The combination of prawns & eggs in a dish sound so simple and easy to cook, but there is a lot more tricks in making this simple dish. As I would like to try out something new in cooking this simple dish, which brings more flavour and at the same time preserve the freshness and bounciness of the prawns.
Thus, I started to google many food blogs and I found this recipe is worth a try. You wouldn't know how much you can improve and change in making this simple family dish.
Most of the recipes in her site are simple and practical. Her food presentation is one of the best that I would admire to. She is
MITONG (小小米桶） as per her blog's name, in Chinese means "little rice barrel". This stir fry prawns & eggs with milk (蕃茄滑蛋蝦仁) is one of the best combo recipe. To add on the extra flavour, this dish has added some tomato in it. Do you want to know why? Let me describe the texture of this dish and I am sure you would also fall in love with it.
Stir-fried prawns soaked in the mixture of milk and eggs with some tapioca flour, makes the texture smooth and appetizing. The prawns are not over-cooked, smooth & bouncy. This is one of the way to savor fresh & bouncy prawns accompanied with eggs & some tomatoes in it! Isn't it simply appetizing? My family could finished all of them with some hot steamed rice! If you are searching for some simple yet delicious home cooked dish for the entire family, try this!
 Recipe adapted and modified. You may log on to her site for complete Chinese version.
Ingredients:
3 Eggs, beaten
20 Prawns, removed shells & veins
1 medium-sized Tomato
1 Spring onion, chopped
Marinate:
1 tsp Chinese Rice wine
Dash of White pepper
Dash of Salt
Seasoning:
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
Milk mixture:
3 tbsps Milk (I would prefer fresh milk)
1 tbsp Tapioca flour
Method:
1. Wash & peel the prawns. Removed veins and pat dry.
2. Marinade prawns with marinate ingredients. Set aside.
3. Make a cross on tomato, blanch it hot water. Remove tomato skin & seed. Diced.
4. Heat up wok, add 1 tbsp oil, add prawns and cook until 80% cooked. Dish up and set aside.
5. Beat up eggs, add salt, tomato, spring onion, prawns, milk mixture. Mix well.
6. Heat up wok again with 2 tbsps oil, turn fire to low, add in eggs mixture (step 5).
7. In low fire, stir fry eggs mixture till 80% cooked. Stir in prawns and mix well. Dish up & serve warm.
Tips from Mitong (I find that her tips are very useful to get the maximum flavour):
• Tips 1 - By mixing milk with tapioca flour will make this dish smooth and scrumptious.
• Tips 2 - By stir frying the prawns before hand, then mix with eggs mixture can preserve the freshness and texture of the prawns.
• Tips 3 - Cook eggs mixture in low fire to have a smooth texture. |
I went grocery shopping one day and saw those bright, red & juicy fresh strawberries displayed on the cooler tray. I feel like grabbing them and bite on it. Oh yeah! Strawberry is one of my favourite. I had those picked during my Cameron Highland trip 2 years ago with my little boy (at that time only 2 years +) and my hubby at one of the strawberry farm in Cameron Highland. Strawberry is costly in Malaysia and not all are sweet & juicy.
These were the strawberries I picked during the trip! Most of it is in medium sized, it is difficult to choose those big red strawberries at that time as it was drizzling and many are competing with me! haha... but we had a great time picking those strawberries and finished them in the hotel... *wink*
So, I quickly grabbed a box of fresh strawberries during the grocery shopping and can't wait to bite on it. As I reached home, my son and I had most of them chewed and swallowed down to our stomach! He even told me “Mummy, this is yummy! Can I have more?” I gave him a grinned and “of course”, we ate the strawberries together until we were satisfied. Even though it is not the best strawberries in town but we did enjoyed the strawberry feast at home!
I had quite a lot of balance though and I thought why not I make it into milk shake? So, here I go. Put those strawberries in the blender, add in milk, blend till smooth and drink immediately! Voila! My little boy loves it so much and managed to finish one cup of it. Isn't it nice to bite on those fresh strawberries and also milk shake? A good way to enjoy fruits with your little ones!
Ingredients:
150g Strawberries, hulled
150ml Full cream milk or Fresh milk
Ice cubes (Optional)
Method:
Put all the ingredients (except ice cubes) in a blender.
Blend for 1 minute or until smooth. Pour into a glass, add ice cubes and serve immediately.
I prefer it to be chilled. |
Gula Melaka (palm sugar) Sago pudding is one of the popular dessert among the Peranakan (Chinese-Malay origin). Gula Melaka is originated from a state in Malaysia, the Melaka State (Malacca). Melaka is one of the historical towns in Malaysia besides Penang. It preserved the historical values in every aspect of its town, such as the building architectural, streets, historical items found & of course food.
