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CRISPY VEGETARIAN DUCK RECIPE

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 24 - 2008
As the Nine Emperor Gods’ Birthday is nearing this coming Monday, 29 September 2008 (ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar), most of the Chinese Buddhist would undergo a 9-10 days of meatless diets. There will be many vegetarian food stalls set up all over town, especially in Penang, where the devotees would flock around the temples to welcome the return of the gods from heaven to earth. Although the buying of the food would be easy, I still prefer to cook up something on my own. One of the dishes which I love to make would be the CRISPY VEGETARIAN DUCK. It’s easy to make and yet delicious enough to be shared on the dining table. Let me share with you the traditional recipe that has been in my family for generations.

VEGETARIANDUCK01

INGREDIENTS (Make 6 pieces)
6 sheets of dried tofu skin (31” x 23”)
3 pieces of red fermented beancurd (ang tao joo)
1½ glass water (450ml)
1½ Porcelain spoon fine sugar
1½ Porcelain spoon corn flour
1½ teaspoon sesame oil
¾ teaspoon Five Spice Powder
2 teaspoon pepper
3 Porcelain spoon soy sauce
100gms sesame seed (slightly fry roast to golden brown in wok without oil)

OPTIONAL
6 medium Chinese Mushrooms (Soak, sliced and marinate with some ginger juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and pinch of sugar)

PREPARATION
1. Take a large bowl, mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Add in the roasted sesame seed last.
2. Place the tofu skin on a large tray or a clean table top length wise.
3. Dampen the right half of the skin (approximately a small ladle full or less depending on your ladle size) and fold into two fron left to right (as per diagram below – click on it to enlarge further).
4. Dampen slightly the folded skin. Fold 1/3 downwards and 1/3 upwards (as per diagram).
5. Dampen slightly again and fold 1/4 inwards on both sides (as per diagram).
6. Fold into half and secure with two long bamboo sticks upwards (as per diagram).
7. Heat up a wok with water. When boil, lower fire and place the ready vegetarian duck on a plate and for 10 minutes until bloated up. DO NOT over steam. You might have to steam many times as the “duck” has to be separated apart when steaming and your wok might not be big enough to fit all.
8. Leave aside to cool down. Make sure they are TOTALLY cool down before frying to ensure the fluffiness.
9. Fry in a wok of hot oil and cut according to your preference.

(Serves: 5-6)

FOLDING DIAGRAM

VEGETARIANDUCK02

Most people would just serve this with chili sauce but I prefer the traditional way of eating the vegetarian duck with homemade pickle. Just place the pickle in an air tight jar and keep it refrigerated. It would last you more than a week if you are careful enough to use an extremely dry chopsticks to take them out when serving. You can even take them with Pork Roll (Lor Bak) or Liver Roll (Too Kua Kean). Here’s the recipe for the pickle. Marinate it for half a day would be good enough before serving with your dishes.

PICKLE RECIPE
500gms radish
100gms carrot
1 thumb size young ginger
4 Porcelain spoon fine sugar
3 Porcelain spoon lime juice (about 4-5 lime)
1 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION
1. Remove the skin of the carrot and radish. Cut half the carrot and a quarter the radish. Use a kitchen helper to slice them thinly. You can cut some decorations on the vegetables if you want to.
2. Scrape off the skin of the young ginger. Slice thinly and cut into strips.
3. Mixed the vegetables with the rest of the ingredients. Bottle it up.
4. Best served with your dishes when chilled.

If you feel that there is too much work involved in coming up with the pickle, here is another sauce recipe. I called it The Lazy Man’s Sauce… LOL!

LAZY MAN SAUCE
Some tomato ketchup
Some pounded peanut candy (khong th’ng / kacang tumbuk)
Some roasted sesame seed

PREPARATION
Mix all in a bowl. Best served with any fried meat or fried tofu end products.

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

Popularity: 1% [?]

SPICY NESTUM CEREAL CHICKEN RECIPE

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 16 - 2008
It has been some time since I last cook something decent for my dinner as I have been eating out most of the time. At least I do not have to wash more utensils. LOL! Anyway, let me share with you one of my dishes today. It is simple yet delicious… SPICY NESTUM CEREAL CHICKEN

CEREALCHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
500 gms chicken breast meat (cut into bite size cubes)
10 chilli padi (cut into small slices)
6 stalks curry leaves (wash well and pluck all the leaves)
5 Tspn margarine
3 eggs (separate the egg white and egg yolk)
40gms (8 Tspn) Nestum Cereal
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Pepper
Sugar
Multi-purpose frying flour (recommended Hup Loong brand)

OPTIONAL
You can even replace the chicken meat with the same weight of prawns. Peel the prawns, cut the back and take out the intestines. Marinate with a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Fry quickly in some hot oil until curled up. Scoop up and leave aside.

