u m a m i

Coco yum yummy

 
I ate many of these babies when I was in KL. They're store-bought coconut buns, so ubiquitous nobody really gives them a second thought but not me, I love them.

The bread itself is not important, it is usually soft with a thin peelable crust, serving only to protect the filling of a crack-like coconut paste made by cooking down white coconut flesh with sugar until everything becomes chewy and candylike. Sometimes the coconut is cooked with brown palm sugar which makes it just as irresistible. 

Easter break 2009

It was lovely meeting to be back home with family and friends, but seeing husband and the dogs again is even better, we have missed each other a lot. Absence does makes the heart grow fonder- husband surprised us at the airport by announcing that we will all go for a short seaside vacation this week. V is actually in the middle of her Easter break and I have no job to take leave from, so, let's go!

Manwhile, the blogging break continues, I will try to resume postings when the spring term starts.

Ways with purple potatoes

I am still in KL, recovering from a severe viral attack- full works of headache, fever, coughs, sore throat and nasal congestin. There is only about a week left to enjoy the food here, so posting will continue to be sporadic. Here we have some dishes made from purple potatoes I cooked way back in February.

Googling for recipes for purple potatoes will inevitably throw up salads which in our household is never a popular thing during winter. What I did was to stir-fry them with some chicken cubes, as one would potatoes, but finishing with a scatter of dried shrimps and rice vinegar to add some interesting contrast, making a dish that would go well with a bowl of steamed white rice.

4-5 little purple potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks

1 Chicken breast or thigh- cut into cubes, seasoned with salt & pepper, a little soy sauce & sesame oil

2 cloves garlic- finely minced

Handful dried shrimp- washed and patted dry

Stock or water

1. Boil the potatoes until 90% cooked. Drain. 

2. Heat up the wok and then 2 tbsp cooking oil to gently fry the dried shrimps until golden and crisp. Scoop out and set aside on some kitchen paper.

3. Clean the wok. Heat it up again and add some oil to stir-fry the garlic before adding the chicken. Return the potatoes to the mixture and toss everything up. Add a cup of stock or water to the wok and bring everything up to a boil and let simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in a teaspoon of rice vinegar at the end.

4. Garnish with fried dried shrimps and chopped scallion greens if available.

These potatoes were quite amenable to roasting as well, so I cut them as finely as I could, parboil them and toss them with some salt, pepper and olive oil before roasting in a hot oven. Not as crispy as the bagged chips one buys in a supermarket, but still delicious and very popular with husband and the child.

Grilled Sole à la Canton

One day I bought a piece of sole. I had intended to steam it whole but found myself asking the fishmonger to descale and fillet the fish. I could still steam them as they were but my daughter has developed a liking for crispy fish skin so an idea came into my head to please both the traditionalist in my husband and feed V's new habit. The fillets were grilled quickly, one piece was set aside for V to enjoy, while the other three pieces were covered with a traditional Cantonese style-soy sauce of aromatic seasonings that was absolutely delicious with steamed rice.

1 Sole- cleaned, descaled

2 tbsp premium soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp sugar

white pepper

2 spring onions- greens chopped in small rings, whites in 1 inch stalks and bulbs cut into 4 longitudinal sections

2 cloves garlic- sliced thinly

1 cm ginger- sliced thinly

2-3 small red chillis- sliced through from stalk to tip, shake to release seeds

1. Just before cooking, pat fish dry and sprinkle some salt on both sides. Lay them on an oiled grill pan and grill for 7 minutes. If the fillets are very long, score the skin before cooking.

2. While fish is cooking, heat a wok or saute pan till hot and pour 1.5 tbsp neutral cooking oil. When oil is hot, add the garlic, ginger, chilli and the bulb and white stems of the spring onion  to let them sizzle and take on some colour but not cook through. The oil will be infused with the flavours of the aromatics. Turn heat off.

3. Mix the soya sauce, sugar, white pepper and sesame oil in a bowl until sugar is dissolved.

4. When fish is done, remove from the grill pan and place on serving dish. Drizzle with the soya sauce mixture and pour the aromatic oil containing all the onions, ginger, chilli and garlic on top. Sprinkle the top with the green parts of the spring onion. 

Variations: Coriander on the top is lovely. Some shavings of lemon on top would not be sniffed at either. Enjoy!