Roti Tampal at Pak Wan Stall

As I mention in my post before breakfast is our favorite meal. Yes, we wouldn’t mind wake up very early, go to our favorite stall and have our favorite meal.

As for this article, i would like to share one of very unique breakfast food I ever encountered. They call it ‘Roti Tampal’

It is usually full house when you come to the stall. There is no wall confine you so you can enjoy your meal and have the morning breeze soothe you. We sit, give our order and our meal come not long after that.

Roti tampal literally means pasted bread. It is actually a ‘roti canai’ and on the top of that they cook an egg above it and garnish with red beans and some onion. It is a fusion between a toast, roti canai and red beans.

It suppose to have the feeling of eating soft, the lightness of roti canai along with the succulent egg and red beans. Nothing special about red beans as they just come out from the tin but you can expect the quality from the egg and the bread of roti canai.

I like my egg as it is half done, the sourness of the red beans sauce nicely contemplating the yolk. Then you just dip piece of your bread to them and your day will be completed. The meal itself is interesting, if I have to say something to make them improve, it would be the bread. I wish it is more fluffy, rather than being too doughy, I want to get the feeling that what am I eating is indeed a roti canai, not half interpretation of normal bread. Otherwise I feel that this meal is worth to be recommended.

address:

Warung Pak Wan
Along Jalan Madrasah
Manjoi Perak

Breakfast at manjoi, Ipoh

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

address:
Restoran Sungai Tapah
Jalan Kenanga (opposite the mosque)
Manjoi Perak

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

Roti Jala/ Lacy Pancakes

I’ve been eating this national dish  so much. If there are some housewarming event or some birthday celebration, this simple yet delicious meal is always a must.

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.

Volgograd Autumn Pumpkin Soup

The autumn has finally come, the trees start changing their apparel to luxury gold sweater, having a good time before the winter come. It starts to rain frequently and the wind start to blow eventually.

This is my final year experiencing Russian Autumn so I decided to remember it somehow by doing a Pumpkin Soup. Orange color to celebrate the season, the spices to contemplate the cold and everything in it to distinct it that this soup was made by a Malaysian.

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!

Eid ul Fitr: A festival, Food and A Lot More

Eid Ul Fitr is a day of celebration. A Festival of food, a festival of joy, of smile and of laughter. You woke up that day and get ready to celebrate.

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

Flavor Adventure with Morroco’s Tajine

Cooking and experimenting on Tajine surely worth a try. I found the recipe when I was searching for something to pair with my Tandoori Chicken. Something not to dry and not to watery. I flew all around the world and found it at Morroco.

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.

Hainan Chicken Rice Recipe

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!

Chicken Rice To Prove

The Story behind it

Uzair was not satisfied with my so-so review of his food before, so tonight he volunteered himself to cook and redeem himself to us and prove that he is too a force to be reckon with in group.

So he decided to bet on his chicken rice. It is actually a safe and simple dish originated from Malaysian Chinese cuisine consist mainly of chicken fried/grill, rice cooked with chicken stock and a simple chicken soup accompanies it. It comes also with cucumber, lettuce, tomato as salad.The final component are light soy sauce and chili sauce to be poured onto the salad as dressing and onto the chicken as sauce.

Firstly, I am really sorry that I can’t do the picture any more justice. I try my best but clearly I still can’t compete with other food blogger. Maybe I need to hire someone with a better photographic skill other than me, someone with a SLR or two.

Still what is more important is the taste. But before that let me say this, this is a one plate dish meaning everything must be in together not separately. So first put the rice onto your plate, then the chicken, next the salad, pour a little bit of the soup onto the rice and lastly before you eat pour some chili and soy sauce to the salad and chicken. You take a little bit of everything and slowly shove it into your mouth with your spoon or hand (that is how to enjoy malaysian cuisine!)

The Review

The chickens as explained by Uzair is  marinated in honey and dark soy sauce for 15 minutes before he deep fried it. He said it is slightly overcooked.Yes, the texture is a bit hard, but still good portion of marinate ingredient, the combination of sweet honey and salty soy sauce act as an inducer making you want to eat more and more. If only Uzair not overcooked the chicken and the honey has not been too caramelized, the odd taste will not over-masked the right taste of the chicken.

But the chicken soup is perfect, not to salty and not too bland as I ever taste from a lot of hawker and restaurant selling this chicken rice. Uzair’s effort to decorate it with some parsley leaf also is something not to be left out.  Also not to forget the rice, the staple of malaysian food. If you want to feel light taste of carbs then you better try chicken rice. The rice glistening as it has been stir fry till translucency before it is cooked in chicken stock. Usually I put garlic into the rice and today Uzair also include turmeric to add some yellow color to the rice. I just love the feeling that the rice feel so light entering the stomach.

Overall it is a good dish. We don’t usually eat much but this time the rice cooker is emptied, the chicken plate is spotless. That’s a good sign I presumed. Thus that means, Uzair is a force to be reckon with. Yes, he is up one level.

