More on chillies and making sambal belacan

Chillies come in different colours and sizes. The smaller the chilli the hotter it is. For dried chillies, the redder ones are hotter.

I have very high respect for chillies. When I was small, my grandma used to scare us with trashing our lips with bird chillies if we utter a rude or swear word. Up to today, you hardly hear me swear even when my grandma is no longer around to press those chillies on my lips!

I have high respect for chillies not because of its ability to prevent swearing but more on the effects on the tummy after consuming it. However, one may tend to swear if one gets an upset stomach due to taking a lot of chillies. All chillies must be properly cooked if made into sambal or curries. The seeds must be removed as it is the seeds that could be the culprits.

Bird chillies when made into pounded raw sambal with prawn paste (belacan) must be properly washed and only fresh ones are used. One tip handed down from my grandma is to pound the bird chillies together with the stalks that hold the fruit. In this way the 'hotness' is reduced. If using fresh red chillies for sambal, I would remove the seeds before pounding. But for bird chillies, that may be a bit difficult.

The right combination of other ingredients in the sambal (belacan, and tamarind or lime juice or sour fruit such as unripe mango) would  determine its degree of 'hotness'. I normally do not add salt to raw sambal belacan as the belacan is already salty. I also do not add sugar. What is the point of eating sambal if it is sweet. Personally, I think a sambal would only have the oomph if it has a certain degree of 'hotness'. I would however use cool boiled water to squeeze the tamarind juice. As with everything, food must be prepared in clean utensils and a clean kitchen to prevent the food from causing upset tummies. The same goes for sambal belacan. More so when it is not cooked. I have said this often enough.

Steaming Siakap- Malay style

(image from Google images)

On my recent trip to my hometown, I learn a new way to steam Siakap (Sea Perch). I have always followed the manner the Chinese steam the fish from my trips to most restaurants in Malaysia. But the way my aunt steamed the fish is simple and very traditional as she used sliced serai (lemon grass), halia (ginger) and turmeric leaves (daun kunyit) with a dash of salt and a squeeze of lime. Tastes great with fresh siakap or any fresh meaty fish.

It never crossed my mind to steam siakap in this way although I had steamed crabs before using the same ingredients.

Steaming is a better and healthier alternative to boiling or frying, anytime.

If you cannot find lemon grass and turmeric leaves, don't despair. You can aways change the recipe and use whatever local herbs are available. If I were in England, France or Italy, I would try using oregano, spring onions, chives or thyme. Then the fish would not be siakap and the dish is longer a Malay traditional steam fish!

Making Chilli Paste

In Malay cooking, a lot of chillies are used.Chillies are added to food to make it hot and to give a beautiful tinge to the food. The amount of chillies used depend on one's own taste. If you cannot stand the 'hotness' you can use less chillies. Some people add a lot of sugar to counter the 'hotness'. I would, however, use less chillies and hence, less sugar instead.

I prefer to make my own chilli paste. Buying fresh cili boh as it is called in Malaysia is an option for those in a hurry. Doing so would put you at risk of an upset tummy if your tummy is a sensitive one. You see, the chillies are not seeded and maybe uncooked prior to blending them to a paste in commercially- made cili boh.The place where the cili boh is made may also not be clean.

As most dried chillies are mixed with certain impurities and packed with preservatives, it is best that you select the good ones and discard gunny sack threads or small stones,if found.

To make the cili boh, the chillies are first cut into small strips with a pair of kitchen scissors.I do not use a knife as it is easier with scissors and my fingers are not in direct contact with the chillies.

Making chilli paste (cili boh) is not too difficult.After cutting the dried chillies, place them in a colander and shake of the seeds through the sieve.Wash the chillies in a bowl and drain using the colander. Next you need to boil the chillies in freshly filtered water in a small pot. Boiling would get rid of any germs present and straining the water would reduce any preservative left in the chillies.When the chillies are cooled, you sieve and drain off the water using the colander again.

