Finding Time to Cook

Friends always ask me when do I have time to cook / bake / roast... as I am normally out of the house by 9am & back after 10pm.

There are 3 reasons why & when I cook.

1. I am inspired!! .. after watching Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart, Queer Eye... No matter what time it is, if I have the ingredients on hand, I will cook up a storm.... sometimes into the wee hours, trying hard not to wake up the neighbours.
2. When someone really wants to eat my cooking!! .. I find pleasure in cooking for others.. Its a 'labour of love' (even if it means hours of washing up). In my school days, we would offer our house for parties, as long as everyone chips in the food bill. I once baked some muffins for the trainers at my gym. One guy was appreciative and commented that usually there's not much healthy food to eat where the gym's located. That prompted me make to a series of simple meals for them over a few weeks... spaghetti, salads, sandwiches... It's nice to see people enjoying food. During the recent CNY reunion dinner, I cooked, cleaned, washed from 8am to 3 am the next day - felt like a marathon, but it was great. Not complaining... already planning next year's dinner menu :)
3. Waste not, want not!! .. As usual, when there is a celebration or festive occassion, we tend to over stock our ingredients. Better more food, than not enough, right? So what do we with the 'extras'? With a little creativity, we will not waste food. We can still get nutritious, tasty meals out of the extras. For example, we over estimated & cooked too much rice. We had rice coming out of both refrigerators at home! So, I took some and added boiled water & some cubed pumpkin and a little salt. Boil until the rice grains breaks slightly & the pumpkin is soft. Great with yesterday's dinner, reheated. When re-heated the veggies tend to be a little soft & the sauce thickens, even dries up & taste is more intense... but that goes well with the pumpkin 'porridge' ;)

There's always time to cook. It just requires :

• a little PLANNING : Stock up regularly used dry ingredients but keep track of its expiry period. That's why I usually don't pour out the ingredients into nicely labelled containers (as recommended by many chefs). It's straight from the pack - because the cooking, shelf life, nutrition details are all there. It saves time. But if I have to, I will snip of the important details from the pack & paste it on the container.
• a little ORGANISING : If I am going to bake tonite, I will call ahead & ask my mom to take out the butter & eggs, so that they are at room temperature by the time I reach home. If I want to make sandwiches or salad for lunch at work, I will slice up the ingredients the nite before. When I return from the market, I'll wash, dry & store the salad leaves in small, tight containers (enough for 1 meal). This will keep fresh for many days & in the morning you can just pop one of it into your lunch bag and assemble the sandwich at work.
• a little CREATIVITY : Create your recipe based on what you have in the kitchen. Be inspired by what you have to work with! Experiment, but keeping in mind the main cooking/baking principles. Dont' be a perfectionist. Cooking should not be a chore, ie. following exactly by the book (except for certain recipes, especially cakes).
• a little COMPROMISE : Use as little utensils & cutlery as possible. Less washing, more time to enjoy the meal. Substitute some ingredients; use canned, pre-cooked (eg. boil a whole pack of chick peas and freeze in small packs, freeze extra soup or stock in small containers), quick-cooking (eg. 2-min pasta instead of regular pasta, instant oats instead of cooking oats).

Eating out, as everyone agrees, has lots of oil (cheap oil, oil that has been re-used over & over - each time this happens the bad cholestrol level rises... you get the idea) and artificial flavouring & colouring. Yes, this makes it look, smell & taste delicious, but only because our tongue is desensitized, constantly being bombarded with chemicals! White sugar does that to you. Wonder why you keep having to add more sugar to make your drink taste good? Try this - go off sugary drinks for a few weeks. Then take a sip of packet drink. Yuck, its too sweet!!

I know, sometimes, it's not possible to cook everyday. If 'ta pau' (take-away) is the order of the day, at least try to combine it with some homemade salad or quick stir fry (in EVOO - Rachel Ray's short form for extra virgin olive oil - the good oil).

For more tips & ideas, http://www.rwood.com/Articles/Finding_Time_to_Cook.htm

CNY Reunion Dinner 2009

Nyonya 4 Seasons is inspired by the 4 Seasons starter dish served at Chinese restaurants. Originally, it is meant to represent Summer, Spring, Autumn & Winter, but since it's always sunny (or rainy) in Malaysia, I think the 4 seasons here would more appropriately represent Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Christmas dishes... ha ha ha.. (we do LOVE our food!)

But for my Nyonya 4 Seasons, I decided to play on the word 'season' and change it to 'SEASONING' . In Nyonya cooking, there's a variety of tastes ranging from sweet, salty, sour, spicy to a flavourful mix of spices & mix of Chinese & Malay ingredients.

(from left to right)
1. Popiah skin & Joo Hu Char Bundle - used one of the 7 dishes cooked for the CNY prayers the day before (previous post). Made from chicken meat strips (traditionally, strips of partially cooked streaky pork is used) stir-fried with shredded turnip (sengkuang) & carrot & dried cuttlefish (joo hu) strips. On a square piece of popiah skin, place a small piece of lettuce, topped with a teaspoon of Joo Hoo Char. Gather & tie with a spring onion (lightly blanched). Put a spot of sambal belacan.

BTW.. The traditional way to eat Joo Hu Char is to take a lettuce leaf, top with a spoon of joo hu char and a dollop of sambal belachan and roll it up & pop into the mouth (much like California roll). Popiah is eaten wrapped, ie. a round popiah skin is spread with a little chilli paste & sweet sauce, lined with a lettuce leaf and topped with cooked shredded turnip & french beans , chopped egg omelette & beadcurd (tau kwa) and commercially fried crispy onions. Tightly roll one end, tuck in both sides and roll again. Then cut into large slices & serve immediately (Popiah 'basah'/wet). To get popiah 'goreng'/fried, make the filling by stir-frying some dried prawns with shredded turnip & carrots only.

