Chicken Curry Mee

Wow, I am surprise that I am blogging two days in a row! Haha! The fact of the matter is I really love this recipe so I have to record it down on my blog before it's gone. :P What recipe? A comforting spicy dish that every household should have... Chicken Curry ...with noodles! Yeah Chicken Curry Mee. I am sure many of us have seen and tasted it before, be it Penang style or local Singapore style, everyone has their own rendition. Well, so long as it taste good, that's all that matters right? ;) 

Plus the change of weather lately, having this on rainy nights is just so shiok!

Oh man, when I cooked this, I seriously didn't think it will turn out so good. :D It's like striking a jackpot! Lol! Anyway, the whole family loved it, even my kids who can't really take spicy food! Yay!

Okay! Let's get cooking! Here are ingredients we need for this yummeh curry mee. :9

Oopsie, I missed out the Sing Long Chilli Sauce in this ingredients photo. :P Anyway, you can click on the name to see how it looks like. :)

Recipe for Chicken Curry Mee (Serves 3-4)

Curry paste:

6 garlic gloves

5 shallots

1 large red onion

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2-3 tbsp Sing Long Chilli Sauce

• Blend everything together till smooth. Set aside for use later.

1.5 kg Chicken, cut into smaller pieces

2 lemongrass stalks, bruised with the back knife

3" thick young ginger, sliced thinly

4-5 Kaffir Lime leafs

1 package (200ml) coconut cream/milk

300 ml water 

1 tsp chicken seasoning

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 pandan leafs

2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

5 fried beancurd (dao pok), sliced smaller

5-8 large shrimps, peeled and devined

1 pack of egg noodles

1 Japanese cucumber, julienned

Salt, sugar to taste

• In a large bowl, place the cut chicken pieces in. Add in the paste and mix in so that all the chicken pieces are coated with the paste (as seen above). Let it marinate for 20-30 minutes.
• Next in a heavy cooking pot, add 2 tsp of cooking oil over medium low fire. Add in lemongrass, young ginger and kaffir lime leafs. Cook for a couple minutes until aromatic.
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• Next add in the marinated chicken pieces in paste. Cook at medium fire for 5 minutes till most of the chicken has turned opaque.
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• Add in water, chicken seasoning, coconut milk and ketchup. Give it a stir and let it boil. Add in pandan leafs, salt and sugar.
• Next add in cubed potatoes, fried beancurd and give it a good stir. Let it come to a boil, then reduce the fire to a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
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• In the meantime, parboil the egg noodles in a pot of boiling water. Drain and divide the noodles in serving plates.
• Taste test the curry and add more water if needed if there is not enough gravy. Ladle chicken pieces and gravy over egg noodles and top it with some julienned cucumber. Serve immediately. Enjoy! 

I am just glad I cooked this, and more glad I posted this. Will definitely cook this dish again. :9 You can change to serving this with baguette or bee hoon...which ever you fancy. ;) Most importantly, cook your yummy curry mee and eat it too! Enjoy!

Have a good night all!

Kampar Lor Mai Fan (Glutinous Rice) - MFF featuring Perak

I am so glad that the term exam is finally over and now I can have some spare time to blog. Have been busy baking and cooking non stop I assure you but just didn't find time to blog about all those recipes. It looks like I need more motivation to sit in front of my lab top nowadays. :P Anyway, I did gave my word to Wendy that I will make this Lo Mai Fan earlier this month, so here it is!

Personally I love any kind of glutinous rice dishes, Puen Kueh, Lo Mai Gai and Hokkien glutinous rice and now this! This Kampar Lo Mai Fan is indeed quite delicious with its unique serving of curry sauce with it. Love! H

I have adapted the recipe from none other the Wendy. However I did omit the pork fat because it just slipped my mind to buy a piece of pork fat, hahaha! Anyway, here it is:

Ingredients for Kampar Lo Mai Fan (Serves ~6)
Red Roasted Char Siew Pork

300gm pork tenderloin

60gm sugar
30gm light soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp rose wine (Mei gui lu)
some red food coloring gel


In a small mixing bowl, add everything in except the pork and mix well. Pour the mixture into a big ziplock bag and place the pork tenderloin in as well. Seal tight and let the pork marinate in the sauce for a good 6-8 hours before use. Bake in oven for 20-23 minutes in 200C. Remember to let meat cool completely before slicing.

