Ayam Masak Merah

The MASSOC (Malaysia-Singaporean Society) in my University started a food selling fundraiser for the M-Night. My eyes went googly when I saw the second menu... (the first and last didn't interest me); NASI TOMATO & AYAM MASAK MERAH! My housemate and I had been talking about nasi tomato for the past week and reminiscence how much we love the Malay food in Malaysia. However, the food sold was... not exactly satisfactory. The nasi tomato did not exhibit the colour it's supposed to have and the ayam masak merah was cooked using chunks of chicken breast. The aroma was all gone!

Being a food enthusiast myself, I quickly consulted my mum and asked for the recipe. I could not care less that I don't have the necessary utensil such as the mortar and pestle. Neither did I have those red/green chillies. My fridge has only bird's eye chillies and some leftover from the CNY house party, crushed dried chillies.

MY RECIPE:

Difficulty Level: 40%
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Ingredients for the chicken marinade: Turmeric powder, salt, corn flour and 3 chicken thighs with drumsticks.
Ingredients for the sauce: 4 cloves of garlic, 50g of ginger, 2 large onions, tomato puree (preferably with small chunks of tomatoes), 2 tomatoes, 50g of crushed dried chilies, 7-8 bird's eye chilies, 1 lime, sugar and salt.

Steps:

1. Separate the chicken thighs from the drumsticks. You will get 6 pieces of chicken. Rub 3 pinches of salt and 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder on the skin of the chicken. Then, add in some corn flour and massage the chicken with the marinade. Let it stay for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mince the garlic, ginger and bird's eye chilies (since I don't have mortar and pestle to crush it). In a bowl, try to mash it using the end of the knife. Then, slice the tomatoes into small pieces (if possible, 16 small pieces out of 1 tomato).
3. Slice the onions into rings.
4. Heat up the pan/wok (I used a pot) with oil at medium heat. The chicken pieces will have to be fried till cooked. Don't deep fry the chicken pieces.
5. Once the skin turn crisp and the meat is cooked, remove the chicken and most of the oil. Leave some in the pot to cook the sauce. The oil will be yellowish due to the turmeric.
6. Add in the 'mashed' garlic, ginger and chilies. Cook at low heat. Then, add in the onion rings, tomatoes, tomato puree and 2 pinches of salt.
7. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the lime zest, two tablespoons of sugar and the crushed dried chilies. Have a taste of it and you can continue to add these 3 vital ingredients to alter the taste to your preference. The lime will make it sourish, the sugar will enhance its sweetness while the chilies of course, will make it spicy and hot.
8. It is now time to add the chicken pieces into the pot. Cook at medium heat and close the lid of the pot. Open the lid occasionally to stir. Add water if you find the sauce to be too dry.
9. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Then, the dish can be served.

My recipe is of course the least desirable for authentic ayam masak merah. However, you can always improvise like I did. Some would prefer using hot chili sauce, red/green chilies or turmeric ginger for the paste. Meanwhile, if you prefer the onion rings to be crunchy, add it in after the chicken. Have fun trying this out!

Worms in Fish

Cod is especially famous in the UK. Haddock, Plaice, Whiting and Pouting to name a few. Asians will most probably know cod from the cod liver oil. Cooked cod has flaky, white flesh. As these are fish from the sea, they stink a lot once not fresh. I think that's probably why the British restaurants used these to make Fish & Chips. I know this post will make some of you rethink the option of eating Fish & Chips in restaurants.

I bought four slices of Pouting from a local supermarket. When I reached home, I put them into the freezer. I took it out 2 days later to cook. I was shocked to see worms leeched out from the flesh. Probably trying to squeeze their way out from the cold. I didn't know what to do but throwing the fish away was not an option. Therefore, I sliced the fish open and check properly for any more dead worms before tossing them with flour to fry. Even after I had cooked it, I was worried that the worms were there because the fish were spoilt already.

The solution? GOOGLE. I found these pictures:





Apparently it is very common to have LIVING parasitic worms inside the fish; as humans have in our digestive system. You just have to remove the worms from the flesh and even if you don't, they posed no harm because they're dead. If you so happen to consume the worms while they're still alive, you might suffer from stomach pain and nausea. That's all.

