Frying of Sambal, Curry or Spice Paste

When I first started cooking curries, the frying of the paste 'until fragrant and oil separates from the paste ' was a puzzle. No matter how long I fried it, no oil appeared. So I had to resort to guess work as to when the paste is considered ready. One day I decided to try out the gas bbq wok burner to fry the paste and voila - oil did start coming out of the paste.

This is the sequence of frying the spice paste for my satay sauce.

grinded paste ready for frying


Pic 1. The paste is fried in 2 Tbsp of oil.
Pic 2. After a few minutes of frying, the oil is slowly absorbed.

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Fish Head Curry

This fish head curry is the closest to what I can remember eating in Malaysia. The texture of the flesh from the fish head is so smooth and surprisingly there was quite a lot of flesh to eat.
As Mr Redneck did not like the idea of eating the head, I added fish fillet so he can enjoy the dish as well. Currently salmon fish head only cost me $4/kg - which is really cheap.


Ingredients
1 (500g) salmon or snapper fish head
200 g fish fillet (optional)
5 okra (ladies finger), halved
2 long slender brinjal, cut into 2" pieces
1 tomato quartered

1-2 Tbsp oil
2-3 sprig curry leaves
3 Tbsp Baba curry powder mix with 1 Tbsp water
2 cup water
1 Tbsp tamarind pulp soak in ½ cup water
½ cup thick coconut milk
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Spice paste (grind together)
5 garlic cloves
1 big onion
2 red chillies
1 piece (1") ginger root
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 stalk lemon grass

Optional
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp mustard seed
¼ tsp fenugreek

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Kangkong Belacan ~ Water Convolvulus fried with Spicy Shrimp Paste

I cook this dish of kangkong sambal belacan as often as I can especially during the summer season. That's when it is really cheap and fresh. The aroma from the belacan will make your mouth water. The kangkong have to be stir fried over a very hot stove very quickly so as not to loose its crunchy texture. A simple yet very popular and uncomplicated dish.


Ingredients
250 g kangkong
½ Tbsp belacan
1-2 Tbsp dried shrimps
3 red chillies
1 small onion
4 garlic cloves
1-2 Tbsp oil
2-4 Tbsp water

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Crabstick Salad

We don't go ga ga over salad but this crabstick dish is by far our favourite summer salad. Great with a barbecue or steak and even on a filled roll. It is really cool and refreshing especially on a hot day.


Ingredients
4-5 lettuce leaves
3-4 crabsticks
3 medium size tomatoes, diced
2-3 Tbsp Best mayonnaise

Method
1. Shred lettuce leaves into narrow strips. Dice tomatoes and slice crabstick.

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Yeh Chi Tong ~ Coconut Sweets

Yeh Chi Tong is a lolly with a very rich flavour.

Makes 185 g

Ingredients
100g gula melaka
75g mak ngah tong (maltose)
2 tsp sugar
125ml thick coconut milk

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Beef & Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay is an all time favourite with almost anyone. I decided to experiment and create my own combination of marinade and satay sauce. It also gave Mr Redneck a chance to test out the new barbecue. Needless to say he was pleased with the performance of the bbq - it passed the satay test without burning the sticks or the satay! The satay and sauce were good and Mr Redneck said it was by far the best and most authentic satay sauce I have ever made and it tasted like those we had from Malaysia.

Don't let the long list of ingredients deter you. The tedious part in making satay is the stringing of the meat to the sticks but Mr Redneck does a wonderful job of this.

Makes 21 chicken & 31 beef satay

Ingredients
600 gm chicken breast
400 gm porterhouse beef

Marinade
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground fennel
1 tsp ground tumeric
3 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp garlic flake or fresh garlic
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt

Method
1. Soak 50-60 satay skewers in cold water for at least 2 hours to prevent them from burning during grilling.

