Friday, November 23, 2007

i miss my photographers...

they're back in malaysia, hence, no pics for my food. if anyone tries these recipes, please take pretty pictures of it and send it to me, i'll post it up on this blog. thousand appologies and many thanks in advance for the pictures...

oh, and it's turkey day today... Happy Thanksgiving!

Microwave Chicken Rice

Ingredients:
1/3 cup rice, rinsed
2/3 cup water
1 whole chicken leg
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
salt & pepper
3 tbsp spring onions, finely chopped

Directions:
1. De-bone the chicken leg and cut it into long strips. Marinade it with salt and pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil for 10-15 minutes.
2. In a large Tupperware, microwave the rice and water uncovered for 9 minutes.
3. Stir the rice and add in the marinated chicken strips. Cover and microwave it for 4 minutes.
4. Stir the rice again and microwave it for another 2 minutes.
5. Remove from the microwave and let stand for 5 minutes.
6. Mix in the spring onions and serve.

* use jasmine rice
* coz i live in a dorm, and microwaving is the easiest way to cook food, hence this recipe...

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Baked Oregano Fries

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into 1 cm cube sticks
3 frankfurters, cut into 0.5 cm diagonal slices
1 large onions, cut into thick slices
½ bulb garlic, cut into thick slices
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
5 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp extra salt

Directions:
Place the potatoes into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover over the potatoes. Add the extra salt and place the pot over high heat to bring it to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring once half way through. Remove from heat and strain. Preheat the oven to 400F. On a large baking tray, mix well the strained potatoes with the rest of the ingredients, except the frankfurters. Bake for 10 minutes. Add the frankfurters and mix well before returning it to the oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

* Frankfurters: a.k.a. sausages (to Malaysians), and a.k.a. hotdogs (to Americans)
* For a vegetarian fare, just leave out the franks, but still remember to toss the potatoes 5 minutes before it's done.
* Alternatively, use 1 tbsp of grounded dried rosemary instead of the oregano and basil
* Serve with roast chicken, roast turkey, grilled fish... etc. etc. etc.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Cantonese Pork Porridge / Congee

Porridge Ingredients:
¼ cup long grain white rice
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp salt

Minced Pork Ingredients:
½ cup minced pork
2 shallots, extra, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, extra, finely chopped
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil, extra
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
Pepper

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice with water twice, pouring away excess liquids. Then in a bowl, add some water from the 2 cups in the recipe, just enough to cover over the rice. Let sit for 5 minutes.

2. In a nonstick pot, heat the vegetable oil and fry the shallots for 5 minutes. Add the sesame oil and garlic and fry for another minute or until the garlic becomes aromatic.

3. Turn the stove on to high heat and add the rice into the pot, including the liquids. Stir fry it until the liquid is almost completely evaporated.

4. Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth and the remaining water. Add the salt and place a lid over the pot and bring it to boil. Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and let it simmer for 1 1/2 hour. Don’t forget to stir it every 5 to 10 minutes, stirring more frequently as it nears the 1 ½ hour mark.

5. While waiting for the porridge to cook, prepare the minced pork by mixing all the ingredients together. Separate the minced pork into half teaspoon sized balls and place them on a large oiled plate.

6. When the 1 ½ hour is up, use a tablespoon and gently slide the minced pork one by one into the simmering porridge, stirring the porridge occasionally to avoid letting the pork stick together. Let simmer for another 5 minutes.

7. Pour the lightly beaten egg over the porridge, and stir the porridge 3 to 4 times, pausing for 30 seconds or so before mixing it evenly. Let it simmer for another minute before removing it from the heat.

8. Divide the porridge into 2 bowls. Serve to taste with pepper, soy sauce, fried garlic oil, sesame oil, roughly chopped coriander, and finely chopped spring onions.

* * * * * * *

* for anyone living in america, please use thai jasmine rice. dont use yellow or brown rice, it doesnt have the same flavor. look for Thai Kitchen brand's select harvest jasmine rice.