300gm glutinous rice
1 heaping tbsp of dried shrimp, soaked and chopped finely
3 shallots, minced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark caramel sauce
Salt if needed
Boiling water

• Soak the glutinous rice for at least an hour before use.
• In the meantime, prepare the steamer to a small rolling boil.
• In a small pot, fry the shallot till its all golden and crisp. Dish out and set aside.
• In another cooking pan, add in some cooking oil at medium fire. Add in the garlic and chopped dried shrimp in and cook for a couple minutes till fragrant. 
• Drain the rice and discard soaking water. Then add in the soaked glutinous rice into the cooking pan and stir to mix well.
• Add in the seasoning to the rice and stir fry till it is uniform in colour.
• Add in the fried shallots and stir to combine. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.
• Now transfer the rice into a taming vessel and add water to just cover the rice. Steam at medium high fire till the rice is cooked, about 20-25 minutes.
• Remember to let the rice cool first before scooping it, this allows the rice to firm up a little and not get all mushed up when you scoop.

Assembly
1/2 cup fried peanuts
Spring onions, sliced
Red roasted char siew

• In a small oiled bowl, scoop in some steamed glutinous rice in and press it down to level.
• Then carefully invert the rice over a serving plate.
• Garnish with juliened green onions, fried peanuts and top with sliced char siew.
• Serve with curry sauce if desired.

Oh how I love the crunchy peanuts with this Lo Mai Fan, hahaha! And the curry, yes the curry sauce....didn't know it taste so good with curry!
For the curry sauce, please refer to here for more details.

I am more then happy to submit this post to this month's Malaysian Food Fest Perak Month hosted by WendyinKK of Table for 2 or more

Thanks for staying with me and bearing with me for my absence!
Have a great day everyone! Its TGIF tomorrow! Yay!

Nonya Curry Chicken (Kari Kapitan) for MFF featuring Penang

Yikes! Unbelievable...June is almost over! How did that happen? I guess good times always swing by faster. :P Okay, I guess enough talking and lets get the post up so I might possibly have more time later for another recipe. :)

I have decided to make Spicy Nonya Chicken curry (aka Kari Kapitan) this time, as it's been awhile since I last had good curry. Plus when I saw it at Phong Hong's post, I was pretty sure I had to cook it, haha! Without a doubt, it was awesome, taste, aroma and flavor...burst full of yumminess in every bite. :P

Ever since I started making my own curry paste, there was no looking back. Seriously taste so much better then those packet ones. Much more punch and flavorful plus the gravy is thicker too! Love! Even with the gravy itself, I can devour a bowl of rice on its own, haha! 

I followed Phong Hong's recipe (which I believe was originated from Amy Beh) pretty closely but less of the belachan granulates / paste. I was worried the taste will be too strong, haha! Thanks Phong Hong for again another fabulous dish! Noms! Will post the recipe here for easier reference:

Ingredients for Nonya Curry Chicken (Kari Kapitan) (serves 2-3ppl)
3 chicken legs, chopped into smaller chunks
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
1 key lime (I didn't have kaffir lime)
Salt and sugar to taste
200ml coconut milk
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs, peeled

Curry Paste
4 tbsp of chili paste (see here for the brand I use)
15 shallots, peeled
5 garlic gloves
3 stalks of lemongrass heart
1 inch fresh tumeric (careful don't get stained!)
5 candle nuts (buah keras)
1 tsp belachan paste

• To make the paste, place all the ingredients in a blender and zap it till it is smooth and creamy. You can either add a bit of water or coconut milk if it is too dry to blend.
• In a pot, heat up 2 tsp of cooking oil at medium low heat. Add in curry paste and cook it till it is aromatic. Be careful don't let it burn. 
• Add in the chicken pieces and stir to coat all the meat with the paste well. Once the meat becomes opaque, add in the potatoes and stir well.
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• Cook for another minute and add in the coconut milk. Once the mixture boils, lower the fire to simmer for another 8-10 minutes till chicken is cooked through and the potato is fork tender.
• Add in the lime juice, seasoning and hard boiled eggs the last, stir gently and serve while still hot with steam rice.Yummy!

