Sarawak Laksa

My family fall in love with this noodle on the first try. It was prepared from my neighbor and after that, she has been giving me a lot of advices on how to make a good Laksa. She has advised me to use the commercial Laksa paste in order to master my cooking before considering making the paste from scratch.

This is my 4th attempt and I would say, it is time for me to go to the next level; making the paste from scratch.... I do hope this plan will come true one day :)

But before that, it is good if I share some tips on how to make a good Laksa noodle using commercial Laksa paste. I am really lucky to have a neighbor who always bring back the Laksa paste to me and also taught me how to prepare this noodle. She has been selling Sarawak Laksa for more than 10 years.

There are few tips in order to make the noodle tastes good. As for the ingredient, besides using fresh coconut milk, adding a few drops of fish sauce can improve the soup's flavour. Since we are using beehoon as the noodle, it is the best if we blanch the beehoon with the soup base so that the soup flavor can be absorbed into the beehoon.

You may choose any garnishing that you like. Since my husband loves roast pork, I have added in just to match his liking! Therefore, you may find that this may not look like the original of the Sarawak Laksa!


Ingredients (8-10 people)

600g commercial Laksa Paste
1500 ml of water
700-1000 ml of coconut juice (depending on the individual preference)
A few drop of fish sauce
Salt to taste

Garnish
1 kg of prawns, clean and deveined
1 chicken breast
5 eggs
600g of roast pork
Some mint leaves
Some limes
300 g of bean sprout
1 packet of beehoon, soaked with water
1 kg of yellow noodle

1. Boil water and cook the prawns and chicken breast. Soak the prawns and chicken breast in cold water upon cook. This step will prevent the prawns and chicken breast from further cook while maintain the juiciness in the meat.

2. Using the same boil water, add in the commercial Laksa Paste and boil for another 30 minutes. This is to make sure that all the aroma and flavour from the Laksa Paste diffuse into the water.

3. After 30 minutes, sieve out the spices traces. Then, add in coconut juice into the soup (without any spices traces) and the added amount is depending on the individual preference. Since I prefer a watery soup, I am using only 700 ml of coconut juice. If may add more if you prefer a thicker soup. Add in a few drop of fish sauce to taste.

4. Garnishing: Peel the chicken breast into thin strips. Cut the roast pork into small slices.


5. As for the eggs, beat the eggs lightly with a fork. Add some salt and pepper. During frying, coat a thin layer (~2-3mm) of egg layer on a pan. Once it is cooked, remove from the pan and set aside. Continue with the remainder egg mixture and depending on the size of the pan, you may get 3-5 pieces of thin layer of egg. Once the egg layers are cool, cut into small slices.

6. Bean sprout and yellow noodle: Boil a pot of water and blanch the bean sprout and noodle separately. The main objective of blanching the yellow noodle is to remove the excessive oil and it should be done within 1-2 seconds. Do not cook the yellow noodle.

7. Noodle: Using a clean pot, transfer around 250 ml of curry soup base into it. Once the soup base is boiling, add a small handful of beehoon and yellow noodle (from step 6). Cook until the noodle are cooked. Serve and garnish the noodle in a bowl. You may serve with Belacan Dipping Sauce for better taste.

Yummy.....let's feast!

Vegetarian Korean Japchae (Vegetarian Korean Stir Fry Sweet Potato Noodle)

This is a modified version of Japchae recipe that suits with Chinese flavor. In this recipe, I am using translucent Korean sweet potato noodles, also known as starch noodles or Korean vermicelli, are made from sweet potato starch and water. When cooked, these dried gray noodles turn clear. The noodles are stretchy, slightly chewy and springy in texture. 

The tips to this recipe is cooking each ingredient separately before mixing them together. 

NOTE: If you wish to have meat, slice the meat thinly and cooked it separately before mixed with the noodles. You may just season the meat with salt and pepper.

Ingredients:

250 g Korea sweet potato noodles

10 pcs mushroom, soaked and cut into thin slices

100 g cabbage, cut into small pieces

1/2 small carrot, cut into thin slices

1 paprika, cut into thin slices

3 eggs, lightly beat season with salt and pepper

2 tps sesame oil

salt, pepper and soya sauce, to taste

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the noodles, stir to separate them, and boil until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cool. Using scissors, cut the noodles into 6 to 9 inches length (optional). With the noodles still in the colander,drizzle with 2 tsp of the sesame oil and toss to coat. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add in eggs and move the pan around to spread them out evenly. Remove eggs from the pan once it is cooked. Set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the carrots, stir-fry until it is cooked. Season with pepper and salt. Set aside. Use the method to stir-fry mushroom, paprika, and cabbage separately. Set aside.

