MCO 2.0 - Day 21

 Day 21 of Movement Control Order 2.0

29 November 2020

        Hubby was given a choice : cooking or ironing. He chose the former, taking charge of 2 dishes while I tried a simple soup from Marion's Kitchen. So after an enjoyable Zumba session with lively Christmas songs in the comfort of our living room, I proceeded to make the Thai Omelette and Pork Balls Soup before ironing hubby's work clothes. Hubby then took over the kitchen to work his magic on Steamed Cod and Stir-fried French Beans.

A simple yet tasty Thai Omelette & Pork Balls Soup

Pork balls were shy, preferring to hide beneath the fluffy omelette

Steamed Cod

Stir-fried French Beans

MCO 2.0 - Day 20

Day 20 of Movement Control Order 2.0

28 November 2020

   Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

“Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns!” he said.

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

                              - Alfred Tennyson

        Whilst preparing the lesson on Lord Alfred Tennyson’s famous poem  “The Charge of the Light Brigade” for my Form 4 class the other day, I suddenly recalled a recipe that I’d seen on the Internet. Some may be shaking their heads incredulously and wondering what the link is between a grim poem about war and cooking. Well, it’s because the dish is called General Tso’s Chicken.

        General Tso’s Chicken is essentially an American Chinese dish that's probably unheard of by most in Malaysia. It appears to be very popular in America as almost all American Chinese food bloggers feature this recipe. But who is General Tso? Tso Tsung-tang (左宗棠) was a war hero in China's greatest civil war in the 19th century. And that's how I thought of this dish, General Tso's Chicken, when I was supposedly focused on Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade".

        When I decided to cook this dish today, I looked through several versions on the Internet, but it was Marion Grasby's unique interpretation of it that beat them all, hands down. She calls it an Adults Only version of General Tso's Chicken and that, naturally, aroused my interest. 

Adults Only General Tso's Chicken

        The diced chicken fillet is lovingly marinated with light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, lightly whisked egg white, baking soda and vodka (yes, you read that right, and it was the first ingredient that turned me on). The meat is later coated with a mixture of plain flour and cornflour to form a thick crust around the chicken before it is deep fried. After that, garlic, ginger strips and dried chillies are given a quick toss in a lightly-oiled pan. The sauce concoction of chicken stock, light soya sauce, sugar, cornflour, Shaoxing wine and black vinegar (that's the other ingredient that made me choose Marion's recipe over others') is then poured into the pan. After it has thickened considerably, the chicken pieces are added and given a good toss, and spring onion is thrown in just after the fire has been turned off.

        Once again, Marion Grasby has endeared herself to me for sharing another delightful recipe. I could see hubby enjoyed tonight's Adults Only General Tso's Chicken very much. Even after his rice had been finished, he was still happily popping in the chicken. Before I could even reach out for the last piece, it had disappeared!

Our other dish for tonight, hubby's favourite Tofu Prawn Soup

MCO 2.0 - Day 19

 Day 19 of Movement Control Order 2.0

27 November 2020

        Tonight's dinner was not complicated but required time. To serve tender pork belly braised in soya sauce (tau yew bak), the marinated pork belly had to be simmered and steeped in flavourful soya sauce for about an hour. I had, on previous occasions, skimped on time and I regretted to discover that either the meat was not tender enough or the meat had not fully absorbed the intense flavours of the sauce. From then on, there has been no question of cutting short the braising time.

Braised Pork Belly in Soya Sauce

        Our other dish, steamed brinjal, also demanded some time from me. I had to patiently cut them into strips before leaving them in the steamer for about twenty minutes. Today's one of those rare days that I wish I had a larger kitchen, or at least a stove with more than two hobs. With the pork belly braising away on one hob, I was only left with another. Besides steaming the brinjal, I also needed to fry shallots for garnishing and fry some prawn rolls. So the brinjal had to wait in a queue, and dinner ended up being slightly later than usual. 😆