A brief of Milaca’s history here Melaka is one of the state the Baba & Nyonya (峇峇娘惹) originated.
A little touch of Baba & Nyonya from here -
Peranakan is descended from Chinese migrants who first came to Malacca many centuries ago. Adopting Malay customs and cultures, theirs is a unique heritage unlike any other. Peranakans are also referred to a 'Straits Chinese'.
It is still a subject of debate whether the Peranakans actually intermarried with the local Malay population or maintained a pure bloodline, but most are said to be of Hokkien ancestry. 'Babas' refer to male Peranakans while 'Nyonya' refer to females. Often Nyonya is used to substitute the term 'Peranakan' as well. Peranakans also settled in Penang, the only other state than Malacca.
In terms of dressing, the women wear traditional Malay costumes, notably the 'Baju Kebaya' a form of blouse woven with silk. Foot-binding, a practice carried over from China, used to be common among the affluent folk but over the centuries, it is no longer practised and for good reason. Perhaps the Peranakan's most famous legacy is Nyonya food, a fusion of Malay ingredients with Chinese cooking styles. Some of the most popular dishes include 'Belacan', 'Assam Laksa', 'Cendol' and 'Kuih Talam'.
Peranakans speak a dialect of the Malay language called 'Baba Malay' which has some elements of the Hokkien language. Their most notable musical entertainment form is the 'Dondang Sayang'; or 'Love Song' where Babas and Nyonyas exchanged poems in a humorous style, accompanied by a violin, accordion and traditional instruments; the Rebana and Gong. Many Malaccans, regarded less of their ethnicity, often indulge in Dondang Sayang; such is its popularity.
Peranakan cuisine has variety of Authentic taste between the combination of Chinese & Malay cooking. Nyonya food has becomes Malaysian's favourite food nowadays, there are many Nyonya restaurant in town or other states apart from Melaka. The exotic range of Nyonya food served in Melaka or Nyonya restaurant has becomes one of the main attraction for tourists or local residents, such as Kapitan Chicken, Assam Curry Fish, Bubur Cha Cha & many more.
Sago Gula Melaka with coconut milk is one of the famous dessert in Peranakan / Nyonya food. Gula Melaka has been using widely not only in Melaka but also in many of the high class hotels and restaurant. Gula Melaka or palm sugar has it exotic flavour, brings the cuisine an authentic yet delicious taste. Gula melaka is made by making several slits into the bud of a coconut tree and collecting the sap. Then, the sap is boiled until it thickens after which, in the traditional way, it is poured into bamboo tubes between 3-5 inches in length, and left to solidify to form cylindrical cake blocks. Alternatively it can be poured into glass jars or plastic bags. Gula melaka is used in some savory dishes but mainly in the local desserts and cakes of the Southeast Asian region. Gula Melaka Sago pudding, shown in the picture, is one of many desserts made with gula melaka. It is among some of the more popular gastronomic delights of Peranakan (Chinese-Malay) origin. This dish consists of a bland sago pudding served with gula melaka syrup. In some ways it resembles the international Creme Caramel and differ only in the ingredients used. It can be served either cold or hot. To enrich the pudding, coconut milk or 'santan' its Malay name, is added. Santan is the South-East Asian non-dairy counterpart of the dairy cream, the latter either whipped or in liquid form, is used mainly in Western cuisines but both add richness or provide viscosity when these are required. Reference from Wikipedia Sago is a starch extracted from the pith of sago palm stems, Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak and sagu. It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a paste, or as a pancake.
Sago looks like many other starches, and both sago and tapioca are produced commercially in the form of "pearls". Sago pearls are similar in appearance to tapioca pearls, and the two may be used interchangeably in some dishes. This similarity causes some confusion in the names of dishes made with the pearls.
Pearl sago, a commercial product, closely resembles pearl tapioca. Both typically are small (about 2 mm diameter) dry, opaque balls. Both may be white (if very pure) or colored naturally grey, brown or black, or artificially pink, yellow, green, etc. When soaked and cooked, both become much larger, translucent, soft and spongy. Both are widely used in South Asian cuisine, in a variety of dishes, and around the world, usually in puddings. In India, pearl sago is called javvarisi, or sabudana ("whole grain") and is used in a variety of dishes such as desserts boiled with sweetened milk on occasion of religious fasts. Reference from Wikipedia Gula Melaka sago pudding is my all time favourite, whenever I have a chance to dine in any Nyonya restaurant, I would surely order a bowl of this sago pudding. It is made of pearl sago, topped with a dash of coconut milk and gula melaka. I like the chilled way. I would request for some shredded ice on top of the sago pudding to make it more chilled.
