Easy black pepper beef

Before covid, we loved this pub that served this soy beef cube.  Though we missed it, the pub is no longer around.

Attempted Easy Black Pepper Beef instead and am glad it turned out well.

What you need:

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp black pepper

500g beef cube

Method:

Combine soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper to the beef.  Mix well with it and let it chill overnight.

Preheat the pan and add a little oil.  

Cook until brown on each side.

Enjoy!

Black pepper Beef cube

My friend J told me about a promotion to buy some good quality beef.  Since the promotion is ending soon, I carted a few kilos.

With my son back from his holiday, and now I have time to cook this Black Pepper Beef Cube for the family.

What you need:

400g beef tenderloin, cube into bite sized cube.  (make sure it is uniform in size)

1 tbsp rice wine

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp black pepper

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

10g water

5g corn starch

2 tbsp oil

2 king oysters, cut into cubes

6 cloves garlic, whole

Sauce

Mix together

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp rice wine

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp black pepper

20g water

Method:

Massage the beef with rice wine, sugar, baking soda, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and 1 egg. 

Add in water and mix well.

Add in corn starch and massage it well until cannot see the flour.

Finish off with oil well mixed in.   Clingwrap and chill.

Heat oil and add in beef cube, piece by piece (30 sec).

Let it sit for 5 – 6 mins.

In a pan, drizzle some oil, on low heat, slowly pan fried the garlic and king oyster until a little water appeared.

Add in beef cube  and sauce.  Turn up heat and mix well.

Drizzle over cook oil.

Serve.

Enjoy!

Steam minced beef

If everyone is home early, I would like to prepare this dish as it tastes much better when piping hot.   This Steam minced beef is what my mom used to cook for us and I truly enjoy this dish.

What you need:

500g minced beef

3 tbsp ginger juice

½ tsp sesame oil

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp soy sauce

A pinch of white pepper

1/3 cup water

1 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp oil, add last

Method:  (all mix in one direction)

Add the ginger juice to the minced beef.  Mixed well.  

Add in sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, and pepper and mix well.

Mix in the cornstarch and mix well.

Mix in the oil.

Shape into the steaming dish.  Add in the water.

Steam over medium heat for 6-8 mins.  Once the patty leaves the side of the dish, it is ready.

Remove and garnish with spring onion (which I don’t).  

Serve hot with jasmine rice.

Enjoy!

Steak (air fryer)

The last we did a steak in the air fryer it turned out so beautifully that I forgot to document it.  

So this round, I have to record our experiment.

First to fit into the air fryer, hubby had to saw off the bone.  

Learning: I feel that we have overcooked it a little.  Next round will try air fry mode, at 7 mins and then 6 mins.  Based on this thickness.

What you need:

1kg tomahawk with bone. 2" thick

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Method:

Bring the meat to room temperature.  Pat dry with a kitchen towel.  Rub salt and pepper on it.

Preheat the air fryer to 202℃.  (bake mode).  I can't recall the last time is air fry mode though.

Drizzle olive oil on the meat.

Cook for 7 mins on each side.  Doneness: Medium well, this is how my family liked it. 

Transfer to cutting board, cover with foil, and let it rest for 5 mins before cutting.

Enjoy!

Beef Rendang (all time favourite)

This Beef rendang recipe was first shared in my old blog and it was a hot favorite with friends and family.  Realized that I have not cooked Beef Rendang for a longest time.  So today, I shall cook a pot.

These days, it became easier to cook spicy food because my son started to have a stronger tolerance to spicy food and now an additional member, makes the effort more worthwhile.

Learning: this dish will not be nice if freshly cooked.  It needs to sit for another day for the flavor to be fully penetrated.

So take your time to cook it.  

What you need:

1kg beef, cut into med-sized chunk

2 turmeric leaves (cut into big pcs)

8 kaffir lime leaves

6cm thick galangal, bruised

2 stalks of lemongrass

Salt to taste

1 litre chilled coconut milk 

2 cup water (add more if evaporate during cooking)

Spices (to grind)

70 pcs chilli padi, deseed 

24 pcs shallots

6 cloves garlic

1 thumb-sized ginger

Method:

Heat wok and add oil (4 tbsp).

Fry ground spices until fragrant.

Add in beef chunks and stir until beef is well coated with spices.

Add turmeric leaves, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and lemongrass.

