Karipap Pusing 【螺旋咖喱角】

Karipap Pusing, also called Spiral Curry puff is a fancy version of the very humble karipap that I used to enjoyed as a kid. The spiral pastry gives a good texture and crust to the shell and it just looks a lot more glamorous!

螺旋咖喱角是很有名的马来小吃咖喱角 的升级版，多层次的酥皮更酥脆更好吃，摆盘出来请客也倍儿有范呢！

Assam Pedas Fish 【亚参鱼】

Assam Pedas' direct translation in English is “sour spicy”. It is a classic Malaysian dish that almost every housewives in Malaysia will have their own recipes for Assam Pedas.

Albeit endless versions of the recipe, one thing never change, that is : It has to be sour, spicy and burst with flavor in the mouth!

亚参鱼是一道非常家常的马来（西亚）菜。在马来西亚，几乎家家户户都会有自己独特的食谱和烹饪方式。

虽然食材和烹饪方式有些变化，不变的是这道菜的味道：酸辣开胃，丰富的味道让人欲罢不能哦！

Mashed Potato with minced meat gravy 【肉末土豆泥】

My son A is not a big fan of potato unless it is cooked in a certain way. This mashed potato with minced meat and gravy is one of them. 

I normally served it with some steamed vegetables, which makes it a complete meal for a little boy. 

俊宝不爱吃马铃薯，只有几个有限的马铃薯菜他愿意吃。这款肉末土豆泥是其中一款。

每次做这个菜，我会给他蒸上几块西兰花和胡萝卜一起吃。这样就各种营养都有了，是个不错的儿童餐哦！

唯一不足的地方是俊爹这个土豆控每次都会和儿子抢着吃这道菜。

Stir Fried Pumpkin Shoots with garlic 清炒南瓜苗

One Pumpkin plant came out from my dig-and-compost pile and flourish to a big plant not long after. For the whole 3-4 months that it was growing, it gave me plenty of flowers, just no fruit!

The growing season is coming to and end for the year and my pumpkin plant is still showing no sign of fruit. I decided to harvest the shoots instead. I will have to say, it is the best green vegetable I have had for the year!

今年初时我家门口花圃里的堆肥堆里钻出一颗南瓜苗。我很爱吃南瓜，所以特别高兴。可是等了好几个月，花是开了不少，却一只南瓜都不给我结。

南瓜季节已经来到尾声，我家的还是一只南瓜都没有。一怒之下，把南瓜尖全摘了，用蒜蓉清炒了吃，非常爽脆美味，也算收获过了。

Nasi Lemak Kukus (Steamed Coconut Rice) 【椰浆饭】

With many of my fellow Malaysian friends showing their Ramadan feast on facebook the last couple of weeks, I started craving for nasi lemak to no end. Nasi lemak used to be my breakfast back home for years. I especially loved the small packets of Nasi Lemak wrapped in Banana leaves sold by street hawkers, it is simple, authentic and full of flavors. 

My love for nasi lemak probably was responsible for my weight and cholesterol level then, but then, it was totally worth it!!

I had to make this nasi lemak for lunch this weekend, I could wait no longer. This steaming method really works great and my nasi lemak turned out just the way I liked it! The only thing I am missing here is a fresh banana leave!

P/s：Original recipe was written on 7/26/2014, updated with photographs.

斋戒月这几个星期让人有点郁闷，亲戚朋友们都在FB上发好吃好喝的照片。让思念家乡美食的我都要抓狂了。于是这个周末就不怕麻烦的做了这个得三蒸三煮的椰浆饭。出来的效果跟我思念的味道一模一样。就差那一叶垫底的新鲜芭蕉叶啦！

注：原食谱写于7/26/2014，照片更新。

Salmon braised Mushroom 【三文魚燴雙菇】

I made some steamboat for dinner few days ago and was left with some fresh mushrooms. I made this mushrooms fish dish, very delicious.

前几天吃火锅还留下两把的菇类，今天就做了这个三文鱼烩双菇，很香很下饭喔！

Seafood Tomyum （Tomyum Thale）ต้มยำทะเล 【海鲜东炎汤】

I planted lemongrass and kaffir lime tree this year and have been waiting for it to be ready for a good pot of homemade tom yum soup. Thanks to a good amount of rain and sunshine lately, my kaffir lime tree is thriving well.

I woke up to pouring rain today and immediately decided it's time for a good hot bowl of tom yum soup, I ran to my garden, cut two stalks of lemongrass in the rain and quickly snipped a few Kaffir lime leaves. 