Fried Prawn Rolls

Steamed Brinjal 

MCO 2.0 - Day 18

 Day 18 of Movement Control Order 2.0

26 November 2020

        The United States of America celebrates Thanksgiving Day today. I decided to expose my students to that during today's virtual learning. Even though it is not part of our culture, I believe it's essential to remind ourselves to always be thankful for what we have in our lives. Cynics may scoff at the idea of being thankful for 2020, the year of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. True, our lives have been overturned by the crisis, sources of income have been lost, we have been asked to stop socialising, many are hunkered down at home to work and learn, masks have become part of our clothes ensemble, new norms have been adopted, and the list goes on. But at the same time, we still have so much to be grateful for. For starters, you and I are alive and healthy. We are blessed with loved ones and supportive friends, we still have our jobs or we have the means to secure a different way of earning, there's a roof above our heads, Malaysia has a Director General of Health who has been doing a terrific job battling this crisis, and the list does not end here. So let's count our blessings instead of moping and spreading fear. Happy Thanksgiving!

        There are no turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin in the house, but I can still plate up a Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to Marion Grasby again, I cooked Creamy Garlic and Mushroom Chicken, served it with Spicy Garlic Butter Spaghetti and had Mushroom Soup to go with it. 

Creamy Garlic and Mushroom Chicken with Spicy Garlic Butter Spaghetti

        For the Creamy Garlic and Mushroom Chicken, the boneless chicken thighs were marinated with salt and pepper. After being shallow-fried, they were taken out. Using the same frying pan minus the oil, mushrooms were fried with butter, chopped garlic and thyme were added, coconut milk was swirled in, and the chicken was returned to the pan to simmer in the aromatic sauce. Before dishing up, orange zest was sprinkled onto the chicken and thickened gravy.

Our simple Thanksgiving dinner, enjoyed with Christmas jazz music in the background

        Hubby's verdict of the meal : tasty, well done! Once again, Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

MCO 2.0 - Day 17

 Day 17 of Movement Control Order 2.0

25 November 2020

        It's a month (or less) to Christmas, my favourite time of the year. With the delightful Christmas music playing in the background, hubby and I dragged the Christmas tree out of storage and put it up. Our tree is a white one; I've had it since I was four or five years old. It definitely gives me a feel of winter. Now it just requires some pressies (hint, hint!) to complete the adornment, and if I'm not too lazy, I'll bake some mince pies to round off the Christmassy atmosphere.

Scamper the Dog enjoys basking next to the Christmas tree.

        Rewarding hubby for a job well done (he was doing most of the work whilst I recorded his efforts), I cooked his favourite Chicken Curry Hot Hot Hot...again. Needless to say, he tucked into the curry with gusto, while I sipped honey, in between mouthfuls of curry, to relieve the mouth-numbing spicy curry. 

Chicken Curry Hot Hot Hot

        Fortunately, there was our other dish, Stir-fried Kailan with Cherry Tomatoes, that helped to neutralise the burned tongue. This vegetable actually goes very well with goji berries, but hubby is not on friendly terms with those little red pips. So I decided to pump up the flavour with cherry tomatoes instead.

Stir-fried Kailan with Cherry Tomatoes

   

Lil one gets his Christmas stocking ready for pressies.

    

MCO 2.0 - Day 16

 Day 16 of Movement Control Order 2.0

24 November 2020

        What a cold, gloomy day it has been! Typical monsoon weather! Sourcing ideas from blogs, I wanted something warm and comforting to the tummy. A Chinese New Year dish from the blog, Eat What Tonight, struck me as appealing and since I had most of the ingredients at home, I decided to adapt the recipe tonight. May I present my Platter of Abundance?

Platter of Abundance : steamed stuffed mushrooms with pork & fish paste, encircled by fresh prawns

        Hubby, who was not working today, went out to get breakfast whilst his wife worked from home this morning. He also made a stop at the supermarket just outside our house and came home with his favourite siew pak choy. Wifey had to dutifully cook that for dinner, although there were other vegetables waiting in line in the refrigerator.

Stir-fried Siew Pak Choy

MCO 2.0 - Day 15

 Day 15 of Movement Control Order 2.0

23 November 2020

        As I had to chauffeur hubby around to settle some car matters, we decided to have a cheat day by buying some roast meat and re-heating it for dinner. My task only involved cooking the rice and stir-frying the vegetables. Life is much easier this way, but rather unhealthy. I shuddered to note the amount of oil from the roast meat, as I was heating it up.

