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Japanese Curry Rice

Japanese, Recipes 29/12/2012 Comments: 2

Japanese curry rice or karē raisu is Mr. D’s favorite and whenever I cook this dish, he’ll jump for joy like a little boy in a candy store. Japanese curry is very popular in Japan and you can easily get it in any fast food shop or cafe. Unlike Indian or Malaysian curry which are on the spicy side, Japanese curry is not spicy, has thicker consistency, extremely aromatic and slightly sweeter. It is a very appetizing dish and Mr. D couldn’t have enough of it. This dish is simple and quick to prepare as you can use store bought Japanese curry roux in block form. There are an assortment of instant curry roux which are easily available in any Asian groceries store. The major brands are from House Foods, S&B Foods & Ezaki Glico.

In our quest to search for the best instant Japanese curry roux, we tested the different range we could get hold of such as the S&B Golden Curry, S&B Tasty Curry, House Vermont Curry, House Java Curry, and House Kokumaro Curry. Our verdict: Kokumaro Curry from House is without a doubt the best curry among all the instant Japanese curry we tried as it’s seductively aromatic and tantalizing. It tastes as good or even better than the ones serve in the Japanese restaurant here. It comes in a box with 2 blocks of curry roux and each block yields about 5 servings.

Finely diced shallots, bite-sized chicken, diced carrots and potatoes, and Kokumaro instant curry roux are all you need.

Itadakimasu! Honto ni oishii desu!

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Quick Chicken Curry Puff

Malaysian, Recipes 23/12/2012 Leave a comment

Last week has been hectic and exhausting. I had very little motivation to cook yet both of us did not feel like eating out. So, I whipped up a simple chicken curry puff for dinner using instant Malaysian curry paste from A1 Best One. A1 Best One instant curry paste is very famous in Malaysia and it is sold in most overseas asian groceries stores . The reasons behind its popularity are its wonderful aroma and flavorful taste. Please take note that there is another instant curry paste sold in the stores that has almost similar name as A1 Best One and it is known as A1 ActionOne instant curry paste. Initially, I thought that they are both from the same company but later found out that they were different. I prefer A1 Best One’s curry paste over A1 ActionOne as the latter taste a bit dull.

Ingredients you need.

Quick Chicken Curry Puff (Serves 5)

Puff Filling

Ingredients

1 packet of instant curry paste
1 medium red onion (chopped)
2 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
4 chicken thigh fillets
300 ml water
1 tbs oil

Methods

Wash the chicken thigh fillets and pat them dry with a paper towel. Cut the fillets into cubes.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the chopped onions and fry until translucent.
Add in the instant curry paste and stir-fry for 2 min or until aromatic.
Add in the cubed chicken thigh fillets and potatoes and stir fry for 3 min.
Pour in 300 ml of water. Cover the lid, lower the heat and let the curry simmer until the chicken is done and potatoes are tender (30-45 min).
Let it cool.

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Mac & Cheese

Recipes, Western 05/12/2012 Leave a comment

For me, it’s important to obtain good quality cheese and pasta when cooking Mac & Cheese because these two are the heroes of the dish. I enjoy Barilla’s pasta more than San Remo’s as Barilla’s pasta has nice bitey texture and shorter cooking time. As for the cheese, I used Bega’s vintage cheddar and Mainland’s Gruyere. This recipe by Neil Perry calls for the addition of smoked paprika and Dijon mustard into the cream mixture. The flavor is rather interesting and all of them goes hand in hand together. I usually give it a generous sprinkle of breadcrumbs over the top and slowly grill it for better crunch and fragrance. I can assure you that you’ll be sticking to this recipe after you try it as it’s so easy, quick, and most importantly, DELICIOUS. I was pleasantly surprised at how light this dish is despite the amount of cream and cheese used in this recipe. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

These are what you need. Missing breadcrumbs as I forgot to take it out from the cabinet.

Yum yum…

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Claypot-less Chicken Rice

Malaysian, Recipes 03/12/2012 Leave a comment

Are you a fan of claypot chicken rice? I know I AM! For those of you who have no idea what it is, allow me to enlighten you. 🙂 Basically, it is a combination of marinated chicken pieces, shitake mushrooms, and rice cooked in a claypot over high flames and right before it is served, an egg is cracked over the rice and sprinkled with salted fish. I’m feeling hungry already by just describing it. Haha, greedy me! 😛

Claypot chicken rice is easily obtainable anywhere in Penang, Malaysia. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Australia especially in Geelong. But that won’t stop me from enjoying my favorite food. If I crave it, cook it I shall!

Cooking the dish in a claypot will produce a layer of crispy bits at the bottom of the pan and this gives the dish a great charred flavor. This charred flavor together with the egg and fragrant salted fish are just amazing! (Mmm!~~ ) Sadly, I do not have a claypot so I’ll just have to make do with what I’ve got, a microwavable pot or a rice cooker. Although cooking it this way does not give you the amazing crispy charred bits, it still taste delicious especially when serving with good quality salted fish. This dish is a great one pot dish for those lazy days as it is very simple to cook. It is important to get the right balance of saltiness in this dish. After some trial and error, this is the final recipe that I’m happy with.

Salted fish brought in from Penang by Mr. D’s mom. Salted fish sold in asian groceries stores in Melbourne is super expensive and not as fresh looking as the ones back home.