Crab Time! ( Chilli Crab )

I've been wanting to try my hands cooking crab for the longest time! Yet I somehow didn't get the chance to do it, despite various times 'bumping' into crabs at the wet market :-P I guess the idea of cooking it seemed like such a hassle, especially cleaning up the crab part :-P Those shells look so intimidating to me :-P *excuses!*

When a family friend ( bless him! ) presented me with loads of crabs, I was obviously ecstatic :-P Imagine being given a bagful of crabs! Now obviously I have no excuses not to cook it, rite? :-P Should see the look of glee on my face when I received the crabs! What joy!

One of the dish I've been dying to try was Chilli Crab...Owhhhhhh! How I love this dish! Chilli Crab dipped with bread or steamed/fried mantou ( a Chinese bun/bread ) is just heavenly to me :-)

Okay, enough ramblings! To cut the story short, a few days ago, I donned my apron & cooked Chilli Crab. So excited was I about it as hubby dearie gave it a thumbs up that I actually shared the final outcome on my Facebook page :-P Happy to say that some shared my passion for crab dishes & requested for the recipe...To my dear friends & followers, I'm more than happy to oblige :-)

My Version Of Chilli Crab :-)

CHILLI CRAB
Printable Recipe

THE INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons oil
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 large onions
• 2cm ginger
• 6 red chillies, deseeded - add more if you like your dish hot & spicy
• 6 bird's eye chillies ( cili padi ) - add more if you like your dish hot & spicy
• 10 tablespoons tomato sauce / ketchup
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil ( optional )
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar - lessen or add more according to your taste
• 1 teaspoon salt - lessen or add more according to your taste
• 500ml chicken stock - to cheat, just mix 500ml water with a cube of chicken stock ;-)
• 2 medium crabs, washed & cut into chunks - see bottom note on how to clean the crab ;-)

Cornflour Mixture ( Mixed Well )
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons water

COOKING INSTRUCTION

• Blend garlic & put aside.
• Blend onions, ginger, red chillies & bird's eye chillies.
• Heat oil in a wok over a medium fire. Sauté garlic till fragrant. Add the rest of the blended items & stir fry for 3 minutes or until fragrant.
• Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the cornflour mixture.
• Cover wok & cook crab for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally ( Note : Do not overcook the crab as this will spoil the texture of the crab meat ).
• Stir in the cornflour mixture.
• Turn off the fire when the sauce thickens.
• Serve with bread, mantou or rice.

To those not familiar with Mantou ( Chinese Bun / Bread ), here's how it looks like...Ready made Mantou can also be purchased at any Supermarket. Check it out at the Frozen Section :-)

Steamed Mantou

( Photo Taken From The Wide World Of Web )

HOW TO PREPARE/CLEAN THE CRAB

• Prise off the top shell.
• Remove the guts & grills, then rinse under running water.
• Chop the crab into 4 pieces.
• For faster cooking & easy consumption, crack the crab's claws - I usually crack it gently with my pestle ;-)
• You might want to check this link for graphic details on cleaning crab ;-)

Happy crabbing all! :-)

Role Playing In The Kitchen ( Spaghetti Bolognese )

Okay, this might sound weird to some, but I love 'role playing' when I'm in the kitchen :-P It's just sooooo much fun when I can be a hawker stall cook one day & cook up fried kuey teow in my wok...Or be a cafe owner another day & whip up tonnes of goodies like cupcakes, or even a creme brulee. There was a time when I was even a pastry chef & made flaky beef pies :-)

I was in a mood for one of my 'role play' the other day & this time it was as an Italian Chef :-P Ha..ha...It must be due to watching too much cooking programs shown on TV! Anyway, I cooked up my version of Spaghetti Bolognese & even shared my excitement over it in my Facebook *blush* A few followers requested for the recipe & walaaa! here it is ;-)

SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE
Printable Recipe

THE INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped finely
• 1 medium bulb garlic, chopped finely
• 400g minced beef
• 410g can tomatoes
• 220g tomato puree
• 1/2 cup ( 125ml ) water
• 1/4 cup ( 60ml ) beef stock
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely shredded fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano
• Salt & crushed black pepper
• 1 pack spaghetti

COOKING INSTRUCTION

1. Heat oil in large pot/saucepan. Add in onion & garlic and cook over medium heat until onion is soft.

2. Add minced beef to pot & stir constantly over high heat until meat is well browned.

3. Add undrained tomatoes, tomato puree, water, beef stock & sugar. Crush the tomatoes using potato masher. Bring to a boil.

