#402: grilled coriander stuffed prawns: recipe #224

This is very yummy. A must try for all prawn lovers :)

Ingredients:
10 large prawns- intestine removed, the backsides are cut to form slits for stuffing.
oil
sea-salt
cracked black pepper

stuffing:
coriander leaves-chopped
tamarind paste
fish sauce
dried chili paste
chicken stock powder.

steps:
1. fill in the slits with the prepared stuffing. keep aside for at least 5 minutes
2. mix the prawns carefully with salt and black pepper.
3. Heat oil in a grilling pan
4. When oil is hot, arrange the prawns in the pan, cooked for about 3 minutes on either side of the prawns. When the prawns are cooked dish up .

#311 : Dadah Tahai : recipe #203

Tahai is a dried, previously smoked White Tamban or sardines. This dish is a traditional Bruneian dish which usually accompany Ambuyat feasts. I bought a large packet of Tahai which skins were already removed, so I used some to make this. Most of the left-over Tahai were used to make "sambal Tahai". I usually cooked this dish because of the soup. We don't usually ate the fish, we gave it to our cat instead.

Ingredients:
5-10 Tahai-skin removed
1 garlic - sliced
3 shallots - sliced
1 fresh chili- sliced
lemon grass
5- 10 dried asam -preferably asam aur-aur, if you use asam keping use 1-2 pcs only.
salt to taste
water

Steps:
Add all ingredients in a pot and boil them.
once boiled, simmer for another 5 minutes
adjust seasoning and serve warm

#309 Asian style grilled Salmon: recipe #201

I bought frozen salmon slices from BMC shop last Friday, and managed to prepare this for Saturday lunch a day before hubby went off to Penang. It was very easy to prepare. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients;
3 medium size salmon slices
olive oil for grilling and basting

marinade:
1/2 tsp Thailand green curry paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp dry basil leaves
1 tsp Thailand sweet chili sauce
1 sprig coriander- make into paste
2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
olive oil for grilling and basting.

steps:
1. Combine salmon with the marinade and keep aside for at least half an hour or overnight in the fridge.
2. Place Salmon slices in a baking pan/grill pan greased with olive oil.
3. Grill salmon until both sides are browned.
4. Dish up and serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

#272 Fish Strips with Orange and Lemon dip : recipe #163

Dayini doesn't like to eat fish. However, when I made this for lunch yesterday, she loved it. So, if you want to try something new, try this one .

Fish strips:
3 large frozen fish fillets-thawed, cut into strips
salt
rice flour
kentucky original flour
a little amount of beaten egg.

-Combine all ingredients and leave aside for 5 minutes
-Deep fry the strips until they turn golden brown
-Arrange the strips on a plate for serving.

Lemon-orange dip:
1 cup orange juice
a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon
2 cloves garlic and 1 cm ginger-chopped
chicken stock powder
corn flour slurry
sugar
mayonnaise

-fry garlic and ginger till fragrant.
-add in the juices and chicken stock, cook until the mixture boils.
-add in the slurry and sugar
-adjust seasoning and when the mixture thickens , dish up
-add a teaspoon of mayonnaise for extra "zing" :)

p/s if the mixture become too thick, add a little water to dilute it.

#270 Canned cuttlefish with veggies : recipe#161

I am tired of eating Raya food. These days I prepare simple food for the family. Today,I checked my pantry and found a can of cuttlefish and came up with this:

Ingredients:
1 large can cuttlefish shredded to pieces
1 green capsicum - julienned
1 red capsicum- julienned
1/2 large onion- cut into wedges
2 garlics-chopped
1 sprig curry leaves
3 bird's eye chillies
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1tsp chicken stock powder

steps:
1. Heat oil in pan
2. Add in the garlics,bird's eyes chillies and curry leaves. Fry till fragrant.
3. Add in the onion, the capsicum and the shredded cuttlefish. Stir to combine
4. Add in the rest of the ingredients, cook till the capsicum is nearly cooked but not overly cooked.
5. Dish up and serve :)

#248 HONEY MUSTARD PRAWNS: recipe #154

My picture speaks.....
Ingredients:
15 large sized prawns - cleaned, deveined and "rub" with a little salt and white pepper powder
3 garlics- chopped
2 tsp mustard sauce
2 tsp honey
1 dsp oyster sauce
1tbsp dark soy sauce
juice from 1 kesturi or you can use juice from 1/4 lemon
1 kesturi-sliced
corn flour slurry

steps:
1. In a wok, shallow fry the prawns till done.
2. retain about 1 tbsp of oil used,fry in the chopped garlic.
3. Add in the sauces ,honey and a little water. Stir till combined.
4. Add in the prawns, stir to evenly coat the prawns and the sauce.
5. Add in the corn flour slurry and the kesturi including the juice.
6. cook till gravy thickens and dish up.

