Pumpkin Muffin / Pompoen Muffin

How do I love autumn? Let me count the ways....

I happened to come across a few recipes using pumpkin as autumn begins. Had my first hook at Starbucks, of course I had their signature 'Pumpkin Spice Latte'. And then my search for pumpkins began...
                                

I didn't realise that it was not easy to get pumpkins in The Netherlands. They do not come in abundance and they are usually quite small. Of course then I was informed that apples and pears are more of the Dutch thing than pumpkins.

I grabbed hold of a few small ones and decided to make Pumpkin Muffin first!





What's in it that makes my kitchen smells so sweet? I'd say 'Pumpkin, Spice and Everything Nice'.

Ingredients:

(A) 200g pumpkin - boiled and mashed
      1 egg, 100g castor sugar, 40g sunflower/corn oil
      45g butter - melted, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

(B) 190g flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder
      1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a pinch of salt
      1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
      sliced almonds as garnishing


Method:

1) After mashing the boiled pumpkin, add in all the ingredients (A). Mix
    them well with a whisk.

2) Add all the ingredients (B) and mix them well. You may want to add raisins too.

3) Pour the mix (A) into (B) and mix them well. Do not stir too much or the muffins will become
    hard.

4) Pour in the muffin mould about 3/4 full and garnish it with the sliced almonds.
    Bake at 180 deg C for 30 mins or till they are done.    

     

Black Pepper Beef

Het is al een tijdje, maar ik ben terug. :)
Sinds het einde van de zomervakantie, heb ik het druk met nieuwe 'ventures' en het is tijd dat ik doe de dingen die ik leuk vind.

Dus mijn 'eerste' post is Black Pepper Beef.


It's been a while but I am back. :)
Since the end of the summer holiday, I've been busy with new ventures and it's about time that I take a notch down and do the things that I enjoy.

So my 'first' post after being on MIA for a month is Black Pepper Beef.

Een makkelijk recept maar erg lekker. Zorg ervoor dat de peper goed wordt fijngemalen, anders overheerst dit teveel. Serveer met rijst of noedels. 

Ingredients:
500 grams of beef, sliced thinly and boil until tender
1 tablespoon flour, A pinch of salt
1 large onion, cut into round
1/2 inch ginger *
3 cloves garlic *
1/2 tablespoon whole black pepper, crushed 
2 tablespoons oyster sauce 
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 
Salt and sugar to taste (I did not add)
Mushrooms / capsicum
1/4 cup water

Sliced chives for garnish







Method:
1) Drain the meat, then mix with the flour and a pinch of salt. Fry the meat till it is brown.
2) Leave approximately 3 tablespoons of oil. Sauté the chopped garlic and ginger * (I sliced the
   ginger thinly) until fragrant. Then add the oyster sauce and black pepper. Stir well and cook briefly.
3) Add the meat, dark soy sauce and mushrooms/capsicum, mix well and add water. Cook over
    medium heat until thickened. Add the onion rings, a little sugar and salt to taste and stir.
4) Sprinkle chopped chives before serving. Best eaten with hot steamed rice.

Daging Masak Kicap / Gestoofd rundvlees in Ketjapsaus

Een lekker bijgerecht maar zo’n bruinige vleesmaaltijd maakt niet altijd de meest aantrekkelijke foto’s. Ik heb mijn best gedaan om het een beetje smaakvol eruit te laten zien. Als je al eens daging semur hebt gegeten weet je dan hoe het er uit ziet. :)

Daging Masak Kicap / Gestoofd rundvlees in Ketjapsaus

Het vlees wordt zacht gekookt in een saus van kruiden en ketjap. Er worden soms ook gebakken aardappels aan toegevoegd.

Ingredients :

400g beef

3 tbs sweet soya sauce

1 tbs thick soya sauce

1/2 onion, 1 garlic, 1 cm thick ginger

2 tbs chilli paste

1 cinnamon stick, 2 star anise

1/2 cup water

2 small potatoes, cut into wedges and fry

onion - cut as rings

Method:

1) Mince the onion, garlic and ginger

2) Heat some oil and put in the cinnamon and star anise. Add (1) and fry till lightly brown.