4. Once the sauce starts to boil, reduce heat. Add in salt & crushed black pepper to taste. Simmer sauce, covered, about 30 minutes or until minced beef is tender and mixture thickened slightly. Add in herbs & stir through.

5. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling water, uncovered, until just tender ( I usually add in some olive oil & salt into the boiling water ). Drain the pasta.

6. Serve the pasta with the sauce spooned over it. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese @ cheese powder if you wish.

FOR VARIETIES

* Add sliced button mushroom @ diced capsicum after crushing the tomatoes in Step 3

* For extra zing of hotness, sprinkle chili flakes on sauce when serving ;-)

Spaghetti Bolognese

Well, I'm off for another 'role playing' now :-P Think I'll be a deli owner next & create a sandwich ;-)

Cereal @ Nestum Prawn

I have always loveeeeeeeeeee seafood & was in the mood for a prawn dish the other day...Unfortunately, due to my tight schedules between baking cupcakes, doing the house chores & others, I didn't have much time to cook up an elaborate 'cheffy' prawn dish :-P

While dreaming away on foodies ( owh!! how I love doing this!! ), my mind suddenly remembered the excellent prawn dish which I had in Singapore the last time I was there...It was my first time trying the 'Cereal Prawn' & how I loved it! Unfortunately, I can't find a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur that serves  a good 'Cereal Prawn' ( psst! let me know if you know a place that serves a good one )....I mean, there are places that serves this  but the one I had in Singapore trumps it all! Just thinking about it makes me drool :-P

With my mouth salivating & my tummy growling, I finally decided to cook my own version of 'Cereal Prawn'...After all it's quite expensive for me to buy a flight ticket to Singapore just to have it there :-P A quick 'stock check'  through my refrigerator & pantry, and a quick phone call to my Mate a.k.a Rozie ( I always call her when I'm excited to do new dishes & needed some pointers. Thanks Mate! ), here's the result :-)

Cereal Prawn

 My Quick Meal Of The Day - Yong Chow Fried Rice ( With Prawn Of Course! ) :-P

My version may not be as good as the one I had in Singapore but still yummy ;-) Thought I'll share the recipe - in case any one of you'll have those 'super duper' busy moments like I did ;-)

CEREAL @ NESTUM PRAWN
Printable Recipe

THE INGREDIENTS

• 10 medium sized prawns - you can also use large sized prawn
• 6 cili padi ( bird's eye chili ), sliced - add more if you like your dish spicy
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped - put less if you don't want the strong garlic taste
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2 egg yolks, beat lightly
• 6 tablespoons cereal @ nestum - I like my cereals, so I've put tonnes of it ;-)
• Cooking oil - just enough to deep fry the prawns
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Salt & sugar to taste

COOKING INSTRUCTION

• Heat oil in a wok. Once oil is hot, put in the prawn & deep fry it till cooked. Note : Please do not fry your prawn too long as this will harden the prawn's flesh.
• Once prawn is cooked, remove it from wok & place it on a plate lined with cooking tissue. ( this is to drain the oil from the prawn ).
• In the same wok, add in the butter on medium fire. Add in the garlic, cili padi & curry leaves. Saute till fragrant.
• Add in the egg yolks. Note : At this stage, make sure your wok is hot. While adding in the yolks into the wok, beat it vigorously with chopsticks @ fork. This is so that you'll get tiny pieces of egg yolks & NOT a lumpy omelet-looking ones.
• Add in the fried prawns & cereals.
• Add sugar & salt to your taste ( I like to add in a few dash of peppers ).
• Stir well for a few minutes & move it from the fire.
• Serve hot with rice.

Happy cooking!

