Stir-fried Yam Leaf (Sweet Potato Leaf) with Belacan (Shrimp Paste)

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2007/09/recipe-stir-fried-yam-leaf-with-belacan.html#more

I do eat vegetables and other foods. I really do. I just don't post them that much on this blog (which I intend to change soon) because seafood dishes are a lot more photogenic than, say, tofu, beans, turnip, chicken with skin and bones. I am partial to seafood, but I also love my greens, poultry/pork, eggs, soy products, and other foodstuff.

One vegetable dish that I simply can't do without in my cooking repertoire is a signature Malaysian dish called kangkung belacan or stir-fried water spinach/morning glory with shrimp paste, even though it means that I have a stinky house! The key ingredient is none other than belacan, the Malaysian variety of shrimp paste. (Shrimp paste is an essential flavoring medium in Southeast Asian cooking.) Strong, pungent, yet aromatic at the same time, the pairing of belacan with vegetables is probably one of the most interesting stir-frying techniques for vegetables. The taste is bold, exquisite, and never boring.

For today's creation, I used yam leaf/sweet potato leaf (蕃薯叶), which works as well as water spinach. While it might seem or look simple, perfect execution is not easy. Wok hei (the breath of the wok) and timing are exceedingly important; a little too much wok hei or a tad too long in the wok can render the dish a complete failure, for example: burned belacan that tastes bitter or overcooked vegetables that look purple-ish in color.

While I love this recipe, I must warn you that it's an acquired taste, especially for an American palate. However, it's well worth a try because you probably can't find another vegetable dish as intriguing or delicious as this one!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of yam leaf (approximately 0.8 lb)
• 1 tablespoon of belacan/shrimp paste
• 2 red bird's eye chilies or 1 regular red chili (remove seeds and thinly cut)
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 tablespoon roasted chili paste
• 1 tablespoon dried shrimp
• A few dashes fish sauce

Roasted Chili Paste:

• A handful of dried chilies
• 2 tablespoon of cooking oil
• Water

Method:

• Grind the dried chilies and cooking oil in a blender. Add a little water while blending. Heat the wok, pour some cooking oil and stir-fry the chili paste for about 3 minutes. Set aside. Soak the dried shrimp in warm water for 10 minutes, then coarsely pound them using mortar and pestle. Set aside.
• Cut the stems of the yam leaf. Keep only the tender part of the stems. Rinse with cold water and then set aside. Fire up the wok to HIGH heat and add the cooking oil. Wait till smoke comes out from the wok then add in the chopped garlic. Do a quick stir, add in the belacan, dried shrimp, and roasted chili paste and continue stirring. As soon as you smell the pungent aroma of belacan, toss in the yam leaf. Stir continuously until the leaves started to wilt. Add in a few dashes of fish sauce, continue stirring (make sure the color of the vegetable remains green). Dish up and serve hot.

Cook's notes:

1. In the US, sweet potato leaf (蕃薯叶) is marketed as yam leaf.
2. If you use water spinach, the recipe works the same.
3. Dried shrimps should complement the belacan instead of competing with it, so you don't want to use too much of them.

Stir-fried Pork with Cincaluk (Heh Ya Kay Char Bak)

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2007/05/recipe-stir-fried-pork-with-cincaluk.html

While cincaluk (preserved shrimp) is not everyone's cup of tea, for those who love it, it lends a very distinct and exotic flavor to the main ingredient, in this case, pork. The generous use of green bell peppers, red chiles, cincaluk, fried shallots and garlic add great colors and infuse the pork with droolsome aroma and pungent taste.

Cincaluk is unique, versatile, and loaded with powerful (aka stinky) and complex flavors...are you up for it?

