Chilli stuffed cencaru (hardtail scad)

Cencaru has very hard and tough skin which will keep the meat moist during cooking. Just before eating use a fork to peel the skin which should come off quite easily. When I was living overseas I used to yearn for this dish but it is impossible to get cencaru as it is not available outside South East Asia

Ingredients

2 hard tailed mackerel, torpedo scad

Fresh red chilies

Dried red chilies

Shallots

Garlic

A small knob of tamarind paste

The amt depends on how many fishes you are cooking

To prepare the chilli paste

Cut and boil the dried red chilies to soften it

Cut all the other ingredients into smaller pieces

Add 50 ml water and all the ingredients into the blender

Blend until smooth

Put a little water into a small knob of tamarind paste and mix well

Heat up a little oil and put in the chilli paste and tamarind water

Stir fry the paste on low fire until it is almost dry

Remove the paste and keep in the fridge to let it set

This will make it easier to stuff the fish later

To prepare the fish

Make two short slits along the dorsal side of the fish to form a “pocket”

Using the tip of the knife, make the “pocket” wider and deeper inside

Dry the fish so that it will not splatter when fried

When the fish is sufficiently dried start preparing it

Spoon some of the cooked sambal into the slit

Put in as much of the sambal as possible fill the “pockets”

Put in some of the sambal into the fish stomach

Here it is all ready to be fried

I had to remove the head otherwise it will not fit into my frying pan

In the past I always make the slits the whole length of the fish and ended up losing half the sambal in the oil

Heat the wok for 1 minute

Put in enough oil to shallow fry the fish

Heat the oil until smoking hot

Put in the fish and fry until lightly charred

Turn the fish over to fry the other side

Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately

Chicken and cloud ear kerabu

Kerabu is basically a Malay salad which consists mainly of herbs, vegetables and anything that the cook wants to use. This is my favourite kerabu which I have not seen in any restaurants (do correct me if I am wrong).

Ingredients

1 skinless chicken breast

50 gm cloud ears (mok yee)

20 mint leaves

3 stalks serai (lemon grass)

1 stalk bunga kantan (ginger flower)

4 pcs limau purut leaves

15 shallots

Sambal belachan

Since I discovered a stall that sells sambal belachan similar to the one that I made, I have stopped pounding it at home.

Method 

Soak the cloud ears until soft

Put in boiling water for about 2 minutes

Drain and let it cool

Cut the chicken into smaller pieces so that it can cook evenly

Put the chicken in a pot of boiling water and cook on low heat for 5 minutes

Drain and let it cool

Shred the chicken into thin strips

Thinly slice the cloud ears (mok yee)

Thinly slice all the herbs

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl

Add:

4 tsp sambal belachan

3 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Juice of 2 limes

Mix thoroughly and it is ready

You can serve it immediately or keep it for later use

Transfer to an air tight container and keep in the fridge

You can add some pounded peanuts if desired

I personally prefer it without the peanuts

Sprinkle some peanuts on the kerabu just before serving

Kau kei soup

This is another one of my quickie soups. You can use any ingredients with this vegetable. Sometimes I use fish balls instead of tofu.

Kau kei choi (九杞) or wolfberry leaves in English, is the leaf of the Chinese wolfberry vine. The tender and slightly bitter leaves come in long stalks and have sharp thorns on it. The fruit is called Boxthorn fruit or Chinese wolfberry (kei chi). It is useful for relief of hot flushes, pain in the joints and skin in addition to removing toxins from boils.

Ingredients

1 bundle of kau kei choi (wolfberry leaves)

1 small carrot

1 pack soft tofu

Thinly slice the carrots

Prepare the stock and add the carrots

Add the kau kei choi when the carrots are almost cooked

Season with salt and pepper

Cut the tofu into bite size pieces and add to the soup

Simmer for 5 minutes

Dish up and serve

Kai lan with minced pork and mushroom

This is another way to cook kai lan which is very tasty and a favourite with the children.

Ingredients

300 gm baby kai lan

100 gm minced pork

2 pieces Chinese mushrooms

Shaoxing rice wine

Soak and thinly slice the mushrooms

Remove the skin from the stems to make it softer for the children

Soak for 10 minutes in the water used to wash the rice

Blanch the kai-lan until the stems are almost tender

Drain the kai-lan and put into the prepared platter.

1 tbsp cooking oil

¼ tsp sesame oil   

Heat the oil and sauté the mushrooms

Add 2 tsp chopped garlic and mix well

Add the minced meat and fry until cooked

Add the following:

1 tbsp rice wine

1 tbsp oyster sauce

50 ml water

Season with salt and pepper

Let the sauce simmer for 2 – 3 minutes
Pour over the blanched kai lan and serve

Roasted herbal emperor chicken (烘烤药材皇帝鸡)

Traditionally, the chicken is marinated with nine herbs, wrapped in parchment paper and aluminium foil and steamed. Today I tried the roasting method and the taste is really good. I think the orange and onion gave it the extra oomph!

Ingredients

1 chicken (1 kg)

1 onion

1 orange

1 packet emperor herbal mix

Wash and let the chicken sit to drain the water from the cavity

Today I am trying out the claypot golden phoenix brand which can be used for roasting or steaming

Put the chicken on the aluminium foil

Rub the herbal mix inside and all over the chicken

Wrap up and leave for 1 to 2 hours

Slice the onion and halve the orange just before roasting the chicken

Put half the onion into the chicken cavity

Put the other half on the foil and place the chicken on it

Squeeze the orange juice all over the chicken

Stuff the remaining orange pulp into the cavity

Fold the foil over the chicken and place in a baking tray

Roast the chicken in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked

Open the foil and let the skin brown for 5 minutes

When the chicken is cooked let it rest for 5 minutes to allow the juices to go back into the meat

You can serve it carved the western way like I did here 

Remove the onion from the cavity and garnish the chicken with it

You can chop it up the Chinese way