3) Add the soya sauces, beef and water. Let the mix thickens.

4) When the gravy has thicken, add sugar and salt if needed.

5) Add the fried potatoes, peas (optional) and onion rings. Mix it for about 5 mins before serving.

* Wij aten het met sajoerboontjes / sambal goreng boontjes en witte rijst. 

Sambal Goreng / Sambal Goreng Boontjes

In de Maleisische keuken zijn er een paar verschillende Sambal Goreng - Sambal Goreng Pengantin, Sambal Goreng Jawa, Sambal Goreng Tahu & Tempeh, Sambal Goreng Kacang Panjang...

Hier heb ik Sambal Goreng Tahu (zonder tempeh) gemaakt want mijn familielid houdt niet zo van tempeh. :) De tempeh die je hier kan kopen is in een groot verpakking. Het is dan te veel voor mij alleen. In Singapore is de verpakking kleiner en met een banaanblad. Dus ruikt de tempeh lekker.

Tempeh - https://crystalbyblog.wordpress.com/category/deep-fried/

Ingredients for 4 people :

(A) To be blended;

3 red chillies

1 stalk of lemongrass 

about 1/2 cm of galangal (Laos)

2 red onions, 5 pieces of garlic

(B) To fry :

half block of tofu (from Jumbo), cut into smaller pieces first then fry

Tempeh (original recipe), cut into smaller pieces first then fry

A few pieces of prawns

Other ingredients:

500g green beans (Sperziebonen) - cut slanting

1 stalk of red and green chillies (optional, cut slanting)

Fried onions

a little bit of tamarind juice

coconut milk - Ik gebruikte 2 eetlepel kokospoeder

salt

Method:

1) Heat up some oil in the wok and fry (A) till fragrant.  

2) Add the green beans, tamarind juice, coconut milk and a bit of water. Fry the green beans till    they are cooked. (I prefer my vegetables to be crunchy and not soggy. So it depends on your    preference.)

3) Add salt to taste, (B) and red and green chillies.  Stir fry for a while.

4) Add fried onions as garnishing. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Karipap / Curry Puff

Een lekkere populair hartige snack in Singapore en Maleisië. Curry puffs zijn een beetje te vergelijken met samosas - heerlijk gevulde hapjes in bladerdeeg. Curry puffs hebben altijd een hartige en pittige vulling en zijn toch nét allemaal weer iets anders.

(1) Ingrediënten:
500 g aardappelen (geschild en in kleine stukjes gesneden)
200g ui
200g gehakt 
4 eetl vlees kerriepoeder (mengen met een beetje water tot een pasta) 
1 el gember en knoflook pasta
3 kruidnagels, 3 kardemom, 1 inch kaneelstokje
2 el olie
lente-ui, kerrieblaadjes
zout



(1) Ingredients:
500g potatoes (peeled and cut into small dices) 
200g onion
200g chopped
4 tablespoons meat curry powder (mixing with a little water to form a paste)
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
3 cloves, cardamom 3, 1 inch cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons oil
spring onion, curry leaves

salt

 (2) Method:
- Heat up oil in a frying pan.
- Fry cloves, cardamon & cinnamon stick until fragrant. 
Add garlic & ginger paste & curry paste & continue 
frying. 
- Add meat & cook for about 3 minutes. Add in
potatoes & cook until they are soft. Add water when
necessary.
- Finally add in onion, leaves & salt.
When the filling is done, let it cool completely.

(3) After folding the pastry, I brushed the top part of it with oil. 
     Follow the instructions on the box for the temperature and duration. 

Cincau / Grass Jelly

Do you know what cincau/grass jelly is made of?