To do some justice of Malaysian Cuisine to the eyes of world, I include a picture of chicken rice from a restaurant. However this is different chicken rice (Hainanese Chicken Rice), the basic is the same. The difference is the way they prepare the chicken. Stay tuned with my blog and I promise to include the recipe.

Kerutuk for Tonight

It is Uzair turn to cook tonight for our iftar/dinner and he decided to serve us a dish very well known in East Coast of Malaysian Peninsular (Kelantan and Terengganu) which is called as Kerutuk. It is quite a bold move, considering 2 people from our group is a native people there with thick Kelantanese blood run through their veins. I bet they did already tasted a lot of kerutuk since the first time they can eat other dish other than baby food.

Kerutuk is a dry curry. It needs special special curry paste-‘kerutuk paste’. Some say the paste can be made by mixing kurma paste (another kind of curry paste) and indian curry paste. It has a bit of sweet particular taste that make it different than other kind of curry. During first time meeting with Kerutuk, It has been served with roti jala (net bread or laccy pancake) but it actually can also accompany nasi briyani (Indian rice pilaf) or lemang (sticky rice in coconut milk cooked in bamboo casing)

The end result is ok actually. The gravy is a bit excessively thick as he let the kerutuk boils instead of  simmer, also due to the fact that the potato is diced quite small that after long boiling, the starch disintegrated and make the gravy to be even thicker. The spice taste, I can taste the unique taste of cardamom, clove and star anise.  Though I think  it has a little bit overpowered the sweetness feeling that the kerutuk should have. It taste more like a rendang rather kerutuk I think. The chicken however is soft and tender just the way it suppose to be.

Still as my Kelantanese group mate more than satisfied with it, who am I to write more than I should. Still despite all of that, I also grateful because Uzair is so generous, his dish is always come large in number, big in quantity. There is always surplus and never deficit.

Always and always  say “Alhamdulillah”

Kerutuk Ayam (Chicken) Recipes

Ingredients
1 lb chicken (leg, thigh or breast. I prefer dark meat)
5 tablespoons kerutuk paste (you can find it in the Asian grocery)
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (Sriracha)
1 big onion (thinly sliced)
1 cup thick coconut milk + 1 cup milk (full or low fat)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons kerisik (pounded coconut from the Asian store)

Spices:-
1/2 big onion
1/2 inch ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
3 cloves
3 cardamom
3 tablespoons cooking oil

Directions

Heat oil in a pan over high heat. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Brown each side for 4 mins. Dish out from pan.

Blend 1/2 big onion, ginger and garlic in a processor. Add in kerutuk paste

Turn heat to low and saute the spice ingredients. When the onion, ginger and garlic blend begins to brown, add in coconut milk and stir to blend. Add in the chicken pieces and sliced onion. Let simmer for approximately 20 mins or untill the gravy thickens.

When the oil begin to separate from the curry,add salt, brown sugar and kerisik.

Ragu and Fish-Iftar and Friend

Today is the first day I cooked for my friend. We have dinner-cooking rotation among 4 of us. As it was an iftar rather than usual dinner not to mention it was my first time cooking for them, I believe some good impression is rather appropriate.

Steam Fish with Lemon Grass and Lime Leaves

So I decide to cook steamed fish. I used Basa fish which also famously known here as morskoy yazik (literally mean sea tongue),I seasoned it with pepper and salt, poured  some lemon juice onto it and steamed it with lemon grass, onion, garlic, ginger and some fresh lime leaves for the aroma. Just for the sake of fun, i add some queen prawn (tiger prawn) to it.

The result is magnificent! I always love the soft texture of the fish and the fish’s sweet flavor that has been retained due to method of cooking, along with the acidic taste of lemon alternating in your mouth but the best thing was the fresh lime leaves aroma that rush to your nose when you open the lid; it is so soothing and refreshing suitable after a long tiring day. It is so distinctive that it woke everyone up in the kitchen.

Ragu or Ragout

Then for the second dish, something to celebrate we being here in Russia. I made Ragu/рагу (from french word ragoûter-to revive the taste). It is actually a vegetable, fish or meat stew simmered in a thick sauce.

The one that I prepared was vegetable ragu. I used all the vegetable that can be found abundantly from the market this early autumn; capsicum, cucumber, tomato and carrot. I added some salt, pepper  and to make it felt less alien to my friend, I decided to put some Asian flavor to it. I used coconut milk, instead of sour cream. It tasted like ‘masak lemak’ only without turmeric. Other things that distinguish this ragu from our native dish ‘masak lemak’ is its thick sauce and fish stock flavor which was added earlier. I left it to boil and simmered it then in medium heat. Later I added some lemon juice and  finish it with some dill, parsley and bay leaves. This 3 leaves is used regularly in any soup in Russia, it leaves some nice and comfort aroma to us.

This two dish does not cost us much only around 200 ruble (approx. RM 20). It supposed to be small in amount.

I felt so happy that all of us enjoy the meal that we can’t resist even to eat the onion and slurping the soup. The food is finished and everyone was smiling.

Alhamdulillah