: : Snacks : :

Got disconnected while uploading this post. Urgh!

Anyway, Granny got some snacks over the weekend. Was munching on them while preparing this post.

Phong Pia

This is an excellent pastry. The filling is a sweet green-bean paste. Yep, the famous green beans that you-must-eat-else-you’ll-kill-by-midnight. This one was brilliant : paste was not too sweet and the pastry was not too salty. Note that the pastry crumbles easily so need to eat it with a plate.

Love Letters

This version does not have any designs on them. Love letters is very sweet and crunchy. Found in abundance during festivals but you can still find it at the market or small grocery stalls. It is made by pouring some batter onto a pair of metal plates welded onto a pair of tongs. The metal plates are pressed tightly together and then heated over a small fire. Once the batter is cook, the round layer is quickly rolled up to the shape above.

: : Dinner at Auntie M’s : :

Had Sunday dinner with my auntie, cousin and his gf. The main course was done by my cuz but the appetizers and veggies were done by my Aunt.

Stuffed squid with mince chicken and carrots

Mixed veggies (sweet peas, baby corn, carrots)

Roast Chicken in Orange with Pork Stuffing

Stuffed potatoes?

Stuffed squid with mince chicken and carrots

Smaller disaster because the bread crumbs wouldn’t stick to the squid. Think it’s because the skin of the baby squid was too smooth. Also, Auntie M suspected that she put too much stuffing in that they started coming out while she was frying them. It still tasted good and the slightly burnt parts just added to the flavour. You have to be there to understand what I meant by burnt.

Mixed veggies (sweet peas, baby corn, carrots)

Yummy yum yum. I love sweet peas. They are so sweet and crunchy. However, to prepare it, you would need to remove the ends by a little bit and pull a little ‘string’ that comes off the skin. Also, the carrot was so sweet after cooking it that it was very yummy.

Roast Chicken in Orange with Pork Stuffing

No picture of the Roast Chicken. Yep, absent-minded Ms. Wena totally forgot another time. Couldn’t taste the orange, much to my cousin’s dismay. Suggested to him to use mandarin oranges rather than Sunkist. He put in the orange peel as well as the juice. 2 oranges, in fact. Think it’s something to do with Sunkist oranges that we get it. It’s always SO sour. However, the highlight was the stuffing. It tasted so delicious! He got it from Smart Supermarket, King’s Centre. Minced pork will not taste as nice. Probably because we didn’t know how to make it properly.

Stuffed Potatoes

This was nice although I thought that the potatoes needed to be roasted until it was brown before serving. It was too pale. However, it still tasted good because of the bacon bits insides. The sauce was easy to do : a mix of salad cream and mayonaisse. Quick filling though so be forewarned.

It was a nice end an interesting weekend. Can’t wait for the time when Auntie M is cooking. She makes a mean tiramisu that is absolutely the best in Kuching. Sorry, by invitation only.

: : Chicken Curry : :

As promised, here is the recipe for Granny’s Curry Chicken. The number of ingredients here aren’t a lot because most of the spices have already been added into the curry paste.

1 small bowl of curry paste or 2 tablespoon of curry chicken powder

1/2 chicken, cut into smaller parts

A few strips of beancurd, broken into slightly smaller pieces

8 small purple shallots, sliced into half

2 tablespoon of cooking oil

Some water

A big wok with a lid to fit (approx. 20-30cm in diameter)

A note about the curry paste used here. The spices have already been added in, including the chilli powder. However, when using curry powder, you’ll need to use a lesser quantity in order to get the same taste.

I luv beancurd! Yummy with curry! The picture shown is a full length one. For the curry, the beancurd is broken into strips of smaller lengths. Then, it’s later soak in water to rehydrate it so that it expands before being added into the curry.

Now onto the recipe!

Step 1

Heat up the oil on a slow fire until it is hot. To check, stick a dry spatula into the oil and press it against the wok. (Funny thing to note : over here, the spatula is called the frying stick!) If you start to see small bubbles come up, the oil is hot enough. Note that oil tends to spit if water is thrown into it. Slide the onions into the oil by pushing them from the side. Do not just drop them into the wok else the oil will start spitting. Fry the onions until they become soft and fragrant. Do not brown them.

Step 2

Fry the curry paste with the onions on a slow fire. Do not stop stirring. Add some water in if the paste is starting to dry up from the frying. No matter what happens, MUST NOT LET THE PASTE BURN!! Fry for a few minutes until there is a fragrant smell coming out. For first timers, be careful not to stand too close to the steam else your eyes will start to tear. I think it comes from the chilli inside the cooking.

