Goodbye Carolyn...

With heavy heart, I read another dreadful email from Kathy; Carolyn received her crown of glory. She passed way peacefully last night. I guess in a way, it's a blessing in disguise for everyone and especially her as she did not struggle or suffer much during her final moments. Carolyn was a very friendly and thoughtful person. She was a brave fighter and always stayed positive no matter how sick she was. I will deeply miss having her as a friend, colleague and family! May she rest in peace and may God bless her kind soul. My deepest symphathy to her family and friends.

Goodbye, Carolyn Louise Thomas.

Apam Balik / Crispy Ban Chiang Kuih Recipe

"Apam Balik" is a Malaysian crispy pancake /crepe usually filled with grounded roasted peanuts and sugar; often sold by street vendors in Malaysia. I made "Apam Balik" last night using this awesome recipe I read from one of the food blogs I frequent; Lily's Wai Sek Hong. I have used Lily's blog for different Malaysian recipes and they usually turned out very yummy and often quite authentic! Thank you, Lily for sharing all these wonderful recipes!

Here's the "Apam Balik" recipe with some of my minute changes. Lily's original recipe can be found HERE.

Ingredients:
- 170 gm all purpose flour
- 100 gm rice flour
- 30 gm cornstarch
- 2 tsp double action baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 6- 7 ozs water ( used a little more than that as my batter was very very thick)
- 150 gm fine granulated sugar

Filling:
-120 g melted butter
-150 gm fine granulated sugar
-1 cup chopped roasted peanuts (I grinded it using food processor)
- Creamed Corn (Lily's recipe did not ask for this, I added 1-2 tbsp of creamed corn to each pancake)

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together, strain and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours (I made one immediately, and it turned out good). Heat a crepe pan or a small nonstick pan slightly (just hot enough for batter to stick to pan). Pour in a 4 oz laddle of batter and swirl pan so that batter is coating the edge. Remove the excess batter and sprinkle in some sugar on the pancake.Cook till the bottom of pancake is golden brown.Sprinkle with melted butter, then chopped roasted peanuts and in my case creamed corn. Fold the pancake into a half and leave to cool (I ate it immediately!!)

House Of Malaysian Pancakes / Crepes

I've been craving to have "Roti Jala" (which literally means "Netty Bread") for quite a while and decided to make it tonight since I have leftover Chicken Curry from the night before. "Roti Jala" is somewhat like a lacey crepe, but batter is poured from a mold with mutiple "funnels" in a swirly pattern to create the "lace" effect. It is then folded into whatever way you fancy; I folded mine into half, then into thirds to form a triangular shape. The batter for "Roti Jala" has to be a little runny, so that batter can flow smoothly and you would hold the mold (filled with batter), swirl it slowly over an oiled pan. I do not have a exact recipe for my "Roti Jala", and basically just eye balled some all purpose flour, coconut milk(or milk), salt, water, turmeric powder (for color) and eggs, mix it well till I get the watery consistency I need! There are tons of recipes for Roti Jala on the WWW, so just google it! =)

I also crisp up some frozen "Roti Canai/Prata"; another Malaysian pancake/crepe also usually eaten with curry to serve it up with the left over Curry Chicken. and freshly made "Roti Jala" .... Frozen "Roti Canai" packets are easily available from Chinese or Indian Grocer and will cost about $2 per packet of 5 pancakes/crepes!

This is my "Roti Jala" mold used to create the lacey crepe for tonight's dinner.It's pancake/crepes night for this household as I made another Malaysian pancake/crepe for dessert; "Apam Balik". This is a local dessert often being sold by vendors on the streets in Malaysia. It's crispy on the outside, and the inside is filled with sugar, toasted ground peanuts and sometimes creamed corn. I added lots of creamed corn for mine! Some vendors have gotten very creative and added different fillings; tuna, curry chicken, cheese, egg, ham, etc etc....And they are equally sinfully GOOD!! I will share this recipe that I found online in a seperate post..... Good things are meant to be shared, especially when you're living overseas and have limited access to Malaysian Food!! =)

Beware! Oily Goodness

My friend Ayu of Healthy Yums will probably cringe when she sees this post about my pot of oily chicken curry..............Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... Haha! Made a huge pot of Malaysian Chicken Curry last night along with my sambal achovies, eggs, fresh cucumber and coconut rice........Yes, it's...ummm...another meal of Nasi Lemak!! I made extra so tonight we can enjoy it with either roti canai or roti jala!! And freeze whatever's left for lazy days!

Malaysian Curry Chicken is one curry I have not done very well (and have not put in effot to do any googling on it), without the help of instant curry paste where all I need to add are coconut milk and chicken!! For this pot of Chicken Curry, I used the A1 brand Curry Paste for meat....... Quick, no fuss and it's still yummy good! I got this packet from Malaysia, so I'm not sure if you can get it through Asian online merchants in the US! However, if you do see one in the stores, pick one up!
To "wash off" my oily unhealthy dinner, I made some fruit smootie using frozen pineapple, strawberries and orange juice. Ayu, are you proud of my healthy fruity glass of frozen goodness????

Please Pray

I just received a rather disturbing email from my ex-colleague Kathy, apparently my other ex-colleague, Carolyn is not doing very well. She has been fighting her cancer for about 6 years and she turned for the worse recently. Her cancer has spreaded everywhere and as I'm typing this email, she is on ventilation support she is too weak to breath on her own. =( . I am being told that doctors will be removing the ventilator this Friday and she will be forced to breath on her own. Her family thinks that she might not be able to survive on her own......Carolyn is in no pain right now as Morphine is being administrated.

It's very devastating to hear of such news especially when we're so close knit and are like family! I've known Carolyn for about 4 years and have worked with her day in and out for about more than 3 years. This is the second heartbreaking news I received regarding my "adopted family" in Illinois in less than 6 months, the first being the sudden passing of my dear boss back in September. May God bless his soul.

Please help me pray for Carolyn to victoriously fight another battle. If indeed she is too weak to survive this battle; let us pray that there be no struggle for her during her last moments.