Pressed Rice with Chicken Peanut Sauce (Nasi Himpit dgn Kuah Kacang Ayam)

Today we had Raya-Like breakfast, not because of special celebration but because I wanted to send some to our friend Che & Charlie before they leave Miri. Hopefully this will make up for the coming Raya (Idh) which they are going to miss this year.

Source: HomeKreation
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Chicken - chopped to bite size
500g Peanuts - roasted & ground
1" Galangal*
6 Shallots*
1 Lemongrass* (* blended)
1 Lemongrass - bruised
1/2 cp Chili Paste
1 tsp Cumin Powder**
1/2 tsp Fennel Powder**
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder**
1 bowl Thin Coconut Milk
1/2 cup Palm Sugar
1 tbsp Tamarind juice
Salt

METHOD:
1. Heat up some oil & fry bruised lemongrass, chili paste, blended ingredients & spices** until fragrant.
Add in chicken & cover until chicken is cooked.
Add in coconut milk & boil.
Add in ground peanuts, sugar & salt.
Stir & let it cooked until thick.

2. Serve with pressed rice (Nasi Himpit) & cucumber.

Chicken Satay

 

This is our breakfast today: Chicken Satay, Nasi Himpit (pressed rice), Peanut sauce, cucumber & onion.

 

I made two versions of satay, grilled Satay with sticks (above) & fried Satay without sticks (below).

 

Peanut sauce:

Making Satay is not difficult as many people would think and homemade is always the best as you can be generous with thicker chicken meat. With inflation rising high, those sold out there are made economically in order to be profitable.

After comparing several versions of recipes from Hana, Kak Ina, MyR(Jun), here what I came up with. Thanks to all for being inspirational.

INGREDIENTS:
500g Chicken Meat - cut into small pieces 
4 Shallots*
2 cloves Garlic*
1" Galangal*
1" Ginger*
1 Lemongrass*
1/2 tbsp Coriander Seeds**
1 tsp Cumin Seeds**
1 tsp Fennel Seeds** (** roasted) 
2-3 tbsp thick Tamarind juice
50g Sugar + 1tbsp Palm sugar
2 tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt

METHOD:
1. Blend all ingredients marked * & **.
Marinate chicken with the blended ingredients & the rest in fridge overnight.


2. Cooking method 1:
Thread chicken meat onto satay sticks.
Grill & baste with bruised lemongrass dipped in oil.


3. Cooking method 2:
Heat up some oil & stir fry marinated chicken above big fire until dry & golden in colour.


4. Serve with peanut sauce, Nasi Himpit & cucumber.
Add some chili oil to peanut sauce to spice up.

Soto (Again)

This is our breakfast this morning.... recipe posted earlier here. Kekawan meh jemput makan sama2.....hehe.

Sayur Lodeh

This was our special meal on Hari Raya (Idh) yesterday.

INGREDIENTS:

Mixed vegetables - cauliflower, brinjal, carrot, potato, turnip, long beans, beancurd

Dry vegetable - beancurd sheet, vermicili (Su'un) - soaked to soften

Tempe (fermented soya bean cake)

Some peeled Shrimps

A pot of Coconut Milk

5 Shallots*

10 Chilli Padi* (*pounded)

1 Lemongrass - knocked

1 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt & MSG

METHOD:

1. Place in a pot, coconut milk, potato, carrot, pounded ingredients*, turmeric powder, lemongrass, salt & msg.

Boil until potato & carrot are soften.

Add in the rest of vegetables & cook until it boil again & off fire quickly.

2. Boil instant Nasi Himpit per packet instructions.

I prefer brand Lazat as it is prewashed & solid texture when cooked.

Cool & slice before serving.

3. Serve Nasi Himpit with Sayur Lodeh and Sambal.

Refer here for sambal recipe. You can use Ikan Bilis or shrimps as you like.

