Tom Yum Style Fried Vermicelli with Thai Omelette

Learnt another new recipe from mum; tomyum fried meehoon! Looks like having her around to help with baby has some unexpected culinary benefits too! Mum got this recipe from another relative and she’s made her modifications along the way, and here’s my version. It’s a fair bit of work and preparation but the ingredients are easy to get and it’s really worth the effort!

Tom Yum Style Fried Vermicelli with Thai Omelette

This recipe is good for 2 pax. Just multiply accordingly if you have a bigger party. I’m using ballpark measurement here as it’s a pass-down recipe.

What you will need:
1. Meehoon (Asian rice vermicelli) - soak and drain half a pack, around 200gms max
2. Garlic - a few cloves, chopped or crushed
3. Red onion - one large palm sized onion, or 2 small ones, sliced
4. Kaffir lime leaves - a handful, around 6 to 8 leaves, julienned
5. Red chilli padi - aka bird’s eye chillies, julienned, around 2 to 4pcs depends on how much heat you prefer! (do not use green chilli padi, they taste different and the color is all wrong!)
6. Dried chillies - 5 to 6 chillies, soaked and roughly chopped, this also depends on how much heat you prefer!
7. Fish cakes - 1 small bowl, sliced (can be replaced with meat/seafood or tofu for vegans)
8. Carrot - 1 medium carrot (6 t 8 inches lengthwise), finely grated
9. Cabbage - half a small cabbage, shredded
10. Lime juice - squeeze approx 6 to get half a bowl of juice, set aside 1 or 2 for garnishing
11. Thai fish sauce - approx 2 tablespoons or more depending on your taste buds
12. Pinch for taste - ketchup, spicy chilli sauce, salt, pepper
13. Cooking oil - duh
14. Coriander and slices of red chillies - optional, for garnishing (I like my food pretty!)

Raw ingredients at a glance.

Prepare everything before you start!

Ketchup and chilli padi sauce optional but the Thai fish sauce is an absolute must!

For Thai Omelette:
1. 2 eggs – beaten along with items 2 and 3
2. Thai fish sauce
3. Sugar, salt, pepper


Method:
1. Firstly make the Thai omelette, set aside to cool, pat of excess oil and slice thinly.
2. Then sauté items 2 to 6 together in hot oil till fragrant.
3. Add the fish cakes or whatever other meat you want, stir-fry till ‘browned’
4. Add carrots and cabbage and stir-fry till softened and cooked.
5. Add in softened vermicelli and stir-fry in low heat
6. Combine items 10 to 12 and pour over the vermicelli as it will get dry and soak up moisture readily.
7. Add water gradually if the vermicelli looks too dried-out (hint: it should not stick to the wok!)
8. Continue to stir-fry in low heat till vermicelli is evenly coated and tastes and feels right.
9. Serve with coriander and sliced chilli with the shredded omelette at the side.

Step-by-step stir-fry illustrated. 

Hint; a sturdy non-stick wok and extra long chopsticks will be great help here!

What makes this so different from the usual fried meehoon are the kaffir lime leaves, the lime juice and the fish sauce which gives it that citrusy Thai-inspired, sour, tangy flavour. I find this a really spicy and appetizing meal for any time of the day. A word of caution though, this is seriously not for those with very mild taste buds!

Kaffir lime leaves (aka daun limau purut) gives Thai food that distinctly citrusy heavenly scent!

You seriously can't do without this!

Dongzhi: Winter Solstice Festival

The Dongzhi is one festival I embrace wholeheartedly simply because I love the delicacy "tangyuen" which are glutinous rice balls stuffed with sweet brown sugar. Our dear mum has been making these balls every year since we were kids. So this year, now that I've been promoted to a mummy, I've decided to create some from scratch while my mum narrated the instructions. Turns out they are really super easy to make! It's definitely a tradition I can upkeep as it's simple and yummy! In the spirit of tradition, I'm happy to share what my mum taught me today.

Here are what you will need, they are ballpark measurement as mum doesn't go with the metric system, it's all in her head!


