Bawang Goreng dan Gula

Ni entry nak lepas perasaan. Negative energy. Don't say I did not warn you :)

Last weekend I stayed at home most of the weekend. Keluar petang Sabtu and malam Ahad saja. Biasalah, bila lama dekat rumah, banyak lah encounter dengan bibik. Bila dah banyak berjumpa, mesti adaaaaa je yang jadi.

Sabtu malam tu, after dah kenyang makan nasi ayam, and nak kemas-kemas sikit, perasan yang kat dalam peti sejuk tu ada semut. Eh, macam mana ada semut? Penuh semut dekat botol ubat demam Adam. Hmmm, buang ajelah sebab dah lama pun ubat tu. Pastu mula la belek-belek lagi barang dalam peti ais. Sekali, bila tengok belakang getahpintu fridge tu, penuh semut! So, bermulalah sesi audit peti sejuk. Masa tu dah perasan banyak barang dah tak sejuk. Telur berpelu-peluh. Menandakan perubahan suhu dalam peti tu. So, alih-alihkan barang and nampak lubang yang sepatutnya angin sejuk tu keluar macam dah di blok oleh barang-barang yang tak perlu! Barang-barang yang dah entah berapa kali dah cakap bibik tak perlu simpan dalam firdge. Contoh? Spagheti sauce yang x bukak pun lagi lid dia and botol bawang goreng! Botol tu dahla besar, isi sikit je. Dah geram dah sambil keluarkan barang sambil membebel. Masalahnya ni bukan kali pertama tegur pasal barang dalam peti sejuk. Dah banyak kali dah re-arrange kan barang2 dalam peti tu ikut category. Degil jugak. Main campak suka hati dia aje.

Tengah malam tu, turun bawah sebab rasa nak buat pavlova. Bila buka peti, rasa botol fresh milk, tak sejuk. Rasa botol jam, tak sejuk. Hati dah gundah gelana. Terus tak jadi buat pavlova dan naik atas bawak fresh milk untuk dihabiskan in case peti sejuk rosak.

Kalau peti sejuk rosak, dah barang ke berapa dah rosak sejak bibik kerja dengan kitorang. Dahlah siang tu baru beli rice cooker and iron baru untuk ganti yang dah rosak. Otak mula buat kira-kira. Barang yang dah rosak:
1. Rice cooker - Anggaran RM250-RM350 so katalah RM300.
2. Iron - RM120
3. Electric kettle - RM40
4. Washing machine - RM600 (ok, yang ni dah lama tapi still nak kira).
so, total dah dekat RM1K. Kalau fridge rosak, tambah lagi RM3k. Orang kaya pun boleh jatuh miskin macam ni.

Nasib baik bila bangun pagi, peti dah sejuk balik so hati dah kembali sejuk. Tapi malam Ahad, bila balik from Giant, nak masukkan ice-cream dekat freezer, guess what I found deeeep inside the freezer drawer. Bawang goreng! Geramnya masa tu tak terkata. Rasa nak campak je botol bawang goreng tu biar pecah. Tapi sabarkan diri. Geram sebab rasa ada usaha to outsmart me di situ. Dah kata jangan masuk dalam fridge dia masukkan dalam freezer. Urggghhh!!!

Tapi beberapa minit lepas tu, bila tanya dia eh, mana granulated sugar? (Biasanya ada dalam tuppaware sekali dengan brown sugar) Dia jawab, oh saya sudah campur dalam bekas itu (bekas yang ada casto sugar). Hati dah mendidih tapi masih boleh cakap elok-elok cuma suara lebih tegas.
"Laaaaa, kenapa kamu campur. Kan jenis lain sebab tu saya asingkan bekas lain-lain"
"Samalaa puan! Saya yang gunting plastiknya"
"Tak sama, saya yang beli, saya tahulah"
"Samaaaaa, Puan mana liat (lihat)! Saya yang gunting plastiknya. Samaaa"
"TAK SAMALAH!" masa tu dah tak tahan. Habis semua principle Dale Carnegie buang ke laut. Geram tau tak!!!!!!!!!

Memanglah gula tu sama asasnya. Kalau guna 1 teaspoon memanglah tak rasa sangat bezanya. Tapi kalau pakai 4 CUPS?! Mestilah jadi tawar or lebih manis kalau pakai gula yang salah! Even kalau tengok saiz dia though sekali pandang macam sama, boleh nampak beza dia. Bila tunjuk kat bibik suruh tengok, dia dah tak nak tengok dah.

