Crab and Asparagus Soup

Life is busy again. And I love it.

I enjoy cooking Malay food which require nine types of spices to be toasted, ground and sauteed. The process of watching over a hot stove for three hours while the dish stews and develop flavors as you stir every five minutes to prevent the ingredients from scorching, may have its therapeutic value. But I enjoy it just as much when my to-do list is long and I am pushed to be more creative in the kitchen because I don't have a whole morning for prep work. So I turn to simple dishes, like this crab and asparagus soup which we had with brown rice.

It barely takes 15 minutes to cook. Less if I omit the onion and garlic. 'Cos sometimes, you just don't feel like cutting onion and garlic. Or, you forget to buy to them. Doesn't matter. The soup still tastes good.

Crab and Asparagus Soup

¼ medium-sized onion, finely minced
1 garlic, finely minced
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
8 oz. asparagus, cut into inch-long pieces
8 oz. cooked crab meat
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sliced spring onions
1 teaspoon oil

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pot. Saute the onion and garlic for about 1 minute. Add in the stock and asparagus. Bring to a gentle boil and then down to a simmer. Add the crab meat.

2. Break in the eggs into a bowl and pierce the yolks. Stir the soup, making a whirlpool and then slowly dribble in the eggs slightly away from the center of the whirlpool. Let the eggs set for about a minute.

Serve with a sprinkling of sliced spring onion.

Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Frittata

It must be spring – it's hard to walk two feet in the farmer's market without seeing asparagus. I've roasted them, made soup, stir-fried and here, in my favorite everything-but-the-kitchen-sink recipe, added to a frittata. Not only does a frittata absorb leftovers in my refrigerator, it's also easy to make. I like the look individual servings so I used a muffin tin. Good with a salad. We had ours with stir-fried watercress and baby shitake.





Salmon and Asparagus Frittata

4 eggs
¾ cup smoked salmon, chopped
¾ cup asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup whole milk
½ cup grated parmesan

Pre-heat oven 400°F. Lightly oil a muffin pan.

Whip the eggs and milk in a bowl. Add parmesan cheese, asparagus and smoked salmon. Pour mixture into muffin tin. Bake for about 25-30 minutes.

Makes 6.

Crispy Mushrooms and Squash Soup

The lack of food posts does not in any way indicate the state of my kitchen. The stove has been heating-up but the shorter winter days meant that the light was not cooperating so it was tough to take decent pictures. We've been eating well. We've been having plenty of soup. Like butternut squash soup. My new favorite thing is roasting mushrooms until crispy and putting them in the soup. I've been these throwing crispy mushrooms in everything we eat - salad, fried rice and sandwiches.

But back to the soup – to put it in the OTT category, I also microwave pieces of apple and stir it into the soup. Recipe? Make your favorite butternut squash soup. Mine is about 4 cups roasted butternut squash and 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock mixed with a teaspoon minced ginger and a tablespoon ground cumin. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, then roast oyster mushrooms (salted and peppered) at 425°F for about 10 minutes or until crispy. You have to scrape the mushrooms off the baking pan. Dice an apple and blitz it in the microwave for one minute. Serve both with the soup and dinner's ready.

I've also been cooking with recipes off the internet – I am still amaze at this resource. I have many cookbooks but the recipes in the blogosphere continue to tempt me. Here are a few, tried and tested, in our kitchen:

Oatmeal pancakes from Orangette. I made these the first time only because I had so much oatmeal. But I've made it four times since. It's that good.

Citrus and beet salad. This is a dish inspired by Sassy Radish. I added roasted beets and used honey instead of maple syrup for the dressing. My new favorite way to eat oranges. Three times.

Fish & chips. I used No Recipe's, err, recipe. I've made it only once but I used 3 lbs worth of fish so that I could freeze some of the fried fish. I just pop a couple in the toaster oven when I feel like a savory snack.

Ma pu tofu. Userealbutter's version is the easiest and tastiest I've ever made (I use ground chicken or turkey). Made this too many times to remember how many exactly.

Marshmallows. I had all the ingredients so while S was assembling new furniture, I whipped this up. I flavored them with orange zest. And then coated them with chocolate.

Macarons – Ok, I didn't make any. But D did - and they were awesome. Have been meaning to try making some myself but never got round to it. Soon. And other recipes that I hope will be heating up the kitchen in the near future – shrimp salad in wonton cups, morrocan fish stew and chestnut torte.

Oyster Omelet

It has been said that the best thing about Singapore is its food, and I wish I could disagree, but I can't. A few years ago, three friends from the US visited me in Singapore. I don't think, at the time, that they had much experience with Singapore food. I picked them up at about midnight at the airport, and after dropping off their luggage, we headed to a temporary hawker center at a car park off Somerset Road. The property was about to be developed but in the meantime, they set up stalls serving well-known Singapore dishes. It was like a "Best of" of hawker stalls. If you know Singapore food, you know what a brilliant idea that was.