Ketupat Daun Kelapa (Glutinous Rice in Woven Coconut Leaves)

This is Malay traditional way of cooking glutinous rice in woven young coconut leaves and called "Ketupat". Ketupat are typically served on special occassions and especially on Hari Raya (Idh). They are eaten with savoury dishes like Rendang or curry. I learned how to weave Ketupat cases from my late grandma when I was about 10 years old and fortunately I never forgotten until now. Filled cases are cooked in a lot of coconut milk until the coconut milk is dry & the rice inside should be cooked by then. INGREDIENTS:
20 Ketupat cases
10 cups (160ml) Glutinous Rice - soaked for 1-2 hours & drained
600g freshly grated Coconut - add some water & squeeze milk
2 tbsp Salt
1 Pandan (Screwpine) Leaf

METHOD:
1. Fill ketupat cases with glutinous rice.
Leave a thumb pinch of empty space at one corner to allow the rice expand.
Too tight will cause the ketupat uncooked and too loose will cause it too soft.
Ensure that both ends of ketupat are slit through & knotted to prevent it from opening during cooking.

2. Place all the filled ketupat in a big botom pot & cover with coconut milk sufficiently (see above photo).
Add in salt & screwpine leaf.
Boil until coconut milk is completely dry and oil surfaced out.
During the cooking process, flip the ketupat frequently to ensure even cooking.

3. Serve with your favourite Rendang or curry.

4. The Ketupat can keep for 2 days if properly cooked.

HomeKreation Soto

Soto is a famous Malay dish served at special occassions like Hari Raya (Idh) or when entertaining. It is made up of Nasi Himpit (rice cubes) served with chicken/beef soup, Bergedil (Meat ball), garnishes and most importantly Chilli Padi Ketchup.

In the small containers from top left: blanched bean sprout, fried Tauhu (soya bean cake), Chilli Padi ketchup, Shredded chicken meat, chopped spring onion+celery and Begedil (meat ball).
In the big containers are chicken soup, Nasi Himpit (rice cubes) and fried suhun (vermicelli).
Sunday is always a special day because everybody will be at home for breakfast. I usually prepare something special, or whatever the kids will be asking for, on the day. We have not had Soto for quite a while and also there was a packet of Nasi Himpit in stock which I bought quite sometime ago. I started preparing very early in the morning at 6.30am today. Although simple to cook, there are a lot of preparation in making Soto and it took me 3 hours to get everything served on the table.

INGRDIENTS:
1 packet of mini Nasi Himpit (contains 24 pieces)
Bean sprout - blanched
Spring Onions & Chinese Celery - chopped
Suhun - deep fried
2 pieces Tahu (soya bean cake) - deep fried & cut into small pieces
Fried Onion

SOUP:
500g Chicken - preferably chest part & cut into big pieces
3 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Black Pepper corn*
1 tsp White Pepper corn*
1 tsp Fennel seeds*
1 tbsp ground Soup spices*
6-8 Shallots*
3 cloves Garlic*
2 inches Ginger* (*pounded)
Water

BEGEDIL (meat balls):
300 g more/less Minced Meat
3 Potato
½ Big Onion - chopped
1 spoon Curry Powder
Breadcrumbs
Fried Onions
Salt & MSG (optional)
Spring Onions & Chinese Celery - chopped
1 Egg

CHILLI PADI KETCHUP:
10-15 Chilli Padi / Bird-Eye Chilli
Soya sauce
Sugar
Lime juice
- Place all in a blender until fine.
- Note: I used chilli pickles I made in the earlier posting, in place of fresh chillies - it tastes really good.

METHOD:
1. Boil Nasi Himpit about an hour. Cool completely before cutting into cubes. This can be prepared the night before.

Cooked Nasi Himpit, before being cut:

2. Heat up oil in a big soup pot & fry pounded ingredients.
Pour in water upto 2/3 full and add in chicken, salt & MSG. Boil until chicken is cooked.
Pick the chicken out of the soup and tear the meat into fine shreds.

3. While waiting for the soup to get cooked, prepare the Begedil.
Mix all the ingredients except egg & ½ of the breadcrumbs.
Divide into small balls & pat flat. Dip into beaten egg & then the excess breadcrumbs.
Deep fried until golden.

4. Serve & garnish as shown in the photos above.