Bukanlah masalah gula atau bawang sangat sebenarnya. Masalahnya ialah nak tunjuk pandai and tak mengaku salah! Apa salahnya, kalau dia cakap, oh, lain ke? Sorry ye. Itu aje!

Ramai yang cakap kalau dah asyik sakit hati kenapa simpan lagi? Hmmmm, dia ok dengan Adam. My friends ada yang dapat worse maid. Nak hantar nursery tak sanggup. And, kalau amik yang baru pun, entah2 lagi teruk dari ni. Yang ni at least lepas ni hopefully dah tak perlu bagitau jangan campurkan gula dalam satu bekas. Hopefully lah kan. Aduhaiiii...  Serba salah. Adakah ini masa yang sesuai untuk guna peribahasa Diluah mati emak, diludah mati bapak? Sekian pengaduan di hari Isnin.

Ayam Masorma

Missed me? :) Was not feeling well before. Yes, this is going to be another cooking entry. Looks like my blog has evolved to a cooking blog. Anyway, I really can't wait to share this so I made no effort to post another entry that is non-cooking related.

What was I so excited about? I think I have mentioned before that I am a little phobic, well, yeah alot, when it comes to.. jeng jeng jeng... cooking dishes that has coconut milk in it. That is why my cooking resolution this year is to conquer masak lemak and curry which could be the easiest dish to some of you. Anyway, last week, my colleague brought some chicken dish for lunch. It was something I had never even tasted before and it was good. It was a cross between rendang, asam pedas and masak merah?! What surprised me most was it sounded so easy to cook!

Finally, last night I managed to try the recipe. Might not be as good as my colleague's but good enough for me :) As my colleague did not have any name for the dish, my husband named it Ayam Masorma. Why? That's our secret. :D

Ingredients
3 pieces chicken thigh (halves)
4 (heap) tablespoon of chilli paste
4 (heap) spoon of blended shallots
1 glass of water (as necessary)
1 turmeric leaf
1 stalk bruised lemongrass
4 tablespoon tomato sauce
4 tablespoon coconut milk (if you are using the one in a box, about 1/4 of the box)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Methods

 

If you are using dried chillies instead of the chilli paste, blend the shallots together with the chillies and 1 glass of water. Pour the blended ingredients into the pot and mix with the chicken. Cover the pot and let it simmer.

 When the chicken is half cooked (above pic), add in:

 tomato sauce,

 coconut milk, and

 sugar and salt. If it is too dry, add in some water (compare above pics). *Mine was dry because I use pre-blended chilli paste and shallots so in total I only add in 1 glass of water.

 Then, add in bruised lemon grass and turmeric leaf (cut into small pieces). Stir for a while, lower the heat and let it simmer.

When the chicken is cooked and you can see some oil on the top layer, your Ayam Masorma is ready!

Serve it with hot rice. Nyummmmm~~~~

Nasi Ayam oh Nasi Ayam

Masa balik dari Kijal last weekend, kitorang singgah rumah my aunty. As it was almost dinner time, my darling aunty invited us for dinner. Her maid dah takde so I offered to help and at the same time belajar macam mana nak buat nasi ayam coz according to her, kalau nak cepat, dia akan masak nasi ayam.

But masa nak masak nasi ayam semalam, terlupa a few steps and bila try call aunty tak angkat lah pulak.. So I called my mom and asked how she makes her Nasi Ayam. Jadinya semalam kitorang dinner nasi ayam version campur-campur. After letak gambar kat FB ada plak yang nak tau resepi. Diorang ni dah tere memasak sebenarnya maybe just nak tengok sama ke tak dengan diorang kut.. Bagus jugak diorang ni dah tere sebab I don't know the exact ingredient amount so ni adalah resepi untuk mereka yang dah biasa di dapur sahaja ye :) (Masa mula2 masak dulu sangat tak suka resepi macam ni and semua yang ada ayat secukup rasa)

Nasi Ayam simple


Bahan-bahan
Halia
Bawang Putih
Chicken stock
Kicap Manis
Kicap Masin
Kunyit
Beras
Butter
Olive Oil (takde pun takpe)
Daun pandan
Cuka/Limau kasturi
Roman Lettuce Salad
Tomato
Telur rebus (takde pun takpe)
Garam
Gula

