Mee Siam Recipe (Malaysian Spicy & Sour Noodles)

And in a blink of an eye, we're approaching the end of 2016............. If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked why I haven't updated my blog the past year, I wouldn't be a millionaire but probably a hundred bucks richer. I am humbled whenever people tell me how much they've missed seeing my posts. Trust me, I've missed blogging a lot myself.

Truth is, I've started a new role in my job and trying to balance that and find rest in between family time, social life, exercise, travels and everything else has proved to be really challenging. I literally just make dinner and go to bed on weeknights and weekends are spent catching up with friends/family. So hard to find the time to blog, as much as I'd like to.

That said, I told myself that I HAD to share this Mee Siam recipe if I were to only blog one recipe this year. This spicy and sour noodle dish is very popular in Malaysia/Singapore and has always been one of my favourite noodles to eat. I made it from scratch for the first time earlier this year when I had a bunch of my friends over and it was a huge hit. I was really happy with the flavours. 

Normally, I am quite critical of my own thinking but I thought this was really delicious to eat, if I do say so myself. The nostalgia may of eating this again after so many years may have played a part in the enjoyment of it too.

Anyway, I sincerely apologise for the lack of updates but hopefully this recipe makes up for it. It's definitely a winner for me so I hope you try and enjoy it too.

Mee Siam Recipe

(adapted from this recipe by Fong's Kitchen Journal)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients

400g thin rice vermicelli

300g prawns 

2 pieces fried bean curd 

4 eggs

4 handfuls of beansprouts 

2 handfuls of chives 

4 tbsp tamarind paste 

4 cloves garlic

3 tbsp oil

2 - 3 cups of water

3 tbsp sugar

Fish sauce to taste

Spice paste:

7 small dried chillies

5 large fresh red chillies 

3 tbsp dried shrimps

1/2 tbsp belachan 

15 small or 5 large purple shallots

5 cloves garlic

2 tbsp soy bean paste

Garnish:

1/3 cup fried shallots

Handful of coriander (chopped)

2 large limes (cut to wedges)

Method

1. To prepare the ingredients: Soak the vermicelli in water until soft. Drain and set aside. De-shell and de-vein the prawns. Cut to 1 inch long and 1/2 cm thick strips. Fry the eggs in 2 batches into a thin omelette and cut to thin strips. Cut the chives to 1 inch strips. Mix the tamarind paste in 1 cup of water. Sieve the liquid and discard the seeds. Mince the garlic.

2. To make the spice paste: Soak the dried chillies in hot water, squeeze out the water and remove the seeds. Halve the red chillies and remove the seeds. Soak the dried shrimps in 1/3 hot water for 5 minutes and retain the liquid. Toast the belachan in an oven for a few minutes until fragrant. Place all the ingredients for the paste in a blender or food processor and blend until it forms a smooth paste.

3. To cook the noodles: Heat up the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant. Add in the spice paste and fry the mixture on low - medium heat until it turns dark brown (approx 25 - 30 minutes), stirring occasionally. Stir in the tamarind juice, 2 cups of water, rice vermicelli. Cover the wok and allow to simmer until the vermicelli has soaked up most of the liquid in the wok. Toss the vermicelli with the wok spatula and large chopsticks until the noodles are well combined. Add the sugar and season the vermicelli with fish sauce to taste.

4. Add in the prawns, fried bean curd, bean sprouts, chives and stir fry for a couple of minutes until the prawns are cooked and mixture is well combined. Add a bit more water if the mixture is too dry. Stir in the omelette strips. 

5. To serve, garnish with fried shallots, coriander and wedges of lime on the side. 

Poon Choi (盆菜) Recipe

This dish makes the perfect centrepiece at a festive dinner table... Fun to eat!

Each year, my cousins and I take turns hosting Chinese New Year dinners here in Melbourne -- it's so much fun. Even though we've grown up with having so much amazing food prepared for us during this festive season, it's also fun now that we can cook these meals for ourselves here in Australia because our parents are overseas. Luckily for us, my Mum as well as my aunt and uncle actually flew in from Malaysia to celebrate it with us this year. Amazing!