For the balls:

1. 1.5 bowls of glutinous rice floor (standard Chinese rice/soup bowl)
2. 0.5 bowl of rice floor
3. 1 cup of warm water (not cold!)
4. Brown sugar blocks
5. Food coloring
6. A few drinking straws or chopsticks to dip food coloring

For the ginger soup:

1. Pandan leaves (aka Screwpine leaves)
2. Ginger (roughly chop and crush 4 to 6 inches depending on your desired 'heat')
3. Sweet potatoes/yam (optional, qty depends on your preference)
4. Rock sugar

This recipe is good for about 4 pax depending on your appetites!

Easy-breezy Steps:

1. Get two pots ready; one for boiling plain hot water and one more for the ginger based soup.
2. Boil the pandan leaves, rock sugar, potatoes and ginger together till fragrant.
3. The other pot is for cooking the balls in plain boiling water.
4. Sieve the 2 types of floor together, then gradually add warm water while kneading it with your hand till you get a bouncy dough consistency kinda like Play-Doh, it should not be too watery but hold up well on it's own. To test if it's right, make little balls with it and see if it holds up. If the dough feels too watery, add more floor to balance it out.
5. Separate the dough into batches based on the number of colors you want to have. I have five batches here; white, pink, blue, purple and green. Then use the tip of a straw to dip color unto each dough batch and knead till color is even. Be careful to rinse your hand between each batch otherwise your colors will run everywhere!
6. Cut the brown sugar to little cubes to be used as fillings for the balls. You can also make them plain, or use different fillings like peanuts or black sesame paste which I have no idea how to! But anyway I prefer good old simple brown sugar; sweet and fragrant!
7. Pinch dough into mini balls, insert a piece of sugar and roll between palms to get a nice round shape.
8. Cook the ready balls in plain boiling water, they are ready when they float to the surface.
9. Transfer the cooked balls to individual serving bowls. Scoop ready ginger based soup over the balls and we're good to go!

Have fun trying this out and enjoy yummy "tangyuen"! You know what, you don't even have to reserve this delicacy for the festival, it's easy enough to prepare for any family dinner or just a lazy weekend at home for tea!

Prepare the ginger-based soup, boil till fragrant.

 Separate dough into batches based on the number of colors you want to have. I have five batches here; white, pink, blue, purple and green. Then use the tip of a straw to dip color unto each dough batch and knead till color is even.

  

 Cut the brown sugar to little cubes to be used as fillings for the balls.

 Pinch dough into mini balls, insert a piece of sugar and roll between palms to get a nice round shape.

 Cook the ready balls in plain boiling water, they are ready when they float to the surface.

 The balls will get a little bigger and look really shiny when cooked, color also become stronger and darker. Transfer the cooked balls to individual serving bowls.

Scoop ready ginger based soup over the balls and we're good to go! As you can see in this pic here we had it with some nice keropok lekor!

  Love the way the brown sugar is half-melted inside the ball, it oozes out so sweet and hot!

Happy Dongzhi everyone!

Mountain Cat King Durian

The sweet hubby treated Mommy and Baby Chin to a sumptuous feast of one of the most expensive species of durians you can find in this country; the Mausan Wong, or direct translation is Mountain Cat King Durian. It is simply divine, words cannot describe, so I'll leave you with this sumptuous tempting picture ... heehee :P

To give you a heads up, it cost approx RM98 for a total of 2 durians *gasp* So you can imagine it's a rare and treasured indulgence for us! Donald and boys of Donald's Durian at SS2 are quite experienced with picking durians according to how you like it; sweet, slightly bitter, you name it, they will 'smell' it out for you!

Mid-Autumn Festival

On October the third (15th day of the eight month in the Chinese calendar) we celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival, the second most revered and commercialized Chinese festivals, right after Chinese Lunar New Year. Two key elements marks this celebration; mooncakes and lanterns.

When we were kids we used to get together at grandma's house and 'play' lanterns with our cousins. Note that in my childhood, there were no 'battery-operated' lanterns, only real 'candle-operated' paper types. By 'play' what we actually do is light up the lanterns , walk around the neighbourhood and then set fire to all of them and dance around the bonfire in glee. Why set fire to the lanterns? Well, keep it in good minty condition and you can dash any hopes of getting a bigger and better one next year. Of course, before the 'lantern walkathon', we cousins engage in the customary 'who has the nicest biggest lantern' routine. We also arrange lit candles on just about every surface we can find, potted plants, fence, curb of the streets.

The next morning there will be ear-pulling and long sermons about leaving stale candle wax stumps all over the potted plants and driveway. But we do it again, year after year after year. The adults are way too busy watching Hong Kong serials while sipping tea and eating mooncakes indoors to bother much about we do anyway.

