Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

Serimuka, one of my favourite Malaysian desserts! I had a craving for it last week and decided to make some. Yumm…the soft texture and sweet pandan flavour of the egg custard layer compliments the salty, coconut flavoured sticky rice layer at the bottom very well. It’s a labour intensive process to make the dessert, that’s why it’s considered a special treat ;)

The recipe can be found here. Enjoy!

What can you do with a whole chicken? How about using it for chicken rice? Chicken rice, also known as Hainanese Chicken Rice, is a popular dish in Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine. Typically, the whole chicken is prepared by boiling it in pork and chicken bone stock. The broth is then reused over and over again, and water is topped up only when necessary, to create the “master stocks.”

Here is a quick and simple way of preparing chicken rice.

Ingredients:
(A) Chicken
3 lb whole chicken
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 piece of 2-inch ginger root, sliced
1 tsp salt

(B) Rice
2 cup long grain rice, washed and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup chicken stock from (A)

(C) BBQ Pork
See recipe here

(D) Gravy
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Dash of white pepper

(E) Others
1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
Spring onion for garnishing

Directions:
1. To prepare the chicken, bring a large pot of water (enough to cover the chicken) to boil.
2. Rub chicken inside out with salt. Stuff garlic and ginger into chicken cavity.
3. Next, insert the chicken into the pot. Cook on medium high heat for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
4. Turn off the heat. Allow chicken to cool off gradually in the pot, for about 30 minutes.
5. Remove chicken from the pot. Cut it into pieces.
6. On a wok, heat up ~ 1/2 tbsp cooking oil. Fry the garlic until light brown. Pour in rice and chicken stock. Continue frying for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant.
7. Transfer rice from wok into a rice cooker. Add sufficient chicken stock from (A) to cook.
8. To prepare the gravy, mix ingredients (D) together.

Enjoy!

I wanted to prepare some tom yam fried rice for supper one night and decided to come out with a dish with seasonal theme. The colours of the season: green (broccoli), orange (carrots), yellow (eggs), and red (tomatoes).

Bon appetit!

I’ve cravings for Malaysian food from time to time. This time around, it’s the famous Seremban Siu Pau! I found the bun recipe on Kuali.com and it turned out fabulous when I tried it the last couple of times.

Yumm…yumm…yummy!

Ingredients:
(A) Meat filling
~ 1 lb chicken breast, cubes
1.5 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

(B) Water dough
200g bread flour
60g shortening
2 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
120ml water

(C) Oil dough
160 bread flour
100g shortening

(D) Egg glaze
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp evaporated milk

Directions:
1. Heat the cooking oil in wok, and saute onions until brown. Add chicken breast and all other ingredients in (A) to cook.
2. To prepare water dough, combine all ingredients (B) in a mixing bowl. Mix together until a smooth dough is formed. Cover with a damp tea towel for about 10 minutes to rest.
3. To make the oil dough, pour in bread flour in a mixing bowl. Rub in shortening gradually to form a smooth dough.
4. Divide both water and oil dough into pieces (~ 10).
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the water dough with a rolling pin. Place the oil dough in the middle and flatten it. Roll up the dough from one end to the other, in a Swiss roll style. Then, roll out the dough flat in a circular shape with the rolling pin.
6. Repeat step (5).
7. Place ~ 1.5 tbsp of meat filling at the centre of dough. Wrap and pleat into pau shape. Repeat procedure using the rest of the dough.
8. Bake in preheat oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes.
9. Remove pau from the oven and brush them with egg glaze.
10. Bake pau in the oven for another 5 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

* Yield: ~ 10 buns

These are great recipes from Allrecipes.com; pie crust and broccoli quiche. The latter was improvised for a desired texture and flavour. The pie crust is flaky and delicious, whereas the quiche itself is flavourful and cheesy.

Thanks Miles for making the wonderful pie crust. This quiche surely beats the store bought ones!

Flaky Pie Crust

Ingredients:
1 + 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3 tbsp ice water

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
2. Next, cut in shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Drizzle 2 to 3 tbsp of ice water onto the mixture. Adding more water a few drops at a time to form a dough.
4. Shape the dough into a ball. Wrap it with a plastic wrap, and let chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, and place it on a pie plate.

Broccoli Quiche

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 + 1/2 cup chopped fresh broccoli
2 medium brown mushrooms, sliced
2 medium white mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 strips bacon, microwaved and cooked
1 + 1/2 cup shredded marble cheese
4 eggs, beaten
1 + 1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp margarine, melted

Directions:
1. Saute onions and garlic in a greased pan on medium heat, until brown. Add broccoli, mushrooms, soya sauce, and black pepper into pan.
2. Cook until vegetables are soft. Let cool. Cut cooked bacon strips into pieces.
3. Pour cooked vegetables and bacon pieces into the pie crust. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, and melted margarine. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for about 35 minutes, or until centre has set.
6. Serve warm!

