Lettuce

Lettuce,  生菜, 萵苣  ( Lactuca sativa ) is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. 

Both English name and Latin name of the genus are derived from ‘lac’, the Latin word for ‘milk’, referring to the plant’s milky juice.

The lettuce planted for food is harvested when it’s young and before bolting.  It is typically eaten raw in the West.  In China, it is eaten cooked.

There are 6 commonly recognized cultivar groups :  

Butterhead ( Lactuca sativa v. capitata )

Forms loose heads. Leaves have buttery texture.  Popular varieties include Boston, Bibb, Buttercrunch, Tom Thumb. etc

Chinese Lettuce / Celtuce ( Lactuca stiva v. asparagina )

Long, sword-shaped, non-head-forming leaves.  Bitter and robust flavour.  Popular varieties include 油麥菜, 生菜.

Crisphead / Iceberg

Forms tight, dense heads resemble cabbage.  Crunchy texture.  Popular varieties in America include Tom Thumb, Mini Green, red Rosa, red Rosy, New York, Great Lakes. etc

Looseleaf ( Lactuca sativa v. crispa )

Tender, delicate, mildly flavoured leaves.  Popular varieties include Oak Leaf, Lollo Rosso, Black Seeded Simpson, Ibis, Red Sails, etc

Romaine / Cos ( Lactuca sativa v. romana )

Long, broad, upright leaves.  Popular varieties include Parris Island, Valmaine, etc

Summer Crisp / Batavian.

Forms moderately dense heads with a crunchy texture.

Cari Makan @ BBQ Bukit Tinggi

杂饭 “无理凼都饭” RM20

盐锔非洲鱼 “雪山飞狐” RM38

海鲜煲 “肥水不流外人田” RM100

煎蛋豆腐 “明月照寒江” RM8

炒辣椒 “绝招” RM10

武宜丁宜烧烤村

Bukit Tinggi BBQ

Tel : 09-2330330 or 012-3577111

营业时间 opening hour :

Daily 12:00 afternoon onwards

until the kitchen runs out of ingredients

or until
the maitre d' ( a.k.a. the waiter )
refuse to serve you ask the restaurant is already full house
( come back later, if you are still hungry )


reservation is strictly unnecessary, nor accepted.

牛肉丸一锅饭 Ongrizinal Beef MeatBall One-Pot-Rice

One pot rice is a fast way to prepare a meal that comprises carbohydrate, protein, and greens.

Normally, when cooking a one-pot-rice, additional water is added.  

So, as I cook 2 cups of rice, I put 3 cups of water instead of the usual 2.

Add in and stir to mix:

1 cup of sweet corn,

1 cup of green peas,

1 cup of diced carrot,

1 cup of diced onion,

20 pieces of beef meatballs, or fishballs, pork meatballs, chicken meatballs,

5 cloves of garlice, minced,

2 teaspoon of chili flakes,

3 teaspoon of salt.

Well, plug in the rice-cooker. Switch it on and wait to be served.

炒金瓜 Stir-fried Pumpkin

Cooking of pumpkin is something tricky. 

First, the pumpkin need to be cut into uniform size.   Uneven sizes may result in uneven cooking.

Secondly, the pumpkin must not be overcooked.  Overcooked pumpkin tends to be softened and pulpy.  It should be just nicely cooked.  Soft, yet still retain the chunkiness.

Third, pumpkin itself is a sweet fruit.  Turning a sweet fruit into a savory dish is not as simple as adding salt.  I don’t know, but sometimes it taste more like a dessert.

For step-by-step cooking of the dish, go to : http://ongrizinal-recipe.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html

Good luck

卤鸡肫 Stewed Chicken Gizzard

First, clean the chicken gizzards.  Then marinate them with some 3 table spoon of dark soy sauce, a teaspoon of five spice powder and a tablespoon of granular sugar. 

If too much dark soy sauce is added, the whole thing will turn out dark-coloured.  Too much five spice powder too will result in the dish overwhelmed with the spice’s strong smell.

