Ayam Kurma (Kurma Chicken)

This is my youngest daughter's favourite. What's the different between this Kurma Chicken with other curry out there? It's more yellowish in colour and it's not hot at all, slightly in the sweet side. With the use of different spices, it taste totally different with the normal curry we always had. My kids just love it with a lots of potatoes and tomatoes.

Let me share on how I cook this yummy "Ayam Kurma" here.


Ingredients:

600gm chicken/meat (1/2 chicken), cut into pieces

Blend together:
4 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
1 green chili, seeded
1 inch ginger

1 packet of Adabi Kurma curry spices (mix it with some water to form curry paste)*
1 lemon grass, smashed
1 inch stick cinnamon

2 candlenuts (grounded)
1 piece tamarind skin (can replace it with some tamarind juice)

3 potatoes, skinned and cut
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 large onion, cut into wedges

1 cup of coconut milk (reduce it if you prefer it less santan taste, adjust according to your own liking)

some cooking oil
sugar & salt to taste

-this is ADABI KURMA spices -

Method:

1. In a wok, heat some oil. Add in the blended ingredients, lemon grass and cinnamon. Saute until it's fragrant.
2. Add in Adabi Kurma paste and ground candlenuts. Stir till it's a bit dry and fragrant until the oil appears on top of it, keep on stirring it to prevent the curry paste sticks on the wok (At this time, we can lower the heat and this take sometime to cook it)
3. Add in the chicken pieces, stir to until all the chicken is cover with the paste and change colour, slightly pale. Add in some water and let it cook for a while.
4. Pour in the coconut milk, add in the potatoes. Let it cook till the potatoes are soft (we can always boil the potatoes half-cooked ahead)
5. Add the tamarind skin, salt and sugar to taste (I didn't add any sugar as I found the curry is already sweet)
6. Lastly, add in the tomatoes and onions wedges. Stir and let it cook till the tomatoes and onions are cooked.
7. Serve warm with steamed rice or tomato rice.
   
   
   

I hope you all can try to cook this at home. A good dish to prepare when there are gatherings or party.

Wish you all a wonderful weekend and Happy Cooking !

AMY

Fried Eggs With Preserved Sweet Turnip & Onion

Both my girls loved egg dishes so much. When I was out of idea on what to cook, I will just did this simple fried eggs for my family. I got all the ingredients in my fridge and what I do is just cut and chopped and put all the ingredients together, season it with some soy sauce and fried it...Easy right???


To make this simple egg dish, we need:

4 eggs (beaten)
1 large onion (sliced)
2 tbsp chopped preserved sweet turnip (cai por)
1 tsp soy sauce
some cooking oil for frying

Method:

• Cracked the eggs in a bowl, add soy sauce and beat it to mix.
• Heat the wok with some cooking oil.
• Saute the onion slices until it's fragrant, add in the chopped preserved sweet turnip and stir-fried for 2 second (lower the heat if the wok is too hot)
• Spread the fried onion and preserved turnip in the wok and pour in the beaten eggs on it.
• Do not move the eggs for few minutes (lower the heat to prevent the eggs got burnt)
• Check on the eggs if it already cooked before we flipped over and continue to fry the other side (add a little more oil if the eggs sticks to the wok)
• Dish up and serve warm with steamed rice.

Happy Cooking!

AMY

Chocolate Marble Chiffon

After successfully baking my very first chiffon cake - Banana Chiffon Cake. I straight got hooked to this new method of baking cake. All the while I will just bake butter cake and cupcakes or muffins. As mentioned in my previous Banana Chiffon Cake post, I don't bother to learn baking chiffon cake as we can easily get them in the supermarket or morning market. But, after all I don't think we can get the banana flavour, chocolate marble chiffon, green tea flavour etc..etc.. out there, right?..

I think I have found a chiffon's cake master - Kitchen Corner, most of the chiffon cake she baked turn out fantastic and I hope to try out all her recipes. What attract me to try out her recipe beside viewing on her yummy cake pics is her chiffon recipe without the use of baking powder, soda bicarbonate or the cream of tartar. Amazing right??? I always limit the use of flavour essense or food colouring in all my baking. I got excited when I know I can bake a cake without baking powder and cream of tartar. Simply interesting right?? and,.. the cake turn out GREAT! Soft and spongy, not too moist or too dry. It's just perfect!

