Smokey Goodness with Rendang

I was cruising down the road right after my afternoon class. The weather was fine and I am feeling fresh, something that is amazing since I had endured few hours of lecture. Taking the usual route on my way back, all of sudden I was greeted by makeshift stall along the road, nearby of TTDI, with smokes billowing to the air. Guess what? No, not open burning. If you’re a Malaysian, you might, just might have guess it. Yes, it is lemang!

Lemang is actually glutinous rice with coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves then packed into a tube of bamboo and then smoked slowly over fire. Phew, such hard work. This delicacy may be available throughout the year but it is usually full blown with temporary makeshifts stalls everywhere during festivals celebrated by the Malay communities in Malaysia. The usual celebrations are the Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji. This Malay delicacy had been highlighted before by Boo from masak-masak. Boo featured lemang from last year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri, from the same place I had acquired mine. As for Robyn, from EatingAsia, she and Dave had stumbled upon it along the Karak Highway.

This week on Tuesday, it was the Hari Raya Haji celebration. It is known as the Pilgrimage Day of Celebration, which is to mark the conclusion of pilgrimage activites in the Holy Land of Mecca. What luck I have to get my hand on these ‘lemangs’ as I had missed it last year during Hari Raya Adilfitri. Thus, excited like a school kid eyeing a candy, I scrammed on the break and swerved to the left and came to a halting stop by the side of a stall. (Yes, we Malaysians drive like that). Just as I got down from the car, I was greeted by the enthusiastic seller, whose stall I happened to stop right beside. Since it was, as we Chinese like to call it ‘yuin’ (fate) that I got to this stall I decided to get a tube of lemang from them. They even let me sample one tiny piece. Not too bad I might say. I wanted to get their curries but alas, found my wallet insufficient of money. (I had just paid the bills!).

Once I got home, I thrust the newspaper wrapped lemang to J and asked him to guess what it is. J just tore it off out of curiosity (such impatience) and was as excited as I am for the find too. Ah, but what are we to have it with? J, as the Malay cuisine expert here, said lemang have to have with rendang. Rendang, according to Wikipedia, is actually meat curry, cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until the liquid dried up, leaving a thick coating of spicy condiments on the meat. Sounds good isn’t it. Not to worry as the recipe is to follow.

Well, as this is also an entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging at Kalyn, I am featuring a herb used in cooking rendang. It is daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves). These leaves, as the name implied, impart a strong scent of lime and are really refreshing.

Now let’s go and make some rendang to go with the lemang. Pssst, as I know, it goes well with rice too!

Beef Rendang

This is my first time trying out a tedious recipe but I was adamant. Yet, I was still pretty lazy and had come up with some cheating methods to fasten up the process. I got this recipe, once again from Amy Beh, but had modified the liquid amount, thus reducing cooking time tremendously.

I was shocked by the amount of coconut milk called for in the original recipe and was further aghast by the idea of adding same amount of water. Thus I reduced it by more than half and had even left out the water portion.

When I got to tesco looking for topside beef, there was none but instead I found packets of cubed beef labeled - beef for rendang. Talk about being 'Malaysianised' eh.

Chilli boh is actually just grinded chillies with salt. Thus, if you cannot get it, I would recommend adding 2-3 sliced chillies to the level of spiciness you desire. Just remember that rendang are just spicy-nice, as in not too spicy yet just a tinge of kick.

Next it was the kerisik (pounded dry-fried grated coconut) which I had no idea where to get, so I improvised and bought desiccated coconut. Then I dry fried the desiccated coconut till brown and then pounded it with my pestle and mortar. (If you don’t have one, maybe you can try pounding with your roller pin or something like that. Think creative!)