Meatballs can be cooked in various ways in different cultures. These cranberry meatballs can be served as an entree or alongside turkey on special occasions. A flavourful dish with sweet taste of cranberry!

Ingredients:
(A)
2 lb ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/3 cup tomato ketchup

(B)
1 can (~ 598 mls) cranberry sauce
1 bottle (544 mls) barbecue sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together ingredients (A).
2. Roll the ground beef mixture into small balls by hands. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 30 minutes.
3. In a saucepan, combine ingredients (B), mix well, and cook over low heat. Let simmer and stir until smooth.
4. Add meatballs and let simmer for 1 hour. Serve warm.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Hot pot, also known as Chinese fondue. It’s a hearty meal that can be easily prepared. How? First of all, prepare a metal pot of steaming stock and place it at the centre of the dining table. Conventionally, it’s heated on a gas stove, to keep the stock hot. Subsequently, insert uncooked food into the boiling stock to cook. There’s a wide variety of food that can be cooked, namely thin-sliced meat, meat balls, fish balls, fish cakes, shrimps, tofu, mushrooms, rice vermicelli etc. Basically, anything you’d like to be cooked!  

Personally, I prefer a pot of clear stock (chicken or pork) and a pot of hot & spicy stock. Once the stock is boiling, uncooked food is ready to go. It takes about 15 minutes to cook. Everyone sitting around the table is welcome to help themselves with the food and stock. As soon as all the food is served, more stock is added into the pot. Another round of cooking begins, as the stock boils.

The origin of Asian hot pot tradition is claimed to be in the Mongolia region. Although, some argue that it’s from the Szechuan province of China. Hot pot is best to have in the cold weather! The hot soups soothe the stomach, and spices tantalize taste buds!

 A table that was full of food….

 From left (clockwise): Thin-sliced beef, smoked cow tongue, and tofu.

 Meat balls, fish balls, fish cakes… Yumm….

Desserts (from left to right): Triple chocolate cake, tiramisu, chocolate mousse, and strawberry cheesecake. The triple chocolate cake was the best!

This is a delicious sweet potato treat that I shared previously. A modified version of the onde-onde found in Malaysia, which is typically green in colour and filled with “gula melaka (a.k.a. palm sugar).”

Ingredients:
700 g sweet potato
1/3 cup + 3 tbsp white sugar
4 cup glutinous rice flour
2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Peel sweet potato and cut into small chucks. Cook them in a pot of boiling water.
2. Let boil on medium high heat for 20-30 minutes, or until tender.
3. Drain water off the pot. Mix sugar into potatoes and mash them.
4. Pour in glutinous rice flour gradually, until a pliable potato dough is formed. Use ~ 1 tbsp dough for each ball. Roll balls with both hands.
5. Drop sweet potato balls into a fresh pot of boiling water. Cook on medium high heat for about 15 minutes, or until they appear on water surface.
6. Drain water off the pot. Let cool. Roll balls on a plate of shredded coconut. Serve!

* Yield: ~ 80 pieces

Habanero pepper, the main source of spiciness for insanity wings. It’s known to be one of the spiciest chili peppers on earth! Habanero means “from Havana,” and it was brought to Yucatan Peninsula from Cuba.

These peppers are small, but HOT! When I said hot, they are REALLY HOT!! They can be found at various grocery stores, together with other peppers. Habanero is commonly used to prepare hot sauce.

Habanero pepper is so hot that I don’t think you want to eat it on its own. Hmm… how about habanero fried rice? If you crave for super hot & spicy food, give this a try! Not everyone can handle it, but it’s certainly worth a try. Myself? I don’t mind eating it once in a while. Having said that, there are consequences after the delicious meal; numb taste buds, burning and uncomfortable stomach etc.

Habanero peppers at the grocery store.

The deceiving habanero fried rice that looked so yummy :P

Apam balik, a sweet and crispy snack that I enjoy a lot. It can be easily spotted at Malaysian night markets (a.k.a. “pasar malam”). The combination of mouthwatering smell, crunchy pastry shell, savoury crushed peanuts, and sweet creamed corns, makes this a delicious snack!

Apam balik is a crepe-like snack, made by spinning the batter until very thin on a custom made flattened wok, and then frying it on one side till brown. It contains melted butter, sugar, crushed peanuts, and creamed corns. It’s yummy!