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tbsp oil
• 3 shallots (thinly sliced)
• 3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
• 1/2 lb pork fillet (cut into small pieces)
• 4 teaspoons cincaluk
• 1 tablespoon tamarind juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 red chili (deseeded and cut into small pieces)
• 1/2 bell pepper/1 green chili (deseeded and cut into small pieces)

Method:

• Heat up the oil in a wok over medium heat to fry the shallots until they turn golden brown and crispy.
• Dish out and set aside.
• In the remaining oil, fry the garlic slices until fragrant and just lightly browned.
• Remove half of the garlic and set aside before adding the cincaluk.
• Saute the cincaluk until fragrant before adding red chiles and bell peppers.
• As soon as you smell the aromas of the chiles and peppers, add in the meat.
• Stir-fry for 30 seconds and add the tamarind juice, sugar, and salt to taste.
• Continue to stir fry the pork until it's cooked; dish out onto a serving plate.
• Top the stir-fried pork with cincaluk with shallot crisps and fried garlic slices.

Steamed Scallops with Fermented Black Beans

(Click the picture below to view the set; 10 pictures for your viewing pleasure.)

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2007/05/recipe-steamed-scallops-with-fermented.html

The pain from my recent dental surgery is slowing easing away; I am starting to be able to chew, well, on foods again. After a week of porridge, porridge, and more porridge of various toppings and ingredients, I am sooooo ready to dive back into something I totally miss, that is, seafood...

My dentist has warned me not to go overboard yet as my gum tissues are still raw so steaming is the best cooking style for now. For today's cooking, I picked scallops as I found some succulent ones in the market today. I paired the scallops with fresh enoki mushrooms and heaped in some fermented black beans. After a few minutes of steaming, the scallops and enoki mushrooms were bathed in a lightly flavored broth bursting with
natural sweetness of the scallops and enoki mushrooms. The fermented black beans were simply icing on the cake. Yum.

Chewing has never been this enjoyable and fun. I am glad to have it back.

Ingredients:

• 6 diver scallops
• 1 stalk scallion (cut into threads)
• 1 inch young ginger (shredded)
• 1 pack enoki mushrooms (cut off the roots)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice wine or sake
• 1 teaspoon fermented black beans (rinsed with water and mashed)

Method:

• Spread the enoki mushrooms evenly on a plate.
• Arrange the scallops on top of the enoki mushrooms.
• Top the scallops with shredded ginger and mashed fermented black beans.
• Sprinkle rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar over the scallops.
• Steam for 5 minutes.
• Garnish with scallions and serve hot.

Ginger and Scallions Chicken

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2007/03/recipe-ginger-and-scallions-chicken.html

Stir-fried chicken with ginger and scallions is a traditional Chinese dish. As simple as the ingredients sound, this is not an easy dish to cook well. This dish needs a lot of wok skills. Hence, this ginger-and-scallions style of cooking is often my litmus test when I go to a new Chinese/Cantonese restaurant. If a chef can make a mighty wok hei-infused ginger-and-scallions dish--be it chicken, beef, crab, or lobster--it's a sure fire sign that the food will be great.

At home, I like cooking this dish when I want something quick and simple with my steamed rice (aka 30-minute meal) . I always marinate the chicken meat with potato flour or corn starch. (This is one of the many secrets of Chinese cooking; this process will make the meat extra tender and smooth.) I once asked a master Chinese chef and he told me that potato flour is preferred as a tenderizing agent due to the gelatinous texture. He also told me that a wee bit of baking soda will do even more wonders to tenderize the meat.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast (deboned, skinned and cut lengthwise into 2-inch chicken strips)
• 4 stalks of scallions (cut into 2-inch sections)
• 2 inches fresh ginger root (sliced into pieces)
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil (one tablespoon for marinating chicken)
• 1/2 tablespoon of potato flour or corn flour
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
• 1 dash of white pepper powder
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Marinate the chicken strips with potato flour or corn flour and add one tablespoon of oil to seal in the juice of the chicken. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
• Heat up your wok and pour the remaining cooking oil into the wok. When the wok gets very hot and begins to smoke, add in the ginger and stir for a few seconds, then add the scallions and stir until thoroughly hot. Add in the chicken strips and continue to stir well. Just when the chicken strips start to cook, add in the oyster sauce, sesame oil, cooking wine, white pepper, sugar, and toss the wok a few times. Remove from heat and serve hot with steamed white rice.

Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2006/08/recipe-bean-sprouts-with-salted-fish.html

So, here I present you nasi lemak, a truly Rasa Malaysia dish.

Certain dishes include 3 parts nostalgia in the recipe. This is one of those meals; it brings back lots of childhood memories to me--um, all of them bitter and resentful.

I did not appreciate this dish as a child - not because it didn't taste good or because the stinky smell of salted fish was overpowering--but because I was one who had to remove the root from each sprout. Ever had to do this? Ever had to do remove the root hundreds of times every meal. Thousands of times each month. Millions every year. I grew to hate this dish whenever my mother prepared it.

I'm over it now though.


Growing up in a big family, Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish was a staple in our diet. It was simple, cheap and healthy (it was simple for everyone except me!). I recall going to the wet market with my mother where we paid only RM 0.20 for a big pack of bean sprouts. Then my mother would "ask" me to help her with plucking the roots as she prepared the rest of the meal. It wasn't much fun for a 7 years old stuck in the kitchen for the afternoon with a mountain heap of bean sprouts and their roots, having to clean every single one of them. It was probably one of the most boring tasks ever.

OK, maybe I'm not quite over it yet.

I secretly swore to myself that when I grew up I would be wealthy enough to never have to prepare salted fish and bean sprouts ever again.

I think the country has grown up with me. Nowadays in Malaysia you can hardly find this dish at restaurants anymore--unless you go to small mom-and-pop eateries. Look for at least one very bitter small child in the back.

Never mind my childhood baggage though, you should try preparing Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish yourself--they truly are delicious.

Ingredients:

• Bean Sprouts
• Salted Fish (cut into small pieces)
• 3 Cloves of Garlic (chopped)
• 2 Stalks of Scallions (chopped)
• Soy sauce (to taste)
• Oyster sauce (to taste)

Method:

• Rinse and clean the bean sprouts.
• Remove the roots.
• Heat the wok with cooking oil and stir fry the choppedgarlic.
• Add in salted fish pieces and toasted themuntil they become fragrant.
• Add in bean sprouts, soysauce, oyster sauce, and chopped scallion.
• Quickly stir the ingredients a few times and serve hot.

Note:
Don't over cook the bean sprouts. And don't make a 7 year-old child help with the preparation.

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice with Anchovies Sambal)

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2007/01/recipe-nasi-lemak-coconut-milk-rice.html

As a self-proclaimed Malaysian home cook, it's a shame that it took me so long to prepare nasi lemak, the de facto national dish of Malaysia. In my opinion, a truly remarkable nasi lemak is not to be taken lightly; it should fulfill a few requisites: quality, texture, flavors, and, of course, the right ingredients. This past weekend, I finally found the time and dedication to make this legendary dish.

The difference between a good nasi lemak and an exceptionally marvelous nasi lemak lies in the use of pandan leaves/screwpine leaves. Possessing highly fragrant floral smell, these leaves are used abundantly in Malaysian cuisine to infuse rice dishes or desserts with the signature aroma; a nasi lemak will not be a true nasi lemak without their presence. The other main ingredient of nasi lemak is dried anchovies, or known locally by ikan bilis. These little salted fish are used in the sambal.

As sambal is of the essence when making nasi lemak, I was extremely zealous when preparing it. I shun away from electrical appliances. Nasi lemak deserves better, it deserves to be prepared the traditional way, that is, with mortar and pestle.

I gathered all the ingredients for my rempah (spice paste), patiently and gracefully pounded away just like any traditional Malaysian home cooks do. This very exercise brought back a flood of memories. As a child, I loved observing my grandmother, my mother, and my aunt when they prepared their rempah with batu giling (a flat surfaced granite grinding stone); I would always volunteer to help them with the chore as it was pure fun playing real life masak-masak. As I reminisced back those childhood days in my family's kitchen, I came to realize that it was probably the beginning of my life-long passion for cooking.

