Sliced Beef Soup ~ Sup Daging @ My Fav Ala-Thai #2

My low carbo fix for supper cravings!
This is what I will order if I want something light for the tummy. I know....  'light'... *laughing cheekily*

Ala-Thai eateries usually will have a big pot of beef broth in their kitchen, mainly from boiling the beef chunk for their beef stir fry dishes.

Lao Beef Larb - Indochina AFF Laotian #2

Larb is the national dish of Laos. It is also eaten by the people in Isan, Thailand of which most of its population are of Laotian descent. There is another Northen Thailand version that uses spices to season. Some people will make it with fresh raw beef, and it is alright if you want to have a cooked version. I'm not that brave to go for a Tatare version.

Bo La Lot, Vietnamese Beef Rolls with Wild Betel Leaf - Indochina AFF Bò # 1

For this month's Asian Food Fest, it's the month of Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian food, grouped under Indochina. For more information, hop over to Kelly's blog, this month's host.

Bò lá lốt is a popular Vietnamese dish that is not served in the Vietnamese restaurants here in Malaysia.
It's one of the dishes in "7 course of beef", served usually during weddings.

In some countries where wild betel is not available, grape leaves are used to wrap these, but it may not have the same fragrance.
In Malaysia, wild betel is abundant and is used in the local cuisine and is locally known as daun kaduk.

Pakistani Beef Karahi ~ AFF Indian Subcontinent #9

After reading this recipe, I learnt that Karahi was the cooking vessel. It looks like a wok, but the sides steeper.

And so, to serve this dish, it has to be done with a karahi/pan, if not, it won't be "Meat in a cooking pot".

Galbitang @ Korean Beef Rib Soup - AFF Korean Soups #2

The local market nearby often has the whole rack of beef ribs hanging at the beef stall. Usually I will see them, drooling... haha, yeah, they are raw. But I'm trying to imagine how nice they will taste. This is usually not available in my hometown.

When I saw this recipe, I knew I will have the chance to cook it as I know it's easily available now.
The butcher had to use an axe to chop the ribs, and if you were to see it being done.. you will know these cows are well nourished with calcium, hahaha. Local cows are grass fed. So much energy went into chopping them small.

Dawood Basha @ Lebanese Meatballs - Balls Week #1

I once had these in Suria KLCC's food court and fell in love with it. But that version didn't come with pine nuts. I was searching for the version that matched my memory, and it was served with a tomato sauce that was spiced.

When I found a seemingly matching recipe, I was elated.

Dawood Basha actually meant High Ranking Officer Dawood (David).

Kiymale Pide @ Turkish Minced Meat Pita

Pita as known by many  is as round flat bread with a pocket inside.

But in Turkey, the local pita known as 'pide', is a pizza like food with toppings.One can use Turkish wind dried beef, Turkish sausages, chicken, minced beef or lamb, cheese, potatoes and many other ingredients.

Kampar Beef Brisket Noodles, Onn Kee copycat 金宝牛腩面 - Perak MFF #6

Onn Kee Beef noodles..... It has been around town for 3 generations, minimum.Probably more than 80 years as the 3rd generation are my school mates.

In those days.. way before the 90's... Onn Kee was situated infront of Gospel Hall, at the foothills of Golden Dragon Garden. The stall operates from late afternoon up to past midnight catering to all those supper folks.
Each time one passes by that junction, the smell of the beef brisket just permeates the air. Intoxicating.. in a good way.

And I heard, some purposely ask for the leftovers from yesterday, as those taste even better!

Bubur Lambuk Agong Kampung Baru - KL Selangor MFF #5

First of all, a blessed Ramadhan to all my Muslim friends and readers.

Each year during Ramadhan, Masjid Jamek in Kampung Baru will distribute a much loved porridge called Bubur Lambuk Agong to people in need of food to break fast with. So much so, that they cook around 100 pots each day for distribution. Each pot can provide 400 packs, so altogether 40000 packs each day! Volunteers come to help and donors chip in to make this tradition an annual event. It's a huge thing! They are not just known within Kampung Baru, or KL city, or Klang Valley, but so much so until people from Brunei will ask their friends and relatives to post the porridge over. Nowadays, the porridge is not only collected by people in need, but just anyone, anyone who queues up since 2pm can have some too. Read here to have a better understanding about Bubur Lambuk Kampung Baru

Kelantan Beef Floss ~ Serunding Daging - Kelantan MFF #6

Beef serunding or beef floss is a Kelantan specialty. Some also call it as beef sambal or sambal daging in the Malay language. It is said that a properly made serunding can be kept for a year without referigeration.

