When Mum Gets Even Lazier...

Of late lunch boxes seem to becoming an 'in' thing. A trend worth catching up with for all the goodness that comes along, healthy and easy on the pocket.  Noticed quite a few recipe books featuring dishes for lunch boxes in the bookstore too.  I love browsing through these recipes, simply because they are normally simple, fast and catch all (if not as much as it can) nutritional needs.  Just the type for lazy me :)

I came across a dish with green beans, pumpkin and chicken while browsing through one of these books.   I looked at it and thought it was quite simple, no problem remembering it (instead of buying the book)...so I thought.  So, that weekend, I bought some pumpkin.  It was also my first experience with pumpkins.  I never quite like the taste but I was captivated by the photo of the dish that I saw in the  bookstore.  Then, came the challenge, I couldn't quite remember the ingredients used!  So, when in doubt, one googles!

There are not that many dishes that comes with this combination.  I used this as reference. Surprisingly, it turned out very well despite an interesting combination of  eastern and western ingredients, butter, sherry  vinegar with fish sauce and soy sauce?? Clashes or complimenting, give it a try to find out...:)

Ingredients

• 500g pumpkin
• 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 30g butter
• 500g chicken
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 tbsp ginger
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 onion
• 300g green beans
• 1 1/2 tbsp rice wine
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp thick soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Cut pumpkin into 1’’ chunks. Toss with oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Place on a baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the pumpkin is tender.
4. When there are about 10 minutes left on the baking of the pumpkin, heat up the wok.
5. Add in butter and let it melt.
6. When the butter begins to bubble and lightly brown, add in the chicken and brown it.
7. Add in garlic, onion and ginger followed by fish sauce.
8. Add in green beans, rice wine and soy sauce.
9. Squeeze in the juice from lemon once beans are cooked.
10. Remove pumpkin from oven.
11. Add pumpkin to the beans and chicken.
12. Dish up and serve with rice.

Notes: 

1. I didn't use as much butter as the amount called for in the original recipe.  The recipe added butter in 2 steps.
2. Recipe stated soy sauce, not sure if just normal or thick.  I added 1/2 tbsp thick soy sauce, didn't like the pale look.
3. I used homemade rice wine instead of sherry vinegar or rice wine vinegar.
4. Instead of sprinkling raw onions (I don't like raw ones), I cooked it together with the garlic.
5. Obmitted basil leave because I had none!

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Hot Cross Buns with a Tropical Twist

It has been awhile.  Happy that thoughts of giving this up are not harbouring in my mind still.   I hate half way jobs, but technically, there is no end to this is there? I am still making stuff for the family, that part I strive not to compromise.  At certain stages in life, it just gets tougher leaving one with lesser time for indulgence.  Time and again I remind myself that when the goings get tough, the tough gets going and I am not going to let myself be the weaker one..So, go, go, go it shall be for now!

So, with Easter around the corner one sees, eats, bakes or come across mentions about Hot Cross Buns somewhere or another.  My earliest encounter of them would be Mum reading "Hot Cross Buns...one a penny, two a penny..." talk about lasting impressions that parents leave in their children... Then I got to know more interesting stories about these buns.  Traditionally eaten on Good Fridays and it dates back to ancient times... symbolic reminder for Christians of Christ's crucifixion ...and there are some superstitions around them too, like sharing them ensures continued friendship, kissing the cross before eating them...and one very interesting one that may intrigue bakers is if you hang one of these buns in the kitchen it will ensure all bread made year round will turn out perfectly!...maybe that's one to be considered... 

I thought I would attempt these ancient buns...But then, I was craving for Coconut Buns not spiced buns with dried fruits.  For some reason memories of the Roti Man coming by on his motorbike with lots of bread hanging around a big metal box on the passenger seat reminded me of the coconut buns that Mum used to buy.  So, I ended up making more coconuts ones than spiced ones :)  So, here are my Hot Cross Buns with a tropical twist.  To be exact, they are actually coconuts buns but with a cross on them :)

I used the Tang Zhong method (for bread dough recipe, refer here) added with a teaspoon of mixed spice.   As for the coconut filling, fry some shaved fresh coconut with palm sugar and rock sugar.  

