Recipe: Non-fried Fried Chicken

Who doesnt like fried chicken?
If you dont, you are probably not human.

But anyway, I do like fried chicken especially taken with mashed potato and some yummy salad. Still, fried chicken can be unhealthy cos it is a high calorie dish and needless to mention, very oily.  Unless if you have a good pressure cooker, it can be very oily indeed.

For awhile now, I've tried to make a more healthier food (though I'm not always successful in that endeavour) especially with those fried ones and ended up buying an airfryer. And. I. Love. It.

So here's the recipe I actually develop using airfryer. However, this recipe can be used with oven as well.

Ingredients:

1 piece of chicken rib cut into thin slices

(For this recipe I use a piece of rib but the best part to use is actually the wing part. I don't like wings so..

If you use wings, cut it into 2 parts i.e. drumlet and the actual wing)

Ready mix fried chicken flour 

(ok this is a cheat. You can make your own mix if you want. If you don't know the recipe, Google it and you shall find)

Breadcrumb (optional)

Olive oil

1. Cut your piece of chicken into thin slices.  Imagine: :fish finger.  

If you want your chicken to be a bit thick it is ok too but the cooking time will be a bit longer.

2. Put your sliced chicken in a bowl. Coat them with the flour.  If you prefer your chicken slightly salty, you can add your salt now.  Or pepper if you want something a little hot (cos some like it hot). I dont like to add salt cos i think the flour flavor is already strong and you know, for healthy reason.

3. Leave them for about 15 to 30 minutes; a chance for the chicken to soak up the flour flavor.

4. On a plate, mix some flour with breadcrumb evenly. One by one, coat the chicken with the flour-breadcrumb mix and carefully put it on a tray/metal net (for airfryer).  Arrange the chicken so the spacing is optimised.  

5. Spray oil evenly onto the chicken. This is an important step.  You need to get the oil as evenly as possible onto the chicken otherwise, well you chicken wont look as good. 

6. Then you are ready to fry. For those who use oven, should heat up you oven before you even cut the chicken. For those using airfryer, we are ready to go baby!

7. For airfryer, i use 200 degree temperature for 5 minutes each side. Meaning, after 5 minutes i flip the chicken. So total cooking time is around 10 minutes.  The time and temperature are depend on quantity and the thickness of your chicken. You have to experiment, really, what temperature works for you.

Walla..done.

If you ask me, the taste is of course different from the regular fried chicken cos this version is less oily but it is just as delicious. It is crispy (that surprises me too). But then again, to each his own.

Have a try. You wont regret it. Taa

Mee Goreng Basah

Assalam!

We have roughly another week till Raya. Arent you excited?  Well, not really. I really like Ramadhan and I dont really like the way we overexaggerate on celebrating Raya.  But then again, thats just me.

Ramadhan allows me to cook my own food. I really am happy to be able to plan and buy and cook my own food. Its very satisfying and healty (some of the time).  Chances like this are hard to come in any other month.  So thats one more thing I like about Ramadhan.

Anyway, here is one of the dishes I made. Simple, one-meal dish.  Really easy too.  I've been experimenting on how to make the most sedap mee goreng for years now and I think I finally settle on this (for a certain value of sedap).  It is a bit lembap and is divine while hot.  A squeeze of lemon juice will make a world difference too (if you like that kind of thing).

Gambo tu ialah mee goreng basah desperate namanya. Hehe...supposely, kene ada hijau2 skit tapi biasala, apa yang ada je. Sayur hijau x dak. Jawabnya, taugeh je la.

