Sambal Petai

While we took a stroll at the nearby night market, we spotted a stall selling petai (stinky bean). Without hesitation, we bought 2 bundles of it. If there's only hubby and I at home, I'll not take the trouble to cook this dish. However, with my parents with us, mom and dad will take over the sambal petai cooking task. :)

Dad tore the petai off from the pod and remove its white skin. During the process, you'll spot some tiny white worms. We'll not bother about it as it will add protein to our sambal petai dish, hehe...Then mom prepared the spice and ingredients to be pounded with mortar and pestle. It consists of shallots, garlic, red chili, lemon grass, belacan and lots of dried shrimps. To cook the dish, mom sautes the spice and pounded dried shrimps till fragrant and the chili oil separated. Then the petai is added to mix well.

So, with the hardwork of my parents, we got a chance to savor this delicious and appetizing dish.

Orange Cake (Bake In Rice Cooker)

This orange cake is the similar recipe to my earlier lemon cake. With the micro computer rice cooker around, the orange cake is quick and easy to make. Since I was in baking mood last weekend, I baked two orange cakes to share with my family and friends.

I made some minor modification on my earlier recipe and I observe some improvement this round. Besides the prettier appearance, the cake is fluffy, light and moist. With the little effort, you'll get a healthier version of cake with no margarine and butter.

Orange Cake
Yields for 12 pieces

Ingredients:

5 grade C eggs
180gm self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp of baking powder
120gm Castor sugar
50gm sunflower oil
1 orange, finely grated zest
3tbsp orange juice

Method:

1. Beat the eggs and Caster sugar under high speed until fluffy. (I beat it for about 15 minutes).

2. Add the orange zest and orange juice. Gently fold in the sifted flour and baking powder with plastic spatula.

3. Pour in the sunflower oil and mix well with spatula.

4. Using spatula, transfer the batter into inner pot of rice cooker. Give the pot a few good shake to remove the air trapped in the batter.

5. Bake the cake using "quick cook" menu.

6. When it's done, leave it cool. Upside turn the pot to leave the cake bottom-up on a big plate.

Eggs In Tangy Spicy Sauce (Telur Balado)

Eggs In Tangy Spicy Sauce is always my favorite when dining out at Malay stall. This spicy and pungent dish goes well with nasi lemak, nasi kandar or even steamed white rice. As the cheapest source of Protein, these egg dish is delectable!

Although I love this dish, but I'm a bit lazy to make it at home, due to the troublesome deep frying process. However with my mom around, she helps me with the hardest stuff. I just need to pound the shallots, garlic, belacan, and get it cooked! :)

You may replace tamarind juice with tomato puree.

Eggs In Tangy Spicy Sauce

Ingredients:

6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
400 ml tamarind juice
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
2 stalk of lemon grass, smashed
2 tbsp of chili paste
Cooking oil

Pounded:

6 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
5 pieces candle nut
2cmx2cm belacan

Seasoning:

light soy sauce to taste
sugar to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in wok and fry the hard-boiled eggs till light brown. Remove eggs and set aside.

2. In the same wok, saute the sliced onion till fragrant. Stir in the blended sauce and lemon grass to simmering under medium low heat. Stir well until fragrant. Add tamarind juice gradually. Add salt and sugar to taste.

3. Return fried eggs to the sauce and cook till the sauce is thickening.

Ben's Diner Restaurant

Ben's Diner Restaurant
Address: 43-G, Persiaran Mahsuri 1/1, Sunway Tunas, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Tel: 04-6452790
Business Hour: 11:30am - 2:15pm, 6:00pm - 9:15pm
Closed on Saturday
Non-Halal

Named after his own name, the little restaurant has a chic and urban flavor. It only serves Ben's healthy home style Western food. Ben emphasizes in healthy cooking. As the boss for the business, he's also the only chef in the kitchen. He hands on all the stuffs in the kitchen from ingredients preparation, sauce making to cooking.

Over the couple of visits to this place, we never feel bored with the food. We've tried the fish, the pork, and the chicken. So far, the food quality is very consistent. We were satisfied with the food we get with the amount of money we paid. Dining for 2 can cost you just less than RM40. What's more to ask for?

Watercress soup

If you opt for the set, it comes with soup of the day and calamansi drink. The watercress soup is as good as spinach soup. It's not too creamy and filling, just nice to start a meal.

Pork Meatloaf and Sausage

This is my all time favorite. I love Ben's home-made meat loaf with mild spices. I've been ordering this for more than 3 times already. The set comes with a smoked jumbo sausage, mashed potatoes and vegetables with butter fragrant.

Braised Pork

Oven braised pork with fried potato cubes and fresh vegetables. When you take the first bite, you'll think that it tastes like Chinese roasted pork, but then you'll taken aback on how soft and tender the pork is. Topped with Ben's homemade sauce, yummy!

Give it a try when you happen to drop by Sunway Tunas area in Penang. Ben's Diner is just 3 door steps away from Four Seasons Tea Restaurant.

Penang Hokkien Mee (Spicy Prawn Noodle)

Penang Hokkien Mee is one of the unique and popular Penang street food which can be found in practically every hawker centers and street corners. The spicy soup base is rich in wonderful prawn aroma.....simply irresistible.

One day after work, I planned to cook Penang Hokkien mee for our dinner. However, I didn't have enough time to prepare the prawn stock from scratch. But with the help of ready made chili paste, it simplifies the cooking process. Here's of my bowl of Penang Hokkien Mee, topped with hard-boiled egg, prawns, pork ribs and water convolvulus. Does it look good? :)

Refer here for the step by step method on how to prepare Penang Hokkien Mee.

I'm sharing this Malaysian Spicy Prawn Noodles with Presto Pasta Nights #41 founded by Ruth, and the host of the week is Kahakaikitchen.