It has been 10 years I have been in Malaysia, I have to admit indeed it is a food heaven. It might not like france or italy but it is great in its own way.

For me,if you want to go for a culinary adventure, you can even start from hawker or local restaurant just located along the road.

The might not have a degree or anything but public demand and experience is more than enough for them to develop the taste and texture.

My wife like enjoy breakfast very much, so almost every week we would travel all around ipoh to find a good place with a good breakfast food and teh tarik.

This week we try a local restauant which popular for its steamed nasi lemak. I like that they decide to steam the rice because usually adding the coconut milk usually make the rice feels a bit heavy but by steaming it, the rice become fluffy, you will taste it a bit lighter. A bonus point on texture and taste

Just to satisfy my stomach more, I order a toast with half cooked egg on it, nothing much to comment here, perhaps it is a bit underseasoned, but the cook is just nice, not overcooked. I wonder would it be better if it is quick pouch

I never really brave enough to try and make any dessert. Yes, I love eating one but never attempt making it.

I got the inspiration to do the dessert after dining out in a japanese restaurant. The Dessert that had been serve was a lot more complicated but I decided to simplified it.

Ingredient:

5 rolls of plain blini
3 spoons of raspberry sauce
3-5 strawberries
a cup of cottage cheese

-spread the cottage cheese onto the blini the roll it
-after that pour the sauce onto the plate
-cut the blini and carefully put it onto the plate
-cut the strawberries into small pieces and put it nice on the top on the blini
-put some of the left syrups onto the strawberries and the blini

I just love combination of sweet and sour flavor that come from this dessert. I usually hate cottage cheese but i love it when it touch the sweetness of strawberries and the sauce.

By the way, cottage cheese had been known to be the food for those who undergo a strict low calories diet. It really nice to have a dessert which are really healthy which don’t consist just fruits and vegetables.

“How can we soften the heart?”

and to the question Imam Ahmad answered

“Halal Foods, for a body that grew from halal foods will thus have a soft heart”

The fact is Cooking and Eating are not just simply acts that we do every single day of our life. Like other things that Allah creates, they contain purposes and meaning. If that is not the case, then why we are not programmed to just absorb our nutrients through air or perhaps doing the photosynthesis like the plants.

IBADAH AND ULUL ALBAB

Directly it is an ibadah. Things that we do to proclaim that there is Allah.   For Allah has blessed us with abundant of treasures around us. We see them, we think and we cook to show that we are thankful for what that has been given. We make it into something edible, into something that can benefits us to show that how Allah is so powerful to made a lot things with different properties even tough all of absorb nutrients from the same earth, breath the same air, swim in the same water and get light from the same sun. Those who observe and think, they are then called ‘Ulul Albab’

THE TECHNIQUE AND THE SUNNATULLAH

From cooking we learn Sunnatullah. The law and order that Allah put in everything. Cooking ingredients are all Allah creatures and they are very loyal to Allah. They act accordingly to Allah’s order. We then cook it accordingly, using the correct techniques to help them fulfill the meaning of their creation. That is why we parboiled the vegetables so they can convey their vitamin, saute’ the onion, the spice so that they can unleash the aroma. Stew the meat, chicken so that they can give us the protein that is not coagulate.

UNDERSTAND THE CELEBRATION OF CULTURE

From cooking also we learn to understand. Every cultural background has their influence to the principle of cooking. Thus, now we got ourselves a lot of cuisine. Each one with their own peculiarities. There is reason why middle eastern cuisine lacks liquid and why South east Asia in the other hand got a lot of liquid. For every dish is a celebration to everything  that they have at the time, it is a canvas of what colored their life.

STORIES THAT ARE INHERITED

Through the dish, we tell our diners stories. How plain Russian ‘Shi soup’ or ‘Borsh’ explains how they got through the hazardous winter or perhaps how Sweet potates with salted fish told us actually how our Malaysian grandma and grandpa got through the famine during the war. It is also advices passed from one generation to the other generation, to remind us who we really are, our root and what we stand for.

BE THANKFUL AND APPRECIATE OUR FOODS

Then, we learn to be thankful. A plate of meal come to our plate as results of a lot of hard works. Thus our prayer is always

“Allahumma Bariklana Fima Razzakana, Wakina A’zaBannar”

“Oh Allah, Bless us for what you gave us, and prevent us from the azab of Hell”

It is taught to us to be plural not singular!

We really thankful for our food, we really appreciate our food. We cook so that people can then show how thankful they are to Allah

That is why for muslim, only Halal foods is foods. Other than that is ‘things’, we can’t eat things, it is not edible, we can only eat foods.

