Nasi Bryani

I love this basmati rice with tomato and raisins. It reminds me of those days when I was eating at the muslim hawker stands (we called it Mamak stall), the fragrant smell of the basmati rice flowing in the air. Taste so good with the curry sauce or dahl (lentil) curry, mmmm........ yummy.

Recipe:-

2 cup Basmati Rice
Water (I dont usually measure the water, just my experience by looking at the water level when cooking the rice. So you have to follow your own instruction. Some like it little wet and some like it little dry.)
3-5 Tablespoon Prego Mushroom pasta sauce
2-3 Bayleaf
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Raisins (any colors)
1/4 stick unsalted butter

Method:-

1. Use regular rice cooker, not the fancy one like Japanese rice cooker unless you are familiar with it.
2. Put all the ingredients together, as easy as that.
3. Once done, add butter and mix well.

"Anda Boleh"

Chinese Gumbo

This is what I called, Chinese Gumbo. Very quick and easy meal especially when you have less time to cook. Also when you have leftover steamed rice of any kind, Safeway roast chicken and leftover shrimps from the Memorial Weekend BBQ.

Ingredients:-

2 cups Chicken stock or any kind of stock in your freezer or pantry

1/2 cup Leftover steamed rice

3 pc Ore-Ida Tater Tots or you have leftover french fries (cut them into small pieces)

3 pc Leftover $5.99 Roast Chicken

Garnishing:-

Few Shrimps

Few Chards

Few Pea pods

(sauteed them together with cooking oil, salt and pepper until the shrimps turned red and curled up)

Method:-

1. Heat a pot with the chicken stock on high. Once boiled, add the rice, tater tots, chicken together. Cook for 3-4 min on medium heat.

2. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

3. Garnished with the sauteed shrimps and vegetables.

"Anda Boleh"

Steak Fried Rice

Just me today, making my own lunch. Again I have leftover rice and steak. So easy, no eggs at all. Fried rice can be in many style, no need to have eggs. The rice is fried, anyway. :) I love the color of it and texture from the leftover jasmine rice, the steak, the onions and the soy sauce.

Ingredients:-

1 cup Leftover jasmine rice

Few slices Leftover steak (or any kind of meat you have)

1 Tablespoon chopped onions

Few slice carrots

Few pea pods

pinch of Ground Black peppers

1 teaspoon Soy sauce

Method:-

1. Heat the non-stick pan on medium, stir fried the onions, steak and carrots for a min.

2. Add rice and pea pods, soy sauce and pepper. Stir fried for another min or two.

3. Ready to serve. Fast and easy. Just one person lunch.

"Anda Boleh"

ABC Fried Rice

Just a quick lunch I made for Gregg today. He went to see an Eye Doctor for a check up, and I was busy checking my emails and wrapping the cherries. I have leftover jasmine steamed rice, and taking it to make into fried rice. You know that Leftover Rice is good for Fried Rice.

I named this fried rice ABC because I was using the ABC brand sweet soy sauce, which is thick soy sauce. It is a product of Indonesia, in Malay it is Kicap Manis. You can find it at any Asian market near you. This ABC sauce is to give little sweetness to the fried rice and its color. Very popular among Malaysian especially my family. Good combination with fish sauce as well.
We also used the sweet soy sauce as dipping sauce for fresh cut fruit such as mango and cucumber. Add little fresh chili cut and soy sauce, it will be fantastic.

Ingredients:-

2 small bowl of leftover steamed rice
1 cup of Pea Pods
1 Tablespoon ABC sweet soy sauce
1 teaspoon Fish sauce
2 whole eggs
1 Tablespoon cut fresh dill
a handful of cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:-

1. Heat the non-stick pan with some cooking oil, say 3 Tablespoon, on medium high heat.
2. Fried the eggs, stir so that it looks scramble. Look for bubbly foamy sign.
3. Add the fish sauce, together with pea pods. Stir for few seconds.
4. Then add in the rice, ABC sweet soy sauce and salt and pepper. Stir for a min or two.
5. Finally add in dill and cilantro, stir few seconds and then ready to serve.

"Anda Boleh"

Rice with Fried Capers, Chard curry, Halibut and Herbs Omellet

This is so Good!!!!!!! I can eat the plain steamed Jasmine rice with fried capers just like that. Easy to make, just fried the capers until it pops and little brown. Gosh, it is my comfort food and of cos, better with some chard or other vegetables curry (I used the leftover curry sauce), seared halibut and herbs omellet.

Lets start with herbs omellet:-

Make your usual omellet, stir a little so that the omellet is breaking up into small pieces. Also fried a little longer than usual omellet, so that you can see the little brown side. Add in chopped parsley, oregano, thyme and garlic salt. So so good!!!!!!

