Nancylia's Place .. welcome & Have a nice day

It's getting colder and with this cold weather some people might suffer from cold and flu. Why not go to your kitchen and find these :

Apple Cider Vinegar
The first item is apple cider vinegar (not clear or distilled vinegar). The health benefits of this form of vinegar are outstanding, and can be used in a multitude of ways. However, today we are speaking of eliminating the critters that make you sick. Vinegar has an ingredient known as Malic Acid. The word “acid” may sound intimidating, but it makes vinegar an anti-biotic, anti-fungal, and an anti-viral remedy. Mix two tablespoons of vinegar, one tablespoon of honey, and one cup of warm water each morning. This may prevent and kill microbes that are trying to infect your body.

Garlic
The ingredient often essential in pasta, pizza, and other tantalizing meals has been known to have the reputation of being the greatest anti-microbial substance. Garlic has been known to kill agents varying from tuberculosis, cancer, and pneumonia. When consumed, garlic will also remedy a cold within two days. Many people may be cautious in eating garlic due to the strong aromatics that result from ingestion. There are, however, odorless over-the-counter pills available in the local pharmacies.

Living far away from my country and my parents make me feel homesick sometimes. Not just that, it makes you a good cook as well. Sarawak is a gourmet paradise. The good thing is I could get some ingredients / spices from some asian groceries and even from the supermarkets around here. So, whenever I feel like to eat something that I really miss from Sarawak, I just keep myself busy in my kitchen and start cooking. I'm lucky to have a big kitchen.

My Kitchen

Laksa Sarawak
First of all, the famous laksa sarawak. My parents make a very good laksa. Good to know how to make laksa at home. This is a very authentic Sarawakian dish. It looks a bit complicated to make but once you start cooking, you will find it's so easy and you can taste your own homemade laksa sarawak.

Ingredients
1 packet of Bee Hoon (rice vermicelli)
1/2 kilogrammes of medium-sized prawns (take out the shell and leave the tail intact)
chicken breasts (3 already enough)
5 eggs
500 grammes of fresh bean sprouts
some limes or lemons (cut halves)
1 packet of Sarawak Laksa paste
A small packet or about 3 tablespoons of curry powder
Coconut milk from 1 1/2 coconuts (about 300 mls) or 2 cans of coconut milk
Salt and sugar to taste
around 1 litre of water ..
Coriander / parsley leaves (for garnishing)
a bit of belacan (shrimp paste)
1 small packet of spices / rempah tumis (contains star anise, cloves, cardamon and cinnamon bark)
2 shalottes and garlics (minced)
Method
1. Beat eggs and fry them thinly on a frying pan. Cut into strips. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized casserole, put 1 litre of water and add the laksa paste.. Mix well and bring to boil (10 to 20 minutes). Once it's boiled, turn off heat and sieve to separate the spice from the stock. Keep the spice and the stock.
3. In a big casserole, pour about 2 litre of water with a bit of cooking oil. Once the water is boiled, put the Bee Hoon, stir well until a bit soft. Drain the water and wash the bee hoon under the cold water. Keep aside.
4. Meanwhile, cook the chicken breasts. Add the water, just enough to cover the chicken and add a bit of salt. Once the chicken is tender, take it out with the slotted spoon and keep the stock. You can slice the meat or by using your fingers, make your shredded chicken.
5. To prepare the gravy (kuah), put a bit of cooking oil inside a big casserole. Add minced shalottes, garlics and the spices. Stir well until you smell the aroma of the spices. Wet a bit of curry powder with the water. Add in and then pour the water from the boiled laska paste and also the chicken stock just now. Add some water if you want more gravy. Also add in coconut milk, salt and sugar. Cover and let boil for at least 30 minutes.
6. Now we are going to prepare it's sambal. In a frying pan, put a bit of cooking oil, a bit of shrimp paste or belacan. Stir well for 2 or 3 minutes and then add the spices from the laksa paste. Season with salt. Mix well for about 5 to 8 minutes. Turn off the heat.
7. Put 2 litres of water inside the cooking pot and a bit of salt. Once the water is boiled, add the prawns. Boil the prawns till they start to float indicating that they are cooked. Remove the prawns with the slotted spoon. Don't throw away the water inside the pot. Now you can use it to blanch the beansprouts in 3 batches for 1 minute each. Drain beansprouts and set aside.
8. To serve, first place cooked beehoon inside the bowl or plate. Add beansprouts, shredded chicken, prawns and egg strips and a bit of fried sambal. Then pour the laksa soup over the ingredients.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves or parsley and squeeze a lime or lemon over the soup before eating.

