Sushi Balls

As usual, ran out of ideas what to have for dinner, so made this sushi balls in under an hour .. hehe. This is a lazy method where I chopped all the ingredients and mix it with the rice and shaped them into balls and they are ready to be eaten !!

Here, I use the short cut method for the sushi rice.

Ingredients
2 cups calrose rice, soaked for 30 mins
5 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Japanese cucumber, chopped
Egg omelette, chopped
Some sushi rice toppings
Toasted black sesame

Method
1. Add vinegar, sugar and salt into the soaked rice with the water and cooked
2. Once cook, use a plastic or wooden spatula and fluff the rice with the fan blowing (this is to make it shiny)
3. Add the chopped ingredients and mix them till well incorporated
4. Wet your hands and take a handful of the mixed rice and roll them into balls
5. Sprinkle with toasted black sesame
6. Serve with wasabi, sushi soya sauce and pickled ginger

Rosti

I made this a few weeks ago for lunch. I had a couple of potatoes that I need to get rid off fast. Finally came out with this and the kids and hubby like it alot. There wasn't enough for everyone ..hehe

This is generally a versatile dish. You can eat it with grilled fish or top it up with sour cream. Great to eat it hot.

For this recipe, I used egg and flour for binding. But you can omit them if you like.

Ingredients
4 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded (Use the grater with the largest holes)
salt & pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
1-2 tbsp flour
some olive oil

Method
1. Squeeze the water from the shredded potatoes
2. Sprinkle salt & pepper to your taste onto the potatoes and mix till well incorporated
3. Pour egg mixture and mix it till well blended
4. Sprinkle flour and mix it well
5. Heat pan and pour a little bit of oil
6. Take a handful of potatoes and flatten it on the pan
7. Flip over once the bottom turned brown
8. Once the rosti turns crispy and brown, dish it out on a plate and put your favourite toppings

Beef & Celery Stir Fry

I love celery be it cooked or raw. With some beef left, made this simple yet refreshing dish to go along with my multi-grain rice.

Ingredients
100-150g beef, sliced
4 stalks celery, cut slanted
1 medium garlic, chopped
1 cm ginger, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp light soya sauce
a few splashes of worchestershire sauce
salt to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
a few splashes of sesame oil

Method
1. Marinate beef slices with worchestershire sauce for about 30 mins (this is to make it tender)
2. Heat oil in a pan
3. Throw in onion, garlic and ginger and stir fry till onion is translucent
4. Add beef slices and fry till it is half cooked
5. Add a bit of water and let it simmer till beef is tender
6. Add soya sauce and sesame oil and stir till well blend
7. Throw in celery and mix till well combined and simmer till celery is cooked but not too soft
8. Add salt or a bit more soya sauce to taste
9. Dish out on plate and serve with steamed rice

Easy Spicy Beef Stew

This is an easy dish. I had some beef left in my freezer and after much thought, decide to whip this up over the weekend. This is great eaten with bread or steamed rice.

I used my thermal pot to cook this because I don't like the idea of cooking it over the stove for too long. The best plus point is that using it gives me freedom to do my other chores. But of course, you can use the normal pot and simmer it till the meat is tender.

This is a basic recipe. You can add curry powder or coriander for more fragrance and taste

Ingredients
400-500g beef, cut into cubes
1 large yellow onion, cut into rings
3 medium potatoes, cut into wedges
3 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp chilli paste
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 small can (100g) tomato puree
1.5-2 tbsp kicap manis
1 cup water
3-4 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method
1. Marinate beef with worchestershire sauce, garlic paste, ginger paste, chilli paste for about 30min - 1hr
2. Fry the potatoes wedges till half cooked and put it aside
3. Heat oil in a pot
4. Stir fry beef till browned
5. Add a bit of water and pour in tomato puree
6. Stir till well blended and then add kicap manis and salt
7. Continue stirring at the same time pour water till it covers the beef
8. Let simmer for about 20 mins then add onion rings and potato wedges
9. Continue simmer till meat is tender. Add more water if gravy gets too dry
11.Serve hot with steamed rice or bread

Bergedil (Potato Patties)

This is a sort of healthier version of the bergedil. I steamed the potatoes instead of frying them. Some people may still prefer the fried version but as usual, i abhor doing too much deep frying .. hehe

I use dried shrimps and black pepper for this patty. Good for those who doesn't like meat in their potato patty. You can add chopped parsley if you like. I didn't have any in the fridge, so omitted it.

Ingredients
4 medium local potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp dried shrimps, washed
1/2 tsp dark peppercorns
1 small egg
handful of breadcrumbs
pinch of salt
1 egg + water for coating
Oil for deep frying


Method
1. Steamed potatoes, mashed them and put aside
2. Fry fried shrimps till crispy, drained and put aside
3. Roast black peppercorns and mix it with the fried dried shrimps
4. Blend the shrimps and black pepper till fine
5. Add the shrimp mixture and salt into the mashed potato and mix till well incorporated
6. Add egg and breadcrumbs slowly and mix. The texture must not be too soft.
7. Heat oil in wok
8. Shaped potatoes into balls and flatten them a little
9. Dip into egg mixture and deep fry till golden brown

Note: If mixture is too soft, keep it in the fridge for about 15 mins before shaping.

Nasi Putih Indonesia style

Dear hubby's request to have white rice Indonesia style for lunch yesterday 8-) I don't know what this is called, but it is a very typical meal for Indonesian's. It is really a dry meal, other than the rice and the side salad, most of the dishes are deep fried. But for my version, I baked the chicken instead. This is also quite incomplete because I didn't have any serunding .. heh

We had this with sambal belacan .. it was finger-licking good ...

Apam Pisang (Steamed Banana Cake)

I love bananas and I also love apam (steamed cake). Got hold of some overripe bananas and made this for tea. A simple cake and it tastes real good with grated coconut. My youngest daughter loves it.

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar (I find it a bit sweet, you can cut down a little or use brown sugar)
3 riped banana, mashed
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Method
1. Add soda into the mashed banana and mix till well blended
2. Sift flour with baking powder and set aside
3. Beat eggs and sugar till fluffly, add sifted flour mixture and mix till well combined
4. Add mashed banana and a bit of salt and stir slowly to incorporate them into the flour batter 5. Pour batter into a well greased baking pan and steam on high heat for about 45min or till cooked
6. Serve with steamed grated coconut