Now that I'm in my thirties, we've done away with lanterns. I don't think the younger children get to roam around the streets much as well, in view of the deterioration of public safety over the years. I suppose parents just get them battery-operated lanterns in shapes of Disney Princesses or Ben 10 and they play within their condo or gated community compound. Or maybe now kids send virtual lanterns on facebook, who knows right?

What I find most interesting about the evolution of this festival is the mooncake, we will get to that in a while after this introduction. Mooncakes are sweet baked delicacies made from lotus paste, sunflower seeds and occasionally with a salted egg yolk for that savory flavor. The roundness signifies the moon and I guess the sweetness and stickiness symbolizes family unity. For more on the history and myhtical stories behind the Mid Autumn Festival, Wiki here.

I make it a point to buy a box of mooncake for mum every year as the festival approaches. She loves those sickeningly sweet cakes. I don't find them particularly healthy and the cloying sweetness can really get to you so I usually avoid them , or worse, I'll dig out the precious salted egg yolk from the centre and secretly dispose of the rest. Anyway, I was One Utama two weeks back and they had a 'mooncake fair' where just about every bakery in town were displaying their flair with mooncakes in elaborately decorated booths. I was amazed at the effort and creativity put into this. Flavors like coffee, green tea, red bean and sesame are an acceptable development probably since the last five years or so. Bakeries have moved with the times to launch 'fat-free', 'less sweet', 'vegetarian', healthier options for a while now. Plain lotus paste and double yolk are almost passe; a thing of the past!

So, even non-mooncake-eating me succumbed and got myself some really unique mooncakes .... brace yourself, I got me 2 mooncakes from a bakery I've never heard of; Yong Sheng (and this is not a sponsored post!I just thought these guys really deserve the credit for these yummy stuff). These are what I got; Scallop Mooncake and Message of Love. What are they exactly?

Message of Love
Dragon fruit lotus paste with mochi, lychee pudding & cranberry. Seriously, I was like "are these guys for real?"
My verdict: acceptable sweetness with a fruity tang and distinctive lychee taste.

Scallop Mooncake
Lotus paste mooncake filled with mushroom scallops paste. The savory paste is enveloped in a thin bubble of white mochi in the centre of the lotus paste. I was skeptical as anything until they let you 'test' it on the spot. I did and was sold.
My verdict: I love the slightly fishy dried scallop taste, the savory centre balances the sweet lotus paste unbelievably well.

I liked the scallop one so much, a week later I got myself their Nonya Sambal mooncake. It's so fabulous; sweet, spicy, savory with a hint of shrimp and 'belacan' ... totally exceptional!

Well, I wonder what kind of 'innovative' mooncakes we will have next year. Culture and lifestyle has evolved so much that I can't begin to imagine how we will celebrate this festival in ten years to come. All I know for sure is, I will faithfully cart a box of mooncakes to mum, traditions do and always will keep people together, and that is what I really like about this festival. Plus the excuse to pig out on interesting mooncakes of course.

Have a sweet Mid Autumn celebration everyone!

Earl Grey Cupcakes

I came across a beautifully illustrated cupcake recipe book (RM35.80) last week at MPH Subang Parade. This British publication contains recipes from an actual bakery in London known as the Primrose Bakery and they specialise in cupcakes primarily. It’s good to know that the recipes are tried and tested, plus the simple language and gorgeous pictures accompanying each and every recipe makes it a breeze to follow.



A few recipes caught my eye and I’ve shortlisted my “must try” list; these are the few I seriously plan to test out ...

1. Earl Grey Cupcakes (this is the first recipe I’ve tried)
2. Strawberries & Cream Cupcakes (using fresh strawberries)
3. Raspberry Cupcakes (using raspberry jam)

I think there are over 20 types of cupcakes here with an equally wide assortment of icing, so if you mix and match the various cakes with different icing, you’re in business!

Thankfully for the long Raya (Eid) holidays, I found time to test this out and share it here ... presenting the recipe for Primrose Bakery's Earl Grey cuppas....

Here’s the (simplified*) recipe as per the book, comments in brackets.

