Where cool cats linger
I’m just a cat-loving Malaysian who loves to eat, cook, and bake. I also modify recipes from various cuisines into Halal, Muslim-friendly versions, and share them here so you don’t have to figure it out all by yourself.
My Recipes
My experiments with cuisines from all over the world, using Halal ingredients.
Treats from my home state of Terengganu, Malaysia, as well as a few family recipes.
My best recipes, guaranteed to be crowd pleasers and a hit at potlucks and dinner parties.
My endless pursuit of the yummiest bread and dough recipes, either baked, fried, steamed and more.
Copycat recipes you can make at home, to satisfy your curiosity or cravings.
My collection of recipes by gadget, from air fryers to pressure cookers and other handy kitchen appliances. Anything to help speed up our prep work!
MY MOTTO
#nakmakanbuatsendiri
(Wanna eat? Make it yourself)
Latest Posts
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Simple Chicken Soup
CONTINUE READING: Simple Chicken SoupAfter a string of binge-eating sessions and potlucks and indulgence, sometimes we just want something simple for a change. One of my go-to options for a quick (and healthier) meal is this simple chicken soup. This is a Malaysian style soup, with a very hearty, herbal broth. Perfect for cold rainy days, served with a…
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Scallop and Shrimp Pasta
CONTINUE READING: Scallop and Shrimp PastaThe other day I didn’t have the right ingredients in the fridge to make my usual Malaysian dishes. No eggs, either, so I couldn’t even make a simple fried rice without leaving out what I think is a key ingredient. Digging through the freezer I found a bunch of seafood I could use, and so…
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Char Kway Teow
CONTINUE READING: Char Kway TeowOne of my mom’s favorite dishes is char kway teow, specifically the one from Madam Kwan’s. Their char kway teow is indeed very good – a very savory, flavorful sauce, generous amounts of chicken and shrimp, and wonderful wok hei. The problem is, ordering Madam Kwan’s too often can make a visible dent on our…
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MENU IDEAS
Having a Party?
I used to organize dinner parties with my friends, dubbed The Dinner Club. I’d propose a menu along with the estimated cost, and we’d set a date. I’d do all the cooking, and my friends chip in for groceries. Here are the menus for my past Dinner Club sessions, in case you need some inspo.
MAKE YOUR OWN INGREDIENTS
To Make, or To Buy?
Sometimes I’m just lazy to run to the store to get something. Sometimes certain ingredients cost a bomb, or simply aren’t available to buy. Take a look at spice mixes and other ingredients I’ve made myself, for use in recipes in this site.
After a string of binge-eating sessions and potlucks and indulgence, sometimes we just want something simple for a change. One of my go-to options for a quick (and healthier) meal is this simple chicken soup. This is a Malaysian style soup, with a very hearty, herbal broth. Perfect for cold rainy days, served with a plate of steaming hot white rice.
Initially, I started with a base recipe by Che Nom, but after making this dish several times, I’ve adjusted it to my taste and incorporated my own techniques. When making chicken dishes that require browning the chicken beforehand, I usually use the cold start method. Chicken pieces are placed skin-side down in a cold pan, and slowly heated to render the fat from the skin. I would then use the same rendered fat in the dish, and maybe even have some left over. Not only does the chicken fat reduce the need for any added oil during sauteeing, it also gives the dish such great aroma. I do this for my Palestinian chicken soup recipe, as well.
Add this to your rotation of simple dishes to make for weeknight dinners.
#simplechickensoup #chickensoup #supayam #supayamsimple #supayamringkas
The other day I didn’t have the right ingredients in the fridge to make my usual Malaysian dishes. No eggs, either, so I couldn’t even make a simple fried rice without leaving out what I think is a key ingredient. Digging through the freezer I found a bunch of seafood I could use, and so I felt inspired to make scallop and shrimp pasta.
A quick web search led me to a simple and highly rated recipe by Christina’s Cucina. Her mission apparently is to preserve authentic Italian dishes, and looking through the ingredients list for the sauce – olive oil, parsley, garlic, wine, salt and pepper – I definitely believed in her recipe’s authenticity.
Of course, I had to make some adjustments to halal-ify the dish and also work with whatever I had on hand. In place of the white wine I used water mixed with some chicken stock powder, and a splash of lime juice to mimic the acidity typically contributed by the wine. I also used cilantro instead of parsley, because that was what I had in the fridge. Being Southeast Asian, I also think cilantro goes very well with seafood anyway. The dear hubby also likes a bit of heat in his pasta, so I added chili flakes to the dish.
I loved how this pasta turned out. For all the olive oil and butter in it, the flavor is clean and refreshing and not greasy at all. The seafood flavor really shines through and is the real highlight of the dish. An easy meal to make even on busy weeknights, you’ll never get enough of it. Try it!
P/s: I’m still not as skilled at getting a good sear on the scallops, will update this post if/when I get the right technique down.
For the recipe, search “scallop shrimp pasta” in my blog, linked in my profile.
#scallopshrimppasta #seafoodpasta #pasta
One of my mom`s favorite dishes is char kway teow, specifically the one from Madam Kwan`s. Their char kway teow is indeed very good – a very savory, flavorful sauce, generous amounts of chicken and shrimp, and wonderful wok hei. The problem is, ordering Madam Kwan`s too often can make a visible dent on our wallets, so I decided to try making it myself.
In my research, there are several ways to make char kway teow. Arguably the most iconic version is Penang-style, which is seasoned with sambal (chili paste) and a soy sauce mixture. Most of the best Penang-style char kway teow is also most definitely non-halal, using ingredients like lard and chinese sausages. I am still quite keen to attempt a halal-ified version of Penang-style char kway teow at some point, but that`s for another post. The other version I is seasoned with just a soy sauce mixture. This seems to be the version we get from Madam Kwan`s, and was what I attempted in this recipe.
