Airinie Has Moved!

I have decided to consolidate all my blogs into 1 -easily accessible and no more excuses from me to not blog and write as often as I should.
So please proceed to airinie.com. You can find all the previous recipes there (and new ones!).

Soft Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies remind me of Famous Amos. Growing up, at the local Subang Jaya mall - Subang Parade, the smell of freshly baked cookies would overwhelm us. The famous Famous Amos cookies would cost an arm and a leg (compared to other sweets) and they are an occasion-related occasional treat. They are my brothers favourite cookies, and I dare say that not one denizen of Subang Jaya will not have an olfactory memory of chocolate chip cookies. 

This came about from my recent trip back to Malaysia. We drove past Subang Parade, after years of not being back lets just say that memories are flooding back and this chocolate chip cookie recipe may not be exactly a Famous Amos recipe but hey its an excellent substitute and it tastes as yummy as I remember. Its gooey and soft, so don't be tempted to leave it in longer than 10 minutes because it will turn rock hard if you do. 

Ingredients:

150g of salted butter, room temperature soft

80g of light brown sugar

80g of granulated sugar

1 vanilla pod, or 2 tsps of vanilla extract

1 large egg

225g of plain flour

1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp of salt

200g of chocolate chips, or chunks of chopped chocolate pieces- it is your choice to have it dark chocolate, or milk, or white.

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.

2. Cream the butter and sugars together until its mixed thoroughly. Beat in the egg and vanilla (extract if you are using that, or the scraped seeds of a vanilla pod).

3. Sieve in the flour, the soda and the salt. Mix.

4. Add the chocolate chips/chunks, and stir.

5. Use 2 teaspoons to make small mounds, and arrange on a prepared sheet of baking tray, evenly spaced between each other.

6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges of the cookies brown slighty. Remove the tray from the oven and leave it to cool (so it will harden slightly) for a few minutes. Remove the cookies from the tray and cool thoroughly on a wire rack.

7. Omnomnomnom, as Cookie Monster would say.

Makmah's Present: Pineapple Fried Rice

On my recent trip back to Malaysia, I got a present from a very important lady who has been in my life from the moment that I was born - Makmah. She gave me a recipe book that is about rice. Makmah is like an aunt to me - she has been a part of our family for a very very long time. She makes the best Nasi Goreng Kampung (Village-style Fried Rice) that I have ever had, and I learnt most of my cooking skills and secrets from her, having spent a lot of time with her in my grandmother's kitchen while she makes Rendang or curries. 

I promised Makmah that I will make a number, if not all, of the recipes in this book. So, here is the first of 'Makmah's Present' series!

Makmah on the right and me on the left.

So, I will now attempt one of the recipes in the book, or I should say adapt. The recipe asks for canned pineapples (which you can use) and seafood like prawns and squid. This version is with chicken, mushrooms, spinach and red peppers. You can use any vegetables that you like in fried rice - I used what I had in my fridge. Its best to test different textures - the red peppers add a crunchy sweetness to the dish, and you can use diced carrots or sliced long green beans too.

So, what should attempt next from the recipe book? I was thinking of either the Village-style Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng Kampung) or Spiced Tomato Rice (Nasi Tomato). What do you say?

Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 portions of cooked rice, cold, preferably from the night before

1 small pineapple, the 'meat' removed and keep the shell. (Scoop out and dice the fruit.) Or use pineapple from a can, drained.

1 chicken breast, diced into small pieces.

A handful of mushrooms, diced.

A big handful of fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped.

1 red pepper, chopped into chunks

3 small red shallots, sliced thinly

2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp of fish sauce

1 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tsp of sesame oil

1 tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste.

To garnish:

1 tbsp crushed peanuts

1 sprig of thinly sliced spring onions

Preparation:

1. Heat up the wok or frying pan, and add the olive oil.

2. Once hot enough, saute the shallots until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to stir.

3. Once fragrant, add the mushrooms. Cook until it is slightly soft, then add the chicken pieces. Stir until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

4. Add in the spinach and the chopped red peppers and cook until the spinach has wilted into the mix.

5. Make a well in the centre of the cooked meat and vegetables. Beat the egg with the sesame oil and season it lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the mixture into the centre of the well and leave it to cook for a bit and then toss to scramble the egg. 

6. Add the rice and pineapple chunks and stir to mix. Scatter the soy sauce and fish sauce around the rice mixture and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

7. Remove from the heat and serve in the hollowed out pineapple shell - or on a plate if you used canned pineapples. Garnish with the chopped peanuts and spring onions. Have a side dish of sambal or chilli sauce if you want to have a spice kick! 

Enjoy!

Malaysia in January - Food Journey

#makanmakanayin

This is not a recipe post. I was in Malaysia from the 13th to the 27th of January of this year, for my brother's wedding reception. This is a food journey of those 2 weeks while I was there - rather incomplete since I didn't exactly take pictures of everything I ate while I was there but I tried my best.

Malaysia is heaven for food. I truly miss it - the easy access to good quality and affordable food. I mean, I had thosai (recipe to come!) at 4am while I was in Kuala Lumpur, and it was an experience all in itself! So, here comes pictures of some of the wonderful, tasty food that I had while I was home.

