Yellow Fried Rice with shrimp (Nasi Goreng)

This is the first time I have participated in Ayin's event “Masak Bareng Yuk... (Let's cook together)”. Check on HER blog she has plenty of yummy Indonesian recipes. This month the subject is “fried rice”. Many Indonesian cook their fried rice in different ways, but basically it doesn't taste much different. This time I am making yellow fried rice with shrimp and veggies.

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That day was a beautiful day so I was feeling very happy. The sun finally came out and the temperature was getting warmer even though it was still quite breezy. My lil N and I went out to clean up the yard. Left over leaves from last year which we didn't have a chance to get all cleaned up, as the winter came so early last year.

My son was pretty helpful boy not much he could do but just to see him enjoy the outdoor fun it brought me joy. At least that day we weren't stuck at home. Nathaniel saw the nice leaf piles I had made and couldn't resist but to jump in them and make a huge mess AGAIN!

Yellow Fried Rice
1 ½ cups medium grain rice
2 eggs
salt and pepper
tomatoes
frozen veggies (green beans, carrots, corns)
shrimps
3 garlic clove, crushed
2 shallot, crushed
green onion, chopped
turmeric
½ tsp chinese five-spice powder

Cook the rice in boiling water or cook it on rice cooker.

Beat each egg separately with 2 teaspoons of cold water and salt and pepper. Fry separately like scrambled eggs.

Heat the oil in a preheated wok or large skillet. Add the garlic, shallot, chinese five-spices and turmeric. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.

And vegetables and shrimps. Stir-fry ingredients in the wok for 2 minutes.

Stir rice and scramble eggs into the mixture in the wok for one more minute. And transfer to serving dishes.

Yes it is officially spring here, and I am hoping we will have more and more nice day. So I can play outside with my dear son.

Happy Spring!

Nasi Kucing ( Cat Rice)

HOLIDAY MADNESS! I must admit that I am one of those crazy people who like shopping on 'Black Friday'. Not so much of looking a good bargain though, but I don't know I just enjoy those crazy people falling on shopping until the last breath! Mostly I only get 2 or 3 items during that madness day. Then spend the rest of morning just relaxing on the food court with a cup or coffee and a donut. Then watching people come and go eagerly to find a crazy deal. Being PATIENT is a must on black Friday, well sometimes we don't get what we want to with patient right. I guess it is depends on how people would like to spend their 'black friday'. I never go to WALLMART though, that place is totally insane!

Now, I am sitting here full of crazy ideas on what to make for the holidays. I want to bake cakes and cookies, sew hat and gloves, and not forget about cook fancy food. Reading from one magazine after magazine and hoping they will give me an easy idea about baking, sewing and cooking. BUT, instead I am stuck!! My tummy rumble, oh dear I haven't eaten since this morning. Just a cup of coffee is totally not enough. Spent the whole morning to noon trying to get brilliantly inspirited and the next thing I know I'm eating NASI KUCING (cat rice).

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What is Nasi Kucing (cat rice)? It is well known among student in Java island, Indonesia. Mostly student eat Nasi Kucing because their money is tight and they don't have time at all to cook. Nasi Kucing is quite inexpensive. The size of it, its about a cup of rice with little bit of side dish. Wrapped in bananas leaf. Other than plain rice, I fried anchovy and nuts then cook them together with thai pepper and onions. It is very spicy for sure. When you eat nasi kucing simply do not expect any good nutrition*wink*. A very simple lunch for myself today:)

Also want to be thankful to the host and judges for giving me the honor of taking third place on DMBLGIT November 2008 hosted by Sugaya.

Thank you as well to Sefa from Food is Love who gave me an “inspiring award” - thank you for thinking of me.

Fish with spicy tomato sauce

I don’t know what kind of fish is this.

Where I got them? From the LAKE!

Couple days ago, the day was so humid and hot!! So hot to be outside but we went to the lake to fishing. My hubby and my son enjoyed their fishing time together. And where is mommy?? As usual mommy with her bulky camera acting like a pro photographer. Where her landscape photograph often come out with disappointment LOL

We brought home with 11 big fishes.

My hubby is not a fish eater. I do! I can eat fish everyday. But sometimes it is quite bored eating fish all by myself. So yesterday I invited one of Indonesia friend to come over to eat fish together. Since both of us like fish and spicy then I cooked fish with Thai pepper and tomatoes.
While mommies enjoy eating fish with rice and stir fry vegetable kids were playing in the plastic pool.

