Acar Buah

This Acar is unique as it is made with 'Buah' in Malay, meaning fruit. All sorts of dried fruits can be used and the aroma of the sambal with the dried fruits create a special lingering fragrance that enlivens the tastebuds. This effect must have come from the 'kum cho/liquorice' in the dried fruits. This is an easy dish to prepare if you do not have to make the sambal from scratch. All you readers should know me by now, shortcut way is the way to go. Look into your pantry/freezer for a packet of sambal/premix, it could be for Assam Fish/Seafood, better still, sambal tumis and you are set to make this Acar.

If you are to make the sambal paste from scratch, follow this recipe Garam Assam Paste

Ingredients:

2 cups assorted dried fruits - preferably pitted

1 packet sambal tumis

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

Heat cooking oil and add in the sambal tumis. Saute until fragrant.

Add in the fruits and vinegar. Cook until well combined.

Dish out and set aside to cool.

When cooled, put acar into clean jars.

Acar goes very well with fragrant rice. Try it as a topping for bread, spread some to your burgers, be adventurous with it, there is endless possiblilties with this.

Note:

if the dried fruits are too dried, cook them with water and a pinch of baking soda.

Sweet and bitter almond with Kat Paeng

There are two forms of the plant, one (often with white flowers) producing sweet almonds, and the other (often with pink flowers) producing bitter almonds. The kernel of the former contains a fixed oil and emulsion. Bitter almond (Pak Hung) should not be confused with "sweet almond." Sweet almond seeds do not contain amygdalin and can be eaten, whereas bitter almonds can be toxic. The poisonous hydrocyanic acid contained in bitter almonds breaks down when heated, so the poison is unlikely to accumulate when used in any cooked dish. It is unwise to eat raw bitter almonds. Serious almond poisoning is rare in adults, but children may die after eating just a few bitter almonds.

China sweet almond (Lum Hung) is tested, it's physical item and chemical essential are same as American almond. Just their appearance shapes are different.

This sweet soup is recommended to relieve a bad cough.

Ingredients:

a handful of sweet almonds (Lum Hung)

10 pieces of bitter almonds (Pak Hung)

1 piece Kat Paeng

1 tiny piece of rock sugar

500 ml water

Method:

Pound the almonds slightly

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring it to the boil.

Lower the heat and simmer until the kat paeng is soft.

Discard the kat paeng and take the drink with the almonds warm.

Serves

Pancake Puff

Had to play with my new toy, a Danish aebelskiver pan. It made very good pancake puffs with no or whatever fillings you desire. Have even made TAKOYAKI which i will post soon. In the meantime, if you have one of this pan you can start to have fun making some of these puffs by just using this recipeFlapjack . Please watch How to make aebleskiver video to have a clearer understanding on how it should be done

Ingredients:
Same as Flapjacks

For more recipes http://www.aebleskiver.com/Recipes.htm

Method:


Heat the pan and grease the holes. Keep the heat at medium.



Pour enough batter to fill the holes. Not filling the cups completely full is suggested to getting them to turn easier- remember, they will expand slightly as they cook! 3/4th full is about right.



Lift the batter by 1/3 to one side, continue this procedure for all the other holes. Then come back to the first hole and lift the batter to more than 1/2, repeat procedure with the other holes. Finally, flip the batter in the first hole and the rest. The batter has become a ball now and flip the balls over for even cooking.



Serves

Shrimp Fritters

As i have mentioned so many times that my grand daughter, Renee, is such a picky eater but she ate this at a friend's house, which nearly made me fall off the chair. Although this is not very healthy as they are fried, she likes it and that's what counts.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb shrimp (size of your choice - here i used 61/70 peeled raw shrimp)

2 tsp salt

2 tsp tapioca starch

Seasoning:

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp white pepper(optional)

1/2 egg white

1/2 tsp sesame oil

All purpose flour for dusting

Batter

1/2 cup self-raising flour

1/4 cup corn flour

1 tbsp rice flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

180ml water or just enough

1½ tbsp oil

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Marinate the shrimp with 2 tsp salt and 2 tsp tapioca starch. Knead it in and leave aside for at least 1/2 hour.

Mix all the ingredients for the batter and leave aside until shrimps are ready

Wash away the salt and tapioca well and keep the shrimp under cold running water until water is clear. Drain and wipe the shrimp until really really dry.

Add in seasonings and dust with all purpose flour. Shake away access flour.

Heat oil until 350 f. Dip floured shrimp into batter and fry until golden brown. Do not crowd, fry shrimps in batches.

Remove from oil and let fried shrimps drain on a lined cake rack.

Serve warm with Sauces of your choice - Renee is with tomato ketchup.

Watermelon Sweet Drink

It is still the same old watermelon. We ate, made drinks and floats with the flesh and then made pickle with the rind and now a warm sweet drink with the rind. Nothing to throw away so no cause to complain.

Ingredients:

Watermelon rind with skin

Rock sugar according to taste

Method:

Put watermelon rind in a big pot and enough water to cover the rinds.

Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for at least 1 hour.

Remove and discard rind.

Add rock sugar according to your taste. Stir until the rock sugar dissolve.

Serve hot or cold.

Serves

Pickled Watermelon

As promised, the recipe for Pickled Watermelon is below.

I have always grumbled and said that it is such a waste to get rid of the rind but i do not grumble anymore when our friend, robyn told me that her dad will make a pickle with the rind of the watermelon. So everytime, we have watermelon, the rind will be made into pickle and a very delightful sweet drink. Look out the the sweet drink recipe tomorrow.

Ingredients:

Watermelon rind with skin removed

Salt

Sugar

Sambal Olek

Vinegar

Method:

Cut watermelon rind into 1 inch length and 1/4 inch thick pieces

Sprinkle salt and leave aside for 30 minutes.

Wash away salt.

Add vinegar, sambal olek and sugar (adjust to your taste)

Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Serves

Watermelon Drink and Float

Fresh watermelon may be eaten in a variety of ways and is also often used to flavor summer drinks and smoothies.

Watermelon contains about six percent sugar by weight, the rest being mostly water. As with many other fruits, it is a source of Vitamin C. It is not a significant source of other vitamins and minerals unless one eats several kilograms per day.

Watermelon seeds are rich in fat and protein and are widely eaten as a snack.especially in China, competing with sunflower seeds.

Watermelon rinds are also edible, and sometimes used as a vegetable. In China, they are stir- fried, stewed, or more often pickled. When stir-fried or pickled, the skin and fruit has to be removed using. Look out for the Watermelon Pickle recipe tomorrow.

Ingredients:

Watermelon flesh (preferably seedless watermelon)

Ice Cubes

Vanilla Ice cream for float

a squeeze of fresh lime

Method:

Blend ice cubes with watermelon flesh.

Add in a squeeze of fresh lime into the watermelon drink.

For Watermelon Float, top drink with a scoop or two of ice cream.

Enjoy

Serves