Malaysians Love Food

Tau Foo Dish

















Siakap Dish





We had dinner to celebrate Zay's birthday recently at a friend's not so new Chinese restaurant. It is a joint venture between a Malay and a Chinese proprietor. We had tom yam, fried kangkung, a signature Siakap dish, a Tau Foo dish, all with white rice and Chinese tea. Come to think of it, tom yam is not Chinese and the Siakap and fried kangkung are already in Malay cuisine. Nasi lemak (Malay origin), Roti Canai (Indian Origin)and Nasi Ayam (Chinese origin) are accepted as national dishes common to all. So are Yong Tau Foo, Nasi Beriani, Sambal, Teh Tarik and Pau.

In Malaysia, I notice the line separating the different types of ethnic cuisine of its people is somehow becoming blur. You see we are developing a fusion cuisine and I foresee not far into the future, our cuisine will be Malaysian not Chinese, Indian or Malay. Only then, can we proudly say that our people are bangsa Malaysia.

On the other hand, if you go to the shopping centre in Mutiara Damansara where all types of eateries prevail, you will notice that Malaysians have accepted and embraced foreign cuisine as well. You will find that the French, Italian, American franchises are doing very well. So are the home grown franchises.

If there are new shops in the neighbourhood, you will find the Mamak restaurant being the first to set up shop. Mamak restaurants open 24/7 and are great places to 'lepak' with friends and make new business contacts.

To me, Malaysians simply love to eat and they eat at all times of the day, not only in posh places but anywhere, in the dark, along alleys, by the roadside......

Spaghetti Bolognese ala Elkay

My version of spaghetti is an adaptation of Bolognese and Neapolitan. As I love vegetables, I always add them to my spaghetti sauce. I also love a lot of sauce with my spaghetti.


My version lacks the fatty taste of beef as I always remove the fat from the beef and is a bit hot as I add more black pepper.


Ingredients:

• 375 gm spaghetti, boiled in hot water mixed with a tabsp of cooling oil till cooked (tender). Drain and set aside.
• 410 gm canned plum or Italian tomatoes, crushed or 2 cups tomato puree
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium brown onion, chopped finely
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 500 gm minced beef, precooked in 500 ml water, sieved and fat skimmed off. The resulting stock will be used in the gravy
• freshly ground black pepper and salt
• 1 tbsp mixed dried herbs comprising of oregano,basil,thyme, red bell peppers and parsley. You can use shredded fresh herbs if they are available.
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 sticks celery, diced
• 5 tomatoes, diced
• mushrooms, coarsely shredded
• some grated cheese

Method

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil and when withered, add in the beef stock, tomato puree or crushed tomatoes.Stir till the tomatoes are totally liquidified. Blend half of the cubed carrots, celery and tomatoes and add into the stock.Stir and add in the minced beef, salt and pepper. Finally add in the other half of the cubed vegetables and mushrooms. When they are cooked, sprinkle in the dried herbs.

Pour the sauce over the boiled spaghetti and add in grated cheese if preferred.

If you don't have the time you can use bottled spaghetti bolognese sauce bought from the supermarket instead of using tomato puree or canned tomatoes.

Seafood Chowder

Dill

I am a fan of 'Chef at Home' and 'Chef at Large' cooking shows on the Asian Food Channel but I still don't remember the chef's name. In the former show, the chef would cook a complete meal from whatever he has in his kitchen. And his pantry has everything!If he could not find the ingredients needed, he would take us on a trip to the supermarket and pick up his choices.

Last night I managed to catch him preparing seafood chowder, salad and fresh bread with the common ingredient in all- the herb, fresh dill.

Chowder is a great dish for small children. You can add seafood if they are not allergic to it.

The making of the chowder was simple. He first browned some bacon. As bacon is not halal, I suggest we use beef cuts(daging cincang) instead. After the meat is browned, the fat is poured out. Slices of onion and celery are added and sauteed in the little remaining fat. He then added some wine with milk and cream. We can of course skip the wine and use grape juice or non-alcoholic wine if we want to. (I personally do not like the non-alcoholic imitation wine drinks because of their sweetness).

