SPICED FRIED CHICKEN

Ingredient
12 Pieces chicken thigh
1.5 inches of ginger
1.5 inches of galangal
2 pieces of lemon grass (bottom part)
3 bird’s eye chili
1 bulb of garlic
1 big onion
1 piece Kaffir lime leave
1 handful of curry leaves
1 tablespoon of chicken curry powder
½ tablespoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of corn flour

One hour before cooking, marinade chicken thighs with:
1 tablespoon of baba’s chicken curry powder
½ tablespoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of honey

In a spice grinder, grind finely:
1.5 inches of ginger
1.5 inches of galangal
2 pieces of lemon grass (bottom part)
1 bulb of garlic
1 big onion
1 piece Kaffir lime leave
4 curry leaves
3 bird’s eye chili

Add 3 tablespoon of water to the cornflour and mix with chicken. Add grinded spice and remaining curry leaves (The corn starch will ensure the grinded spices stays intact with the chicken.) Use a plastic glove to do the mixing.

Prepare to deep fry. Ensure you have enough canola oil to completely submerge the chicken during frying.

Heat up the oil to 160 degrees Celsius. Fry the chicken for 10 to 12 minutes.
Whenever the chicken are done, scoop up all the remaining spices in the pot. Place the chicken and fried spices in a strainer to strain off excess oil. Then serve the chicken on a banana leave.

Repeat process

MEE SIAM SINGAPORE

Mee Siam, which means "Siamese noodle", is a dish of thin rice noodles (vermicelli or bihun) in spicy, sweet and sour light gravy. It is one of the most popular dish in Singapore. The Malaysian version (dry version) is completely different. Originally a Thai dish, it became a Nyonya specialty eventually.
Here's how it done...

The Gravy
Prepare mixture A and set aside..
Cut & Blend:
5 Shallots
3 Cloves garlic
6 Dried chilli
1 tablespoon shrimp paste (Belacan)

1 tablespoon dried shrimp
2 onions
6 candle nuts

Prepare mixture B and set aside
Blend:
4 heaped tablespoon of preserved yellow beans (Tau Cheo)

(Note: While most people lightly crush the Tau Cheo, it will taste better blended until it become a paste)

Tamarind Juice from 3 tablespoons of the pulp, strained.
1.5 tablespoon of Palm sugar (Gula Merah)
1/2 teaspoon of salt (Do not add more than this coz Tau Cheo is already salty)

Cook mixture A in 5 tablespoons of olive oil until fragrant then add mixture B

Add 1 litre of water

Add 3 piece dried tamarind fruit (asam keping), & 2 smashed lemon grass stalk

Add 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
Simmer for 30 minutes under slow heat.

Now the gravy is done. Set Aside

The Noodle...
Blanch vermicelli in boiling water for 30 seconds
Heat 4 tablespoon of olive oil
Stir fry 1 clove of garlic, 3 tablespoon of pounded dried shrimp, 2 tablespoon of chilli paste & 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. Add the vermicelli & cook lightly.

When it's done, add the gravy & garnish.

Alternatively, just blanch the vermicelli in boiling water for 1 minute and add the prepared gravy and garnish.

Serve piping hot.

As you like, garnish with:
Potato Cake (Bergedil)
Chopped Spring onion & coriander leaves
Boiled egg
Blanced bean sprout
Diced fried bean curd

Finely chopped Tau Foo Pok

Boiled shrimp

Bon appetit

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

This is not really an Asian recipe. However I felt compelled to add this recipe as most Asians simply love good cheesecake. It is a great dessert and it will simply suit all occasion. Baking cheesecake is relatively easy as long as these steps are complied. Cracks on the surface of a baked cheesecake is a common problem and is caused either by over beating the mixture or by overbaking. In order to prevent cracks make sure you beat the ingredients at low speed as, unlike other cakes, you do not want to add a lot of air into the mixture. The thing to remember is that you want the cheesecake to be firm but, if you shake the pan gently, it should still wobble a little, and the center will still look a little wet. Do not exceed 120 degrees Celsius. Cheesecakes should not to be eaten straight away as they need to cool and then be refrigerated overnight, so the flavors have time to blend and the texture becomes nice and firm. Time is the main issue here. You can’t rush to bake a cheesecake

The ingredients..
The Crust:
2 cups (190 grams) of Digestive biscuits (Blend whole cookies in a food processor
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Knead all the ingredients together until they become cookie dough

The Filling:
1 kg Philadelphia cream cheese. (Room temperature)
1 cup (200 grams) castor sugar
3 tablespoons (40 grams) all purpose flour
5 large eggs. (Room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) whipping cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
½ teaspoon of salt

Topping:
Canned blueberry paste. Alternatively, you can use strawberry paste.

