Sambal Belachan

Ingredients:
1 or 2 tbsps of toasted belachan
7 red chillis
7 red chilli padi
kaffir lime leaves

Method:
Pound all of the above or blend together. Serve with lime wedges.

Peranakan chicken curry

Ingredients:
4-5 tbsp of oil
1 star anise
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick

Spice paste:
30g dried chilli soaked
200g of shallots
3 cloves of garlic
20g of belachan
20g tumeric/ powder
3 tbsp of corriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp fennel

others:
1.5kg chicken pieces
300g of potaoes cut into wedges
500ml coconut milk/ evaporated milk

Seasoning:
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

1) Heat oil and fry spices till fragrant.
2) Add spice paste and fry till fragrant and well cooked.
3) Add chicken and fry in spice paste till chicken has had a chance to absorb the paste.
4) Add potatoes and 100ml of milk. Let chicken and potatoes baste till cooked.
5) Add remainder of milk and bring to boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 20-30mins. Serve with rice.

Wati's Mum's Corriander Rice

This recipe is courtesy of my wonderful neighbour Wati, whose mother was kind enough to share this recipe.
 


Ingredients

3 onions blended into a paste
cinnamon
cloves
cardamon
star anise
ghee
1 kg of rice washed

Paste
6 green chillies
8 cloves of garlic
a big bunch of corriander leaves
ginger 1 cm
fennel seeds 1 tsp

Method:

1) Add Ghee to the pan and fry onions with cinammon,cloves, cardamon, star anise.

2) Add blended paste

3) Add washed rice and fry altogether and fry till fragrant. Add to rice cooker along with salt and water and cook.

Rachel Allen's Thai sticky chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken legs scored on each side

Paste-which needs to be ground

2 tbsps of brown sugar
4 chopped red chilli
1 cm ginger
2 cloves garlic
3 pieces of lemongrass-white part only
2 tbsps lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
a bunch of corriander leaves

Method:
Marinate the chicken overnight with the paste that has been ground

1) Turn the oven to 220 degress celcius and bring the chicken out of the fridge and let it reach room temperature.
2) Put the chicken legs in a baking dish and leave the extra marinade aside for later. Bake for 30-40 mins until cooked.
3) Put cooked chicken on a serving dish and taking the baking tray and put it on the stove. Add the remainder marinade to the tray and bring to a boil. (you must cooke the marinade thouroughly)
4) You may want to add some sugar to make the sauce extra sweet. Pour the cooked marinade over the chicken and serve.

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
2 cups milk
1 cup thickened / pouring cream
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove
1 cinnamon stick
60g butter
2 tbsps plain flour
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt, pepper
375 g macaroni
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 rashers of bacon/ turkey/ chicken ham- chopped and fried till crisp

Method

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius

2) Place milk and cream in pan with bay leaf, clove, cinnamon and bring to boil. Remove from heat allow to stand for 10 mins. Discard flavourings and leave aside to cool.

3) Melt butter in another pan and add flour. Stir over low heat for 1 min. Remove from heat. Gradually add milk and cream mixture, stirring until smooth. Return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce boils and thickens. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 mins. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese(not all the parmesan cheese!!!). Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

4) In rapidly boling water, add macaroni and cook until tender. Drain well and add macroni to the sauce and mix well. Then dish out unto a baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, meat and remaining cheese. Bake for 15-20 mins till golden.

Variation:
You may add chopped cooked chicken to the sauce before mixing with the pasta.

Melted French Potatoes

Method:

1)      Set oven at 160 degrees Celsius

2)      Slice 4 onions

3)      Peel 4-8 potatoes and cut in half and leave in a pot of water to prevent oxidization

4)      In a pan add 3-4 Tbsps of butter and drizzle with oil (grapeseed or canola) to prevent the butter from burning

5)      Fry the onions till translucent and put them on the bottom of a baking tray

6)      Put the cut potatoes ON TOP of the onions in the tray (the potatoes should be sitting on the onions)

7)      Pour chicken stock into the tray till the potatoes are submerged half-way in the stock. Stock must not cover the potatoes completely. *Note: Don’t splash the stock all over the potatoes. Pour it gently at the edge of the baking try and allow the liquid to spread throughout the tray and fill up till the half way point.

8)      Sprinkle fresh thyme on the potatoes

9)      Bake for 20-30 minutes or till done.

*Recipe from the show French Food at Home

Chicken in spicy coconut milk

Ingredients:

Vegetable Oil – 4 Tbsp

Chicken- 1, about 1.5kg cut into pieces

Coconut / evaporated milk- 500 ml

Tamarind Juice- 125 ml

Salt and Sugar to taste

Spice paste: (All blended together)

20 dried chilies soaked in water and drained

6 candlenuts

4 onions, peeled and chopped

4 cloves of garlic

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 cm of ginger chopped

3 stalks of lemongrass chopped finely

3 kaffir lime leaves

How to cook:

1)      Blend all the ingredients for the spice paste and set aside

2)      Heat oil in wok and fry paste till fragrant

3)      Add the chicken and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes on low heat

4)      Stir in the tamarind and coconut/ evaporated milk and cook till gravy is thick

5)      Season with salt and palm sugar/brown sugar. Serve with rice

The beginning

There are 2 groups of people who enjoy food. Those who love to eat and those who love to cook. I belong to the former. I love eating and if you love to eat, you have to know how to cook. So that's how my love affair with food began.

And if you are lucky enough to live in Asia, then you are lucky enough to enjoy a buffet of choices when it comes to food, spices, ingredients and mind blowing cuisines. So I hope you enjoy the blog and enjoy the recipes that I have been cooking in my kitchen. Good luck!