Category: Malay

Asian Dishes, Malay, Salads and Vegetables, Soups

Asam Rebus

7shasha7

It’s fasting month and it’s the school holidays and hence I have no choice but to cook almost daily. 😂 I am sure once the term starts, the cooking will stop, and I’ll be the occasional cook again pottering about in my pink kitchen.

And because I have been so reliant on my Mama who has the Helper to assist her, I am embarrassed to say I can’t even cook a single of Mama’s cooking. So again the Helper had to tell me what to do step by step.

In Indonesia, this dish is called sayur asem and it’s so good with grilled meat and fish. Which is exactly what I intend to cook tonight. My Mama’s version is the Malay kampung style version which means there are no exact recipes, and you’ve got to keep on tasting till you get the right balance of seasoning.

The key ingredient of the dish is assam or tamarind. Asam keping or asam gelugur is the dried form of the tamarind fruit and then there’s the pulp form of the fruit, now easily available deseeded and in a paste. See below for the picture of the dried fruit. One piece can be already sour. But of course add more if the pot is larger or the fruit is smaller.

The dish calls for a lot of vegetables and the boiling method.

Step 1:

Make the rencah, or paste. My Mama’s basic recipe is one red onion, two garlic cloves, three fresh res chillies and a handful of dried ikan bilis (dried anchovies). Blend to a fine paste. According to my Indonesian Helper, the Javanese would use candelnuts in the paste. Maybe one day I’ll try and find a recipe using the Javanese version.

Step 2:

In a pot, add water and the rencah, and let boil. At this early stage, you may add the corn as it takes longer to cook. Add also a bruised lemongrass and two pieces of crushed galangal slices for the aroma.

Step 3:

Continue to let boil while prepping the rest of the vegetables. I have here long beans, baby brinjals, cabbage and a sliced tomato. But do not add cabbage till the last bit or it’ll be very soggy. Also, add the rest of the vegetables only when the rencah has boiled enough (you can smell it), about 15 minutes of rolling boil.

Step 4:

Once the vegetables are in and boiling (except for the cabbage), it is time to season the broth. Add three teaspoons of salt, one teaspoon of sugar and two or three (if small) pieces of asamgelugur. Let boil and taste. Adjust the salt and sugar content if needed. Add one teaspoon of asamjawa, the tamarind paste if it’s not sour enough. Let mixture boil and then finally add the cabbage.

This is the final product in the pot. I’ll probably update this post later after dinner to show how it’s served with the other dishes.

It’s a very healthy vegetable dish. Try it!

Update: Asam Rebus eaten with grilled fish and tempeh manis.

Asian Dishes, Malay, Seafood

Stir Fried Prawns with Pineapples

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Even though I cannot eat prawns anymore, I still cooked them tonight just because I had bought a kilo of it before I knew my test results. And even though I vowed not to eat them when cooked, I caved and ate two pieces 😅

The dish is inspired and copied from my trusty Malay cookbook from a decade ago. It is so simple to make! Unfortunately, instead of slicing the garlic and the rest of the aromatics, my helper pounded them fine. But no worries, it still worked out fine.

This is the original recipe in Malay which I’ll translate at the end of the post.

It’s such a simple but delicious meal to make. Taucu (pronounced TAO-CHO) is salted soy beans.

For the dish, I added oil to the pan and then the pounded garlic and ginger. Then the sliced galangal, red chillies and onions. After which prawns and two tablespoons of crushed taocu. There’s no need at all to add salt as the taocu is already salty. Then, from a can of cubes pineapples, throw away the juice and add half a can when the prawns are cooked. Serve hot garnished with fresh coriander.

I served this with baked teriyaki salmon, herbal chicken soup, stir fried baby greens and plain rice. The Macdonald’s comment was because yesterday I ordered it for dinner and we all fell sick. The food was not digestible. Maybe it’s an age thing. Or an Asian thing haha.The Recipe from the book calls for:

  • 300 g fresh prawns
  • 1/2 a fresh pineapple cubes
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • A bit of galangal, sliced
  • A bit of ginger, sliced
  • 2 red chillies, sliced
  • 2 tbsp of taucu (salted soy beans)
  • Salt and pepper (you really don’t need the added salt)
  • Oil to stir fry the ingredients in
Asian Dishes, Bread and Batter, Malay, Meat, Singapore

Roti John

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Essentially a minced beef french toast on a batard. Who invented this nobody really knows but definitely in Singapore/Malaysia during Colonial rule.