Ingredients:
500g beef topside, cubed

Grind together:
4 tbsp chilli boh
7 shallots
5 cloves garlic
4cm piece ginger
2 onions
4 stalks lemongrass, finely sliced
3cm piece galangal
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp fennel powder

400ml thick coconut milk (1 can)

1/2 cup kerisik (pounded dry-fried grated coconut)
1 tbsp finely-shredded daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves)

Seasoning:
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp brown sugar or to taste

Method:
Coat bottom of a deep saucepan with a little bit of oil and heat it up.
Add in beef and stir fry briefly till all sides are slightly browned.
Sitr in the ground ingredients and stir to mix.
Then add in the coconut milk.
Simmer over low-medium heat for one hour until beef turns tender and the gravy is quite thick.
Add kerisik and continue to cook until the gravy turns thick and dry.
Add seasonings and daun limau purut.
Stir and cook for further five minutes or until beef gravy is sticky dry

Serves 3 - 4

Exploring My Origin: Teochew Steamed Fish

I have nowadays succumbed to cook in daily since I have my classes and all. If I have the chance, I would cook both lunch and dinner. Admittedly, it is always alternate with leftovers, covered by a new dish, which would end up as leftovers. But once we got the hang of what can be kept and what not, cooking for small amount of people gets easier. I do not have the luxury to cook for a family of 5 or 8 (yes, I consider that a luxury) but I sometimes cook as if I do. J even says that I am crazy. Once I cooked cauliflower curry and it lasted us for five days! Of course not for every meal, but good enough for us to swore it off for a while.

Anyway, it had been quite sometime since I share some recipes worth for “exploring my origin” project. I do most of the time cooked Chinese at home, but most Chinese cookery are pretty simple and in terms of ‘agak-agak’ (estimation). As I have said, we Chinese cook on the whim. When we feel like it we add it, when we taste it with our little fingers, oh yes we Chinese are resistant to heat, we would just add whatever our taste bud tells us to. I have countless times seen my mother’s mother, Pho Pho, did the finger thing. She can easily dip in her finger to a boiling liquid and taste it right away. Of course I’ve tried it a couple of times and burnt my tongue without fail. Maybe one day, when I have cook countless Chinese cuisine, I might just be able to act like a seasoned Chinese cook.

The dish that I am going to introduce today is of Teochew origin. As I had mentioned that I am from a Hokkien dialect, Teochew is another one in our numerous Chinese dialects. They used to say that Teochew are considered Hokkien as well. This is because the Teochew are once Hokkien people, migrating south from the Fujian province to eastern side known as Chaoshan. After some influence from the Cantonese and Hakka, they evolved into a separate dialect.

As Teochew people are also quite abundant in Malaysia, we are very much exposed to their cuisine. Teochew cuisines are well known for seafood and vegetarian dishes. They are also in some way like the Cantonese cuisine, cooking with less flavouring thus enhancing the natural tastes of food, while relying heavily on freshness of ingredients. When I go out to eat in Chinese restaurants, I had a few times tasted a very fine Teochew cuisine, which is their steamed fish. I had tried it in many outlets, though it varies a little, but the main ingredients are there and the taste, are simply superb. If you have the freshest of fish, it would certainly be a heavenly dish.

Teochew Steamed Fish

I had used white Pomfret for this dish but had found those large meaty Grouper fishes I had in restaurants are better cooked in this style. It is because in this Teochew way of steaming, one would end up with a pool of wonderful sour-ish soup from steaming the fish which is really good to lap up with big chunks of fish meat. It is to be warned that this ‘assam’ (tangy) taste soup keeps one hungry till the end of the meal. You just can’t get enough of it.

I had modified a recipe from the trusted Amy Beh at Kuali. Her recipe uses sour plum, which I do not have in hand, thus I substituted with some tamarind slices (assam gelugor) and tamarind paste, which I have in hand all the time because it is used in various dishes, such my Ikan Assam. The result is as close to those out in the restaurants, though it varies a little, but still like I say, superb.

3-5 white Pomfret/ 1 large Grouper (cleaned and gutted)

Ingredients:
50g salted mustard greens (soaked and shredded)
3cm piece ginger (finely sliced)
1 tomato (cut into thin wedges)
2 black Chinese mushrooms (soaked and sliced thinly)

Mix:
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp sugar
2-3 tamarind slices (assam gelugor/assam keluk)
2 tbsp tamarind paste

Garnishing:
1 red chilli (cut into strips)
1 stalk spring onions (cut into strips)
1 sprig coriander leaves (chopped roughly)

Method:
Make two cuts on each side of the fish. Rub lightly with salt and pepper.
Put fishes on a metal or heatproof dish and scatter salted mustard green, mushroom and ginger slices on and around the fish.
Pour in the water mixture onto the fish and arrange tomato slices around fish.
Steam fish over rapidly boiling water for 12 to 15 minutes or until the fish’s eye popped out. (This is an indication that the fish is cooked.)
Garnish and serve the dish steaming with hot soup!

