Yummy Tu Tu

One of my top sweet cravings whenever I'm home for a short visit ~ Malay's version of Kueh Tu Tu but sadly its getting harder to locate such stalls in my motherland. Least its not as commonly available as it used to be when I was a kiddo. Singapore's version of Tu Tu Kueh can never satisfy me coz they JUST aren't tasty enough.

I was so excited when I spotted my tu-tus; tuck away in a corner while I was snacking away at the pasar malam in Cameron Highland that I can't help but snapped a shot of it (since someday they may extinct & my photo may become priceless erm I mean precious!). These are made of rice flour + gula melaka stuffing (palm sugar) with the round flat ones called Putu Piring, the above - Putu Bambu and the flat yellow kind is Putu Piring Kuning.

Ahhh...up to this point I'm truely craving for it now but grrrr there is no way of making dream come true in this faraway land. To make it worse, the indian's Putu Mayam is flashing in my head right now. Help!

Hookay. Enough said! I shall have a nose in my fridge......

* Gathered from search engines to save u from imagining *

Drooling,
Juanie

F1 Sunday Night

Menu: Homey Noodle Soup
Mood: “Tell me why! I don’t like MoOndaysss.”
Delish rating: 98%

Somehow, my weekend felt longer than usual. Didn’t have to work last Saturday, was out the whole time running errands and preparing for Kel’s Hawaii and our Tokyo trip.

You will be surprised how much stuff we need to buy just to go away for some time! I.e. luggage bag, transformer plug, camera memory card, memory card reader, just to mention a few..

By the time Sunday night came, we just wanted to stay in to watch F1 on TV – bracing ourselves for the new week to come.

With the success of previous noodle soup using chicken meat, I have used minced pork this time for a variation. In fact, I like using mince pork better, makes the soup sweeter than it already is! You may also add in fish slices for a wholesome meal.



Vital Ingredients:

Chicken stock cube (even better make own stock!) . carrot chunks . tomato chunks . dried scallops . ginger sliced . garlic cloves skinned . chicken or mince pork . vege of choice . noodle of choice

Marinate Mince Pork:

Soya sauce . sesame oil . fried shallots oil . pepper . cornstarch

Cook it:

Throw in all ingredients (except vege, egg & noodles) into boiling water. Cook for 30 mins or until carrot and scallops are soft, add in salt to taste.

Stir in beaten eggs and wait till cooked. Throw in vege and cover until half cooked. Put in noodles and once ready, serve hot.

Serve:

Sprinkle on fried shallots and shallots oil. Enjoy!

This soup formula is my mum’s recipe. Ginger and garlic is the key ingredient to this stock. If time permits, boil the chicken stock from chicken bones and meat for best taste.



Special mention to my noodle of choice: Soya Bean noodle (hokkien: dau chiam) is my current lurve~ It looks like ‘ban mian’ but it has smoother texture and extremely easy to cook. Unfortunately, it is not widely available. I bought my supply in Malacca! Mummy told us the good soya bean noodles are home made and dried, only sold in Msia small towns.


Warm love,
Starningblue

Oil Splatters

Menu: Onion Pork Chop Rice
DVD Playing: Pride n Prejudice
Delish rating: 60%

I planned for pork chop days before, went to the supermarket bought chops for this. I knew I need thinner chops but alas, supermarket not the best place for alternatives!

Turned out so-so. The marinating played its part to make up for the lack of flavour in the onion-tomato sauce gravy.

The thing about thick chops is the variable cooking time. I had to estimate the time pan-frying it, being careful not to blacken the outside or overcook the inside. Kel’s chop was not so cooked on the thicker meat side but he wanted to eat it anyway. *love rules – I can give him raw and he will gobble*

Another comment was rice and broccoli too dry, I should have made some sauce or gravy to make it more flavourful.

Anywayz, I think it was a good try for first time (still in denial). Next attempt should be Vietnamese pork chops, will buy thinner chops and make gravy!