There was no hesitation — I ordered three dishes for us to share — sambal stingray, sambal belacan kangkong and oyster omelet. That is spicy and rich meal but my friends could not stop declaring the deliciousness of each dish in-between bites. And I think this was borne out not just from their praises, but how crowded it was despite it being 2 a.m. in the morning. Here is a picture of that night in 2004:



As lucky we are to be in the Bay Area where there is no shortage of Asian food, I have yet to see oyster omelet on the menu. Thus, S and I have been cooking it our own kitchen. Luckily, all those times spending in-line to order and buy the oyster omelet paid-off. As the dish is prepared only when ordered, we always have a front-row view of the cooking. An intense-looking cook, pouring the ingredients on the sizzling griddle, and the final dish served hot with the equally important sambal (chili sauce). I love biting into a briny oyster in a mouthful of lightly crisp fried egg with the added heat from the sambal. It makes me wonder why there is no tussle over oyster omelet between Singapore and Malaysia. Here is a list of dishes claimed by Malaysia as "Malaysian dishes". Much ado about nothing, me thinks. Why can't we all be friends and just enjoy the food?

Re-creating the dish at home gave me some room to makes changes to the recipe. Oyster omelet, in its original hawker style, is incredibly oily. While I love it as it, I didn't like the greasy aftertaste. So I reduced the oil. It is best to cook it on a flat griddle or, as we did, on a wide, flat frying pan. This will allow the flour mixture to spread out and crisp, which is important because I don't like it too gooey. Using rice flour also helps with the crisping. We prefer a 'less flour and more eggs' ratio, but feel free to add more of the flour if that is your fancy. The oysters should not be overcooked — the juices will ooze and you will be left with shrunken oysters! I like to char it just a little. Garnish with spring onions or cilantro. The resulting dish really looks more like scrambled eggs than an omelet. Hey, I didn't name the dish! A video of how oyster omelet is made just like at the hawker stalls follows the recipe below.





Oyster Omelet Recipe

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons tapioca flour/starch
2 tablespoons rice flour
¾ cup water
4 eggs
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoon fish sauce
8 fresh oysters
2 sprigs of cilantro (or spring onion)

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in the griddle or a flat frying pan to high heat. Mix the flours with water. Pour flour mixture into the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds to let some crust form on the underside.

2. Break four eggs over the flour mixture. Spread the eggs without breaking the flour 'pancake' underneath. Using the edge of a spatula, divide the mixture into 3 or four pieces, and turnover each piece separately. Cook until the egg is slightly crispy - about 30 seconds.

3. Make space in the center of cooking surface by pushing aside the omelet. Pour 1 tablespoon of oil, then the garlic. Add the oysters. Cook for about 20 seconds. Pour the fish sauce. Then break-up the omelet and mix with the oysters. Serve immediately with cilantro/spring onion and sambal (chili sauce)*.

*when I don't have time to make my own sambal, I use Glory's Nonya Sambal Chilli. It's not not too sweet and tastes close enough my mum's sambal.

Salt Cod Fritters

How long has it been? The dates suggest that it has been only 2 days since my last post. But it has been much longer than that, hasn't it been? Never mind, we will continue as if nothing happened. Except one thing did happen. See this picture of Dexter? He was at the vet, yes. Sedated, yes. Last Thursday, when I was preoccupied with preparing for a presentation for my evening Spanish class, Dexter was nowhere to be seen. I figured it was just one of those days — his alone time. He would be either in the closet or under the bed, just chillin'.

When I came home from class, he was still in hiding. S told me that he hadn't seen Dexter either, but he must have come out for dinner because the plate was licked cleaned. I decided that his time-out was over and found him in the closet. I picked him up and put him on my lap. It's part of my training him to be a lap cat. I would like him to be a lap cat. Him — not so much. But for the first time, he let out this growl so I released him immediately. Then S and I noticed he was limping badly when he walked away. His right hind leg was bothering him.

So first thing the next morning, we took Dexter to the vet. He was very resistant at attempts to check his leg. He had to be sedated. The effect was immediate. His jaw dropped to the table and his eyes were glazed. It made me laugh so I took out my camera to immortalize the moment. After the X-ray, the vet told us that everything looked fine - no ligament tear, no arthritis, no fracture. It was probably a soft tissue injury which means he should recover in a few days. Whew.

It's been a few days and his leg is much better. I was sad to see him try to walk. He moved slowly and took ginger steps with the foot that hurts. I'm not sure how cats react to pain, but Dexter was less meowy than usual. The vet said he should rest the limping leg as much as possible, so I tried to carry him to his food for meals and to his cat bed at night. He usually sleeps with us on our bed, but that requires jumping which he didn't quite have the strength for. I think the rest worked. There is less limping and he is now snoring next to me as I type. Life is good again. So I thought some deep frying was in order. Deep frying salt cod, specifically.



S and I had never tried salt cod before. But it seems like the perfect food for us — I like fish and he, well, likes anything salty. I bought one pound's worth. I used half of it for a salt cod tart (recipe coming) and I made these salt cod fritters with the other half.

How was it?

We enjoyed every lush morsel. It was the cliche of a perfect fritter — crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Steaming hot, it was tough not to grab a fritter and bite into the richness, even as you are dropping batter into sizzling oil. But when you do grab one, you do it with your fingers, gingerly, so you don't break its fried coat. Right after you bite into it, you must resist the urge to let its buttery, salty smoothness make a quick getaway straight to your stomach. Chew, roll it around your mouth, just enjoy. I also made a spinach aioli as a dipping sauce. I wonder, does the addition of spinach make it a vegetable side dish?



