Nasi Goreng Paprik Ayam | Chicken Paprik Fried Rice

Nasi Goreng Paprik Ayam | Chicken Paprik Fried Rice

   December 04, 2020       Lyn Alina

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Nasi goreng is a great option to finish your leftover rice, and the textures become much better after you refrigerate your leftover rice overnight.

Nasi goreng paprik or known as Paprik fried rice is my favorite nasi goreng of all other types of nasi goreng.

I love nasi goreng paprik ever since I was adolescent, and I used to order nasi goreng paprik ayam almost everyday when I was studying in college and I was never get bored to eat nasi goreng paprik.

What makes nasi goreng paprik special than other nasi goreng is it has thick, spicy and savory paprik gravy to be eaten with nasi goreng which is usually fried with using dried red chili paste, crushed garlic, veggies and seasonings.

If you're curious to know where does nasi goreng paprik originates from, based on my reading, the word Pad prik is a Thai phrase where "pad" means stir fry, whereas "prik" means chili.

But the nasi goreng paprik itself originates from Malaysia which has the flavors of Thai cuisine.

We have seafood paprik, beef paprik, chicken paprik and a mix of seafood and meat paprik here.

Vegan can opt for vegetables paprik.

To make paprik, you'll need kaffir lime leaves, the meat/seafood/veggies, chili sauce, oyster sauce and tomato ketchup.

You can add bruised lemongrass if you have any, it'll make you paprik more fragrant and citrusy.

Thai is also popular with the use of fish or squid sauce for additional seasoning to the dish, but I'm not used to add those seasonings in my cooking.

Plus, Mr Hubby does not prefer to have these ingredients added into our dishes.

Even without those two seasonings, our nasi goreng paprik is so delicious and flavorful, and if I might say, this homemade nasi goreng paprik tastes much better than the takeout nasi goreng paprik. 

With fresh meat and veggies added into your nasi goreng paprik, you won't crave to eat nasi goreng paprik outside anymore.

The good news is, you can skip a few calories by skipping the additional seasonings added into the takeout nasi goreng paprik and make healthier version of nasi goreng paprik at home instead for your loved one!

My trick to avoid extra calories into my nasi goreng is to use a non-stick wok when I cook nasi goreng.

This way, I need lesser amount of cooking oil compared to when I use non non-stick wok to fry my nasi goreng.

Popular veggies for your nasi goreng paprik are baby corns, cut in half, long beans and carrot.

You may also add capsicum to make your paprik more colorful and appetizing.

Paprik is not only delicious to be paired with fried rice, it is also delicious when enjoyed with plain rice.

The key is to always freshly prepared the paprik and make sure not to overcook the veggies, or unless the they'll no longer crispy.

So, here you are, my simple, homemade version of nasi goreng paprik.

NASI GORENG PAPRIK AYAM

Category: Ala Carte

Serving Size: 4 to 6 people

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng):

4 cups of cold rice

4 cloves of garlic - chopped

4 tablespoons of dried chili paste

2 tablespoons of chili sauce

3 bird's eye chilies - bruised (optional if you like spicy) - I didn't put

1/2 cup of mix veggies

1 red chili - sliced diagonally

1/2 chicken stock cube or 1 teaspoon of chicken stock powder

2 eggs

Salt to taste

Sugar if needed

2 to 3 tablespoons of cooking oil

Chicken Paprik:

1 piece of chicken breast - cut into chunks

3 cloves of garlic - chopped

1 lemongrass - bruised

1 onion - sliced

4 to 5 tablespoons of dried chili paste

3 kefir lime leaves

3 bird's eye chilies - bruised (optional if you like spicy) - I didn't put

2 tablespoons of oyster sauce

3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup

5 tablespoons of chili sauce

2 cups of water

1/2 carrot - julienned

3 long beans - cut into 2 inch pieces

Salt to taste

Sugar as needed

3 tablespoons of cooking oil

Garnish:

Cucumber - sliced

Salad - chopped

Tomato - sliced

Fried shallots

Green onion - chopped

Chinese celery - chopped

Fried eggs

INSTRUCTIONS

Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng):

Heat oil in a wok (I prefer to use a non-stick wok), once oil is hot, add in chopped garlic and sauté over medium high heat, until fragrant and slightly brownish.  Lower the heat to medium, add in dried chili paste and fry until the oil separates and the color is dark red.  Add in chicken stock cube/powder and chili sauce and fry until the chicken stock is completely dissolved in the spices.

Using a spatula/wooden spatula, push the spices to one side of the wok and crack in 2 eggs on the other side.  Scramble the eggs with a spatula/wooden spatula until eggs becomes lumpy.  Then, mix the eggs together with the spices. (Sorry, I forgot to snap the picture for this step).

Add in sliced red chili, bruised bird's eye chilies (if using), mix veggies and cold rice and mix well.  Fry over medium high heat for a few minutes,  stirring continuously.  Turn off the heat and season with salt and sugar if needed.  Give it a quick stir for a few seconds. 

Chicken Paprik:

Heat oil in a wok.  Once hot, add in sliced onion and chopped garlic and fry for a few seconds over medium high heat, until fragrant.  Add in dried chili paste and stir continuously until the oil separates.  Lower the heat, add in chunked chicken breast and bruised lemongrass and stir. 

Add in water, kefir lime leaves, bruised bird's eye chilies (if using), oyster sauce, tomato ketchup and chili sauce.  Stir and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until the chicken chunks are cooked through and the gravy starts to thickens.

Add in carrot and long beans and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until veggies are tender crisp.  Lastly, season with salt and sugar if needed.  Give it a quick stir and then turn off the heat.

How To Serve Nasi Goreng Paprik Ayam

To make hemisphere-shaped of fried rice on your plate, scoop fried rice in a small bowl and press with a spatula.  Then, quickly invert the bowl upside down at the center of a serving plate and remove the bowl.

