Meme: 10 Things I Miss of Mum's Cooking

I got tagged by Angie to do this meme. Seriously, I couldn't think of 10 things that I missed most. My cooking skill has long surpassed my mom and she couldn't bake at all. Still, I remembered her simple homecook meals when we were still at school. Mostly the dishes that I missed most are those that I couldn't make it here because we couldn't get the ingredients.

1. Turmeric Fish ~ I missed her turmeric fish. I couldn't get the fresh kembong fish here (I think that's the small fish called), and thus never attempted to make this dish here. I like the way she made hers, very fragrant and good.

2. Pork Kidney in Ginger Mee Sua Soup ~ Really missed this dish, mee sua in a little spicy fragrant soup with pork kidney, yum. As the new generation, I don't even know how to clean the kidney, what worst couldn't even buy it here. Always love to eat pork kidney, but haven't had it for years already.

3. Four Angle Bean Veggie in Sambal Belacan ~ Guess you probably know why I missed this dish by now. Hahaha.... Yup, couldn't get four angle beans here, one of my favorite veggies, thus can only dream about it.

4. Ngor Hiang in Pork Fat Skin ~ My mom used to make this when we were small. As last time people were not that health concious. What can I say, pork fat with five spice ground pork, the result is always delicious. Not sure whether you can still buy pork fat skin these days, or it already been substituted with dried beancurd sheet?

5. Reunion Dinner Steamboat ~ I missed my mom steamboat as I missed the joy of eating steamboat together with my family. She always prepared roasted chicken and mung quan char (stir-fry jicama) with lettuce wrap along with the steamboat and her homemade chilli sauce which I love. The feeling I felt on the table will be in my memory forever.

Sad to say, my mom hardly cook these days. As we left for college, she went back to work with my dad. Thus, after a day at work, it's hard to find the energy to cook, so she normally "to go" a few dishes and add a dish or two for the family members who are still at home.

Now, I would like to pass the "baton" to Lin (Sinfully Yours) and tt (Playing with My Food).

Pusiva's Acar

As you all probably know, I always in search of easy recipe to cook or bake. The other day when I browsed through Pusiva's blog, her acar recipe caught my eyes. It seem simple enough and I have all the ingredients in my pantry, so why not give it a try.

I made it few days ago and it was also my first time attempting acar. It was pretty good and I ate it like a salad for snack. Oh, I sprinkled grounded roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds before serving since I have both ready in the freezer.

Here's her recipe. Thanks Pusiva!

Prima Taste Singapore Laksa

My craving for a bowl of Singapore laksa finally made me purchased the $6 Prima Taste brand laksa. It was really expensive considering other premix brands only cost about $2-$3 per box/packet. My wanting to eat yet too lazy to make my own paste made me bought this. However, glad to say that the result was not disappointing, it was actually pretty good. The gravy was ready in 5 mins and the box came with coconut powder, laksa paste, dried laksa leaves and sambal chilli. All I needed to do was to prepare the noodle and garnishes for the laksa, very simple!

The downside was the serving was only for two, so $3 for a bowl of laksa gravy, don't you think it's a bit expensive? The store also sells Prima Taste Singapore mee siam which I have never tasted before. According to my friend, the Prima mee siam is pretty darn good too. Hmmm....perhaps I would buy and try it one day, just to see how mee siam with gravy tastes like. Never have it before, just saw some posted pictures of it in blogs or forum, very curious to find out the taste and flavor of it.

You may also like Singapore Curry Laksa.

JapChae

This is my version of Jabchai. I didn't know such a noodle existed until I had it in a Korean family house while we were at Memphis. Of course I fell in love with the texture of this noodle since it was so different from what we used to.

So, of course I need to buy and cook it myself. The packet of noodle I bought before came with a recipe so I had been using that for awhile. But the packet now doesn't come with one and thus I have to make it up with what I still remember and what ingredients I have in the fridge.


Closed up

Normally the recipe calls for thinly sliced pork/beef marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, a little sugar and some cooking wine. The thinly sliced chinese mushroom will be marinated in the same marinade as well. I forgot what veggies are supposed to go with this, but here I used onion, cabbage, carrot and garlic.

As for the sauce of the noodle, it's purely soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, sugar and sesame oil.

If you haven't tried this noodle before, you should give it a try! Here's how the noodle looks like. Boiled the noodle until soften, then rinsed with cold water, set aside. Then, mixed the sauce with the cold noodle and top with prefried ingredients. Stir to mix well and lastly added some toasted sesame seeds to toast well.



Enjoy!

Kee Chang

These are store-bought kee chang that I found at the Vietnamese store frozen section. Not sure whether they are out of glutinous rice or they don't sell it because I just couldn't find it. What a disappointment!! :( Guess my plan of making bak chang has to be postponed or cancelled completely. What a bummer! I was so looking forward to eating some bak changs.


I made some Gula Melaka syrup to go with the kee chang. For the syrup, just boiled some coconut milk with the Gula Melaka, then simmered it down to the consistency you like.


It actually has mung bean filling, but I love the taste of Gula Melaka syrup with my kee chang. At least, this will satisfy my craving for chang for a while.


As for the leftover Gula Melaka syrup, I made some green bean soup with it. Just added the syrup in the end and now my green bean soup dessert is flavored with coconut milk and gula Melaka, sweet and fragrant.

Chicken Wings

You can find my recipe here:
http://barbeque.allrecipes.com/az/MalaysianBarbecueChickenWi.asp

I submitted this recipe ages ago. It can be grilled or baked and then broiled in the oven.

I baked the above in convection oven 350'F for 30 mins and then broiled it at 500'F for 5 mins.

To grill, grill in a very small flame until the skin turns ultra crispy, baste with some cooking oil while grilling.