Roast Pork and Roast Chicken from Uncle Long

Stir-fried Hong Kong Nai Pak in Egg Gravy

* A word of thanks to Ah Kin, hubby's good friend, for his recommendations on where to head to for installation of  dashcam and car windows tint.

MCO 2.0 - Day 14

 Day 14 of Movement Control Order 2.0

22 November 2020

        The kitchen is quite often helmed by hubby on Sundays. Sometimes he cooks in tandem with me. This evening, he was in charge of the fish while I turned my attention to the soup. He had requested for his favourite Tofu Prawns Soup, which is super easy to make. While I settled some school work, hubby single-handedly handled the two slices of grouper. After deep frying the fish, he served it in an organic umami shoyu sauce. That was our simple dinner for the day.

Fried Grouper with Organic Umami Shoyu Sauce

Tofu Prawns Soup

MCO 2.0 - Day 13

 Day 13 of Movement Control Order 2.0

21 November 2020

        Today we had our faulty air-conditioner replaced, and of course lots of clean-up ensued. Since the curtains had been taken down for the job, it made sense to clean the windows and put up a fresh set of curtains. I got bitten by the cleaning bug, so besides the vacuuming and mopping, I also dusted every nook and cranny (at least where my short-sighted eyes fell upon 😆). Ta-da! That's my pre-Christmas spring cleaning done!

        Needless to say, I was bone-weary after that. So the kitchen was closed again. Hubby whisked me to Japan for dinner...well, to be precise, to an eatery that evoked pleasant memories of our 2018 Japan trip. We slurped tasty ramen at Mad Ramen Bar. Hubby enjoyed his White Tonkotsu Ramen, which came with pork chasu, black fungus, mentaiko, red ginger, ajitsuke tamago and spring onions. I ordered the Miso Ramen from the Hokkaido series, which had pork chasu, ajitsuke tamago (braised egg), wakame, bamboo shoots, negi, nori, sweet corn and shitake butter. In addition, we had some yakitori (skewered ingredients grilled over a charcoal fire).

Miso Ramen (RM17.80)

White Tonkotsu Ramen with additional braised egg (RM17.80 + RM2.00)

2 skewers of Bacon & Egg, 2 skewers of Bacon & Enoki Mushroom (RM15.20)

MCO 2.0 - Day 12

 Day 12 of Movement Control Order 2.0

20 November 2020

        Weekend's here...can smell it in the air! Hubby has also taken a few days off from work next week, so I will not be home alone. Perhaps this accounts for the spring in my step.

        In a jovial mood, I experimented with a new dish. Sifting through several recipes on the Internet, I adapted some ideas for tonight's Creamy Butter Chicken. And it worked! Hubby was delighted with the dish, which was complemented with Stir-fried Lady's Fingers.

        As for me, I'm still salivating over the Earl Grey Chiffon cake that I had snucked out of the house to eat this afternoon. Hubby was at work, my craving for cakes was intensified after seeing a post on Facebook, so I quickly called for reservation and drove myself to Six and a Half to enjoy a cup of Capuccino with a not-so-decadent slice of cake. Bliss!

MCO 2.0 - Day 11

 Day 11 of Movement Control Order 2.0

19 November 2020

        Nyonya purists, read no further! Today I cooked the Pongteh Chicken, a classical Nyonya dish, but with a spicy twist. This is the way my mother cooks it, hence this is the way I serve it to hubby, and most importantly, this is the way he loves it. Any cook will attest to the fact that her greatest joy is seeing how much her food is relished.

        As much as I enjoy eating kailan, I have never cooked this leafy vegetable as the stems are tough and require some patient peeling. With time on my hands today, I decided to give it a go. Fortunately, patience makes perfect. 😅

MCO 2.0 - Day 10

 Day 10 of Movement Control Order 2.0

18 November 2020

        Emerging from self quarantine, it was time for a small celebration. Hubby took me out for a simple meal at one of our haunts. The food at Jun Chillax is tasty and prices are reasonable, but somehow it's a quiet little cafe. That, of course, is a plus point for us in times when physical distancing is of paramount importance.