Cara-cara (mengikut sequence masa masak semalam)

1. Rebus ayam dengan bawang putih dan halia. Pastikan air cukup untuk masak nasi dan buat sup.
2. Bila dah menggelegak and ayam dah masak, keluarkan ayam.
3. Larutkan kunyit dengan kicap masin dan kicap manis. Kicap tu sikit dulu takpe nanti boleh tambah.
4. Perap ayam dengan #3. Tambahlah kicap secukup rasa. Kicap manis letak banyak sedap ayam jadi hitam dan lemak manis.
5. Panaskan kuali dan cairkan butter. Kalau ada olive oil boleh masukkan sikit supaya butter tu tak hangit. Tumis bawang putih dan halia sampai garing.
6. Masukkan beras yang sudah dibasuh ke dalam tumisan #5 dan goreng beras sehingga kering sikit dan butter tadi dah sebati (eh ke rata? maknanye dah evenlah mix tu)
7. Masukkan beras ke dalam rice cooker, masukkan sedikit garam (dalam 1 tsp). My aunty kata lebih pun tak apa sedap nasi tu masin-masin sikit.
8. Masukkan air rebusan ayam tadi sebanyak yang diperlukan ke dalam rice cooker. Pastikan ada lebihan untuk buat sup. Masukkan sehelai daun pandan dan boleh mula masak nasi.
9. Potong salad dan tomato dan susun ke dalam pinggan. My mom suka letak telur rebus yang dipotong nipis-nipis kat atas salad tu.
10. Tumbuk/blend cili hidup dengan sedikit gula, garam, air rebusan ayam, cuka/limau secukup rasa. Kalau x cukup pedas boleh tambah cili padi sikit.
11. Kepada yang suka makan nasi ayam dengan halia, bolehlah tumbuk/blend sedikit halia.
12. Air rebusan ayam tadi bolehlah diletak di atas dapur semula untuk buat sup. Masukkan garam, chicken stock, bawang putih dan halia secukup rasa. Kalau nak sup ni wangi, boleh juga tumis dulu bawang putih dan halia sikit kemudian tuang air rebusan ayam tadi sebelum tambah bahan-bahan perasa.
13. Panaskan minyak, dan goreng ayam yang diperap tadi. Pastikan minyak betul-betul panas supaya ayam jadi garing. Tak perlu goreng lama sebab ayam dah masak. 

Sedia untuk dihidangkan kepada keluarga tersayang :)

It took me an hour to prepare this last night. So, masak nasi ayam ni cepatlah eh? Tapi kenapa masa bujang dulu pernah masak nasi ayam dengan housmates start masak dari tengah hari dah nak buka puasa baru siap semua... Nampak sangat masa tu sangat tak ada skill multi task masa memasak langsung :)

Wordless Wednesday #2

Siri Mari Memasak: Chicken Stock/Broth using Slow Cooker

I used to stock up lots of instant finger food like sausages, burgers, nuggets, drummets, fries and so on. But a couple of months back, I realised my maid fried the chicken nuggets for Adam almost every day for him to eat with his nasi goreng or spaghetti. Even I have asked her not to do that, her answer was "tapi Adam sukaaa". That's when I decided to put a stop to it by not buying them anymore.

That doesn't mean I don't allow Adam to eat nuggets and all but at least not at home. Adam is only 2 and he doesn't know to ask for specific food yet. So before he is 5 and refuse to eat if he doesn't have fries for lunch, nuggets for tea and so on, I vowed on having healthier food at home. Because God knows what they put in our food when we dine outside. And we eat out quite often. 

I never use chicken stock in Adam's food before and though many recipe requested for chicken stock I usually omit it. Last 2 months, I made my first batch of chicken stock and lovin' it! I finally got to use the slow cooker I received as a wedding gift more than 3 years ago. My maid used the stock to make Adam's soup and I used it in all sorts of dishes. It certainly added flavour to my dishes and definitely healthier than the chicken cubes. Now we are almost out of the stock so I am making a new one and wanted to share the recipe with you.

Ingredients

5 chicken carcasses (you can buy it at the hypermarket)

5 stalks of celery, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 1/2 onion, quartered

1 sprig fresh rosemary

2 sprigs fresh parsley

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1.8 litres of water

Directions

1. Place everything in the slow cooker.

2. Cook on low setting for 10 hours.

3. Strain the broth. You can discard the vegetable. The chicken can be used in soup.

4. Keep in refrigerator for a few hours until you can see the foam of fat layer on top. Carefully scoop off the fat and you will have clear broth. Divide them into small containers and freeze them for later use. Make sure you always have a small container in the fridge for daily use. 

