Marinated Guava (Jambu)

Sorry for not updating for a hell of a long time. I was surfing around for something new and stumbled on this marinated guava recipe from Kitchen Capers. I tried it and I can't stop eating till I am finished with it! My mum is now probably eating the new batch as I am updating this blog. You will need -

3 guavas, seeded and sliced very thinly-about 2mm thick
2 packages of dried madarin orange skin sliced thinly into strips
1 red chilli sliced thinly (optional)

Marinate everything together and leave overnight or about 6-8 hours in the fridge. Eat it while it's chilled.

You do not need to add any salt and pepper nor any water since there's sufficient flavouring from the mandarin peel and enough natural moisture from the guava! Seriously good stuff! Don't even wait - give it a shot!


YUM YUM!!

Photos and recipe are from Kitchen Capers. Thanks for the pictures and recipe.

Rambutan 3 course meal

I didn't update for some time due to personal reasons and I was also on a trip to Lawas Hotsprings. It's the rambutan season and one thing we noticed when we were there was that there were so many rambutan trees full of fruits, no one seemed to even bother picking them.

I guess I'll follow the mood of the season and post some nice rambutan recipes. It will be a nice way to get clear out your rambutans. We'll have a complete full course meal using rambutans as the main ingredient!


Appetizers

Rambutan and Longan Salsa
10 longans and 10 rambutans, sliced,
One yellow capsicum or red capsicum, sliced
Three stalks green onions
One small bird's eye chili
3 tablespoons lime juice

Mix and toss the salad with the lime juice - this is a fruity salad with some kick from chilies and onions.

Main Course

You'll probably never tried this curry I am posting and I assure you, it will be tasty. Some cultures add sweet and sour fruits into their curries and it will add a nice aroma to the curry.

Rambutan, Pineapple and Tofu curry


500 g firm tofu, cubed
75 ml peanut oil
2 inches gingerroot
2 red chilies
2 cardamom pods
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
2 slices pineapples
5 rambutans (seeded of course)
1 pineapple, juice of
200 ml coconut milk

1. Shallow fry the tofu and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a thick based saucepan.
3. Add the ginger, chilies, cardamom pods and garlic and sauté.
4. Add the garam masala, coriander, cumin and turmeric and lightly fry.
5. Add the salt, tofu, pineapple, rambutan and pineapple juice and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add the coconut milk.
7. Serve with rice when cooked.

This recipe was from a Thai forum and I made some modifications. I add in some large prawns while simmering. This gave it a nice aroma and the curry was fantastic!

Dessert
This sorbet is an exquisite finish to our rambutan course meal. Once the main course is being served, take it out from the fridge to soften. Then scoop into nice bowls to serve.

Rambutan Sorbet

3 Limes, grated rind and juice freshly squeezed
1/2 cup of sugar
3 teaspoons of honey
500g Rambutans, peeled and stoned

1. Place the lime rind and juice in a saucepan with the sugar and honey.

2. Stir over a moderate heat until the sugar has dissolved.

3. Place the rambutans and lime syrup in a blender and blend until smooth.

4. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process following the manufacturers’ guidelines.

*Alternatively, pour into a freezer-proof container and freeze for 2-3 hours, stirring every 1/2 - 1 hour to break up the ice crystals. Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before serving.

Notes: For an exciting twist to the recipe, add 1-2 red chiles with most of the seeds removed to the rambutans before blending for a delicious heat to the sorbet.

Making buns Video

How to make fresh baked buns? I was searching around and found this cool video. Unfortunately, it's in Japanese but you can see the way they knead the dough and learn some techniques here.

Have a view and if anyone can decipher Japanese, I wouldn't mind a transcript!

Japanese Video: How to make freshly baked buns

Chinese Dessert: Ginger Milk

It's time I post some recipe from my Chinese roots. This recipe is a common dessert in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It should taste like tofufa but with a nice kick of ginger. This is said to be good for women for relieving menstrual cramps but ginger has always been used traditionally to soothe the stomach. Some people will love it while some will not like it. Give it a shot and you might find a healthy tasty dessert for life if you love the taste and texture. This is something you can have anytime of the day (and night).

Ginger milk curd (Chinese: 薑汁撞奶), also known as ginger-juice milk curd or simply ginger milk, is a Chinese dessert originated in the city of Shunde in the Guangdong Province in southern China. The main ingredients are ginger and milk.

Ginger contains protease. When milk is added into ginger juice, protease reacts chemically with the protein in milk. Then, one kind of protein in milk would change from a water-soluble form to a water-insoluble form, and leads to the formation of milk curd.