I used to just buy cincau/grass jelly from the wet market or supermarket in Singapore without giving it much thought of what it's made of. 
I have never seen the ready-made ones here and was pleasantly surprised to see the cincau powder sold at the Toko. (I've never seen it before in his shop before.) And so my 'experiment' began...

I discovered that Cincau is made from the leaves shown above and there are also many medicinal properties of these leaves, which you can read at the link.
http://www.herbs-medicine.com/2016/01/benefit-cincau-leaves-for-healing-and.html#

Anyway, what did I make it with?

A typical Cincau drink (with syrup) and the other with soya milk. I was surprised when one of my friends in Singapore told me about the MJ drink - black/white (soya milk with cincau). I had to try it, of course and I must say it tasted GOOD! Even my boys enjoyed it!

Would you try it? I'm yet to convince my husband to try it. ;)

Apam Harum Manis

Apam Harum Manis / Apam met Zoete Aroma

Welkom op mijn eerste post!

'Apam Harum Manis' is een soort van gestoomde spons taart gegarneerd met plakjes banaan. Zoals de naam al doet vermoeden, het betekent letterlijk 'zoete aroma'. Dankzij de geur van de caramel-achtige palm suiker en het aangename aroma van de gestoomde banaan.

Harum Manis

Recept van Siti Mastura - Resipi Pesta Perut 2002.

Ingrediënten: (Maakt ongeveer 50 stukken)
300g palmsuiker
350ml water
50g boter
3 eieren
200g suiker
350g bloem
1/2 theelepel bakpoeder
1 theelepel bakpoeder
1/4 theelepel zout
1 eetlepel vanille-essence
Bananen - gesneden in ongeveer 1/2 cm dik

Ingredients: (Makes around 50 pieces)

300g palm sugar 

350ml water

1 pandan leaf (optional) 

50g butter

3 eggs

200g sugar

350g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla essence

Bananas - sliced about 1/2 cm thick 

Method:
- Combine palm sugar and water in a pot & boil over medium heat until the palm sugar dissolves.  
   Add in the butter and stir well. Leave to cool completely.
- Put the plain flour, baking powder,  baking soda & salt in a bowl.
- Beat eggs & sugar until light & fluffy. Fold in the flour.
- Pour the palm syrup a little at a time. Stir until well blended.
- Prepare the steamer & grease the mould with oil/butter.
- Pour the batter into the mould until 3/4 full. Top with sliced bananas.
- Steam for 15-20 minutes.
- Leave to cool completely & remove cakes from moulds.

About Me

Mijn naam is Rozilah en ik kom uit Singapore....

I moved to The Netherlands in 2013. Since then, I attended school and various activities in order to learn Dutch and immerse myself in the community. 

After getting my staatexamens diploma in May 2015, I realized that it was not easy getting into the job market here. I am not able to teach in a local primary school as my level of Dutch is inadequate. As I still feel home in a school, I did voluntary work in 2 schools - librarian and 'overblijfmedewerker'. (I was a primary school teacher with 13+ years experience in Singapore.)

So then how did I get myself into 'food'? My friends back in Singapore were curious if I had 'gone Dutch' - eating boerenkool, witloof, stamppot...

From there, 'FoodCulture' was created in August 2015. It was just to show that I can still cook Malay food/dishes here! In the meantime, my husband has been bringing food from home and his colleagues complimented at how tasty Malay food is and suggested that I could sell Malay food. I didn't really take their call seriously then and thought that they were just being polite. :)

In 2016, I wanted to venture further. In May, it was the first time I set up a stall/table in an 'International Food Fair' in Amersfoort with the help of my husband. I was excited to introduce and share authentic Malay food to the Dutch but was also skeptical. At the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised that they were receptive to Malay food! 

I started re-thinking about my logo and name and so 'Malay Spice' was created. I hope that the locals are game enough to try simple Malay food at home and discover the rich flavours. 

* Do follow my Facebook page too (https://www.facebook.com/MaleisEten/) for events. 

Thank you.