Curry Puffs ala Sim & Trifle

I cook by guesstimation... so everything is approximate only - but here are the notes my gurlies made as we were in the cooking process during our curry puff making session today.  Happy Cooking!!

MAKES 75 CURRY PUFFS

Ingredients

3/4 cup Canola oil

1 x whole bulb garlic

16 x medium sized potatoes

6 onions (slightly less than half the amount of potatoes for the onions)

5 x chicken Maryland fillets

1kg of fresh prawns

2 x 2kgs of plain flour

1 x 250g butter

-Boil potatoes for 10-15 minutes then peel them and cut into cubes

-Dice onions

-Peel and de-vein then dice prawns

-Peel and dice garlic

-Dice chicken

Water dough

1 pack of flour - put into large mixing bowl.  Pour in 5.5 cups of water.  1 heaped teaspoon of castor sugar.  Knead with hands. Knead until it doesn't stick to the table top, add extra flour if required. Cover dough with tea towel to prevent drying out.

Oil dough

Half a pack of flour - put into mixing bowl.  Add 3/4 cup canola oil and one block of melted butter. If required, add extra flour. Cover dough with tea towel to prevent drying out.

Filling for curry puffs:

-   Half a cup of oil to brown onions

- Mix 3 tablespoons of Baba's meat curry powder with 2 heaped tablespoons of "Action 1 Instant Curry Paste for Chicken/Meat" - add water until paste like and put into wok and fry for about 2 minutes and then add garlic and fry till fragrant.  If you want more spicy add more curry paste to taste.

-   Add more oil if its sticking to the wok

-   Add 4 teaspoons of salt and add in chicken

-   Add in prawns when chicken is half cooked

-   Add potatoes once all meat is cooked

-   Add table spoon of chilli paste (optional)

-  Add 2 teaspoons of salt and sugar

Place a dinner plate upside down into the tray for curry puff filling (this helps drain the oil).  Once curry puff filling is ready, place into the tray to cool down. 

Dough:

1)  Roll a decent sized ball of oil dough and then flatten water dough that is big enough to wrap the oil dough in.

2)  Roll with pin into rectangle size then fold in thirds - roll out again with pin.

3)  Roll into sausage using the short end and then cut into size. 

4)  Flatten each portion with rolling pin, the side showing the rings facing up.

5)  Fill the pasty with fried up ingredients and pinch/seal the sides together.

6)   Deep fry on slow to medium fire till golden brown.

Step 1

Step 2



Step 3



If you do not see the "rings" you have done it wrong.



 



Step 4











We had so much time & fun "bonding" in the kitchen and as the whole process took 6 hours and 75 curry puffs later, they deserved the title of  "Curry Puff Queens"!!! 



         

Perfecto!!!

I am really impressed with their sealing or pinching techniques and the curry puffs not only looked perfect in shape, size, looks but best of all, it tasted good!!!

                    !   !

Trifle on the other hand is a no brainer, just layer ingredients and make it look pretty, so here is the end result - doesn't it look yummilicious??

Teamwork - Trifle BecksArlie

Would you like another serve ... check out the custard ... its oozing irresistible temptation???

Layers from bottom to top.. port wine jelly, mixed fruit salad, sponge

soaked in Harvey Bristol cream sherry, mfsalad, double thick custard,

and repeat till the top rim of bowl, then whip double

cream and decorate with fruits etc

My gurlies have never spent so much time in a kitchen in the one day ever before!!  I am really proud of what they produced today mostly under verbal supervision.

I am glad we had this long overdue cooking session, - and slowly passing the cooking reins over to my gurlies!!!

If Charlie & Becky keeps this up, I am sure they will be keeping their men for a long time to come - like they say, "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"!!!

Mabul 2014

Told you Mabul is a boomerang for me ... yessssss I went back again this year and this time I stayed for 32 glorious days!!!

I know some of you will be scratching your head - as I myself did, but could never understand or see how HPR (usually stays 4-6weeks each year when he is at UChang's) would pass his time doing nothing apart from snorkelling!?! Quite easily I say now!!!