Serves 4

Weekend Herb Blogging #14: Chrysanthemum

This is going to be a short post from me. Pardon my lack of writing but it is due to me buried in my final year project. Yes, this dear “tham jiak” girl is in her last semester now, with her major project due soon. I am going to graduate in May and till then, it would be busy months for me. Yet, I cannot say that I would have more leisure when I work, so I have been warned. Nonetheless, I am excited to join the new phase of life soon.

For now, I am posting for the Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by our lovely Kalyn. I will be introducing a wonderful herb named Chrysanthemum.

It is used in many sweet drinks and ‘tong sui’ in our Chinese cuisine. When boiled, it would be known as Chrysanthemum tea. Since young I have been told that it is good for health. It is particular known for it's cooling properties.

There is a lovely Chinese history(or rather, legend) behind this wonderful herb; I’m quoting from Flowers and Plants Association:

The Chinese legend tells the story of an elderly emperor who had heard about a magic herb that would give him eternal youth. This herb was said to grow on Dragonfly Island and could only be picked by young people. The elderly emperor therefore sent twenty-four children on what proved to be a long and hazardous journey. Much to their dismay, when they finally arrived at the island they found it totally deserted. There was no sign of the magic herb. All they found was a flower - the golden chrysanthemum, which today still symbolises the Chinese people's ties with their country. Later Mao Tse Tung replaced the imperial golden yellow with the red of the People’s Republic.

There is also a Japanese version of history in the site if you are interested.

Now let’s go brew yourself some healthy drink.

Chrysanthemum Ginseng Tail Drink
Source: Kitchen Capers

Ginseng tail is a type of Chinese herbs. If I am not mistaken, it is the tail part of the ginseng root. It is known as “yang seng xu’ in Chinese. This herb is known for its cooling properties. It gives the drink a type of ‘kam’ (golden) taste. Pretty hard for me to explain this taste as only Chinese could identify to it; like how my Ah Ma always says it that way. Feel free to omit it and you will still have a lovely healthy drink.

Ingredients:
75g Dried Chrysanthemum Flowers
25g Ginseng Tail
2000ml water
Rock Sugar to taste

Blanch Chrysanthemum and Ginseng separately with boiling water.
Boil water and add in Ginseng. Boil for 5 minutes.
Add in Chrysanthemum. Boil for another 5 minutes.
Add in Rock Sugar and taste.
Remove from fire and cover for 10 minutes before serving.

Double Cheers For The New Year

This would be my update on the New Year party I had with the pictures I finally managed to get from my friend. Well, there was technical problem last night at MSN messenger, thus she could not send to me. We tried today then it was my connection problem. What luck! At last I resort to asking her email me instead. Finally, all is well now. The pictures are here! Another good news is I managed to get the potato salad recipe too. It is really easy. Do try it out!

My Roasted Rosemary Paprika Chicken:

Spaghetti Bolognaise with asian twist of rich chicken stock and less tomato:

The special Char Chee Cheong Fun (it is hard to take a picture of this black mess but trust me, it is really delish!):

And now for the

Potato Salad

8 – 10 russet potatoes
2 bunches of spring onions
3 cucumbers
10 eggs (hardboiled)
A small jar of mayonnaise (bout 200mk)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut into cubes the potatoes, cucumbers and hardboiled eggs.
Then chop spring onions finely.
Put all in a large mixing bowl and stir in mayonnaise.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve a party of 20-25 people

Cheers For a New Year

I am again late for this New Year entry. I said again because I seem to be always fashionably late for entries. I hope Cooking Diva would pardon me and give me a chance to join in the New Year's Dinner & Recipe Photo Swap, which seemed so much fun! One of my New Year resolutions from this entry onwards is not to be late anymore! I had been late all my life.