Add coconut milk with water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer until meat is soft and tender.  (you can use a pressure cooker to speed up)

Note:

To achieve tenderly soft meat, I actually let it boil for 1 hour and then let it sit overnight and continue to cook it with more water until it is very soft.  The flavor is much better this way.

Enjoy!

Bak kwa scones

Had some craving for bak kwa and bought 500g just to satisfy that feeling.   Since we still have some left, wanted to try out this Bak Kwa scone.

This should be nice because I baked Bak Kwa muffin before and it was yummy.

Thanks SH Yeo for sharing.

What you need:

335 self-raising flour

1½ tbsp baking powder

75g castor sugar

100g unsalted butter (cubed and frozen)

150g bak kwa 

100g fresh milk

85g dairy whipping cream

Egg wash

Milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 200℃.   Lined a baking sheet.

In the mixing bowl, sift flour and baking powder.

Add in sugar and with a balloon whisk, mix well.

Add in frozen butter and slowly whisk until crumb-like.

While mixer is running, chop bak kwa into tiny pieces.

Add in chopped bak kwa.

Combine milk and whipping cream and remove the balloon whisk and make a well in the centre and pour in the milk mixture.

With a spatula, mix and combine to form a dough.  (Do the fold and press method).

Place dough onto a Silpat mat and using a rolling pin, flatten the dough to 2cm thick.

Roll into a rectangle and cut into squares.

Place scones on tray and brush with milk.

Bake for 15 mins or until light golden brown.    

Enjoy!

Roast Beef (Instant pot)

My family enjoyed beef especially my son, unfortunately, he is not around to try this.  Today, we shall settle for a western-style dinner.  Going to try making Roast Beef in an Instant Pot.  

It was a good meal as it got my girl and hubby to help out.  The beef was of good quality too.  

Learning experience:

The beef roast was done nicely and the gravy was good.  I felt that I got carried away with the "generous" salt.  Hubby and girl felt that it is okay but I will stick to my usual consumption the next round.  If not salty, I can always increase it in the gravy.

Source: check out for full details 

What you need:

1.3kg beef, bring to room temp
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper 

30g minced garlic

1 med sized onion, sliced 

1 cup water

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

3 bay leaves

1 spring rosemary

Method:

To brow beef roast. “Saute more” to heat up IP.  “HOT” will appear after approx. 8 mins.

Pat dry the beef with a kitchen towel.  Season with salt and black pepper.

Add in 1 tbsp olive oil.  Spread out the oil to cover the pot base.

Place the beef roast and brown for 4 mins.

2nd side, brown for 3 mins and 30 sec

3rd and 4th sides for 2 mins and 30 secs.  Set aside.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil.

Saute the sliced onions for 3 mins.

Add in bay leaves, rosemary and minced garlic, saute for 30 secs until fragrant.

Pour water and deglaze with a wooden spoon scraping all the brown bits.

Mix in 1 tbsp soy sauce.

Place steamer rack into TM and then the beef on it.   Close lid, turn Venting knob to seal.

Pressure cook at High Pressure for 3 mins + 30 mins Natural Release.

Open the lid, then measure the temperature of the roast’s the thickest part with a meat thermometer.

Once beef reached 48°C remove from IP, loosely wrap with aluminium foil and let it rest for 8 – 10 mins.

Note:

Med rare – 48°C
Med - 60 - 63°C
Med well - 65-67°C

If the temp did not meet your doneness, place the roast beef back into the Instant Pot on the trivet, then close the lid. 

Press the "Keep Warm" mode to continue to slow roast the beef. The temp should rise 13°C - 12°C per 5 minutes.

Keep checking the temp every 5 - 10 minutes depending on the size of your roast.

Roast Beef Gravy

Hit Saute and add soy sauce to taste.

Mix 1½ tbsp plain flour with 3 tbsp water.  Mix into the beef sauce a little at a time until the desired consistency.  

Season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Enjoy!

Beef Rendang (4) (instant pot)

Circuit Breaker Day 52

Over the years, I had done quite a number of Beef Rendang as it is one of the favourite dish in the family.  In this blog alone, I had 3 and today's will be the 4th one.

I am exploring yet another new recipe and I shall call it Beef Rendang (4).  

Decided to number them because whenever my friends tell me it is good, I don't know which one they are referring to.

This time round, I used the Thermomix to help with the rempah (they are fast and good) and the Instant pot to speed up the cooking process as I feel that Thermomix cannot cook a nice pot of Rendang to a tenderly soft texture.

Findings: We were too eager to eat but this rendang taste much better after a day sitting in the gravy.