4. In a clean pan, mix the glass noodle, mushroom, carrot, paprika and egg together. Stir-fry the glass noodles mixture using medium heat for 3 minute or until the noodle is warm. Stir frequently so the noodles does not stick to the bottom. Add a little of oil and soya sauce if necessary.

5. Serve the glass noodles in a bowl. Enjoy!

Black Tagliolini with Cream and Mushroom

Few weeks ago, I bought myself several packets of squid ink from a grocery shop. I was really happy and bought 4 little packets that can make 400 gram of pasta dough. That is the first thing that came across my mind when I saw the squid ink.

I have no time to explore into it until few days back when I have to stay at home to look after my fever girl. While she was sleeping, I managed to steal around 2 hours to prepare the black Tagliolini.

Black Pasta Dough

Despite its dramatic black color, this pasta has a delicate flavor with just a hint of the sea. My kids find the color is so special and love it very much. Now, they are started to ask me to prepare different color of pasta.

Ingredients
1 tbsp squid ink
4 eggs
400 g plain flour

1. Mix the squid ink with the eggs, then blend this mixture with the flour. Knead properly until all the ingredient are blended properly and forming a dough. Let it rest for 20 minutes before roll at the pasta machine. Do not worry if the color is not uniform as you will eventually obtain a uniform pasta after several passes through the pasta machine.

 2. The pasta machine takes a lot of the hard work out if the rolling and stretching process. Just remember that you still need to take the time to work through all the settings until you reach the final setting in order to obtain the elasticity and silkiness that gives the best pasta. Different machine may work differently and please read through the machine instruction for the rolling and stretching process.

3. After getting the desired thickness, dry the pasta sheet for around 30 minutes before cutting into the desire width. I am drying the pasta by hanging the sheets over the chopsticks.
(NOTE: You may need to use a lot of flour to dust the final noodle in order to prevent them from sticking)

4. After drying process, you can cut the pasta using the pasta machine. In this case, I am using fine setting for the pasta noodle. Dust the noodle with a lot of flour to avoid the prevent the noodle from sticking.

Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
200 g of mushroom mix mushroom, brown and white mushrooms; removed all the roots
200 g bacon, cut into small pieces
200 ml of cooking cream
1 medium onion, diced
salt to taste
pepper to taste
a dash of parmesan cheese

1. Prepared all the ingredient and set aside.

2. To prepare the sauce, heat up the olive oil in a pan . Saute the onion until it is soft. Add in bacon and continue to saute until the bacon is brownish. Add in mushroom and saute for around 1-2 minutes until the mushrooms are soft. Add in the cooking cream and continue to braise for another 1 minute. Off heat and set aside.

3. To prepare the spaghetti, cook it with plenty of boiling water until al dente. Since this is a fresh pasta, the total time to cook the pasta will be shorter. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water.

4. Heat up the sauce and transfer pasta into the sauce. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with Parmesan Cheese.

Ipoh Shredded Chicken Rice Noodles (Kai See Hor Fun) 怡保鸡丝河粉 (Version 2)

Why is there a version 2? Is it an improvement from Version 1?

Yes....it is and by judging only from the photo itself, you can tell that there is a lot of different!

The secret of version 2 lays on these two items: Prawn oil and Chicken soup

In my previous attempt, personally I do not find that the color of my noodle is very impressive. There is not enough 'red' color in my soup. I have been scratching my head thinking of which ingredient could give the 'red' color... definitely not chili; how about prawn's head? I tried to cook prawn's head with oil using low heat and to my surprise, red oil is produced!!! It is really amazed me.

Another improvement is the soup itself. In this attempt, I have added sweet turnip in my soup and it makes the soup change to slightly milky. The taste is so 'sweet' and the color is really looked like the one I found in Ipoh. I am really happy to announce that this is a real Ipoh Kai see Hor Fun!!!