I have found a superb Authentic Melaka Nyonya restaurant near my working place which served the best Nyonya authentic food in town. The restaurant is decorated with Baba & Nyonya home-style decoration, consists of traditional basket, flowers, table clothes, furniture, fan, teapot, bird’s cage & many more. It gives you a feel of Nyonya’s home & cuisine.
Besides, they serve variety of home made Melaka Nyonya kuih & desserts. They also serve the gula melaka sago pudding as one of their dessert besides then bubur cha cha & cendol. This has inspired me to make Sago Gula Melaka at home to savor with my family. It is indeed a simple, easy & delicious recipe to make at home. Let's enjoy!
Simple & easy to find ingredients
 Below recipe is adapted and modified from Women's Weekly Food Book - Easy healthy meals.
Ingredients:
1 cup Pearl Sago
3 liters Water
4 cups / moulds
Gula Melaka Mixture:
1 cup Gula Melaka (palm sugar), chopped
2 tbsps Sugar
1/2 cup Water (you need to reduce the amount of water to 2 tbsp)
4 Pandan leaves (screw pine leaves), washed and knotted
Coconut milk mixture:
1 cup Coconut cream/milk (Fresh press is preferred)
A pinch of salt
Method:
1. Soak sago in water for 15 mins and drain well. Lightly grease 4 small moulds or bowls with oil.
(I didn't grease the cup as I want it to be served in the cup)
2. Bring 3 liters water to boil. Add in sago. Lower the fire and simmer until sago are translucent. Approx 30 mins.
3. Remove from the fire, drain sago and rinse under running tap water. Drain well. Immediately spoon sago into the cup/mould and lightly press with the back of a spoon. Set aside in the fridge to chill for 2 - 3 hours.
4. Meanwhile, combine gula melaka, 1/2 cup water and pandan leaves in a pot and simmer over medium fire until sugar dissolves and a thick syrup is formed. Stir occasionally. Discard the pandan leaves and set aside the gula melaka mixture.
5. In another pot, heat up coconut milk and salt.
6. To serve, drizzle gula melaka mixture and coconut milk over chilled sago and serve.
Note:
• Make sure you cook pearl sago until translucent completely.
• Cook Gula Melaka mixture till thick and smooth.
• The gula melaka mixture is a bit diluted as per the original recipe. You may need to reduce the amount of water to 2 tablespoons. |
I am submitting this recipe for Merdeka Open House 2009 - MY SWEET MALAYSIA hosted by Babe-KLThis is a great way to introduce Malaysian Authentic and Traditional cuisine to everyone in the world. Let's participate and enjoy! Happy 52nd Merdeka Day, Malaysia!
Lemon, I believed is one of the famous and versatile fruit used in many cuisine including cakes, pastry & dessert. Do you like lemon cake? Oh yes! will always be the answer of most people. I am one of them. I prefer pure creamy lemon cake to bits, serve with a cup of hot black coffee. What an indulgence combination! Some would prefer their lemon cake stuffed with some nuts and raisin, more flavorful, chewy and delicious. A piece of satisfying dessert!
Be it pure or with added nuts & raisin, lemon cake has its own tantalizing & delectable taste! This recipe has became of my top favorite in my cakes list. It is appetizing, creamy, moist with superb lemon flavor... you just can't get bored with its taste! It is indescribable, you may need to taste it by yourself to describe the satisfying feeling. This is one of the best cake to be served for any occasion. Is your mouth watering? Let's give it a try and savor to the fullness.
 This lemon cake recipe was found from AYAM contemporary Asian Cooking and modified for my own preference.
Ingredients:
125g Butter (softened)
1 cup Caster sugar
1 cup Self raising flour
2 tsp Grated lemon rind
2 Eggs (beaten)
140ml Full cream milk
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped shelled pistachio nuts (I substituted with chopped de-shelled almond)
* You may also add any other nuts or raisin or even omit the nuts to have a pure taste of lemon cake.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 450F for 5 mins. Prepare a 20cm round cake tin, line base and sides with baking paper.
2. Beat butter, sugar and lemon rind in small bowl with electric mixer or by hand with wooden spatula until well combined.
3. Add eggs, beat until creamy. Add half the full cream milk and sifted flour, beat on low speed until just combined.
4. Add remaining milk, flour and the lemon juice, beat until just combined.
5. Stir in nuts. Spread into prepared tin.
6. Bake for 30 mins or until firm and golden brown. Test with a skewer.
7. Stand 5 mins before turning onto wire rack to cool.
Note:
• I would prefer to add some raisin to the cake for more flavour.