To get ginger juice, you would shread the ginger (without the skin ah!) and after that squeeze the shredded ginger through a fine cloth or filter to get it's juice. Use old ginger if possible.

Ingredient: This is for one bowl's worth
115ml milk
1 tsp sugar
1 - 2 tsp ginger juice (preferably from old ginger)
a few drops of white vinegar (to help curdle the milk)

Method:
1. Put ginger juice and vinegar into a bowl.
2. Heat milk with sugar and stir. Once it reaches a simmer (little bubbles form), take off the heat IMMEDIATELY.
3. Stir for one to two minutes with a spoon . (This is to lower the temperature - see picture below for a better method but more work!)
4. Pour mixture into the ginger juice and vinegar bowl and stir it once. Leave it to set. Do not disturb the mixture for around 10 minutes.
5. Once curdle, serve it warm. (Texture of this is very soft)
6. For a firmer texture, you can steam it for 6-8 minutes on low heat.



Note: Since blogger has been a pain in the ass to upload - I used imageshack to host the pics instead this time.

Thai Style Cream Cheese Dip

This is one of my favourite dips for my wedges. Whenever my friends come to watch a movie, play winning eleven or other illegal activities like smoke weed, pop ecstacy, dirty dancing and gambling in my room, I usually like to bake easy finger foods like baked potato wedges and serve it with a nice dip! (By the way - don't take those illegal activities seriously, I am merely kidding - I hope no police will take this seriously and come raid my room.)

My favourite dip is still my guacamole dip, made from avocados and fresh thai mangos which goes well with corn chips(Doritos) and about any other savoury snacks. It's nice but you know the price of avocados and mangoes nowadays. This thai style cream cheese dip is easy and uses more local ingredients.

Thai Style Cream Cheese Dip

One 250g packet Cream Cheese
One lime
1/4 cup Thai sweet chili
2 tablespoons chopped chives
One small chopped chili


1. First of all, leave your cream cheese on a table to soften.
2. Squeeze the juice out of the lime into a blender.
3. Put the rest of the ingredients in and blend.
4. Serve in a nice dipping bowl and decorate with slices of lime or lemon.

Oven Baked Potato Wedges with breadcrumbs

Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs: Make your own!

One of the challenges of being a university students is budgeting. We tend to eat according to what's in season and whatever's on specials. I remembered us stocking 10kg of cheese because they were half price! One of the ways to save costs for cooking is to make our own spice mix and special ingredients. It's definitely cheaper than buying one of the pre-made ones and you can bet that yours will be all natural, healthier and tastes better than supermarket bought ones . You can also buy yours from gourmet shops that specially sell good quality gourmet food but they are usually out of the average Uni student's budget range.

Now this time, I will share with you one of my favourite for coating my food. It's got a nice bite and flavour to it: Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs. We use bread crumbs for many things and I am sure most people love to coat chicken pieces or other foods with bread crumbs; bake them in the oven or deep frying them. This one will taste better baked. You will need something to blend the your dried bread - I use my trusted Shimono to process my bread crumbs. There are other methods too - just takes more time.


Here's the recipe:

Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Leftover bread slices

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dired basil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Save leftover bread and dry it (either out on your counter or in the oven at 250F for about 15 minutes) until completely dry and crisp.

Using your food processor, blender, or by rolling with a rolling pin between sheets of waxed paper, make fine bread crumbs.

Save these crumbs. They are useful in a wide variety of ways.

When you have a large amount, take out 2 cups and mix with the remaining ingredients noted above. Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator and use within 2 months.

Oh no! Not another cornflake chicken!

Cornflakes and Chicken are a nice combination in Brunei because they are easily available and affordable; B$2.50 for a box of cornflakes and B$6.90 per kilo boneless chicken breasts at Soon Lee (Sorry friends over at UK or Aus! Hahahah but cheese and chicken wings are cheaper over there so don't be too sad) Here's another easy recipe you can pop into the oven.

Cornflake and Vanilla Yogurt Baked Chicken

5-6 boneless chicken breasts
1 500ml container vanilla yogurt (use just enough to completely cover the chicken)
5 cups crushed corn flakes
your own spice mix to season (salt and pepper will be fine)


As usual, preheat oven to 175 degrees celcius before everything else!

1. Take thawed breasts and rub with your own spice mix.
2. Soak chicken in yogurt for 20 minutes.
3. Dip chicken with cornflakes
4. Place on greased cookie sheet - then keep in the fridge to rest for half an hour
5. Bake in 350 oven 1 hour or til juices run clear.