2. Cut the meat into small strips about 2" long and 3/4" wide.

3. Grind marinade ingredients until fine and mix with the meat to marinate overnight.

4. Thread 4-5 pieces of the meat onto the skewer.

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Honey Candied Walnuts

These walnuts are delicious and super easy to make.. Even though they are fried they do not have that greasy or oily taste. Walnut is very rich in Omega-3 fatty acids with a lot of other health benefits which includes reducing blood cholestrol.

Redneck ate these decades ago when we were in Hong Kong. It must have made an impression because he still remembers eating it.

Ingredients
250g walnut halves
3/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce

castor sugar for coating

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Easy Prawn Cocktail

There is no hard and fast rule or exact measure of ingredients for this prawn cocktail. The Redneck made the simple Five Island dressing by mixing a little bit of tomato sauce to the salad dressing we had in the fridge. This no fuss prawn cocktail is perfect and refreshing for a hot summer.

Ingredients
cooked prawns
lettuce, shredded
cucumber, sliced
hard boil egg - sliced

salad dressing
tomato sauce
chilli sauce
salt

Method
1. Arrange lettuce, cucumber, eggs and prawns on a plate.

2. To make the simple seafood dressing, add a few tablespoon of salad dressing into a bowl. Add tomato sauce, a dash of chilli sauce and salt to taste. Mix well.

3. Add to salad and toss to mix thoroughly.

Kueh Kapit ~ Love Letters

Kueh Kapit aka love letters are a traditional Chinese New Year biscuit. This recipe is from my aunts who have been making these for decades. The love letters are a fragile, crispy and crunchy biscuit and very addictive. Making kueh kapit is not for the faint hearted. It is hot work and very fiddly.

Makes 4 milk powder tins

Ingredients

220 gm sugar
130 gm rice flour
1 tsp tapioca flour
4 large eggs
250 ml thick coconut milk
60-80 ml water

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Kok Chai with Peanut or Har Mai Fillings

Kok chai (peanut puff) is one of the traditional goodies served during Chinese New Year. They can either have a filling of sweet peanut or savoury har mai (hae bee hiam).

Makes 65

Ingredients for Dough
1 egg yolk
½ egg
70 gm peanut or corn oil
70 gm water
280gm flour

Method
1. Into a food processor add the flour and eggs.
2. Add the oil and water until the mixture begins to look like breadcrumbs.
3. Remove and knead gently into a smooth dough.
4. Rest dough for 2 hours.
5. Divide the dough into several portions.
6. Roll the dough thinly. (I took the easy way out and used the pasta machine to roll)
7. Cut into rounds. Place a round pastry onto the mould, add either peanut or savoury hae bee hiam in the centre. Dip your finger into water, moisten half the edge and shut mould to seal.

8. Deep fry on medium high heat till golden brown.

Note : My kok chai mould measures 2½" in diameter which is the smallest available. If you are good with manual pleating, the kok chai can be made smaller.



Peanut filling

Makes 35 kok chai

150 gm ground roasted peanut
25 gm toasted sesame
85 gm castor sugar

Mix all three ingredients together and used as required.

Recipe : hugbear @ imperial kitchen

Sambal Har Mai ~ Spicy Dry Shrimp

I have fried this hae bee hiam as a filling for my savoury kok chai (puff). Any leftovers are delicious eaten as a side dish with rice or noodles. I sprinkled mine on top of our fried beehoon.

Ingredients

Grind together
2 medium red onions or 4 shallots
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp Baba chilli powder or 2 dried chilli
75 gm dried prawns, soaked to soften

1 tsp sugar
dash of pepper and soy sauce

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Ayam Masak Sambal Kicap ~ Chicken in sambal sauce

Ayam Masak Sambal Kicap, another uncomplicated and mouthwatering spicy dish that can be prepared ahead of time to allow the chicken to further marinade in the sambal sauce. Make extra as this dish freezes well.

Ingredients
1.5kg chicken, cut into smaller pieces
3 stalks lemongrass, smashed

10 kaffir leaves, torn
8 Tbsp tomato sauce
3 Tbsp soya sauce
3 Tbsp kicap manis
salt & sugar to taste

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Assam Babi ~ Tamarind Braised Pork

Assam Babi, a peranakan classic with that wonderful combination of flavour and fragrance that will whet your appetite.


