Authentic Pandan chicken

Pandan Chicken is one of the popular Thai dish aside from the classic 'tom yam' or the 'green curry' infact i think its the most ordered dish in a Thai restaurant. this dish will get our tummy grumbling even when you are still frying it! its tasty and presentable and its sooooo fragrant that it'll arouse your palate.

Although i think that this dish has so many version to it as if as long as its wrapped in a 'pandan leaf' then it'll called pandan chicken. is that so?hmmm...i've seen ones with pandan juice in the marinade, ones that actually use soy sauce and many more variations....but i prefer the more authentic version of it.

ok this recipe was given to me by my Thai friend during my Uni days. I can't remember her full name ( i can't pernounce it either) but we called her Mai. So i'm sharing her family recipe here and she don't mind as long as i 'mention' her heheheh~

ok then...here's what you need

AUTHENTIC PANDAN CHICKEN

some chicken meat (boneless)

blended marinade:

1" of galangal / laos (lengkuas)
1/2" ginger
1/4" tumeric
2clove garlic
2-3 lemon grass
1 tsp coriander seeds/powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds/powder
salt to taste
sugar to taste (don't use too much though)

and some pandan leaves and tooth picks for wrapping

cut chicken into strips for easy folding and wrapping.
then mix all ingredients together and let it sit just for a while say about 20 minutes. you don't need to marinade for so long because the spice is rather strong so a mere 20 minutes or less would do.
then you can start wrapping the chicken into a nice little parcels then deep fry them in a med fire until done. you know when its done when you see that the pandan leaf turned almost golden and some caramelized (due to the sugar) chicken bits. then ready to serve as appertizers with thai cili dip or serve it with rice.

NOTE:
Chicken Meat: i personally think that using thigh or drumstic meat is more tasty or you can actually combine both breast and thigh meat together for that soft and hard texture. with this dish, its all about the spice. the Thais love to cook their dish with galangal/laos (lengkuas) its basically their 'must have' ingredient so you know that its one of the most important ingredient then its the lemon grass and coriander seeds with out these ingredients it would taste ......hmmm how shall i put it?...authentic? the amonunt of ingredients is on estimation but the portion of each is about that.

For you whos never tried pandan chicken, the taste is wonderfully spiced savory yet with a hint of sweetness in it due to the sugar and the pandan leafs wraps that had drawn out it essence into the chicken...thinking about this dish already makes me hungry...

homemade chicken nuggets FOR KIDS

i'm actually quite lazy today but i'm expecting my son to come home today (he's been sent away @ grandma's house due to my daughter's "suspected chicken pox" well at least according to the doctor although i'm not sure if it really is) so i have to cook. lately i don't really feel like eating rice (we asian can't live without rice so this is a BIG deal =p ) i wonder why...

anyway...even with my lazy bug, i manage to make a delightfully delicious chicken nuggets, grilled fish (althought its not my choice of fish but its all i have in the fridge sooo lazy to go to the wet market) and chicken soup. but for the purpose of this entry i'll post the nugget recipe and i shall post another for the fish recipe alright?

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NUGGETS FOR KIDS

what you need

2 large chicken breast meat - chopped finely 1 med onion - blended or use pastle & motar a dash of blackpepper (not too much coz kids usually don't like it...well at least mine doesn't) 2 clove of garlic - blended or use pastle & motar 2tbsp breadcrumbs 1/4 sprig of celery - blended or use pastle & motar salt to taste 1tsp olive oil some parmesan cheese

just mix all the ingredients together except for parmesan cheese. mix well. then mold it into any shape you like eg. round, oval, etc... then drizzle/sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and back of the nuggets we don't want to cover everything with it or it'll be too salty so just the front and back. let it rest and chill in the freezer so that it'll be eazier to handle. fry as you would with nuggets. enjoy!