So, here's Hot Cross Buns with a tropical twist!

Hmm, should I go with the cross or my green belt??

Easter Blessings Everyone!

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Morning Glories

Morning Glories? Yes, u heard me correctly, and most probably the first thought that would come to your mind would be "isn't that a flower?"  That was what came to my mind too, the simple but pretty  flower that comes in striking shades of pink, blue and purple.  Until I got to know that there's a muffin that is known as Morning Glory muffins too.  when I came across them here while looking for something quick and easy plus healthy for breakfast.  Looking at the list of ingredients,having one of them for breakfast would indeed make a glorious start to any mornings.  Wonder if that's how it got its name.  Strangely I couldn't find much about its origin (how it got its name and where did the recipe came from) although it is quite popular.

There's a lot of goodness in these muffins, to start off,  there's whole wheat flour, wheat germ,  loads of fruits (carrots, apples, shredded coconut, orange juice) seeds and nuts too.

Made some variations (used whatever I had in my kitchen).

• Shredded coconuts ~ nutmeg strips
• walnuts ~ Almonds 
• Whole wheat flour ~ Cake Flour
• 1 cup sugar ~ 3/4 cup
• Wheat germ and Sunflower Seed instead of Wheat germ or Sunflower Seed

Verdict?? Glorious Indeed! It's a pity I was too lazy to use an ice-cream scoop to scoop the batter into the cases, so it's a rather flat top :(

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How Do I Live Without You...

I couldn't agree more when I read a recent article in one of our local dailies about smart phone addiction, about how people are using their phones overzealously.  Somewhat quite true, a lot of people seemed to communicate more on their phones than with real people around them.  A scene where you see a group of people around a table but each busy with their own devices instead of talking to each other is not uncommon these days. Do I see this scene in my family? I will be in denial if I say it doesn't, it does happen occasionally.   I speak for myself but I have to acknowledge that I can't do without these devices, they are indeed extremely useful. For convenience, safety, communication, entertainment, information etc, etc, etc.   I guess the trick is to make sure we know where to draw the lines.

Wondering what smartphones have to do with this dish?  Nothing! Just that it reminded me of  how my sister and I were laughing about it over our phones.   Had it not been the phone and the internet we wouldn't be able to keep in close touch frome where she is now.  So, I have technology to thank for it.  We were "What's App"ing each other the other day when she asked what I made for dinner last night.  I said "Chili Babi" which is what you are seeing here :) 

She said WTH was that? Chili Babi literally means Pork cooked in Chili.  Probably because she has never heard of it and to hear a Malay name for a dish which main ingredient is forbidden to them is a little weird.  In fact, being in a muslim dominant country, we rarely used the word 'babi', somehow it it perceived as impolite.   However, we (my sister and I) have this habit of peppering our conversation with words from different languages (a result of our education system, i blame :p), so that's how I ended up with this name!   Actually, it's not so uncommon after thinking about it, the Nyonyas  and the Indonesians have Malay names for their pork dishes too (think Balinese Babi Guling and the likes of it).

Ok, now about this dish.  It's a simple dish but it's a nice dish to go with rice.  Another unique ingredient used in this dish is palm sugar syrup.

Ingredients

• 150g belly pork
• 3 tbsp chilli paste (blend of dried and fresh chili, garlic and shallots)
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 30g palm sugar chopped 
• Oil

1. Cut belly pork into small strips.
2. Heat oil, fry chili paste until fragrant.
3. Add in pork strips followed by fish sauce, dark soya sauce and palm sugar.  Fry for around 5 minutes until pork is cooked.  
4. I added in some pre-fried arrow root slices (to clear off the leftovers from Chinese New Year)
5. Serve hot with rice!

