Mee Mamak... and the time I fed a MAJOR food personality a £3 Tesco meal deal.

Mee mamak ala Lindsay 30...

Oh dear...

No no no no this is not a slump what on earth are you talking about? I haven't slipped up on my posting schedule at all.

OkrealtalkyesIdidIamsosorry

The last few weeks have been a haze of travelling and freshers and beginning fourth year. But now we are back to our scheduled programming! Well...almost. My next post was going to be about the cheese shop I worked at over the summer, but I need a wee bit more time to get that properly typed out. 

So this week, we're talking about mee mamak! But first, story time. 

I am going to tell you about the most AMAZING thing that happened to me this summer. Well amazing and cringe-y. I still wake up nights completely mortified and excited. And confused. And in awe.

I have a lot of feelings about what went down.

About a month ago I went to visit Karen in Glasgow, just for a night. I'd made dinner plans with Cate for the day I got back, but she called that morning and asked if we could have another person join us. So I thought "yes, great, cool, the more the merrier. :D" 

I got into St. Andrews at around 6 that day and I was knackered. Like, REALLY tired. And so... I thought to myself (and if you haven't clued in by now, I REALLY regret thinking this)

 " S'ok, I'll just pick up one of those Tesco £3 stir fry packs. NOBODY WILL KNOW ANY BETTER."

So I head over to Cate's via Tesco with the bag holding my sin of all sins, and she's tidying and I'm making dinner and she's telling me about our impromptu dinner guest. Turns out the lady's name is Barbara and she's Jared's (Cate's housemate) aunt.

Cool. Yes. Good.

Barbara turns up bearing fancy wine and chocolates from Ian Burnetts and numerous desserts from Rocca.

And she's wonderful! We have a lovely time and she's chatty and fun and very, very food-centric.

Like, I wanna get on this lady's level. She was talking about eating all these wonderful things from all over the place, and how when she goes on holiday she scouts out restaurants while everyone else is looking at the touristy stuff.

She mentions that she's semi-retired and does a little writing on the side.

"Hmmmm...writing..." my little brain thinks to itself. " I wonder what she writes about?"

So I turn to ask her what she does.

Turns out, I cooked for Barbara Fairchild.

The ex editor-in-chief of Bon Appetite magazine.

Who teaches food writing courses at NYU.

And has a radio food show.

...

I made Barbara-frekkin-Fairchild a £3 Tesco stir fry.

Cate practically wet herself, causeI looked like I was having an aneurism. 

(Which I'm so TOTALLY sure did NOT make a good impression oh God why me why do bad things happen to good people whywhywhy???).

I have NEVER been more embarrassed in my life guys. NEVER. Imagine if you will, this sweaty, wild eyed, manic little Indian girl apologising over and over and over again, red in the face DESPERATELY puffing out promises of a proper Malaysian meal cooked completely from scratch the next time we would meet.

There was like, ZERO poise guys. There was NO finesse. NO eloquent speech.

Having said all this Barbara (this first name basis thing is sending my brain into a little bit of a tailspin, not gonna lie) was very gracious, asked for seconds and gave me her card.

In case you haven't figured, I'm still reeling.

One day, if and when I become famous, this is going to be a FANTASTIC little story. 

Till then I'm just going to hide in a hole.

So this, my dear readers ( READ: ma and pa) is what I should've served that night. It's called mee mamak, and it's a very common Malaysian noodle dish. You get it everywhere and everyone has their favourite guy to get it from. Naturally it's not something you can find very easily in St. Andrews, but think of it as a darker, spicier slightly wetter chow mein. I still use the noodles and vegetables from the Tesco meal deal for ease, but the stir fry sauce is super easy to put together and makes a world of difference.

Barbara, (yep, still not wrapping my head around this) on the crazy chance you might be reading this post, this is how that dish should have turned out. 

REALLY looking forward to cooking for you again. And NO Store bought sauces this time.

Promise.

Noodle noodle noodle...

-Sauce

3 cloves garlic

4 dried chillies, soaked in hot water till softened

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp chopped tomatoes from a can.

1 tbsp brown sugar

- Noodles (use a BIG wok. You want lots of room to toss things around, and lots of heat to cook things in.)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Stir fry sauce

100g of any protein you'd like. I used about 5 king prawns, but you could thinly slice up a chicken thigh, or some rehydrated soya chunks, or use a combination of the lot.

4 pieces taufu pok, cut in half

1 packet tesco stir fry vegetables.

1 packet tesco yellow noodles

1/2 knorr fish/veggie stock pot diluted in 50ml water

Blend the sauce ingredients together till nice and smooth. In fact, I'd make a big batch of the stuff because once it's made this dish comes together very quickly. Just freeze it in little ice cubes and use as you need.