2. Deep fried Yam & Sweet Potato Roll in Nori (seaweed,..yeah, I know that's not a typical Nyonya ingredient but the roll was inspired by the Penang favourite "loh bak" :) Saw this in the Flavours, food magazine. The recipe called for a mix of minced pork & chicken but I decided on a vegetarian version using steamed sweet potato & yam, mashed together & flavoured with vegetable stock & white pepper powder. Add a little cornflour to bind and a little plain flour to stiffen the paste. Similar to making a sushi roll, place a sheet of plastic (or cling wrap) on a bamboo mat (you can use your bamboo place mat). Line with a long sheet of nori and spread with a thin layer of paste. Roll one edge and use the bamboo mat to compact the roll by pressing on it. The bamboo allows you to achieve an even roll. Continue to roll it and compress, until the end of the nori. Neaten the sides. Stir some flour & water into a thin batter and coat the roll, just before deep frying. Once fried, slice the roll at an angle and you can see the dark nori swirl which looks like the clouds in the Chinese mythology!

Confession: I did not put flour in the paste & so it became very soft. Did not notice it until I fried & sliced it.. too late. What to do?? I cut the fried rolls into 1/2" rounds and deep fried it again in batter, just before serving.. Phew! it turned out ok & no one was the wiser ;)

3. Kerabu Salted Egg - Do this a little earlier by mixing thinly sliced onions (or shallots) & chilli padi (a green but very hot, mini chilli) with the juice of calamansi (limau kasturi) and a little sugar and refrigerate. Remove the black coating and wash the salted egg (telur asin). Place in water enough to cover the egg in a pan and slowly bring to boil. This will ensure that the egg does not crack. To cut the egg into equal halves, look at the dark impression of the yolk on the egg before cutting through the egg shell. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the egg & half it again. Just before serving, lightly mix the eggs with the onions & juice.

4. Penang Acar - This dish should be made a few days earlier so that the flavours can permeate. Cut cucumber (remove seed), carrot & long beans into 1" strips. Can also add 1" sections of french beans (split half way). Blanch the vegetables and drain into a large glass or ceramic bowl (don't use metal). Add a some vinegar (cuka) and leave for 20 min. Pour away vinegar & soak in water. Grind serai (lemongrass), lengkuas (young galangal), red chillie, garlic & lots of onions. Fry in oil till fragrant. Add turmeric powder & assam jawa juice. Add the drained vegetables and fry together with whole, peeled shallots, young ginger strips & sliced garlic, red chilli (de-seed, split & cut into 1" pieces). Add pounded groundnuts (buy from cake supply shops) & toasted sesame seeds. Add sugar & salt. Cool & keep in a dry bottle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Reunion Dinner was scheduled for 8pm sharp. We invited 2 families to join us. One group arrived @5.30pm, in the midst of my preparations... But luckily mom had already anticipated, so we had snacks ready :

Snack : Curry Chicken Feet (mom's recipe) -- my cousin's favourite. They had it while waiting for the rest of the relatives to arrive. Also ready were the Joo Hu Char and beef curry. They used these as filling for the popiah skin.. ha ha.. innovative eating!

6.30pm -- Table all laid out with grandma's crockery, the 'batik bowls & saucers" and bamboo chopsticks & paper napkin. Time to take a bath & get dressed. I had my 'Ox' year RED t-shirt. BTW the dress code was shades of red or gold!

At 5 mins to 8pm, the other group arrived. Yee Sang was laid out with the help of my young cousins. Drinks were passed around and everyone gathered to "LOH SANG"!!

MENU A 6-course Chinese Reunion Dinner

#1 COMING TOGETHER : Veggie Yee Sang with Drumstick Mushroom
#2 JOY & FAMILY : Nyonya Four Season(ing)
#3 NEW BEGINNING : Spicy Bamboo Shoots with Chicken (mom cooked the chicken)
#4 ABUNDANCE : 8 Jewels Veggie Bowl
#5 LONGEVITY : Yin/Yang Noodles -- Carrot Noodles Stir-fried & Udon Clear Seaweed soup
#6 HEALTH & PROSPERITY : Longan in Iced Soya milk & Pumpkin Pancake - 'Golden Purse'

And extra treat : A sandwich cake with cream cheese topping from cousin, Nana -- yummy!

A surprise for the nite : I gave each one a Pumpkin Pancake folded into the shape of a purse. They bit into it and ha ha... found a gold chocolate $1 coin... FOR GOOD LUCK!!

Chinese New Year Celebration, Malaysian style!

CNY traditions differ slightly among the Chinese ethnic groups whose forefathers came from different parts of China and between the north, central & southern parts & east coast of Malaysian peninsula; east coast & East Malaysia.

In the north (Penang & Kedah), "kueh kapit", a delicately thin cookie folded in quarters, also known as 'love letters' is a must on CNY. When I moved to Johor, visitors to my CNY open house would bring oranges (ie. tangerine from China). We, not knowing the local custom, were happy to receive it and kept them. It was some time before we found out that we were suppose to give oranges back (not necessarily the same ones) to them as they leave as a symbol of giving them wealth & luck. Our visitors must have thought us rude... sorry.. Oranges are called 'kum' in most Chinese dialects and sound like the word 'gold'.

Another 'new' custom we learned was the "Loh Sang" of the "Yee Sang". We never had it in the north.

