Our Thanksgiving Feast

The main star - Roasted Turkey

Stuffing

Steamed Vegetables

Coleslaw

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Fried Wonton

G & J were kind enough to bring these yummylicious fried chicken wonton to our 24 event and now they are sharing the recipe with me and my readers. Thank you again G & J!

She promised me that they are easy to make but I did not think it would be very very very easy until she emailed me the recipe and I went, "that's it?". Oh I just love good food and what more if it comes with a simple and easy recipe!

Fried Chicken Wonton
makes between 25-30

1lb ground chicken
3-4 stalks green onion (finely chopped)
1-2 finely chopped chili (optional)
Seasoning salt (G&J use Lawry's or Zatarains creole seasoning)
1 pack wonton skin
Oil for frying

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and taste.

2. Fill center of wonton skin with ground chicken, dampen fingers to seal the wonton skin. (You can also use a mixture of water and flour/cornstarch)

3. Fry them batch by batch until golden brown. Serve with sweet chili sauce.

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Chicken and Beef Satay Recipe

As promised in my previous post of Foodbuzz May 24,24,24 here is the recipe for Chicken and Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce. Some of you may already know that I have made and posted the recipe for Satay before but since this time I used a different recipe, I thought I would post it as well. This recipe was given to me by my friend Mai, a wife, mom, doctor and student who is doing her PhD in England. Thank you Mai!

Chicken Satay Recipe

(makes around 100 sticks)

5lb boneless and skinless chicken breast, sliced and cubed into 1in sq and about 1/2cm thick

1 pack grated lemongrass (14oz)
1/3 cup cumin powder
2oz fennel seed (grind)
1 1/4 cups sugar
Salt
1/4 cup turmeric powder
1/4 cup water
Wooden skewer (soaked in water 2hrs prior to being used)
Oil + honey/sugar

1. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients (except chicken) together and taste. Add chicken to it and mix well.

2. Transfer them into 2-3 ziplock bags and marinate overnight in the fridge.

3. A few hours before grilling, take them out and let them cool to room temperature.

4. Thread the wooden skewer with 3 pieces of chicken each.

5. Grill on a direct fire. Flip every 15-20sec so the meat don't get burned and baste with oil +honey/sugar each time you flip them.

6. Take them of the grill and serve with Rice Cake and Peanut Sauce.

**For Beef Satay, just replace chicken with beef. The marinate are all the same.

I have posted the easy peanut sauce recipe before but to make it easier for you, here they are again.

Peanut Sauce

24oz (680gm) dry-roasted peanuts, (I use store bought)

3 cups water

1/4 cup sambal oelek (less if you dont like it too spicy)

4oz palm sugar

salt

1. Grind the peanuts in a food processor. Longer if you want a finer peanuts.

2. In a large pot boil the water, sambal oelek, palm sugar and ground peanut. Stir continuously.

3. Once its boiled, turn down heat and let it simmer. Add in salt and taste. Give a good stir every 15-20min.. This will take a very long time. It took me between 2-2.5hrs to get the right consistency. The peanut and water should combined nicely.

The recipe will give you a lot of peanut sauce. Just freeze the amount that you are not using for later use.

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May Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 - Summer Party Malaysian-Style

Grilling Satay - Chicken and Beef

Summer is approaching and although we always have bbq at our place, it was never a 'full-blown' Malaysian-style bbq party. So what better way to start the summer than having a Summer Party - Malaysian Style to introduce Malaysian food to our American friends/neighbours? None of those watered-down version of 'Malaysian' food that is normally served at the restaurants here. I am so honoured that my Summer Party proposal was chosen by Foodbuzz for their May 24, 24, 24 event.

The first thing on the menu was of course Satay. Grilled on a charcoal grill (that I specifically asked my husband to get when we moved to this apartment last year!). Both chicken and beef, together with peanut sauce, rice cake and cucumber. The meat was marinated overnight so the taste infused inside the meat and also makes them tender.

Next is Grilled Jumbo Prawns with sambal dipping sauce. I just realised that I don't have pictured of my sambal but the prawn was so yummylicious. Only minimum seasoning needed to retain the taste. They are seasoned with salt, turmeric and a dash of lime juice and off they go on the grill!