NOTE:
you'd want to chop the chicken meat the old fasion way aka with your trusty knife rather than blend it. reason is so that you have some chicken texture in the nugget.

i blend the seasonings (onion, garlic,celery etc) is so that kid can enjoy without worrying about veges. its subjective you can simply finely chop them if you like.

you may add chopped carrots or some corn for variations.

the day where my little brother got married...

for my foreign readers, this is how the Malays got married...mmmm i think i've explained before that before a couple got married they need to be engaged first and there will be an engagement party with a custom of exchange gifts called 'hantaran'. the 'hantaran' rule is that the female must provide more gifts than the male and it has to be in odd numbers example 5-7 or 7-9....but for this entry i didn't have any 'hantaran' pictures (long story).

anyway during the engagement party both family will discuss about the dates for their receptions and the actual wedding day also the setting of the number of the 'hantaran' to be given during the wedding day itself. in some culture each family will recite a poem of some sort regarding the event and they will respond to each other poems but for us we skip that part and kept our event simple.

in this entry it is my brother's wife's reception reception ceremony (its the wife's side reception am i even explaining this right? tsk...anyway) it was held in dewan Felda Perdana, KL
it was a simple and sweet ceremony with 600 guests. yes yes...for you foreigners 600 people is a lot but for us malays its a fair number...we usually have 1000-3000 guests...especially when held at the comfort of our home! i think mine was almost 3000 people attended (got a pile of wedding gifts and 5 years later i still have them wrapped un open under my staircase)

in a way its like celeb's wedding huh? with lots off people attending heheheh~ but thats the culture here! and the cost is not cheap either...if you don't have a minimum of 20k-30k you can't have your reception...you can get married but not a proper reception...
anyway....heres some of the moments captured by me from my lil brother's wedding.

and now our family is finally complete....we're one BIG HAPPY FAMILY....
May Allah Bless you newly weds and be happily ever after....

Eazy Baked Salmon with thyme

one hell of a gorgeous dish!

i personally think that this is the simplest way to bake Salmon. and thyme and lemon is the perfect combination for baking salmon, they work really well. i baked these lovely salmon for our 'healthy' cook out last week but it somehow turned out not so healthy coz some of us keep asking the usual menu like gravy and adding other certain 'not so healthy ingredients.

i was in charge for the Salmon, my sister was in charge of the saute veges, my brother in law was in charge of baked Cod (which turned out execellent by the way)...my brother was responsible for the desserts (he made jello)

if was a fun family event. all of us was there ...oh did i mention that my lil brother just got married? yes he did last thursday...our side of reception is this saturday...i'll upload their pictures later in a different entry.

anyway enuf chatter, heres the BAKED SALMON recipe..

what you need:-

4 large salmon cuts
1 sprig of thyme
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
juice of a whole lemon
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp olive oil

clean the salmon meat and just rub all the ingredients evenly then sprinkle the lemon zest and let it sit just a few minutes then bake for about 12-15 minutes at 200c. you'll know that your fish is done when they became flakey but becareful not to over bake them or they'll be dry. check on them but fish usually doesnt take much time to cook.

then you may serve them as it is (like i did) or place them in a fancy serving plate.

this recipe will be even more complete if you have hollendaise sauce (is that how you spell it?)...

ok then HAPPY COOKING~

this is the saute vege my sister made

the baked cod - i have no idea what my brother in law put in it

BBQ chicken - my brother in law made, i think theres bird eye chilies, crushed garlic, honey, curry leaves and salt to taste - it was great!

this is the unhealthy part where we had homemade mash potatoes infused mayonese and garlic gravy with cream...
who can resist the gorgeous food??

and thats my children...who ate aLOT of the served FOOD...

Seafood Chowder

ok...this would probably be my rare entry with picture (since my trusty PC failed on me)...and now i am sneaking away using my husband's notebook...well of course i can't upload my whole bunch of pictures he'd notice that i'm using his notebook....yeah i know this is getting pathetic but i can't bare the fact that my blog is getting dull and dull-er every entry....i gotta do something.

i know that i'm 'banned' from using my husband's notebook hance why i'm super duper top secretly using his notebook (i feel like i'm 007 already)... ok gotta do this fast...soo... here's the recipe...for the record, this recipe is something that i come up with so its all in estimation base on what you like ^_^ so feel free to do the + and - the ingredients...

some clams - washed and briefly cook with a bit of salt then extrac the flesh
some crab meat if you have any, i use the crab filament
1 large white fish fillet, any white fish - i use haddock cut into bite size cubes
some squid rings
1/2 large potatoe - cubed
1.5 large potatoes - finely grated ( i strongly suggest you grate the potatoes directly into the cooking pot otherwise it'll turn black before you got to use it)
a dash of black pepper
2 tsp of dill
salt to taste
2c of milk
1c /250ml whipping cream
1 small carrot - cubed
1 stick celery - cut finely
1 onion - finely chopped
2 clove of garlic - finely chopped
2 slice of beef breakfast strips - finely chopped (i think idealy use bacon but this is a halal recipe sooo please be inform)
a cube of butter

=> melt butter and fry the beef strips until crispy. then discard the excess oil and add the onions, garlic, cubed potatoes, carrots and celery and fry until potatoes are almost cooked

=> then add in the milk and cream. stir gently and let it simmer under a medium-low heat.

