A Sneak Preview Of My First Menu - "Malaysian Monday 93"

Finally my menu is ready and this is a sneak preview of what's on offer. I will reveal the full menu in the next few days so please stay tuned!

Meanwhile please come say hello to me at Little Nyonya @ rear of building 818 Burke Street, shop 2. All 3 hungry tummies readers and blogger friends will enjoy a 20% discount if you mention the magic words - 3 hungry tummies that is! See you then!

P.S above is ayam goreng sos bunga kantan (crispy chicken with ginger flower sauce).

Announcement! - I officially left my job on the 10th of August 2013 having spent almost 10 months cooking the food that I know and love best. Unfortunately the lack of support from skilled staff and management's direction (or lack of direction)  for the restaurant have made my job untenable. 

It is all good on my end; my new job does not required me to work on nights or weekends and it is only a 10 minute bike ride from home leaving me plenty of time to cook and blog again! 

Assam pedas (spicy fish stew with eggplant and okra).

Kerabu betik muda (Nyonya style green papaya salad, pan seared quails with tamarind and chili glaze)

Ayam goreng Nyonya (chicken first poached in an aromatic coconut sauce then deep fried and served with the reduced poaching liquor and achar).

Sambal terong goreng (fried eggplant with homemade dried shrimp sambal)

Sambal bendi (blanched okras with homemade dried shrimp sambal).

Sambal sotong (calamari and green beans stir fried with a spicy and tangy sauce).

Ikan bakar (baked fish with sambal and lemon wrapped in banana leaf)

My friend Sharon will be hosting the October event, so please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click here.

Gulai Kambing Kak Timah, Kak Timah's Lamb Curry - "Malaysian Monday 92" And A Very Exciting Announcement!

My Malaysian Monday post is fashionably late this week due to work and lack of cooking at home. Well it is better late than never and this is another very special dish from my nanny Kak Timah who taught me so much about the Malay customs and cooking.

After weeks of planning, cooking and tasting, my very first menu is upon completion. And as of Monday the 15th of October I will be running the kitchen of a Nyonya restaurant in Docklands, Melbourne. I must thank tummy and my friends for their emotional support during the past weeks, and the blessing of Kak Timah for using all her recipes.

Two years ago Sharon from Test With Skewer and I started Muhibbah Malaysian Monday to better promote Malaysian cuisine through blogging, now I am doing it in a physical way, who would have thought?

This is a mild but extremely aromatic curry that is heavily influenced by the cooking of Sumatera. It will go well with roti canai, nasi lemak, nasi minyak, nasi kunyit or roti jala. Give this a try or come say hello to me at Little Nyonya @ rear of building 818 Burke Street, shop 2. All 3 hungry tummies readers and blogger friends will enjoy a 20% discount if you mention the magic words - 3 hungry tummies that is! See you then!

Announcement! - I officially left my job on the 10th of August 2013 having spent almost 10 months cooking the food that I know and love best. Unfortunately the lack of support from skilled staff and management's direction (or the lack of it)  for the restaurant have made my job untenable. 

It is all good on my end; my new job does not required me to work on nights or weekends and it is only a 10 minute bike ride from home leaving me plenty of time to cook and blog again! 

recipe from my nanny Kak Timah
serves 6 to 8 as part of a Malaysian meal
you'll need;
2 kg of diced lamb (ask for meat from the leg)
1 tbs of coriander powder
1 tbs of cumin powder
1 tbs of fennel powder
a pinch of salt
3 cloves
2 star anise
1 cinnamon cassia bark
3 bay leaves
5 tomatoes, cut into wedges

for the rempah (curry paste);
2 red onion or 20 shallots, chopped
15 cloves of garlic
5 cm knob of ginger
2 lemongrass (white part only), chopped
2 cm knob of galangal
1 heaped tbs of turmeric powder
12 candlenuts, crushed
12 dried chilies, removed seeds, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes
pinch of salt

Blend spices to a fine paste and set aside.

Add coriander, cumin and fennel powder to the lamb in a large bowl, mix well and allow to stand for at least 10 minutes.

Pan fry lamb pieces in batches until well brown all over, remove and set aside.

Fry curry paste with a cup of cooking oil until oil separates, stirring constantly to prevent catching at the bottom. Add in dried spices and bay leaves and continue to cook for a minute more.