Black pepper chicken chop rice for hubby

Mushroom sauce chicken chop rice for me

        Despite being fortunate enough to be spared from the discomfort of the Covid-19 swab test, I heeded the advice to go into self isolation as soon as it was confirmed that one of my colleagues was positive. As I had not been in close contact with her, I was deemed to have a rather low risk of infection. However, the risk was still there, and in the earlier days, we had no idea of how far the infection had spread. Had other colleagues and students been infected, my risk level would have been considerably higher. Therefore, it was only prudent and responsible to have minimal, if not zero, contact with anyone else outside my house.

        Fortunately, the quarantine period has officially ended today. However, during this period, we had all been yo-yoing between anixety and calm. There were two occasions when a message and a phonecall from an unknown number threw me into near-hysteria. The fear that had gripped me literally made my blood run cold. I could only calm myself down by praying the Rosary and by turning to God. "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! – Isaiah 26:3"

        Amidst this period of gloom, I had this circle of friends and loved ones who rallied to soothe and comfort me. Even when he was busy at work, hubby regularly checked on me to make sure I was doing fine. My mother also called to check on me ever so often, and prayed hard. Friends and cousins kept me in their prayers. One of them even got her entire family to pray the Rosary for me. A dear friend sent me doggy pictures every morning to cheer me up. Others sent me words of encouragement. Another offered to help me with grocery-buying. And yet another wanted my home address so that she could buy me some seeds online and have them couriered to me to keep me tied up. I am truly blessed to have all of you in my life. Merci beaucoup! 😘😘

        The fight is far from over for us and everyone else in the world. But if we all do things right, we can win this war. My recent near-brush with Covid-19 has reinforced the realisation of how important it is to avoid crowded and confined spaces, practise social distancing, don a mask in public places and wash our hands often. There is no other way around it.

        It is also crucial to lend support and encouragement to all around us. These are trying times and we may not realise how a simple word of encouragement or gesture can bridge the gap between hope and despair. We should stay connected through the phone or social media. Keeping ourselves busy is also an excellent way to take our minds off matters.

        I'm thankful I had my online classes and preparation to contend with, this past week. And of course, cooking has been therapeutic. Speaking of that, here's what I dished up for today's lunch. I was starving after my virtual class and I wanted something quick. The answer : Braised Dried Vermicelli with Seafood.

Braised Dried Vermicelli (Tang Hoon) with Seafood (prawns and crabmeat)

MCO 2.0 - Day 9

 Day 9 of Movement Control Order 2.0

17 November 2020

        Whenever we return to Sitiawan, my father-in-law would take us to Bei King Restaurant for a meal. Besides the oyster omelette, I love their sweet and sour pork ribs or sweet and sour fish slices. I feel Bei King elevates the humble sweet and sour sauce a few notches by adding fried potato wedges in their dish. Aha! An idea formed in my mind when taking the minced pork out from its cool confines of the freezer.

        Following Bee Yinn Low's (of the blog, Rasa Malaysia) recipe for the meatballs, I marinated the minced pork with Bentong ginger powder, finely minced garlic, salt, pepper, sesame oil and a pinch of five spice powder. After the meat was well-slapped into little balls and deep fried, it was time to lightly coat the potato wedges with cornflour before lowering them into the hot oil. The meatballs and potato wedges were, of course, left to bask on paper towel to soak up the oil and to  assuage my nagging guilt of eating deep fried food, while I made the concoction of the sauce using tomato ketchup, chilli sauce, soya sauce, sugar and a dash of vinegar. In went the sauce into the awaiting wok of shallots and cherry tomatoes. As the sauce started to thicken, the meatballs and potato wedges were tossed back into the wok for some merrymaking. Voila! My Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Potato Wedges were ready. Both hubby and I loved it!

        Our other dish tonight was Stir-fried Hong Kong Baby Nai Pak with Egg Gravy...yummy!

MCO 2.0 - Day 8

 Day 8 of Movement Control Order 2.0

16 November 2020

        

Szechuan Beans

Braised Turmeric Chicken

Prawn Otak-otak

        The Internet can be truly a boon and a bane. For the former, it really is a treasure trove for recipes and ideas of what to cook. It is from the Internet (from a friend's Facebook post, to be exact) that I learned to cook this Braised Turmeric Chicken. Thank you once again, Alexandra Wong, for sharing this delightful recipe.