PREPARATION

1. Marinate the cubed chicken meat with a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and some egg white for 15-20 minutes.
2. Pour some frying flour onto a container with lid. Put the marinated meat into the container and shake it until every piece is coated well.
3. Heat up some oil in a small pot with low fire. Deep fry the meat until golden brown. Do not overcook the meat as it will be too tough and dry. Take out and leave aside.
4. Use a wok, heat up the margarine. When melted, put in the egg yolk and balance of the egg white. Stir constantly until it becomes flaky. Sprinkle some sugar. When cooked, put in the chilli padi and curry leaves. Stir fry for awhile under low fire. Add in the cereal and stir until fragrant.
5. Add in the fried chicken pieces and stir evenly.
6. Dish out and serve with rice while hot.

(Serves: 5-6)

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

Popularity: 1% [?]

SHARKFINS FLOUR VERMICELLI (MEE SUAH TAU) RECIPE

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 11 - 2008
Initially, I thought of cooking something simple with gravy for my dinner since I was still feeling a bit sick. I ended up cooking something not fit for a sick person. LOL! What would you do if you were to have a box of mee suah (flour vermicelli)? Would you cook a bowl of filled with meatballs or a bowl filled with yummy goodies? As for me, I rather have something rich in taste and good in presentation with what I have in my freezer. So typical of me… Haha! Well, here is the recipe to what I have cooked tonight… SHARKFINS FLOUR VERMICELLI (MEE SUAH TAU).

MEESUAHTAU

INGREDIENTS
1 box flour vermicelli (mee suah – 10 pcs)
250gms chicken breast meat (dice, marinate with pepper, soy sauce & sesame oil)
250gms prawns (dice, marinate with pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil & pinch of sugar)
1 piece thick fish cake (halves and cut into cubes)
6 button mushrooms (halves and slice)
20-30 gms sharkfins (boil to soften and marinate in 1 Tspn brandy/Chinese rice wine)
1 egg (beaten with a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper)
2 pieces artificial crabsticks (cut into 4mm thickness)
2 Tspn soy sauce
2 Tspn oyster sauce
2 tspn sesame oil
1 tspn brandy/Chinese rice wine
3-4 Tspn corn flour (mix with a bit of water)
4 soup bowl water (about 800ml)
Some oil
Some pepper & salt to taste
3 cloves garlic (chopped and sauté with oil for garnishing)

OPTIONAL
3 young corns (dice)
Some crab meat
6 straw mushrooms (slice)
Spring onions (chop)
Black Vinegar

PREPARATION

  1. Heat up the wok with low fire and sauté the chopped garlic with 4 Tspn of oil until golden brown. Dish out into a dish bowl and leave aside.
  2. Boil a pot of water. When it gets hot and bubble, put in the box of Mee Suah (10pcs). Stir for 3 minutes (or until soften) and sieve it dry. Distribute it into 4 plates. Mix in some of the garlic to ensure that it would not lump up later. (Optional: You can actually put the mee suah into the gravy before scooping out to serve. I did it this way so that it can be divided equally amongst 4 persons.)
  3. Heat up the wok again and put in 3 Tspn of oil. Stir fried the diced chicken meat, prawns, fish cake with 2 Tspn soy sauce, 2 Tspn oyster sauce and 2 tspn sesame oil with low fire.
  4. When you all the combinations are cooked, pour in the water. Let it boil.
  5. Add in the corn flour to thicken the gravy. If not enough make more as some brand of corn flour won’t thicken easily.
  6. Add in the brandy/Chinese wine and salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Put in the crabsticks, mushroom and sharkfins and let it boil.
  8. Stir in the beaten egg until it becomes creamy.
  9. Dish out onto the mee suah and garnish with some garlic oil and spring onions.
  10. You are ready to serve.
  11. You can add in some black vinegar if you like it to be sour a bit.

(Serves: 4-5)

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

Popularity: 1% [?]

BAD MEMORY OR GREAT FOOD?

