Cheesy Tuna Tartlet (Pie Tuna Keju Mini)

 

I love pastry, pie or tart..more to the savory ones...So when the theme for Masbar this month is Tart&Pie, I tried to find a recipe for savory filling. Then I found a recipe of cheesy crab tartlets here. It looks delicious and I decided to try it out. Later I changed my mind and used tuna instead. The result was so yummy..I could not stop eating...

Here is my version of cheesy tuna tartlets to share with all the Indonesian foodies at Masbar.

Ingredients:

24 mini tartlet shells (available frozen at stores)

225g cream cheese, softened

1 can of tuna chunk meat, drained

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

60g grated Cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp thinly sliced green onion

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

bunch of peterselli for garnishing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F and bake the tartlet shells according to the instruction on the packaging. Cool them off and set them aside. Meanwhile,  in a large bowl, mix well cream cheese, tuna, mayo, both cheese, green onion and Worcestershire sauce. Spoon 1tsp of the mixture into the already cool shells. Then bake again at 375F for 15min.

Pecel Lele (Deep Fried Cat Fish with Chili Paste) - IDFB Challenge #1

I have joined a group called Indonesian Foodblogger on Facebook, and every two months they have a challenge that every member can participate and there are prizes to win too! For the very first challenge, they present "Food by Its Country", and here is my entry..

This food reminds me much of my university life in Yogyakarta, where a lot of food hawkers sell this menu around Gadjah Mada University campus. And for sure, this was my favorite menu as a student before and yet today. Here is my version:

Ingredients:
- frozen cat fish, cut or whole, cleaned (available at Asian stores)
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1Tbsp of ground coriander
- salt
- water
- oil for frying

To make sambal/chili paste:
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 4 cloves of shallot

- 1 big red chilly
- 12 chili paddy
- 1 tomato
- 1tsp of shrimp paste, toasted
- 1Tbsp of palm sugar
- salt

- kaffir lime (jeruk limau)
- used frying oil (the remaining after frying the fish)

Directions:

Since I normally bought the fish which was cleaned, I do not need to clean it myself. Make some slits on the side of the body. Mix crushed garlic, coriander, salt and water to marinate the fish in a container. Then marinate the fish in it for at least 30min. Deep fry it in hot oil under medium high heat until brown and crunchy. Drain off the excessed oil with paper towel.

To make chili paste: fry garlic, shallot, chili and tomato for 2-3minutes. Then transfer it into a grinder, I like to use "cobek" (traditional stone grinder). Add shrimp paste, salt and palm sugar and then grind until coarse smooth. Sprinkle some kaffir lime juice over.

Serve with warm steamed rice and some fresh veggies (lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, tomato, long beans, etc). You may add some sweet soy sauce into the chili paste to reduce the spiciness.

Grilled Mackerel in Spicy Coconut Sauce

I am such a lazy blogger...I admit! This one was made in 2010, but it kept in my file for more than a year. The story behind this food...hhmm..let me recall the memory..
I missed my mom's cooking, well as always. She used to make this particular dish using smoked sting ray. While chit-chatting with one of my foodie friends, she mentioned she's made similar dish using eggplant and tempeh. So I checked her blog out and find the recipe. So this recipe was adapted from Pepy's.

Ingredients:
1 big mackerel, cleaned
1 lime
300 ml coconut milk (not too thick not too thin)
3 kaffir lime leaves
salt and sugar to season

Grind into paste:
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot
3 candlenuts, toasted
1/2 tsp terasi (dried shrimp paste), toasted
2 red chillies
3 bird's eye chillies (add more if you like it spicy)
2 cm kencur (also known as kaempferia galangal), I used powder one

Directions:
Sprinkle lime juice and salt all over the fish. Grill it for 20min or until done. Keep it aside.
In a pot, add coconut milk, spices paste, lime leaves, salt and sugar. Simmer for couple minutes until thicken and well mixed.
Place grilled fish on a serving plate. Pour the coconut milk mixture over.