#136: Malay style baked Salmon: recipe #96

I craved for Salmon, but couldn't stand it's fishy flavour. Sound funny eh? I remembered a dish I ate a few years back , so I used the Salmon slices to experiment this recipe.

Ingredients
Salmon slices
3 bird eye chillies-sliced
lemon grass- thinly sliced
tamarind- 2 tbsp
Laksa leaf ( Daun Kesum)
Banana leaf and aluminium foil to wrap the fish
extra virgin olive oil

marinade:
1 tbsp blended shallots
1 tsp blended garlic
1 dsp blended ginger
1 tbsp dried chilli paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt

steps

1. Marinate the fish slices with the marinade for at least 1 hr in the fridge
2. Place a banana leaf on aa aluminium foil, place fish on top
3. Place the extra marinade, bird eye chillies, laksa leaf and lemon grass slices on top of the fish.
4. Wrap the fish and place the foil on a baking tray.
5. Bake Fish for about 25-30 min at 200 degrees or until done.

#135 Prawn pineapple soup: RECIPE#95

This is one of my favourite soup. It is very easy to prepare and the flavour is awesome.

Ingredients:
15 prawns
equal amount of ripe pineapple- cut into large cubes
2 green chillies- cut into 1 inch slices
2 shallots-sliced
2 cloves garlic -sliced
1 inch ginger
10 Thai sweet Basil leaves
1 lemon grass-crushed
chicken stock powder
fish sauce
a bowl of water

steps:
- Boil water in pot
- Add shallots, ginger, garlic and lemon grass into the boiling water, cook for a few minutes
- Add in the ripe pineapple , simmer
- Lastly add in the prawns , chicken stock, basil and fish stock. Cook for a few more minutes, adjust the seasonings and dish up. Best serve immediately.

#131: Apple Fish : Recipe # 92

When I was residing at the MSPSBS girls' Hostel, almost everyday we were given fruits with our meals. Green Apples at that time will be eaten with salt, soybean sauce or chillies. It was meant as a substitute for the green mangoes. Today, I craved to eat Mango fish, but in My fridge there were only green apples available, so, what to do.... " tak ada pokok akar pun berguna"... so here's the recipe

Ingredients:
Fish- cleaned
tomato- sliced

marinade:
turmeric powder
salt
chili powder
vinegar

sauce:
2 green Apples grated, mixed with salt for 15 minutes- drained
1 dsp Lingham Chili sauce
2 tbsp Wah Hong chilli sauce ( sos lada Singapura)
1 dsp rice vinegar
1 dsp white vinegar
fish sauce

step:
1. Mix fish with marinade for at least 15 minutes.
2. Fry the fish till done and crispy on the outside.
3. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and adjust seasoning.
4. Add the sliced tomato to the sauce.
5. To serve, place the sauce on thr fried fish. enjoy!

#126 Stuffed squids ; recipe #89

I must say my days were hectic lately. Two weeks in a row I spent almost every afternoons at school. How fun is that? *rolling eyes*. How are we going to prepare well if at the end of the day we feel very tired? Sometimes I feel that teachers are driven to their limits. No offense to anyone but then I do believe everybody deserve to have a decent time without interuption for themselves and their families.

Well, cooking nowadays are more like chores than experiments...so, I didn't do much experiments.. blame it on the work... In case you are wondering , This dish was prepared a few weeks ago.

Ingredients:
5 medium squids or cuttlefish - cleaned ; eyes, 'ink', mouthparts, and skin removed. chopped the head parts into small pieces. keep aside.
tomatoes: diced
bamboo sticks.

sauce:
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
2 dsp chopped ginger
1 large onion diced
1 tbsp dried chilli paste
tamarind juice
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp 'Kerisik' - roasted pounded coconut
chicken stock powder

steps:
1. In a wok, fry shallots, garlic, ginger, onion till fragrant. add in the turmeric,chilli paste and the chopped squid parts. When squid is cooked add in the tomatoes. Season with the chicken stock powder. This will become the stuffing. Put the stuffing in the bowl but leave some gravy in the wok for later use.
2. "stuff" the squid 3/4 full. 'Seal' the top of the squid with bamboo shoots.
3. Place the stuffed squid back into the wok containing the gravy, simmer till the squid are cooked, add in the "kerisik" and adjust the seasoning. Remove the bamboo sticks before serving.