Cooking was continued with vigorous stirring before some grated potatoes were added to thicken the chowder. Potatoes were used instead of corn or wheat flour.

Seasonings of salt, pepper and dry herbs were next added , followed by frozen cleaned shrimps and cut fish fillets. (We could try using the Dory fish fillet in Malaysia). Freshly cut dill was then added and the dish was stirred before being dished out and served with fresh bread and salad.The latter two recipes are reserved for another day.

The chowder reminded me of the delicious clam chowder we had at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco. The waiter was kind enough to point out that the first chowder we picked from the menu was not halal. We thought seafood was okay but forgot the wine element and was ignorant of the bacon ingredient.. We were later serve a halal chowder, according to the waiter.

Ikan Goreng Taucu ( Fried Fish in Salted Soya Bean Gravy)

This is a simple recipe but you have to be careful as the taucu can be very salty. The fish chosen can be a freshwater fish or a marine fish. You can use chinchards, tenggiri ( Spanish Mackerel), kembong ( Mackerel) or any fleshy fish.

The fish is usually seasoned with salt and turmeric powder and left to stand for 30 minutes before bring deep fried and put aside. You can slice the fish into smaller pieces if you like. For kembong or bawal (pomfret), you can fry it whole.

Ingredients for The Gravy:

2 onions
3 cloves garlic
2.5 cm ginger
1 stalk lemon grass
4 tabsp taucu
2 fresh green chillies
1 fresh red chilli
1 tomato
1 tabsp tamarind juice
sugar, if preferred
cooking oil

Method:

Slice the onions, ginger, garlic, chillies and squash the lemon grass stalk. Heat up the cooking oil and lightly fry the above ingredients till aromatic. Add in a cup of tamarind juice made from 1 tabsp tamarind. Add in the taucu that has been washed to lessen its salt content. Add sugar if you like, and quartered tomatoes. When the gravy has boiled, turn off the heat and pour it over the fried fish. This dish is eaten with boiled white rice.

One's Never Too Old To Survive Cancer If One Had The Resources

This gutsy lady is my late maternal grandmother's sister. She is 81 years old and is recovering from lymphoma. The last time I saw her in October, 2008 she was 10 kilograms heavier and was not diagnosed with cancer yet. She started her treatment only about three months ago.

As I was advised not to visit her during her chemotherapy sessions for fear that visitors would infect her with bacteria and viruses, I had abide by it and had not seen her at all. I however had frequently inquired about her from her brother and sent my salam to her.

She has had 4 chemo sessions and on Monday will start the second last one of six sessions in all.
This morning I was woken up with the ring of my phone. It was my grandaunt, Che Ramlah, at the other end. She sounded very upbeat and I was surprised that she called. She asked me why I had not visited her, adding that she was much better now.

She was happy to see my husband and I this afternoon and could not stop chatting. However, we were afraid to tire her and did not prolong our visit. We left promising to visit her again after her next chemo session.

For an old lady to be able to withstand the chemotherapy treatment is indeed a miracle. Considering that she is a widow with no children of her own. Her strong will and strong survival instincts has pulled her through. I pray that she will have a long life so that I can continue to get stories about our family history from her.

Actually, this grandaunt of mine was a senior civil servant in her younger days. She had taken care of orphans in many government orphanages in all her working life. Her last posting was as the District Welfare Officer of the Gombak District in Selangor. She married late in life, Although she does not have a child to call her own, she has numerous children who call her "Mummy". She also has many nieces and nephews whom she had cared for over the years. Of her surviving siblings, her three younger brothers, each aged 71, 74 and 78 respectively are her source of support and strength. They had showered her with love and concern and most importantly the financing for her cancer treatment at the finest private hospital. Todate, her treatment costs RM 45,000. How lucky she is!

Sunday is usually a lazy day except for today. I got up early to prepare the marinade for the rayfish (pari daun) and chicken I wanted to grill for brunch.






