Spring Rolls

Bonjour,

A simple yet delicious snacks like deep fried spring rolls or we called it "popia" in Malay can be addictive for some people even for us because these "popia" was so good. I'm sure the small piece of spring rolls, two or three pieces wouldn't be enough for one person. We are completely addicted to spring rolls, one of the great and tasty snacks anytime, anywhere.

I've made spring rolls using Tunisian fine brick pastry before but I prefer to use the Asian spring rolls pastry because the taste of the pastry makes the different. Besides that, the Asian one comes with three different size, small, medium and large.

SPRING ROLLS

Ingredients;

1 packet of small or medium spring rolls pastry, defrosted
200g bean sprouts
1 carrot, grated
A handful of shredded cabbage
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Heat some oil in a wok or large saucepan and fry shallot and garlic until fragrant.
- Add in carrot and cabbage and saute for a few seconds.
- Lastly add bean sprouts and season with salt and pepper.
- Let the vegetables cook for a couple of minutes. Set aside to cool.
- To make a spring rolls, spoon 1 tablespoon vegetable mixture into a corner of the wrapper. Roll the edge of the wrapper tightly around the mixture. Fold the two side corner towards the middle and continue to roll up. Seal the edge with flour and water mixture as a glue and wrap tightly. Make sure all the edge are tightly sealed.
- Deep fried the spring rolls until golden brown and serve with Thai sweet chili sauce.

Enjoy the fried spring rolls!

Farz Pitilig

Bonjour,

Farz pitilig in Brittany language means thick crepe but the way we cook it in the pan are slightly different, just like making an omelete and scramble egg but without breaking it up. I made this farz pitilig for our afternoon snack and mon mari said he's not eating farz pitilig for a very long time and the taste exactly like what he was remember long time ago.

In fact I just knew the name farz pitilig when we watched a cooking channel on tv. Farz pitilig and crepes, both made by the same ingredients, just making the farz pitilig much thicker than crepes, and voila, farz pitilig est pret!

FARZ PITILIG

Ingredients;

2 eggs
150 flour
1 tablespoon sugar
250ml milk
40g salted butter, melted

METHOD;

- Combine eggs, flour, sugar and pour in the milk little by little.
- Stir in melted butter and whisk until smooth.
- Heat up non-stick pan with little bit of butter and pour the batter regardless the size and scramble it for a few seconds.
- Cook until bottom is slightly brown before turn it over.
- Sprinkle with sugar before serve.

Happy snacking!

Sticky Rice With Cucumber Salad

Sabaidee,

Few days ago I've watched a travel documentary about Laos and the memory I had in mind it's all about food. I had worked at insurance company for almost 3 years and traveling to all provinces is something special for me and I'm exciting to do things, no matter which province I've visited. I get used with the Lao culture and also the food that make me feel want to visit Laos once again.

When I was travel by bus or by boat to other provinces, I've seen most of the local people brought their own food like steamed sticky rice, boil egg, grilled chicken or just simple salad all the time. They eat whenever and wherever they want, as simple as that. Living in Laos can be fun specially for those who like nature and quiet place to live.

STEAMED STICKY RICE

- 1 cup sticky rice, soak in the water for 4 hours or overnight.
- Strain the rice, place in the cheesecloth or bamboo steamer and steam for 20 minutes.

CUCUMBER SALAD

Ingredients;

1 cucumber, shredded/sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic
1 red chili
1 tomato or baby tomatoes, sliced
1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
Brown or palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce to taste

METHOD;

- Using mortar and pestle, roughly pound garlic, chili and shrimp paste just until everything mix together.
- Add tomato, sugar, lime juice and fish sauce, mix thoroughly.
- Add shredded cucumber little by little, and gently pound and mix well.
- The taste should be a little bit spicy, salty, sour and a little sweet flavors.
- Serve with steamed sticky rice.

Enjoy!

Tofu Balls

Bonjour,

Tofu balls, another simple and delicious recipe that's basically just tofu, egg and rice flour. Other ingredients are optional and we can add some vegetable like carrot or meat like minced chicken or prawns. It's not the first time we had these light food for our lunch, quite easy to prepare and of course they are one of the healthy food and suitable for those who want to diet.

TOFU BALLS

Ingredients;

1 packet firm tofu
1 egg
2 tablespoons rice flour
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Some chilies and spring onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Mash the tofu with a fork and mix all other ingredients together and season with salt and pepper.
- Set the tofu aside for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
- Heat up some oil for deep frying.
- Roll the mixture into balls and deep fry the tofu balls until golden brown.
- Serve with Thai chili sauce, ketchup or soy sauce!

Enjoy!