Chinese Style Mee Curry

Yup, this post is a 'lil different from my ordinary ones. Why u might ask...Well, recently, via our daily e-mail, a dear dear friend ( who happens to be my roommate during my high school years & who is also someone I always rely on with honest to goodness opinions - much to her dismay!! ) told me that she reads my blog mostly everyday & it is her wish that I update it as often as I could...The moment I read her e-mail, I was like "what other possible things should I ramble about in my blog?!!"...While sitting in front of my laptop contemplating Ms. Gee's request, moments before going to the kitchen to prepare dinner, suddenly I remembered something...When I first started this blog, I plan for it to be a blog where apart from sharing my baking passion, I would also be sharing some recipes...and hey, I haven't shared any recipes yet!!! My bad!!! *Smacking myself on the head!!*

So, to my dear friend, Ms. Gee & my other friends who requested this recipe, here it is...Happy cooking!

CHINESE STYLE MEE CURRY
Printable Recipe

STEP 1 - BASIC PASTE

Blend:-

• 70g dried chillies
• 400g / 8-10 bulb sliced onions
• 130g sliced garlic
• 100g sliced ginger
• 100g sliced lengkuas
• 50g turmeric root
• 100g sliced lemongrass

A note to all, the above paste is actually sufficient for several cooking of the recipe. What I usually do is to store the paste in a container @ plastic & freeze it. It will come in very handy the next time you have the urge to cook mee curry ;-)

STEP 2 - THE BROTH

• Boil 1 litre of water in a pot. Once boiled, add in 1 teaspoon of salt & 2 chicken breast ( You can also use any chicken part i.e legs, ribs etc )
• Simmer the chicken for about 20 minutes & take it out from the pot. Put aside to cool. Once cool, shred the meat.
• In the same pot of water, add in 400g medium size prawns ( don't forget to trim it first! ). Cook the prawn around 5 minutes & take it out. Put aside to cool. Once cool, shell the prawns. Note : As for myself, when I shell the prawn, I usually save the heads. Adding the heads into your broth will make it yummier...
• Leave the broth on the stove over slow fire. If you prefer to add in the prawn heads, add it into your broth at this stage.
• Heat a wok @ small pan over a medium fire. Add in 250ml ( about 1 cup ) of the basic paste and 1 teaspoon shrimp paste ( belacan ). Note : To make sure there's no lumpy shrimp paste in your broth, mix the shrimp paste with a bit of water before adding it into the wok @ pan. Cook until the mixture smells fragrant & the oil separates.
• Once oil separates, add in some curry leaves & 2 stalks of lemongrass. Bring this mixture and add it into the broth. Bring it to a boil. Add in 500ml thin coconut milk. Note : If you like your broth to be thicker, add in more coconut milk to your liking.
• Bring the broth to a boil and add in salt & sugar to your liking. Before you switch off the fire, add in sliced tau pok ( I usually just cut it into half ). Note : Tau Pok = Chinese for Deep-Fried Tofu. This fried tofu, usually in the form of 2 inch cubes, is often sold ready-made packaged in plastic bags. It is chewier in texture, 'puff' like, and floats when  first put in soups or noodle soup dishes. 

STEP 3 - SAMBAL ( CHILI PASTE )

I love my mee curry hot & spicy...So for those who have the same palate as mine, here's my sambal recipe:-

• Heat 4 tablespoon oil in a pan @ wok. Once oil is hot, add in 5 cloves chopped garlic. Fry till fragrant.
• Add in 3-4 tablespoon chopped onions, 1 cup of the basic paste, a bit of shrimp paste & 4 tablespoon of cili boh @ blended dried chillies. Note : You can add or lessen the chillies according to your preferences.
• Cook till the oil separates and add in salt & sugar accordingly.
• To keep this sambal longer,  place it in a container and keep it in the fridge. Note : The sambal is also yummy when you eat it with hot rice! Slurpppp!!

STEP 4 - SERVING

• Place blanched noodles i.e mee or mee hoon in a bowl. You can also use spaghetti, which of course have to be boiled first.
• Pour the broth into the bowl and top it with prawn and chicken. Add in blanched taugeh and long beans.
• Serve it with the sambal. Enjoy.