#433 : Gulai Kangkong : recipe #236

The Scientific name of Kangkong is Ipomea aquatica. In Engllish it is known as the water spinach or the swamp cabbage. Kangkong is recommended to strengthen the body's resistance to cancer. Nutrients in kangkong are Vitamins A and C. Moreover, it is also rich in minerals, especially iron. Because of its high iron content, the vegetable is recommended to patients suffering from anaemia.

Kangkong can be made into salads, stir-fried or boiled.

Ingredients:
Kangkong plants - 2 ikat @ 2 bunches - roots removed; cut
1 medium -sized carrots; shredded
1 large red chili-sliced
2 shallots- sliced
1 garlic- sliced
2 tbsp coconut milk.
chicken stock powder

pounded ingredients:
1 large red chili
1 shallot
1 garlic size prawn paste@ belacan -toasted
1 small size ginger
2 tbsp soaked dried prawn
oil

steps:
1. heat oil in pan, add in the shallots, garlic and the chili until fragrant
2. add in the carrot, mix for 1 minute
3. Add in the pounded ingredients, mix well and fry for further 2 minutes
4. Add in the Kangkong, until the leaves half-wilted, then add in the coconut milk
5. season with the chicken stock and dish up.

#429 : Green Beans salad : recipe# 233

I bought a packet of Indonesian French beans from Supa Save the other day. I was thinking on how to use my safflower oil I bought a month ago from the German shop for sometime now, so here it is the opportunity to use it.

Ingredients:
A handful of Indonesian French beans: stalk removed, blanched, st aside
olive oil
safflower oil
lemon juice
salt
cracked black pepper
salt to taste.
2 pcs- canned anchovies.

steps:
1. Heat olive oil in pan and add in the anchovies, fry till anchovies breaks. cool
2. add in the safflower oil and lemon juice into the cooled olive oil- anchovies mixture
3. Add the mixture into the beans , stir to mix. Add in the salt and the cracked black pepper.
4. Adjust the seasoning, set aside for at least 10 minutes before serving

#427 ; Sambal manga@ Malay ripe mango salad : recipe #231

I have been eating this since I was very young. Whenever mango was in season, My grandma will made a lot of this "sambal". The sweet-sour taste of this salad is perfect for the third dish of a typical Malay lunch/dinner.

What I used:
3 apple sized ripe mango: peeled and cut into small pieces or "cancang" in Brunei Malay.
1/2 bulb red onion - sliced
1 large red chili -sliced ; can be replaced with the hot bird's eye chili
garlic sized prawn paste@belacan- toasted and break into small pieces
soya sauce
sugar- optional

step:
mix all the ingredients together , adjust the seasoning, leave aside for at least 15 minutes before serving.

#426: Cucumber Coriander salad : recipe #230

Another variation of the salad I made using egg. The ingredients complement each other well.

Ingredients:
A medium size cucumber - skin partially peeled and sliced thinly
A handful coriander leaves-chopped
1 large green chili- sliced
1/2 red onion -sliced thinly
3 tbsp coconut milk- add more if necessary
1 dsp lemon juice
salt and sugar to taste.

steps:
Add the ingredients together, adjust the seasoning , let the salad "sit" for about 15 minutes before serving.

#336 Spinach Casserole: recipe #215

I went to Supa save this morning after my visit to the dentist. I planned to make some spinach calzone , so I bought a packet of frozen spinach. However, for lunch I made this cheesy spinach casserole for the kids . They loved it and they requested that I should make the casserole for tomorrow's lunch. Here's the recipe

What you need:

A)
Frozen spinach 5 cubes ; thawed
Butter -2 tsp
garlic- 1 tsp

- In a skillet, add butter and chopped garlic
- when the garlic turns light brown, add in the spinach, fry for 2 minutes.
- place the cooked spinach in a casserole

B)
olive oil
chopped onion - 1 tbsp
1 tbsp all purpose flour
milk-1/2 cup
bread crumbs -2 tbsp
cream cheese- 1 tbsp
1/2 tsp each: dried oregano, dried basil , dried parsley.
salt and pepper to taste
grated cheddar cheese for topping.