This portion will feed 2-3 people.  I think..
Bahan-bahan:
1/2 peket mee kuning - basuh dan toskan
Kepingan daging/daging hancur
Taugeh - bersihkan dan buang kepala hitam tu
Sawi hijau - bersihkan dan potong
1 biji tauhu putih - cincang halus
2 ulas bwg putih - tumbuk kasar
3 cili padi (optional)
2 sudu cili kisar
2 sudu sos tiram
3 sudu kicap masin/ kicap manis (atau secukup rasa)
4 sudu minyak makan
1 cawan kecil air

1. Mula-mula, panaskan kuali. Masukkan minyak. Bila minyak dah panas, masukkan tauhu.  Biar masak skit tauhu tu, nampak perang2 sikit, masukkan bawang putih dan cili padi.
2. Bila bawang putih dah semerbak, masukkan daging.  Kacau sampai daging tu mengecut sikit (berubah warna), lepas tu masukkan cili kisar. Ratakan semua dan kacau dalam seminit supaya cili tu masak skit.  Masukkan air.
3. Biar mendidih sekejap, masukkan sos tiram dan kicap.  Kicap ni, ikut suka sebenarnya tapi jangan banyak sebab mee cepat rasa masin. Lagipun, kalau tak cukup rasa, boleh tambah kemudian. Kalau nak mee tu manis2, pakaila kicap manis. Kalau tak suka manis, boleh pakai kicap masin. Tapi, mee goreng sedap kalau pakai kicap manis (imho).
4. Masuk mee. Kacau sampai sebati dan mee agak kering.  Mee akan meresap kuah tu dan bertukar jadi hitam.  Rasa mee, kalau tak cukup masin, tambah kicap.
5. Tutup api. Masukkan taugeh dan kacau sebati.  Hiaskan dengan daun bawang&sup dan bawang goreng.

Tadaaa... dah siap. I made this in less than 10 minit. Maknanya senang je la.  Resepi ni memang tak pakai garam. Jangan letak plak. Masin kang sapa yang susah? hehe

p/s: Imho, mee sedap kalau rencahnya daging dan ada tauhu. Ayam pun ok tapi kurang skit 'kick' dia.

Tomato soup and Macaroni

I have a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. I dont even know why. Maybe there were on sales or something.

So, since i have them and not lot of other things, i make tomato soup.

When I say tomato soup, dont imagine tomato soup in a can cause its not tomato soup in a can (like seriously). I hate tomato soup in a can. I dont even like tomato soup, mostly.

My version of tomato soup is really similar to macaroni soup but with a lot of tomatoes!

Okay. The ingredients:

6-7 small tomatoes

2 big red onions

3 gingers

chicken fillet
1 tsp of Soto powder

salt

olive oil

macaroni

1. First, put macaroni in a pot. Add water, some salt and oil. Bring it to boil and then turn off the heat and let it simmer in the pot. Put aside.

2. Chop onions, tomatoes, gingers and chicken meat.

3. Tke a large pot, saute chop onions with olive oil till brown in it then put in the chicken meat. Stir, stir and stir till slightly cook. If you feel that the oil is not enough, add some more.  Then add in tomatoes.

4. Add a bowl of water (or accordingly). Bring it to boil. Add soto powder.

5. Toast macaroni and add them to the soup.
6. Add salt, stir and turn off heat.
Because my new aim in life is to add habbatus sauda in everything i make, i add a spoonful of them in my soup. This is purely optional.

This is a very healthy meal. Olive oil and habbatus sauda help with digestion while tomatoes are good for skins.  Onions make you feel full faster so you wont eat as much.

Cendawan Goreng Rangup

So, like i said in the last post, i have like a kilo of pearl mushrooms. So, this week will be a mushroom-themed week.

So for brunch today i make Cendawan Goreng Rangup to compliment my Handi Fish Curry.

Ingredients:
Plentiful of fresh pearl mushrooms
A tbs corn flour
3 tbs rice flour
Salt
Black pepper
Cooking oil

1. Wash those mushrooms but DONT soak them and toast them. Season them with salt. Not to much salt or otherwise it will be too salty.
2. Mix corn flour and rice flour in a bowl.
3. Put the salted mushroom in the bowl and mix them well. Sprinkle some black pepper while mixing. You can leave out the black pepper if you dont want them.
4. Deep fry those mushrooms. Eat while hot.

p/s: If you want your mushrooms to be more spicy, put in a tbs of curry or cili powder in the flour mix. I dont put them cause i want to eat these mushrooms with curry.

Cekodok Pisang @ Cucur Pisang

So, I have a kilo of fresh pearl mushrooms but I made cekodok (because I have a tandan of very ripe bananas too)!