Posted by Criz Lai On August - 5 - 2008
There I was writing about remembering my childhood days and here I am experiencing the scary signs of growing old gracefully. Do you know what would be the worst nightmare for a food blogger? It is either all the photos turned out to be over exposed, under exposed, and blur or forgetting to take a snap shot of the food that was served to them on the table. Sometimes, it could also be due to the fact that certain owners disallowed taking shots within the premises. My nightmare was none of the above as I got even worst! I forgot to take a snapshot of one of the dishes I cooked last night. Arggh!! Haiz… I think it’s time for me to get some Gingko Bibola to rejuvenate my brain cells. 😛
GINKGOBIBOLA
After having spent so much on restaurants food these few days, I had decided to spend some time in the kitchen to cook some simple meals. Since it was a meal for four, I cooked some cans of rice with some herbs and spices and fried with some butter, eggs, raisins, roasted chicken meat chunks and garnished with fried onions. Bingo! I had my Buttered Roasted Chicken Fried Rice. There’s the BUT here! I forgot to take a shot of this dish. I guessed somehow with the migraine medication I was taking, it made me kind of a blur king. LOL! Anyway, not even one grain of rice was left in the pot. It must have been real good then. 🙂

As for the side dishes, I came out with Deep Fried Prawn Paste Squids (Fried Belacan Sotong). This is a simple yet mouth-watering dish that can be taken with either Thai Chili Sauce or Mayonnaise.

BELACAN SOTONG

The recipe is rather easy. Here are the ingredients needed.

Ingredient:
One box 100gms Nona All Purpose Seasoned Flour (Prawn Shrimp Recipe)
Some pepper
2 Tspn sesame oil
Oil
250gms squids (clean and cut into rings)

Method:

  1. Drain the excess water from the squid. Sprinkle some pepper and add in the sesame oil. Mix thoroughly.
  2. Add in the prawn shrimp flour gradually until all the squids get mixed well. Put in a bit of water to make it into a batter like mixture. Add in a teaspoon of oil and mix thoroughly.
  3. Heat up some oil in a wok. Lower the fire to medium when it is hot. Scoop the ringed squid pieces by pieces with a spoon and slowly put it into the wok. BEWARE! The oil might explode everywhere due to the little amount of water added earlier. You might want to consider laying some used newspaper on the floor. When the squids become golden brown, take them out and put onto a plate laid with kitchen towel to drain the excess oil.
  4. Transfer the cooked squids onto a plate and you are ready to serve.

(Serve: 3-4)

Note: Try frying a piece first to taste the saltiness as some brands of flour do not have salt in the content. If not enough, drip some soy sauce into the batter.

Since both of the dishes were fried dishes, I decided to have another dish with gravy base. Let me introduce you to my Broiled Cabbage with Steamed Meatballs. This is another simple and yet delicious recipe that my demised grandmother used to cook for us.

BROILED CABBAGE MEATBALLS

Ingredients:
300gms minced meat
100gms minced prawns
250gms cabbage (wash and cut into 2” x 2”)
2 Tspn oyster sauce
I tspn Worchester sauce
3 tspn sesame oil
Some pepper
Pinch of salt
5 Tspn corn flour (3 Tspn mixed with water for gravy)
Young ginger (3 slices in strips)
Carrot (6 slices chopped & 6 slices in strips)
Some chopped garlic
2 bowls water (70gms)
Oil
Chinese mushrooms (optional – soak and cut into small cubes)

Method:

  1. Mix thoroughly the minced meat and prawns in a big bowl with one Tablespoon oyster sauce, one teaspoon Worchester sauce, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, chopped carrots, 2 Tablespoon corn flour, some pepper, and a pinch of salt.
  2. Line a big metal plate with some oil. Use a Tablespoon / Porcelain Spoon to scoop the mixture onto the plate. Steam the meatballs under medium fire for 10-15 minutes. Leave aside.
  3. Heat up a wok with 2 Tablespoon of oil and sauté some chopped garlic under medium fire. When the garlic turned a bit brown, put in the ginger strips and stir for awhile. Put in the cabbage and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add in 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce and sprinkle some pepper and salt. Stir evenly. When the cabbage looked cook, put in 2 bowls of boiled water. Let the cabbage cook until all turned soft. Add in the strips of carrot. Stir evenly. Bring to boil and add in the remaining corn flour mixture slowly to thicken the soup.
  4. Put in the steamed meatballs and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Scoop onto a bowl and serve with rice while it is hot.

(Serve 4-6)

Popularity: 1% [?]