Then we have Beef with Potato Murtabak and Pickled Onion on the side. I usually used spring roll skins but this time I used lumpia wrapper. They are equally good although for pictures, I would have to say that I prefer spring roll wrapper since they give that nice edges while with lumpia wrapper you would not get it since they are softer and thinner.

G and J made these droolicious Fried Chicken Wonton that are to die for! I was too busy (and too tired!) to really eat anything yesterday but I am glad I managed to eat some of these. They are crunchy and their bite-size made it easier to eat while one was going back and forth, in and out of the kitchen and patio.

For something heavier, S made these Mamak Mee Goreng with seafood. They are spicy and very flavourful. 1 of my neighbours is of American/Korean parentage and as expected, Mamak Mee Goreng is her favourite and she could not stopped for talking about how good they are.

Honey Barbeque Chicken

Among all the things that I made for the Summer Party, I would have to say that making Fried Popiah is the trickiest one. They are yummy to eat but rolling them and making sure that they are wrapped properly is a skill that I discovered I have yet to master. Thank god for K who used to worked in a chinese restaurant who helped me with wrapping them.

For dessert, I made this Malay kuih called Kuih Bakar. This pandan and coconut milk based kuih/cake is as easy to make as it easy to eat. They are usually made with a flower design mould that I could not find here until I found this disposable mould with curves that gives a little bit of that flower effect.

I would like to thank all my friends (especially S and K for helping and taking most of the pictures) and neighbours who came (and help!) to the party and also Foodbuzz for choosing my Summer Party-Malaysian Style as part of their May Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 event. My SUmmer Party that started at 4pm ended till past midnight after a game of poker. Everybody leaves happily and with a full stomach.

I hope I have managed to introduce you a little bit of how we Malaysian do our party which basically involves lots and lots of food. I will be posting the recipes in my next post.

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Ayam Masak Kicap / Soy Sauce Chicken

What was supposed to be Sweet and Sour Chicken somehow ended up being Soy Sauce Chicken or Ayam Masak Kicap. How you asked me? Well, I made some 'special' rice a few nights ago and thought that Sweet and Sour Chicken would paired really well with it so I decided to make some using the ready-made powder paste that was given to me by a friend. I have never used ready-made paste or powder for something as simple as sweet and sour but I decided to give it a try. Well, since I am now posting anything but Sweet and Sour Chicken, you'd know that it did not turn out good. Suffice to say, it went down the sink. Luckily I did not add in the chicken yet or else I would ended up eating the rice on it's own. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Anyways, time was running out. Michael's popcorn chicken and mac and cheese are ready while I still have the chicken drumstick on the plate with no sauce. Quick thinking, I sliced some ginger and onion and decided to make Soy Sauce Chicken. It is very quick since I have already deep fried the chicken. So here they are my impromptu Soy Sauce Chicken / Ayam Masak Kicap.

Soy Sauce Chicken
serves 3-4

6-8 pieces chicken drumstick (or your choice of chicken part)
1 tsp salt
2 tbs turmeric powder
Oil for deep-frying

1in ginger, sliced
2 shallot, sliced
1 red chili, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 tbs veggie oil
2-3 tbs thick caramel soy sauce (kicap pekat)
2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs sweet soy sauce ( I used abc brand)
1/4-1/3 cup water

1. Coat the chicken well with salt and turmeric powder and deep fry until golden brown. Keep aside.

2. In a different pan or wok, heat the oil and saute ginger and shallot until fragrant. Add water and all 3 soy sauce. Stir well and taste. Add salt/sugar if necessary or you can add the soy sauce. Let it boil.

3. Once boiled, add in the chicken, onion and red chili. Flip the chicken so that they are coat with the soy sauce. Once the onion is soft, it is ready to be served.

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Guest Blogging at Rasa Malaysia - Soto Ayam / Chicken Soto

Rasa Malaysia has been inviting me to guest blog at her blog for a while but I just did not know what to make. So for New Year's eve, we were invited to their place and she requested me to make some Soto Ayam. I figured since I will be making my Soto Ayam again, I might as well use it as my guest blogger entry.

Check out my Soto Ayam at Rasa Malaysia

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Chicken Porridge

Here we are in 2009! I hope it is not too late to wish everybody a very Happy New Year. We had a wonderful new year's eve, hanging out with friends, eating good food and playing poker. The next thing I know it was like past 2am and time to go home. I hate driving at night especially in an unfamiliar road/freeway. To make matter worst, it was really really foggy that night and that made driving even more difficult. Thank god for gps though!

