Bubur Lambuk or Spiced Porridge/Congee (Repost)

This is actually an old post and I am re-posting it for Cooking with Herbs Blog Challenge for September Herbal Fun. When I chanced upon Lavender and Lovage, I was instantly attracted to the September Cooking with Herbs Blog Challenge. So, my fellow bloggers, if you are interested in joining the fun for Cooking with Herbs Blog Challenge, just hop over and have a look at all the interesting dishes that used different herbs. Do join in the fun if you are interested too. 

This was posted on 17 July 2013 :

This year the fasting month for Muslims began on 10 July.  As such, a month-long  Ramadan Bazaar can be seen in most of the places offering a variety of delicacies to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Those days, I really enjoyed going to Pasar Ramadan as we were be spoilt with a variety of mouth-watering delicacies, be it savoury dishes or sweet desserts.    Yesterday I went to Ramadan Bazaar near my place to pack some food for dinner.  I also bought a tub of bubur lambuk (spiced porridge/congee).  It's so expensive. Imagine a very small tub of this porridge was sold at RM5.  Instead of beef, they had shredded chicken in it and what I got was a miserable one or two shredded chicken!  Luckily the taste is quite good.   So what, I decided to cook my own bubur lambuk when I saw Wendy's Bubur Lambuk which she posted for KL Selangor Food Fest.  My recipe is basically based on Wendy's recipe with some minor changes.  Wendy, thanks for sharing your recipe!

This porridge is really superb and great! I adjust the measurement accordingly and the flavour of the spices is just amazing! I added extra coconut milk (santan) as I love santan. It's very creamy and smooth. However, my hubby doesn't like too much santan. I'm sure there will be many more rounds of Bubur Lambuk from me but will reduce the santan or omit it, just to please the man of the house!! hehehehehe...

Do give this a try.  It's packed with sweet aroma of spices.

Ingredients :
- 1.5 cups rice
- 1 bowl finely sliced chicken fillet (marinated with soy sauce and pepper)
- 1 medium red onion (sliced)
- 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 4 lemongrass (slit and crushed)
- some pandan leaves (cut)
- 1 tbsp dried shrimp (rinsed and finely chopped)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp ghee or butter (I used ghee)
- 1 Tbsp oil

Spices :
- 2 inches cinnamon stick (kulit kayu manis)
- 1 tsp fenugreek (halba)
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds (jintan manis)
- 1/2 tsp fennel powder (serbuk jintan manis)
- 1 star anise (bunga lawang)
- 5 cardamoms (buah pelaga)
- 4 cloves (bunga cengkih)
-1 tsp kurma spice (rempah kurma)

Garnish :
Sliced chinese celery
Sliced spring onions
Crispy shallots and garlic

Method :

1) Wash rice and add water accordingly. Tear pandan leaves into the rice cooker.
2) Close and press the 'Congee' button.

3) Meanwhile, heat oil and ghee in a wok. Saute onions and garlic until fragrant.

4) Then, add in spices and chicken meat.
5) Stir fry until the chicken meat is blended with the spices and almost dry.
6) Add in chopped dried shrimps. Stir and mix well.
7) Dish out and set aside.

8) When there is a beep sound from the rice cooker, transfer the spiced chicken into the rice cooker.
9) Close and press 'Quick Cook/Steam' button.
10) When there is a beep sound, open the lid and remove the pandan leaves.

11) Add in hot water as required.
12) Season with salt. Stir and close.
13) Press the 'Quick Cook/Steam' button.
14) Continue cooking and add in hot water if necessary. Wait for the beep sound.

15) Add santan. Stir and mix well. Close.
16) Press 'Quick Cook/Steam' button .
17) Let it keep 'Warm' for about 1 hour before serving.
18) Serve hot.
19) Garnish with Chinese celery, spring onions and crispy shallots & garlic.

Note : The whole process takes about 2.5 to 3 hours depending on your method of cooking (either using slow cooker, rice cooker, pressure cooker or gas stove). I am using brown rice. So, if you are using white rice, the cooking time is faster than brown rice.

I'm linking this post to September 2013 Cooking With Herbs Blog Challenge hosted by Lavender and Lovage.

