Food For My Belly

This is probably one of my favourite recipes that I make time and time again. I can say its my speciality, mum uses the same recipe as I do but it never ever turns out right :P I have always grown up calling it Ma Lai Ko, it can be loosely translated as Malaysian Cake or Golden Steamed Cake. This cake is best served piping hot from the steamer. If a bamboo steamer is not available, an aluminium steamer can be used instead.  INGREDIENTS 4 eggs 1 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup evaporated milk 120g butter, melted 1 1/2 cup self-raising flour 1 tsp bicarbonate soda 2 tbps golden syrup Beat eggs and sugar in an electric mixer for 5 mins, or until thick. Stir in milk and butter; fold in sifted flour and soda. Finally, add the golden syrup. Line an 18cm bamboo steamer with a sheet of grease-proof paper, pour in mixture into steamer. Cover and place steamer over wok or pan of boiling water; cook over high heat for 30 mins or until cooked.

This is probably one of the easiest recipes I have ever made. Out of all the ingredients, the only thing you have to cook in this dish is the rice :) It's a really healthy dish and oh so yummy. You won't be able to stop once you start eating, trust me. I got this recipe off an ex work colleague and unfortunately, my boyfriend stole the recipe to make it for his family and never gave the recipe back to me (I bet he doesn't even know where it is now). So below, the recipe is all based from memory but with this dish, you can really put as much of the ingredients as you want because its healthy...and not to forget, yummy :) INGREDIENTS 2 cups brown rice 2-3 spring onions, finely sliced 3-4 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped 2 medium sized capsicums, diced (any colour you like) 1 small can of corn 1/2 cup cashew nuts, roughly chopped a handful of sunflower seeds 1/4 cup currants   For the dressing: 1/4 cup sunflower oil 1 tbsp soya sauce 1 tbsp lemon juice 2 c...

I didn't actually plan on cooking anything tonight but I was watching Kylie Kwong's DVD and it made it hungry. It was also about dinner time. I had help making this dish as I'm not the biggest fan of frying especially in a lot of oil, I'm afraid of oil splatter >_< This recipe is one of Kylie Kwong's and she calls it Mrs Jang's home-style fried eggs . This recipe is really simple to make and its so tasty, I repeat so tasty. INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil 4 large free-range eggs 1 tbs oyster sauce small pinch of ground white pepper 2 spring onions, finely sliced 1-2 red bird's eyes chillies, finely sliced Heat oil in a hot wok until the surface seems to shimmer slightly. Crack the eggs in a small bowl, then pour into the hot oil. After 2 minutes, reduce heat to allow the bottom of the eggs to become firm and crisp; the yolk should still be runny at this point. Gently remove eggs from wok and drain off excess oil before easing onto p...

This recipe was adapted from Alvin (from Masterchef) during an invention test. He is a fellow Malaysian like myself. This dish, if cooked correctly, melts in your mouth and taste really good if you have the patience for it. Serves: 4-6 Preparation time: 20 mins Cooking time: 1 hour 30 mins (roughly) INGREDIENTS 8 garlic cloves, chopped 15 black peppercorns, (whole) Peanut oil or sunflower oil (for frying) 2.6L chicken stock 1/2 cup shaoxing wine (or substitute sherry) 1 cup cooking caramel (karamel masakan) (or substitute for corn syrup) 1 1/2 cup light soy sauce 1/2 cup oyster sauce 1 cinammon stick 1 tsp ground anise (about 2 whole star anise) 1kg pork belly 300g brown sugar 1/3 cup fish sauce 2 tbs lime juice 2 shallots, sliced 5cm piece of ginger, peeled, cut into thin matchsticks Coriander leaves, to garnish   For the chilli vinegar dipping sauce: 2 long red chillies, thinly sliced 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar In a mortar and pestle, pound ...

(sorry that part of the meat was already sliced off, forgot to take a picture beforehand coz I got too excited) Last night, my mum and I decided to roast a leg of lamb. This is something that is rarely done in our household as we normally cook Malaysian and Chinese food. So, roasting in general is out of the norm. I must say, it turn out really good and below is the recipe...   INGREDIENTS juice of 1 lemon juice of 1 orange olive oil handful of garlic cloves, whole 5-6 sprigs of rosemary salt & pepper 2kg of lamb leg 1/2 pumpkin 2-3 sweet potato Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Make little incisions all over the leg of lamb. Then stuffed the rosemary and the cloves of garlic into the little incisions. Combine lemon juice, orange juice, olive oil and salt & pepper.Rub into skin of meat. Put the lamb in the oven for approx 2 hours (I hour per kg).  Chop up the pumpkin and sweet potato to your desired size. Drizzle olive oil and season with salt ...

INGREDIENTS 60 ml (2 fl oz/ 1/4 cup) coconut cream 2 tablespoons green curry paste 350 g (12 oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced 440 ml (15 fl oz/ 1 3/4 cups) coconut milk 2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce 1 tablespoon palm sugar (jaggery) 350 g (12 oz) mixed Thai eggplants, cut into quarters 50 g (2 oz) galangal, julienned 7 makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, torn in half a handful of Thai sweet basil leaves, for garnish 1 long red chilli, seeded and finely sliced, for garnish Put the coconut cream in a wok or saucepan and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the cream separates and a layer of oil forms on the surface. Stir the cream if it starts to brown around the edges. Add the curry paste, stir well to combine and cook until fragrant. Add the chicken and stir for a few minutes. Add nearly all of the coconut milk, the fish sauce and palm sugar and simmer over medium heat for another 5 minutes. Add the eggplants and cook, sti...

INGREDIENTS 180g shallots, peeled and finely sliced 15g garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced 15g bird's eye chillies, sliced 1 lemon grass stalk, very finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon roasted dried shrimp paste 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper 1 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons coconut oil juice of 1 leprous lime (if unavailable, use kaffir lime) (makes about 200g) Mix the shallots with the garlic, chillies, lemon grass, shrimp paste, pepper and salt. Stir in the coconut oil and lime juice. TWEAK PERKS TO (AGAIN) SATISFY OUR TASTEBUDS This was a DEFINITE winner for us including my mum and my auntie. It burned (I actually had tears) but it kept me going back for more and more. Why? Because it was really really good. This recipe had a few more tweaks than the previous one we did but it still tasted damn good. The adjustments made to this recipe is stated below:- Used french onions instead of shallots Added coriander as we had left overs from the Green C...

INGREDIENTS   8-10 small green chillies, seeded 2 lemon grass stalks, white part only, thinly sliced 2.5 cm (1 in) piece of galangal, finely chopped 1 teaspoon very finely chopped makrut (kaffir) lime skin or makrut lime leaves 4-5 garlic cloves, finally chopped 3-4 Asian shallots, chopped  5-6 coriander (cilantro) roots, finely chopped a handful of holy basil leaves, finely chopped 2 teaspoons shrimp paste 1 teaspoon ground coriander, dry-roasted 1 teaspoon ground cumin, dry-roasted (makes 125 g/5 oz/ 1/2 cup) Using a pestle and mortar, pound the chillies, lemon grass, galangal and makrut lime skin or leaves into a paste. Add the garlic, shallots and coriander roots and pound together. Add the remaining ingredients one at a time and pound until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Alternatively, use a food processor or blender to grind or blend the ingredients into a paste. Add cooking oil, as needed, to assist the blending. Store the p...