#121: Butter Oat Prawns: recipe #85

It's Experiment time again. Hubby, Darwish and I went to the Utama Grand Supermarket this morning. I bought 1/2 kilo sea prawns, they were quite big so I decided that I should cook someting new... something crunchy.... so here it is:

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo prawns, deveined, feelers removed but do not remove the shell
salt
white pepper powder
chicken stock powder
1/2 cup oats
10-20 curry leaves
5 bird's eye chilli-sliced
3 cloves garlic- chopped
sugar
1/4 cup butter
sunflower oil.

steps:
1. Mix the prawn with salt and pepper and deep fry them till cook- keep aside.
2. Heat a pan, add butter , when butter had melted add in the garlic, bird eye chillies and curry leaves, fry till fragrant.
3. Add in the oats, if the mixture becomes too dry add a little oil. season with chicken stock and sugar. Fry till the oats turn golden brown.
4. Lastly, add in the prawns, adjust seasonings and dish up

#119 Prawn and Petai Sambal : recipe #83

Love prawns... love petai... love sambal... these three elements together formed one mouth-watering dish.... now... let's cook !

Ingredients:
15 medium size fresh prawns, shelled and deveined
1 can petai, drained ( you can use the fresh petai too.... even better and bitter actually )
2 tbsp coconut milk
2 tbsp tamarind juice ( 1 tsp tamarind + 2 tbsp water)
chicken stock ,salt & sugar to taste

blended ingredients:
1 tsp roasted shrimp paste
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 dsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp dried chilli paste

steps:
1. Heat wok, add in oil
2. fry the blended ingredients until the oil surfaced.
3. add in the prawns and petai, stir
4. add in the tamarind juice and the seasoning (chicken stock and/or salt)
5. adjust the flavour, add coconut milk and add in sugar to balance the taste.

#115 : Sweet Sour Crabs: recipe#81

I think it has been 2 years or so that we didn't eat crabs. You see, eating crabs need patience and also it is time consuming. My hubby had been telling me about his craving for these sea creatures for sometime now , so after I had my exercise ( LOL!) today, I bought 2 kilogrammes of Crab, 1 kilo of squids and 1 large "tenggiri". I also bought "lemiding" and "sayur nangka" . Here's what I did to the crabs:

Ingredients:
2 kilograms crab -intestine , gills and carapace removed, boiled and keep aside.
2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 Spanish onion, sliced
2 lemon grass
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
3 dsp spicy taucho ( soy bean paste)
chicken stock powder
corn flour slurry
2 tomatoes- cut into wedges.
fried shallots

steps:
1. In a large wok, add oil.
2. add in the chopped ginger, garlic ,onion and lemon grass.
3. add in the chili sauce and taucho, stir till combine
4. when the sauce has thicken, add in the crabs add in some water and cover wok for at least 5 minutes.
5. add corn slurry and adjust flavouring with chicken stock powder.
6. If the gravy has thicken and able to coat the crabs, dish up.

I also cooked these for lunch... btw,to Aziah, if you read this post, the chicken is similar to the ones that we had on Thursday but without sesame seeds :)

#100: Sour fish soup: recipe #75

I love eating fish. For me, my favourite is always "lauk rabus" (see recipe post #6 ). This recipe is the Vietnam's/ Thailand version of "lauk rabus". Try it...

Ingredients:
3 sliced mackerel ( Tenggiri)
1 lemon grass
3 shallots
2 garlic
1 garlic-sized ginger
1 red chili- sliced
2 coriander roots
more coriander leaves for garnishing
3 sweet basil leaves
Tamarind juice ( 2 tbsp tamarind + o.5 lit of water, mix, strained and pulp discarded)
2 dsp Thai fish sauce
1 dsp chicken stock powder
1 tomato, cut into wedges

steps:
In a pot, preferably clay plot, add all ingredients except tomato and simmer until the soup boils.
add tomato wedges, Adjust seasoning and dish up. Garnish with more coriander

#97 Black pepper prawn : recipe #72

I cooked this dish sometime ago. The usual dish I cooked with black pepper is the black pepper beef, so this was actually an experiment which turned out to be unexpectedly nice.

