I'm Awake: Let's Make Nasi Goreng Cina

Sometimes when you don't feel like eating but you must eat or else your meds will eat through your intestines...  Yeah...  Whatever...

I am a sucker for Nasik Goreng or Fried Rice...  My basic repertoires are:

1. Basic Butter Fried Rice (from this recipe you can make Nasi Goreng Isi Ketam)

2. Basic Chinese Fried Rice (from this recipe you can make Nasi Goreng kampung,  Nasi Goreng Belacan)

3. Black/Dark Fried Rice (from this recipe you can make Nasi Goreng Nanas)

Today we're going to make Nasik Goreng Cina... 

Ingredients

Cold Rice
3-4 large shrimp (shelled and chopped)
3-4 tbsp mixed veggie
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp oil
Pepper

Method

Heat oil.  Fry shrimp till half cooked and remove from the wok.  Using the same oil,  fry garlic till fragrant. 

Add rice and stir to coat rice with oil. Add oyster sauce and fish sauce. Stir and fry until well mixed.

Add mixed veggies and pepper. Add shrimp. Serve hot with Cili padi and teloq bergoyang...  

I'm Awake: Let's Make Rumball!

I've put on half of the weight I've lost which was half of how much I used to weight...  Confusing?  Yes.

Anyway,  I have been missing the simple things in life like driving back from work and buying them slightly sweet rumball from a bakery in Langkawi.

I don't know the exact recipe but here's my take on the sweet sweet rumball...

Ingredients :

4 chocolate muffins/3 slices of chocolate cake

1 tbsp chocolate powder

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp crushed salted peanuts/almond

1 tbsp chopped black raisins/ dried cherry

Salt to taste

Method:

Crush the muffins/cake until fine.  Add chocolate powder.  Mix well.  Add chopped peanuts and dried fruit.  Mix well.  Add honey.  Mix until well combined and salt to taste.

You can either:

A.  Knead dough into ball and coat with chocolate rice and let it sit for a day or two in a covered container in the fridge.

Or

B.  Let the dough sit in a covered container for a day or two before kneading into balls and coating the balls with chocolate rice...

Done .

I'm Awake: Let's Make Steamed Mushroom Ginger Garlic Chicken Rice

This is the "white and steamed" version of the normal claypot chicken rice. 

This is soooo yum!  I didn't put the measurement of the ingredients as I usually cook using the old "agak-agak"  measurement... I am old "pesen" ed. 

I usually use chicken breast meat or chicken wings chopped into small pieces so it will cook faster... I cook this rice in a steamer directly in the serving bowl...  I am lazy! 

Let's get cooking! 

Ingredient :

Chicken meat
Ginger
Garlic
Fish sauce
Light soya sauce
Sesame oil
White pepper
Soaked dried mushroom

Mix everything in a bowl.

Rice (washed,  Soaked,  drained)
Chicken stock
Butter

Mix together in a bowl and steam for 10 minutes.  Fluff rice so that the butter is well incorporated with rice. 

Add chicken and steam for 5-10 minutes until chicken is cooked. Serve with chopped Cili padi... 

I'm Awake : Let's Make Loh Mak Ghai

I've been craving for food I once avoided or just go 'meh'  when I see them.

For example this dish- Loh Mak Ghai. It is a simple steamed dish. Soya sauce ginger and five spice flavoured sticky rice with chicken and mushroom...  We always see this dish on the top steamer of all you can eat dimsum buffet because it is so...  MEH!

I cannot sleep last night,  due to unforeseeable interruption, so I prepared the ingredients for this instead. This recipe makes 3 plastic tapau sized portions.

Loh Mak Ghai : Rice

Ingredient :

1 1/2 cup sticky rice
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp thick soya sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce

Method :

Mix rice (washed,  soaked and drained) with everything.  Steam for 20 minutes.

Loh Mak Ghai : Chicken

2 chicken breast fillet
3 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp thick soya sauce
1 tbsp white soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon 5 spice powder

Method : mix everything and marinate for 30 mins.  Using the same pan and oil used to fry sausage,  cook until chicken changes color and remove from heat.

Loh Mak Ghai : other ingredients

2 sausages (thinly sliced + fried)
3 dried shitake mushrooms (soaked and drained)
3 scallions

Loh Mak Ghai : Putting Everything Together

In small container,  put sausage,  mushroom and chicken pieces in and fill/cover halfway with cooked sticky rice. Put in chopped scallion and some of the chicken gravy.  Cover with rice.

Steam for another 20 minutes.