Scoop a 1 to 2 ladles of chicken paprik and place at the side of the plate and then garnish with sliced cucumber, sliced tomato and/or salad.  Lastly, sprinkle with fried shallots and chopped green onion and Chinese celery.  Enjoy with fried eggs if you like.

Serve immediately!

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Mee Goreng Mamak

Mee Goreng Mamak

   October 22, 2020       Lyn Alina

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This dish makes me reminisce of my cherished memories when I was still studying in university, completing my three years undergraduate course about 10 years ago.

Back in the day, my housemates and I used to eat mee goreng mamak at Mamak stall nearby our rent house.

I was so in love with mee goreng mamak, for it's authenticity which makes it distinct from Malay style fried noodles.

Mee goreng mamak has slightly different in flavors - despite of the similarities of it's basic ingredients with the Malay style fried noodles.

Mee goreng mamak also use shallots, garlic, dried chili paste, dark soy sauce and not forgetting, the chili, tomato ketchup and oyster sauce to spice up the dish.

But what makes it different and special is - the additional of the seasonings, which are fried potato and prawn fritters (cucur udang), cut into bite sized pieces and added last after adding the noodles.

Actually, it has been a few days from my last shooting for my baking channel.

When there's too much baking ideas flooding my mind, I become indecisive.

That's why I have to temporarily distract myself from focusing on my baking projects and instead, I want to finish my writing.

Currently, I am not in the mood to bake for my shooting, because now I just prefer to sit and ponder with my thought, playing around with my wild imaginations and immerse my self in reading self help blogs. 

Only by reading, I can finally get back my alone time, to recharge and being aloof as I'm always be and away from investing my energy into pleasing other people, being an extrovert when I'm actually an introvert and thus, putting extra energy into making everyone happy.

This is also the time when I invest my energy into gaining new perspectives and indulge in positive thoughts as a way of distractions from the harsh reality of life and retreat myself into my vivid, rich inner-life which I seldom share with anybody.    

While I'm taking a "short break" from my baking project, I want to enjoy cooking delicious dishes for my little family, and one of it is to cook this scrumptious mee goreng mamak.

Nowadays, I seldom find the store bought mee goreng mamak with bite-sized pieces of cucur udang.

It seems that prawn fritters are no longer a favorite and a must have ingredient for making mee goreng mamak.

Since mee goreng mamak is one of Indian's signature dish, I added a small amount of curry powder into it, so this version of mee goreng mamak has a light curry aroma in it.

Mee goreng mamak is unlike mee goreng basah, so you don't have to add a lot of water when cooking mee goreng mamak.

The key is to always use fresh ingredients and serve immediately after cooked.

I made my prawn fritters to make my mee goreng mamak with using only dried shrimps, which I pound coarsely after I soaked them for a few minutes, just to soften slightly to make the grinding process easier.

Other than fried potato and prawn fritters, you'll also need to add a block or two of hard tofu, cubed and deep fried to be added into your mee goreng mamak.

This mee goreng mamak is absolutely delicious, and my whole family liked it!

I would recommend you to give this recipe a try if you want to taste homemade version of mee goreng mamak.

Furthermore, this is the perfect time to improve our cooking skills at home, since we have yet to free from Covid-19 and now we're still under movement control order to curb the spread of this virus.

You can season your mee goreng mamak with meat and seafood of choice, such as chicken, beef, shrimp or cuttlefish if you have any.

Adding meat and seafood not only giving additional flavors to your mee goreng mamak, these ingredients will also add more textures into the dish!

So, always be limitless when it comes to cooking.

Happy cooking and good luck!

MEE GORENG MAMAK

Category: Ala Carte, Indian Cuisine

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serving : 5 to 6 people

INGREDIENTS:

PRAWN FRITTERS (CUCUR UDANG)

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 tablespoon of dried shrimps (soaked 1 minute)

Salt to taste

3/4 cup of lukewarm water

1/4 teaspoon of instant dry yeast

1 tablespoon of chopped onion

1 stalk of chives (cut into 1 inch pieces)

MEE GORENG (FRIED NOODLES)

500 grams of mee kuning (yellow noodles)

1 medium potato - cubed

2 pieces of hard tofu 

Fritters

2 tablespoons of chili sauce

2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

3 tablespoons of dark soy sauce

1/2 cup of water

3 stalks of chives - cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tomato - chunked

1/4 carrot - julienned

10 pieces of fish balls - halved

2 cabbage leaves - cut into bite size pieces

2 eggs

2 to 3 shallots*

2 cloves of garlic*

1 clove of garlic - crushed

4 tablespoons of dried red chili paste

1/2 tablespoon of meat curry powder

1 teaspoon of chicken stock powder (optional)

3 tablespoons of cooking oil

Salt if needed

GARNISH:

Limes

Cucumber - sliced

Chinese celery - chopped

Green onions - chopped

Red chilies - sliced

Salad - chopped

Fried shallots

INSTRUCTIONS

PRAWN FRITTERS (CUCUR UDANG)

In a medium bowl, add in flour, salt and dry yeast.  Stir together with a spoon or spatula.

Coarsely pound or grind soaked dried shrimp and add into the flour mixture.

Slowly add water while mixing to make fritter batter which is not too thick or too thin.  Adjust water amount accordingly until you get the right consistency.

Lastly, add in chopped onion and chives cut into 2 inch pieces and mix well.  

Cover the bowl and allow the batter for 15 minutes rest in a warm area to activate the yeasts before deep frying.

Heat oil in a pan.  Once oil is hot enough, spoon the batter into it and fry until the fritter is light brown on all sides.  Do not overcrowd the pan for easier flipping process and to ensure the fritters are cooked through.

Place the fritters on a colander and let it cool before cutting into bite size pieces.

MEE GORENG MAMAK

Using the same oil, fry hard tofu until brown on every sides.  Cut the fried tofu into cubes once it is cool.