“O ye people! Eat of what is on earth, Lawful and good; and do not follow the footsteps of the evil one, for he is to you an avowed enemy.” Al Baqarah 168

What so special with this dish is its fluffiness, its richness and its lightness. It is so light that you don’t even realize that you have already ate a lot.

Last Sunday, one of my junior made this dish for breakfast. His hospitality when I visited his house made me decided to publish his kindness.

Recipe: Roti Jala  or Malaysian Lacy Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (1/2 lb)
1 1/2 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 tablespoon oil Ghee or butter (to grease the pan)

Method:

1. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients well together (except the oil) and strain the batter.
2. Add in 1/2 tablespoon of oil and set aside.
3. Heat up a pan with medium heat and grease it with some oil

4. Pour some batter into the mold and quickly transfer the mold to the pan.

5. As the batter flows through the holes of the mold, make circular rounds around the pan to form the netty patter

ns. (make sure the distance between the mold’s tips and the pan is small to prevent the net pattern from breaking)
6. After the top is set and done or when the bottom turns light brown, transfer the Roti Jala out and fold it into triangle shape.

7. Roti Jala is ready and serve it with curry.

*For the mold, if you don’t have the original one, you can make it using can and drill holes at the bottom. I saw my mom did one before.

*Just type ‘Roti Jala’ and google it, there’s a lot of video on teaching how prepare it.

There were not so much modification. I added some chili powder to the set of spices. Instead of using cream, I use coconut milk to lift up the creaminess and instead of using vanilla, I used pandan for the welcoming smell.

And here you are Volgograd Autumn Pumpkin Soup

Volgograd Autumn Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1kg pumpkin
2 tablespoonful vegetable oil
salt, pepper,
1 lemon
400 ml coconut milk
250 ml vegetable/fish stock
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 pandan leave/1 teaspoon of pandan flavour

Instruction
1. Clean the garlic, onion and the pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin into cubes and dice the onion and the garlic.
2. Boil a pot of water then slow down the heat. Insert the pumpkin into the pot and wait till it tender
3. Set aside quarter of the pumpkin and blend the rest with blender or food processor
4. Heat oil on the pot, put the garlic, onion, chili powder, pepper and saute it.
5. Pour into the pot the blend pumpkin and the rest of the pumpkin that has been set aside.
6. Wait until 5 minute then pour the coconut milk.
7. Simmer for 20 minute more then add some salt and the lemon juice
8. Serve it and enjoy!

That day was a hectic day, our class started from 9 am with a non stop lecture of internal disease and finished with 3 hour Russian Language class.So, to make our life a bit cheerier, we decided to have a dining experience at ‘Le Balcon’.

Le Balcon is a new restaurant, it has been opened just last year. Just looking at the name, we immediately knew that it will offer us French cuisine. It has a strategic location, situated directly just next to the Metro station though it is slightly overshadowed by a big fast food restaurant in front it.

Interior Design

Immediately, I loved the interior design, admired the environment. Whoever designed the restaurant really put a huge effort into translating the restaurant name into reality. Thus, when you enter the restaurant, you will feel that you are sitting in a street in France, having a cozy, romantic dinner and if you ever decide to sit at the 2nd floor, you will have a view as if you are looking from a balcon in a France town. The lightning and the deco are properly choose, totally not coming from a typical Russian restaurant. I am not exaggerating, see it to believe it.

Oh before that, I would like give credit to the owner of shiremir.ru for the picture, I tried to take the restaurant picture but as my camera not that equipped to take picture during night time, so I decided to take the better pictures from that site.

It was the time to test the food, Luckily, I came with my friends. So we had a bunch of meal to taste and a lot of opinion to be considered.

Appetizer:

Hanif decided to have an apple porridge (яблочная каша) 99 ruble  and I decided to have a ratatouille

I love the porridge, just when the dish arrived at our table, we’ve been greeted with the fresh smell of cinnamon. Then, you taste and it just got better. The texture of the porridge was just right, not too soft and not too chunky, cubes of apples that was include in the porridge was brilliant, the sweet-sour taste of the apples alternating well with the sweet taste of the porridge. The fact that the sweet taste is just nice and not overpowering made us ready to indulge more. (We give 4 1/2 star)

Apple porridge

Then came the ratatouille. It consist of eggplant, cauliflower, capsicum coated with dill and parsley. Overall the vegetable is saute correctly, not overcooked and not too oily. In fact I loved the fact that the olive oil being there to contemplate the taste. One thing to critic is that I found the mushroom too salty, I don’t how the over-salted mushroom can entered the frame as it situated far at the bottom of the dish, if only they were not existed, the dish would be perfect. (We give 4 1/2 star )

ratatouille

Main dish:

Pasta ala Carbonara (189 ruble)

The dish was quite confusing to me, the name didn’t agree with french cuisine, It was closer to Italian rather than french. Besides that, forget about bacon; the real pasta ala carbonara should consist of pasta and with Parmesan cheese and beaten egg but what we have here is pasta with cream and salmon. Well, eating pasta with cream was a usual variation done by Russian and adding the salmon instead of bacon, I think really put a twist to the real pasta ala carbonara. I don’t know whether the fact that they forgot put to put the egg is forgivable. Still just to be fair, let me reviewed based on what is served to us; spaghetti with salmon and cream garnished with dill and parsley. The cream is nice, not too thick and heavy. The fish is also good, not overcooked and not too dry, though the dill and parsley shouldn’t be there, it disturbed the cream taste. (Still for an effort on modifying the recipe we give 4 star)

Pasta Carbonara

Fish a la France  (Рыба по француский) 199 ruble

I don’t know whether there was really only one recipe specially depicted how the fish was cooked french style. I think it was Russian interpretation on how to bake the fish. The was fish at the bottom, then a layer of vegetables; cauliflower and broccoli. Lastly, they put a layer of cheese. In my opinion, it looked like Riba po Ruski (Russian Style Fish), only that they subtituted the layer of potato with the layer of vegetable. They might as well call it as ‘Gatnir’. They garnished it with dill and parsley, the vegetables was ok but it can’t denied the fact that the fish was a bit raw (We give 3 1/2 star)

Fish a la france

Grill Trout with Dill 300 ruble

Again with dill. Luckily it serves its purpose this time. The fish is properly done, still juicy inside and crispy outside. Compare to the other 2 fish dishes, this the only well cooked fish. I loved the way they served the potato in a few small balls along with some tomatoes, it looked so attractive to me. Still I felt that I’ve been cheated a bit when there was no tartar sauce as it has been written on the menu. Thankfully, we’ve provided with lemon enough for us to squeez and enjoy the lightness taste of the the fish. The plate was cleaned but as we’ve felt that we’ve been cheated we gave 4 star

Grilled Trout with Dill

Dessert

3 Layer Muss

This was surely a turn off dessert. Although been recommended by the waitress, it only came as a disappointment. I couldn’t even distinguish 3 different taste that the dessert supposed to convey. The first layer of raspberry too sour that it overwhelmed the 2nd layer of cottage cheese, while the 3rd layer of chocolate taste so bitter. (We gave 3 star)

Muss and cheese cake

Cheese cake

Gladly, cheese cake came to the rescue. Nothing can go wrong with cheese cake. I feel it is a bit too sweet but all my friends thinks it just nice the way it is. Certainly it was a good conclusion. (We gave 4 1/2 star)

Overall

Servis: 4 1/2 (good waitress, polite and kind)
Place: 3 1/2 (nice interior, but the light was too dim even for a romantic dinner)
Foods: 3 1/2 (some are good and ok, but some were done, a bit hasty made it a bit messy)

Total: 3 1/2 star

Will we go back and eat again: Maybe

But lets go a bit further and dig a bit deeper. Let’s know something more than that. An Eid ul-Fitr that have a lot with a lot of meaning behind it.

Actually, the word itself is not just simply to be translated as a ‘celebration of break fasting’. The word Eid is actually means ‘back’ and Fitr means ‘origin/usual’

Humankind is the best of God’s creation;they have been bless with ability to choose, to control and to govern the desire and  certainly not to be controlled by it.

A monthful of fasting Ramadhan,taught us more than starvation, we learn to appreciate, we learn to be thankful with the food that we receive, learn to experience the feeling of hunger; something which is unusual for us but is actually a custom to those a lot of people who are unlucky.

That is why during the past month, we are advise to do a lot charity to show that we are grateful, we know apart that the foods are for us, it will be a lot better if we can share them. To complete it, zakat is an obligation, something that must be given from all Muslim before the Eid (now it is a sum of money equal to 2.5 kg of staples food of that area; rice/wheat etc)

Only after that we can declare our victory. Only after that, we deserve to celebrate.

That is why if we look to the arrangement of food that been presented on the table. There are no such thing as ‘fast food’there. The philosophy of slow cooked food is patience as the taste and the flavor that emerge from the dish take time to form, the same as a great love and a great feeling of thankfulness.