Aside from our Christmas lunches, these Chinese New Year dinners are the most important meals for me every year. Each year, I try to learn and recreate a childhood favourite dish to share on this blog. I absolutely love learning these dishes that I've had growing up because of the amazing memories I've had with them. 

Some of these special CNY dishes I've made and shared include:

- Chinese 8 Treasure Duck (八宝鸭)

- Mum's Sour Plum Duck (酸梅鸭)

- Ham, Abalone & Kailan Jade Chicken (火腿鲍鱼玉兰鸡)

- Grandma's Chinese New Year Vegetarian Stew ("Jye")

Do click on the links above to check out the recipes. You can also check out other Chinese New Year dinners I've blogged about in the link: here

Poon Choi (盆菜), is a dish that has become increasingly popular in recent years around Malaysia and Singapore. It's definitely a celebratory dish that's made for special or festive occasions. Excitement ensues as soon as you place the dish in front of the table for everyone to gather around. It is almost overflowing with ingredients to signify abundance for the new year and made with lots of expensive, premium ingredients that you'd only eat on special occasions. It really is a treat for anyone to have. Made with lots of love, specially for the people you care about. I also like it for the fact that instead of preparing a big banquet with numerous dishes, I can just put all the effort into one dish and serve that instead. It's great.

Restaurants around Asia are starting to serve this dish too but we've never had them outside of home because they all charge RIDICULOUS amounts of money. It really is a lot of work to make so I understand why some people would have this at a restaurant. But my family's not like that at all. We have always preferred eating at home rather than eating out. Just like most things, it always tastes better and also a hell lot cheaper to make at home. Plus, it's more personal as you get to make it exactly how you and your family like to enjoy it. 

There really is no right or wrong way to prepare this dish because Poon Choi actually translates to "big bowl dish" or "big bowl cuisine". There's just as many variations to this dish as there are the number of people making it. It really is how your family enjoys it. If you look online, no 2 poon choi recipes would look identical or have the same ingredients. The presentation of this dish is just as important, if not more, than the taste of it. It is key that it is presented in the best way possible so that it has that "WOW" factor. 

Anyway, I was very happy to have made this dish because it turned out really well and we all enjoyed it. Definitely a great first attempt. It was a lot of effort but I wouldn't say it's more effort than preparing multiple separate dishes like I normally would as each element was actually quite easy to make. 

My family and I really enjoyed eating the Poon Choi and I hope you think of this dish for your next special occasion. Even though I've shared our version of it, I highly encourage you to put your own twist on it to make it your own too. It's fun! It really is such a treat to make and share with loved ones. Seeing the faces of everyone enjoying it really makes it all very, very worth it.

We also had some Nian Gao (年糕) or Sticky Rice Cakes as snacks before dinner

Of course, we couldn't have a Chinese New Year meal without "Lou Sang". A raw fish salad with abundance of colourful ingredients typically eaten on CNY

Perhaps I need to share a recipe for this dish too. Maybe next year!

Poon Choi (盆菜)

(an original recipe, feeds 12 - 15 people)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients:

For the braised pork:

1 pork trotter

2 slices of ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

3 tbsp oil

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked for 24 hours then sliced)

5 pieces dried oysters

1 inch piece rock sugar

2 spring onions (tied in a knot)

3 slices of ginger

1/2 bulb garlic

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 handfuls black moss fungus (soaked in water for 30 minutes)

For the seafood:

2 spring onions (tied in a knot)

3 slices of ginger

1 tsp Shao Xin wine

8 - 12 large tiger prawns 

8 - 12 large fresh scallops

For the chicken stock:

1 whole soup or boiling chicken 

5 slices of ginger

1/4 head large chinese cabbage (or 1/2 head if small)

1 large daikon or white radish

Liquid from canned abalone (see below)

Other:
1/2 roast duck *
1/2 soy sauce chicken *
200g crispy roast pork *
1 can abalone **
1 small head broccoli (chopped to florets)

* Just buy them from your favourite Chinese roast shops. Mine's Pacific House in Richmond

** Don't use fresh abalone (it doesn't have the flavour and texture we want). And get the ones with 8 - 9 smaller pieces (so that each person gets one) instead of the ones with 1 or 2 large pieces

Method:

For the braised pork:

1. Heat up a pot of water. Add the pig trotter and 2 slices of ginger and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the pork. Pat dry with a paper towel.