Rolade Siomay (Siu May Rollade)

I was going through my pictures file and found these pictures from year 2009. Wow..it's been 2 years and I have not posted any recipe for it..(what a lazy blogger! oops...). And a former friend from my Uni year, asked me if I could share the recipe with him. So here I am typing the recipe for you all. For me this is a sinful snack, since I luvvv savory (moreover deep fried) snacks..I could not stop munching them when they are there on my table. Just gimme some hot sauce, and I just dip them in and eat them. The kids like to have it with some steamed rice too. It is a variation of siomay and wonton filling.

Ingredients:
Filling:
- 400g shrimp, deveined (you may use other meats too)
- chopped green onion
- 3cm of ginger
- 4 shallot
- 6 garlic
- 1 Tbsp of sugar
- 1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp of fish sauce
- 1 tsp of ground white pepper
- 1 tsp of sesame oil
- 1-2 Tbsp of corn starch (depend on how wet your mixture)

Skin:
- bean curd sheets (I used the fresh/wet one, you may use the dried one and wet it with water)
- egg, lightly beaten
- bread crumbs (I used panko or Japanese bread crumbs)
- frying oil

Directions:
Process all of the ingredients except green onion and corn starch in a food processor until smooth. Place the mixture in a container/mixing bowl, add the green onion and corn starch, mix well. Then take one of the bean curd sheets, spread flat on the table or chopping board. Place 2 Tbsp of the filling along the center of it. And then roll the skin up to form a long cylinder, try to close the edge by pushing in the skin to the cylinder. Do it to all of the filling and skin. Dip the cylinder into beaten egg and then into the bread crumbs. You may do it twice for crunchier result. Deep fry it over medium low heat until crunchy and golden brown.

Mangut Ikan Bandeng Asap (Smoked Milk Fish in Coconut Sauce)

This was one of my childhood menus, which Mom used to cook for us. I really like the combination of smokey aroma and spiciness of it. Normally we used smoke stingray fish, but since it could not be found in Canada, I replaced it with this smoked deboned milk fish.

Ingredients:
- 1 smoked deboned Milk fish, cut into 4
- 1 block medium firm tofu, cut into triangle shapes, fry until half-cooked
- 1 block tempeh, cut into triangle shapes, fry until golden brown
- 3 bilimbi, cut into small pieces
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves
- 4cm of galangal, crack it with pestle
- 3 lime leaves
- 10 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 5 cloves of shallot
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 6 candle nuts
- 1 tsp of shrimp paste
- 1 tsp of ground turmeric
- 1 can of coconut milk
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying and saute
- 700mL of water

In a chopper, chop chili, onion, garlic, candle nuts and shrimp paste until smooth. Saute it with a little bit of oil in a pan for 2minutes. Then transfer it into boiling water in a pot. Add bay leaves, lime leaves, galangal and ground turmeric. Continue to cook until boiling again. Add fried tofu, tempeh, and bilimbi. Add coconut milk and adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Stir it while cooking. At last add the smoked fish and continue to cook for another 2minutes.
Serve warm with steamed rice.

Clam Chowder

We went to the Maritime (New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia) for our honeymoon in July 2006. Other than beautiful scenery, as you expected, seafood were abundantly served over there. We enjoyed the cold and hot served lobster and we luvvv this particular clam chowder, to be honest with you, it was my first encounter with this thick seafood soup. I have been wanting to make it on my own after, but just happened almost end of last year (notice the printed year on the picture). I got the recipe from here claimed as the best clam chowder. The verdict? Not bad..but not as yummy as what we had during our honeymoon, or we were just so happy at that time and food would taste the yummiest!

Ingredients:

- 3 can minced clams
- 1 cup minced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cups cubed potatoes
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 quart half-and-half cream
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (I omit this one, since I didnt have it)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil. Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, season with salt and pepper.

A bonus picture of us having lobster for dinner. Now I'm drooling....aren't you?

