Prawns Ceviche

Recently I managed to catch some private chefs cooking their dishes in a cooking competition organized by Channel 8 named 《食分高下》Simply Exquisite and wanted to put my hand on one prawn dish which won the hearts of the judges and yet it is a simple dish to prepare.

Ceviche is a kind of cold dish that is popular in the coastal regions of the Americas especially Central and South America. It uses different types of seafood like fish and prawns and me being a prawn lover, the choice was clear when I set out to prepare this dish.

The most interesting part of this dish that it doesn't require heat to cook the prawns whereas it uses the acidity of the lemon and lime juice to cook the prawns. But for my case, I pre cooked my prawns in hot boiling water for just a few seconds just to kill of any bacteria and let the acidity of the lemon and lime complete the rest of the cooking. (Unless you are using prawns that are really fresh, I guess to be safe its better to pre cook your prawns in boiling water)

It was a brand new experience for me as I rarely try preparing western food and due to that, the portion that I've prepared was small.

Ingredients:
4 pieces of medium to large prawns (deveined and sliced half)
Lemon Juice (2 lemons)
Lime Juice (15 limes)
Lime peel (skin of the lime)
2 Small Onions (Sliced)
Cucumber (Diced)
Tomatoes (Diced)
Cilantro for garnishing

Directions:
Place the prawns in a flat tray and pour in the lemon and lime juice (make sure that the liquid manage to cover more than half of the prawns
Pour in the lime peel and small onions and make sure they are evenly spread out
Place it for 15 minutes
Flip the prawns to the other side and let it soak for another 15 minutes
Make sure that the prawns are fully cooked inside and outside
Place the prawns and onions with just a small amount of the lime+lime juice (or a few droplets) in a bowl
Add in the diced cucumber and tomatoes
Garnish with cilantro and serve!

Home made prawns ceviche

 

After trying out the ceviche that I've prepared, I realized the lemon taste was stronger and that is probably my lemon juice was more than my lime. Besides that I suggest to use sea prawns rather than grey prawns. I believe that sea prawns are able to bring out the flavor of this dish!

Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! =)

Fried Bean Curd Spring Roll 春卷

Bean Curd Spring Rolls

The dishes is coming in HOT!! And this time around it is even hotter cause for the first time in my blog, I will be featuring a Video!! And its a video demonstrating on how to wrap the spring roll using the bean curd skin!! Are you ready to make some yummylicious and meaty spring rolls?!

The vege ingredients finely cubed and chopped

Unlike the normal spring roll which is mainly vegetables, my dad's spring roll or 春卷 where he normally calls it contains meats and vegetables and uses bean curd skin to wrap the ingredients around like a shape of a cylinder or a shape of a "popiah". Actually, I am not even sure if it is called as spring roll or meat loaf in English, but I know we call it 春卷 in my family. =)

The size of the bean curd skin

This spring roll is a favorite among my family especially me and my brothers partly because of the crispy and salty fried bead curd skin once you deep fry it. The preparation of this dish do require some effort but once everything is done, you can store it inside the freezer and bring it out to fry every time you wanna eat it!

Ingredients: (Around 12 rolls)
1.5kg minced meat (pork or chicken based on your preference)
300~500g of Prawns (Minced or chopped to small pieces)
8 to 10 Water chestnuts (cubed)
1 Spring Onions
1 Carrots (cubed)
1 stalk of Coriander Leaves
3 Bean curd skins (cut into 4 pieces each)

Put all seasoning and mix well

Oil for frying

Seasoning:
1 tsp of Five Spice Powder
3/4 tsp of Pepper
1/2 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Sugar
2 tbsp of Soya Sauce
3~4 tbsp of Oyster Sauce

Directions:
1. Placed the minced meat in a big bowl and put all seasoning in it.

2. Mix the seasoning and the meat evenly and set overnight in the fridge.
3. Put in the prawns and mix well.
4. Pour in all finely chopped water chestnuts, carrots, spring onions and coriander leaves into the minced meat and mix well.
5. Prepare the bean curd skin by cutting it nicely into a rectangle shape. (around the size of a cutting board but smaller)

Placing the meat mixture onto the bean curd skin

6. Place a certain amount of the meat mixture onto the bean curd skin and roll it into a shape of a cylinder. (you can refer to the video below)
7. After using up all the meat mixture, place all the spring roll into a steamer and steam it for 15 minutes.

Steamed Spring Rolls

8. Let the spring roll cool down.
9. Bring a wok and pour in oil and fry it under high heat.
10. Once it turn golden brown, scoop up and make sure to drain off the excess oil.
11. Cut nicely and serve!

The cubed water chestnut makes it crunchy and tasty!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Ginger

Alright.. why is there another sweet and sour chicken recipe?? Just because I added some ginger this time so I create another post?? Haha..! No no no.. Not that.. But this dish has always been my all time favorite sweet and sour dish by my beloved dad!! I've always love the gingerly taste that comes along with the sweet and yet sour taste, so I can't help it but to feature it inside my blog and for my future reference too!

