Showing posts from 2010

Leong Cha / Selfheal Flower tea

December 22, 2010
I was having a bad sore throat last week... and it won't go away. Miss E thought that she has given me her 'germs'. She was not well immediately after her school trip to Rottnest Island... poor girl


Creamy Mango Mousse

December 18, 2010
Mango season is here... yay! We love eating mangoes. My plans of making 'something with mangoes' often derailed once I peeled off the skins and slice the mango cheeks... It only took me one whiff and I caved in...  If given the choice of mango and durian... definitely ...I'll go for Mango ... but its 'kind of' difficult if I have to choose between mangoes or cherries... hmmm... (its alright... no one is making me choose... so I can have both...) However, I managed to hold myself together and resist temptations... and make this mousse for everyone to enjoy... (out of 9 mangoes ~ 3 were used for mousse, 5 were cut-up and eaten fresh by everyone....and guess what happen to  the last mango??... ) Recipe: The recipe was adapted from Mango Magic by Bay Books. 3 medium size mangoes 2 tablespoon caster sugar 1 tablespoon gelatine 3 tablespoon juice 300 ml thickened cream Peeled and puree 2 mangoes and add sugar. Stir well. Sp


Rosewater Panna Cotta with Blueberries

December 15, 2010
I was flipping through  Donna Hay ~ Dec2010/Jan 2011  magazine, and this Panna Cotta caught my attention... Why? Reason no 1 ~ I have one (1) blueberry plant growing happily in my backyard. The plant has been very kind.. eventhough it was only a year old... it has given me quite a good yield... It must have been happy and contented in my garden...  Reason no 2 ~  Miss E loves blueberries (and she often say it her 'blubberries'...) and   I always stock up boxes of frozen blueberries in freezer for her convenience (and mine.... Reason no 3 ~ I was intrigued by the combinations of diary products with rose water... I'll go no further than 3... before everyone get bored and started to (yawn)  Fresh blueberries and a single rose flower from my garden... (frozen blueberries in a bowl) But ...I tweaked her recipe just a teeny weeny bit...  ( Donna Hay's version ~ in brackets ). I do not wish to waste 100ml of buttermilk.... it still turn out de


Spiced Hiramasa with Tomato, Ginger Curry

December 12, 2010
Growing up in Malaysia with its melting pot culture... I have the pleasure to savour and enjoy the varieties of food~you name it, Malaysia has it... It is a Food Haven for foodies like me... I have dined in fancy hotels, restaurants... sampling from Japanese to Dimsums to International Buffet spreads to road side 'Hawker' Food vendor. If you are in Malaysia ... you must not miss out eating in a restaurant serving Indian food... and not any Indian restaurant... but the one that will serve your order on Banana Leaf ... yes, you read it right , your food will be served on Banana Leaf not PLATE !!! and eat it with your FINGERS... again you read it right ... FINGERS not fork and spoon... It's lot of FUN... but be cautious... it can be addictive ... and the portions are ginormous (especially the rice). Fun part is towards the end, when we have finished eating... I am always confused as to which way to fold the banana leaf (either fold away from you or


Vegetable Masala Stir-Fry

December 09, 2010
What is 'Stir-Fry' ? Stir-Fry according to Wikipedia (I'll cut and paste  ... save you the trouble of clicking to open up wikipedia page... and my post will not look so short... ) Stir-Fry always relate to Chinese cooking... (as per Wikipedia above). And in Chinese Stir-Fry... garlic is most commonly used together with Oyster Sauce, Light Soy Sauce... Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two techniques for cooking food in a wok while stirring it: chÇŽo (ç‚’) and bào (爆). The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chÇŽo technique.[1][2] The two techniques differ in their speed of execution, the amount of heat used, and the amount of tossing done to cook the food in the wok. Cantonese restaurant patrons judge a chef's ability to perform stir frying by the "wok hei" produced in the food. This in turn is believed to display their ability to bring o