- Using the same skillet ( in A) , add olive oil and add the chopped onion, saute it until soft.
- Add the flour, and fry it for 2 minutes
- Add in the milk and stir until combine
- Add in the cream cheese , the herbs and the seasonings. Adjust the taste.
-Add in the bread crumbs and stir.
- Pour the cheese mixture onto the spinach
- top the spinach mixture with grated cheddar cheese.
- Bake the casserole in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius until the cheese browns.

Recipe source; HOT "N" SWEET BOWL

#332 Steamed eggplant with spicy coconut sauce : recipe #211

Another way you can cook your eggplant. This is truly a Malay cuisine.

Ingredients:
2 large long-type eggplant -steamed , cut into pieces, arranged in a platter.

sauce:
Blended together:
1 large fresh red chili
6 candle nuts
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp coconut cream
1/4 cup water

seasoning:
salt& sugar or chicken stock powder

steps to make the sauce:
Pour the blended ingredients into a pan, let it boil, add in the seasoning, adjust the taste and pour over the steamed egg plants. Enjoy :)

#316: white sauce baked potato : recipe #207

There is a huge restructuring of the senior management team in my school as two of our 'strong' bosses are promoted to various institutions. Our DP2 now is working at the Director office, whereas our Senior master administration is promoted to Deputy Principal and is transferred to another school. So, our senior Mistress academic is now promoted to Deputy Principal academic. To Hjh Noridah, Gilbert and Hjh Hashimahwati, Congratulations!

I sometimes wish that days would be slower... so that I can relax more.. but as usual, time flies so fast and whether I like it or not, my kids at school will be sitting for their June AS exam, starting mid May. There are many who are still not mentally ready. So, to my upper sixth block 1 and 4 students... "accelerate" your revisions.

At a different note, I made this last week. It's so easy to make.

Ingredients:
3 medium potatoes, sliced, boiled in water and seasoned with salt
grated cheddar cheese

white sauce:
butter
flour
milk
oregano
chicken stock powder to taste

steps:
-In a pan, heat butter and add the flour, stir
-Add milk and let the mixture thickens .
-add oregano and chicken stock powder.
-add potato slices.
- transfer mixture into a ceramic dish which has been sprayed with olive oil.
- sprinkle with cheddar cheese .
- bake for 10 minutes. Enjoy

#305: Simple spicy pickle: recipe#200

I have not been to GIANT yet nor going shopping for fresh food as we will be flying off to KK tomorrow. My hubby will be going to Penang next Sunday for a month course. So, I will be a "supermom" for a month. BTW, I craved for "acar" so, there's only a can of "jaruk lobak putih" in the pantry and I made this:

Ingredients:
1 can pickled radish
1/2 Spanish onion-sliced thinly
1 clove garlic-sliced
1 tsp curry powder- add more if you prefer
1 large red chili-sliced
1 tbsp chili sauce
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt and sugar to taste - optional

steps:
1. Heat oil in wok, add in the onion, sliced chili and garlic- stir to combine
2. When the onion and garlic is soft, add in the rest of the ingredients except the lemon juice.
3. Turn off the flame, add in the lemon juice and adjust seasoning.

#281 : STIR FRIED "LEMIDING": Recipe#166

Lemiding is a kind of fern growing "wildly" along the roadside or in jungles of Brunei. I've seen it being sold in Miri as well. It is similar to paku pakis but the the young shoot of this plant is reddish brown in colour. To an avid "ambuyat" eater, Lemiding is a must accompanying any Ambuyat feast. Although I've eaten several versions of Lemiding dishes, I have to say that the best of them all is always the traditional way of cooking it.... with "belacan" off course. Here's the recipe :)

Ingredients:
2 "ikat" lemiding : remove the midrib , then rinsed.
2 large chillies- sliced
chicken stock powder to taste

pounded ingredients:
5 shallots
2 garlic
1 handful dried prawns: soaked in water
1 thumb-sized shrimp paste/belacan

steps:
-heat oil in wok,
-fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant
-add in the chillies and the "Lemiding"
-add in the chicken stock powder
-stir and cook for further 2-3 minutes and dish up.

*since the leaflets are very soft , try not to overcook them.

#271Baked potato with paprika : recipe #162

The girls love potatoes. This is one of the dish that I usually made for them.

Ingredients:
Potatoes-cubed, boiled in salted water till 3/4 cooked
oil
paprika-lots of it
salt
black pepper
rice vinegar
mozarella cheese

steps:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. All except the cheese
put the mixture in a ceramic bowl and spread the cheese evenly on top
bake at 160 C till potato is done.

