"Serai-style" Tuna Sandwich

Aahh.... I've always loved Sunday mornings. I get "creative" in the kitchen for breakfast. But it's normally the quick and easy European / English Breakfast as Malaysian breakfast, I find it difficult and takes a long time to prepare.

I pottered in the kitchen this morning and whipped up tuna sandwich. It was another "favourite" menu during my student years. (if I recalled, it was tuna sandwich, crisp, coke and snickers)-> so very "healthy"-not!

Easy - just get any types of bread. Open a can of tuna flakes or chunks (then you "flake" it yourself), half a can of sweetcorn in water (remove the water), some mayonaise and pepper. Mix them together and stuff them onto the bread.

Wala..

Ubi kayu with sambal

I found Ubi kayu (yam) & sambal sold at a kopitiam-like cafe in Bangsar. My mother usually calls it ubi & sambal. When my mother was younger and living in a village in Johore, she said that, this "dish" is common for breakfast.

The yam is boiled and to it a pinch of salt is added, while the sambal is just like nasi lemak sambal (i.e. sambal ikan bilis).

Simple, cheap yet very scrumptuous!

Apam Balik

Malaysian can find the infamous Apam Balik (thick pancake) filled with grounded peanuts and sometimes mixed with cream of sweetcorn at most Pasar Malam (night markets) in KL / Selangor.

You will see people queueing up at night markets just for that.

But what I fancy is a little Apam Balik filled with pineapple jam which is more familiar to Johoreans. The best pineapple Apam Balik that I have tried, can be found at a small street in Muar (Johore) near Muar Bus Station. It's just an old shanty stall where you can also find red bean Apam Balik as well. :)

However, if you like, you can also find it at Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) night market. 5 for RM2! Not bad..

Mom's Chilli Crabs

My mom is a superb cook, taken after my late grandmother. While I am a brilliant "food-taster"!

This is one of her dishes for Saturday lunch - Chilli Crabs or Ketam Masak Pedas. I wasn't in the kitchen when the crabs were being "prepared".

But based on what I had tasted, this is what she would have done "clacking" in the kitchen - toss the crabs in hot oil and in a different wok, sweat fresh diced garlic, ginger and tumeric and add in some chili boh (grounded dried chili) "to taste" and a dash of tomato ketchup. Once the chili boh is "cooked" (it normally gives a very "appetizing" smell, she would have thrown in the lightly fried crabs. Salt is a must but to reduce the spiciness and I'd also tasted some sweetness, she would have added a pinch of sugar. Some Malaysians are fond of adding "Ajinomoto" (monosodium glutamate) in their dishes but I heard sugar is a good substitute of MG.

To add a bit of colour to the red chilli crabs, at the last minute, she would have thrown in freshly cut parsley leaves.

Try it out!

Lempeng kelapa

Lempeng Kelapa is probably famous amongst Johoreans.

Johoreans normally have this for breakfast with sambal ikan bilis. You can find this in a quiant little cafe / restaurant in Bangi. I will post the name once I recall its name. You can also find Nasi Ambeng, Mee Bandung and other Johore delicacies here.

Serai

Serai is lemon grass in English.

In Asian cooking, especially Malay and Thai cuisine, serai is used to bring out the taste of the food. Some of my favourite food with serai as one of its ingredients is soto ayam, masak lemak cili padi, ayam masak merah, tomyam, kerabu mangga and the list goes on.

This blog is to "celebrate" my love for food and cooking (although, one can hardly find myself cooking unless I am being "forced" to).

I will try to share some food "encounters" and maybe some recipes or tips.