En Mahdzir wants a delicious cendawan goreng rangup resepi but i dont know for sure my resepi will be delicious but this cekodok resepi is simply marvelous.

Ingredients:
Very ripe pisang. Any kind of pisang you want. Preferably small kind.
Sugar, maybe 3-4 spoons
Pinch of salt
Roti putih
Susu

1. First, peel off the banana and mash them with sugar and salt in a big bowl
2. Take 3-4 slices of white bread and put them in the same bowl
3. Pour milk little by little while smashing the bread until you have a nice dough.
4. Goreng! While frying, it will be a bit sticky but let it brown before you turn it. Let it cool before you eat. You will find that the cekodok is crispy outside but deliciously gooiey inside.

Sedap!

p/s: This is a very luxurious kind of cekodok. Of course, if you want, you can add tepung gandum to make more dough but since i have a lot of bananas and no one else to eat it, i did it this way.

Laksa Penang(an)

So atas request Cik Pn Kaya, this is a tutorial on how to buat laksa penang, my style.  I mean, my dad's style but whateve...

However before we start, you should know, to make a fishy and mouth-watering laksa, the most important ingredient is the fish itself.  Let it be known, the most suitable type of fish for this dish is ikan sardin hitam.  Why hitam? There are several types of sardines, the most delicious one is the blacker of the two (and of course more expensive) because it has fish oil that is just smashing!
Right...

Ikan sardin hitam

Gambar tu gambar ikan sardin bagi sapa yg x tau rupenyer. Pergi pasar, belilah sekilo. Cukuplah nak mkn satu family, 2-3 kali mkn.

Now, to do it, you need these things:
10 ekor ikan sardin hitam yg fresh
5 biji bawang besar
Belacan
Asam keping
Garam
Daun selum
Bunga kantan
Cili kering
Perisa Tambahan

Cara-caranya:
1. Mula-mula, p beli ikan. Hehe. Pastu, siang ikan. Kalau ada telur ikan, jgn buang. Boleh masuk dlm kuah.  Siang, basuh dan basuh lagi.
2. Rebus ikan yang telah disiang (dgn telur ikan sekali) dengan asam keping dan garam.  Cakap psl asam keping ni, susah nk ckp berapa bnyk nk letak. So start la ngan 5 keping dulu ke. Kalau tak cukup masam, boleh tambah kemudian. Garam pun sama. Bubuh lah sikit dulu. Nanti tak masin, baru tambah.  Rebus tu, ikan biar tenggelam dalam air tapi air jgn banyak sgt.  Kalau terlampau bnyk, kuah akan cair. Kureng sedap. Jgn rebus terlampau lama sampai ikan hancur. Susah nk perisi ikan nanti

Ikan kene rebus ngan asam keping and garam

 3. Ok, sambil dok tunggu ikan tu direbus, potong cili kering. Saya x pernah agak brape bnyk nk pakai. Selalunya saya potong bnyk2 sekali so lebihan boleh simpan dlm peti ais. Dah potong, rebus sampai mendidih.

Cili kering yg tlh dipotong

4. Sambil dok tunggu dua-dua tu mendidih, kupaslah bawang.  Bwg yg plg sedap, warna dia lebih purple/merah dr yang lain. Kalo pilih bwg, amik yg kalernyer lg gelap dr yg lain. More juicy.  Kalau ptg mmg pedih mata punya. Hehe
Saya suka mkn bwg so sy letak bnyk bwg. Kalau nk letak lg bnyk pun boleh tp agak2 la kan. Dah kupas, basuh, pastu ptg2 mcm gbr kat bwh ni supaya senang nak blend. Letak tepi.

5. Jgn blender bawang dulu. Bende pertama yg nk blend ialah cili kering td. Tos cili kering rebus tu, pastu basuh bagi hilang warna hitam. Lepas tu blender sampai lumat.

Cili kering utk blend

 Dah lumat, pindahkan masuk dalam bekas lain mcm dlm gbr kat bwh ni.

