Lisa's Lemony Kitchen

Mangoes ~ my all time favourite ... 'tired' of mango? Not me... never !!! We have a lot more fruits~  and its cheaper...this summer.  I was at Wanneroo market... and saw this whole box of mangoes for $20... I was like ' Wow' ... chose the best looking mangoes...Buy first and worry later where to store them....   Ray  who was busy stacking the mangoes boxes up add few more mangoes into my box .... I was like... yay!! 'Good On ya, Ray ' ... :)...excellent...  50 mangoes in a box... Within a week... nothing left...we slobber over mangoes...yummy mangoes....  Ripe mango (not the mushy ones.... ) - skin off and diced grape tomatoes - halved red onion - thinly sliced mint and coriander leaves - chopped optional - thinly sliced chilli salt olive oil Mix all in a mixing bowl and serve with grill or barbeque salmon steaks... :b...

I was watching one of Nigella Bites episode on TV few years back... she made this mouthwatering watermelon, feta and mint in one her summer series...and decided to give it a try (few times eversince). The combination of the 3 ingredients is superb... every bite of the sweet juicy watermelon mix with salty~ish feta cheese and the refreshing mint...Amazing!!! When I was younger, I used to enjoy my sliced watermelon with soy sauce (kicap)... don't know what 'Feta' is at that time, never heard off and definitely, not available in any shops!!!  Tease the palate with sweet taste of watermelon with salty taste of soy sauce... (I re-lived my childhood moment again...)  Watermelons are abundant and much cheaper this year... so give it a try (Nigella version of course but no harm done trying my childhood version.. if you dare..hehehe). You can also try this typical Malay dish using watermelon 's skin...  Cu...

I thought of Kuih Keria  (after enjoying so much  'rich' food... Chinese New Year is all about eating and visiting and eating again.. ~ 8days to  Chap Goh Mei !! phew... kilos will pile on... diet will be next on my menu ...).  Kuih Keria  will not make its appearance on this auspicious occasion...It is a humble not too rich kuih...   Made from mashed sweet potatoes... form into ring ... like doughnuts...deep fried and coat with caramelised/ crystalised sugar. A lovely afternoon snack or breakfast and serve with kopi-O ( Malaysian local coffee) The Dough: 600g sweet potatoes - 1/2 cup to 1 cup of flour salt Steamed or microwave the sweet potatoes, mashed and leave it to cool. Mix in the flour.... until the dough is not too sticky and able to form an 'O'. Careful not to add too much flour... you'll end up with a 'floury' taste kuih keria just like the one sold commercially in the ...

We take a break from Chinese cuisine... Kerabu Perut is a typical Malay side dish. Its an acquired taste... some may find it tasty and some may find it offensive... depends on which way you look at it...  Nowadays, tripes sold in supermarket (in Malaysia) are washed, pre-cooked and ready to use, no doubt there are still 'uncooked' tripes available especially in smaller town wet market. It is quite a task to clean the 'cow's stomach' , one need to scrub and scrub then boil for quite a long time until it is tender. The 'cooking' part is usually the one that will put you off... as the smell (of the boiling tripes in the pot permeates the whole house) ... can be really offensive to some... I will not describe it here... but to reduce the ' smell ', just throw in galangal in the boiling pot...  that should solve any ' smelly ' issues.... 2 cups of cooked tripe - thinly sliced 2 cups of bean sprouts - give a quick bla...

Mr H  thought of cooking something different this year...for our dinner on Chinese New Year eve. We still had our usual Steamboat and  Sang Choy Bow . But this year, he wanted to try ... to cook a whole duck... Mr H did all the cleaning, preparing and cooking Lor Ark or Chinese Braised Duck Teochew style ... the way his mom used to cook for CNY ...  I raised my 'white flag'  as I have never cook duck...nor had my mom...(pre-cooked duck from IGA..did not count!!) and am clueless on this matter!!! I guess, its better to stay ' clueless'.... ignorant is a bliss...yay!! (... so I dont have to cook duck next CNY..sshhh) My role... was to take photos... hmmm... that was the toughest part ... : p 1 whole duck 2 inch ginger - crushed 6 shallots 5 cloves of garlic- crushed 3 teaspoon 5 spice powder 3 pcs star anise 3 teaspoon thick soya sauce rock sugar salt and pepper cinnamon stick oyster sa...

Photo courtesy ~ Miss E The first time I  had Bak Kua  was 10 years ago in Kuala Lumpur....  Its the same as Beef Jerky but Chinese version of meat jerky ... Its an acquired taste for me.. And for Mr H , its a delicacy that he had during Chinese New Year only (in his younger days)... as Bak Kua can only be found in Kuala Lumpur... It is the most popular items to be included in the 'Goodies Bag' to hand over as 'gifts' while visiting relatives... Just to kick in the Festive Mood... we made some Bak Kua last Thursday... about 1 kg of chicken mince and 1 kg beef mince... Seems a lot...right??...But ~ It was all gone by the first day of Chinese New Year ... :) 1 kg mince meat - chicken, beef or lamb 1/2 tablespoon honey 200g sugar 3 tablespoon fish sauce 1 piece nam yu 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce Optional :  1 1/2 tablespoon of chinese wine  Preheat the oven 100...

Have a wonderful and Prosperous Year...

Kuih Bangkit is one of many traditional Chinese New Year cookies. Some used tapioca flour in their recipe while others used arrowroot flour. An excellent and good Kuih Bangkit  will  'melt in your mouth' ... but it is not easy to achieve... The word ' Bangkit ' in my Kedah  slang would mean 'get up or arise or awake' . My mom used to say 'Kuih Tidur '  ( tidur means asleep) whenever we could not get it right... Her analogy makes some sense... 'Kuih Bangkit' will awaken all your senses especially the palate while enjoying that ' melting ' moment... I had tried many times and this is the near 'success' batch... but still lack that utmost oomph ~ 'melt in the mouth' ... so it is 'Kuih Tidur' for me too ... :(  Anyone has a good recipe of Kuih Bangkit  and willing to share his/her recipe with me (and my blog)?, email me....much appreciated... Thank You.. 400-450g tapioca flour 100g icing sugar...