Then, you need to place them, a bit at a time in a liquidiser and add filtered water of cool boiled water before blending. Do not attempt to place the whole amount you want to liquidize at one time in the liquidizer as it be more difficult to blend. After several additions of chillies to the blender, voila! you now have your own cili boh.

Bottle them up in empty, dry and clean jam or spaghetti sauce jars. You can use plastic containers but they stain after some time. Store your cili boh in the refridgerator. Keeps best for 2 weeks. Do not prepare too much as it would not be too healthy to keep it too long, even in the fridge. If you want to preserve in longer put small packs in the freezer.

You can also make chilli paste from fresh red chillies. But if for some reason you cannot find fresh or dried chillies you would have to resort to using powdered chillies instead. You have to be careful when using chilli powder as it tends to be hotter as the seeds have been pulverized with the chillies.You therefore need to use very little of the powder when cooking.

To add bulk or volume to your gravy dish, you may add chopped onions or tomatoes when using chilli powder to make curries or sambal.

Anyway, a newbie cook like my son Afif, (who was never interested to be in the kitchen) would have to experiment and find out for himself how much chillies to use that suits him best.

The same applies to putting salt and sugar or tamarind/vinegar in the dish. Always start with a little and work yourself up.

When you have mastered how much to put it, then the aroma from your cooking will tell you whether it is delicious or too sour/salty/sweet.You then would not need to taste the food while cooking. Well....that will take a lot of experience to reach to that stage.

Meanwhile, one has to start somewhere.

Happy trying.

Empty Nest Soon

A lot has happened this year.Eldest daughter, Nurul started her national service in June. She was appointed to the post of Vector Control Officer by the Ministry of Health and she is now posted in Kuantan in the state of Pahang. She is now officially chasing mosquitoes, rats,and other disease-carrying agents.

Daughter, Zayye got betrothed on 8th of August and we are now busy preparing for her big day early next year.

Son, Afif has flown to Sheffield, UK, on 20th September to start his new life as a foreign student. He joins his brother as a foreign student only that Ikmal is in Bangalore, India pursuing his medical studies.

Youngest daughter, Zaty is busy preparing for her final South Australian Matriculation exams in November, 2009.She has obtained a conditional offer from the University of Newcastle, Australia but is hopeful that she gets another offer from the University of Adelaide to pursue her medical degree.

Once Zaty goes to Australia and Zayye is safely married, there would be only the two of us at home. I hope I would not suffer from the 'empty nest' syndrome.The nest has been empty off and on since the children started going to boarding schools, one after the other. However, I would look forward to trips to visit them. I would then take the opportunity to check on them and give tips on how to adapt and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle from young is the best way to stay healthy.By now, they should know that a well balanced diet is the way to go. I just hope that they would not be too lazy to prepare balanced meals and not just stick to easy to prepare fast frying foods which are bad for their health in the long term.

Remember that diseases like hypertension, diabetes and heart disease take years to develope and once you hang on you, you cannot shake them off easily. Thus 'Prevention is better than cure'.

Zaty was worried that Afif would not be able to fend for himself on his own. So far, Afif has been referring to this blog to prepare his meals with a few adaptations.I wish Afif the best. I hope he prepares small portions for himself and not cook too much as per each recipe. You see, a cook needs to apportion and be able to calculate just enough ingredients so as not to cook too much. If cooking for one person, you need to divide the ingredients by 4, if the original recipe is for 4 persons. Or you can cook for 2, (dividing by 2) and keep in the freezer half of what you cook, to be eaten at a later time.

I hope Afif does not cook too much and end up with more weight than he could bear. Alternatively, Afif must join the gym or any sports club. As his flat is just across the road from his Engineering department, Afif would need to work out regularly to shed out the excess weight.

Pampering Yourself During Detox (3)

It is been a while since my last post.


I feel I have to complete the detox series before I continue with other topics.


At the end of the last post, I mentioned that having massages, facials and practising rhythmic breathing are 3 more ways to pamper yourself and blow the stress away. Having someone massage your body is a heavenly and relaxing experience. It is to be noted that even in hard times, spas and beauty salons enjoy good patronage. Women must stay young and pretty!

Massage


A good massage kneads toxins away from the tissues and improves lymphatic drainage. It also calms nervous tension and stimulates optimum glandular function. Skin and muscle tone improve while less cellulite is seen. A good massage relieves muscle tension and improves immunity to disease. While there are different types of massage available such as Thai massage, Shiatsu massage, traditional Malay and Chinese massage and not forgetting the Swedish massage; self massaging can also be practised if you could not afford the professional massages. Self massage must be done on parts accessible to you and all strokes must be towards the heart so that blood is pushed naturally around the normal body flow and not against it. The next best thing is to get your partner or close friend to give you a massage. Cheap practical courses are available for those interested to learn the art of massage. Perhaps a short training goes a long way and is a good investment for your long term health.

Facials

Once you detox your body, you would notice that your facial complexion also improves. To help the skin improve further, you should consider having a facial treatment for extra relaxation. It could also boost your image as you would look years younger.


A visit to the beauty salon would include not only facial cleansing, toning and moisturising but having a mask over your face and a shoulder massage at the same time put all the stress away. Some salons also add a facial massage before the cleansing session.


You could also do a DIY facial at home when you are alone. Don't forget to switch off your hand phone and put the home phone off the hook! You could relax with the facial mask on while listening to slow relaxing music. Before getting into detox, you could first stock up your favorite cleanser, mask and moisturiser products. Or you could raid your kitchen with natural products such as honey, egg whites, natural yoghurt and oatmeal.


A facial sauna using a big bowl filled with boiling water as a hot bath is a good idea if your face is not too sensitive and you are neither pregnant nor asthmatic. Your can put a towel over your head and place your face over the hot bath for short periods of two minutes each. Close your eyes and breathe normally.The steam will open your pores and when your remove your face from the sauna, pat it with warm water. You may add 6 drops of mandarin essential oil and 2 tablespoons lavender tea to the water if you have normal skin. For oily skin, you could add 6 drops of rose essential oil and two tablespoons of chamomile tea to the water.


Deep breathing


Learning to breathe naturally and properly is a good way to heal during a detox period. In fact, breathing properly during exercise will result in better benefits compared to panting and irregular breathing patterns. You could also appreciate the fact that in traditional qigong, proper breathing techniques are taught to improve overall muscle tones and sustain good body functions.

Deep, rhythmic breathing improves the lung capacity and increases the oxygen flow into the blood vessels and sets the nervous system into a healing mode. On the other hand, shallow breathing could lead to a state of fright and nervous tension and this in turn would lead to deterioration of overall health.



Simple deep breathing can relax the mind and recharge your energy. I remember the lamaze breathing I learn during my first pregnancy. You have to consciously tell every part of your body to relax while closing your eyes at the same time. The breathing method I learnt put me through 5 pregnancies and during my elder son's birth, I was asked whether I was a nurse since I was timing my contractions in order to know when to breathe the right way.



I remember same the breathing technique was demonstrated during an episode of the 'Oprah' talk show. You can practise it this way; while sitting comfortably on a chair or lying flat on the floor. Place your hands on your tummy with your fingertips touching the tummy. Close your eyes and take a few breaths while you tell your mind to calm down.



Now, breathe in through your nose, very slowly to a count of four. As you inhale, push your tummy up and out.Hold your breath to a count of seven, then exhale gently through your mouth to a count of eight. Repeat this process up to ten times. If you do this regularly, you could reduce your blood pressure substantially. Nowadays, I normally practise this while waiting outside the doctor's clinic or before an important meeting. It works, believe me.



Well, this post wraps up the ways you could pamper yourself during detox. Wishing you a safe and happy detoxification.