#208: Bubur Pedas Sarawak ( Spicy Sarawak's broth) : recipe #143

Yesterday during lunch time, while I was eating my "bata" and SLY was eating her "bata" we were discussing about food that we usually cook during weekends. For me weekends means cooking something that usually take hours to prepare. This morning before My hubby and I went for our outdoor exercise at Shahbandar, we dropped by my parents house and was given 4 packets of "Bumbu Bubur Pedas" , authentic from Kuching , Sarawak. After My exercise I went to the Pasar Borong to buy the fresh ingredients to make this:

Ingredients:
1 bowl of sliced carrots, long beans, young corn and dried banana flower( soak in water& stalk removed)


1 bowl of lemiding ( local fern) , boiled bamboo shoots, cubed potatoes, dried black fungus (soak in water)


1 bowl of sliced and boiled Foo chuk ( bean curd sticks), 1 bowl of santan ( add more if you want ) and sliced tenderloin meat


$1 worth pucuk manis & 2 packets of Bumbu Bubur Pedas with water added

blended ingredients: shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, fresh chilies and dried Prawns
veggies seasonings: green chilies, red chilies, lemon grass, turmeric leaves -sliced

others: salt, chicken stock powder, white pepper powder, oil and more water

Steps:
heat oil in a large pot ( 1 used my 5 litre pot)
add blended ingredients and lemon grass, fry till fragrant.
add in meat
followed by the "hard veggies"
Add the bumbu, pour in 2 bowl of water, simmer
add the coconut milk and seasonings
add the rest of the ingredients one by one, making sure the softest veggies to be added the last
simmer, adjust seasoning and dish up.....

Now the reveal...........
Super yummy bowl of veggies (makes about 30 bowls)

#197 : Jiffy Baked potato : recipe #139

Ingredients:
1 kg potato- peeled if desired- cut into cubes- boiled with 2 tsp salt
fresh rosemary
salt to taste - do not put too much as the potato was already boiled with salt
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
mozarella cheese- for topping, if you like

Steps:
In a casserole, assemble the boiled potato cubes. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the top with black pepper , salt and rosemary. Put into the preheated oven until the potatoes brown a bit. Usually I would put grated cheese on top, but unfortunately, I was running out of it.. so this is the least I could do

#98 Quick Egg plant fried sambal : recipe #73

This recipe is one of the oldest recipes I ever known. I have eaten it since I was 5 -6 yrs old and that was....mmmm 32 years ago. I believe, this dish had existed before then. The traditional way of doing this is by using dried chili paste and everthing have to be prepared from scratch. In the morning, cooking from scratch will not be a good idea for me, so I used short cut to save time, and the result? just as nice... enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 large egg plant- cut length-wise, deep-fried.

sauce:
A- blended ingredients:
1 handful dried prawns, washed
5 shallots
3 garlic

B-others
3 tbsp Maggi garlic chili sauce-add more if necessary
chicken stock powder
sugar

steps:
1. heat oil in wok, add in the blended ingredients (A)
2. Add in the chili sauce, fry till fragrant and oil emerged to the surface
3. season with chicken stock powder and sugar, dish up.

#84 GREEN CHILLIES WITH GOLDEN NEEDLES AND BAMBOO SHOOT : recipe #62

Local people living in my area love to eat stir fried green chillies. They cook it just like we cook our long beans. The dish has this amazing flavour and not forgetting, the heat after eating the dish was some what overwhelming. My hubby loves to eat anything with green chillies.
Golden needles are dried flower buds of the tiger lily and have unique musky flavour. They are also known as "kim cham" or "bunga pisang", usually an ingedient to make the "sayur foo chuk". I happen to have some in my fridge and decided to use them in this dish.
Auni, on the other hand likes to eat bamboo shoots/rebung... I combined the three so that the dish will not be that hot. Here is the recipe:

Ingredient:
1 handful sliced, boiled bamboo/ bamboo in cans
a handful golden needles
7 green chilies- sliced diagonally
1 shallot
1 garlic
-chicken stock powder to taste
- a little vinegar
-cornflour slurry
steps:
1. heat wok, add oil
2. fry shallots and garlic till fragrant
3. add the vegies
4. season with chicken stock and vinegar
5. add in the corn flour slurry
6. adjust seasoning and dish up.

