LONTONG EMAK

Nasi Impit and Kuah Lodeh

Special day with special dish, this is my favorite ...lontong or Nasi Impit with Kual Lodeh. Nasi Impit is rice cooked compressed in heat proof small sized plastic pillows, which can be bought easily in supermarket nowadays. Plastic pillows filled with rice cook in boiling water till the pillows become hard filled with cooked compressed rice. Let it cool and cut into cubes ready to serve with gravy and other dish.

During old days, Nasi Impit was cooked traditionally and it was complicated... believe me... Rice was cooked with excess water to make it softer. The cook rice will be placed in a box specially made by wooden planks, place the wooden cover and weigh with traditional pounder made by stone which is heavy enough to compress the rice. When the rice is cooled and hard enough, cut into cubes to serve. It's not easy right? But now practically convenient and time saving ... This is how it got the name 'Impit' ...means pressed, the cooked rice was 'Impit' .... Thanks to food technology research and development. This is why we have to appreciate those people before us, for their knowledge and their effort.. It's because of them for who we are now... Appreciate the history for the benefit of our technology .... This is how Japanese educate their young generations to produce more history lovers and advanced in technology development.

This is how I see them during my stay in Tokyo few years back. In the city itself buildings standing tall and hi-tech but they themselves standing proud with their pride and culture, there is the beauty of history through the years.

But you don't know how much I missed this Nasi Impit and Kuah Lodeh when I was in Tokyo, It was during Aidil Adha and I was so much craving for it....
Kuah Lodeh is a dish made from coconut milk with vegetables and beancurds. Cabbage, carrot and long beans shredded, beancurd and tempe cut into small pieces and deep fried. Mix those ingredients into the yellow coconut gravy. Served well with peanut sauce, a bit spicy but just nice with milky coconut gravy. Lovely !

Masak Lodeh :

Cabbage

Long beans

Carrots

Beancurds

Tempe (fermented soya beans cake)

250 grams Coconut milk

Turmeric powder

2 Chilies

2 onions

5 garlics

Tamarind peel

Sugar and salt

• Blend chili, onion and garlic.
• Coconut milk, turmeric powder and water bring to boil.
• Add in blended ingredients.
• Add in tamarind peel, salt and sugar to taste.
• Add in shredded vegetables and deep fried beancurds and tempe.
• Ready to serve.

HAPPY HOLIDAY

American Chocolate Cake

Still on holiday, everybody is here except for two of my brothers back in Kuala Lumpur working. Ya, when I woke up it's a beautiful morning and surely it's a beautiful day... I woke up with a sleepy smiley face being surrounded with beautiful smiles. Shara serenade me with a beautiful song 'Run to you' and keep on repeating the same song over and over again. I was caught between the lyrics, IT'S BEAUTIFUL.... a song by Lady Antebellum. It's true when the time passing by, what we see around is the world turned changing, sometimes life gets harder, people going crazy and problems getting ugly... so what you need is a someone to rely on, I can't be alone, you can't be alone too, nobody can be alone...!!!

Ya, everybody needs somebody to run to ... that's how we play by the rules here, it's written there... So, that tells why I run ... we run and you run too... YEAH ...for now I have all these beautiful faces right before my eyes... the loves of my life... even the world out there is going crazy ... I am still glad that I have another day to be embraced by hugs and kisses.

For this wonderful holiday and for the love of chocolates, I made this delicious American Chocolate Cake. Moist chocolate cake layered with smooth chocolate spread, the chocolate spread was prepared earlier. It was cooked with a double boiler and let cooled for half an hour till the sauce become a little thick and poured cover around the whole cake. Sprinkle some thousands on the cake and it is just beautiful for a beautiful day... May everybody around the world have a beautiful day as well, loving is believing ...

Chocolate spread :

100 grams chocolate compound

100 ml milk

1 teaspoon cornflour

1 teaspoon butter

ORANGE BUTTER CAKE

How to make orange butter cake ....

