Mana Hilang 2.6 Bintang - Amirudin Hizadin

Curry Mee Recipe

I just tried the recipe below and it tastes good. If you like spicy food this is for you.

Serving: 4-6 people


Ingredients:
Blend together:
8 shallots(bawang merah)
3 cloves of garlic
2 stalks lemongrass
1cm fresh tumeric
12 dried chillies



100ml cooking oil
salt to taste
2tbsp curry powder
200ml thick coconut milk
300ml second coconut milk
tauhu pok
300g prawns, chicken or even fish
a rice bowl of fish ball and fish cakes
noodles of your choice-blanched
bean sprouts-blanched
spring onion-sliced finely
Method:

1. Heat up the bowl of oil in a large pot and pour in the blended ingredients when the oil is hot. Add the curry powder, salt and let it simmer until the oil resurfaces again.

2. Add the coconut milk-both thick and second milk- and let the gravy cook until it simmers.

3. Add the prawns, chicken or fish or all three if you like and the other ingredients.

4. Once the prawns are cooked, take the gravy off the fire and ladle it over the yellow noodles or the rice noodles or even rice vermicelli, bean sprouts and sprinkle it with spring onions before tucking in.

Good tips on baking bread

I like the tips on baking bread as given below'

Bread in four basic steps

September 08, 2014

By DON YONG

FOR me, there are not many flavours or aromas that are as wonderful as freshly baked bread. My childhood has been filled with wonderful and happy memories of tasting piping hot bread, pastries and cakes from my parents’ bakery (Weng Lock Confectionery) in Petaling Jaya since 1966 when I was just a little boy.

Even today after half a century of eating bread, I still have a great passion for making bread. The joy of seeing the golden loaves emerging from the oven is beyond description, not to mention the beautiful aroma that fills my nostrils and brings tears of joy to my eyes.

The ultimate joy is, of course, the tasting of the baked bread. There is a sense of joy and achievement at the end despite the laborious work and long hours toiling in the kitchen. This is the true meaning of real passion.

Baking is both an art and a science. You need to have a passion for baking as the process can take many hours and the result may not be what you expected. In order to bake a good loaf of bread, you need to learn the fundamentals of baking.

In order for you to bake a good loaf of bread, you need to learn the fundamentals of baking.

1. Mixing

The most important one  is, of course, the understanding of the steps in the bread-making process together with knowledge of the functions of the ingredients. With this knowledge in hand, you can produce any type of bread that you desire. The four basic ingredients in making bread are flour, yeast, water and salt. Other ingredients like sugar, butter and eggs are added to enrich the bread, making it softer and also to taste better.

All bread-making processes start with mixing. The importance of dough mixing has been overlooked by many. Personally, I feel this is the most important step in bread-making. Let’s look at the function of mixing.

Mixing is the kneading of the dough by hand or machine. The objective is to develop the dough to form a thin translucent film that does not break when stretched out thinly with both hands.

During the dough development, protein glutenin and gliadin in the flour comes into contact with water when kneaded together to form a three-dimensional network called gluten, which is both elastic and extensible.

This transformation is necessary for the dough so that during proofing of the bread, the gluten structure in the dough is able to stretch to its maximum volume without breaking when the yeast starts to ferment and produce carbon dioxide gas to leaven and aerate the dough prior to baking.

This is analogous to changing the structure of the gluten from one that resembles a basketball which is not elastic or extensible to that of a balloon that is very elastic and extensible. This is the beginning of making a good loaf of bread.

In Malaysia, due to the hot weather throughout the year, it is necessary to use ice cold water to make bread. This is because during the kneading process, the dough rubs against the dough hook and the mixing bowl creating a lot of friction which heats up the dough. This will give rise to warm and sticky dough that is difficult to develop and manipulate. The result is a loaf of bread with poor volume and texture. Often inexperienced bakers do not add enough water during dough mixing. This will also result in a loaf with poor texture and volume.

2. Fermentation

The second important step in bread-making is the process called fermentation. After the dough is mixed, it is left in a warm place in the kitchen (27 °C) to ferment until it doubles in volume. During fermentation, the yeast cells start to consume sugar and release carbon dioxide gas which helps to aerate the dough, at the same time it produces acids and alcohol. The acid and alcohol eventually react and forms ester. The esters are aromatic compounds that give rise to the nice aromas of baked bread.

During fermentation the dough rises to double its volume. During this maturation period, the gluten strands begin to rejoin and become more extensible and elastic as the dough rises to double its volume. This will normally take from one to three hours at room temperature depending on the amount of yeast used in the formulation. When the dough is fully-matured, it will have maximum elasticity and extensibility.