It is a hectic day but now I am proud to presented you an array of Malaysian festive cuisine that we prepared:

Rose Beef

Satay

Beef Rendang

Masalodeh/Lontong (Vegetable Stew)

Roti Jala (Lacy Pancake)

Biskut Raya (A Variety of Eid’s Biscuits)

P/s: I Try my best to include the recipe every week onward, this post is some sort like a sneak peak

What is Tajine?

Tajine/tagine or pronounce correctly from its arabic word ‘thojin’ are Moroccan cuisine which are slow-cooked dishes braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. Tagines can be made vegetarian or with meat. The preferred cuts of lamb are the neck, shoulder or shank cooked until it is falling off the bone. It can also be made with any meat.

According to Paula Wolfert: “No matter what the month, there is a tree somewhere in Morocco bearing fruit for the tagine pot. The combination may seem unlikely at times, but I guarantee you will find them delicious: lamb with olives, quinces, apples, pears, raisins, prunes, dates, with or without honey, with or without a complexity of spices.

The Experience/ Adventure

I felt skeptical at first but decide to try it anyway. I decided to cook a chicken tajine with tomatoes, apple and raisins, complex of spices and lemon juices. The ingredient that I choose were quite short compare to the list given by Paula Wolfert; I dare not to take too much risk, better save than feel sorry to dump your dish to dustbin.

I don’t have any clay pot nor did I have special pot for tagine, so I decided to cook my tajine from a regular pot. Still the result is marvelous! The dish awoken our palate quite a bit. It was confusing at first to have a lot flavor lingered in our mouth; sour, sweet, the essences of chicken, the sparkle of spices  but later on the tastes seems to be miraclely contemplate each other.The taste didn’t clash at all and what seems to be impossible to be put together somehow work wonderfully in this dish. If I was about to fix something, maybe I should decrease the spice a bit or put it in separate cloth bag that I can easily took it out after cooking or perhaps ground it properly, biting the cardamom was quite disturbing during our meal.

However, the fact that the pot is emptied, bottom up! really put me smiling.

Dare for some flavor adventure? try it yourself:

Chicken Tajine

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 15 ml olive oil
* 2 large onions, peeled and sliced into rings
* 905 g chicken, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
* 2 g ground cardamon
* 2 g ground coriander seed
* 2 g ground ginger
* 2 g ground cinnamon
* 2 g ground black pepper
* salt to taste
* 4 apples – peeled, cored and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
* 80 g golden raisins

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil in a large pot or clay pot. Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the chicken meat to the pan, and fry until just browned on the outside. Seasons with ginger,coriander, cummin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Pour just enough water into the pot to cover the chicken.Cover, and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the mixture is stew-like. Displace lid a little after an hour if there appears to be too much liquid.

2. Add the apple and golden raisins to the stew, and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the apple are soft. Serve with couscous (for the respect of Morroco’s cuisine) or rice.

Hanif is the only one in our group who have excellent knowledge  in pastry. Mine? zero nothing what so ever.

During Ramadhan season, in Malaysia after performing solat sunnah terawih, we usually got this thing that we called as More’. I am not sure actually how to spell it correctly nor did I know what is the exact meaning. To put it in a simple word, it is basically supper eaten in a group of the congregation.

It is more of charity actually as we are encouraged to do so and to give donation during Ramadhan month.

To serve for a quite amount of people and to prepare it in short time, Hanif decided to make a kek batik (Batik cake). Batik is actually a cloth which uses hand written wax-resist dyeing technique. As when we cut the cake, the pattern that will form seems similar to the pattern of the cloth so they decided to call it as kek batik(How simple!)

A good kek batik should feel soft and fuddgy. It should also have balance taste of the chocolate and the sugar.

I got almost all of that from Hanif’s kek batik. Though it is a bit hard as I ate it directly when it just been rest inside the refrigerator (can’t resist the temptation).The flavor is just right and The taste is perfect, not too bitter and not too sweet.

Why not you just try it yourself?

Kek Batik Recipe

[Ingredients]

250 mg or 1 bar of dark chocolate
125ml (1/2 cup) boiling water
190g (3/4 cup) butter, cut into large chunks
200g (1/2 tin) sweetened condensed milk
110g (1/2 cup) white granulated sugar
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

250g (1 packet) Arnott’s Marie biscuits

1. Roughly break each biscuits into quarters, set aside. Line the base and two long sides of a 23cm x 9cm x 7cm deep loaf tin (or other loaf tin with a capacity of at least 5 cups or 1.25L) with baking paper, lightly grease the inside of the tin so the paper sticks to the tin, extending paper 2-3cm above edge of tin. Grease or line both short sides with a small piece of baking paper.

