Ban Jian Kuih (Peanut Pancake)

Ingredients:

• 100 g plain flour
• 25 g rice flour
• 1/8 kan sui (lye water)
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 50g sugar
• 160 ml water

Filling :

• 100 g chopped roasted peanuts}
• 50g castor sugar } mix together
• 2 tbsp Margarine cut into small pieces

Method:
Mix all the ingredients well into a batter and leave aside covered, to rest for at least 30 minutes. Lightly grease a 8-10 inch non-stick frying pan and heat it over a medium low flame. Pour in all the batter and using the base of the scoop/ladle , spread the batter evenly around and to the sides of the pan. Cover pan.
When bubbles are seen on the surface of the half cooked batter, sprinkle a handful of filling over. Spread the pieces of margarine all over the filling. Cover the kuih and cook further for half a minute. Remove the cover and use a flat-bladed knife/spatula to release the sides and bottom of the apam and fold into half. Cool before cutting into wedges.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

• 75 g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 egg white
• 100 castor sugar
• 11/2 tbsp corn oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp pandan paste

Methods:

Cream egg yolks, 70 gm of sugar until it is creamy and thick. Add in sifted flour and baking powder, vanilla essence, coconut milk, corn oil, pandan paste into the egg yolk mixture. Use machine to mix it well.

In a clean dry bowl, beat egg white, remainder 30 gm of sugar, cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until stiff. Mix the eggwhite into the flour mixture and mix it thoroughly and gently using a spatula. Pour into a 20cm chiffon pan and bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 45 mins. (My oven is fan assisted. If conventional oven, bake it at 175C )

When cake is baked, invert it immediately to cool down for about 10 mins. After 10 mins, use a sharp knife to loosen the side and then the bottom to release the cake. Leave it on a wire rack to cool down further.

Lek Tau Th'ng

This is nice to be taken hot or cold.

Ingredients:

• 150g gula melaka
• 1 cup water
• 300g mung beans, soaked for 1 to 2 hours
• 100g castor sugar
• 1.5 liter water
• 2 pandan leaves
• 250ml thick coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method:

Boil gula melaka and water in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved completely. Strain the syrup and set aside. Combine mung beans, sugar and water in a deep pot. Bring to a boil for 20-25 minutes.

Add syrup to the mung beans and simmer over low heat for 20-25 minutes or until the beans are soft and the liquid in the pan is reduced to half. Stir in coconut milk, add the salt and bring to a low boil. Serve this sweet dessert either hot or if preferred, cold.

Acar Hu

Ingredients:

• 200ml vinegar
• 400g sugar
• 600g ikan tenggiri slices
• 1 cup oil

Ground spices:

• 45g coriander seed
• 3 tbsp jintan manis
• 250g shallots
• 150g garlic
• 90g dried chillies
• 11/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 15cm ginger

Ingredients for garnishing:

• 5 green chillies}
• 5 red chillies} seeded and sliced half
• 4cm ginger, sliced finely
• 20g garlic. sliced lenghtwise

Method:

Heat oil and deep fry fish until crispy. Put aside to drain.

Heat oil and saute the ground ingredients until fragrant. Add in vinegar, sugar, ingredients for garnishing and salt to taste.

Add in fried fish. Keep overnight and serve with rice.

Kiam Chye Boey

Whenever you have left over of roast pork or even some roasted duck/chicken, you can always make this kiam chye boey dish which is salted vegetables stewed with leftover meats. It's pretty spicy too and has chillies and tamarind which is boiled for a few hours for the flavours to develop.

Ingredients:

• 400g of fresh mustard vegetable ( Kua Chye in hokkein)
• 1 kg of roast pork. can also use the left over roasted pig head/tail/leg, chop into smaller pieces
• 10 dried chillies
• 1 lemongrass, smashed
• 8 tamarind pieces (asam keping)
• 6 cups of water

Method:

Wash and cut the mustard in to pieces. Do not cut too small as it will be smash up when it is cook.

