Malaysian Food Fest, Come join the fun!!

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook will know that lately I’ve been cooking a lot of state food. Wonder why?

I’ve been preparing ahead for this upcoming event due to be launched on Aug 1 2012, in conjunction with the National Month of Malaysia

Now, basically it’s an online event, where we submit entries of food that we’ve cooked at home that is popular in the named state. Anything that is made, eaten and popular there. Be it traditional or modern, authentic or fusion, savoury or sweet, dishes or dessert, Malay, Chinese, Indian or Indigenous. Not the western version of Nasi Lemak please (if there is)… do the local version. Versions of food, found and eaten in the featured state.

If you have a story to tell us and share with us about how special the dish is, or how different the dish is from other states, we sure do want to hear from you. Even if you don’t have a story, but just a picture and recipe, it’ll still be warmly welcomed. The monthly host and organizer (me) will provide a few recipes, so don’t worry about not knowing what to do if you have none of your own. Let’s just try…. Enjoy the learning process.

Come come join the fun! Bloggers, Facebookers, just anyone.

For more information, visit Malaysian Food Fest Information Page.

These are some of the dishes I've prepared in advance for the event. As you all know, I need a lot of lead time and I always find it hard to join events that only gives me 1 month of notice. I need time to arrange for a day to buy things and time to cook and prepare the post. So, don't be surprised to see me preparing something for Johor that is due in March 2013. LOL. Being the organizer, I am providing minimum 3 recipes for each state, that means.. I have to cook 36 dishes and another 9 if the vacant states are not taken and I'll have to host them.

Oh yes, currently some states are still open for hosting

1. Kedah + Perlis

2. Pahang

3. Selangor +KL

Contact me if you’re interested.

******************************

The first month featured in the Event is Melaka…..

Go go go

chicken rice balls!!!

Don't forget to visit this Page for more information and to see the hosting schedule

Palm Sugar No Bake Char Siu - Bellygood # 3

My husband's family are big Char Siu lovers.

Last year early in October, I organized a dinner over at my home for some close relatives who missed our house warming party and cooked 5 dishes 1 soup. I had no help this time, so I must plan my menu carefully. Since this pork dish is the favourite of many who will be coming and I can cook this ahead of time, I decided to make this. It's perfect because I will  have time for other dishes that needs to be cooked as near to dinner time as possible.

Sometime ago I saw two bloggers (Lena and HKChoo) making char siu with palm sugar with the same recipe from a local magazine. I wonder how is the taste like..

So I substituted the regular sugar in the recipe that I have been using all the time to palm sugar and added in pandan leaves in place of Chinese rose wine for the smell factor.

Click to continue ..........

Pork Stew 卤猪肉 - Bellygood # 2

This is a popular home cooked dish. After blogging I got to know that Hokkiens call this Tau Yew Bak, but my family being Cantonese, calls this Lou Chu Yoke 卤猪肉. As in Pork Stew.

My mom cooks this so often that I almost got sick of it when I was in my teens. Being her, using just one pot and being able to cook this in advance makes this one of her favs. So often that we eat this almost weekly.
Sometimes she'll throw in some dried chilli, sometimes none. But basically she goes with the same few ingredients. My mom will saute the aromatics in the clay pot and then throw in the pork and seasonings, cook it for a while and then pour in the water to simmer. I on the other hand, prefers to cook the pork with seasonings until the meat is browned and oil starts to ooze out. Then only I put in the water. I don't own a clay pot, so I just cook this either in the wok or in a small pot.

Click to continue ..........

Sichuan Twice Cooked Pork 回锅肉 - Bellygood # 1

I saw this dish demostrated on TV and it looked sooo tasty. I remembered some of the ingredients but forgot some.

Is there sweet bean paste sold here? I don't know what is that and hence skipped it.  I used hot bean paste because I want it to be hot. I also skipped the preserved black beans as not all recipes uses it.

I sliced the pork a bit too thick and so, it's a bit tough. Plus I think I overcooked it. But nonetheless, this dish went very well with lots of rice! Yummy :)

Click to continue ..........

Apricot Lemon Jam - Let's Jam # 3

The type of apricots we get here varies in quality. Some are sooour but fragrant after baking. Some are sweet but lose out on fragrance. Some are total flops, bland and dull.

This batch that I've got are total flops. Brings no sensation to the tongue and nose. Baking with them will not enhance them, eating raw is torturing. Making them into jam will be the perfect solution. With some help from the lemon, the jam becomes a pleasure to eat.

My MIL took one jar and my FIL enjoyed it a lot. He asked my MIL to check with me and asked her to get the same brand that I did. My MIL told him, it's Wendy brand. LOL.

Apricot Lemon Jam

Recipe source; WendyinKK

500gm apricot (flesh weight, skin on)
350gm sugar (just use granulated sugar, it’s cheaper!)
1 lemon, zested and juiced

1. Mix everything together and let it sit for 30 minutes or until the sugar melts and the apricots soften.
2. Place a ceramic saucer/plate into the freezer.
3. Bring to a boil on medium heat and reduce heat to medium low or low. (the jam should be still be bubbly)
4. Cook until the apricots turn mushy.
5. Place a drop of the jam on the frozen saucer and put it back into the freezer. Check the drop of jam after 2 minutes. If it forms soft wrinkles when pushed, the jam is ready. (I usually don’t wait for 2 minutes to push for wrinkles, but when I feel the jam is gel like enough and feels cushiony, I stop cooking. I know it’ll further set when totally cooled.)

Refer to this post on how to remove the stone

Actually I do have more jams or spreads in my collection.... let's wait for the next round  :)

Apple Butter - Let's Jam # 2

Made in Jan 2012

I bought some freaking cheap but ugly looking apples from the night market. They have streaks of brown on their skin, but when cut they look perfectly fine. And I have to clear the fridge or at least shrink my stock to make way for Chinese New Year. I didn’t really need these apples, but I can’t help but buy them because they were really cheap.

Click to continue ..........

Sweet Orange Marmalade - Let's Jam # 1

I love the smell of oranges and all things citrus. But I hate it when it’s bitter. Store bought marmalade are always bitter, unless you buy orange jam.

Err.. orange jam and marmalade . Aren’t they the same stuff?

Well, marmalade is JAM with fruit peel in it. And it’s the peel that causes it to be bitter, which is why you can hardly get non bitter marmalade, except for Smuckers or some other brand that I don’t know of. Maybe they have something to remove the limonin from the peel. I wonder if rubbing the peel with salt do the trick of removing the bitter compounds(limonin)? I’m wondering. Wait, I’ll try that next time. : )

Click to continue ..........