Nowadays, this dish is becoming very popular, probably due to 2 factors : a money-spinner (the ingredients are mainly veggie - fresh & pickled but restaurants charge a bomb as it's a once a year treat. RM30-40 per dish) and it's a social thing - a convenient reason to gather around for some annual catching-up & celebration.

Yee Sang is a mostly veggie dish, except for the slivers of raw fish & blanched jellyfish strips or pacific clams. At reunion dinners or gatherings within the 15-day CNY celebration, people would stand around a plate of yee sang & use their chopsticks to mix the ingredients, pulling & tossing it as high as possible, shouting hopes of health & prosperity.


There are prayers for ancestors on the day (lunch time) before CNY which usually consists of fruits & CNY sweets; red candles & joss sticks. However, the Hokkiens, are more particular. We have to cook 7 bowls of traditional delicacies & 'sin-lay' (offering) of cooked, whole (with feet & head intact) chicken, duck & roast pig. Other dishes can be added but served on plates instead. Bowls of rice, complete with appropriate cutlery, tea & wine cups are laid out around the table for our 'heavenly' guests.








On the day before this feast, mom would pray with joss sticks to 'invite' these guests. On the day, how do we know if the 'guests' have arrived? Mom will pray & drop 2 large (50 sen) coins. If the coin face shows one head & one tail, it means 'yes', they are here. Each member of the household will pray & burn joss sticks to 'welcome' them. After an hour or so, mom will check by tossing the coins again. One head, one tail again signifies 'yes', we are done & going back. Prayer paper money are burnt to offer 'them' some farewell 'presents'.

Cupcakes...are not just for eating!

Cupcakes are the rage at the moment.
It has inspired not only bakers, but graphic designers too. Nowadays, cupcakes come in many guises.

Like the one above. It's actually soap!! I chanced upon it in this blog.
http://www.creategirl.blogspot.com/

Cupcakes are also used in product launches & themed parties or as souvenirs. Cuppacakes, one of the divisions of +Wondermilk Sdn. Bhd., a design company has created these beauties...


What sets them apart from many other cupcake makers is the subtle use & combination of colours, because these guys are graduates from the prestigious University of the Arts London, Central St Martins College of Art and London College of Printing.
http://www.ilovewondermilk.com/zenphoto/index.php?p=search

Many a time other bakers tend to over use food colouring and you get gaudy, fake looking cupcake toppings!

However, what makes a GOOD cupcake ? LOOK or TASTE? It's debatable.

A passionate baker friend who spent hours experimenting with various frosting & cupcake batter flavours, says that the frosting (topping/icing) must compliment the cupcake. You cannot just put any frosting on any cupcakes, even though they look beautiful. After all the cupcake is to be eaten!!

I guess, it depends on the FUNCTION of the CUPCAKE. If it's for publicity or as souvenirs, then the look matters. There must be attention to detail. It must be beautifully crafted and packaged!

However, for the cake connoisseur, it should TASTE heavenly!

Perut Ikan - 2 versions

You either love it or find it yukky!! Why? This dish is traditionally made from fish stomach preserved in salt for many months! But it is a 'family project' kind of dish.

My earliest recollection of this dish is the coming together of all the women folk (aunts & their daughters) at my grandma's large kitchen. The ingredients comprise a long list of vegetables and a mix of fresh spices.

But this dish starts long before the cutting & the cooking. Each time we clean a medium to large fish, mom saves the stomach after splitting it open & cleaning out its contents. She puts it in a glass bottle & adds salt to preserve it.

Once we have enough saved, we need to look for another important ingredient, the 'daun kaduk' (a fragrant, minty leaf that is often mistaken for betel leaf/daun sireh). The problem is that it is not usually sold in wet markets or supermarkets. It's usually a weed like creeper found on the roadside or grown as decorative foliage due to its shiny, deep green, heart-shaped leaf. Many people I spoke to do not know that it can be eaten. However, the Thais use it as a base for the 'Otak-otak' (spicy steamed fish & egg concoction) or in 'Mieng Kum' (appetiser). My Indian friend's mother says it can be mixed with beaten egg & fried as an omelette. One recipe shows it shredded & mixed in Nasi Ulam (rice & raw leaves salad) by the Kelantanese.

On the morning of the big 'cook', aunt's & their daughters will start the cutting the various vegetables. Long beans, eggplant (terung) & pineapple are cut into 1" long pieces.

The daun kaduk leaves are stacked with the large leaves at the bottom. Then rolled up and finely sliced. Sweet basil, daun cekuk & daun limau purut (all fragrant leaves) and bunga kantan (ginger flower) are often slotted in between the daun kaduk, just before it is rolled up & sliced.

The finely sliced leaves are rinsed in tap water a few times to remove the strong, bitter , minty taste. This is a kind of rite of passage as the initiation of daughters are based on her skill in slicing the leaves as fine as possible.

Tumeric (kunyit), lengkuas (galangal), red chillies, onion & garlic are pounded together into a paste using a stone mortar.

A large pot is filled half-way with water is brought to boil. Stir in the pounded paste. Add a slice (1"x 1") of belachan (prawn paste) & a bowl of assam jawa (tamarind seeds mixed in a little water & squeezed to extract out its juice) is added. Also add some tumeric powder for an appetising colour. Once it re-boils, add the 1" vegetables, squid or prawns, fish eggs & preserved fish stomach (rinse it a few times to remove the salt, first). Simmer a bit & lastly, add the daun kaduk. Adjust the taste - it should be quite sour, a bit fishy, slightly sweet, salty.

