Beef rendang

As I said I am a lazy cook so I use ready-made sauces especially when I am not too familiar with the ingredients for the sauce. Also it is difficult to buy the exact amount needed so there is a lot of wastage if the ingredient cannot be used quickly or frozen. The brand that I used is really good but not spicy enough for me so I added my homemade chilli boh.

Ingredients

1 kg tenderloin beef

1 packet instant rendang sauce

1 packet chilli boh (homemade and frozen)

1-2 red chillies

1 sprig chinese parsley 

1 packet coconut powder

4 tbsp pre-fried coconut shaving

Cut the beef into fairly thick slices

Take the chili paste out of the bag whilst it is still frozen otherwise the paste will stick to the bag

Put the chili boh paste and instant rendang sauce into the wok

Stir until it is fragrant

Put in the beef

Mix thoroughly with the chili paste

Add the coconut powder and a little water

Mix thoroughly

Cover and simmer on low heat until the beef is tender

Add the coconut shaving and a little water

Mix thoroughly

Simmer for another 30 minutes until the gravy is thicker

Dish out and serve when it is ready

Stir fried baby cucumber with fried fish and black beans

I first had baby cucumber in Beijing and it was really delicious. When I saw it in one of the super markets in KL I was shocked to see the cost. It was RM 10.00 for a pack of about 12 cucumbers!!! Talk about extortion. A couple weeks ago I went to Cameron Highlands and lo and behold they were selling these cucumbers at RM 4.00 for 2 medium sized packs. You can guess what I did. Yes I bought 2 packs and this is the dish here. Actually it would be even better if you add some red chillies.

A seedless baby cucumber is rich in minerals and vitamins. According to TCM, cucumber cleanses and detoxifies and it helps reduce high blood pressure. It has a cooling element therefore helps reduce internal heat of the body. 

Ingredients 

2 packs baby cucumbers

1 can of fried fish with black beans

Pour the fish onto a plate

Remove the bones from the fish

Heat up 1 tbsp oil and fry some chopped garlic until fragrant

Put in the cucumber and stir until well mixed with the oil

Add a little water to prevent it burning

When the cucumbers are almost soft add the fish and mix well

I did not add seasoning as the fish is already well seasoned

Dish up and serve with steamed rice or plain congee

Winter melon soup 冬瓜汤

We are a family who must have soup at almost every meal especially when eating Chinese food so I have to constantly think of different types of soup to cook. Winter melon soup is another one of the slow cooked soup that we love.

Winter melon (冬瓜, dong gua) is also known as wax gourd, white gourd and winter gourd. There are two varieties. One is shaped like a long squash and can grow as large as 80 centimetres (30 inches) in length with a chalky dark green coloured skin. 

The other variety is round with a waxy skin. The white flesh is similar to that of the white part of a watermelon. Winter melon is a good source of amino acids, natural sugars, minerals, organic acids and vitamins. In TCM it is used as a diuretic for treating kidney weakness and hypertension. It is also effective to treat snakebites, mercury poisoning and also great for losing weight.

 Ingredients 

1 section of winter melon

Pork ribs

Remember to blanch the pork bones to remove the scum

Put the blanched pork into the boiling water and cook on high for 1 hour

Remove the melon skin and seeds

Cut the melon into evenly sized pieces

Add the melon, yuk chuk, dates, kei chi and season with salt and pepper

Cook on low for another 4 hours

Dish up and serve when it is ready

Sambal chilli fish

Today I am trying out the Prima taste chilli sauce and I am using fish with the ingredients for assam fish. According to the pack it is supposed to be spicy but it is not. I think I still prefer the assam fish version.

Ingredients

1 block of tenggiri fish

1 tomato

1 bundle of ladies fingers (okra)

1 packet sambal chilli sauce

This Prima taste sauce is suitable for meat, fish or vegetables

Cut the tomatoes and ladies fingers

Put the packet sauce and 1 cup water into the wok

Stir until gravy is almost boiling

Add the fish and ladies fingers and cook for 5 minutes

Turn the fish over to cook the other side

Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes or until the fish and ladies fingers are cooked

When it is ready transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the coriander leaves

Stir fried emperor vegetable (王帝菜)

This is a super easy stir-fried vegetable which will become little bit sticky when cooked and some people don’t like the slimy texture but I love it. You can just simply fry it with garlic or with prawn sambal.

王帝菜 in Chinese means emperor's vegetable and it used to be a rare vegetable prepared only for the emperor. It is known as Basella or Malabar Spinach also vine spinach and there are two types, basella alba which features dark green leaves and green stem while basella rubra feature purplish stems and deep-green leaves with pink veins. Being a green leafy vegetable, it is high in vitamins A and C, iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium. A distinct feature of this vegetable is the succulent mucilage which helps to remove mucus and toxins from the body. It is very low in calories and fats and has cooling properties. It is not recommended for women during early pregnancy especially those with habitual abortion. 

Ingredients 

2 bundles of huang ti mui

It is best to buy more to allow for shrinkage

Remove the leaves from the stems

Soak in rice water for 10 minutes

Heat up a little oil and fry some chopped garlic until fragrant

Add the vegetable

Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar

Mix thoroughly

Dish up and garnish with a little fried shallots

Slow cooked teriyaki pork ribs

Teriyaki is a marinade of soy sauce, sake, sugar and the rice wine mirin. It is a Japanese term for meat or fish that is marinated in this sauce. It is derived from the Japanese root words “teri” which means to shine and “yaki” which is to broil or grill.

 Ingredients

6 pork ribs (cooking for 2 today)

Teriyaki marinate

4 tbsp teriyaki marinate - the teriyaki sauce is quite salty so I am adding

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp shaoxing wine

Pepper 

Pour the marinate onto the ribs and leave for 1 hour

Turn the ribs occasionally to coat them properly

Transfer everything into the slow cooker

Cook on low for 4-5 hours until ribs are tender

Transfer the ribs to a baking tray and grill until the ribs are a nice crusty brown

Occasionally baste the ribs

Transfer to a serving platter when the ribs are nicely browned