T.I.E.I.

Ever wondered who the oh-so-cute person holding up the Food for Thought banner in the header above? May I introduce to you... The Incredible, Edible Ihsan, now starring in her very own comic!


Click the picture below to see The Incredible, Edible Ihsan's very first adventure!


Lots of hugs to the talented artist! <333333

Kolo Mee v1

Edit: Please see the Kolomee version 2 recipe for a much tastier recipe! =)

At long last, the long-awaited recipe for kolo mee. I've been looking around for a recipe that sounds like the kind of kolo mee I'm looking for. I recently found one that sounds like what I'm looking for, so... yay! Right? You'll see. :P Here we go!

What you need:
(serves 1)
75g noodles, cooked in coiling water then drained and washed again in ice cold water to wash off excess starches - I used Wonton noodles, which was bad. Read why later

Sauce:
2 teaspoons fish sauce
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
Sprinkling of white pepper powder
Pinch of MSG - didn't have it

4 chicken wings, seasoned with salt and pepper
Oil, to fry the chicken
1 spring onion, sliced finely
Crispy fried shallots

What you do:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan, and fry chicken until golden and crispy and cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, dip noodles briefly into hot water to heat them up and place into a bowl. Spoon over sauce (to taste), place chicken wings on the side and sprinkle liberally with spring onion and fried shallots. Serve immediately.

The thing about kolo mee, I think, is that its such a simple recipe (unless you make your own noodles, of course...), that you need to get everything absolutely perfect. The noodles must be the right taste and texture, and the sauce must be delicious. Well, sadly, I have to report that this recipe fails in oh-so-many ways! :(

First off, the noodles. I really am not sure what kind of noodles kolo mee uses, so I looked around for one that looked similar. So when I found fresh wonton noodles that looked similar to my vague memories of kolomee, I was pretty pleased. Until I tasted it. It turns out that those noodles were egg noodles. And I detest egg noodles. With a passion. Plus, kolo mee definitely doesn't use egg noodles, I think. Otherwise, I wouldn't like it so much. Steee-rike ONE!

Next up is the sauce. I should have known, actually, but I thought, nah... couldn't be... Coz, see... fish sauce - salty. Soy sauce - salty. Salt - salty. Add up all the three together, and what do you get? EXTREME saltiness! I made a bit too much sauce as well, and just dumped it all over my noodles. So the resulting saltiness was enough to make my mouth shrivel up. And I like to think I have a higher salt tolerance than most people. Of course, it was partly my fault, why did I dump the whole thing in? But also, the sauce was just salty.... there were no other flavours there. I thought it didn't taste like what I remember kolo mee tasting like (well, it has been awhile... my memory is a little fuzzy now) So... Steeeeee-rike TWO!

Luckily, it wasn't a complete strike out, haha. The chicken was delicious, but of course, I plead guilty to that. :P Haven't had fried chicken in awhile, and this was just yum! Nicely cooked, crispy and flavoursome. *drool* And the best thing was, it wasn't even deep-fried. It was just fried in about two tablespoons of oil. Which may sound a lot, but not really. So yay. :D I also liked the spring onions and fried shallots, two of my favourite toppings. So again... yay... So my main problem was with the noodles and the sauce. Which is really the main point of kolo mee.... So as a whole, this dish fails for me.

"So Ihsan, why then," you ask ,"are you giving us this recipe?" Well, people were eager to see it for one, so I guess I should publish it. Plus, who knows, someone might be able to give some suggestions. :D But the main point is, I definitely want to try making kolo mee again, so by publishing the first recipe (and 2nd, and 3rd, and so on) you'll be able to chart the progress of the kolo mee, hehe.

So... until next time then. :D

Quote of the day: A hungry stomach seldoms scorns plain food.

Green Basil Pesto

Pesto is an Italian sauce that apprently comes from the city of Genoa. I've only first heard of it last year, when someone was in raphsody over the pleasures of pesto. (Can't remember who the person is now...). Anyway, again, I like basil and pesto (which is traditionally made from basil) sounds like an interesting thing to use.

I tried over and over again to get a vegetarian pesto from supermarkets (most use Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano or other similar Italian hard cheeses - cheese?) but have been unsuccessful. So that leaves me only one option - to make it myself! Luckily, Cookie Monster had posted a detailed recipe on making pesto, so I was all set. Here we go!

What you need:

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed - about 115g
1/3 cup pine nuts - or you can substitute with other nuts such as cashews, walnuts, though pine nuts are recommended
1/2 cup freshly grated Italian hard cheese, such as Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, etc) - I used a vegetarian Parmesan cheese, which is probably not authentic, but hey :P
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, of the best quality you can get
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

What you do:

Basically, you just chop everything together into small pieces. Start with the garlic and some of the basil leaves, and keep on adding more basil as they start getting minced, until you use them all up. Then add half the nuts, chop some more, then add the rest and chop again. Add half the cheese, chop, add the other half, and chop some more! :) Then, transfer to a bowl and add the oil. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

If your knife skills are not up to par, you can use a pestle and mortar (traditinally, with a wooden pestle and a marble mortar, but I doubt you have to go that far). I used this method (using my cute little pestle and mortar from Ikea - probably why my pesto is all lumpy) as my knife is probably not sharp enough to chop everything without getting pieces everywhere, and I didn't have the equipment for the last method.

If you're really lazy, you can just use a food processor. :P Which I don't have. Oh well... pounding stuff is good exercise, and does wonders for your mood.


There you go! Freshly made pesto. If you're planning on freezing it, it is best you don't add the cheese and just add it when you're using it but... I froze it with the cheese anyhow, since I accidentally put it in, haha. Maybe coz the cheese was more powder than grated (I use Kraft's Parmesan cheese, from SupaSave Gadong - thank you Ibu! hehe), or maybe its not really cheese!, but I've seen nothing go wrong with the pesto. :)

Anyhow... to be honest, I don't like Parmesan cheese all that much. Its a bit too strong for me, so 1/2 cup of cheese... is well, sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Now that I think about it, maybe I should have reduced it a little, but oh well, too late to whinge about it now.

Now, before I go any further, let me just state that pesto just might be an acquired taste. When I tasted it right after I made it, I nearly gagged. Must have been all that cheese, I suppose. But still, I wondered what to do with it. A couple of days later, I decided to be brave and made a chicken panini with pesto spread. And it was absolutely delicious! It goes really well with the chicken, mozzarella cheese and peppers that I added in. Which is good. :) So now, I don't have to waste all that time and food.

Cookie Monster already has some serving suggestions in his post, so have a looksee there. I've mostly been using it in paninis and sandwiches, such as this chicken with pesto, tomatoes and mozarella sandwich. :) Yum! I prefer it in paninis though, where the bread is crispier and doesn't really get soggy from any of the ingredients.


In any case, I still have a (pretty small) container of pesto in the freezer, so I think it lasts awhile, particularly since I don't use all that much of it to begin with. Way too strong. So all that effort was pretty worth it, I think. :D

PS Happy Birthday Sarah!! :) :) :)

Quote of the day: Pesto is the quiche of the '80s.

Chicken Pad Thai

So like... a couple of months ago, there was an offer at Sainsbury's for Sharwood's Pad Thai noodles. I bought a lot lot of them and still have a few packs left, haha, so I thought... might as well try to make the dish the noodles are named for, yeah? Before this, I've been making normal (but delicious!) fried noodles so a Pad Thai dish would be kind of a nice change. Plus, Hamizah had been extolling the virtues of Pad Thai when we went to a Thai restaurant last time, so how could I not try it? Of course, a chicken version would be in order. ;) Here we go!