Put 6 cups of water in a big pot over a high heat. Add all the remaining ingredients and le it boil for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat & boil further for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Jui Hoo Char

Cooking jiu hoo char involves tedious cutting of the ingredients and then another one half hour patiently stir-frying it. This is a Hokkien dish which means fried cuttlefish. It is usually cooked only during major festivals such as the Chinese New Year and for praying to the deceased on the Chinese seventh month and death anniversaries. It also used to be one of the main dishes for wedding eve dinners and wedding day lunch which is now mostly being replaced with buffet for aesthetic purposes and convenience.

A good jiu hoo char must have its sengkuang, carrots, mushrooms and pork sliced into thin layers and then finely shredded, preferably cut by hand with a knife. Those that are processed with a metal shredder would be mushy and not taste as good. It is also important to stir fry the garlic, cuttlefish and onions until fragrant before adding the other ingredients.

Jiu hoo char keeps well. In fact, it tastes even better if kept overnight and then heated again. It is usually cooked enough for a few meals.

Ingredients:

• 600g sengkuang
• 1 medium sized carrots
• 1 large onion
• 4 pips garlic, chopped
• 6 shiitake mushrooms
• 75g shredded dried cuttlefish
• 200g belly pork, skin removed
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method:

Soak mushrooms in 1 cup of hot water for about 30 minutes. Keep the water that mushrooms had been soaking in. Rinse shredded cuttlefish and leave to dry. Cook meat in boiling water and remove. Finely shred sengkuang, carrots, mushrooms and pork. Cut onions into halves and then slice thinly.

Heat oil in wok. Add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add cuttlefish and stir-fry until fragrant. Add onions and pork and stir-fry until fragrant and onions are soft. Add the rest of the shredded ingredients and stir-fry until they become soft and turn a few shades darker. Add salt. Add mushroom water bit by bit, stirring all the time to prevent the vegetables from burning and sticking to the bottom of the wok. Continue stirring until fragrant, the volume of the ingredients reduced by half, which should be approximately one half hour.

Onde Onde

It it also know as Buah Melaka.





Ingredients:

• 250g glutinous rice flour, sifted
• 100g steamed, mashed sweet potatoes
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup boiling hot water
• A few drops pandan paste
• 11/2 cup dessicated coconut,

Filling (combine):

• 100g gula Melaka or palm sugar

Method:

Put sifted glutinous rice flour and pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Add in the mash sweet potatoes. Pour in boiling hot water and pandan paste. If the sweet potatoes is in orange colour, you can omit the pandan paste. Stir well to form a smooth dough. If dough is too stiff, add a little water; if it is too wet, add a little glutinous flour.

Divide dough into small pieces and form lime-size balls. Flatten each piece, put half a teaspoon of filling in the centre and roll again into onde-onde balls.Drop the onde-onde into boiling water. When the balls are cooked they will float. Scoop up the onde-onde with a perforated ladle and toss in grated coconut.

Sambal Udang

This dish is best to eat with nasi lemak.

Ingredients:

• 300g medium-sized prawns, shelled
• 200g petai seeds, skinned
• 3-4 tbsp oil

Ground (combined):

• 5 dried chillies, soaked
• 2 fresh red chillies, seeded
• 4 shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 candlenuts
• 1/4 tsp belacan granules
• 1 tbsp tamarind, soaked in water and squeezed for juice

Seasoning:

• 1/2 tbsp sugar or to taste
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a wok, saute ground ingredients and belacan until aromatic. Put in prawns and cook for three to four minutes. Add ltamarind juice and seasoning. Stir well to mix. Add petai seeds and stir-fry well. Dish out and serve with nasi lemak.

Loh Bak (Pork Roll)

Loh Bak is a mixture of food you can pick which will be quickly deep fried for you as a side dish. You can pick from prawn fritters (her chee), cuttlefish, 100 year old eggs, tau kuah and many more. It comes with 2 dips, a chilly dip and a slimy loh/starch dip.
Loh Bak is normallyserve with 2 type of sauce. A sweet chilly sauce and the other is a sticky starchy sauce call loh, hence the name loh bak where bak means meat.