Ingredients
2½ Tbsp tamarind paste
1-1½ cup water
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp, soy bean paste (tau cheong), mashed
600g pork belly or shoulder chop, cubed
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
1 Tbsp palm sugar
salt to taste

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Crispy Fried Potatoes

Crispy fried potatoes whether in halves or in smaller pieces is Mr Redneck's specialty. The potatoes are very crispy on the outside but very soft on the inside. If fried at the correct high temperature, it should not be oily.

We usually have these potatoes with a western style meal of steak, lamb chops or with our rolled rib roast.


Ingredient
potatoes
sprinkling of salt
oil for deep frying

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Peking Duck

We don’t often dine out in NZ as we are quite happy to relax at home with our own cooking – who needs the traffic and parking hassles! The reverse is true however, when we are overseas on holiday – why stay in the hotel / apartment when there are so many new things to ‘tickle the senses’, especially the taste buds.

Our favorite food is Chinese, and Peking Duck would have to be one of our preferred dishes as either dine-in or more often than not as a take-away to be enjoyed in the evening in front of the TV with a cold beer.

Over the years I have tried to replicate this dish and this is my latest recipe which is still a ‘work in progress’. See my previous Peking Duck post.

Ingredients
1 whole duck – giblets removed
3 Tbsp 5 spice powder
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup rice wine
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp cooking oil
1 star anise (see tip 5)
½ cinnamon stick (see tip 5)
1 Tbsp maltose (optional, see tip 4)
6 garlic cloves

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Soft Sweet 'Porridge' Buns

These sweet buns are the softest I have made and can be eaten with or without fillings.
I made them for Redneck's extended family on Christmas and received glowing reviews.


Makes 18 buns

Ingredients for Starter Dough
32g bread flour
165g water

Method for Starter dough
1. Heat water to 65C and mix in the breadflour.
2. Stir till the flour dissolves
3. Let it cool completely before using.
4. Can be left in the fridge for 1-2 days.

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Glazed Ham on the Bone

Glazing a ham is not difficult. Different combinations of juices, sauces and spreads can be suitably combined to produce an incredibly tasty ham that looks and taste sensational.


Ingredients
5kg cooked ham on the bone

Glaze, mix together
5 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp sweet fruit chutney
4 Tbsp rum
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp maltose

For decoration
cloves
pineapple slices

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Rolled Rib Roast

Mr Redneck is very good at cooking roast and this meal is a fine example. The outer layer is the best but most unhealthy part of the meat. This rolled rib roast does not involve hours of preparation or marinating.


Ingredients
1 kg beef rolled rib roast

onions (cut to small pieces)
garlic (cut to small pieces)
dry or fresh mixed herbs
sweet fruit chutney
soy sauce

cornflour for dusting

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Plum Sauce Roast Chicken

We love plum sauce. We use a lot of it for dipping or for marinating. This plum sauce roast chicken is another favourite easy and simple dish.

Ingredients
1.3 kg whole chicken
3 Tbsp sugar
3 pcs cloves
1 pc star anise
1 pc cinnamon stick

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Kerisik Rendang ~ Spicy Coconut Beef

I find this method of cooking rendang easier and healthier with less cholestrol as no coconut milk is used, only fried dessicated or fresh coconut making the whole dish very aromatic.



Ingredients
A
1 kg rump steak - cut into cubes
2 cups water

B - grind finely
1 Tbsp Baba chilli powder
3 large red onion
4 garlic
3 stalk lemon grass
1 " ginger
2 candlenut - optional

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Strawberry Jam Doughnut Muffin

A deliciously light, jam filled muffin. I prefer the healthier version and did not make the topping. This is a recipe from Nigella's How to be a domestic goddess.


