Saturday, May 2, 2009

Sesame Prawns in Plum Sauce

Sometimes, I have cravings for some sweet and sour dishes....and this would be a fantastic dish if you ever crave for one! It's simple, and yummy!!!


















Ingredients

  • 1kg large prawns, trimmed but with shells intact




  • Marinade (A):

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar


  • Enough oil for deep frying

    2 tbsp cornflour



    Gravy (combine):

  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 3 tbsp Lee Kum Kee plum sauce
  • 1 tbsp Premium oyster sauce
  • ½ tsp chicken stock granules
  • 1 tsp sugar or to taste
  • 2-3 tbsp water
  • 10 bird chillies (cilipadi), chopped (optional)
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (note: toast in oven @ 180'C for 5 minutes)


  • METHOD


    1. Clean the prawns. Marinade with (A) and leave it aside for 10 minutes. Sprinkle cornflour over prawns and deep fry till golden colour.

    2. Heat oil and sesame oil in a wok. Add chopped garlic and cilipadi (optional) and fry until fragrant.

    3. Add the gravy ingredients. Then add prawns (which were deep-fried earlier). Stir well and cover it for 2 minutes until gravy thickens.

    4. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and mix well.

    5. Now, dish it out and ready to serve! :)

    By: Home Chef ~ Aggie

    Wednesday, April 22, 2009

    Avocado Dips

    Do you know that:

    High avocado intake has been shown to have an effect on blood serum cholesterol levels. Specifically, after a seven day diet rich in avocados, hypercholesterolemia patients showed a 17% decrease in total serum cholesterol levels. These subjects also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels. [wikipedia].


    Avocado Dips

    Ingredients:

    2 avocado
    1 onion
    2 teaspoon fine sugar
    3 tablespoon low fat mayonnaise
    3 teaspoon garlic & cheese powder
    1/2 teaspoon dry parsley

    Method:
    Dice avocado into cubes
    Dice chop onions
    Place avocado & onions into a mixing bowl
    Add in mayonnaise, sugar, garlic & cheese powder and dry parsley
    Mix them together
    Refrigerate before serve
    Serve it with chips and celery sticks or anything you like


    Tips on how to remove avocado from its skin and seed:
    With a knife make a slit in the middle of avocado
    Using both hands, twist both side to the opposite direction
    Pook the seed with a knife, twist it a bit and the seed will come out

    Tuesday, April 7, 2009

    Potato Salad

    This recipe is good for parties or pot luck. Rather easy to make and doesn't need a lot of ingredients.

    Potato Salad

    Ingredients:

    4 big US russet potato (washed )
    1 big onions
    2 eggs
    Dry parsley
    3tbsp low fat mayonnaise
    Pinch of salt


    Method

    Boil potato until soft and cut into small cubes
    Boil eggs till hard and cut into small cubes
    Chop onions into small bits
    In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, potato and onions together with mayonnaise
    Add pinch of salt and dry parsley and mix thoroughly
    Keep in refrigerator and serve cold



    Sukiyaki Pork Tenderloin

    Sukiyaki Pork tenderloin are paper thin slices of pork. These are my favourites, after cooked, it taste like soft bak kua (grill pressed meat). Make sure they are fresh when you buy them (meat color is red) as some looks pale after a while on the rack. Here is how you prepare them:

    Sukiyaki Pork Tenderloin



    Ingredients:
    2 pkts - about 10-15slices of sukiyaki pork tenderloin
    4-5 tbsp teriyaki sauce
    2 tsp kikoman soy sauce
    2 tbsp honey
    Pepper

    Method:
    Wash and pat dry pork tenderloin
    Cut into 2 slices each
    Arrange nicely on a plate
    Season with pepper, teriyaki sauce, kikoman soy sauce, honey
    Make sure both side evenly coated
    Cover with cling wrap and set aside in refrigerator for 1hr

    Barbecue over charcoal or grill it over non-stick pan for 1min each side
    Don't over cook. Sprinkle some sesame seed over if you like.
    I like to wrap it with lettuce to eat...nice

    Have a bite!

    Saturday, March 21, 2009

    Penang Famous Nyonya "Acar-Awak" (Mix Vege Relish)

    This special recipe, has been passed down for 3 generations from my Grandma. She used to make and sell it at Pulau Tikus, Penang wet market. It is one of my favourite dish. Nyonya "Acar-Awak" or Mix Vege Relish is a showcase of a Nyonya delicacy that has become a trademark of Nyonya Kitchen. You can make it for party and also store well in refrigerator. Here's how you make this authentic dish.
    ACAR-AWAK

    Ingredients:

    4tbsp ground peanuts
    8tbsp sugar
    1tbsp turmeric powder
    200gm tamarind juice
    10 blended shallots (or 4 big red onions)
    4tbsp blended dry chili
    3pcs cube prawn paste (balacan)
    2 cucumber
    8 big cabbage leafs
    2 carrots
    1/2 Kati long beans
    Oil
    Sesame seed

    (Make sure all your vege are fresh from the market)
    Here's how you prepare the ingredients:

    Long Beans & Carrots cut into short strips

    Cucumber cut into smaller cubes

    Cabbage

    Turmeric


    Add water into tamarind and press the juice out


    Dry roast sesame seed in pan until golden

    Use a mortar to grind the sesame seed

    Baked blended peanuts


    Blended Onions, dry chili & prawn paste


    Method:
    Heat wok with oil
    Stir fry blended onions, dry chili and prawn paste until fragrant
    (Make sure all the 3 mix thoroughly)
    Add little bit more oil
    Add in all the vege, stir until the chili paste mix all together
    Add in turmeric powder and tamarind juice
    Stir until everything is well mixed
    Make sure the vegetables are just cooked through, but still crisp
    Mix in peanuts and stir
    Sprinkle some sesame seed before serving

    Optional - If you can finish it at one serving, you can add pineapple.
    If you intend to cook a lot and keep it in refrigerator, do not add pineapple.
    Pineapple tends to release lots of juice and make the dish too soggy.