I did not get the entry in early enough because the owner of the camera, my friend, who had not sent me the pictures yet! Well, I had to fill in and post up the preparation for my chicken first. The rest of the readied yummy food will follow, by tonight, hopefully. I swear to wring my friend’s heart out if she does not send me the pictures tonight.

New Year started for everyone and a new semester started for me. Well, after enjoying, playing and of course cooking and baking for whole three months, it is time for me to settle down and do what I need to. I will still be posting for sure, but of course, much shorter ones. I love to write, but time is always the limit. I love to research and share knowledge with the world, but again, time and resources is limited.

This year, I celebrated with J in my friend’s place. There is not much variety of food but yet all of it is scrumptious. We had catered for the spaghetti bolognaise, which was rich with chicken stock, not the usual tomato-ey fare but still very scrumptious. Then we had a local flavour of Char (fried) Chee Cheong Fun, which is basically large flat rice noodles rolled up. The usual fare is to serve these with sweet or spicy sauce but as usual, Malaysian loves to fusion recipes to make it our own. If I am not mistaken, these are originated from Hong Kong, commonly known as Cheong Fun. For this Char Chee Cheong Fun, it is actually frying the Cheong Fun like how we would for Char Kway Teow, literary also fried flat rice noodles. Then there was the potato salad, made by my long time friend from Taiping, which was really delish. I had requested recipe from her and of course would be sharing with you guys then. I could not possibly keep good eats to myself, can I? Then there was also some fried frozen nuggets and popcorn chicken. Dessert was canned sea coconut (sleeve palm), yes canned, according to my friend we are suppose to relax and enjoy the New Year, so no working our neck out. After roasting 30 chickens, I could not have agreed more with her. As for me, my humble contribution to the party was

Roasted Rosemary Paprika Chicken

I adapted this dish from a cookbook, but as the usual me, I had trouble following recipes diligently, especially when it comes to cooking. Baking, I might still be a good school girl and not bold enough to twist recipes, but cooking, ah, we Chinese cooks by feel and taste. Try getting recipes out of seasoned Chinese chefs and they would be telling you like, throw in a little of that, then a lot of that, a bunch of this and a handful of that. It is then up to you to improvise, judging for what you had eaten. Usually, it is easy, if you had been eating it most of your life.

As for this recipe, after much tweaking, I find the taste slightly too mild. Maybe I was looking for punch on the spice. Luckily it was saved by the rosemary. I used fresh ones, which does make a lot of differences from dried ones. I pounded the spices on my good ol’ pestle and mortar which I loved a lot. It was from my nanny, a small one but well seasoned. If you do not have one, then just grind the ingredients, but be careful not to make it into a paste.

There was a tip from the cookbook which said that roasting chicken in a non-preheated oven produces crispy skins. It was a little crispier then the previous ones which I roasted after preheating, but I still prefer the method of browning it first before roasting, which produce not only crispier skin, but also more delicious looking roasted chickens. Alongside, I had also roasted some carrots, shallots and whole garlic cloves tossed with olive oil, pepper and salt.

30 drumsticks

Pound/grind:
12 garlic cloves
3 tbsp of paprika
2 tbsp of hot chile pepper
5 sprigs of rosemary (stripped)
2 tbsp coarse black pepper
3-4 tbsp of olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons
Salt to taste

Put together ingredients and pound/grind the spices together.
Clean the chicken and cut out visible fats. Then score two huge slits on the thick part.
Rub spices onto the chicken, and try to stuff those yummy stuffs into the slits.
Line up drumsticks on roasting pan.
Squeeze lemons all over chicken.
Slice the squeezed out lemons thinly spread all over the chicken.
Put it into the oven and left to marinate for 2-3 hours.
Sprinkle salt over the chicken.
Roast chicken in 200C/400F/Gas 6 oven for 1 – 1 ½ hours.

The cheering continues here.

From My Rasoi: Kheema

Since I started blogging, I had known so many Indian food lovers and bloggers alike out there. If you want to be swarm by it, go over and get the links from VK of My Dhaba. Meena from Hooked on Heat had suggested a monthly cookout celebrating Indian cuisines in various forms, called as From My Rasoi, literary meaning, from my kitchen. Every month Meena would come up with a theme and for this month, along with the cold period in half part of the world, the theme is “Winter”.