For us kids (at that time-lah) who don't really like vegetables, we were constantly stirring the pot trying to get at the limited fish stomach pieces. How does it taste? Tangy, rubbery with a distinct smell & taste. A bit like pig's stripe (Oh! that used to be my all time favourite - gross, huh?).

Sounds like a lot of hard work? There's the short-cut version! And it's vegan (no fish stomach !).

Cut vegetables as above. Add 1" carrots & sliced fried taukua (beancurd). Boil the water & cook the pounded paste but leave out the belachan & seafood. For flavour, I found this vegetable cube stock made from mushroom & seaweed. (Only Rm3)

Final product looks like this ! Serve with rice.

Making baked SEITAN ?

'Seitan, often referred to as "wheat meat" because of its similarity in texture to the real thing, is made with wheat gluten, and -- though tofu is still king -- it is gaining popularity with veggies and vegans across the country.' says http://makemethod.vox.com/library/post/baked-seitan.html

Looks like our mock meat -- but without additives & colouring.


Best is -- you can make it yourself & season it with different ingredients to give variety. At least, you know what goes inside those 'meat'. Then you can use it as filling for sandwiches, burgers or eaten as is! Looks like Ma Ling's luncheon meat (a Chinese favourite)


BAKED SEITAN
What you'll need . . .
1-1/2 cup wheat gluten (try Justlife or Ecogreen in PJ- organic & health food stores )
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 large basil leaves, chopped
3/4 cup cold water
4 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons vegetable broth


-->-->

Method . . .
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Put all dry ingredients (as well as basil and garlic) in a large bowl and mix together.
In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients (make sure to add the tomato paste last and then whisk it into the mixture).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with your hand -- until you can knead it like dough.
Knead until fully incorporated.
Roll into a log shape and wrap in 2 layers of aluminum foil -- twisting the ends to seal.
Bake for 90 minutes.

Tired of the usual Bolognaise (tomato based) sauce for your spaghetti? Love alfredo sauce but find it too creamy & calorie laden?

Try this : Vegan Alfredo Sauce which has no cream but is still 'creamy' & healthier!

VEGAN ALFREDO SAUCE (for those who like it hot, hot, hot)

What you'll need . . .
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion chopped in big chunks
4 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 cup water
2`teaspoons spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup walnuts (raw)
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons paprika
1 cup nutritional yeast -- check with organic, health grocery shops
salt (to taste)
fresh black pepper (to taste)

Method . . .
Heat the olive oil in the skillet, add onions and saute 5 minutes until slightly softened.
Add garlic, saute 2 more minutes.
Transfer to the blender, add all the other ingredients and blend.
It turns out smooth -- and I'd suggest adding a bit more soy milk to make it thinner. Ours turned out really thick . . . and, well, extremely filling! Almost too much so . . .

*This amount should be enough for 4 servings of pasta

Found this recipe at http://makemethod.vox.com/library/post/vegan-alfredo-sauce.html

Lots more recipes in this blog !!

Check it out.

KETUPAT - a Hari Raya must have!!

In the north (Alor Star) each time Hari Raya Puasa celebration comes around we will be looking forward to rendang and ketupat pulut with black-eye beans (or referred to ketupat daun palas, in Kelantan). It's triangular in shape.

For years, I never knew there were other types of ketupat. So, when we moved to JB (Johor Bahru) and was invited to my classmate's open house, I was surprised to see the square ketupat made from white rice encased in woven leaves instead. The triangular ketupat was no where to be seen.

The square ketupat has been an icon in Raya decorations & cards. Weaving the ketupat casing takes much practice. I have yet to master it. Then upon observing the ketupat casing, I made another discovery. The base of ketupats from Johor differ from the standard square ketupat. Its base is wider!

Pak Zawi, a Kelantan blogger has taken the trouble to blog about my favourite ketupat, ie. ketupat daun palas (ketupat pulut).

Here's the abridged version: (for details - http://mohdzawi.blogspot.com/2008/09/ketupat-daun-palas.html

"Pokok palas (licuala triphylla) grows in the wild in Kelantan. To those who don't use the leaves for making ketupat, the plant is a weed. It is only for such occasions as Raya that the demand for the leaves increases. Then you will see people selling them in the market.

The unopened shoot in the shape of a sword is the part required. Once it is opened the leaves become useless. "

TMO (the making of) - Daun palas ketupat

1. The first step is opening the leaves to make the casings. A casing is the leaf being folded into a triangular shell before it is filled with the steamed glutinous rice.

2. The end a single leaf is trimmed at the tip with a sharp knife so that the end will be straight and not serrated.

One hand is used to hold the tip of the leaf while the thumb of the other hand is used to flatten the many ribs on the leaf. The process is repeated until the whole leaf is comparatively flat. It is quite a task as the leaf tend to close up again just like a concertina. When it is able to hold the flat shape, the first fold can be made.

3. Followed by more foldings. Care must be taken not to flatten the casing as the folding may result in ugly creases. When the end of the leaf is near, the last fold will be a loop that will secure the leaf from opening up.

4. Making the last loop (above) is important before tightening up (below)

5. The picture below shows the correctly made casing (left) and the wrong last loop (right) which we call 'caping'.

It is ok if you dont get it right as it will hold just as well only that it is not right by the traditional way. Anyway this can be corrected later at the time of filling up.

