Golden Ball

It was truly a sweet surprise when I came home one day  ~ my eldest in the kitchen (she seldom in d kitchen unless i ask her to)... and what more surprises me was that in the pot of hot oil, there were 3 big balls all covered with panko. I must say ~ I was really impressed. So, waking up fresh this morning, I've asked her to teach me on making this Sushi King inspired gunkan dish ~ the golden ball.

Basically for this dish, you need:

Hard-boiled eggs

Japanese Breadcrumbs / Panko  

Plain Flour

beaten eggs for coating

Method:

1. Coat the hard-boiled eggs with beaten eggs - one egg at a time.

2. Place the egg coated hard-boiled egg into the flour and let it roll till the flour covered the egg.

** Repeat step 1 & 2 for five times (coat with beaten egg then roll into the flour then place it back into the bowl of beaten egg  coat it and roll it back into the flour) .This will make up the outer layer of the egg. This step is quite messy especially when it comes to the third, fourth and five coating onwards. By the fifth layer of egg and flour coating the oval shape of the egg has turned round. 

3. After the fifth coating of the flour, dip the ball one last time in the beaten egg.

(Note: this could be quite tricky as the flour & egg coating can be easily dis-formed.

4. Finally, place the egg coated ball into panko-filled container and roll it making sure that the ball is fully covered with panko. Repeat this step for 3 to 4 times. (quite tedious right.... huhu)

5. And.... finally, refrigerate d balls for about 30min the least before they are ready for deep frying... ;)

6. Heat the oil in the pot with medium heat and slowly place in the balls and deep fry them till golden. 

7. Once golden, scoop out the balls and let them cool before cutting them into 2. 

8. The usual filling of golden ball is finely diced crab sticks served with japanese mayonnaise.

    However, i choose to indulge myself with a bit of luxury... ;)

mix chopped english parsley, smoked salmon and creme fraiche

9. Serve the golden balls with your favourite filling. I choose to mix the egg yolk with chopped english parsley, smoked salmon and creme fraiche. 'Drizzle' japanese mayonnaise on top of the filling and sprinkle bits of seaweed as finale.. bon appetito ;)

Acar Rampai ~ Vegetables Acar

Having acar with rice is one of my favourite. My mom would always make acar whenever she cook flavoured rice like ghee rice and tomato rice or even fish biryani. .. I remembered - my mom would cook vegetable acar in a small pot and i'll be the one who keeps on going in and out from the kitchen eating it on its own like it is some kind of snack.. ;)
For those who love vegetables.. this is one of the dish that i would highly recommend it.

The ingredients:

A. The Vegetables
1 medium carrot (cut into the length of 1" thick strips)
1 medium cucumber (de-seeded and cut into the length 1" thick strips- skin in tact)
a few strands of young long beans (cut into 1" length )
3 plump green chillies (de-seeded and cut into 1" length strips)
2 red chillies (de-seeded and cut into 1" length strips)
8 - 10 shallots (cut into quarters depends on its size)
6 garlic ( julienne)
1" ginger (julienne)
1 1/2 big red onion (sliced)

B. Ingredients for stir-frying/ gravy

2 tbsp dried shrimp (fried till fragrant)
5 - 8 dried chillies (blended into a paste)
2 garlic
1 cm ginger
5 candle nuts
3 shallots
1/4 big red onion (optional)

(all the stated ingredient above is blended into fine paste)









C.
2 tbsp sesame seed (fry in oil for a few seconds and put aside)
1/2 cup of vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
salt

Let's get started!
1. Heat the oil in the wok and pour in the B ( the blended ingredients/gravy). Cook till the oil rises or what we refer to as 'pecah minyak'

2. Once the oil rises on the top, put in vinegar, sugar and salt to taste. Stir for a minute or two - then put in all the vegetables in. Make sure that the fire is in low heat.

3. Stir the vegetables for about 3 minutes and pour in the sesame seed.

The acar should be scoop out from the pot immediately to avoid overcooking the vegetables.