Grilled Mixed-Mini Seafood - Christmas Count Down

I intended to put "mini" on the title of this post..yes..when I said just grilled mixed seafood the other day, one of my friends said "wow..it's luxury"..he might have thought bout lobster, salmon, king crab, or any other giant-expensive seafood...Too bad, none of those cooked this time. I just purchased the mixed cut seafood, the one with small-tiny-little creatures...But don't worry, it still taste heavenly when you know what to put with and how to cook.
So we are just 3 x 24h away from Christmas..and this should be good for dinner.

Ingredients:
- 2 packages of mixed seafood
- 1 lime
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil for sauteing
- 6 cloves of garlic, grated
- 4cm of ginger, grated
- 70g of crushed baked peanut (I like it smooth)
- 1 Tbsp of ketchup/tomato sauce
- 1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
- 4 Tbsp of Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- 1 Tbsp of fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp of brown sugar
- 1 tsp of ground white pepper
- 100ml water

Directions:
Sprinkle lime juice over the seafood and let it stand for 15min. Saute grated garlic and ginger with a little bit oil until fragrant. Add crushed peanuts and the rest of the ingredients, except the seafood. Mix it well and continue to cook until boiling. Add the seafood and stir. Continue to cook for 3min. Take out all of the seafood (do not discard the sauce) and place them on a baking tray. Broil them for 10-15min until done. Continue to cook the sauce until boiling again and serve it as a side dish.

Deep Fried Shrimp ala Bie Fong Tong - CSN Giveaway and Indonesia Eats Cook-Up

I am pleased to be invited to join the event of CSN Giveaway and Indonesia Eats Cook-Up by its own wonderful host and dear friend Pepy. And I am lucky to be able to join this special event (many foodie bloggers do not reside in US and Canada thus not eligible to join). I admire her blog which is rich with information and knowledge of foods. And it is with a pleasant heart I follow one of her recipes. My choice went for deep fried shrimp ala Bie Fong Tong.
Enjoy this super duper garlicky deep fried shrimp..I sneezed a lot when stir-frying the chili, but it paid off when eating it...hmmm...yummm...
I also want to share this recipe and picture for the event of Masbar, the theme for this month is seafood. Oh..and..HAPPY FALL SEASON!


Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, but leave the tails on
ground white pepper
seasalt
1 egg, beat until peaks
100 g corn starch
3 bird eyes chillies, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, bruised, to stir fry
vegetable oil

Sprinkle
200 g or 3-4 bulbs of garlic, chopped
1 green onion, finely sliced

Directions:
Bie Fong Tong style fried garlic for sprinkle
1. Clean and drain off the chopped garlic, sun-dried the garlic to reduce the moist (I used the oven to dry off).
2. Bake the garlic with a small amount of oil or deep fry until crispy and golden brown.
3. Garlic ready to use as Bie Fong Tong seasoning

Deep Fried Shrimp ala Bie Fong Tong
1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the shrimp, combine.
2. Sprinkle with a small amount of corn starch, combine.
3. Add beaten egg, combine.
4. Coat the shrimp with the rest of cornstrach.
5. Deep-fry the shrimp until golden brown. Set aside.
6. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir fry the bruised garlic and bird eyes chillies until fragrant. Add the deep-fried shrimp, stir. Add fried chopped garlic, green onion, black pepper and salt, stir. Remove from heat and serve.

Pepes Udang-Tahu (Grilled Steamed Seasoned Shrimp and Tofu)

Shrimp is one of our favorite foods. For us, cooked with anything, it always tastes great. So when the Masbar event announced that this month theme is Shrimp for Indonesian Dishes, I was literally leaping in joy. Well, you may know that I have skipped this event for two months, so I think this is the time to get back to it. This time, I chose to prepare the shrimp through 3 steps, seasoning, steaming and grilling. Yes it took time, but the taste was superb.

Ingredients:
- 800g headless shrimp (too lazy to discard the skin)
- 3 block of medium firm tofu, mashed
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 6 cloves of shallot
- 15 chili paddy or bird's eye chili (adjust to your preference)
- 6 candle nuts
- 2 stalk of lemon grass
- 5 lime leaves
- 5 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1tsp of shrimp paste
- 1tsp of turmeric powder
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- 1Tbsp of palm sugar
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 3 green onion, chopped
- 1 tomato
- salt
- sugar
- banana leaves and toothpicks for wrapping

Directions:
Blend all of the ingredients except shrimp, tofu, lime leaves, bay leaves and green onion in a blender until smooth. Pour it in a big container and add lime leaves, bay leaves, green onion and mashed tofu and mix it well. Add the shrimp and mix it well again. Place 3-4Tbsp of the mixture in a piece of banana leaf and wrap it (cylinder-like) and seal it with toothpick. Do it for all of the mixture. Steam it for 40minutes. Then place them on an aluminum pan or other oven dish and grill it for 15minutes for each side. Serve it warm with steamed rice.

Sate Udang (Prawn on Skewer)

As it is the last day of the month, I guess I should post my entry for the Masbar event. This month theme is "Aneka Sate Nusantara". There are whole range of satay in Indonesia using various meat/main ingredients and different spices. My pick goes to prawn on skewer.

Ingredients:
- Prawns
- 1 lemon
- 5cloves of small red onion/shallot
- 8cloves of garlic
- 2stalk of lemon grass, cut into 1cm in length for easy grinding
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 4 lime leaves
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 5 candle nuts
- 1tsp of shrimp paste (Indonesian-terasi)
- 1/2 block of palm sugar
- 1Tbsp of granulated brown sugar
- 100ml water
- salt

Directions:
Drizzle some lemon juice all over the prawn. Let it immersed for 10minutes. Then grind all of the remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth. Marinate the prawn with the smooth seasoning for 20minutes. Arrange them on skewer, 4 prawns for each. Grilled it on bbq grilling until done for both sides. Serve it with warm steamed rice and fresh vegetable salad.

Padangese Style Spicy Seafood (Seafood Saos Padang)

My husband does not really love seafood...well he can eat them, not as much as his love for meat. However, he loves spicy food. Why not making some spicy seafood, so he can enjoy much? And I was right...he loves this dish to bone...

Ingredients:
- 500g seafood medley
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 4 cloves of shallot
- 4cm of ginger
- 6 bird's eye chili
- 2 green onion, chopped
- 1Tbsp of tomato sauce/ketchup
- 3Tbsp of Indonesian hot sauce
- lime
- oil for sauteeing
- salt and sugar

Directions:
Drizzle some lime juice over the seafood mix and let it stand for 10minutes. In a blender/chopper, crush the garlic, shallot, chili and ginger until smooth. Then sauteeing it with a little bit of oil in a wok until fragrant. Add the seafood and stir. Cook for 4minutes and then add tomato and hot sauce. Continue to cook for another 4minutes. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. At last add the green onion and turn off the heat. Serve it with warm steamed rice.

Kering Teri Pete (Spicy Anchovy with Sator) - My Hatred and My Husband's Love

Call me a devoted wife...yes...as much as I hate the smell, the taste and the after eating smell, my husband loves it..I was still willing to cook it for him. Almost 3 week ago I cooked this dish for him and the smell stayed in our house for about 2days...(hated it!). For you who does not know how bad the smell of sator is, let me explain it...when you consume this sator-also known as stink bean, you will smell something funny when you urinating. These edible beans produce peculiar smell similar to methane gas.
Okay, enough about the hatred part, let's talk about the love part...Many Indonesian loves to have sator in certain dishes. According to wikipedia, they are best when combined with other strong flavoured foods such as garlic, chile peppers, and dried shrimp, as in "sambal petai" or added to a Thai curry such as Thai Green Curry of Duck. Spicy anchovy with sator is one of perfect matches.

Ingredients:
- 400g of dried anchovy, deep fry it until brown and crispy
- 150g of sator
- 8cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 4cloves of shallot, chop thinly
- 100ml of Sambal Oelek
- 4Tbsp of brown sugar
- 4 lime leaves
- oil for sauteeing

Directions:
In a wok, saute chopped shallot and garlic with a little bit of oil until fragrant and crispy. Add sator and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add Sambal Oelek and stir while cooking until boiling. Add brown sugar and stir and cook until changed color to brownish. Add lime leaves and then add fried anchovy and stir it well. Serve it with steamed rice and veggie dish.

Tom Yum Goong (Thai Prawn Soup with Lemongrass)

Since having a new site, the event of Indonesian foodie blogger masak bareng yuuk has been having pooling for the monthly theme. And to open the year of 2009 the pooling result is tom yum goong, Thai prawn soup with lemongrass. This soup is one of the main signature dishes of Thai and it has well-blended hot and sour flavor. To make it from scratch really freaks me out...so I just made it using instant seasoning available at Asian stores and added some fresh seasoning.

Ingredients:
- 400g of medium sized prawn, peel of the shell but leave the tails
- 10 fish balls, cut into 4 each
- 200g of mushroom, cut in half
- 3Tbsp of Tom Yum Goong instant seasoning
- 1stalk of lemongrass, cut into 5cm in length
- 4cm of galangal, cut into 4
- 5 kafir lime leaves
- 4Tbsp of fish sauce
- salt
- sugar
- water
- bunch of cilantro or coriander leaves

Directions:
Boil water in a pot (app. 1.5L), then add instant seasoning, lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves, stir it well. Add fish sauce and adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Add mushroom and continue to cook for 2minutes. Add prawn and cook for another 2minutes. Do not overcook.
To serve, place the soup in a bowl and then garnish it with cilantro.

Spicy Grilled Silver Pomfret (Ikan Bawal Bakar Pedas)

My husband and I really like silver pomfret fish, especially when it is grilled. Two weeks ago when doing some shopping at an Asian store I found these fish at good price. Thus I bought some and cooked them the next day. Here is my special recipe...

Ingredients:
- 6 silver pomfret fish, clean up the stomach cavity and make several cut on each side of the body
- 1 lime
- 5cloves of small red onion
- 8cloves of garlic
- 2 lemon grass, cut into 1cm in length for easy grinding
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 4 lime leaves
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 6 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1 tomato
- 5 candle nuts
- 100ml water
- salt
- sugar

Directions:
Clean up the fish and drizzle some lime juice all over it. Let it immersed for 10minutes. Then grind all of the remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth. Fill up the stomach cavity with the smooth seasoning and put some all over the body as well. Place the fish on an aluminum pan and grill them for 45minutes at 350F. Flip it over on the mid way.
Serve it with warm steamed rice and fresh vegetable such as cucumber, tomato or lettuce.

Pempek Palembang (Palembang Fish Dumpling with Sour Sauce)

I got some fish paste in the freezer and decided to make this traditional fish dumpling from Palembang. Found the recipe here. It turned out to be too liquidy when I followed exactly every thing in the recipe. It may because I used frozen fish paste which already been added with some other ingredients like potato starch and salt, whilst the original recipe uses fresh fish meat. Fortunately I still managed to safe the dough even though I was not able to form good shapes with hands, so I just used spoon. Anyway, next time I should consider to reduce the amount of water that I use to make it.

Ingredients:
- 50gr all purpose flour
- 500ml water
- 2 cloves of garlic, crush
- 500gr of fish meat/fish paste
- 3tsp of salt
- 2tsp of sugar
- 350gr of tapioca flour
- 2.5lt of water for boiling
- 1Tbsp of vegetable oil

To make sauce:
- 50gr tamarind
- 150gr of palm sugar
- 700ml of water
- chili paddy/bird's eye chili, crush (as much as you like)
- fermented cabbage/tongcai ( I skipped this one)
- 1clove of garlic, crush
- 3Tbsp of dried shrimp/ebi

Side dishes:
- egg noodle, boil and drain
- freshly cut cucumber

Directions:
Mix well flour, water and crush garlic in a pot and then bring it to boil and stir it constantly until thicken. Put it aside and let it cool. Add fish paste, salt, sugar and tapioca flour and mix it well until it does not stick. Form shapes as you like (cylinders, balls, etc.).
Prepare a pot filled with water for boiling the dough. Add the vegetable oil in the boiling water. Boil the dough which has been shaped in that pot. Once it is floating, take it out and place it in a container. Then deep fry the boiled dough with frying oil until golden brown.
To make the sauce, boil tamarind, water and palm sugar. Add crushed chili, garlic and dried shrimp. Continue to cook until boiling again.
To serve, cut the fried pempek and place it in a plate. Add noodle and cut cucumber at side and then pour the sauce over.

Batakese Seasoned Tilapia (Arsik Ikan) - Apology

Last Thursday I cooked this Batakese meal for my husband to bring for lunch at work. Normally people added long beans, but since I did not find any long beans at Asian store, I just added haricot beans instead. You can find the recipe here, I have posted it before.
These days I can not sit in front of the computer for a longer period of time, since my due date is approaching. Therefore I apologize for any inconvenience I've created by posting short writing. I am still trying to update my blog as time and my condition permit. Thank you!

Fish Fritter (Perkedel Ikan)

This is what happened if you did not apply the knowledge you have... *grin*...it happened for me though...
Well, I studied food technology before, even I taught this subject for 2years...I know it very well that frozen food can not be frozen back if it has been thawed completely, since the sharp ice crystals would ruin the texture of the food.
Last week, I bought a pack of Pollock fish fillet and defrosted it when I got home, thought that I would have enough time to battered fry it later on that day. However it did not happen the way I expected...I did not have enough time and energy that day and I needed to keep the fish back in my fridge...After 2 days, I still did not make time to fry it. Worrying of the fish might gone bad, I put it back to the freezer...even though I knew that it was not a good idea.
So after another 2 days, I made my time to fry it...And as I thought so, the fish became so fragile, the fish fiber all cut off short by the sharp ice crystals, so the fish crumble into small pieces when I battered it with bread crumbs...oh dear...
Well, after some minutes of pondering...I just decided to make fritters...I did not want to throw the fish in a garbage, coz the fish was still good, it's only the texture that was ruined. So here is the accidentally became fish fritter recipe...

Ingredients:
- 6 pieces of Pollock fish fillet
- 1 egg
- 2 green onion, chop thinly
- 3Tbsp of bread crumbs
- 1Tbsp of tapioca flour
- 1Tbsp of rice flour
- water as needed
- 1Tbsp of ground coriander
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- salt
- oil for frying

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, mix well all of the ingredients except the frying oil. Add some water as need to make good consistency of dough. Using two spoon, make balls out of the dough and then deep fry it with hot oil under medium high heat until golden brown.

Pecel Lele (Deep Fried Cat Fish with Chili Paste)

I used to have this meal when I was going to a university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It was sold on street stalls. Normally they do not only sell it, they also sell deep fried chicken, pigeon, etc. Last week I was craving for it and decided to prepare it myself.

Ingredients:
- frozen cat fish (available at Asian stores)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1Tbsp of ground coriander
- salt
- water
- oil for frying

To make sambal/chili paste:
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3 cloves of small red onion
- 12 chili paddy
- 1 tomato
- 1tsp of shrimp paste
- 1Tbsp of palm sugar
- salt
- frying oil



Directions:
I like to buy cat fish which was cleaned before, so I do not need to clean it myself. In a chopper, crush garlic until smooth and then transfer it into a big container. Add coriander, salt and water (app. 250ml) and mix it well. Marinate the fish in it at least for 30minutes (you may make a shallow cut on its stomach, so that the spice will immerse quickly).
Deep fry it in hot oil under medium high heat until brown and crunchy.
To make chili paste: place all of the ingredients in a microwaveable bowl and microwave it for 2min. Then transfer it into a chopper and crush until smooth.
Eat it with warm steam rice and some fresh veggies. You may add some sweet soy sauce into the sambal if you like.

