Carla's Humble Kueh Pisang

With the kitchen in full swing, we have been experimenting with lots more recipes and one of them which I have perfected is the humble Kueh Pisang - a local dessert that you can find at Bengawan Solo (a small piece about the size of my palm costs $1.70!). I first learnt to cook it during Home Economics in secondary school and have always loved how easy it is to prepare and how delicious it tastes.

This dish is easy and cheap to make in the sense it only needs 4 main ingredients - Green mung bean flour, Coconut milk, Sugar, and Banana (Pandan leaf is optional) and it can serve 4 to 6pax although L and I can easily finish the portion.  You can find the Tree Brand Hun Kwee flour (as seen in the picture above) easily at most supermarkets. The only thing is you will learn from experience when the mixture thickens and when to turn off the fire. Well practice makes perfect!

Carla's Humble Kueh Pisang
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
1 Pack of Tree Brand Hun Kwee green mung bean flour (90g)
180g White sugar (approx 3 big heaped tablespoons)
2 cups Thick Coconut milk mixed with 1 cup water
Generous pinch of salt
1 Pandan leaf (optional)
1 Ripe Banana (or 2 also can) - sliced
* You may substitute the banana with half cup of corn kibbles which make sit Corn Kueh :)

Method:
- Mix the flour, sugar, coconut milk, water, pandan leaf and salt in a small saucepan.
- Stir gently with a wooden spoon to make sure most of the flour has dissolved well in the mixture before putting the pot on the stove at low heat.
- Stir the mixture gently for about 8 to 10mins till the watery mixture starts to thicken and coats the back of the wooden spoon. You should also taste the mixture to tell if it's ready - it should taste smooth, rich and not floury.
*Tip: the stirring part is important so that the mixture doesn't become lumpy. See the pictures below as a guide.
- Once it's ready, remove the pandan leaf and let the mixture cool for a couple of mins while you slice the banana and place them into one mould**. Then pour the mixture into the mould and let it cool for another 5mins before chilling in the fridge for at least 30mins to an hour. To serve, you can slice the kueh into pieces. I find that it tastes better when served within the day.

 

**Fun Fact: we used to fold pandan leaves into tiny square boxes which will hold the mixture and impart the fragrance of pandan as you chomp into it.  I think it's a great idea if you also set it in silicon mini cupcake moulds or soft icecube trays which you can easily turn upside down and remove the kueh! For me, I set it in a cat-shaped shallow mould as it is so cute :)

**For an extra touch of decadence, L and I decided to cook up a durian sauce for the Kueh Pisang. We mixed a cup of Mao Shan Wang fresh durian pulp, a cup of coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of sugar and let it simmer on low heat till it's well mixed. We then blended the puree so it reaches a finer consistency but not too fine till it becomes juice! We served the warm sauce with the cool kueh which is DA BOMB :D

Cooking Up A Storm

 



My healthy colourful salad for office lunch

Can I declare that I loooove to cook? It's so fun to dream up recipes and discover new ingredients and how to cook them right. Over the weekend, I bought beetroot and boiled them for 30mins in salted water before peeling them to add to truly yummy salads. I also sliced the skinny Japanese cucumbers and pickle them with some brown sugar, chilli flakes, sliced shallots, lime juice, salt and pepper.

I also made a Grilled halibut fillet with tomatoes and garlic on Sunday - and it's so easy and tasty! I didn't know halibut is so cheap ($1.80- $2.00) per fillet at NTUC Fairprice. There are many ways to prepare the fish and this is just one of them. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe to share:

Grilled Halibut Fillet 

Ingredients:
2 x Halibut fillets - can get from most supermarkets
10 Cherry tomatoes - halved
3 Cloves of garlic - finely sliced
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Chilli flakes (optional)

Method:
1. Season halibut with salt and pepper in a roasting pan/tray, then add garlic, chilli flakes, tomatoes and drizzle the olive oil over them.
2. Grill in preheated oven at 180 degC for about 20mins till fish is cooked.
3. Serve with any green salad or mashed potato or polenta.


