Busy Bee Cafe

Unlike home… as in Malaysia… if I need to use pandan, I would just go to my mom’s back garden and cut one out.

Here, in the UK, you could use pandan essence or pandan paste or buy a big bag of pandan leaves and keep them in the freezer. I had a bag in the fridge as I didn’t have space in the freezer and for the last two weeks has been figuring out dishes to make with pandan. The more pandan leaves I need to use the better. Not that I am complaining as I love the smell and taste of pandan.

Anyway… I saw a picture of a banana and coconut cake and don’t ask me why as they do not resemble or even taste the same, I suddenly thought of kuih dadar. I haven’t had it for ages and the last time I was in Malaysia it wasn’t even on my food I have to eat list. But I do remember my mom made this for me a long time ago and I remember buying it from the school canteen when I wanted a sugar fix and I remember loving the sweet taste of gula melaka mixed with the smell of pandan… and with all these memories, I had to make it as I wanted a little taste of home.

Ingredients:

5 pandan leaves
50ml water (to blend the leaves with)
120g plain flour
250ml santan (coconut milk)
50ml water
1 egg
100g palm sugar
1 pandan leaf
75ml water
100g desiccated coconut
1tsp corn flour

1. Put the 5 pandan leaves into a blender with 50ml water and blend into a pulp. Strain it through a fine sieve and put it aside.
   
2. Add flour, santan, water, egg and 4 tbsp of the pandan juice into a bowl and mix well.
3. In a saucepan, add the palm sugar, knotted pandan leaf, water and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolved. Add the desiccated coconut and corn flour and stir for another minute. Set it aside.
4. Heat up a frying pan and lightly grease it with oil. Pour in about 3 tablespoon of the pancake mixture and swirl the pan to form a thin layer of pancake… almost crepe like.
5. When it is cooked, transfer it over to a plate or chopping board and spoon on about 2 teaspoon of the filling mixture on to the pancake and roll it up like a spring roll.

Just another Malaysian flavour that I am happy to share.

When it comes to food, I am easily influenced. My friend Jue put up a photo of kuih bakar (burn cake… literal translation) and I went all excited and started to think ‘I HAVE TO MAKE THIS’!

So I did. Big muffin tin for me and little cupcake tin for Little Bee.

And I am lucky that I have Little Bee by my side who is always willing to give a helping hand.

Ingredients:

250ml water
6 pandan (screwpine) leaves
160g caster sugar
250g plain flour
250ml santan (coconut milk)
3 eggs
Oil

1. Heat the oven at 180C or gas mark 4.
2. Put the water and pandan leaves in a blender and whiz. Pour it into a bowl through a fine sieve to get the pandan water. You can also use 1/2 tsp pandan paste if you have it and add about 50ml water.
3. Add sugar, flour, coconut milk and eggs into the bowl and whisk. You can also just whizz them in a blender but my Little Bee insisted on whisking
4. Oil the cake pan, muffin pan or cupcake pan (whatever you choose to use) and put it in the oven until the oil is nice and hot. Take the pan out and pour the mixture in. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and put it in the middle of the oven for about 40 minutes. Let it cool and it’s ready to eat

I haven’t had Chinese takeaway for a while now. Actually, I can’t remember the last time I had Chinese takeaway that I think it must be before Little Bee was born.

I was ill with chickenpox for the last couple of weeks and as I didn’t have much energy to cook most nights or even care about eating, hubby bought Chinese takeaway for himself one night.

Then the other day, I saw a picture of lemon chicken that someone made in a group that I’m in on FB and suddenly I started thinking that maybe I’ll just pick up the phone and order Chinese takeaway, but I stopped myself. Even if I do order takeaway, I still have to cook for Little Bee as I prefer her to have home cooked meal and she’ll be wondering why we’re not eating with her as we always have the same food together.

So I made it. OK it’s deep fried but surely knowing what I put in it is better than just dialing for the food to be delivered ready to eat but not knowing what’s in it.

The sauce is separate from the chicken above as Little Bee was having her bath and I didn’t want the dish to be too soggy, so I kept it separate until everyone was at the table.

Ingredients:

400g boneless chicken cut into bite pieces
2tbsp light soy sauce
2 eggs, beaten
30g corn flour
1/2tsp baking powder
A pinch of fresh ground white pepper
Oil for deep frying
30g sugar
250ml water
Juice of 1 lemon
3 slices of lemon
1 cube of chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp corn flour
2tbsp water

1. Combine the chicken and soy sauce in a bowl, mix and set aside for it to marinade for 30 minutes.
2. In another bowl, combine the eggs, corn flour, baking powder and pepper. Mix well and tip the batter into the bowl of chicken and soy sauce and coat the chicken pieces with the batter.
3. Heat oil in a wok, if you don’t have a deep fryer like me, on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and deep fry the chicken pieces in batches until fully cooked. Place the cooked pieces on paper towel to drain acces oil.
4. In a pan, add sugar, water, lemon juice, lemon slices and cube of chicken stock and heat on medium heat. Dissolve the corn flour and water and pour it into the lemon sauce. Simmer until it’s mixed well and the sauce has thicken.
5. Pour the sauce over the chicken and you could sprinkle some sesame seeds over, which I didn’t here as I forgot Serve with rice and vegetables.

Whenever you see the word ‘mee’ on any of my post, it stands for noodles. That’s what we call it in Malaysia and that’s what I call it where ever I am.

It has been freezing lately in London. Too cold for it to be March. So cold that a nice bowl of soup would be lovely indeed… and guess what? It was lovely. So lovely that Little Bee picked every sweetcorn up with her chopsticks!

There are many recipes for mee soup. Some are very elaborate but when you’ve spent the whole day at work and then dragging your child home and getting you child ready for the evening, all you want is something really simple, and this is very simple!

Oh… I used capelli d’angelo as I didn’t have egg noodles but obviously you could swap it with egg noodles or any other noodles that you fancy.

Ingredients:

Capelli d’angelo, cooked, drained and leave to the side in cold water
1 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 cube vegetable stock
500ml water
1 carrot, jullienned
2 large Chinese cabbage leaves, sliced
1 small tin of sweetcorn
2 spring onions, sliced

1. Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and fry for a minute. Add the chicken and let it seal which takes about a couple of minutes. Add the ginger, vegetable stock and water. Bring to boil.
2. Reduce the heat and add the vegetables. Cover and let it simmer until the chicken is cooked.
3. Drain the pasta/noodles and put it into the bowls to be served. Ladle the soup into the bowls. Put the chicken breasts on to a chopping board and chop them into bite size. Put the chicken into the bowls on top of the noodles.

You can garnish it with corriander leaves, sliced chilli and sprinkle soy sauce over it. But I like it as it is

Sometimes, you open your cupboard and discover it bare. No bread, no cereal… no breakfast unless you get out of your pyjamas and put layer upon layer of clothings as it is cold outside just to walk five minutes to the shop to get bread and cereal. Sometimes, you think I really cannot be bothered.

Hey! Look! There’s a sweet potato.

And that one single realisation has saved you from getting out of your pyjamas and suffer the empty tummy syndrome.

Sounds familiar? No? Oh well… it must be only me

Anyway, it was lucky that I did have a large sweet potato, coconut milk, tapioca pearls and pandan leaves. I had a lovely breakfast… but I’m not too sure if Little Bee liked it and hubby didn’t even touch it. Not that I’m complaining as it’s more for me.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potatoes diced to your preferred size
400ml water
400ml coconut milk
50g palm sugar (molasses would be good too)
2 pandan leaves
1/2 cup tapioca pearls (soaked, rinsed and drained)

1. Put the diced sweet potato and water in a pot. Let it simmer until it is soft right through.
2. Add the coconut milk, sugar, pandan leaves (tie them into a knot) and tapioca pearls. Once the sugar has dissolved, the pudding is ready.

Seriously, it is that easy.

Add more water if you think that it’s too thick. Add or reduce the sugar depending on your taste.

Enjoy!

Little Bee was asking for bubur (rice porridge) yesterday but as the cupboard was bare, I promised her that we’ll do grocery shopping and will make it for her lunch tomorrow… which is today. So, I was all ready to make her bubur and told her so, when she said that she wanted noodles.

OK.

I wasn’t planning to make any noodles this week and I know that she’s asking for egg noodles which I don’t have… I have flat rice noodles and rice vermicelli noodles but no egg noodles… but I did have have some capelli d’angelo which I usually use as substitute for egg noodles.

Disaster diverted!

Little Bee also specified that she wanted cauliflower, carrots, green beans and prawns in the noodles.

OK. This will now, not be the traditional mee goreng mamak but will be mee goreng cincai (whatever will do) which is how I cook anyway.

As I was grabbing things out of the fridge, I remembered the tempeh (soya bean cake) that came through the letter box on Friday. I haven’t had tempeh in this country. I couldn’t bring myself to buy the frozen tempeh in the Chinese supermarkets. But I decided to purchase fresh tempeh online after chatting with a fellow Malaysian over lunch a couple of weeks ago and will order some ragi (tempeh starter) and try make my own in the new year!