Simpan cili yang telah blend

6. Bekas blender cili tu, jgn basuh. Blend bwg pulak. Saya suka blend bwg ngan belacan. Sapa x tau rupe belacan, rupe dia mcm kat bwh ni. Belacan ni sebenarnya kalau letak lagi banyak selalunya buat kuah tu lagi sedap tp sy x suka belacan bnyk sgt.  Agak2 mcm besar pemadam pen sudah la.
Blend sampai lumat habis.

ini belacan aa, dari mersing woo

7. Sudah blend, masuk semua dlm periuk besar utk buat kuah.
8. Ikan rebus tadi, kaut dan masukkan dalam bekas berisi air bersih. Air rebusan tadi biarkan je dlm periuk. Tujuan letak dlm air bersih ialah utk sejukkan ikan rebus dan nk amik air bersih tu jd kuah tambahan.
9. Bila agak2 dh boleh pegang ikan tu,perisilah ia (hehe). Isi ikan terus masuk dlm blender tapi tulang tinggalkan je dalam bekas berisi air tadi.
10. Blend isi ikan dan telur ikan guna air rebusan ikan. Make sure, tapis air rebusan supaya tulang tak masuk sekali. Sudah lumat, terus masuk ke dalam periuk. Ulang 9 dan 10 hingga isi ikan habis.
11. Blend tulang ikan. Guna air rebusan jika masih ada atau boleh guna air bekas tulang tu. Blend lagi sampai hancur.  Masukkan dalam periuk dgn bertapis. Wajib tapis sebab tak mo tulang dan hampas masuk skali dlm kuah. Sebenarnya, rasa tulang ni yg bg perisa tambahan so rugi kalau tak amik.
12. Lepas tu, kacau2 sikit kuah dalam periuk tu.  Cili blend tadi boleh masuk sikit2 ikut sedap rasa. Saya cadang dlm 5 sudu besar pun dah ok dah. Cili tidak begitu mempengaruhi rasa.
13. Hidupkan api.  Biar sampai mendidih.  Oh ye. Kalau nk letak ajinomoto pun boleh. Selalunya org letak, tapi kalau ikan fresh, x letak pun x pe.
14. Rasa kuah. Kalau tak masam letak sama keping. Tak pedas, tambah cili. Jgn tambah garam sampai kuah mendidih.  Letak daum kesum dan bunga kantan.

Bunga kantan

Daun kesum

15. Biar kuah mendidih.  Tunggu esok baru makan.  Sbb apa? laksa adalah sejenis masakan perapan yg lagi sedap dimakan jika disimpan semalaman. Heheh

A complete bowl of laksa i made yesterday

Itu sahaja. Boleh x Pn Kaya? Hehe
If you ask my dad, theres another secret ingredient but thats for me to know and you all to find out. Hehehhhohohoho. Good luck. Selamat mencuba.

Nasi Goreng Tomato

For this entry, I want to write down my favourite Nasi Goreng recipe.

Nasi Goreng Tomato

Bahagian A
2 pot beras (tanak sehingga masak. nasi jangan lembik)

Bahagian B
1 potong ayam
2 biji tomato

Bahagian C
10 (atau lebih) cili padi
segenggam ikan bilis
3 ulas bawang putih
1 biji bawang merah

Bahagian D
3 sudu sos tomato
minyak
garam
perisa (jika mahu)

1. Tanak beras sebanyak 2 pot. Sejukkan. Pastikan nasi yang terhasil tidak lembik sebab kurang sesuai untuk buat nasi goreng. Ramas-ramaskan nasi supaya berkecai.

2. Potong dadu tomato dan ayam. Asingkan.

3. Blend semua bahagian C sehingga hampir halus.

4. Panaskan kuali dan letakkan minyak secukupnya. Masukkan semua bahan yang diblend tadi.

5. Bila bahan tumisan mula kering dan berbau harum, masukkan ayam. Masukkan garam dan perisa (jika mahu).

6. Tunggu hingga ayam masak, kemudian masukkan tomato. Gaulkan dan masukkan nasi. Gaul hingga rata.

7. Masukkan sos tomato dan gaulkan lagi hingga sebati. Siap!