Salt Cod Fritters (Buñuelos De Bacalao)
adapted from Colman Andrews

½ lb salt cod, soaked 24 hours with 2 water changes
1 medium-sized potato, peeled and sliced thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 heaped tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper
oil for frying

For the spinach aioli
adapted from Rick Stein

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
½ tsp salt
1 egg yolk
¾ cup/3 oz olive oil
a handful of spinach

1. Put the cod in a pot of water and bring to a simmer. After 10 minutes, remove the cod. When cool, removed the skin and bones (if any).

2. Put the sliced potatoes in the pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes or until soft enough to mash.

3. In the meantime, make the aioli. Put the garlic and salt in a food processor. Grind for 5 seconds. Add egg and blend for about 10 seconds. While the food processor is still on, slowly pour in the olive oil. Then add the spinach leaves and blend until the leaves are grounded. Keep in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

3. In the pot, bring the water, milk and olive oil to a boil. Lower the heat and then whisk in the flour until dissolved. Remove the pot from the stove to cool. Heat oil (about 3 inches) in another pan to bring up to a temperature of 350F. If you don't have a thermometer, the oil should be hot enough so that it will sizzle when you drop in the batter.

4. Stir-in the egg, parsley and lemon juice into the flour mixture. Add the mashed potato, mixing well, and finally, the fish. Taste the batter and add salt and pepper as needed. When the oil reaches the right temperature, drop a heaped tablespoon of batter into the oil. Don't crowd the fritters. Fry for about 1 minute or until lightly browned. Scoop out and drain on a paper towel.

Best served warm. Makes about 24 fritters.

Fried Macaroni

When I was prepping to cook this fried macaroni, I could almost hear my mum's exclamation in the background. Not so much because this was an exciting dish (it isn't), but because it is a dish my mum would whip-up whenever we were having guests on short notice. She would exclaim in dismay that there was no time to cook a proper family-style meal. Then she would survey her pantry — if she was short of any ingredient, she would send my father, or me (when I was older) to the grocery store. Her hands moved fast, reaching out for the pot to fill it with water for the macaroni. She pulls out her knife to cut the carrot and greens, and mince the garlic and shallots. All the while muttering under her breath what dishes she have preferred to cook, that her guests would have enjoyed more.

Her guests did in fact enjoy her fried macaroni. As did we, so we urged her to prepare it for our regular meals instead of just having it as an "emergency meal". She was happy to oblige because it is such a simple, yet hearty dish. Kind of right for the beginning of fall.

Fried Macaroni (Macaroni Goreng)

2 cups whole wheat macaroni
2 tablespoons oil
3 shallots or ½ small onion, minced
2 garlic, minced
1-inch ginger, minced
2 tablespoons water
1 cup diced carrot
2 cups chinese mustard green (also known as gai choy or sayur sawi)
½ cup cooked minced beef
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
½ cup fried shallots
a few sprigs of cilantro

1. Cook macaroni as directed by package.

2. Heat-up oil to medium heat in a wok or pot. Saute the onions for about 3 minutes until carameralized. Add garlic and ginger and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the carrots, chinese mustard green and water. Stir and cover to steam the vegetables for about 2-3 minutes.

3. Remove the cover. Put in the minced meat and macaroni. Pour in the oyster sauce, tomato ketchup and sambal oelek. Stir all the ingredients together and cook for about 2 minutes.

4. To serve, garnish with fried shallots and cilantro.

Broiled Prawn with Miso

This prawn with miso dish has straight-up become one of S's favorite dishes. I used to enjoy it in a Japanese restaurant in Singapore — Akashi — with my girlfriends. I can't find it in any Japanese restaurant here, so I decided to make my own. It looks fancy but it's simple to make, perfect for impressive dinner guests. Creamy, sweet and salty - yum. Just marinate the prawns overnight and put them under the broiler 10 minutes before you are ready to eat. I paired the prawns with a soba noodle soup - another simple dish that does not take long to prepare.

Broiled Prawn With Miso
inspired by Akashi

4 freshwater prawns
¾ cup white miso
½ cup sugar
¼ cup mirin

1. To make the miso paste: mix the miso, sugar and mirin in a small saucepan at medium high heat. Stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Bring to a boil and switch off the heat. Let the paste cool.

2. Clean the prawns. Make a deep cut in the belly of the prawn, cutting the length of the prawn being careful not to cut through. Press open the prawn. Spread the miso paste on the prawns, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. Keep in the refrigerator for 2 hours (or overnight).

3. Heat the broiler to high. Put the prawns on the highest rack in the oven and broil for 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of the prawns.

Serve with soba noodle soup or a salad.

Ayam Masak Merak — A Classic Malay Chicken Recipe

When I left Singapore, I left behind a gaggle of girlfriends. Oh, how I miss them. Long conversations, gossip over food, steady shoulders for a good cry. You know those sort of friends.

Moving here, I had no expectations when it came to making new friends. I was lucky because I already had one good friend, B, who lives 10 minutes away. And I grew close to one of S's friends, L. That was enough for my social life. I was busy with moving homes, settling down and studying. After my exams, we went to a Singapore network event (because we thought they would have good Singapore food) and during the reception, while we were munching on some spring rolls, another couple joined us at our table. We introduced ourselves. She's from Singapore too and just moved with her French husband. We did small talk and being Singaporeans, of course, we chatted about food.

Fast forward 18 months later, and we — D and I — are still chatting about food. In fact, we've gone beyond that - we've both set up blogs where we talk a lot about food. So to celebrate her birthday, of course, food was involved. Last night, I made dinner for her and her adoring husband, M. I decided to make one of my mum's Malay chicken dish, ayam masak merah (recipe below). Literally it means "chicken cooked red", which sounds a little strange translated. But the sauce is a blend of red dried chilies and pureed tomatoes. The only thing different I did from my mum was to roast the chickens instead of frying them. It was a nice taste of home, in the company of semi-new friends — eating, talking, laughing. So it was a celebration not just of a birthday, but of friendship, as well.

After dinner, we had dessert. I always make desserts when we have friends over. But last night, I didn't because D brought some. Why would I let the birthday girl bring her own dessert? Because she's been busy making them everyday for the last month! Yup, everyday. So let's celebrate her birthday today by looking through every single of her yummy desserts on her blog — bonvivant. Watch the drool!

Chicken in Red Sauce ("Ayam Masak Merah")

3 oz dried red chilies or ½ cup of dried chili paste
1 whole chicken
1 teaspoon tumeric
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium sized onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 inch ginger
1 inch galangal
2 lemongrass
1 cup tomato puree or diced tomato
½ cup coconut cream
1 tablespoon sugar
salt

1. De-seed and cut the each dried chili into 2-3 pieces. Soak in warm water for 30 minutes.

2. Heat oven to 400°F. Cut the chicken into 8-10 pieces. Marinate with oil, salt and turmeric. Roast for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.

3. Peel onion, garlic, ginger and galangal, cut into smaller pieces and place into food processor. Take one of the lemongrass stalks and cut the just the white part into smaller pieces, also to be placed in the food processor. Grind until you get a smooth paste (you may need to add a couple tablespoons of water to get it started). Remove spice paste from food processor. If using diced tomato, put in food processor and puree. Remove puree into a bowl. Then place the dried chilies in the food processor and grind.

4. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a wok. Saute the spice paste for about 3 minutes. Take the bottom 8-inches of the remaining lemongrass and bruise with the back of your knife. Add the lemongrass, chili paste, tomato puree and coconut cream. Stir until all the ingredients are well-incorporated. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer for 20 minutes. In the last minute, add salt and sugar. Taste - add more salt if necessary and diced tomatoes if it is too spice.

5. Put in the roasted chicken pieces and mix until the chicken pieces are well coated with the sauce.

Serve with rice and a side dish of vegetables.

Fried Trout with Sambal Oelek

This is fried fish and sambal. Such a humble dish. If you know me, you'll know that this is the dish that still ties me to my mum's apron's strings. Before I return to Singapore for a visit, she'll ask me what I want to eat while I'm there (don't all mothers do that?). And so I give her a list, but I always plead with her, "Mak, when I arrive, can you have ikan selar kuning sambal tumis prepared, please?" Ikan selar kuning is a type of scad - a small fish with a yellow vertical stripe on the side. Oh, how it makes me happy when I catch sight of that plate of rice, vegetable and the small crispy fish which had been deep fried and generously coated with sauteed red chili paste. So you see, I may not know what is the last meal I want to have, but I am certain of what my first meal home should be, every time.

Cooking Trout
I have yet been able to find scad here. So I try to be adventurous when I go grocery shopping. On a recent trip, I saw that Whole Foods had trouts. I couldn't remember if I had ever tried trout, but it looks like a size that would fit into my wok (good criteria, no?), so I happily picked two. I knew I was going to fry the fish. Instead of using my mum's sambal recipe, I decided to make another version with the sambal oelek I had just made. You can use the store bought version too. The flesh is quite delicate so it should be cooked quickly. Verdict? We like trout and will definitely have it again. The flesh was flaky and sweet, and went well with the sambal. Plus, because the trout was butterflied, there was no bone in the fish which S especially liked.






Fried Trout with Sambal Oelek

2 trouts (or any fish), cleaned
2 tablespoons rice flour
2 teaspoons turmeric
3 tablespoons sambal oelek (homemade or store-bought)
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic, minced
1-inch cube ginger, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup tamarind juice (from 1 tablespoon tamarind paste)
oil for frying

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok to medium heat. Put in the sliced shallots and saute until caramelized - about 4-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and ginger. Lower the heat slight so that the garlic doesn't burn. Saute for another minute.

2. Put in the sambal oelek and the sugar. Stir until the sugar melts and then add in the tamarind juice. Continue stirring for about 5 minutes. Remove the sambal and clean the wok.

3. For the fish - dry the fish as much as possible with paper towels. Rub them with the turmeric and then the rice flour. Heat oil to medium high - there should be about ½-inch oil in the wok - should be enough to cover the length of the fish. As soon as the oil is hot, put in the fish. The oil should be sizzling. You can fry one at a time if your wok is not big enough. Fry until brown and then turn over carefully - about 2-3 minutes on each side.

4. Remove the fish to a paper towel to drain a little of the oil. Then put them on a plate and spread the sambal on each fish.

Serve with rice and a vegetable side dish.

Sticky Date Pudding with Two Sauces

Yet another date dessert. But it would be remiss of me not to try to make this dessert - not just because we overshopped and now have a couple pounds of dates, but also because I enjoyed it often in Singapore. My godmum's office is on Duxton Hill and I spent a fair amount of time there. Sometimes she'd take me out to lunch to Broth - an Australian restaurant on the same street. I am not big on salads but I always ordered the Caesar salad with poached egg and she would have the spinach and portobello mushroom salad. Delicious dishes but they really just gave us permission to follow-up our meal with a sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce. Yes, our salads spoke to us and told us to go ahead and order the dessert since we only had leaves for lunch.

And this would be the part I start sniffing about how I miss her and eating this sticky date pudding reminds me of her. Well, I do miss her, OK? Growing-up, she was my rock and she also brought up two beautiful girls who are generous enough to share their mother with me. So there. But even if you have no memory related to sticky date pudding, this is a great dessert to celebrate the coming of autumn with. (yup, I just ended a sentence with a preposition)

The Pudding

This turned out to be the perfect dessert for me to continue with to experiment baking with agave. Substitution of granulated sugar with agave calls for a reduction of a liquid and I usually have a hard time figuring out which liquid to reduce. But it was easy with recipe because water is an ingredient. I also added a teaspoon of molasses for color - this is optional. In addition to butterscotch sauce, I also decided to do a white chocolate sauce which I thought would be refreshing without losing the saccharine sweetness that is associated with butterscotch. I used Black & Green's white chocolate which has vanilla bean bits. The recipe I used called for dariole molds, which I've never even heard of, much less have. I was about to go and buy bouchon molds but upon close inspection realized it had a similar shape to my mini popover pan. So I used that, and also tried it with a muffin pan. Both worked well.

Sticky Date Pudding with Two Sauces
adapted from Masterchef Australia

1½ dates, chopped finely
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ stick butter
⅔ cup agave*
1 teaspoon molasses - optional
2 large eggs
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Lightly oil the baking pan and set the oven to 325˚ F. Heat the water and dates in a saucepan and when it reaches boiling point, switch off the heat and add the baking soda. Set aside to cool and stir occasionally.

2. Cream the butter and add agave, beating mixture for about 4 minutes. Add one egg at a time and vanilla essence until incorporated. Add the flour and baking powder, mixing slowly until well-combined. Then fold in the date mixture.

3. Pour the mixture into each popover mold, until ¾ full and put it on the middle rack in the oven. Place a tray of water under the popover pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The texture should be spongy.

Makes 12 puddings.

* If you don't have agave, you can substitute with 1 cup brown sugar and add ¼ cup water. Increase oven temperature to 350˚ F and reduce baking time to about 40 minutes.

The portion for each sauce below is sufficient for all the cakes in the recipe. Halve the portions if you want to make both sauces.

Butterscotch sauce
⅔ agave
½ stick butter
1 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch of salt

1. Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan on low heat. When the butter is melted, increase heat until boiling point, then lower the heat and stir for 8-10 minutes.

2. Pour about one tablespoon of the warm butterscotch sauce over each cake. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

White chocolate sauce
1¼ cup cream
1 packet (3.5 oz) Green & Black's white chocolate

1. Mix the ingredients in a saucepan on low heat until the white chocolate melts. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Stir frequently for about 8-10 minutes.

2. Pour about one tablespoon of the white chocolate sauce over each cake.

The Sambal Series - Homemade Sambal Oelek

My mother swears that the second word to have come out of my mouth was 'lombok' which means 'chilies' in Javanese. Even though my first language is Malay, my maternal grandparents are Javanese - my grandfather left the Indonesian island of Java and set sailed to Malacca for greener pastures. So all their 9 children including my mother were brought up bilingual - Javanese at home and Malay in school.

With 9 siblings and half of them bearing families, you can imagine the chaos during our annual trip to visit our grandparents. Everyone could speak Malay, but the adults, when together, just slip into Javanese. The fast chatter was beyond my comprehension. To humor the children, they would sometimes teach us a few words but no one became fluent. I suspected that they liked having a 'secret' language so that they could talk adult stuff or lament about their children to each other. Thus, since the word 'lombok', I've added just 8 more Javanese words to my vocabulary - eggs and the numbers 1 to 7.

Actually, make that 9 more words. The word "oelek" in sambal oelek is also Javanese and is modernly spelled as "ulek". It has nothing to do with the the ingredients that make up the sambal, but refers to the mortar and pestle used to grind the chilies. Every household has its own version sambal oelek. When I moved to California, I was pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of sambal oelek at the supermarket and upon googling, found that it was a popular product. I was happy because it meant I didn't have to import it from my mum. But I looked at the ingredients: chili, salt, distilled vinegar, potassium sorbate, sodium bisulfite, and xanthan gum. It contains both a preservative and an additive. I understand that might be necessary in some foods, but sambal is so easy to make, I decided to make my own to skip the preservative and additive.

Some versions of homemade sambal oelek include shrimp paste, shallots and lemongrass. I prefer it simpler with just salt and vinegar so that it can be used both as a condiment and an ingredient. Slicing and de-seeding chilies are not the most pleasant of jobs. As a kid, I used to waltz into the kitchen looking for a snack when a waft of the pungent fumes would sent me scurrying out of there immediately. It was the chilies, the red chilies my mother was relentlessly pounding in a mortar and pestle that released the stinging odor causing me to cough. Grinding them manually is better, but it's a breeze with the food processor or blender.

The type of chilies to use

Originally, the chilies used to make sambal oelek and sambal belacan are red serrano chilies. This is a problem because I can't always find them here in the Bay Area. Green serranos are plenty, but not red. So when I was at Milkpail and saw fresh serrano chilies, I grabbed a pound's worth. Since I already had sambal belacan, I decide to make sambal oelek. It made about 1 cup of sambal. I wish I had bought more. You can always freeze a portion of the sambal for use later. When you are cutting and de-seeding the chilies, try to have only one hand in contact with chilies while the other hand holds the knife. Then you will have at least one hand untainted by the sting of the chilies. After everything is done, I suggest rubbing your fingers in a citrus (good) or soaking your fingers in a bowl of milk (better) or both (best)!

If you can't find red serrano chilies, try holland chilies which are slightly longer and narrower than serranos, or fresno chilies which are shorter and fatter. Both are worthy substitutes; they just have a little less heat than serranos. I can't find holland chilies here, but below is a photo of a fresno chili compared to a serrano. The same goes if you are making sambal belacan - serrano should be your first choice.

Sambal oelek recipe

1 pound serrano chilies
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vinegar

To slice the chilies: cut the top off and slice in half lengthwise. Remove the center veins and all the seeds. If you like it with more heat, leave some seeds in. Slice the chilies in about 1/2 inch pieces. Grind them in a food processor or grind them in a mortar and pestle until they become a thick paste - you may need to add up to 1-2 tablespoons of water to get it going. Pour the paste into a yet unheated wok or sauce pan set on medium to high heat. As the sambal heats up, add the salt and vinegar. Stir well. Leave on medium for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

Makes about 1 cup sambal oelek.

Not my mother's fruit cake

Every year, during the school holidays, we packed and dragged our bags to visit my mum's family across the causeway. She was born and grew up in a little rural village in Malacca. My grandparents had a wooden house on stilts and brought up 9 children on my grandfather's single income as a rubber-tapper. Like us, they had humble means and led simple lives. But we, coming from Singapore, were considered city folks and for some reason, were treated as special. Every time, we drove into the village in a rented car, we were welcomed with much fanfair. My grandmother and aunties would pull us for hugs as we kissed their hands in the traditional Malay way. There was much chattering about how we looked, how much we had grown and whether we were too thin or gained weight. I was always a little embarrassed but this was a mere prelude to the attention they would shower us throughout the visit.

To match the welcome, my mum would pull out treats and carefully wrapped food out of plastic bags. Among the stash were two cakes that took a delicate hand and watchful eyes to make. One of the cakes would be the infamous Malay kek lapis (layered cake) - the one which requires you to pour no more than a ¼ inch layer of batter, each layer baked for 2 minutes or less, until golden before the next layer is filled. I love that cake - all the butter and spice equals luxury in a bite. And then there is the fruit cake. My mum told me that a fruitcake is more about the fruits and nuts than cake. It may have been about abundance, but I didn't like it at all. The cake itself was delicious - I was happy with walnuts, I could tolerate raisins, but I didn't like the fruits - glazed cherries, candied pineapples and dried apricots. After my first bite, I didn't care if I never took another from a fruit cake again.

But as it turns out, my husband loves fruit cake. During sahur (the morning meal during Ramadan), S has cereal and milk every meal - it's the easiest to prepare at 4 a.m. He deserved something more. SoI did the unthinkable and made a fruit cake so that he had options. While waiting for my mum to wake up in her time zone, I searched online to get inspired. I really liked Kevin's (of Closet Cooking) recipe - it looked rich and moist. When I finally spoke to my mum, she rattled off whatever she could remember since she hasn't made fruit cakes for more than 10 years. They didn't have molasses so to brown the cake, they "burnt" the sugar. She steamed her cake, not bake. To prevent the fruits and nuts from sinking due to the long steaming time (3-4 hours), she said I should coat the fruits and nuts with flour.

