mackerel, filleted

3/4 cup water

1.5 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper powder

5 eggs

1/2 cup chopped spring onions

Oil for deep frying

1. Wash fish and pat dry fish with kitchen paper towels.

In a bowl mix salt into water and stir.

2. Using a dessert spoon, scrap off fish flesh from the skin and bones. Keep bones and skin aside for stock later.

3. Put flesh inside food processor and blend til fine. With motor running, add in salt water a little at a time until all had been added.

4. Add in chopped spring onions and pepper n blend until well combined. Add in lightly beaten eggs and blend until it forms a d smooth paste. Transfer paste into a bowl.

5. Heat up abt 3 cups oil in a wok until hot. Drop teaspoons of paste into hot oil in medium-high heat til brown. Dish out n cool on wire rack.

6. You can freeze them and use them in your vegetable soups or noodle soup. Just drop them into the soup while still frozen to reheat.

FOR THE FISHBONE STOCK:

Toast the fish head, bones and skin in a lightly oiled wok until cooked and drop them into a pot of boiling water. Add a few slices of ginger. Boil for about 40 mins and discard the bones etc. Use the stock for your vegetable soup like bittergourd, bayam/amaranth, moringa leaves, meddler leaves etc. Add a beaten egg or salted duck egg to flavour.

HAKKA RICE DUMPLINGS

 HAKKA RICE DUMPLINGS

2 bunch of bamboo leaves with straw as strings

1kg glutinous rice, wash and soaked overnight

1kg belly pork with skin

150g dried prawns, wash and soaked

15 salted duck egg yolks

15 chestnuts, soaked

15 dried mushrooms, soaked and then squeeze out water

2 heapful tbsp minced garlic

2 heapful tbspn minced shallots

1tspn 5-spice powder

1 tbspn shaoxing wine

1 square red bean curd

1 tspn pepper ppwder

1 tbspn sugar

3 tbspn dark thick soy sauce

Salt to taste

1. Trim off both ends of keaves. Put to boil with the straws in a large pan of water for 10 minutes. Leave to soak overnight.

2. Cut belly pork into 1/2” thickness pcs. Marinade pork pieces with red bean curd, rice wine, 1 tbspn dark soy sauce, 5-spice powder, white pepper powder and put into the fridge overnight.

3. Next day drain off water from the leaves and straws.

4. Heat oil in wok and fry 1 tbspn each the minced garlic and shallots. Add in drained dried prawns and fry together until garlic and shallots are lightly browned. Add in mushrooms and stirfry for a minute. Add in marinated pork and stirfry until fragrant and pirk is cooked. Dish out snd put aside.

5. Drain off water from the rice on a colander and let it drip dry.

6. Heat about 1/2 cup cooking oil in a wok and brown 1 tbsp each minced shallots and garlic. Add in drained rice and stirfry until well coated with the oil. Stir in 1 tbspn dark soy sauce for colour. Dish out and leave aside.

7. Gather all your ingredients on a large table.

8. You will need 3 leaves for each dumpling.