The chicken however, was too dry since I had left it in the oven too long. We ate the grilled fish and chicken with hot tamarind dip and a sauce I made from the chicken marinade together with white rice and orange, carrot and Cameron apple juice.





This is how the Cameron apple looked like. It is actually a cross between an eggplant and a cucumber.





This is the mixed fruit juice.

Chicken Korma

Chicken korma is a mild creamy curry without any chillies. It is ideal for people who cannot stand the "hotness" in normal curries.The method of cooking is similar to normal curries except that it is advisable to marinate the chicken in the spices prior to cooking to let the flavour blend in.

The following recipe is one I adapted and kept from a Malaysian-Singaporean student newsletter from my student days.
I remember the korma being a student favorite.The boys will prepare the korma whenever there was a celebration or during Eids. But their korma curry was a bit thin, unlike the thick ones prepared by the people in my home state during weddings.

Ingredients:

1/2 chicken cut into 6 pieces

A: Blend or grind the ingredients in red font.

• 1 tabsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp couscous
• 1 tabsp black peppercorns
• 4 candlenuts (buah keras)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• the "heart" of a nutmeg seed,(biji pala)
  
• 2.5 cm ginger
• 10 shallots
• 5 cloves garlic

B: To sautee:

• 2 cardamon seeds
• 4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced

1 cup thick coconut milk
3 pieces tamarind(Asam keping). Subsitute with some lemon juice if you cannot get asam keping)
water
Salt to taste

Method:

Remove skin and visible fat from chicken and mix in with blended ingredients.Steep for 1 hour.

Heat oil in a saucepan and sautee the ingredients in orange font until fragrant.Add in the blended ingredients, removing the chicken from it. Fry until nearly dry but not burnt, stirring continuously. Add in the chicken pieces. Continue stirring. Add the coconut milk and allow to simmer until chicken is tender. Add salt, tamarind pieces or lemon juice; Add in water when the coconut cream is too thick.. If you prefer a less cholesterol meal, substitute with skim milk or evaporated milk. Cook for a few minutes.

If you want to brighten up your korma you may add carrots, cut in 1 cm pieces, fresh whole chillies and quartered onions. You may also sprinkle slices of spring onions as garnish. Serve with white rice,bread,paratha or capati.

Korma can also be made with lamb and mutton instead of chicken.

If you are in Malaysia you can buy the korma spices off the shelf and follow the instructions on the packet.

EAT YOUR VEGGIES

I don't remember my Mum even once asking my siblings and I to eat our vegetables.It was because we thought eating them was the normal thing to do. We grew up in a family where eating raw shoots called ulam was a routine. I was surprised initially to know that nowadays, even my nieces and nephews do not like their vegetables. Why is this so? Is is because vegetables are too bitter for their taste buds? Of is it because they have been trained to be sweet toothed from young and not taught to eat the greens. Or is it because their parents find it too bothersome to stock fresh vegetables in their fridges? Don't they know that vegetables are a source of complex carbohydrate, good phyto- chemicals and contains no cholesterol? Are they not aware that vegetables keeps them young as it contains anti-oxidants, keep them strong and beautiful with nutrients like vitamins and minerals that encourage good health and immunity against infectious diseases? Haven't they been told that vegetables contain soluble and insoluble fibre that can prevent constipation and expel deadly toxins from your body, thus preventing from fatal diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and cancer ?

If only, they knew or their Mums knew....

I fed my babies a balanced diet as soon as they were ready for solid foods. That means starting on vegetables at a very early age. I remember boiling rice, adding a protein source and a vegetable before blending them. I would introduce a new vegetable each week and alternate between meat, chicken and fish. I did not season the baby food with either salt or sugar.