What you need:
(serves 1)
200g cooked Pad Thai noodles (sort of flattish rice noodles), cooked until almost tender

1 tablespoon oil, for frying
1 boneless skinless piece of chicken, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
Handful of beansprouts

Pad Thai sauce:
1/2 cube tamarind broth, dissolved in ~200mL water - use tamarind pulp if you can, just soak in some hot water and mix it up before straining and using
1 teaspoon chilli powder
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
*note: all are approximate. Please taste and adjust according to your preferences
* Mix in a small bowl, ready to spoon over your noodles

1 egg, lightly beaten and seasoned
Handful of peanuts, roughly chopped - I am not buying peanuts (expensive!!) just for one dish, so decided to substitute with sesame seeds instead
1 tablespoon fresh coriander, finely chopped - omitted, I detest coriander leaves
Lime or lemon juice

What you do:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onions until tender, then add in the chicken and fry until cooked through. Add in the beansprouts and cook to your liking.
2. Add the noodles to the frying pan and stir until well-combined with the other ingredients. Fry for about a minute or so.
3. Carefully, spoon over the sauce mixture over the noodles, a little bit at a time until you get your desired flavour. Fry until all sauce has been absorbed.
4. Push the noodles to one side and fry the egg, breaking it up after it has set. Stir to mix, then take off heat.
5. Sprinkle generously with peanuts, coriander and lime/lemon juice and serve immediately.

So there you go. A Pad Thai recipe. :) I was actually planning to follow the recipe from Sharwood's site, but kind of doubted how "authentic" it would be. So I found another recipe, and kind of mashed the two together, haha. The second one actually sounds a lot better, but I don't have all the ingredients (mainly the tamarind pulp) so I couldn't actually use it. Plus, its a long long read, sigh.

Anyway... all is well and good, except that:

1. I have NEVER tasted a Pad Thai dish before
2. I don't like pale-looking stir-fried noodle dishes.

I was really really tempted to add in a dash of soy sauce in there, but decided I better not. But still. How am I supposed to decide whether or not it tastes like Pad Thai, if I've never tasted one?? Well, let's see, its apparently supposed to be salty, sweet, sour and spicy. Check, check, check and check! Sounds good so far.

So okay, the main flavours are there, so I would not know whether it tastes like a Pad Thai or not, sorry. I would know, however, whether it tastes delicious or not. :D And to be honest... I really really don't like the colour, haha. Kind of off-putting a little bit, but it wasn't really too bad. I've never used fish sauce before either, and was kinda scared it would taste like fish, since it smelled like fish the last time I opened a bottle. Which must have been sometime last year. But I never did use it.

Anyway, my fears were unfounded so no, it did not taste like fish, haha. Either that, or that my bottle (newly opened, not from last year!) has gone off a little bit. Which it shouldn't. So it should be fine. So yeah... the main function of the fish sauce is... for saltiness.

Meh, seemed to have lost my train of thought a little there. I was talking about the noodles, yes. I thought they were... alright. I mean, they were definitely edible, because I managed to finish the whole lot without any forcing of myself to eat, which is a good sign. But I dunno... I kinda prefer my normal noodles, with their sticky soy sauce sauce, haha. These noodles were... a little sour, a little salty, not quite so sweet (maybe I didn't put in enough sugar) but in the end, I thought they were nothing special.

Sorry Hamizah. :P

Quote of the day: If man be sensible and one fine morning, while he is lying in bed, counts at the tips of his fingers how many things in this life truly will give him enjoyment, invariably he will find food is the first one.

Chicken Wings Tikka Masala

Truth be told, Indian food is not my forte. I'd rather have anything else, besides Indian food. Unfortunately, here in the UK, more often than not, Indian restaurants are one of the few that I can eat at, so I have had to scout around for dishes that I can order time and time again if I have to go to one. Usually, I order Tandoori Chicken (I mean, what can go wrong with that, except for the fact that its usually a bit too dry and burnt?). But recently, I've discovered another dish I quite like.. Chicken Tikka Masala.