Sarawak Steamed Cake

Hello,

Making Sarawak steamed cake is not as easy as baking other cake. Most of the Sarawak cakes ingredients are not easy to find and sometimes it using only quality ingredients and to make a Sarawak cake also required a lot of patience. I have to admit these cakes are tasteful and simply delicious. Just forget about the time-consuming to make this cake, it takes time but it worth it.

Personally, I like Sarawak steamed cakes, any kind of it and I usually can't stop eating the cake because they're just so yummy. I found plenty of recipes from internet and just replace one ingredient which is malt powder because this product I couldn't find it here. I used cereal Nestum instead and blend it in a dry blender to a fine powder. It tastes great though because all the basic ingredients are still there.

SARAWAK STEAMED CAKE

Ingredients;

250g butter, soften
3/4 cup sugar
5 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 cup cereal Nestum, blend into fine powder
1/2 canned condensed milk
1 teaspoon Nescafe, dissolved with 1 tablespoon hot water

For the caramel sugar;
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup hot water

- Prepare the caramel by cook the sugar over medium heat until sugar fully melted.
- Slowly pour the hot water and keep stirring for a few seconds until the caramel turned darker. Set aside to cool completely.

METHOD;

- Prepare the steamer and boil the water and prepare baking pan.
- Using the electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add egg one at a time and beating until it fully combined.
- Sift the flour and cereal powder into the egg mixture and stir to blend.
- Add condensed milk and Nescafe, beat until well combined.
- Lastly add caramel and gently stir until incorporated.
- Pour the batter into prepare baking pan, cover with aluminium foil and place the pan into steamer and steam for 2- 2 1/2 hours.
- Let the cake cool completely before slicing.
- Steamed cake will keep well for a few weeks in the fridge.

Happy steaming!

Mashed Banana Fritters

Bonjour,

Banana fritters is one of my childhood snacks. Easy to make, delicious and at the same time bananas are on every corner in southeast Asia. Every time I think about these fritters, it won't take me so long to make it and less than 15 minutes, my mashed banana fritters are ready to eat. With or without ice cream on the side, these simple snacks are just delicious.

Some mashed banana fritters recipe might be different but for this batter, the ratio of the flour and rice flour were just right. Thanks to the instafamous yatiekitchen for the easy and super quick snack as well for other brilliant recipe and cooking tips. I just admire her way of cooking, simple and delicious.

MASHED BANANA FRITTERS

Ingredients;

1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon rice flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
A pinch of salt
Oil for deep frying

METHOD;

- Mix all the ingredients together.
- Heat up some oil in saucepan and take a spoonful of banana batter and deep fried until golden brown on both sides.

Enjoy the simple afternoon snack!

Prawns Cooked In Coconut Gravy

Hello,

Last week when we were working in the north for more than a week, I've eaten French food everyday and during this period I missed the aromatic and spiciness of my food that I used to cooked at home. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed French food but after a while I've to admit that I need to have my chili and spicy foods at least once or twice a week. I'll be happy if I can get it everyday, just like supplement for me.

By time we arrived home the other day, I've cooked rice and vegetables straight away and it feels good to finally have the spicy tastes just the way I wanted. Today, I made prawn cooked in coconut milk although I've not made it often but once in a while, that would be great.

PRAWN COOKED IN COCONUT MILK

Ingredients;

200g prawns
2 cloves garlic
2 shallot
1-2 red chilies
2cm ginger
1 lemongrass
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 cup thick coconut milk

METHOD;

- Blend garlic, shallot, red chili and ginger into fine paste.
- Heat up little bit of oil in a saucepan and fry garlic paste until fragrant.
- Add in lemongrass and prawns, cook for a minute.
- Add turmeric powder and coconut milk, season with salt and continue to cook for another minute or until the prawns are cook through.

Bon appétit!

Working And Travelling In The North Of France

Bonjour,

It's been a while since our last working trip far away from home and this time we are working in the North of France for more than a week. What is interesting in this trip was, visiting the flea market or brocante, because a weekend without going to brocante it is not quite a weekend for us. We love brocante and I am addicted to treasure-hunting beside visiting brocante is one of the best ways to spend a weekend morning.

The view in the nord slightly different from other region and what I like the most was the houses and building here are similar like in the UK with the brick and tile houses, mansion house and even the town hall building in every city looks beautiful. Despite of that, the former slag heaps in the mining area around Bethune and some other cities in the nord really caught my eye.

On a Sunday afternoon, we also invited to a small party organised by the production team to the mansion house one of the production staff. It was a lovely red brick mansion surround by the large view from the back garden. What a great pleasure to be able to meet new people and working with these production team.