THE - Sambal Affair

Saturday's lunch.. To me it was worth the carpark summon, the sore feet & the 3 different market visit, all for my 'Sambal Kupang/Mussels'.. I had concluded today, Mussel wasn't in season (like DUH! after 3 different market visits).. Managed to get 2 kilos of fresh mussels, had initially wanting to get those pre-packed without the shell..

Anyhoots, lunch for dear hubby was cooked by moi, yes moi alone and i'm proud of it! My MIL had cooked a different dish for my FIL which wasn't my hubby's fave, fish.. Today's menu was Sambal Kupang/Mussels, fried veggie & fried chicken..

This sambal, was a recipe from my mum. Sambal tumis is a very basic sambal, which you could add on different ingredients. Prawns, mussels, fried anchovies or even fried eggs. You could have them with Nasi Lemak, Nasi Goreng or even White Rice.
- If you are using the fresh mussels (bought with the shell), wash thoroughly then steam it till the shell open up.
- But if you bought those which the shell was removed, fry it for about 5 minutes. So that the mussels last longer.
- Same goes with prawns, fry them so that it could last longer.

Sambal Tumis:

Ingredients:
* 3 cups of oil
* 2 handful of dried chili - Boiled then blended
* 4 onions
* 5 cloves of garlic
[Onion & garlic are to be blended together using the blender from the chili]
* 1 cup of tamrind water
* 1 tbsp of salt
* 2 1/2 handful of sugar

Method:
1. Heat up the oil in the wok. Then add in the blended chili.
2. Chili should be cooked till dry. Make sure to stir regularly so that it doesn't get burnt.
3. Once chili is dry, color should be of dark red (not burnt), add in the blended onion & garlic.
4. Stir well. Once the mixture is a lil dry, add in about 1 1/2 cups of water.
5. Aprox. 10 minutes later, add in the tamarind water and stir well.
6. Add in the salt and sugar. Taste it, add more to your preferred taste. Leave if for a few minutes.

The above recipe cook about 1 big bowl of Sambal. To have your preferred Sambal variation, you could scoop out half of the portion in the wok to be cool and store it in the fridge. The other half portion in the wok, add in the steamed/fried mussles OR prawns OR fried anchovies OR fried eggs. Leave it for a few minutes. Then, its ready to be served!

Fried Veggie:

Ingredients:
* 2 tbsp of olive oil
* 1 onion - sliced
* 2 cloves garlic - chopped
* 1-2 red chili - sliced
* 10-12 French beans - cut abt 2cm long
* 1 Carrot - sliced thinly
* Cabbage - sliced
* 1/2 cube of Chicken Know stock

Methods:
1. Once oil is heated, fry onion, garlic & red chili.
2. Next add in the cube stock and then the rest of the ingredients.
3. Stir well and add in about 1/3 cup of water. Leave it for about 5 minutes and.. ready to be served.

Happy trying!

THE - Virgin Post!

We, me and dearest hubby AND his brothers' family, had dinner a couple of days ago at Choa Chu Kang, to celebrate my mother-in-law's (MIL) birthday.. So 2 days after that dinner, my father-in-law (FIL) had asked if i know how to cook Sweet & Sour Garoupa.. I stood there, stare at him blankly, paused a little before giving him a soft no.. BUT i was quick to say, i'll learn how to cook it and will cook it for him.. I promise..

So i spent almost the whole of yesterday looking for recipes.. Looking for recipe is one thing, knowing which recipe to try out is another thing.. Thank god, i manage to settle for a recipe which uses simple ingredients and it turn out pretty good.. Since the meet up with besties was cancelled (unfortunately by me), i have the opportunity to try out the recipe since hubby gave me the green light to make him the guinea pig.. And oh! I cooked baby kailan with mushroom, since my MIL have to eat more veggie (doctor's advice to her) and my dearest hubby loves mushroom..

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Firstly, 500gm Chicken breast meat cut cubed. Marinate with 1 small egg, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper (i love more), 3tbsp corn starch. Set aside for at least 1 hour. But, the longer, the better!

If you wanna substitute the chicken with whole fish here you go: 500gm whole garoupa - seasoned lightly with salt & pepper, dust lighty with tapioca flour or cornstarch. Set aside.

Ingredients (A):
* 1/2 green capsicum - cubed
* 1 red chili - sliced
* 1 tomato - cut cubed
* 1 onion - cubed (prefer the white onion)
* 1 cup cucumber - cubed
* some canned pineapple chunk (Optional)

Ingredients (B):
* 2 clove garlic - chopped
* 4 tbsp tomato sauce
* 2 tbsp white vinegar
* 2 tbsp soy sauce
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 1/2 cup water
* Cornstarch & water solution for thickening (Optional)

Method:
1. Deep fry meat in hot oil. Dish out, drain well & set aside on serving plate.
2. Heat wok with oil, saute chopped garlic & onion for aprox 3 minutes.
3. Add in all ingredients (B) except for cornstarch & bring to boil.
4. Add in all ingredients (A) and simmer. If sauce is too watery, thicken with cornstarch.
5. Pour sauce over meat. Ready to serve.

Baby Kailan with Mushroom

* Baby Kailan
* Mushroom - soaked & cut into strips
* 1 clove garlic - minced
* 3/4 tbsp oyster sauce
* 1 tsp soy sauce
* 1/2 cup water
* Cornstarch & water solution for thickening (Optional)

Methods:
1. Stir minced garlic in heated oil.
2. Add in mushroom & oyster sauce.
3. Add in water and let ir simmer for aprox 1 minute.
4. Add baby kailan & stir.
5. Add in soy sauce. Add cornstarch if sauce is watery.

Happy Trying! =)