For the Recipe : http://mohdzawi.blogspot.com/2008/09/ketupat-daun-palas.html

Beehoon Sup Kambing, WITHOUT the Kambing (lamb)

Sup kambing/ayam (lamb/chicken) & sup tulang (bones-usually beef), made the Malay style is characterised by a myriad of spices, namely kulit kayu manis (cinnamon), bunga lawang (star anise), buah pelaga (cardamon) & bunga cengkih (cloves). These are grounded into a paste in a certain proportion. But nowadays you can buy it grounded & prepacked (in small packets, if its to try out) : the variants include rempah sup tulang & perencah sup (Adabi brand).


But cooking with lamb or beef is high in cholesterol & the soup is usually full of animal (saturated) fat. Chicken has less flavour but also less fat. Normally, a chicken cube (packet seasoning) is added to add more taste artificially!


Why not try my version:

Ingredients:

SPICES:
1" (2cm) stick of kayu manis (cinnamon)
2 buah pelaga (cardamon)
3 bunga cengkih (cloves)
2 parts of bunga lawang (star anise- break off 2 'petals' only)

1 large red onion (coarsely chopped)
1 teaspoon of grated (old) ginger
1 clove of garlic (chopped)

1 small potato (peeled & cut angularly)
1 small carrot (peeled & cut angularly)
3 tablespoons of black eye beans
1 firm tomato (not too ripe - quartered)

1 tablespoon of perencah sup (ground pre-pack spice)
3 sprigs of daun sup (local celery leaves- coarsely chopped )
Fried onion/shallots

1/4 packet of beehoon (dried, fine rice noodle) - Boil some water in a pot. Turn off fire. Soak the boohoon in the boiled water until soft. Turn it gently to ensure all strands are evenly blanched. Do not leave it unattended or soak too long. Just a few minutes. Drain in a colander or just dish out (shake off excess water) into a bowl.

Cili padi sauce - for extra spicyness & kick, you can make this simple sauce. Grind or pound 5 green cili padi with 1 clove of peeled garlic. Squeeze some lime (limau kesturi - calamansi) and add 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce.

Method:
In a large pot, heat aprox. 2 tablespoons of oil & fry spices for a few minutes. Add onions, garlic & grated ginger. Fry till fragrant. Add 4 cups of boiled water. Bring to boil. Add in potatoes, carrot, beans & perencah sup. Wait for it to boil again. Then lower the fire to simmer & cook until potatoes & beans are soft. The beans will add some body to the soup.

Add tomatoes and bring to boil again. Add salt, pepper & a little sugar to taste. Make it a bit saltier & spicier, if you want to serve with beehoon (fine rice noodle).



You can serve it as a soup or on a bowl of fine rice noodles. Garnish with daun sup & fried shallots. Top with 1/2 teaspoon of cili padi sauce for extra spicyness.

EATING OUT, vegan style..

1. Identify what you can eat at non-vegan stalls near your office, your home & shopping haunts. Make a mental note of what to order & what to tell the waiter to leave out & frequent places that are 'vegan' friendly.

The mamak stall near my apartment is very attentive to their customer's needs & wants. When I told them that I wanted vegetarian (not many lay persons are familiar with the term 'vegan') fried noodles, they said okay but they will leave out the 'sambal' (chilli paste) and use sliced chilli instead & no egg.

Try asking for your roti canai with a twist : instead of Roti Telur, ask the mamak to make Roti Sayur! Just stretch out the roti and sprinkle with sliced cabbage, sawi (mustard leaves) & carrot strips. Fold in and fry on a griddle as usual. Serve with dhall curry (leave out the sambal ikan bilis, though).

When I asked the 'wantan' mee (egg noodles) man, he immediately knew what to do -- 'chai' mee he shouted to his wife (the cook). Curious, I waited. It came as egg noodles tossed in dark soya sauce, with only a few blanched mustard leaves on top! (and charged RM1.50, instead of RM3.50 for the usual meat version)

If you like 'yong tau foo' (sorry no English translation), my suggestion is just to order chee cheong fun & deep fried foo chok (beancurd pieces). To lessen the oil content get the seller to soak the foo chuk for a longer time (til its soft) to remove residual oil (learned this from a Japanese cookbook). Go easy on the dark sauce which is very sweet.

My current fad is to go for 'steamboat-on-a-stick' or 'lok-lok' or satay celup, a local favourite eating past-time. The customers stand around an opened concept van. There are rows & rows of skewered seafood/fish/meat balls in all variants. The only choice I have is kangkung (veg) wrapped into tight balls & skewed on a bamboo stick & skewered foo chuk (deep fried beancurd pieces). I can also have the Japanese beancurd stuffed with shredded cucumber. Sometimes, there may be mushrooms, too. All these are dipped into a boiling pot of water & eaten with a choice of 3 sauces - a dark sweet sauce, satay peanut sauce and sour/spicy sauce. The sour/spicy sauce is the healthiest, I guess.

A new innovation is a hot pot of dark looking oil (sitting quietly) for you to deep fry your choice. BEWARE that you do not accidentally drip water (from the ice used to keep the food fresh) into the pot!! I almost did. Did not realise the pot of oil. So watch out!

For dinner at the Malay stall, don't order noodle soup because their soup base is either beef or chicken stock. You can only have stir fry noodles which is rather oily. Make sure to ask if they put eggs in it. Best alternative, order stir-fry 'sayur campur' (mixed veggie) but remember to tell them no chicken, beef or seafood which is usually added in tiny strips.

2. Bring 'backup' food / snack eg. a muesli bar or dry fruits/nuts or vegan biscuits in a small container wherever you go. I sometimes have to wait an hour for my bus & often get hungry. So, I usually spread some jam or peanut butter on a wholemeal slice of bread & bring it along. A packet of soya milk(Yeo's less sugar) from 7-eleven if you don't have time to 'tah-pau' (pack a snack). This prevents you from following your 'nose' & succumbing to your desires.