4. In a bowl mix well the sesame with the rest of the vegetables and the acar is ready to be served with rice. :)

Note: The vegetables should be cruncy - not cooked.

~ bon apetito ~

Steamed Lobster with Salted Egg Yolk

Hmmm.... Lobster.. my all time fav!
Whenever i think about lobster.. it would definitely remind me of Labuan. Yup ~ d island where you can get Lobsters cheaper! (well.. compared to Peninsula M'sia of course) ;)
So.. today.. let's go a bit extravaganza with the menu... :)

Ingredients:

Part A:

3" ginger
10 garlic
10 fresh shitake mushroom
(all thinly sliced)







Part B

1/2 cup Japanese Sashimi Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Fish Sauce
1/2 - 1 lemon (juice)







Part C

4 salted egg yolks - diced







Method:
1. Once cleaned, cut the lobster in d middle and flattened it ( to make it spread open)
2. Place the egg yolk in d middle evenly.

 

3. Drizzle all d sauces evenly onto all parts of the lobster.

4. Pour evenly lemon juice onto the lobster:

5. Steam the lobster for about 20 - 25 mins (depends on the size of the lobster).

The one I am using here is 750gm. 

6. In a pan, stir fry till crispy ginger, garlic and shitake mushroom separately.
7. Once, the lobster is cooked, sprinkle the crispy ginger, garlic and shitake mushroom.
8. Garnish the dish with chopped coriander leaves.

~ bon appetit ~

Sea Cat Fish Curry in Laksa Leaves with Roe

.. was browsing for fish in the market this morning when i came across a plate of fish roe and sea cat fish or ikan sembilang as the Malays refer to. My mouth watered and immediately i remembered my mom's curry. This version of curry is a bit different as it includes laksa leaves.. hmm.. a curry between normal fish curry and nyonya assam curry.
For this curry.. you'll need:

Part 1:
1 packet of Baba's Fish Curry Powder
2 tbsp dried chilli paste
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 big onion
3 shallots
2 garlic

Part 2:
1 sea cat fish
1/2 fish roe (telur ikan duri)

Part 3:
tamarind juice from 1tbsp of tamarind paste
100gm coconut cream

Part 4:
1 large tomato
a handful of laksa leaves
1/2 big onion

Method:

1. In boiling hot water, boil fish roe till it cooks.

(Note: cut the roe sacks open before boiling it)

2. Once cooked set aside.

3. In a curry pot, heat oil and stir fry the onions and garlic.

4. Once done, pour in tamarind juice.

5. Combine curry powder, chilli paste, grinded coriander seeds, cumin and black pepper into a paste.

6. Pour in the paste into the pot and let it simmer.

 7. Simmer the paste till the oil appear on the top of the paste- d sign that the paste is done.

8. Pour in coconut cream and water. Once it started boiling, put in fish roe and the cat fish.

9. When the fish is about 3/4 cooked, put in sliced big onion, tomato, salt and laksa leaves.

10. Simmer for about 10 minutes. 

Serve hot.

Goes well with sambal belacan, ulam and fried salted fish.

~ Bon Appetite ~

Beef Rendang: Rendang Tok

Rendang Tok is one of my all time favourite rendang. Originated from the Perakian Malays, this version of rendang is less spicy and requires more toasted coconut (kerisik) than the rest. Inspired by the recipe Chef Wan included in one of his recipe books - 'Sedapnya', I would like to share this delicious kids-friendly rendang to all Goodeats visitors.

To make rendang tok, the ingredients required are:

Part 1:  2 big onions, 6 shallots, 4 garlic, 4 lemon grass,
3cm ginger, 3cm galangal, 15 dry chillies (soaked), 15gm fennel powder (1 packet),
15gm cumin powder (1 packet), 2 tbs brown sugar, sea salt.

 

Part 2: 500gm meat preferably shoulder or thigh where the meat is tough.
Marinade the meat with fish sauce & brown sugar.

