Food For My Belly

Adam calls it pearl pudding in his book but I have always known it just as sago with gula melaka (though there is coconut cream involved), its more of a mouthful but it's what I am use to and it is so for a lot of Malaysians out there. Up until now, I haven't shared any of Adam's recipe coz I think everyone should get his cookbook but I will for this one because it's a Malaysian classic and an all time favourite. Mine looks nothing like Adam's as I did not have the moulds but it taste just as good :) Serves: 8 Preparation: 30 minutes Cooking: 50 minutes + 2 hours setting  INGREDIENTS 250g dried sago or tapioca pearls Palm sugar syrup 200g palm sugar, grated or chopped 40g dark brown sugar 3 pandan leaves, roughly chopped 20g ginger, sliced Salted coconut cream 400ml thick coconut cream 1/4 tsp fine salt METHOD Lightly oil eight dariole moulds. Bring 1.25 litres of water to the boil in a large pot and add the sago. Cook over medium-low heat, ...

I decided to cook this dish for everyone who lived at home and a couple of guest, that comes to a total of 9 people. My lesson learnt? Choose another dish to make if I was to cook for a big group of people. I did not realise how expensive duck breast fillets were, I certainly choked when it came to the time that I had to pay for my goods. If I was to make this dish again, I would keep it to a maximum of 4 people, the less people the better coz it ain't cheap. Adding to it, salted duck eggs ain't that cheap either...depending where you buy them from, it can range from $1.10-$1.30 just for one. Was it worth it? I would say so coz everyone certainly enjoyed it and that put a smile on my face :) parent and child duck rice bowl Adam's recipe: 81 Steph's completed: 10

I wanted to make a simple lunch and I thought that this dish would be alright, yes it was easy enough but one aspect definitely wasn't...the peeling of the half-boiled quail eggs. An egg is fragile enough, imagine trying to peel quail eggs without destroying them >_< To get the runny yolk, you have to cook the eggs for 1 minute and 50 seconds and to stop the cooking process, place them in a bowl of iced water. To make the kushiyaki quail eggs, you then have to roll the chilled eggs in flour, then in a beaten egg and finally in the panko crumbs and last but not least, deep-fry the eggs untill the breadcrumbs are golden. This is what the eggs looks like... And the asparagus, after its been steamed... And all together + the japanese mayonnaise, it looks like this... ^_^ steamed asparagus with kushiyaki quail eggs and japanese mayo The dish was meant to have yuzu mayonnaise but I didn't make it as I couldn't find yuzu juice :( So instead, I just used kewpie...

This recipe has probably become one of my instant favourites. It is not only easy but simple and tasty :) It's meant to be spicy minced beef but I made use of the ingredients I had at home which was minced pork + one of the girls at home doesn't eat beef so win win. Also, I did not have Sichuan peppercorns so I substitute it with white peppercorns and I did not make Adam's chilli and garlic oil, I used a garlic and chilli oil that one of my ex homestay students brought over from Japan. The end result? Better than I expected, everyone who had it for dinner loved it including me! Here is what it looked like... Spicy minced pork dan dan rice bowl Adam's recipe: 81 Steph's completed: 8

No offense to all you bakers out there but I detest baking, it just don't work for me in the kitchen...something always stuffs up. The last time I made a cheesecake, it was successful enough but still not good enough. Maybe its just like the saying of "practice makes perfect" but yeah I don't know when it comes to baking... It's been a while since I have cooked from Adam's cookbook so I thought I will give this simple recipe a go since I had all the ingredients at home but yeah, long story short...it didn't quite go according to plan. Firstly, I left the liquid caramel out of the mixture which altered the taste of the cake. Secondly, the cake did not rise to my expectation (it cooked through properly though) and looked nothing like the picture! This is how a piece of the cake looked like... It tasted pretty good though if I actually put the liquid caramel in, it would taste even better. So, since I had all this caramel...I decide that I would ...

I was afraid the first time I made this jelly as I have only ever eaten it whenever my mum made it but now, I'm a pro at it. This is probably one of the simplest jellies that you can make, not that I know...this is the only jelly I make :P INGREDIENTS 1 pack of konnyaku jelly power 1250ml of water (you can push it to 1300ml; 300ml of longan juice and 1000ml of water) any type of fruit that you like (I like the combination of golden kiwi, longan (canned), and strawberries) *Note: If you are wondering where to get the konnyaku jelly powder, you should be able to find it at your local asian grocery story. They come in different flavours, I have only tried mango and lychee flavour :) METHOD Place fruits in the jelly moulds. Make sure the fruit bits are not too chunky, if the fruit bits are too big, the jelly won't set as nicely and your fruit pieces will fall out. After the hard part is done, pour 1 packet of konnyaku jelly powder into a pot. Add the 1300ml of liq...

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is not a common item in most kitchens, certainly not mine but I have eaten a fair share of it from the fine foods cafe across from work and also had the chance to cook it recently. I must say, first time cooking an ingredient that is foreign to me has turned out better than expected and absolutely delicious! A bit more info on quinoa; it's an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked. Pea and Mint Quinoa Salad INGREDIENTS 1 cup of quinoa peas goat's cheese fresh mint DRESSING olive oil salt and pepper apple cider vinegar coriander a bit of dijon mustard garlic *Note: I got this recipe online and it had no measurements at all except the 1 cup of quinoa so put in as much or as little depending on feel :) METHOD Cook the quinoa according to the instructions on the packet. Drain well after cooking for a few minutes. Cover...