Pulut Kuning and Chicken Cashew Nuts Curry

OK! I noticed the title contained both Malay and English in it. Alright, I get things straight. In Malay its --> Pulut Kuning dengan Ayam Kari Gajus and in English its --> Glutinous Yellow Rice with Chicken Cashew Nuts Curry. There! I visited me grandma last weekend. Didn't make this to bring over but made a tupperware of Kueh Lopes. Since I had just a little over two cups of glutinous rice left, I might as well finish it up and made Pulut Kuning. Pulut Kuning is best eaten with Rendang or Beef Curry. The spicier, the better! SHIOK!!! I knew Mommy is giving me her Chicken Cashew Nut Curry and I'll have just the dish to pair it with.

Note that my Pulut Kuning isn't very kuning (yellow) as I didn't add any artificial colouring. Thus the pale yellowy looking. Making it is uber easy. Mine's done using the rice cooker. Just remember to pre-soak the glutinous rice overnight with a little kapur. Then wash it and let the cooker do its job. Make sure the water level measures at the same 'height' with the glutinous rice. If it's higher, the glutinous rice will be soaggy. Not nice! Put half a tsp of vege oil so it wouldn't stick. Optional though. Press "cook" and then when it turns to "warm", let it stay in there for 20 minutes or so to let the rice settle (tanak) and soften. Serve warm with delish dips to accompany. EnjoY aites!

Sharing with you peeps me Mommy's Chicken Cashew Nuts Curry.

Ingredients for Chicken Cashew Nuts Curry
Ingredients to blend:
1 large onion
3 garlic
1cm young ginger
10 green chillies (more chillies = spicier)
1 bunch fresh coriander leaves
1 cup raw cashew nuts
water (easy blending)
Other Ingredients:
5 cups water
oil to fry blend ingredients
1 chicken - cut as desired
meat curry powder - dilute with a little water
2 potatoes - quartered
cherry tomatoes - whole
1 carrot - cut small
ladies finger - whole
Method
Heat oil and saute blended ingredients till split oil (naik minyak). Then add in water and let it boil. Add in chicken, potatoes and carrots. Close lid and let boil till chicken tendered. Add in ladies fingers. After a couple of minutes, add in cherry tomatoes and close fire. Close lid to let the heat carry on cooking. Serve warm with rice, baguette (roti perancis lar), roti kirai, roti prata, chappati, naan, pulut kuning and many-many more!

Emergency Mee Goreng

After, the big 'Kampung' dinner yesterday, "B" wanted me to cook something simpler tonight. How simple IS simple? Not cooking IS the simplest! Being "B", he didn't suggest any. He gave me the go-ahead to do anything I want, following my taste for the day. Simple for me are one dish meals. Either mee goreng or fried rice. Since, I DO have a packet of yellow mee needed to be used, why not Mee Goreng basah-pedas. But, argh...! I'm short of the ground dried chillies. The ultimate agent needed in cooking a "power" mee goreng! Nah... noway I'm gonna cut, soak, blend the dried red chillies. Too much hassle. Defeat the meaning of simple cooking. So... I came up with the "Emergency Mee Goreng". Hah... It did eventually tasted close enough. "Pedas" (Hot) enough. "Basah" (Wet) enough. Okie docs, "B" mari makan sekarang! ("B" come eat now!"). He gave his thumbs-up.

Tomorrow, no more being lazy. I'm gonna blend those dried red chillies and store it in the refrigerator for future use. You'll never know when it'll come in handy. Just ANYTIME...!!!

Ingredients for Emergency Mee Goreng
500g yellow noodles
1 large red onion - chopped finely
3 garlic - chopped finely
2 red chillies - chopped finely
1/3 cup chilli sauce
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1/8 tbsp light soy sauce
1/8 tbsp dark soy sauce
crushed black pepper
100g minced meat
2 chicken breasts - sliced
1 hard tofu - cubed
cabbage - chopped roughly
oil
Method
Heat oil and fry onion, garlic and red chillies. Add in minced meat and chicken breasts. Stir till cook. Add in chilli, tomamto, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Stir till boiled slightly then add in hard tofu cubes. Add in yellow noodles and mix well. Sprinkle some crushed black pepper. Lastly add in chopped cabbage. Mix all well. Serve hot.