Ingredients:

• 600g lean pork, cut into strips
• 1 pinch five spice powder
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp corn flour
• 1 tsp soya sauce
• 1 egg yolk (separate white to use as paste for skin)
• 3 pcs tau foo pauy (soya skin), cut into 14cm x 14cm
• 3 shallots, chop finelly
• 6 water chestnuts (can be replace with sengkuang), dices into small little cubes
• enough oil for deep fry

Method:

Mix pork with the spice, sugar, salt, soya sauce,corn flour, egg yolk, water chestnuts and shallots.

Place the pork on a piece of the soya skin and roll and tuck the skin neatly. Apply some of the egg white at the egg so that the skin will stick to the roll.

Heat the oil and deep fry until brown and cook.

Tau Ewe Bak (Soya Sauce Pork)

This is a typical Penang dish. Best to eat the next day.

Serve this dish with sambal belacan

Ingredients:

• 150g sum chan bak, cut into 2cm cubes
• 2-3 pips garlic
• 10 peppercorns
• 11/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp dark sauce
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 3 hard boil eggs, remove shell
• 1 cup water

Method:

Place pork, garlic, peppercorns, sugar, dark sauce and soya sauce in a pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Increase the heat to medium. Add in water and the hard boil eggs. Mix well and bring to boil. Reduce to low heat again and simmer until the pork is tender.

Thab Thim Krob (Thai water chestnuts dessert)

Ingredients:

• 300g water chestnuts, diced

Mix and sift:

• 125g tapioca flour
• 25g corn flour

• 1/4 tsp rose essence
• red colouring

• 1/2 pot of water

• 200ml coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp salt, for the coconut milk

• plenty of ice cubes or crushed ice

To make sugar syrup:
Bring to boil the following and leave to cool:

• 250g sugar
• 150ml water
• 2 or 3 daun pandan leaves, knotted

Garnishing

• nangka, cut into strips

Method:

Bring water to a boil. Put diced water chestnut pieces into a mixing bowl. Add rose essence and red colouring. Toss the coloured water chestnut pieces into the sifted flours.

Shake off any excess flour and drop the water chestnut pieces into the boiling water. Give it a good stir and cook until the pieces floated up. Dish up and soak in ice water, then drain well.

Mix coconut milk with salt and add the cooled syrup. Place the water chestnut pieces into the coconut milk. Garnish with nangka strips. Add plenty of crush ice.

Oh Kuih (Savoury Yam Cake)

Ingredients:

• 250g yam, diced
• 1 cup water

(B) Mix together and sieved:

• 125g rice flour
• 20g tapioca flour
• 1 1/4 tsp five spice powder
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp alkaline water

Seasoning:

• 1 tbsp chicken stock granules
• Salt to taste
• Dash of pepper
• 1/4 tsp sugar

For garnishing:

• 100g dried prawns, soaked and chopped coarsely
• 4 shallots, sliced
• 2 stalks spring onions, chopped
• 2 sprigs Chinese parsley
• 2 red chillies

Chilli sauce (mix till sugar dissolves):

• 10 red chillies, blend in food processor
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp salt
• 2tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp lemon/lime juice (can substitute with vinegar)

Method:

Heat 4 tbsp oil and sauté shallots till crisp. Remove and leave the oil in the wok. Add dried prawns and sauté till fragrant. Remove and set aside 3/4 for garnishing.

Add 2 tbsp oil to the remaining oil in the wok, add yam and stir fry well. Mix in water and bring to a boil. Add in (B) and seasoning and cook till batter is fairly thick. Pour thick batter into a well-greased 25cm round tray.

Steam till kuih is set and cooked through. Leave aside to cool, then garnish and cut into diamond shapes. Serve yam cake with chilli sauce.

