SPICY THAI BBQ 
CHICKEN WINGS

About a week ago I asked on That Bloody Botak's facebook page what does a sweet, hot young that girl got to do with this. Well, nothing much, actually....... sex sells, and it did get the attention, did it? :-D

Anyway, this hot, sweet young chick...... er..... chicken wings did get the attention it was looking for, and more too! It did not last very long on the plate! That's how good it was, and it's damm easy to make! There's all you need to make this little morsels of heaven! Goes good with beer too!

Ingredients

5 chicken wings

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

2 tablespoons of light soy sauce

2 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

2cm ginger, finely chopped

1 stalk of lemongrass, finely chopped

half of a whole garlic, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

Method

Hell, even a kid can do this! Put everything in a ziploc bag, squeeze al much air out of it as possible, mix everything well and leave it in the coldest part of the fridge to marinate for a day or two. The more days the better, as the  flavour will have more time to make it's way to the bone.

When you're ready to cook, put the wings on a wire rack in an oven that is set at 180 degrees celsius and let it grill for 20 mins. after the 20mins is up, baste the wings with the remaining marinade up the temperature to 200 degree celsius and let it brown for 5 mins. The wings should now be ready. Simple, is it?

Enjoy!

SINGAPORE FRIED HOKKIEN MEE

Living too far away from home is no fun, especially if home is Singapore, where all the good food are. Unfortunately, there is only one shop in Kuala Lumpur that sells this dish, and the standard is dropping like a ton of bricks. Having to pay more than rm5 for parking and more than rm10 for a plate of mee is also not something I would like to do. So the only alternative is to cook it myself.

A good fried hokkien mee is dependent on the stock that is used. That stock usually contains pork and prawns. As i'm only cooking for two, I use whatever prawns and pork belly to make the stock, which is then added to the noodles. Works just fine too, if you squeeze everything out of the prawn head while the stock's been made.

Ingredients

1 portion of egg noodles
1 portion of mee hoon
Half a garlic, finely chopped
1 handful of towgay
1 handful of spring onions
2 eggs
3 big prawns
1 medium sotong, sliced
Fried pork lard
100g pork belly, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce

Make the stock by first frying half of the garlic in a pan, when the garlic is about golden brown, add the pork belly and the heads of the prawn. Remember to squeeze the contents out of the prawn's head as that's where all the flavour is. 
Add one cup of water, let it simmer until about half of the liquid is left. Now throw in the prawns and squid, let it cook for a minute, and put it aside

In a hot wok, add some pork oil and garlic. 
Cook till almost golden brown, then add the noodles and mee hoon, light soy sauce and fish sauce. 
Cook for about a minute, and add the beaten eggs. 
Once the eggs are cooked, it's time to pour the stock over the noodles and let it cook till almost dry. 
Once that's done, throw in the spring onions and towgay, cook for another 30 seconds, add the fried pork lard and it's ready to serve.

This dish is best enjoyed with a good sambal balachan. Enjoy!

THREE MEAT PENNE WITH TOMATO AND BASIL SAUCE

With it's grooved exterior and hollow centre, the penne is really good for soaking up sauces. See how the sauce and cheese sticks onto the penne. Every bite is guaranteed to be a flavourful one! I managed to find some nice, huge, red and juicy fresh tomatoes at the supermarket, so this time i'm not using the canned variety.

Ingredients

Penne for 2 persons

3 large tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped

Half of a whole garlic, chopped

A handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons of oregano

2 tablespoons of rosemary

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

2 teaspoons of black pepper

4 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese

3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

200g minced beef

8 slices of your favourite pepperoni

8 rashes of bacon

Olive oil

Method

In a pot of salted water, cook the penne until al dente, drain the water, dress with olive oil and chopped basil, put it aside.

On a hot pan, cook the bacon until crispy, put it aside.

With some olive oil in a hot pan, saute the garlic and onions till the onions are translucent.

Add all the other herbs and spices and cook till aromatic.

Pour in the finely chopped tomatoes and bring it to a boil.

Add the minced beef and turn off the heat. Minced beef cooks pretty fast, so this will make sure the beef is not overcooked.

Assembly

Mix 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese and the crispy bacon into the sauce and pour it over the pasta. 

Stir it in well to make sure the sauce gets to every bit of pasta.

Put the pasta into an oven proof bowl and place the pepperoni on top and sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top.