        Browsing through several cooking blogs, I stumbled upon the idea for my second dish. The blogger behind the blog, Roti and Rice, is a Malaysian who has made the United States her home. Her Szechuan Beans looked really delicious, and I decided to attempt that but I tweaked the recipe a little.

        Tonight's third dish was dug out from the freezer and steamed. It was a portion of prawn otak-otak bought from the market. 

MCO 2.0 - Day 7

 Day 7 of Movement Control Order 2.0

15 November 2020

        Thanks to Ah Khay, the vegetable seller, hubby came home from the market yesterday with a packet of flat and broad wan ton noodles. This variant was new to hubby as we usually order the thin variant at the coffee shops. So I set to work to dish out a plate of tasty wan ton noodles for hubby to enjoy. I got ready to marinate the pork belly to make the char siew. For maximum flavours, the meat should be left to luxuriate in its marinade overnight.

        I've made an angmoh version of char siew using red wine and marmalade. I've also made char siew over the stove top. Today, I decided to use Marion Grasby's recipe and it was a winner! Hubby loved it, especially because it's neither too sweet nor salty.

          And oh, the dumplings were bought from Ah Khay too! I only had to prepare the simple soup.

MCO 2.0 - Day 6

 Day 6 of Movement Control Order 2.0

14 November 2020

        To take my mind off some worries clouding my days, I forced myself to try a new recipe for dinner. One of Marion Grasby's recipes had caught my eye recently so I decided to give it a try. That's how her Twice-cooked Soy Sauce Chicken ended up on our dinner table tonight, together with Stir-fried Beansprouts and Fish Balls Soup.

      Don't be put off by the name "Twice-cooked". Any recipe from Marion is assured to be simple, fuss-free and scrumptious. The chicken pieces are first marinated with grated ginger, dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, honey and Shaoxing cooking wine. They are then roasted in the oven for 1 hour. When they are done, they are then transferred into a pan of bubbling sauce concocted from garlic, chilli, spring onion, soya sauce, sugar and black vinegar. The aromatic roasted chicken pieces are tossed well and allowed to simmer in the sauce until the chicken pieces are sticky and glossy. Done! It was my first experience cooking with black vinegar so I did not dare to put too much. But it could still be tasted...yummylicious!

MCO 2.0 - Day 5

 Day 5 of Movement Control Order 2.0

13 November 2020

        "Ooh! This looks like restaurant-styled food. You are copying Jun Chillax?" hubby enquired as he eyed the dinner on the table. He was referring to a cafe that we frequent. But hubby was wrong; tonight's Garlic Fried Rice with Ebi Tatsutaage was inspired and adapted from two blogs, Messy Witchen and Just Bento.

   

    Ebi Tatsutaage is Japanese cripsy fried prawns. Instead of being enveloped in a batter or dusted with breadcrumbs, the method of tatsutaage frying involves lightly coating the marinated prawns with potato flour. In the two blogs that I consulted, the prawns were marinated with soya sauce, sake and grated ginger. Instead of soya sauce, I used salt and pepper. As there's no sake in the house, I substituted it with vodka. It occurred to me to add more, but I stopped myself in time. A combination of alcohol and prawns always makes me break out in rashes. I'd never tried marinating prawns with alcohol so I was not sure if this would have the same result. But I thought I'd better play it safe.

        As for the garlic fried rice, I opted to add some French beans for colour and crunch. I was a tad too liberal with the salt and soya sauce when frying the rice but when eaten together with the prawns and fried egg, it was fine. And the prawns? Oo-la-lla! They were so delicious and the tinge of ginger and vodka could still be tasted! Suffice to say, hubby was one happy man tonight!

MCO 2.0 - Day 4

 Day 4 of Movement Control Order 2.0

12 November 2020

        Bogged down by some worries these few days, I needed something to perk me up and bring a smile to my face. Hubby has been doing his best; keeps flooding my WhatsApp with adorable doggy pictures. So for dinner, I wanted something sweet, sour and spicy, which is what I enjoy. The answer was found in Marion's Kitchen : Thai 3-flavoured Chicken. Both hubby and I enjoy this so much that it's a regular feature in my kitchen. Our other dish tonight was Lotus Root Soup with Pork Ribs and Peanuts.

One of the many doggy pics sent by hubby to make his wifey laugh out loud