My 'Kampungan' Dinner

When I told "B" what I'll be cooking for dinner, he msg-ed me this ---> "Wah, tonight kampung dinner seh...!" You see... I seldom cook this type of malay-ish dinner. Mainly because it'll involved fried stuffs! Which I really HaTe! Urgh...! Usually, it'll be fusion meals or one-dish meals coz they're simply easier and faster. But it beats nothing compared to authentic dishes. I was in the mood and since "B" gave his support, I was all for it. Can't wait to get off work and start pounding me mortar and pestle!

I had all if not most of the ingredients at home. I've set myself to prepare dinner within an hour. As dinner was nothing too complicated and out of the ordinary, I reckon the time limit was substantial. Of course I did no short-cuts. All ingredients are prepared fresh. Oh, I babbled too much and forgot to say what's the menu for tonight.

Our Kampung Dinner Menu
Pardon If the translation's off. It's the nearest I could come up with!
(1) Sayur Lemak Lodeh - Coconut Broth Vege Mix
(2) Ikan Cincharu Goreng Kunyit - Fried Cincharu Fish with Tumeric
(3) Stir-fry Taugeh with Dried Shrimps and Fishcake
(4) Kicap Cili Api - Sweet Black Soy Sauce with Bird's Eye Chillies
(5) Basmati Rice

To me (personally), the Sayur Lemak Lodeh sounds complicated and frying fishes aren't my best forte. The stir-fry dish was easy. Had that accompanying dip of Kicap Cili Api to go with the fried ikan cincharu. It'll you give an extra kick there. Trust me! Alright, NO TURNING BACK now! I'm going thru the mission. Charge...!!!

First thing I did upon reaching home was to open all windows and bring down the laundries. I knew I'll be frying later and don 't like the fishy smell to linger around the house. I'm particular! Then, get all the ingredients out and started sorting, peeling, soaking etc. "B" came home much earlier than usual and I hadn't even starting to cook! One thing I don't like is someone disturbing me in the kitchen while I cook and "B" was doing just that. Grrr...! I like doing my stuffs SOLO. Shooed "B" away and that already took up my precious time limit. After that, all when well and I got to set dinner a little after an hour. We ate at 2030hrs which I think is still an appropriate timing for dinner.

"B" ate with relish and slurping down the Sayur Lemak Lodeh one spoon after the other. Lodeh is "B's" most favourite dish. Me, I don't fancy dishes with coconut in them. I'll still eat them though. I was happy seeing "B" devoured his rice and went for a second helping which he hadn't been doing for quite sometime now. Every dish was eaten clean. Only a little Sayur Lemak Lodeh soup left. "B" then quietly said, "Sayang... lain kali you masak macam gini selalu lah! Sedap! I like!" which meant "Love, can you cook like this often? Delish! I like!") Huh...! But "B"..., I gotta have the mood for these kind of meals. But then, I'd love to see that look on your face again while you ate just now.

Ingredients for Sayur Lemak Lodeh
1 handful dried shrimps - soaked & pound
1 handful dried ikan bilis - soaked & pound
1 large red onion - pound
3 garlics - pound
4 red bird's eye chillies - pound
1cm roasted belachan - pound
1 lemongrass - smashed with the back of your knife
1 salam leaf
1 pkt KARA coconut milk
3-4 cups water
salt to taste
oil for frying
Fillings:
Hard soybean curd (cut into 4), tempe (cut into 2), cabbage (cut thickly), longbeans (cut abt 2cm long), vermicille (soaked) and carrot (jullienne).
Method
In a pot, heat up oil and fry the pounded ingredients till dry. Add in water and let to boil. Add in coconut milk, salam leaf and lemongrass. Then add in carrot and lonbeans first. Salt to taste. Later add in all the other fillings and let boil till the fillings are cook. Serve.