What you need:

8 cloves garlic, peeled

10 small shallots, peeled

1 inch piece fresh galangal peeled
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled

16 pcs dried chillies,  deseed and soak in hot water to soften

1 tsp coriander powder

½ ground cumin

1 tsp curry powder

2 tbsp oil

3 stalks lemongrass (use only the lower white portion) bruised or lightly smashed

4 kaffir lime leaves

1 kg beef (stewing beef), cut into chunks and seasoned lightly with salt and pepper

½ cup water

1½ tbsp brown sugar

1 packet of chilled coconut milk

Soy sauce, to taste

Method:

Blend garlic, shallots, galangal, ginger and chili to a smooth paste. (I use the Thermomix as it gives me a very fine and smooth paste)

Add the coriander powder and cumin powder and mix well. Set aside.

Choose the sauté setting in the instant pot. Heat the oil and briefly sauté the lemongrass, ginger and kaffir lime leaves until aromatic.

Add the spice paste and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until it is fragrant and darkens in colour and begins to bubble as it releases some oil.

Add the beef and stir well to ensure evenly mix with the spices.

Add water and sugar and mix everything well. Make sure to loosen the brown bits at the bottom to prevent burning.

Turn off the sauté mode and cover the pot, putting the valve in the sealed position.

Put in manual high pressure for 25 minutes. Allow a natural release for 15 minutes.

Uncover then pour in the coconut milk.

Sauté and cook, stirring occasionally so beef doesn't stick to the bottom, for 15 minutes or until the sauce has browned or caramelized in color and has thickened (the dish would release some oil at this point, too).

Season with soy sauce or salt.

Note: After boiling the beef for another 15 mins or so, cover and let it sit in the sauce overnight.  This will taste so much better the next day.

Serve.

Enjoy!

Beef Rendang (Thermomix) (2)

Its been a while I last cook Beef Rendang (2).  Using Thermomix to blend my chilli paste is a breeze now.  The quality is so fine and I no longer has a major clean up with I fry the rempah.

I think I must explore more curry recipes from now on.

Learning experience: 

The beef was not tender enough so I transfer it into a pot, add in 200ml water, bring to a boil and let it sit overnight and further cook it the next day, on very low heat for 1 hr in order for it to be soft.  (I add in another 500ml water)

Tastewise, this is good.

What you need:

1kg beef, cut into cubes

80g garlic cloves

300g shallots

5 stalks fresh lemongrass

8 cashew nuts

15 dried chillies, rinsed, soaked and deseed

25g galangal

25g turmeric

25g fresh ginger

100g oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground fennel

2 tsp salt

150g coconut milk

2 fresh turmeric leaves, trimmed and shredded

2 tbsp brown sugar

Method:

Place garlic, shallots, lemongrass, candlenuts, dried chillies, galangal, turmeric, ginger and oil into TM bowl, grind 15 sec/sp10. 

Add in ground cumin, ground fennel and 1 tsp salt. Saute 15 min/120°C/sp 1 until fragrant.

Add in beef, coconut milk, turmeric leaves, brown sugar and 1 tsp salt.  Cook 30 mins/100°C/reverse/sp spoon.



Enjoy!

Beef rendang (1)

I have not been cooking beef rendang (1) for quite awhile as I am too lazy to go to the east to get my beef.  Until recently, I discovered a beef stall not is nearby and decided to try it.

Also trying out my Thermie to see how fast  can prepare this dish.

Findings: As I don't really fancy sugar in my Asian food, I had reduced the brown sugar alot but still I find it too sweet.  Next round, I will omit the sugar.  

Taste wise is okay but I will add some chilli padi to it to give it more kick.  This recipe will be ideal for my girl who is learning to take spicy food.

As for speed to churn out this, I feel that I don't have to man over the stove to ensure that the rendang will not burnt and also I don't have to clear up the splatter when frying the rempah.

Source

What you need:

800g beef, cubed

250g coconut milk

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

200g freshly grated coconut (fried until golden)

Rempah

8 clove garlic
5 lemon grass (only the white portion)
6 candle nuts (buah keras)  
15 shallots

1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp fennel seed
15 pcs dry chillies
25 g ginger
25 g galangal (blue ginger)
25 g tumeric or 5g tumeric powder
100 g oil
1 tsp salt

Method:

In a frying pan, roast cumin seeds and fennel seeds lightly.

