Mee Siam

I’ve always thought that Mee Siam was one dish that will take a lot of my time to cook. But, it wasn’t at all. In all with the help of my maid, it took us only half an hour to prepare and cook, excluding soaking of the noodles of course. I’ve always loved Mee Siam since I was in primary and in secondary school. The dish only costs me 50 cents back then and I was a happy camper for that. A cheap and yummylicious meal.

 

Main Ingredients:

1 packet Bee Hoon/ Rice Vermicelli

1/2 cup ground nuts, fry till golden(make sure not to over fry it) and blend.

3 cups water

1 cup tamarind juice or 3 dried slices of tamarind fruit/asam keping

1/2 cup caster sugar

4 tablespoon tauco/fermented soy beans

 

Blend Ingredients:

8 dried chillies, deseeded

5 dried shrimps, soak for 5 minutes.

6 shallots

2 garlic

1 teaspoon belachan/shrimp paste

 

Garnish:

3 boiled eggs, halved

4 calamansi/limau kasturi, halved

1 stalk chinese chives/daun kucai, chopped

1 piece fried bean curd/firm tofu, diced

 

Part 1(Fried Bee Hoon).

 

• Soak Bee Hoon/Rice Vermicelli in room temperature water for an hour or until the turn soft. Drain and set aside.
• Heat wok with 2 tablespoon of cooking oil, scoop out half the amount from the blended ingredients and fry till fragrant rises.
• Add in 2 tablespoon of tauco/fermented soy beans and fry for another 1minute. Add in Bee Hoon/Rice Vermicelli.
• Fry until blended ingredients are well mixed with Bee Hoon.
• Add in 1 teaspoon of salt, sugar and 1oz of water.

Part 2(Gravy).

• Heat pot with 2 tablespoon of cooking oil, add the remaining blended ingredients till fragrant. Add fermented soybeans/tauco, fry for another minute.
• Add in blended ground nuts and fry for another minute or two, then add water, tamarind juice, caster sugar and salt.
• The gravy should have a sour and sweet taste to it. So if you feel that you need to add, make sure to add 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time for sweetness and 1/4 cup of tamarind juice at a time for the sourly taste. And let it boil.

To Serve:

In a bowl, add the friend Bee Hoon then pour over the yummy sweet, sour and nutty gravy over it. Garnish it with chives, diced tofu, calamansi and egg.

 

This dish serves 6.

 

Bon Appétit

Tom Yam Goong

Tom Yam Soup is one of my many favourites. I think many of you would agree on the simplicity of cooking this famous Thai dish. I have tried and tested cooking many different “versions” of this dish through googling and cookbooks but they were all a fail. I recalled studying in Thailand for a couple of months, eons ago and distinctly remembered the zesty and sourish taste it has. Therefore, I went on and gathered all the ingredients I remembered tasting, and asked a couple of my Thai friends for the most “original” recipe. The next couple of days, I cooked up a pot of Tom Yam, and, it was perfect. The husband could not stop on his first bowl of this tasty soup and went on, up to his third. Folks, there is no harm at all, in cooking this perfect Tom Yam Seafood Soup of mine.

 

Ingredients:

2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 1/2″ pieces

6 kaffir leaves torn with center vein removed

1/2 thumb size galangal sliced thin

1 onion, cut in half and sliced

3 bird-eyed chilles, smashed lightly

2 coriander/cilantro roots,

3 cups, chicken broth

1 cup straw mushrooms, ends removed and halved

5 or 6 medium-sized saltwater shrimp, deveined.

