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

MCO 2.0 - Day 3

 Day 3 of Movement Control Order 2.0

11 November 2020

        By now, readers would know that I am an ardent fan of Marion Grasby's. What is there not to love? She's such a joy to watch, shares such simple recipes and a lot of her dishes are inclined to be tangy and spicy, two great flavours. For tonight's dinner, I included her 10-minute Tomato Egg Drop Soup, which hubby enjoys tremendously. Another dish was our favourite Steamed Brinjal with Fried Shallots. The final dish was something that I made for the first time recently and was an immediate hit with hubby - Cincalok Fried Chicken. For the uninitiated, cincalok is a Malaccan condiment made from fermented small shrimps. Hubby spotted it being sold at the market and was curious to know what it was. The adventurous man was keen to give it a try. When I first uncapped the bottle, I almost reeled from the repulsive smell (I still dislike the smell when it's in the bottle). But surprisingly, after cooking, the food tastes good! I've also cooked pork with cincalok but it's this Cincalok Fried Chicken that hubby loves.

MCO 2.0 - Day 2

Day 2 of Movement Control Order 2.0

10 November 2020

        Drawing inspiration from kitchen goddess, Marion Grasby, I cooked an easy peasy dish for dinner tonight. Her Vietnamese lemongrass pork bowl was super quick, as promised. We found it a tad too sweet though, so I must decrease the amount of brown sugar next time round. The use of brown onion, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, cili padi and fish oil really made the dish aromatic. And the garnishing with red chilli and spring onion completed the look.

        This Vietnamese lemongrass pork bowl (dish, in my case) was complemented with a hairy gourd soup, a regular in my kitchen. Hubby loves soup, but doesn't have a penchant for herbal soup. That works in my favour, as herbal soup requires some decent hours of boiling. This hairy gourd soup? 20 mins max! And it's done!

MCO 2.0 - Day 1

 Day 1 of Movement Control Order 2.0                  

9 November 2020

        After successfully flattening the curve the previous rounds, Malaysians now have to battle the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Figures are way higher this time, forcing the government to impose a partial lockdown again. The term used is Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) but as a continuation of my previous blogging, I shall term it MCO 2.0.

        Back to working from home and more kitchen activity, I was urged by hubby dearest to blog about this period again. I had such a hectic (4 online classes, almost back to back) and eventful day (ranging from being unable to start my car to assisting a parent in locating her missing son) today, I almost told hubby that I didn't want to blog. But seeing how he painstakingly took nice photos of the food, raved about the dinner and thanked me profusely for the meal, I couldn't say no to the man.

        So this is what we had for dinner today - hubby's favourite chicken curry (with extra portions for his breakfast tomorrow) and stir-fried cabbage with fat mushrooms.

     

  Hubby always likes his curry super spicy and demands that I add cili padi. I only added 4 of those green spicy devils today and was bracing myself for some nagging that the curry's not spicy enough. Surprisingly, hubby was most appreciative and my curry met the expectations of hubby's heat-ometer! 😆

Marion Grasby's Garlic Butter Prawns

         When I managed to buy RM31 worth of fresh medium-sized prawns from Ah Quen, the fishmonger, I searched Marion Grasby's collection of recipes to whip up something simple yet scrumptious. As always, Marion never fails us. Following her recipe, I served these Garlic Butter Prawns and hubby was hooked.

        I marinated the prawns with pepper, salt and lemongrass powder, for about half an hour. Heating up the wok, I scooped in a generous dollop of olive butter and browned the chopped garlic. As it is a garlicky dish, I used approximately five huge pips of garlic. The aroma of the garlic sweltering in hot butter was indeed fragrant. Then I threw in the white parts of the spring onion and gave it all a good toss. The prawns were then added in and didn't take long to turn pinkish. To enhance the flavour of the dish, soya sauce and shao xing wine were swirled in. As soon as I tossed in the remaining spring onion, I turned off the fire and mixed everything up. 

        Voila! An easy peasy dish was done!

Mama Noi's Thai Sweet & Sour Prawns

           I'm an ardent fan of both Marion Grasby and her irrepressible mother, Mama Noi. Having tried and tested several of their recipes during the recent Movement Control Order, I can attest the simplicity of their recipes. Yet the taste factor is never compromised.

        One of Mama Noi's easiest dishes to cook is her Thai Sweet and Sour Prawns, which is a big hit with hubby. When I first cooked this on Day 61 of the MCO, I adhered to Mama Noi's ingredients closely. But today, I merely made use of what were available at home. http://irenechanal.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2020-05-18T05:14:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false

        First, I marinated some medium-sized prawns with sesame seed oil, salt and pepper. Then I heated some oil in my new Greenpan Mayflower wok and fried some garlic and quite a bit of shallots. In went some green capsicum, cherry tomatoes and fresh pineapple pieces. After giving everything a good toss, I poured in the sweet and sour sauce mixture. Finally, I added the prawns and fried them for about 3 minutes to enable them to cook as well as luxuriate in the glossy sauce.

        So what makes up the all-important sweet and sour sauce? I used a tablespoon of fish sauce, three tablespoons of Maggi chilli sauce, half a teaspoon of white vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar.

        This is definitely a dish that requires approximately 20 minutes to cook, from preparation right upto dishing up. Easy peasy, right?