HOMEMADE OTAH

My kids love otah. They use to buy it from some a Malay uncle near my house who is selling it on his mobile stall. It’s not cheap take into consideration of the portion. So, one day I told my kids, “Hey kids. Your mum knows how to do it. Fresher, tastier and most of all……cheaper.”

The best is to use oily fish like mackerel. If you wish to be innovative, you can also try other fish like tuna, sardine, salmon, etc. When you have excess fishes in your fridge and you are tired of frying or steaming, try doing otah with it.

What you need :
Mackerel fish – 200gm (Mince into fish paste)
Corn Flour – 3 tablespoon
Sambal Chilli – 3 tablespoon (if you like it spicy, you can add more)
Oyster Sauce – 1 teaspoon

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. There after, you can either steam it, bake it or BBQ it.

(A) Steam :
Put all your otah mixture on a plate.
Boil some water in your wok, place a metal stand and place your plate on top.
Cover it and steam for about 10 minutes.

(B) Bake :
Place your otah on greased aluminium foil and wrap it up firmly.
You may pack them in about 10 wraps.
Preheat your oven (not microwave oven of course) 220 degree C
Place all the otah warp into the oven and bake them for 10 minutes

(C) BBQ :
The most authenticable way is to wrap them in banana leaves.
Place the otah mix in the center of banana leaves and faster with
toothpicks at both end.
BBQ them on charcoal for 5 - 10 minutes depends on how strong
the fire is.



(In the above slide show, I Steam the otah. We serve the otah with Chicken Soup Macaroni top with Japanese spices. My sons love potato chips. Thus, I let them have it as a side dish. Funny right. Anyway, they love it.)

Tips :
For busy people like me….Hmm…..actually busy is only an excuse. Lazy is the reason :P
You may consider getting fish paste from supermarket where they sell such paste for making fish balls. As for Sambal chilli, you can also get it off the racks. It comes in many varieties and brands. You can find them in bottles and packets. You can also get it from wet market where there are stall selling pre-mixed spices.

If you wish to mix your own house brand sambal chili, you can make it with onion, turmeric, galangal, chili, balachan, garlic, buah keras and lemon grass. (haha…troublesome isn’t it ?) I skip this. Yeah…

I like to add some surprises in my otah. Sometime, I’ll add some squid, prawn or crab meat. My preference is squid but my kids prefer prawn and crab stick.

If you are not sure whether the otah is cooked, you can use toothpick or satay stick to test by poking it into the otah. If it comes out clean, your otah is done.

It’s very simple and I’m sure, you will do it again and again after your first try.

FRUITY PRAWN SALAD

Ingredient :
One Canned of Mixed Cocktail Fruit
250g of Fresh Prawn
Coleslaw (I prefer Kraft Coleslaw)

Cook prawn, deshell and halved it. Drain syrup off the canned cocktail fruit. Place cocktail fruit into a nice plate and lay the prawns nicely on the fruit. Chill them in the fridge till ready to serve.
Upon arrival of your hungry guests, squeeze coleslaw on the salad and serve them with pride. You may light a candle and place it on the salad, dance or march your way to the dinning table. Impress your guest with impressive low cost salad ;-)
There’s no secret to this recipe. Just Serve Cold.

NON BAKE PEACH CHEESE CAKE

The Cheese Cake Picture looks familiar ?? Yes, I posted it in my earlier blog post when we had it as a Singapore National Day Birthday Cake on our national day celebration. I've been receiving some requests for sharing the recipe of my Non Bake Peach Cheese Cake. It's easy to prepare and save you some trouble of baking. Kids can do it so why don't you give it a try.

INGREDIENTS :

The Cake :
400g Digestive Biscuits
120g Butter (melted)
1-1/2 tsp Gelatin
100ml Hot Water
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4 tbsp Condensed Milk
1 tin Evaporated Milk – Chilled overnight

The Top Decoration :
1/2 Peaches (sliced)
2 tbsp Gelatin Dissolved with little Hot Water

METHOD :

1. Crush biscuits into fine crumbs. Mix the crumbs with melted butter in a mixing bowl. Mix well and press crumb mixture into a 9” baking tin to form a firm and even crust. Chill for 2 hours while making the filling

2. Dissolve 1-1/2 tsp gelatin with hot water. Stir in the lemon juice and put aside.

3. Mix cream cheese and condensed milk well.

4. Whip the chilled evaporated milk until thick and combine with the gelatin mixture and (3). Beat till the mixture is smooth. Pour filling into crust and decorate with sliced peach. Pour the dissolved 2tbsp gelatin over the cheese. Chill overnight to set.

TIPS :

1) I prefer to line the tin with aluminum foil before pressing the crumb into the tin for easy removal. It’s not necessary but I prefer as it’s really very easy when removing the cake from the tin.
2) I add extra peach cubes into the cake to give it an extra peach flavor and it looks prettier and colorful when you present slice cake to your guess.

3) You may wish to use Oleo biscuits if you like to add some chocolate flavor into your every bite. Digestive biscuits are preferred as it will compliment the light and fruity cheese cake.

4) I actually freeze it at times and serve it as ice-creme. My kids really love their cheesy ice-creme. Best of all, it's calcium rich.

4) Be creative by changing the fruits to Kiwi, Strawberries, Blue Berries or any seasonal fruits of your choice.