Kiam Chai Boi / Choy Kuok

The other day, I roasted a piece of pork belly ( siew yoke )and kept some for making ' kiam chai boi ', a savoury asian dish using left overs of meat, prawns and cook it with Chinese Mustard (Gai Choy), pickled mustard green ( Kiam Chai ), dried chillies, slices of tamarind (Assam Poi) until all has soften and aromatic.  For me, I prefer roasted pork belly or roasted trotters thus I roasted pork belly for this dish :)  This dish is appetizing...hot and sour...I can eat this dish stand alone.  The soup is so much tastier especially I cooked this dish in Philips Pressure Cooker!  The pressure helps to keep the aroma and taste locked in.  Yummy!

All I need to do is to stir fry the vegetables...that is the Chinese Mustard and pickled mustard green with dried chillies, slices of dried tamarind, a piece of ginger with a tablespoon of oil until the greens has wilted and become soft.  Once the greens has turned soft about 15 mins, scoop the stir fried veggies and roasted pork belly into the pressure cooker.  Add water to the maxi level allowed.  Set to congee mode ..KPT 13 mins and after the pressure cooker depressurized, the Kiam Chai Boi is ready to be served.  

stir fry the kiam chai and chinese mustard together with dried chillies, ginger, tamarind slices

until the veggies has wilted and turn soft...add in the roasted pork belly

and stir fry till evenly combined

home roasted pork belly ( siew yoke )

scoop the stir fried veggies and roast pork into

the pressure cooker...add water to the maximum level

allowed , add a piece of knorr chicken cube

and set the pressure cooker to congee mode

with KPT 13 mins

once the pressure cooker depressurized,

the kiam chai boi is ready to be served

WB and I really enjoyed this dish...so tasty

and using a pressure cooker save time and energy

while it cooking in the cooker, we can each do our own stuff

without having to fuss over it :)

Ingredients:

1/2 kg roast pork or any leftover roast meat

2 Chinese mustard 

2 pkt of kiam chai ( from jusco)

9 pieces of dried chillies

5 pieces of dried tamarind slices ( assam poi)

a few slices of ginger

1 piece of knorr chicken cube

water enough to cover the veggies or maxi level allowed in pressure cooker

salt to taste

Method:

Stir fry all the ingredients with a tablespoon of oil in a wok, once the the geens has soften , add in the roast pork and stir fry till well combined. Scoop them into the pressure cooker , add water to the maximum level allowed and set the presure cooker to congee mode KPT 13 mins.  allow the cooker to depressurise before opening the lid and serve hot with rice.

Enjoy and have a great day

Lunch @ Restoran Brogla, Broga, Semenyih

Each time I visit my gal in  Semenyih, I look forward to the food there.  They are a few new places Semenyih that offers good and delicious food. And  today, I would like to introduce you to this restaurant in Broga, Semenyih called Restoran Brogla.   My gal and son-in-law brought us ( WB, Joshua and myself ) to this Restoran Brogla during our recent trip there , and really, they serve good dishes that had me craving for more even after a hearty and heavy meal.  I told my gal, I am coming back for more and now I am already planning my next trip there.  

Their signature dish is the Assam Petai Tilapia ( pic above) ...it is really lip-smacking good..the fragrant and taste is fantastic.  I wish I could cook at home this dish :p anyway, I will try to replicate and see if I could get near there where taste is concerned.  And the second dish , yummilicious pork intestine with fried dried shrimps and bird's eye chillies...so delicious that now I drools as I am writing this post.

this dish is what I would recommend you to order if you are eating there

prawn mantis in salted duck yolk

thumbs up for this too

crispy chicken cubes cooked Mangolian style :)

creamy and tasty 

simple stir fry sweet potato leaves with garlic

And this is the restaurant worth going to :)

Silky Smooth Dried Oyster, Peanut Porridge

Before the GST came into force in April,  I bought my very first electric pressure cooker - Philips Pressure Cooker for RM475 from Jusco during Jusco Privilege Card Day. 5% discount on all electric goods and on top of that I received  RM40 vouchers plus a set of Philips ceramic knives .  A good deal no doubt , but the most important point is with this cooker, I get to cook food in lesser time and tastier food.  