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Thai Mango Sticky Rice

The first time I had Mango Sticky Rice was quite sometimes back when we went to Bangkok for holidays. Since then, we hadn't had any of this dessert until few days ago when I happened to see a video about Bangkok. When I saw Sticky Mango Rice in this video, I asked my girls if they still remember this dessert.  They told me they would love to have this dessert again and instantly I told them I would try to do it for them.  

Later, I regretted why I was too spontaneous in fulfilling their wishes. Oh no, I don't even have the slightest idea how it's being prepared. So, in order not to disappoint them, I goggled for the recipe.

There were quite a number of it and I settled for Rasa Malaysia's version. I didn't know that it's so easy to prepare and my youngest girl can also do it!

Ingredients : (my amendments are in red)

- 1 cup (200g/7oz) glutinous rice
- 2-3 Pandan (screwpine) leaves, cut into 2-inch length (knotted)
- 2-3 Asian mangoes, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup (250ml) coconut milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (55g/2oz) sugar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (I omitted)
Optional:
Banana leaf for steaming (I omitted this.  I used rice cooker to cook the rice)

Method:

1) Soak the glutinous rice for at least 8 hours or overnight.

2) Prepare the steamer with a banana leaf. Drain the glutinous rice and spread it out on the banana leaf. Throw in the Pandan leaves. Steam the glutinous rice for 20-25 minutes or until translucent. (I used rice cooker)

2)  Cook rice with pandan leaves in your usual rice cooker. Add water accordingly.  Do take note that the water required to cook the rice may differ depending on the model of the rice cooker.  That's why I didn't mention the amount of water required. 

3) While the glutinous rice is cooking, cut the mangoes into small cubes and chill in the refrigerator until use.

4)  In a sauce pan, heat up the coconut milk over low heat. Add in the salt and sugar. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolved. Remove from the heat. Pour out 1/4 cup of the coconut milk and reserve for serving.

5)  When the glutinous rice is cooked, transfer it into a bowl. 

6)  Pour the rest of the coconut milk into the bowl and mix it with the glutinous rice. Keep stirring until it becomes a thick porridge consistency. 

7)  Slowly, the rice will absorb all the coconut milk. Leave it to cool at room temperature.

8)  Serve the sticky rice with the chilled mangoes. Drizzle the reserved coconut milk over the rice and top it with some toasted sesame seeds. (I omitted the sesame seeds) 

Cook’s Notes:

You can use a muslin/cheese cloth to steam the glutinous if you do not have a banana leaf.

Make this for your family over the weekends,

and they will thank you for it....

~Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones over this sweet sweet dessert~

I am submitting this Post to Little Thumbs Up September - Pandan hosted by Joceline @ Butter, Flour & Me, organized by Z OE @ Bake For Happy Kids and Little Mui Mui @ My Favourites DIY .

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Fried Rice with Apple Cubes (Meatless Recipe)

This is a simple fried rice from scratch.  I had a red apple left and nobody seems to take the initiative to eat it and 2 stalks of almost wilted Chinese Leeks.  It's already end of the week and the next day I needed to replenish my fridge with fresh produce for the following week. Throw???  Better not!!!!  Whatever it is, THRIFTY is the word!  Yes, we need to be thrifty in our spending and throwing food is a big NO NO for me!  

Be creative and innovative in your cooking and you will be surprised you can actually save a lot!  End result? Simple and yummy fried rice for the whole family!

Ingredients :

- 3 bowls of leftover/over night rice (I used brown rice)

- 1 red apple (peeled and cubed)

- 2 stalks of Chinese Leeks (washed and cut)

- 3 eggs (beaten)

- 1/2 mashed salted egg white(I used the leftover from my previous cooking here, and  here,)

- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

- 3 red onions (finely chopped)

Seasonings : (to taste)

- salt

- pepper

- soy sauce

- dark caramel sauce

Method :

1)  Heat oil in a wok. Saute garlic and onion until aromatic.

2)  Add leeks and apple cubes and give it a quick stir.

3)  Add rice and mashed salted egg white.  Stir fry and mix well.

4)  Spread the rice evenly over the wok and pour beaten egg all over the rice.  When the egg has almost set, stir fry until fragrant.

5)  Add seasonings and keep stirring until the rice is well blended with the egg and the seasonings.

Serve hot.

If you don't like this brownish looking fried rice, may be you would be more interested in another version of my fried rice.
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Fragrant Golden Fried Pearl White Rice (<--click for the recipe)

I am submitting this to Back 2 School Event by Kachuss Delights 

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