Fry cubed potato until light brown.  Set aside.

Blend or pound ingredients marked with * (shallots and garlic) to make onion paste. Set aside.

Heat about 3 to 4 tablespoons of oil in a wok or pan.  Once hot, add in crushed garlic and stir fry over medium high heat until fragrant and slightly charred. 

Then, add dried chili paste and fry for a few seconds, then add in pounded/blended spices and stir fry until fragrant and the color turns darker.  At this point, you'll also begin to see oil is separating (pecah minyak).

Add half tablespoon of meat curry powder and stir.

Add in water, dark soy sauce, chili sauce, oyster sauce, chicken stock powder and tomato ketchup.  Stir and simmer until the gravy starts bubbling.

Scrape the gravy to one side of the pan with a spatula, then crack in 2 eggs.  Stir the eggs quickly until they're partially harden and lumpy.  Incorporate the eggs with the gravy.  

Add in fried tofu, fish balls and carrot.  Cook for a few minutes until carrot pieces are tender crisp.

Add in yellow noodles, together with chopped cabbage, fried potato and fritters. Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.

Lastly, add in chives pieces and tomato, stir for a few seconds, just until combined.

Turn off the heat and season with salt.

Serve immediately with sliced cucumber, limes, salad, chopped Chinese celery, chopped green onion, sliced red chilies and fried shallots.  Enjoy!

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Paprik Ayam Mudah/ Chicken Paprik Recipe

Paprik Ayam Mudah/ Chicken Paprik Recipe

   February 23, 2020       Lyn Alina

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Presenting another favorite chicken menu from both of us - Chicken Paprik, or Paprik Ayam.
For those who're not familiar with the word "paprik," it is a chicken dish cooked with chili paste combined with three different types of sauce to make the gravy - chili, ketchup and oyster sauce.
It is added with Kaffir lime leaves and bruised lemongrass to gives blissful aroma to the dish.

The gravy is tangy, sweet and spicy, especially when you add bird's eye chilies into it.
Paprik can be seasoned not only with chicken as the main ingredient.
You may also cook your paprik with seafood like shrimp and squid, beef or if you're a vegan, just fill the paprik gravy with colorful vegetables.

This is absolutely one of Mr Hubby's favorite dish for his lunch box.
It is easy to cook and stay impressive when its gone cold.
One thing I like about the dish is, it is a all-in-one.
Meat, seafood and vegetables are cook in one dish.
A number of vegetables, like cauliflower, broccoli, long beans, carrots and baby corns are good options for your paprik dish.
The addition of vegetables gives it a different twist and variety of texture.

Preparing lunch box can sometimes be a frenzy task, especially when cooking is done without proper planning.
Honestly, I can't function without first planning my schedule of the day.
But my way of planning is a bit fascinating, like how my hubby's describe - it's all mapped in my head, with absolutely no paper and pen.
He once said, my head is like a hard disk and having a lot of antennas, everything is carefully recorded, mapped, observed and planned.
All the "why," "how," "what," are there in my head. 😆
One can lost his way when entering my head, unlike his head, it's a ample and only straight ways.
But, too much planning doesn't brings any good, you'll become indecisive when you have a lot of alternatives in front of you.
This happens to me frequently, even when it's just preparing a breakfast.
A lot of times, I struggle to make decision on what to prepare when I have more than three dish choices that pop into my head.
And my hubby usually will gives me a non-helpful response- " just prepare anything."  Hmm..
So, paprik becomes my final option, after spending the whole night before to decide on his lunch box's menu.

Some people prefer to add more chili sauce and ketchup in their paprik, but I prefer to add more chili paste, with moderate amount of the sauces.
You may add fish or cuttlefish sauce and soy sauce to your paprik for more flavor and to darken the paprik gravy.
For the chicken, you can use chicken breasts, cubed or chicken parts with dark meat like drumstick and thigh.

The deliciousness of this chicken paprik lies in the brand of the sauces you're using.
Different brand has a distinct taste.
I've been using Life brand for both my chili sauce and ketchup.
It's thicker in concentration with rich in taste especially the ketchup in my opinion.

The good news about the dish is, you can make ahead the chicken paprik to be kept frozen until ready to be consumed.
Leave behind all the veges if you intent to meal prep your chicken paprik, and only add them when your reheat the paprik.

PAPRIK AYAM MUDAH

CHICKEN PAPRIK RECIPE

Cuisine : Malay, Thai

Serve: 5-6

Ingredients:

1/3 chicken or 4 pieces of chicken

1/4 cauliflower head - cut into bite-sized florets

1/2 carrot -  cut into thick sticks

1/2 packet (5 pieces of baby corn) - cut into two or four

A handful of long beans - cut into 2 inch long pieces (I omitted to include this)

1 Holland onion - sliced

1 cup of water

5 tablespoons of chili sauce

4 tablespoons of ketchup

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

4 Kaffir lime leaves

1 lemongrass - bruised

5 bird's eye chilies - crushed

4 tablespoons of dried chili paste

3 cloves of garlic - chopped

Sat to taste

Sugar to taste

3 tablespoons of cooking oil

Methods:

Prepare the chicken first by cutting into smaller pieces.  Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok.  Stir fry chopped garlic with lemon grass until fragrant.  Then, add in the dried chili paste and cook until the oil is separating and the color turned dark red.

Add in chicken pieces, ketchup, chili sauce, oyster sauce, Kaffir lime leaves and water.  Season with sugar and salt.  Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked over medium heat, about 10 minutes.

Add in the vegetables, crushed bird's eye chilies and sliced onion and cook for another few minutes, until tender and crisp.  Do not overcook as the vegetables will get mushy.  At this point, taste your paprik gravy, add more salt and sugar if needed.

Serve hot with warm rice.