Step 3

I hope that you still have a slow fire going. Big fire, smelly burnt smell. From the side of the wok, slowly slide the chicken in. The last thing you would want is a burnt mark on your skin, or worst, your face. (Incidently, if you do get burnt from hot cooking oil, the sap of a banana tree works wonders. Of course, you’ll end up a sticker but when one is in pain, one doesn’t care. Gotta look for a banana tree first!). Add some water if it gets too dry. Remember, the water is to prevent the chicken and curry paste from burning. Add in about 1 small bowl and stir the chicken until the outside is partially cook. Then, fill the wok with water : about half the wok should be filled with water. Turn up the file until the water starts to boil. Lower the fire and let the whole curry simmer. Cover the wok with a lid to cook the chicken faster. The lid creates a small pressure cooker so the chicken will be more tender.

Step 4

Once the chicken is cook, add in the hydrated beancurds. How to check if the chicken is cook? Try it lar! That’s the only way to tell. Simmer it until the beancurd is hot.

Sorry I didn’t add in a final picture of the finished dish. Completely forgot about it and when we had it for dinner again today, it looked to messy. Think there were some leftover so will take another pic tomorrow.

The orangey colour comes from a spice called tumeric. It doesn’t add much spicy-ness to the dish but rather the colour. Notice that there is no coconut milk added in? Great for people who are watching their diet. Granny wanted to lose weight so omitted the coconut milk in most of her curry cooking. Although, I do think that this version is a lot spice-er compared to the version with the coconut milk.

As for buying curry paste, it’s a 50-50 chance. Might get a good one, might not. Easiest way to find out is through word of mouth but do not be surprise if it doesn’t come out well. I guess it’s just plain luck. One thing good about curry paste is that it keeps in the freezer for ages.

So, that’s just about the 1st actual recipe for this blog. Granny says that she hopes everyone enjoys it. I know we do, every Sunday. It’s curry day every Sunday, 52 times a year.

: : Chicken Siew Pau : :

KBH and PC were in town on a short holiday, staying at PC’s childhood home. So, I pop by to meet up with them and brought along some siew pau.

I asked for the pork version but got the chicken version instead. It still tasted good though. The pastry is very very soft and the filling is not too sweet. The meat was very tender which is actually one of the critical traits of this pastry.

I bought this from Expert Hawker Centre, Tabuan Jaya, as it was the closest coffee shop that sells ‘Kuching Siew Pau’. Actually, other coffee shops also have this siew pau. Look out for a food warmer with the sign ‘Kuching Siew Pau’ on it. Sometimes, they put up a picture of a yellow tabby cat that is kicking his legs into the air with his paws behind his head. I only know of another place that sells this siew pau is the Siang Siang Hawker Center in Tabuan Jaya. ‘Kuching Siew Pau’ makes the better tasting version compared to others and I’ve tried many versions.

In KL, there is a very famous coffee shop in SS2 (or was it SS3?) that sells delicious siew pau. I remember the coffee shop was facing the highway and Damansara College. There are two huge ovens to cook this pastry and it’s open throughout the entire day. Yum!

: : Tea-time : :

One of Granny’s friend pop by to drop off some bak chang. Yum! She was making some for her daughter and had make extras. Granny immediately opened one and pop it into her mouth!

I’ve been pestering Granny for years to teach me how to do this but she has it’s too much of a bother. Bak Chang is pork meat, chestnuts and black mushrooms stuffed in glutinous rice. This little rice ball is then steamed after being wrapped up in pandan leaves. It is actually shaped as a triangular pyramid.

There are many versions to different kinds of bak chang available as different types of stuffing are used. Other than pork meat, there is the tau sa (red bean paste) and peanut version. Sometimes, bak chang without any filling except for the glutinous rice, is available. Granny makes a mean sweet sauce to go with this : mixed gula melaka (thickened brown sugar) with soy sauce. Sounds pretty disgusting but trust me when I say that it goes well with plain bak chang!

: : Breakfast : :

Good morning! It’s a really cool morning after yesterday’s cold and dreary day. Granny bought some mea sua when she went to do her grocery shopping. Yum! Mee sua is a popular FooChow dish. It’s actually just rice noodles with chicken soup with some Chinese red wine added in. Yep, potent stuff although this version didn’t have that much red wine in it. The noodles look like bee hoon but they aren’t. They’re softer and more filling to the stomach. Also, they’re thinner compared to bee hoon but have a flat surface.

It’s actually a very simple dish to do. Cook the noodles separately, then drain out the water. The soup is made by boiling pieces of chicken, black mushrooms, some ginger (to add in a spicy and tangy taste) and some red wine. If you like more red wine, then put more inside. For the black mushrooms, please un-dry the dried mushrooms first! You can do this by soaking them in water until they expand. Then, rinse the mushrooms a few times to get rid of the strong taste unless you like it that way. I would suggest that the noodles be cooked last.

I did promise some pictures this morning of Granny’s home-cook meals but couldn’t wake up early enough. *sheepish grin*