Chicken tikka masala is an interesting dish. Apparently, its not Indian in origin. Or at least, not purely. Its origins have not really been verified, but according to the Wikipedia article:

"Perhaps the most widely reported explanation of the origins of the dish is that it was conceived in Glasgow in the late 1960s, when a customer, who found the traditional chicken tikka too dry, asked for some gravy.^[1] The chef supposedly improvised a sauce from tomato soup, yogurt and spices"

I don't really care where its from, to be honest. Apparently, its Britain's most popular curry, and I can sort of see why. :) Taste why, more like, haha. The recipe I have is not really "authentic", since its not really cooked in an oven, but oh well, never mind. I doubt many of us would have tandoor ovens at home. So here we go. :D

What you need:
(serves 1)
4 chicken wings - or any boneless chicken piece of your choice, cut into chunks

Marinade:
200g natural yoghurt (get creamy yoghurt if you have it, or hang normal yoghurt in a muslin cloth, apparently to get rid of excess water) - I used 100g sour cream
1 tablespoon oil
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon chilli powder - adjust to taste
Juice of 1 lemon/lime
2 teaspoons sweet paprika powder - I used smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch root ginger, peeled and grated - I used 1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 large tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato puree

What you do:

1. Wash and drain the chicken pieces.
2. Mix all marinade ingredients together to make a paste. Add chicken to the mix, and mix well to coat. Leave to marinate for a few hours, or overnight. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature before using.
3. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add in the chicken pieces together with the marinade and cook on a high heat for 6-7 minutes, or until cooked through. Keep aside.
4. Clean the pan and add more oil. Fry the onions, ginger and garlic until golden.
5. Add the tomato and puree and fry for a few minutes.
6. Add the cooked chicken with the marinade to the pan and allow to boil briskly until sauce thickens and chicken is tender. You may need to add more water or chicken stock, if the sauce is too thick. The consistency of the sauce should be like custard.
7. Adjust spices and seasoning, and serve immediately, with rice or naan.

Because I used chicken wings (they have been in the freezer for ages now) I had to cook the chicken longer, and the sauce was too thick so I did have to add water. But it didn't matter much, it still looked nice and smooth. :D The picture may not be so pretty, but its hard to take pretty pictures of chicken in sauce, I think. I was a bit worried that the chicken wings wouldn't be cooked in the end, but turned out okay.

In fact, the whole dish was delicious! Very Asian, almost Malay-like, hehe. Something that I don't do too often. I chose this recipe because it seemed easy, compared to the rest of the recipes out there. Don't let the long ingredient list put you off, its actually quite easy. I marinated the chicken in the morning, before going to university, then just cooked it when I came back. It took about half an hour, would take less time if you used boneless chicken. I had it with one of those frozen roti canai that you can fry, which was really tasty, but it would have been nice with rice as well, I think. :)

Oh, and also, for me, the 1 teaspoon of chilli powder gave just a nice amount of spice. Not too much, but not too mild either. So you hard-core spicy food people might have to put a lot lot more. :) Also, if you like coriander (leaves), go and sprinkle some over the finished dish. Would add some more flavour. I don't like fresh coriander (though the ground coriander, which is from the seeds, I think is okay) so I skipped this out. But it would give a nice splash of colour. :D

You can probably substitute the chicken in this dish with other meats, such as lamb, fish or even beef. But I like chicken, so chicken it is for me. I have had fish tikka masala once. It was okay, but the flavour of the fish was so delicate, that is was drowned by the spicy sauce. So yeah... chicken. :D

Okay, I shall stop blabbing now. :D

Edit: Forgot to mention, haven't had tikka masala in awhile, so I can't quite remember how it tastes like. So sorry if this doesn't measure up. :) Its still quite nice though, so I say go for it!

Quote of the day: Playwrights are like men who have been dining for a month in an Indian restaurant. After eating curry night after night, they deny the existence of asparagus.

Risotto with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Mozarella

Previously, CookieMonster was rather upset that I used a rice cooker to cook risotto, haha. Well, this recipe should please him, and those rest of you who feel the same way. ;) Risotto, cooked "properly", and not using a rice cooker (or a microwave! I am gonna make that version soon...)

I wasn't actually planning to make this anytime soon... But when I went to the the supermarket the other day, I found that the price of lettuce had increased drastically and was now £1! Three months ago, they were almost half that! Compared to that, a jar of sun-dried tomatoes were £2, and they last a whole lot longer than lettuce (though they aren't as healthy of course :P Not the oil-packed ones, at least.). So I decided to turn around and change what to make for lunch, since this recipe had also been on my "list" for quite some time now.