I got the recipe from Lily’s Wai Sek Hong and have tried it a few times. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
(A) Pastry
85g all-purpose flour
50g rice flour
15g corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
75g white sugar
150g + 1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
(B) Filling
5 tsp margarine/butter
2 + 1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 cup salted peanut, chopped
1 cup creamed corn

Directions:
1. Combine sifted all-purpose flour, rice flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, white sugar, 150g water, and vanilla extract.
3. Pour egg mixture gradually into the flour mixture, while stirring. Mix well. Refrigerate batter overnight.
4. Heat a medium-size round pan with ~ 1 tbsp cooking oil, on medium heat.
5. Add 1 tbsp water into the batter and stir well. Pour in batter while swirling the pan. Spread the batter out as thin as possible. Cook on low heat.
6. When the edge starts to turn brown, melt 1 tsp margarine/butter on the crepe (the side facing up). Remove crepe from pan.
7. Add 1/2 tsp white sugar, 1 tbsp chopped peanuts, and 3 tbsp creamed corn on the melted margarine/butter.
8. Fold crepe into half. Apam balik is ready to be served!
9. Continue cooking with the rest of batter.

* Yield: 5 pieces

Craving for some spicy food? How does a bowl of hot & spicy curry laksa sound? My curry laksa story begins with a sachet of curry laksa paste from Malaysia; and I’ve been wanting to try it out since a year ago (thankfully curry paste hasn’t expired). I was hoping for someone who is willing to help preparing it. Finally, the curry laksa topic was brought up by my roommate (who is also a great cooking buddy), and we decided to give it a try!

The instructions given to cook the curry laksa were easy. Simply add the paste into hot boiling water, then add desired ingredients (chicken, shrimps etc.) and coconut milk. Serve curry laksa with cooked yellow noodles or rice vermicelli; or better still, both! After some discussions, we agreed to prepare curry dish separately, not one but two; and serve together with curry laksa!

To ensure an authentic dish of curry laksa, we spent hours (more than 3 hours) in the kitchen. We cooked a pot of chicken curry, a pot of seafood (shrimps, scallops, and haddock fillets) curry, as well as a pot of curry laksa. 

This ultimate curry dish was served with yellow noodles and rice vermicelli, curry laksa (red curry soup), chicken curry (yellow curry), seafood curry (red curry), green beans, bean sprouts, and hard-boiled egg; garnished with mint leaves. It was as delicious as the local curry laksa in Malaysia, if not better! Three other Malaysians who tried it would agree with me too ;) 

Curry puff is a common snack in Malaysian cuisine. It’s commonly served for breakfast and during coffee break. I came up with my own recipe preparing curry puff for a potluck dinner. They were gone in minutes. Personally, I really like the flaky pastry skin ;)

Happy trying!

Ingredients:
(A) Pastry skin
3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup margarine/butter
1 cup water
3/4 tsp salt
(B) Filling
1/2 medium red onion, diced
200g chicken breast meat, small pieces
200g white potatoes
200g sweet potatoes
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water, or more

Directions:
1. To prepare pastry skin, mix flour and salt together. Cut margarine/butter into the flour mixture, while kneading. A crumbly dough should form.
2. Then, add water. Knead well and set the pastry dough aside.
3. To prepare filling, heat 1.5 tbsp oil in a saucepan. Saute red onions until light brown, add chicken into saucepan. Stir-fry chicken on medium heat.
4. When meat is almost cooked, add potatoes, sweet potatoes, and all other spices into the saucepan. Cook for 10 minutes, while stirring constantly.
5. Next, add water into the saucepan. Let simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft and tender. Let cool.
6. Take a handful of pastry dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface, to form a circular pastry skin. Place ~ 1.5 tbsp of filling in the centre of pastry skin. Flute the edge by pinching and twisting with fingers. Alternatively, use a curry puff mould (makes the preparation a lot easier).
7. Heat cooking oil in a pot. Deep fry curry puffs on medium heat, until brown on both sides (~ 15 minutes).
8. Serve hot!

* Yield: ~ 16 pieces

Pakora is a popular South Asian snack food. It can be found in Indian, Punjabi, and Pakistani cuisine. It’s flavourful and easy to prepare!

Ingredients:
1 large onion, thin sliced
3 cup chickpea flour
1 tsp salt
1 + 3/4 cup water
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
~ 3 cup cooking oil

Directions:
1. Mix chickpea flour and salt together.
2. Add water into the flour mixture gradually, while stirring.
3. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and sliced onions into the batter.
4. Heat cooking oil in a wok. Place 1.5 tbsp of batter in the heated oil gently, one at a time.
5. Deep fry 5 to 6 pakoras on medium heat, for about 6 minutes or slightly brown. Deep fry for another 6 minutes on other side of pakoras, until light brown.
6. Serve!