The cake

So I took her basic recipe and decided to tweak it. I may have gone too far because I hardly recognize it. I have been using whole wheat pastry flour and was very happy with the results. I upped her use of 1 cup flour to 1½ cup because I wanted more cake. I wasn't worried for about the use of whole flour and the liquid ratio because I was planning to use a natural liquid sweeteners - agave. I wasn't sure I could burn sugar right so I used blackstrap molasses. For the nuts and fruits - walnuts and raisins were pantry staples, so that was easy. I also had dried figs and dates from previous recipes and Trader Joe's orange flavored cranberries which we use in salads. There were a few dried apricots but I wasn't sure if they were enough, so I bought more. I chanced upon these organic dried apricots that were not that bright shade of yellowy-orange. They were a dark brown because they hadn't been treated with sulphur dioxide. See the picture above to compare. Despite its looks, I like the taste of the organic apricots - they were less tough than the regular ones that I am used to. When you pour the batter in loaf pans, spread it level. I didn't do it for one of the pans and the cake came out uneven. I liked using 2 smaller loaf pans, so that each slice did not produce too big a piece. I also soaked cheese cloths in orange juice (yes, instead of brandy) and wrapped the fruit cakes in them for about 5 days. See the one on the right below? I, um, cut a slice to taste before taking the picture. The cake was moist despite the use of whole wheat flour. I think this fruit cake may have made me a convert, but more importantly, S loves it.

Fruit cake recipe

1½ cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter (1 stick)
5 tablespoons agave
1 tablespoon molasses
3 eggs
½ salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
½ teaspoon ginger powder
½ teaspoon allspice powder
1¼ cup walnuts
1 cup cranberries
1 cup dates
¾ cup raisins
½ cup apricots
½ cup dried figs
½ cup orange juice (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 275°F with a pan of hot water on the lowest shelf of the oven. Line 2 8" by 4" loaf pans or 1 8" by 8" loaf pan with parchment paper or foil. All ingredients should be at room temperature.

2. Mix the dried fruits and nuts, and dredge them in the 2 tablespoons of flour. Combine the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Cream the butter in a mixer and add one egg at a time, followed by the agave and molasses. Mix in the flour mixture and then stir in the dried fruits and nuts.

4. Pour the batter into the pan/s. Bake for 2 hours. Cake is ready when a cake tester comes out clean.

5. Optional: Soak 2 cheese cloths in orange juice and wrap around each cake. Re-soak the cheesecloth after 2 days. Cake is ready to eat after 4 days.

Hazelnut date balls

Life has been moving in slow motion since yesterday, the first day of Ramadan. The first few days are the toughest; the body is thirsty and the mind is parched. But there is a psychological factor at play. Our long days are usually broken up by meals. When you are working, you look forward to that lunch break. Visions of what to have for lunch floats in your mind. And the comfort of a hot latte is irreplaceable when you are feeling stressed. All that is taken away during Ramadan.

Just as I evolve as a person, what powers me through the day of fasting has gone through a metamorphosis. At seven years old, I fasted because I wanted to be just like the grown-ups and because my mum told me it was the only way to deserve celebrating Hari Raya. Coming home from school, I threw my bag aside and immediately sought the couch so that I could lay there until break fast - I did not intend to move for the four hours leading to the magical Maghrib minute. As a teenager, fasting, for me, was about peer pressure and the challenge of doing something that my friends of other faith thought impossible. So, yes, a little pride was involved. Up until my twenties, fasting was just something you do and not questioned.

But now, I am conscious of the purpose of the fast. When a hunger pang hits, I am reminded of the reason why we do this. It allows us to empathize with those for whom hunger is the norm. Instead of giving in to the feelings of irritation, impatience and volatility that I experience with hunger, I remind myself that it is a fast not only of food, but of my emotions as well. At the end of each day, I am thankful that I completed the fast and I am grateful for the food before me. So life in slow motion is actually welcomed - it allows me to refocus my faith and the quiet turns me inwards for self-reflection.

Date is a traditional fruit eaten to break our fast. It is incredibly nutritional - good source of dietary fiber and rich in vitamins. I used not to like it because I found it too sweet. But a few years ago, while visiting my friend Kristen in Santa Fe, she made these date balls for desserts. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. So I made them to break our fast with. She used almonds, but I decided to try it with hazelnuts. I think you can substitute with whatever nuts you have. I grounded the nuts with a mortar and pestle, but next time, I am going to leave the nuts a little chunkier.

The unexpected ingredient is the cardamom. I am familiar with cardamom as a spice in Indian cooking. Here, I was surprised that it added a refreshing note to the sweetness of the date. I also had fun crushing the skin of the cardamom. I usually cook with them whole. The seeds look similar to vanilla beans. I used a mortar and pestle to grind them, but you can also buy ground cardamom. Alternatively, use cinnamon if you are not fond of the taste of cardamom. I shaped the dates into bite-sized pieces; you can make them into bigger 2-inch pieces.

Hazelnut date balls

1 cup date, chopped finely
½ cup hazelnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon cardamom or ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom*
3 tablespoon dessicated coconut

1. If using whole cardamom, use a pestle to crush each cardamom. When the skin breaks, remove the seeds. Then use a mortar and pestle to ground the cardamom seeds. To toast the dessicated coconut, put in a dry pan on low heat and stir occasionally until light brown.

2. Using clean hands, mix the date, hazelnut and ground cardamom until well-incorporated . Pinch a small amount and roll between palms into a ball with a diameter of about 1 inch.