#NOTES#


Dried chili paste can be self made.  Wash the dried chilies and cut into two to three pieces, remove the seeds to reduce it's spiciness and boil the dried chilies vigorously until the pungent spicy smell from the chilies is emitted.  Strain the cooked chilies in a colander into a blender.  Add a dash of salt and water, enough to help the blender pureed the chilies and blend until smooth textured.  Transfer the dried chili paste in an air tight container and refrigerated until ready to use.

If you prefer dry version of chicken paprik, do not add too much water into the paprik gravy.  Alternatively, you may stir frying the chicken pieces first until charred, set aside and then followed by preparing the gravy, once the gravy is thickened, add in the stir fried chicken pieces, along with the vegetables and stir fry for another few minutes until the chicken and the vegetables are tender.

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Mee Kari Kerang/ Malaysian Curry Noodles

Mee Kari Kerang/ Malaysian Curry Noodles

   February 21, 2020       Lyn Alina

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Curry noodles is a popular dish.
It is a signature dish especially among Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean.
Japanese has their famous udon curry, which taste slightly different, mild and sweeter.
Here in Malaysia we have a few variations of curry noodles, or mee kari - we have cockles curry noodles (mee kari kerang), seafood curry noodles - with shrimps and squids, beef, chicken and fish curry noodles.
The curry noodles have similar method in the preparation of the gravy, but the taste will vary according to whether you are using chicken, beef, fish, cockles or seafood.
AND...the best thing is, there's no fix rules in making curry noodles, and you're free to mix and match the meat options to suit your preferences.

Since seafood is not regular at our home, usually my version of curry noodles use chicken as the main ingredient.
Chicken is a versatile seasoning, and it is suitable for almost with any kind of dishes, so..chicken is a must have ingredient available in my freezer.

I have googled curry noodles recipes - some of the recipes are using empat sekawan (cinnamons, star anises, cardamoms and cloves) while some of the Nyonya's versions of curry noodles has fish and soy sauce added into it.
For me, what makes the gravy of curry noodles special and different with the regular curry that we prepared to be paired with bread and rice is the usage of lemongrass and galangal.
While adding lemongrass and galangal added more flavor in regular curry, however, there two ingredients are not necessarily be added since regular curry is already scrumptiously flavored with curry paste, onion, ginger, garlic, coconut milk, curry leaves, and not forgetting - the empat sekawan.
So, if you're a fan of curry, it's worth to try and experimenting to make the best curry noodles gravy that suits your taste.

I learned to cook local dishes such as curry noodles, mee rebus (a noodles dish with sweet potato gravy), laksa Johor and the popular mee bandung Muar from my mum.
She is expert in preparing these dishes especially when she was young.
Half of my cooking skills I got it from my mum.

I made curry noodles yesterday, and usually, I 'll cook in a larger portions to be eaten until the next day.
Some dishes, like rendang, curry, asam pedas and laksa gravy - they taste better the next day after reheated.
The proteins in meat are be broken down into smaller molecules will enhance the flavor of the dish and the spices from onion, garlic, ginger and curry powder will make the dishes more savory and well-rounded with flavors when reheated.

Another ingredients you need to consider adding to your curry noodles are fish balls, fish cakes and tofu puff.
Every time when I decided to cook curry noodles, I will make sure I have these three ingredients at home.
It's not a necessity, but adding fish balls, fish cakes and tofu puff will really makes a difference.
It's like the make up of the dish that will make your curry noodles more appetizing and flavorful.

If you're using shrimps to make the noodle's gravy, you can use the the head and the shrimp's shells to prepare the shrimp broth (or stock).
 My easiest way to make plain shrimp broth is to cook the shells with water and when the mixture is boiled, lower the heat and allow it to simmer for another few minutes.
Strain the mixture to remove the shells into a clean container.
It can lasts up to 3 days when refrigerated.
Alternatively, you can also prepare beef stock by simmering the bones (with some scraps of meat attached to the bones) to extract its flavor.
Additional onion, garlic, celery and carrot may also be added to prepare the both the shrimp and beef stock.

To remain its authenticity, I used yellow noodles, parboiled until tender (not mushy) and strained to remove excess the water to be eaten with the noodle's gravy.
I know yellow noodles may cause stomach boating and cramp to some people as it does contains lye water for alkalisation of the noodles that gives its chewy texture and yellowish color.
I sometimes develop these symptoms since I have a sensitive stomach.
So, the other options you can enjoy your curry noodles are to substitute the yellow noodles with bee hoon (rice vermicelli), kuew teow (flat rice noodles) or egg noodles.

MEE KARI KERANG

(MALAYSIAN CURRY NOODLES)

Cuisine : Malaysia, Nyonya, Singapore, Indonesia

Serve : 7-8

Ingredients for making the noodle's gravy (*not in picture : tofu puff)

Ingredients:

1/3 chicken - cut into small parts

1 cup of cooked, unshelled cockles - optional

1 lemongrass - bruised

4cm of galangal - bruised

150 ml or 3/4 cup of coconut cream

1 1/5 liter of water

5 tablespoons of meat curry powder (mix with 1/3 cup of water to make curry paste)

3 tablespoons of chili paste - optional

1 cube of chicken stock or 1 tablespoon of chicken stock powder - optional

1 small packet of fish balls (I used 10 large fish balls)

1 small packet of fried fish balls - optional

2 sticks (or more) of fish cakes

1 small packet of tofu puff - cut into 4

Approximately 5 tablespoons or 1/4 cup of cooking oil

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

 Ingredients (to blend):

6 shallots (or more if you're using the smaller size)

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 inch of ginger

Garnish:

1 to 2 packets of 500 grams of yellow noodles

Fried hard tofu - sliced

Hard-boiled eggs

Chinese celery - chopped

Fried shallot

Spicy  chili paste

Methods:

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Stir fry the blended mixture and chili paste until fragrant.  Then, add in curry paste and cook until the oil separates and the mixture turned dark orange.
2. Pour in water, add chicken parts, bruised lemongrass and galangal, chicken stock cube/powder and season with sugar and salt.  Bring the mixture to boil.
3. Add in fish balls, fish cakes, fried fish balls, tofu puff and cockles (if using).  Remove the fish balls, fish cakes and fried fish balls with a tong once they float on the gravy's surface.
4. Pour in the coconut cream, lower the heat and allow it to simmer until the gravy is slightly thickened.
5. In another pot, bring water to boil over medium heat.  Add a teaspoon of salt and add noodles.  Stir noodles from the bottom from time to time and cook until barely done.  Take note not to cook the noodles until mushy.  Drain parboiled noodles in a colander and rinse at once under running water to remove excess starch.  Place the noodles in a large container or plate and set aside until needed.