Easy peasy right? Cheers to a healthier home cooked meal! 

We are back!

We are back from the wonderful family trip. Great food, great weather and of course great company :) Will update once I have the pictures from my cousins.

Gong Xi Fatt Choy!

Gong Xi Fatt Choy to all Chinese celebrating the New Year.. May the rabbit brings u good health, happiness and great wealth :)

Roti Paun

If you have been to Terengganu, you might noticed the sign "Roti Paung (Terengganuspeak for Paun) Panas" almost everywhere. My favourite roti paung is sold at Shell Batu Buruk under the label Ngor Bites or something of that effect.

My guess, roti paung or paun came from the word pound. Maybe 1 batch of roti paung weighs 1 pound. Anyway, if you have tried roti paung before, you would notice that they are very soft and the structure is so simple. Even after a few days, the bread would still be soft and one would not satisfy you as they are made into small little buns.

Anyway, as you might have known, my latest hobby is trying out new recipes. Last night, I decided to try MamaFami's Roti Paun. In her blog she gave credit to Bro Rozzan and rnana. I have tried a few recipes from MamaFami before and they all turned out well. So I decided to give this a try. It might not be the best roti paun I ever tasted but it sure is one of the best :)

Here is the recipe posted in MamaFami's Blog:

ROTI PAUN
Source : rnana @ Forum Komuniti Teratak

Ingredients :

1/2 cup luke warm water
1 egg (large)
300 g flour
80 g sugar (my scale is not that accurate so I convert it to 2/5 cups*)
20 g milk powder (1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon bread softener
1/4 teaspoon (heap) bread improver
1 tablespoon margarine

Method : (using Bread Maker)

1. Pour the lukewarm water into the bread maker pan. Add in egg.
2. Add in flour, sugar, milk powder, instant dried yeast, bread softener and bread improver.
3. On the bread maker to Dough setting. (This setting will takes about 1 1/2 hour to finish it's cycle.)
4. Once the dough is just combined, add in the margarine. Let the BM continue it's process. (I added the margarine with the liquid)

the dough is ready

5. After about 1 1/2 hour, remove the dough from the pan and divide to 63g each. Make into round balls and leave to rest for 10 minutes. (my balls were about 60+grams each and I managed to get only 8 balls. To make the ball,  just pull the top skin to the bottom of the ball so it made a clear smooth top)

The size is not the same as those that has been shaped will raise while you shape the others

6. Grease a 9 x 9 inch pan with margarine and coat with a bit of flour. Remove the access flour. (I use round pan as I only got 8 balls of dough. I skipped the greasing part because I used non-stick baking tray)

7. Shape the balls again and place them in the prepared tin. (As my favourite roti paung has margarine taste at the bottom, I decided to insert some margarine in a few of the balls)

put the margarine at the bottom of the dough

then you pull the dough from top to hide the margarine 

Wrap the tin and let the dough prove again. In my case, I left it for more than 2 hours. (I left it for 2 hours 15 minutes and covered the pan with wet towel)

cover the pan with wet towel

8. When the dough is double the size, bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20 to 25 minutes. (I baked for 20 minutes)

the dough ready to be baked

as my oven's heat is not equally spread, I had to turn the pan after 10 minutes

9. Once out of the oven, brush with margarine for a shiny effect.

fresh from the oven

after the shiny effect

the bottom - the yellow part are the ones with margarine inside it

the inside texture

You can enjoy it on its own or dunk it in Nescafe/Milo. Yummy!

* Conversion Table that I use:

Gram To Volume Chart

Product	Grams Per Cup	Grams Per Ounce	Grams Per Teaspoon	Grams Per Tablespoon
Baking powder, double acting			4.6 grams
Baking soda			4.6 grams
Butter	227			14.2 grams
Buttermilk	245	30.60 grams per fl
Flour, all purpose	125
Flour, whole wheat	120	15 grams per oz	2.5 grams	7.5 grams
Gelatine, unflavored	227	28.38 grams	4.7 grams
Oil, olive	216			13.5 grams
Oil, vegetable  (liquid)	218			14 grams
Peanut butter	258
Rice, long grain, white	185
Salt, table	292
Shortening, vegetable or lard (solid)	205			12.8 grams
Sugar, brown	220		4.6 grams
Sugar, granulated	200		4.2 grams
Sugar, powdered (unsifted)	120		2.5 grams	8 grams
Vanilla Extract	208		4.2 grams	13 grams
Water	237	29.57 grams
Yeast, bakers, dry active	224	28.00 grams

Chinese New Year

Holiday mood is definitely ON! No mood to work and most of my customers are already on leave hence two entries for today.