Kuih Bingka

Ingredient:

• 450g grated tapioca/cassava
• 1cup of sugar
• 400g pure santan (or 2 grated coconuts), add 1/2 cup of water to it
• 3/4 cups of freshly grated coconut or 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut

Method

Mix grated tapioca, sugar and grated coconut.. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Take out from the microwave & give it a good stir. Put back into the microwave again for another 1 minute. Repeat until the tapioca mixture becomes thick and sticky and quickly transfer to the cake tin. Smooth the surface of the mixture in the tin and puncture it with a satay stick to release the air. Bake in oven at 180º C for 45-50 minutes. . Leave the kuih overnight to set before pouring it out of the mould and cutting.

Pulut Inti

Bunga telang  (blue pea flower) will give a very nice blue colour. As I cannot get any here, I used blue colouring instead.

Ingredients:

• 100g gula melaka
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 250g glutinous rice, washed and soaked for 1hour
• 20 bunga telang(blue pea flower) or a drop or two blue colouring
• 1/2 coconut, grated or 150g desiccated coconut
• 200ml coconut milk
• 2 daun pandan

Method:

Wash blue flower. Blanch in 1 cup hot water and allow to soak for 1 hour. Drain blue water into rice and soak for further 3 hours.

Melt both sugar in water. Sieve. (If you are making the pulut inti with desiccated coconut, soaked the desiccated coconut with the sugar syrup for about 30 minutes). Put the coconut into a non-stick pan together with pandan leaves. Cook till dry. Stirring at all time.

Drain the glutinous rice. Add the santan and steam until cook. Stir well occasionally. Cool the rice.

Serve the rice with the coconut.

Curry Mee

Curry Mee is a dish that is unique to Malaysia, usually made up of thin yellow egg noodles or/and string thin mee hoon (rice vermicelli) with spicy curry soup, coconut milk, and a choice of tau foo pok (dried tau foo), prawns, cuttlefish, and mint leaves. However, what makes Curry Mee is a special chilli/sambal and pig's blood. The pig's blood is usually coagulated, and in cubes, but can be omitted by choice.
This recipe serves 4.



Ingredients:

Blanched in hot water

• 300g mee (yellow noodles)
• 300g mee hoon
• 250g tau geh

• 250g tau foo pok, cut into halves
• 300g cuttlefish, soaked and poached for 1 minute-cut into stripes
• 300g prawns, steamed (liquidised prawns head with 2.5 cups water, boil and seive)
• 250g coockles
• 250g coagulated pig blood, cut into 2 cm cubes, optional
• 2 cups oil

Soup stock:

• 400ml coconut milk ( equivalent to 1 big can)
• 3 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp rock sugar

Ground spice paste:

• 150g shallots
• 8n pips garlic
• 3 tbsp coriander powder
• 4 tbsp ground chilli
• 1 stalk lemongrass, smashed

Chilli oil:

• 5 tbsp ground chilli
• 3 pips garlic
• 1/2 cup oil

Method:

Chilli oil:
Put all the ingredients in a pot. Cook over a low fire until the fragrant arise and the chilli and the oil is well blended. To make a good chilli oil, the oil must not be too hot or else it will not blend properly.

Soup stock:
Heat oil and saute the ground ingredients spices until fragrant. Add in the soup stock and stir well. Bring to boil.

Prepare serving bowls. Put required amount of mee and mee hoon in each bowl and garnish as desired. Scoop the soup onto the contents of bowl. Serve with chilli oil and garnish with mint leaves.

