Saturday, 9 February 2013

Cooking: Beef Stew

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

We do not celebrate Lunar Agricultural New Year this year since my father is not well. So, there is no dinner together. We haven't have dinner for long time because everyone live like separately due to being occupied with our daily routine and life. Just sending some greetings to those brothers and sisters who celebrate New Year tomorrow be they of Chinese, Vietnamese or Japanese descents... Muslims or non-Muslims... 

Just now my little sister complained that she was hungry so I checked the fridge and founded some beef stored there. Previously, I did not really favor beef and would even throw out if having contact with the beef. So, does little sister. For now, I actually taking it just to clear people confusion. I am a Muslim and just not familiar with beef but had trained myself with vegan life style.

I cooked for her since she is lazy to cook. I do not know why girls today are so spoiled. Maybe because they have a brother like me, haha...  Just feel pitiful because she said she can't eat instant noodle anymore and I am telling her that it is a waste of time to eat outside. I agree that instant noodle is not really good for one's health. Human needs real food. Usually I would wash everything that I wear and also myself with turmeric just after I have contact with beef. A little bit like Indians I know, haha...


For the beef stew maybe for non-vegetarian brothers or sisters maybe if you are so lazy to find things and you coincidentally have these in your fridge. Maybe you can try yourself. Just simple things. Chop some garlic and I used some galangal because we do not have ginger. Then, cut the beef as you like as long as it is small enough and easy to be cooked. I just use some beef because I am "scared" with it and it is not good for teeth and tummy. Some potato just to make the beef less meaty in it's smell. 


Cut some chillies does not matter whatever chillies would go as long as it is chillies. Sometimes, I saw people used some dried chili as I always checked how people cook their stuffs. Then, some lemongrass where I knock it a little bit with the carver. I also have some pepper corn.


It looks like this when we put some oil and the fry the meat a while with those chopped garlic and galangal. Scary....


Put the potatoes inside the pan because it will help us to indicate whether the beef is well-cooked or not. If the potatoes turning soft and tender, then the beef is also the same. Just stir and fry for a while....


Then put some dark thick soy sauce and the pepper corn. We have many brands of soy sauce here. I guess this came from Chinese influence but since my mother becoming so concerned about halal stamp so we do not really touch any non-Muslim Chinese brands anymore except that we buy Malay produced products. Mostly, Kedah citizen who live outside of the state still calling the soy sauce as toyu just like the old days because we preserve the elders' style of speech as to protect our identity as a patriotic citizen of the Sultanate. As to say, the toyu for us is like prominent sauces in Europe such as Carbonara, Espagnol and stuffs, lol...


When we pour some water into the frying pan, it will make everything sink down the base of the pan. Just let it cook well. It will take us around 20-25 minutes and keep pouring water little by little when it seems like drying. About five minutes before we turn off the fire, put some salt in it maybe like a pinch and try to taste it first. If not enough then put some more. I don't like too much salt as well as I hate monosodium glutamate.


The result is like this.... Some people might marinate the beef with turmeric powder, pepper corn, salt, garlic and ginger first. Some would boil the beef in hot water. It depends on the time and a person way of cooking. My little sister said that the salt was not sufficient. I purposely make it less salty because it is already at night. We are not doing any physical movement except that going to sleep so it would be unhealthy plus unhealthy. It smells like beef.... argh.... I'm washing my clothes and showering....

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

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