Recipe for "Pongteh"

 

"Pongteh"



“Pongteh” recipe

“Pongteh” dish is an unique cuisine originated from the Baba and Nyonya heritage in Malacca. It is a kind of meat (chicken or pork) stew, cooked with “taucu” (mince bean paste). It is an easy dish to cook. My prefer meat is pork. “Pongteh” taste better when you refrigerate it overnight and warm it up the next day.

Ingredients

1 kg pork (cut in pieces)
8 shallots (pounded)
4 cloves garlic (pounded)
2 tbsp of  “taucu”
1 tsp white or brown sugar
4 potatoes (cut)
2 tbsp of shallot oil (refer recipe) or vegetable oil
½ litre of water
half tsp dark caramel sauce

"taucu'
 

Procedure

Prepare a pot of water. Bring it to boil. Boil the pork for one minute.
Sift it and set it aside. I do this step is because I find pork being sold here has a gamey smell.

Heat up wok. Add oil. Using small flame fire, saute both the pounded shallots and garlic to slightly brownish (Do not burn it), add in “taucu” and saute it until fragrant. Put in pork, stir fry for a minute. Add water. With high heat, bring it to boil. Once the gravy start to boil, adjust it to the lowest heat to simmer the pork. When it is half cooked, add the potatoes. Cook till pork becomes tender and potatoes become soft.

Lastly, add sugar and dark caramel sauce. Taste it. You may add more sugar or some soy sauce as to your taste.

Recipe - Sweet Sauce ("Tim Cheong")

Sweet sauce ("Tim Cheong")

 Sweet sauce (“Tim Cheong”)
Sweet sauce is a popular condiment in Malaysian cuisine. It is commonly use as a dip in finger food such as fried spring rolls, fresh spring rolls (popiah), “chee cheong fun”, steamboat (hot pot) and etc.

Sweet sauce is  easily accessible in Malaysia. You can get them at the wet markets, local sundries and even supermarkets. I usually bring half a litre with me each time I return to Sydney from Malaysia. Since I can’t wait for another six months to get my sweet sauce, I decided to follow this recipe. I am very happy with the outcome of the sweet sauce and more importantly it tastes almost similar to the one I bought.

If you are living in overseas and wish to make this sweet sauce, here is the recipe.

"Taucu"

Caramel dark sauce ("Dark soy sauce")

 Ingredients

200 gm “taucu” (mince bean paste)
1 cup of water
½ cup of caramel dark sauce
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 ½  tbsp of corn flour mix with some water
Sugar (as to your taste)

Pound or blend the “taucu” until it becomes fine paste.

Heat the wok or pan. Once wok/pan is hot, add the oil. Reduce to small flame, and fry the “taucu” for 30 seconds.

Add water and keep on stirring until it boils. Then put in the dark sauce.

Add sugar. The amount of it is up to your taste.

Continue stirring and finally put in the corn flour to thicken the sauce. Turn off the flame. Let it cool. Pour the sweet sauce into an airtight bottle and put it in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Recipe - "Hainanese Chicken Rice"

Hainanese Chicken Rice

One of the things I missed about living in Kuala Lumpur is buying fresh chicken from the Tiong Nam morning market. I used to buy my chicken from one “aunty” (a polite way of addressing an older person in Malaysian culture) in Tiong Nam. I could always count on her in supplying me the right chicken for the appropriate chicken dish. If I needed to cook “Hainanese Chicken Rice”, I would inform her a day before and the next day, the “aunty” would get  me the right type of chicken for me to cook the dish.

This “aunty” taught me (briefly) the different methods in preparing the delicious “Hainanese Chicken Rice”. She mentioned that chicken has to be steamed. The rice has also got to be steamed together with the chicken stock. She told me to use lots of garlic to fry the rice.

Steamed Chicken aka Pak Cham Kai



Steamed Chicken

1 whole chicken with skin intact in room temperature
3 ½  tsp salt
2 inches ginger (roughly pounded)
3 Spring onions (cut into 2 inches length size)
2 tsp sesame oil
soy sauce

Procedure

Wash whole chicken thoroughly inside out.

Rub the outer and inner chicken with 2 tsp salt and follow by ginger. Stuff the ginger and spring onions into the chicken. Lastly rub the chicken with 1 tsp sesame oil.

Heat up wok and bring to boil. Place chicken on a steamer plate. Steam the chicken for ½ hour.

Keep the remaining broth of chicken collected in the plate.

Rub an addition 1½ tsp of salt on the chicken. Let the chicken cool. Cut into pieces and sprinkle with 1 tsp sesame oil and some soy sauce. Scoop with spoon some of the chicken oil from the steamer plate and pour gently over the chicken pieces.