What am I going to do there for so long???? Flipping back on my journal, everyday was fun filled with something or other and only 4 days were totally relaxing.

A normal start of the day for me would usually be fried meehoon and 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast.  The lst snorkel boat leaves around 8.30am and this year, I did not bother much with the lst boat.  Then its back to base for quick morning tea and catch the 2nd snorkel to Kapalai around 11am and back for lunch and after a quick rest the 3rd snorkel trip leaves around 2pm and usually takes you to P1 or P2 and is the last trip for the day.  Then its back to the chalet and get showered up and before you know it, its time to catch the sunset!  The sky and sun paints a different picture everyday and this is not a spectacular shot, but is the lst one I flicked through my 7024 pixs on my phone, so it has filled this spot!
When I don't go out on the lst snorkel trip, I usually stay back and haggle with the locals trying to sell their catch of the day! As this is my 4th year to UChang's, I am getting better at haggling and wiser too as now I can be "in control" and really negotiate the crabs, fish and slipper lobsters down to what I am willing to pay for the day and not the opening price they are asking for the crustaceans/fish.  

Another reason for our long stay this time was because we had 2 weddings to attend - Jamilah's early in Nov and SingSing's at the end of November.  These 2 lovely ladies happen to be the daughters of Uncle Chang, the man himself!!! 


Uncle Chang in RED at daughter's wedding reception

What can I say, Uncle Chang has a great family and Roihan his son is a really cool dud too.  Roihan is "the man in charge" on Mabul and he is not just a handsome face, but he also happens to be the head mancho Instructor.....so #divewithroihan #sidemount if you are thinking of getting PADI Certified or your Advance etc.

Roihan  Me  &  HPR

This time round, as I had so much time on Mabul I kept myself busy if I am not in the water, by making all kinds of snacks and local treats and sharing my culinary skills with some of the staff.  Curry puffs were a "hit" and the most fun to make and everyone seems to like them, so much so I made them again to order and it was so funny and I was so tickled when 3 of the staff came with their 1ringgit and wanted to buy my curry puffs!!!! 

Boys with their MYR$1.00 to buy my curry puffs

I am lucky as Chef Ah Long would let me into his domain and mess around his kitchen.  There were days when I would make bubur with sweet potato, sago pudding with santan & gula Melaka or cucur bawang etc.  
All depends if I have the ingredients and now that I have good  "connections" its easy to send someone to the mainland in the morning with my shopping list and my goods get delivered to me on the same day on the 4pm boat.  Island life can't get any better and some days I get to cook my own veggies as I was crazy mad about sayur pakis. (ferny looking local vegetable).

Sipadan is always on the top of my head!!! lol

This trip, we were so privileged to have gone to Sipadan 5 times thanks to the management of UChang.  Sipadan is the main reason why I keep going back to Mabul every year.  Sipadan has everything to offer my cravings for underwater critters.  Why I choose to stay at UChang's is also obvious as the management and staff at UChang's is really friendly and very hospitable. They always try their very best to entertain all my requests and go out of their way to see that I am happy on Mabul.
During the last week of my stay, I must have caught some kind of bug and was really sick.  I hardly left the chalet and have no appetite to eat so there must be something drastically wrong with me!  Luckily for me, HPR was always close by and would be at my back and call.  It was so unexpected and touching that Chef Ah Long and his staff would cook special fish congee and  less oily food for me and walk the food all the way to my chalet with NoiNoi and Anna.  The trio did this for a few days and I cannot thank them enough for caring after me when I was not well.

Special fish congee by Chef Ah Long

Last but not least, everything that happened on Mabul outweighs the "one mishap" we experienced but it will not stop us from coming back to UChang's.

Other highlights to name a few include having a "clean up day" by the arrival dock, a couple of boat driving lessons, playing table tennis with the army on Sipadan, side trips to other islands etc etc.
The end of our stay is upon us now and it was amazing how 32 days did not seem long enough now!!! 


