Braised Chicken with Bitter Gourd

The other day, Superhero S decided to cook one of her old-time favourite dishes, Braised Chicken with Bitter Gourd - the way she likes it to be. At home, Superhero Mum would usually slice the bitter gourd thickly - which I don't really fancy because the bitterness would be amplified then. Haha. Knowing that Superhero W would naturally be turned off by the bitterness from the bitter gourd, so I decided to soak it just a little longer in water, and cooked the dish with some carrots for the sweetness. *wink*

Since it was actually the first time I was trying my hand at cooking this dish, I could only hope that whatever little theory I know would prove sufficient to produce a successful effort! So first of all, heat up the oil in the wok. Then throw in some finely-chopped garlic. Give it a little stir and add the chicken pieces, after which I added the bittergourd and carrot slices. Stir fry everything, add a dash of water before letting the dish settle. Add enough water to cover the chicken and everything else, put in a nice generous splash of oyster sauce, some thick soy sauce and salt to taste - and then bring everything to slow boil. To thicken the sauce, just add a little mixture of corn starch and water.

And here's my Braised Chicken with Bitter Gourd...



Yes, I know...zero points for presentation but well, haha.. as long as it tastes good, I'm sure Superhero W wouldn't mind. The outcome was a less bitter than I thought, but it still wasn't enough to entice Superhero W to take a single bite on the bitter gourd. Haha. Yes, even with the bitterness being reduced and with the carrots to give a hint of sweetness. But he loved the sauce and the super tender chicken though. Downed everything till the last bit! :p

And to complement the dish, I decided to cook Superhero W's favourite Kangkung Sambal Belacan...



Along with one of my favourite soups, the Old Cucumber Soup...




So this concludes just another combination of our the two superheroes' daily dinner menu. Haha. Simple yet deliciously home-cooked! With the foodie price outside soaring sky high, it's really a great feeling to be saving some hard-earned money at times and opting to eat-in instead. :p

Spaghetti Carbonara, ahem ahem...

It's really difficult writing a post during this fasting season, especially since A Tale of Two Superheroes is a foodie blog. Haha. Even though Superhero S is not officially required to fast, she still decided to do it along with Superhero W since he's the one who is officially fasting (I'm cheating anyway, 'cos I still drink water! Shhhh.... Haha.) Anyway, here goes yet another foodie experiment by the two superheroes.

On one fine day, Superhero S had this craving for spaghetti and really wanted to have some Spaghetti Carbonara. Since she has not tried cooking spaghetti dishes before this, she decided to play it safe and go with the ready-made sauces first before exploring any further. Haha. And so, we went over to a nearby mini mart and bought the necessary ingredients. Nothing much, just the packet of spaghetti, the big bottle of carbonara sauce and a pack of Ayamas chicken sausages.



We went for Campagna "Pasta of Durum Wheat" and this big bottle of Leggo's Alfredo Pasta sauce "A traditional creamy Italian style sauce with fresh cream and cheese".



Only half of the packet of the spaghetti is used at one time, and off they go, straight into the boiling water. I still remember our good friend, Ting used to say that if we want to know whether or not the spaghetti is cooked, just take out a small strand and throw it onto the wall. If it sticks, it means that the spaghetti is ready. Otherwise, you can also sample it bit by bit, biting on the strand to see if it's cooked well enough. Once it's done, just drain the hot water.

As for the sauce, all that was needed to be done is to heat it up. Decided to add a little water since it looked pretty thick. Almost like something out of a Campbell cream of soup. Haha.

In the meantime, boiled some sausages, cut it into smaller pieces (which we didn't the first time around). The packet of spaghetti and the bottle of sauce is actually good for 4-6 servings. But since there were only the two of us, we cooked twice on separate occasions. *grins*

first try...

second try...