The Steamed Chicken Rice - beautiful aroma and fragrant!

Steamed Chicken Rice

4 cups fragrant rice
3 pandanus leaves
Chicken stock + (dilute with 1 tsp of salt and ½ chicken cube)
4 slices of ginger
2  whole garlic (chopped finely)
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp shallot oil or vegetable oil

[Chicken stock : simmer 1 kg of skinless chicken drumsticks with 1½ liter of water for at least an hour]

Ingredient A

1 inch of ginger
4 shallots

Procedure

Pound finely ingredient A. Set it aside.

Heat up wok. Add oil. Low flame, fry Ingredient A. Add chopped garlic. Fry until garlic turns slight brownish. Put in rice. Fry for another 2 minutes. Add ½ tsp salt, butter and slice ginger. Once butter melted, spread evenly with the rice. Turn off heat.

Remove the rice and spread the rice evenly into the line baking tray. Pour chicken stock to the level where the stock covers slightly above the rice. Place the Pandanus leaves in the tray.

Prepare a steaming pot or wok and bring to boil with high heat. Steam the rice for 40 minutes.

Chicken soup - served with the "Chicken Rice"

Serve the chicken rice with hainanese chilli sauce (refer recipe : http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/recipe-ah-mais-special-hainanese-chilli.html, ) minced ginger, black caramel sauce and a bowl of chicken soup.



Hainanese Chilli Sauce that accompanies the Chicken Rice

 Chilli Sauce

To add some flavour into the chilli sauce, take some chicken oil from the steamer plate and mix with the chilli sauce. In addition to that, to enhance the taste, cut finely some fresh calamondin (limau kasturi) skin and mix it together as well. This makes a perfect chilli sauce to dip with the steamed chicken and eat with the rice.

The most rewarding moment for me is seeing my family enjoying eating my “Hainanese chicken rice” and  receiving praise by my father in law (a Hainanese) that I cook the best “Hainanese chicken rice”.

"Ayam Goreng Berempah" - Fried Chicken with Spices

Ayam goreng berempah daun kari

“Fried Chicken with Spices” or better known as “Ayam Goreng Berempah” in the Malay Language is a very popular dish in Malaysia. It goes well with rice, in particular “Nasi lemak”. Please find below my recipe for making “Ayam Goreng Berempah”.

Ingredients

2 kg of chicken pieces
5 shallots
4 cloves garlic
4cm ginger
½ tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander powder
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp meat curry powder
2 strings of curry leaves (optional)
2 ½ tsp of salt
1 tsp sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp corn flour
Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Pound shallots, ginger, garlic, coriander seeds and cumin seeds.

In a bowl, mix the pounded ingredients with cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric and meat curry powder, salt, sugar, eggs and corn flour.

Mix well and leave the marinated chicken overnight so that all the flavour will absorb into the meat.

Heat oil on a pan and deep fry until chicken is cook and turns golden brown. Drain the fried chicken on the kitchen towel.

Heat up 2 tsp of the leftover frying oil with small flame fire and fry the curry leaves until crispy. Turn off the fire flame. Return the chicken into the pan and mix it together.

My kids love it, I hope you do too.

Recipe -Ah Mai's special Hainanese Chilli Sauce

Ah Mai's Hainanese Chilli Sauce

Our beloved "Ah Mai" who taught me the special recipe - "Hainanese Chilli Sauce"

Today I am going to share with you a traditional family recipe that has been handed down through many generations. I am indeed honoured and privileged to learn this recipe from my husband’s late aunty who was fondly known as “Ah Mai” (aunty in Hainanese dialect). The recipe is making the special Hainanese chilli sauce that goes really well with the “Hainanese Chicken Rice”. Ah Mai told me that “Hainanese Chicken Rice” is not complete without the special chilli sauce. She shared with me the ingredients and the technique in making this special sauce. I have tried it many times and find it  really good.

Ingredients

600 gm of fresh red chillies
5 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of fresh Calamondin juice or lime juice

Procedure

Wash and remove the seeds from the fresh chillies. Blend together with garlic and ginger.

Once blended, pour into a bowl. Mix well with salt, soy sauce and calamondin juice. Taste it and if it is too spicy add a little bit of sugar to suite your taste. Put into a bottle and keep in the refrigerator. You may serve as a dip or eat with the “Hainanese Chicken Rice”.

This article is dedicated to Ah Mai who left us last year. She is dearly missed but never forgotten. Having this “Hainanese chilli sauce” will always remind us of her sense of humour and her caring nature.

