cod fish recipes: July 2009

What is the best cat beverage?

Cats are known to be not so great drinkers! Cats, in general, get most of the liquid they need from food. and if they will need to drink, then water is what to go for since it is the most adequate beverage for cats, no surprise here!

Milk is also to be classified as food, not a beverage! It contains many nutritients, such as albumen or calcium, and it is specially good for kittens. However, cow milk has a different composition than those of the mother cat's milk., it is a known fact that many cats cannot tolerate it and therefore are exposed to diahrrea (some will even vaumit it). If this happens do not give them any type of milk anymore, and even if you water it, it is useless. As a rule to be known, milk is worthless as a beverage.

Conclusion: Water, and only water for cats.

The homemade cat food website.

Corned beef stir fry

I am not ashamed to say I love tinned corned beef as much as I love Spam or Chinese luncheon meat. I don't like plain corned beef straight from the tin for sandwiches. We always had it stir fried with onion. Every time I make this I can always eat a big bowlful of hot steamy rice. It's trashy but tasty comfort food, sometime it's what I need. Any leftover I normally make sandwiches.This recipe

Mango salad

I bought some green mango hoping to make Malaysian mango sambal, but found out it has already gone semi ripen with a slight sweetness but still hard. Not sour enough to make sambal so decided to make Thai mango salad.I don't mind shredding the mango because I have a much loved gadget i.e. this Japanese mandoline I had for over 10 years. Shredding vegetable is child play.Thai style mango salad is

Coca-cola wings 可樂雞翼

Coke is not only a refreshing fizzy drink, it's quite a nice marinade for meat. Many people are familiar with ham cooked in Coke, famously introduced by Nigella few years back.There are also Chinese recipes related to Coca-cola. When getting a cold, many like a hot flat ginger-lemon-Coke 薑檸樂, a lovely drink and quite an effective cure. Coke is really nice to go with ribs, pork chops and chicken

Apam balik (Turnover pancake)

Pancakes are multi racial and international. Every country has their own different pancake recipes.I have posted quite a few Chinese style pancakes.Now lets return to a traditional Malay recipe. This pancake is Apam Balik, translated as turnover pancake.There is a thin and crispy version and a thick and fluffy one like this post. This thick pancake is similar to American thick pancake with a

Steamed aubergine with a spicy tomato sauce

If you like fish fragrant aubergine you will like this recipe. I have made this several times. No meat at all and it's quite yummy.Ingredients: enough for 1 - 22 small or 1 large western aubergine (egg plant)sauce:3 cloves garlic1 large red chilli (less or leave it out if you don't like too spicy)2 tbsp fermented black beans (dried beans not sauce)1 large red juicy tomato2 - 3 stalks spring

Vietnamese noodle salad with lemongrass pork

Vietnamese salad is always refreshing and appetising. Nuoc cham sauce is so simple to make but so delicious to accompany any Vietnamese dishes.Lemongrass flavoured pork noodle salad is popular in all Vietnamese Cafes or restaurants in Hong Kong. I love it. It's called 'Huon mau gee pa dung mung 香茅豬扒凍檬' in Cantonese. No sure whether this is authentic Vietnamese or what it is called in

Spinach and glass noodles salad 粉絲菠菜塔

Here is another Sichuan style salad with spinach and glass noodles, eaten warm or cold.Simple and refreshing vegetarian. Moulding with a cup makes a nice presentation as a starter.This recipe is enough for 2.Ingredients:40 -45g glass noodles or bean thread or fun see300g spinach (better use young spinach with stalks), very cheap from Asian or Chinese supermarket1 tbsp grated ginger1.5 tbsp sesame

Cantonese (Hong Kong) style chilli oil 辣椒油

In Hong Kong and UK, Chinese restaurants always offer a dish of fiery chilli oil to eat with the meal or dim sum.I have already posted a recipe for Sichuan style chilli oil. Sichuan Chilli oil is fragrant but does not have a savoury taste.Cantonese chilli oil is slightly different, usually has dried shrimps, shallot and garlic which give it a savoury taste. The solid is as nice as the oil.Here is

Spring onion pancakes 蔥油餅

Spring onion or scallion pancakes (chung you bing 蔥油餅) are delightful flaky pancakes, similar to Indian paratha. There are various ways of making these pancakes. This is my favourite method.These pancakes can be eaten on its own with any favourite dipping sauces, or as a wrap like this egg filled pancakes or eaten with a meal. No bad with curry if you don't mind fusion.Here is the recipe, makes 6

Colourful sweetcorn stir fry 玉米雞丁

Feeling a bit run down today and too lazy to cook anything labourous. I got some chicken and sweet pepper to use up. Don't fancy chicken & pepper in black bean sauce. Finally decided on my old time student favourite, i.e. sweet corn stir fry. Sweet corn is not something common for stir fry but this recipe is quite nice with rice.Ingredients:1 chicken breast about 200 - 250g300 - 350 of mixed

Muah chee 麻芝

Muah chee is a Malaysian-Chinese snack originated from Penang. This is made with small lumps of glutinous rice dough coated with a ground peanut mixture, soft and chewy similar texture to Japanese Mochi or Cantonese sticky rice balls (lui sa tong yuen 擂沙湯丸 or lo mai chee 糯米糍).Not the prettiest snack but yummylicious. It's easy to make. Best eaten within few hours at room temperature, if keep in

Carrot and daikon soup 紅白蘿蔔羹

Carrot and daikon thick soup (hong bak lo bak guern 紅白蘿蔔羹) is quick and simple with few ingredients, nice steaming hot or warm. Perfect for lunch or light meal.This recipe makes 3 large bowls of soup.Ingredients:Meat and marinade140 - 150g minced pork or beef1.5 tbsp light soy sauce1 tbsp chinese cooking wine (shaoshing)1 tsp sesame oil0.5 tsp chicken granule powder, like Knorr (optional)1 heap

Macanese style Portuguese chicken (Po Kok Gai 葡國雞)

Macau is part of China now, it was the first and last European colony within China. Portuguese traders had settled and colonised Macau from the 16th century till its handover to China in 1999. Because of this, Portuguese had strongly influenced Macau's architectural buildings, culture and food. Macau has long famous for its tourism, gambling and food.I'd been to Macau few times while I was

Chicken noodle salad 雞絲拌麵

I still got a piece of chicken breast left from the roast chicken the other day. Looking for something quick and easy with noodles.To follow the same sort of salad like bang bang chicken, I thought of Beijingnese style chicken noodles (ji se pun mien 雞絲拌麵) . This is normally eaten warm or cold.Recipe will feed two.Ingredients:150g dried noodles (I used Shanghai noodles like this picture on the

Egg filled pancakes 雞蛋灌餅

Egg filled pancakes (ji dan guan bing 雞蛋灌餅) are Beijingnese breakfast sold mainly by street food vendors. It's cheap and tasty. Similar to Indian roti or tortilla wrap with a difference.Need a bit of practice to get it right how to fill the pancake with egg. Here is how I make them.This recipe makes 5 pancakes.Ingredients:A. pancakes150g plain flour75 - 80ml water1/4 tsp salt2 tbsp of sesame

Bang bang chicken 棒棒雞

Chinese usually prefer food hot then cold. There are exceptions like Sichuan 'liang pun 凉拌' which are salad style dishes, one of these is the well known bang bang chicken (or more correctly pronounced as 'bung bung ji' 棒棒雞).The name bung bung ji came from the way the chicken was prepared. Traditionally the cooked chicken was bashed with a wooden stick before shredding. In Chinese wooden stick is

British laying claim to indian food

Last week it was Birmingham City Council that launched a campaign to protect the famous Balti name by preventing Indian restaurants outside the city from using it. And now the curry crazy Scots are staging a tikka takeover, laying claim to Britain's most popular dish the Chicken Tikka Masala.

Its a know fact that British are crazy about Indian Food so much that across the UK, 2.5 million people dine in 9000 curry houses every week. The very first Balti dish, which is named after the pot it is cooked in, is believed to have been served by a Pakistani immigrant called Mohammed Ajaib in Birmingham in 1977. The dish became so popular that the area of Birmingham between Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath, and Moseley became known as the “Balti Triangle” because of the large number of restaurants serving it. Today, the Balti is a staple at Indian restaurants nationwide in Britain.

However, Birmingham City Council claims that because the Balti originated in the city, it has the right to protect the name, similar to other protected goods such as the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie or Wensleydale cheese.

Elsewhere in Glasgow, which has won the Curry Capital of Britain title three times, the Shish Mahal restaurant wants the city to be recognised as the home of chicken tikka masala, which it claims to have invented in the Seventies. Around 25 million portions of Chicken Tikka Masala are devoured in the UK every year as they spend £2.8billion on Indian food. Shish Mahal wants the dish to have the same legal protection as other regionally designated food, such as Arbroath Smokies. It could be renamed Glasgow chicken tikka masala.

Roast chicken

Oriental style roast chickenWhen I roast chicken I normally like to marinate it for a while to give it a nice flavour. This oriental style recipe isn't anything from a known recipe. It's tried and tested, I have repeatedly made this for years.For the chicken I normally use a medium chicken, amount of marinade adjusts to the size of the chicken.First spatchcock the chicken. Cut the chicken open

Hunan hot & sour noodle soup 酸辣湖南粉

Hunan hot & Sour noodle soup is very similar to Sichuan hot and sour soup. This soup is not thickened with cornflour but rice noodles are added to bulk up the soup. Either serve this as soup with a meal or full meal on its own.Quick and simple recipe. This recipe is enough for 2 -3 as full meal, or 4 people as a meal with other dishes.Ingredients:150 -160g pork, cut into very fine slivers/

Tainan coffin board (bread) 台南棺材板

Coffin board (棺材板 'guan chai bun') is a popular snack from Taiwan. When I first heard of this recipe, I was intrigued by its unusual name wondering how superstitious Chinese can be and how many people can get offended by its name. Coffin board resembles American's chowder filled bread bowl. Instead of crusty bread, coffin board uses fried bread similar to English fried bread but much larger

Wimbledon champions love Indian Food

Rajdoot, the Indian restaurant located in Wimbledon has become one of the prime eating spots for the tennis crowd during Wimbledon fortnight. Mimom Rahman seen in the picture with Roger Federer is a waiter and top tennis celeb spotter at Rajdoot.

He proudly shows the restaurant autograph book featuring superstars like the Williams sisters, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Lindsay Davenport, Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova.

Roger Federer in particular has taken a liking to this restaurant calling in 3 times in the first week of Wimbledon. One of his orders included Butter Chicken, pilau rice and 8 naan. [via Guardian]

Lo Mai Gai 糯米雞 (lotus leaf wrapped chicken rice)

I love anything with glutinous rice. One of my favourite dim sum is lo mai gai 糯米雞 which is a steamed glutinous rice parcel with assorted filling.It's very easy to make, essential item is lotus leaf which is available in many Chinese supermarkets which looks like brownish green paper and fan shape. Lotus leaf is not expensive, one pack lasts a long time. Lotus leaf gives a unique flavour to the

Pandan Kaya (pandan coconut curd)

Kaya is Malaysian/Singaporean/Bruneian coconut jam similar to lemon curd. Instead of lemon juice and butter, we use coconut milk. For a nicer flavour I love to add pandan leaf juice and palm sugar.To make this I have always followed my mum's method of cooking the mixture using a double boiler or bain marie. Kaya cooked by this method is far superior and smoother. Many people for convenience and

Kimchi chigae/jjigae (kimchi stew)

I am currently having a Korean food craving. Since I have quite a bit of homemade kimchi and homemade tofu sitting in the fridge, it's best I do something with them. The obvious recipe is kimchi chigae or jjigae, which is a spicy soupy stew with kimchi, tofu, meat or seafood. Very easy recipe just put everything together and simmer in stock or water.For the kimchi best use old kimchi which has a

Kimchi

I love Korean food. One of the favourite is kimchi. I have always wanted to know how to make kimchi. Recently made a batch it was a success and to make sure it is safe to eat. I tried it, it was fine. Now I am confident to share a fresh batch with you.

This recipe is a Chinese cabbage (leave) or Napa cabbage Kimchi.

To make kimchi there are several essential ingredients. For the chilli powder

Cocktail buns 雞尾包

Cocktail buns (雞尾包 gai mei bao) were originated from Hong Kong, now available in nearly all oriental bakeries in the world. These are soft buns filled with a buttery coconut filling. I love them since I was a kid. Not very slimming but utterly delicious especially when they are still warm.

Most bakeries use dough improver to make the buns very soft. I love the softness of the bun texture but