Allora Cuciniamo!

Secondhand rattan set found online in the balcony

Now that the dining table and oven are in, we wasted no time to cook! L is un monstro a cucinare - he's a good cook but the only thing is guys don't clean up after themselves and it drives me slightly mad when he leaves stuff everywhere. Ok I'm the neat freak lol. To date, we had 3 groups of friends who came and it was truly enjoyable to entertain them.

The JC girlies came last Saturday for lunch and L whipped up Baked penne pasta with cauliflower in a creamy butter sauce and Roasted potatoes in butter.  I woke up late and came up with an impromptu recipe - and it was a hit; even L loved it and went for seconds. So I will share it here - it's easy to prepare as long as you have a oven.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Serves 4

Ingredients:
6 Portobello mushrooms (small to medium size)
Half cup of Japanese breadcrumbs (sold in a pack at most supermarkets)
2 tbsp Grated parmesan cheese (or grated hard mozzarella cheese will do)
1 handful Rocket leaves (chopped roughly)
2 tbsp Onions - finely chopped
1 clove Garlic - finely chopped
2 tbsp Unsalted butter
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Method:
1. In a bowl, mix well the breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, rocket leaves, onions, garlic, 2 pinches of salt, 2 pinches of cracked black pepper, and olive oil.

2. Stuff a tablespoon of mixture into each portobello mushroom. Grill or bake at 200 deg C for about 20 mins till the mushrooms are cooked anbd golden brown (see pictures below). You can serve them as starters with bread or with main courses, or with fresh rocket leaves and cherry tomatoes. Yummers!

Carla's recipes

Recipe Of The Week - Miso Clams

These couple of weeks are spent conceptualising the layout of our casa. The mere thought of having my own rustic chic open kitchen is so exciting! And I'm already itching to put up my recipes and photos. Anyway I just came back from a photo shoot with Chef Isaac and he shared with me this easy and delicious recipe using clams and miso. I love miso and clams, so this is a 5-star recipe in my eyes! You can use miso for cooking with fish (glaze on fish fillet and grill), meat (marinade/ stirfry), vegetables (glaze/ grill) and seafood (fry/ bake). Here is a picture taken from my Instagram and the simple recipe below. If you can't find Jap salted plums, it's ok to leave it out but I find that it gives a fruity floral sweet edge to the dish. Enjoy!

P.S: To help you search for my recipes easily, I've created a label called Carla's Recipes ;)
 

 

Miso Clams with salted plums and seaweed

Ingredients:

Clams 300g

Miso paste 50g (2 tbsp)

Minced garlic 20g (2 cloves) 

White wine 50ml (or sake)

Wakame seaweed 5g

Salted ume (Japanese plums) 50g

Cooking oil (2 tbsp)

Method:

- Heat up some oil in a wok/pot and add the minced garlic and miso.  Stir for a bit till fragrant.

- Then add the clams and stir for 30s, before adding the white wine (or sake). 

- Cover the pot with a lid and let the clams cook till they all open up (about 2 to 3mins). 

- Lastly toss in the salted plums and seaweed, stir and serve immediately.
 

Nazionale giorno

Last Wednesday, my partners and I closed shop and escaped to our preferito isola di Bintan for a National Day company retreat and camped out at the lovely 4-bedroom Angsoka villa at Bintan Lagoon, complete with our own pool and the sandy beach just a hop away. After a very productive hour-long meeting in the pool in our bikinis, we wasted the whole afternoon singing Diana Ross' 'Touch Me In The Morning" in the sea and stuffing our faces at the BBQ pit.

