Tom Kha Gai

Let's take a break for a while from all the so many holiday stories of my KK trip recently. Honestly, there are many more to come...... so, just brace yourself for this few more days, ok.

For today's buka puasa menu, I have prepared this special dish for both me & Marsya. It was a few years ago while I was in Bangkok that I first tasted this soup. It tasted very similar to Tom Yam - it's just that this particular Tom Yam has a coconut milk inside it, which makes it milkier than the normal Tom Yam.

Since it was love at a first taste, I straight away googled for the recipe the moment I'm back in KL. Of all the recipes I've tried, with some minor modification, this has proven to be the best.


Ingredients

400 gm chicken meat
1 cube of chicken stock
1 bulb galanghal, sliced
5 lemon grass, crushed
3 kaffir lime leaves, torn
100 gm straw mushrooms
4 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
3 cups of thin coconut milk
10 bird's eye chillies, bruised


How To

1. Bring to boil the chicken stock along with lemon grass, galanghal & lime leaves.

2. Add the chicken, mushroom, salt, lime juice, fish sauce & sugar.

3. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add the coconut milk & chillies.

5. Bring almost to boil, stirring frequently, then remove from heat.

6. Ready to serve.


Tips : Add other vegetables like cauliflower, carrot, celery & sweet peas for varieties.


There you go. For a change, why not surprise your family with this special soup today. I'm sure they'll be pleasantly satisfied with this surprise menu.

Happy trying !

Ayam Masak Kicap Special

Cooked this for buka puasa yesterday. It's nothing special - just another variety of masak kicap. Since few of my frens complaint that there are not so many recipes being posted here, I thought I just posted this one as my entry for the day.


Ingredients
1/2 chicken
3 tbsp tomato sauce
3 tbsp soya sauce
4 - 5 kaffir lime leaves
1 lemongrass, crushed
1 big onion, sliced 1/2 cm width


Ingredients To Blend
1 big onion
4 - 5 shallots
1 in. ginger
3 garlics
20 dried chillies


How To
- Mix chicken with salt & tumeric - fry till half cooked.
- Fry the blended ingredients & lemongrass till fragrant
- Put in the fried chicken & fry for a few minutes
- Add the lime leaves, tomato sauce & soy sauce
- Add water if necessary
- Once the chicken is well cooked, add in the sliced onion
- Serve & enjoy

Xpress Chicken Tandoori

Had a sudden craving for a Tandoori Chicken. So, rather than buying it, why not be a bit adventurous & try doing it myself. But since the craving is too great, I cant spare any more time browsing for the recipe in the net. So, got no choice but to make do with the instant Tandori mix from Maggi, which was not that bad after all.

Xpress Chicken Tandoori

2 whole chicken legs

1 packet of Maggi Tandoori mix

3 tbsp plain yogurt

1 tbsp chilli powder

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tbsp margarine

How To

- Make 2 -3 cuts on the meaty part of the chicken

- Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for half an hour

.

- Spread the marinated chicken with margarine ( preferably Ghee but me no like)

- Then, grill it in the oven for approximately 30 minutes.

- Your Tandoori Chicken is ready to be served.

Chicken Feet In Soy Sauce

Do you eat chicken feet? Me & Marsya loves them so much....it's so yummy! I know some people dun like them - dirty they said. Well, to those people who dont eat chicken feet, you guys are missing a lot here, trust me.

There are lots of varieties you can do with these feets - masak kari, lemak cili api (dgn rebung pun sodappp), sup to name a few. This time I'm gonna share a very special recipe which I've got from a very special person. The recipe doesnt have a name though....so I'm gonna named it as Chicken Feet In Soy Sauce or in my mother tounge - Kaki Ayam Masak Kicap.

Chicken Feet In Soy Sauce

1/2 kg kaki ayam

Kicap masin & manis

1 inci kulit kayu manis

2 kelopak bunga lawang

1 camb black pepper, crushed

1 inci halia, dihiris halus

1 biji bwg besar, dimayang

3-4 bwg putih, crushed

1 keping asam gelugor (btw, how do we say this in english??)

3-4 keping fucuk

6-8 keping shitake mushrooms, sliced

(akak guna button mushroom since me no like shitake)

1 camb sesame oil

How To

Gaul kaki ayam ngan kicap2 & deep fried them. Kalau ada deep fryer, memang senang banyak la...... cam akak...wakawaka. Goreng sampai masak & garing.

Then, fry all onions, pepper & ginger till fragrant. Pastu, masukkan kicap secukup rasa & tambah sedikit air. Then add in the chicken feet & mushrooms. Pour the whole thing into a pressure cooker & cook for 10 mins. Kalau takde pressure cooker, masalah la skit....kena masak lama2 la atas api.

While waiting for the chicken, fry the fucuk in hot oil. Fucuk tu dipotong2 dulu, baru digoreng. Make sure api betul2 kecik - otherwise hangus fucuk tu nanti. One more thing - dun soak or wash the fucuk before frying them. It has to be fried dry - got it?

By the time you finish frying the fucuk, your 10 mins should be over already. Rasakan masin & manis ayam tu. Sebelum angkat, percikkan sedikit minyak bijan for the aroma.... wallauweh. Kalau tak suka kering sangat, tambah la air skit & vice versa.

Just before serving, put in the fried fucuk.

For all chicken feet lovers out there, this recipe is worth trying for. You'll be amazed with the outcome - itu kalau jadi la....hehehehe.....