Ingredients preparation ahead from baking process or 'mise en place'. All ingredients weighted in the right amount and set aside. Sieve flour, baking powder and milk powder. Leavening agent or any kind of ingredients in powder form need to be sieved in order to get a smooth texture of flour and powder.

Place butter and castor sugar in mixing bowl and cream mixture with K beater in a medium speed for about 10 mins. The mixture will turn out white in color due to the mixing of milk and fat comes from butter.

Separate egg yolk from white and set aside separately, use hand gently to hold egg yolk and place in other bowl. Use another mixing bowl for egg white and during separation process avoid water, egg yolk or any alien ingredients from the mixture. Egg white meringue might not be fluffy and airy if mixed with other liquid. Mixing bowl need to be wiped clean before use.


Butter and sugar mixture turn a little pale in color, so add in egg yolk little at a time. This is to avoid cream and yolk to curdle and yolk will be separated from cream if not mixed properly. After a little mix of egg yolk let it beat for awhile till the mixture is well mixed then only continue pouring little more of egg yolk.

In another mixing bowl, place egg white and beat with whisker till fluffy and medium stiff . Beat with medium high speed till meringue become airy.


Add in cream mixture in egg white meringue a little at a time and let it well mixed.

Next, add in sieved flour and mix well too. In baking process, dry ingredients will be mixed with creamed ingredients before adding in liquid, procedure has to be in the proper steps to avoid mixture to curdle.

Add in squeezed orange juice, the taste will differ in the using of additive flavor such as emulco and essence. Natural flavor is more tasty and smells better.

Zest orange peel, avoid the white meat of the orange peel. It's bitter, zest the outer part which is orange in color only. Mix in orange zest into the batter slowly fold with spatula and don't over beat the batter.


Cut parchment paper in appropriate size to the mould of the baking tin. Place parchment paper at the bottom of the tin.

Weight the cake mixture in a good amount for each tin, divide into same quantity for each of the tins. Scoop mixture with spatula into the tins not more than 3 quarter metric of the tin to avoid mixture from over spill.

For loaf size butter cake, bake in 180 C for 30 mins and rotate the tins after 1st half to allow cake to bake evenly. Cake will turn less soggy after 1st half of baking, rotate the tins and bake till cake is well cooked. Use metal tester or wooden stick to check, no more batter or uncooked mixture sticked to the tester indicates that the cake is done.

Orange Butter Cake

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 orange
• 3 eggs

Enjoying my Aidil Adha celebration with family back in Jitra, well my mom ordered for orange butter cakes. Ya... I I BOSS ...I love butter cake... we love butter cake ...mmmm... mmmm... who doesn't ????

So, I believed sharing is the way of describing the significant of Aidil Adha.. Today, I am happy to share the recipe and method of baking this tasty Orange Butter Cake ... To those pilgrimages in Mekah, May be granted with a 'mabruh hajj' and safe journey ... Happy holiday everybody and Good Luck...!!!

BALIK KAMPUNG TREAT

Sour Curry Fish

I am in Jitra for now, seems like I have left Kuala Lumpur yesterday with a full sack of sweet, sour and bitter taste of life from an extraordinary story ....the beautiful things is I am just an ordinary human being. Can you see how great the life is...??? WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD... OH YEAH... And another great thing is, I left Kuala Lumpur for the crave of mom's cooking... That's what I am looking forward.... 6 1/2 hours journey isn't a problem to me when it comes to mom's food. The first thing I will do after hopping off the car, run into the kitchen and start stuffing my mouth with mom's cooking... BELIEVE IT OR NOT...!
Ya... the 6 and 1/2 hours journey on the bus, really testing my patience and also made me thinking deeply into certain matters. It was making me headache actually plus my hungry tummy crying, I purposely made myself hungry so that I can eat more when I reach home... Greedy CT hahahaha....
And my waiting was so satisfying .... As I opened the lid, It was Ikan Masak Asam Pedas or Sour Curry Fish ...Warm rice with splash of sweet dark soya sauce and fresh cut cucumber. Nothing can compromise that...!!!!