Make 7 muffins

Ingredients
125ml milk
85ml veg oil
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla essence
200g flour
2tsp baking powder
100g caster sugar
strawberry jam

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Mee Rebus ~ spicy sweet potato gravy noodle

Mee Rebus is a noodle dish with a spicy kumara gravy garnished with a topping of eggs, tau pok, fried onions, fried shrimp and a slice of lime.

Once you have cooked the gravy assembling the meal is easy.



Paste (grind together)
1" galangal
1" ginger
8 medium red onions
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp belacan
3 Tbsp soy bean paste
2 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp Baba chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp tumeric powder

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Kum Heong Kai ~ Golden Spicy Fragrant Chicken

A relatively simple recipe with very few ingredients yet producing a dish with very intense flavour. It is spicy but not 'hot'. This is the healthy version as I prefer not to deep fry the chicken.


Ingredients

6 drumsticks or 1kg chicken, cut to pieces
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp cooking oil
5 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 tsp coriander seeds or powder
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tbsp curry powder
Salt to taste

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Chow Mai Fun ~ Fried Beehoon

I learn this method of pre-soaking the bee hoon in soya sauce from kc. I find this makes the beehoon tastier and is an easier way to fry beehoon.

Serves 2

Ingredients
250gm bee hoon (rice vermicelli)

Seasoning A
1 tsp dark soya sauce
2 Tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
100ml water

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Beef stir fry with Spring Onions

I had some snitzel in my freezer that I wanted to use up, so decided to do this very simple yet delicious dish of beef, stir fried with oyster sauce and spring onions. Very versatile as far as ingredients goes. The beef have to be stir fried very quickly on a high fire to prevent it from stewing and turning chewy.

Ingredients
500gm beef snitzel, cut to thin strips

Marinade
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
dash of black pepper

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Devil Chicken

This devil chicken is very fragrant, rich in flavour and use commonly available ingredients. A delicious easy to prepare chicken dish that goes very well with bread or rice.


Ingredients
1½ kg chicken pieces
1½ Tbsp tumeric powder
1½ tsp salt
1 onion, quartered
1 tomato, quartered

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Chee Cheong Fun with Thim Jeong ~ Steam Rice Rolls w' Sweet Sauce

I was not happy with the result of my last attempt at making chee cheong fun. Trying to scrape and roll it from the cloth was tedious. Hence the long break since my last trial.

Armed with tips from kc members, this time I got better results and was more successful by using a plate to steam the batter. The chee cheong fun turned out thinner and much smoother.

Makes 500gm

Ingredients
150g rice flour
1½ Tbsp Wheat starch flour
2 Tbsp Corn flour
1 Tbsp Oil
450ml Water
½ tsp Salt

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Teochew Spiral Yam Mooncake

All my life I have only ever eaten the traditional mooncake - those with lotus paste or with mixed nuts inside. So it was with wonder that I saw forum members post photos of teochew spiral yam mooncake.

It appears to have been made popular by the chef from Crown Prince Hotel in Singapore, these Teochew yam mooncakes come in a flaky spiral crusty skin. Yam is always used as the filling instead of the more common lotus paste. That's probably because Teochews like yam desserts, especially the famous "or-nee" (yam paste with gingko nuts).

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Banana Walnut Cupcake

This recipe posted by MamaC at kc is actually a banana bread but I have baked it as cupcakes. As always I prefer baking as cupcakes as they are faster to bake and no slicing is required when serving. The cupcakes has a nice banana fragrance and a lovely texture. Currently this is my favourite banana cake.


Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
3 bananas, mashed
150 gm sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil (150 gm)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

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Beef & Prune Casserole

This beef and prune casserole dish originated from the south of France. The casserole has a rich gravy and goes very well with either mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. Helena shared this recipe from Margaret Fulton : A Passionate Cook.

Serves 6

Ingredients
2 ½ cups (625ml) beef stock
10 preserved prunes
1 kg rump, chuck or blade bone steak
2 Tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 ripe tomatoes, skinned, quartered and seeded

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Stuffed Leg of Lamb

The finished meal - Stuffed leg of lamb with peas and baked potatoes.

