Marsha Maung: Write. Cook. Read. Watch. Try. Innovate.

,  There's an old adage of chicken breasts being dry and boring. I am here to stand in their defense. They're not dry, not boring, not tasteless. It's about how well you understand how to work with it. The way most of us use chicken breasts is to cut it into strips and stir-fry it. But you'll be surprised with how versatile this part of chicken can be if you paid it enough attention.  PREP Brine the chicken by butterflying the thick parts. Put the chicken into a deep bowl, toss in 2 TBsp of salt, cover with water, use your hands to mesh things up in the bowl until the salt is dissolved, cover. and refrigerate for 20 mins to overnight. When you're ready for it, wash off the chicken breasts and set aside. Use the same pan where there are still juices from the pan-fried chicken. We don't waste good juices from the meat.  In this case, there was no need to marinade it but if you want to... MARINADE garlic powder onion powder paprika powder cayenne salt pepper...

Japanese Curry with Carrots and Potatoes The star of the dish is the mild Japanese curry (apple and honey base) and we just need to get some vegetables into the meal. We got stashes of carrots and potatoes after lunch and we said " Yeah, THAT's what we will have for dinner. Done Deal !" I didn't make the curry paste myself because it's store-bought. Nothing wrong with that, honestly. Healthy, delicious food is the priority.  Simple Pan-Fried Salmon How I made it is simple : Just washed the fish, wiped it down with a paper towel because water and oil are no friends. So, if you hate splatter as much as I do, then drying it makes a world of difference. I, then, seasoned the salmon with just salt and pepper. Heat the pan with a little bit of oil and pan-fry the skin side down for about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fish onto both sides, each for about 1 minute. We focus on keeping meals affordable, we don't have seafood, pork, and other uni...

Steamed Egg Plant with Chicken & Pork Mince These pics are GodAwful . There's no excuses. The only justification is that it tasted good.  Steamed Egg Plants  :  Wash egg plants Wipe down the egg plants Heat 2 or 3 bowls of water Steam the egg plant for about 11 mins. Please check and reheat if needed Remove and cool down (no need ice water - just let it cool down) Meat Top-Up Minced garlic Prep minced chicken (breasts) and pork - Mix them well and don't worry about them. They good.  Prep sauce - Soy sauce, Oyster sauce, Fish sauce, Seasoning, Salt, Pepper, MSG if you want, Sugar, Dark soy sauce, Sesame seed oil, Veg oil Heat up wok or pan or pot = saute garlic = UNTIL FRAGRANT   = fry and toss = Add the prepped sauce = Cook down = Set aside## On The Side I had free green onions (or what some people call leeks) from the morning market. We get that free stuff when we buy above a certain item. And I got them and kept them.  The steam Eggplants ...

I won't remove this picture because me and the boys had a laugh about how ugly it looked despite us enjoying it.  It's effing ugly but the only proof of what I made. However, I will replace it with a new picture when I make it again. 😂😂😂 I know this looks ugly but I did my best to salvage what I could, pictures of what I cooked for the day. It's especially regretful today because it was really delicious, the men in the house ate them up, and this was what I salvaged.  Anyway, a couple of days ago, I bought a lot of chicken breasts from the morning market because they're cheaper than the usual parts and decided to rampage the internet to find recipes I can experiment with. And this was one of them and I've kept them in my recipe keeper for some time now. Honey, Soy, Garlic Chicken Breasts. Sweet, Salty, Savory...a combination you can't go wrong with, isn't it? The pictures I posted these few days really don't cut it.  Anyway, it's not t...

I've been trying so hard to make home cooked meals and, honestly, I think I am doing a good job so far.  Most of the time, the boys enjoy the food that I make. As far as I can tell.  This picture is just of me taking the day off. All of us need a break sometimes. 

As a kid, I never liked Okra or Eggplant because of its slimy nature; no amount of convincing about its health benefits got me to eat them. During one of our family-outings, we ordered a really crunchy okra dish that changed my mind a little. Not all the way but just a little . But just like other greens, it depends on how you want to cook it that will make the difference on how others enjoy it.  I am no expert but I quickly learn from the Internet and YouTube. I think we learn a lot from mistakes. Just a couple of days ago, I burnt down a whole pot of red beans dessert that I wanted to enjoy. Still cleaning the pot two days down. Ah well... OKRA/EGGPLANT with SALTED PRAWNS & DRIED SHALLOTS TOPPING Really important to wash the okra down because this is a skin-in dish. We don't want impurities Heat up water with salt Once boiling, pop the okra into the pot and cook for about 2 to 3 mins Prep cold water or ice water Remove okra and place into cold water to stop the co...

Pork is not very affordable over here. For background check, pork is very inaccessible and and a little expensive. So, it's sometimes, in local Chinese communities, considered luxury. Go research on how accessible pork, the premium versions are, in Malaysia.  Thank goodness we have specialty stores manned by professional butchers who source their pork supply from their own farms, making the quality and supply more controlled.  I have no pork skills, so what we (Jad and I) pummeled the pork slices as much as we  could. We marinaded the pummeled pork with oue preferred seasoning and left them in the fridge for a few hours (better for a day).  There were only 2 options in my eyes = (a) Pan-frty: (2) Air-fry. We chose pan-frying because I don't like deep frying, i.e. I don't know how to manage oil temperature for this method very well. What I have come to accept is that not everyone is good at everything and every skill in the kitchen. While I can eye-ball my...

Ready-to-Cook Nuggets We found really affordable ready-to-cook nuggets from a grocery store nearby (a new one we've not tried visiting before) and decided ' Yeah, why not? One night of rice-less and noodle-less dinner sounds good ). Most nights, we make simple stews and soups and partner them up with rice.  Tonight, we just wanted home-made fast-food. We've laid off KFC, McDonalds, and Burger King for months on end.  These nuggets just needed to be pan-fried each side about a minute or two and you're about done. Cooking dinner was a little tedious but I'll explain that later because of the other stuff that needed our consistent attention.  Creamy Mashed Potatoes The mashed potatoes we usually get from restaurants are often layered with some sort of mushroom sauce. We've making this at home a few times and we figured out that we don't need the sauce. We like the buttery and creamy version of The Mash.  The potatoes we had in the kitchen si...