The worst case scenario is when you find those worms in sushi or sashimi (uncooked fish). I read about many cases of such and usually, the worms are still very much ALIVE. The victims had developed a phobia over those Japanese restaurants. For those living in the European Union, there is a law governing this. According to Regulation EC 853/2004, raw fish must be frozen before served. Therefore, the worms will also die; eventually.

In conclusion, throw away the fish only if you find it smelly or discoloured or worst, filled with MAGGOTS.

Butter Milk Granules Chicken

My late supper was Golden Milk Granules Chicken (奶油鸡); some of you may wonder what dish this is. This is extremely famous in Malaysia and commonly served with fried fish, fried prawns, fried crabs or even fried chicken. Rarely, with what I used; chicken breast slices.

Butter Milk Prawns

Butter Milk Granules Fish

MY RECIPE:

Difficulty Level: 60%
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients for the granules: Evaporated milk, egg white and butter.
Ingredients for the chicken marinade: Egg yolk, salt, corn flour and chicken breast.

Steps:

1. Melt about five scoops of butter (using tablespoon) into a pan using low heat.
   
2. Mix 100ml of evaporated milk with egg white. Whisk it then add into the melted butter.
3. Let the mixture simmer. Stir occasionally.
4. Slice the chicken breast into small pieces.
5. In a bowl, add two pinch of salt and the egg yolk.
   
6. Add two spoonful of corn flour and massage the chicken with the marinade.
7. In another pan, heat up the oil and fry the chicken. I prefer my meat to be moist so I fry at slightly lower heat.
8. In the other pan, the granules will start to turn yellow and bubbly. Remember to stir the mix so that it wouldn't overcook at the bottom.
9. Once the granules start to form and the colour has turned yellowish-brown, add the cooked meat into the pan and stir those together.
10. Cook for about 5 minutes and then the dish can be served.

I don't have the extra ingredients to garnish the dish but you can always serve it like they do in the restaurants; with fried curry leaves or even chopped bird's eye chillies. If you prefer to have sticky buttery milk granules, add the meat in once the mixture turn bubbly and lumps of granules start to form. The ideal colour of that mixture would be yellow.

Salted Egg Yolk Crabs

This came as my worst craving for Malaysian seafood. Not even cheese crabs or steamed fish can top this. When I first laid eyes on fresh crabs in the market 2 months ago, I knew that I'd get my hands on those crabs on the next trip. Of course, I did. However, the salted egg yolks that I bought were distinctly different from Malaysia's; the egg yolks are YELLOW and they tasted saltier. That would explain the colour of the dish in my picture above.

Salted Egg Yolk Crabs

MY RECIPE:

Difficulty Level: 50% (seriously)
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 4 salted eggs (duck eggs), 2 crabs, bird's eye chillies (8-10), 3 cloves of garlic, evaporated milk, salt and sugar.

Steps:

1. First of all, kill the fresh crabs. Unless you had the fishmongers do it for you, you'll have to do it yourself!
   
2. Turn the crab over its shell, notice the middle triangular part at its lower body (between its legs) and stick the sharp end of the knife in. It should be dead by then. Clean the crabs with running water. If you must, rub salt on the shell to clean it.
   
3. Cut the body in half and by then you can easily remove the pincers together with the legs. The shell will be left at the bottom and clean only the lower part of the shell.
   
4. Chop the pincer off the legs and using the back of the knife, break the shell.
5. Toss the crab pieces with corn flour and put them aside.
   
6. Boil some water. Add the salted eggs into the boil. Take them out after 6-7 minutes.
7. Break the eggs and remove the salted egg yolks. Mash the yolks and add one tablespoon of sugar into the yolks.
8. Mince the garlic and chop the chillies.
9. Heat up the pan/wok (I used a pot) at medium heat. Add in the minced garlic and let it simmer.
10. Heat up another pan with low heat, add some oil and add in the mashed yolks. Add in about 50ml of evaporated milk into the pan and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Turn the heat off afterward.
    
11. Put the crabs into the pot and stir fry it. (Some people prefer to deep fry it but I don't)
12. When the crabs are cooked (notice the meat colour and texture), add some water (20ml) into the pot and also the chopped chillies. Add two pinches of salt into the pot.
    
13. Stir fry for another 3 minutes and then add the quintessential cooked egg yolks. Continue to stir fry the crabs for another 5 minutes and then the dish can be served.

This dish can be improvised and you can choose not to add the chillies. Instead, fried curry leaves are preferred to enhance the aroma. Good luck!