If anyone tries out this recipe, let me know if you have any variations to make this taste better!

Vital Ingredients:

250 gm boneless pork chops . 1 small onion shreddedMarinade:1 tbsp light soy sauce . 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine . 1/8 tspn salt . 1/2 tspn sugar . 1/2 tbsp corn flour . a dash of sesame oil and pepperSeasoning:3 tbsp water . 1/2 tbsp tomato ketchup . 1 tspn light soy sauce . 2 tspn sugar . 1/2 tspn Worcestershire sauce

Cook it:

Start with dry chops, tenderize chops with the back of a chopper and blend in marinade. Leave for 15 minutes or more.Heat 3-4 tbsp oil to fry pork chops till both sides are golden. Set aside.Heat 2 tbsp oil and stir fry onion until light brown. Pour in seasoning. Put in chops and stir fry till sauce thickens.

Serve:

Best with warm rice and fried egg.

Warm love,
Starningblue

No Hassle starters

 
Cooked large prawns, cooled.
Mix with a dash of everything:
Parsley. Olive oil. Lemon Juice. Crack black pepper. Salt. Garlic puree.
Let it rest in the fridge. Serve cold.

 
Green & red olives. Sundried tomatoes. Parsley. Basil. Balsamic vinegar. Grill aubergine & red/yellow bell pepper. Olive oil. [Bay leave & Feta optional]
Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated, the longer the better.

Drooling,
Juanie

Egg Tarts é Portugese way

 Hot pipping creamy custart tarts not from Macau but from where it originates - Belém, a historic town in Lisbon [Portugal]... Here they called it the Belém Tart or Pastéis de Belém, tastes best warm! Can u imagine having custard ozzing out your mouth...ahhh simply sensational.

I specifically had mine at Casa Pastéis de Belém purely because they are the very first pastry shop opened since 1837 selling these tarts; who up till now still kept their ancient secret recipe! Mind you this bustling shop is ever so packed with people that you'll need to be quick to spot a table or join in the long queue for takeaways. Don't worry if you can't make it to this shop coz there are always other options since bakeries selling Portg' tarts are scattered everywhere.

...As for my preferences since ~ I'm in lurveee with puff pastry Portugese style than the short crust type.

Its worth! Its delicioso!

Drooling,

Juanie

Simple Joy

Cupcakes like this doesn’t appear on my work station everyday, just the sight of it makes me happy. You can imagine me ogling at pretty cupcakes at the shop window, most often I won’t buy it for myself though. Who bears tearing the ribbon apart then sink teeth in such a pretty tart?

It was given to Kel by a colleague, I didn’t eventually eat this cupcake myself.. My neighbour Patrick, was so famished I couldn’t even utter “savour gracefully” and the cupcake was gone!

Nah~ cupcakes are too sweet for me. Nevertheless, I have pictures to remember my pretty cupcake.

Warm love,
Starningblue

Aloha!

How spontaneous is this? I don't call myself a creative person but ideas pop into my head at odd times, some I can think of them as realistic, some ideas others tell me im crazy, some ideas I can do it now!

Moment of confession: Im bored. Therefore I daydream.

Whilst thinking of my dinner tonite, I think of the joy in feeding others my cooks and wait anticipatingly what reactions come out of them. Mind you, Im not a fantastic cook! It really depends on my 'feel' that day and my mood determines if I will make the best out of my ingredients.

Back to what I was doing, I was thinking about cooking, thinking about my menu, thinking about Tina sharing tips with me... Taddaaa! I then have this idea to create a space where we can all have a piece of each other at our favourite pastime - Eat.

Okay, my potential contributors are not informed of my lightbulb inspiration yet but if they don't come around this idea, I can still share my own culinary path in self-discovery. *smirks*

Besides that, we can chat about eateries we've been to, travel food and such.

I sincerely hope this is the place you can seek food refuge in the chaos of lost crowds who do not appreciate good stuff.

Thank you for being the first readers here, keep in touch!


Warm love,
Starningblue