Off  I go to work on my seafood tom yum soup !

我一直很想做一次传统的东炎汤(冬荫汤)。今年种了香茅，还从朋友处得了一棵疯柑树，终于等到两棵植物都可以收成了，买齐了材料。

今天一早起来就是阴阴沉沉的雨天。冒着雨出去割下两根香茅，剪下几片疯柑叶。

回家做一碗香辣清爽的海鲜东炎汤，喝下去暖暖的，很舒服喔！

Vietnamese Spicy Lemongrass Chicken【越式香茅鸡】

This Vietnamese Lemongrass is a mandatory order whenever we visit our favorite Vietnamese Restaurant here in NJ. We loved it so much that I decided to recreate the sauce at home. It turned out so good and it was a instant hit at home !

Note: The original recipe was created on 2/15/2011 and was liked and followed by many bloggers.

我们家附近有一家越南餐厅做的香茅鸡特别好吃，我一直很想要自己在家做一次，找了好些食谱都觉得跟我们喜欢的有点出入。今天趁着周末，我就自己研究了一番，做出比较满意的香茅酱。

今晚的晚饭就是香茅鸡啦！老公吃了两大盘呢！

注：原食谱创作于 2011年2月15日，受到许多网友的喜爱，非常谢谢大家的支持哦！

Thai Basil with Minced Meat/Pad Ka-Prao (ผัดกะเพรา) 【泰式打抛肉】

Ka Prao literally means the Holy Basil in Thai. It is an erect, many branched subshrub with hairy stems and somewhat crinkled green or purple leaves that are strongly scented, it is spicier in taste compared to the common Thai basil that many Thai dishes used.

Since Ka Prao is hard to come by in the Asian supermarkets here, many restaurants opted for the common Thai basil for this dish, though it is fine in the taste, it is technically no longer a "Ka Prao" in my opinion as the green leaves uses is not Ka Prao.

I had to grow my own Holy basil this year since I really missed the real Ka Prao that I had in Thailand. I bought two Tulsi/Tulasi plants in the earlier months from the Indian supermarket, as I figured that they are nothing but Ka Prao/Holy Basil not long ago!

The plants are doing very well and yield good leaves which allowed me to make my favorite Kra Pao dish several times already.

I had made Ka Prao using minced Chicken, Turkey and Pork, all turned out very nice and tasty. I may even try fish soon if the plants able to give me another batch of harvest before winter!

Ka Prao 在泰语里是一种叫圣罗勒的香叶，它也是印度人喜爱的一种保健植物，它印度名字叫做Tulsi或Tulasi。它是一种唇形科罗勒属植物，紫色或绿色的叶子带有浓郁的香气，枝干和叶子带点毛，味道比更广为人知的九层塔/金不换稍微辛辣但更清香。

泰国以外的地区因为不容易找到圣罗勒叶，所以几乎所有的泰国餐厅都用了九层塔代替圣罗勒来做这道菜，味道当然也是不错的，不过和真正的泰式打抛肉还是有点差距，而且应该也不能叫做Ka Prao了，因为用的不是Ka Prao叶啊！

今年春天我在印度超市买了两棵的圣罗勒幼苗，许多印度人喜欢栽种一棵圣罗勒在家，每天吃几瓣叶子，他们相信圣罗勒有很高的保健价值，能够预防哮喘，心血管疾病和感冒等等。

今年的夏天因为雨水蛮足的而且气温一直保持在八，九十度左右，所以我的两棵圣罗勒都长得非常好，让我能做好几次的鸡肉，猪肉和火鸡肉Ka Prao。我还有点贪心的希望入冬以前我可以再收成做一次鱼肉Ka Prao呢！

【芭提雅蛋包饭】Nasi Goreng Pattaya (Pattaya Fried Rice)

这个蛋包饭是马来西亚小食摊相当有名的一道饭食,和美极辣椒酱一起吃很美味。

它其实就是简单的炒饭用蛋饼包上了，卖相马上就特别不一样啦!

This fried rice dish is a very common dish one could find in almost all of the Malay food stalls in Malaysia.

It is basically fried rice wrapped in thin omelets, a very elegant presentation that brought this simple dish to a complete new level!

Cebu Style "Steamed" Fried Rice

My sweet friend Cally asked me whether I know how to make this Steamed Fried Rice sometimes ago. She said that the sauce was to die for and the rice so yummy. It got me curious and I recalled something I have read on a blog of a Philippino foodie - Dinner at Six Thirty, the writer also mentioned about this steamed fried rice and how yummy it was.