The taste? Hmm... the cream is pretty rich actually. Very very creamy the first time around, which was why we decided to dilute it further on the second try. Overall, it's not too bad really, a little sourish. Added a little sprinkle of black pepper as well. But the spaghetti was just perfect! Nicely done and still springy... But I suppose the next time I'm actually cooking the carbonara, I would like to cook everything by myself, meaning no cheating by using readymade sauces! Haha. *blushing*



But, anyone can tell me the difference between the many different brands of spaghetti? Are they all the same? Because the price surely isn't. Haha. :p

Dumpling Mee Suah Soup

After such a long merdeka weekend back home in Malacca, the two superheroes were so reluctant to fly back to KL to carry on life as usual. Haha. It was a foodie marathon at home because Superhero Bro was back from Florida and his great adventure across Las Vegas, San Francisco, California, and more. So we were all excitedly bugging with for the gifts that he had bought for us all. More about that later! :p

For now, back to more foodie!
So just before the long break, Superhero S decided to experiment with some gyoza skin to make dumplings. So instead of using the usual "sui kow" skin, she wanted to see how the gyoza skin would actually differ. Not knowing that the gyoza skin would be thicker than the sui kow's, she started making the fillings for the dumplings. Haha. Expecting disaster eh? *wink wink*

This time around, I decided to marinate the chicken+prawn filling with light soy sauce, sesame oil, maggi seasoning, white pepper and salt. Yes, call me crazy but I was in full adventurous mode and decided to experiment with the different concoction of tastes! Added some finely chopped carrots and fungus to add to the sweetness and crunchiness. Haha. Hope the dumplings are still edible! *sweating*

Here they are, just before it goes into the boiling pot of water...



Cooked some mee suah with chicken soup base and some bayam (or spinach) to go compliment the dumplings. Admitedly, the gyoza is actually supposed to be fried a la Japanese gyoza style but Superhero S figured that since gyoza is in her opinion, just a different version of the dumpling, the same skin can be used for making those delicate dumplings. Haha.

a little flashback of my first sui kow...

The skin was obviously less delicate than the sui kow she has made previously, which was why she couldn't make those little pleats in the first place and had to settle for the plain version. But it still tastes good! Albeit a bit thicker, but still delicious and the good thing is, the skin is far less vulnerable to break. Haha. Good... :p



I decided to make only a handful of dumplings, 8 to be exact (4 for Superhero S, and 4 for Superhero W) for this soupie version. I made another 13 for the fried version, which I had actually forgotten to take some pictures of its results. Haha. Sorry about that. The fried dumplings obviously tasted better as it's thicker skin lent a super crunchy bite to it.



So probably for the soupie version, I'll stick to the sui kow skin; but for the fried version, I'd most probably go for the gyoza skin instead! Haha. But hey, I'm actually pretty happy with the results from this experiment really! Haha.

My First Kung Pao Chicken

Superhero S has always been wanting to try cooking one of Superhero W's top of the list dishes. As her cooking inspirations usually come from Superhero Mum's cooking at home, she has never been able to learn how to cook Kung Pao Chicken because even Superhero Mum have not tried cooking the dish herself. So what now? *worried*

I've actually had it in my mind, formulating the possible ingredients and sauces involved whenever I try out any Kung Pao Chicken dishes in restaurants. Well, die die lah. Never try, never know. Haha. So first of all, I marinated the chicky chunks with a dash of light soy sauce, white pepper, a pinch of salt, some sesame oil and corn flour, and set it aside for the flavour to be released. Too bad I didn't have any cashew nuts at home, otherwise I'm sure it would lend a hint of sweetness and crunchiness to the dish.

Cut the big onions into smaller pieces, take out the seeds in the dried chillies and soak 'em. I used about 10 pieces of dried chillies for a stronger kick of spicyness. Heat up the oil and fry the chicken first before setting it aside. Next, throw in some finely-chopped garlic, the onions and the dried chillies. Give it a little stir, then throw in the chicken. Give it a little dash of light soy sauce and some dark soy sauce, not forgetting the sugar. Well, I suppose that should be it! Haha.

Presenting, my first Kung Pao Chicken...



To be honest, I didn't know if my crazy recipe was going to work out or not. So, what do you think? Haha. From the looks of it, it sure got the looks of the Kung Pao Chicken! But how about the taste eh?