Crab Omelet with Tomato Sauce (Fuyunghai)

I had a good school friend coming from Australia last week. He spent 2 whole days in Edmonton just to pay a visit for my family. On the first day, we picked him up to go for dinner at a Malaysian restaurant closed to his hotel. Then on the second day, I invited him to come over to our place for dinner. Since I did not have enough time to prepare fancy meals, I just bought 3 kinds of Chinese meals consist of tofu, mushroom and chicken and prepare one more meal and dessert. For the meal, I chose to make this omelet, since I had all the ingredients on stock and it does not take much time to prepare.

Ingredients:
To make the omelet:
- 2 can of crab meat, discard the water
- 5 egg
- 1 carrot, peel off the skin and shred it thinly
- 1/4 can of sweet green peas, discard the water
- salt
- pepper
- sugar
- oil for frying

To make sauce:
- 1 carrot, peel of the skin and shred it thinly
- 3/4 can of sweet green peas, discard the water
- 1 onion, chop thinly
- 1 tomato, cut into 12
- 2Tbsp of tomato paste
- 2cm of ginger, slice it thinly
- 1Tbsp of fish sauce
- 1Tbsp of oyster sauce
- salt
- sugar
- 1Tbsp of maizena or corn flour, dilute it with a little bit of water
- water
- oil for saute



Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients except oil, in a mixing bowl. Beat the eggs well. Then fry it with a little bit of oil and flip it over until both sides are done. Keep it aside.
In a pan, saute chopped onion with a little bit of oil until fragrant. Add ginger and tomato and continue to saute until the tomato becomes soft. Add some water (app. 200ml), fish sauce and oyster sauce, stir and cook until boiling. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Add shredded carrot and green peas and cook for 2minutes. Add the corn flour mix and stir it instantly until you get thick consistency.
To serve, place the omelet on a serving plate and then pour the sauce on top. Eat it with warm steam rice.

Siomay Bandung

After getting everything set up in our new apartment, we invited some friends to come over for a housewarming. We did it two weeks ago on Sunday afternoon. I cooked this siomay Bandung and my husband cooked fried noodle. One of the guests said that she had not had siomay for two years, she was so happy that I served it on that day..and I am happy it's all gone in a blink of eye..(even though I had to face some complaining neighbors for the loud noise that we made that day...).

Ingredients:
- 800gr of fish paste (you may use other meat too)
- 800gr of shrimp, discard the shell, head and tail
- wonton skin, available frozen in Asian store
- 3 bitter melon, cut into half lengthy, then cut again 5cm in length and discard the seeds. To minimize the bitterness, soak in salted water for at least 20min
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 4 cloves of small red onion
- 3 green onion, chop thinly
- 3Tbsp of fish sauce
- 3Tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1Tbsp of sugar
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- 3Tbsp of corn starch



Side dishes:
- 6 boiled eggs, discard the shells and cut into 4 each
- 4 blocks of tofu, cut into 8 triangle pieces each and steam
- 20 small red washed potato, boil
- cabbage, cut into small pieces, steam
- peanut sauce/dressing, see the recipe here
- sweet soy sauce
- hot chili sauce
- lime juice

Directions:
In a chopper or food processor, put garlic, onion and shrimp and then process it until smooth. Transfer it in a mixing bowl and add ground pork, mix it well. Add the rest of the ingredients, except bitter melon and wonton skins, mix it really well (remember to add the corn starch the last). If you think the mixture is too dry, add fish sauce, do not add water. If it is too dry, add corn starch.
To make the siomay, using a teaspoon, take one teaspoon of the mixture at a time and place it in the middle of the wonton skin. Then fold the skin up to form a sack and pinch the side of it using fingers, let the top of it opened to air contact. Do it again and again for half of the mixture. Use the other half to fill the bitter melon. Steam all of them for 30-45minutes.
To serve, arrange some of the siomay, bitter melon, potato, tofu, cabbage, and egg in a plate. Then pour the peanut dressing on top. Add sweet soy sauce and hot sauce as you wish. Drizzle the lime juice over.