I was sad to leave Mabul but life goes on!!!  I just wanted to thank everyone at UChang's again for making our time on Mabul so eventful and enjoyable.  Hope to see all of you again soon!!!

Yellow!!! Normally Purple - my unusual find!!!

Couture Pet Blankjacket

Talk about being creative! ... well I let my imagination run wild and came up with this idea of turning Qantas' blanket into a garment for Snowy!!!!

The days are getting nippy now, and the blanket is top quality wool ... tartan looking and is my "fake burberry" .. lol



Snowy's petshop purchased outfit

Well, it is all hand stitched and very "innovative" as well .... I put a button on the back so that it can be lifted up when Snowy goes outside to do her business and when its bedtime, we undo the button and the rest of the garment "blanket" comes down to cover every inch of her and keep her warm throughout the night!

Best of all, Snowy loves it!  Never resist and lets me wear it for her and does not put up a fight - unlike with other outfits she has got in her "wardrobe"!

Snowy in her fake Burberry Qantas winter outfit

Snowy look pretty with pink lace trimming??? I think I have cut her arm holes big enough but it might be the way she is sleeping... It was cutting into her fore legs so .... I guess it's best to leave dogs alone in their natural coat of fur and just be themselves and not make them wear human garments?!? Lol

Christmas at the Choongs 2014

Last Christmas, I was in London and CK cooked up a traditional English Christmas feast.  It was so nice not to be cooking for a change and have someone else do all the work and I just enjoy her efforts and eat!!!

This year, 2014 I have been travelling extensively for over 10 months and although I had flights booked to return before Christmas, I was still toying with the idea of staying back in KL. In hindsight, I am very glad I did not and headed home to be with family and good friends for this special festive time of the year!

Holly Theme Red & Green Xmas 2014

AC instigated the Christmas spirit in me!!! I saw a message she wrote on FB "Christmas at the Choongs" and I thought why not - although I know I have to slave away to cook up a storm.

We have been having Christmas get togethers like this since the girlies were as young as 15 years old ... and my girlies are now all in their 30s!!! Ann came with baked goods & fruits, Ahalya came with mangomisu to add onto my dessert table.  All up we had 12 varieties of mains and sides as well as for desserts including fresh cherries and mangoes that are so delicious now as they are in the prime of the season.

Fig & Orange glazed Leg of Ham on the Bone

The "usual" gang came for lunch and some stayed back and a few more joined us for dinner but there was still heaps of food left even after doggie bag takeaways!!!  GK loves to over cater and spares no expense to entertain our guests to make sure everyone has a good time and plenty to eat!!!  This year, the huge prawns 2 ways (natural on stick and marinated in lemongrass concoction) was the table talk.

Mains and Sides for Xmas Lunch @ da Choongs 2014

Plenty of eating, talking and catching up and it was really good to re-unite with my girlies too.  All in all, although it took 2 days to shop, prepare and cook this Xmas feast, it was well worth the effort.

I believe everyone had a good time which is most satisfying but I crashed afterwards and did not wake up till 1pm on Boxing Day!!!!!  I am definitely getting old and tired but am glad I was able to do it this year and hopefully still be here for the next Christmas???



Kota Kinabalu aka KK

It was a sad kind of day for me leaving Apo Island for Kota Kinabalu, but we know that we have to move on regardless!!!  The new friends we made were all reluctant to see us leave and when we were checking out, it was so sweet of them to make up stories like there is a malfunction of the pumpboat engine and no transfer is available over to the mainland for another 2-3 days!!!

KK is just a quick stop over for us enroute to Mabul.  HPR has a couple of special eating places he wanted to show off to me especially his stingray man.  HPR loves Ikan Panggang - stingray fish marinated in a spicy paste wrapped in banana leaf and grilled over charcoal.... nom nom nom!!