1. 125ml milk
2. 4 Earl Grey tea bags
3. 110g unsalted butter ( I use SCS salted, it’s fine as well, make sure it’s soft, at room temperature)
4. 225g granulated sugar (you may drop to 210g as I found it rather sweet, especially with the icing)
5. 2 large eggs
6. 125g self-rising flour, sifted
7. 120g plain flour, sifted
   * not word for word

Ingredients for lilac icing:

1. 110g unsalted butter ( I think regular salted butter offsets the sweetness)
2. 60ml milk (room temperature)
3. 500g icing sugar, sifted
4. 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (get the real stuff, not just the fake essence!)
5. I can’t find lilac food colouring so I combined pink and blue food colouring; one tiny drop at a time, these stuff are heavy.
6. Word of caution, this icing recipe makes ALOT of icing, probably enough for 2 batches of cupcakes, so half it accordingly or refrigerate the extra for another batch of cuppas.

Method, in Shorty's own words:

1. Preheat oven to 160 C (settings should be top and bottom with fan) or 180 C (without fan). I find it more even with the fan on.
2. Heat milk in a saucepan till boiling, then pour over the 4 teabags, let it infuse for 15 to 30 mins.
3. Mix the sugar and butter for 3 to 5 mins till smooth and even. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing in between.
4. Sift and combine flours separately, then add them to the egg+butter mix in batches.
5. Pour in part of the milk infused with tea, alternating with the flour. The final mixture would have a rather liquid / soft consistency.
6. Spoon them into paper cups, about two-thirds full.
7. Bake for about 20 to 25 mins, depending on your oven, it takes about 22 mins in my Fagor for a 12–hole cupcake pan.
8. Insert a toothpick into the centre of one of the cupcakes to see if they are done. If it comes out clean, it’s done!
9. Remove pan from oven, let cakes sit in pan for 10 mins and then remove so they can cool on a wire rack.
10. Once cakes are completely cooled, ice with the icing. Decorate with sprinkles of granulated sugar or purple sugar flowers. I decided to use white chocolate sprinkles. I thought the white looked so delicate on the pastel lilac., anyway it's too much effort to look for purple flowers, unless there's a special occassion.

Look, this recipe makes the cakes nicely brown and evenly raised. I hate it when cupcakes rise lop-sided!

Below; pastel lilac icing with white choc sprinkles.

Shortcake’s verdict?
These cakes are amazingly easy to make, just ensure you have quality teabags and plain milk on hand. The texture is very soft , melts in your mouth and the flavor is very delicate, like milky tea with a hint of bergamot. Perfect for those with a sensitive and well-developed palate, and tea lovers of course. Hubby thinks my ‘lilac’ icing looks like ‘grey’, how ironic.

Shorty’s loving them tea-cuppas!

August is for Malaysian Delicacies

We always try to make it a point to Buka Pusa once with our dear R during Ramadhan month so we did our break fast session last night at PJ Hilton. We were supposed to do Subak but due to the perpetual rain we then changed the venue to Al Nafourah at Le Meredien, but we were dissapointed to hear that Al Nafourah was not serving Middle Eastern cuisine, rather they were merely having local food, but at the same exorbitant price.

I've never been to a Buka Puasa Buffet in a hotel before, and boy it was FUN! There's so much more variety compared to you usual buffet. I see all my favorite local delicacies such as lemang, ketupat, serunding, nasi minyak, satay, rendang, and loads more. There were Tempura stuff, Chinese dishes and Indian dishes and mamak favorites like murtabak and mee goreng as well!

Once you're done, you can move on to dessert, and there was no shortage here; you can choose from cakes, chocolate fondue, creme brulee to the local stuff like kuih muih, sago, putu piring and loads more colorful stuff I can't even name! And at the end of it all, you can take home a box of Bubur Lambuk for you sahur the next morning. I'd say all in all that's worth the RM98++ we're paying.

I didn't take much photos for fear of being kicked out in public, but here are two photos; the first is my greedy starter platter; a medley of everything! The second is of my all-time favorites; lemang and ketupat with fragrant serunding ayam and daging plus a couple of succulent beef satay!

Crazy mixture of stuff ... I'm hungry just looking this photo!

I think food like this sums up why this is a great country!

The beef satay was truly superb.

Oh but we girls really had fun with all the stories and catching up on each other's lives. The stories went on and on and the there was virtually no end to food! But alas, we out-talked them, they started to clear away the desserts before 10pm, which was rather dissapointing, but we had our fill.