3. Check 'vegetarian' restaurant/stalls for nutritional value. At many Chinese vegetarian (chai) places (restaurants or road-side stalls), to make up for the absence of tasty meat, they tend to add more artificial flavouring & tons of oil to make the food look good & appetising. Many try to mimic real meat, thus we have 'chai' meat. Also notice that in 'chai' shops, they do not use onion or garlic, only ginger. I always find it strange that in Cantonese dialect, 'choy' means vegetable, but vegetarian shops are called 'Chai' shops instead. Can anyone enlighten me on that?

Indian vegetarian shops serve lassi (yogurt), paneer (cheese), tairu (buttermilk) & have milk in some of their dishes & desserts (eg. payasam). Some dishes are oily / deep fried (eg. bahji, puri, vadai).

As far as I know, I have never met a Muslim vegetarian! But they do eat lots of raw herbs & veggie (called 'ulam') but topped with sambal belachan (made with prawn paste). This is a 'kampung' (village) style food. On the east coast, they have nasi kerabu & nasi ulam. This is rice salad with raw veggie & sambal & 'budu' (another kind of seafood paste). They also have deep fried taukua (soya beancurd) & tempeh. Some types of sambal do not have shrimp paste. So choose carefully. Good as topping for the 'ulam'. Beware the 'air assam' dressing for grill fish. It sometimes has belacan in it.

4. Get food delivered for lunch. This eliminates the stress of looking for nutritious, organic vegan food and possible relapse into meat eating. Very important, especially in the first two weeks of conversion. Try the organic, vegetarian fare @ Green Meadow Cafe. It has a 31-day menu of various palatable & nutritiously caliberated meals by their in-house nutritionist. This includes charcoal brown rice with a variety of dishes & salads/pickles; brown rice dumpling ('chang'); spaghetti; nasi ulam; briyani; porridge, california roll. The only setback is the price, RM200 for 14 days.

HAPPY MERDEKA... LOVE OUR COUNTRY, LOVE OUR FOOD

Malaysians LOVE food, ... no... LOVE to EAT! We'll travel miles & miles away from home just to saviour a popular dish recommended by fellow food-fan. The Chinese Hokkien's greeting of a friend or neighbour - "Chiak pah a-bo-eh? - Have you eaten until full, already?(finished your meal, had your lunch? ... to that effect lah!). "Ho chiak!", "Jalan-jalan - Cari Makan" & "Cooking with Chef Wan" are popular local TV productions. This does not include the numerous 'travel & eat' shows from Taiwan, Korea & all over China & Hong Kong.

We are Malaysians (although we call ourselves Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, Kelantanese, Kedahans, Sabahans, Nyonya, Malays, Ceylonese, Indian, Chindian (Chinese+Indian mixed parentage), Mamak (Indian Muslim), Sikh, Hindus, Buddhists, vegetarians, 'Mat Salleh celup' (locals who try to act Caucasian/European), etc.. etc..

BUT we can still SIT DOWN and enjoy our OPEN HOUSE BUFFET!
Yeh! Malaysia BOLEH!

HAPPY 51th MERDEKA (INDEPENDENCE DAY) today :)

Fool-proof cake - as easy a 1-2-3-4 !

Afraid of baking? Cake always sinking in the middle? This recipe from Rachel Ray's website is suppose to be FOOL-PROOF, a no brainer... Do try & let me know, ya?

1-2-3-4 Cake

You only need these --

1 cup margarine or butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
4 eggs
1 cup any clear soda
Additional butter and flour, for greasing the cake pan

http://www.rachaelray.com/heirloom.php?heirloom_id=55

Bumble Bee & Beehive cakes

Got to check out these cuuuute cake pans !

http://www.rachaelray.com/article.php?article_id=206&section=kids

Penang Assam LAKSA

Laksa is basically a spicy, noodle dish with soup. It comes in many forms & variations, depending on the area it originates from or the ethnic background of the people. The soup is usually made with fish, with a few exceptions. Fish meat is mixed into the soup to make it thick.

In the north, the Penang Chinese have the famous sour, spicy & fishy Assam Laksa (recipe is given below - traditional & vegan) using white, soft, translucent rice noodles (lai fun).

The Thais have a similar type of noodle and sold fresh in small coils. When we were staying in Alor Setar (almost near the Thai border), my dad will buy back these noodles on his regular visits the the border towns. Mom & all of use will be waiting patiently with a pot of the fiery, aromatic soup!

Note: Quite some time ago, there was a scare when some people & children died after consuming the noodles. It was traced to the over-use of boric asid in the making of this noodle. There were also rumours of unscruplous vendors adding toilet paper & chicken feed were added for extra flavour & bulk & of course, make a high profit! This prompted one organic cafe/shop to advertise their Assam Laksa as made from REAL FISH!

The Malays have a thicker, soup made of fish & the white rice noodle is stiffer and breaks easily. Cashew nut leaves (young shoots) were chopped & used as garnish.

The Kelatanese (in the east coast) have Laksan (not sure how that is -- will let you know after my trip to Kota Bahru, capital of Kelantan this Sept). Possibly a cross between assam laksa but with santan (coconut milk), influenced by the Thais.

The Chinese laksa (mainly in the central area) is santan, red curry-based with yellow noodles, with cockles & curry chicken. The most different of the rest.