I modify the recipe from Kitchen Corner to fix my size 23cm cake pan. I reduce some sugar as I still found it is still a bit sweet. Guess what, I bake this Chocolate Marble Chiffon twice in one day. My first cake all gone in 30mins time. I give half of the cake to my mother in law. My kids each had 2 slices for breakfast. As I wanted to give some to my parent as well, so I bake another cake...hehe! The second cake turn out with even nicer marble pattern or effect... yeah!! I can bake it very well already~ hahaha! Oh well, practice makes perfect right? teehee..

Here is the recipe I modify from Kitchen Corner
(my recipe is for 23cm cake pan, please refer to recipe at Kitchen Corner if you are using a 21cm cake pan)

Chocolate Marble Chiffon Recipe:

(A)
95g egg yolks
25g caster sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp honey (optional)

(B)
80g cooking oil (I use corn oil)
80g water

(C)
95g flour (I use cake flour)

(D)
10g cocoa powder
10g flour

(E)
240g egg whites
120g caster sugar (I reduced to 110g)
15g corn flour

Method:

1. Cream ingredient (A) with hand whisk till sugar dissolved.
2. Add in ingredient (B) in respective order and mix well before adding the next item.
3. Fold in ingredient (C) and mix till no lumps.
4. Divide the egg yolks mixture into two equal portion in two separate mixing bowl.
5. Mix 10g flour into one of the egg yolks mixture and 10g cocoa powder into the other bowl of egg yolks mixture respectively. Mix well till no lumps.
6. Beat egg whites in a clean large bowl until soft foam. Gradually add in sugar, one tablespoon at a time and finally add in corn flour. Mix well.
7. The egg whites mixture should be peak foam, smooth and shiny.
8. Gently fold in half of the egg whites mixture into the cocoa egg yolk mixture and plain mixture accordingly until well combined (Note: Make sure the egg whites are well combined with the egg yolks mixture, do it slowly and gently without breaking the egg whites)
9. To assemble the marble effect: Spoon in the plain batter to three or four different corner of the 23cm cake pan, then continue to cover the plain batter with cocoa batter. Layer by layer till the end. Bake at preheated oven at 170c for 35-45 minutes or till it's cooked.
10. Invert the cooked cake immediately on a wire rack until it's completely cool before remove the cake from cake pan.

HAPPY BAKING!

AMY

Butter Raisin Cupcakes

On Thursday, I bring my 3 kids to pray at a temple near Naka. It's about 1 hour drive from Alor Star. The temple there held the candle lighting prayer. It's believe will bring us brighter future and success in whatever we do. I bake this butter raisin cupcakes and bring it along, just in case my kids hungry they can have a bite on it. A quick bake, nothing fussy or complicated ~ 12 Butter Raisin Cupcakes are ready in less than an hour time.

Tada... here is my 12 yummy cupcakes!!!!

Ingredients needed for baking this yummy cupcakes:

This recipe yields 12 cupcakes

140 g butter, softened
110 g castor sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essense (increase it to 1 tsp if you prefer it more vanilla flavour)
200 g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
45 g raisin

Method:

• Sieve cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Cream butter and castor sugar till it's pale and light (Approx. 2 mins)
• Add in egg one at a time and mix till it's well combined.
• Add in vanilla essense.
• Preheat oven at 170c.
• Fold in flour mixture slowly until finished all the flour.
• Lastly, add raisin and mix well.
• Scoop the batter into cupcake liners and bake in the preheated oven for 30 mins or till it's golden brown colour and cooked.

A very easy recipe for baking newbie out there. Do give it a try!!

P/S: If you wish to add more raisin, reduce the amount of sugar used or it'll be too sweet.

HAPPY BAKING!

AMY

(Non-Halal) Braised Fried Pork Belly - Hakka Style（客家炸肉）

Braised Pork Belly - Hakka Style（客家炸肉）。This is one of my mother in-law signature dishes and one of our family's favourite. My mother in-law will cook this dishes whenever there are special occasions like Chinese Lunar New Year, etc. Although we are not "Hakka" but we just simply cannot resist this yummy dishes of "Hakka" people. In "Hokkien" we call it "Zhar Bak" means "Fried Meat". The used of 'reddish cheese' - （南乳）make it taste differently with other meat dishes we have and I love the black fungus in the dish. It's yummy!

