Project Kitchen: Makan-Makan at Carol's Place and Chilli Prawn a la Pak Aji Japar

Fuhhh...!!

That's a mouthful title kan? Sorry bout that:)

My good friend at the office, Carol and her husband, Jeff, are migrating to Australia next month. She's my lunch buddy all these years, and throughout our time as colleagues, I shared my home-cooked food with her from time to time. She's also been learning cooking tips from me and tried out some of the recipes she's learnt from me. So kiranya I ni cikgu masak-masak dia la hehhehe.

So last Saturday, she asked me to come over to her place, which is just 10 minutes away from mine, for lunchtime cookout as she wanted me to show her firsthand, as well as to do them herself, some of the recipes she's always wanted to try cooking. Ye lah, at least sekarang if she wants to get anything she could just go to any restaurant and get them kan? But nanti duduk Austalia semua kena masak sendiri:)..Poor girl.

She listed the menu last week and before she left (her last day was last Thursday), I gave her a list of ingredients she needed to get. Coming along was another one of our colleague, Siew Teng, who brought along her younger sister, Siew Hoon.

So here's what we cooked:

Acar jelatah, nasi tomato, ayam masak merah (tapi jadi gelap sebab terlebih kicap pekat), roti jala, and kari ayam which I cooked earlier at home

Seronok, sebab semuanya sedap-sedap!Hehehhe..
Really, with collective efforts, glad that these girls had fun cooking and now can learn something, and they had fun especially learning how to make roti jala style Mizz Ray;)

And here we are before cleaning all those food off the plates:

Jeff took the photo. Carol's the one wearing pink, Siew Teng and her sis are there, and well..you know how I look like kan?;)

OK, now on to the chilli prawn a la Pak Aji Japar. That's my project today. In fact, Baru je siap, tak makan lagi pun. Why do I name the prawn that way? Well, because that's the way my Dad cooks them at home, and the recipe is passed down to us. Yes, my Dad likes to cook too.

In fact, I grew up watching my Dad cooking alongside Mum. He's a pretty good cook. Bukan apa, my Mum, as a tailor, used to be really busy with her jahitan that sometimes she didn't have time to cook (especially after all of us left home for boarding school and/or universities). When there were just the two of them at home, he would be the one who does the cooking. Bukan nak kata my Mum malas or tak reti masak (in fact she's a fantastic cook OK:)), but she's busy sewing and he's doing his part with the household chores.

This chilli prawn is one of my Dad's specialty. But of course, now he can't eat that anymore, alongside many other seafood because he has gout. So takpe la, the name chilli prawn a la Pak Aji Japar is my tribute to him.

Basically, you just need to tumbuk bawang merah, bawang putih, halia, serai, lengkuas (tadi I tak masuk, sebab takde stok lengkuas), and kunyit hidup sikit, cili fresh or cili padi (depends on your preference, kalau tak cili giling pun OK). Tumis. Bila dan sedap naik bau, masukkan pulak udang fresh yang dah elok dicuci. If you want to peel and devein it is also fine-ikut style masing-masing OK. Bila udang dah bertukar jadi kaler merah pulak, masukkan sos cili sikit, and sos tomato. Lebihkan sos tomato ya! Let the udang simmer. Takpun tambah je air sikit so that they can combine with the prawn juice.

Depending on your preferred thickness of the prawn, finally masukkan telur. Scramble it first ok. This is to thicken the kuah. Finally masukkan tomato potong empat. Bila agak-agak dah cukup pekat and masak, boleh angkat dah.

Nak tau tak, kalau takde nasik, this is also enjoyable when eaten with bread! Here's how it looks like:)


Selamat mencuba:)