Category: Homemade Recipes

Lemonade with salted plums recipe.

Kuala Lumpur seems to be experiencing some kind of heat wave recently. The weather is so bloody hot! The other day the temperature on my car’s dashboard was reading 42 degrees Celsius?

What the hell…I warm my plates in the oven at 40-50 degrees and I still need oven gloves to handle them!

It’s so warm I really don’t feel like doing anything other than hanging out in the nude with the air-conditioner switched on full blast while sipping lemonade with salted plum.

Speaking of my lemonade with salted plum, it is currently my favourite drink! Tangy, sweet, slightly salty and fizzy, my mouth waters thinking about it.

I feel rather shy posting this because all you need to know what to do is open a can and hold a spoon….

The ingredients:

  • Wet salted plums (you can get them from asian stores)
  • Lemonade (you can use Sprite or 7UP though I highly recommend Bitter Lemon because it’s way more awesome)

# – Yeap, there are only two ingredients for this thirst quencher!

# – These are how wet salted plums look like. They are preserved in some kind of brine.

# – First, drop in two salted plums into a glass. Bruise them with a fork.

# – The plums looking a bit mashed up…

# – Then put in two tablespoons of the salted plums’ brine into the glass. You can choose to omit this step but I really like the taste of the tart and salty juice.

# – Next, open the can of lemonade and pour everything in.

# – Stir….

# – Lastly, top with ice.

# – Lemonade with salted plum, DONE!

# – I could drink this all the time…

I think I’m going to make one now. Oh wait….I just finished a glass 10 minutes ago. Urgh, I don’t care, I’m going to make another glass. I’m hot.

I think I’ll be okay with this crazy heat as long as I get my lemonade and salted plums fix.

A recipe of caramelised potato and beef with onions.

This dish is another one that I grew up eating. In fact, it was a childhood favourite! My mom used to cook it with either minced pork or pork fillets but this version that I’m blogging about uses beef steak cut into strips. You can even use chicken, or whatever meat you fancy, except perhaps seafood.

The main star of the dish however, is not the meat. It’s the potatoes. They’re soft in the middle and slightly crispy on the outside. And they’ve got a very appetising sort of smokiness to them, derived from the chinese dark caramel sauce.

# – Caramelised potato and beef with onions

Now that I’m older, I realise how fattening it is to eat potatoes with rice but hey, we all need some comfort food now and then ;)

The ingredients:

  • 2-3 potatoes, sliced
  • 1- 2 onions, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing or chinese rice wine
  • A couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of chinese dark caramel sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of ordinary chilli sauce or Tabasco sauce (I used Sriracha hot chilli sauce)
  • 150 ml of water
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • 200 grams of beef steak, sliced and marinaded with a bit of corn flour and salt (you can use minced meat too. And switch to pork or chicken)

# – Of course, heat up a wok or pan with oil :)

# – When oil is hot, throw in the chopped onions. Ah, the sound of sizzling oil…

# – When the onions have turned a bit translucent, throw in the potatoes. Stir around for a bit till they’re a bit browned.

# – Pour in about 150 ml of water…

# – A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce.

# – Drizzle over the dark caramel sauce.

# – A good tablespoon of salt.

# – Followed by a tablespoon of chinese rice wine.

# – And lastly, a tablespoon of chilli sauce. Mix till all are combined.

# – Then cover the pan with a lid, turn the heat down to medium and let the spuds cook for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

# – After that, push the potatoes to one side in the pan, and throw in the beef.

# – Drizzle a wee bit of dark caramel sauce over the beef. Stir to combine. You don’t have to cook beef too long but if you’re using chicken or pork please make sure you cook them through.

# – Mix everything up, and garnish with chopped chives or spring onions. Errr, I used Rosemary because that’s what I had…

You can add chopped chillies for some kicks or more caramel sauce if you like the dish darker. You can also slice the potatoes thinner or thicker, depending on your preference. Sometimes I pan fry the potatoes first without adding any water for a much more crispier taste.

Eat together with rice or do I what I used to do when I was little….eat everything and save the potatoes for last.

Have fun cooking!

Rosemary and garlic pork chop recipe.

This was thrown together quite last minute and I was so glad it turned out delicious! I used two different cuts of pork; chops & fillets because I had very little of both so decided to use all to make a substantial dinner.

The pork was flavourful and juicy and the caramelised garlic slivers were to die for! I wish I had sliced up more garlic to be honest! Also, it’s important to season the pork properly with salt otherwise the taste of the rosemary and garlic would be too faint.

# – Rosemary and garlic pork chops.

Without further ado, lets get onto making this dish..

The ingredients:

  • Pork chops, enough for two (you can use fillets too for a healthier alternative, but not as tasty as there’s hardly any fat)
  • Few sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 8-10 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • Salt

# – First of all, pound the chops till they’re thinner. Not too thin till the meat disintegrate though. This makes the meat more tender!

# – Pounded meat vs original state of meat. Season with salt on all surface (Forgot to take picture of this!).

# – Now, slice up the garlic cloves and rub them all over the meat. Make sure all surface are covered.

# – Remove rosemary from stalk and throw them in.

# – I rolled up the pork with rosemary and garlic inside cause I felt that they marinate better this way. It is probably psychological. Stick it in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.

# – Heat up some oil in a griddle.

# – Lay the meats onto the griddle for about 4 minutes. Flip to cook the other side for the same time. Don’t discard the garlic, cook everything! You will thank me for this.

# – Serve with roast vegetables and the most awesome layered potatoes.

By the way, I’m so totally into roasted carrots these days. It’s amazing how being in the oven for just 40 minutes at 180 degrees celcius with some garlic cloves and a dash of olive oil could make them so caramelised and so, so, so sweet and delicious!

These carrots are addictive. I recently bought a few more bags of carrots just so I could eat more roasted carrots. I am obsessed. I will turn orange.