This was a rather risky recipe to make, since I had never before eaten proper risotto, and didn't know what to expect. Oh well, it turned out fine in the end, as you may be able to tell. :D Here we go!

What you need:
(to serve 1)
250mL vegetable stock
2 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
1/2 onion, chopped - substituted with 3 spring onions
80g Arborio/risotto rice
30g shredded Mozarella cheese
15g Parmesan cheese, grated
5 basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper, for seasoning

What you do:

1. In a large saucepan, bring the vegetable stock to a simmer. While the stock is heating, drain the sun-dried tomatoes and reserve the oil. Chop the tomatoes coarsely and set them aside. (Since I used a vegetable stock cube, I just dissolved it in boiling hot water)
2. In a large frying pan, warm 2 teaspoons of oil from the tomatoes, add onion and stirfry until translucent; about 6 minutes.
3. Add rice to the frying pan and stir until white spots appear in the center of the grains; about 1 minute. Spoon a ladleful of vegetable stock into the frying pan and cook the mixture on low until all the stock is absorbed; about 2 minutes. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time until the rice is tender and the mixture is creamy, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Take off the heat and add the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of the remaining oil from the tomatoes, chopped basil. Check seasonings, and add salt and pepper if required. Mix well and serve immediately.

Since I had never made/eaten this before, I was wondering what to expect. What should the texture be? Normal rice fluffiness, or really soft and squidgy? Will the risotto look like porridge, or will it look like normal rice, or perhaps somewhere in between?

As I was stirring the rice, waiting for it to absorb the stock, I recalled from a TV programme I watched recently that the rice should start releasing its starches and should start getting nice and creamy. I wasn't disappointed! By the end, the thick liquid left was able to hold the rice grains together, yet the grains stayed wonderfully separate. Unlike porridge. Which is good, because I am not such a big fan of the texture of porridge. :D

It did take awhile for the rice to become tender though. It wasn't difficult, just a tad boring. Just waiting and watching and stirring occasionally. That said, the rice needed more liquid than I originally thought (215mL) so I added in normal hot water. The 250mL above is just an estimate, so you might want to add your stock little by little, until you get your desired texture. Otherwise, your rice might end up too soggy.

Anyway... the rice was already looking good when I finished with the stock. (Tasted good too, since I had to taste a little once in awhile, to see if the rice was done). But add in the tomatoes, the basil and cheese (don't forget the cheese!) and ... well, it looked more colourful. But then, I shaped it with a small bowl before plonking it on a plate... and now it looks absolutely amazing! The rice is a slightly golden colour, slightly creamy and you can see the cheese melting on it as well. The basil and sun-dried tomatoes poked out at a few places, giving really pretty splashes of colour. All in all, I am happy, presentation-wise. Don't you agree? Such a pretty plate of rice! It did take awhile to make... about 30 minutes, but that's not too bad for me. I dunno if it will take longer if you up the number of servings. I don't think it will though. Not much longer, anyway.

And I wasn't disappointed, taste-wise either! I've always been a fan of basil, as I've mentioned previously. I've never had sun-dried tomatoes, but although I am not so keen on fresh tomatoes, people have always mentioned how nice sun-dried tomatoes are. And cheese? Well, I love cheese. As I've mentioned over and over and over and over again. Haha. I would have liked to use Cheddar cheese here, but I ran out, plus I suppose "authentic" risottos don't use Cheddar, haha.

Anyway, all the ingredients combined to make Captain Planet! Haha, no, not really, but it was definitely close to being a superhero of a rice dish, at least for me. The texture was really good. Kind of creamy, but not quite as soft as the rice Babah likes to eat, haha. The cheese = amazing, as usual. The Parmesan really gave a nice flavour to it, so I would suggest using that if you can (though remember... Parmesan in the UK is not suitable for vegetarians. I "imported" mine, haha). The basil gave a nice tang to the dish, which complemented the sun-dried tomatoes wonderfully.