Return the lamb to the pot and mix well, fry lamb in the paste for 2 to 3 minutes. Add coconut milk and simmer for 45 minutes or until lamb is almost tender. Season with salt and sugar.

Add tomatoes and coconut cream and cook for a further 15 minutes. Check for seasonings.

Serve with one of the dishes suggested... preferably with a view such as this :)

The interior of the restaurant.

My friend Sharon will be hosting the October event, so please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click here.

Baked Egg WIth Cheese Filled Meatballs And Spiced Tomato Relish

Remember the mozzarella filled meatballs that I served with my spiced tomato relish earlier on? The leftover was turned into a hearty late breakfast ala eggs en cocotte.

It takes no time to prepare and will save you from pushy mothers with prams, crying toddlers and people who speak loudly on their mobile phones at most popular cafes.

I will put in a Malaysian Monday post on Wednesday, meanwhile please send all your entries to Sharon  (Test With Skewer) at its.sharon@gmail.com

recipe from the tummies' kitchen

oven preheated at 220 C (conventional)

recipe per serve

you'll need;

3 heaped tbs of my spiced tomato relish

3 mozzarella filled meatballs

2 eggs

a drizzle of olive oil

a little chopped parsley

toasts to serve

Place tomato relish and meatballs in a ramekin, place ramekin in an oven tray.

Crack two eggs over and bake in the preheated oven for 4 to 5 minutes or until the egg whites are just  set but the yolks should remain runny.

Drizzle with some olive oil and top with some chopped parsley.

Serve with some toast on the side.

Linguini, Dandelion Greens With Tuna, Capers And Tomato Sauce

Spring is here so let's eat weeds... and I really do mean weeds in the form of dandelion greens. I was a little skeptical about eating this notorious garden weed but fell in love with it after just one bite, now you can see me harvesting fresh tender dandelion greens around my neighbourhood.

My new job is taken up a lot of my time and I must confess I hardly have time to blog surf anymore, but it is the most satisfying job I have had in a while and I will reveal that in the very near future so please stay tuned. 

This is one of the many pasta dishes we have been eating in the last few weeks. It is a refreshing change from our usual spag bol; the combination of tuna and capers is always a winner in our favourite tuna pasta but this is slightly more hardy for our often chilly spring nights. 

serves 6 as a one dish meal

you'll need;

plenty of good olive oil

2 medium or one large brown onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

a large pinch of chili flakes

1 large tin of crushed tomatoes

1 large tin of tuna spring water, drained

1 tbs of sugar

salt and pepper to taste

linguini, cooked till al dente and drain well

a handful of freshly picked dandelion greens or cavolo nero

extra olive oil to serve

grated parmesan cheese to serve

Fresh tender dandelion greens are for the picking everywhere. I especially like them in pasta dishes.

Prepare the onion and garlic. 

Saute onion, garlic and chili flakes with olive oil until onion is soften and translucent. 

Add crushed tomatoes, tuna and capers and mix well, allow to simmer until sauce thicken slightly, season with sugar, salt and pepper.

Cook pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente, add in the dandelion greens for a few seconds and drain well.

Add some tuna sauce to a pan and bring to a simmer, add drain pasta and mix well.

Drizzle with extra olive oil and grate some parmesan over and enjoy with a glass of chilled rose.

Hainanese Pork Chop 海南豬扒 - "Malaysian Monday 91" And 3 hungry Tummies is 3!

3 hungry tummies is 3 today! It feels like only yesterday when I first started the blog, not knowing anything about blogging but armed with just a new point and shoot camera and countless recipes to share. It has been a wonderful and satisfying 3 years; getting to know like minded people and learning new recipes and cooking tips through this very strange exercise. It is going to be a challenge to keep the blog running due to the nature of my new job but I think I will work out a way so that I can be here for a little longer.

I would like to thank everyone for your continued support and tummy (and my other friends) for being very patience (whenever I cook and all the nonsense with photographing the end result before most meals) with me for the last 3 years. And now let's get to my first MM post for the month....

After spending the beautiful Sunday dining and wining near our increasingly gentrified neighbourhood,  it was time to think about our dinner. I chose a favourite childhood dish of mine which is now a favourite of the tummies household. 