So, here I present you nasi lemak, a truly Rasa Malaysia dish.

Ingredients:

Coconut Milk Steamed Rice

• 2 cups of rice
• 3 screwpine leaves (tie them into a knot as shown above)
• Salt to taste
• 1 small can of coconut milk (5.6 oz size)
• Some water

Tamarind Juice

• 1 cup of water
• Tamarind pulp (size of a small ping pong ball)

Sambal Ikan Bilis (Dried anchovies sambal)

• 1/2 red onion
• 1 cup ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 shallots
• 10 dried chillies
• 1 teaspoon of belacan (prawn paste)
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

Other ingredients

• 2 hard boiled eggs (cut into half)
• 3 small fish (sardines or smelt fish)
• 1 small cucumber (cut into slices and then quartered)

Method:

• Just like making steamed rice, rinse your rice and drain. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some water. Add the pandan leaves into the rice and cook your rice.
• Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water. Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside.
• Pound the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, and deseeded dried chilies with a mortar and pestle. You can also grind them with a food processor.
• Slice the red onion into rings.
• Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind constantly to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.
• Heat some oil in a pan and fry the spice paste until fragrant.
• Add in the onion rings.
• Add in the ikan bilis and stir well.
• Add tamarind juice, salt, and sugar.
• Simmer on low heat until the gravy thickens. Set aside.
• Clean the small fish, cut them into half and season with salt. Deep fry.
• Cut the cucumber into slices and then quartered into four small pieces.
• Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice and pour some sambal ikan bilis on top of the rice.
• Serve with fried fish, cucumber slices, and hard-boiled eggs.

Kurma

http://asiarecipe.com/

Ingredients:

• 600 gms chicken
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 2 cup thin coconut milk } extracted from 1 grated coconut
• 1/2 cup oil
• cardamoms
• 2 star anise
• 2 red chillies
• 3 cm piece cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 3 cm piece ginger
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 tbsps kurma powder
• 6 shallots

Directions:

• Pound 3 shallots and 2 cloves garlic together.
• Mix with kurma powder and 1 tsp water. Blend well into paste.
• Slice finely the remaining shallots and garlic.
• Heat oil and fry the sliced shallots and garlic with the spices until fragrant.
• Add in the blended kurma powder and fry further until oil separates.
• Add in the chicken and 1 cup water. Cook until the beef is tender.
• Pour in the thick coconut milk, bring to boil and pour it in the thin milk.
• season with salt to taste and cook further over a low flame until the gravy is thick.
• Add in the large onion and red chilies. Stir once and remove from rice.
  

Hae Mee (Prawn Mee Soup)

http://asiarecipe.com/

Serves : 12

Ingredients:

• 625 g (22 oz) medium-sized prawns
• 170 g (6 oz) pork fat
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 4.5 litres (8 pints) water ]
• 625 g (22 oz) pork ribs, cut into pieces ]
• 1 pig's tail, cut into pieces ]
• 310 g ( 11 oz) lean pork ]
• 2 teaspoons salt ] = [A]
• 2 teaspoons sugar ]
• 2 teaspoons msg ]
• 1 tablespoon peppercorns ]
• 2 tablespoons light soya sauce ]
• 2 teaspoons dark soya sauce ]
• 1 tablespoon crispy shallots
• 45 5 g ( 16 oz) bean sprouts
• 310 g ( 11 oz) water convolvulus, cut into long pieces
• 625 g (22 oz) fresh yellow noodles
• 310 g ( 11 oz) rice vermicelli , scalded

Directions:

• Wash and drain prawns. Remove heads and keep aside.
• Cut pork fat into small cubes and fry in pan till brown . Remove to a bowl .
• Stir-fry prawn heads with 2 tablespoons oil for five minutes till colour turns red . Set aside in a bowl, for soup.
• Cook unshelled prawns for 2 minutes in basin with 4.5 litres water. Remove prawns, shell and slice into halves, lengthwise.
• Return prawn shells to saucepan, add [A] and prawn heads. Cook over a very high heat for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and let soup simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Strain soup. Return pork ribs and tail to soup.
• Slice lean pork and set aside.

