Another simple and healthy home cook dish from me. I would buy cabbage if I did not go to the Asian supermarket to get my vegetable for the week as cabbage has a long fridge life. With cabbage on hand, just add some colors and some tofu and oyster sauce, a delicious and healthy meal awaits you. You can't go wrong with oyster sauce, so stock up on Lee Kum Kee's oyster sauce for easy Chinese stir-fry. I don't like other brands so I always stick to my trusted LKK brand for my oyster sauce. Look for it when you shop at your local Asian supermarket next time.
I created this dish by accident one night. I had a block of silken tofu for dinner but had no idea how to cook it. I looked through my pantry and saw a canned of creamy corns and thought why not? It should pair well together as we loved the creamy chicken corn soup with tofu. And I was right, this dish was so easy to put together and guarantee deliciousness. Smashed the silken tofu and served the rice with lots of creamy corn sauce. You can have this dish along and be satisfied. If you don't have the chicken stock granules, you can substitute it with a little sugar. Try this dish on one of your lazy nights, hey it's healthy too.
We came to know this dish when we came to America. Frankly, we were curious at first to see Singapore Fried Vermicelli (星州炒米粉) in the Americanized Chinese restaurant's menu. We were like what they know about Singapore vermicelli? So, we ordered the vermicelli and gave it a try. As you guest, it was not a noodle we had before in Malaysia or Singapore (10+ years ago). It was a vermicelli fried with curry powder and they called it Singapore style fried vermicelli. But today, I guess it's pretty wide spread, so I am curious, have you seen people in Malaysia or Singapore cooking this curry powder packed vermicelli these days? This Singapore vermicelli is very common in an Americanized Chinese restaurants today, not only that even the authentic Chinese restaurants cook this dish. For this dish, it is best to cook with the yellow Indian curry powder, not the Malaysian Baba's red curry powder. Since I only have the Baba's curry powder, I used that and the fragrant was not as great as the Indian yellow curry powder that they used here.
I made this spice chicken as a side dish for my nasi lemak (fragrant coconut rice). Because my girls couldn't take the ikan bilis sambal (too spicy for them), so I had to come out with a side dish that they can eat with their nasi lemak. I also saved some fried ikan bilis (anchovy) for them. So, my girls version were hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, spice chicken, crispy anchovies and roasted peanuts. They loved the fragrant coconut rice so I wanted them to be able to enjoy this dish too.
As a Foodbuzz Tastemaker, I received two loaves of Nature's Pride breads to sample (100% Whole Wheat and 12 Grain). If you know me, I'm pretty health conscious and have been eating mostly 100% whole wheat bread for the past years. I was delighted to sample this Nature's Pride bread as it is the only 100% natural brand of bread available across the country (as they claimed). They are committed to baking the tastiest bread with wholesome and natural food choices such as no artificial flavors or colors, no high fructose corn syrup, no trans-fats, and no artificial preservatives. Sharing this bread with you with my mom's version of French Toasts. She added sugar into the eggs mixture and we ate it without any syrup, fruit puree, whipped cream or powder sugar. It is great as it is!
Nasi Lemak or Fragrant Coconut Rice, a Malaysian favorite dish! I don't know anyone who doesn't like nasi lemak. I am a sucker for the banana leaf wrapped nasi lemak that used to sell for 50 cent a pack. Right now, I have no idea how much is it, $1? $1.50? One thing for sure, it was not that cheap anymore. The combination of coconut rice and the ikan bilis sambal (anchovies chili sauce) blended so well together, it is hard to stop at just a packet! And when it is wrapped in banana leaf, oh mine, the fragrant of the banana leaf with the coconut rice, it's explosive! So, if you are going to visit Malaysia, this is a must-try dish. Even now, when I go back to visit my parents, it's my must have breakfast.My girl friend back in college gave me the idea of adding pandan paste into the coconut rice. She made this dish for a cooking competition and won first place. So now, for variation I also added some pandan paste into my coconut rice. I served my nasi lemak with the usual ikan bilis sambal, roated peanuts, fresh cucumber, hard boiled egg and spice chicken (recipe coming up).
For the above nasi lemak, wash the rice, instead of water, use coconut milk, add a little salt, some black peppers and pandan paste. Cook in rice cooker.