To Prepare The Spicy Chili Paste

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons (or more) of chili paste

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

Cooking oil

Instructions:

Heat oil in a pan or saucepan, fry chili paste, add sugar and salt and cook until the oil is separating and the mixture turned dark red.

To Assemble Curry Noodles:

Place a portion of parboiled noodles in a serving bowl, pour in the gravy and garnish with sliced fried tofu, sliced fish cakes, fish balls, hard-boiled egg cut into half and sprinkle with chopped Chinese celery and fried shallot.

Serve immediately with spicy chili paste.

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Siakap Fish Kuew Teow Soup

Siakap Fish Kuew Teow Soup

   August 22, 2019       Lyn Alina

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I know how you weird and surprise you might feel when you heard the name of this dish.
It's completely come to no surprise if you hadn't come across the name of the dish before.
Normally, kuew teow soup is made of chicken, seafoods or beef.
This comfort food when prepared with those ingredients, added with anchovies, the taste of the soup is better enhanced too.
So, this version of kuew teow soup, cooked with siakap fish should be a kind that cannot be found elsewhere.

I have to admit that it was my first trial making kuew teow soup with siakap fish as the main condiment.
My original plan was to prepare siakap fish soup for our dinner last night.
While preparing to cook, my endless desire to create-and-modify dish and my way of cooking brought me to make something different that I've never made before.
It was the consequences of my super active right brain activity that constantly encourage my artistic creativity to be channeled through cooking.
It is not uncommon for me to suddenly change my cooking plan whenever my creativity is activated. 😉
This is how the dish is created.

In many restaurants exclusively serve Chinese or Penang cuisines that I've been before, one thing I noticed is that, most of their soup dishes, whether their wanton noodle soup, kuew teow soup or yong tau foo soup, they did not add in red onion.
Unlike the common Malay soup whereby the red onion is one of the important element that must be added.
It's totally a different variation of soup based dishes from what is common to us Malay.
I genuinely like the taste the soup, it's light and flavorful despite of limited ingredients being used.
Yep I know, one of the secret ingredient is of course no other than MSG!
But still, it's different kind of soup version that is a must for me to learn since I need to adapt my hubby's food culture in my cooking.

Before this, I had once made yong tau foo soup, and that was about 2 years ago.
For the broth, I saute large onion, ginger, crushed garlic (with skin on) and anchovies (ikan bilis), then I added water, salt and chicken stock, simmering the soup slowly to let all the flavors diffuse.
Then the soup is strained, removing the particles to obtain a clear soup for my yong tau foo.
You can also try this method, I think the taste is closed to the yong tau foo soup that we normally eat in restaurants.

But for my siakap fish kuew teow soup that I made yesterday, I was still using almost similar ingredients, but I added oyster sauce.
And guess what, it was absolutely delicious and perfect!
I was so happy with the outcome of my first trial and my hubby liked it very much!
This healthy, light dish is so comforting and satisfying and I 'll certainly be making the dish again.

So, if you like to adventure and expand your creativity and add variety in your cooking style, you can try this recipe out.
Instead of siakap fish, you may use red fish.
Please do not use mackerel and any other strong fishy smell fish.
I cannot guarantee it'll turned out to be as delicious as when you use siakap or red fish.

I didn't plan to make kuew teow soup with half of my frozen siakap fish, the leftover of making steam siakap fish the other day.
I fall short of fish cakes and bean sprouts, but thankfully, I bought a small packet of fish balls during our groceries shopping recently.
Another think I like about this version of kuew teow soup is it's easy to prepare.
Sometimes, the simplest food tends to be the most comforting one, isn't it?
And it's economical too!
So, after this, you don't have to head to the hawker or restaurant to get a share of this simple yet comforting dish from now on.

Lets go through the recipe.

SIAKAP FISH KUEW TEOW SOUP

Cuisine : Chinese

Course : Ala Carte

Serve : 4

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

2 garlic cloves - crushed

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

1 1/2 liter water

1/2 chicken stock cube /1 tablespoon of chicken stock powder

1/2 anchovies stock cube / 1 tablespoon of anchovies stock powder

salt to taste

200 grams of siakap fish flesh - debone and cut into chunks

1/2 carrot - halved and sliced

1 tomato - cut into thin wedges

1 small packet of fish balls

1/2 small packet of fried fish balls - optional

2 to 3 sticks of fried fish cakes - thinly sliced

For Kuew Teow:

1 small packet (or about 400 -500 grams) of kuew teow

Water 

Salt

1 to 2 tablespoons of cooking oil

Condiments:

Bean sprouts - tails removed 

Chopped green onion

Fried garlic 

Spicy soy sauce - sliced bird eye chili add with light soy sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To prepare the kuew teow, in a pot, bring water to boil.  Add in oil and salt.  Once boil, blanch kuew teow until tender but al dente (about 2 minutes or less). Drain and transfer into individual serving bowl.
2. Heat cooking oil in a pot.  When hot, saute crushed garlic until brown.
3. Add in water, oyster sauce, chicken and anchovies stocks.  Bring to boil.
4. Add in sliced carrot, fish balls and fish cakes.  Let it simmer until carrot is soft. You can also remove the fish balls and fish cakes using slotted spoon once they float to the surface and place in the serving bowl.
5. Lastly add in siakap fish chunks and tomato wedges and cook until the fish is no longer translucent (it shouldn't takes longer than 10 minutes).