Put the bowl on the top shelf of an oven on high heat just to melt the cheese on the top.

When the cheese is melted, take the bowl out of the oven, plate it and it's ready to be served.

Enjoy!

CHEE CHEONG FUN

TEN HUP HONG KONG CHEE CHEONG FUN

8B, JALAN CANGKAT

KAJANG, SELANGOR

I first came to this place about 20 years ago. At that time, the old man was the one slaving over the steamer and his wife was taking orders for drinks and running after their kids at the same time. The chee cheong fun did not look that good, but the texture and taste was excellent!

Fast forward 20 years and the two grown men in the picture were the kids that were running around the shop the first time I came. And that's their mom in the picture, while their dad is now running around the shop serving drinks. The chee cheong fun still don't look good, but the excellent taste and texture of the food, thank god, remains the same!

The prices are flat across the board, RM5.50 for a small portion, and there is a choice between prawn, char siu or a mix of prawn and char siu fillings for the chee cheong fun. I ordered a small portion of the mixed fillings type and it did not disappoint at all! The chee cheong fun was smooth and fine, they were generous with the fillings, and the sauce and sambal that came with the dish remained as good as it was 20 years ago!

It's really good to see the younger generation taking an interest in the business, as we are losing a lot of good food stalls due to the younger ones not being interested to follow in their parent's footsteps. Cant blame them, as the food business is a tough mistress, but the rewards are good, and it's good to see these guys carrying on their parent's business!

CHAI TOW KUEY

This is something i really like. Whenever I'm back in Singapore, I would usually go to this coffeeshop at the junction of Telok Kurau Road and Changi Road for a bowl of laksa and this chai tow kuey. And this is the only place I know off that includes fried ikan bilis in the dish. 

Now, this is a pretty easy dish to make. Whenever i go for Dim Sum, I would usually order some lou bak kou to go. I will then put it in the freezer until i want to make this dish. The other ingredients are easily available at any supermarket.

Ingredients

2 pieces of lou bak kou, chopped into small pieces

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 prawns, peeled

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

2 tablespoons of sweet preserved radish

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 tablespoon chopped spring onions

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 tablespoons of fried ikan bilis

Method

On a hot pan, cook the garlic, prawns and preserved radish. As the radish still has some moisture in it, be prepared for bits of it popping out of the pan.

Add the chopped lou bak kou into the pan and cook until slightly brown.

pour the eggs into the pan, covering as much of the lou bak kou as possible. You may now add the fish sauce into the mix.

Cook until the eggs are slightly brown, plate, sprinkle some pepper, fried ikan bilis and spring onions on top and it's ready to serve.

Notice that besides the fish sauce, I did not add any salt or soy sauce as the lou bak kou and fried ikan bilis are actually salty enough on it's own. This is another dish that is really easy to make and good to eat too!

Enjoy!

CHUUP
40, Jalan SS 22/25, Damansara Jaya,
 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
+60 3-7733 6673

Family and food. The link is strong. My earliest memories of a family dinner was that of the adults sitting on the main table while the kids had a table to their own. This brought a kind of bonding that lasts till today. The kids are no longer kids any more, but we still meet up, and are as close as ever. We even have a special 'cousins' reunion dinner for Christmas and Chinese New Year, besides the traditional family reunion. 

Over the years, we have learnt how to cook, and glad to say, we are pretty good at it. All thanks to my mom, who passed down some absolutely fantastic recipes. Although we mainly cooked for our family, the people at Chuup took it one step further. Boy, I'm glad I'm not part of their family! I'd be double the size I am now, as if I'm not big enough!

When they say grandma's on the menu, they really mean grandma's! The recipe was passed down, and I'm glad they did. The food here has that homemade touch to it, which is good because frankly, I don't really like that commercial crap. Almost all of the food here are made in house, everything up to the dipping sauces. 

Popiah

I am a good Peranakan boy. I'll never admit that there's something better than what my mom could make. This, however, is pretty good. The shredded turnips must have been cooked in a prawn broth, because the taste of the sea is evident in this dish. Taste pretty good too.

Yam Cake

I'm a sucker for yam! Almost any yam dish I like, but having said that, this dish is actually pretty good. I understand that not everyone eats chilli like me, so this sambal that is served with this dish should be just about right for those who can't take the really spicy stuff. This yam cake came a generous amount of fried onion topping. the taste and texture of the yam cake is just about right too. However, it would be better if there could be more dried shrimp bits in the yam cake mix. Overall a pleasing dish.