Recipe - Stewed Shiitake Mushroom

Stewed shiitake mushroom (Mrs Lee's recipe)

Today, I am going to share with you a recipe for making stewed shiitake mushroom. This is one of the best stewed mushroom dishes that I have ever tasted. This recipe comes from my husband’s good friend, Mrs Elizabeth Lee who cooked and gave us this delicious stewed shiitake mushroom in Kuala Lumpur many years ago. Last year, she came to Sydney for a visit and stayed with us a few days. While she was here she taught me how to cook this delicious dish. I am indeed fortunate to learn from her in making this dish.

Stewed shiitake mushroom

 Ingredients A

100 gm shiitake mushroom
3  cloves garlic
3  slices ginger
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark caramel sauce
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp corn flour
6 dates
1 litre water

Ingredients B

2 tbsp Soy sauce
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Oyster sauce
1 tsp Olive oil
Kei chi (goji berries or wolfberries)

Procedure

Soak mushroom for an hour in tap water.
Remove the stems.

Bring a pot to boil. Put in the mushroom and let it boil for a minute. Sieve the mushroom, set it aside and throw the water.

Cut garlic into big slice pieces.
Cut each slice ginger into 3 thick long pieces. Slightly crush the ginger.

Boil a pot of 1 litre water. Add in all ingredients A. Bring to boil.

Simmer it with medium frame fire until the water level reaches half.

Put in ingredients B and simmer again in small frame fire for half an hour.

Taste and once you are satisfied, ready to serve. You can eat it as a dish or as a side dish.

Food Review at Manta Restaurant, Woolloomooloo

Beautiful view from the restaurant

Today’s food review takes us to Manta Seafood Restaurant at 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, NSW 2011. The restaurant is located along the wharf overlooking the beautiful skyline of Sydney CBD with the beautiful yachts docked at the wharf and the sea breeze blowing gently onto our face. This is a fine dining restaurant, therefore our expectations on the quality and presentation of the food are high.

"Classic" baked spanner crab lasagne

We started our lunch with the Manta “classic” baked spanner crab lasagne with shellfish reduction and chervil as starter. It is stated in the menu that this dish is meant to be shared. Well, it is also interesting to note that this dish is listed under the heading “Small” which we take it to mean that portions under this category are meant to be starters or entrees. When the crab lasagne was placed on the table, we could see that the portion was definitely small and it was just enough for us (there were 3 of us in this dining experience) to have one bite each. The crab lasagne is very rich and it is meant to be savoured slowly to appreciate the sweetness of the crab meat together with the chervil and the sauce which was lightly poured by the waiter when it was served. We would give this dish a 7/10 for its quality, taste and presentation.

The King Trout

Our first main was the king trout with crispy skin, celeriac puree, herb gnocchi, Alaskan king crab meat, green peas, shaved brussels sprouts and lemon butter. It is stated in the menu that the king trout was aqua-farmed and came from Gouldburn River in the state of Victoria. The trout was moist and well cooked. However, the “crispy skin” was a let down. It was more “chewy” rather than “crispy”. The celeriac puree gave the trout a nice balance in flavour. We would rate this 7/10 for its quality and taste. As for presentation, we would rate it 8/10.

King George Whiting

Our second main was the King George Whiting, pan-fried sourdough crumbed fillets, kipfler potatoes, preserved lemon, aioli and cornichons (savoury pickled cucumber). The menu states that the whitings come from Kangaroo Island in South Australia and was line caught. We must say that the whiting was fresh however when pan-fried, it changed the texture of the fish and became a bit too dry for our liking. The aioli together with the cornichons complement the whiting but we found that it did not bring justice to the flavour of the fish. We would rate this dish 6/10 for its taste, 7/10 for its quality and 6/10 for a very simple presentation of the dish.

Grilled King Prawns

Our third main was the whole grilled king prawns with parsley, garlic and extract virgin olive oil. The king prawns were fresh and succulent. The grilled parsley, garlic and extract virgin olive oil complements and bring out the beautiful flavour in the prawns. Amongst all the mains, we love the king prawns. We would rate this dish a high 9/10 for its taste and quality and 8/10 for its presentation.

"Angel" chips with truffle oil

We also ordered a side order of Manta “angel” chips with truffle oil and parmesan. The chips or fries were cooked well and tasty. We would rate this side order a 8/10.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience at Manta Restaurant, we enjoyed the ambient of watching the skyline of Sydney CBD in the background and the waterfront in the foreground. The service was attentive as well as prompt. Like in any fine dining restaurant, expect to pay premium prices for the food and service.