Chrysanthemum Tea

The weather is so hot nowadays and what other better time to have a nice cup of chrysanthemum tea to cool ourselves down than now. It is easy to prepare yourself a cup of chrysanthemum tea and here's how I do mine. Enjoy.

Tenggiri Fried Fish

Tenggiri fish is one of my favourite in terms of fried fish. This fish is commonly served in any Indian or Mamak restaurants in the country. The fish is fried until it is crispy and is a favourite among children. You don't need to worry about bones and you may even chew the bones up. However, it is not very easy to fry especially if you are frying it at home and would not want to spend too much on cooking oil. Follow these few steps and I hope you will enjoy it.

Ingredients:

• Tenggiri fish steaks (cut cross-section), rinsed & patted dry
• vegetable cooking oil
• sea salt or normal salt
• sliced gingers - to remove stale smell from the fish

Directions:

1. Marinate the fish with salt on both sides of the fish.
2. In a pan or a work, heat up some oil in high heat. Then add the fish steaks to cover a single layer in the wok. Immediately reduce the fire to low heat. Pan fry for a few minutes on one side till golden brown and crispy. Turn over and pan fry till golden brown on the other side.
3. Stir in the sliced gingers and remove from heat.

Note: You must make sure that the oil is very hot before you place the fish into the wok/pan, otherwise the fish will stick onto the wok/pan.

Lettuce Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 large lettuce
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned (any type)
• 4 large celery ribs, trimmed and julienned
• 20 fresh cilantro stems, leaves only
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• black pepper

Directions:

1. Rinse the lettuce under cold running water, tear into bite-sized pieces, and let it stand in the ice water to crisp for 10-15 minutes. Drain well and dry very thoroughly in a salad spinner.
2. In a salad bowl, combine the lettuce, cucumber, and celery.
3. In a blender, combine the cilantro and olive oil; process to a puree.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
5. Toss with the salad and serve.

Red Dates Tea

Red Dates tea is a very popular drink usually served during the tea ceremony for Chinese weddings. It is simple and easy to do. If you are going to have your wedding tea ceremony soon, this post will be a good guide for you. The red dates tea is not necessarily drank during wedding tea ceremony but at any other point in time, when you feel like it, boil and drink it.

Butter Prawns

Ingredients:

• Prawns about 500g to 600g
• Butter - 5 spoons
• Oil for frying
• Salt
• Chillies
• Curry leaves
• Garlic
• Oats - 4 big spoons
• Coconut milk - 5 big spoons

Cooking Steps:

1. First heat up the oil and fry the prawns for a few minutes. Then remove from heat.
2. Melt the butter in a pan and cook the rest of the ingredients until it is cooked.
3. Lastly, add the prawns and the coconut milk for 1 or 2 minutes. Serve warm.

Lekor / Fish Roll

Lekor comes ready in packets and if you travel to the north eat of the Peninsular of Malaysia, especially Terengganu and Kelantan, there are many stalls selling uncooked and cooked lekor. There are basically two types, the fried ones and the steamed ones. I personally like the fried ones as I like the crunch when I bite into it. The steamed ones are good as well, but it tends to smell a little bit fishy. Nevertheless, I wouldn't be surprise if I see many opt for the steamed ones as most people are very health concious today. So, how to cook these lekors? Find out below.

Ingredients:

• Lekor - of course
• Oil

Steps:

1. If you are cooking the fried ones, remember to dry it under the sun for at least 2 hours, making sure all that moist doesn't accumulate in the lekor - otherwise, you will have oil splashing all over you. Now, you wouldn't want that do you.
2. Next, heat up the oil in a wok. Make sure that the oil is really hot and immediately place the lekor in.
3. If the lekor is frying nicely, then you know you've got the heat right. Once you have your lekor in, reduce the heat to the smallest fire, so that your lekor doesn't get burned. After tossing a while, remove the lekor and place them on a kitchen towel.
4. Serve with chilli sauce.

Decent Fried Rice Recipe

Recently I had one conversation with a friend of mine and we had this conversation about fried rice. My friend told me that if a restaurant doesn't know how to fry a simple fried rice, we should not go back to that restaurant. Fried rice is considered to be the basic in a Chinese restaurant. So far, I did not come across any Chinese restaurant which doesn't cook a decent fried rice. After many trials and errors, and of course some research on the many recipes on the internet, below is my final conclusion on how to cook yourself a decent fried rice. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Good or bad, please let me know so that I can improve myself further. Thank you in advance.