** yes it takes a long time to make this but it's worth the time and effort. since u have to stay in the kitchen to watch over and stir the porridge, best thing to do is to use the time to prepare other food stuff, like marinating beef or chicken and pack it seperately so u can easily defrost the portions u want and cook it when u're hungry.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

american food...

as u may or may not know, i'm stuck in US of A right now, somewhere in NY state in a little county callsed Oswego. i really really miss malaysian food, and me mommy's cooking. if somebody reads this, please fedex nasi lemak, rojak & cendol (frm tmn megah), roti telur bawang, teh ais, mee goreng, taufufar, gungfuchao yeemin, wattanhor, charkueyteow, wantanmee and muichoi zhuyoke, pls pls pls pretty pls?

i've been here for 2 weeks now... the food here is, by american cafeteria standards, quite good. but if u are a food loving malaysian like me, u'll most likely be half dead by now.

starting with my fav food, pasta... the pasta's all soggy and overcooked, and they only know how to eat it with 2 kinds of sauces, alfredo and tomato paste... actually, it makes me wonder why they bother with having the sauces since they drown everything with parmesan cheese. trust me, when u eat the pasta here, the only thing u can taste is their horrible, horrible parmesan. oh, and their instant mac and cheese tastes nasty...

they put cheese into everything... but their cheese sucks... my french friends are always complaining abt the cheese... they said that cheese in france is ALIVE, with all the delicious bacteria crawling around, and mold growing on top.... hahhaa... yeah, so i met this girl who tells me she puts cheese into her ramen........ omg, like, who eats ramen like that?!?
i havent tried their ramen before (like our maggi mee), but my roommate chantal is cooking it now and it doesnt smell too bad, in fact, i'm real hungry now... i bought 2 packets d, maybe i'll try tonight.

oh, and their rice... tasteless and textureless... what happenned to the nice smelling jasmine rice we always eat at home? the ones that smells real good the moment u open the rice cooker... i mean, what they eat here, is NOT rice. it was the point when i ate the rice here that i decided that i shd go out and get some pots and pans to start cooking REAL FOOD. and lucky me, i found jasmine rice hiding in one corner of the grain section 3 days ago at price chopper so yay, i can start eating rice soon.

ok, so the rice and pasta are my main complains... the rest of the food is quite ok, the tortillas are not bad really... but stuff like salmon and steak are overcooked so everything's really dry. their vegies are only ever eaten in 2 ways, overcooked stir fry with butter, which only ever features broccolli and carrots... and eaten raw as salad, with the same kind of leafy vege everyday, and only with thousand island sauce. sigh...

oooh, but i like their quiche though, but they've only had it once. 3 diff kinds of baby quiche, seafood, spinach, and smtg else i dont remember. it's really nice though...

i cooked pasta last weekend... bacon and porcini mushroom penne carbonara. was sharing the kitchen with four other latino girls and it was damn crammed. we ended up sharing our food with each other. they made plantains with crispy salami. it was kinda nice... oh, and i gave some pasta to my roommate as well and she loved it... so now i'm supposed to teach her how to cook over the semester.

what else? oh, yeah, i ordered chinese take out from Food Chow City III, this szechuan, hunan & cantonese style place voted as best chinese cuisine restaurant by the readers of the local paper, the Palladium times. it wasnt too bad. by PJ standards it would have been pretty bad but at least it tastes ok enough... so, got my first fortune cookie, and it's still sitting on my table. i dunno why, i dont feel like eating or even opening it.

ok, enuf talking abt food for now, i'm damn hungry now and my dining hall has just opened for dinner so i'm going down for some food. there's seafood on the menu today, i hope it's good. like ppl here dont eat seafood, and they live right by the lake. so weird. there was this cashier at price chopper who wouldnt even touch the packet of clams this guy in front of me was paying for.

oh well, AMERICANS...
crazy, but lovin' it...

PS: i miss curry... and thai food... green curry... i think i'm going nuts thinking abt food...