In the south (Johor), spaghetti is used and it has a fish-based soup & vegetable topping is eaten RAW (!), including taugeh (mung bean sprouts). This gives a unique taste, quite an acquired taste. They have a special way to cut the cucumber, in thin circular strips. Needs some skill & lots of practice to master it!

Alternatively, you could check out Laksa Shack, a home-grown franchise, for its many types of laksa.

ASSAM LAKSA
500 gm Lai Fun (translucent, fresh white rice noodle) or dried thick beehoon (soaked until soft). Boil a pot of water. Blanch the noodles only a few minutes (longer if dried noodles used). Do not over cook. Its ok if under-cooked, as the hot soup later will continue to cook it when you pour it over the noodles. Strain & set aside.

Spicy soup :
1. Grind these into a fairly fine paste (grounded paste):
4 large red onions - cut into cubes
10 dried red chillies - soak in water until soft
3 stalks serai/lemongrass - sliced coarsely only first 6-8cm part
1 inch fresh kunyit/tumeric - sliced coarsely
1 inch fresh ginger (young/old) - sliced coarsely
A small piece of belacan (2cm x 2cm x 1cm)

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add :
grounded paste

2 stalks of daun kesom / 'chen hom' in Hokkien (leaves & stalk)

5 stalks of daun pudina /'poh hoh' in Hokkien / mint (leaves & stalk)

2 pieces of assam keping

1 tbsp assam jawa extreme (Adabi)

or 1/2 fist-sized assam jawa (original) mixed in a 1/2 cup water & squeezed to release the sticky paste & remove seeds

leftover serai stalks, bunga kantan stalks, pineapple 'hard spine' for added flavour

3. Let boil. Then simmer for 1o minutes. Add :
8 small ikan kembong/fish - cleaned & gutted

Bring to boil again. Cook for 5 mins. Then remove the fish onto a plate. Carefully separate fish from its bones. Keep half of the amount as garnish and pour the rest back into the soup. Cook for another 10 mins.

4. Taste & adjust seasoning - salt. Add a little sugar if the soup is too sour or wait until you add 'Har ko' (slightly sweet shrimp paste) when serving.

Garnish/topping :
1 stalk Bunga Kantan (flower part only - finely sliced
1 piece of pineapple (remove hard spine for soup, slice into strips)
1 pc red chillie - sliced
3 pc small green chillie padi (extra spicy)
2 pcs limau kasturi / calamansi or lime - halved
1 large onion - sliced finely
20 slices of cucumber - cut into strips
A handful of mint leaves (stalks removed)
A can of 'har ko' - dark, thick shrimp paste ('hea koh' in Hokkien) .. see the blue can in the pix -->

Serving :

Heat up the soup. Half-fill deep bowls with rice noodles. Arrange in this order - mint leaves, cucumber strips, pineapple strips, bunga kantan, chillies & top with some cooked fish. Dip a dry spoon into the 'har ko' and scoop a little and place in the bowl. Lastly, pour hot soup over it & serve. If it's not sour enough, squeeze half a limau kasturi (remove pips).

MY VEGAN version

Serves one vegan 8-)

In a small pot, boil 2 cups water. Put in a few pieces of konbu (thick Japanese seaweed - RM2 /pkt @Jusco) or seaweed paste (from vegetarian grocers) & simmer until konbu is soft. Lightly break or cut a piece of hard tofu into smaller pieces. Add to the soup. Add 2 tablespoons of freshly ground chillie paste (as above, but leave out the belacan). Add assam (or juice of 1 limau kasturi) & let it simmer. Add a little soya sauce and sugar. Adjust to taste. It can be a light strong, because once poured into the bowl, the noodles will dilute the taste.

Assemble the ingredients as above & pour the soup over it. Much of the taste & aroma comes from the herbs & chillie paste and garnishes. Konbu (thick seaweed) gives it a bit fishy flavour. For a more fishy taste, serve with a teaspoon of Biosoft seaweed (from Taiwan) -->

SLURP UP! :P

Going ORGANIC ... Justlife

I came to know of justlife through the Climate Change event @ Bukit Jalil recently. I've always been sceptical of these 'organic' kind of shops -- Expensive! .. comes to mind. This view is shared by many, .. but I always remind myself - in order to accept or reject a concept/idea, we should study it, give it a chance for we may learn a thing or two. Either way, we will benefit from the knowledge gained, regardless of whether we decide to follow the path to an organic way of life or NOT!

Having read their magazine, checked out their website, seen their commitment in organizing the Climate Change event,.. maybe there is some thing more to this....

No GMO, fair price to farmers, respect for nature, .. See, read for yourself ... and you decide ...
http://www.justlifeshop.com/pages/about_us.html

BIRTHDAY MEE!

This is a Hokkein / Nyonya / Peranakan noodle dish traditionally served on one's birthday. The yellow noodle strands have to be carefully cooked so that it remains long. The 'Birthday girl/boy' will have to slurp & eat it without breaking the strands=sign of longevity (long life)!!

The dish is purposely colourful to symbolise happiness & rosy future. Egg omelettes are tinged red & yellow& cut in thin strips. The sauce is in two parts: a thick gravy & a clear soup.

Over the years, we have made some slight changes to the ingredients to suit current tastes & religious preferences. No problem - if we have Muslim relatives & friends over, then we will substitute the pork for 'halal' chicken (ie. chicken, slaughtered according to Muslim rites). But for vegans like me, well ... any ideas ?

