My daddy's Favourite- Kon Lau Mee

My father is orginally from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. This dish comes from that part of Malaysia. Since young my parents will bring us back to my fathers hometown and we would try all of my dad's childhood favourites. And Kon Lau Mee is my favourite among all of them. When you travel to Sarawak, this dish is everywhere. It is a common food for the Sarawakian, and it is serve for all breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not only it is delicious, it is also cheap.

So, when I am here, I meet new friends that come from Sarawak. They introduce me to this place in Thornlie call Kitchen Inn. I went and try. It is really good but of cause it is pretty pricey for something that is as cheap as Aud1 in Malaysia. This is when I started trying my own ways to duplicate this dish. The most important part of this dish is the oil, before the noodle is mixed with all the sauces. The oil is first fried with shallots.

Here is what I use for my own Kon Lau Mee.

Kon Lau Mee, with chicken

Shallots
Oil
Soy Sauce
Vinegar
Salt
Chicken Stock
White Pepper
Egg Noodles

How to make:
1. Deep fried the shallot in oil until turn brown. Put aside.
2. Boil a pot of water.
3. Mix Oil mixture, soy suace, vinegar, chicken stock, white pepper in a bowl.
4. When water is boil, place noodles in and cook until done.
5. Take noodles out with strainer and rinse noodle with water.
6. Place it back in boiled water for a few minutes, then drain water.
7. Put noodles in sauce and mix.
8. Serve with fried chicken, mince pork or anything that seems fit.

Nasi Lemak~

Nasi Lemak, a fragrant rice which is cooked with coconut milk. This is a commonly found dish in Malaysia.  It is something that we often have for breakfast.

I have yet to learn how to cook this dish, therefore I am showing a video which I think is similar to how mu mother makes it at home.

This dish is normally eaten together with sambal prawn, fried chicken, curry chicken, "ayam merah" red chicken and many types of Malay or Indian dish.

After being in perth for a year, I still can't quite find that rich flavoured Nasi Lemak that we normally get in Malaysia.

Here are some brief introduction on Nasi lemak sited from http://suite101.com/article/all-about-nasi-lemak-a324768

Nais Lemak is a traditional and most popular Malay dish in Malaysia. We can find it anywhere around Malaysia. It is also available in the neighbouring country like Brunei Singapore and Thailand. In a direct translation, Nasi Lemak means "Fatty Rice".This dish draw everyone together as it is not only serve in hawker stalls it is also serve in high class restaurants.

The basic nasi lemak contains coconut rice, sambal belacan, roasted peanuts, fried anchovies and slices of cucumber wrapped with banana leaf. It is normally serve for breakfast, but there is surely exceptions. The two most important  things that makes this dish so delicious is the fragrant rice and the sambal.

Since Malaysia is made up of  Malay, Chinese, Indian and more, every race has their own version of the Nasi Lemak. This also makes the Nasi Lemak a very versatile dish. The versatility of the Nasi Lemak means it goes extremely well with many dishes. Some places serve Nasi Lemak with fried eggs, sunny-side up style. Others serve it with hard boiled eggs. The fried anchovies are quite vital to make this dish, but you can mix and match with other fried fishes. It goes well with many traditional dishes from all races.

"The history of Nasi Lemak began when Malaysia was still known as Malaya and locals worked primarily as fishermen and paddy field farmers. In order to preserve energy and have tasty yet delicious meals, the Nasi Lemak was created. Today, all Malaysians are known to have the tendency to drive all over the country in search for the best dish. Just ask a Malaysian the best place to find a particular dish. There will be too many answers and you´ll be spoilt for choice."

Pumpkin Chicken Curry~

Normally, I would make potato chicken curry. However, because my housemate brought a whole pumpkin back home. I will just use it as a replacement, bearing in mind that pumpkin in sweeter then potatoes.

Things you need.
Chicken (Marinated with curry powder, soy sauce 30min)
Pumpkin (Cube)
Curry Powder
Salt
Oil
Garlic
Spices

How to make:
1. Fry the cubed pumpkin until side is crisped. Then put aside.
2. Heat up wok and add oil.
3. Add in Garlic fry til fragrant then add spices and curry powder. 
4. Add in Chicken and fry til chicken is coated with curry powder.
5. Add in water and stir, add extra curry powder if neccessary.
6. Add pumpkin mix well and cover the wok.
7. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Add salt for flavour.
9. Let it simmer a little longer and serve.

Healthy Yet Delicious

While being simply delicious, these vegetables are also reach in nutritional values, apparently 100 grams of Purple Spinach contains 17 grams of protein and 11 grams of Fiber.