I was itching to try making this, but was hesitating and hesitating and hesitating.
Finally I did, just last week! LOL.
I can't stop thinking about all these Kelantanese delights because they all reminded me of my lovely holiday there many years ago.

Kacang Phool - MFF Johor # 2

Foul Beans.... That's what stated on the can. No joke, they are foul beans.

Ok ok.. they are commonly known as fava beans or broad beans. I bought this can of fava beans from Jusco for less than RM3. I can't get them in Tesco. Not sure about other places. Initially I wanted to be ambitious and wanted to use raw beans. I used to think that these beans are common in Malaysia, but it seems that even Indian grocery shops don't carry this bean even though it's a common fare at Indian snack stalls. We fondly call those stalls as kacang putih stalls and the Indian uncle selling the snacks as kacang putih man. It's those large crispy fried beans that has a dark skin, that we usually remove before eating... that one! Yes, those beans.

Beef with Arrowhead Stew 慈菇焖牛肉 - Arrowheads #2

I was attracted to this recipe because of the use of Haw in this recipe. I didn't have that on hand and so I used Haw flakes instead, those round flat Chinese candy that we used to eat when we were kids. When I used that, I didn't need to add in sugar as well.

The original recipe didn't call for black vinegar, but I found that it lacked that edge... or maybe it's because I didn't use dried haw of which is a lot more tangy than haw flakes candy. Maybe next time I'll try it with dried haw.

For this dish, my hubby gladly ate up everything even the arrowheads of which normally he'll give a skip.

Seremban Beef Noodles - MFF N9 #3



2nd attempt: Way too generous until one can't see the noodles!



This is one of the most famous noodles of Seremban. I had my first taste of it more than 15 years ago.
And when the idea of MFF was concieved, this was the first thing I wanted to cook for Negeri Sembilan. There are a few places to eat this in Seremban and the most popular was the one at the Wet Market.

Turmeric Roasted Beef~Daging Pacak - MFF Pahang #3

Unbelievably easy.

I think the traditional method to cook this is to skewer it with bamboo, hence the name 'daging pacak' which literally means, skewered beef.

But the recipe where I took this from just did it this way, I followed suit. I am just following the Pahang Sultanah's method.

Kedah Beef Rice ~ Nasi Daging Kedah - MFF Kedah Perlis #1

My first northern dish for MFF Kedah Perlis.

Easy to do but needs a long time to cook. 4 hours of slowly simmering to bring out the best flavours in the broth. The broth itself is very delicious, flavourful enough to be taken on its own.

Shortcut Beef Pho - Soupy Noodle #3

I was actually searching for another beef noodle when I bumped into this recipe.
I ate this before in Vietnamese restaurants, some being really tasty and some forgettable.

Still having a big container of beef stock powder that was given to me by my brother, I made this noodle, shortcut way by using stock powder instead of beef bones. If you need a recipe with beef bones, please refer to source. And if you want to know where my brother got the beef stock powder, it's at Jaya Grocer, at the Korean food section.

Beef Stew with Mash - Beef Week # 3

I made this for my friends when they came to visit me during Chinese New Year Day 4 this year. Almost each year, my home is the "tempat" for this event. *Tempat means place in Malay

Some of my friends are big beef lovers and don't consume pork. Not all eat beef as well, so I made another pot of pork porridge suitable for the kids that my friends are bringing over too. Each year, at this time, when I have a bunch of BIIIIIG  eaters over, it is a good chance for me to try making things that I find it hard to finish on our own. And this a good make ahead dish. I don't need to wake up really early and prepare lunch for them.

Beef Rendang - Beef Week # 2

Dish done in March 2011

There are many versions of beef rendang. Somehow, I have a certain fondness for the one that is made with  local ingredients that is with lots of roots and bulbs and without dried aromatic spices.

There's a nasi lemak shop nearby and my husband and I adore their rendang. It's fragrant but not spicy, aromatic and with a sweeter end. It doesn't have that spice taste that is almost like a dry Indian curry. It just taste wonderfully aromatic. Their rendang is tender and doesn't need much chewing... melts in the mouth : )

I went scouting around for THE recipe and when I chanced upon this recipe by Hanieliza. It looked almost like that we have here, except it's bigger in size. And the sound of the recipe, yes, it should be the one!