It was the Rednecks time to cook and the missus suggested that we have roast leg of lamb - suddenly I had a ‘Jamie Oliver Moment’. Why not de-bone and stuff the leg for a change? Sounded like a good idea at the time and as I had not made stuffing before, a quick browse through the New Zealanders cooking Bible ‘The Edmonds Cook Book’ was undertaken to confirm the ingredients required.

As we were out of breadcrumbs Mrs. Redneck quickly made a white loaf in the bread maker which, after cooling, was chopped up in the food processor to make the necessary crumbs.

I thought I could de-bone the lamb leaving a neat cavity in which to place the stuffing mixture – ha ha very funny. When you look at a lamb leg it appears that the bone is fairly straight – it goes in one end and out the other. Boy how wrong can I be. The unseen section of bone has all sorts of knobbly bits attached making it almost impossible for an amateur butcher to neatly carve out so I decided to split the whole thing down the middle, hack out the bone, stuff, then tie the whole thing back together with string. When you think of it, the knobbly bits would be required to hold the lambs leg muscles in place otherwise they would be walking around the paddocks with their thighs around their ankles – a bit like kids walking around school with the socks down!

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Homemade Kon Loh Char Siew Meen ~ Bbq Pork Noodle with spinach

This is our favourite noodle meal which we have at least once a week. The char siew (bbq pork) is premade and frozen. All that is required is make the noodle which is easy if you have a pasta machine with a sharp cutter. The fresh noodle is very silky smooth.

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 tsp oil
1 tsp yuen chan dark sauce (see pic)
1 tsp soy sauce

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Fried Curry Flounder

The flounder is lightly seasoned with salt and curry powder and fried with a little oil. Simple way of cooking fish. The flounder requires little cooking time as it is a slim fish.


Ingredients

Seasoning
2 flounders
3 tsp Baba fish curry powder
1 tsp salt

cornflour for dusting
3 Tbsp oil

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Peking Roast Duck

My Peking Duck straight out of the oven ready for Mrs. Redneck and her chopper!

Chinese roast duck (or Peking duck) is one of my all-time favourite Chinese dishes and has become a regular item on the Redneck’s menu for the last 8 years or so. At least once a month, we would purchase duck as a take-away from our local Chinese Restaurant until one day, shock, horror, we discovered that the place had closed down and was replaced by a Laundromat. The thought of travelling long distances in the evening just to get a take-away did not appeal so we decided to cook our own. Fortunately at about the same time reasonable priced frozen duck became available in local stores (they were as hard to find as ducks teeth prior to this).

The recipe I use is a bit of a “work in progress” as it is constantly being refined and improved, when I am happy with it I will post the recipe. We in fact have two recipes, mine and Mrs. Rednecks and the “jury is out” as to which is the best. My version has crispier skin which is vital for a good Peking duck while hers is easier to prepare, but as previously mentioned some more trials are required as the missus wants me to marinate the thing overnight to provide a better flavour and I want to cook longer for a crispier skin. Both recipes use an airbed pump and a ball-inflating needle to force air between the ducks skin and fat which helps the crisping process – a bit messy but worth it. The cooking time and oven temperature is critical as the duck burns easily due to the sweet marinade. My very first effort was rather dark (read black!) – The skin was nice and crispy though!

Half of the duck chopped-up by the missus ready for serving (the rest goes to the freezer).

ETA : Recipe available here

Lemon Chicken

This lemon chicken is refreshing with a lovely tangy flavour. The lemon sauce is lemony without being overly sweet.


Ingredients
6 pcs drumstick

Marinade
1 Tbsp chinese cooking wine
1½ Tbsp light soya sauce
1 egg yolk (optional)

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Hot n Sour Ribs

This hot n sour spare ribs have to be our favourite pork dish. The pork ribs are marinated and deep fried and delicious eaten with or without the sauce.

The sauce can be poured onto the ribs or used for dipping. I have used a different type of chilli sauce and it came out hot and spicy.