Apple Strudel Recipe

Recently I made a trip to Bakeoven at Sri Hartamas. As the restaurant was pack that morning and it was the first time I was at Bakeoven, I thought to myself that this could be a good deal restaurant. Little did I know that almost everything we ordered turns out quite badly. I ordered myself a big breakfast while my husband ordered the fried spaghetti and apple strudel. Their apple strudel's texture was very mushy and it wasn't sweet enough. So I took the trouble to look for an apple strudel recipe online and this is what I found. I did some modification here and there, but it does taste so much better than theirs. Anyway, enough of my ranting, enjoy.

Potatoes with Parmesan

Ingredients:-

• 4 to 5 large potatoes
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Cooking Steps:

1. Peel and cut potatoes in 2 inch pieces each.
2. Then melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave.
3. Combine cheese, pepper, and cumin in a paper bag.
4. Then roll the potatoes in the melted butter.
5. Shake potatoes in cheese mixture.
6. Place them on baking sheet.
7. Lastly, bake the potatoes without covering them at 350 for 55-60 min. Turn it once to cook them nicely.

Thai Noodle Salad With Prawns

I find this dish very refreshing and good to be taken during the raining reason. This dish is quite similar to the Vietnamese dish, Bak Cha - a dish with rice noodles, fried meats served with lots of vegetables and herbs such as parsley and mints.

• 3 ounces rice vermicelli
• 6 ounces snap peas, cut crossways in half, if large (mangetouts)
• 5 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled and chopped finely
• 1 fresh red chili pepper, deseeded and sliced thinly on the diagonal
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander or 4 tablespoons mint
• 4 pieces cucumbers, peeled deseeded and diced
• 2 spring onions, sliced thinly on the diagona
• 16 -20 large cooked prawns
• 2 tablespoons chopped unsalted peanuts or 2 tablespoons cashews
• 4 whole cooked prawns
• lemon slice (to garnish)

Cooking Steps:

1. Place the rice noodles in a large bowl and soak the rice noodles with hot water for about 4 minutes until soft. Drain and rinse under cold running water, drain again and set aside.
2. Boil some water in a saucepan. Add the mangetouts and return to boil. Drain, rinse under cold running water until cold, then drain again and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, ginger, chili and coriander together. Add the cucumbers and spring onions into the mixture. Then drain the water from the rice noodles and add into the mixture together with the mangetouts and the prawns. Toss the salad gently together until the ingredients are coated with the sauce.
4. Divide the noodle salad among 4 large plates. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and peanuts [if using], then garnish each plate with a whole prawn and a lemon slice.

Steam Carrots Recipe

Carrots are usually used for dressing or as a compliment to other ingredients such as broccolis and potatoes. But did you know that carrots on its own can also taste very good. I love carrots as it contains lots of vitamins and from what I heard, they are very good for our eyes. So if you have nothing but carrot only in your fridge, try cooking it up this way (which I am about to share with you below). I hope you like this recipe. Please leave a comment below if you love it like I do.

Nasi Lemak - Fragrant Rice

Nasi lemak doesn't need any introduction. The picture itself speaks for itself. If you would like to try to make you very own nasi lemak, which every Malaysians should try to do it at least once in their lifetime, do try this recipe. If you are a fan of nasi lemak just like me, you should at least know the steps to cook it lar. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Have fun cooking.

• 1/4 cup dried anchovy, extra, pounded
• 5 -6 tablespoons chili paste
• 2 onions, pounded
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon shrimp paste (belacan)
• 2 tablespoons tamarind juice
• 1 big onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2/3-1 cup water
• 2 -4 tablespoons sugar
• salt

Steps:>

1. Heat oil and saute' onions and garlic for 1 minute
2. Add chilli paste and belacan and fry till fragrant, about 3 minute.
3. Mix tamarind juice and water into chilli mixture and cook for another 5 min or till sauce thick.
4. Add sliced onion, anchovies, salt and sugar and cook for another 2 minute.

Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes, who doesn't love them. Sweet potatoes looks really ugly but they are easy to cook and they taste great. Chinese love to have them as desserts but if you are not into desserts, you may try baking them with an oven. Here is how I bake my sweet potatoes. Enjoy.

Fish Recipe - Steam

The best way to enjoy a plate of a fresh fish is by steaming it. By steaming, the moisture on the fish is preserved and the flavour of the fish is preserve. The taste of a fried fish on the other hand is tempered by the oil taste and this prevents one from tasting the freshness of the fish. In order to enhance the flavour of the steamed fish, fresh basil leaves and sometimes lemon slices are necessary. Here is a recipe I find interesting. I hope you like it like I do. Enjoy.