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The Stomach Way

Some people say "Old tricks don't work" but there's also a Cantonese saying when translated means the opposite, "Do not worry if it's an old trick, what matters most is it works".  I say both are right.  Some tricks do go out of date but there's one which I think  never will...I do  believe one way(yes, one way, not the only way) to a man's heart is through his stomach :)   A meal made out of love will always melt his heart.  And that was the path that I took for hubs' birthday...Happy Birthday, sweetheart! May God bless you with good health, overflowing happiness, wealth (yes, in that order)  and continue to make you a righteous leader for our family.

First up, I made black pepper prawns with pandan rice.    The recipe for this black pepper prawn is courtesy of my sister.  Her black pepper crabs are just so heavenly.  I used her recipe on prawns instead.

Of course, I had to make a cake for him.  Birthdays, for me  are just too good excuses to make a not so plain cake.  I tried this Orange Chocolate Baked Cheese cake.  Shredded some orange peel and shaped into a heart.

Inside out...

This cake tasted really good.  The tangy aroma was so evident.  It went well with the chocolate sponge.  The recipe was courtesy of Alex Goh.

So, that was how I feasted my man :) Recipes? Will post it another day, too tired for it right now...

So, fancy going the stomach way for Valentine's? Let's celebrate ♥ tomorrow!  Have a great Valentine's Day with your loved ones!

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My First Blog Award

I was pleasantly surprised and happy when Wen of Wen's Delight shared a blog award with me. This is my first blog award, I am thrilled! I am warmed by the kindness, friendship and encouragement that comes with it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Wen!

Liebster is German and translates to

the English word “dearest”or” favorite”. It’s meant for up-and-coming blogs with less than "200 followers".

Here are the rules:

• Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
• Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.
• Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
• Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed. (Some say just 3 or more blogs of less than 200 followers each).
• Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.

I would like to share this award with firstly:-

• Frozen Wings - For all her support and encouraging words, although we only know each other virtually (for now that is). Hop over to her blog as she has so many great recipes to share.

And to 4 other awesome blogs that I feel are special in their own ways (check out their blogs to find out):-

• Sotong Cooks
• Fong's Kitchen Journal
• Away of Mind
• Cosy Bake

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Fried Chempedak and Mum's Not So Secret Recipe

We had these for tea yesterday.  Mum made them and they tasted really great.  And I learned that she has a special deep frying batter recipe which I think is worth sharing.  

What are these? A local fruit fried in batter, in a manner similar to banana fritters.   A street food found  when the fruits are in season.  The name of the fruit is Chempedak, an exotic fruit native to South East Asia.  I searched around and I don't think there's an English name for it, but its close cousin known as Nangka in the local language is Jackfruit in English.  Some say the fruit looks ugly, its edible arils are kinda soft and gooey adding to the ugly definition.  But they have a very strong aroma (which some can't stand, something of the durian category)  and they are sweet tasting.  They can be eaten raw but taste heavenly when fried in batter.

A look at the arils, I love the beautiful orangey hue.  Depending on the size of the fruit, one can get around 50-100 arils in a fruit.

And this is how they looked after being fried.  It's a little unfortunate that the arils are kinda thin for this particular fruit (think Forrest Gump and his box of chocolate).  Note the nice, crisp golden brown and non greasy thin layer of batter.   Can you see its gooey texture??

Now, coming to Mum's special recipe...Typically batter for deep frying would be made from flour and water with a little salt added in.  Out of curiosity, I asked Mum for her recipe because I found hers very light, thin, crunchy and most importantly not greasy.  I wasn't expecting anything extra ordinary but I was pleasantly surprised to know that she added 2 tablespoons of instant oats into her batter! Way to go Mum, such a brilliant way to sneak oats into our diet! Am not sure if it resulted in the nice texture of the batter but it sure didn't taste like it was there!  Besides oats, she used a ratio of 20% rice flour to 80% wheat flour plus a teaspoon baking powder.   Sorry, no exact measurements, simply because Mum doesn't think it's necessary.   Some wise words from her though, the batter should be slightly thick, not runny.  Classic example of Mum's knows best!  

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