Look look, I even wore a brand new custom-made Baju to get into the mood of things, here's headless Shortcake and R.

Overall, great talk and great food. Splendid.

Preparing for Raya?

Here's an idea ... if you've got the moolah to splurge, why not make your Muslim friends, family, colleagues or bosses really happy this Raya with goodies from Crabtree & Evelyn festive hampers ... look, the last hamper's even got a hand wash and lotion! You know how everyone recycle festive gifts? I know I'll never trade aything I get from Crabtree & Evelyn!

Guaranteed to earn brownie points in the glam and class division for sure! I'm loving the baskets and boxes. Pweetty. I'm guessing you can customise these at their stores as well.

Kuriya @ Bangsar

Hubby and I have been going to Spring Hatsuhana at BSC for years, almost a couple of times a month or monthly at the least. Why? Spring was the place for great variety and value for money Japanese food in a cosy and quiet, non-pretentious place. When BSC started renovating, Spring disappeared and we were devastated, so the hunt for a new Jap haunt began. We started to get quite fond of Yuzu at Gardens Mid Valley but alas it's alot of effort going there (parking, jam etc)

Imagine my delight when I discovered that a new Jap place found it's way into BSC ..... here are the pics of our rendezvous to the brand new Kuriya Japanese Restaurant last night ....

Kuriya is located on the newly renovated third floor at BSC (Bangsar Shopping Centre). Unfortunately Kuriya is not affiliated with Spring Hatsuhana. Kuriya is in fact a Singaporean chain. The BSC outlet opened in June 2009.

If you opt to sit outside on the balcony, like we did, you will have this view! Superb on a clear night, but may be rather warm for some. Having a mist curtain and some ceiling fans would be really GOOD!


Menu: here are some of the sashimi & sushi offerings on the menu; for those all out to indulge.

There are special lunch sets on the menu, decent variety and more value-added than ordering the individual ala carte. Alas, there are no dinner sets.

Salmon Salad: salad leaves with a yinyang combination of salmon sashimi and deep fried salmon and a tangy savory dressing on the side (RM18)

Chawan Mushi: taste like any decent chawan mushi (RM10)

Tori Karaage: Deep fried chicken pieces, thankfully no 'breast' parts, meat was tender and juicy and not heavily breaded at all. Good enough as a starter or snack for 2 average eaters, or 3 small eaters (RM16)

Enoki Hoiru Yaki: 3 types of mushrooms cooked in foil. Get a spoon to enjoy the soup inside! (RM16)

Hiyashi Kamo Seiro: Soba noddles with duck breast; an interesting savory cold dish with a runny egg, an adventurous option! (RM24)

Matcha Azuki: I love this; a combination of green tea pudding, green tea ice cream and red bean at the base, plus the bits of fruit for texture (RM16)

Oshiruko: Red bean paste porridge with mochi rice cake aka chewy glutinous rice cakes; a must for all red bean fans! Believe me, it taste much better than it looks ok! (RM8)

What we loved?

• The fact that it's in BSC is great; convenient and easy parking.
• The food we had were fabulous; would definitely order the Tori Karaage again.
• The dessert array is truly tempting - loved the Matcha Azuki!
  
• Alot of thought has been given to the interior decor; authentic and classy
  
• A good place to impress bosses, international business associates and high maintenance clients.
• The dim and moody lighting makes it a great date-place too.

What we didn't quite like ...

• The price, nothing like Spring Hatsuhana, I suppose BSC is trying to upgrade itself.
• Hubby prefers some bento options for dinner, his rationale is you want to 'sample' and try bits of different things at one time.
• A wee bit on the pretentious side, not exactly a place for casual dining
• They were so busy that it took some time to get a seat and to get some good attention from the waiters etc.

Will we be back? It's not a very strong yes, maybe for lunch.

Can anyone tell me where Spring Hatsuhana's gone to? I miss them *sniff*sob*

Itching to try Kuriya, details below;
3rd Floor, Bangsar Shopping Centre (old wing)
285 Jalan Maarof, Bukit Bandaraya,
59000 Kuala Lumpur
Contact: 03-20939242

Sunday Tea With My Girls

Girlfriends are really special, especially those that you grew up with. Once every couple of months, we make it a point to drop everything in our busy hectic schedules and catch up over food and goss.