Come Saturday after l'italiana lezione, I caught up with my JC mates S and M (haha) at F's casa which had a killer view of the city and fireworks on display that night. We cooked up a storm - starting with a Nigella's inspired Squid salad, Pasta with tuna, and an impromptu dessert - Baked banana and mango crumble. Ooh, it was buonissimo... F and I had it at a local cafe and decided to whip it up at a whim! Being such culinary geniuses, we got the formula right the first time round, ha! Here's the recipe, for you sweet-toothed peeps:



Baked Banana N' Mango Crumble

Ingredients:
4 large bananas (cut into 2cm slices)
2 ripe mangos (de-seed and cut into long slices)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp grated cinnamon
30g butter
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
1 tbsp walnuts (optional - crushed roughly)
6 butter shortbread biscuits (crushed into crumbs and mix with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar)

Method:
1. Melt 25g butter on low heat in a nonstick pot and add bananas, brown sugar and honey.
2. When bananas soften in about 1 minute, add the mangos and cinnamon and stir for 1 minute. Remove from fire and empty contents into a baking dish or smaller individual ramekins.
3. Sprinkle with walnuts and raisins. Then cover the mixture generously with the crumbs followed by small knobs of butter on top the crumbs.
4. Baked for 15mins at 180 deg C in a preheated oven. Remove and cool for a while before serving with vanilla ice cream - yummy!

Mangiare tanto

This week, I suddenly felt a huge pang of homesickness for Italia. It didn't help that Alessandro miraculously replied to my email saying he has not received my Christmas card (merda! turned out he gave me an incomplete address) and has also text me to say he and his friends often spoke fondly of me. The skeptic in me (who also read 'He's Not That Into You') replied saying if he really wants to be with me, he can very well fly down here asap! Don't say only mah, fly here lah if you really want. Corright?

Marco and Anita, fresh from a five-week vacation in India, also emailed to say they've received my article on Barbialla Nuova and asked when I will be back to visit them. I almost sobbed out of frustration, saying soon, I hope. It'd be tricky this year as I have commited to a three-week June holiday spending some precious time with my old pal Brian and the 'gang'. But I'm setting my sights on a three-month 'borsa di studio' (scholarship) to polish la lingua italiana further at either Siena or Perugia next year, and have already 'warned' my business partners who think I'll probably stay in Italia for good this time!

For now, I could only devour updates from mates such as Lorenzo who sent me some pictures of Ciro and the estate which was covered in a thick icy blanket of snow. Oh my, I think I'd freeze my t*ts off if I were to live there! Lori will be going home to Sardinia for the splendid carnivals of Mamoiada (Mammuthones) and Oristano (Sartiglia) from 20 February to 1 March, where there is a horse competition and a procession of old masks. Benissima!

Elena had also been such a sweetheart by helping me find some information on 'appartamenti affitti' for my colleague's brother, who's going to spend 6 glorious months studying in Milano. Barely into their first honeymoon year, she and her husband Alberto are expecting a baby in Settembre! Congratulazioni, bella!

Anyway as a tribute to Italia, I cooked up a feast of my favourite dishes over the weekend to whet my appetito and here are some recipes and pictures for you to salivate over:

Classic Italian Caprese Insalata
Ingredients
1 packet of fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced
1 large ripe tomato, sliced
1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves
Salt & fresh black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Overlap slices of tomato with slices of mozzarella and basil leaves.
2. Sprinkle with fine salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Perfetto!
Notes: Don't mess too much with this classic recipe; if you want, add some rocket leaves on the side and a twist of lemon. You can also use cherry tomatoes and chopped mozzarella for a modern presentation.

Spaghetti con granchio, pomodoro e capperi
1 cup fresh cooked crabmeat
1 large fresh peeled tomato, chopped
25g sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon capers di sicilia
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano, dried or fresh
1 fresh red chilli, chopped or 1 teaspoon chill flakes
Salt n black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
Spaghetti (cook pasta in boiling salted water for 8 mins or til al dente)

Method
1. Heat olive oil over moderate heat in pan and fry garlic till fragrant.
2. Add fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and capers, and fry for about 5 minutes.
3. Add oregano, chilli, crabmeat, salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Add the cooked spaghetti to the pan and mix well with the sauce, e mangia adesso!