Ingredients & Method for Fried Cincharu Fish with Tumeric
Cut, clean guts and pat dry 2 cicharu fishes. Rub in 2 tbsp tumeric powder and salt to taste. Deep fry till fish cook. Drain and serve.

Ingredients for Stir-fry Taugeh with Dried Shrimps
1 handful dried shrimps - soaked & pound
2 bird's eye chillies - pound
1 onion - chopped roughly
2 garlic - smashed
salt to taste
taugeh aka beansprouts enough for 2
fishcake - sliced
oil
Method
Heat oil and fry onion and garlic. Add in pounded ingredients and fry for a couple of minutes. Add in sliced fishcake and salt. Lastly, add in taugeh and mix well fast for two minutes. Close fire. Don't overcooked taugeh as it'll be watery and less crunchy. Serve.

Ingredients for Kicap Cili Api
Pour Habhal sweet black soy sauce (red coloured bottle) into a plate. Crushed in 4 bird's eye chillies. Add in 1 roughly sliced shallot and 1 lime (limau sambal) juice. A dip great for the fried ikan cincharu.

Another shot of the Sayur Lemak Lodeh
(the pic isn't doing justice to my Lodeh)

My Version Char Siew Wings

Last weekend, "B" and me went to Lau Pa Sat to have the BBQ Honey Wings. It's the craving that made me decide to have dinner there. I NEVER like to eat at La Pa Sat because of the exorbitant prices, bad food, endless tauting and poor service. It's one of the tourist attractions in Singapore but I wished the food served are at least decent enough to be eaten evenso the prices are way off chart. I don't really mind paying more IF I could swallow the food or worst chew it at least! I reckon, they're taking advantage of the tourist dollars and TOTALLY ignored the quality and not mentioning quantity of food served. Damn, the craving! I totally wasted "B's" $$ eating here.

Seriously, how could one actually do much wrong in cooking a simple plate of Mee Goreng??? It looked alright in photos (well don't they all?!) and I did saw a full nice heap of seafood mee goreng served to an earlier order. So, I ordered. The lady didn't seemed pushy and abide to my requests of a spicier and wetter version of Beef Mee Goreng. "B" ordered the Nasi Ayam Goreng (Fried Chicken Rice). It came minutes later and still looked alright. But wait till you taste it though! The noodles were tough and I meant rubber tough. WHERE DID THIS LADY KEPT/GET HER NOODLES!?!! I needed 'extra' energy to chew the noodles down! The beef were no different too. There's only one measley strand of chai sim in the noodles. Jeesh! I pushed the plate to "B" to finish it off!. "B's" plate of Nasi Goreng Ayam smelt ok. But again... the rice were hard. It's as though they were made days back and refrigerated over and over again. That kind of dryness and hardness I'm talking about. At least the chickens are edible. NOT really nice but eatable. Each dish costs "B" SGD4. I could have had better elsewhere with a decent amount of ingredients. SO DISSAPPOINTED!!! But, at a place like this I should have expected it...! Stoopid me! We of course ordered the BBQ Honey Wings too at stall 8. I don't think ordering at other stalls made much of a difference though. A plate of 5 wings costing @SGD1.50 each. The price had rose from SGD1.20 before. The wings were half nice now. The chilli dip's off. I SWORE to make my own in future. NO MORE coming to Lau Pa Sat. Hmph...!

Today however... I was in two minds to either reminished the BBQ Honey Wings or make Chicken Char Siew instead. Hmmm... I decided upon the latter. I came up with my own follow-by-the-taste marinate of char siew sauce. I don't know the exact taste of char siews coz most are made with pork and I can't eat that, thus I made mine with chicken wings. Judging at the recipes stated, I new they ought to be sweet and have a burnt-like taste due to the roasting. Mine turned out great! The sweet sticky sauce was delish. The redness gorgeous. I yielded a lot with 1kg of chicken wings and costing me much... much lesser than the 5 pieces I bought at Lau Pa Sat. "B" and me ate to our hearts content in the comfort of home while watching Transformers with a giant cup of ice Milo accompanying the movie. Also made "B" the Nasi Ayam Goreng that he didn't get to enjoy at Lau Pa Sat. I can say, mine's a million times better. HmmMpH...!!!