This is the way it's done..
Grease spring form pan with butter. Make sure that the spring form pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools

For Base Crust:
Press the cookie dough evenly over the bottom and about 2cm up the sides of the spring form pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For Cheesecake Filling:
In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on low speed until smooth. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Add the whipping cream, lemon juice, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling.

Now it's time to bake...

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Place the pan in the centre of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 120 degrees Celsius and continue to bake for about another 2 hours. (Away from direct heat as far as possible)

The cheesecake will be firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. (trust me, it's done) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.
Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. This cheesecake tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.

Final touch...
Brush the sides of the cheesecake with melted chocolate.
Spread the blueberry paste on top of the cheesecake and refrigerate it again for another hour at least. (If the top of your cheesecake still cracks, the blueberry topping will hide them)

Bon appétit.

BUTTER AND CHEESE PRAWN & CALAMARI

This recipe has been perfected over and over again until I find it just right. Depending on whether you like it hot or mild, adjust the amount of bird’s eye chili accordingly. Use the biggest prawn & calamari that you could get. You can even use lobster for this recipe. The taste will blend nicely in your mouth.

Prepare the prawn & calamari...
For the prawn, Remove the head & devein them, leaving the shell intact.
For the calamari, cut them into 4x4cm squares. If you have time, you could make crosses pattern with a knife on the calamari squares so that they look nice.
Deep fry the prawn & Calamari for 20 seconds & set aside
If you use lobster, slice them into 2 pieces, from head to tail and fry for 25 seconds.

Egg Floss Topping...
Melt 2 tbsp of salted butter
Add 6 tbsp of canola oil
Keep swirling oil & butter under high heat. Use a ladle bottom.
Add 4 egg yolk and keep swirling
Add 1 teaspoon sugar & 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 6 pieces curry leaves quickly
When it turns brown & flossy, strain the floss of the oil

Use oil absorbing kitchen paper towel to remove the oil
Keep them aside as garnish

Cheese & butter Sauce..
Under low heat,
Add ½ block of butter (Unsalted)
When the butter melts:
Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic,
A handful of crumbled curry leaves
5 thinly sliced bird’s eye chili
When the garlic turns light brown:
Add 1/2 cup of evaporated milk
½ teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoon of sugar
Add parmesan cheese
Add the prepared prawns & calamari or lobster
Increase the heat into high and continue to stir for another 1 minute

Sprinkle with egg floss & coriander Leaves.

As an alternative to the Egg floss or an addition, here's the recipe for Nestum cereal topping:

Heat 3 heaped table spoon of butter

Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of sugar

1/2 tablespoon of grounded black pepper

3 pieces of sliced bird's eye chilli

Handful of crumbled curry leaves

Keep stir frying for 2 minutes

Add a 2 cups of Nestum cereal

Stir fry for another minute

Add to the prawn.

This would be the best ever butter & cheese prawn you will ever taste. Bon appetit.

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

The Dish...

Invented by the people of Hainan (an island off the southern-most coast of China), this has become a South East Asia’s most popular dish, loved by Malaysians & Singaporeans especially. Originally this gourmet is boiled chicken and rice cooked with chicken broth. However the chicken could then be roasted or fried as you prefer. The dish consists of three main component. The chicken, the rice and the chilli sauce.

Chicken Ingredients
One chicken
10 glasses of water
Index finger length fresh young ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
One stalk of spring onion, chopped
Half tsp salt
2 Tbs olive oil (or canola oil)
How to cook the chicken broth...

Wash chicken and remove knobs of fat on either side of the buttocks. Smash the ginger and garlic and tie the spring onions into a knot.
Stuff the chicken with salt, garlic, ginger and spring onions.
Boil 10 glasses of water in a large pot. Add chicken, breast side down, submerging completely.
Boil water, turn the heat down to very low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, uncovering once to turn chicken over.
Remove chicken and drain liquid from the body cavity. Retain liquid for later use.
Wash under tap water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking process and to tighten the skin.
Drain, rub some Sesame oil over and let the chicken cool to room temperature.
Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and serve garnished with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. Coriander (cilantro) leaves can be used to decorate the top. Keep broth for cooking rice, making the soup and to make the chilli sauce.

Alternatively, rub the boiled chicken with light soy sauce, sesame seed oil, cumin powder & honey. Fry the chicken for about 5 minutes or roast them for 10 minutes

Chicken Rice Ingredients...

3 cups long grain rice
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely (For best result, use the food processor. Not the blender)
5 shallots or onions, peeled and chopped finely
Two-and-a-half Tbs olive oil
Three-quarter to three-and-a-half cups chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
Three-quarter tsp salt
How to cook the rice...
Wash rice and drain in a colander for 10 minutes
4 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a rice cooker pot. Add shallots and stir fry for one minute till fragrant. Add garlic and stir fry for one minute.
Add the rice grains and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and salt. Start the rice cooker or boil over high heat and lower down the heat to steam the rice when the water level reaches the level of the rice grains and steam holes appear. Steam for 30 to 40 minutes till rice is cooked.