Char Kueh Teow

This is the signature hawker dish of Penang. A simple plate of stir fried flat noodles with seafood, egg, bean sprouts, chilly and soy sauce. Now anybody can fry noodles but it's that special combination of taste and spices that makes it so special. Prawns and ku chai add that special kick to this special dish.
I used the dried kueh teow that available in oriental supermarket. Follow the instruction to soften the noodle but reduce the time so that your noodle will not be too soft (agak agak). This portion will make 4 plates.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of noodles, divide into 4 plates
• 2 chinese sausages, sliced (optional)
• prawns (depends on how much you like to put in a plate)
• 250g taugeh
• 50g ku chai (chinese chives), cut into 3cm
• 4 eggs
• 150g see harm (cockles), optional
• 3 thsp ground red chillies
• 4 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 4 tbsp oil

Sauce A (Do not add water)

• 5-6 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 150 ml hoo loh (fish sauce)
• 4 tbsp dark souce
• 5 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tsp pepper

Method
Heat the wok in high heat until hot. Add in 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp garlic. Stir well. When the garlic is fragrant (not brown), add in 1 plate of noodle and 2-3 tbsp of sauce A and some chillies. Stir well.
Push the noodle to the side of the wok and add in the prawns and chinese sausage. Fry for 1 minute. Combine the noodle and add in the bean sprouts. Stir well. Make a well in the centre and break an egg. Scramble the egg and push the noodles to cover the egg. Stir until fragrant.
Add koo chai and mix well. Serve immediately.
note: fry the kueh teow plate by plate as this will make it taste better.

Penang Hokkien Mee

This is a special noodle dish in a prawn based soup. It's the soup that makes the difference, the sweet prawny essence with the spicy chilly sauce packs a kick. Since I am unable to get fresh prawns here, I have replaced the prawns with dried prawns instead.
Ingredients:

• 300g fresh yellow noodles, scalded
• 200g mee hoon (rice verrmicelli) soaked and scalded
• 1/4 cup dried prawns, soaked until soft and then minced finely
• 600g pork ribs
• 1 tbsp rock sugar
• 1/1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 10 cups water

Blended together:

• 8 dried chillies
• 5 shallots
• 3 cloves garlic

Garnishing:

• 300g cooked lean pork, sliced
• 200g kangkung, scalded
• 2 hard boiled eggs, halved
• 250g tau geh (bean sprouts)
• some cooked prawns
• chilli oil
• shallot crisps

Method:


Simmer pork ribs and lean pork with 10 cups of water. Add rock sugar and salt. Add in the minced dried prwns. Bring to boil. Remove the lean pork when cooked, save the meat for garnishing.
Heat oil and fry the ground ingredients in 5 tbsp cooking oil until fragrant. Reserve 2-3 tbsp chilli oil for garnishing. Pour the remaining chilli oil into the stock and simmer over a low heat for a few minutes. Add salt to taste.


To serve, put required amount of mee, meehoon and taugeh into individual bowls. Add garnishing and spoon hot soup over it. Sprinkle with shallot crisps and serve with chilli oil.

Ang Koo

Ingredients: for the fillings:

• 200g green peas (skinless)
• 150g sugar
• 3 tbsp corn oil
• 2 pandan leaves
• 3 cups of water

Ingredients for the skin:

Combine and sifted

• 250g glutinous rice flour
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour

• 100g orange coloured sweet potatoes, steamed and mashed
• 3 tbsp castor sugar
• 3 tbsp corn oil
• 175ml boiling water }
• 1/8 tsp orange red colouring }combined

Method:

For filling:

Wash green peas for at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain well. Cook in a pot with 3 cup of water until soft. Drain well and mash finely using hand or food processor.

Put into a non-stick pan. Add sugar and pandan leaves. Cook, stirring continuously till the sugar is dissolve and the filling is thick and sticky. Add oil and stir till smooth and thick enough to make into balls.

For skins:

Put sifted ingredients into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in sugar, mashed potatoes, coloured hot water and corn oil. Mix and knead the dough untill even and smooth.

Divide dough into equal portions. Wrap the filling with the skin dough and put into flour dusted mould. Knock the ang koo out from the mould onto a lightly oiled banana leave/baking paper.

Place the ang koo in a steamer and steam covered for 5 minutes. Remove lid from the steamer and continue steaming for another 6-7 minutes.

Remove ang koo from steamer and brush lightly with oil.