I thought that after retirement, I will have lots of free time to cook dishes that takes up lots of time but I discovered that it was not to be.  I am out most of the morning coz I got myself committed to many activities :p  Thus, getting this PPC was a good choice/ With it , I can stew, braise, steam, bake in lesser time and food taste better too.  My first try on this PPC was to cook this flavor packed porridge and guess what... I have this silky smooth tasty porridge ready in 30 mins.  And it can keep the porridge warm the whole day. It has this keep warm mode,  This PPC is a great help to my busy lifestyle :) 

The ingredients used for the porridge are dried oysters, preserved turnip( tai tau choy in cantonese), soften peanuts and soft bone pork and rice, salt to taste and ground white pepper. I dumped everything into the pressure cooker and add water to slightly above the 1/3 water level mark and press the porridge mode.  KPT is 13 mins.  Once it is done, allow it to depressurise by itself and then it is ready for serving.   I am happy with the PPC and will be using it very often as I find it very convenient. While it is cooking my food, I can do my gardening.  Hahaha no more worries about food getting burnt  !

 this amount is for two persons :)

my new toy :)

a bowl of silky smooth flavor packed porridge

Have a great weekend !

Oven Grilled Fish With Kaffir Lime Leaves Sambal Filling In Banana Leaf

I love fish and I actually don't mind having fish every day, of course prepared in different ways. Steaming is one of my favorite way but oven grilled is another way to serve the fish.  Especially if wrapped in banana leaf and grilled in the oven.  Today, I want to share with you how I made the fish more appetizing with home prepared sambal fillings. I have added kaffir lime leaves to this sambal mixture making it so lip-smacking good !  This is one modern asian way of grilling fish in banana leaf.  The traditional way is to grill it over a charcoal fire.....but modern times, we just dump it into the oven and grill it :)  I can eat this everyday :)

Step one, pound some fresh chillies using a mortar and pestle , if you want it more hot you can add some bird's eye chillies, while toasting some belacan ( shrimp paste ) in the background. Once the belacan is nicely toasted and fragrant and while still hot, add to the pounded chillies and continue pounding till the belacan  is well combined into the pounded chillies..your sambal is ready for use.

Step two :  slice shallots and kaffir lime  leaves thinly and add to the sambal . This makes the most fragrant and delicious filling for the fish.

Step three :  slit the fish from top to bottom on both sides, stuff the sambal mixture into the slits

Step four :  once the fish is stuffed with the sambal fillings on both sides, wrap with banana leaf 

Step five:  use a cocktail skewer to hold both ends of the banana leaf and place it on an aluminium lined tray and grill for 15-18 mins in a preheated oven of 200C

 Step six:  Take it out of the oven and serve immediately

the most delicious oven grilled fish done the modern asian way

Don't know what to cook this weekend...try this !

ingredient for the kaffir leaves sambal filling

fresh chillies-  a handful, cleaned and deseed
a few bird's eye chillies- for extra hot
1 inch toasted belacan ( shrimp paste )

2 kaffir lime leaves - sliced into fine shreds
5 shallots - thinly sliced

Pound chillies in traditional mortar and pestle till pulp..meanwhile toasting the belacan in a wok over low heat..once the belacan is fragrant and well toasted, add to the pounded chillies and continue pounding till well combined.   Add the sliced shallots and kaffir leaves and mix till well combined.

Fish- Ikan  Cincaru or Ikan Selar or Mambong
a few banana leaves and bamboo skewer for wrapping

Stuff the Cincaru Fish with the kaffir lime
leaves sambal and grill in a preheated oven of 200C for 15-18 mintues wrapped in banana leaf

Happy Friday to all :)

EnglishButter Roast

 

English Butter Roast for a lazy Sunday dinner.  WB asked for roast chicken done his mother's way...that is English Butter Roast.  I remembered my mother- in- law special roast chicken which she named it English Butter Roast.  Now you will be wondering why it is named English Butter Roast...well , even her son , WB, doesn't know why she named it English Butter Roast :p  Anyway, WB gave me the ingredients used to marinate the chicken.  It is just basically, black soy sauce, light soy sauce, white pepper, and sugar. Haha, I guess she called it EBR was because she heaped a generous scraping of butter on top of the chicken before putting the chicken to roast in the oven :) lets forget about the calories and artery clogging nonsense for the time being and eat heartily .. with lots of butter :)

Anyway, this is the most aromatic roast chicken and I know why WB loves it...the butter gave it the unique flavor of this roast chicken. And he made sure the fat under the chicken skin are burnt off during the roasting period so that the skin is crispy....thus the reason for the chicken having the burnt look :) This roast goes well with a bottle of red wine . 

 the beauty of this roast chicken is the scraping of butter :p 

the burnt look is to have the fat under the skin burnt off

leaving the skin  cirspy

the roast chicken has been deboned

for my Royal Highness Wild Boar :p

English Butter Roast - WB's Kitchen

Half a chicken with skin on

(A)

1 tsp of thick soy sauce

1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tbsp of sugar

1 tsp of ground white pepper

2 tbsp of butter - for topping

Method:

Marinate chicken with ingredient (A) for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.  Place marinated chicken on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil for easy cleaning. Top chicken with scraping of butter.  Roast in a preheated oven of 200C for 40 mins or till chicken is cooked.  

