Nasi Kerabu

Nasi Kerabu is from the state of Kelantan. Famous Famous!

Usually when it's sold not in the state itself... it always comes in blue. But if one were to eat it in Kelantan, it can come in yellow or even dark green, depending on what is used to tint the rice. It's like a salad rice, tossed together to be eaten, healthy, depending on which side dishes you take.

Fried Nasi Lemak

When I was teaching in Selancar, I have always wondered how come the breakfast fried rice in the canteen, sometimes taste awesome, sometimes just so so. Until one day, I fried some leftover nasi lemak with egg. My brain went “tink”, the bulb lit up. The fried rice tasted superb because it’s made with leftover nasi lemak.

And today I had some extra coconut milk from making coconut agar-agar and I was busy doing the cake, so I better cook something simple for dinner. And fried nasi lemak shall be it! I purposely made the seasonings as close as possible to the accompanying sambal, except, there’s no tamarind.

Nasi Liwet Solo Komplit

Nasi Liwet Solo is a famous coconut rice dish in Surakarta, Central Java, also known as Solo.

There are two types of nasi liwet in Indonesia, one is Nasi Liwet Solo and the other is Nasi Liwet Sunda, of which is popular in Bandung.

Nasi Liwet Solo Komplit is Nasi Liwet with all the works, namely Ingkung Ayam (Coconut Chicken Stew), Labu Siam (Chayote in Spicy Coconut Gravy), Telur Pindang (Stewed Eggs) and Areh Telur (Coconut custard). It's a very filling and rich meal, with lots of eggs and coconut.

Lotus Leaf Rice 荷叶饭

These lotus leaves are bought 4 years earlier. Haha, I just never got around making them. Actually I didn't intend to buy, but when I saw them at Aeon, I can't help but get a pack, just in case I don't see them anymore.

I wanted to recreate the mini Lotus Leaf rice packs, served during my wedding reception many years ago.

Tomato Rice @ Nasi Tomato

In my school, the afternoon session teachers love to organise 'makan makan'. Makan means eat in Malay. Food makes conversation and brings relationships closer, and so, we who are in the afternoon session are a cooperative close bunch. Back in those days we will take turns to treat each other. I can't bring home cooked food, so, each time I will just buy KFC, hehehe, and everybody's happy.

Nowadays, the practice slightly changed, we organised potlucks or collect money to order food.

Taiwanese Bamboo Rice 台湾竹筒饭 - AFF Taiwan Chewies #5

I have access to fresh bamboo. So, it's not an excuse not to try making this.
My husband's employee falls her bamboo bush every Eid and I must ask for it in advance as I won't know when will the bamboo be cut down. As bamboo dries up easily, I can not wait for long once I receive them.

I have never eaten this before, but our AFF Taiwan host, Alan did, many times.
So, he told me what is in those that he ate and with some reference pictures I saw online... I embarked on a mission to copycat the modern Taiwanese Bamboo Rice, the version that you could probably buy at night markets.

Kashmiri Pulao - AFF Indian Rice Dishes #2

I tried this recipe more than a year ago... been wanting to redo it, because I used too much saffron! The recipe called for 1/2 tsp. I should've followed the recipe with 2 pinches. The whole thing turned out too yellow and the smell was strong! But alas.... it never realized.

So, just let it be....

Mishti Pulao - AFF Indian Rice Dishes #1

Mishti is sweet is Bengali. Mishti Pulao simply meant, sweet rice.

It might sound funny to you to eat a sweet tasting rice.... but not really. The sugar here nicely offsets the pungency of the turmeric and it's just mildly sweet, like how we enjoy the taste of coconut rice. The list of spices is not long, and they are easily available.

Kurigohan, Japanese Chestnut Rice - Simple Japanese Fare #1

My blogger friend cum old school mate Annie gave me some beautiful delicious koshikahari rice.
I want to make full use of it, and so, I tried cooking chestnut rice.

That time, I haven't bought my mirin, so I used rum to replace.
I'm not sure if I will submit this to AFF, haha, I used rum.

Kampar Lor Mai Fan (Sticky Rice)- Breakie in Kampar - Perak MFF#1

Kampar may be small. But we had (yes had!) a lot of good food. Back in the olden days, before the North South Highway was built, Kampar was a popular choice to stop over for meals due to its location right along the trunk road.

During breakfast hours,. families stop over at Seng Kee for wantan mee, or the market for the Ham Dan Fun (cockle egg fried noodle), MalaiWong Prawn noodle, HarLok noodles opposite the town field and of course the ever famous Rat Noodle @ Silver Pin Noodle with homemade fishballs available at many stalls in town. Oh yeah, and Chee cheong fun, the thick type!

Nowadays many of the old time food stalls were taken over by the next generation, or just stopped the business. It's no longer as good but still..... ahh.... it's nostalgic. Food memories never fade and we always hope that that taste is never forgotten.

Linatan~ Chicken Rice Parcels - Sabah MFF #3

When I first saw this recipe.... I asked myself, how nice can this be?

Then as I think about it, I remembered how my mom used to put steamed chicken juices onto our rice, and it was heavenly. No fancy seasoning, and the chicken was only rubbed with some salt and steamed.

