HOW TO COOK ROSELLE LEAVES?

Cook it the Burmese way!

Written by Miss Yellow

Thanks to Foo Chow-Burmese English professor in Swinburne Kuching who taught me how to prepare this dish. Roselle leaf is a bit sour, can use it to prepare soup as well.

1. Pick Roselle leaves and stem them

2. Fry onion, garlic, chili, fish belacan with oil until brownish

3. Add fresh prawn and stemed Roselle leaves, fry them.

Serve it with rice, really yummy!

HOW TO MAKE GHERKIN (DWARF-CUCUMBER) PICKLES

Why you have to pay for RM20+ per small bottle with less than 10 gherkins?!

Money Tai Tai's homemade gherkin-pickles in Kuching

Written by Money Tai Tai

 

I think Polish's gherkin pickles is the best for my taste buds, as it is never too sour, it is flavoured by its unique spices and it is always crunchy. Once I could eat it everyday and when I left the country I had whole shelf-full of empty gherkin pickle bottles left as one of the "souvenirs" for my landlord!

Polish pickles is so expensive in Malaysia, so I decided to "DIY". Once I even paid my ex-staff's dad to plant gherkins for me specially for pickling.

Few weeks ago, I was thrilled to see some fresh gherkins for sales outside Choice Premier. I bought two packs that cost me less than RM10 (with at least 20 pickles).

The secret of getting crunchy gherkins even after 6 months later (always store in refrigerator) is to e a quick boil for your gherkins.

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The following is the procedures of how to make gherkin pickles.

After washing your gherkins,  immerse them inside salt water for few hours with black pepper corns, garlic cloves, dill flowers/dills, chilies (This will be the fusion and optional)

Drain the salty water

In a pot, add water, vinegar (not too much or else will be too sour), sugar and salt, let it boils. Then add uncooked gherkins, black pepper corns, garlic and dills, have a quick boil (one boil only). Remind you never  overcook them, as that will produce soft gherkin pickles.

You can start to serve them after a week or two

HOW TO MAKE MULBERRY JAM

Hihihihi *$#@ ~!~~ Do you want to learn it from a "bipolar"?

http://miraclekitchencleaningaidsco.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html

Written by Money Tai Tai

Mulberry is good for eyes, if you want to induce fruits you must chop off almost all its branches. Another secret to have good harvest is the minute you smell rain is coming soon, you chop them off after a period of drought. Dump a bag of chicken shits (don't open the bag) beside the tree or dump some compost. Berries will emerged very soon. Only harvest them when they turn really black.

This was the harvest this Monday morning despite of my sleepless night, I saw the berries I woke up instantly but OK ... I didn't talk to them!

You harvest these mulberries only when they turned black so they are really sweet.

Lazy Money Tai Tai loves to use blender to prepare jam, blend the mulberries but add water very sparingly. (or without water using crush ice button)

Easy way, save the energy and your time. Sieve the seeds if you want the smooth jam or else later the texture of the jam will be like raspberry jam.

You can add this agar-agar powder

But I prefer this gelatin, but it got fishy smell, so you must add a few drop of fresh lemon juice.

I am very lucky to have Frd Angela brought me this Kazakhstan honey made by her hubby's frd talented mum, the best honey I ever tasted!!! Simply awesome, especially its fragrant. I added in a big spoon to make the jam.

Homemade Mulberries Jam in Kuching.

Make sure cook the jam until the bubbles gone. These were the steps: Washed and rinse mulberries with water and filtered water, blend with water sparingly, then cook it with honey, brown sugar or honey rock sugar. Add jelly or gelatine sparingly just to make it thicker (Or sieve to get rid excess juice, you drink the juice, just use the sendiment to make jam, or if without gelatine but you have to keep boiling until it gets thicker and another option while you can mix in some whole berries), drip few drops of lemon juice. Once bubbles on top is gone, turn off the fire. Pour the hot cooked jam in the ready hot bottles (make sure you don't use wet tower to hold hot bottle, or else it will crack) that come out right from the oven, cover with cap while still hot (In this case, it will produce a "pop" sound when you open it). After it cools down store in the refrigerator.