3. When all the date mixture is shaped, roll half of them in the dessicated coconut.

* substitute with cinnamon if you don't have/like cardamom

Makes 14

Fig lemon oatmeal bar

I have been in a baking rut. Every weekend, I pull out the baking accouterments and work with the heat to produce something that S can have for breakfast during the week. But I have been repeating myself - biscotti, savory muffins, wholemeal chocolate cookies and bread. If it was a grind for me, the repeats must have been a bore to S. I needed to be inspired! Fittingly, it took a cookie to re-ignite my taste buds; specifically, a lemon fig cookie. My love for figs has been documented. Throw in a lemon? The flavor combination appealed to me. I had also just picked-up an old dessert recipe book from Know Knew Book store and was inspired by its use of wholegrain flour and natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. I have already started using whole wheat pastry flour and was keen to try the newer natural sweeteners like agave and brown rice syrup. I chose to use brown rice syrup in this recipe; it is less sweet than agave and honey tends to impart its own flavor.

Since I was experimenting, I decided to use a butter substitute from Earth Balance. When my in-laws visited last year, I bought a tub of the spread on the recommendation of my friend J because it is healthier for those with heart issues. Now, I am one of those who believe it's butter or nothing. But this is not your mother's margarine. It has no trans fat and is non-hydrogenated. In fact, the Earth Balance spread really impressed me. It has a light buttery taste that melts just right on warm toast. Here, I used their baking sticks; this makes the recipe vegan-friendly.

I was very happy with the results. More importantly, S liked it. The lemon was a little subtle - maybe next time I will try lemon peels to contrast more strongly with the figs. I have to confess now that I am actually not a fan of fruit bars - this was just for S. But I like the crust so much that I could eat it even if it didn't have the fig lemon topping on it. The crust tasted a little nutty, like there was a touch of peanut butter. I wonder if that's the net taste of wholemeal flour, oats and brown rice syrup. But it is a promiscuous type of crust - the type that demands pairings with other luscious toppings.


Fig lemon oatmeal bar*
Inspired by The Common Ground Dessert Cookbook

2 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup Earth Balance (or butter)
6 tablespoons brown rice syrup (or honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Fig lemon topping
1 cup dried figs, cut into ½ inch pieces
¾ cup water
½ cup fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 organic lemon
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Mix the flour, oatmeal and spices. Add the brown rice syrup and Earth Balance (these should be at room temperature). Use your fingers to blend the flour mixture until well-incorporated. Press the mixture into an oiled an 8" by 8" baking pan.

2. To make the topping, put all the ingredient, except the cornstarch into a small saucepan on low heart. Stir until mixture becomes fairly smooth. Scoop a tablespoon of the mixture into a small bowl and dissolve the cornstarch in it. Pour back into the saucepan and stir until mixture thickens. If it is too thick, just a little water.

3. Pour fig lemon mix into the baking pan and spread evenly on the pressed oatmeal mixture. Bake for about 30 minutes. It's done when a cake tester comes out clean. Let it cool before cutting into bars.

*Update: On the second day of his breakfast bar, my husband, known for his salt tooth, decides that the crust could do with a little salt. If you are the same way, add ½ teaspoon salt.

Begedil (Potato patties)

My mum was a stay at home mum, so she cooked all our meals. We were sometimes given little tasks to help her, tasks that our small hands could handle. And it was never a chore because we always had fun playing with food. For the begedil, my job was to scoop some of the mashed potatoes and put them into the fist of my right hand and repeatedly press into them to make the patties compact. Then, I would roll them into balls between my palms. The potatoes were warm and a little greasy because of my mum's way of making them. She fries slices of inch thick potato before mashing them in a mortar and pestle. Frying adds more flavor to the potatoes but I decided to use a common short cut. I boiled the potatoes instead. Otherwise, I followed her recipe closely.

My siblings and I love hanging out in the kitchen when my mum was making begedil because we liked eating the crispy egg crumbs from the frying. We would stand behind her to avoid oil splatters (sorry mum) and as soon as she scooped out some begedils from the hot oil onto a plate, we would rush to grab the crispy egg crumb, put them on some tissue paper and wait for it cool down before we ate it. It's such a great memory for me - that's why I included a little egg crumb in the picture above. For me, begedil must be fried with a generous coating of egg to give it some texture. Of course, my mum managed to produce more egg crumb and it tasted better.

I find begedil to be best with mee rebus and kuah rawan, and generally with nasi padang. But we had left over salmon, so we had our potato patties with a salmon and spinach omelete.

Begedil

2 medium-sized russet potatoes
¼ cup cooked minced beef (seasoned with a little cumin or just salt and pepper)
¼ cup crispy fried shallots
¼ cup spring onion, sliced thinly
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
oil for frying

Peel and boil the potatoes. Mash the potato and add the beef, shallots and spring onion. Season with the salt and pepper. Mix well and shape into balls about 2 inches wide. Roll the balls well between your palms to ensure that the patties are compact and will remain intact when frying. Press the balls so they flatten a little on two sides. At this stage, you can freeze them. Do not defrost when you are ready to eat them - fry direct from the freezer.

Beat the eggs in a bowl. Heat oil to medium heat. Dip each patty in egg before frying them. After about 3-4 minutes, turn them over and fry until golden brown.

Makes 18-20.