=> then add in the greated potatoes. unlike most chowder recipes that i found, they use flour or corn starch to thicken the soup but i think using potatoes like this will do the same trick (due to its starch) and will make the soup more filling and hearty. stir gently and let it sit for a minute or two.

=> then lastly add in the seafood this way it'll give time for other ingredients to cook coz seafood cooks rather fast plus we don't want to end up with tough/crumbly seafood.

=> stir again and let it cook for another 5 minutes or so and by this time you'll find that the soup is thicken if you don't like it too think then you can add in more water or milk to adjust the thickness.

=> season your soup with salt and pepper to taste and lastly sprinkle dill and give it another stir and ready to serve!

wallah...very easy my son loves this chowder so much he kept asking for more! but remember when making a dish involving seafood, make sure that its FRESH!

*whispering* ok hope that you'll enjoy this recipe as much as my family does, and happy cooking!

bye signing off~

p/s: i know i'm being naughty right now but shhhhh~ don't tell my husband

Father's Day....

its father's day week...yeay!...(long pause) mmmm don't get me wrong i'm all into fatherhood, male parenting etc...*sighhh~* its just that i never really celebrated father's day or mother's day for that matter not because that i don't appreciate 'father and mother' its just that i personally think that they do not need a special day for that (unless it's recognized as a public holiday now that'll be something) i just think that they are special EVERYDAY and they should be treated special EVERY SINGLE DAY and not just one particular day of that year...

correct me if i'm wrong, when i observe people around me...they get really hyped about father's day / mother's day or even valentine for that matter, they panicked when they couldn't get gifts or do something special some even went to all the trouble hosting dinner party etc...but when that day's over, they went *puff* like that magic show in Vegas and things will be all quiet until the next celebration...i think you can see my point now...we should celebrate out loved ones everyday or anytime we can, i cook for my parents all the time, we'd karaoke everynow and then i spent time with them as much as i can regardless of the hows and trust me 'time spent' with them meant the world to them and they know that they are remembered and loved everyday...plus they love grandchildren...

anyway we asian or at least the Malays, we take care of our parents until the day they die. its not in our culture to send them in an old folk homes, beside its against our religion too because its like abandoning our parents leaving to the hands of strangers to take care of those who took care of us when we are sick, sad, down, or even during the happy times, they clothes us, fed us, educate us...pretty much like we are doing to our children now and one thing for sure i DON'T want my children to send me away like that just because i'm old and fussy, its simply not what i want my children to do or even thinking of doing. its just sad.

maybe its ok in the western culture but its not ok here. and i know that i seem to like blabbering right now but this all have a point. i love my parents that i celebrate them everyday and its what i want my childrent to do as well, i /we don't need that 'special' day to celebrate them for being our parents...

anyway...with all said...its just my opinion and what i believe...i don't want to spoil the 'father's day' mood...so in that spirit, if you still haven't got anything for your dad perhaps you could ask Matt from tiepedia , a guy i just know he reached me through my email and i went to his site and and my God he's a Tie freak and i mean it in a good way...so maybe just maybe a nice tie would be just the thing for your dad? and probably you can ask Matt about ties...i have a feeling that he'll know alot (probably wayyyy to0 much) about ties. just drop by at his site he even have the how tos for ties...come to think of it this site would probably benefit clueless housewives (like me) who is ultimately cluless on tieing ties ...then again i'm lucky coz my husband rarely wears a tie soooo i'm that ignorant.

and check this out http://www.tiepedia.com/tie-blog/49-crafts/155-tie-cake

happy father's day ...