OMG, need I say more? This is really very tasty curry guys, you have to try it yourself! Go crazy!

I am happy to submit this to this month's Malaysian Food Fest Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies.

okay folks, gotta go and cook lunch now!
Have a good one!

Ayam Percik for MFF featuring Kelantan

Hi hi again, look who's posting another curry recipe, haha! Yeah, ever since I started joining MFF, I have been cooking up delicious dishes that I would probably not even cook off from a cookbook. I really learn a lot in these few months,mainly about the Malay food culture in different states and how yummy they are. Thanks again to the organizers for hosting such a great event for all of us bloggers and readers to learn about the wonderful food in Malaysia!

My post today is Ayam Percik. After seeing Kelly and Peng posting this recipe, I was pretty much sold! My key concern is usually the gathering of the spices or root vegetables that are required in the spice mix. Since this recipe's spice mix was not too complicated, this dish was relatively easy to prepare! The only mistake I made was adding a little too much of the tamarind paste....yikes! So it was kind of on the sourish side, and I had to add a wee bit more sugar to mild it down, haha!

Ehh...why my Ayam Percik colour different from Kelly and Peng's version?! Okay...because I used ground chilli paste instead of the dried chilli! Sorry, laziness got the better of me. :P But i reckon the taste shouldn't differ too much. :P Here is the recipe for my reference and the slight change I made:

Ingredient

4 chicken drumsticks
200ml coconut milk
3 cardamoms
3 cloves
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with water

Spice paste : Blend till paste form

3 cloves garlic
1 thumb sized ginger
3 shallots
1.5 tbsp of chili paste (I used Singlong brand)1/4 cup water
1 stalk lemongrass

Method 

• Marinate chicken drumsticks with spice paste for at least 1/2 hours.
• Transfer everything into a pot or pan and pour half the coconut milk over it. Add in cardamon, cloves and lemongrass and cook over medium heat until chicken is partly cooked, for about 15mins. Season with tamarind paste, salt & sugar halfway through.
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• Take the chicken out from the pot, reserving the coconut milk mixture. Place the chicken on a baking tray and grill for 10mins.
• Meanwhile, discard the cardamom and cloves from the gravy. Add the remaining coconut milk and the starch water and simmer until thick. Adjust taste if necessary.
• Coat the chicken with some of the coconut sauce and continue to grill for another 5 mins.
• Once done, drizzle some reserved gravy over the chicken and serve with steam rice while it is still warm.

I think this is quite a delicious curry! It is amazing how the change and twist of some ingredients can result in all these different curry flavors. I truly regret not doubling this recipe!

I am very happy to submit this post to Malaysian Food Fest Kelantan Month hosted by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets.  

Have a great weekend all!

Kuzi Ayam (Kelantan Style Chicken Curry)

Yay! I am so glad I got to make a dish for MFF event earlier this time! Hate it when I had to do the mad rush all the time. Ehh...not that I am particularly free now but it was all due to Phong Hong's fabulous recipe and urged me to cook it proto, haha! After the Kay Hong dish (which I cook so often now), I knew I can trust her dishes. :) I had to hand it to her that she shares one the yummiest curries. Thanks Phong Hong! :D So this time in support of MFF event featuring Kelantan, I've made Kuzi Ayam (Kelantan Style Chicken Curry), yummy!

I actually had a hard time trying to take nicer pictures out of this curry dish, lol! I bet all bloggers have this annoying problem when it comes to brown colored food...so hard to capture a good one *sigh*. :P But I tell you the taste is so yummy...even though it is the first not spicy curry I made. I was thrilled to make it because my little ones can enjoy it together with me, haha! Plus the ingredients were not hard to gather at all. :) Here is the recipe as adapted from Phong Hong:

Ingredients for Kuzi Ayam (Serves 4-5ppl)
Dry spice powder mixture:
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp freshly grated/pounded peeled ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

800g chicken thigh and drum
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I completely omitted ghee)
250g thinly sliced onions
30g slivered almonds
80g California raisins
150ml tomato puree
50ml ketchup
200ml coconut milk
300-350ml water