To Serve:

Together with the blanched kuew teow, fish balls and fish cake slices in the bowl to serve, sprinkle bean sprout and pour in soup.  Garnish with fried garlic and chopped green onion.  

Serve hot immediately.

If you like to add spiciness in your siakap fish kuew teow soup, enjoy it with spicy soy sauce.

#NOTE#

If you like to prepare your own chicken broth, instead of using ready made chicken stock like me, you can simmer chicken carcass with chicken feet in a large pot of water for a painstaking 10 hours or more on the gas stove until the chicken bone disintegrate and the color of the broth turns milky.

Keep the chicken broth lefover in a container and keep it frozen for future use.

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Nasi Goreng USA/ USA Fried Rice

Nasi Goreng USA/ USA Fried Rice

   August 21, 2019       Lyn Alina

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It's been quite some time since I remember I was cooking nasi goreng (fried rice).
Nasi Goreng Cina, or Chinese Style Fried Rice is the most regular nasi goreng that I prepared at home whenever we feel like eating it.
However, I won't order Nasi Goreng Cina whenever I am eating outside.
Usually I will order Nasi Goreng which included with side dishes or gravy like Nasi Goreng USA or Nasi Goreng Paprik.

Actually, I don't quite understand why is Nasi Goreng USA is being called so.
And I don't think that this nasi goreng is originated from USA due to the fact that nasi, or rice isn't their staple diet, am I right?
So, how does this nasi goreng got it's name?
Luckily, during my searching of the recipe online, I stumbled upon Iluminasi's website that explained what is nasi goreng "USA" stands for.
According to the website which I referred to, USA actually stands for Udang (Prawn), Sotong (Squid) and Ayam (Chicken).
So the original recipe of this nasi goreng should consists of all the three ingredients.

For those who aren't familiar with Nasi Goreng USA, this nasi goreng is served with a spicy gravy made of udang, sotong and ayam (supposedly), or beef and chicken and a fried egg.
Other garnishes include salad and sliced cucumber.
It is really delicious and appetizing, that you gonna love it once you give it a try.

Trust me..

It's a popular Ala Carte dish in Malaysia especially in Malay and Mamak's restaurants.
I am so in love with nasi goreng USA ever since I tasted it for the first time and due to that, I bought nasi goreng USA almost everyday in the cafeteria of my residential college when I was studying in UM back in the day.
Despite of using udang, sotong and ayam to make the spicy gravy which I can say it's no longer common in most restaurants nowadays, you can choose between daging (beef) or ayam (chicken) according to your liking.

I made nasi goreng USA for my second time yesterday to make use the rice leftover from preparing Mr Hubby's lunch box.
I used frozen Allana beef, which you know is harder and thus tooks a longer time to cook until it soft.
If you're using frozen beef like me, you need to boil the beef, cubed into small pieces with ginger and salt.
But for those who still have a lot of daging korban, making this nasi goreng for your family is a good and interesting way to finish them off.

The preparation of Nasi Goreng USA consists of three parts:

• Preparing the nasi goreng
• Preparing the spicy gravy
• Frying the eggs

I would advise to prepare the spicy gravy first, then followed by cooking the nasi goreng and frying the eggs because the latter need to be serve hot after cooked.

Nasi Goreng USA/ USA Fried Rice

Cuisine : Malay

Serve : 4

SPICY BEEF GRAVY:

300 grams of beef - sliced or cubed

1 inch of ginger - sliced

salt to taste

Water

Put all the ingredients in a pot and boil in a low heat until beef is soft and tender (if using frozen beef).

If you're using Aussie Chilled beef cube or block you can omit the above step as it is already tender and cook quickly.

3 cloves of garlic - crushed

6 tablespoons of chili paste

3/4 to 1 cup of beef broth/water

4 to 5 tablespoons of chili sauce

2 tablespoons of ketchup

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

1/2 carrot - julienne

1 tomato - cubed

1 large onion -sliced

oil for cooking

salt to taste

sugar to taste 

Heat oil in a wok and when it is hot, add in crushed garlic and saute until brown.

Then add in chili paste and fry until pecah minyak (oil splits).

Add in beef broth, beef, ketchup, osyter and chili sauce and carrot.  Cook until the gravy is slightly thicken and carrot is soft upon piercing with fork.

Lastly, add in cubed tomato, sliced onion and sprinkle sugar and salt to taste.

NASI GORENG/FRIED RICE

4 cups of cooked rice 

3 cloves of garlic - crushed

5 tablespoons of chili paste

2 tablespoons of chili sauce

1 tablespoon of ketchup

Meat & seafoods - optional

1 egg - optional

1 teaspoon of chicken stock powder or 1/2 chicken cube - optional

1/2 carrot - julienne

3 long beans - thinly sliced

salt to taste

sugar to taste

oil for cooking

Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, saute crushed garlic until brown.

Then add in chili paste and fry until pecah minyak.

Add in ketchup and chili sauce, meat and/ or seafoods (if using), chicken stock powder/cube and carrot.

When the ingredients are soft, scrape the paste towards the center then crack in egg at the side.  Scramble the egg with spatula until it cooked then incorporate with the paste.

Add in rice, long beans and mix well.

Lastly, season with salt and sugar.

FRIED EGG

4 eggs

oil for frying

You can use egg molds to make nicely shaped fried eggs by using a non-stick pan.

You need to grease your egg molds with oil.

Slosh about a teaspoon of oil and place the egg molds on it.

When hot, crack an egg and pour slowly into the egg mold and cook with a low heat.

Cover the pan with a lid if you don't like a runny, half-cooked egg like me.

GARNISH (OPTIONAL)

Salad

Sliced cucumber

Sliced tomato

Chopped celery and green onion

Fried onion

ASSEMBLING NASI GORENG USA

Scoop nasi goreng by using a small bowl onto a plate.