The first time my father's siblings organized a family getaway was in 2009. As it was a last minute decision, my aunty finally managed to book a few villas at Swiss Villas, Lumut. I was told they have yet to launch the villas then so we were the first occupants to some of the villas. Most of my aunties, uncles and cousins joined the trip. Adam and my cousin's daughter, Arisya were the only babies then. As most of my uncles are avid golfer, it was definitely a golf trip for them. My hubby joined them and caught the golf bug since. For the rest of us, the days were spent at the beach, spa and catching up with each other. I really enjoyed it.

having fun at the beach

some of us after dinner

almost 4 months Adam's first trip

In 2010, my uncles and aunties requested for another trip. My cousin Jihana, did a great job in organizing the trip. And for the first time, the 2nd generation (those that has started working) SALEZA* paid for ourselves. That made the trip more meaningful as we took charge to make sure we get the service we paid for. This time we had 3 babies from the 3rd generation including Adam. We took a bus to Kuala Perlis on the eve of Chinese New Year and then took a ferry to Langkawi. Though the travel agent sucks, we made sure we enjoyed ourselves. We stayed at Bella Vista, Langkawi. The highlight of the trip was the boat trip and annual dinner. The theme for the dinner was "roaring 60s". It was fun to see my uncles and cousins performed during the dinner. Such a great trip overall.

this was fun! the water was so clear

my father and uncles performing with the girls as backup

the boys performing with the uncles as backup

1 year 4 months Adam

Tomorrow, we will be heading to the 3rd SALEZA annual trip and this year it will be in..

Happy Chinese New Year! Enjoy your long weekend! I'm sure I would enjoy mine :)

*SALEZA is actually the name of my late grandparents's house and it is a combination of their name. Wan Salleh and Zainah. We refer to our parents as the 1st Generation and us cuzzies as the 2nd Generation. Adam and the rest of his second cousins are SALEZA 3rd Generation :)

Chinese Arrowhead

Have you seen this in the hypermarket before (or whichever place you buy your groceries)?

chinese arrowheads

Chinese arrowhead or sengkuang cina or chi gu (ciku) or nga gu (ngaku) can be found in our marketplace about a month before Chinese New Year as that is the time they are harvested. I heard they are imported all the way from China.

Last Chinese New Year, my maid kept on asking me to buy her ciku (the way she pronounced it) as she loves it. I told her what I know ciku is a fruit and she can just pluck it from the ciku tree I have in front of my house.

yummy ciku! 

This year she asked for it again but this time, she explained that chi gu looks like onion and is only available during the month before Chinese New Year. That was when I started noticing Chinese Arrowheads being sold in most of the hypermarkets and I saw many Chinese bought boxes of them. But I still did not buy them yet. Until a few weeks ago, she followed me to the local market and showed me the Chinese Arrowheads and said "haaaa! inilah ciku! tapi saya tak suka ini. Ini besar. Saya suka yang kecil-kecil". A few days after that, I saw them in Carrefour again and decided to buy some for her.

When I gave the bag to her, she was smiling to her ears and could not stop from thanking me the whole night. The next day, when I came back from work, she proudly showed me a jar of the arrowhead chips she made. Both my son and hubby love the chips. I love it too! So, last Monday when I saw the arrowhead selling at a cheap price I bought some more. And yesterday I came home to jars of the arrowhead chips.

one of the jars

How did she do it? First, she skinned the arrowheads. Then, she sliced them (use the slicer function at your grater).

in case some of u don't know what is a slicer and a grater, the slicer is the one with the long hole 

Lastly, put the sliced arrowheads in the hot oil slice by slice (so they won't stick together). She said, you can also soak them in water with some sugar and salt then dry it before you fry them. I told her not to do that as the chips already has slight salty taste and is already good on their own.

Give it a try before they are out or you have to wait another year before you can see them again. I am sure you will love it :)