*Come Superhero W, try my Kung Pao Chicken... tries to feed him with a piece of chicken!* Haha. Well you know what? I really can't believe that it tasted exactly like the Kung Pao Chicken we usually have outside! Arhhhhhhhh....!! I did it! Haha.

And that concludes, yet another successful first attempt by Superhero S... *smiles happily*

Home-cooked Chicken Rice...my first!

In the two superheroes' crusade to experiment with more home-cooking after the hugely-successful Ayam Masak Kunyit, Superhero S decided that she should put her next focus onto cooking Chicken Rice, undoubtedly one of their favourite food back in Malacca. No, no balls yet this time around. Haha. Just plain ol' chicky rice! :p

I finely-chopped some garlic, sliced some ginger, rinsed and cleaned the rice, and bought some pandan leaves for the extra flavouring. Heat up the oil, throw in the garlic and ginger and stir-fry till it's fragrant. Then, dump in the rice and stir evenly. Once it's done, transfer the rice to the rice cooker, fill it up with the same usual amount of water, and put in the pandan leaves, some salt and chicken stock. However, as I did not know how to make the authentic chicken stock, decided to use Maggi Chicken Stock instead. Haha. Yes, I cheated!

My chicken rice -- all cooked!

Okay, next would be my chicky dish. Since I only have bits and pieces of chicky meat, can't really do the pak charm kai (steamed chicken). Decided to improvise, and worked up another dish instead. I coated the chicky with some salt, added some ginger, slices of mushrooms and a generous dash of sesame oil into the dish plate and steamed it. Haha.



And my chicky meat came out even more flavourful that I'd expected! Oh, the sesame oil really turned this dish around wonderfully! So this is steamed chicky with a twist! :p

As for the rice, all I can say is... "OMG". Haha. I did it!
My first plate of chicken rice...



Couldn't have asked for more because Superhero W felt it tasted even better than most chicken rice stalls outside. The colour may be a little paler in comparison, but the taste is definitely there. Very chicky indeed! Superhero W suggested that maybe I should use some turmeric for the extra colouring next time. Hmm... true also eh?! *grins*

Since there should be a vegetable dish in every of our meals, I decided to stir-fry some cabbage to balance out the meal...



If you're wondering where's our chilli sauce, well... since I only have my sambal (which my Superhero Mum made herself! :p) in the fridge, decided add a little twist to my chilli sauce. Added lime juice from one limau kasturi, and it's all done. Tasted like some super pekat asam pedas sauce! Haha. Delicious...

In the end, it was a hugely satisfying meal... and it's making me awfully hungry just by writing this post! OH, can't wait to work on my next chicken rice meal... Hopefully it will turn out even better the next time around! :p

Pandan Flavoured Mantou with Chicken Curry

While grocery shopping at Tesco the other day, the two superheroes decided to pick up this interesting item which hasn't made onto their menu just yet. Superhero S, upon recalling how Superhero Mom used to cook chicken curry as a dip dip for the super delicious mantou, decided to pick up the Pandan Flavoured one. C'mon, it's either the plain one, the chocolate one or this! Haha.



And so, we happily brought home our mantou which came in a pack of eight. It was frozen rock solid (what'd I expect? It's frozen food what?! Haha) and I decided to speed things up by immediately putting it into my traditional "steamer"... *grins*



Steam for 10-15 minutes and my mantou has now transformed to become hot, hot steaming pandan mantous! Smells terrific with the pandan flavour totally filling up the room. Ahhh.......!



Oh, at the same time, while waiting for the mantous to steam, I was already halfway into cooking my curry chicken. Decided to use those ready-packed curry formulas to save time since the both of us were in hungry mode already! Haha.



And it's all done... a plate of hot, fluffy mantou with 2 bowls of thick chicken curry - one for Superhero W, one for me! That way, we don't have to fight for the curry and the chicken. :p




Tore out a small piece of the mantou, and proceed to dip dip in the hot hot chicken curry. Super kick I tell you... Haha. Hot mantou, combined with hot and spicy curry. Definitely one of the best alternative meals besides the usual rice and fried noodles. And we couldn't even finish up the eight mantous, to think that they are actually quite small in size, or so we initially thought!