Ingredients for Chicken Wings Char Siew
(my own version)
1kg chicken wings
3 tsp cumin - pound
1 tbsp dried rosemary - pound
5 cloves - pound
sesame oil
1 lemon - squeeze juice
salt to taste
crushed black pepper
honey
chilli sauce (Del Monte brand)
Method
Add in the pounded ingredients first together with salt and black pepper. Then pour in the lemon juice and a couple dashes of sesame oil. Mix well. Lastly, add in the chilli sauce and honey till all chicken wings covered. Don't add too much of chilli sauce and honey as the marinate will tend to get too watery later. Marinate for an hour or overnight. The longer the better to get the ingredients infuse together. The taste later superb! I don' have a BBQ grill so I baked mine in the oven @220'C for 30-40 minutes or till the the chicken wings began to charred a bit. Once in a while, I'll glaze the wings with the extra sauce from the marinate so it'll stay moist rather than too dry.

I took 3 pics and wanted ALL up ;-p

I'm gonna have in mind this marinate for any coming BBQ events. I believe they'll do well on meat too! I'll try them soon enough. Before the fasting month arrives. If not after. winks*

Pics are bright red due to the chilli sauce and my camera flash too??? I did edit the pics to be sharper but maintained the natural colour still.

Prawn Noodles

I've always loved soups. Just name it and I'd definitely love it. Errr... just minus off mutton base soup though. I got a thing with that meat. But, I'd sip the broth albeit the smell. I'll deal with the headache later. Soups sooth me all the time. I prefer clear soups i.e. chicken soups, fish soups, ox tail soups, seafoods soups etc... compare to creamy base ones i.e. mushroom soups, pumpkin soups, pea soups etc... I'm fine with minestronne though.

Besides eating them on its own, I like to toss in some noodles, pastas or rice to transform into a complete meal. Whilst in Bangkok, there're umpteenth of roadside stalls selling these delish noodle soups. I'd go for the beef noodles coz their broth's thicker and richer. Fish and chicken noodles are milder in taste. I'd pair the broth with glass or kueh teow noodles. Both are rice noodles in short explaination. To me, with egg noodles it'll just 'spoils' the taste with the 'eggy-ness' of the noodles. Argh... just being particular. Slurping these babies are simply heaven after a day's work. It settles in your tummy better too!

Being Singaporean and living in a multi racial country, you'll find lotsa various soup noodles about. Just to note that NOT ALL are clear base ones, Asians have a mixture of creamy/coconutty, spicy, soury, starchy, soy, etc... (listing the ones I remembered off-hand). Just to name a few, Mee Soto, Mee Rebus, Mee Bandung, Laksa w/c are made in numerous ways depending in w/c community you speak off, Mee Siam, Mee Hailam, Mee Hong Kong/Hor Fun, Mee Kuah Mamak, Prawn Noodles, Beef Noodles, Fish Noodles, Fishball Noodles, Tom Yum Noodles, Ban Mien, Curry Noodles and many-many more. We'd pair them with, egg noodles i.e yellow mee, wantan, mee poh, rice noodles i.e. kueh teow, glass noodles, bee hoon, vermicelli and sometimes even pastas. Depending on preferences. Phew...!

Today, I did some marketing and decided to make Prawn Noodles. I spotted the Ipoh Horfun Noodles at Sheng Siong and bought them. I have the prawns at home, so why not aites! It took no time at all for the raw ingredients to be ready and then cook. The noodles was ready just in time when "B" shouted "Assalamua'laikum Sayang!". In a flash, I blanched the Ipoh Horfun, green veges and taugeh aka beansprouts. After 2 minutes, drained the bowl and cracked an egg. Pour the boiling soup over the egg and filled the bowl till it covered the ingredients slightly. I told "B" to let the egg cook a witsy-bit and then can attack!!!