Chard curry:-

Pick some chard from your backyard, cleaned and sliced. Heat the pan with some cooking oil, cook until wilted and then add the leftover curry sauce you have at home, for about 1 min to simmer. Serve with warm steamed jasmine rice.

Enjoy My Way of Comfort Food

"Anda Boleh"

White Pampano in Red Curry

There is a Seafood City market in Vallejo where we seldom go there to explore. Once we were there, it was a heaven for me and Gregg. I was excited to see lots of seafood especially the fish. I love Pampano and it is a luxury fish in Malaysia. Chinese usually will steam a fresh Pampano, with just ginger soy sauce and chopped green onions. Love it... so light and healthy.

This time, I was thinking of making a fish curry, due to the leftover curry sauce the other day. See, when you have some curry leftovers, always divide them in little containers, so that you can use it at any other time, with any other food you make.

Ingredients:-

1 whole Pampano fish cut in half (actually you can used any kind of white fish, ocean fish taste better)

Leftover curry sauce or soup you have from Asian restaurants

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

Salt to taste

1 Teaspoon Fish sauce

Water

Method:-

1. To fry the fish, pat dry and seasoned with salt, both side.

2. Heat a pot of cooking oil, to deep fry the fish until really brown and little crispy. Charring the fish is much better, because we want the little charred taste in the curry, also soften the bones when go into the curry sauce. Then take out the fish and put aside.

3. Heat another pot to cook the leftover curry sauce and some water if the sauce is too thick. We need it to be little soupy, so that the fish can be soaked in it.

4. Once boiled, add the fried fish, fish sauce and parsley, also add salt to taste. Serve with the tumeric rice (recipe from last posting).

Tumeric Rice with Chinese Sausage

You got chinese sausage at home? Easy for this recipe. I was alone in the house in this wet windy cold weather. I decided to have a quick dinner, and steamed rice is Chinese favourite. I had 3 string of chinese sausage in my fridge, have the craving to eat it. I decided to make a steamed jasmine rice (the portion is up to you, but I used 3 cups), with bayleaves (3-4 leaf) and tumeric powder (1 tablespoon) or curry powder if you have one. Fast, clean, simple and less than 30 min cooking. Put in all the ingredients in the rice cooker, add salt (1-2 teaspoon) and let it cook. Once done, just add in some butter (half stick) to make it taste better and glossy. Yummy just to eat  like that, or have fried eggs on the side. Love it... I had 2 bowl already.

"Anda Boleh"

Peas Fried Rice

I have leftover steamed jasmine rice in the fridge, also some close to wilted green onions. Therefore, I have to make some fried rice which is good with some salad, for light and quick lunch. In Bahasa Malaysia is "Bendil Goreng Nasi". It is so simple and quick, heat the non-stick pan or pot on medium to high, put 2-3 tablespoon of cooking oil, fried 2 whole eggs. Remember to stir the eggs until small pieces. Add a teaspoon of chopped ginger to compliment the eggs. After about 30 seconds of stirring, add a teaspoon of fish sauce and stir a little. Next, pour in 2 cups of leftover jasmine rice and 2 teaspoon of white pepper salt (you can get it at the Asian market). Stir and stir until the lumps from the cold rice break free (say about 2 minutes). Add in the chopped green onions (2 Tablespoon) and 2 handful of Sugar peas into the hot fried rice, add another 1 Tablespoon of Fish sauce to taste. Serve for 2.

"Selamat Mencuba"

New Home, First Meal

I just wanted to share this picture with everyone. Gregg bought his first home, and I cooked him his first meal here. As you can see, we had no patio set, no tables, no chairs, so a $3 Home Depot bucket became our dining chair. I made my famous fried rice and chicken, and as you can see, Gregg was as happy as can be, :)

Leftover Thai food makeover

Gregg brought some leftover Thai food from a restaurant the other day. Its mostly a bite portion and little leftover. So I determined to make over these little portion into a meal for 2-3. I will post the recipe later. Enjoy the pics.

Jung (Sticky Rice)

My mom taught me how to do this recipe, over 25 years ago, so this is a tribute to you, Mom! It took me all day, but I was so excited and so proud that I could do this, remembering back from my childhood, and trying to do it just like Mom did.

Ingredients:-

Vietnamese or Thailand Sticky Rice

Bamboo leaves

Chinese sausage

Red beans

Black eye peas

Dry shitake mushroom

Green onions

Chinese 5 spice

Vegetable oil

Salt

Strings (for tying)

Methods:-

It takes some practise to get this done. However, it is fun to make Jung with friends, neighbours and family members. Will show it on my video.