Winter is a tough theme for a tropical gal like me. In Malaysia, it is either rain or shine here. When it is hot here, it can be burning hot. You would not want to be caught out in the sun especially right at noon. In fact, you can have burning sensation on your head. During my high school days, I was a school basketball players and fanatically, we play till 11am when the sun is high and our head is about to set on fire. Although it is really hot around, we are still lucky as the air is humid and never too dry plus we get a fair share of rain all the time. In Taiping, as I had mentioned as the wettest town in Southeast Asia, I had countless times of enjoying the cooling rain while I sleep.

Sometimes I do wish for four seasons like other countries, where we can enjoy the sun in the summer, catch fallen leaves in autumn, throw snowballs at winter and enjoy rebirth of nature in spring. But sometimes, I revel in the fact that we have consistent weather and nothing to worry about, just maybe occasional floods.

So therefore, my interpretation of the theme may vary a lot from people but I feel, as for winter, it is a cold time calling for hot food! Coincidently, all Indian food is hot! And I meant not just the high heat but spicy and exciting.

As for me, this month I will be featuring a really delectable dish that was introduced to me in a recent food gathering. As I had mentioned a few times, I am actively involved in a Singapore/Malaysia food forum Kitchen Capers, where we had organized a meet up, joint with another local forum that I was recently introduced to - Jo’s Deli, last month for both Malaysian members. There, a member had cooked up a delicious and ‘never get enough of’ dish – Lamb Kheema. Oh it got me dreaming of it day and night after the gathering. So, naturally, when everyone posted up their recipes, I try this one out first straightaway.

Kheema is a hot dish which is not too spicy but yet do not lack in taste. It is really complex in flavours although the ingredients are pretty simple and I am quite sure, readily available. According to Wiki:

This is a traditional Punjabi home cooked dish and is popular with northern Indian/Pakistani people in the Midlands. It is minced lamb curry served with
peas.

Meena had also cooked up some Keema Matar, with ground chicken and peas. I totally agree with her on the part about peas, as I personally feel it is the main ingredient that made the dish at the right texture with the right taste. Not to mention it adds more colour to the dish and of course, more nutrition. Now, without further ado, let me introduce you this hot dish for cold times or to level your winter, if you are in one.

Kheema

I had used ground pork for this dish but found that the lamb that I had in the gathering had much more complex taste, but nonetheless this was also really tasty. This is a simple yet wonderful dish, certainly a keeper in my rasoi!

Grind to a fine paste:
4 slices of ginger (each 1 cm thick)
3 cloves of garlic

250gm minced meat (lamb, beef, chicken or pork)
3-5 tbsps of curry powder (according to level of spiciness)

2 cups of water salt to taste
120 gm green peas (I used 1 can)
1 green chilli (thinly sliced)

Cut into cubes:
2-3 medium sized potatoes (peeled)
2 tomatoes
1 big onion

For frying:
1/2 onion (thinly sliced)
3 cardamoms
4 cloves
1 stick cinnamon - about 4cm long

In a bowl, mix the meat with ginger-garlic paste, curry powder, salt and ½ cup water.
Then heat oil in pan and fry the ingredients for frying.
When onions are soft, add the mince meat and fry till fragrant.
Add the potatoes and stir in 1 ½ cup of water. Bring to boil. Cover and cook till potatoes are soft, stir occasionally.
Then add cubed tomatoes and onions, peas, chilli. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Dish out and devour!

Serves 4

Late Meme: You Are What You Eat

I had been late on this meme from Kalyn (bowing my head in shame), although I had been tagged since early this month. I am really sorry Kalyn, it just had been a busy month with Christmas and new year approaching. I had written it long time ago but have yet to complete it. I will update this post when I finally get the rest of the pictures together, which was the main source of this late post.