It was delish! To me and "B" at least. He slurped the hot noodles with sooo much 'feelings' that I just sat and looked at "B" eat till the last drop of soup was done. Yep, he loved it...!

Ingredients of Prawn Broth/Soup
1 large red onion - chopped finely
3 garlic - chopped finely
1cm young garlic - chopped finely
15 red prawns (they're sweeter compared to tiger prawns) - de-shelled & put shells aside
a handful of dried ikan bilis
a handful minced meat
2 fishcakes - sliced
5 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
white pepper
4 cups water
oil
Method
In a pan, boil water, prawn shells and dried ikan bilis. Once boiled, put prawn broth aside. In another pan, heat oil and saute chopped onions and garlics. Add in minced meat and let cook. Add in prawns and then fishcake. Pour in all the prawn water. Let boil. Add in oyster and soy sauce. Put a couple dashes of white pepper. Let the broth/soup boil and close fire. It's better to let the broth/soup cool down to let the taste infused together. Then re-boil before scooping into your bowls.

Fillings for Prawn Noodles - green veges (any kinds), taugeh aka beansprouts, egg, fried shallots, parsley. Can add in anything you desire actually. It's to your own preference. Dash in some white pepper or red chill flakes if you want the broth/soup to be hotter. Red chillies or cili padis douse in soy sauce would do the trick too!

Samosa

The boys (they ought to be labled MEN!), but boys they'll be tonight, are coming over to watch the English Premire League - Liverpool vs Manchester. Since the match starting at 2300hrs, I reckon a lite snack would be good. I googled a bit, surfing from one foodblog to the other and came across SAMOSA! Yeap, like popiah but different in shape. Samosas are triangulars but the fillings are similar if not the exact to popiahs. Alritey... SAMOSA for snacks tonight.

But... the boys called last minute, asking IF there were FOOD!!! Yikes...! No 'real' food only fingerfood. So, off "B" and one of them went to NTUC and got Myojo Tom Yam instant noodles and french fries. The samosas I made, were served as appertiser. The match not starting in another half hour. Instant noodles took minutes to prepare which one of the boys was in charged for. 5 packets to 4 people. Nearing the match, I fried the fries. That was ez-pz.

But back to my samosas. I was happy to how they turned out. Didn't baked them like I always would but fried them instead. They turned out fab but with a little comments here and there. Well... usuually it's "B" eating and he's no fuss, no comment person. Still.. I welcomed them. Needed a little more salt, more curry powder and less herbs. Okies... next time I do a fillings. What matters is that my samosas looked like a samosa should be, the frying wasn't too hard as I always feared and they still retained the triangular shape after frying. Yipppeeeee!

I'll work better on the fillings next time. For now, the boys will have to do with these... This filling is good with popiahs, epok-epok aka curry puffs, pastry puffs etc. Tweak them in any way you prefer. Just as lng as they're edible later!

My all fried crispy SAMOSAS I can't resist not to put up another shot

Ingredients for samosas fillings
5 russet potatoes - diced
1 large onion - diced
6 tbsp meat curry powder
2 tsp salt
dried rosemary
dried basil
water
oil
Method
Heat oil and saute onions. Add in potatoes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add in salt, curry powder and other herbs. Pour in some water so that it'll not be too dry and also to tenderise the potatoes. Cover with lid and let cook under low fire. Cool potato fillings before spreading onto popiah skin.

You can go to Bro Rozzan's blog to learn how to fold a samosa. I did mine like that too but resulted in a longish samosa rather than an equal sided ones. I think, as long as they're triangle, they'll be called samosa. winks*

I also wants to share how one of the boys prepared his instant noodles. Usually, you'll boil some water, empty all the seasonings and put in the noodles. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and done right. But he's way was different. First, boil water and cook only the noodles. Pour noodles out. Re-fill water in the pot and let water boil. Empty all the packet seasonings and cook for a minute or two. Pour the 'soup' into the drained noodles earlier. He said, this way it'll taste better. I have no comment coz I'm not a fan of instant noodles and I TOTALLY sucked at making them. They tasted alright to me though and I ate half a bowl of "B's". But NOWAY am I to make instant noodles on my own!