Banana Leaf Rice / Nasi Daun Pisang

Banana Leaf Rice: This dish is a simple yet very tasty vegetarian (if you don't order meat or have meat-based curry sauces) meal. It is as the name states. rice served on a banana leaf, with condiments like fried bittergourd, cucumber salad, a choice of sauteed vegetables like cabbage or long green beans, and curry and dhall and acar pickles. It costs RM8 (less than 2 euros at current exchange rates) for the basic meal (which is unlimited!), and you pay for the additional side dishes, and the choice is endless - you can get fried chicken or fish, and all the curried meats you can think of. I had this at Sri Nirwana Maju in Bangsar (opposite one of the Bangsar Village malls), and we even had to queue for a table, it is such a popular place. Highly recommended if you are ever in the Bangsar area.

Lontong Sayur Lodeh with Chicken Rendang

And more Lontong. 

Lontong: I had this with my Dad at Chawan, a cafe also located in Bangsar. Lontong is a type of rice cake/compressed rice cooked in banana leaves. I had lontong in a coconut-based spicy soup with vegetables and condiments like fried tofu and tempeh, known generally as Sayur Lodeh. But when you are in Malaysia and you say 'Lontong', you more or less mean the dish that you see in the pictures above. Its super yummy and spicy, and this is one dish that I have no idea how to make and I am quite keen to attempt it some day in the near future.

Strawberry Macaron: I had this when I was having a manicure/pedicure at Boudoir by Soong Ai Ling (also in Bangsar!) Read about it here! (coming soon.)

Dancing Fish: Dancing Fish is a restaurant (well, 2 of them now) in Kuala Lumpur and its specialty is its namesake, the 'Dancing Fish'. Fish is cut in a way that when it is fried to a crisp, it will stand up and look like its dancing. We did order the dish when we had lunch at the Bangsar (again!) outlet, but I forgot to take a picture of it - too busy eating.

I managed to take pictures of other dishes that arrived before we attacked the food and ate to our hearts content. The food here is superb! Highly recommended.

Emping - Fried Melinjo Nuts with Sambal.

Fried Tofu and Tempeh, and Kerabu Pucuk Paku (Vegetable Fern Salad)

Fried Tofu and Tempeh

Kerabu Pucuk Paku (Vegetable Fern Salad)

Laksa Johor: After a walk with my Mom at a beautiful jungly and wild park at TTDI one fine morning, she took me to a cafe nearby called Santai Cafe and they serve very very good Laksa Johor (only during the weekends). Laksa Johor is a delicacy from the south of the Peninsular, and it has wheat noodles (spaghetti!) eaten in a spicy and coconut based fish broth, garnished with crunchy vegetables and herbs. I will have to make this while I am here in Athens while the weather is still cold.

Lai Po Heen at Mandarin Oriental:

Lai Po Heen is a very good Cantonese (Chinese) restaurant. They serve wonderful Peking Duck, and I have been told that their Dim Sum is superb. 

Its coming up to Chinese New Year, and for us in Malaysia and Singapore, it is the time for Yee Sang!

Good luck chocolate Fish - Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

What is Yee Sang, you say? Well, its a raw fish tossed salad that is also known as the 'Prosperity Toss'. I have a video of the toss, and once I have edited it I will add it here! In the meantime, enjoy the teaser video (from instagram) of the Yee Sang!

Yee Sang! #bigprofitbigprofit #gongxifacai

A video posted by Airinie Konstantinidou (@airinie) on Feb 9, 2015 at 7:26am PST

This is steamed seabass (I think). Or was it cod? I can't remember. But this was steamed with candied garlic, ginger and light soy sauce - which is a Chef's specialty. 

This is the dessert that I love so very very much - its almond beancurd pudding. It is traditionally not soy based, but its texture is reminiscent to soft tofu, and thats why it is also known as Almond Tofu, or Almond Jelly. It doesn't really contain any almonds, its flavour comes from apricot kernel.

Matcha Cappucino, KLCC: The name says it all. Look at the pretty bright green drink? I love green tea, and I adore matcha in all its forms. 

Mosaic at Mandarin Oriental:

I ate so much that day! It was my last day in Kuala Lumpur, and I was flying out that very night. We had a buffet lunch over at Mosaic with my parents and my cousin Kak Rozi. The food was international cuisine, and I had my fair share of dimsum, sushi, sashimi, tempura and other types of Indian, Chinese, Malay dishes and even the 'Arabesque' pizza (which in my opinion is rather Greek with the feta cheese and the aubergines).

Fresh seafood (oysters!) and tuna sashimi

Dim Sum

Tempura

The dessert below is really rather cute. It is a sweet made out of lotus paste, shaped into a goldfish and its filling is redbean. It was just so cute and I will be looking for that fish mold (or something similar) so I can make fish-shaped sweets!

Lotus & Redbean Fish!

And just a few choices from the HUGE dessert section of the buffet.

Salted Gula Melaka ice cream, at the Bee:
I will have to say that this was a surprising find for me. Gorgeously smooth and subtly flavoured. It helped that my tastebuds were clean since I haven't had anything to eat for a few hours. It was late at night and I didn't expect to have ice cream after 10pm. I suppose this is a salted caramel ice cream, but the caramel is made using gula melaka. Salted Gula Melaka Caramel.. watch this space! I will be attempting that soon enough!