Rendang Kerang ( Cockle Rendang )

I love this dish but cockles are expensive in Sarawak. They cost 10x the price in my hometown in the Peninsular. I used the same Rendang recipe to cook chicken, beef, prawn and any other meat/seafood. My Rendang recipe used least variety of ingredients, the way my mum cooks hers, but rest assured of delicious result...! Yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 bowl Cockles
1 bowl very thick Coconut Milk (put more for richer result but watch out for cholestrol!)
5 tbs dried Chilli paste
10 Shallots*
3 Lemongrass*
2 inches Ginger* (*blend finely)
1 piece dried Tamarind
1 Turmeric leaf - sliced as fine as possible
Salt & MSG (optional)

METHOD:
1. Place coconut milk, chilli paste & blended ingredients in a wok.
Boil until thick & oil emerges from the surface.

2. Add in cockles, sliced turmeric leaf, tamarind piece, salt & MSG.
Stir all the time until the gravy is dry and cockles are cooked (it is important not to overcook the cockles otherwise they will turn out hard).

3. Serve with white rice, Nasi Lemak or roti.

Note:
a. If making chicken or meat rendang, place them with all other ingredients in step 1 and stir with slow heat until done.
b. Cook the Rendang to your preferred dryness. My children prefer it a bit wet whilst my mum will always cook hers until very dry because she normally cooks in large volume which can be kept until the next day.

Fried Mee Hailam

This morning we had Fried Mee Hailam. The noodles/mee is first fried just like cooking Fried Mee and Hailam gravy is cooked separately. See photo below before gravy is added.

The recipe is similar to my posting before, but replace meehoon with fried noodle:

http://homekreation-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/05/meehoon-hailam.html

Beef Fried Rice

Feeling very lazy today after a week of hard work at office and lack of sleep this week. Furthermore I played badminton this evening and kids are going to karate class. Aaah (sigh), let's cook something simple....

In case anyone would like to try this simple Beef Fried Rice, here it is:

INGREDIENTS (Serve 4-6 people):

4-6 bowl cooked Rice

1 scoop Cooking Oil

10 small Shallots*

4 cloves Garlic* (*half sliced thinly & half pounded)

2 Chillies - pounded

100-200g Beef - sliced thinly into small strips

2 handful frozen Mixed Vegetables

2 tbs Oyster sauce

1 Maggee Mini Chicken cubes (4 g)

2 tbsp Salty Soya sauce

2 tbsp Sweet Soya sauce

Chinese Celery & Spring Onion

Salt & Pepper

METHOD:

1. Mix rice with salt & pepper.

2. Heat up cooking oil & fry sliced shallots & garlics until golden. Dish out.

Place pounded ingredients in the oil & fry until fragrant.

Add in beef & stir until beef is cooked.

Pour in oyster sauce - stir for a while & add in mixed vegetable.

Add in rice, soya sauce and stir until all ingredients are well mixed.

3. Serve with fried onion/garlic chopped celery+spring onion, fish cracker and your choice of fresh salad/vegetable. ENJOY!!

Barley Juice

Barley has cooling effect to body and its internal being besides rich of nutrients. For me, I just love the taste and the homemade is the best which is additives free.

INGREDIENTS:

A packet of dry Barley

Water

Sugar (preferably Rock Sugar) - amount to tatse

1 Screwpine leaf

METHOD:

1. Wash barley & place in a pot with sufficient amount of water to cook the barley.

As a guide, the water should be double the depth of the barley in the pot.

It is not necessary to put a lot of water at this stage.

Boil until barley is tender which may take about 30 minutes or more, depending on method of cooking (I always cooked in a 5-ply stainless pot which ususally take only 30 minutes).

2. Once barley is tender, add more water to the volume required, screwpine leaf and sugar. Boil until sugar get dissolved.

3. Serve warm or cold.

Chicken Kurma

I always cook my Chicken Kurma with thick gravy but actually using thin coconut milk. The secret is using less coconut milk but generous amount of Kurma spice. This way, I'm hoping that my cholestrol will not be getting worst.

INGREDIENTS:
5 Shallots*
2 cloves Garlic*
½ inch Ginger*
1 Candle Nut* (*pounded)
5 tbs Kurma powder
5 tbsp Cooking Oil
1 tbs Curry powder
1 Star Anise**
1 inch Cinnamon Stick**
2 Cardamon**
3-5 Cloves**
½ Chicken - cut to small pieces
1-2 Potato - cut to required size
1 bowl Coconut Milk
1 Red Chilli or few Chilli Padi
1 Big Onion - cut to 6 parts
2 Tomato
1 Kesturi Lime
Seasoning - Salt & MSG (optional)

METHOD:
1. Mix pounded ingredients* with kurma & curry powder and add enough water to form into paste.

2. Heat up oil in cooking pot & add in ingredients marked ** & kurma paste.
Stir until the paste is fragrant and some oil appear from it. Add few tbs of water if it too dry, at anytime before the paste is properly 'cooked' (indicated when oil appear from the paste). This is an important step to ensure tasty Kurma.

3. Add in chicken & potato & 2 scoops of thin coconut milk and stir well.
Add in seasoning, stir & cover until chicken & potato are cooked.

4. Add in remaining coconut milk, chilli, big onion & tomato & boil for a while.
Switch off the fire & squeeze lime juice.

5. Serve with rice or rotis.