Lay two to three pieces of salad leaves at one side and pour spicy beef gravy on top.

Put the fried egg in middle of spicy gravy and sliced cucumber or tomato.

Sprinkle chopped celery and green onion and fried onion on top of the nasi goreng.

Enjoy!

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Kuew Teow Kung Fu Seafood Mudah

Kuew Teow Kung Fu Seafood Mudah

   July 09, 2019       Lyn Alina

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Assalamualaikum...

Dah lama tak masak menu berasaskan kuew teow ni.
Malam semalam tiba-tiba tekak ni teringin pulak nak makan kuew teow kung fu.
Dulu masa zaman study memang rajin betul beli kuew teow kung fu kat restoran depan rumah kedai yang Lyn sewa di Seksyen 13 tu.
Sedap kuew teow kung fu abang tu buat.  Hihi..
Sampai ketagih!

Kuew teow kung fu ni jangan keliru dengan kuew teow ladna.
Kuahnya hampir sama je tapi cara goreng kew teow tu yang lain sikit.
Kuew teow kung fu menggunakan telur yang digoreng bersama kuew teow sementara kuew teow ladna pulak kuew teownya digaul dengan sedikit kicap dan digoreng.
Itu je bezanya.
Jadi kalau agak-agak tak mau makan telur buat kuew teow ladna okey.

Lyn masak kuew teow kung fu untuk dinner kami malam tadi.
Memang masak lebih kuahnya untuk di carry forward untuk breakfast hubby pagi tadi.
Sebelum pergi kerja memang Lyn paksa hubby Lyn isi perut dulu.
Kemudian bawakkan snek ringan dan jugak lunch box.
Snek ringan tu boleh buat makan masa on the way balik rumah, duduk dalam kereta bila rasa boring boleh mengunyah sambil isi perut sekali sebelum sampai rumah.
Haih...bonda Lyn siap cakap lagi cara Lyn jaga suami dah macam jaga anak dah.
Hmm...ape-ape je lah asal bahagia! 😆
Nak buat macam mana dah jadik tabiat Lyn suka jaga perut keluarga, bila perut kenyang kan hati pun senang.  Hihi..
Lagipun Lyn pun pernah merasa camne bila dalam kereta on the way balik rumah perut berkeroncong lapar, tu yang bila bawak kereta ganas semacam je kat highway tu.
Bak kata pepatah, " A hungry man is an angry man."  😆😆

Sebelum ni Lyn pernah kongsikan resepi kung fu telur dadar yang menggunakan dada ayam sebagai rencah utama.
Kalau tak salah Lyn takde letak seafood dalam resepi kung fu yang pernah Lyn kongsikan sebelum ni.
Tapi kali ni memandangkan Lyn buat kuew teow kung fu seafood, maka udang dan sotong lah yang menjadi bahan rencah utama.
Sebenarnya, dalam apa jua resepi ala carte macam mee goreng ke, nasi goreng ke memang sedap kalau ada dua bahan ni - udang dan jugak sotong.
Tapi kalau agak-agak kerap sangat makan udang dan sotong ni kena limitkan yea, sebab dua seafoods ni antara yang tertinggi kandungan sodium, cholesterol dan purine.
Sebab tu la di rumah kami ni jarang-jarang beli seafoods kecuali ikan.
Lagipun kalau makan seafoods hari-hari belum sampai hujung bulan poket dah nipis pulak kang.  Huhu..

Tanpa membuang masa jom kita semak resepi kuew teow kung fu yang mudah dan sedap ni.

Kuew Teow Kung Fu Seafood Mudah

Kategori Masakan : Ala Carte

Saiz Hidangan : 5 orang

Untuk Kuew Teow:

1 bungkus kuew teow 500 gram - bahagi 5 bahagian

4 biji telur Gred A 

1 sudu teh serbuk lada sulah

1/2 sudu teh garam halus

minyak masak secukupnya

Kuew teow selepas digaul rata dengan adunan telur

Tekan sedikit menggunakan spatula tahan panas atau sudip kayu untuk meleperkan kuew teow supaya nipis.

Ni la rupenya kuew teow yang telah masak

Pecahkan telur dalam mangkuk.

Masukkan serbuk lada sulah dan garam halus.  Pukul ringan.

Di dalam mangkuk lain, ambil 1 bahagian kuew teow dan tuang adunan telur sedikit, cukup sekadar menyalut kuew teow.  Gaul rata.

Panaskan kuali non- stick dan tuang sedikit minyak.

Masukkan campuran kuew teow dan telur tadi dan goreng hingga sedikit garing.

Buat macam goreng telur dadar atau murtabak telur tu.

Angkat dan letak dalam pinggan.

Ulangi langkah untuk bahagian kuew teow yang lain.

Buat sampai habis.

Untuk Kung Fu:

20 ekor udang saiz sederhana - asingkan kepala dan kulit di bahagian badan

10 ekor sotong saiz sederhana - potong tiga dan rebus sebentar dengan sedikit air

1/2 kiub ayam

1/4 batang lobak merah - belah dua dan hiris serong

1/4 cauliflower - potong kecil

1 peket (dalam 10 batang) jagung muda- belah dua

1 liter stok udang

2 sudu besar sos tiram

2 sudu besar membukit tepung jagung - bancuh dengan air

garam secukupnya

6 batang cili padi hijau - ketuk

1 batang fish cake - hiris nipis - optional

4 ulas bawang putih - ketuk

sedikit minyak untuk menumis

Ambil kepala dan kulit udang.  Cuci bersih dan rebus dengan 1 liter air.

Tapis dan buang kulit dan kepalanya.

Panaskan minyak dalam periuk.  Tumis bawang putih hingga keperangan kemudian masukkan stok udang dan kiub ayam.  Bairkan mendidih.