Now on to my top 10 favourite food:

Chocolate
Every woman’s secret vice. Chocolate is known as the food for Gods since ancient times and it is not a wonder why. Chocolate is one of my comfort food that bound to help most of the time. Whenever I’m down, chocolate is needed to lift me up and when I’m happy, chocolate is needed to share the joy. So, basically I need chocolate all the time. Naughty me! For me, the darker the chocolate, with richer cocoa taste the better! I eat chocolate anything, from plain chocolate to chocolate cookies to chocolate cakes to hot cocoa to anything! I just have yet to try mole, chocolate with meat, which one day I must!

Cheese
Need I elaborate more on this milky goodness? Yes I do. I had mentioned that it had been J’s weakness; well I must admit it does have quite an effect on me too. I love it in both sweets and savouries. I bow to cheesecakes; I love a thick carbonara anytime and whatever cheesy, you name it.

Milk
I would need a glass every morning (or the time I wake up) to start my day. I had been having it since my pre-school days up till now. Nothing beats fresh milk and now for me, fat-free milk.

Egg

It is the most versatile food I have ever known. If you’re lazy, just fry it and you will have a sunny side up. Or just whisk it around and fry it plain or with anything else that you want. One of my favourite ways is fry it with long beans. Not too sweet and with the right crunch compare to the eggy texture. You must try it if you get your hands on long beans, and I’m sure you have eggs at hand! Besides, eggs are the base for most delicious desserts isn’t it?

Vegetables
Oh, I do eat my greens. When I was young, I refuse to have anything green into my mouth but not anymore. I learn to love my veggies since quite sometime ago. Not only nutritious but it is actually really delectable. Cooking each veggies the right way would make it interesting. But somehow, I love the way we Chinese like to cook it; stir-fry it with some garlic, dashes of soy sauce and chicken/vegetable stock if you’re lucky or water if you’re not. Rest assured, it is one of the best way to enjoy your veggies!

Soup

Ah, one of our Chinese secrets! As I had mentioned, our Chinese soups are blends of the most natural tastes of the ingredients meld together into something really wonderful. One of my comfort food I might say. When I was young, I love to drown my rice in soup and then eat it with dishes; in fact it can even be a complete meal itself. It was Ah Ma that had brought the love of soup to me, and now I must pass it on! Do try out our various soups and indulge in the wonderful flavours.

Sushi

My housemates and I simply adore sushi! When we had the opportunity to eat out, we would pretend discussing where to eat but in the end, we would end up in a sushi bar. In Malaysia, it is either Genki Sushi or Sushi King for us. These are sushi cheap-eats for us but then again, who are we to complain. It still soothes our cravings for some raw salmon and some sweet rice.

‘Bun’ (Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli)

It is not the usual buns but rather it is actually rice vermicelli. Bun is served cold with fresh vegetables, juicy meat and ‘cha gio’ (springrolls). I would always hop over to Vietnam Kitchen (One U) for my fix of bun when I’m looking for a wholesome and fulfilling meal. To know more about what bun is all about, hop over at Fine Cooking.

Mexican

Even the test results revealed that I am a Mexican girl. Yes I am! I love Mexican food for its complex blends of spices and tastes. I loved chillis (which I did for my birthday, will share it one day), tortillas, egg rolls (simply adore these), fajitas, quesadillas and tacos with salsa! Now I am craving for some!

Seafood

Oh how can I leave out this wonderful food? When there are spreads of seafood around, I go week at my knees. This is no exaggeration! I absolutely adore crabs and shrimps. Then there are the fishes, plain ol’ fishes plus much much more ranging from mussels to squids to clams to oysters. What an indulgence.

Tagging (hopefully still available):

Babe_KL from Babe in the City-KL

Tazz from Tazz in the Kitchen

Mumu from A Curious Mix

Mae from Rice and Noodles

Well, the baton is passed. Hope you have a good (or tough) time listing your favourites. *Laugh evilly.

Merry Christmas!

Shoving some lovely red tomatoes your way! Well, just a picture of reds and greens to build some festive mood. Hope your Christmas this year is a bundle of joy, full with laughters and cheers.

Here’s a little ode to you:

Christmas is
A time for gathering
and a time for sharing
A time for giving
and a time for receiving
A time for rejoicing
and appreciating
A time for embracing
and a time for reminding
How much we are loved

Merry Christmas to all!