• Using full cream milk makes the cake moist, creamy & soft. |
As I am so interested in making some dessert for my family, especially in this hot weather season. I happened to browse through my foodie buddy's site
(Food For Tots) on her red bean paste dessert which tempted me to make some especially during this hot weather season. I have modified it a little and make it into more liquid based than paste.
Chinese traditional dessert is always my favourite whenever I happened to drop by any of the dessert stall or restaurant. Besides, red beans, I like green beans, sago, peanut paste, black sesame paste and many more. It really gives me the taste of Chinese traditional cuisine all the time. Are you a traditional dessert's fan too?
You may also buy fresh lotus seed and lily bulb that gives you more of the fresh ingredients taste and flavour, but personally I prefer dried ones. I would have something to chew on if I used those dried version. haha... With a few leaves of pandan (screw pine leave) it brings out the aromatic flavour of the leave into the dessert. Can you resist the temptation? Do give this a try; it is so simple, quick and soothing.
 Ingredients:
1.5 liter water
200g red beans 紅豆
30g dried lotus seeds 干蓮子
10g dried lily bulb 干百合
5 - 6 pandan leaves (screw pine leaves) 香兰叶 - tied a knot
1/2 rice bowl honey rock sugar 石蜂糖
Method:
1. Wash red beans, dried lotus seeds & dried lily bulb. Remove bitter pit from lotus seeds. I bought those with bitter pit removed.
2. Soak with filter water for 2 hours. (remove lily bulb after 1 hour).
3. Bring water to boil. Add in red beans (including water used for soaking), boil for 30 mins.
4. Add in dried lotus seeds and dried lily bulbs.
5. Once water re-boiled, turn heat to medium low flame and simmer for 2 hours. Cover lid during the cooking process.
6. Add in pandan leaves (screw pine leaves) after 30 mins. Boil until ingredients are soften.
7. Add in honey rock sugar, dissolved and served.
Note:
• Adjust the volume of water during boiling time according to your personal preference. It shouldn't be either too thick or too watery. |
Brinjal or some countries call them eggplant or aubergine, a dark purple colored vegetable has become every cuisine popular ingredient. It can be cook in Asian or Western way and still tastes delicious! Some like it to be baked with cheese, stir fry with vegetables, plainly steam, curries, "Yong tau Foo" (stuffed fish meat with vegetables) and many more. I personally like it to be steamed & drizzle with light soya sauce & fried shallot, what a delightful healthy dish.
Eggplants belong to the nightshade family of vegetables, which also includes tomatoes, sweet peppers and potatoes. They grow in a manner much like tomatoes, hanging from the vines of a plant that grows several feet in height. While the different varieties do range slightly in taste and texture, one can generally describe the eggplant as having a pleasantly bitter taste and spongy texture.
In this 'purple' colored plant contains several health benefits, such as; one of the brain food, rich in Phenolic Antioxidant Compounds & also cardiovascular health and Free Radical Protection.
Reference from WHFoods This recipe was adapted & modified from 85 popular classic recipes book by Popular Bookstore. It can be serves as finger food or side dish for any occasion. A simple dish to prepare! Let's enjoy!
 Ingredients:
1 large piece of Bean curd sheet
300g Brinjal, removed skin
150g Chicken fillet
100g crispy flour (I substituted with 1/2 tbsp corn flour)
2 eggs, beaten in separate bowl
Seasonings:
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp each chopped spring onion & chopped ginger
Dash of pepper
Method:
1. Cut brinjal into sections, marinate with some salt, scald in hot water till soft. Mash it.
2. Mix chicken meat with salt, chopped spring onion, chopped ginger and beaten egg. Mix this mixture with marinated mashed brinjal.
3. Soak bean curd sheet in filtered water until soft but not too long. Cut bean curd sheet into 2 portions.
4. Place mixture onto bean crud sheet. Roll it up.
5. Heat up oil. Coat the brinjal with some beaten egg white (I used whole egg) and crispy flour (I substituted with corn flour).
6. Deep fry until golden brown. Remove and drain. Place on kitchen towel to absorb excessive oil. Let cool a little.
7. Cut into desire shape. Sprinkle some pepper and salt. Serve warm.
Note:
• Make sure the brinjal mixture is not too watery, discard water thoroughly after scald.
• I saute the marinated chicken fillet before hand to reduce the frying time.
• I used whole beaten egg instead of egg white. You will still get a savoury taste of brinjal rolls. |