Enjoy !

Dim Sum Lunch @ Yuk Sou Hin - Chinese Fine Dining Restaurant, WEIL Hotel, Ipoh

My first dining experience at Yuk Sou Hin Chinese Fine Dining Restaurant at WEIL Hotel was three weeks ago , when a friend gave us a dim sum lunch treat.  After a scrumptious and satisfying and memorable dim sum lunch, the memory of the freshest dim sum still lingers till today . I told myself , I must bring bring my Piggies here try out for themselves what I had savored . I am sure they will enjoy as they love dim sum.  

An  opportunity presented itself  ,when I received an invitation from the Hotel for lunch last Tuesday with some bloggers , and after which a short interview with Master Chef Chung H Shi who helmed the kitchen. Master Chef Chung Ho Shi is from Hongkong and has worked in Singapore for twenty over years.  A man with many years of experience in preparing Cantonese specialties ...his signature dish , the Smoked duck with Lychee wood is commendable and a must order if you are dining here. The ingredients used by Master Chef Chung are premium ingredients and their prawns are specially selected one. 

Needless to say, though our time with him is just a few minutes, as he has to rush back to the kitchen , we managed to squeeze some cooking tips from him :p  food bloggers what do you expect LOL! He is generous to share with us some cooking tips.  Okay , I will not digress further...back to the special menu prepared for us by Master Chef Chung.

Dim Sum Collection

from left :   Yuk Sou Hin Steamed Prawn Dumpling

Centre:  Baked Crispy Honey Barbecued Pork Bun

(Kam Pai Sweet San Bao ) 

right :  Siew Mai With Fish Roe

Baked Crispy Honey Barbecued Pork Bun

(Kam Pai Sweet San Bao ) 

this really melts in the mouth when eaten while still hot

Siew Mai With Fish Roe - pan fried - has a wok hei fragrant

Yuk Sou Hin Steamed Prawn Dumpling - the dumpling skin has a smooth texture

the prawns filling is so fresh and springy in texture

Steamed Vermicelli Roll With Scallop And Coriander - again here

the scallop is so fresh  and the vermicelli roll is silky smooth

this is one of their signature side dish - Sambal Hae Bee with fried silver fish

mouth watering and very addictive

another signature appetizer - guava and tomato with pickled lemon rind

and juice ...something healthy and addictive

Double Boiled Minced Pork Soup With Bamboo Fungus And Chinese Cabbage -

the broth is naturally sweet and fragrant

Baked Silver Cod Fish With Teriyaki Sauce - topped with carrot crisp

Signature Smoked Duck With Lychee Wood - a must order,

the meat is tender and juicy and the skin is crisp

Braised Ee Fu Noodles With Prawns - delicious

close up of the braised noodles...prawns are fresh and large 

lovely braised fragrant

Chilled Sea Coconut with Longan  and Lemon Juice

Yuk Sou Hin – Chinese Restaurant, Level 1 ,Weil Hotel

292 Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak

Operation Hours
Dim Sum Breakfast and Lunch
Weekdays: 9.00am - 2.30pm            
Weekends & Public Holiday: 9.00am - 3.00pm

Dinner               
6.00pm - 10.30pm

For reservations call 05-2082228

Seating Capacity
Restaurant: 142 personsVIP Rooms: 8 (84 persons)
Tea Bar: 12 persons
Total Seating: 238 persons

Stir Fry Water Convolvulus / Kangkung With Toasted Belacan

This is a very simple stir fry dish from home -Stir Fry Water Convolvulus/Kangkung with toasted belacan and you can find them in most chinese restaurants in Malaysia.  My kids love this dish the day I introduced this dish to them . Many kids will not like the belacan smell but mine simply love them :) WB and myself love this simple to prepare dish and it is appetizing too.

ingredients are just sliced garlic, bird eye's chillies and toasted belacan (shrimp paste)

oil and needless to say the water convolvulus /kangkung

Stir Fry Water Convolvulus / Kangkung With Toasted Belacan -  from WB's Kitchen

ingredients

600 gms water convolvulus/ kangkung - cleaned and pluck the young leaves, cut stem
5-6 bird eye's chillies -  deseed
2 cm by 2 cm piece of belacan - toasted
3 pips of garlic - sliced
1 tbsp of vegetable oil

Method:
Heat oil in wok till smoking hot, add in the garlic slices, bird eye's chillies and toasted belacan  and saute till fragrant. Add in the cleaned and cut kangkung and continue to stir fry till soft and cooked and well blended with the sauted ingredients.

Dish up and serve hot with rice.