mc/grid/dles – pancake or burger?

we can always rely on Mr McDees to come up with a new fast food concoction.

some are fabulous creations and should be on the daily menu. for example, the back pepper chicken / beef burgers. those are yummy!

and then there’s mc/grid/dles…

i honestly can’t decide on the taste.

you get the savoury taste from the sausage, egg & well, cheese. and you get the maple sweetness from the “muffins”.

in one bite, you get the saltiness and sweetness.

hmmm…my humble tastebuds tells me it’s palatable enough for consumption.

but it’s not one of my favourites, for sure.

the mc/grid/gles gets a 6 out of 10. :p

taiwan treats

The In-Laws came back from their vacation in Taiwan yesterday and brought loads of local snacks as souvenirs.

I made sure that the Husband scanned through the labels for any erm…undesirable ingredients. Thankfully, they were all made with vegetable origins.

So far, I’ve only tried a couple of Mochi..they feel so soft and gooey in my fingers… they’re not so sweet so it’s perfect for an afternoon tea time snack with a hot cup of tea. 🙂

assam pedas ikan pari

Ahhh…Assam Pedas. The staple dish in every Malay home.

Mum cooks this dish once every week, without fail.

I used to dislike it and kept complaining to her that we needed to experiment with new dishes.

But as the years went by, I’ve developed a liking to Assam Pedas.  I like it best if the gravy is thick. The best fish for Assam Pedas in my humble opinion is Stingray.

I’ve yet to find a yummy version of Assam Pedas sold outside, that could compare to my Mum’s version. But then again, I could be biased. 😉

So, I’d better keep this recipe so I could cook it anytime I want. 🙂

Ingredients:

4 – 5 tbsp Chilli Paste (Dried Chill and Onion Blend)

1 Lemongrass (pounded slighty)

1 Galangal (pounded slightly)

2.5cm Fresh Turmeric (pounded slightly) / 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder

Assam Paste (about the size of ping pong ball) – dissolved in 1.5 bowl of water

Handful of Daun Kesom (Laksa Leaves)

Method:

1. Heat 2 – 3 heaping tbsp of oil in a pot.
2. Add all ingredients except for Assam Water & Laksa Leaves.
3. Fry until paste turns dark red (or as Malays would call it, “tumis sampai garing”).
4. Add Assam Water & Laksa Leaves
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Leave gravy to boil.
7. Simmer and add preferred fish (Stingray / Tenggiri / Red Snapper)
8. Serve with piping hot rice.

P.S. My mum uses the agar-ation method (just a matter of adding ingredients to taste) and is hopeless at giving specific measurements & quantities for the ingredients. But her dishes always turn out yummy! It’s all in the hand, I suppose! 🙂

So hopefully, I’ve been able to recreate her version by observing her when she cooks Assam Pedas. :p

semperit biscuits

Semperit biscuits.

Who’d have thought that these old skool biscuits would trigger the “kitchen goddess” in me? Heh. More like the kitchen un-goddess for me.

How does Ms Ni/gel/la cook up a storm in her kitchen, with not a single bead of sweat on her forehead?

And so, it was the fasting month last year. I was surfing around, looking for simple cookie recipes to bake for Hari Raya. I remember snacking on semperit biscuits in my childhood days. These were simply-decorated cookies that melt in your mouth, with a hint of buttery sweetness.

Sadly, they are quite rare nowadays.

Luckily, I found a recipe that seemed fuss-free and used minimal ingredients.

Good.

Rummaged through my mum’s kitchen cabinets and found most of the ingredients I needed. Went to the nearby supermarket and bought the remaining stuff.

And so my inaugural kitchen adventures started.

Mind you, yours truly was in her 7th month of pregnancy. I can’t quite explain it but I was feeling at my most domestic state.

The recipe was as easy as it seemed. And soon, I was ready to pop my 1st batch into the oven.

They came out looking yummy with a lovely shade of yellow, thanks to the custard powder in the recipe.

The family approved. My mum gave her thumbs up too. Which made me happy, considering that she’s got a fussy palate and very particular with taste and presentation skills.

And we had our 1st batch of cookies for Hari Raya to tick off our To-do list!

I’ve made some adaptations to the recipe.

Ingredients:

8 oz Plain Flour

2 oz Custard Powder

4 oz Corn Flour

6 oz Icing Sugar

1 block Butter (250gm)*

2 Egg Yolks

2 tsp Vanilla Essence

*Remove butter from the fridge 15min prior to making the cookie.

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200deg.
2. Sieve Plain Flour & Corn Flour into a medium-sized bowl.
3. Cut butter into cubes and add them to the flour.
4. Mix butter & flour, using the Rub-In method, until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
5. Add egg yolks & vanilla essence & mix until a firm dough forms.
6. Pipe out the dough using a cookie press / Roll out dough to desired thickness and cut out using a cookie cutter.
7. Bake cookies for 15 min.

P.S. Dough should be firm. If it’s too dry and crumbly, add a few drops of milk. If it’s too soft & soggy, add corn flour till you get the desired firmness.

I’ve done 2 batches of this recipe and so far, they’ve been a success.

Lucky break for me considering I’m a novice at baking. 😉

let the makan session begin!

I pondered and pondered over it.

Finally, I am setting up a blog for all my cooking, baking & makan-ing adventures!

I’ve always had a love for cooking and the occasional baking. But the pregnancy of my 2nd born brought out the best (or worst) in me. I was on a roll! I was simply inspired to cook.

My family seem to enjoy the stuff I cook, so I must be doing something right! 😉

This is where I want to save those success recipes so that I don’t have to search for the cookbook or recipe online again.

And this is also where I intend to save all of the recipes from my mother (who, in my opinion, is an excellent cook!). I would like to store some of her best recipes here for posterity sake. Who knows it could be an heirloom of sorts for my children and their future spouses?

Finally, I’ll go on the occasional makan adventures, in search of some excellent, lip-smacking and finger-licking food!

Jemput Makan! (A typical Malay phrase for “Come, Let’s Eat!”)