Some ingredients are also hard to find. There is one delicacy which is integral to the dish but rarely found. You'd probably find it only in Pulau Pangkor or Penang's Chowrasta (main) market. It is called the 'Pea Hu' (literally translated - flat fish). There is a legend behind the physical characteristic of the fish, which has both eyes on one side of the fish (a bit like the sting-ray but no long tail) but I'm not too sure about it. My mom says it is very tasty and the bones are used to boil the clear soup, whereas the flesh is added into the thick gravy.

Hope some readers can give me some info. or one day I'll have to do a 'pilgrimage' back to Penang just to find this fish! ha ha..

Please excuse the approximation of ingredients. Its like in the old days, where the matriarch 'chefs' will just grab a fistful or rice bowl full of ingredients.

Thick Gravy
1 medium piece - Streaky pork with skin ('sam chan bak') or chicken meat (if you don't eat pork)
10 small/medium size- Prawns de-vein by partly slicing the back of each prawn & removing the dark greenish vein. This will make the prawn roll into a ball when cooked.
1/2 bowl - Crab meat / squids (optional)
1 packet Fish ball & Fish cake (optional)
1-2 tablespoons of Cornflour mixed with 1/2 cup water
Prawn stock made from washed, discarded prawn head & shell boiled in water (to add more flavour!)

Clear Soup
200 gm Pork / chicken bones - washed
1 small Turnip - cut into large chunks

Body of the dish
300 gm Taugeh/mung bean sprouts (50 sen)
1 small bunch of Kucai/flat-leaved chives (50 sen)
500 gm Yellow fresh noodle (mee)

Garnish
Chopped garlic in oil ('ken phang', in Hokkien)
Red egg omelette
Red chilli strips, chopped spring onions, coriander leaves, or Chinese celery leaves
Sambal belacan

Making the clear soup = In a large pot, bring to boil a half pot of water. Add the pork bones & turnip. Boil till turnips are slightly soft. Cook fishball for a few minutes, until it floats. Remove & set aside. Season soup with some white pepper & salt.

Making the thick gravy & garlic oil = Put streaky pork whole piece in the clear soup until just cooked (don't over cook or it will be tough). Slice into strips (across the grain). Set aside. In a large wok, heat some oil on slow heat to lightly fry chopped garlic for making 'ken phang'. Once the garlic is slightly brown, turn off the heat. The oil will continue to brown the garlic. (If done correctly, it should turn a golden brown & crispy. When it is cooled, you can keep it in a bottle and use as flavoured oil in any soupy dish). Remove part of the garlic oil.

Turn on the heat. Pan fry the fish cake and remove. Slice it when cooled.

Then use the remaining oil to fry the prawns, then add streaky pork. Spoon 2 scoops of clear soup into the wok. Add a dash of dark soy sauce & light soy sauce to make the gravy brown. Add crab meat & squid. Add prawn stock. When boiling, slowly stir in the cornflour mixture, stirring continuously until the gravy thickens. Don't pour all the cornflour mixture, if the gravy is already thick.

To make the body = Heat another half pot of water to boil. Add taugeh (bean sprouts / mung bean sprouts) & kucai (chives). Stir 1 min & remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add in the yellow noodles carefully so the strands are intact. Cook for 2 mins while lightly separating the strands. Drain & set aside in a large bowl.

To make the sambal belacan : (can be made a few days ahead but store in a dry jar & refrigerate)
1 small 1" piece of toasted belacan (or Maggi belachan powder)
4 long red chillies (with or without seeds - more seeds, hotter it will be)
A dash of Salt, sugar, Ajinomoto
3-4 Limau kesturi (calamansi / lime) - cut into 1/2 & remove seeds

Lots of people are afraid to pound the chillies as it tends to splatter! So, use a towel to dry the red chillies. Line the area with newspaper. Break/cut chillies into 1" pieces. Start by lightly pounding to flatten the chillies. Then pound section by section at the edge of the chillie pieces not straight into the centre which will send the seeds & bits & pieces flying. Try and get the chillies shiny side up so the juicy parts will be facing down. Use one hand to steady the stone bowl. Use the other hand to pound with even pressure and partly use a grinding motion.

Once chillies are quite fine, add the toasted belacan or dry belacan powder and continue to grind/pound until well blended. Scoop into a dish/glass bottle & squeeze the limes. Adjust to taste. Belacan is usually salty. Just add a little sugar or Ajinomoto to bring out the taste (yeah, that's traditionally the seasoning used).

How to toast belacan (processed prawn paste) ? - You can do this a day before. Heat a small dry pan (non-stick if possible) on low fire and toast one side of a thin slice of belachan. Then turn over. Take care that it does not burn. When almost dry, turn off fire. Break into small pieces and let the latent heat of the pan dry/toast the bits. Let cool. Reminder: the smell IS, according to each other's opinion-either 'heavenly' or 'stinky'.

To make : Red egg omelette slices

Beat two eggs with 2 half-egg shells of water (traditional measurement). Add a little salt & a drop of red cochineal food colouring. Be careful. To avoid over-colouring, use a toothpick to trnasfer the colour. Heat a small non-stick pan. Add a ladle of egg mixture, swirl into a smooth thin crepe-like omelette. The thinner the highly skilled your are! Roll it and remove into the cutting board. Slice as fine as possible. The pink omelette below was done in haste, hence is not fine enough!

Serving:

In a deep bowl, line with a little taugeh & kucai. Top with some yellow noodles. This should fill half the bowl. Spoon on the thick gravy & its meat/seafood. Garnish with red eggs, fish ball/cake slices, leaves - coriander/celery/spring onions & red chillie strips. Top it with a fews scoops of clear, hot soup and sambal belacan on the side.

Then, DIG IN!!