The Accidental Gardener

 It's been a long while since I have come here to write and it is not because I was too busy ... 

Would you believe that it was because I could not remember my password or the email address that I used to access this blog! Terrible me!

Anyway, I AM BACK!

But this time, I am more into urban farming than cooking! Well, since the world stood almost still due to COVID 19, we all had time to do something different.  

How I accidentally got into planting was.... The land beside my house (it does not belong to me) was cleared to park cars and as a trade off, we or rather, my husband told the Land Owner that we would plant flowers etc to beautify the place.  Huh? Duh? What?

In the end, who had to do the work... Me lah! So I got into planting Sunflowers and tried my hand at growing some vegetables and it was not first time lucky... haha.

I failed and only the Sunflowers grew.  But it spurred me on. Got me doing research on how to plant this and that and eventually, I got to harvest what I grew to eat!

Winter melons, bananas, brinjals and most recently... tomatoes and lots of cucumbers in addition to lettuce, mizuna and pumpkin.

I found that Petola Segi, Bottle Gourds and Snake Gourd plants grow rather easily.  Some vegetables like the Bitter gourds require more care (had to wrap to prevent pest attacks).  

I won't go on and on for now...  Soon... 😁Thanks for reading. Happy to be back!

Bak Chang (Kiam Chang)

I find it such a blessing that I am able to look back on my young days at memories of my late mother cooking together with my late grandmother, preparing meals for the family. Oh, the heavenly smell of food from the kitchen makes us children impatient for the meal to begin!

Unfortunately, when my mother passed away, I was at that age when cooking wasn't a priority and so I never got to learn from her.  But the memories of the food remained and throughout my adult life, I searched to learn and cook foods that were so very much a part of my growing up years.

Learning how to wrap a dumpling (chang) was on my list and (thankfully) a paternal aunt of mine who is also a great cook herself taught me how to do it years ago. Still, I have yet to master the art of wrapping the Chang all the same size!

I have tried a few recipes to get it to the way I remembered how it tasted like when my mother made them and at last, I got it!

According to one of my sons, "Mum, your Chang is AWESOME! Make sure you remember how to do it the same the next round!"  Haha... I hope so too!

You have to make time for making Chang.  The glutinous rice has to be soaked overnight and the bamboo leaves (with hot water) too.

The leaves will soften to make it easier to be handled!

Ingredients include dried chestnuts (soaked for some time to remove the grit on it), dried shrimps (habee) - use hot water to soak it for a while and keep the water (for use later).

Dried mushrooms (remove stalk, soak in hot water - keep water for later use)

Shallots and garlic - some pounded together (to be fried with the pork)

Shallots - sliced finely and fried crispy. Keep oil for use to fry the glutinous rice.

If you like, you can add in a whole salted egg yolk into each Chang.  Some would half it; it is optional.

Now, to prepare the glutinous rice (I used 2 kgs this time) - drain away the water.  With the leftover oil from frying the shallots, add in some minced garlic and fry till fragrant. Then add in the rice, some salt, white pepper powder (I used lots of this!) and dark soya sauce.  Mix well.  Finally, add in the fried crispy shallots and it is ready for wrapping to begin.

Wait a minute! What about the pork filling?

I used streaky pork (personally, I prefer the meat to have more fat) cut into bite sizes (2 pieces per Chang, it is up to you and your skill in wrapping!).

Fry the pounded shallots/garlic mix until fragrant in some oil.

Add in the pork and stir fry.  Then add in 1 tsp of Five Spice Powder, salt, dark soya sauce, the water from the soaking of the Dried Shrimps and Mushroom. Add in the prepared Mushrooms.

When the liquid has reduced (taste the mixture to check if salty enough), add in the clean chestnuts and stir well.

Now we are ready to do the wrapping....

Unfortunately I don't know how to explain the wrapping part ... that you would have to look for How to wrap Chang DIY in Youtube!

Depending on the size of the bamboo leaves, I used 2 or 3 at a time to wrap.

Usually it takes about 3 to 4 hours in the boiling pot of water for the dumplings to be ready.  This is the conventional method.

Now I have discovered a faster way to boil it! I use the Philips Pressure Cooker.... Only 40 - 45 minutes and they are ready! Fantastic!

No worries! If you don't have this kitchen appliance... just use the stove, but be sure to watch it (enough water for 3 - 4 hours)!  There was once I boiled it over the gas stove for 2 hours (lazy me!) and the Chang was not nice and soft inside.

 Once ready, remove from water and hang to drip dry!

Now, to try one....

Happy 5th day of the 5th Moon! Bon Appetit!

Acar Timun

When I first tried this particular type of Acar Timun many many years ago in Penang, I was so taken by it that I would purposely drive all the way to buy it from that stall inside the Pulau Tikus market early in the morning before it gets sold out.

As the years went by, the couple selling it grew older and older and finally, came the day when they were no longer selling it anymore.

Now, there is still another person selling it outside the market, but I still preferred the one inside (and besides, there will come a time when she too will no longer sell it).

None of my friends or family knew the recipe... I searched high and low in all the Nyonya Cookbooks I could get my hands on over the years.

One day, while browsing at some old cookbooks at a flea market in Petaling Jaya, I came across an old recipe book that someone had discarded for sale.

Turning the pages... my excitement grew as I realised that I had finally found the recipe that I had been wanting for sooooo long!

Still not believing that it was that particular Acar Timun that I liked, I tried out the recipe... and .... happiness.... it was! Hurray!

So now, let me share it lest it disappears for good.... It is fairly simple, but time-consuming and in this day and age of  "not enough time to do so many things", one has to take time off to prepare it.

Lots of cutting... be prepared to get your fingers cramped up and hopefully, not sliced accidentally!

Also, since most of us now live in high rise apartments or such, we do not have the privilege of getting enough "Sun" to dry out the vegetables.... hmmmm..

First, to prepare the cucumbers....

8 large cucumbers
3 tsp salt

Discard centre pulp and cut cucumbers into strips of 1 1/2 inches lengthwise.
Mix in salt thoroughly.
Sun dry till all excess water is drained off.
Transfer to casserole.

After that, prepare the Marinades (2 kinds)

1. Turmeric Oil

115ml coconut oil
90g old turmeric roots (sliced thinly)
10 cloves garlic (pounded)

Fry the sliced turmeric roots in oil till oil is bright yellow and residue dark brown.
Discard the roots.
Add the pounded garlic and fry till golden brown. Set aside to cool.

2. Vinegar Marinade

60g ginger (shredded)
10 cloves garlic (sliced)
4 fresh red chilis
4 fresh green chilis (chilis to remove seeds but keep whole)

All the above to be SUN DRIED.

225ml rice vinegar
6 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Boil the vinegar, add the sugar and salt and allow to cool.
Add the ginger, garlic and chilis to the cooled vinegar.

Pour Marinades 1 and 2 over cucumber until fully immersed. The recipe also calls for some fried sesame seeds for garnishing (but personally, I don't like sesame seeds, and so I omit it as they tend to get into the spaces between your teeth!)

Keep 1 to 2 days before serving.

I hope that you will enjoy this as much as I do, making it and eating it!

Steamed pork with (cincalok)

I had almost forgotten about this particular dish which my mother used to cook for us, until my sister mentioned it some years back.

Steamed and ready to serve!

Before.
Pork slices, sliced shallots & red chillies
mixed with enough paste.
Let it marinade until the steamer starts boiling.
Steam until cooked; Do not stir.

Mum used to call the paste "harm har" - this I remembered! - My sister and I went around looking for it.  The one that we found most nearest to the taste (remembered) is from Lee Kum Kee... Fine Shrimp Sauce.

