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