Ahhhh... sun-dried tomatoes... okay... I am a fan of them now. Unlike their fresh counterparts, they're not as squishy though still a bit slimy (from the oil) but are wayyyyyyyyyyyy more flavoursome. Really really flavoursome. Ohhhhh, they're really good! I can't believe I've never tried them before. If you haven't either, I suggest you go eat one. Now. Maybe make a risotto? *ahem* Haha. The tomato flavour was much more concentrated than in normal tomatoes and... ohhh, they were delicious. That's all I can say. ;)

They probably don't sell them in Brunei huh? :( Meh... you can probably make your own, seeing as Brunei is a hot tropical country, but you'll probably need tomatoes with good flavour in the first place, for them to make delicious sun-dried versions. Are the tomatoes in Brunei flavoursome enough, do you think?

Quote of the day: The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it. We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as 'progress', doesn't spread.

Asian Chicken Salad

No, you didn't read that wrong. That's right. I actually tried making a salad. For myself. For me to eat. Surprised? I am. :P

But I've always been tempted to make a salad, actually. It seems very pretty. :P And when I came across this recipe... well... I like oriental stuff. And this has an Asian twist to a salad recipe, so should be good, right? Here we go! :)

What you need:
(serves 6)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar - I used the one left over from making sushi
1 package dried rice noodles (~225g)
1 head iceberg lettuce, rinsed, dried and chopped
4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded - I used a chicken thigh, seasoned with salt and plenty of pepper, and cooked it in the oven before shredding :)
3 spring onions, chopped
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

What you do:

1. Prepare the dressing 30 minutes ahead of time by combining the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salad oil, and rice vinegar in a salad dressing carafe. - I have no idea what a carafe is, and don't really care. :P What I did was mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, whisked with a small balloon whisk until they were combined and placed them in the fridge, whisking again occasionally.
2. To prepare the rice noodles, heat a frying with a few tablespoons of oil and break off a little bit of the noodles and add them to the skillet and fry them. They will puff up in the skillet, so only add a few at a time. As they begin to puff up, remove and drain them on paper towels. Be sure to cook long enough as the under cooked noodles will be like eating needles. Once cooked, add them to the salad mixture. (I salted them a little, just to give a bit of flavour)
   
3. In a large bowl combine the iceberg lettuce, cooked and shredded chicken, green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Let chill about 10 minutes, and just before serving add the cooked rice noodles.
   
4. Serve in salad bowls and offer the dressing in a pourable container so your family can add as much dressing as they want. You can also pour the dressing over the top of the salad, toss, and serve immediately.
   

So okay... as pretty as it looked, I was a bit apprehensive at eating this. I mean... come on... its salad. :o This would be my very first salad. Ever. So was I nervous? Yes. Was I worried I won't be able to eat this? Definitely. :P

So I took up a forkful of lettuce, making sure to take up a piece of chicken as well. Well... it wasn't too bad. I really really liked the chicken, haha. It was super tasty, super flavoursome. The salad dressing though, was a bit too sweet for my liking, although the chicken offset this by a little. I also liked the rice noodles, which were crunchy and slightly salty. Tastes a bit like a bland keropok, haha.

My main problem with the dish though... is that it was cold! Yes, I know, salads are usually cool. But... I dunno... I like my food hot. In fact, that is why I eat so fast usually. Coz I want to eta it while its hot. Not warm. Hot. Burn-your-tongue-hot. Hence the reason why I usually burn my tongue. :P Haha.

In the end, I got bored of the blandness of the lettuce, the sweetness of the dressing and the coldness of the whole dish. So I just picked out the chicken pieces and ate those, haha! Really tasty, I tell you. But I did get halfway through the salad before giving up on it. And I was full after the I finished. So it wasn't too bad.

I bet other people would probably have liked this dish, but I suppose salad really isn't my type of dish. Oh well, never mind. I'll try again with another recipe. Might turn out better. :D

Quote of the day: It takes four men to dress a salad: a wise man for the salt, a madman for the pepper, a miser for the vinegar, and a spendthrift for the oil.

