Cheesy Macaroni Beef Casserole

Ingredients:

500g ground beef

1 yellow onion ~ diced

2 garlic ~ minced

2 tbsp AP flour

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

15oz can crush tomatoes

Mac & Cheese ~ recipe here

Other

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Directions/Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
2. Cook the mac & cheese recipe here
3. In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute for about 5 mins then add in the minced garlic and saute for a min longer.
4. Stir in the ground beef, chili powder, salt, and black pepper and cook until the meat has browned.  Drain any excess fat from the pan.
5. Sprinkle 2 tbsp flour over the meat and cook for a min or two.  Add in the tomatoes and simmer on low.  The sauce will start to thicken a bit as it cooks.
6. Pour half of the cooked mac & cheese, layered with the meat mixture and last add the remaining cooked mac & cheese in the casserole dish.
7. Sprinkle 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs on top and bake for about 20-25 mins or until turns golden brown.  Sprinkle the casserole with chopped fresh parsley before serving. Enjoy!

Traditional Lontong aka Rice Cake

Ingredients:

3 cups Jasmine Rice ~ washed & drained

Banana Leaves

Lontong cylinder

Directions/Instructions:

1. Clean the banana leaves, and cut the shape of the cylinder mold.  Warm them up a little on an open fire briefly (This helps the banana leaves stay soft and avoid cracking)
2. Roll each leaf into a cylinder and fill out half the cylinder with the rice. (Eg. If the cylinder is 20cm roll in length, fill up the rice below half of 20cm, which is about 10cm)  Continue until use up all the rice.
3. Prepare a big pot of water and bring it to a boil, add some salt.  Place the lontong cylinder inside the pot.  Cover the lid and let it boil for 30 mins over medium heat.  Off the heat and let it sit for another 30 mins, do not remove the lid.
4. After 30 mins, make sure all the lontong cylinders submerge in the water.  Cover the lid and bring to a boil for another 30 mins over medium heat.  Off the heat again and let it sit for another 30 mins.  Repeat this process together 3x.
5. Once done, remove them from the water and let them cool for about an hour or more before opening remove the lontong from the cylinder.

Ayam Masak Madu ala Mamak Style

Ingredients:

1kg whole chicken ~ cut 8-12 pcs

Handful Curry leaves

1 stalk lemongrass ~ bruised

5 Dates fruit ~ blend

1 tbsp curry powder

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp chili sauce

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1/2 orange juice

1 tsp vinegar

8 tbsp honey

2 tbsp palm sugar

Marinade

2 tbsp garlic ginger paste

1 tbsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp salt

Blended

1 large red onion

2 shallots

4 garlic

2" ginger

Directions/Instructions:

1. Marinade the chicken piece for 30 mins.  In a shallow pan, fry the chicken and set aside.
2. Heat 5 tbsp cooking oil and 1 tbsp Ghee over medium heat in a wok.  Saute the spices with bruised lemongrass and curry leaves for about 2 mins.
3. Then add the blended ingredients and continue to saute until fragrant or the oil breaks out.
4. Add the curry powder and chili powder, and continue to stir for another 2 mins to mix well.
5. Next, add the tomato sauce, chili sauce, blended dates, orange juice, vinegar, honey, and palm sugar.  Stir it well and bring it to a boil.
6. Once it is boiling, add salt to taste and 1/3 cup cornflour (1 tbsp with 1/3 cup of water) solution and cook to thicken the gravy.  Let it simmer for another 5 mins.
7. Lastly, add in the cooked chicken and coat the gravy evenly and cook for another 5 mins over low heat.

Lapis Sisik Ikan aka Fish Scale Layered Cake

Ingredients (A)

150g fine sugar

450g margarine/butter

1 tbsp Emulsifier/ovalette

(B)

10 egg yolks

6 egg whites

100g condensed milk

180g seri kaya

1 tsp vanilla

(C)

100g Horlicks

260g Pau flour/Hongkong Flour

1/2 cup ice-cold water

Other

Haw flakes

Directions/Instructions:

1. In a stand mixer, beat all the ingredients (A) until fluffy with maximum speed for 10 mins.
2. Add the ingredients (B) one by one while beating at the same speed.
3. Reduce the speed, and add the ingredients (C) so that it is just mixed.
4. Apply a little margarine on the surface of the square pan (size 8x8x3) and cover with parchment paper.
5. Weight the mixture batter of 140g into the pan and spread it with a spoon so it is evenly thick bake in the preheated oven at 170 deg C, middle of the rack, top/bottom for 10 mins or till the top layer turns golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven, move the rack to one level up, change to top fire, and prepare for the next layer same weight batter.  Repeat for 3 first layers.
7. For the 4th layer, after spooning the mixture and smoothing it, insert the Haw Flakes in an inclined position into the layer (until it slightly sinks into the 3rd layer) to make sure it can stay in the position and bake.
8. Repeat steps 3 layers again and before adding the 4th layer of batter,  use the cake pressor to press down the Haw Flakes in one direction. Make sure to mark where the Haw Flakes were and press one direction.  Bake every layer at the same temperature for 8-10 mins.
9. Continue to repeat each 4 layered with Haw Flakes till finish the batter.  At the end of the layer, move the rack to the middle and change the fire to top/bottom and bake for 15-20 mins overall.

