Steamed Fish

Absolutely delicious, very fragrant and full of flavor and the best thing is that it's really easy to prepare - just steam the fish but there's a trick at the final stage where you pour hot peanut oil to crisp the skin up!

Ingredients

• One whole fish (I prefer Barramundi)
• 2 tablespoon of sesame oil
• Salt
• 2 stalks of lemongrass
• 2 tablespoon of fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon of vinegar
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 2 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 3 spring onions (cut long and thin)
• 5cm ginger (slice into long and thin pieces)
• 1 red chili (de-seed and slice finely) 
• Fresh coriander
• 2 tablespoon of Peanut oil

Instructions

• Clean fish and pat dry with kitchen towel
• Marinate fish with sesame oil and a pinch of salt and put aside
• To make the sauce, blend lemongrass in a food processor until fine
• Add lemongrass, chicken broth, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and chili in a pot and heat over medium heat. Add salt to taste. It's good to make the sauce a bit salty.
• Place fish in a baking dish and place the baking dish in a steamer. (If you dont have a steamer, place baking dish in a large wok filled with 1-2 inches of water)
• Pour sauce over fish and sprinkle ginger and spring onions over fish. Cover and steam for about 15-20 minutes or until fish is cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Heat peanut oil in a wok until smoking and pour hot oil over the fish to crisp the skin up.
• Sprinkle fresh coriander and serve with steamed rice.

Stuffed Squid

I decided to try this recipe I got from a friend of mine (Thanks Rosliza). The sweet flavour from palm sugar and the spicy taste of fenugreek really give the sauce that smoky-caramel taste.

Ingredients

• 3-4 squids (clean the inside and get rid of the ink but keep the head)
• 2 cups of glutinous rice
• 1 tablespoon of fenugreek seed
• 1 tablespoon of palm sugar
• Coconut milk
• Salt
• 1 Pandanus leaf

Instructions

• Soak glutinous rice in coconut milk and 1 teaspoon of salt for about one hour
• Stuff squid with glutinous rice and use satay/bamboo skewers to seal the opening
• Place squid in a pot, and add fenugreek seed, palm sugar, pandan leaf, a bit of salt and pour coconut milk until squids are covered
• Cook in medium heat, stir occasionally until the sauce is thick.

Ipoh Hor Fun (Noodle Soup)

Originated from Ipoh Malaysia, this is definitely a classic dish. The combination of chicken and prawn broth - together with steamed sesame chicken - HEAVEN!

Ingredients

• 500g chicken breast
• 500g prawns (peel the shells and heads off but keep it to make the broth)
• Chicken stock
• 5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• Bean sprouts
• Chives
• Sesame oil
• Cooking oil
• White pepper powder
• Salt
• Fresh Broad rice noodles (Kuey Teow)

Instructions

• Marinate chicken breast with sesame oil, white pepper powder, salt and a little bit of cooking oil and put aside for 10-15 minutes.
• Steam chicken for 15 minutes. Slice finely when cool. Set aside.
• Boil 5 cups of water in a pot and cook prawn heads and shells for about 10 minutes. Sieve water and discard the heads and shells.
• To make the broth, heat 2 tablespoon of cooking oil in another pot and saute' garlic until golden brown. Add chicken stock and the prawn stock prepared earlier. Add salt to taste.
• Heat broad rice noodles in a microwave for 3 minutes.
• Boil water in a pot and cook prawns, chives and bean sprouts for 1-2 minutes.
• To serve, put noodles in a bowl, pour soup over noodles and arrange sliced chicken, prawns, chives and bean sprouts on top.

Tumeric Beef

This is a winner every time.

Ingredients

• 1kg of Beef cubes (preferably with bones)
• 2 Cloves
• 2 Star anise
• 2 Cardamon pods
• 1 teaspoon of dried chili flakes
• 1 Cinnamon bark
• 1 tablespoon Tumeric powder
• 3 Shallots (slice)
• 3 cloves of Garlic (chopped)
• 4cm of Ginger (slice)
• 5 tablespoon of cooking oil
• 1 Red chilies to garnish (slice)

Instructions

• Place beef, cloves, star anise, cardamon pods and cinnamon bark in a pot and add water until all is covered.
• Boil the ingredients until there is no more water in the pot (this normally takes about 1.5 hours)
• Heat cooking oil in a wok and fry shallots, garlic, ginger and chili flakes until fragrant.
• Remove all ingredients from pot and place it in the wok.
• Add tumeric powder and salt and fry for about 3 minutes.
• Garnish with red chillies and serve with steamed rice.

Buah Melaka (or Onde-Onde some people call it)

This is one of my favorite desserts. It's so easy to make and it is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of Glutinous rice flour
• 1 cup of Plain flour
• 1 cup of water
• Food coloring (Green or any color you like)
• Palm sugar (shredded)
• Grated coconut
• Salt

Instructions

• Mix glutinous flour and plain flour in a metal bowl.
• Add water gradually to make a dough.
• Add about a tablespoon of food coloring to the dough. Knead the dough until it is pliable.
• Pinch a small portion of the dough and roll it in your palm to make a ball.
• Press the ball and place a small amount of the shredded palm sugar in the centre and then gather the dough around so that the palm sugar is covered. Roll in the palm of hands again to form a ball.
• Boil water and place a few balls in the boiling water. Once the balls are cooked, they will float to the top. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them out and place them onto a sieve (Dont leave it too long as they will get sticky and will be difficult to handle later).
• Place grated coconut on a large plate and sprinkle a little bit of salt. Roll the balls on the plate to coat completely and there you have it!