Ingredients :
about 20 medium prawns, shelled deveined, tail intact
salt
pepper
ginger- sliced
garlic- sliced
1/2 large onion sliced
green chili and red chili- julienned

seasoning:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp black pepper sauce
1/2 chicken stock powder
corn flour slurry

steps;
1. marinade prawn in a ceramic bowl with salt and pepper for at least 15 minutes.
2. grilled or fry the prawn till cooked, keep aside.
3. In a wok, add oil, when oil is hot, add in the onion, garlic and ginger. cook till fragrant
4. Add in the oyster sauce, balck pepper sauce and chicken stock powder. simmer
5. add in the sliced chili and the prawn.
6. add in the corn flour slurry and adjust seasoning. dish up.

#52 SWEET AND SPICY HOMEMADE FISHBALLS : recipe #32

I love to eat fish. So yesterday, instead of just doing the usual " lauk masak merah" , I decided to make fish balls instead.

For the fish balls:
1 cup blended fish " flesh"- I prefer "ikan tengirri"
1 tsp corainder powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp fennel powder
1 tsp curry powder
salt to taste
1/4 cup diced onion
2 tsp corn flour

-step :
mix all ingredients in a bowl
-take small amount of the mixture and make it into a small size fish ball
- fry the balls at medium heat until the outside of the ball is golden brown

For the gravy:
2 shallots
2 garlic
2 pcs, ginger with size of a garlic
2 dsp tomato sauce
1 dsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp curry powder
1 cup milk
chicken stock/ salt to taste

steps:
Heat oil in wok
fry shallots, garlic and ginger till fragrant
add in all the other ingredients except milk
When gravy thickens, add in the fish balls and the milk
adjust the seasoning and dish up

#42 QUICK PRAWN SAMBAL: recipe #24

My late paternal grandma could cook things in a jiffy. Her cooking methods, as I mentioned sometime ago was very simple and she didn't use any measurement in her cooking. Her signature dishes was always "sambal". For me, she made the best sambal... This recipe is aa modification of her recipe of chopped prawn sambal as I was running out of dried chili paste

Ingredients:

10 prawns- shelled, deveined, coarsely chopped.

1/2 big onion

1 clove garlic

2 dsp chili sauce ( I prefer the "singapore" sauce)

1 dsp "belacan" powder

steps:

mix the sauce with prawns and leave it for 10 minutes

heat oil in wok

fry the prawn mixture till sauce thickens

add julienned onion and garlic

when the onion and garlic become soft, add in the belacan powder

adjust the taste, dish up

#41 PRAWN TAUCHO : recipe #23

I love prawns! I remembered My dad used to catch a lot of prawns in the "old" days , and we used to just grill them and ate them with sauce. I haven't eaten prawns for sometime now, so today, I "drag" my hubby to Jerudong Market to buy 2 kilos of prawns. Since, My kids are not into prawns, that means the prawns are for us to savour... yum..yum...

Ingredients:

15 medium sized prawns- shells intact, but deveined and sharp part on head removed.

1/2 large red onion - not shallots/ may be substituted with the ordinary big onion

1 dsp taucho (salted soy bean)- made into paste

1 dsp Maggi chili sauce ( so no need to add sugar)

1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

1 tsp mint sauce

2 small tomatoes- cut into wedges

steps:

1) Heat oil in wok, when oil is hot, add prawn and cook them until shell look crispy

2) add in the onion

3) once onion is soft add in the rest of the ingradients- if the pan is dry , add 1-2 dsp of water.

4) add in tomatoes , cook for a few minutes & dish up

enjoy!!!

#6 BRUNEI CUISINE RECIPE: recipe #2 and #3

When I was waiting for my A'level results , I used to stay with my 80 yrs old grandma and from her, I learnt how to cook delicious yet simple Brunei cooking. These are amongst the many recipes that I learnt simply by observing her cooking.



Tengiri rebus air
Ingredients:
4 slices tengiri/mackerel
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 dsp blended dried chilli paste
10 asam aur-aur ( see pic above. My friends in Malaysia and Indonesia said they couldn't find this there, so I assume this is native to Borneo)
4 shallots and 2 garlic
I stalk of lemon grass
salt and chicken stock to taste

Steps;
In a pan, mix tengiri with chili and turmeric, add shallots and garlic. add a bowl of water (about 500ml). Simmer at medium flame until boiling. When boiled, add in the rest of the ingredients and adjust its flavour.

Nangka Masak Air


Ingredients;
1. I bowl 3/4 ripe Nangka ( Jackfruit)
2. I red chilli ( julienned)
3. I lemon grass
4. 3 red onion
5. salt and chicken stock to taste

steps:
Put all ingredients into a pan add 1/2 bowl water , cook until tender and adjust flavour.... enjoy