Voilà ! Bon appetite ! This is the original recipe from my parents.. I've been making this several times at home and it's really delicious.

Sarawak Mee Kolok

Another noodle dish that we like so much. Every time we go back to Sarawak, we never miss this. My son and my husband like it so much. oh, me too !! It is served throughout the day either for breakfast, lunch or even supper. It is made of egg noodle served in a light sauce with some condiments like minced pork, etc. The best Sarawak mee kolok can be found in Bau town and Kuching.

Char Siew Pau

We always call this kueh Pau. Very delicious either with pork or chicken fillings. Whenever we have a chance to visit my parents in Sarawak, I never miss buying this at one of the chinese cafés there. I make this once a while a home.

Midin

There are two ways of preparing Midin (wild fern). Midin is a member of the Blechnaceae family and is botanically known as Stenochlaena palustris. Stir-fry either with belacan (shrimp paste) or garlic and put a bit of dried shrimp or fried anchovies. It grows wild in fresh water, peat swamps and secondary jungles. It has a curly frond.

Rojak Buah

Fruit rojak consists typically of cucumber, pineapple, deep-fried tofu. Raw mangoes and green apples can also be added. The dressing is made up of belacan (shrimp paste), sugar, chili, lime juice and grind roasted peanuts. My mom makes a very good rojak. I really miss that.

Roti Canai

Roti Canai is one of our favourite food at home. I make this several times at home for my family using flour, ghee and water and a bit of salt. It is best served with dhal or chicken curry. Some people eat it with honey or condensed milk. It's up to you.

ROTI CANAI

3 cups flour
1 - 1.5 cups water
1 tablespoon margarine or ghee
salt to taste
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Extra margarine

Method :

1. Mix well water & salt
2. Add the liquid into the flour bit by bit if kneading manually
OR
pour the whole amount into the flour if using bread machine
3. Add in cooking oil
4. Add in margarine or ghee
5. Knead to form a soft dough. Leave it covered with a damp cloth for about 30 minutes.
6. Divide the dough into 10 portion and mould into balls.
7. Coat the balls with margarine so that they won't stick to each other. Leave to rest for not less than 2 hours.
8. Spread each ball on a smooth surface to form a very thin layer. Fold the four sides into the middle and fry.
9. Enjoy.

Nasi Lemak

When I was in Sarawak, I often eat nasi lemak for my breakfast. Also because my mother makes a very good one once a while at home. The rice is cook (prefered white rice) in coconut milk and and you can also put a bit of knotted pandanus leaves for a great aroma. The essential condiments to accompany your nasi lemak is fried ikan bilis (anchovies), fried peanuts, cucumber slices, wedges of hardboiled egg and sambal (consists of onions, shrimp paste, shalots, garlic, salt, chili, tamarind juice and a bit of sugar).

Nasi Lemak
Ingredients

Nasi Lemak:
1 cup white rice
3 screwpine leaves (pandanus – optional)
salt to taste
1 grated coconut or 250ml coconut milk

Sambal
1 bombay onion
1/2 cup dried ikan bilis ( anchovies )
1 clove garlic
2 tbsps tamarind juice
4 shallots
8 dried chillies or 1 teaspoon chilli flakes – add more if you like spicy sambal)
Shrimp paste ( belacan) ( Optional – if you don’t like belacan)
Salt and sugar to taste
Instructions
Nasi Lemak:
Clean the rice and drain. Squeeze out 2 cups of thick coconut milk with screwpine leaves. Add in salt. Or put 250 ml coconut milk plus 1 cup of water.
If you desire, you can also add in some sliced shallots and ginger.
· Serve this rice with sliced hard-boiled eggs, sliced cucumber and sambal ikan bilis.