Ingredients:
Fish (frying)
5 Bay leaves
Galangal
Basil
Salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
8 Shallots
4 Garlic
3 tomatoes
10 Thai pepper

Deep frying fish until cooked

In the food processor put shallots, garlic, tomatoes and Thai pepper and chop them until smooth.

Heat the oil and stir-fry a mixture ingredient for about 2 minutes. Add bay leaves, galangal, basil, salt and sugar. Cook about 15 minutes or until the tomatoes sauce thickens, stirring occasionally to make sure that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Pour the sauce over the fish and ready to serve.

PS: keep reminding you guys about the foodie photography event to celebrate Indonesia Independence day, let's participate HERE

Frying Mackerel

I am a fish eater!

…mmm… love the smell of deep frying fish. Even though I have just eaten, I would probably take another plate if I see deep fried fish on the table. Especially love it when I can eat them with hot chilly peppers. Yaw… Heavenly!! My recipe is not a fancy or difficult at all though. It is simple ! After you rinse the fish, apply them with garlic powder and pepper powder. Put aside for about 15 minutes until the spices are absorbed. After that, deep frying them.

In refrigerator, I still have lots of cherry tomatoes. Not knowing what I am going to do with them. I guess I give myself one more shot of them before they are rotten. Those tomatoes are good for making some kind of chilly sauce. Simple to make and yummy but it will burn your tongue with fire.

To make chilly:
Cut tomatoes into small cubes
Shallot (slices)
Thai pepper (cut)
Mix all the ingredient well with lime juice (I used fresh lime)
Refrigerate for half an hour until the entire ingredients absorbed.

Most of Asian likes to eat this frying fish while it is still warm with warm white rice. THAT is my heavenly brunch! So what did I feed my hubby and my son as they don’t like this kind of spicy stuff ? I will post this issue in different page later.

All I know that day the weather was gorgeous!

ZOO mommy!! My son nagged me to go to the zoo. Oh! he loves going to the zoo. We have a small zoo here in Erie, PA. Not many animals are around but it is a nice place for families to spend time together with kids.

His favorite animal is LION, but I don’t have a good shot of it as the LIONS keep staying away and hiding from me. I saw my son was playing peek a boo with a LLAMA. I think LLAMAS are so cute! With his two bunny teeth sticking out, oh! They made me laugh. Also brought a good laugh to Nathaniel as keep calling them as sheep!

Shrimp and fried vegetables

I found this flower grew on my front yard. Wow, finally Spring is arrived!! Oh such a wonderful feeling seeing the sun comes up for couple of days in the row. Time to get out of my couch and clean up! Some of the left over falling leaves from winter are still on the ground. They covered the ground and successfully occupied my garden. One word, it is a mess!

My son sang………..Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere…. With his head moved left to right trying to follow the way BARNIE sing. We cleaned up our yard. So far we got two full bags of leaves!

Since the weather was quite clear this afternoon, I was in the mood of cooking. Shrimps and vegetables sounded like they could get along huh. So I made this simple appetizer for dinner “SHRIMP and VEGGIES FRIED”

What you need:
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of shredded cabbages
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 cup of sweet onion
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Shrimps

Combine all the ingredients. Take one big scoop of mixture and deep fry them. Put a whole shrimp on the top.

These are the pictures of my garden that needed to be taken care. My son took a little windmill out from the garden. You could see that instead of helping me, he pulled out garden decoration or plants tag.

Enjoy your spring everyone!

SALT AND PEPPER SQUID

Hooray, it is open! The local farm market it is called “ERIE COUNTY FARM” is finally open after it has been closed for one week. This store at least closes for one week every month for re-stocking. What is so special about this market? Here, we can find things which are cheaper compare to other store.

Squid wasn’t on my grocery list but my eyes caught on it while passing the seafood isle. And as many women know that we like to break the rule by buying something else other then what is on the lists.

Salt and pepper squid is my best pick recipe where I get it from WAITROSE. I ate this at the restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio couples months ago. Oh may the taste was so wonderful!