Yesterday we tried out a cosy little place called Bijou, the neighbourhood brasserie of the Mont Kiara vicinity . This place has been around since late 2006 but somehow I've never had a reason to try them out. I like the cute unpretentious ambiance (kinda like Ikea in white and pink) and they are not particularly over-crowded. Since it was tea and not a major meal, we only managed to try out some tapas and desserts.

Here are the pretty food shots to make you salivate .....

Nothing quenches the afternoon heat like a tall glass of icy Homemade Ginger Beer.

The Apricot Slice: I will be back for this! Juicy fragrant cake with bits of dried apricot and sweet tangy cream sandwiched between the two layers ... heavenly and sinful at the same time!

They are apparently famous for cupcakes but alas, when we were there, all that's left was "The Morning After" which is actually coffee cupcake. Pretty okay but I wished they had more options *sulk*

The Fish Fingers were fabulous, we loved the herb tartar sauce. We ordered seconds!

Spicy Buffalo Drummets (wings) tasted great, the right balance of piquant spiciness. We ordered seconds too.

This is the small nondescript entrance just outside Damai Sari Condominiums.

This is the door that leads to the alfresco area facing the pool, wonderful on a nice breezy afternoon.

There is even a little playground to keep the little ones entertained.

We ate so much, I had no room for dinner after that ... but you wanna know what was the best part of the tea outing? Girlfriends! But of course!

Getting there; if you know how to get to Coffee Bean Mont Kiara, you would find your way with this map with no sweat at all. Or call them at 03 - 6201 2131. Oh, and Bijou means jewel in French.

Recipe for Filipino Pork Adobo

I would like to share my recipe for Pork Adobo. Of course I did not create this on my own, seeing that it's almost completely foreign in this part of the world. This is actually a popular Filipino meat dish where you can also use chicken to replace the pork. I was inspired to try this out after watching Bobby Chinn, World Asia Cafe on Asian Food Channel. Also, hubby loves the Pork Adobo at Cagayan's, so I know if I got this right, hubby will be super pleased.

This is Shortcake's first Pork Adobo.

What I've done here is based on what Bobby Chinn did plus some googling and a touch of personal taste.

The ingredients, this serves 2 to 3 hearty eaters:

1. Approx 500g pork or chicken, estimate more if using chicken on bones or pork ribs. (I had a combination of pork belly and spare ribs, left over in the freezer, so what the heck)
2. 6 to 8 stalks of lemongrass - cut away top parts and crush the bulbs
3. Half cup of white vinegar (I used white rice vinegar as no one seem to specify what kind of vinegar exactly)
4. Quarter cup of light soy sauce
5. Half a head of garlic - finely chopped
6. An inch of ginger - crushed / minced
7. 2 small onions
8. 1 teaspoon of black peppercorn, crushed - or use coarse ground version
9. 3 to 4 red hot chili padi (bird's eye chilies) - sliced off head and slit sides to remove seeds.
10. 2 to 3 tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in water
11. Cooking oil
12. Pinch of salt & some brown sugar (or any kinda sugar)
13. Water

All the main ingredients at a glance.

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a wok (or deep frying pan)
2. Sauté garlic, onions, lemongrass stalks, ginger and black pepper till fragrant.
3. Add the meat to the pan and 'brown'.
4. Add chili padi.
5. Add soy sauce, vinegar and 1 cup of water.
6. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes over medium flame.
7. Add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken the gravy.
8. Add brown sugar, salt and/or pepper to suit your taste.
9. Cover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes over low/medium flame.
10. Taste check; see if you need to thicken the gravy, then adjust corn starch/water, then simmer again.
11. Serve hot with veggies and steamed rice.
    

Sauté sauté sauté!

Almost there, let it simmer and thicken.

Suggestions, hints and tips:

• I added some brown sugar to balance out the vinegar just a little.
• You can adjust the level of saltiness and color by using less soy sauce.
• Of course you can adjust the flavors by modifying the quantities of peppercorn, salt, sugar etc.
• If chili padi is over the top for you, you can use paprika powder, personally I would have added MORE chili padi but hubby will need a fire extinguisher after that!
• Control the gravy's consistency by adjusting the level of water and cornstarch. We like it thick and rich so it coats the rice nicely!

I hope this is helpful to anyone who loves meat dishes with gravy! If you have any pointers to make this dish better do feel free to share!