2. Rub the pork with the 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp dark soy sauce. Heat up a large pan with the oil and sear on all sides until browned evenly. Remove the pork from the pan and place in a pressure cooker.

3. In the same pan, fry the shiitake mushrooms and dried oysters for about 2 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from mushrooms and oysters from pan and add to the pressure cooker.

4. Place all the remaining ingredients in the pressure cooker and fill the pressure cooker with water until it just covers the pork trotter. 

5. Seal the lid on the pressure cooker and cook on high for 35 minutes. Remove the lid. If the sauce is still a bit runny, set aside the pork and boil on high until sauce has thickened slightly. Stir in the black moss fungus.

6. Taste the sauce. Adjust the flavour if necessary with more sugar or soy sauce. 

For the seafood:

1. Fill a small pot with water and add the spring onions, ginger, Shao Xin wine and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.

2. While the pot of water is boiling, remove the veins and sandbag from the head of the prawns (but keeping the shell and head of the prawns).

3. Poach the prawns in the pot for 3 minutes or until just cooked. Remove and set aside.

4. Poach the scallops in the pot for 3 minutes or until just cooked. Remove and set aside. 

For the chicken stock:

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add in the chicken and ginger slices and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. While simmering, cut the cabbage to approx 1 inch squares. Peel the daikon and cut to 1 cm thick slices.

2. Discard the chicken and ginger slices. Add the white cabbage and daikon and simmer for another 30 minutes or until daikon is tender.

3. Stir in all the liquid from the canned abalone (used later) and turn off heat. No need to season with salt as stock will be flavourful enough once served with all other ingredients.

For the other ingredients:
1. Poach the abalone in the chicken stock for 1 minute. Remove from pot and set aside.

2. Poach the broccoli in the chicken stock until just tender (about 2 minutes). Remove from pot and set aside.


TO ASSEMBLE:

1. You will require a large dish or pot of minimum 30cm and several inches deep. Use whatever you can find. I used my hotpot or steamboat machine.

2. Place all chinese cabbage at the bottom of the pot, reserving a few tablespoons for decoration later.

3. Place all the daikon on top of the chinese cabbage, reserving a few pieces for decoration later.

4. Place the pork trotter in the middle of the pot. I used a few of the daikon pieces underneath to keep it upright. The pork serves as the centrepiece of the dish.

5. Next, carefully arrange all the remaining ingredients around the pork. You can do this in whichever sequence you like but I did the following (in clockwise from the top):

• Soy sauce chicken
• Daikon 
• Crispy roast pork
• Roast duck
• Scallops
• Prawns
• Abalone
• Chinese cabbage
• Mushrooms 
• Broccoli

6. Finally, arrange the black moss fungus in a ring around the pork trotter. Enjoy!!!

Hong Kong Mango Pudding Recipe

Yes, that spelling is not a typo and was intentional. Too many letters, not enough pudding

Greetings from Malaysia!

Back in my hometown of Kota Kinabalu in Borneo for a week before traveling to Europe for 2 weeks -- can't wait.

Being back is great. I get to catchup on much needed rest as well as family time, which I've missed. People who are living overseas away from their immediate family would know how it feels. Obviously, I've been eating so much since the time I've touched down it's not even funny. Thank God I anticipated this happening in advance and went on that 8 week diet before this.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this recipe because mangoes are in season at the moment which is great. Plus, this is actually a dessert I've been making for years as it is extremely easy to make and great to make in massive portions to share with friends/family. I've made it for birthdays, farewells, or just simple dinner parties and can vouch that it is perfect for every occasion. Inspired by the mango puddings you get at Chinese dim sum or yum cha restaurants, I really wanted to recreate it at home too. 

Although you can get sachets of instant mango pudding from certain Asian grocery stores, I cannot begin to tell you how turned off I get by artificial fruit flavours. It's the worst. This is why I was glad to have come across this recipe many years ago and have made it countless times since then. Because we get really good quality mango ice cream all year here in Australia (I like the Weis brand), you basically take that and mix it with a homemade syrup/gelatine mixture so you can help it set. Mixing it with the evaporated milk just gives it the milky, creamy flavour that is so prominent in the famous HK dessert. It's great.