Cantonese Steamed Fish

Ingredients:

2-3 (500g) Cod Fillets

Sauce

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese wine

2 tsp black vinegar

1 tbsp rock sugar

3 coriander root

1 tsp chicken stock powder

1 cup water

Garnish

3" ginger ~ sliced thinly

Scallion ~ sliced thinly

Directions/Instructions:

1. Sprinkle CodFish with salt on both sides and cure for 10 mins
2. Place sauce ingredients in a pot and simmer for 15 mins
3. Wash away salt, and pat dry.
4. Add Chinese wine to both sides of the fish and place on a plate for steaming for 8 mins.
5. Remove excess water from the steaming fish.  Drizzle the sauce around the fish, not directly onto it.
6. Place sliced ginger and the white part of the scallion on top of the fish.  Then heat oil and drizzle over the ginger and scallion
7. Top with chopped spring onion.  Enjoy!

Bangka Legit Lapis aka Lapis Susu Bangka

Ingredients:

20 egg yolk

14 egg white

400g Margarine

100g Butter

400g powdered sugar/icing powder

100g milk powder

100g condensed milk

200g AP flour

1 tsp vanilla powder

Directions/Instructions:

1. Beat the margarine, butter, and sugar until soft and fluffy for about 10 mins on speed 3-4
2. Slowly add the egg yolk one at a time till finish.
3. While the mixer is in slow mode, add the condensed milk, milk powder, vanilla powder, and flour.  Mix well and set aside.
4. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add the egg white batter to the butter mixture.  Mix well using a spatula.
5. Prepare a 9x9 inch baking pan, grease only the bottom with butter then layered with parchment paper.
6. 1st layer, weigh 180g, and pour the batter into the pan.  Flatten the batter with a spoon until it is evenly distributed.
7. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C using a top-bottom temperature and bake for about 8 min.  After it's hot, change the temperature setting to the top position only with a temperature of 160 deg C.
8. Bake the 1st layer in the oven for 8 mins or until golden yellow and then removed from the oven.  Press the top layer with the cake pressor, 
9. The second layer and subsequent layers use the same weight.  For the last layer, change the temperature to 180 deg C using a top-bottom and bake for 15-20 mins overall.
10. Remove from the oven and let the cake rest in the tin until it is cool down completely.  Before removing the cake from the pan, give a little shake until the edges of the cake do not stick to the pan.

Gulai Ayam Nanas (Indonesia Style)

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken ~ 12 pcs

200g cube pineapple or fresh pineapple

300ml coconut milk

150ml water

1 lemongrass ~ bruise

2 kaffir lime leaves

2 bay leaves

1 turmeric leaves

1" galangal ~ bruise

1 tbsp seasoning powder

Salt & sugar to taste

Grind/Blend

6-7 red chilies ~ deseeded

4 shallots

2 cloves garlic

1" ginger

1" turmeric

2 candlenuts

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp ground white pepper powder

Directions/Instructions:

1. In a wok, saute the grind spices until fragrant and cook till oil breaks out.
2. Add turmeric leaves, lime leaves, bay leaves, lemongrass, and galangal.  Stir until fragrant and wilted
3. Then add the chicken pieces, and cook until the chicken changes color for about 5-10 mins over medium heat.
4. Add half of the coconut milk, water, chicken seasoning powder, salt, and sugar.  Cook until the chicken is cooked.
5. Lastly, add the pineapple cube and the remaining coconut milk.  Cook until the gravy is slightly thick, remove, and serve with steamed white rice.

Fried Chicken ~ Mamak Style

Ingredients:

1 packet of Chicken wings

2-3 stalk curry leaves

300g cornstarch

3 tbsp rice flour

2 eggs

1 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tbsp fennel powder

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp seasoning powder

1 tbsp lime/lemon juice

1-2 tsp salt

Blended

2" ginger

5 cloves garlic

1 large red onion/5 shallots

Directions/Instructions:

1. Clean the chicken and pat dry.  Set aside
2. In a large bowl, add the blended ingredients and all the other ingredients together.  Add water bit by bit.  The batter should be like tempura, not too thick or running.
3. Then add the chicken wings pieces and marinade for an hour or overnight.
4. In a big wok, heat oil over medium at 190 deg C. Fries the chicken wings for about 10-12 minutes.  Drain the fried chicken wings on a paper towel and enjoy!

Note:

If you want the chicken to be red like Indian style, you can add a little food color - orange and red and mix the batter well.

Nasi Minyak Kenduri

Ingredients:

3 cup Basmathi rice ~ rinse, soak for 30 mins & drain

2 cups Evaporate milk

2-1/4 cup water

1 cube chicken knorr

2 tbsp cooking oil

2 screwpine leaves (pandan) ~ knot

1 cinnamon stick

1-star anise

2 cardamom

Blend

1 large red onion

5 clove garlic

1" ginger

Directions/Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium and add the blended ingredients with cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom, and screwpine leave.  Saute till fragrance.
2. Then add in the Evaporate milk, chicken knorr, and salt to taste.  Let it cook for 1-2 mins.
3. Transfer the mixture to the rice cooker and add the water.  Give it a stir, press the button, and let it cook as usual.