Pandan Crepe with Sweet Coconut filling

December 07, 2010
Miss E said I had OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder )... I guess all teens would say that to their mom...Right? hope I am not alone here.    I have to have everything in place...or events must take place as planned!! Take this blog for example... I planned to post 3 posts per week: Tuesday is for flavours around the Globe, Thursday is for Malaysian/Asian and Saturday is specially dedicated for Dessert or sweet things... I am going to prove (Help...the spelling does not look right here..)  her wrong... and will start to post any article/post on any day... not restricting myself to the 3 days mentioned earlier... I shall start with.... Kuih Ketayap or Crepe ( oohh... sounds so French ) is a typical Malaysian Breakfast or afternoon delight... Why its called Ketayap?? I would not have a clue ... Ketayap is a Malay word means 'White Skull Cap' ... but the kuih  has no resemblance to the attire... so I shall not delve into the matter further... before I


Bamboo Shoots~ Side Dish

December 02, 2010
We have deprived little pandas of their meal...  Bamboo shoots is a delicacy when we are far away from home.  'Old Wives' Tale' ~ bamboo shoots is believed to have cause 'wind ' and whoever has arthritis should avoid bamboo shoot altogether .  I was trying out this recipe yesterday... preparing pickled bamboo shoots for our dinner as a side dish. The smell of pickled bamboo shoots is horrid ( smell like urea ....) and it stays in the kitchen or house for a very long time... The minute Mr H walked in the house... I could see his face started to twitch... Mr H : What's that smell?? Me : hmm... bamboo shoots Mr H : I think I need some air ... and he immediately opened the front door and kitchen door... hoping that the breeze would clear the odour. So yes ... the smell of pickled bamboo shoots can be a 'Put Off'  ... even to our Asian nose ...  Basic ingredients .. Recipe: 400g Bamboo shoots - purchased from As


Thai Glass Noodle Salad

November 30, 2010
I am so not looking forward to summer..   We were under Perth HOT spells for 3 consecutive days and it is only SPRING... This HOT weather is really wearing me down, zapping my energy and my head will make a 360 °  spin... I prepared this Thai Glass Noodle Salad for our Friday BBQ ( before the weather turned us to human jerky ... ). Thai Glass Noodle Salad  is easy on the stomach, it is refreshing with freshly chopped herbs and crunchy vegetables...  I am whipping up this salad again this Saturday... Yes, we are having BBQ again... I am chuffed... My friends, whom I have not heard any news or met since I left my Primary school ... 33 years ago, are coming over to my place... I am looking forward to catch up with both of them....   Recipe: 1/2 chicken breast - cooked and shredded 2 cups of glass noodle - 1/4 cup fresh mints - chopped 1/4 cup of coriander leaves - chopped 1 carrot - julienne 1/2 red onion -thinly sliced 1/2 cup of peanuts - chopped coarsely


Mini Pavlova

November 27, 2010
It's been a "quiet-blogging " week, this week...  I was trying to juggle between kids' school activities, family visits, trying to get my  Twitter  and Facebook Fan page up and running... Check out the Right Handside Panel for the icons.. if the link doesn't work...  and planning for our holiday next month... yippee... Back to my kitchen...I have some egg whites from  Chai Creme Brulee last week... so I decided to make mini Pavlova (as in the next day ... not after a week ) While waiting for Miss E to finish her massage session...I was given heaps of recipe books ... I picked up a Reader Digest Collection of Recipes book... it was a thick book. Since I only have an hour to spare, gave it a quick scanning... and as I was flipping the pages.. my eyes caught the word Pavlova ... I kept on reading the paragraph explaining ~ how the name Pavlova came about... and where it originated from... Everyone seems to agree that this beautiful 


Serunding Ikan Bilis/ Anchovies Floss

November 18, 2010
What is serunding (pronounce Se-roon-ding )? It is a Malay word ~ literally translated to Meat Floss ... There are many type of serunding... Beef, chicken, fish.. and last but not least... Anchovies.... Serunding is best served with steamed glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk or spread on white bread or eat it with hot steamed rice ...  Soak Anchovies to get rid off the excess salt This is my second serunding making in a week... My first was Beef serunding (Beef Meat floss)... sadly my beef serunding could not make it to my photoshoot... it was gone in a blink. Mr H hardly had the chance to savour ... may be a tiny pinch to taste ... The culprits were my 2 hungry teens!! and yet they are whining... 'Not enough' ...' Oh, Mom!! its so little' ... bla...bla..bla... I slogged over the stove again yesterday to make Anchovies Floss ... and off it goes ~ to my make-shift studio for some photography session... before its too LATE....  Chillies