Myojo Instant Noodles

Simple Fares

I and "B" had decided yesternight to go pots and pans shoping at Takashimaya Shopping Centre. They're having a Meyer Fare till 28 August. Thought we might check it out since I needed to get new ones soon. But due to the oh so... good weather, we overslept. We still could have gone shopping but the weather took a turn to the better (or is it worst???). It drizzled with a slight blow of soft wind. Mmmmm... good to just stay in and snuggle in bed. Thus, we forgo the idea of shopping. Saved some $$$ there, for now...

I couldn't make "B" go out to get us lunch in this weather right?! I reckon, a homecook lunch's the way to go. Mommy gave me some stock supplies yesterday when I visited her. I'll whip up something from those. Hence, 3 dishes came out within minutes. Accompanied with a plate of warm Basmati and a tall glass of Tangs orange. Lunch was completed!

Later tonight, the boys are coming to watch the English Premire League. I thought of making some kuehs to munch. We'll see. The nice weather calling me back to bed... I'll figure what to do when I wake up. "B's" not napping, I guess. He's busy watching Fantastic Four Rise of The Silver Surfer. Here's the lunch we had.

(1) Cili Padi Tauchu Prawns
2 cloves garlice - chopped
4 cili padi - sliced midway
4 tbsp of fermented tauchu
12-15 fresh prawns
oil
3 tbsp water
Method
Wash and clean prawns. Keep the shells and head on. It's great to suck the juices out. It's fine if you de-shell the prawns too. Heat some oil and fry chopped garlic and cili padis. Add in the tauchu Add in prawns. Stir till prawn changes colour. Add in water if the paste too dry. It should just coat lightly to each prawns. Serve.

(2) Oyster Beef
100g beef - thinly sliced
1 large white onion - sliced
a bunch of fesh parsley - chopped
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sweet black sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
black pepper
oil
Method
Heat oil and fry onions. Add in beef slices and cook for a couple of minutes. Add in all the sauces and mix well. sprinkle some crushed black pepper. Let the beef cooked till tender then add in chopped parsley. Serve.

(3) Plain good ole omelette
3 eggs - beaten
a dash of white pepper
1 tsp soy sauce
olive oil
Method
Heat oil and pour in beaten eggs. Flip over to the other side after a minute or two. Serve.

It's been a looong time since we had these kind of simple fares and we enjoyed every morsel of each! winks*

Apple Nuts Cake

I wasn't feeling good today. Had a sleepless night. Cramped on right calf 3x! Wargh...! Needed to sleep sitting-up. "B" propped up 3 pillows for me. Woke up feeling very lethargic. Felt really nauseus. Jeez... Slept thru the morning. Woke up again a little after 2-ish. Felt a little better but still quezy. Vomitted many-many times. Ate a piece of toast and it came out minutes later. So, I just laid down a little more. While sleeping, I dreamt of fresh loaves of bread. Don't ask me where or how that dream came about. Beats me really!

So, I forced myself up and when to turn the kitchen upside-down. I had a rough recipe in mind. It's a quick bread. No yeast involve. I made do with what I had in the house. Thus the ingredients stated. So, off I went to bake. Getting the ingredients ready took no time at all. Just had to mix, pour and bake. 40minutes later, I could smell the blissful aroma penetrating my kitchen. I let the cake cool and sliced 2 pieces. Said a little prayer before eating. Surprisingly, the food stayed in. Made a glass of Milo to accompany another slice. Took some medicine and plonked myself to bed again. At least, there's something in me tums. What a day!
Ingredients for Apple Nuts Cake
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 tbsp maple syrup (opt though)
1 1/2 cup dried apple rings - chopped
1/4 cup cashew nuts - chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
a couple of dried mangoes - chopped
1/2 cup raisins
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the first three ingredients. Stir in the next 4 ingredients. Add the apple juice and beat mixture until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into baking pan. Bake 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cake cool before serving.