Like I said, too easy to make. Delicious to eat. So please, don't ever use that powdered stuff anymore and just do this recipe instead.

Hong Kong Mango Pudding Recipe
(adapted from this recipe by Raspberri Cupcakes)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients

2 litres good quality mango ice cream (softened) *

2 cups water

5 tbsp gelatine powder

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

Flesh of 1 large mango (cubed)

To serve:

Fresh mangoes or fruits of choice

Evaporated milk

* I like to use Weis Mango Ice Cream (available at most supermarkets around Australia)

Method

1. Remove the ice cream from the freezer 1 - 2 hours before to allow it to soften and place it in a heat proof bowl.

2. Place the water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the gelatine powder and caster sugar and allow to continue to boil until thick and syrupy. 

3. Stir in the syrup into the softened ice cream until well combined. Stir in the evaporated milk and mango flesh into the mixture until well combined.

4. Pour mixture into a large serving tray or individual cups/moulds and allow to cool. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for minimum two hours or until completely set. 

5. To serve, decorate with mangoes or fruits of choice. Pour over with some more evaporated milk as desired.

Goats Cheese & Roasted Grapes Tart with Parmesan Crust Pastry

Hello!

How's everyone enjoying their weekend? 

As for myself, I spent it catching with uni friends for dinner on Friday, going for coffee with a friend on Saturday and then another family dinner (baby shower and cousin's belated birthday) on Sunday night. Spending lots of quality time with close friends and family really is the ideal weekend for me. Once upon a time, I used to be one for going out late every night but not anymore, no thanks. Nothing crazy, nothing too hectic. Gives me time to run my errands on the weekends too. Geez, how old do I sound? 

Anyway, I first tasted this tart that my friend Shellie made when I was at Daylesford earlier in the year attending a food photography workshop that she and Ewen was running. Fantastic weekend. First of all, it looked absolutely drop dead gorgeous as soon as she laid it on the table. Once we took our first bite, our eyes completely lit up and almost felt like the world had stopped for a quick second. It was sensational in every sense of the word.

I knew then and there that I HAD to recreate this tart at home too. I loved the sharp and garlicky flavour of the creamy cheese which was balanced absolutely perfectly with the sweet, caramelised, roasted grapes. This combination was unreal. To finish off, that parmesan crust pastry was seriously the best thing ever. So crumbly and flavourful it complemented the flavours of the filling so damn well. I've definitely found a favourite savoury pastry crust with this one and will be making it a lot in the future too.

Right, I'm getting hungry just describing the tart. Trust me when I say this is good. Hope you get a chance to make it too.

This was the one that Shellie made at the workshop... Life changing ;p

Goats Cheese & Roasted Grapes Tart with Parmesan Crust Pastry 

(adapted from this recipe by Iron Chef Shellie)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients:

Parmesan Pastry

125g butter, unsalted 

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil 

4 1/2 tbsp water 

2 pinches of salt 

1 1/2 cup plain 

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shredded 

1/3 tsp black pepper 

Roasted Grapes

Few bunches of seedless red grapes 

1 tbsp olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

Goat Cheese Filling

3/4 clove garlic 

1 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary 

320g goat cheese  

1/4 cup thickened cream

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 

3 tsp fresh lemon juice 

A few tablespoons of water 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

Parmesan Pastry

1. Preheat the oven to 210ºC. In a medium size oven-proof bowl or dish, add the butter, oil, water, and salt. 

2. Place the bowl into the oven for 15 minutes. Wear oven mitts, possibly a long sleeve shirt, and hold the bowl away from your face, when removing from the oven, as the butter may splatter. Place the bowl onto the counter, with a pot holder or towel underneath. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, shredded parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the hot butter. It is important to still be cautious of the hot butter, it may still pop when you add the first bit of flour. Also, remember that the bowl is very hot, so wearing oven mitts while stirring is ideal. Stir the mixture until combined. Let it sit and cool for 5 minutes. 

4. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, press the dough flat with your fingers and up the sides of a tart pan/mould. Prick the shell with a fork 10 or so times. Once you have finished forming the tart shell, place the tart shells onto a baking sheet and place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.  