Quails with Thyme and Lentils

November 16, 2010
My quail is sexily perched on top of the mash potatoes... fork is to indicate that it is Quail.... Having quails for lunch or dinner was a luxury ...  those days... and I guess it still is... There aren't a lot of restaurants in Malaysia that served quails (I stand to be corrected here...). My first taste of quails was at one of the restaurant in Bagan Serai ~ North of Malaysia (in the state of Perak )... Quails were seasoned with tumeric, salt and deep fried the whole bird... Quail is not like chicken... it has less meat... hence deep frying makes it chewy... and you have to have a good set of teeth to gnaw through to the bones  ... I chanced on these little babies... in the freezer section ... They aren't cheap little darlings... A pack of 6 quails cost me dearly... .. shh... I am not telling the cost as Mr H might be reading this ... Based on my previous experience of gnawing and gnashing the quails... I decided not to deep fry !!! I cassoulet- ed (


Black Pearls and Aloe Vera Jelly Bubble Tea

November 13, 2010
Bubble Tea Craze... yes.. that's the "IN" thing for Mr H Jr and Miss E ... a 'must have'  whenever they are let 'loose' in the city (so to speak... )...   Ask them and they will be able to guide you  to the best  Bubble Tea shop in Perth... they may even tell you which shop has a good offer for an upgrade...  Its nothing fancy schmancy really... just a huge size black tapioca pearls, some jelly with some option of flavoured fruity tea... This is my first attempt in making Bubble Tea ... some of the ingredients were sourced from local Asian grocer...black tapioca pearls, aloe vera drink and konyaku jelly... Be creative....~ you can add colorful jelly, fruity jelly... or anything you desire... the only thing that would stop us from enjoying this Bubble Tea is.... Our Imagination  ....  Black Tapioca Pearls and Aloe Vera Jelly...  Pour in some brown sugar syrup  Followed by strong Black Tea.. or any type of Tea


Grilled fish with Chilli stuffing...

November 11, 2010
I love fish stuffed with chilli paste... mom used to cook this ... but she would used local fish ~ Ikan Cencaru   or Torpedo Scad or its Scientific name : Megalaspis Cordyla (linnaues) ... phew!! a mouthful to pronounce!!.. (just 'Image Google'  Cencaru  for some idea how it looks like... ) I have not seen any of Cencaru sold in WA... alternative~ Taylor... a good substitute.. Mom would cook the chilli paste first( ...I followed mom's way of cooking... :))... then she would stuffed the fish with the chilli paste... ( ok ~ I did the same ...)... then she would deep fry the fish (oops~ sorry mom ... this is where I stop ...)...The aroma of fish and the twice cooked chilli paste... sizzling in the wok... will make my tummy sing-a-song of 'Hunger'... kriuk-krok ... kriuk- krok .... did you hear that??? 2 whole fish - I used taylor 8 dried chilli - soaked 3 stalks lemongrass - chopped belacan (prawn paste) sugar 1 red onion - chopped some banana leaves


Spicy Beef Noodle

November 09, 2010
I can't think of what to write at the moment... everything went blank...eversince I heard that my niece has gone into labour... yeah... I will soon be a ' GrandAunt ' ...  a 'young' energetic grand aunt ;)...  hmmm... time flies... it was 27 years ago...I was holding, cradling and singing her lullabies...  ... got to go and check my FB  :) update 10th November ~ niece is still in labour....    she just gave birth to a baby Girl (11-11-10)... 4 generations of ladies/females will be under the same roof : great grandmother, grandmother, new mom and baby... :).. 1 packet of rice sticks or kway tiow * 500g beef - thinly sliced 1 canned baby corn - cut in half 4 tablespoon red curry paste 1/2 cup roasted peanuts - coarsely grounded 1/2 cup of fresh coriander leaves 2 tablespoon of fish sauce In a wok, stir fry half the sliced beef with 2 tablespoon of oil for 2 minutes, transfer to a plate. Repeat for the other half. With the remaining