When you're ready to cook the noodles, get your wok on the hob and crank the heat up high. As high as it can go. Don't worry, this is a lesson in cooking dangerously and I believe in you.

Heat up the oil and add the stir fry sauce. Cook it till you can really smell that sweet, garlicky perfume. Add your protein of choice and cook for about 3 minutes, then add your taufu pok and cook for 2 minutes, then finally your sliced up veg and...you guessed it...cook for one minute.

You may need to add a little more oil to your wok if things are sticking, then add the noodles and stir to coat in the meaty, veggie, tofu-y, saucy mix. Pour in the stock and let it boil away so the noodles get coated in this silky sauce that is just slightly wet. This should take 3-5 minutes.

Serve hot topped with crispy fried onions.

Cucur Udang...and the time I thought about missing home.

My first post back in Haggis-land!
It's strange... it was very hard (harder than usual) to leave home but when I got back to the Bubble the routine came back like I never left. Walk to lectures...walk to Morrisons...do my laundry...prep meals for the week... It's funny. Being here somehow transforms me into a 'responsible' adult. :p Imagine that?

That's not to say I don't miss home though. I do, very much so. Granted, homesickness doesn't hit me as hard as it did in my first year but I still feel it every once in a while. Not surprisingly I feel it most during meal times...somehow a mushroom omelette doesn't quite compare to a good prawn curry, y'know what I mean?

Anyways, it's times like these that I'm thankful for being able to cook. If I miss something, chances are I can whip up something akin to the real thing! Granted, the flavours aren't usually spot on, but I get as close as I can. :)

One of the last things I threw together before I left were these prawn fritters. Cucur udang, as it's known back home is a very common teatime treat. More likely than not if you've grown up in Malaysia you would've had these as a snack at some point in your life.

 While most recipes use fresh prawns, these get their richness from pounded and fried dried shrimp. If you have all the ingredients on hand, they come together in a snap!

Cucur Udang

- 1/4 cup dried prawns, pounded fine

- 1/2 cup a.p flour

- 1/4 tsp ground tumeric

- 1 egg

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 cup water

- 1/2 carrot, grated

- 3-4 shallots, sliced thinly

- 1/4 cup chopped up Chinese Chives*

- 1/4 cup cabbage, sliced finely

- 1/2 red/green chilli, chopped finely. 

1. Fry the dried prawns till golden brown. 

2. Mix all the ingredients together. 

3. Heat up enough oil to shallow fry the fritters 3-4 at a time. ( a handy trick I leart in cooking class: stick a bamboo skewer into the oil. When little bubbles start streaming out around the tip, the oil is ready for frying!

4. Drop tablespoons full of the mixture into the oil, and fry turning once till golden brown. 

5. Drain on paper towels and serve hot with chilli sauce. 

HAPPY EATING!!

Durian Row...and the time I tried to write a poem about my love for the king of fruits.

Oh durian, how I have missed you! 

Your glorious aroma, 

so pungent you are banned from most hotels in the civilised world,

That punctured the hot metal exterior of my boyfriend's car even though his air con vents weren't set to take air from the outside,

Perfumes the memories of my childhood!

Oh durian, how I have missed you!

Your sweet sweet flesh,

That has been compared to a combination of fetid sweaty socks and the oldest of old blue cheeses,

That caused my brother's lips to disappear from sight in a disgusted grimace when he stole a taste,

A single taste is enough to remind me of the comforts of home

(Though let's get real, durian isn't a 'single taste' type food. GO HARD OR GO HOME)

I LOVE THEE DURIAN. 

EVENTHOUGH I CAN ONLY PARTAKE IN YOUR BEAUTY BUT ONCE A YEAR. 

OK, that last bit isn't really true. It used to be. But now you don't really have to wait for durian season to enjoy this thorny fruit. 

If you haven't already guessed, I love durian. Can't get enough of it. Just my luck it's one of those fruits that aren't fantastic for you (high high HIGH levels of cholesterol). It's also what the Chinese would call a 'heaty' fruit. As in eating it warms you up, which would be all well and good in Scotland but not so much here.

All the same, I love love love my durian. A trip home isn't complete without a stop at Durian Row. 

Durian Row in Section 2 PJ is the site of a giant night market that sells almost exclusively, durians. Regulars have their favourite stalls and some even have regular 'durian kakis' (fellow durian loving friends) that they have regular 'durian sessions' with. Everywhere you go, tables will be surrounded by discarded durian shells, chilled coconuts and either laughter or lip-smacking sounds. Some of these places even have all-you-can-eat durian deals. For a flat rate, they keep  bringing fruit to your table till you hold your hands up in surrender (but they don't give you the good stuff, so don't bother). 

