On the fourth of Ramadhan

Today, for second day in the row, I made my newly found recipe of Chinese Fried Rice. Seriously, I never knew it could be so simple. Just make sure the cooked rice is fried individually before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. As usual, lots of garlic; crushed, and one big onion; sliced. Scramble a couple of eggs and set it aside. Slice some spring onion and set it aside. Some cili padi, as much as you like, slice thinly. You can change to normal chili if you prefer.

Fry the garlic. Add the sliced onion. Let them brown. Add the cili padi. Add salt; I like it to be slightly salty, oyster sauce and dark (sweet) soy sauce. Pour in the rice and scrambled eggs and mix thoroughly. Lastly let the spring onion join the mix. I actually like to be still fresh and crispy, so don’t leave it too long on the fire. I add them just before I turn the stove off.

And today, we breakfasted at my parents’. I saw Mak had two Black Phomprets (Ikan Bawal) so I asked her if she’s up to a Portuguese Grill dish. Mak jumped to the suggestion, and armed with the recipe of Chef Wan’s from WaterLily’s blog, I prepared the ingredients. I will just copy the recipe and put it here.

Bahan - Bahan : (per the original recipe)

1 ekor (600 gram) ikan bawal, di bersih kan
1/4 cawan minyak masak
Air perahan dari 1/2 limau nipis (I used limau kasturi)
1/2 sudu besar kicap pekat
Garam
Gula

Daun pisang

Bahan Di Kisar Halus:

4 tangkai cili merah
4 biji buah keras (did not have this, so according to Mak, it tastes “lemak” so I added a little coconut milk)
8 ulas bawang merah, di kupas 
1 batang serai ( dihiris halus)
1/2 sudu teh belacan
1 sudu besar cili serbuk (I used dried chili paste)
2 helai daun limau purut (did not have this, so instead I sliced the limau kasturi’s skin)

As any other recipe, you need to fry the blended ingredients. Add in the lime juice, salt, sugar and soy sauce. Once done, marinate the fish with the fried ingredient. Wrap the fish in banana leaves. Grill, or as I did, into the oven it went!

By the way, the recipe calls for one piece of fish. Since I had two, I doubled all the ingredient items. And remember, daun limau is used for the aroma, so you can be creative and substitute. Limau Kasturi’s skin gives the same effect and it’s nice to chew too!

Fried rice was a hit. The fish was a hit. Praise be to Allah SWT. Everyone is happy and full. He he he… So goddesses, try it out the next time you want a simple dish to grace your dining table. ;-)