MeMe - You are What you Eat

I got tagged by Tazz to write this Meme, in which I have to write my top 10 favorite food. Got to say, I'm not someone who likes to do this meme homework. Hahaha... Just not a person who likes any kind of homework, not even in college! Anyway, here it is:

1. Nasi lemak - I just love this fragrant oily rice. The coconut rice mixed with spicy anchovy sambal, a little roasted peanuts, some hard boiled egg and crunchy fresh cucumber, can I say YUM!

2. Chicken - I eat chicken all the times because it's healthy and low fat. Normally I buy skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut it into strips and use it for my stir-fry.

3. Vegetable - A must have for my daily cooking. I can't do without veggies because it provide us with fiber, antioxidant and all the good stuff that our bodies need. Not to say delicious too!

4. Garlic - Garlic lover here, the more the merrier. Nothing can beat lots of fresh garlic with some chilli padi in light soy sauce as a condiment with rice. I use it in stir-frying my veggies, make garlic oil for noodle soup, fried rice and more.

5. Tofu - I love all kind of tofu. Soft tofu for my mapo tofu, firm tofu to pan-fry, deep-fried tofu (tau kwa) for curry noodle, pork dish, bak kut teh, taufu fah as a dessert, even sweet soy bean milk. What's more is it's good for our bodies!

6. Chinese Herbal Soup - Oh yeah, I love it! I like Tung Kway and ginseng just to list two because I can't named the others (too difficult to remember). I will try my best to cook it at least once a week for my family, normally with chicken drumsticks or pork bones.

7. Fish - Loveee fish. BUT not all kind of fish though. I don't fancy red meat fish at all like salmon and tuna. I know it's good for me, but I just can't stomach the firmer texture of the fish meat. Love fish steamed or deep-fried, yummy. Oh, definitely not raw like in sushi. Hahaha....

8. Crab & Lobster - This I like but we seldom eat it because it's not cheap. We normally eat it for special occasion or once in a while treat. I like lobster in cream sauce and salt & pepper crabs.

9. Mee Siam & Mee Hoon - Grew up loving it and thus I enjoy eating it now. It's quick and easy meal for my lazy weekend or holiday.

10. Steamboat - steamboat is best enjoy with lots of people, mainly your family, relative or friends. It gave me a sense of unity and closeness whenever I had steamboat. I guess partly because my mom always made steamboat on CNY eve, so I associated it with family unity. The piping hot sweet chicken stock with all sort of seafood, meats, veggies, tofu, fish balls, etc...ahhhhh.

Okay, now the fun part of passing this meme over to:

Lily- Wai Sek Hong

Rantings from a Solidary Reverie

My Kitchen- My Laboratory

Tang Yuan

Tang yuan is so easy to make and yet I hardly ever make it at all (lazy mah). Tazz kept reminding us to cook tang yuan for Dong Zhi day which is Dec. 22nd, guess I got persuaded by her. Hahaha... Her blog these few days have been about Tang Yuan and how it symbolized unity in a family, guess I'm sold. So, here's my tang yuan.



I added red bean as filling because I like mine with filling. I made gula Melaka & ginger syrup to go with it.

Asparagus & Bell Peppers Omelet

Featuring one of my home cook dishes. This is my new discovery dish. Asparagus goes very well with omelet, even better than the french beans, so a must try for everyone out there. :)


Ingredients

~ 3 eggs, beaten with soy sauce & white peppers.
~ 6-8 asparagus, cut into small pieces like shown above.
~ Red bell pepper (about 1/4), cut into small pieces.
~ Yellow bell pepper (1/4), cut into small pieces.


Method

Heat up oil in a skillet. When hot, add in the chopped vegetable. Stir-fry until veggies soften and add in the beaten eggs. Flip it over a few times until both sides are cooked and slightly brown.

Mee Siam Malaysian Style

This is the mee siam I used to eat in Malaysia. I have no idea there is another kind of mee siam which comes with gravy and they called it Singaporean style mee siam until recently. I have not tasted it before and have no idea how it tasted like as well. Would love to try it if I have the chance.



This is my version of mee siam. The main seasoning is of course chilli sauce which gives the noodle the red color and makes it spicy, just the way I like it.

Cookies...Cookies...

Ahhhh....is the season to make some cookies! I have a tea party on Dec. 17th (today) which gave me an excuse to make some cookies, or play with the dough. :P I actually had a few patterns that I wanted to try out, but it didn't turn out so well as I was using the melting moment recipe (added more flour to make it crunchy). The dough was still too soft to shape! Thus got to make do with my last minute patterns, whichever works!



From left clockwise,
Peppermint & Vanilla Cookies, Peppermint Cookies, Strawberry & Vanilla Cookies, Peanuts Cookies, Orange-Cranberries with Brandy Cookies


Individually packed to prevent flavor mixed up.


Then into the gift bags ready to be given away. This is my "Thank You" gift for coming to the tea party. :o) Hope they like it.

Nasi Lemak

Nasi lemak is one of the Malaysia National Food. So simple and yet so good. The translation for nasi lemak is oily rice. The rice is oily because it is cooked with coconut milk. Rice cooks in coconut milk is fairly common in Malaysia. Coconut milk is one of the staple in Malaysian cooking and it is widely used in Malay cooking.



This is my version. I like it simple and original. If it is wrapped in banana leaf, I would be in heaven. Fresh banana leaf is hard to come by here, basically non-existence. Only the frozen one is available in some of the oriental stores here. When I was back in Malaysia, the only nasi lemak I wanted to eat were those wrapped in banana leaf that cost about $1 (used to be 50 cents). I just love the fragrant that the banana leaf gave to the rice. Smell so good.