Sambal Ikan Bilis:
Pour the cooking oil in a wok (enough to deep fry the anchovies or ikan bilis). Fry the ikan bilis until crisp and put aside.
Grind the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, deseeded dried chillies. Slice the bombay onion into rings.
Heat 2 tbsps oil in a pan and fry the ground ingredients until fragrant. Add in the onion rings. Add tamarind juice, salt, sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until the gravy thickens. Add in the ikan bilis and mix well.
Serve with steaming hot Nasi Lemak.

Sardine With Tomatoes and Onions

I was craving for this yesterday. I remember my parents make this quite often. Not just it's easy to make but also delicious. Serve with warm white rice or white bread. You can use the fresh sardines or just use the one inside the can.

Ingredients :

Sardines (6 - 7, depending on your appetite and how many persons you will serve)
Red or Green chilies (Clean and cut into half. You can take out the seeds if you want)
3-4 big or medium red tomatoes (cut to into four pieces)
1 onion (slice)
salt and pepper

Preparations :

1. Inside the wok or casserole, put a bit of cooking oil. Add in slices onions and stir for about 3 minutes. Put the tomatoes and chilies and stir once again.
2. Put the sardines and stir for about 5 minutes. Stir carefully, the cooked sardines from the can are already soft. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour the water, enough to cover everything. Add more if you want more sauce. Cover and let cook for about 20 to 30 minutes. Stir once a while.

Serve with warm white rice. Enjoy !

Chicken Rice

One of my favourites, Chicken Rice. The chicken is really tender and delicious. Even the rice and the chili sauce will open your appetite.

Ingredients

For the chicken:
1 chicken
2 inches of ginger, grated
garlics (5 to 6 cloves)
1 onion (cut to four pieces)
3 tablespoons of sesame seed oil
3 tablespoons of light soy sauce

For rice:
3 cups basmati rice or any kind of white rice, washed and soaked for 15 minutes
3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
1 inch ginger, thinly sliced
2 pandan (pinescrew) leaves (optional)
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 cube chicken stock (optional)
3 cups of water
2 cups of stock from boiling the chicken

Sauce for drizzling on the chicken:
5 tbs oyster sauce
5 tbs sesame oil
5 light soy sauce

Mix everything in a pot and heat it up.

Chilli Sauce for dipping:

5 stalks fresh chilli (preferred the red one)
garlics (5 - 6 cloves)
3 inches ginger
juice from 3 limes or lemon
1 tablespoon vineger (I use apple cider vineger)
sugar and salt to taste
1/2 cup boiling hot chicken soup

Blend everything with the electric mixer

For the Chicken:

Stuff the chicken with ginger, garlics and onion. Put the chicken and water inside the big cooking pot. Make sure there's enough water to cover the chicken. Lower the heat (very important), add a bit of salt, covered and cook for about 1 hour or until the chicken is tender. Take it out and bathe the chicken in an ice water bath until chicken is cold to create a tender, springy texture (about 15 minutes). Rub the chicken with the sesame oil and the soy sauce. Steam the chicken for another 30-25 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces. Drizzle the sauce for the chicken just before serving.

For the rice:

Heat the oil in a wok and fry the ginger, garlic and onion. Add in the pinescrew leaves and continue frying until the onion has turned slightly brown. Drain the rice and stir it into the wok. Transfer everything from the wok into the rice cooker and add in the water, the stock cube and the stock from boiling the chicken. Cook the rice for 20 minutes in the rice cooker.

Serve the rice and chicken with stir fry vegetables of your choice. Not forget the delicious chili sauce. Also some slices of cucumber and tomatoes.