2. Melt chocolate bar in a saucepan, stirring vigorously until it is smooth. Add butter, sweetened condensed milk, sugar and vanilla to the saucepan.

3. Place over moderate heat and cook, stirring all the time with a whisk or a spoon, until you feel the bottom starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.

4. Turn heat down to low, and continue to cook, stirring without stopping, for about another 20 minutes, or until a thick custard forms.

5. Transfer the thick custard to a large mixing bowl, add quartered biscuits. Mix until all the biscuits are coated with the custard.

6. Transfer mixture to the prepared tin. Press down firmly so there are no air pockets in the mixture. Bang the tin on the bench a couple of times to settle the mixture, fold the paper extensions over the top and press down to even the surface. Then let cool to the touch.

7. Cover with cling film and place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.

As I promise I post here the recipe on how to make chicken rice. This is Hainan Chicken Rice.

Hainan Chicken Rice

INGREDIENTS :

• * 1 whole chicken [2½-3 lbs]
• * 5-6 stalks fresh scallions
• * 6 inch fresh ginger, peeled, cut into thick slices
• * 2 tsp soy sauce
• * 1 tsp sesame oil
• * 2 additional stalks fresh scallions, chopped, for garnish [optional]
• * 1 seedless cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced diagonally
• * a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, for garnishing
• * ½ tsp white peppercorns
• * salt

Ingredients for Chicken rice :

• * 3 cups long grained rice, washed and drained
• * 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• * 2 tsp salt
• * 2½ tbsp chicken fat or vegetable oil
• * 6 cups, or more, chicken broth [from the cooking broth]
• * 6 pandan leaves [screwpine leaves] [optional]

Ingredients for Special Chili Dipping Sauce :

• * 1 tbsp kaffir lime juice [Substitute: lime or lemon juice]
• * 1½-2 tbsp chicken broth [from the cooking broth]
• * 2 tsp sugar
• * 4 tbsp hot chili sauce
• * 4 cloves garlic, finely ground or mashed
• * 1 inch ginger, finely ground or grated
• * salt

To Prepare Special Chili Dipping Sauce :

* Mix hot chili sauce with lime juice, sugar, garlic, ginger, chicken broth [spooning some of the chicken fat oil] and salt to taste
* Pour chili sauce into small condiment dishes, for each individual serving

To Prepare Chicken :

* Cut off any excess fat, reserve for using to cook rice, wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger slices and scallions stalks into the cavity of the chicken
* In a large stockpot, add sufficient water [to cover the chicken], white peppercorns and about 2 tbsp salt, bring to a boil
* Submerge the whole chicken, breast-side down in the boiling water, and immediately reducing the heat to a slow poach
* Cover, poach chicken for about 45-50 mins, [check to make sure the water does not 'boil' the chicken]
* When chicken is cooked, remove and plunge immediately into a bath of icy cold water, submerging the chicken for about 10 mins
* Remove chicken from the ice bath, discard ginger slices and scallion stalks from the cavity, drain the chicken well, set aside – meanwhile cook the chicken rice
* When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut it neatly into serving size pieces [de-bone chicken, if you prefer]

To Prepare Chicken Rice :

* Wash rice till water runs clear, drain well
* Heat wok on high, add the reserved chicken fat, render into an oil to about 2½ tbsp [add vegetable oil if chicken fat oil is insufficient ]
* Add chopped garlic, stir-fry for a few seconds
* Add the raw rice, stir-fry till the rice grains start to look translucent, about 8-10 mins
* Transfer rice to a pot, add 6 cups chicken broth, salt and pandan leaves [*Note: depending on the type of rice, use more or less of the chicken broth]
* Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer uncovered, until the chicken broth is absorbed by the rice [small 'bubble' holes start to appear on the rice]
* Reduce heat to very low, cover the rice with a tight-fitting lid, cook for a further 10-12 mins
* Turn off heat, DO NOT open the cover, wait for 10 mins before opening [steam inside will gently finish steaming the rice]
* Fluff up the rice with a fork [If rice is not fully cook, simply add a little chicken broth, cover and steam on very low heat for another 5 mins or so]
* Alternatively, ‘fry’ the raw rice in a wok until translucent, then transfer into an electric rice cooker and add sufficient chicken broth to cook
* Any leftover chicken broth after making the rice, can be served as a small side soup, garnished with some chopped cilantro
* Line a serving platter with cucumber slices, arrange chicken pieces on top, sprinkle with soy sauce, sesame oil, and garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro sprigs
* Serve Hainan chicken [usually served at room temperature] with chicken rice, side soup – and special chili dipping sauce!