Anyways, back to cooking. Last week I craved for some good chicken porridge. I have some salted egg and pickled leek at home and the thought of chicken porridge with them was just too much to resist. I remember my favourite porridge joint back in Kuala Lumpur. It was at this place called Kampung Baru (literally translated to New Village) right smack in the city centre. They have a huge display of dishes to go with the rice porridge. All you have to do is pick and put them in provided plates, give it to them and find a table to sit. They will cook your chosen dishes and serve with porridge of your choice, be it plain white porridge or chicken porridge. Since there would always be at least 5 different dishes, I always choose plain white instead of chicken porridge which I think is best enjoyed on its own.

Chicken Porridge

1/2 cup jasmine rice, rinsed
5 cups water
1 chicken leg
1in ginger, julienne
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
Salt
White pepper (optional)
1 star anise (optional)
2-3 cardamom seeds (optional)
1 tbs veggie oil

1. In a pot, heat the oil on medium high. Add star anise and cardamom seeds, stir until fragrant.

2. Add ginger and chicken, continue stirring and flip the chicken once.

3. Add rice and water and let it boil. Turn the heat down to medium and continue boiling.

4. Add salt and white pepper, stir and taste. 30 min.

5. Add in the celery and carrot. Stir occasionally. Continue boiling for another 30 min.

6. Serve hot with pickled leek and salted egg.

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Chicken Rice Set ala Ende Li's

Among all my aunties, I go to Ende Li's house a lot since they live the closest to my parent's house. Ende Li is my dad's younger sister and she has 7 kids and she LOVES to COOK and FEED us. Just by going for lunch or dinner at their place is like a party itself with lots of people and of course, lots of food. When my cousins (from another family) were still studying in Kuala Lumpur (KL), the usual hang out places would either be at my parents's house or Ende Li's house because we are the only family from my dad's side living in KL. When any of the cousins say they're going to be at either my parent's place or Ende Li's place, the words would travel, calls would be made and the next thing you know everybody would be there. So this entry is dedicated to Ende Li (and of course my uncle Ayah Rashid) who always welcome us to their home with open arms and table. :)

Chicken Rice Set
serves 3 -4

Chicken and Soup

6 pcs chicken
2in ginger, pounded
4 garlic, pounded
4-spices (1 star anise seed,3 cloves,3 cardamon & 1in cinnamon stick), rinsed (optional)
2-3 cups water
2 tbs cooking oil
Salt and sugar
3-4 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tbs white pepper
Veggie oil for deep frying


1. In a pot, heat the oil and add the 4-spices. Once it's fragrant, add the pounded ginger and garlic. Stir.

2. Add in the chicken, water, salt and sugar to taste. (Be generous with water because you will need the stock to make the rice and chili sauce for your chicken rice). Stir occasionally until the chicken is cooked. About 30min.

3. Once the chicken is cooked, take about 1/4 cup of the stock and put it into a big bowl. Mix in the sweet soy sauce and white pepper. Mix well. Add in the chicken to marinade. Let it sit for at least 30min and deep fry.

Rice

Rinsed 1 1/2cup basmathi rice, put it in the pot and instead of water, add in 2 3/4 cup of the chicken stock/soup and let it boil. Once boiled, cover and simmer for 20min.

Chili Sauce

In a bowl, mix 4 tbs sambal oelek with 1 tbs ketchup, 3-4 tbs chicken soup and salt and sugar to taste.

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Eid Open House Menu 4 - Chicken Soto / Soto Ayam

It is already the month of November. Today is my Big-Day. And the whole world is waiting for it. Of course for a totally different reason but it is nevertheless, still exciting. For this special day, I thought I would post my chicken soto recipe. I think it is rather appropriate since it is raining today and having some soupy dish when it rains is just so good. Of course, Soto is just good regardless of the weather condition.

Chicken Soto or Soto Ayam is what this is normally called. It comes in a set of rice cake and soup, garnishes with shredded chicken, sweet chili soy sauce, bean sprout and bergedil. However, I did not make any bergedil since I already had so much food. Back home, you can find a ready-made chicken soto paste which is called 'sop bonjot' but I never used it. I find the result to be too watery and not to my liking. So if there is 1 thing that I make from scratch, soto ayam is it.

