Memories in the Cooking

Here is another mum's trick on hassel-free cooking. This curry recipe only requires 10 minutes of preparation and does not involve any frying at all.  Ingredients: - 1 kg of meat (mutton, chicken or beef)  - 2 tablespoons of curry powder (combination of spices, chili powder, tumeric powder)  - 1 teaspoon of salt  - 3 large onions, chopped  - 1 bulb of garlic, minced  - 1 packet of coconut milk - 1 can of tomato puree  - 4 large potatoes, cut into cubes  Procedures: 1) Place the meat, onions and garlic in the slow cooker.  2) Add curry powder, tomato puree, salt and sugar and 1 cup of water to the slow cooker pot.  3) Cook at high setting for 2-3 hours until the meat is soften.  4) Add potatoes and cook for another hour.  5) Add coconut milk and let it simmer for another 20 minutes. Serve. 

This dish is so easy. My family said that they did not even see me cooking it! So, this is the recipe of slow-cooked beef brisket - a dish that just miraculously appears on its own!  Ingredients: - 500g of beef brisket  - 6 stalks of celery  - 3 carrots  - 5 large tomatoes  - 1 can of pastata  - salt, sugar, pepper  Procedures: 1) Cut tomatoes, celery and carrots into small pieces. Place them in the slow cooker. Add pastata to the pot.  2) Place beef brisket on top of the bed of vegetables.  3) Add boiling water until it just covers the ingredients. Cook at high setting for about 5 hours.  4) Set aside the beef brisket. Slice it.  5) Blend the vegetable stock. Add salt, sugar and pepper to taste.  6) Assemble the dish with some spinach and parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy! 

This is another easy air-fryer recipe - Tonkatsu. To save time, I marinated the pork the night before. This allows me to serve a weekday dinner within 30 minutes after reaching home.  Ingredients: - 500g of Pork tenderloin, butterflied (or pork shoulder)  - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce  - pepper  - 1 teaspoon of five space powder  - 2 tablespoons of huatiao wine  - 1 egg - 2 tablespoons of corn flour  - Japanese bread crumbs  - vegetable oil Procedures: 1) Butterfly and flatten pork. Place it in a marinating bowl/container.  2) Add light soya sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, five spice powder and huatiao wine. Let it marinate for 24 hours.  3) Add an egg to the pork. Add cornflour and mix well.  4) Coat the pork with Japanese breadcrumbs.  5) Place them in the air-fryer in a single layer. Spray vegetable oil on the pork.  6) Bake at 180 degree celsius for 25 minutes.  7) Turn the pork over. Spray vegetable oil on the other side of the pork. Bake it at 20

Have I mentioned before that I like green-colour food? How far will I go to make my favourite dishes green? What about a 'green' nasi lemak? Instead of cooking rice with whole knotted pandan leaves, I cook the rice with juice blended from pandan leaves. The end product is a visually appealing and fragnant nasi lemak rice. Yummy! Ingredients: (for nasi lemak rice) - 3 cups of rice - 100g of pandan leaves - 200ml of coconut milk - 50g ginger, grated - 1 tablespoon of salt - 2 stalks of lemon grass - 1 teaspoon of pandan paste Procedures: 1) Blend pandan leaves with 3 tablespoons of  water. Strain to obtain the juice. 2) Combine the pandan juice, coconut milk and water until it forms 3 cups of liquid.  3) Add the liquid to the washed rice. Add  salt and pandan paste. 4) Blend lemon grass and garlic. Add to the rice. Cook according to rice cooker instructions. 5) Prepare other side dishes such as fried peanuts, ikan bilis, eggs, otah, stir-fried vegetables and nasi lemak

My favourite type of satay is pork satay, which is less available than the other types (chicken, beef, lamb). So, I make it at home so that I can enjoy it to my heart's content. Ingredients: (For satay)  - 600g of pork belly or pork jowl  - 2 sticks of lemon grass - 4 shallots - a few slices of ginger - 4 cloves of garlic - 1 tablespoon of tumeric - 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 1 teaspoon of salt (For peanut sauce)  - 8 dried chili, rehydrated - 1 thumb-size galangal, sliced  - 4 shallots  - 2 lemon grass  - 1 cup of crushed peanut  - 1 tablespoon of tamarind, make into juice using 1 cup of water  - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 1 teaspoon of salt  Procedures: 1) Blend lemon grass, shallots, ginger and garlic. Add tumeric, dark soya sauce, salt, sugar and mix well. Marinate the pork belly/pork jowl overnight with the mixture. 2) Skew the pork on satay sticks. Lay them on a baking tray. Spray them with vegetable oil. Bake it at 200 degree

When I was living in UK several years ago, I was amazed at how my church friends were able to host simple home parties straight after Sunday church services. Didn't they need time to whip up the meals? That was when I opened my eyes to the method of slow cooking. Pulled Pork Burger is a dish that allows you to be 4 hours away from home as it cooks itself. Ingredients: - 1 kg of pork shoulder  - 2 teaspoon salt - pepper - citrus juice (apple juice or orange juice or even kombucha) or coke(enough to cover the pork)  - half a bottle of BBQ sauce  - 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs  - 8 hamburger buns  - 8 poached eggs  - salad and fruits  Procedures:  1) Place the pork shoulder in a crocked pot.  2) Add salt, pepper, herbs and citrus juice/coke and let it cook for 4 hours at auto mode.  3) Shred the tendered pork in a large mixing bowl. Add BBQ sauce.  4) Assemble the pulled pork between the hamburger buns. Top it up with a poached egg. Serve with salad an

What would be a good dish to cook for Good Friday? Roasted Lamb Leg - to commemorate the Lamb of God who died for our sins. Ingredients: - 2.5kg lamb leg without bone - 2 bulbs of garlic - 1 onion, sliced - sea salt, mixed Italian herbs - 5 tablespoons of breadcrumbs  - brining solution - half a cup of sugar and half a cup of salt and water - mustard sauce  Procedures: 1) Brine the lamb leg for about 2 days in brining solution.  2) Cut a slit across the lamb leg for the stuffing later.  3) In a frying pan, add minced garlic, chopped onions and fry until fragrant. Add herbs, salt and breadcrumbs. Mix well.  4) Place the stuffing in the slit of the lamb leg. Roll up the lamb leg with the stuffing. Use a twine to hold the lamb roll in place.  5) Using a knife, make many small incisions in the lamb leg and insert garlic pieces into them. 6) Coat the lamb leg with mustard sauce. Cover the lamb with any leftover breadcrumbs stuffings.  7) Roast the lamb leg for 1.5 hour at 180