Now... I roughly know what it tastes like.

Waxed Meat Glutinous Rice 腊肉糯米饭 - Waxed Meat #3

I was infected by fellow blogger Bee Bee to cook glutinous rice. I saw her mouthwatering picture on Facebook and I just just just have to have some the next day. I can't have it on the same day as the rice needs some time to soak, and I already had my meals planned out that day.

This dish is tedious to do..but worth the effort. I hate slicing shallots and waxed meat is not that easy to cut, especially waxed duck. I made this small portion for family consumption, and posted a shot of it on FB. I didn't think much about blogging about it.  But after a few nudges from fellow friends.. okay.. I'll do it. Luckily I still have a portion of rice left for photography, LOL!

Facebook is a contagious thing. It spreads calories, LOL.
I hope that my fellow FB friends will like it as much as I do.

Kebuli Rice~ Nasi Kebuli - MFF Pahang #2

Nasi Kebuli is considered as the heritage dish of Kuala Lipis district, some even call it as Pahang's Royal Rice.
It was said to be created in 1944 for a Sultan who reigned from 1914-1917.
I can't explain this, but maybe you can read about it here, but it's in Malay.

I actually cooked this twice, once for family consumption and another time for Reuben's birthday party. I got good comments from all who ate this saying it's very delicious.
The rice has a unique fragrance, not strong, but subtle enough to add highlights to the flavour of the rice. The use of kaffir leaves, mint and lemongrass makes it special.
This rice is absolutely yummylicious!

The rice is good enough on its own. Accompanying dishes are bonuses.

Pumpkin Prawn Pilaf - Pumpkin #3

I tried a pumpkin prawn pilaf recipe from a local women magazine, and unfortunately, I found it lacking in flavour (just my own opinion). Personally (you may think otherwise), I will prefer more spices to go with it. The recipe for 4 servings also called for 3 cups of raw basmathi of which is quite a lot! 3 cups raw basmathi will give you around 9 cups cooked (unfluffed) rice and imagine after fluffing.....woah...I can't imagine 4 persons eating that. When I tried out the recipe to serve 3 big eaters plus kids, I cut the rice to half and the rest remained. It looked fine, proportion of rice and prawns looked good, but tasted not as good as I hoped, since making seasoned rice is usually quite straightforward with not much techniques involved. I wonder how many of you have encountered such problems with recipes from women magazines.

Kedah Beef Rice ~ Nasi Daging Kedah - MFF Kedah Perlis #1

My first northern dish for MFF Kedah Perlis.

Easy to do but needs a long time to cook. 4 hours of slowly simmering to bring out the best flavours in the broth. The broth itself is very delicious, flavourful enough to be taken on its own.

Lambuk Porridge ~ Bubur Lambuk Terengganu - MFF Terengganu #4

Terenganu style rice porridge :)

I'm sure most Malaysian may have heard of this, especially during Ramadan fasting month, some mosques will be giving out free Bubur Lambuk. Unlike the west coast version, the ingredients used in Terengganu is very different. It uses fish, sweet potato and lots of local wild vegetables. I was curious about the taste, so I decided to try it out.

One is free to use any type of vegetables but some do insist on the use of wild pepper, lemon basil (kemangi) and red fern (pucuk midin/paku merah). I have trouble searching for the red fern and I was told it wasn't found in Perak. Then lemon basil was no where to be sold except at the garden center where I have to buy the whole big pot! I just went ahead with whatever I could buy at the market or source from my hubby's employee.

Traders Rice ~ Nasi Dagang Terengganu - MFF Terengganu #1

Blessed with the best beaches in Malaysia that I have ever seen. (sorry I've never been to Sabah yet)
Beautiful islands with white sandy beaches surrounded by crystal clear blue waters that one can see the corals right from the boat. It seems shallow because you can see them, but once you jump it, you might be shocked. LOL.

I have been to Terengganu 5 times before. I love this state. Been to most of the popular spots like Kenyir Lake, Lang Tengah Island , Redang Island, walked around KT town, been to the museum twice and Pasar Payang on every trip :)  , 1st 2000-Kuala Terengganu with Uni coursemates, 2nd trip 2001-Redang, 3rd 2002-Lang Tengah, 4th 2003-Kemaman, Kenyir and 5th 2006, East Coast Road Trip

Thai Mango Rice Sushi - Mango Week # 2

I've eaten this once at a Thai food stall, not in Thailand but in Summit Subang Jaya. Sometimes there are Thai fairs and I love to go there for their food.

I made them in sushi form. Cute? LOL.

Salted Egg Fried Rice - Rice Week #3

Just have this crazy idea of using salted egg to fry rice. Wonder if it'll give it that wonderful eggy aroma that it gives to chicken, crab and prawns.

Cheezy Baked Wild Rice Hotdish - Rice Week # 2

Many many months back, Gertrude from My Kitchen Snippets organized a simple contest by guessing the flavour of her chiffon. And well, I sort of won it. And she sent me some cupcake liners and a pack of wild rice as my present. Wild rice!!! I never would’ve thought I will get a pack of that. It made a very nice gift, something that we cannot buy here. And finally today(many months back), I got my butt of the couch and cooked a hot dish with the rice. Finishing it at one go!!