Acetes Fritters

Acetes serrulatus.. or as Malaysians call them Udang Geragau... Whenever my sight caught this mini scrumptious shrimps - i would definately 'borong' them ..if possible all.. hehe.. Just luv the taste..what more when they are fresh from the boat itself! One of my favourite ways to enjoy these fresh acetes is to make them into fritters and serve them with cucumber, fried tofu and peanut gravy.

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice flour
1/4 cup of unbleached flour
1/2 cube of anchovies stock
1tsp tumeric powder
1tbsp meat curry powder
sea salt
pepper
oil for frying






Method:
1. Clean acetes and toss them.
2. In a bowl- mix the rice flour, flour, anchovies stock, curry & tumeric powder, salt & pepper & water - make it into a batter (the consistency should be like fried banana batter consistency).
3. Heat the oil in the wok.
4. Drain excess water from the acetes and drop into the batter.
5. Scoop the batter containing acetes and deep fry them in a medium heat.
6. Fry tofu and cut into cubes. Cut cucumber into cubes.
7. The dish is served hot with peanut gravy.

.. know what.. this will definately goes well with a cuppa steaming hot coffee... bon appetite.. ;)

Fresh Pesto Shrimp Conchiglie

.. Sweet basil.. the fragrance itself would never fail to make my mouth watery.. To celebrate such good herb.. i choose to make it into pesto. This simple pesto goes well in my Shrimp Conchiglie dish today.. :)

Making the Pesto basically requires:

1 packet of sweet basil, 150gm of macadamia nuts, 1/4 cup of olive oil, sea salt.

Method:
1. In a food processor, chop macadamia nuts till fine and put in sweet basil.
2. Pour in olive oil slowly into the inlet of the food processor.
3. Blend the paste till fine.

 

Note: Normally, making pesto paste includes garlic and parmesan cheese. However, i prefer to cook the garlic and add the parmesan later when cooking the pasta.

 

~ Cooking the Pasta ~

Ingredients:

 

1 box of rice conchiglie (any pasta to yr liking) cooked el dente, 3 garlic chopped finely, a few sprigs of sweet basil, a cup of shrimps & tiger prawns, sea salt, pepper & parmesan to taste.

 

Methods:

1. In a pan, heat up olive oil & stir fry garlic in a medium heat.

2. Cook till the garlic are soft (not brown) and put in prawns, salt & pesto.

3. Stir fry the paste for awhile and add in pasta.

Mix well and add in parmesan, pepper and sweet basil.

 

~ bon appetite ~

 



Clam Chowder

They say when the moon is full- it is the best time to purchase crabs & clams. It is the time when these scrumptious creatures are meaty. I was at the market a few days ago and i saw fresh clams..remembering that it was a full moon the previous night..with the sight of the peeping clams from their shells..seemed as though they are waving at me..calling me.. come.. its time.. ;)



 

To make clam chowder, you'll need:



1kg of clams, 1 chad potato, 1/2 carrot, 1/2 Australian white onion, 1/2 celery, 1/2 packet of cooking cream, olive oil, 100gm of salted butter, frshly crushed black pepper, a few sprigs of fresh italian parsley & thyme, 1 1/2 tbs of flour, clam juice & chicken stock & salt.

Note: 1 whole yellow onion can be used as substitude for Australian White onion.

 

Method:

1. Dice potato, carrot, onion in small cubes.

2. In a pot of boiling water, put in clams in a few minutes. Once the shells begin to open slightly- toss the clams and save one cup of the juice.

3. In a medium heat pan, pour in olive oil and melt half of the butter. Add the onions and cook until transculent.

4. Add the potato & carrot and saute them till they are tender.

5. Pour in the clam juice and chicken stock and let it simmer for a few minutes.

6. Let it cool for a while - pour everything into a blender. Blend it till it becomes smooth. Put aside.

7. In a small pot, melt the remaining butter and whisk in the flour. Cook over very low heat and stir constantly till the flour becomes slightly golden.

 

 

8. Whisk in the blended ingredients constantly. Simmer for a few minutes and pour in cooking cream and stir. Add in the clams and celery.

9. Heat gently for a few minutes and sprinkle in chopped parsley and thyme as well as black pepper.

10. Serve hot with oven toasted baguette with butter.

 

 

~ bon appetit ~