However, I found this paste to be rather salty and thus, only very little is used for the dish.

I have not tried cooking this with Cincalok - sold in bottles and the fine shrimps mixture is pinkish in colour. Maybe I will one of these days, to see if it tastes the same!

Recently, my sister managed to find homemade "harm har" and bought some.

This is homemade and you can see the little shrimps,
like Cincalok.
But the colour (slightly purplish) is similar to that of
LKK Fine Shrimp Sauce,
which is more a finely ground paste.

It was not as salty as the commercial one and so I had to use more.  However, with less salt, the taste of the fine shrimps was more pronounced.

An easy dish to make for dinner, especially on a working day!

In Search Of....... Fresh Food & Stuff!

Fresh produce... direct from source to kitchen. Something not all of us, especially city dwellers, can have easy access to. 

Growing your own vegetables may be possible, but then again, how many varieties can one grow?

Rearing animals? I'm very sure your urban neighbours won't take too kindly to clucking chickens, bleeting goats etc etc ETC! (psst... I'm talking about the "smell"!)

Hah! Now, if you know your way around the city where you live, it is still possible to source for fresh produce.

Fresh seafood, for instance.... one of the places KL city folks go to would be to Kuala Selangor (about an hour's drive away via the new highways). You can dine there at the many restaurants available and buy fresh seafood home.  The fishmongers even have ice ready to pack the "goodies" for you.

Fresh vegetables?... Cameron Highlands is a little too far (and tiring!) for a day's outing from KL.  But wait a minute! Now we have a little of Cameron Highlands brought to us.... at Gohtong Jaya.

Recently some friends and I went on such an outing, to Gohtong Jaya.  Just less than an hour's drive away from the city, Gohtong Jaya is (about) midway between the Karak Highway and Genting Highlands (top). 

We had lunch at one of the many restaurants there, visited a vegetable farm, where we selected the kind of vegetables we wanted before it was harvested direct off the land for us. (How more fresh can fresh get?)

We went to the Strawberry Farm where a Mushroom Farm is also located.  We walked passed a number of little shops where one could browse for souvenirs or other foodstuff.

On our way home, we stopped at a hydroponics farm which also sold vegetables brought in fresh daily from Cameron Highlands!

By the roadside, along Karak Highway, we spied Orang Asli youths selling Petai by the bunches.  Haggling with them was fun and we bought all 6 bunches left!

We had 4 dishes for lunch. This one is Braised Pork & Yam slices.

Dish number 2 is Pork with Dried Chilis & Salted Fish.

                          

Stir fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Garlic.
(One of my favourite veges. Just love the texture.)

Steamed Tilapia Fish in Ginger/Garlic Sauce.

                           

Looking at the Strawberry Farm from the bed of roses above.

Walking through the Mushroom Farm.

Abalone Mushrooms - Simply love these! The mushroom is succulent and "meaty". Does not become soggy like Oyster Mushrooms. Stir fried with bell peppers.... yummy!

The vegetable farm where we chose what we wanted.

 

Watercress (Sai Yong Choy)
before harvesting

Kai Lan (harvested)

Romaine Lettuce (harvested)

                             

The famous Bentong Ginger
 (available from the shops in Gohtong Jaya)

Hydroponics Farm

Fresh tomatoes from Cameron Highlands

Fresh bell peppers - just look at the colours!

Bought to take home!

 

Reminds you of a rose, doesn't it?

 

Some of what we got from the Orang Asli youths!

 

Made soup with some of the watercress I bought.

Sambal Udang Petai;
with the petai from the Orang Asli youths and
fresh prawns from Kuala Selangor.

 

Within the compound of the Strawberry Farm, we saw the signage indicating LAVENDER and we followed the signs to it. 

These were what we saw.

 

 

It was a fun day for the four of us.  The air was cool and fresh.....The food we had for lunch was delicious..... Lots of greenery all around us.

 

I look forward to our next outing, In Search Of......