KookyCulinary

Actually I have no idea what is the proper name for this dish. It is is supposed to be “yao zham yu” which in Cantonese literally translates as oil-dipped fish. Correct me if I’m wrong please? I’m not Cantonese. Somehow oil-dipped fish doesn’t sound too appetizing, so I’m calling it Pan-Fried Tilapia!

Anyway, when I was in Malaysia, it was one of my favorite dish. The whole fish is deep-fried till very crispy. Then remove from oil, drain and a mixture of soya-sauce, a little hot oil and scallion is drizzled on it. Simple yet delicious. In this case, I modified a little. I just pan-fried tilapia filets till crispy. In the meantime, i fry some garlic strips in a small pot with some oil to make garlic oil. Then when the fish is done, I mix the fried garlic strips, garlic oil, soya sauce and scallions & drizzle over the fish. The garlic fried rice is just plain rice, garlic & egg.

Beef Hor Fun aka Beef Kway Teow aka “gong chao ngau hor”

Looks good, eh? No, I didn’t cook this. DH did! Normally DH is the one who will cook all the noodle dishes since he loves noodles and he is also not afraid to add in lots of oil!! Why do I say that? Because for fried kway teow to turn out good, it needs quite a bit of oil. For me, unless it’s deep frying, I don’t like to cook with a lot of oil, so my kway teow always don’t turn out right. (or maybe it’s just an excuse for me not to cook!! heehee….)

When I was in Malaysia, I love to eat Kam Heong (literally translated as gold & fragrant) Lala (clams) The hae-bee (dried shrimp) combined with chili & curry leaves makes Kam Heong sauce very appetising. So when I saw this recipe in my recipe book for Kam Heong Udon Noodles, I just had to try it out. It turned out really good. Will definitely make it again.

Recipe for Kam Heong sauce:
100gm dried shrimp
1 tbsp garlic
10 shallots
6 chili padi
curry leaves
oil
Seasoning:
2 tbsp curry powder
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Method:

1. Chopped the dried prawns, garlic & shallots finely.
2. Heat up oil & saute #1 till fragrant.
3. Add in seasoning & curry leaves & chili padi & stir-fry till fragrant. Remove from heat.

This Kam Heong sauce can be made ahead of time & can be used for chicken, shrimp or even crab.

For Kam Heong Noodles:
400 gm udon noodles
100 gm shrimp
veg (cabbage, zucchini, carrot or any veg that you like)
5 tbsp Kam Heong Sauce.

Method:

1. Heat up a little oil & saute Kam Heong sauce till fragrant.
2. Add in veg, shrimp & squid & stir fry till well-mixed
3. Add in udon noodles & stir fry till well mixed. Serves 3 - 4

Actually it’s claypot chicken rice wannabe!! : P Why? ‘cos it’s cooked without a claypot.

When I first tried to cook claypot chicken rice, I bought a fancy looking claypot. You know those with fancy patterns and nice flowers on it? BIG MISTAKE!!!! Those claypots are really just for looks & definitely does not work like those not-so-pretty real claypots.I still haven’t gotten around to buy one of those real claypots yet so now I just use a regular pot to cook it. I find that if I put a little oil at the bottom of the pot, I will also get a slight crispy texture that claypot chicken rice should have. Tastewise, it is still not quite there yet. It’s definitely missing some “wok hei” & dunno what else. Will have to keep trying. Anyone has a good tested recipe? : )

Making chicken rice is a lot of work. So sometimes when I feel like eating chicken rice and don’t want to do all the work, I make my shortcut chicken rice.

Does it look like the real thing?? : ) Why shortcut? ‘Cos I use store-bought rotisserie chicken! I was grocery shopping at Costco and couldn’t resist the $4.99 rotisserie chicken that just came out of the oven.

Sorry I dun have the exact measurement but roughly this is how I cooked the rest of the meal. For the rice, I fry it with some garlic, ginger in oil & butter (butter will add some fragrance but is optional) then put it into the rice cooker with chicken stock & pandan leaves, if available.

For chilli, just blend some red chili with some ginger & garlic. Add a little chicken stock & lime juice. Then make a simple soup to go with it all and enjoy!!

Delicious Wat Tan Hor courtesy of my dear hubby!

Using the leftover curry from last nite’s dinner, I cooked some noodles & made dry curry noodle.

I could find any Yee Mee here like those in Malaysia. This is closest that I could find. It’s called E-fu Noodles. Like they say in Hokkien (Chinese dialect) - “No fish, shrimp also good!!” Heeheee….

Pan Mee

On a cold day, what is better than a bowl of steaming hot Potato Cheese Soup . . .

accompanied by Chicken Portobella Pasta