Bitter Gourd
Bitter gourd (melon) is perhaps the secret vegetable of the Okinawa Islander longevity! Although the bitterness of Bitter-melon might turn some people away from, it can really sweeten your health because of its disease preventing and health promoting phyto chemical compounds.
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/bitter-gourd.html

Ladyfinger/ Okra
Okra's low calorie count per serving make it an excellent choice for people who are trying to lose or maintain weight. My Pyramid points out that okra and other vegetables have the potential to reduce risks of cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, kidney stones and bone loss as part of a balanced diet.

Eggplant
Eggplant is loaded with vitamins and minerals, but its health benefits extend beyond just adding vital nutrients to a meal. Eggplant contains other compounds that promote good health as well, even to the point of helping to prevent cancer and lowering cholesterol. Once you realize how beneficial eggplant is to your health, you may want to give more consideration to it becoming a regular part of your diet.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/19046-nutritional-benefits-eggplant/#ixzz28FgcNMto

Sin Qua
Sin qua provide only small quantities of vitamins and minerals but they do provide some dietary fibre. Dietary fibre is important to keep the digestive system functioning well.
http://www.ranchmarket.co.id/in-season/sin-qua/

Purple Spinach
Purple passion spinach contains an impressive amount of iron with 10 milligrams per 100-gram serving. This variety of spinach also supplies a good dose of calcium and beta-carotene, an antioxidant. Further, purple passion spinach is a healthy source of magnesium and potassium, two minerals essential for the health of your heart and muscles.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/555791-nutrients-in-purple-passion-spinach/#ixzz28Ff8mQiJ

This is one of my personal favorite, simple yet extraordinary recipes for Bitter Gourd.
Bitter Gourd Stir-fry with 3 kinds of eggs 

Things you need:
- Bitter Gourd (Slices)
- Salted Eggs (Pieces)
- Century Eggs (Pieces)
- Eggs
- Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Oil

How to cook:
1. Mix all 3 types of eggs together.
2. Heat oil in wok, add garlic cook until fragrant.
3. Add bitter gourd and fry until soft.
4. Pour in egg mixture and leave to cook.
5. Stir-fry the eggs until all is set.
6. Add in salt and pepper for taste.
7. Serve.

My very first bundle of joy, CHICKEN RICE!!

Chicken Rice from Tak Chee House

One of the best I've had. Ever since I left home I always miss the taste of good chicken rice, or at least chicken rice that taste like home. Until one day my friend brought me to this shop, Tak Chee House in Northbridge. Beside chicken rice they also have many types of malaysian hawker food there. It is worth a go.

Hence my passion to perfect my chicken rice making skills. 
Here, I want to share the very first dish that I made after leaving home for further studies.

This is my grandmother’s AWESOME chicken rice recipe.

Things you need!

1 Whole Chicken

Rice

Garlic  (blended)

Ginger (blended)

Shallot (blended)

Chicken stalk

Salt

How to make:

1.      Boil the chicken in a pot.

2.      Once chicken is cooked, take it out and rub salt all over.

3.      Leave the soup aside, for later.

4.      Heat up 2 tablespoon of oil in wok.

5.      Add in shallots, garlic and ginger, fry until slightly brown.

6.      Add in uncooked rice, fry until spices are evenly coated.

7.      Turn off the fire and add chicken stalk and mix well.

8.      Put rice mixture in a rice cooker, then add the chicken soup and let it cook.

9.      While rice is cooking, cut the chicken.

10.   Once rice is cooked it is ready to serve.

Extras:

Chili Mixture:

Blend dried chili, ginger, garlic, vinegar, ‘cili padi’, and a bit of sugar.  

The reason behind this blog...

Having to stay apart from family and unable to satisfy my cravings for home cooked food after being here in Perth, I began my journey hunting for Malaysian or Chinese food; hence the start of my blogging journey.

Throughout my life I am surrounded by family members that love making food. My grandmother makes and sells traditional Chinese ‘Kuih’, I have a few family members who are chefs in hotels, and most importantly, my mum owns a restaurant back in Malaysia. Therefore, from a young age I have been getting good and delicious home cooked meals. 

I guess my love for food has come from growing up in a household that are passionate about making and serving wonderful FOOD.  That is why I would ask my mum for recipe and ‘google’ recipe and tries to improve or change it to what I, myself prefer. 

From trial and error, i have perfected some of the dishes that I will share in my future post. Just to give a heads up, my recipe does not have an exact measurement. As my grandmother always say in Malay “agak-agak saja”, means just guessing roughly. 

I have friends that asks recipe for some of the dishes I cook. So, through this blog I can share my food hunting journey and also a way to help friends that misses Malaysian food to find some closure.