Fresh Lily buds have only in recent years entered the Malaysian market as an edible flower. All this while, dried lily buds are used. Not many people knew what to do with fresh lily buds or how to cook these green coloured lily buds. So far, I have only seen fresh lily buds being served on chinese styled dishes, though I have also seen it being served as a form of tempura. Lily buds are actually aromatic, though not as fragrant as the flower itself. Hence, when you stir fry them, you get a pleasant smelling dish.

I bought a packet of this during my recent trip up Cameron Highlands. They are sold quite cheaply compared to those sold down here in Kuala Lumpur. Just rinse them to rid them of any dust or dirt and soak them in water for about 15 minutes or so - just in case they come with some pesticide. You just never know. Anyway, this dish only takes less than 5 minutes to stir fry and it is enough to be shared by 2 or 3 persons depending on how much each person wish to eat. What you get is fragrant and slightly sweetish lily buds paired with fresh prawns and crunchy carrots. Hochiak!

This is my recipe for Stir Fried Lily Buds with Prawns. Read the rest of this entry »

This recipe was created by chance. I was thinking of blanching some broccoli to make garlic butter broccoli to go together with the pasta that I cooked (yes, apart from the usual Asian fare, I do cook pasta quite often) when I realised that I had some left over ingredients in the fridge which could go together to create something oriental.

By that, I was referring to calamansi and fresh red chillies. Add a little garlic and some sauce and you’ve got yourself a tangy and zesty Oriental Broccoli Salad. The garlic can be a tad pungent for the uninitiated and can leave an unpleasant garlic odour in the mouth hours after eating. Might not be suitable if you plan to go dating after having this salad.

This is my recipe for Oriental Broccoli Salad Read the rest of this entry »

I saw a recipe somewhere before on stuffed mushrooms but did not take down the recipe. So, relying on the basic idea on how it should be prepared and cooked, I came up with my own Stuffed Mushrooms recipe. The mushrooms which I used are the dried chinese mushrooms which were pre-soaked to soften them. You can also use Shiitake mushrooms. These mushrooms are chosen due to the natural shape which looks like a plate when turned upside down and are not too small (like button mushrooms) or too big (portobello, oyster or grey mushrooms). The ideal way is to have them in bite sizes, not unlike a dim sum treat.

For the ingredients, I initially wanted to use salted egg whites as one of the ingredients but silly me, I cracked the egg with the black coating still on the egg without realising that I should have washed the coating off first. In the end, I could only salvage the salted egg yolk but it was interesting as the salted egg yolk gave the Stuffed Mushrooms a twist in the flavour. Sorry as I am unable to describe the taste in words but if you have eaten salted egg yolk mooncakes, you will know the taste.

This is my recipe for Stuffed Mushrooms Read the rest of this entry »

The best way to eat Kangkong (water convolvulus) is either to stir fry it with belacan or blanched and dipped in prawn paste eaten together with cuttlefish. I was not planning to cook kangkong without chilli but due to absent mindedness, I bought kangkong without buying chillies. Left with no choice, I had to do some improvisation and decided to give it a stir fry minus chillies.

I had with me tender shoots of kangkong, homegrown by some villagers nearby. Most of the stems were used as they were young shoots and not overly fibrous. I was pleasantly surprised that a simple stir frying with garlic and pre-soaked dried prawns brought out the natural hint of sweetness in the vegetable. Unlike stir frying with belacan which may overpower the taste of the vegetable altogether, this stir fry keeps it light.

This is my recipe for Stir Fried Kangkong with Garlic Read the rest of this entry »