With the intention to know more about this dish, I started researching online and learnt that this is a Philippine version of "Chinese Dim Sum". Here is something I found online about the origin of this dish from this website :

"The Steam Fried Rice of Cebu is fried rice topped with shrimp and pork, and steamed in a rice cooker with its secret sauce. This was an original creation of Mr. Henry Uytengsu of Ding Qua Qua Dimsum House in Cebu, which pionereed the all-day dimsum dining in 1969.

After Ding Qua Qua (1 branch) which offers a signature dimsum buffet, Mr. Uytengsu's group created Harbour City Dimsum House (3 branches) which featured the traditional dimsum carts wheeled to the customers' table-sides. They then created the mall-based Dimsum Break outlet (13 banches) to originally address the dining needs of the mall's late night foodies from the bowling alleys and cinemas.

True enough, the name "Dimsum Break" was inspired by taking breaks to eat dimsum during a bowling session. It is considered the Philippines' version of Panda Express."

As a Malaysian, I know only too well how interesting food could be with some local influence. As part of my effort to recreate this dish at home, I found a few recipes online and tweak my version based on my understanding of Cantonese dishes (which, is the origin of dimsum dishes.) .

The result is great and the taste superb! Though I never did try the original, this version I created is definitely satisfying and I will surely make it again!

【泰式简易沙拉】Simple Thai Vegetable Salad

我院子裡的黃瓜和番茄收成了，自然熟成的番茄味道特別好，不拿來做沙拉真是浪費了這麼好的番茄。自小在東南亞長大的我偏愛南洋口味的沙拉。今天就做了這個簡易的泰式沙拉，味道酸辣甜，非常清爽，再撒上花生碎，味道更為豐富，營養也更好。

This is one of the best salad to have in this pipping hot summer. Its sweet and sour taste makes it very refreshing, just make sure you chilled the vegetables for a while in the fridge before mixing.

【马来红烧鸡胗】Pedal Ayam Masak Kicap (Chicken gizzard in soy sauce)

I was at a Ramadhan-FB-pictures-lead-craving-for-Malaysian-foods phase for couple of weeks. That explains the frequent posting of Malaysian dishes here lately. Here today is yet another typical Malaysian dish, Chicken gizzard in soy sauce.

Chicken gizzard is not a common ingredients in my kitchen, mainly due to the reason that I have reduced eating organ meat for a long time. One day when I was shopping for grocery, I saw this cleaned and packed gizzard and thought to myself, it has been a long time since I have this. 

I bought one packet and made this pedal ayam masak kicap for lunch.

这几个星期都还处在思念开斋节美食的情况中，去超市买菜的时候看见处理得很干净的鸡胗，就拿了一盒。

我好多年不怎么吃动物内脏了，但这道红烧鸡胗是我在家乡的时候很喜欢的一道菜，所以也好多年沒吃過這道菜了。回家我就做了這個紅燒雞胗。炒個菜，就著米飯吃得可香了！

Thai Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang ไก่ย่าง) 泰式烤雞

Remember the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce I made back in March? I used it for everything I could think of，but in Thailand, this sauce is supposed to be consumed with grilled chicken (Gai Yang ไก่ย่าง). 

They taste best together, the sweet and sourness in the sauce balance the spiciness and pungent taste of cilantro in the chicken, it is simply irresistible!

記得我早前做過的泰式甜辣醬嗎？我們家幾乎什麼可以沾醬的都用上它了，就除了它本來應該配上的泰式烤雞。在泰國，甜辣醬是必須和烤雞一起吃的二者不可缺一。吃烤雞沒甜辣醬？不行！甜辣醬不配烤雞？也不行！

甜辣醬咱們吃了不少，也該是時候做一次它的老搭檔--泰式烤雞啦！這可是我在泰國最喜歡的街邊小吃之一噢！

【黄金木薯糕】Bingka Ubi (Baked Cassava Cake)

木薯是一个東南亚很普遍的食材，可以做成糕点、菜肴、做主食还可以削片炸成木薯片，然后加上特制的辣椒酱，就是很好吃的零嘴了。 

这个木薯糕的做法有好几个，可以蒸，可以烤，还可以用香蕉叶包起烤或者蒸。除了做法的不一样， 这个糕点的食谱也很多，有加鸡蛋、不加鸡蛋的，也有用黄油、不用黄油的。

有人喜欢糯一点的，有人喜欢结实一点的，有人喜欢甜一点的，有人喜欢奶香的，有人喜欢椰香的。反正做法很多，我尝试过很多不同的做法，今天记录的这个食谱是我按自己喜欢的口感和味道调整的，做过好几次都很成功，所以写个帖子记录一下。

Cassava is the equivalent of potato at where I came from (i,e South East Asia) it could be used in many different dishes,  this sweet tasty cake is one of them.