#81 CURRIED STIR FRIED LONG BEANS : recipe #59

This is one of the dish that my family enjoy including Dayini who is very picky when it comes to vegies. H ere's the recipe:

Ingredients:
I bowl cut long beans
2 shallots-sliced
1 garlic- sliced
1 red chilli -sliced
1 dsp curry powder ( add in more if you want a spicer version)
1 dsp tomato sauce
chicken stock powder
1 egg- beaten.

steps:
-Heat oil in wok
- add in the shallots and garlic , fry until fragrant
- add in the beans, tomato sauce, curry powder, chilli , chicken stock powder and a little water
- cover the wok with a lid and reduce the flame
- when the beans are half cooked, make a well at the centre of the wok, add in a little oil and add in the egg.
- make sure the egg is half -cooked before incorporating it to the vegies.
-adjust seasoning and dish up

#71 Baked Potato version 2: recipe #50

I was watching the National Geographic Channel when I saw the celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver made this dish. This is a very simple dish that anyone can make . Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
nearly cooked potatoes- skin removed and each cut into 4
a generous amount of olive oil
salt
cracked black pepper
mixed herb

steps: mix all ingredients and 1/4 cup of water
put the potatoes into a casserole
bake for at least 15 minutes or till potatoes become tender inside

#70 Stir fried Cucumber with Taucho : recipe#49

I like to eat cucumbers. I either eat it raw or make simple dishes out of them. The only cucumber dish that is quite elaborate is the "acar nyonya " style that took hours to prepare. This recipe I obtained from my "ultimate chinese cook book'. I especially want to share this with Mamafami, who is on a quest to find the different ways to cook cucumbers... so Mama , this is for you.

Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers- seeded and julienned
1 clove garlic - chopped
2 pcs ginger-size of garlic- chopped
1 red chilli- chopped
1 stalk spring onion- chopped
salt
water

seasoning ingredients
1 tsp honey
2 tsp taucho ( salted soya bean)
1/8 sesame oil
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

steps:
1. mix cucumber with salt for 10 minutes, drained
2. heat a little oil in wok, fry in the garlic and ginger
3. add in the rest of the ingredients and 2 tbsp water, cover wok.
4. Adjust seasoning and cook till done.

n/b : mixing salt to cucumber remove the water from cucumber cells, as a result the cucumber is slices will be more crunchy.

#68 Easy baked potato: recipe #47

Auni loves this dish. Very simple... and very yummy!
Simply, peel potatoes, cut cross wise into semi thin slices, add in salt, mixed herb, cracked black pepper and a small amount of water. Put the mixture in a casserole, bake at 200 c until potato slices are cooked ... then add mozzarella cheese on top and baked again till the cheese melts and turn slightly brown

#62 EGG CUCUMBER SALAD : recipe#41

This recipe is one of the earliest cucumber recipe that I ate in wedding receptions and "Doa Selamat" in the ol' days .. and that was about 30-33 years back. However, this recipe is "endangered" as very hardly people served it in functions . My aunt Rosiah in Tutong, still prepare this dish and I am going to share this with you...

Ingredients:
1 cucumber
1/2 large onion ( cut crosswise)
1 clove garlic- sliced thinly
1/2 to 1 hard boiled egg ( sliced crosswise)
1 fresh red chilli- sliced crosswise
2 tbsp dilute coconut milk
juice from 2 limes
salt to taste

steps: mix everything. let it stand for about 20-30 minutes before serving. If you want to prepare this earlier, keep it in the fridge

#55 STIR FRIED CUCUMBER WITH SOY SAUCE #35

My dad or "Nini Boy" as my children call him likes to cook. I remembered he used to cook for My late Mom when she was at the hospital. His recipes are simple but yet delicious. This is one of his very own recipe. He used to cook this dish with fresh cuttlefish but I haven't got any in my fridge so I used fresh prawns instead..

Ingredients
1 large cucumber- cut into wedges
2 shallots-sliced
2 cloves garlic -sliced
1 red chili- sliced
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
dark soy sauce
5 -8 prawns-shelled and deveined

steps
-heat oil in wok
-fry the shallots, garlic and red chilli until fragrant
- add in the prawn and fry till half cooked
-add in the cucumber chicken stock and soy sauce and a tablespoon of water
- cover wok, reduce heat
- when cucumber is half cooked, dish up.