Tag: 4hb recipe

Steamed pork and fish meatloaf recipe.

This was supposed to be an authentic Indonesian “otak-otak” (that’s what the recipe book claimed anyway). I was quite excited to make it, since I had one frozen dory left and I was itching to use it.

Alas, luck was not on my side as I realised the dory was too small even for 1 person…

So, without so much of a blink, I decided to incorporate pork into the dish. And hence, the dish had to be renamed to “Steamed pork & fish meatloaf”. I’ll make real otak-otak another time..

# – Steamed pork & fish meatloaf, served with rice.

Funny thing was, the BF was unable to ascertain that there was pork in there. I guess if you blitzed the mixture fine enough you really can’t tell what it is. He was really surprised to know that there was pork!

The ingredients:

  • 200 grams of pork, cut into cubes
  • 120 grams of boneless white fish fillet (I used dory), cut into cubes
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 5-7 shallots
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 100 ml of coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon of white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of lime or lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon of salt

# – First of all, chuck the fish into a blender or food processors. Give it a blitz.

# – Then, add the pork.

# – Followed by the shallots, garlic cloves & chopped onion.

# – Pour in the coconut milk. Blend till combined.

# – Add the salt, lemon/lime juice, white pepper and chilli powder.

# – Blend till fine.

# – Lay a clingwrap film over a chopping board.

# – Scoop half the paste onto the middle of the film.

# – Fold the bottom part of the film over the paste.

# – Then fold the part with the paste inside over the top of the film.

# – Tie a knot on each end to form a sort of Christmas popper shape…like this.

# – Wrap the parcels in aluminium foil.

# – Stick them in the steamer for 20 minutes.

# – When it’s done, cut the clingwrap film and carefully remove it. Let the loaf stays in the foil.

# – This is optional, but you could use a kitchen torch to crispen the top a bit. Otherwise stick in the oven in grill mode for 5 minutes at 210 degrees celcius.

# – Steamed pork and fish meatloaf, DONE! Instead of rice, you can serve it with grated cauliflower for a slow carb option.

The looks were nothing to shout about but it was juicy, tender and very flavoursome. It’s also really healthy because as you probably have noticed, there’s not a drop of oil used in making this dish!

Delicious no-cook chinese marinated cucumbers.

I decided to make this after paying about RM5 for a puny plate of chopped 1/2 a cucumber at a chinese restaurant. Well, with RM5 I could get about 10 quality Japanese cucumbers (kyuri).

I can’t believe people (myself included) are actually paying RM5 for something that doesn’t even need cooking. I’m starting to sound like a major tight fisted housewife….but that’s exactly who I am!

This recipe is entirely my own conception, based on how I like to eat it. The marinade is savoury with just a tad of tartness from the Worcestershire sauce and kick from the chillies. I guess you can use ordinary cucumbers (with the seeds removed) but for best results, do use the Japanese sort as they’re more crunchy.

    Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoon of sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine
  • 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 – 2 Japanese cucumbers, chopped

# – First of all, cut the cucumbers into the shapes you want. By the way, you know how sometimes cucumbers can taste really bitter? There’s this trick that a senior in high school taught me….cut off the end of a cucumber and then rub the surface with it till tiny bubbles form around it, like this….

And you won’t have bitter cucumbers anymore. Honestly, I have no scientific or logical explanation for it, but it works!

# – I soaked the cucumbers in iced water for 10 minutes to crispen them up. Set aside. Honestly I don’t know if this works but psychologically I feel that it does :D So feel free to omit this step.

# – In a bowl, mix the sesame oil, light soya sauce, Chinese rice wine, Worcestershire sauce and chillies.

# – Throw the drained cucumbers into the mixture. Mix. Cover with cling wrap and stick it in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 2 hours. Don’t put in the fridge uncovered as this will dry out the cucumbers.

You could even marinade them in a freezer bag so that all the cucumbers could absorb the marinade more evenly and thoroughly.

# – Serve as an appetiser or even as a vegetable dish of its own to go with rice.

Very tasty, very refreshing and best of all….very accommodating to my purse ;)

Fresh and crunchy salsa anytime, anyday.

This salsa recipe is so simple and delicious that I could just eat it on its own, like a salad :D It’s very good with fajitas or eaten as bruschettas. There’s no fancing cooking technique involved, not even cooking itself. All you need is a reliable knife to chop up all the vegetables!

    The ingredients:

  • 5 medium sized tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 80-100 grams of coriander, roughly chopped
  • 2 medium sized red onions, finely chopped
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3/4 tablespoon of coarse salt

# – The fresh ingredients.

# – Throw the roughly chopped coriander into a mixing bowl.

# – Then throw in the tomatoes.

# – Next in, the finely chopped red onions.

# – Sprinkle the coarse salt all over. Don’t be too heavy handed with salt, do taste as you go :)

# – And top it all off with the juice of 1 lemon.

# – Lastly, mix it all up!! Gorgeous, gorgeous colours!

# – Put in on a fajita….

# – Or even eat it as a salad on the side.

Now, this is a truly healthy salad and that’s why, I’m filing it under “Vegetarian” ;) It’s a surprise how something so simple and healthy can taste so gorgeous!