Stir-Fried Angled Loofah (luffa acutangula) 炒丝瓜

http://www.google.com.my/search?q=luffa+acutangula&hl=en&biw=1263&bih=594&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=2NW7TrLHPMqGrAfb8tW0Bg&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQsAQ

http://yireservation.com/recipes/stir-fried-angled-loofah/

Written by Money Tai Tai

Chinese Sarawakiens always over-cooked angled loofah, end up not many young generation Sarawakiens who have good teeth enjoy eating it. It is such an expensive dish in New Zealand Chinese restaurant yet we can't find a trace of it in any of our Sarawakiens' Chinese restaurant. We can find this angled loofah everywhere and cheap in our tamu (wet market) but it would cost NZ$9.00/kg in Auckland!

 

Kuching folks are lucky because now you can buy fresh "black wood ear" cultivated by farmers from main land China in outskirt Kuching, you can buy it from Stutong Tamu.

Slices of carrot and black wood ear (black fungus)

Note: If you want meat on this dish, then use slices of beef or pork marinated with fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, pepper, vinegar and sesame oil, then fry together with carrot and black fungus

Must use very young angled loofah, cut into big pieces

Fry garlic with oil and salt



(Note: If you have meat, fry meat first before adding carrot and fungus)

Add carrot first then black fungus



After flavored with seasonings (can use fish sauce and black pepper) leave it aside

Now stir fry the loofa with sesame oil with high fire for less than 15 seconds



Within 15 seconds must add the ready cooked carrot and black fungus. Fry the combination for less than 30 seconds. 

Remember NEVER over-cook loofa!

Burmese Tomatoes Fish Curry

If you get tired of Malaysians’ way of fish preparations, this is something exotic that you can try out for your dinner

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/burmese_fish_curry

http://jimblomquist.org/page0/page20/page20.html

http://myanmartravelinformation.com/myanmar-food/popular-fish-curry.htm

Written by Money Tai Tai

Steps:

Fry generous amount of onion and healthy oil (can use olive oil) and salt until softened, then add fish paste (or shrimp paste) and turmeric powder.

Add fish fillets on the oily onion, half fry the fish skin until crunchy, add chopped generous amount of ripe tomatoes, fish sauce but no water, then turn down fire, simmer until cook.

Garnish with cilantro

FASTEST WAY TO PREPARE ROSELLE JAM (M'SIANS' RIBENA)

Make your own organic juice and jam!

http://moneytaitai.blogspot.com/2012/03/chocolate-roselle-cheese-cake-making.html

Written by Money Tai Tai

Almost 11 months ago, my secondary school classmate Au Au 'ordered' by his Tai Tai to bring along two Roselle seedlings from Sarikei for me. Roselle bloomed fully on last year end, but I was out of Kuching for the whole month and endless family activities lasted until only after Chinese new year, Roselle fruits became a hiding gound for ants and I didn't know it tastes as nice as its look.

Special thanks here to George and Angela.

How to prepare Roselle Jam:

Soak your roselle with hot water if there are ants hidden inside the petals

Wash petals carefully one after another, after that soak in the water, make sure there is no ant at all.

Roselle light green haw or hip

Roselle red petals

Separate the red petals from the green haw

Roselle hip, inside the brown haw got seeds ready for sowing

Put roselle petals inside a blender, water should cover just a quarter (the most 1/3)

After blending, sieve the juice for drinking but the sendiment will be used for making jam (In resulted in producing thick jam)

Prepare bottles, make sure get rid of any paper logo sticked on it

Use this cream cleanser to wash off the sticky glue

Bake bottles in the oven for five to fifteen minutes

Cook both the sieved roselle juice and sendiment with honey rock sugar or brown sugar

Cook the sendiment until the white bubbles gone

Getting thicker and less bubbles

Roselle jam is done

Transfer to the bottle while it is still warm

Fill it up

Tighten with cover and store in the refrigerator, good to use as jam or topping for cheese cake

DATE FRIED WITH EGGS FOR BREAKFAST

Written by Money Tai Tai





 Step by Step Easy Way:

Buy those unsweetened dried dates from Middle East. Fry with butter

Add beaten eggs

Dates scrambled eggs

Prepare your own Naan from the dough I showed (the best dough is after three days in refrigerator); use olive oil or butter very sparingly on a hot frying pan, put the ready rolled 6" diameter round shaped piece uncooked Naan into the hot pan, turn down the temperature. Only turn the Naan when it is cooked on the bottom side, then cook the other uncook side.

Take away the pits of the dates before you put it on a piece of tear Naan

This is how you eat like the Middle east man, with a cup of tea, make sure you add cardoman seeds to flavoured your tea.