The next step would be to divide and roll the dough into small balls. After rolling the dough, the dough is rested for 15 minutes before it is moulded into a cylindrical shape and placed in the baking tin.

3. Proofing

It is important that the dough is placed in a warm place with humidity of about 85% for proofing.

Proofing the dough is next. The dough is placed in a warm place (30 – 37 °C) for it to rise in the tin. It is important that the dough is placed in a warm place with humidity of about 85%. A dry place will cause a skin to form on the dough and prevent maximum expansion.

You can improvise by placing it in a large container with a tight-fitting lid, placing the tins on a tray which is raised a few inches and the container filled with hot water.  The dough should at least double in size before you can bake. This will take from one – two hours.

The finger indentation test is the best way to check when the dough is fully proofed and ready for baking. You simply press the dough lightly with your finger and the dough should spring back very slowly to its original position.

4. Baking

Baking is the most critical step in bread-making. Baking time and temperature are inter- related and they are dependent on several factors such as sugar content, size and density of the fully-proofed dough.  If the dough is high in sugar, large in size and very dense, then the baking temperature must be lowered and the baking time extended.

In the last decade, a lot of people have started to bake bread at home. The reason is because it is hard to find a loaf of bread that is wholesome, healthy and free of many additives and preservatives that are unhealthy.

Also, consuming wholegrain bread and multigrain bread containing lots of fiber and minerals can help us attain good health. This is in addition to consuming lots of fruits and vegetables. Everyone knows that excess sugar intake is bad for our health, so we should try to avoid eating sugar-rich food.

You can make a great tasting loaf of bread that is sugar-free and has a low Glycemic Index. The taste is amazing when you have it fresh from the oven with a dollop of butter and nothing else.

Here’s a Wholemeal Walnut Bread for you to try at home.

Good luck and happy baking!

Don Yong is the chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Baking. He is also a master-baker, author and a self-confessed pastry lover.

If you have decided to start baking and do not know where to start, why not attend one of our baking workshops. The baking workshops are conducted by Don Yong. For details, go to www.kuali.com/bakewithkuali/.

Ingredients

• 830 g bread flour High Protein Flour
• 145 g wheat bran / oat bran / rice bran/ barley bran
• 25 g wheat germ toasted
• 16 g instant active dry yeast
• 20 g salt
• 10 g milk powder
• 60 g eggs
• 660 g cold water
• 30 g butter
• 300 g chopped walnuts

  Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients except walnuts on slow speed for 1 minute.
  2. Continue to knead on medium speed for 15 - 20 minutes until dough is fully developed. Add walnuts and mix for 1 minute on slow speed.
  3. Mould the dough into a round ball and place in a container. Ferment in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours until dough doubles in size.
  4. Divide dough into 6 pieces for full recipe and 3 pieces for half recipe.
  5. Round up and rest dough for 10 minutes.
  6. Roll out the dough until the length is 3 times the width. Immediately make a three-fold. Turn dough 900 and roll again.
  7. Mould dough into a Swiss roll shape and place into small tins which are 2 ½ times the size of the dough.
  8. Prove in a warm place (30 - 370C) for 1 – 2 hours until the dough reaches the top of the tin.
  9. Bake at 230 degrees Celcius for 25 minutes.

Mamak Mee Goreng Recipe

Recipe by Rohani Jelani & Photography by Law Soo Pye

Mamak Mee Goreng Recipe

Sauce mixture:

2 Tbsp tomato ketchup

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup (60 ml) water

Remaining ingredients:

2 Tbsp oil

1 medium size onion, cut into thin wedges

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 Tbsp ready-bought chilli paste

1 small tomato (60 g), cut into wedges

2 firm tofu, pre-fried and cut into 3 cm pieces

60 g cabagge, coarsely sliced

100 g mustard greens (cut into 4 cm lengths, stalks & leaves separated)

2 eggs

Additional ½ tbsp oil

200 g fresh “yellow noodles”, rinsed & drained in a colander

150 g beansprouts (1 ½ cups)

Garnish:

2 green chillies, sliced

2 stalks spring onion, sliced

2 tbsp crisp fried shallots

3 calamansi limes, halved

Method:

1. Stir together ingredients for sauce mixture in a small bowl and set aside. Heat oil in a wok and fry onion and garlic over high heat for 3 minutes. Add chilli paste, fry another 3 minutes before adding tomato wedges. Cook on high heat till tomato is soft, then add tofu, cabbage and mustard green stalks. Stir-fry a few minutes, sprinkling in 2 – 3 tablespoons of water to create steam.

