Sunday, May 12, 2013

A famous Malacca chicken dish........

The origins.... Malacca (in Malaysia) for 130 years (1511–1641), was a Portuguese colony. The Portuguese first came to trade, then many later stayed back instead of returning to Portugal.

The Portuguese came to trade in their sailing ships

The men married local girls, and thus how a lot of Malacca food has it's Portuguese origins. The chicken tempra among one of them.

This chicken tempra is well known among the straights born Chinese of Malacca.


This chicken tempra recipe with the compliments of my Canadian friend Lee.

Chicken Tempra
Ingredients: ( Serve 6 to 8 )
2 tbsp soya sauce
400 gm onion - slice thinly
30 gm fresh red chillies - slice finely
1.2kg chicken - cut into bite size
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp black soya sauce
salt to taste
4 tbsp calamansi / lime juice
250 mls water

 Best to serve this chicken tempra with rice. I add cardamon, cinnamon stick, star anise to cook the rice.

1/  Marinate the chicken with soya sauce and black soya sauce, chill in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.
2/  In a non stick frying pan or wok, heat about 2 tbsp oil over moderate heat and fry onion and chillies for 2 minutes.  ( If using non stick pan, put less oil. )


3/  Add chicken pieces and stir fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and add sugar and fry for 2 minutes.
4/  Add the water and salt, simmer until chicken is tender and the sauce slightly thicken.
5/  Stir in the calamansi juice, mix well and remove from heat. Adjust the sweetness and sourish taste to your preference. 

A squirt of calamansi juice can lifts the soya sauce gravy to mouthwatering heights. One spoon and it might make you forget your mother's name.

The Porta De Santiago. The remants of an old Portuguese fort in Malacca. Malacca is 210Km from Johor Bahru city, about 2 hours drive.

 The view of Porta De Santiago from St. Paul hill.

The old cannon from the 16th century.

My previous trip was in November 2012. Interior of the St. Paul church, it was built in year 1521.

Old Portuguese tombstones in the St. Paul church.

Twist a lime on it for the light tangy taste.

Clams have long been staple in the culinary world. They have been prepared many ways including steamed, fried or smoked. Clams preserved well and were often dried. Clams noodles is a delicious and healthy one pot meal.

Clams Noodles
Ingredients ( serve 2 )
2 eggs
100gm clams without shells
100gm clear noodles
100mls water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
Chopped spring onion or coriander leaves
 

Dried clear noodles

Method:-
1/ Soak the clear noodles until soft, drain off the water.
2/ Blanch the clams in boiling hot water until clam smiling at you. Drain off the hot water, remove the clam shells.  Season the blanched clams meat with pepper and keep aside.



3/ Beat the eggs lightly, make sure don't break your wrist.
4/ Add salt and water to the egg and  beat lightly.

Children digging for clams.

5/  In a serving bowl or deep dish, line the bottom with softened clear noodles. Then add the clams meat on top. Next pour the egg mixture on top.
6/  Steam on medium high heat for 6 to 8 minutes. Garnishes with spring onion or coriander leaves. Ready to serve.

Pearls have been occasionally found in clams. So if you bite on something hard, check it out......
it might be a pearl. Never can tell, you know.

 Your lucky day!

Well, you know what you can do with that pearl..... give to your girlfriend or wife. And if  you like, well.... you know where to find me.
 
1/  More Iron than Beef
Clams are surprisingly high in iron. So high, in fact, that t-bone steaks and beef liver don't compare. A three-ounce serving of cooked clams, or about nine small clams, has about 24 milligrams of iron. That's more iron than recommended each day for most adults (iron RDA is 18 milligrams per day for pre-menopausal women and eight milligrams per day for adult men and post-menopausal women.) Some individuals, especially women, have a difficult time getting enough iron each day, resulting in anemia if not treated. If you suffer from low iron, eating clams occasionally will help maintain your iron stores.


2/ Heart-Healthy Fats
Clams contain about 140 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids per 100 grams (about 3 1/2 ounces.) How does that compare with recommendations? There are no formal dietary recommendations for omega-3 intake, but studies have shown that 250 to 500 milligrams per day may be useful in achieving optimal heart health. If you are getting tired of eating oily fish each week to meet recommendations, add clams to your recipe rotation a few times a month.

Whats his name checking out any clams on the beach.


3/ Better Than Chicken?
Clams qualify as a lean protein at more than 20 grams of protein and less than two grams of fat in a three-ounce serving. Clams have more protein than oysters and scallops, but roughly the same protein and fat content as chicken. There are major differences, however, in the nutrient profile of clams and chicken. Clams contain significantly more of most vitamins and minerals than chicken. It makes nutritional sense to choose clam chowder over cream of chicken soup!


4/ What About Cholesterol?
Clams contain fair amounts of cholesterol. There is nothing special about the cholesterol found in seafood like clams and shrimp. The reason seafood isn't prohibited for people with high cholesterol has more to do with the low fat and saturated-fat content of seafood like clams. Eating a low saturated-fat diet is much more important in maintaining healthy blood cholesterol than eating a low-cholesterol diet.
 
