#luneskitchen

Sep 11

Have you ever went to one of those Chinese restaurants and ordered this dish? They are so good. The eggplants are hot (both literally and spicy-hot), but soft. The minced pork add extra meaty depth to the dish (I just love pork). It’s oily, for sure, but it’s such a hearty dish that I keep on going back for more. Perfect when eaten with a bowl of rice.

For the longest time, I can never replicate this dish at home. The first time I cooked this, the eggplants are still half-raw. And when they are still raw, eggplants have this strong, pungent (I’m not sure if pungent is the right word) smell that are just not nice. Luckily, the husband still gobbles up the food, raw eggplants and all.

The key to making this dish is patience. You need to fry the eggplants in batches to make sure that they are actually cooked.

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Sep 11

I’m actually not sure what to call this dish. I mean, I know the Indonesian: my mother named this simply as Udang Goreng Tepung. Loosely translated, it means ‘floured fried prawns’. Erm, that doesn’t sound very appetising.

My friend told me that the dish has another name: bakwan udang, which translated into prawn fritters. That seems straightforward, and sounds quite correct!

Growing up, I eat prawn fritters almost every week. It’s my favourite dish when I was little—partly because I was such a picky eater that I would not eat anything else but prawns. When my family and I went to eat yumcha, my parents would older one serve of hakao, which I would eat with rice, minus the wrappings (which are eaten by my sisters). In summary, I really, really love prawns.

This dish is my mom’s recipe. It’s really easy—only slightly troublesome as you actually need to fry them (which uses quite a lot of oil). But I do think it’s worth it!

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Sep 10

Another lazy green veggie dish!

To say that bok choy makes a regular appearance in my kitchen is an understatement—it’s one of those veggies that’s almost always there in my fridge, all the time. Both the husband and I love it—the husband actually does love the taste of bok choy, and I love them as they’re easy to cook and relatively cheap too.

This dish is another lazy cooking as it doesn’t require any stir-frying.

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Sep 10

Sesame spinach is the recipe you’d make when you’re feeling lazy.

In my household, there’s always some sort of green veggie served every night, but at times I can’t be bothered to stir-fry them (which is my default mode in cooking vegetables). When I have spinach at home, I almost always make this recipe.
It’s actually a Korean dish, and the original recipe calls for toasted sesame seed. I almost never use it because it’s never in my pantry. Some variations also call for spring onion for garnish, which I sometimes use when I have them at home. Most of the time, though, the spinach will be served as is.

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Sep 07

For the past year or so, I’ve been obsessed with homecooking. If you follow me on Instagram (@mpurnama), you’ll see that I cook almost daily. Many of you have asked for a recipe, and I’ve been wanting to collate all my cookings in one place (perhaps for my children later on). I know, I’m no chef, and still very much a newbie—I just love cooking at home, serving delicious, nutritious, easy food for myself and the husband.

So from those daily sharing of homecooked food, I’ve decided to create a new section on this blog for the recipes that I’ve cooked and become staples at my home. They’re mostly easy, mostly stir-fries, and mostly Asian. (That’s just our palate!)

I really hope that this blog will inspire you to ditch those takeaways and cook more at home. Not only you will save more money, you’ll be healthier too!

For my first ever recipe, I think it’s apt to share on how I make my corn soup. Saying that this is a staple at my home is an understatement—this is the first ever food that I’ve cooked, dating back when I was still a teenager. (Okay, probably second to instant noodles.) I’ve probably cooked this once every few weeks or so. Whenever I’m lazy, in need of easy cooking, or just wanting to add another non-heavy dish, corn soup is my go-to choice.

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Dec 12

1. IN THE BEGINNING: A GIRL WHO CAN’T COOK

I can’t remember exactly when I first entered the kitchen to cook alongside my mother. But if you want the answer to how many times I’ve been in the kitchen to help my mother cook, I can totally answer that one — a maximum of eight times.

I grew up in a household where my mother stays at home and cooks, yet I never really learn to cook myself. I’m an expert at cooking Indomie Kari Ayam (chicken curry) and for the longest time, that’s the only thing I can cook. I know the exact amount of water needs to be used to make the perfect soup consistency. But I have no idea how to hold the knife to chop garlic.

During junior high school, the only time I would hold a knife was when I was peeling and cutting mangoes. I love mangoes. And for that sole reason, I would be willing to cut mangoes after school when my mother was away, or taking a nap.

My mother often asked me to come help her to cook in the kitchen. I always said no and chose to finish a quest of Final Fantasy VIII on my Play Station 1 instead.

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Page 2

Szechuan eggplants

Prawn fritters

Bok choy with oyster sauce

Sesame Spinach

Corn Soup

Out of the couch, onto the kitchen