Thursday, August 23, 2007

Merdeka Open House 2007: Murtabak Muhibbah

Babe in the city left an invitation at my comment box for this year Merdeka Open House 2007: Muhibbah. This year theme is to create a different ethnic group dish and explain how this dish has been known to me and why it has became my favorite. It was an honor to be invited and I am proud to present you my first participation in the Merdeka Open House.



Murtabak is a well-known Indian pancake stuffed with curry meat, onion and egg. It is also known as Martabak in Indonesia. This Indian Malaysian snack is commonly found in the mamak stall or pasar malam (night market). Mamak stall or hawker stall is very common in Malaysia and it usually filled with mouth-watering food and snacks.

While growing up in Malaysia, I love to go jalan-jalan (walk) in the night market. Since the night market is not only filled with food but also things to see and buy. I guess it is also one of Malaysian way of passing time or people watching. But these days, the youngsters might prefer the air-conditioned mega Mall instead of pasar malam. Haha! Anyway, that was how I discovered murtabak! While walking around the pasar malam searching for my dinner and got attracted by this Indian man making and cooking his murtabak for sales. He cooked his murtabak in a big rectangle griddle. First he spread the thin dough on the griddle and then he put in the filling, spread beaten egg on top, wrap it up and pan-fried until cooked and crispy on the outside. That's how I got introduced to Murtabak, by watching how the Indian man cooked his and bought some and tried it myself. Murtabak is delicious because it has the crispy exterior and thus crispy as you bite into it and then your mouth just filled with the delicious curry filling of meat and veggie. Who wouldn't love it? That's how it became one of my favorite snacks to eat.



I got my Murtabak making inspiration from Teczcape. T, thanks for providing me with this idea to fulfill my Muhibbah project. :)

Here's my adapted recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup green peas
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp. sugar
1 egg, beaten
5 Springs Home frozen plain roti paratha

Method:

Heat 2 Tbsp. canola oil in a non-stick pan and add in onion. Fry til soften, add in ground pork, separate and fry til cooked. Add in bell pepper and green peas and all the seasoning. Add a little water if needed. Mix well and pour the beaten egg on it. Fry til the egg is cooked. Dish out and set aside.

Let the roti paratha soften til foldable consistency, about 5 minutes. This can be quite a sticky job. Spread the filling in the center of the roti paratha and fold in on all edges to close. Put fold side down on a med. heat non-stick pan with a little oil and pan-fry until brown and crispy. Then, flip to the other side and do the same.

Serve warm! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.


Lastly, for all the Malaysian around the world, I would love to wish you a Happy Independence Day! Kepada semua rakyat-rakyat Malaysian, Selamak Hari Merdeka ya! :D

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Monday, August 20, 2007

Nonya Assam Heh (Nyonya Tamarind Prawns)



One of the Penang Nyonya dishes is Assam Heh or Tamarind Prawns. I first learned about this dish from my mom. My mom was from Alor Star, Kedah and thus a lot of her cooking has been influenced by the Nyonya in Penang. I guess any dish that tasted good would be adapted in a family, and in this case my mom. It has became my favorite because of how delicious it is and how easy it is to cook. Tamarind is a common item used in a Malaysian household. And I would love to share with you this easy Tamarind Prawns recipe. The used of tamarind made this dish a Nyonya dish (incorporation of Malay ingredient into Chinese cuisine).

Friday, August 17, 2007

Banana Fritters/ Kuih Kodok








I finally found a quick and easy way to get rid of my ripen banana instead of use it for banana cake. That is to make banana fritters, it's easier, less thing for me to wash, and can use as little as one banana! I don't know about you, but I hardly left with 3 ripen bananas that nobody wants to eat. It will either be one or two and that was not enough to make banana cake or muffin. So, I adapted my recipe from Isha's kuih kodok. And since I only have two black banana looking at me instead of three, this is what I did,

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

BBQ Pork Noodle/ Char Siew Mee





Another one of my lazy dinner. Decided to make char siew because I saw this and also pork was on sale. So, I marinated my pork a day before with LKK char siew sauce, hoisin sauce, honey and dark soy sauce. Then, I baked in preheated 400'F oven for 20 minutes on one side, and then flip it over, brush with more marinade and baked 15 minutes more. After that broil for 3-5 minutes.



I added fish balls and cabbage. I can't eat a meal without a veggie and since I didn't go grocery shopping at the Asian store, I was left with green cabbage. I just blanched it in hot water (since cabbage can be eaten raw), but what a mistake! It didn't go well together at all because the cabbage was still kinda hard. As figure, my hubby didn't eat much of the cabbage. I myself couldn't finish all the cabbage too! :P What a mismatch!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Pad Thai/Phad Thai My Way



I bought a thin Thai rice stick noodle recently just because it caught my eyes. Was thinking to probably fry mee siam with it since it's very thin. Then, not sure what happen it became Pad Thai. I guess I needed to use the lime that I bought last week. I have the tendency to buy limes and then I have no idea what to do with it. Normally it just sat in my refrigerator and turned bad!

All I know was Pad Thai needed to have fish sauce, tamarind juice and sugar and I have all of those so I was all set for my Pad Thai experiment.
So here sharing with you my imprompto version. If you like your pad thai really sweet, just add more sugar. Drizzle more fresh lime juice for a more sour taste.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Golden Bread Shrimp Rolls



This recipe has been with me for 19 years. I was asked to prepare a dish in the final day of my secondary school cooking class. At that young age, I knew nothing about cooking, let alone came out with a recipe. Thus, this recipe was courtesy of my mom. I recalled I really enjoyed the cooking class but have completely no idea how I ended out in that class (Maybe we have an option of cooking or sewing?). Anyway, Janet, if you are reading this, do you still remember? I remembered we made yam ring together because you were my partner. I think you helped me cooked this dish too because I remembered you mixing the shrimps with curry powder? Correct me if I'm wrong! It is ages ago!

Recipe is posted at Allrecipes.com. I posted this recipe in 1999 when allrecipe.com was just launched. I received a very negative review in 2003 and I was telling myself, I can't believe she ruined this for me. Come on, who is going to try a recipe with a one star rating, at least I won't. Then, recently I found out I got another review and it was 5 stars!! How happy that made me and kudo to him to give this one star recipe a try and loved it! So, calling all readers, if you tried this recipe of mine and loved it and is a member of allrecipe.com, PLEASEEEE go and give me a good review okay? Preferably 4 stars and above lah....hahaha....show a little love or support for me leh. *so thick face*

Okay, I took the trouble to snap step-by-step pictures here. This recipe is very easy and you should have all the ingredients at home. I made this again because I want to post a picture at Allrecipe with the intention to entice or seduce more people to give this a try. :P Please do go to allrecipes for the complete recipe.

Click next for step-by-step pictures guide: