jessiefoodinthekitchen

Today I would like to share a recipe with Malay condiment – cincalok (salty shrimp paste咸虾酱) . The ingredients of this condiment are fermented tiny prawns or krill.   Believe me or not. I have never come across this condiment since I was young. The smell is too heavy and fishy for my liking. But now it becomes one of my favourite. How my dislike became a favourite. I was taught the "5 Second Rule" by someone, which was counting backward from 5,4,3,2, 1... I then had my first bite of the cincalok steaming pork belly. The flavour is wonderful. And now this condiment is always stocked in my pantry. The unfinish cincalok can be stored in the refrigerator.  Cincalok originated in Malacca, Malaysia. Some of my friends recommend buying the one originating from Bintulu, Sarawak. Anyway, I'm not picky about cincalok brands.   I basically went with the first brand I saw at the grocery store. There are various uses of cincalok. Some are making sambal cincalok as cucumber dippi

  Do you like to make your own fishcakes? Have you ever tried prawn fishcakes? This prawn and fishcake are crispy golden pops of seafood dressed with a tangy sweet slightly spicy kind of sauce and lot of fresh herbs. This prawn fishcake is slightly different from the classic fishcakes. Let’s talk about the type of fish to use. My late mom used to use mackerel for making fish cake. I am using a snapper for this recipe. In fact, you can choose any kind of firm white fish. Or you can use salmon also. To make the fish paste, my late mom used to scrape the fish meat with a metal spoon and chop it with the back of the knife until it turns to fine paste. I cut my fish fillet into a small chunk blend it with a food processor. How easy was that!! You may use a food processor to blend the prawn paste, but I prefer to manually chop them to give my prawn paste a truly chunky texture with so, the fishcakes will pop a little of sweetness. Kaffir lime leaves are the next ingredient and one of

Kuih Talam or Talam cake is a classic Nyonya dessert that is still well-liked in Malaysia. Kuih Talam's two distinctive colours are green and white. The bottom layer of green has a denser texture that is formed of pandan juices. The layer of white that lies on top is softer, has a strong coconut milk aroma, and tastes a little salty. These two layers worked together to create a tasty piece of kuih or cake. How about giving this dessert an additional layer? The additional layer is made from cassava with brown sugar. The combination of the brown colour layer followed by the signature colour of kuih talam making this steam cake is so beautiful, and the taste is also delicious, soft, and fragrant from the cassava, pandan flavour and the coconut milk. I am using a bundt pan to make this 3-layer cake. You can steam it with an 8" square or round cake pan. I grease my pan with butter before pouring the batter into it. It will release the cake easily without sticking to the bottom

Dong Po Rou （东坡肉） – wine braised pork belly. It’s rich and savoury, tender that melts into your mouth. Traditionally, the pork belly is pan-fried before being braised or stewed for one to one and a half hours on low heat. Some of the recipes even call for steaming for an additional half an hour after stewing. It is very time-consuming. But as you are aware, I enjoy making recipes simpler without compromising the taste. You, too, I'm sure. Therefore, I skipped the pan-frying step and proceeded directly to braising the pork after blanching it, and then continued to cook with a pressure cooker. Don't worry; the dish's flavour remains unaffected. I'm hoping this simplified method may come in handy for your regular cooking. Trim off the edges of the pork and cut it into 3x3 cubes. Tie cooking twine around each cube. This will assist the cubes in keeping their form while cooking. If the pork that you bought is at the mid portion of the belly is ideal, there is a nice bala

How would you eat a whole fish? Eating the entire fish is certainly the greatest part, regardless of whether you decide to grill, roast, deep fry, or steam it. How do you prepare the sauce for the fish? The most common type of sauce I always make is sweet and sour sauce. I would like to share with you today an alternative method for making fish with a sweet and sour flavour.   The flavour is both acidic and sweet. However, the components and the process of making the sauce are completely different. The traditional components of the sweet-and-sour fish dish include vinegar, sugar, and tomato sauce. The main ingredients in this dish are tamarind juice and fresh chilies, which I use not only to give the sauce a beautiful and vibrant colour but also a spicy flavour to the dish. One advantage of this dish is that I can prepare the sauce ahead of time and simply reheat it right before serving. This is a great recipe to serve seafood and other dishes to a large group of people without h

The Chinese New Year is almost here, and now I'd want to share these Gok Zai （油角） , or Cantonese sweet dumplings, with you all. They have a crispy exterior and are frequently stuffed with sugar, peanuts, and sesame seeds. People will drool just by looking at it. It's nutty, aromatic, and crispy. The traditional method of making this peanut dumpling is deep frying, but I would like to share a baking method for this recipe.   The appearance of these dumplings is like a mini curry puff. However, it looks like a little plump coin purse from a different perspective– it symbolizes the fuller, the better, for a prosperous New Year! When you make the dumpling dough, make sure do not over mix the dough. Simply work all the ingredients together until they are soft and smooth. That is why I make the dough by hand to avoid over mixing. Aside from that, I like to cut my butter into small cubes as this makes it much easier to blend it into the flour mixture.  Once the dough is made, set as

Do you enjoy eating bean curd rolls? A delicious dim sum dish was served at the restaurant. A mixture of ground pork and other ingredients are filled into the sweet, soft bean curd skin, which is then covered in a creamy, mild sauce. This is a dish that my mother-in-law likes to make for Chinese New Year. Her recipe is different from the dim sum restaurant which is not coated with any thick sauce. Typically, a mixture of ground pork, shrimp, and other ingredients makes up the filling. Usually, she would shape the bean curd rolls, steam them, and store them in the freezer. Place it in the fridge the night before New Year's Eve and allow it to defrost. After that, remove it from the refrigerator and leave it for around half an hour at room temperature. The customary way is to deep fry them and serve them with a dip of chilli sauce. Sometimes I make it as a vegetarian bean curd roll for my brother. I'm using yam instead of pork filling. But today, I want to combine some of the

  In our house, when the kids were little, this dumpling was the best breakfast option. Compared to traditional dumplings, this is considerably delicious, healthier, and easier. Having those lazy dumplings made and ready to re-steam for ten minutes as breakfast for kids or adults makes a big difference during the school weekday morning rush. My family will never tire of eating it every day. Family members will occasionally ask to have it made for lunch or perhaps dinner. The dumpling wrapper is the main ingredient in this delicious treat. I'm using store-bought dumpling wrappers since I want to make this dish as simple as possible. It was purchased from the market. It has a completely different filling than the pan-fried Japanese dumplings called gyoza. It has black fungus and scrambled eggs in it.   Egg gives a simple and nutritious breakfast choice. Black fungus has relatively high protein and fiber.   One thing good about this lazy dumpling is you don’t have to pleats along th

I cooked sea cucumber for the first time, and I really like it, especially the chewy texture. For all these years, I've never considered cooking it since I assumed it would be challenging to prepare at home. It's not too hard to cook this food; the tricky part is soaking the dried sea cucumber in preparation. My husband received a pack of eight sea cucumber slices from his uncle. This sea cucumber weighs about 300 grammes and is about 6 inches long. The fact that this sea cucumber has been cleaned and soaked is the greatest part. This meal is much simpler to prepare because the soaking sea cucumbers step is skipped. I browsed at a lot of recipes on YouTube and recipe books before deciding on a braised sea cucumber with chicken and fresh mushrooms. Came up with this simple, hassle-free way considering the little amount of time I had to cook. In addition to being a luxury cuisine, sea cucumbers have a great deal of medical value. The sea cucumber is slippery (almost gelatin