This dish again I have to say is a pretty simple dish and the ingredients for it is also easily available in your kitchen!! So its an ideal dish for a quick meal with your loved ones or just for yourself.

Ingredients:
3 pieces of chicken thigh
3 gloves of garlic (finely chop)
Half or 3 quarter of a standard size ginger (sliced thinly)
Oil for frying (chicken)
A cup of Water

Seasoning (for the chicken):
Salt and sugar
Or you can use 1/2 cube of chicken granules/chicken stock

The main ingredients for the sauce

Sauce: (you can adjust based on your liking)
5 tbsp of chili sauce
5 tbsp of ketchup

Alternative for sweet and sour sauce:
Water 250ml
Sugar 350g
Salt a pinch
Brown sugar 120g
White Vinegar 150ml

Directions:
1. Cut the chicken thigh to small pieces and marinate it with sugar and salt. Set aside for 3 hours. (If you prefer stronger taste for your chicken bits, use chicken granules instead)
2. Heat up a wok under high heat and pour in oil
3. Make sure that the depth of the oil is sufficient to cover all the chicken
4. Fry the chicken till 70% cooked (around 10 to 15 minutes depending on the amount of chicken)
5. Scoop up the chicken leaving the oil in the wok

Simmer till the sauce thicken

6. Fry the sliced ginger (to bring out the full flavor of the ginger)
7. Drained the oil leaving ginger and a little bit of oil
8. Put in the garlic and sauteed till light brown
9. Pour in the chicken and stir fry for just a few minutes
10. Pour in water till it covers all the chicken
11. Add in chili and ketchup sauce
12. Taste the sauce and add additional chili or ketchup according to your liking
13. Cover the wok with a lid and let it simmer till the sauce thicken
14. Scoop up and serve!

You can try using other poultry as well and I am sure it will taste as good because for me, the main actor in this dish is the sauce. Sometimes you just can't believe how easy is to cook a good sweet and sour sauce. And besides that, adding some corn flour to the chicken before frying can make it crispier and I shall try that the next time around!

KL Hokkien Noodle (Tai Lok Min)

When I was young, I used to travel to KL with my parents to visit my uncle near Cheras and every time without fail, my uncle will always buy a packet of dark thick noodles wrapped nicely with newspaper. That packet of noodles will be finished within a few minutes and that noodles is the famous KL Hokkien Noodle! And in KL, they called it "Tai Lok Min" meaning Big Fat Noodles in Cantonese. Ever since that, this dish is a "MUST-EAT!!" for me every time I set my foot in KL.

What set the normal Hokkien Noodle that you find in Singapore or any other part in Msia from KL is the thick black gravy that is coated around the thick noodle and the generous amount of fried lards and lastly the sambal belachan that adds make this dish so sinfully delicious!

Fried Lard

One of the main ingredients for this dish is non other than the crispy fried lard! And in order for this dish to be tasty, you have to be generous in putting the fried lard and of cause it has to be crispy! But for home cook version, we try to reduce it for health purpose. 

I was telling my dad about this dish the how I missed this dish and within the next day, I saw him bringing out a packet of thick yellow noodles to demonstrate to me how to cook a plate of KL hokkien noodle!

Thick flat yellow noodle

The noodle my dad use is not 100% the same as those in KL which is thick and squarish because you can't get those in the local wet market. So, we have to settle with what we can get which is thick but FLAT! 

Ingredients:
500g of thick yellow noodles
300g of prawns
cabbage
1 piece of fish cake
5 cloves of garlic
Fried Lard
Fried Shallots
500ml of water/stock

Seasoning: (adjust according to your taste bud)

Sweet sauce

3 tbsp of Oyster Sauce
Pinch of Salt
3 tbsp of Dark Soya Sauce
1 tbsp of Sweet Sauce

Directions:
1. Heat up at wok under medium heat and sauteed the garlic till light golden brown.
2. Add in the water and let it boil under high heat.
3. Add in the seasoning and blanched noodle.
4. Let it simmer under high heat and cover it with a lid.
5. Add in the fish cake, cabbage and prawns and mix well.
6. Simmer until the gravy thickens. (around 5 mins)
7. Lastly, add in a spoonful of fried lard and fried shallots.
8. Scoop up and serve!

Comparing to the authentic KL Hokkien Noodle, it is less darker but the taste is still there. If you prefer it to be darker, just add in more of the dark soya sauce. And besides that, if you want to make this dish tastier, try using pork bones and ginger to make the stock, so you can use the stock instead of water. =)

To catch a glimpse of the true KL Hokkien Noodle, you can drop by http://ieatishootipost.sg/2011/07/kong-kee-seafood-restaurant-taste-of.html. It is a blog post regarding one restaurant in Geylang Lorong 31 which serves it. I tried it a couple of times before and it do taste similar to those you get in KL.