Ingredients
(Serving of 4-6 persons)

For the broth
1 medium chicken 
3 liter of water
300 g of prawns, washed and deveined (reserved the prawn shells)
300g sweet turnip
Rock sugar (about 5 pieces or to taste)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp of oil

Shrimp oil
200g prawn's head
125ml oil


Garnishing
Chives
Fried onions (shallots)
Bean sprouts
Shredded chicken


Making the shrimp oil

1. Heat up the oil using low heat. Add in the prawn's head and saute until the oil is separated out.

Making the broth

1. Heat up 3 liter of water. When the water boils, soak the chicken in the water. Lower the heat and let it cook until it is done. It takes around 40-50 minutes. Upon cooked, immediately transfer the chicken to a pot of cold water and let it soak for at least 10 minutes. This step is important to make the meat juicy and tender. Then, remove the flesh from the bone. Put the bones back to the chicken stock. Reserve the chicken meat; shredded before serving the meat.

2. Using the same wok, saute the prawns shells for around a minute or until they turn to golden colour. Then, transfer to the chicken stock (step 1). Normally, I will use some water to raise the pan to make sure that all the prawn's juice that are stick on the pan is being transferred to the chicken stock (with bones). Simmer for an hour or longer until you see a milky chicken broth.

3. Strain the stock. Taste with sugar and salt. You may use chicken stock concentration to enhance the taste (optional).

                                             



Garnishing
4. Shredded the chicken meat and set aside.

5. Blanched the prawn meat in the soup, removed.

6. Cut chives into 1 inch strips. Blanch


Noodles
7. Blanched a serving of hor fun and bean sprouts in a pot of boiling water for around 5-10 seconds. Put into a bowl. Add some prawns, shredded chicken and chives. Then, add in the boiling broth. Before serving, garnish with fried shallots.

Spinach Seafood Spaghetti

To cook any dried pasta, it is important that the pasta should be cooked until it is al dente-that is, soft on the outside but still firm to the bite on the inside. Al dente can be achieved by cooking dried pasta for 1 or 2 minutes less than the suggested time on the packet. While the pasta is cooking, pick out a piece occasionally with a fork and chew on it, to see if it as reached the desired texture. I personally like pasta very al dente, so I cook my spaghetti for only 5 minutes or so.

As soon as the pasta is cooked to your satisfaction, remove it from the heat and drain it, retaining a little of the cooking water, which can then be used to moisten the finished dish if it seems too dry. I usually like to add the drained pasta to the pan containing the sauce, so the pasta absorbs the sauce in the final minutes of cooking.

To cook Spinach Seafood Spaghetti, it is important to have sufficient spinach which has been blended with sufficient olive oil. Unlike Pesto, this spinach sauce is cooked with seafood to enhance the flavor of this sauce. I am really hope that your picky kids love this dish.

Ingredients

400 grams dried spaghetti

200 grams prawns, washed and deveined

2 pieces of squid, cleaned and cut into pieces

250 grams bacon, cut into small pieces

250 grams of spinach, blended with sufficient olive oil

1 small onions, diced

2 tbsp of olive oil
3 slices of Cheddar Cheese
1 tsp of dry basil flakes

salt to taste

pepper to taste

A dash of Parmesan Cheese

1. Prepared all the ingredients and set aside.

2. To prepare the sauce, heat up the pan. Saute the onion until it is soft. Add in bacon and continue to saute until the bacon is brownish. Add in squid and prawns. Saute for around 1 minute before adding the the blended spinach. Continue to saute until spinach is cooked. Do not worry when you see plenty of water. Off heat and set aside.

3. To prepare the spaghetti, cook it with plenty of boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water.

4. Sprinkle the basil into the sauce, put the pan back over low heat and add the spaghetti. Add in the Cheddar Cheese, salt and pepper. Toss well until the Cheddar Cheese melts and incorporates with the spaghetti. Add in a tablespoon or two of the reserved cooking water if the sauce seems too dry. Serve immediately with Parmesan Cheese.

Ban Mian (拌麵)

Guess what, I have bought myself another toy....Pasta Machine!! I have been thinking to own this machine whenever I made dumpling. I wish I could make different dumpling skin color. That is my goal but I am not too sure whether I have the persistent to achieve my goal. 

For the "opening ceremony" of my machine, I am planning to make Spinach Noodle. Besides nutritious, it is also easy to prepare as you just need to mix the blended spinach into the flour before passing through the Pasta Machine.