Buy baguette or batard or what we locals simply call the French Loaf (Roti Perancis). Cut in half and then slice open but don’t cut all the way through.

Prepare seasoning ingredients. Curry powder, ground chillies, chopped coriander, minced beef. Crack five small eggs and whisk till smooth.

Pour two to three tablespoons of oil, and then add a teaspoon of ground chilli paste. Fry till chilli is cooked then add minced beef. Mine is already precooked but it’s ok to use raw ones too, just cook longer till beef is thoroughly cooked through. Add 1/8 teaspoon of curry powder and salt and black pepper. Add one teaspoon of chopped coriander.

Now this is the tricky bit. Form and spread meat mixture in the hot pan to roughly cover the area of the bread. Quickly pour just enough whisked egg to cover the meat mixture and the spread the bread on top of it. Use your fingers to manipulate and get all the egg and meat mixture into the bread. Press down and cook till browned. Flip over and cook the other side so both sides are crispy.

Above is the non-chilli version. Suitable for kids and those who don’t like it too spicy.

To serve, fold the bread and then slice into roughly one inch portions. Make a mixture of ketchup, chilli sauce, water and lime juice to dip the bread with.

Try it! It’s a hawker favourite, especially back in the 80s.

Asian Dishes, Malay, Salads and Vegetables

Lemak Lodeh

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This is a VERY typical and common dish in the Malay world. So today I thought I’d make this since there was a special request for it.

There are many variations so I used the simplest one. The best part is no oil in the dish, just boil and boil.

This dish is usually eaten with lontong or compressed rice and serondeng, a coconut floss dish. But the Malays eat this with rice quite regularly too as a day to day home dish with sambal tumis.

Today’s version is not thick because the special requester asked for a thin version. And also requested for lots of vegetables. No problem there!

Step 1.

Blend one large red onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic, a piece of turmeric and a small handful of ikan bilis. Blend with water to a super fine paste.

Step 2.

Boil blended paste with enough water to cover half the pot for ten or more minutes till the paste has a wonderful aroma. Add two teaspoons of salt. Basically the concept here is to cook the raw ingredients in the paste but instead of using oil to cook it down, you just boil with water long enough to cook it. A much healthier option.

Step 3.

Add bruised lemon grass and daun salam, or fresh local bay leaves.

Step 4.

Prep the vegetables. French beans, carrots, cabbage, firm tofu and tempeh. I fried the tofu and tempeh first because I wanted that golden colour in the dish later. Not the healthier option. You can choose not to fry first.

Step 5.

Add the vegetables and let boil till tender but still has a nice crisp.

Step 6.

Add one packet of coconut cream. Add a bit of salt if needed after tasting. Let simmer but don’t let it boil or the coconut cream will separate.

And this is the meal today:

Desserts, Malay, Snack

Suji (Semolina) Pudding My Way

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I’ve shared a post about making semolina pudding or suji in Malay. Quite similar to a rice pudding except this uses semolina flour. Today, because the water was too hot, the semolina quickly turned quite lumpy. I used a whisk and when it’s all done, poured the mixture through a sieve. Voila! Very smooth and creamy pudding.

For the final touch, I had the trail mix a friend got for me. Healthy and raw. I made it more delicious (and unhealthy!) by frying handfuls in good quality butter (Lurpak, in this case). After that, chill in the fridge or eat warm.

Recipe
1. Bring 4 Ikea sized mugs of water in a Corningware to a simmer.
2. Add 1 Ikea sized mug of semolina and 1 Ikea sized mug of white sugar (not totally full for sugar, make it 4/5 mug) and 1 whole can of full fat evaporated milk.
3. Stir to thicken and slowly add 1 more Ikea sized mug of hot water to achieve a smooth and not too thick consistency. It should coat the back of a wooden spoon nicely. Add a bit of yellow food colouring and some rose water essence, or vanilla if the former is unavailable.
4. Fry in butter nuts and raisins of choice.
5. Sprinkle over and chill.
6. If mixture has lumps, sieve mixture for a smooth consistency.