In the end, we had 2 mantous to spare as we could only manage 3 mantous per person. Haha. But it was a very filling meal indeed. Not to mention, very satisfying as well! Oh, let's do it again! Haha. :p

Ayam Masak Kunyit, a walk down memory lane...

When Superhero S was a little girl with cute pigtails waaaaaaay back in the 90s, she used to take tiny pieces of special fried chicky almost during every recess time. She was drawn to its yellowish colour and nice, crispy texture. Of course during that time, it hadn't occurred to her that the yellowish colour was attributed to the turmeric or kunyit powder used. All she remembered was, it was very very fragrant...

But after growing out of her pigtails, she left memories of the delicious yellow chicken behind, until the day she saw Superhero W ordering this familiar yellow chicken. The comforting sense of familiarity immediately came flooding back to her senses. OH my yellow chicken... how I have missed you!

So it was only then did she knew what she has been eating all the while during primary school was... Ayam Masak Kunyit. Haha. Since Superhero W's Mom was a master chef of home-cooked Malay foodie, she managed to impart some knowledge to Superhero W and he told me briefly how he used to see his mother doing the chicky dish. And so, a few days back, I finally experimented with my first Ayam Masak Kunyit...



This is my chicky being marinated with turmeric powder, salt and pepper. Unfortunately, I didn't know that turmeric powder actually stains! And so, I ended up with yellowish hands and a yellowish bowl. Haha. :p

Stored the marinated chicky in the fridge to let the flavours set in. After probably an hour or so, I decided that it's time to fry the chickys because I was getting really excited (and hungry!). Heat up the oil on low fire till it's really hot, and slowly dump in the yellow chicks. Fry till it's turns gold... and when you think the chicky is done, time to rescue the chicky and take them all out.

Oh, here are my babies...



And to complement my Ayam Masak Kunyit, there's the Simple Fried Cabbage and Baked Beans with Eggs (Yes, I was lazy...) *blushing*



But then, I managed to boil some ABC soup as well... You see, there's chicken, beans, eggs, vegetables and soup. Not bad what... :p

I'm crawling out...

I was so happy when the Ayam Masak Kunyit turned out to be fantastic! Superhero W even complimented that it tasted even better than those sold outside. Ahem...

beautiful...

The chicken is super powered with the turmeric taste, and it's really tender and juicy on the inside. Hey, I'm a pro when it comes to frying chicks, okay! *super grin*

Will definitely make this turmeric dish as one of our staple dishes in times to come... Haha.

Chinese Fried Rice, getting the recipe right

Despite having cooked a variety of simple fried dishes, from Spicy Fried Noodles, all the way to Spicy Fried Vermicelli and Fried Broad Noodles, Superhero S has still not found the winning combination for the supposedly easy peasy Chinese Fried Rice. Possibly one of the simplest thing to cook has always turn out to be just a mediocre affair, much like my first attempt at Chinese Fried Rice. It's not bad, but neither is it overtly delicious.

My first attempt...

And since Superhero W is a fried rice fanatic, I really hoped to get it right this time around. Haha. As my first attempt was guilty of lacking any presentation in terms of colours, I decided to buy a pack of mixed vegetables to brighten up my fried rice. Since there weren't any chicky bits left, I bought a pack of chicken sausages to feed Superhero W's meat cravings. :p

Preparation was simple enough, and all I need to do is to defrost the mixed vegetables, finely chop some garlic, and cut 4 of the chicken sausages into smaller pieces. Heat up the oil, start off with the garlic and fry till it's fragrant. Next, throw in the mixed vege and sausages. Stir-fry till the mix is even. Throw in the rice, and stir everything up. Add salt to taste, some Maggi seasoning, white pepper and soy sauce.

And here comes my Chinese Fried Rice...