I used multiple sources for inspiration to come up with this finalized recipe. In my experiments, I incorporated shrimp oil and played around with the ratios for the seasoning sauce, but the end result just wasn`t quite there. Finally a friend suggested I add some chicken fat, and that was what finally perfected this dish. Similar to Madam Kwan`s version I used chicken and shrimp, but substituted fishcakes for the squid. I needed to go easier on the high-cholestrol stuff.
You may notice that the measurements for the sauce mixture in the recipe is very specific. I`ve tested this recipe a few times using rough measurements (agak-agak), but felt that the sauce always didn`t turn out quite right. This specific measurement really hit the sweet spot. Kudos to RecipeTin for coming up with the magic formula. Most importantly, my mom gave her seal of approval and said this was just how she likes it. Success!
For the recipe, search "char kway teow" in my blog, linked in my bio.
Growing up in the East Coast of Malaysia, I remember the seemingly endless, gentle rain during monsoon season. Most of the time the rain wasn’t too heavy, but it could go on for weeks. You could literally see damp patches form on the brick walls as they get saturated with rainwater. However, the monsoon season was not without its charms. In an area of my hometown called Manir, there`s a stretch of road where you`d see small stalls crop up during the rainy season, selling all sorts of root vegetables like cassava, taro, and sweet potatoes. We’d drive over to this area to grab what we liked – cassava being one of our top choices – and make all sorts of snacks and desserts with them. One of the things we made often was boiled cassava with shredded coconut.
If you happen to get your hands on some good, fresh cassava, do give this simple recipe a try!
For the recipe, search "boiled cassava" in my blog, linked in my profile.
#boiledcassava #ubikayurebus
One of our go-to meals to prep and bring on our camping trips is this Malay-style beef soup. The hearty, comforting combination of meat and potatoes, as well as the warmth of the peppery, gingery spiced broth, makes this soup the perfect dish to have on a cold evening by the campfire. We would portion the soup out into ziplock bags, freeze them, then store the frozen soup in our cooler. The soup would last us multiple meals over a weeklong camping trip.
I based this soup on an excellent recipe by Che Nom, with my own modifications. I started with browning my meat first, similar to when making a Western-style stew. I also added chilies to give the soup a little extra kick, and a few dates to act as a tenderizer. This recipe makes a big batch, so you can make this over the weekend and freeze a few portions for a quick dinner on another day. Do give it a try!
For the recipe, search for ‘beef soup’ in my blog, linked in my profile.
Our freezer was getting a bit too full for comfort, so I felt pressured to clear it. I found some lamb leg meat stashed in a corner of the freezer, so I started looking around for recipe ideas for it. At first I considered making some fancy Middle Eastern or Indian rice dish, but in the end I opted to make lamb curry, a standard lauk to have together with plain white rice.
I found an interesting recipe by Kak Yan, which looks pretty straightforward and uses pretty common ingredients I already have in my fridge or pantry. Hers was with beef, but I knew it would work just fine with lamb. I prefer browning my meats first when making curries or similar dishes, so I did just that with my lamb meat. In addition to the wonderful flavor boost from the brown bits, this step also renders quite a bit of fat, which is then used for sauteeing the spices and aromatics. I used coconut milk in my curry, however this is actually an optional step, so feel free to omit if preferred.
The result was excellent. The tang of the tamarind really balances out the richness of the lamb and coconut milk, and the dish wasn’t gamey at all. Serve this lamb curry with steaming hot white rice and, if available, some crispy fried salted fish. The combination will be spectacular. Yum!
For the recipe, search for ‘lamb curry’ in my blog, linked in my profile.
Made fishball soup for lunch. I realized I had way too many bags of fishballs in the freezer, and I also had a good portion of mince chicken I should use at some point. Made the soup base by simmering a large handful of anchovies in chicken stock (I just used stock cubes). Seasoned the mince chicken and let it marinate for a bit, while waiting for the soup base to be done. After straining the stock (I discarded the anchovies, they really were completely flavorless by the end of it) and returning it to the stove, I dropped spoonfuls of the seasoned mince into it to make small meatballs. Blanched some leftover wonton noodles and greens, then served it all up. I topped it with fried onions, but didn’t make the cut chili in soy sauce. That would’ve given the dish a bit more of a kick. A decent comfort food, for times you just want something simple.
#fishballsoup #fishballnoodlesoup #noodlesoup
Peanut Butter Banana Cinnamon Rolls: a delicious experiment.
This was something I made some time back, during my last trip back to KL. The mission was to clear the pantry of any near-expiring items, and that jar of peanut butter had been sitting there for ages. I also happened to have a sad-looking bunch of bananas. I thought about what I can make with both, some kind of bread, *not* some type of cake, sweet pie, or muffin. Only cinnamon rolls made sense to me.
I found a decent recipe to start with, one with bananas in the dough itself as well as the filling. This being my first time trying this recipe I made it as-is, and generally all went well until the time came for assembly. My kitchen was so warm and the dough was so active, by the time I placed the cut rolls in the pan they were practically overflowing from the pan 😆.
These were great. Bananas and peanut butter really go so well together. Next time I’ll use AP flour instead of bread flour (this was my mistake, cinnamon rolls typically use AP flour for a more tender crumb), just soften the butter instead of melting it (also a mistake – butter was pooling everywhere during assembly 😅) and I think I’ll cut the cinnamon sugar by half. I also think the recipe makes too much frosting, so either I’ll make less next time, or I just won’t slather all of it on the rolls. Whatever it is, I’ll definitely be making this again.
#nakmakanbuatsendiri #peanutbutterbananacinnamonrolls #cinnamonrolls #bananapeanutbutter #peanutbutterbanana