Ikan Masak Asam Pedas

Ingredients :
1/2 kilo cut Mackerel
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Galangal
Turmeric powder
Lemongrass
Dried Chilies
Shrimp paste
Tamarind juice
Kafir lime leaves
Salt and sugar
Cooking oil

• Blend dried chillies, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric powder, galangal and shrimp paste.
• Heat oil and add in blended ingredients and crushed lemongrass.
  
• Saute till brown and add in tamarind juice.
• Add in fish, salt and sugar to taste.
• Not too long and add in kafir leaves.
• Ready to serve.
  

THIRST QUENCHER PART II

Healthy Juice

It's examination week for Donut, need plenty of rest to avoid stress and not to forget a balance diet to remain being healthy. She is quite busy with some revision on her studies and last minute briefing by the teachers. Compare to my time before, the test wasn't that difficult ...Now, the questions are much advanced and the level of understanding among students is at the point that can be proud of... Wow, the questions are incredibly difficult ...I wonder how hard she has been focusing on the studies, anyway I know that she is giving her best shot and I always be by her side to give full support no matter what.
The weather is quite hot, rained late in the evening but the temperature ain't cool. I can't avoid headache because of the heat, I need to get some cold drink to quench the thirst. "Let's make healthy fruit juice, we have a lots of fruits in the refrigerator right? Jojo can you please get mami some lime from the back yard darling?" ..............

Oriental sunrise :

Star fruit
Cucumber
Dragon fruit
Limes
Pineapple cordial
Sugar syrup

• Blend all ingredients together and add ice cubes
• Ready to serve
  

FILIPINO BREAKFAST

Filipino Salt Bread

Pan De Sal came from Spanish origin, it's rounded lean bread made of basic ingredients flour, fat, water, eggs, yeast, salt and sugar ...A very popular bakery product in Philippines, so simple but so tasty ...My last visit in Manila, every morning I shall go to market to buy some groceries for our lunch and dinner. It was such a great experience when you need to ride few transportation to get to your destination where actually just about 5 km away ...from home we walked, during that particular month the weather was quite beautiful ...almost the end of December, it was only about 22C and cloudy ....hardly sweat cause it pretty cool to walk in this perfect weather, so walking for 10-15 mins wasn't that bad for a quick work out every morning. Then we ride on motor bike, the funny thing was ...there were 3 of us ... me, Allan and the rider himself ...COOL hah ??? But that is the norm in Manila, after the ride we hop-in jeepney ...Took about 7 mins to reach the market. It was such a great memories riding in the colourful jeepneys full with passengers along the busiest road in Manila, more fun when you have to jump from one ride to another. While in the market, you can see such beautiful fresh colourful vegetables and fruits ...Green spinach, fragrant melon and fresh milk fish ...wasn't that a perfect menu for the lunch?? Indeed ...At the end of other corner, I saw people in a long queue right in front of a small bakery shop ...It was a small shop with 1 double tier gas oven and 2 working tables, the only things for sale were pandesal but believe me they have more customers than Roti Boy in KLCC ...I tried the bread myself, curious with how does it taste ...Is it that tasty as it's look ...And guess what??? It was so good, and sure you want to go for more. Every morning, as I passed by and like the norm ...people queue in front of the small bakery shop just to buy their breakfast, everyday with regular customers... This lean dough rolled into long log called baston and cut into small pieces, rolled into bread crumbs before going into oven. The bread crumbs gives a unique taste especially when serve warm with scramble eggs and cheese, don't forget black coffee with milk ...a perfect day start with a perfect breakfast .... I tried myself here at home, wasn't that bad but still can't get the right texture ...maybe will be almost perfect after several attempts, practice make perfect I believe ...There's always next time and I shall make it better ...BAKE WITH LOVE