Grilled Stingrays - nom nom nom



When in KK we did a few errands and in our spare time, we walked till we dropped!!!  The 2nd day we had a day trip over to Mamutik Island for some snorkelling.  It was a fun day even though the underwater life was nothing short of fantastic.  It makes you appreciate Apo more and at the same time, we are getting closer to Sipadan, so we know we will get our snorkelling fix there to make up for all the other so called crappy places.Managed to catch up with a very long time friend and wife who suggested we have crabs for dinner.  HPR was not overly excited as he said eating crabs is crap - waste of time and not much meat and HPR was still hoping to have second round grilled stingrays.

When TCH picked us up, I mentioned we would rather have an assortment of local cuisine and mentioned stingrays and they took us to a foodcourt.  Being locals in KK for more than 30 years now, it was one of the best eating spots which served at least 50 different kinds of local hawker food.  We were in food paradise.  I am glad to report that grilled stringrays were available here too and we ordered one to share amongst 3 of us and one solely for HPR himself!!!  We over indulged ... but it was good food and worth all the uncomfortableness afterwards!!! lol




TCH and some of the local KK food

For seafood lovers, KK has plenty to offer, fresh and prices are relatively cheap to compared to other parts of the world.

Gula Melaka Sago Pudding

This Malaysian dessert will be hard to beat in terms of cooking/preparation time, low cost and great taste!!!

Served chilled it is soooooo delicious!!!!!  Don't ask me how many I have had this time I made it:)

I bought the gula Melaka from Rantau Panjang in Kota Kharu, a kampung near the Thai border town of Golok.  For a bag of about 20 mini slabs of this rich natural palm sugar, I only paid MYR$5.50!!!!  Wished I was able to carry a few more bags of this gula that is never to be found anywhere in Melbourne.

Gula Melaka from Rantau Panjang - Kota Bharu

In my opinion, the hero of the dish is the gula .... those that I buy locally turns hard as rock once it cools down, whereas this gula is silky smooth like a rich treacle and it has been 5 days now since I boiled it down from the hard gula to a thick liquid and it is still staying the way I like it to be:)

Yummilicious Sago Pudding

Quick recipe/method:
Boil the sago/tapioca till it is translucent/transparent, run under the tap to reduce the starch and then whisk up egg white and mix it through the sago/tapioca - this helps to separate the sago pearls individually and then put into moulds and chill in the fridge.  I added a few drops of "pandan" essence to give it the green colour and fragrant smell.

Served with gula (cut it up and put into pan with a bit of boiling water till it dissolves and do not over boil it) coconut milk (I heated the canned coconut milk with a pinch of salt and had it simmering till just hot but not bubbling or it will curdle) then let it cool.  Serve sago pudding with coconut milk and gula.  So easy to make and tastes like heaven!!!!

I am sure you can easily goggle the recipe, but I normally cook with guessimation method and apologise I cannot help you with exact measurements.

Apo Island

Apo Island is the one HPR raves about all the time and is one of his favourite place to visit as he has been going there religiously for the past few years.  After I "hijacked" his trip to Koh Lipe in March this year, this time round, HPR invited  me to join him to Apo Island.  A no brainer!!! obviously I was rapted and said YES YES YES!!!

HPR is one of the best travel buddies I have and we get along well together and most important of all, we share the same interest for critters in the underwater world!!

Transfers came to pick us up at 9am and we arrived at Apo Island at 11am.  What can I say, the view from our room is just breathtaking and so picturesque.  Apo is a very laid back island and the corals are amazing as most of it is still soft and so colourful.  Not much varieties of fish compared to Sipadan, although there are no sharks, its got heavy traffic for turtles!!!  Actually, I saw my lst eagle ray and spotted a razor rocky fish here on Apo!!!

Turtle - Left = HPR and Right = SC = threegather!!!

I was really naughty and had a few joy rides on the grandpas and grandmas (turtles) myself.  The local kids do it all the time, so the turtles are used to it and do not feel threatened or harassed at all.

I felt like a turtle myself riding on them and the turtle felt relaxed and just pulled me/us along so effortlessly as it did not show signs of struggle at all.  Whilst it was flapping its arms, I/we were kicking our fins to help us along - just a super special turtle ride and doing it threegather like teamwork.