Of my five children, only Afif refused his vegetables when young. However, nowadays, Afif's meals would be incomplete without vegetables. These days, pecal is our family favorite.The trick I used was to serve the vegetables that he loved. Afif loved, and still loves, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. That was what I fed him in the initial years. When he started to like his vegetables, I introduced different vegetables and presented them as colourful as possible by mixing the green ones (leafy vegetables, broccoli) with orange ones ( carrots and sweet potatoes) and red (tomatoes or red spinach). You see, kids love colourful things and so, their meals should be as cheerful and full of colour. The other thing is not to overcook the vegetables. You can also make salads or kerabu out of them. The torch ginger in mango kerabu is not only attractive but also tasty.

I will unsatiated during visits to relatives' houses when they do not serve vegetables with their meals.I see that in some families only the parents eat their vegetables while their children simply will not touch them. The parents have given up telling ther children to eat the veggies.

Some people will tell you that vegetables come with risks if laced with residual pesticides and herbicides. But you can always try to wash them out thoroughly. Nowadays there are products that can nullify the toxins but they are too expensive for the average income earner.

The risks are reduced only when the government implements the ruling that vegetables sold locally must be pesticide and herbicide- free prior to entering the market.

Meanwhile, the doctors will tell you that the risk is less if you eat your vegetables than if you don't. Or you can grow your own vegetables, pluck wild vegetables or buy organic vegetables. The choice is yours to make.

As for me, I continue to pray to God to protect my family from dangerous diseases and heal whatever disease that we may have. In the final analysis, we can only plan and do our best.Leave the rest to the Lord.

Acar Ikan ( Fish Pickle)

My husband bought some kurau (Threadfin or Mullet) slices this afternoon at a day market. He wanted me to fry the fish and add pickle sauce to it. In addition I was to cook the squid we bought yesterday. Since I had been away attending a seminar all day I was just looking to prepare a simple fast dinner as both of us were already hungry.

To prepare the pickle sauce was easy.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices ikan kurau, seasoned with salt and turmeric powder

• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek

• 2 cm ginger, sliced
• 2 onions, slices
• 5 cloves garlic, cut into 2
• 1 tabsp sugar
• 2 tabsp vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 fresh chilli, sliced
• 1 cup water

Deep fry the fish until golden brown. Drain and put on a platter.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok. Saute ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add in the spices (mustard seeds, feenel and fenugreek). Add the onion and chilli slices and stir-fry well. Mix in water, vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil.

Pour sauce over fish and serve. You may add chopped spring onions and chopped cilantro as garnish if you like.

Preparing the squids was even simpler. I just stir fried them whole in sauteed sliced onions, garlic and chillies, 1 tsp chilli paste and 2 tabsp of oyster sauce.

We had white rice and mixed vegetables to accompany the above dishes.

Stuffed Squids in Curry

This dish was prepared a few days ago.
As I was only cooking for two, only 3 squids were cleaned after removing the ink pouch and the mouth.

I stuffed the cleaned squids with the filling made as follows:

Sliced onions and garlic were sauteed in a little hot cooking oil and cubed potatoes, carrots, arrow head, and some sliced celery were added and fried until cooked. During the course of the cooking I added a few curry leaves and powdered black pepper and a pinch of salt. The filling was allowed to cook before being stuffed into the squid.

Meantime the curry was prepared using fish curry powder as below:

Some sliced shallots, garlic and ginger were sauteed in hot cooking oil. A few curry leaves,a stick of cinnamon, 3 cloves and 1 star anise was then added, followed by 3 tabsp of curry powder and stir fried on low heat. 1/2 cup of coconut milk was added to the curry and stirring was continued before adding about a cup of water, some tamarind juice and a pinch of salt.

As the curry boils, the stuffed squids were added and let to cook for about 5 minutes. The stuffed squid curry was eaten with white rice, fish asam pedas and mixed vegetables.

Fish and Chips

Tonight we had fish and chips for dinner. We had earlier bought the Dory fish at Carrefour together with some frozen potato chips and garden peas.

The vegetables,(sliced carrots and peas) were boiled separately.

Batter:

I have simplified the fish and chip recipe in the "Good Cooking" magazine I collected as a student.

I fried the chips first and drained the oil using some kitchen paper.

