Egg Sambal Recipe

I have never thought of having eggs for dinner. However, I decided to try this tasty Malaysian dish because it contains no meat. After going through a few recipes I found online, I decided to try the one I found in My Kitchen Snippets.

5 hard boiled eggs
1 large onions – sliced thinly
1 clove of garlic - chopped
2 tbsp of chili paste or sambal olek (more if you like it spicy)
2 tbsp of tomato ketchup
1 tbsp of lemon juice (optional)
Some water
1 tbsp of sugar
Salt to taste

Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in pan and shallow fry the hard-boiled eggs till eggs are slightly browned. Remove eggs and set aside.

Add in garlic and onion and stir well until aromatic and lightly brown. Add in the chili paste and tomato ketchup. Stir for a few second and gradually add in some water.

Add salt and sugar to taste. Return fried eggs to the sambal mixture coat evenly and allow to boil until sambal is reduced in liquid.

Serve warm with rice.


I made slight changes in the ingredients because we didn't have a couple of them. I used chili bean paste instead of chili paste and banana catsup instead of tomato ketchup. Since banana catsup is already sweet, I didn't add the brown sugar. Also I added more garlic because I just love the taste of garlic. It's sooooo good. I will try some more recipes from that blog since there are so many similar dishes between Malaysia and Indonesia.

I will make this again tomorrow morning as I told my friends at the office I would give them a taste if it's successful.

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Bad News All Around

Why is it that bad news come in bunches?

On Sunday morning (February 28), the news of an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hitting Chile was all over the news. I felt as sudden wave of fear. So soon after the earthquake in Haiti in January. It brought to mind all these thoughts and images of the apocalypse, the Book of Revelations, and all the movies I saw about the end of the world as we know it. I am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow, 28 Weeks Later, Armageddon...so on. Saturday night we saw the movie The Road starring Viggo Mortensen. That was depressing! I couldn't bear to finish it but P asked my to stay and watch it with him.

Later that day, one of my closest friends sent me a text message that she had cancer. What?! I though she was joking. So soon after her nephew passed away of cancer in January. And she said she didn't want to get a chemo. Just an IV treatment. I have to research this one.

And then all these stories and articles about the Philippine presidential elections and the candidates. Honestly, I still don't know who to vote. None of them seem right for the job. Oh, there is one candidate that I believe can do the job and has demonstrated in the past his ability to get things done without having allegations about his integrity but I doubt he will win. Maybe I'll vote him just the same.

This post hasn't really done anything to cheer me up. The future looks bleak. I hope my mood improves when I wake up tomorrow to a hopefully sunny day.

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A 1922 Recipe: Fish Torta

My cousin in Minneapolis asked me to buy this coffee table book for her which also contains period recipes.

I browsed through it to find an interesting recipe that I could try. I found lots! The problem was most of it were in Spanish. My college Spanish was not good enough to translate the recipes. I found this recipe for fish torta (fish omelet) which I decided to try.

1 big fish, about 1 kilo
4 tomatoes, sliced
2 eggs
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cm. fresh ginger
1 small onion, sliced
4 tbsp. lard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Clean the fish. Boil in water to which the ginger has been added. When the fish is done, remove it from the water and take out the bones. Heat the lard in a frying pan. Fry the garlic and the onion. Stir in the tomatoes, the fish, the salt and the peppers. Remove from the fire and cool. Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture. Mix thoroughly. Place a piece of banana leaf in the frying pan in which there is a little fat. Saute the mixture by tablespoonfuls, browning both sides. Serve hot.

The recipe would have been too much for just two of us so I halved it. I used cream dory fillet about 500 grams. I added 5 pcs. chillies, chopped because P has to eat spicy food always. I skipped boiling the fish in water with the ginger. I simply sauteed it along with the onions, tomatoes, garlic using butter instead of lard. It turned out great and I ate too much for dinner.

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Potty Training Your Toddler

First is to find out if she's ready for potty training. It increases chances of success. Younger babies may be also be taught but it is likely that they will forget and they are more prone to having "accidents." If your toddler is able to dress herself, is aware that she is about to poo or pee, or that she has, then the process has a great chance for success.

Take her with you to the bathroom and let her get familiar with her potty. Let her sit on it fully clothed if she wants to but never force her if she does not appear to be interested.

Let her go without diapers for short periods of time and if she does wet herself or have a bowel movement, tell her what happened without being negative. Don't tell her it's messy or smelly. Let her know that it is a natural thing to happen and explain that it is usually done in the bathroom on the potty.

Control of bowel movement usually comes before bladder control. You can usually tell if your toddler is having a bowel movement. They will stop what they are doing or grunt or sit down. When this happens bring her to the bathroom right away and sit her on the potty while explaining what is happening. It is much harder to catch them when urinating. You will usually know after the fact. Just explain what happened and let her get familiar with the wet sensation.

Toddlers are anxious to please and coupled with lavish praises when they do the right thing will help them learn faster.

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Food Inc.

P and I watched this oscar-nominated documentary last night and it's enough to make me not want to eat meat ever again. Eeeeewww! And the chickens, they all looked so pitiful. It's amazing how technology can do so much and how profit can get people to think up of new ways to do things like McDonald's did way back then.

It's perfect for me though because it will help me with healthy eating and hopefully lose the 10 pounds that just won't let go.

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My Poor Baby

Last night Via couldn't sleep and kept on crying. Her nose was clogged and she couldn't breathe. It was so bad that her eyes got red and was tearing. I tried to pump her nose but she wouldn't let me. Good thing Daddy was home. He said it must be allergic rhinitis (which she would have gotten from me) since her lungs sounded okay. He gave her antihistamine. To unclog her nose, he turned on hot shower and let it run in the bath with some vicks mixed in. Via and I sat inside the bathroom which felt like a steam room to me. He checked on us from time to time and after about 15 minutes Via could breathe through her nose.

Aside from the clogged nose, worm was found in her poo yesterday so she would need deworming. She's only 13 months! But I guess that was inevitable the way she put everything she could get her hands on in her mouth.

Today we went to Via's pediatrician to get her checked and also see if she can have the chicken pox vaccine. Turned out, the doctor was out of the vaccine and said it's better to wait until the colds from her allergy clears.

So she got meds for her allergy and the deworming which I will now buy from the drugstore as the new Pharmacy here in our office doesn't have one of them. I sure hope she gets relief soon. It's so hard to see her cry.

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This year 2010....

I resolve to

1. Attend church service every week
2. Eat healthy, more vegetables and less meat
3. Simplify
4. No more emotional spending
5. No more multitasking, focus on the task at hand for better results
6. Avoid going online at home
7. Drink 8 glasses of water every day
8. Reduce, reduce, reduce debts
9. Live in the moment and savor whatever the activity is
10. Be more giving

Just ten. I hope I can do even half of it :)

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Homestyle Indonesian Chicken Soup with Vegetables

from Periplus Mini Cookbooks by William W. Wongso and Hayatinufus A.L. Tobing

Ingredients:

½ Chicken cut into pieces

6 cups water

1teaspoon peppercorns

4-6 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon oil

1 medium carrot, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons dried woodear mushrooms coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons dried lily buds, hard stems removed

½ cup cabbage

½ cup snow peas

2 spring onions, cut in 1 cm lengths

2 stalks chinese celery cut in lengths

8-10 hard boiled quail eggs

100 g glass noodles

1 tablespoon sweet Indonesian soy sauce

2 tablespoons crispy fried shallots

Place the chicken, water and salt in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 35 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, grind the peppercorns in a spice grinder until fine. Add the garlic and process to a coarse paste. Heat the oil in a small saucepan, add the spice paste and stir fry over medium heat until golden brown. Add to the soup.

When the chicken is tender, remove and cool slightly, then cut the meat into 1 cm cubes and set aside.

Add the carrot to the soup, return to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, lily buds, cabbage, snow peas, spring onion and chinese celery. Simmer for 5 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Add the reserved chicken, quail eggs, noodles and sweet soy sauce to the soup. Heat through, then serve garnished with crispy fried shallots.

I tried this recipe over the weekend. I didn't put all the veggies in though. Just carrots and cabbage and I forgot the sweet soy sauce :) Still P said it tasted good.

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Back to Short Hair

I've been wearing my hair short for years but once in a while I get the urge to grow it out. And that's what I did after giving birth last December. My hair is wavy/curly and it's awful when it's in that awkward growing out stage. I endured it and had my hair relaxed in June when it was about chin length. I used L'oreal Elseve Smooth Intense shampoo, conditioner and anti-frizz serum. It really tamed my hair. It's now October and I can put my hair up in a ponytail. But I cannot stand it anymore! It's heavy, takes longer to dry and sticks to my nape. And long hair is a nono around babies. The li'l twerp likes to pull strands of my hair....hard! It hurts!

Today I had it in a ponytail again and got a headache. It was too tight. Enough of this when I don't really know how to style long hair nor do I have the patience for it. So I went to Jesi Mendez in Robinson's Galleria after work and had it cut short. What a relief!

The stylist was trying to get me to color my hair too. I told her I had never had my hair colored. So she showed my different shades and how it would look. I wasn't convinced just yet. Maybe next time.

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Crispy Fragrant Chicken

I've been trying to learn how to cook Indonesian dishes with little success. I find it difficult because I'm not familiar with most of the ingredients and the proportions and how they should taste. I don't usually follow cookbooks to the letter. I try to add spices or change the proportions. So far I've tried Ikan Bilis, Nasi Goreng Ayam, Pecel with Peanut Sauce a few times. Something's always wrong with them. Today I decided to try Crispy Fragrant Chicken.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut into serving portions
2 salam leaves (optional)
1 stalk lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised and cut in 3 pieces
Oil for deep frying

Spice Paste:
5 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 cm (2in) fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt

To make the spice paste, dry fry the candlenuts or macadamia nuts, coriander and cumin seeds in a skillet or wok over low heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Grind them in a blender or food processor until fine, add the galangal, turmeric powder, garlic and salt and grind to form a smooth paste. Add a little water if needed to keep the mixture turning.

Put the spice paste in a wok or frying pan with a lid. Add the chicken pieces and stir fry over medium heat to coat with the spice paste, then add the salam leaves, if using, and lemongrass. Cover the pan and simmer slowly over low heat, turning the chicken peices from time to time, until all the moisture is absorbed and the chicken pieces are tender, 30-35 minutes. Remove and discard the lemongrass and salam leaves.

Heat the oil in a wok until very hot. Add several chicken pieces, with the spices still coating the outside, then deep-fry over high heat until golden brown about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and keep warm while frying the remaining chicken peices.

I basically followed everything except for the salam leaves and the lenmograss which I forgot. I used almonds instead of candlenuts and coriander and cumin powder instead of seeds. Also I added juice of 2 calamansi, 5 pieces chilli and a little Knorr original seasoning.

Finally, P said it was good. Finally!

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