Sunday, January 28, 2007

Golden Squash Soup


Okay, I promised you all, that this will be the last recipe entry for this weekend ;) Basically, after cooking curries for 2 straight nights, I feel kinda guilty and wanted to redeem myself, by cooking something healthy =) Found this great website which promotes healthy eating and as a side to the Thai green curry, I also cooked this golden squash soup ;)

I didn't use many of the spices mentioned in the original recipe, I found that the squash (labu kuning in Indonesia?) was naturally sweet.

So my version of the golden squash soup:

1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes (the squash was really hard to peel, what an exercise! My friend mocked that it's "healthy" because of the exercise we do when peeling and cutting the fruit!)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
200 g coconut milk (from can)

- Saute onion and garlic, then add the broth and the squash pieces. Cook uncovered for about 15 minutes until the squash is soft (and I mean, soft! Semi pulpy)

- Leave it to cool for around 5 mins

- Place some of the squash and broth into a blender, add a little bit of coconut milk and blend until smooth. Repeat til you've blended all the squash and broth in the pan.



- Bring back to a stove to reheat, and garnish with a sprig of mint/cilantro/coriander leaf.

=)

This soup is an excellent source of Vit A, C, manganate, and also a good source of fiber (one serving of it gives 20% of DV).

Kari Kapitan (Captain's Curry)


The Thai green curry was my 2nd attempt of making curry from scratch. The first one was this, Kari Kapitan (Captain's Curry), a Malaysian kinda curry that my friend's mom cooked when I stayed over in London. When I made it, it was a lil bit too spicy for my tongue, so in this recipe the amount of chillies have been reduced, and I substitute it with tomatoes, to give the same red colour.

The night before, I took out the chicken pieces (I asked the butcher to cut 1 chicken into 16 small pieces) and marinaded it with tamarind, salt, pepper, and lime juice.



The paste:
+ 6 dried chillies, soaked, remove seeds
+ 8 red chillies
+ 2 tomatoes
+ 4 shallots
+ 1 bulb garlic
+ 2 tsp ground turmeric
+ 6 lemongrass
+ 1 piece terasi/belacan/shrimp paste

Blend them in a food processor until it becomes a paste, then fry with a little oil until fragrant.



Then, add 300 ml coconut milk, the juice of one lime, and a few slices (I used about 5) of bay leaves. Reduce heat to medium low, and add the chicken. Simmer for around 20 mins until chicken is cooked and the curry sauce has cooked well.


Enjoy!

Ale's Thai Green Curry


Yep, it's done!!! And it was so lovely me and Arthur almost forgot to take pics of it!!!

I couldn't blend the galangal with the rest of the paste (chillies, coriander leaves, basil leaves, etc.) so I just added them later after the coconut milk!

I used 22 green bird eye chillies, and it's just nice, a bit spicy, but not too much it'll make you sweat =)





Recipe here.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Thai Green Curry



Will try cooking this tomorrow, and will definitely update afterwards - my first attempt of making curries (different curries) from scratch! (Cooked "Kari Kapitan" the other day, will upload the pics later)

Pic above is taken from Delia and the recipe is compiled from various sites, notably this

The Paste:
20 whole green bird eye chillies (cabe rawit)
20 white peppercorns, ground finely (3 tsp of ground white pepper?)
1 stalk of lemon grass, chop and use only the bottom third, soaked for 30 mins with 2 tbsp of lime juice (mine actually comes from a jar, so I use 3, since it's less pungent)
7 thin slices of dried galangal or 1 tbsp chopped fresh galangal (I hope my food processor can survive the dried galangal)
2 tbsp chopped basil leaves
1 tsp chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp roasted ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp roasted ground cumin seeds
1 tsp coarse sea salt
4 shallots, roughly chopped (doesn't really matter since everything will go into the food processor)
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tsp young ginger, chopped
2 tsp shrimp paste (terasi bakar or belacan)

Put everything into a food processor, and the paste should be a bit coarse. If you want, you can smoothen it out by using mortar and pestle (but that's the whole point we're using food processor isn't it? To AVOID mortar n pestle).

This can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge.

Now is the rest of the recipe.

Ingredients
600 ml coconut milk (from 2 cans)
280-300 g chicken breast, cut into large cubes
1 large aubergine, cut into wedges
1 courgette, cut into wedges
200 g green beans, cut into strips
2 red onions, cut into slices
3 tbsp green curry paste (more or less, to taste)
7 kaffir lime leaves
25 g basil leaves
lime juice to taste (about the juice of 1/2 lime)
4 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp palm sugar (I'm going to substitute this with demerara sugar)
1 red chilli, cut diagonally into strips, for garnish

Method
+ Coconut milk: put the tins upside down on a work surface, open. Separate the milky bit and the creamy bit.
+ Heat the wok on high, when it's hot pour 3/4 of the cream, stir until it's curdled.
+ Add curry paste to it, followed by the rest of the coconut milk and the kaffir lime leaves. Keep stirring so the coconut milk doesn't stick.
+ Reduce the heat to low, add fish sauce (for saltiness), sugar (for sweetness), and lime juice (for sourness).
+ Add vegetables and chicken, simmer for 20mins.
+ Add chopped red onions, cook for a couple of minutes, then add basil leaves and sliced red chillies. These are for garnish.

Done! Served with Thai jasmine rice, hmmmmmpph!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Lidah Kucing (Lenguas de Gato/Cat's Tongue)


Ingredients:
+ 150 g margarine
+ 100 g butter

leave at room temperature for a few hours to soften

+ 200 g caster sugar
+ 100 ml egg white (roughly from 3 large eggs)
+ 1 tsp vanilla essence (not too much since it's supposed to taste buttery)

+ 200 g flour
+ 50 g corn flour

mix well then sieve

1. Cream margarine, butter, and sugar until smooth\
2. Add egg white and vanilla, keep whisking
3. Add flour, mix well
4. Add dough to a pipping bag
5. Squeeze into a baking sheet, place in a preheated oven (150C) for about 10mins until golden brown

Voila!


View original recipe.