1 fillet from dory fish, cut in squares

pinch salt

1 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon roasted chili paste(I use, Mae Pranom Brand)

3 tablespoon lime juice (or more to taste)

3 tablespoons milk (from a cow not a coconut). *optional

2 dried chilies, roasted *optional – add if adding milk

1 stalk coriander/cilantro chopped for garnish

 

 

1. Heat pot and add lemongrass, galangal, onions and bird-eyed chillies for just about a minute or till fragrant.
2. Pour in the chicken stock into the pot and leave it at low heat for 3 minutes. Add in prawns and fish. Then add in kaffir leaves and straw mushrooms, and bring it to a boil. While waiting, roast the dried chillies until fragrant in a dried wok on medium heat.(if you intend to add milk, if not omit the dried chillies)
3. Add in fish sauce and remove from heat. Now we season the soup, with roasted chili paste and lime juice with a pinch of salt. If the soup is not sour or salty enough, add in a bit more, 1/4 teaspoon at a time.
4. Now if you intend to make the milk version; add in the milk and dried chillies. Milk tames the sour flavour from the lime juice and the saltiness from the fish sauce. So I recommend that you add in a little bit more of it. 1 teaspoon each.
5. Pour it in a bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander/cilantro. Enjoy it while its hot!

Bon Appétit

Tom Yam Goong

Tom Yam Soup is one of my many favourites. I think many of you would agree on the simplicity of cooking this famous Thai dish. I have tried and tested cooking many different “versions” of this dish through googling and cookbooks but they were all a fail. I recalled studying in Thailand for a couple of months, eons ago and distinctly remembered the zesty and sourish taste it has. Therefore, I went on and gathered all the ingredients I remembered tasting, and asked a couple of my Thai friends for the most “original” recipe. The next couple of days, I cooked up a pot of Tom Yam, and, it was perfect. The husband could not stop on his first bowl of this tasty soup and went on, up to his third. Folks, there is no harm at all, in cooking this perfect Tom Yam Seafood Soup of mine.

Ingredients:

2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 1/2″ pieces

6 kaffir leaves torn with center vein removed

1/2 thumb size galangal sliced thin

1 onion, cut in half and sliced

3 bird-eyed chilles, smashed lightly

2 coriander/cilantro roots,

3 cups, chicken broth

1 cup straw mushrooms, ends removed and halved

5 or 6 medium-sized saltwater shrimp, deveined.

1 fillet from dory fish, cut in squares

pinch salt

1 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon roasted chili paste(I use, Mae Pranom Brand)

3 tablespoon lime juice (or more to taste)

3 tablespoons milk (from a cow not a coconut). *optional

2 dried chilies, roasted *optional – add if adding milk

1 stalk coriander/cilantro chopped for garnish

1. Heat pot and add lemongrass, galangal, onions and bird-eyed chillies for just about a minute or till fragrant.
2. Pour in the chicken stock into the pot and leave it at low heat for 3 minutes. Add in prawns and fish. Then add in kaffir leaves and straw mushrooms, and bring it to a boil. While waiting, roast the dried chillies until fragrant in a dried wok on medium heat.(if you intend to add milk, if not omit the dried chillies)
3. Add in fish sauce and remove from heat. Now we season the soup, with roasted chili paste and lime juice with a pinch of salt. If the soup is not sour or salty enough, add in a bit more, 1/4 teaspoon at a time.
4. Now if you intend to make the milk version; add in the milk and dried chillies. Milk tames the sour flavour from the lime juice and the saltiness from the fish sauce. So I recommend that you add in a little bit more of it. 1 teaspoon each.
5. Pour it in a bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander/cilantro. Enjoy it while its hot!

Bon Appétit

Mee Siam

I’ve always thought that Mee Siam was one dish that will take a lot of my time to cook. But, it wasn’t at all. In all with the help of my maid, it took us only half an hour to prepare and cook, excluding soaking of the noodles of course. I’ve always loved Mee Siam since I was in primary and in secondary school. The dish only costs me 50 cents back then and I was a happy camper for that. A cheap and yummylicious meal.

Main Ingredients:

1 packet Bee Hoon/ Rice Vermicelli

1/2 cup ground nuts, fry till golden(make sure not to over fry it) and blend.