Garnish:

• 55 g (2 oz) crispy shallots
• Lard Oil ? I haven't tried this. If you do, let me know how it goes...
• Crispy cubed pork fat
• Pepper
• 5 red chillies, sliced thinly
• 5 green chillies, sliced thinly
• Light soya sauce

Directions:

• Boil a saucepan of water.
• Dip a handful of bean sprouts, water con- volvulus, noodles, and rice verrniceili in the boiling water, using a wire-mesh ladle. Drain and place in bowl .
• Add boiling soup and a few pieces of pork ribs , tail , sliced lean pork and sliced prawns to each bowl .
• Garnish with crispy shallots, lard-oil and crispy fat cubes. Sprinkle with pepper. Serve with sliced chillies and light soya sauce .

Note:
Only very fresh prawns make a sweet soup.

Beriani

http://asiarecipe.com/

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken, about 900gms ( beef/mutton )
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup shallots - sliced
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 -- 3 tsps salt
• 2 chillies
• 1/2 coconut - grated
• 5 cm piece ginger
• 4 tbsps ghee
• 5 cloves
• 5 cm cinnamon stick
• 10 cashew nuts
• 10 almonds
• 450 gms long-grain rice

Directions:

• Cut chicken into 6 -- 8 pieces
• Grind together garlic, ginger, chillies, poppy seeds, cashew nuts and almonds.
• Heat ghee and fry cloves, cinnamon, shallots.
• Add in the chicken pieces, 1 tsp salt, ground ingredients and curry powder.
• Stir to mix and cook covered for 10 minutes.
• Extract 1 - 2 cups coconut milk from coconut. Add in salt. Mixed with washed rice and cook it.
• When the rice has absorbed all the milk, make a well in the center and put the chicken mixture.
• Cover and allow rice to cook over very low fire.

Braised Chicken Feet with Mushrooms

http://www.asianfood-recipes.com/

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

• 20 chicken feets, claws cut off and chopped in half
• cooking oil for deep-frying
• 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeld and minced
• 2 petals star anise
• 1 heaped teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 6 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked to soften

Seasoning:

• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

Sauce:

• 375ml fresh chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

Method:

• Marinate chicken feet with combined seasoning ingredients for at least 1 hour.
• Heat wok with oil for deep-frying until hot. Put in chicken feet and cover wok to prevent oil from splattering. Deep-frying chicken feet for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Drain and soak in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain.
• Leave 2 tablespoon of oil in wok and lightly brown shallots and garlic. Add star anise and Sichuan peppercorns and return chicken feet to wok. Toss briefly for 2 minutes.
• Transfer mixture into an electric crock pot and add combined sauce ingredients. Cook on high heat for 1 hour.
• Add mushrooms and continue to slow cook, stirring occasionally, for another hour or until chicken feet are tender and sauce thickens. Serve hot.

Hot And Sour Catfish

http://www.asianfood-recipes.com/

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

• 4 catfish (rub with lime juice & stand for 20 minutes)
• 2 stalks lemon grass (bruised)
• 15g polygonum leaves
• 3 dried assam slices
• 600ml oil for deep-frying
• 2 tablespoons oil (for sauteing)
• 600ml water
• sugar, salt to taste

Ground ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 shallots
• 2cm piece dried shrimp paste
• 2cm piece ginger
• 8 dried chillies

Method:

• Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the catfish till three-quarter-cooked. Set aside.
• Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of oil. Then saute the ground ingredients, lemon grass, polygonum leaves and assam slices till fragnant.
• Add the catfish and water, stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Season to taste. Dish up and serve.