Well this time around, my fried rice turned out better than the first. There's more flavour to it and the rice's much more fragrant. But then again, I'm still not entirely satisfied as I feel that more can be done to it. Haha. Yes, I'm quite a fussy cook. *blushing*



This...to me, is still not the winning formula. Something is still conspicuously lacking but I just cannot figure out what. Any fried rice experts can help me out on this? :p

Stirfried Spicy Kangkung with Dried Shrimps

As Superhero W has flown all the way back to his hometown in Sabah, Superhero S is left all alone for a week to fend for herself. *sigh* Lonely... I am so lonely... 'cos I have nobody... *sob sob* :(

However, despite being lonely and for the fact that it's only now that she realizes how much fun and entertainment Superhero W has actually brought to her life every day, she has decided to dig up her archive of photos that have yet to make it onto our blog, to write a post about Superhero W's favourite vegetable dish.



Stirfried spicy kangkung with dried shrimps is in fact possibly one of the simplest dishes to cook. I mean, any vegetable dish is simple to cook, no? Haha. Since we were lacking of the oh-so-essential belacan, this means no Kangkung Belacan. But still, perhaps we could just try imitating a little bit of the belacan taste for our spicy kangkung here. The magic ingredient? Just add dried shrimps loh... *grins*

As I actually prepared this dish in Malacca, Superhero Mum actually has this mortar and pestle tool at home for grinding and pounding purposes. So for a touch of authenticity, I decided to use that to crush the dried shrimps beyond recognition (muahahahaha....). As for the sambal, I always have my special home-made sambal paste at hand. Finely chop some garlic and you're ready to go!

my special sambal paste... *wink*

Heat up the oil and throw in the garlic. Once it's fragrant, throw in the pounded dried shrimps and stir fry for a little while before you move in with the sambal. Just a small spoonful of the sambal should do the trick. Finally, throw in the kangkung and stir-fry. Salt to taste, and you're ready to serve.

Simple but very appetising! *drooling...*

Super Double Cheese Beef Burger Wrapped in Egg

Haha. NO... that is not the latest McDonald's burger. In fact, this burger would definitely beat any double cheese burgers anywhere -- hands down! :p

The two superheroes decided to go Western today with a little experiment in making some home-made burgers. Well, not exactly burgers this time around because we actually couldn't find any of those burger breads in Tesco the last time we went grocery shopping. Must've ran out of stock. Haha. And so, we decided to go ahead with our trusted wholemeal Pita bread as its replacement! Wholemeal okay... don't play play. *wink wink*



For the burger patty, there can only be one name that we put our trust on. What else other than the infamous Ramly burger patties?! Haha. Oh yeah...



Taking inspirations from the now-defunct Burger Taman Desa as how we used to call our burger stall right in front of Superhero S' condo that sells the best burgers around, Superhero S decided to re-create the recipe. Haha. Well, the secret to his super delicious burger is actually in the use of... *ahem*... Maggi seasoning and curry powder! :p

And so, using a non-stick pan (finally!!! I don't have to struggle with the wok for this!), I fried my beef patties with some light sprinkles of the Maggi seasoning and some curry powder as well. Not too much, just a little should do the trick. Haha. And here goes... 4 patties for the two of us!



I'm actually going to do the patty wrapped in egg style a la Burger Daging Special since I wanted to stay true to the recipe. I also cut some fresh cabbages into thin slices to complement the "burger". For the double cheese effect, simply just add 2 slices of cheese in between the patties which should have already been wrapped in egg by now.

And... voila!



2 beef patties specially cooked with all the seasoning, wrapped in egg plus 2 slices of cheese, some cabbage and of course, the must-have Life Chilli Sauce -- all sandwiched between one piece of hot wholemeal pita bread cut into halves! So... what do you think?? Haha. Quite a mouthful, ain't it? :p

OH! Look at the melted cheese...!

omg

One word to describe it.
.
.
.

SUPERB!
The aroma from the seasoning and curry powder is absolutely fantastic and they truly complement the beef patties well. The hot pita bread was also a much better option than normal burger breads. Glad Tesco actually ran out of stock for those burger breads.



We also actually calculated the cost for each burger, and guess what? It barely even came up to RM2 for each of our super double cheese burgers wrapped in egg! So big and yet so cheap! Superhero W couldn't even put the entire "burger" into his mouth initially because it was probably the largest burger both of us have ever eaten in our lives! And once the whole pita burger sets in your stomach, you can skip dinner altogether already! Haha.