To be honest, it is really time consuming to prepare the noodle from scratch. One needs to be very patient and in my opinion, it is really worth the time as the noodle texture is really different as compare with the commercial noodle.


Ingredients A
500g plain flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp cooking oil
150-200 ml water
50g of spinach, washed and blended
(NOTE: 100g flour per person)

Ingredient B
300g minced pork
250g dried anchovies
50g black fungus, soaked and shredded
10g mushroom, soaked and shredded
300g green leafy vegetables, blanched
100g shallots, sliced and deep fried

Seasoning
1 tbsp soya sauce
1tsp pepper
1tsp sugar
1tsp sesame oil

3000ml chicken broth

Noodle (Ban Mian)
1. Combine all ingredient A, and knead lightly until it becomes a smooth dough. Cover the dough with cling wrap and let it sit for 20 minutes before roll with the pasta machine

2. The pasta machine takes a lot of the hard work out of the rolling and stretching process. Just remember that you still need to take the time to work the dough through all the settings until you reach the final setting in order to obtain the elasticity and silkiness that gives the best pasta. Different machine may work differently and please read through the machine instruction for the rolling and stretching process.

3. After getting the desired thickness, dry the pasta sheet for around 30 minutes before cutting into the desire width. I am drying the pasta by hanging the sheets over the chopsticks.
(NOTE: You may need to use a lot of flour to dust the final noodle in order to prevent them from sticking)

4. Boil a pot of water and cook the noodle for around 1-2 minutes until reaching your satisfaction.

Meat and mushroom sauce
5. Heat up 2 tbsp oil to stir-fry minced pork until fragrant. Add in shredded mushroom, black fungus and seasoning. Stir-fry until the meat is cooked. Add in some water if the gravy is too dry and continue to stir-fry until the sauce is slightly absorbed. Dish up and set aside.

6. Place a portion of noodle in a serving bowl, pour in hot chicken broth, serve with minced pork, fried anchovies and leafy vegetables. Garnish with some fried shallots on top. Serve top.

Soup base Ban Mian

Dry version of Ban Mian

Braised E-Fu Noodle (Yi Mein)

The preparation of this noodle is really simple and hassle free to cook. It only takes around 30 minutes to prepare this dish. As compare to other noodle, Yi Mein is much easier to cook as it is less soggy. The most interesting part of this noodle is the chewiness and spongy texture. I normally having this dish with my favourite Belacan Sauce will enhance the appetite!


Ingredients
100 g prawns, washed and deveined 
100 g pork, slice thinly
1 pcs of fish cake, slice
3 stalks of sawi (Chinese Mustard Green)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 stacks of noodles, cut into 3" length
3 bowls water (chicken broth)
2 tbsp oil

Seasoning
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
Dash of pepper

1. Marinate pork and prawns with the seasoning for 20 minutes.

2. Heat up oil. Saute the garlic for 30 s and add in the marinated pork and prawns. Stir-fry briskly for a minute before adding in the Chinese Mustard Green and fish cake.

3. Continue to stir-fry for another minute. Pour in the water or chicken broth. Bring to boil and add in the noodle. Cover, braise over medium heat until the flavour has been absorbed and the gravy is slightly thicken.

4. Dish up, serve at once with Belacan Sauce.

Ipoh Shredded Chicken Rice Noodles (Kai See Hor Fun) 怡保鸡丝河粉 (Version 1)

Weekend is finally here!! I really love weekend as this is the time I can explore a new recipe and let my family try on my new 'creation'! This week, I am planning to cook..... Ipoh Shredded Chicken Rice Noodles.

I am really excited as this is my first attempt of cooking this dish. I have been doing some research on this dish and I would say, the most challenging part is to get a nice chicken stock. Fresh ingredients is essential. Other than chicken,  prawn shells are also needed in preparing the soup. The soup is normally served with hor fun, along the shredded chicken, slices of prawn, chives and bean sprouts. You may include some fish balls for the kids.

My first attempt turns out to be very good. My family loves it a lot....... and it makes my day!!!!!