Sweet sour clams.  Heat up oil and fry garlic until golden brown. Add clams and fresh chillies, stir fry for 1 to 2 mins. Add water, vinegar, sugar, salt to taste. When cook stir in 1 beaten egg to thicken the gravy. Ready to serve.

 Enjoy. Happy Mother's Day. Cheers!

Monday, April 29, 2013

My Unforgettable Experience...............

A fortnight ago, I had a surprise invitation out of the blue from a beautiful lady blogger friend. She invited me to pop over to her place for lunch in the Southwest of Johor.


 An hour plus journey from my place.

 Southwest Johor is located 62KM from Johor Bahru city, the state capital of Johor, Malaysia.

At her lovely, spacious home with it's beautiful surroundings of coconut and fruits trees. I was surprised to see a TV van and crew there. And my blogger friend is ........

Cik Shahriah Abdullah  a beautiful Malay lady who is a Malaysian well known novelist, cookbook author as well with outstanding culinary skills. She was awarded the ultimate, as a Master Chef. I believe she has a 7th Dan Black Belt in baking and cooking.


Above two pictures are her published Malay novels.


Johor Laksa cooked by Cik Shahriah. A noodle dish using spaghetti top with fish paste gravy and garnish with onion, beansprout, Vietnamese coriander leaves, mint leaves, cucumber, chilli paste and  freshly squeeze lime juice is sprinkled on the dish.

After lunch, I got the shock of my life when Shahriah informed me that I'm invited as her guest to be interviewed on TV in her program. You can imagine my apprehension and my being very very nervous. As watching TV is one thing but to appear on TV is another thing. It really frightened me. LOL

The TV crew getting ready to do the shooting.

Yours truly interviewed by TV producer. And first time had my face made up by a TV makeup artist. I was really nervous, towards the various questions they asked me.

I was asked to help decorate the Pavlova dessert baked by Cik Shahriah.

 
The TV producer interviewed us how we first met? Viewing my blog and discussed about my blog posting. My most unforgettable experience being invited as a guest.

Cik Shahriah, I thank you so much, my dear friend. It was really an honour and a privilege, as well a thrilling, fun experience to have been invited as your guest to your beautiful home. Once again, Terima kasih.  
Yours Sincerely,
Amelia

This program was shown in TV1 @ Persada Aksara Episode 11 on the 3rd January 2014.

Beggar chicken

Beggar chicken is a dish from Changshu, a city in China's Jiangshu province that is famous for its delicious taste. Beggar's chicken is called "jiaohuaji" in the Changshu dialet. The chicken is stuffed, wrapped in clay and roasted following a traditional eastern Chinese recipe.

Many Chinese dishes have names adapted from folklore, legend, or story.
Once upon a time a beggar led a wandering life in poverty. One day, he was very hungry. He lucked into a chicken, but had neither tools nor condiments. He came to the foot of Yu Mountain and roasted it without plucking it. When it was finished, the smell spread over a long distance. About 100 years ago, a small restaurant created a method to cook this kind of chicken and called it Beggar's Chicken.


Ingredients
1.5kg chicken, washed and patted dry
1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
1 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 tsp salt
2 pieces lotus leaves ( optional ) Soak the leaves until soft
Aluminum foil


The texture is very moist and tender. 

Run for your life.......

Stuffing for the chicken

1 canned button mushroom - cut into half
8 red dates
1 tbsp goji berries
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 shallots - chopped finely
1 thumb size ginger - slice thinly
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt or to taste
2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp black soya sauce
1 tbsp sherry or Chinese rice wine
2 tbsp water
pepper to taste



1/  Pour 2 tbsp oil in a sauce pan, saute garlic, ginger and onion until golden brown.
2/  Add the button mushroom, red dates, goji berries and stir fry for 1 min.
3/  Add the rest of the seasoning ingredients and stir fry for 3 to 4 mins.
4/  Stuff mushroom into the chicken and secure it with a toothpick

Rest the chicken on the lotus leaves. If you can't find lotus leaves, omit and wrap with aluminum foil.

 5/  Wrap the chicken with 2 layers of lotus leaves follow by a layer of aluminum foil.

6/  Then wrap the chicken with salt dough, decorate and play around with the extra dough.
7/  Bake the chicken in pre heat oven for 2 hours at 200 deg C.

8/  Break the salt dough with a mallet, remove foil and lotus leaves.
9/ Serve while it's hot.

Come on babe......

Salt dough for chicken
800gm plain flour
3/4  to 1 cup water
100gm salt

1/ Mix all the ingredients together and knead into a soft dough. ( Add the water gradually )
2/ Floured your table top and roll out the dough to 3/8 inch thick.
3/ Wrap the chicken with salt dough and baked for 2 hours.
 




Have a wonderful week ahead. Cheers!
Amelia