Chilli Sauce Ingredients..
6 fresh red chilli peppers
4 shallots
1 bulb of garlic
Thumb size fresh young ginger
Half cup boiling chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
4 tsp lime or lemon juice
One tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
One tsp salt
How to cook the chilli sauce..
Peel shallots, ginger and garlic. Add the chillies and use a food processor to grind the ingredients.
Put all into a bowl and add the boiling chicken broth. Add remaining ingredients, cool and leave for at least one hour before serving.

Serve the dish with light soy sauce, the chicken broth, rice, the chicken, tomatoes, cucumber & lettuce. Enjoy the best Chicken Rice recipe ever.

TOM YAM GOONG

Tom Yam Goong or Tom Yam prawn is a de facto official food of the Kingdom Of Thailand. It is characterized by its distinct hot and sour flavors, with fragrant herbs generously used. The dish is not only delicious, it is also relatively easy to prepare. Tom Yam is known to have it medical benefits too. It is said that substances released from the heating of lime leaves & mushrooms has could aid in preventing cancer. Follow the instructions step by step and if it’s done differently, the taste would be different.

It's cooking time..

Boil 4 glasses of water
Add 2 cubes of good quality chicken stock

Add these into the boiling chicken stock:
3 stalk of bruised lemon grass (Cut each stalk into 5 parts )
3 cm of galangal (Cut thinly)
½ Onion or 4 shallots (Cut into wedge shape)
4 bird’s eye chilli (Cut each chilli into 3 pieces. You can have more if you want it hotter)
2 coriander root (Crushed. The root has a special flavour. Just make sure you clean them well)
2 wedges of garlic (Crushed)
A handful of Kaffir lime leaves. (Strip the veins of 6 kaffir lime leaves, the middle part of the leaf) Add 2 tablespoon of sugar
½ teaspoon of salt

After 5 minutes add:
Small Tomatoes (Cut into 3 pieces. It important to use tomatoes even if you don't like to eat them)
Straw mushrooms or button mushrooms (Do not use mushrooms that has strong taste like shitake and oyster mushroom)
Nam Prik Pow mixture (½ a cup of Evaporated milk, mixed with 2 tablespoon of Thai Chili Paste known as Nam Prik Pow. A good brand is Pantai Norasingh or Mae Pra Nomh)

Switch off the heat and immediately:
A mixture ofLime juice from 3 large seedless lime and same amount of Thai fish sauce (Use good quality fish sauce)
Add Spring onion, & Prawn (deveined)
Garnish with coriander leaves (This is important too)

Bon Appetit. I think this is the best Tom Yam Recipe ever. Try it out step by step. Don't skip on anything at all.

NORTH INDIAN FISH CURRY

This is a much loved dish in most Asian countries and gaining popularity in Europe especially in the United Kingdom! Depending on your tolerance to chilli, you may opt to reduce or increase the amount of chilli powder. The curry will taste better if consumed after a couple of hours after cooking or even the next day!!

This will allow the flavours to blend in perfectly.

This is how it's done...

Mix the spices to make a paste:
2 Tablespoon of fish curry powder
1 Tablespoon of Chilli powder
½ a glass of warm water

Set aside:
1 Tablespoon of tamarind pulp (Dissolve with a bowl of warm water, remove the seeds)
½ a cup of Olive oil
1 bulb of garlic (Sliced thinly)
4 shallots (Sliced thinly)
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds & fenugreek seeds (Mixed)
2 stalk of lemongrass (Smashed)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 handful of curry leaves (Divide by 2 portions)
1 tablespoon of almond powder
1 glass of fresh milk or coconut milk or 1 cup of plain yoghurt (Your choice)
Vegetable of your choice: Aubergine or eggplant or lady’s finger (Optional)
1 Tomato ( cut into 4 pieces)
1 fish, cut into pieces (Any fish of your preference)
Coriander leaves (For garnish, it's important too)

It's cooking time…
Heat up the olive oil & immediately fry the:

Garlic & shallots
Add the curry leaves, mustard seeds & fenugreek seeds
Mix in the spice paste & fry until the mixture turn brown

Add and continue cooking under medium heat:
The tamarind juice
Lemongrass
Salt & sugar
Some more curry leaves (crumpled)
Almond powder
The fresh milk or Coconut milk or plain yoghurt (I would prefer to use the low fat milk or yoghurt)
Then you may add the fish & continue to cook for 5 minutes
Then add the vegetables & tomato, after 3 minutes, turn of the heat.
Serve & garnish with coriander leaves (This will a special taste to the curry too)

Eat with steamed rice or any kind of bread. Bon Appetit!!