Ingredients
(Serving of 4-6 persons)

For the broth
1 medium chicken
500 g of prawns, washed and deveined (reserved the prawn shells)
5 leaves of Chinese cabbage (optional)
Rock sugar (about 5 pieces or to taste)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp of oil

Garnishing
Chives
Fried onions (shallots)
Bean sprouts
Shredded chicken

Making the broth

1. Heat up 3 liter of water. When the water boils, soak the chicken in the water. Lower the heat and let it cook until it is done. It takes around 40-50 minutes. Upon cooked, immediately transfer the chicken to a pot of cold water and let it soak for at least 10 minutes. This step is important to make the meat juicy and tender. Then, remove the flesh from the bone. Put the bones back to the chicken stock. Reserve the chicken meat; shredded before serving the meat.

2. Heat up a pan. Stir fry the prawns shells for around a minute or until they turn to golden colour. Then, transfer to the chicken stock (step 1). Normally, I will use some water to raise the pan to make sure that all the prawn's juice that are stick on the pan is being transferred to the chicken stock (with bones). Simmer for an hour or longer until you see a layer of red oil on top of the stock.

3. Strain the stock. Taste with sugar and salt. You may use chicken stock concentration to enhance the taste (optional).

Garnishing
4. Shredded the chicken meat and set aside.

5. Blanched the prawn meat in the soup, removed.

6. Cut chives into 1 inch strips. Blanch

Noodles
7. Blanched a serving of hor fun and bean sprouts in a pot of boiling water for around 5-10 seconds. Put into a bowl. Add some prawns, shredded chicken and chives. Then, add in the boiling broth. Before serving, garnish with fried shallots.

Teochew Noodle

This simple noodle recipe is always served during the eve of Chinese New Year. It symbolizes longevity. The secret ingredient of this noodle is chives. The aroma of chives will enhance the whole flavour of this noodle.

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Chives (韭菜)
(Source from Wiki)
The medicinal properties of chives are similar to those of garlic. Containing numerous  organosulfur compounds such as allyl sulfides and alkyl sulfoxides, chives are reported to have a beneficial effect on the circulatory system. They also have mild stimulant, diuretic, and antiseptic properties. As chives are usually served in small amounts and never as the main dish, negative effects are rarely encountered, although digestive problems may occur following overconsumption.
Chives are also rich in vitamin A and C, contain trace amounts of sulfur, and are rich in calcium and iron.

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Ingredients
10 pieces of mushroom, soaked and cut into slices
200g mince pork, mince and marinated with sesame oil, soya sauce, pepper, 1 tsp of corn starch
200g prawn, removed shell and devein
100g chives, cut into 2" length
100g beans sprout
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 shallots, sliced thinly
250g longevity noodle
3 medium eggs, lightly beat and taste it with salt and pepper
pepper
salt to taste

Marinate
Marinate pork and prawn separately with 1tsp of sesame oil, 1tsp of soya sauce, 1/2 tsp of salt, a dash of pepper and 1tsp of corn starch, for 30 minutes.


(Tips: All the ingredients must cook separately in order to enhance the individual taste of each ingredient.)

Preparing the noodle
1. Cook noodles using a full pot of water. Unlike spaghetti, the texture of Longevity noodle is softer and thus it needs shorter time to cook this noodle . In fact, it is only to blanch the noodle for 30 seconds in order to loosen the noodle. Remove and air dry the noodle under the fan for around 30 minutes.
(Tips: The get the best noodle, we have to use the dry noodle. In fact, my grandmother will dry it until the sun for an hour)

Preparing the individual ingredients
2. In a separate pan, heat up 1 tbsp. of oil. Add in a pinch of pepper and salt. Stir fry the mushroom until fragrance. Remove and keep aside.

3. Using the same pan, heat up 1 tbsp. of oil. Stir fry the marinated pork mince until it is cooked. Remove and keep aside.

4. Then, heat up 1 tbsp. of oil. Stir fry the marinated prawn until it is cooked. Remove and keep aside.

5. Heat up 1/2 tbsp. of oil. Stir fry the chives for a few second. Remove and keep aside.

6. Heat up 1/2 tbsp. of oil. Fry the egg mixture until it is half cook. Remove and keep aside.


Final step
7. Heat up 2 tbsp. of oil. Add in pepper powder, garlic and onion. Fry until the onion is soft.

8. Add in bean sprouts and stir fry it for a few second. Then, add in the noodle and the rest of the cooked ingredients. Lower the fire to the smallest configuration,

9. At this stage, you have to use chopsticks to combine all the ingredients and noodle slowly. (It is quite a similar when tossing salad)

10. After it is well combine, serve when it is hot.