The weather was extremely warm and humid and I had a hard time sleeping at night as the generator for electricity is turned off at 9pm!!!  Yesssss the whole island is in darkness.  We were sleeping very early and waking up at the crack of dawn or we would be in bed with our torches on and playing "frustration".

The locals and staff at the Liberty Resort were extremely friendly and I had days where I would be in the restaurant kitchen mucking around making curry puffs, baking bread or scones and watching Edna (head chef) cook their local favourite dish called Adobe Pork!!!

       

Whilst we were there, Apo had a "Fiesta Day" and my contribution was to cook duck chinese style!!! yesssss 100 years old duck they sent down to the resort from the lighthouse and it was the skinniest smallest duck I have ever seen as everything in OZ is on steroids!!!  I also watched them slaughter a 70kg pig for the feast. 

Those who ate the duck I cooked, complimented the flavours and taste was good, but it was just tooooo tough as you could not chew it!!!!!  





Da 100yr old tough duck

All in the name of fun and participation, it was another new experience for me....  the whole island was in party mode!!!  We  went into strangers home and ate their food and went eating from house to house!!!  We did not feel out of place and felt like we were one of them.  Leave it to the islanders, they sure know how to party.  Disco music and the live band beating of drums were blasting across from the beach over to the hills to the other side of the island till the wee hours of the morning!!!





Walking my new "pet" lol



Every Wednesday, there is a big market and we took the pumpboat across to Malatapay.  Another eye opener day for me as I even got to "walk a pig"!!

As usual, we sampled a lot of local food and cakes and did some light shopping and bought some fresh local fruits.    

When we are not in the water, we will be sitting on our balcony and eating rambutans or lonsonges aka langsats in Malaysia and watching the world go by.... so serene and beautifully quiet, we can just sit back, relax and enjoy this piece of paradise! 

    

Chilling on Balcony

Now I know why HPR loves this island so much.  It has everything we both like and its far far away from everything and the maddening crowds.

  

Whirlwind Cebu Escapades

Oslob whalesharks now ticked off the bucket list!!!  It was an awesome experience and although there is not much else to offer in Oslob, we managed to find other things to do around the location and this time, our mode of transportation is the motorbike!!! 

Bike riders do not seem to wear helmets there, and we insisted unless we each had a helmet, there is no way we are going anywhere with the touts!!!  Its amazing what a few extra dollars can buy in the Phillipines.  Before you know it, the so called guide came with 2 helmets and whalla, we were on our way!!!  

The first 10 mins or so was fine, but after a while the ride started to take its toll.  It was getting uncomfortable and like a kid, I was asking and asking when we will arrive at our destination.  We did not realise that the attractions were so far away and was on the bike for close to an hour and did we suffer a sore behind as this is about the 2 time I have had a bike ride in my entire life. 

Went to the Mainit hot springs and hidden waterfall. The hidden waterfall was a bit different as the hike to find it was very interesting.  Best of all, a bunch of local kids took to us and followed us around and we had so much fun together at the waterfall. 

 

Afterwards, we biked through Cebu Hills with excellent views down to the villages and towns.  The road was steep and windy all the way down and I had to hang on for dear life on the bike swinging left to right and I don't think I want another bike ride for the rest of my life!  Although they were "pro" riders and knew their way through the hills but in hindsight, it was pretty dangerous as we could have tipped over the hill quite easily if the brakes played up.... that is why accidents happen!!!

   

We also made a side trip to Sumilon Island for snorkelling.  Underwater life there is nothing to shout about as we are spoilt snorkelling at Sipadan and nowhere else seems to come close to it for me personally, but we just had to do it to satisfy our curiosity needless to say we were disappointed.

After 5 action packed days, when it was time to leave Oslob, we tri-biked to take ferry across to Dumaguete and spent the nite there before being picked up by Pinky for Apo Island the next morning.

 



The mean machine - tri-bike