HOW TO MAKE SUCCESSFUL PIZZA DOUGH AND 'ANG MO' HARD CRUST BREAD

It took me three years to learn the secrets from a chef's travelling book!

Written by Money Tai Tai

      Since I returned from western countries two decades ago, I learned how to make Ang Mo bread from quite a number of different breadmaking books. At first my bread making was exciting because I could produce the shape that looked like Ang Mo Bau shapes, but the minute I cut through the bread, flakes also dropping along with my knife!

      Finally I learned the secret of making dough during my confinement about 8 years ago. What I wanted was something elastic and chewy, Ang Mo bread won't get appreciated by most older generation China-men and 'China-women" as most of them got fake teeth or bridged teeth. So they will tell you they prefer Taiwanese style super soft bread like Tofu.

      I have two Ang Mo brothers-in-law, one of them can speak perfect Mandarin, whenever I pulled his leg by calling him Ang Mo or Bai Choo he just gave me a smile. I like him because I think he got a big heart, confident enough, could easily take nasty jokes and crack along with them. Different races would usually give 'nick-name' to other races (according to their specific features or significants), sometimes right in front but most often behind a closed door .... in short almost every race wants to compete as 'the most superior' race.

      To proof that we are cultivated and polite, so called mutual respect ..... it's nicest not to mention Ang Mo, La Kiang, Ching Ching Chong Chong, Eat Grass Animal, niggers, etc.

      My 'Ang Mo' word in my blog was written in a playful manner just like how I usually pull my brother-in-law's leg, but I would never dare to call another of my Ang Mo brother-in-law as  'Ang Mo'. He is always serious, meticulous in his work, very highly discipline and he is like a mirror, if I call him Ang Mo, I could immediately see the reflection writes, "Ching Ching Chong Chong!"

STEP BY STEP EASY WAY
FROM HOW TO MAKE DOUGH TO A BREAD

ADD A TEASPOON OF YEAST, A TEASPOON OF SALT AND HALF KILOGRAM OF ORGANIC PLAIN WHEAT FLOUR (OPTIONAL: YOU CAN USE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR OR MIXTURE OF BOTH)

ADD HOT WATER

ADD WARM WATER (ADJUST YOURSELF)

MIX WITH ONE OF YOUR CLEANED HAND

FEEL LIKE PLAYING DOUGH, KNEAD UNTIL IT WON'T STICK YOUR HAND

THROW THE DOUGH UP AND DOWN FOR 30 TO 50 TIMES

FIRST STEP HAS ACHIEVED

SPREAD SOME FLOUR ON THE BOTTOM OF A PLASTIC CONTAINER AND SOME FLOUR ABOVE THE DOUGH

COVER THE CONTAINER WITH DOUGH TIGHTLY AND PUT IN THE REFRIGERATOR. (NOT FREEZOR) LEAVE IT THERE MINIMUM FOR A DAY, MAXIMUM FOR A WEEK

I WOULD USUALLY LEAVE IT FOR THREE DAYS IN THE REFRIGERATOR, THIS IS HOW IT LOOKED BY THEN (ADVISE TO LEAVE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR DOUGH IN THE REFRIGERATOR FOR LONGER TIME)

USE A CUTTING BOARD, SRPINKLE SOME FLOUR ON TOP OF IT BEFORE LEAVE A HANDFUL SIZE OF DOUGH ON IT

SHAPE INTO A ROUND BALL

FLATTERN IT

NOW USE A ROLLER TO FLATTERN IT

NOW ROLL IT

NOW TAPPER IT

YOU CAN SHAPE IT FROM SIDEWAYS , LATERAL WAYS OR ALL WAYS!

LOOK AT THIS OBLONG SHAPE

USE A KNIFE GIVES A FEW SLASHED LINE IN EITHER DIRECTION. AFTER THIS, LEAVE THIS DOUGH OUTSIDE THE ROOM TEMPERATURE FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS; GLAZE SOME EGG WHITE MIXED WITH WATER. IN BETWEEN BAKING GLAZE IT ONCE OR TWICE AGAIN. BAKE WITH NORMAL BREAD MAKING TEMPERATURE

IT WILL BREAK THIS WAY IF YOU DIDN'T LET IT GROW FULLY BEFORE BAKING

THIS BREAD WAS WITHOUT ANY EGG WHITE GLAZED ON THE SURFACE BUT THE COLOR IS STILL NICE RIGHT? THIS BREAKFAST ROLL IS DIGESTING INSIDE MY STOMACH NOW!