Mango Salad with Pork Strips

I love this! The tangy mango, peppery rockets, cherry tomatoes and salad leaves goes extremely well with the tender, juicy pork chop cut into strips. A real treat to the culinary senses! It could be a pretty decent meal on it's own too, for those who are staying away from carbohydrates. Really good stuff!

Chicken Chuppies

These golden nuggets of chicken are excellent! Chicken pieces, cut up, well marinated, coated in a batter and fried to perfection. Crispy on the outside but still nice and juicy on the inside. And that dipping sauce! A mix of mustard and mayonnaise, amongst other things, is fantastic! The chicken on it's own was already pretty damm good, but the sauce takes it to a different level altogether! Excellent Stuff!

Grandma's Chicken Chop


Now, this is one of the must try dishes on the menu! If my grandma made chicken chops like that, I'd be twice the size I am now! A boneless chicken thigh, well marinated and grill to perfection, char marks and all! The tasty and juicy chicken is accompanied by some excellent chopped spinach and smothered with a nice sauce with some tender chunks of carrots! I am usually not much of a fan of chicken, but this is really good! excellent stuff!



























Pork Satay


A good satay, in my opinion, should have all these qualities.

1. Must be good enough to be eaten on it's own, without the sauce
2. Must be tender
3. The char marks must be present, but not overcooked or burnt
4. Must come with a chunky peanut sauce that has just the right blend of spices and sugar

I am glad to say that this pork satay met up with all the criteria that makes a damm bloddy excellent satay! What you see in the picture is actually two portions of satay. One, given such good satay, is never enough. The pork was marinated for two days before being expertly grilled. The result was pure heaven! My mother-in-law loved the satay so much that even the satay sauce was wiped clean off the bowl! Really excellent stuff! A dish not to be missed if you come here!


I won't hesitate to recommend anyone who wants good food to come here. It's reasonably priced too! The total bill came up to below rm80. Really good value for money, considering the portions and quality of the food!

NASI LEMAK

I love nasi lemak! What can I say! I'm a sucker for those small packets of coconut milk flavoured rice with a small piece of egg, a little fried ikan bilis with a sweet sambal and a slice of cucumber, Somehow, nasi lemak never tasted good served on a plate. Why, I can't understand. The best nasi lemak i had was a cold packet on a 30 foot fishing boat going through 2 meter high waves. Oh, did i say I am a sucker for danger as well? Anyway, the craving hit, so I decided to make it for myself. I don't know how to make small batches of sambal, as such, the recipe for sambal makes up one big bowl. You can keep it in bottles and use it for other dishes that requires sambal, such as sambal petai prawns ;-). I'm only going to show how to make the rice and sambal, the two most important part of the dish. I'm quite sure you would know how to fry up some ikan bilis and make hard boiled eggs, right? So here goes!

Ingredients (for the rice)

2 cups of rice ( I used brown rice but you can use white rice too)
Half of a big onion
2cm ginger, crushed
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
Coconut milk
Water
Salt

Method

After washing the rice, put in the onion, garlic, ginger and pandan leaves
As for the amount of liquid that will be used, it all depends on the kind of rice. One cup of brown rice normally needs two cups of water, so the ratio of coconut milk to water should be 70% coconut milk, 30% water. You can use the same ratio for white rice as well. Add a pinch of salt and you can start cooking it in your rice cooker.

Ingredients (sambal)

One stalk of lemongrass (approx 6 inches)
30 dried chillis, soaked
4 fresh red chillis
3cm ginger
2.5 big red onion
1 whole garlic
2 tablespoons balachan
5 small red onions
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
salt and sugar to taste

Method

Put the tamarind paste in a quarter cup of water and mix well. Some people can't take the heat of the chillis, so for those who can't take the seeds out of the chilies before you put it in the blender.
Next, put everything except the salt and sugar into a blender and blend it till it becomes almost a paste.

In a pot on medium heat, add some oil and pour the sambal into it. Keep stirring till the oil breaks the surface. This is the time to add the salt and sugar to taste. The sambal is now ready.

Earlier in the day, I made some roasted chicken wings. For fiber and more protein, I toasted some taupok and tempe, flash boiled some long beans and made some hard boiled eggs. Add that to the rice and sambal, with some fried ikan bilis, and you have a complete nasi lemak meal.

Enjoy!