Ingredients A:

1kg pork belly with skin
100g black fungus (soaked & cut into biting size)
30g chopped garlic
1 stalk coriander (sectioned)
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
1000ml water

Ingredients B:

150g shallots
8 garlic cloves

Marinade:

1 egg (beaten)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp lime juice
1 1/4 pieces reddish cheese（南乳）
1 tsp five spices powder
2 tbsp rose wine

Seasoning:

1/4 tsp reddish cheese（南乳）
1/4 tsp five spices powder
1/2 tbsp "Shaoxing" wine
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

• Blend ingredients B finely become paste and squeeze, reserved the shallot and garlic juice. Set aside.
• Clean and cut the pork belly into small pieces. Marinate it with the marinade ingredients and the shallot & garlic juice (ingredients B), marinate for at least 4-5 hours or preferably overnight in the fridge wrapped with cling wrap.
• Coat the meat with plain flour and deep fried into hot oil at high heat until it's golden brown in colour. Dish out and leave aside.
• Leave 2 tbsp oil in the wok, fragrant 1 tsp chopped garlic, add in water, seasoning and bring to boil.
• Place in pre-fried pork belly pieces and black fungus, bring to boil. Cover, simmer at low heat for 30-40 minutes until the pork belly pieces are tender and the flavour has been absorbed.
• Lastly, add in the remaining chopped garlic and mix well. Cook for further 5 minutes, sprinkle with coriander. Dish up and serve warm.

P/S: This dish will be tastier if we keep overnight. We can always prepare this dish one day ahead and keep it in the fridge before we heat it and serve.

Just in case you don't know what's reddish cheese/red fermented beancurd（南乳）or how it looks like??

source of picture from flickr Piggy

HAPPY COOKING!!

AMY

Banana Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cake is one of my favourite cake. I love it's spongy and soft texture, not too oily and very light. I don't even bother to find out it's recipe as I can get it at the market with cheap price. A friend of mine, Ai Lee borrow me her Chiffon Cake Is Done - Bake with Kevin Chai recipe book the other day. After flipped over the pages and read it, I finally make up my mind to try this Banana Chiffon Cake since I have all the ingredients needed.

-the top of the cake after 3hrs cooling time-

-texture of the cake ~it's very soft and spongy-

This recipe will be a great keeper for sure. My first chiffon cake turn out GREAT! The texture of the cake are just nice, it's soft and spongy, not too moist or dry. I follow exactly the ingredient stated in the book without reduce the amount of sugar and the sweetness of the cake are just nice, not too sweet. I omitted the usage of banana essense and colouring. However, this cake still contain natural sweet banana smells on it even though without the usage of banana essense.

-my first chiffon cake-

Ingredients:

Egg Yolk Batter

6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
60ml corn oil
170g banana puree
1/2 tsp banana essense (optional)
50g caster sugar
few drops yellow colouring (optional)
110g plain flour (I use super soft flour)
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Egg White Foam

6 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
100g caster sugar

Method:

• To make egg yolk batter: Combine egg yolks, salt, oil, banana puree, essense (if you are using), sugar and colouring (if you are using) in a mixing bowl. Mix till well combined.
• Fold in flour and bicarbonate of soda until forms batter. (sieve the flour with soda first before mix it in the egg yolk mixture)
• To make egg white foam: Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar, beating at high speed until frothy and stiff peaks form. (*make sure the bowl and the mixer use to beat the egg whites are free from oil*)
• Gently fold the beaten egg white foam into egg yolk batter until it's well blended.
• Pour batter into ungreased 9" (22cm) tube cake pan. Bake in preheated oven at 170c for 30-40 minutes or until it's cooked.
• Remove from oven, invert cake onto table until it's completely cooled before unmould it.

This is a worth-try recipe. Do give it a try when you free.

HAPPY BAKING!!

AMY

Double-Boiled Peanut Root Chicken Soup

I made this Peanut Root Soup for my 12 yrs old son after I got to know it's nutrients and that this soup help youngsters to grow taller. It help to increase immunity and promote better health especially when given to them during their teen years. I don't know how true is it and there is also no scientific report on how the soup made from peanut root would affect the growth of children but, it's no harm to try right?? Nevertheless, the soup is very tasty!!

- This is how the peanut root look like-

To make this soup we need:

100g peanut roots (wash and clean it's soil)
1 young male chicken (cut into 4 pieces)
10 red dates
1 tbsp wolfberries
1 bowl of water
salt to taste


What to do?

1. Place peanut roots, chicken, red dates and wolfberries into the pot.

2. Pour 1 bowl of water in it. Fill the lower layer of the pot with water and bring to boil.

3. Lower fire and cook it for 3 - 4 hrs.

4. Add some salt to taste. Serve warm.

5. It's best taken at night before bedtime.


HAPPY COOKING!

AMY