This is another of those dishes that you won't find in the city, country that the dish is named after, in this case the beautiful island of Hainan in southern China. In fact this is a dish created by the Hainanese who worked for English households during the colonial era; using tomato ketchup, worcestershire sauce (or HP sauce), potato chips and peas to recreate what they perceived was western food. It is still served at most of the remaining Hainanese owned coffee shops in Malaysia and Singapore. The good news is, dishes such as this is having a revival of fortune when more and more people are looking for the "flavours of the past". 

P.S I have done a post on the chicken version so if you prefer a non pork version, please click here.

serves 4 as part of a Malaysian or Chinese meal

you'll need;

4 pieces of pork cutlet (loin with a little fat is the best)

dash of light soy*

dash of white pepper*

dash of sesame oil*

1 egg, beaten*

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

1 tomato, cut into wedges

1/2 cup of peas

1 onion, sliced

3 cm piece of ginger, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

breadcrumbs or cream craker crumbs 

marinate pork with ingredients marked * for 15 minutes.

for the sauce ;

5 tbs of tomato ketchup

2 tbs of HP sauce

1 tbs of worcester sauce

2 tbs of oyster sauce

2 tbs of sugar

dash of white pepper

1/2 cup of water or stock

mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

corn flour solution

Flatten pork chop with a kitchen mallet.

Marinate with ingredients marked*.

While the pork is being marinated, prepare the other ingredients. It was nice have a pair of helping hands.

Fry potato in batches until golden and crispy and drain well.

Crumb pork chops just before frying and fry until golden and crispy.

For the sauce - Saute chopped garlic and ginger til fragrant then add in the onion. Fry for a minute to soften then add in the sauce mixture and cook for another minute. Add pea and tomato wedges and cook for a further minute. Thicken with a little corn flour solution and check for seasonings.

Cut pork chops into strips and pour the sauce on the side, we served it with plenty of steamed rice.

My friend Sharon will be hosting the October event, so please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click here.

Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Roundup No.25

It has been a while since the first Monday of the month actually falls on the 1st and I am giving myself a medal for being able to finish the roundup on time.

We might have a smaller than usual roundup this month but they are all very special dishes, especially if you are a mooncake fan! Sharon (Test with Skewer) and I would like to thank everyone who have taken their time out to join us for this monthly affair.

Sharon will be hosting the October event, so please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click here.

Without further ado lets look at last month's entries!

First up Kimmy from Cooking Pleasure submitted a whopping 6 posts! 

You might want to try out her red rice wine with residue "ang chow" char siew for a change.

Follow by a hearty fish maw thick soup.

I am seduced by the fragrant sesame ginger fried rice, perfect for ladies in confinement. 

For congee lovers, please check out her Hokkien style chicken porridge.

It was mid autumn festival yesterday and she managed to make some beautiful black sesame snow skin mooncakes with mixed nuts filling.

And here is the recipe for the mixed nuts filling.

***

Next up is Vivian from Vivian Pang's Kitchen she managed 5 entries;

First check out her char siu steamed buns (with easy filling).

Check out her refreshing konnyaku pandan soya mooncakes.

Next she is introducing us to this delicious salad using a type of seaweed native to Sarawak.

This is her red bean filling recipe for mooncakes.

Those red bean filling is used to create these Shanghai style mooncakes.

***

Husband and wife team Annie and Nate from House of Annie shown us how far they managed to stretch their stomachs during a recent trip to KL;

A post on their culinary journey to KL and back.

***

Aunty Cheah from No Frills Recipes who has been with us since day one managed 3 delicious posts this time;

If you might fancy trying her braised pork knuckle with mustard cabbage.

Her traditional baked mooncakes in the shapes of plum.

She also prepared some green tea flavoured snow skin varieties.

***

Another great supporter of MMM, Gertrude from My kitchen Snippets also managed 3 posts;

I can't wait to try out her sweet potato fritters.

Her Sarawak chicken in black sauce is screaming "more rice please!"

If you have room for some sweets perhaps you want to consider her Sarawak style seri kaya cake.

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Of course don't forget to check out my entries if you have missed them;

Chicken chop with black pepper sauce.

Choko, omelet with preserved radish and mung bean noodles broth.

Stir fried choko with homemade dried shrimp chili sauce.

Sweet potato in pandan and ginger flavoured syrup.