I learned to make soto ayam from my aunt in Johor. That was 1 of the many dishes served during Eid. Once I have mastered (*wink*) the know-how to make soto ayam, it became my duty to make them for our yearly Eid openhouse. I have even had to make them for my friend's openhouse and my cousin's openhouse. Of course then when I made soto ayam, it would be for like 100 people and no measurements required. Everything is by-ear measurement. Now that I am married and living away from home, I learned to make it in smaller portion and with measurement so I can share them with other people.

Chicken Soto / Soto Ayam
serves 2-3

A.
1 piece chicken thigh,bone-in (u can also use 2 pieces for this recipe)
4 cardamon seed
4 cloves
2 star anise
2in cinnamon stick
4-5 tablespoon oil1/2 cup santan (coconut milk)

B. (Blended)
4 shallots
1 onion
4 garlic
2in ginger

C.
Rice cake / Ketupat
Beansprout
Fried tung hoon - fried and crushes (optional)
Fried shallot

1. In a pot, heat the oil and add the cardamon, cloves, star anise and cinnamon. Stir for about 1-2 min.

2. Add in B and stir for another 4-5min.

3. Add in the chicken and water enough to cover the chicken, (about 1.5-3 cups). 2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar. Keep flipping the chicken and continue boiling for abt 15-20min. Once the chicken is cooked, take it out and let it cool down.

4. Add another cup of water and the coconut milk. (The blended ingredients and coconut milk will make the soup thicker and that is wht we want. So make sure you dont add too much water.

5. Let it boil and then only you add more salt and sugar to taste.

6. Shred the chicken and put the bones back in the soup. You can also put the shredded chicken meat back into the soup if you like.

Chili Soy Sauce

4-5 thai chili (more if you like it spicier)
Sweet soy sauce (I use habhal brand)
Salt
Lime juice

Pound thai chili using mortar and pestle. If you are making a lot, you can use the blender. Add in the rest of the ingredients








Soto Ayam - Guest Blogging

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Eid Open House Menu 1 - Spicy Honey Chicken / Ayam Masak Madu

I know I have been pretty quiet the last 2 weeks. The truth is I had been busy for my Raya Open House last weekend which turned out very well. I got a little bit over board by cooking so many dishes that I ended up forgetting to serve 1 of them which is Fried Beef Satay. I just could not stopped myself from cooking but I am happy that my guests of 11 people enjoyed the food and the company. Rasa Malaysia also came but she left before the photo session started.

Today I am posting 1 of the dishes that I served for my Open House. This means that there are going to be a few more posts coming. Spicy Honey Chicken is 1 of the few dishes that I know how to make when I moved here. It is some sort of a mix and match of sweet & sour chicken and honey chicken that I used to have together with my Briyani Rice. If you are a regular to my blog, you will realise that I use a lot of anise seed, clove, cinnamon stick and cardamon seed in my cooking. This is because I just like the smell that comes out of them when they are being sauteed and also when you reheat them. I promise that you will get complimented for it. *wink*

Spicy Honey Chicken / Ayam Masak Madu

A.
8-10pcs of chicken (bone in)
3 tsp tumeric powder
1.5 tsp salt

B.
1/2 small bottle of sambal oelek
5 shallots
3 garlic
2inc ginger

C.
4-spices (3 star anise seed,6 cloves,6 cardamon & 2in cinnamon stick), rinsed
6 tbsp honey
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 cup water
salt
3 tbsp oil
1/2 onion, sliced

1. Marinate the chicken with tumeric powder and salt. Deep fry (slowly) them and keep aside.

2. Grind ingredients in B with a little bit of water.

3. Heat up the oil in the wok and add the 4-spices until fragrant and then saute items B.

4. Add the rest of the items in C and continue stirring.

5. Keep tasting until you get the desired taste and lastly put the chicken in. Stir and serve with white warm rice or briyani rice.

