Fried Hairy Gourd ('moh kuay')

I love this dish, so does my younger daughter. It's a kind of gourd or loofah. I'm not sure of its name in English. But in Hokkien it's known as 'moh kuay'. It's slightly hairy and dark green. Gee! I should have taken a picture of it before I had it sliced. Anyway it's easily obtainable at the market.


Ingredients:

1 hairy gourd ( 'moh kuay' ), skinned and cut into strips
1 egg omelette, cut into strips
2 red chilli, seeds removed and sliced thinly
4 to 6 medium prawns, shelled and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
oil
salt
200 ml prawn stock or any stock

Method:

1. Heat oil in pan and fry garlic till fragrant but not brown.
2. Add the gourd and stir fry till the garlic is mixed with it.
3. Add prawn stock and cook for 5 minutes and then add in the prawns.
4. When the prawns are cooked, add omelette and sliced chilli and salt to taste.
5. Stir fry to mix for a couple of minutes.
6. Serve hot with rice.

You can add sliced meat or chicken.

Beef Rendang

I learnt to cook this dish from a friend's aunt who was an Indonesian Chinese. In fact I learnt a lot of cooking and baking from her way back in the late 1960s. I shall be reviving her recipes on this blog. Keep a look out for it!

Ingredients:

500g beef, cut into cubes (size is up to you)

A
8 to 10 slices galangal ( 1cm thick ) ( lengkuas)
8 dried chilli or more, soaked to soften
1/2 tablespoon coriander powder (ketumbar)
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder ( jintan putih )
2 stalks lemon grass ( serai ), sliced
2 tablespoons thick tamarind juice ( assam )

Grind all the ingredients together until fine.
Marinate the meat overnight and store in the fridge.

B ( to be ground)
5 slices ginger (1cm thick )
10 small onions
3 cloves garlic

C
1 lemon grass, bruised
1 turmeric leaf ( daun kunyit)
5 Indonesian bay leaves ( daun salam )
2 tamarind skins

***********************************
Thick coconut milk from 1 and half coconut ( add 100ml water to squeeze )
Thin coconut milk ( add 500ml water or more )
salt and sugar to taste

1/4 portion of a white coconut ( skin removed and grated )
Stir fry in wok till brown and dry. Grind till fine and put aside.

Method:

1. Put marinated meat, B, C and thin coconut milk in a pot and bring it to boil.
2. Lower heat and simmer for an hour or more, stirring occasionally and checking for water level.
3. Then add half of the thick coconut milk and salt. (Do not add sugar yet)
4. When meat is about done add the remaining coconut milk and cook at medium heat till done.
5. Add sugar to taste and add ground coconut. This helps to thicken the gravy and makes it fragrant.

CARS

Will the 'real' car, please stand up ?

I had some leftover yellow fondant and didn't want to mix a new colour.Trying my hands at modelling fondant cars for a car enthusiast whose birthday is a couple of weeks away. You can see it's quite crudely done, so there's room for improvement.
Currently I can't decide what to do - to bake a car cake or decorate a cake with car models! Making a car cake requires shaping a cake and icing it whereas with fondant modelling, I can simply put the little cars as cake toppers.
Hmmm.... tough decision because it's my first time doing a car. And I really want to put my skills to a test!

"Going Bananas"

Three Delmonte bananas
Over-ripening in this heat!
Let's do the mash
And have a bash!

Ingredients for Banana Muffins:

3 ripe bananas, mashed
3 eggs
125 ml olive oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon banana essence (optional)
250 g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 g caster sugar
150 g chopped walnuts or choc chips (I used white choc chips)
1 not so ripe banana, sliced for topping

Method:

1. Beat eggs and oil lightly till well mixed and add in essence.
2. Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in egg mixture.
4. Mix for a short while (don't overmix) and add bananas and walnuts etc.
5. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases and top with some sliced bananas.
6. Bake at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes.

Verdict : Moist and soft

"Home Alone"

My good husband is away on a 5-day fishing trip in Malaysia at some obscure island called Pulau Dayang. I went there last year in April. Heat aside, the fishing was fantastic - I had never caught so many fish in my life. There are chalets on the island for fishing enthusiasts and divers who would usually stay for 3 days to a week. It is beautiful, unspoilt and idyllic except for the chalets. The water around is crystal clear and from the jetty (my favourite part of the island) I could see the corals and the fishes swimming around (see pics) - something we can never get in Singapore any more (way back in the 1950s, the water at Changi Beach was similar). And mind you, the islanders there do not litter!

So what have I been up to? Nothing much, except to turn the house upside-down, 'junking' stuffs which I am going to send to a donation centre at Waterloo Street. My meals are simple since my younger girl doesn't come home for dinner. Been trying to finish whatever food I have in the freezer because I have to free up space for the fish my dear husband will be bringing home Friday night. Oh no! I dread all the cleaning and scaling!!!!

Is This A Hat?

As I have mentioned previously how much I love flowers.

Of Roses and Frills

I was overdecorating it. But I had a blast doing it! Very therapeutic!
Top tier - Super Chocolatey Cake (It had a texture of a brownie. Heehee! I missed out the buttermilk)
Bottom tier - Rich Orange Butter Cake