Satay is a well-known delicacy in Southeast Asia. It can be found in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia etc. It’s served with a variety of meat, such as chicken, beef, lamb, venison, rabbit etc. Barbequed satay on charcoal fire is delicious, though some expressed health concerns about carbon residues on satay, which is thought to be carcinogenic. Hence, cucumber and red onion should go hand in hand with satay. Cucumber is known to reduce heat and inflammation, whereas onion helps to lower cholesterol level and increase blood circulation. The anti-carcinogenic properties of cucumber and onion help to reduce the risk of cancer.

Ingredients:
(A) Chicken satay
900g chicken thighs
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp lemon grass powder
1/2 tsp galangal powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of ground white pepper
1 tbsp oil
~ 36 bamboo skewers, presoaked in water for 30 minutes

For brushing:
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp honey

(B) Peanut sauce
1/4 medium red onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup concentrated tamarind juice
1/2 + 1/2 cup water
1 + 1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp lemon grass powder
1/2 tsp galangal powder
1 + 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp light soya sauce
1/2 tsp salt
~ 12 dried chillies

Directions (A):
1. Remove skins and bones from chicken thighs.
2. Cut thighs into strips. In a mixing bowl, marinate meat with light soya sauce, sugar and all other spices. Add 1 tbsp oil and mix well. Refrigerate marinated meat overnight.
3. Slide strips of meat onto the top half of presoaked bamboo skewers (to prevent burning).
4. Prepare a tray lined with greased aluminum foil. Place bamboo skewers side by side. Lightly brush satay with oil.
5. Bake satay in a preheated oven at 400 F for 12 minutes, or half-cooked.
6. Remove tray from the oven. Turn the satay around. Lightly brush them with oil. Bake satay further for 10 minutes.
7. Remove tray from the oven. Brush satay (on both sides) with honey. Bake for another 2 minutes, or until cooked.
8. Serve satay with satay sauce; red onions and cucumbers on the side.

Directions (B):
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan. Saute red onions until light brown. Add garlic into the skillet. Fry until fragrant.
2. Add all spices, except turmeric powder into saucepan. Mix well.
3. Next, add concentrated tamarind juice, 1 cup coconut milk, and 1/2 cup water into saucepan. Add turmeric powder, dried chillies, and chopped peanuts. Stir well.
4. Let simmer (without a lid) on medium high heat for 15 minutes, or until sauce starts to dry out. Stir occasionally.
5. Add the remaining coconut milk and water, as well as peanut butter into saucepan. Let simmer on medium heat for another 10 minutes, or until sauce thickens.
6. Serve with satay.

Serimuka is one of the Malaysian desserts that I missed the most. I remembered buying it from the food stall at the market. It’s a popular dessert in Malaysia. I didn’t realize how much I missed it, until I started to crave for it… What is so special about this dessert?

This two-layer dessert with coconut flavour, is made up of salty glutinous rice layer at the bottom; and a sweet, pandan-flavoured egg custard later on top. The taste of this combination is marvelous! I really like the fact that it is not overly sweet and comes with the fragrant pandan aroma. Nonetheless, serimuka is rather filling, because of the glutinous rice layer.

I started my search on serimuka recipe and was really glad to find one on Lily’s Wai Sek Hong. I’ve tried the recipe a few times but haven’t had the opportunity to take some good shots of the dessert. I made some serimuka recently for a potluck. Everyone loved it, even non-Malaysians! Hope you’d enjoy it too!

Ingredients:
(A) Glutinous rice layer
300g glutinous rice
180ml coconut milk
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
(B) Egg custard layer
3 eggs, lightly beaten
150g icing sugar
350ml coconut milk
1/2 tsp pandan paste
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp all-purpose flour, sieved
4 tbsp rice flour, sieved

Directions:
1. Wash and soak the glutinous rice overnight (or at least 3-4 hours).
2. Drain water. Steam the rice in a round tray on high heat, for 20 minutes to soften.
3. Turn off the heat. Mix together coconut milk, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Fluff up the rice with a fork. Pour the coconut mixture into the rice. Mix well. Steam rice on high heat for another 20 minutes, or until cooked.
4. Press hard on the cooked rice with a spatula. Make sure the rice layer is evenly laid in the tray.
5. Next, mix together eggs, icing sugar, coconut milk, pandan paste, and salt. Mix well.
6. Gradually pour in the sieved all-purpose flour and rice flour into the egg mixture. After it’s well mixed, strain the mixture. Heat the mixture on high in a microwave, one minute at a time, until a slightly thick mixture is formed.
7. Pour half of the egg mixture on top of the rice layer. Steam on medium high heat for 20 minutes, or until it’s half-cooked. Poke holes with a fork on the custard layer.
8. Subsequently, pour in the rest of the egg mixture. Steam on medium high heat for another 20 minutes, or until it’s cooked.
9. Let cool. Cut serimuka into pieces and serve!