Fried Bitter Gourd & Fish Balls Soup

"Special fried bitter gourd soup. Try it and you will know how great it is."

Yeah, just the bitter gourd and fish balls, this soup relies on these ingredients for a last-minute explosion of its natural flavours. Simple, simple, simple. It's all about simplicity, just like my principal concept of managing things. Simply, but never tolerate on the essentiality in nutritional values. I thought vegetables and fish balls are good enough to make up a vegetable-and-protein dish. Moreover, it's boiled in soup.

Low-fat, healthy and, it was delicious, but.... yet, not 'so' low-fat. Why? In order to make the bitter gourd more flavourful and easy to drink in soup (to make the soup taste more robust and not-so-bitter), I pan-fried the bitter gourd. Yes, extra oil has been loaded on with the additional step here. However, these fried bitter gourds did make the soup much more flavourful, on the other hand... We really liked it alot!

So, give or take, it's up to you (smile).

Serves 4
Ingredients
½ of a 30cm long bitter gourd, lengthwise, and sliced
10 fish balls
1 chicken stock cube
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
½ teaspoon of grounded white pepper
½ teaspoon of salt

1500ml of water

2 tablespoons of oil

Garnishing
Some chopped corriander

Method
1) Heat large frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil over medium fire. Pan fry the bitter gourd slices (in batches) till slightly softened and browned on both sides. Set aside.

2) Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Place the fried bitter gourd in the boiling water. Disolve chicken stock cube. Then, bring the water to a boil again, before lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3) Add in fish balls to cook for 5 minutes. Season the soup with fish sauce, white peper and salt. Stir to combine. Garnish and serve hot.

A portion of my bitter gourd soup counts less than 100kcal!

Tips: Choose the China phenotype, long, lighter green in colour and less wrinkled one, if you preferred less bitter taste.

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Cream Rice - 椰浆饭)

"What a great way to say hello to your overseas friends. Let your homecooked do the job!"

Nasi Lemak, a common name in the list of the local food delicacies of Asia.

Nasi Lemak, one of the top Malaysian cuisine has its great influence to Singaporean. Many local Chinese, thus, eat and cook this aromatic rice dish, for breakfast, lunch and even dinner. As such, Nasi Lemak is not limited to just the Malay food stalls, it's commonly sold in Chinese eateries everywhere in Singapore. For the Singaporean Chinese version of Nasi Lemak, it comes with even greater varities of side dish. What makes it different from the traditional Nasi Lemak which wrapped in banana leaf and comes with standard sides e.g. egg and chicken wing or fried tiny Kampung fish, the Chinese Nasi Lemak allows you to pick or choose your favourite side dishes from the pool of selections provided by the stall/ eatery, in general. Any versions, they all taste heaven..

Nasi Lemak, literally translated as "fatty rice", the fat refers to no more than the fat of coconut milk added into the rice cooking. The aroma yields from the rich coconut milk flavour in the rice, making this Nasi Lemak dish so unique and delicious.

Now you know what's about Nasi Lemak, if you weren't at first. Here's the recipe I've cooked. Easy and quick.

Ingredients for Nasi Lemak (coconut cream rice):
2 cups of rice, rinsed
350ml of coconut cream (Santan in Malay)
3 slices of young ginger
4 leaves of pandan (screwpine) leaves, tied into a knot
2 cups of water to cook rice (about 500ml)

Method:
Add all in ingredients in the rice pot to cook in electronic cooker, or steam the rice over stove till cooked.

Ideal side dishes to complete the Nasi Lemak meal:
Serving for 1 pax
1 portion of Sambal prawns
1 Fried chicken wing
1 tablespoon each of roasted/ fried peanut (kachang) and fried crispy anchovies (ikan bilis)
½ hard boil egg, sliced
Few fried tofu cubes (*Just cut and deep fry with oil)
Few slices of fresh cucumber
* Sides are optional. The above listed are my personal preference. Include all or pick your choice(s) to compliment your Nasi Lemak.

A serving of my Nasi Lemak meal (with a smal portion of sambal prawns, 1 chicken wing, few pieces of tofu cubes, some sliced cucumbers and kachang & ikan bilis) counts about 600kcal. It's a little sinful, isn't it? :p

Tips: The amount of water to cook the rice should be as usual, if you like softer texture.
* In fact, the amount and types of coconut cream/ milk used in Nasi Lemak recipe is pretty versatile. Simply add more coconut cream, if richer flavour preferred. Both the thick paste-like cream or fresh watery coconut milk versions are fine. For later option, the amount should be increased for better aromas, too (up to 500ml = 2 full cups).
* Most of the side dishes are easy to prepare. For chicken wings and sambal prawns, look at my recipes. :)
* Preparation of Kachang can be done by roasting or deep frying the peanut (usually fried with its skin remained intact).

Sambal Prawns

"This Sambal prawn was cooked simply to enliven the taste of my Nasi Lemak dish."

I cooked this to complement my Nais Lemak dinner the other day. Recipe was given and taught by my mum.

The sweet-spicy mouthwatering Sambal, the complementing prawns, the sweet crunchy onion... This simple to cook dish was perfectly delicious!

To cook this Sambal prawn dish perfectly delicious, who say I must use expensive fresh prawns... I insist on frozen ones because I have my secret tips to keep the texture of the prawns bouncy... Simple, keep the frozen prawns unthawed and added to cook direct, that's it (smile)! What's more.. Frozen prawns with express recipe allows you to prepare your meal quick and easy, even if it's for an impromptu dinner!

Ingredients (A) for Sambal Chili Paste:
1 thumb-sized young ginger, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 shallots, peeled
* Blend all ingredients till paste-like consistency

Ingredients (B):
600 grams of frozen shelled large prawns (about 15 pieces)
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
100gram belacan chili
150gram uncooked chili paste (made up of dried chilies, sugar, salt)
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of cooking oil

Method:
(1) Heat wok with oil over medium fire. Add ingredients (A) to stir fry till fragrant. Add in onion and stir fry a little.

(2) Then, add the frozen prawns and stir fry till almost cooked. Add in belacan chili paste and uncooked chili paste, followed by sugar and salt. Stir to combine. Let it simmer till bubbling. Heat off and dish up.

A portion of my Sambal prawns (about 5 prawns) counts about 180kcal.

Tips: Belacan chili paste and the uncooked chili paste are easily available in the supermarkets. Target the chill compartment, these ready chili paste are usually packed in small tubs.