To prepare the batter:

2 tabsp rice flour
3 tabsp wheat flour
a sprinkle of salt
a sprinkle of black pepper powder
1 tabsp cooking oil

All the above ingredients are mixed in about 2 cups of water to a consistency of thick cream. Rest for 30 minutes. I added the rice flour to make the batter more crunchy. You can, if you prefer, fold the batter into whipped egg whites of 2 eggs.

The Dory fish was thawed and all ice removed. A kitchen towel was used to absorb excess water on the fish. The fish was dipped one at a time in the batter before being fried in hot oil. The oil has to be hot so that the fish does not stick to the frying pan.

The fried fish and chips were eaten with the boiled vegetables and mayonnaise and chilli sauce were used as dips. The British do not eat fish and chips with chilli sauce. They prefer adding lemon juice or vinegar, if I remember correctly.

If you are in the UK or US, you can get frozen fish in batter plus frozen potato chips readily available. All you have to do is buy them and fry them yourself. Eating hot fish and chips on a cold winter afternoon is a soothing to the stomach. However, the last time I was in the UK in 1997, we had a hard time finding chilli sauce and only tomato ketchup could be found. We finally found Lingham Chilli Sauce at Tesco.

I did not eat the fried fish and chips in the US because they put beer in the batter.

Spicy Fried Chicken

Chicken is a favorite in Malaysia.Children eat more chicken than fish. For sure there will no mercury poisoning but they face the risk of assimilation of antibiotic and growth hormone residues if the chicken they eat contains these elements.

The spicy fried chicken is now becoming a favorite recipe during wedding feasts.

It is very simple to prepare. You need the following ingredients:

• 1 chicken, cut into 12 -16 pieces, washed,skinned and remove visible fat.
• 3 stalks lemon grass
• 2.5 cm ginger
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 tabsp coriander seeds (biji ketumbar)
• 1 tsp fennel seeds (jintan manis)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jintan putih)
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp flour (optional)
• curry leaves (optional)
  

All ingredients in red font are blended till fine. If you prefer a dry mix, use a dry mill instead of a wet blender but the lemon grass, ginger and garlic have to be cut into smaller pieces prior to milling.

Mix the blended ingredients with turmeric powder and salt. Marinate the chicken pieces with the blended spices for at least one hour. Fry the chicken. For a more golden look, try dipping the marinated chicken in a bit of dry flour before frying. If you like additional flavour, you can add curry leaves to the frying chicken just before it cooks.

The chicken is best eaten hot.

FOLLOW UP TO YESTERDAY

Yesterday, I received a few more birthday greetings from family and friends. I would think that birthdays are celebrated mainly to give a chance for people who matter to show their love and appreciation.

The three of us, husband, Zay and myself had a cosy dinner at one restaurant in a posh suburb of Kuala Lumpur.

Zay tried the New Zealand Roast Lamb served with black pepper sauce and mashed sweet potatoes, while Dad had Spaghetti Marinara and I had the Caribbean Grilled Chicken. The latter came with rice pilau and mixed salad with fresh herbs.I thought the salad was good but the chicken too dry. Dad didn't seem too pleased with his spaghetti and Zay said the lamb was okay like the ones we prepare at home.We also ordered gado-gado. I expected it to be something like pecal but the the dip tastes different with less peanuts. The vegetables were the same except the bean sprouts were a bit sourish ( not fresh).

For paying about RM 40 per person I would expect the restaurant could have done better.

So, Afif and Zaty did not miss much. As for Ikmal, next time you come back, we will try the Lebanese or Arab food instead. Meantime eat your Indian food and don't skip meals.

One Year Older

Today's my birthday. Apart from greetings from hubby,son and sister it is not an eventful day. Maybe by tonight things will change.

This afternoon I am attending a talk on Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the IEM. Maybe I will make a few new friends.

As promised in the last post. ....The present from Zay and Zaty has been unwrapped. As Zay is self-professed "shoepaholic" (someone who can't resist new shoes), shoes are what I got for my birthday. It is a great present as my present pair of official shoes already needs replacing.
Thanks, Zay and Zaty.