Masukkan lobak merah, fish cake, sos tiram, cili padi, cauliflower, jagung muda, sotong yang dah direbus sebentar dan udang.

Perasakan dengan garam.

Bila sayur dah lembut baru masukkan bancuhan air tepung jagung.

Kacau sebentar dan boleh dihidang.

Kuah kung fu yang baru masak

Cara Menghidang:

Tuang kuah kung fu ke atas kuew teow yang dah digoreng bersama telur.

Tabur bawang goreng dan hirisan daun sup dan daun bawang.

Kalau suka boleh perahkan sedikit limau sambal.

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Kung Fu Telur Dadar Mudah & Sihat

Kung Fu Telur Dadar Mudah & Sihat

   March 15, 2019       Lyn Alina

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KUNG FU TELUR DADAR?

Pernah tak dengar menu tu?  Kalau belum pernah maknanya anda dah berjaya melayari ke laman yang betul..Hihi...

Menu ni ciptaan Lyn sendiri..Tapi tak tahu la kalau-kalau menu ni memang betul wujud.  Konsepnya serupa dengan menu kuew teow kung fu yang kita semua biasa makan di kedai makan, bezanya cuma kung fu telur dadar ni, seperti namanya hanya menggunakan telur dadar.  Berbeza dengan kuew teow kung fu yang menggunakan kuew teow yang digoreng bersama telur yang telah dikocok terlebih dahulu.

Resepi ni sangat mudah dah ringkas dengan bonus tambahan "sihat" lagi.  Kenapa Lyn cakap menu ni sihat ialah:

• Kuahnya penuh dengan sayur-sayuran mengikut pilihan
• Sangat kurang penggunaan minyak
• Rendah karbohidrat terutamanya simple carbs seperti kuew teow

Menu ni antara menu favorite Lyn tiap kali berdiet rendah karbohidrat.  Menu ni bebas dari simple carbs seperti kuew teow yang jugak merupakan makanan proses, Sumber karbohidrat adalah berasaskan sayur-sayuran sahaja.So scrambled egg kung fu atau kung fu telur dadar ni is consider as a clean eating menu dan hanya menggunakan sedikit saja bahan perasa iaitu stok ayam. Baru-baru ni masa Lyn shopping barang dapur di Giant ada la terjumpa kiub ayam jenama Knorr yang bebas MSG.  Teruja sebab nampak perkataan bebas MSG je terus Lyn beli.  Tapi memang nampak sikit perbezaannya dengan kiub ayam Knorr yang biasa tu.  Kalau yang biasa tu rasa ayam dia enhanced dan lebih kuat, al maklum la kan ada encik MSG kan.  Tapi yang bebas MSG ni rasanya ala-ala stok ayam homemade yang dibuat guna rangka ayam yang direneh lama pakai slow cooker.  Memang malas nak membuat stok ayam sendiri lebih-lebih lagi memang agak susah nak mencari rangka ayam kecuali kalau kite pergi ke kedai menjual ayam segar atau pun di pasaraya Checkers.

Penggunaan bahan-bahan untuk penyediaan kuahnya adalah tertakhluk kepada citarasa sang tukang masak ok.  Lyn macam biasa la ketulan ayam boneless yang dipotong dadu wajib ada.  Cuma malam ni seafood jer takde.  Kalau ada seafood lagi sedap kuah kung fu tu lebih-lebih lagi udang.  Memandangkan seafood takde, so Lyn ganti dengan fish balls.  Jadik la kan, asal ada sumber makanan laut walaupun fish balls ready made.

Lyn masak kung fu telur dadar ni untuk our late dinner sebab hari ni hubby Lyn bekerja shift petang.  So, pukul 9.00 PM baru keluar dari office.  Dah malam-malam ni kami tak prefer makan makanan tinggi karbohidrat sebab takut perut tak sempat nak habis digest kami dah berdengkur pulak kang!  Hahaha...lepas tu penyakit pulak yang datang...huhu..

Tanpa membuang masa jom kita tengok dulu resepinya.

Resepi Kung Fu Telur Dadar Mudah & Sihat

Bahan-bahan:

2 ulas kecil bawang putih (ketuk dan cincang halus)

1 keping dada ayam (potong dadu)

segenggam kobis bunga (potong kecil)

segenggam brokoli (potong kecil)

1/5 batang lobak merah (hiris nipis)

3 batang cili padi (ketuk)

1/2 peket kecil fish balls

700 ml air

1/2 kiub ayam

garam 

sedikit minyak untuk menumis

1 sudu besar tepung jagung (campur dengan sedikit air)

2 biji telur (untuk didadar)

Bahan tabur:

bawang goreng

hirisan daun sup

hirisan daun bawang

hirisan cili besar merah

perahan jus limau

Cara Membuat:

1. Panaskan minyak dalam wok, tumiskan bawang putih sebentar hingga keperangan dan masukkan ketulan ayam.  Tumis sebentar dan masukkan air.
2. Masukkan kiub ayam, diikuti dengan cili padi ketuk, lobak merah dan fish balls.  Reneh sebentar hingga lobak agak lembut.
3. Kemudian masukkan sayur-sayuran dan reneh hingga sayur-sayuran lembut.(Hati-hati jangan terlebih masak pulak sayur tu).
4. Akhir sekali masukkan air bancuhan tepung jagung dan perasakan dengan garam.
5. Untuk telur dadar, pecahkan telur sebiji dan kocok bersama secubit garam.  Goreng telur dengan menggunakan non-stick pan.  Ulang langkah ni untuk telur yang seterusnya.

#NOTA#

Resepi ni Lyn sediakan untuk 2 orang makan.  Macam yang Lyn cakap tadi, bahan kuah boleh sesuaikan mengikut citarasa.

Kalau suka boleh tambah 1 sudu besar sos tiram sewaktu dan masukkan air.

* tak nampak telur sebab dah terendam ke dalam 😅😅😅

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