1 tbsp sugar (optional: to counter off the tangy taste from the tomato)

• In a mixing bowl, marinate the chicken pieces with the chopped garlic and salt and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
• In a frying pot, add the vegetable oil and heat up at medium fire. Fry the onions till golden brown, dish up and drain on paper towels.
• Fry the slivered almonds for just a minute to get it slight golden brown. Don't over do it, or it'll char and taste bitter...not good eats. :P (I did not fry the raisins because it plums up after boiling in the curry sauce)
• Remove most of the oil leaving only 1 tsp amount. Add in the marinated chicken pieces and cook till lightly brown .
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• Add in coconut milk, water, tomato puree, ketchup and stir a while. Then add in all the ground spices and again stir to mix well.
• Add in the fried onions (which I didn't ground also), silvered almonds and raisins. Bring mixture to a boil and add in sugar and salt to taste. Reduce fire to low and simmer mixture for about 15-20 minutes till tender.

My kids really like this curry! And I was really glad the spices didn't give off a strong spice taste...really creamy with a slight tangy taste. I actually added a potato and some hard boiled eggs, haha...Sedap!

Unfortunately I didn't try to make nasi tomato as what Phong Hong as suggested...but it was still very good! :P And I am very sure I will be cooking this again ...and again! :)

I am very happy to submit this post to Malaysian Food Fest Kelantan Month hosted by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets.  

Have a great day all!

Roti Jala, MFF featuring Johor

Finally! I managed to squeeze out sometime today to make something in support for this month's MFF, featuring Johor. Must support must support...many of my blogger friends doing it, so must give face, lol! Since I was pressing for time, I chose one of the easier recipes to tackle, which is of course Roti Jala. Although I still had to cook the curry to go with it, it was still worth the effort when you dip and bite that first mouth, yummy!

Actually I had quite a lot of fun making these thin crepes...even my little one was very excited and helping me out, haha! :D It's like free form crepe making...squiggling the batter around the pan, haha! And since I did not have that special roti jala tool that helps drizzle the batter, I used my handy dandy squirt bottle, heehee..

This squirt bottle has been used mainly for my desert recipes, I am happy that it actually work beautifully with this roti jala recipe...save some $$, lol! Plus the recipe is super easy! The only troublesome part is straining the batter and scooping it into my squirt bottle. :P Here is my version of the roti jala recipe:

Roti Jala (Makes about 16 to 18)

130g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

250ml coconut milk / fresh milk

1 tsp turmeric powder

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and coconut milk together till well combined. 
• Sift in the plain flour and salt and stir well with whisk till it is completely incorporated and forms a thin batter.
• Strain the batter through a sieve to catch any lumps, but you can skip this step if you have the roti jala tool, seems like those that uses it has no problem not sieving. 
• Heat up a pan at medium low fire, and squirt batter over it...at free form! 
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• It takes only 20 to 30 seconds for one of these thin crepes to cook, so be watchful. And you do not want to over cook them as they become crispy...which I think will be hard to fold later.
• Once you see the surface starts to dry out, quick dish out. There is no need to cook the other side...I find the texture just right .
• Repeat until all the batter has been used up. Serve while still warm with curry of your choice. Yummy!

If you ever hesitate about making this, don't! This is such an easy recipe to whip up, I'm serious...not to mention the fun I had too, haha! And when you dip into that creamy, spicy curry, it is awesomeness to the max!! You can opt for a healthier version by using only fresh milk instead of coconut milk but bare in mind it will not be as fragrant.

 I love how the tumeric powder gave it it's light golden shade....and thankfully it didn't contribute much taste to it, else my little ones will be complaining, haha! And you see those yummy pumpkin chunks in my curry? Those are the bomb! It's Japanese pumpkin, slightly expensive but so sweet and smooth....so glad it went well with my chicken curry. Make sure you add some pumpkin too next time if you are a pumpkin lover like me, heehee!

Okay, I am super happy to finally submit this one post to this month's Malaysian Food Fest ( Johor Month ) hosted by Annie of Annielicious Food. Yay!!!

Have a great weekend everyone...before it's over! Cheers!