The family went for durian a couple of nights ago and we had a feast. Mum picked out some nice D24 durians, and as a special treat we had a 'Musa King' (fox king) durian as well. There're many many many other types of durian, each varying in taste and texture. These 2 are the only ones we've ever tried, but I definitely want to get around to trying the other ones sometime soon! Have you got a favourite durian? Or a favourite place to get them from? Let me know in the comments below!

For now, here is my smushed durian face for your enjoyment: 

Rockin' my plastic glove LIKE A BOSS.

Till next time guys!

Aloo Tikki...and one of the many times I procrastinated on studying.

I really should be studying. 

This is ridiculous. Maybe my desk just doesn't have the right Feng-shui for Psychology. Or Biology. Or anything academia related really.

Ah well, since I'm being horribly unproductive there I just might be able to hammer out a post here. 

Aloo Tikki! Such a cheerful name, isn't it? Try saying it without smiling. Go on. I dare you. Can't do it? 

Told you.

I love these. I first had them when I went over to Mihir's house and his mum made them for us. She has since given me the recipe and I've started making them in Scotland. So simple, yet such a huge comfort food. They are very easy to make and even easier to eat. And everyone who has tried them, have loved them as well. One of my friend's housemates is especially enamored. She once told me that she just randomly starts thinking about them at odd hours of the night!

Aloo Tikki

- 2 large potatoes

- 2 and 1/2 Tbsp bread crumbs

- Chilli flakes

- LOTS of coriander, chopped finely (fresh, please)

- Salt

- Pepper

- Veggie oil

+ Peel the potatoes and cut them into little chunks. Boil until they're tender and a fork easily pierces one of the pieces.

+ Drain out as much water as you can then return the pot to the stove with the potatoes still in it. Stir the potatoes around a bit, you're doing this to make sure as much moisture as possible is gone.

+ Tip your potatoes into a bowl, and add everything except the veggie oil.

+ This bit is key. You're going to mash the potatoes, but you don;t want the mixture to be completely smooth. No potato ricers please. I grab the nearest wooden spoon and start stabbing at the bowl. You look a wee mental at first, but soon enough things will break down and start mixing together. Just remember, you want a mixture that will clump together, but you don't want a puree.

+ When your potato mixture is ready, start forming them into patties a heaped tablespoon at a time. Continue until all the mixture is used up.

+ Refrigerate the patties for at least an hour. Alternatively you could bung them in the freezer and fry them up later.

+ When you're ready to fry, heat up a centimeter of oil in your pan. Wait for it to heat up (I test this by dropping a coriander leaf in the oil. If it starts sizzling immediately, you're good to go) Drop the patties into the hot oil. Fry till golden brown on one side then flip and repeat.

+ Drain on paper towels, then garnish with lots more chopped coriander.

And you're done!

Apam Balik...and the time Livvy came over for breakfast.

Hello Livvy my love! :p
So I had this lovely lady over for breakfast yesterday morning. It's soo nice that she lives 5 minutes away...everyone else is either near Morrisons or in town. Livvy's my only friend who's at a sensible (:p) distance away from me...well, besides my friends who live in DRA as well.

Anyways, I've been craving apam balik this whole week. So I asked her to come over on that rainy Saturday morning to share a somewhat Malaysian breakfast. We had apam balik and teh tarik. :)

A short post on this, cause I wasn;t very happy with the texture of the apam balik. It didn't have the chewy, spongy bite of the ones I get back home. This was very cakey and a little dry. No matter though, it was a decent first attempt. And it looked like the real thing!

Recipe for the batter from 'Sea Salt with Food'
I added 1 tsp of vanilla essence to the batter, and added a bit more water to make it more pourable, but that's it. :)

Batter
200 g All Purpose Flour
100 g Rice Flour
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Double Action Baking Powder
2 Eggs, light beaten
100 g Sugar
200 ml Water

Filling
equal parts of dry roasted peanuts and white sugar. I used about 250g of each.
Method

In a bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, rice flour, sea salt, double action baking powder, eggs, sugar and water. Wrap the bowl in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight.

Lightly oil a small non-stick pan or a crepe pan (about 5 - 6 inches diameter) over a moderate heat. When the pan is hot, add about 3-4 Tbsp batter, evenly coating the pan. Cook for about 1 minute, as the batter sets and forms small bubbles, loosen the edges with a palette knife.

 Generously sprinkle the peanut filling over the pancake, and add a few dots of butter. Lift the pancake from the pan, fold into half and serve immediately

That's it for now! Good luck guys. :)