Ingredient:
500g Squid, cleaned
2 tbsp Corn flour
2 tbsp Plain flour
2 tsp Hot chilly powder
2 tbsp Sea salt
1 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns, dry-roasted and crushed
500ml Vegetable oil
4 Small iceberg lettuce leaves, chilled
2 Lemons, cut into wedges

Rinse and dry the squid thoroughly. Slice each squid tube horizontally into 1cm rings. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine both types of flour with the chilly powder, sea salt and Szechuan pepper. Add the squid and toss to coat, shaking off any excess flour.

Fill a wok with oil to about a third full (about 500ml) and heat until the surface seems to shimmer slightly. Add half the squid and deep-fry it for between 45 seconds and 1 minute, or until it's just tender and beginning to color. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper. Repeat the process with the remaining squid.

Arrange the lettuce leaves on a platter and top with the squid. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Stir – Fried Noodles with SHRIMP and Vegetables.

Chinese Food! Never get bored about that food and one think that I like cooking Chinese food is my hubby always eats it as long as it is not spicy. Also to participate for food photography event this is hosted by Jai and Bee. This month theme is noodle. So here is also my entry for CLICK.

Ingredients:
mushrooms
3 cups fine noodles (6 ounces)
½ pound shrimp
1/3 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup red pepper and green pepper
1 cup bean sprouts
½ cup coarsely shredded carrot
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated gingerroot

Cook noodle according to package directions. Rinse in cold water. Drain well. Blend chicken broth and soy sauce into cornstarch; set aside

Preheat wok or large skillet over high heat; add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Add half of the doodles; stir fry for 5 – 7 minutes or till just beginning to brown. Remove to warm plate. Repeat with another tablespoons oil and remaining noodles; removed.

Add remaining oil to hot wok or skillet. Add garlic; stir fry for 1 minute then add mushrooms, green and red pepper, bean sprouts, shrimp and gingerroot to wok or skillet. Stir fry 1 minute. Stir chicken broth mixture and stir into vegetable mixture. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Stir in noodles; cover and heat through. Serve warm the desired main dish.

Very simple recipe and easy to cook – ENJOY!

Pan-Steamed Mussels with Thai Herbs

Oh lovely MUSSELS! it looks so fresh on the market. I though that would be a good idea to cook mussels for dinner tonight as my hubby loves it! Anyway, I have been cooking more Indonesian food lately and tell the truth It comes to the point that I am quite bored.

I get the recipe from "Thailand cooking book". It looks so good and sounds wonderful too. So why not? Let's cook then.....

Ingredients:

fresh mussels

2 lemon grass stalks, finely chopped

4 shallots, chopped

4 kaffir lime leaves, coarsely torn

2 fresh red chillies, sliced

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce

thinly sliced spring onions and coriander (cilantro) leaves to garnish

Clean the mussels by pulling off the beards, scrubbing the shells well and removing any barnacles. Discard any mussels that are broken or which do not close when tapped sharply.

Place the mussels in a larga, heavy pan and add the lemon grass, shallots, kaffir lime leaves, chillies, fish sauce and lime juice. Mix well. Cover the pan tightly and steam the mussels over a high heat, shaking the pan occasionally, for 5-7 minutes, until the shells have opened.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked mussels to a warmed serving dish or individual bowls. Discard any mussels that have failed to open.

Garnish the mussels with the thinly sliced spring onions and coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

Steamed Anchovy with coconut flakes

Another comfort food! Oh... I don't remember when was the last time I ate this food. It has been long time ago. My mom of course she is the one that cooked it for me and I got spoil with her food. In my refrigerator it seems like everything I need to make this food are available. Two important things bananas leaves and Thai Basil of course, it is my favorite.

One think though, don't ask me why I like eating anchovy. My hubby looks at me like... what? are you actually eating those? those are for fishing! LOL

Anyway, here is the simple recipe. I got it from Tabloit Nova.

Ingredients:

Anchovy

100 gram coconut flakes

bananas leaves for wrapping

4 shallots

4 garlics

turmeric

1 candle nut

some of Thai Basil

salt

1/2 tablespoon sugar

Grind shallots, garlics, turmeric and candle nut and set aside.

In a large bowl add anchovy, Thai basil, salt, sugar and coconut flakes.

Take about 2 tablespoons of mixture and wrap in bananas leaves

Steam for about 15 - 20 minutes or until done.