Fruit Cake for the Makan Session

Going to Bro Nerse's house for this evening "makan session". Mr Black craved for CRABS! Another chance for a good get-together. Makan session starts at 5pm and boy were thare lotsa food. Crabs were the highlight of the evening. We had Bangkang Crabs. They were huge stuffs and were fleshy. Kak Ayu was the Chef of the day. Kudos to your wonderful culinary skills! Eventhough I'm not a crab eater, those babies sure looked mouthwatering and smelt delicious. Everyone tucked in like there's no tomorrow. Besides crabs, there were Sweet & Sour Garoupa, Tom Yum Seafood, stir-fry vege and other sides.

I brought Chocolate Pudding, Fruit Cake and simple Potato Egg dish. I was happy to see the Fruit Cake turned out well... Considering it was a last minute decision and all. Baking and preparing it was really easy with no complicated instructions. Kak Ayu, the recipes' below for you to try.

Everyone had a good time. Well... good company + good food = good time. Ain't that the equation always?!!! We were stuffed to the brim and that karaoke session seemed to dissapear SUDDENLY after everyone had their meals! It was taken over with endless chattering amongst us instead. Well... it's been ages since we all had our last get-together. Thanks to Mr Black's craving or this wouldn't happen at all???!

Ingredients for Fruit Cake
(Note - I replaced the traditional dried fruits with the dried fruits below)
Dried Dates - chopped roughly
Dried Apple rings - chopped roughly
Raisins
Sunflower seeds
1 cup brown sugar
60g butter - cubed
1.5 cups boiled water
1.5 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp cinnamon powder
0.5 tsp nutmeg powder
1 egg - slightly beaten
2 cups AP flour
Honey - glazing (opt)
Method
In a heatproof bowl, pour in all dried fruits, brown sugar and butter. Add in boiled water and stir till butter melts. Add in bicarbonate soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and stir well. Add in the slighly beaten egg. Pour in AP flour. Mix well. Place a piece baking paper (aka tracing paper) in the baking tin and grease with a little butter to prevent cake from sticking. Pour the mixture into baking tin. Bake @ 180'C for 50 minutes (mid rack). Glaze top of cake with honey. Let cake cool before removing from baking tin.

Here's how Bangkang Crab looks like

Here's what we had at the "Makan Session"

Ingredient for Chocolate Pudding (the 2nd last pic from bottom)
1 pkt agar-agar powder (Rose brand 13g)
2 cups water
3/4 cup condense milk (I ran out of sugar. Can you believe that!)
(For sugar use 1 cup)
1 litre UHT Chocolate Milk (any brand)
3 tbsp VanHouten cocoa
2 tbsp Milo (opt)
Method
In a pan, heat water and pour in agar-agar powder under a low fire. Stir. In another bowl, mix well cocoa powder and Milo with some water. Pour into the agar-agar mixture. Raise fire a little and stir constantly. Add in UHT chocloate milk and condense milk. Note - Lessen condense milk / sugar if you want it less sweet. Stir till all combine and let cook for a couple of minutes. Pour into desired moulds. Let cool before putting in the fridge overnight. Serve chill with mix canned fruits and drizzle evaporated milk. You can also make Fruit Salad (pic above Chocolate Pudding) to go with it. It's awesome!

Ingredients for Fruit Salad (pic above Chocolate Puddings)
1 mix canned fruits
1 green apple - chopped
green grapes - halves
Sultanas
Evaporated milk
Condense milk
Yogurt (plain)
Method
Drain juice of canned fruits and pour content into a bowl. Add in chopped green apples, grapes and sultanas. Drizzle enough evaporated and condense milk till the fruits are coated. Scoop a couple spoons of yogurt. Note - DO NOT pour in liquid ingredients too much coz it'll 'flood' the salad and will look unappetising. You can also add in other varieties of dried and fresh fruits. To each his own aites!