Meanwhile, peel a bulb of garlic.

Fry the garlic in oil first, then put in the chicken gizzards.  

Add in water to cover the gizzards, bring to boil

Turn down the flame.  Simmer until the gizzards are cooked and tender.

By then, almost half the gravy has dried up.

Passion Fruit Juice

Passion fruit is Passiflora edulis, a vine from the New World, from the family Passifloraceae. 

The fruit is acidic ( which I don’t like ), yet with rich aroma.  

GuoHao gave me some passion fruit , and I decided to make it into passion fruit juice.  First I extracted the pulp from 2 fruits, mix it with a glass of water, add some sugar, and served chilled. 

Nice !  

the pulp, in a halved passion fuit



a couple of seeds, floating



more seeds settled at bottom



猪肝汤 Pig Liver Soup

1 piece of pig liver, slice into thin slices, about 3mm thick.  My blunt knife makes the slicing a painful task.   

Julienne some ginger, fry them in sesame seed oil over small flame until golden and fragrant.   

Pour in a bowl of water, bring to boil.  Add in the sliced pig liver.

Bring to boil for a while.  Add salt and flavour enhancer to taste.

清炒四角豆 Stir-fried Winged Bean

This two are just  simple winged bean dishes, stir-fried only with garlic.  Salt and msg is added to taste.

Alternatively,



chunky version



This one is chunkier.  The winged beans are snapped by hand into bite-size chunks.  It requires more chewing, the crunchy taste is terrific !  Yet too much chewing is tiring.



sliced version



While this, the winged-beans are sliced to about 5mm thick.  It is of course easier to chew compare to the chunky version.







丝瓜汤 Smooth Luffa Soup

I have been having too much sir-fried smooth luffa recently, the vine seems doesn’t stop flowering and fruiting, or stop living for good.

Vowed to stop cooking it for the time being, I was however tempted to try something different with it.  So, I tried a soup version.

It started off exactly the same as stir-fried it with eggs, only to end it with a bowl-full of water pour into the wok, and bring to boil.

Of course, not to forget the salt and msg.

Chilies



The generic name 'Capsicum' is derived from the Greek word ‘kapto’, meaning ‘to bite’ or ‘to swallow.  

Capsicum consists of approximately 20 – 27 species.  Known species include : C. annuum, C. baccatum, C. buforum, C. campylopodium, C. cardenasii, C. chacoense, C. chinensis, C. cocineum, C. camutum, C. dimorphum, C. dusenii, C. eximium, C. flexuosum, C. frutescens, C. galapogoense, C. geminifolium, C.  hookerianum, C. lanceolatum, C. leptopodum, C. lycianthoides, C. minutiflorum, C. mirabile, C. mositicum, C. parvifolium, C. pubescens, C. rhomboideum, C. schottianum, C. scholnikianum, C. tovarii, and C. villosum.

There are 5 major species of Capsicum cultivated :

Capsicum annuum

Although the species name ‘annum’ means ‘annual’, from the Latin word ‘annus’, it is not an annual plant.  It can grow for several seasons and sometimes into a perennial shrub.

It originated from southern N.America, and northern S.America.

The flowers are white coloured, sometimes purplish.

Known varieties :  Aleppo , Anaheim,  Ancho, Banana pepper, Bell pepper, Cascabel, Cayenne, Chilaca, Chiltepin, Cubanelle, De árbol, Dundicut, Fresno, Guajillo, Hungarian wax, Italian sweet, Jalapeño, Mirasol, Macho, Mulato, New Mexico (Anaheim), Paprika, Pasilla, Peperoncini, Peter, Piquín, Pimento, Poblano,Puya, Serrano, Shishito, Tien Tsin



Chili Kulai



Bell Peppers



Capsicum frutescens

Originated from South America, or Central America.

The flowers are greenish white or greenish yellow.

The fruits typically are small; berries erect; ellipsoid-conical to lanceoloid shaped.