Simple Spicy Fried Rice Vermicelli with Dried Shrimps

In short, the dish is actually Fried Bee Hoon with Udang Kering. Haha. Much like how I managed to experiment with cooking my Fried Broad Noodles with Fish Cake dish, I came out with this successful experiment by sheer inspiration. You see, every morning, a makcik will be selling all those simple fried noodles, nasi lemak and such right in front of my home. And of all the foodie she sells, I took on a fancy for her super delicious, yet simple and ridiculously addictive spicy fried bee hoon.

But since she always wraps up her business even before 9am, it has really been difficult for both superheroes to catch up with her to get her fried bee hoon. So, I figured... since it's not really a very difficult dish to cook, I mean it's just bee hoon what?! Haha. I decided to try cooking the dish on my own, with dried shrimps as the main ingredient.



Soak the bee hoon for a little while till it softens. OH, rinse and soak the dried shrimps too. Then chop the softened dried shrimps into smaller little pieces, but make sure it's not too tiny because otherwise you will be left with nothing to chew on. Haha. Finely-chop some garlic, prepare a little sambal paste, cut some cabbage into tiny bits and that's it. Ready to cook!

Throw in the garlic first, some salt to taste and next, the dried shrimps. Add in a little sambal paste because you don't want the dish to be overtly spicy later on. Then throw in the cabbage, stir fry everything in the wok and in the end, throw in the bee hoon. Fry and stir till the distribution of the ingredients is even.

And my simple Spicy Fried Rice Vermicelli with Dried Shrimps is ready...!




Now don't underestimate the looks of this simple fried dish as it's really ultra delicious. The dried shrimp is the magic ingredient that lends its fragrance to the sambal paste. Fast and easy to prepare, I believe this very homely dish is going to be a staple dish for the two superheroes. Love it. *grins*

My First Assam Fish

The two superheroes are currently experiencing a home-cooking marathon right now. Haha. As you can see, most the the foodie featured most recently are successful products of Superhero S' dedication towards cooking (*ahem...!*). Since we're a little sick of eating outside food, not that we eat out a lot anyway, I've decided to continue experimenting with many more first attempts. :p

And my next one would be another of my Superhero Mum's signature dishes, Haha. So, when the two superheroes were back to Malacca not too long time ago, Superhero S attempted cooking her first Assam Fish after having seen Superhero Mum cooking it so many times...

Ran through the freezer at home and saw a whole lot of fishys everywhere. Wow... Don't think the two of us can finish so many fishys. So I looked deeper into the freezer and saw three little tenggiri slices, neatly wrapped and tucked at one corner. Perfect! Haha. :p

Defrost the fishy and coated it with some corn flour to give it a smoother texture. Here they are... my three cute little tenggiri slices!




Prepared the rest of the ingredients - finely-chopped garlic, some assam jawa water and of course, the secret of cooking a superb assam fishy, the Limau Purut leaves! Haha. You can smell its fragrance up close. But remember to tear the leaves into smaller pieces when cooking to allow its fragrance to absorb into the gravy. And since Superhero Mum loves cooking Assam Fishy so much, we've actually grown a really beautiful Limau Purut plant in front of our house! *grins*

The assam jawa water

Beautiful limau purut leaves...oh, please ignore the dried shrimps! Haha.

And so, throw in the garlic, a little bit of sambal paste, the assam jawa water, the Limau Purut leaves and finally the fishys. Salt and sugar to taste and let it simmer till the fishy is cooked. Just look at this... beautiful eh?




My Assam Fishy is served... Three little slices for two cute superheroes. *blushing*



Tastes absolutely wonderful with that distinct limau purut taste to it. If you prefer your assam gravy to be sweeter, just add more sugar. Otherwise, just a little dash should do. You can also add some lady's fingers and brinjals if you like but since Superhero W is not a fan, I just kept the assam fishy dish as simple as possible. OH, you can also try cooking it a la assam curry style just like how our Chef Y did! Haha. :p