Ihsan's Favourite Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice)

Okay, I admit it. I am just posting this, coz I haven't been making much fancy stuff. I would like to say that its due to uni commitments... but its actually been because I've been leading a pathetic life and been playing Sims 2 all... day... long... Its incredibly addictive, at least for me, and is the one thing that can tempt me from everything else, including eating!

But anyway, this nasi goreng is one that I eat quite regularly. Not quite so much for breakfast or dinner, but as a packed lunch. I make it in the morning, which takes me about half an hour, ad bring it to uni, where I can heat it up, if I'm lucky, and have it for lunch. A much cheaper option than buying food. :) Anyway, here we go!

What you need:
1/2 cup rice of your choice, cooked according to instructions - increase if you want
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for frying
2 shallots, sliced finely
Meat of your choice, chopped - I use salami, for convenience
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder - or 2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder - or a few slices fresh ginger
1 teaspoon chicken stock - granules or liquid or powder
Handful of mixed vegetables - I used a pack that included bean sprouts, onions, lettuce and carrots
1 egg, seasoned and beaten lightly
Dried chillie flakes, or black pepper

What you do:

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add in the shallots, spring onions and meat and fry until the meat is cooked and the shallots and spring onions are tender.
2. Add in the rice, then the oyster sauce, garlic, onion and ginger powders, and chicken stock. With a wooden spoon, stir well to mix with the rice. Taste
   
3. Add in the vegetables and fry until softened to your liking.
4. Push the rice mixture off to the side of the pan and fry the egg in the free space made, until cooked. Using the spoon you're using to stir the rice, break up the egg into smaller pieces.
5. Taste seasoning, and add chilli flakes or black pepper to your taste. Serve immediately, or allow to cool before placing into a container.

There you go! As a fried rice recipe, its really easy. In fact, more time is taken chopping everything up, instead of frying everything up. And to make it even more convenient, I usually cook twice the amount of rice I need for dinner, and keep half of it in the fridge for the next morning. The vegetables are a recent addition, I must admit, but they taste quite okay. I like the little crunch they give, hehe.

So how does this taste? The oyster sauce gives a little bit of flavour, but is mostly there for the colour, I must admit. :P I like the onion, garlic and ginger powders, coz they're convenient, and you can control just how much you add in, hehe. After everything, everything smells really good, I must say! Hehe. Even the people at uni have commented that my lunch always smells so good when I'm heating it up. :)

My only problem with this is, I usually make it ... either to salty or too spicy. My nasi gorengs are probably saltier than most people's, and sometimes, I inadvertently make it too salty, even for me. As for the spiciness, I have a higher opinion of my tastebuds' tolerance to spicy food, than I would like to admit, haha. So its not often my nasi goreng is perfect, even after all this time. But I am getting better. ;)

After everything is said and done though, Hadi says he still prefers Nasi Goreng Cheese to this one. Oh well. I like this one better. :)

Speaking of nasi goreng, I just "created" a nasi goreng version of the butter oat chicken, haha. I've recently made a really good batch, and made it again a second time. I've made the recipe into even less steps. Melt one tablespoon butter or margarine (I used Flora - the "butter" version) in a frying pan, add in the curry leaves and chopped dried chillies and fry until crispy. Add in the chicken and fry until cooked through. Add in a handful of rolled oats (not porridge oats) together with a teaspoon of chicken stock granules and fry until golden and crispy. Add in half a cup of rice and mix well to combine. And the result is....

Ta-dah!


Now the only problem is that I have to take out the chillies and curry leaves, so that I don't eat it, haha. So I probably won't try this nasi goreng version again. But even the normal version is good.. *drool* We used to use porridge oats, but I've been using rolled oats this year, which is sturdier and gets even more crispy! Which is nice. The finished version is all nice and golden, with splashes of green and red. So pretty! And this edited recipe is also easier than the original, because you don't have to cook the chicken separately, which means you use less butter. :)
I still wouldn't say this is healthy, even with all the oats (which I do eat!) but its healthier, at least. But again, I usually make it too spicy for me. Oh well!

Quote of the day: Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable.