Sambal Belacan

A must have spicy Malaysian condiment which goes well with fried noodles, fried rice, fish, etc. Everyone has his/her own version of Sambal Belacan.  A very simple recipe which called for chillies, belacan (shrimp paste), salt and sugar.  Before serving, a squeeze of lime/lemon juice is added into the sambal to give a little sourness. 

Ingredients: Adjust ingredients according to your taste.

large red chillies (or cayenne pepper)
bird's eye chillies
belacan (shrimp paste) - toasted
salt
sugar

oil

• Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend into a rough paste. 
• Cook the paste with enough oil for about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.  
• Store in a clean jar.  The sambal can be stored in the fridge for weeks. 

Marbled Egg-White Cake

Some time back, I've baked a  Yellow Butter Cake using just egg yolks and  now with a container full of egg whites sitting in my freezer for months, I've decided to try baking a cake with egg whites only.   This recipe has been adapted from here.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup egg whites
150g castor sugar
160g plain flour, sift
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
60g butter (melted and cooled)
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g dark chocolate, melted in the microwave

• Preheat oven to 160 deg C.  Grease a bundt pan and dust with flour.  Shake away excess flour.
• Beat egg whites until foamy and add in cream of tartar.  Continue whisking until soft peaks form.  Gradually add in sugar, beating until stiff and shiny.
• Gently fold in sifted flour and melted butter and vanilla extract.  Fold thoroughly.
• Pour half of the cake batter into a separate bowl and stir in melted chocolate.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan by alternating spoons of vanilla batter and chocolate batter.   Gently swirl together with a knife, taking care not to over mix.
• Bake for about 35 minutes or until cake is done.

Stir-fried Assorted Mushrooms

Ingredients:

200 King Oyster mushroom, sliced
150g Shimeji mushroom, cut of base parts and separate mushroom
100g button mushroom, halved or quartered
1 small carrot, sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 slices ginger
2 scallion, sliced
spring onion, for garnishing

Seasoning:
50ml water
1/2 tbsp white miso paste
1/2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tsp oyster sauce (omit for vegetarian)
sugar, salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
cooking oil
1 tbsp water + 1/2 tbsp cornflour

• In a wok, heat oil and saute scallion, ginger and garlic until fragrant.  
• Add carrots and stir fry for a minute or two. Add in king oyster mushroom and cook for a minute; then add in shimeji and button mushrooms. 
• Stir in sesame oil and seasoning.  Cover and cook until tender.  
• Mix in cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.
• Serve hot.