It is usually annuals or short-lived perennials.

Besides grown for human consumption, it is grown for ornamental use for its colourful ripening patterns and large quantities of berries.

Known cultivars & varieties : African Bird's Eye, Bird's Eye chili, Kambuzi pepper, Malagueta, piri-piri, Tabasco, Thai pepper

Thai

Capsicum chinensis

Despite its specific name ‘chinensis’, it is originated in the New World.  Nicolaur Joseph von Jacquin (1727-1817), a Cutch botanist, erroneously named it in 1776 as he believed that it was originated from China.

It is originated from Central America, the Yucatan region, and the Caribbean islands.

Flowers are whitish in colour.

Fruits varies greatly in shape and colour, with red, orange, yellow, and even brown.

Plants are usually perennial.

Known varieties : Adjuma, Ají Limo, Ají dulce, Arriba Saia, Datil, Fatalii, Habanero, Hainan Yellow Lantern Chili, Madame Jeanette, Naga Jolokia, Red Savina Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Trinidad Scorpion, Umbigo de Tainha, Wiri Wiri, 7-Pot,

Capsicum pubescens

The name ‘pubescens’ means hairy, which refers to the hairy leaves of the plant.

It is distinguished from other chili species with its black seeds.

Originated from northeastern South America, and southern Central America.

The plant is a small shrub, sometimes a liana, perennial.

The flowers appear singly or in pairs.  Blue-violet coloured.

C. pubsescens is grown almost exclusively as the Rocoto variety.

Rocoto

Capsicum baccatum

Wild species C. baccatum var. baccatum is most common in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, northern Argentina, and southern Brazil.

Flowers are green or golden.

Fruits varies in shape and colour.

Some known varieties are : Ají , Bishop's Crown, Brazilian Starfish, Lemon Drop, Piquanté

Baccatum

references : 

1. http://www.foodsubs.com/

2. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/

红酒丝瓜炒蛋 Stir-fried Luffa

Handling a stove is both a skill of art and science.   Passion and emotions are 2 important elements impossible to disregard, so are the environmental factors and the ingredients…

This is the n^th-time I stir-fry a luffa within a month’s time, so my luffa-stir-frying skill has improved significantly, but it also resulted in me getting bored with the dish.  The more I wok on it, the better I get.  Yet every time the dish turned out differently. 

My Ongrizinal's conclusion is : every dish is an unique piece work of art..  Never will there be an exact duplication, even it’s the same dish, or exact same ingredients.   

So, this stir-fried luffa is unique on its own. 

Its aroma is slightly different due to the different wine I used : Foochow redwine. 

Its drier, almost no gravy, as no additional water is added.

The eggs taste different, maybe its from another farm.

... ... ...

虾膏四角豆炒饭 Belacan Winged-Bean Fried Rice

Ingredients :

1. rice, cooked, loosened

2. prawn paste ( belacan )

3. anchovies

4. winged-bean x 20, chopped

5. curry leaves ( Murraya koenigii )

6. garlic, minced

7. chili

8. fish sauce

First, in a slightly excessive cooking oil, heat the prawn paste over small flame, until it fragrant.  

Add in the minced garlic, curry leaves, chili and anchovies.  Slowly, stir fry until everything is cooked.  The anchovies will turn brown and hardened when its cooked.

Then, add in all the winged-beans. Stir for a while before putting in all the rice.

Flavour it with some fish sauce, a

nd flavour enhancer.  

Stir-fried Bitter Gourd with Eggs 苦瓜炒蛋

Mince some garlic, heat it over oil in a wok.

Crack 2 eggs into the wok, fry till cooked.

At the same time, with speed of light, cut into have a bitter gourd, remove its seeds and pulp.  Slice it length wise.

Add into the wok, stir for a while.

Add some water into the wok.  Turn the flame down, simmer till the bitter gourd is cooked.  By then, the water should had been dried up.  If not, turn the flame up and stir-fry until the gravy is reduced.  

Add salt to taste.