p/s: this blog is getting boring isn't it? with no pictures and all....sighhhh~

Poach Egg - the EZ way - idiot proof =P

hmmm...how do i start this entry....(pause)

first of all, i just wanted to say that this entry won't have any pictures. why? its a long story but cut short, my ancient PC is getting wayyyyyyyyyyyy to old to hold any heavy files and such...either that there's some virus lurking in my pc either way i can't load the picture coz everytime i did, my pc hang until kingdom come or i shut it down but would later restart again even when i 'shut down' the damn pc. i'm no tech whiz but i'm begining to think that that pc is a piece of junk beyond repairing...its sad coz i have loads of pictures to share and all...

and sadly now i'm secretly using my husband's notebook which he kinda 'forbid me' to use coz and i quote (using a low voice) "you are queen of virus, everytime you use any PC/laptop/notebook...there's always something..." " and i need my notebook to be in a tip top shape to do my work so HANDS OFF!"

geezzz harsh much? anyway somewhere along the line its true...something always manage to slip in...the odd thing is that i only use the net when i'm looking for recipes or admiring food photographies and blogging...

...since i'm blabbering here i might as well vent this one out too...you know the other day someone from some restaurant in Kl wrote me an email asking me to write about their establishment and food and they're asking me to have a dine in experience (for FREE of course) and in return they'll give me a year worth of dine in vouchures...i was excite at first until i read further and saw the restaurant name...ok the thing is that i've been there a couple of time before and quite frankly...lets just say that writing an advertorial will be ...tricky...

i wrote them back declining the offer...politely and hope that it'll ends there. but to my suprise this person wrote back and ask me why...which kindda complicate things...at the risk of sounding stuck-up pompos (is that how you spell it?) and rude i simply told them the truth. and the truth was
1. they use wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much MSG. i mean i know restaurants uses alot of these but when you can visibly see the msg in your food, i'd say thats TOO MUCH!
2. the food is not consistant one day its good the other you feel like tossing it away..i've been there only twice but i heard a few 'talks' here and there and i can make sense of it.
3. SLOW service which is a huge NO NO...almost an hour wait? common? how hard is it to make noodle soup?
4. food portion and the price does not justify...went twice, regret twice sorry...

with all that i can't possibly put a blind eye and pretend that everything is ok...and write a bogus advertorial to my readers... i can't do that. i love my readers, i respect them and greatful that they spent time reading what i have to say, share my recipes and so on...that person was angry at first but then wrote to me again thanking me for being blunt told me that he have a 'restaurant makeover' to do and he hope that i'll come back and try the food and service there again after the 'makeover' and i was like "fuhh~" that was lucky i thought that we'll be having somekind of word war or something...but i wish him all the best

the morale of this story is that even when people/companies come and ask me to write about their products (what ever it may be), money and gifts are not priority. i too have to vet about what i'm writing about i have reputation too, i can't have my readers saying that i'm a fake or what not...heres the deal if the product is good then its good no 2 way about it and i'll be happy to write about it but if its the opposite then i'll just have to decline politely.

*On With the Poached Eggs....*

anyway....about the poach eggs....i don't know if you're like me, but i always and i mean ALWAYS having trouble poaching my eggs...they alway ended up looking like errr....soupy? they're everywhere, they would break inside the boiling water and won't stay together...plus you always get the how tos/ recipes for making poach egg with vinegar and salt which i personally think YUCK....i 'm ok with salt but vinegar??????

then one day my baby sister made this beautiful poach eggs and i was like " how the hell did you do that????" the whole egg just stays together and in shape just how poach eggs should be...
she just smile and say " just use the microwave". and i was like "huh?"

and seriously its the simplest way to make poach eggs and when you serve it no one would know the difference...(pause) well except that when using the microwave you really need to watch the time if you over cook it it'll turn rubbery...but that aside its so eazy

what you need is a microwave-able bowl, water and eggs. and just break the egg in to the water and mirowave it at high for about 1min15sec give and take and you'll have a beautiful poach egg!!
although i suggest that you poach the egg one at a time until you get the hang of it. and make sure that the eggs are fresh. No vinegar needed, but salt are optional. you can stop microwaving at anytime to check the egg, it won't effect the outcome of the egg.
once done, you can laddle it out and serve it with salt and pepper or as a side dish for an all american breakfast...

eazy huh? i know i was suprised too...and i'm sure that you'd be suprise to once you try this and see how eazy it is...argh...i just hate it that i can't post my lovely poach eggs here...what a bummer...oh well i hope that this new found trick i learnt is of help to you...