Roasted Grapes

1. After baking the tart, turn the oven to 200°C. Arrange the bunches of grapes in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper. 

2. Toss with the olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. 

3. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until the grapes begin to burst and the juice around them starts to thicken. Remove and set aside for later.

Goat Cheese Filling

1. While the tart shells are cooling and grapes are in the oven, make the filling. In a food processor, add the garlic and the rosemary. Pulse several times to chop/mince finely. 

2. Then, add the goat cheese, cream, olive oil and lemon juice. Blend until smooth and creamy, adding as much water as necessary to keep it moving and to make it creamy, but make sure not to add more than 1/4 cup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

3. Once the tart shell has cooled and grapes are roasted, pour the goat cheese filling into the tart shell. Smooth the surface with a spatula, if necessary. Finally, add the roasted grapes from earlier. Enjoy.

Sesame Crusted Tuna Tataki with Sesame & Ginger Dressing

Hello!

So, NOBODY  believed me when I told them that I've decided to go on a diet. 

"Why the hell are you going on a diet, WINSTON?" 
"You don't need to go on a diet!"

See, the main reason why I'm doing this is because I've got a big trip to Malaysia, London and Paris in December/January and I know for a fact that it's going to be one hell of an eating trip. I've sort of started to look after my health and fitness the past year so I don't want to go too out of control. Plus, I really wanted to challenge myself to do something like this seeing as I've never actually been on a diet before.

The thing is, my diet isn't the type where I'm starving myself to lose weight. I'm still eating a fair amount but I'm just substituting everything to clean, healthy, wholesome foods. And because I've got a certain amount of calories and macros (i.e. composition protein, fats and carbs) to take in each day, that just means I pretty much have to eliminate eating out altogether and just stick to my homecooked meal plans each day. As much as I can, anyway. 

It's been 3 weeks out of my 8 week challenge and I'm already starting to feel healthier by the day. Sure, the occasional hunger pangs and cravings are inevitable but I do what I can. It's especially hard on weekends because there's social obligations involving food that I can't get out but I just do what I can. If I'm being honest. I'm really curious about what the effects would be to me physically and mentally after 8 whole weeks of this.

Anyway, my good friends Ashley, Adrian and I had plans to catchup the other night. We do this from time to time where we'd do a potluck and just watch loads of TV at someone's house. I wasn't sure what to do because normally we have the most epic of feasts when we do but I had already started this diet. Being the great friends that they are, they suggested we have a Japanese themed dinner instead because it's healthier and they wanted to accommodate as best as they could -- so nice of them. 

I wanted to make something clean, fresh and healthy so decided to cook up this Sesame Crusted Tuna Tataki (or seared tuna). It was delicious. The dressing was especially addictive really and love the smell of toasted sesame seeds. Unreal.

Anyway, this dish is really quick and easy to make. And yeh, if you, like me are looking for something healthy to eat too then this one's for you. Tick, tick, tick. Oh, and if you are as lazy as me you could also make a quick salad out of it. Just shred it all up and toss it with some sliced zucchini, Japanese seaweed, pickled ginger and edamame beans. YUM-MO.

 Fun Japanese salad made with them tuna tataki

Sesame Crusted Tuna Tataki

(adapted from this recipe by taste.com.au)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients

For the tuna:

200g sashimi grade tuna loin

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup black sesame seeds

1 tbsp olive oil

For the dressing:

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sunflower or olive oil

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp fresh ginger or horseradish (finely grated)

1 tsp sesame oil

To garnish (optional):

Finely sliced spring onions

Finely sliced chillies

Edible flowers 

Method

1. Mix the sesame seeds together in a plate. Pat the tuna dry and roll it around in the plate of sesame seeds so it is evenly coated.

2. Heat up a pan and add the olive oil. Sear the tuna for 30 seconds each side on all 4 sides. The tuna is meant to be rare in the middle. Remove onto a chopping board and slice to 1/2cm thick.

3. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl until well combined.

4. To serve, place the tuna on a plate and drizzle generously with the dressing. Garnish with spring onions, chillies and edible flowers, if using.