Asian Dishes – Page 13 – The Occasional Cook

Fish Porridge

December 6, 2015March 3, 2021 7shasha7

I am really lousy at cooking fish but occasionally I do get it right. Or, I take the easy way out. Like fish porridge!

At the market near home, I bought a few handfuls of white fish ready sliced and boneless (but with any fish you have to check and eat carefully. I found a teeny bit of bone in a slice). And so I decided to make fish porridge.

For porridge, you have to use normal rice with regular starch content. Thai jasmine is best. In a pot, I added two cups of rice to lots of water. For the fish, I seasoned with light soy, white pepper and sesame oil. For this, use white pepper. When the rice has been boiled to porridge consistency, add the fish to the rice pot and stir carefully till cooked. I added slices of french beans for some crunch. When the porridge has reached a nice slightly thick consistency, season with lots of salt (all it’ll be totally bland!)

To serve, garnish with fried shallots, fried small ikan bilis and fresh coriander. Lots more of white pepper too! A satisfying dish that warms the heart.

Asian Dishes, Salads and Vegetables

Chinese Vegetarian

February 15, 2015 7shasha7

A month ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to ab ex-colleague’s wedding. She and her husband are both strict vegetarians. In the West, vegan food would most likely be simply loads of garden salad and vegetables. In the East, vegetarian food are very creative! The food at the wedding banquet was exquisite. They are strict vegans, so no alcohol was used in the cooking as well, on top of no garlic and onions. But somehow, I suppose through lots of seasoning, the food turned out really really well. Or perhaps we were just so hungry. Eating vegetarian food like this can be tiring…all that chewing! In any case, I was thankful to be able to grace this wonderful joyous event and experience something new at the same time. Feast for the eyes.

Starters: Lots of yummy mushroom and beancurd starters. The surprise were these cut fruits made to look like chips. The seasoning on them were divine!

The mushroom starters...yummey — The mushroom starters…yummey

Supposed to be fish. It's actually delicious crispy fried beancurd. — Supposed to be fish. It’s actually delicious crispy fried beancurd.

Mushroom vegetarian soup ... mmmm...eaten with a splosh of black vinegar... — Mushroom vegetarian soup … mmmm…eaten with a splosh of black vinegar…

Peking duck vegetarian style...yums — Peking duck vegetarian style…yums

Loads of beancurd, and yams and other root vegetables inside the mould.Vegetrai

Asian Dishes, Seafood

Sambal Sardine

March 19, 2014March 19, 2014 7shasha7

This is a classic budget dish which a lot of Malay families turn to in times of crisis or, like in my case a few days ago, nostalgia.

Sambal is the Malay word for ground chilli. The basic sambal paste would consist of soaking dried chillies till soft and then blending it with water, onions and garlic. This basic chilli paste can then be used in a multitude of ways. Add belacan (fermented shrimp paste ubiquitous in Southeast Asia) and fry in oil to make sambal for fried noodles, asam pedas , sambal Tumis… The list is endless.

Here I’ve fried the sambal paste with oil over low heat together with lots of sliced Japanese yellow onions. Then i added a teaspoon of tamarind pulp. When it’s cooked, I added one tin of sardines in tomato sauce, a wee bit it salt and kaffir lime leaves.

Tamarind pulp can be substituted I suppose with line juice. I realise that since I will be vacationing in the States in a few months time, I’d better think like a Westerner, or someone who lives in the West. I doubt I’ll have such Southeast Asian ingredients readily available in Walmart or Target in Dallas! Oh, dear.

Anyway, this is a nice dish and it’s healthy too. I love the smell of kaffir lime leaves in a dish.

Anyway, this

Asian Dishes, Malay, Snack

Pulut Serunding

December 10, 2013March 3, 2021 7shasha7

When I was younger, I can never resist ‘pulut serunding’ – glutinuous rice balls coated with spicy shreds of coconut mix. Pulut is glutinous rice. And serunding is this coconut mixture. There are so many types of serunding, and I’ve never made them, but during Hari Raya (Eid) we’d go to this shopping centre in Johore Bahru which sells three excellent types of serunding.

Then one day last year, I decided to make them. I steamed glutinous rice and added salt. I already had some serunding which my mom had given and so rolled the glutinous rice balls in the serunding mixture. So simple to make. And I wonder why I’d pay so much for the store bought ones which can be so hard! Good pulut serunding must, without a doubt, have quality, spicy and sweet serunding but also tender soft chewy and tasty pulut.

The glutinous rice formed into balls. The next time I make, I'd make them smaller. — The glutinous rice formed into balls. The next time I make, I’d make them smaller.

And there you have it - pulut serunding. — And there you have it – pulut serunding.

Asian Dishes, Bread and Batter

Roti telur gulung sardin

October 26, 2013 7shasha7

This morning I made something I’ve been wanting to do for years – a snack which is so oily and fattening. Ironically I am currently trying to shed a couple (OK a lot) of kilos.

Anyway I made them and am happy that I’ve tried. I will never make them again.

The first three I made, I used bread crumbs. For added texture. But I felt that the breadcrumbs absorbed more oil and added to the gazillion calories already so after that I did it the traditional way.