2. Add noodles and drizzle in half the sauce mixture. Stir-fry on medium heat for 5 – 6 minutes till noodles are tender. Push noodles to the sides of the wok, leaving a roomy cavity in the middle. Heat ½ tablespoon oil in the cavity and crack eggs into it. Stir egg and allow to set before combining with the noodles.

3. Add mustard green leaves, stir-fry on high heat for 2 minutes, before adding the beansprouts and remaining sauce mix. Cook briefly before taking pan off the heat. Serve hot, topped with garnish ingredients

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ayam Percik

Ayam percik is a popular dish usually sold at the pasar malam. Chicken is juicy and succulent and packed with yummy flavours.
It is a surefire crowd pleaser that’s not too difficult to prepare and tastes best grilled over charcoal!
Ingredients

To blend:

5 dried chillies, soaked
2 stalks lemongrass
3cm galangal
2 garlic cloves
8 shallots
1cm fresh turmeric
1cm belacan
2 candlenuts
1kg chicken, quartered
2 cups coconut cream
1 tsp tamarind juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Serves 6
Method

Marinate chicken with the blended ingredients for 1hour. Preheat oven to 180C on the grill setting.
Heat wok over medium flame without oil. Put chicken in for 3mins to tighten up the skin.
Turn off the heat, take out the chicken and place on a grill or an oven pan.
Pour the coconut cream, tamarind juice, sugar and salt in the wok to mix with the marinade left in the wok.
Coat the chicken with some of this mixture and put it in the oven.
Cook for 40mins. Keep cooking down the remainder of the sauce in the wok as the chicken cooks in the oven.
Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken once it’s done.

Note: I recorded the recipe here because Ayam Percik is one of my favorite and I will try making it soon

Roasted Chicken

Spit-roasting was one of the earliest cooking methods. This technique involves placing the food on a rod that is turned either manually or with a motor. The radiant heat, given off by a fire or gas jets, cooks the item in much the same manner as grilling or broiling. Constant turning assures that the food cooks evenly and develops a good crust on all sides.

The tradition of serving roasted and grilled foods on toasted bread or a crouton began when pieces of bread were placed below the cooking food to trap escaping juices. In contemporary kitchens, drip pans are placed under the spit.

Roasting, as it is most commonly practiced today, however, is more similar to baking than it is to the original form of roasting.

Roasted foods are cooked through contact with dry, heated air held in a closed environment - an oven. As the outer layers become heated, the food's natural juices turn to steam and penetrate the food more deeply. The rendered juices, or pan-drippings, are the foundation for sauces prepared while the roast rests.

The flavor and aroma of a roasted food should contribute to an overall sensation of fullness, richness, and depth. This is due in part to the nature of the food and in part to the browning process. They should normally have a rich color, ranging from delicate gold colors to the nearly black color of a perfectly roasted rib of beef. The proper development of color has a direct bearing on the flavor. Items that are too pale lack not only eye appeal but also the depth of flavor associated with properly roasted foods.

Baking is the term associated with most portion-size foods that are cooked according to the techniques outlined here, including pork chops, potatoes, and squash. Still, this is not an ironclad rule. Garlic is roasted, hams are baked, and potatoes cooked in their skins are baked while those peeled and added to the roast's drippings or coated with oil are "oven-roasted".

Smoke-roasting is an adaptation of roasting that allows foods to take on a rich, smoky flavor. The foods cooks in a smoke bath, in a tightly closed roasting pan or smoking setup. This can be done over an open flame or in the oven.

Unlike smoked foods made in traditional charcuterie operations, the food does not have to be brined and cured before smoking. There are limitations and drawbacks, of course. Smoke-roasting does not preserve foods. Any food left too long in the smoke bath can develop an acrid, unappetizing aroma and taste.

Fatt Koh Recipe

2 large eggs

100gm brown sugar

130ml water

150gm palm sugar

2 pandan leaves

130 ml coconut milk

250 gm low protein flour

1 tbsp double action baking powder

Combine palm sugar, water and pandan leaves in a saucepan. Bring to boil to dissolve the sugar.

Strain the syrup and leave aside to cool. Add thick coconut milk.

Beat eggs and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Shift in flour and baking powder.

Stir in palm sugar mixture. Blend well to a smooth batter.

Line paper cups in the small cups. Fill batter to ¾ full.

Steam for 10-20 minutes . (Depending on the size of the cup)

Note: use less sugar if prefer not too sweet. I used self raising flour, so use less double action baking powder.