XINJIANG LAMB KEBAB

The dish...

Xinjiang is a predominantly Muslim region of western China. It holds the world record of being the city furthest away from sea. So seafood are scarce and they make their lamb really good. The lamb kebab, or known as Yang Rou Chuan are really popular food in china. They are spicy and should be eaten fresh from the grill. This recipe is really rare and the best you could find.

Preparation...
Cut the 1kg of lamb into long thin strips with a good ratio of its fat

Blend these spices together..
1/2-cup ground cumin
1 tablespoon coriander seeds (optional)

1/4-cup chili flakes

2 tablespoon ground black pepper

1-tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground Sichuan peppercorns (optional)

2 tablespoons granulated fresh garlic

2 tablespoons salt
½ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoon of light soy sauce

1/2 cup of olive oil

Method...

In a large bowl marinate the lamb with the spices for 2 hours.

Soak bamboo skewers in cold water. This will make the meat slide onto the skewers better and they won't burn as easily on the grill.

Slide the meat into the skewers and you are now ready to grill them.

Grill the meat over medium heat charcoal fire for abour 3 minutes on each side only.

While grilling, dust some more cummin & chili flakes.

Bon appetit..

KUNG PAO CHICKEN

Marinate small pieces of chicken with:
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp corn starch
1 egg
1 tbsp water

Prepare the sauce mixture:
1.5 tbsp Hoisin sauce (Available at most asian food section)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
4 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp corn starch mixed with cold water (Makes it easier to dissolve)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil

Prepare the spices..
De seed 5 dried chili
Toast 1 tbsp of Szechuan peppercorn (optional or replaceable with black peppercorn)
Chopped green onion (spring onion)
8 thin slices of ginger
4 cloves of crushed garlic
Soaked & sliced shitake mushroom
Handful of roasted groundnuts of cashew nuts


Time to cook…
Fry the chicken till light brown and set aside

Stir Fry:
Shallow fry the dried chili, Szechuan peppercorn till it’s brown (Use Olive oil or Canola oil)
Add garlic & ginger
Add shitake mushroom
Add the chicken
Add the sauce mixture
Add the green onion & nuts

Serve with rice
Alternatively, you could replace the chicken with thinly sliced beef.

NASI LEMAK.. A Malaysian favourite

Ingredients for Nasi Lemak
2 cups of long grain rice
3 screwpine leaves (pandan, tie them up into a knot)
Ginger slices
Lemon Grass
2 cloves of sliced garlic
Salt to taste
1 bowl of thick coconut milk
Some water

Ingredients for Sambal Ikan Bilis
1 cup of waterTamarind Juice from Tamarind pulp (1 tablespoon, heaped) 2 shallots
1 bulb of garlic
1 Cube gula melaka
1 cm ginger
10 dried chillies1 teaspoon of belacan (prawn paste)
1 tablespoon of dried shrimp
1/4 teaspoon of salt
½ cup raisins
3 ringed Onions
1 cup fried ikan bilis (dried anchovies)

For Garnish..
2 hard boiled eggs (cut into half)
Peanuts roasted or fried

1 small cucumber (cut into slices and then quartered)

Method:
Nasi Lemak
Just like making steamed rice, rinse your rice and drain. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some water. Add the pandan leaves, ginger & garlic into the rice and cook your rice.

Sambal Ikan Bilis
Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water. Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside. (Just 1/2 cooked)

Pound the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, and deseeded dried chilies with a mortar and pestle. You can also grind them with a food processor.
Slice the red onion into rings.
Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes.
Squeeze the tamarind constantly to extract the flavor into the water.
Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.
Heat some oil in a pan and fry the spice paste until fragrant.
Add in the onion rings.
Add in the fried ikan bilis and stir well.
Add tamarind juice, salt, and sugar.
Simmer on low heat until the sambal thickens.

Serve...
Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice and pour some sambal ikan bilis on top of the rice.
Serve with peanuts, cucumber slices, and hard-boiled eggs

THAI STEAMED FISH

The fish..
Steam hammour or any white meat fish with ginger, coriander roots, salt & sesame oil

The gravy..
Boil fish stock from the steamed fish water

Add in:
Blended lemongrass (2stalks)
Match shapes galangal & ginger
Kaffir lime leaves
Sugar & salt
Fish sauce
Vinegar (cider & rice)
Light soy sauce (Not too much)
Chili padi (Bird's eye chilli)
Lime juice
Sweet Onion
Garlic
Fish Sauce 2 tbsp
Add Thickening sauce (Corn Flour with cold water)

Serve..
Place the fish on a metal plate with candles heating it up. Pour the gravy over the fish & garnish with spring onion & coriander