Tamarind Shrimps

Tamarind is an ingredients we Malaysian like to use in our dishes like sambal and asam fish. Tamarind paste can be easily available from the Asian store here. This dish requires minimal ingredients to cook but the flavor turns out great with sweet and tangy taste from the tamarind paste.

Ingredients:

½ pound shrimps
2 tbsp of tamarind paste
3 tbsp water
1 tsp of sambal oelek
1 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste

1. Remove heads and devein by slitting the back (I leave the shell on). Rinse and pat it dry with paper towels.
2. In a mixing bowl mix the tamarind paste with 3 tbsp of water. Add in the chili paste, salt, and sugar. Marinate the shrimps for 15 minutes.
3. Heat up about 3 tbsp of oil in a frying pan. Pan fried the shrimps until cooked and brown on both side. This will take about 7-10 minutes. Dish out and serve.

Crepes With Sweet Filling

Crepes can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and as dessert. Whatever it is the process is simple; the result is delicious. This recipe is for the basic crepe and you can use any type of sweet fillings you fancy or even savory ones.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons of melted butter, plus a bit more for the pan

1. Blend all the ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Rest the batter for an hour.
2. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and brush the pan with butter. Stir the batter if it is separated.
3. Put about ¼ cup of batter into the pan, swirl the pan so that the pan is cover with a thin layer of batter. Return the pan to the heat, cooking the first side for 40-50 seconds, until the crepe is lightly brown. Gently lift one edge and flip the crepe. Cook the second side for about 30 seconds more.
4. Transfer the crepe to a plate and fill it up with some filling of your choice. You can either fold the crepe into quarters or roll it up.

Note: I filled up the crepe with some cooked apple and cinnamon fillings. For the stripe design, I just mixed a few tablespoon of the batter with some cocoa powder and drizzle it over one side of the crepe.

5 Spice Meat Rolls (Ngor Hiang)

I’ve been away from Malaysia for over 10 years now and my family missed my cooking and baking a lot. So when I am home visiting or when they are visiting me here I always try to cook all their favorite dishes. This is one of them. There are many versions of Ngor Hiang (Fried 5 spice meat rolls) recipes. You just need to modify the recipe to suit your taste. As long as your recipe has the basic ingredients like five spice powder and meat, you will not go wrong. I normally add some carrots to it as it gives the dish a sweeter taste.

Ingredients :

1 1/2 pound of ground pork
2 small carrots - grated
6 water chestnuts – cut into small cubes
2 spring onions – cut small
2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
Some bead curd skin – cut into 8” x 5” (for this recipe you need about 8-9 pieces)

Seasoning:

2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 egg
Salt, to taste

1. Mix all the ingredients together except for the bean curd skin. Let it marinate for an hours.
2. Lay the bean curd skin on a flat surface. Put about 4 tbsp of meat mixture on the skin and roll it up like a spring roll. Seal the edge with some beaten egg.
3. Heat up some oil and fry the meat rolls in medium heat until cooked and golden brown.
4. Slice the meat rolls and garnish with some cut cucumber or tomatoes.

Note : For those who don't eat pork you can always replace the meat with chicken, turkey or beef. Happy 4th of July everyone! I am off to the Big Apple.

Cinnamon Streusel Cake

I baked this cake for my sister’s birthday last week. In our family we prefer our cake plain without any type of frosting and this cake is just great for us. Just a light drizzle of lemony glaze really brightens up the flavor of this cake.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 1/2 cup of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt
5 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla

Streusel

1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of chopped walnuts
3 tbsp of butter
½ cup of flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp of cinnamon powder

Glaze

1 cup of powder sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a tube pan. Mix all the streusel ingredients together and set it aside.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl and set it aside. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy.
3. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Until well combined. Mix in vanilla. Mix dry ingredients and yogurt alternately into butter mixture in 3 additions. Mix well.
4. Pour 1/2 of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel mixture. Pour the balance batter on top of the streusel. Sprinkle the balance of the streusel on top of the cake.
5. Bake the cake until golden brown or tester inserted at the center comes out clean. It will take about an 1 hour. Cool cake in pan. To remove the cake from pan.
6. Whisk powdered sugar and lemon juice together until smooth. Drizzle over the cake.

Tuna Pasta in Tomato Sauce

This is a quick meal in my home. When I don’t have fresh ingredients in my fridge or I want something nutritious and tasty on the table fast, this is the meal I cook with things I can find in my pantry.

Ingredients :

1 can tuna - 5 oz, drained
1 small can chopped tomato with juice
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
Some chopped basil
1 tomato – cut small for garnish
½ tsp of red pepper flakes
½ pound of your favorite pasta – cooked to al dente ( I like using whole-wheat penne)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and onion; sauté until translucent about 2-3 minutes, then add in can tomato with juice, season to taste with salt, pepper and red-pepper flakes and boil over medium heat for 10-12 minutes
2. When sauce reduced and thicken, add in tuna. Stir and mix well. Add in chopped basil and cooked paste. Turn off the heat.
3. Mix well, dish out and garnish with some chopped tomato and basil

Note: If you don't want your sauce to be as 'chunky', you can puree the tomatoes before using.

Coconut Macaroons

I was looking for something to make with the leftover condensed milk which I used for my Condensed Milk Pound Cake . I remember making coconut macaroons during my school days and decided to make some again. This macaroon has very few ingredients and you probably have it in your pantry. This recipe make a small batch of macaroons and if you want to make more you might need to double the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large egg whites
Pinch of salt
1/2 can (7 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 bag shredded sweetened coconut (14 oz)

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites and salt until frothy, about 2 minutes. Stir in condensed milk and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, fold in coconut until well combined.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Using a teaspoon and your fingers, form macaroons into 1 1/4-inch mounds about 1 inch apart.
3. Bake until macaroons are golden brown, about 20 - 25 minutes. Transfer the macaroons to a cooling rack. Let cool completely.