Part 3: 1 liter of coconut milk, 4 tbs kerisik, 2 tumeric leaves.

Method:

1. in a pan- brown marinated beef and set aside.

 

2. In a blender, blend Part 1 till fine. Then, pour into a pot filled with brown beef.
Pour in water jst enough to cover the beef. Simmer in a medium heat till the beef is 3/4 tender- if the water dries up before the beef is tender, then add in coconut milk bit by bit first.

No additional water is required anymore.

 

3. Keep on adding coconut milk till the last quarter liter and put in kerisik.

Stir till it dries up.

 

4. Julienne the tumeric leaves finely and add to the rendang.

Note: for 500gm of beef rendang- 2 big sized tumeric leaves are required.

 

5. Mix well and simmer in a slow heat till the rendang dries up.

Serve with ghee rice or ketupat.
~Bon appetite~

 

 

 

seafarer's stew

Hrmmmm... seafarer's stew??
Well.. i was about to ran out of ideas of cooking brain booster dishes recently when i came across a recipe- the fisherman soup.. looking into my freezer- i could only find three kinds of fish fillet- salmon, cod and tuna.. hrmm.. couldnt make fisherman soup- so i compromised a few ingredients and - ta daaaa... the new cousin of fisherman soup: my Seafarer's Stew.

Seafarer's stew will definately excite your tastebuds as the combo of paprika, tomatoes and olives enriched this stew.. Basically, the ingredients are:

Part 1: a tray of baked sliced yellow onion, cherry tomatoes & swiss brown mushroom (the onion,, tomatoes and mushroom are drizzled with olive oil & sea salt - then baked for 25-30 mins);

Part 2: salmon, tuna and cod fillet seasoned with paprika & sea salt, 1/4 cup of black pitted olives, 1 can of tomatoes.

Part 3: fresh oregano & sage (finely chopped)

 

Method:

 1. Fry the seasoned fish fillet wth olive oil - 1/2 cooked.

 

2. Put aside the half-cooked fish fillet, and in the same pot-

pour in Part 1 (baked tomatoes, onion & mushroom)

 

3. Cook Part 1 for about 5-8 mins in high heat- till d tomatoes liquidify

and pour in the tomatoes in can, black pitted olives and fisk stock (optional).

Simmer it for about 10 mins and pour in 1 cup of hot water.

 

4. Put in the fish fillet, fresh chopped sage & oregano.

Note: Becareful not to over stir the stew as the fish fillet esp cod may easily break into pieces.

~ bon appetite ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steamed Fish with Pickled Lettuce and Cocktail Onion

One thing i feel privileged living in Penang..particular at this side of the island is - daily fresh catch and definately steaming fish will be the best to celebrate their freshness. I like this dish as the sourish pickled lettuce and cocktail onion as well as lemon rind complement the taste of the fish.

Ingredients:

 

1 fresh golden pomfret, 2"young ginger (julienned), 10 cloves of garlic (julienned), 3 pickled lettuce, 15 - 20 pickled/cocktail onion, 4 pickled plums, fish sauce, sesame oil, pepper, sea salt.

Ingredients for garnishing: vinegared lemon rind, coriander leaves and spring onions.

 

Method:

1. clean the fish and sprinkle sparingly sea salt and pepper. (not too much of salt as we are using fish sauce as well)

Note: fish sauce is used as it gives a fragrant smell to the dish.

 

2. apply half of all the ingredients on the plate before putting the fish on the plate.

 

3. apply the rest of the ingredients on top of the fish as well as in side the fish.

4. steam on high heat for 8 - 10 mins (depends on the size of the fish)

 

while steaming the fish.... :

julienne lemon rind and soak them in a mixture of vinegar, sea salt & sugar for 10 mins and drain the excess liquid.

 

5. Once the fish is done, sprinkle the vinegared lemon rind, coriander and spring onion.

Serve hot.

 

~ Bon Appetite ~