I am awake: Let's Make Hainanese Chicken Rice

I still can't get over how someone said "how nice to be given such a long medical leave and stay at home"... 

Well bitch,  let's switch places!

Anyway,  today's meal is Hainanese Chicken Rice. One useful thing my mother taught me is that if something (be it an ingredient or method) is useful/contributes to the taste/texture of the dish,  then include it,  if not...  Xdak pun xpa... So let's make... Hainanese Chicken Rice!

The soup.
Ingredient

1 chicken chop (boneless chicken leg meat)
1 inch ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp soup powder
1/2 chicken cube

Method:
Put everything in a pot and let it simmer without coming to a hard boil for 15 mins.

The cold cut chicken
Method:
After simmering in soup,  take out the chicken and douse with ice cold water.

The Rice
Ingredient :
2 cups of rice (washed, soaked and drained)
1 tbsp margarine
1 cinnamon
1/2 inch ginger

Method :
On the stove,  melt margarine and put in cinnamon and ginger.  Fry till fragrant.

Add rice.  Fry until rice is transparent. Add 1 and a half cup of  chicken stock.  Stir until rice is opaque.  Transfer to the rice cooker.

The "special"  (read : cheat)  chili sauce
Ingredient :

2 tbsp Mae Phranom (Thai chili sauce)
2 tbsp chili sauce
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp white vinegar

Method
Mix everything.

Putting the Hainanese Chicken Rice together... 

Plate rice,  cut chicken and drizzle some thick soya sauce and sesame oil, garnish soup with chopped chives and the special chili sauce on the side. 

Serve with lettuce,  cucumber and tomato slices.

I Am Awake: Let's Make Nasi Putih, Ayam Goreng Bodo and Sambal Blender

Nasi putih,  Sambal Belacan,  Ayam Goreng...

This combination of simple food is what I crave with I am feeling a little bit off...

You see,  there used to be a restaurant next to my old office in Langkawi...  They serve the best Sambal belacan...  Ever!  There's still a restaurant there but with a different owner.

I always stop by to grab their Daging masak merah,  ayam/sotong goreng cili,  sup khailan udang/ayam,  kerabu sotong...  NPAGSB (That's Nasik putih,  Yamaha goreng,  sambai belacan!) Arghhhh....

Then the handsome cook (his name is Latip) got married to a rich lady in his Kampung and she didn't want him to work so he stayed in Thailand,  happily ever after.

Anyway,  enough pok pek...  Let's make...

Sambal Blender
Ingredients :
3 red chilies
8 cabai melaka (cili padi)
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp roasted shrimp paste
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lime juice

Method : blend everything together except for the red chillies.  Blend cabai merah secara berperingkat sebab xnak blend halus sgt...

Serve with steaming white rice,  fried chicken and sliced cucumber...

I Am Awake: Let's Make "Claypot" Chicken Rice in Rice Cooker

It's hard.

Went to work for a full week only to be advised by the Doctor to stay at home and rest (you don't argue with your Doctor especially when he is foreign and handsome).

I've been craving for this dish for so oooo long .  It's just that I have been served crap in a claypot before,  so might as well make this easy 1 pot dish at home... 

Anyway...  Enough of my superficial life ranting...  Let's cook: CLAYPOT CHICKEN RICE.

Ingredients:

Rice.
2 cups rice (washed,  soaked and drained)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp fish sauce/salted fish
1/2 cube chicken stock cube

Chicken + marinade.
4 chicken wings (separated,  drummets cut into 2)

2 cloves of garlic

1" ginger

3 dried shitake mushroom (soaked and sliced)

Marinade sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp thick soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 teaspoon white pepper powder

Marinate chicken with marinade sauce and mushroom for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Method. 

Heat rice cooker inner pot and melt butter.  Add rice.  Fry until rice turns opaque. Add chicken stock cube.

Sprinkle fish sauce to get that "ikan masin goreng"  smell.  Add 1 cup hot water and stir to dissolve chicken cube.  Stir.

Add another cup of hot water and transfer the pot into rice cooker. Cook till rice is halfway done.

Add chicken pieces (hold the marinade juice). When chicken is fully cooked, you can:

A.  Just pour the rest of the marinade sauce into the pot for a "no kerak" option

Or

B.  Transfer the inner pot onto the stove and pour the marinade sauce into to rice pot (buat kerak,  which is the best part of the dish). 

The kerak (burnt rice layer at the bottom)  will give the "pirated"  Claypot rice it's authentic flavor... 

Serve with chopped scallion and cabai melaka hijau...  Nyum!