Creamy Cornflake Chicken Recipe

Sometimes things can get really hectic and you can find yourself too tired when you arrive home from work and realise that you have less than 2 hours to get ready and still have to cook for a family function and maybe a potluck party. At times like these, reaching for the phone or thinking of ordering from a restaurant is always an option but we will surely have one recipe that's fast, easy and enough to feed your hungry guests. I have this recipe that I really like and it's damn easy to make if you have all the ingredients ready - yet your guest will think you take three hours to make it. Now here we go!

Creamy Cornflake Chicken Recipe

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts - cut into four pieces each breast (More if you want - just remember to adjust the seasoning)
1 can cream of chicken soup (cream of mushroom should be okay)
1 250ml container sour cream (or yogurt)
2 cups corn flakes
lots of shredded cheddar cheese; enough to cover the chicken pieces

To marinade chicken: You can make your own spices combo to your liking but this is my simple version.
dried parsley
salt and pepper
curry powder
extra virgin olive oil (drizzle generously)

Please remember to preheat oven to 175 degree celcius before everything else!
1 Place chicken breasts in a baking pan and sprinkle a generous amount of your very own spice mix. (Another special blend I use is Taco Seasoning Mix with extra virgin olive oil for that Mexican kick!)
2 Spread chedder cheese to cover all the chicken.
3 Mix Cream of chicken soup, sour cream and cornflakes together in a separate bowl.
4 Pour over the chicken pieces. Add extra cornflakes at this stage if you want it to be crispier on top.
5 Bake at 175 degrees celcius, for 45-60 minutes (time will depend on your oven).


There you have it. A simple easy dish. Add spice mix to chicken and rub. Lay on plate. Cover with cheese, mix cornflakes with creamy stuff and pour over chicken, leave it in the oven and then get ready for your potluck party or family function. By the time you are ready (girls who take more than an hour aside), you should be just in time to take out the tasty dish.

Your guests will love how moist and tangy the chicken will be and the slight crunch from the corn flakes. Bon Appetit!

Japanese Hamster Curry

When I was surfing and then my good friend Faisal send me one of those funny images from Enrish.com, I can't help but laugh at this one.

Spicy Sticky Chicken Wings

Was chatting with a friend lately and I told her about my plans for New Years eve: BBQ. She just wondered why it's always the same thing. Birthday party: BBQ. Christmas Eve: BBQ. Uncle's Son One Month: BBQ. Friend finally lost virginity: BBQ.
It seemed that when it comes to planning a gathering, BBQs are one of the most popular choices. (Steamboat comes to a close second).

One of the fun parts of organising a BBQ is to marinade the meats beforehand. One of my friends would buy ONE bottle of Knorr Classic Barbecue Sauce for every ONE kilogram of chicken wings. Another friend of mine mix sambal with her lamb chops and chicken and it was gorgeous !(credit goes to Wee Fen for her tasty bbq).

This marinade I have is good enough for twenty chicken wings. All ingredients can find in Supasave Gadong in Brunei.
Spicy Sticky Chicken Wings

For the marinade:

1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup of sesame seeds
Juice of one small lime
Half a garlic, minced
One whole onion, diced

To make the marinade: In a medium bowl whisk together the marinade ingredients. Then toss in the chicken wings. Make sure your chicken wings are NOT frozen at this stage and already washed and allowed to dry a bit. Marinate overnight and have a fun bbq!

The ultimate peppermint and chocolate chip ice cream (French Style)

My friend, Sin Yeen, always ask me for peppermint recipes and what better to showcase the flavours of peppermint that a peppermint and chocolate chip ice cream! This recipe is actually from an episode of "Good Eats", by Alton Brown. This recipe uses a LOT of eggs and requires a lot of steps and patience but you will be rewarded with probably the best ice cream you'll ever tasted! It involves first making a custard and then adding the flavours, then chilling it and then use an ice cream machine to churn it. Now lo and behold!
The ultimate peppermint and chocolate chip ice cream (French Style)

3 cups half-and-half (Basically half cream and half milk)
1 cup heavy cream
8 large egg yolks
255 grams sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint oil
85 grams chocolate-mint candies, coarsely chopped

Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat. Make sure you don't overboil - as soon as it starts to simmer - remove from heat!

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. You must be very patient here and whisk till you can see strands.

Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added. Very important step and go slowly. This is to prevent your eggs from becoming scrambled eggs! Stir and add slowly using a small ladle and a whisk.

Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat.

Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Make sure you check the temperature - don't skip this step.

Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Add the peppermint oil and stir to combine. You don't add it when it's hot because the oil will evaporate and then the flavour wouldn't be as good.

Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until it reaches 40 degrees F or below.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker; add the chopped candies and process according to the manufacturers directions.

This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes.

Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.