There are many ways to prepare this delicious cake, it is normally prepared as a steamed dish as oven is not a very common cookware in SEA, it could also be wrapped in fresh Banana leaves and steam /grill.

I personally like to prepare mine in the oven as it gives a beautiful crunchy looks and texture to the surface of the cake and makes it all the more tastier.

Homemade Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Many snacks back home are served with some kind of condiments or sauces. One of my favorites is a type of sweet and spicy sauce that normally goes with cucur udang (Prawn fritters) or stuffed tofu. 

I first discovered this Thai sweet chili sauce in England, the taste is as close to the kind we find back home as a pre-packed sauce could be. It is convenient, tasty and versatile, I used it in almost anything I could think of, from Spring rolls, to fritters ,to fried chicken to salads.

My love for this sauce subsided a little as I picked up more serious cooking later, I started making most of my condiments and sauces at home. 

Last weekend I made some Seafood Tofu for snacks and I can't think of any other sauce that serves better with the Seafood tofu than this Thai Chili Sauce.

Since I do not have the ready made version and saw that I have all the ingredients needed to make this sauce at home. So I did.

Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Roll

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, we love Vietnamese spring roll. I bought this rice wrapper couple of weeks ago from a Chinese supermarket, it was sitting in the pantry for a long time. Every time NS opened the pantry door, he will ask me : "How long do you think this stuff will sit here?"

Its his way of requesting for a homemade spring roll. So one has to oblige because a happy husband with happy tummy makes happy home. Right?

This roll is fun to make and very healthy to eat! Feel free to change the filling to your diet need, my rule for spring roll is that whatever I can throw into my salad, it can go into my spring roll! LOL

Peanut Cookies (Biskut kacang tanah)

I have very fond memories of Peanut Cookies, when I was a little girl, I sometimes goes to the coffee shop a.k.a Kopitiam in my hometown for breakfast with my maternal grandpa, my cousin and I will asked for a treat after we finished our meal. There were these huge glass jars with red color cover that have all the goodies inside, the old time version of tidbits. Those see through jars are very self explanatory, they never needed labels or advertisement, everyone knows what is inside -- some fried peanut crackers, pickled papaya soaked in colored vinegar, long shape orange color crackers which name unknown to me up till today, coconut biscuit, and of course, this peanut cookies.

It cost 5 cents per piece for this cookie then, not sure about the price now, and not even sure if those coffee shops still carry them!

I got this recipe from a fellow blogger years back, recreating and tasting it made me miss grandpa so much. Those were the days.

【阿多博卤鸡】Chicken Adobo

好吃到不行-- 阿多博卤鸡 （Chicken Adobo），终于知道菲律宾人为什么老夸他们这款卤鸡了，香浓，软糯，入口即化的鸡肉配上热腾腾的白米饭，减肥的人请自行绕道而过！

As I mentioned in my previous post that I was reading a couple of Filipino food blogs and could not but to notice that everyone of them rave about their yummy national dish -- Chicken Adobo. I made a mental note that I definitely have to try making it once. And how glad am I that I did! This dish is super yummy and I had to drag N and baby A out for a 3 miles walk to burn off the extra rice I had for dinner!

【泰式粉丝虾煲】Koong Ob Woon Sen (Thai Claypot Glass Noodle With Shrimp)

泰国的粉丝煲其实比较出名的是螃蟹粉丝煲，小时候每次到泰国玩都一定要吃的一道美食，它是泰式中餐的一个代表，融合了泰国饮食和中式饮食的做法，味道特别让人惊艳！

在家做的话，虾比螃蟹方便，所以做个粉丝虾煲也好吃的不得了哦！

This Clay-pot noodle is one of my favorite Thai dishes, a must have every time we visited Thailand.

We normally ordered the crab version in the Chinese restaurants, and since I don't like to prepare crab at home, I made it the shrimp version, it is a dish full of flavor, a good blend of Chinese and Thai culinary culture, the result is very satisfying and not at all difficult to make at home!