Combine cumin seeds and fennel seeds in TM bowl (3 mins 30 sec/V/sp1)

Grind dry chillies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, candle nuts and turmeric to form a paste.

Combine dry chillies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, candle nuts and turmeric (2 mins/sp 10)

In a wok, add 100g oil and cook paste until fragrant.  Add in salt.

Add 10g oil and 1 tsp salt (insert simmering basket/25 min – 30 mins/V/sp 1)

Add in beef, coconut milk , 3 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp salt.  Continue to cook until beef is tender.

Add in beef, coconut milk , 3 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp salt.  (insert simmering basket/50mins/V (dry)/100°C (with some gravy)/Stir reverse

Cheers!

Slow Cook Braised beef cheeks Noodle

I found some beef cheeks in the grocer, I have never eaten beef cheeks but I think it should be nice as I love fish cheeks.  So the curiosity in me, decided to grab some home without knowing how I should cook it.

Usually I love to braised beef and I think it will be a good idea.  Braised food definitely goes well with either rice or noodle.

Since I am too lazy to watch of the stove, I just dump everything inside the slow cooker and let it do the cooking.  My trusty slow cooker that I love to bits since my married days.

Findings: The hardest part is to trim off all the fats and tendon but the reward is a tender meat.  

What you need:

4 spring onions

1 piece dried orange skin 橙皮

6 cloves garlic, crushed

30g fresh ginger,  skinned and sliced thickly

375ml chinese rice wine

120ml light soy sauce (less salt version)

200g brown sugar

½ tsp sesame oil

4 pcs star anise

1 cinnamon sticks

1 kg beef cheeks

Method:

Soak the dried orange skin and scrap off the pits part.

Trim onions, cut into 6cm (2½-inch) lengths. 

In a hot wok with little oil, sautee onion, rind, garlic, ginger, wine, sauce, sugar, oil, star anise and cinnamon until fragrant.

Add these together with 2.5-litre of water in a slow cooker.

Add in the brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.

Add beef, turn to coat in mixture. Cook, covered, on low, for 8 hours.

Serve beef with a little cooking liquid.  (I thicken up the sauce a little with cornstarch).


Enjoy.

Beef Salad

I fell in love with this Beef Salad when my friend brought this over to a party that I organised.  Thinking about this dish, reminded me so much of our stay in Seletar Airbase.  Such idyllic environment that my kids can roam around barefooted.  My neighbours are so friendly that we don't even lock our gates.  One of them, even broke off his lock to open up the side gate that connects our two houses.  Really miss those wonderful time we had there. 

Anyway, whenever I cook this, this beautiful memory floods back.

Findings: This dish is an awesome dish to bring to a party as it allows you to prepare early.  No stress at all.  Yet it tasted soooooo delicious.

Adjust spiciness according to your preference.

What you need:

300g beef (minced or thin sukiyaki)

A.

5 dried chillies (soak till soft and pound into paste) - for spicer taste, add more
2 tbsp turmeric powder
100g Gula Melaka (mashed into paste) - if you prefer sweeter, you can add more.
A pinch of salt
5 shallots (slice very thin/ chop fine)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp oil

B.

2 med sized cucumber (cut to thick strips)
3 hard boiled eggs (halved)
2 tomatoes (quartered)

Method

Mix ingredient A together and marinate the beef with it for at least half an hour.

Put the marinated beef together with all the sauce onto a baking tray and bake till cooked.

Decorate plate with cucumber, tomatoes and eggs. Place beef in the centre.

Cling wrap and chilled in the fridge. Thaw a little before serving.


Enjoy!

Oxtail Stew

While I was at the wet market, I saw some really nice oxtail.  It is hard to come by such nice ones these days.  I remembered I bought some long ago and it was not meaty at all.   Nevertheless, I went ahead to buy it without a recipe on hand.

Came home and started preparing Oxtail Stew.  Even my fussy son did not complain about the amount of oil before I had a chance to remove them.

Try it if you have the time.  You won't regret it.

What you need:

2 kg oxtail , chopped into 4cm chunks (ask your butcher to do this)

olive oil
2 stalk of leek

4 medium carrots

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

a few sprigs of fresh rosemary

4 fresh bay leaves

4 cloves

2 heaped tablespoons plain flour

275 ml porter or red wine

1 litre chicken stock

season with salt and pepper

Method

Heat up a dutch pan and drizzle a generous amount of olive oil.

Coat oxtail with the olive oil and let it cook for 15 mins on one side and another 15 mins on the other side.  Until it is golden.  