Does it taste like the one I ate at the nasi lemak stall??
Yeessssssss! And my hubby super loves this.

Actually I cooked this rendang for the 3rd time for the CNY bloggers potluck this year and to their surprise it was very tender. *Ahem*. And I used buffalo meat, Indian frozen buffalo meat that sells for RM14/kg at Tesco. Cheap stuff. Don't need no Aussie prime cut. The secret is the marinating and the long hours of simmering. No meat will remain tough with all those gingers.

Beef Rendang

Recipe by: WendyinKK
Adapted from Hanieliza

+/-1kg beef
50gm peeled ginger
40gm peeled galangal
30gm peeled turmeric
4 lemongrass (5 inches from the base), weighing 40gm in total

Grind the above aromatics and mix with the beef. Set aside while you do the rest. The ginger will soften the beef so that cooking time can be reduced.


10 dried chillies
10 shallots (100gm peeled weight)
3 cloves garlic

Snip dried chillies and rub them to remove seeds. Soak in water to soften. Peel shallots and garlic. Grind everything together to form a fine paste (Can add some water, no problem)


3 large turmeric leaves, rolled and snipped
150gm freshly grated coconut (half a coconut), toasted on a pan until golden
1 cup thick coconut milk
Salt to taste
40gm Palm sugar, depending on taste (hubby preferred it to be sweeter and the 2nd time I made this, I put in 60gm and he liked it)

To cook, just combine everything together except salt and sugar, add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and turn to low heat. Simmer for 2-3 hours or until softened. Put in palm sugar and salt and reduce gravy until desired thickness.

*Beef rendang tastes better after being aged for a few days, so if you can, cook this few days ahead before intended serving time, chill in the fridge and reheat it to serve. And the good thing is, you can cook a large portion and separate it for a few meals. Isn’t that fantastic!

If you don't cook beef at home, You can use pork loin to mimic the effect. You may not need the same amount of sugar if you're using pork. Use less water and 1-1.5 hours of cooking should be enough, without marinating with the ginger paste.

Baked 3 Layer Beef Pie - Beef Week # 1

Recipe tried in 9 March 2011

When I ate my first mouth of this……. OMG, this is good. That’s all that came into my mind.

My hubby went ummmm, Lydia gave me a big thumbs up and a very wide smile, Lyanne said nice, nice nice, my MIL quickly asked me the recipe, Mike’s aunt said tasted very delicious, my BIL quickly savoured his first piece and took seconds and thirds, too busy to say anything but to eat. Hahaha!!

At the end of the meal, we all felt satisfied, very satisfied. The kind of feeling that you’ll get after a good meal.

Beef Soup with Waterchestnuts and Wintermelon - Soup Week #6

I had some waterchestnuts on hand and I remember this soup with beef in my soup book. Then when I checked the ingredients, sugarcane???? Where to get fresh ones? Then I came to think of it, should be the dry ones at herbal shops. Then when I went there,I found that it comes prepacked, and there's couchgrass root in it too. So I bought the pack home to later pick out whatever I needed. But there are no Chinese almonds in it, so I asked the herbalist to pack some for me separately.

Frankly there’s not much beef smell or taste. But the soup itself is sweet, but lacks a savoury meaty end. It does need more salt than most of the soups that I’ve done (my slow simmered soups usually need minimal soup to lend a salty end), maybe due to the high amount of non meat compounds, or the absence of seafood ingredients. Anyway, this is good for you.

Try this if you would like to clear heat, promote urination, detoxify and nourish the skin.

Beef Soup with Waterchestnuts and Wintermelon
Recipe Source: Soups for Expelling Dampness and Heat, by Chiu Sang
200gm beef
750gm winter melon
200gm water chestnuts (about 7 pcs)
150gm carrots
80gm dried sugarcane
10gm sweet Chinese almonds 南杏
10gm dried couchgrass 白茅根
2L water
Handful of coriander for sprinkling

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, peel water chestnuts and cut carrots.
3. Scrub skin of wintermelon clean, remove seeds and cut into chunks.
4. Rinse dried sugarcane and couchgrass.
5. Cut beef into smaller pieces.
6. Put everything into the boiling water, bring back to a boil and let it simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
7. Sprinkle coriander into hot soup before serving.

What's up on Monday?

Fruit Week