    Acar-Awak


    This recipe is dedicated to my late Grandma, who has make this special dish for the family for the past 30yrs. Thank you Grandma.

    Saturday, March 14, 2009

    East meet West


    What happen if a Thai girl marries a Italian husband? She will put tom yam in his spaghetti dish...ha! Interesting right? Here's how you cook Italian Tom Yam Spaghetti. PS. I didn't marry a Thai girl ...

    Italian Tom Yam Spaghetti

    Ingredients:
    1pack of angel hair spaghetti (boil in water - angel hair cooks quite fast)
    2big onions (cut into cubes)
    6-7 Kaffir lime leaves (pic below) - (shredded)

    1bottle of Pasta sauce (prefer tomato & herbs)
    5tbsp tom yam sauce
    1tsp parsley
    bunch of Mint leaves
    1tbsp sugar
    Cocktail sausages
    Ham cubes
    1tsp fish sauce

    Method:
    Heat oil in woks
    Saute onions until fragrant
    Add in sausages and ham and stir fry
    Pour in pasta sauce and tom yam sauce
    Add sugar, fish sauce, parsley and kaffir lime leaves
    Mix everything nicely and bring it to boil

    Serve it on a plate of angel hair spaghetti and garnish with mint leaves
    You'll love this Spicy hot spaghetti, a mixture of western and eastern cuisine.

    Thursday, March 12, 2009

    Honey Glazed Roast Chicken (Char Siew Chicken)


    I'm a fan of char siew, but every time I go buy my char siew, I can get only pork char siew. But this time around, I've thought of making char siew with chicken. It takes shorter time to cook then pork and it's less fat too! Here's the recipe:

    Honey Glazed Roast Chicken (Char Siew Chicken)

    Ingredients:
    3pcs Chicken drumstick (remove middle bone)
    2tbsp 5 spice powder
    3tbsp honey2tsp soy sauce
    4tbsp char siew sauce
    pinch of salt
    1tbsp Oil


    Remove skin and middle bone of chicken drumstick
    Wash and pat dry
    Use a fork to pook a few holes on the drumstick
    Rub soy sauce, char siew sauce, salt, oil and 5spice powder over the drumstick
    Set it aside for 30mins
    10mins before time, pre-heat oven to 180 degree Celsius
    Wrap the end bone of drumstick with foil (to prevent it from burning)
    Place drumstick on rack and grill in oven for 30mins
    Every 10mins into grilling, brush the drumstick with left over seasoning sauce
    15mins into grilling, brush all drumstick top with honey
    Serve hot with rice


    You'll get the same succulent juicy char siew chicken.

    Wednesday, March 4, 2009

    Tesco Brands & Baked Herbs Potatoes

    Ever go to Tesco and try some of its own brand of sauce or seasoning? They have a wide range of Tesco brands which are meant for UK market. Last weekend shopping at Tesco, I've come across this - Honey & Mustard cooking sauce. A creamy sauce made of mustard, carrot and honey. Well, with that sauce, I've come up with a simple chicken recipe and serve it on top of spaghetti. Besides that, I also grab some range of potatoes and baked it with herbs and honey to serve as side dish.






    Creamy Honey & Mustard Chicken with Spaghetti



    Ingredients:


    500gm chicken (prefer to use whole chicken drumstick)




    - cut into strips, remove skin
    - seasoned with Worchester sauce, salt & pepper
    - set it aside in refrigerator for 15mins to let the seasoning penetrate the meat

    2big onions cut into cubes




    1pkt of spaghetti





    Spaghetti preparation:


    Bring to boil a pot of water
    Add in spaghetti (put some salt in water to make the spaghetti taste better)
    Stir a few times to prevent spaghetti from sticking to the pot
    Drain water out when spaghetti is soft, set it aside.



    Cooking the chicken:


    Heat oil in wok
    Add in onions
    Stir fry until fragrant, then add in chicken strips
    Add some water
    Add in Honey & Mustard sauce and stir
    Simmer in low fire until chicken is soft & tender



    Serve it on top of spaghetti and garnish with some dry parsley.






    Baked Herbs Potatoes



    Ingredients:


    Grab a few types of potatoes, remove its skin and cut into cubes
    (Try to cut it into same size so that cooking time would be the same)



    Dry Oregano
    Dry Parsley
    Season-All Salt
    Olive Oil
    Honey



    Pre-heat oven to 180 degree Celsius
    Spread aluminium foil over baking tray
    Spread even cut potatoes on baking tray
    Sprinkle olive oil, dry oregano, parsley, season-all salt & honey over it
    Baked in oven for 20mins ( baking times defer from potatoes sizes and oven)







    Voila! You have a nice healthy dish with fresh smell of herbs, sweet and sour taste of honey & mustard. Enjoy...

    ** I'm not advertising or doing any promotion for TESCO **


    Note: You can always add pumpkin or carrots in.