Trim and halve the leeks and cut into chunks and add into the oxtail.

Add in the cloves.

Coarsely chop up the thyme and rosemary leaves and add the bay leave in.

Pour in broth and let it slowly simmer for 3 hours.  Add water if the liquid is low and the meat is still not soft.  

Peel and cut carrots into chunks. 

Add carrot and wine into the oxtail and continue to cook until oxtail is tenderly soft.  Remove.

Skim off the excess oil.

Mix flour with a little water and stir into the gravy and bring to boil,stirring constantly until it thickens.  If you want more gravy, you can dilute with water or less flour.

Add the oxtail back and stir well.  Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy with creamy mash and salad.


Enjoy!

Roast Rib Eye

Since girl stopped her part time work, I know I will have an extra pair of hands to do marketing as I still can't walk properly.

For the last 2 days, we went round gathering all the ingredients.  You see, I was eager to prepare a nice dinner for the family especially when it is for my hub’s birthday.  We did an advanced celebration because girl has tuition on the actual day.

She was really sweet and attempted her first rainbow chiffon cake for her dad.  Though the attempted failed but I think she is brave enough to take on the challenge and we are proud of her.

As for me, I did a Roast Rib Eye with a BBQ rub that I got from Trader Joe’s.  It was easy and yet tasty.  Am glad I had enough time to marinate it overnight.

Happy Birthday my better half.  May you be blessed with good health and your dream will come true real soon.

Hugz!

Beef Rendang (Padang Style)

To my delight, my girl is starting to take spicy food.  This will make life much easier.  One of the favourite is Beef Rendang so I decided to cook Beef Rendang (Padang style) for one of my makan session with the Yap's family as they love spicy food too.

What you need:

1kg beef (I used a combination of lean beef and shin)
1 Tumeric leaf
6 kaffir lime leaves
6 slices of galangal
2 stalk of lemongrass
salt t taste
200ml Kara Coconut
2 cup of water

Rempah

80g dried chilli
8 red chilli
20 shallots
6 clove garlic
5 slices of ginger

Method

Grind rempah. 

In a wok with oil, stir fried rempah until fragrant.

Add in beef and mix well.

Add in water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Add in coconut milk and continue to simmer until meat is tender.

Beef Brisket 牛腩

My first love for Beef Brisket 牛腩面 was this small stall in Parkway Parade.  Ever since I moved out of that area in my teens, I lost touch with this stall and was told that subsequently they shifted elsewhere.

Then I rekindled this awesome dish in one of the mall in Jelutung where my girl used to take her phonic class.  This stall was owned by a lady from Hong Kong.  We love it so much that nearly every week, we dine there.  Subsequently she closed down her stall and moved back to Hong Kong.

It is sad to see good recipe disappeared.  So today, I am trying to see whether this recipe is close to my memory.

Actually this is my first time buying Beef Brisket.  Those vendors that I patronized normally do not have this.  They will normally recommend either shins or topside.   So I was rather happy to get a kilo but I have to put up with that bad attitude of this vendor.  

Findings: This is really good.  Though not same as the Hong Kong lady's but I can confidently say that it is good enough to satisfy us.

What you need:

A
1 tbsp ginger juice
2 tbsp light soya sauce
3 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp pepper

B
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar

C
1 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp water

D
1 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp water

E
1 tbsp brown sugar
6 slices ginger

F
10 cloves garlic, crushed
10 small onion, cut into halves

G
2 star anise
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
1 pc cinnamon

1 kg beef brisket, chunk
2 tbsp oil

Method:

Marinate beef with A for 1 hour or overnight.

Mix B and C in separate bowls.

Heat oil in wok to brown sugar and ginger (E).  

Add in garlic and onions (F) to it and sautee until fragrant.

Add star anise, lemongrass, cinnamon (G) and beef brisket.  Stir fry over high heat for 10 mins.

Add in (B)

Add approx 400ml water and bring to boil for 10 mins.

Lower heat and let it simmer for 2 hours until meat is tender and soft.

Thicken gravy with (C) and stir well.

Serve either with noodle or white rice.




Cheers

Taiwanese Braised Beef Rice 台灣牛肉饭

We have braised food quite often because my whole enjoys it.  Sometime I wonder whether this is Teochew's culture of mixing gravy into the rice.  For me, I prefer to eat my rice with little sauces and not drenched with it.  

Decided to give it a change and try out  Taiwanese Braised Beef Rice 台灣牛肉饭 instead.  

