What's For Dessert?

I seldom have dessert whenever I had my meals at home.  We did kept some 'stuff' inside the fridge and our cookie jar or the biscuit tin at home for us to snack anytime we wanted but sometimes, instead of walloping it plain like that, it is fun to try mix and match, just like you do with your clothes.  The result could be disastrous, but once you got it right, you know that you would want to have it again. 

Tonight, my Aunty Meg came out with:

  Avocado with Raspberry Ripple ice cream!  ^_^V

Okay...I know that some of you might be a little sceptical about eating avocado.  But trust me, this stuff taste good!

All you need is some slightly overripe avocado (so when you eat it, it will melt along with the ice cream), peel off its skin and put on the plate or bowl.  You can also chill the avocado before cutting it, which is better.  Next scoop out the ice cream (any of your favorite flavor, but I personally think raspberry ripple or vanilla suits more) and put it on top of the avocado and serve immediately.  When you eat it, just take a chunk of the avocado with some ice cream and savor the taste....it's heavenly!!!  =)

I think this is just great if you have guests coming for dinner at home and you can serve dessert in less than 10 minutes, isn't it awesome?

AngeLBeaR's Sambal Cencaluk

Heard of cencaluk before?  Some called it cencaluk, cincalok, chincalok, cancaluk, cencalok...whatever you spelled it, it sounds the same and taste the same!  Made with a type of small shrimps or krill, or bubuk, as the locals called it here, the shrimps are mixed with salt and fermented for sometime before it's ready to be served.  Upon the word 'fermented', you can imagine how it smells like lah.  Hehehehehe....but as I used to believe - one man's food is another man's taboo.  So, it doesn't matter if you dislike it - I love cencaluk as much as I love other types of food...who cares then?

Anyway, recently my Aunty Meg went back to Beaufort, got some fresh bubuk and decided to had a small homemade cencaluk project with my Aunty Winnie.  She then bring back a small (haih, why so small la!!) jar back to KK and today, I am sharing how to make sambal cencaluk, my style:

  You'll going to need the ingredients above.  Put as much as you needed and which one you preferred more or less.  If you don't have lime or dislike it, you may replaced it with lemon or calamansi (kasturi).  But personally, I prefer lime more.  If you like it hot, put as much cili padi that you can handle. 

(Please ignore the amount of cencaluk left in the jar, LOL!!!)  

This is the main ingredient - cencaluk.  

Nowadays, no need for homemade lah.  You can always find it in your local supermarkets. 

But this one, I still prefer my family's homemade cencaluk than the ones in the shops. 

Support 'local' product maaa....hehehehehe....

So...got all the ingredients already?  The next step is easy.  Just MIX everything together.  Put as much as cencaluk you want (make sure that you will finish it all up later), mix the shallots, garlic, chilli, lime juice.  The ones normally sold in the shops is already quite salty, so no salt required, maybe a little sugar to balance the taste....and...

Tadaaaa!!!!!!

Serve with some cucumbers or maybe steamed ladies' fingers or any kind of ulam or vegetable that you like.

Just a little reminder, though.  When open the jar, please make sure that all windows are open...and...never let the cencaluk jar uncapped when putting in the fridge or let any sambal cencaluk leftovers kept in the fridge without putting it in a container.  Don't say I didn't warn you... =p

Ikan Pari Masak Asam Pedas - My Style

What??? She's going to cook for dinner tonight????

Well, since my Aunty Toni has gone, our dinner been the simplest we can do. "As long as got to eat..." that was our main motto for dinner lah. Everything is prepared based on mood. If we felt like it, we would order takeaway from nearby restaurant, or just instant noodles will do sometimes. However, today yours truly here is in a good mood to cook something a little bit nicer. Was walking around Giant to get some toiletries when I noticed that they had some fresh ikan pari (stingray) displayed for sale so I thought, "Ikan Pari Masak Asam Pedas (Hot & Sour Stringray) for dinner..mmmm~~~" =p

Shall we start? (Disclaimer: This is based on my own version...please do not compare it with the original recipe wherever this dish supposed to come from, hehehehe...)

Off course, you need some pari (stringray) - since just 3 of us, this much will do just fine. Up to you, how much you want. Cut into sizes that you like. If you prefer other fish also can...but then you need to change it to "(blank) Masak Asam Pedas" lah...right? =p If you don't know how pari looks like - no worries, if you buy from Giant or any hypermarkets they will display the name of the fish. =)

Some big onions, just cut into big pieces. I only use one onion here. If you like more, just cut few more.

Lady's fingers. No ladies were harmed in preparing this dish, hehehe....my family likes it being cut into about 1-2 inches long. You can just clean and leave it whole if you like. Again, put as much as you want, depends on your taste.

Tomatoes. You can cut it depends on what you like. I like it this way so that when it's cooked it will be soft and the sourness of the tomatoes also goes into the broth. I used 2 medium sized tomatoes here.

Aha! Can't do it without this one - Maggi Tumisan Asam Pedas...hahahahhaa...!!! For the ladies out there, this is your secret weapon to impress your guys lor...just make sure you remember to clean the rubbish can after you cook okay! So if you think you don't know how to cook for your boyfriend or future in-laws - just browse through the supermarket and get any kind of paste that you want and start cooking! (I'm sure not gonna get married la ni...) =p

Note: this is not a paid post by Maggi okay...

Chop some shallots and garlic and fry it with some oil. I love to get it a little hot so I put few chili padi in as well. After the aroma starts to came out, put in one packet of the Asam Pedas paste and stir fry it again for a while until it gets fragrant. (One packet is for about 500 grams of fish)

Then pour in some water (depends on how much you want it, and how big your pot and the quantity of your fish and other stuff), some asam jawa (tamarind) juice and put all the other ingredients together. Bring it to boil about 5-7 minutes.

And then...you are ready to eat!!! Hehehehhe...

Cooking isn't that hard, actually. It just need some tricks here and there...and for my own opinion, you are free to add, omit or plus anything to your food as long as it is edible and eatable by everyone around you that makes you having your own signature dishes! Happy cooking everyone! ^_^V