Food cravings - Ayam Masak Merah (Red Cooked Chicken)

1. Pre cooked chicken that had been marinated in tumeric and salt

2. Simmering sauce so the sauce thickens..


3. Adding in the pre-cooked chicken

4. Adding in additional onions for the crunchy feel.

So I have been having cravings for Malaysian food recently and seeing that you cant get true blue Malaysian food unless one cooks it yourself, I decided to bite the bullet and try my own version of ayam masak merah. Admittingly, my original choice was to make ayam padprik but I didnt have the right ingredients in the pantry so opted for Plan B instead.

Ok - so here was what was in ...

INGREDIENTS :

Chicken - I used chicken breast cut into pieces but chicken thigh would do too (skinless)
2 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp salt
Cooking oil - I used olive oil
1 cup red onions chopped
2 tbsp ginger grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato puree
½-1 cup or to taste chili paste - I had some packet sambal sauce but have since got sambal olek
3 tbsp chili sauce (or as to taste)
1 cup tomato ketchup - I used Heinz
2 tbsp dark sweet soy sauce - Kicap pekat
1 large onion, cut into rings
½ tbsp sugar
salt to taste
2 cups water
3-4 kaffir lime leaves

How to cook:

Coat chicken pieces with turmeric powder and salt - keep aside for 1/2 hr
Heat wok, add oil to fry chicken. Fry chicken in batches till light golden brown, drain and set.
Pour off all but 4 tbsp of oil, add red onions, ginger, garlic, stir-fry a few seconds, add chili paste and stir-fry 1-2 mins
Add chili sauce, tomato puree, tomato ketchup, dark sweet soy sauce, sugar and salt to taste. Then stir-fry 1 min
Add kaffir lime leaves, 2 cups water, bring to a rapid boil, immediately reduce heat to med, simmer uncovered 10 mins
Add chicken, stir well to coat evenly with sauce
Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to low, cover, simmer slowly for about 25-35 mins
Add onion rings, simmer 3-5 mins, onions rings should have a slight crunch
Serve with rice

Walla!!

Bride thoughts

Seeing that I have less than a month left - hmmm.... I think if I was to have a Bridezilla moment - it would have happened a long time ago.

As of yet - no dramas yet! (my parents aka the wedding planners would beg to differ however)

1 month, 1 week from the beginning of the next step in life.

Was watching a rerun of Nottinghill on Foxtel on telly earlier this morning and you know that scene where Anna and William scale over the gate and walk down a locked up park and there is this park bench that had the inscription

"To June who loved this garden, from Joseph who always sat beside her"

Well, I found myself tearing!

God, I am turning so sappy. Maybe its because I am going to get hitched.

Despite my initial hesitations when we first started going out, (past rships had left its mark and I was truly a cynic when it comes to anything to do with l.o.v.e) - I am now well and truly committed into this rship especially seeing that next month is when we get married!

Yes, it is for keeps. 1 of the reasons why I let it off this late was because I never actually met anyone that I could see myself with for the rest of my life. Despite living here for several yrs, I still do not believe in divorces - once you get married, its for life. I still don't believe in having a soul-mate for everyone but I do believe that when you meet someone and you know, you simply do.

You know ....

You know ...

That spring is in the air when the daffodils start a-blooming! (and all these from the bulbs I planted last yr)

And not to mention my tulip bulbs that I planted last yr also start sprouting.

Pix taken with my Nokia E71 cameraphone thus resolution is kinda so so

To Board ...or not to Board..

So much has happened over the past few weeks that it feels like a whirlwind and I am caught up in a swoop of activity.

More so that I am actually at home right now, called in sick and am trying to recuperate. After all, I rather be healthy and doing what I do best than working at half strength and barely coping.

Anyways, over one of those weekends, BF had these urge of getting a new snowboard. Ok, I lied - it wasn't an urge. He has been wanting a new snowboard for quite a while. Don't get me wrong, our current Option snowboards work well, but then again - I am not as fussed. BF on the otherhand has been wanting a new snowboard ever since we came back from Japan earlier this yr.

So he's been browsing - and after much looking he knew that he wanted a specific type of board - some new technology Lib-tech technology on a banana board which apparently hugs snow irrespective of the type of snow it is.

At the end - it was between these 2 here - the black was a T-Rice board the green was a Park Pickle board - both not cheap as it was well within the 4 figure category and that is without binding! Oh well, the thing with BF is, he likes buying good stuff which in most cases screams "Expensive" but it keeps him happy and it would last him for a while ~ plus it keeps him happy and it IS his money after all.

At the end of the day - the final outcome is the T-Rice board and with bindings - should keep BF a well truly happy chappy when we hit the slopes at yr end.

As for me - I think I shall stick to my tried and true Option GT Girl board for at least 2 more seasons. Lol.