CHINESE CHIVES FLOWER ROASTED PORK FRIED HOR FUN

Posted by Criz Lai On July - 20 - 2008

I got up real early this morning just to prepare a meal for my family today although it is a Sunday. Have you ever encountered trying to think of what to buy back for lunch on a Sunday? If it is not Fried Rice then it would be the usual noodle dishes that I got rather bored with. With a little of creativity, I came out with something you cannot buy from any stalls around, which I would like to share with you all. Here is the recipe to my CHINESE CHIVES FLOWER ROASTED PORK FRIED HOR FUN.

CHIVESFLOWERHORFUN

INGREDIENTS
1.5 kg hor fun (open up and cut into 1.5” strips)
600gms roasted pork (chopped)
300gms Chinese chives flower (cut into 1” length)
1 piece thick fish cake (halves and cut into strips)
2 pieces artificial crabsticks (cut into 4mm thickness)
5 eggs (beat with 1 Tspn sesame oil, 2 Tspn soy sauce and pepper)
10 porcelain spoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
6 Tspn soy sauce
1 Tspn dark soy sauce
3 Tspn sesame oil
3 Tspn oyster sauce
Pepper
Salt
Sugar

PREPARATION

1. Heat up wok with 6 porcelain spoons of oil and saute some chopped garlic. When the garlic becomes slightly brown, lower fire, pour in the hor fun. Add in 1 Tspn of dark soy sauce, 3 Tspn of soy sauce, 1 Tspn oyster sauce, 1 Tspn sesame oil and some pepper. Higher fire and stir until it looked slightly dried up. Scoop and leave aside.
2. Put in some oil and chopped garlic. Stir fry the fish cake for two minutes. Scoop and leave aside together with the diced crabsticks.
3. Put in 3 porcelain spoons of oil and sauté some garlic until brown. Pour in the roasted pork, 1 Tspn soy sauce, 1 Tspn sesame oil, 2 Tspn oyster sauce, pinch of sugar, and some pepper and stir fry for about two minutes. Add in the Chinese chives flower and stir until cook. Scoop and leave aside.
4. Add in the balance oil, sauté some garlic on high fire. When slightly brown, pour in the beaten eggs and scrambled it until loose.
5. Lower the fire. Pour in the fried hor fun and stir thoroughly. Next, pour in the rest of the ingredients and stir thoroughly.
6. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste (if not enough)
7. Scoop into dishes and serve while it is hot. You can garnish with fried shallots and serve with shrimp paste chili (sambal belacan).

(Serves: 4-6)

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

Popularity: 1% [?]

VEGETARIAN KURMA MUTTON RECIPE

Posted by Criz Lai On June - 17 - 2008

I have been having too much of red meat continuous for the past few weeks. I think it’s time to cook something that is much healthier. Somehow, I still missed those juicy T-Bone Steak or Mutton Shank but for a healthier meal, I opted for vegetarian mock mutton. I am going to share you all this week my Vegetarian Kurma Mutton, an Indian dish which is spicy but not hot. It can also be taken by children of any ages.

KURMAMUTTON

INGREDIENTS
500g mock mutton
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 big onion (cut to wedges)
2” cinnamon bark
2 cloves
2 cardamoms
1 full clove of star anise
2 medium tomatoes (washed and cut to wedges)
2 green chillies (deseed and cut into thick slices)
40 Mint leaves
300ml full cream milk (can be replaced with coconut milk)
Salt and sugar to taste
Some fried shallots
2 potatoes (optional – cut into large cubes and semi fry it to cook)

BLENDED INGREDIENTS
10 shallots
2 green chillies
2 tsp coriander powder
3 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1.5” ginger
1/2 tsp grounded pepper

PREPARATION
1. Heat up the vegetable oil and stir in the blended ingredients.
2. Put in the onion, cinnamon bark, cloves, cardamoms and star anise. Stir until fragrant.
3. Add in the mock mutton and water. Simmer for 10 minutes on low fire.
4. Add in the tomatoes and green chillies and stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Add in the full cream milk and mint leaves.
6. Add salt and sugar to taste.
7. Garnish with fried shallots
8. Serve with white rice, roti canai or chapatti.

(Serves: 4-6)

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

OPTIONAL:
The mock/vegetarian mutton can be replaced with meaty mutton cubes. The mutton must be marinated with juice from grated ginger in order to make the meat tender while cooking. Use one cup of water instead of the 1/2 cup as stated.

Popularity: 1% [?]

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