Findings: The gravy is really good and it has a mild hint of spiciness in it.  Glad everyone likes it.

What you need:

1kg beef shank

1 large onion

4" ginger

3 tbsp chili bean paste

1 tsp cummin
1 tsp fennel
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn (crushed)

1 tsp white pepper

3 tbsp vegetable oil

200 ml rice wine

200 ml soy sauce

2 stalks of green onions

Method:

Chop the onion and ginger into thin slices. 

Cut the green onion stalks in half and set aside a small portion for the garnish at the end

Next, take the beef shank and cut evenly into big cubes. 

Blanch beef with boiling water.

Heat a pot on high heat with oil.  Sear beef until brown. Remove and set aside.

Add the ginger and let it cook for 1-2 minutes. Then, add the chopped onions and cook until they are translucent and begin to caramelize (~3-4 minutes). 

Add in the spices and mix well into the beef

Then, deglaze by pouring the rice wine into the wok. Let the wine cook for about 3-4 minutes to evaporate the alcohol

Add in the chili bean paste. Cook the paste for about 30 seconds before mixing it in with the rest of the ingredients

Add the soy sauce and mix well

Then, add the green onions 

Pour the hot water into the mixture until it covers all of the ingredients. 

Bring the beef broth to a boil again. Cover the wok and turn the heat down to low. Let the beef broth simmer and cook for 2 hours

Serve with rice and blanched vegetable


I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 Aug 2014 : Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies.

To all the PSLE kids, good luck for tomorrow's exam!

Cheers!  

Stir fry beef with capiscum 青椒炒牛肉

One of the dishes mom always prepared for us when I was still staying home with her was this Stir fry beef with capsicum 青椒炒牛肉 and now I, in turn is cooking for my family.

Just love this dish with lots of gravy to go with rice.  

Beef Salad

I prepared this Beef Salad back in 2008 and ever since then, it was forgotten.  It was so good but I somehow I don't know why I didn't attempt it again when I have parties.  Perhaps it is because my kids do not take spicy food back then.

I shared some with my friend DN and she liked it too.

As it is only hubby and I eating it I didn't prepare the eggs.  

What you need:

300g beef (minced or thin sukiyaki) 

A. 

5 dried chillies (soak till soft and pound into paste) - for spicer taste, add more
2 tbsp turmeric powder 
100g Gula Melaka (mashed into paste) - if you prefer sweeter, you can add more.
A pinch of salt 
5 shallots (slice very thin/ chop fine) 
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp oil

B.

2 med sized cucumber (cut to thick strips)
3 hard boiled eggs (halved) 
2 tomatoes (quartered)

Method

Mix ingredient A together and marinate the beef with it for at least half an hour.

Put the marinated beef together with all the sauce onto a baking tray and bake till cooked. 

Decorate plate with cucumber, tomatoes and eggs. Place beef in the centre.

Cling wrap and chilled in the fridge. Thaw a little before serving.




How was your weekend?

Beef Rendang

H and family are here for a visit.  Back in May, my girl was already asking for C, H’s eldest child, who shared the same birthday as her.  In the past, I love looking at them playing together.  It looks like they have so much chemistry between them and yet they were extremely shy with each other.  Just so plain innocent.  

So it is an annual affair for them to get together and play.  I also took the opportunity to invite them over for dinner since now I am fit enough to entertain.

I cooked Beef Rendang as we haven't had this for quite some time and H’s hubby also didn’t mind the spicy food.  In fact, he took on spicy food really well.

What you need:

½ kg beef, cut into medium sized pieces
1 turmeric leaf (cut into big pieces)
4 kaffir lime leaves
3 cm thick galangal - bruised
1 stalk of lemon grass
salt to taste
500g chilled coconut milk (you can get from supermarket)
1 cup water (add more if it evaporate quickly before meat turns soft)

Spices to grind

35 chilli padi, deseed (add more if you like it spicy)
12 shallots
3 cloves garic

ginger (half your thumb size)

Method:

Heat wok and add oil (approx 3-4 tsbp).

Fry grinded spices till fragrant.

Add chicken pieces and stir till beef is well coated with spices.

Add in turmeric leaves, kaffir lime leaves, ginger and lemongrass.

Add in coconut milk with water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer till meat is soft and tender.

Note: A reader pointed out that rendang is dry.  As my family loves gravy, I didn't cook down further.  You may do so if you prefer the dry version.

Other dishes to follow.