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Ayam Percik Recipe / Barbequed Chicken in Spicy Coconut Milk Gravy

Another recipe from the east coast states of Malaysia courtesy of my dear friend Sue. I do have a thing for east coast's delicacies don't I? As usual, when you ask a recipe from your mom or aunt or friend, it comes it terms of ingredients only without the measurements. The same goes to ayam percik recipe when I asked her for it. If my handwriting was not ugly, I would have scanned the paper where I wrote down the recipe and put it here. But unfortunately they are so I will spare you from seeing the worst handwriting in the world. *lol*

Ayam percik is also available mostly during the month of Ramadhan but you can still get them at the pasar malam (night market). What makes Ayam Percik .... Ayam Percik, is the gravy. Its drenched with coconut milk based gravy that have everything from shallots to ginger to chili to tamarind juice. It may sounds heavy but its oh-so-heavenly! Please do not let the slightly long list of ingredients scare you since most of them goes in the blender together. Once you blend them, everything else is easy like 1-2-3.

Ayam Percik Recipe

Serves 4

8 pieces chicken drumsticks (or any other parts) - rubbed with salt and turmeric

3-4 shallots

1 red onion

4-5 garlic

3in ginger

2 stalks lemongrass

2-3 tbsp sambal oelek (more if you like it hotter)

1.5 tsp turmeric powder

1 can coconut milk (400ml)

1 can water (use the same coconut milk can)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 - 1 tsp tamarind juice powder

Sugar and salt to taste

1. Start the grill.

2. In a blender, blend shallots, onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, sambal oelek and turmeric powder.

3. In a pot (use a big one), boil coconut milk, water and and the rest of the ingredients except the chicken on medium heat. Keep stirring until it boils. Let it simmer.

4. Steamed the chicken for 6-10min.

5. When the grill is ready, start grilling the chicken. Basting it with the gravy 3-4 times.

Ayam Percik is best enjoyed with Nasi Kerabu, rice with fish and vegetables like long beans, beansprouts and polygonum leaves or just plain white rice. I had mine with the half version of nasi kerabu. I just chopped or finely cut the vegetables, mix it with the rice and pour some gravy on top. Please do be very generous with the gravy on both your rice and chicken. It is not Ayam Percik if it is not drenched/drowned with the gravy.

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Green Beans with Chicken Gizzards in Soy Sauce Recipe

How time flies. Its already the 17th day of Ramadhan. 13 more days before Syawal comes which means the end of fasting month and all muslims would be celebrating Eid ul-Fitr or as we Malaysian call it, Hari Raya. A Merry Day. That's celebrated not just for a day, but the whole month. More on Hari Raya later though.

I started fasting when I was 7 years old but I only managed to fast for the whole month the next year when I was 8. Back then as an incentive, my parents (and I think most parents do too) would give us $1 for every day that we fast. Well, that lasted until we turned 12 and after that we just do it because its our responsibility.

When I was a kid and staying at home with my parents and 3 brothers, waking up for sahur for our very early morning meal is rather a challenge. I may be a light sleeper now but definitely not then. But I would still get up and eat the meal with everybody for I dont want to be hungry the next day. However, by the time I got up, my mom usually would have the food ready on the table. The spead is not as much as of for iftar/breaking of fast but enough to last us the whole day of fasting. Those are some of my favourite childhood memories. I attended a full boarding school since I was 13 so I didnt get to spend much time with my family anymore.

Well, I better proceed with the recipe post before I get too emotional. Today's recipe is about internal organs. Chicken gizzards that is. I just love love love these things. Dont ask me why. I just do. And as my other recipes, this is also very easy to make and nutritious too.

Green Beans with Chicken Gizzards in Soy Sauce
Serves 3-4

1/2lb chicken gizzards, cleaned and halves/quartered

Salt & turmeric to coat

2 handfuls of green beans, cuts into 2in long

3 garlic, thinly sliced

1in ginger, thinly sliced

Half onion, sliced

1 red chili, sliced

5-6 tbsp sweet soy sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2-3 tbsp water

Oil for deep frying

1. Coat chicken gizzards with salt & turmeric, set aside

2. In a wok, heat the oil and deep fry chicken gizzards until golden brown. Set aside.

3. Transfer access oil into a container leaving about 2 tbsp in the wok. Medium heat.

4. Sauteed garlic and ginger until fragrant.

5. Add water, sweet soy sauce and light soy sauce. Stir.

6. Add green beans, onion and red chili. Stir. Turn heat to high and cover. 2 min.

7. Bring the heat back to medium and uncover. Add chicken gizzards and stir a few more times.

8. Serves with warm white rice.

I am also linking this to Kitchen Flavours for Joy from Fasting to Feasting.

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