3 cups water

1 cup tamarind juice or 3 dried slices of tamarind fruit/asam keping

1/2 cup caster sugar

4 tablespoon tauco/fermented soy beans

Blend Ingredients:

8 dried chillies, deseeded

5 dried shrimps, soak for 5 minutes.

6 shallots

2 garlic

1 teaspoon belachan/shrimp paste

Garnish:

3 boiled eggs, halved

4 calamansi/limau kasturi, halved

1 stalk chinese chives/daun kucai, chopped

1 piece fried bean curd/firm tofu, diced

Part 1(Fried Bee Hoon).

• Soak Bee Hoon/Rice Vermicelli in room temperature water for an hour or until the turn soft. Drain and set aside.
• Heat wok with 2 tablespoon of cooking oil, scoop out half the amount from the blended ingredients and fry till fragrant rises.
• Add in 2 tablespoon of tauco/fermented soy beans and fry for another 1minute. Add in Bee Hoon/Rice Vermicelli.
• Fry until blended ingredients are well mixed with Bee Hoon.
• Add in 1 teaspoon of salt, sugar and 1oz of water.

Part 2(Gravy).

• Heat pot with 2 tablespoon of cooking oil, add the remaining blended ingredients till fragrant. Add fermented soybeans/tauco, fry for another minute.
• Add in blended ground nuts and fry for another minute or two, then add water, tamarind juice, caster sugar and salt.
• The gravy should have a sour and sweet taste to it. So if you feel that you need to add, make sure to add 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time for sweetness and 1/4 cup of tamarind juice at a time for the sourly taste. And let it boil.

To Serve:

In a bowl, add the friend Bee Hoon then pour over the yummy sweet, sour and nutty gravy over it. Garnish it with chives, diced tofu, calamansi and egg.

This dish serves 6.

Bon Appétit

Sorry this took a while for me to update. I’ve been busy due to the hectic schedule of my cooking show and acting in one of the soap operas here in Jakarta. Today, I’ve been given the luxury of some free time to spare for some updates.

This post is dedicated to my late grandmother who recently passed away. Her specialty in cooking taught me so much. I remember staying at her place for a couple of months when I was a teenager. Being raised in a Malay-Muslim family, I was forced to wake up in the morning (I am not a morning person by the way) to help out in the kitchen. You can say that my cousin and I were her helpers.

Almost a year ago, both my grandparents came to visit Marcell and I in Jakarta. Though only for a day, I had a wonderful time with them. Our time was absolutely well spent, with her giving me recipes and cooking tips. This particular recipe was one of it. I hope you’ll enjoy cooking this wonderful dish as much as I did.

Blend Ingredients:
10 dried chillies
1/2 thumb-sized shrimp paste/belacan

Sliced Ingredients:
6 shallots, sliced thinly
6 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
Thumb-sized galangal, sliced in strips
Thumb-sized ginger, sliced in strips
3 red chillies, sliced thinly
3 green chillies, sliced thinly

Main Ingredients:
1/2 kilo shrimp, deveined
1 packet fermented soyabeans/tempe, diced
2 pieces firm tofu, diced

Other Ingredients:
1/4 cup tamarind juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt

1. Boil the dried chillies until they soften, and then blend it together with the shrimp paste. Be sure to add about 2 tablespoons of hot water before blending it.
2. Separately, fry the shrimp, fermented soyabeans and firm tofu until they turn golden brown. Set it aside.
3. Heat pan with 5 tablespoons of cooking oil. Once hot, add in the blended ingredients until the aroma rises.
4. Add in all the sliced ingredients for about 2 minutes.
5. Then add the fried shrimp, fermented soyabeans and firm tofu into the pan.
6. Mix it well. Then pour in the tamarind juice (nb: Different people have different tastes, so pour in bit by bit until it suits your taste buds)
7. Add in sugar and salt to taste.
8. Fry the mixture for another 4 minutes.

There you have it! Serve it with a bowl of cooked jasmine rice and you’ll enjoy this delish grub 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Sambal Goreng

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