Anyway, the tempeh is another ingredient that got thrown into my mee goreng. So for those who asked for the recipe, this is not the traditional mee goreng mamak, so don’t be to disappointed if it taste nothing like the mee goreng you tasted, plus it is very mild as Little Bee’s taste bud is still developing so I don’t want to ruin it yet!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp corn oil
1 tsp belacan (shrimp paste)
1 tsp chilli paste
1 carrot, julliene
a handful green beans
a cup of cauliflower
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
225g raw prawns
half cup of thinly sliced fried tempeh
2 eggs
100g capelli d’angelo (this only takes two minutes to cook in boiling water)

1. Heat wok on high heat and add the oil. Add the belacan and fry it for a minute (unless you have a pre-fried belacan). Add the chilli paste and fry until fragrant or ‘pecah minyak’ (the oil and paste is separated).
2. Add the vegetables and fry for two minutes. Add the soy sauce, dark sauce, tomato sauce and sugar. Stir to mix it all up, reduce the heat slightly, cover and let the vegetables steam for a minute. Add the prawns, stir and cover it again for another minute.
3. Add the fried tempeh, make a well in the middle and add the eggs. Whisk the eggs in the well with your spatula or whatever cooking utensil you’re using, until the eggs are half cook and stir into the rest of the ingredients.
4. Add in the cooked capelli d’angelo. Mix well… and ta dah… it’s ready.

BTW… I’m writing this from memory as a couple of G+ members asked for the recipe. I might have to edit it later in case I missed out anything… but I don’t think so. Anyway… this should only be a guide as traditional Malay cooking doesn’t really use measurements as everything is ‘secukup rasa’ (to your taste) or ‘agak-agak’ (about that much maybe if I have to guess). So, do add or reduce any ingredients as you think fit

This is the simplest and filling and, I think, the most understated yummiest dish ever. This is the first dish that I remember eating as a child. This is the dish that I will make when I’m feeling ill… it is to me chicken soup to others. When I have a sore throat, it much easy (and yummier) to swallow than any other food out there. This is the first ever dish I made for Little Bee during her baby led weaning stage and still gives to her as it’s the only dish she would eat her vegetable with.

It is the humble bubur – rice porridge.

It is usually cooked plain (boiling the rice in water with a bit of salt) but I like to cook mine with chopped up onion, garlic (quickly fried before adding the rice and water) and vegetables (without salt), hence the reason I love cooking this for Little Bee as the vegetables are boiled together with the rice, so even if she push the vegetables away (which she never does when I make this) at least I know the goodness is in it.

And when serve it to Little Bee, it’s with egg, ground fried ikan bilis (white bait) and kicap manis… and mine with the additional sambal belacan.

Tonight, we had bubur and Little Bee licked her bowl clean

When we were in Jakarta in May, this was the beverage of choice for me, ginger coffee. It reminded me of embah (my granddad). It’s not to everyone’s taste but I just love the ginger taste with coffee.

So, last night I grabbed about 7cm of ginger, peeled it, bruised it, boiled it in three cups of water for about 15 minutes. Let it cool down. When I woke up at 3am to have my morning meal before I start my fast, I made myself a cup of kopi jahe. One spoon of instant coffee, half a cup of boiling water, quarter cup of ginger water, 1tsp sugar and milk.

Heaven.

Now, all I need to remember is to get evaporated milk as it taste nicer with evaporated milk

At last I’ve got my hands on the book!!!

Before I had a look in the book, I did make some cute snack for Little Bee for when we went out for her play date  yesterday but I was in a rush so I didn’t take any photo

The arrangements looks so cute in the book and feels like it’s going to be hard work but with current enthusiasm I am determined to make it happen!

 I got this recipe from one of my Periplus Mini Cookbooks that I bought when I was in either Malaysia or Singapore or Bali. I have always been interested in cooking Thai but kept thinking that the dishes are complicated. Silly me… they are no more complicated than Malaysian cooking.

The recipe used pork, but obviously as I don’t consume pork, I changed it to chicken breast and omitted the 1/2 tsp of salt as I feel the soy sauce and fish sauce is salty enough.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 fresh coriander stems and roots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp white peppercorn
1 chicken breast, minced
1 can (300g) corn kernels, drained
1 egg
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
5 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
Vegetable oil for frying

1. Pound the coriander stems and roots, garlic and white peppercorn using a pestle and mortar until fine. Put the pounded ingredients in a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir and mix well.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Scoop tablespoons of mixture and carefully slide each patty off the spoon into the hot oil. Cook on both side until golden brown. Remove and drain on kitchen roll. It’s nice on its own or serve with some chili sauce, hot or cold.