Chicken Rendang/Dry Chicken Curry Recipes

I always have a soft spot for chicken or beef Rendang. That is the very first Malay dish I learned to cook from my friend Kak Zuliah mom’s many years ago. Now there are so many ready packed rendang paste but I still prefer to cook it from scratch as most of the ingredients are readily available here. I even plant my own kaffir lime and turmeric plants now. Turmeric can’t survive the winter so I cut all the leaves up and freeze it so that I can use it whenever I want. The ingredients are pretty similar to my beef rendang; the only difference would be the cooking time as the chicken get tender pretty fast compare to beef.

Ingredients:

1 chicken – around 2.5 pounds
3 fresh turmeric leaves – sliced thinly (optional)
3 tbsp of kerisik (coconut paste)
3 kaffir lime leaves (limau purut)
2 cup of coconut milk + some water
Salt and palm sugar/sugar to taste

To blend into paste:

10 shallots
2" of lengkuas (galangal)
2" of ginger
2 stalk of lemongrass
4 cloves of garlic
10 dried chilies (soaked until soft)
10 fresh red chilies
2” fresh turmeric or 2 tbsp of turmeric powder
2 tbsp meat curry powder

For Kerisik (coconut paste)

1 cup of fresh grated coconut

1. In a non-stick pan, dry fry the grated coconut until golden brown.
2. Removed and blend it into paste while it is still hot until it is fine and paste like.

1. Clean, remove skin and fats from the chicken. Cut the chicken into medium size pieces.
2. Heat about 3 tbsp of oil in a wok and gently fry the blended paste for 2 minutes or until slightly dry and fragrant.
3. Add in the chicken and continue to stir-fry until the chicken changes color. Add in coconut milk and enough water to cover the chicken. Bring it to boil. Roughly tear up the kaffir lime leaves and add it into the beef. Reduce heat to simmer.
4. Cover and simmer and stir occasionally and cook until meat is tender. If the dish dries up too fast, do add a little more hot water or coconut milk to it.
5. Add in palm sugar, salt to taste. Add in the turmeric leaves and kerisik (coconut paste) and cook till the sauce dries up. Serve with warm rice.

Note: The level of spiciness can be adjusted to your liking. The same recipe can also be used in the same way for beef and lamb

I am submitting this dish to Muhibbah Malaysia Monday

For more details please refer here

Blanch Okra with Spicy Sambal Recipes

When the weather gets cold I get lazy too. There are days I like something simple for my lunch. No elaborate preparation or cooking. I bought a huge bag of okra/lady fingers from the produce place for only $2.00 and beside stir-fry with eggs or put it in curries this is how I like it. Simple and delicious!!

Ingredients:

10 okras – cut the ends off

Sambal – blended into paste

4 red chilies
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1 ripe tomato – cut into chunks
2 tbsp dried shrimps – soak for 15 minutes
Sugar and salt to taste.

1. Blanch okra in boiling water for 1 minute, drain well and set it aside.
2. Heat up frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Stir fry blended ingredients until fragrant and dry. Add in sugar and salt to taste. Continue to stir-fry until you see oil started to appears. Dish out and serve with the blanch okras.

Prawn Fritter/Cucur Udang Recipes

This is one of the favorite tea time snacks in Malaysia and you can usually find stalls selling them by road side stall in the afternoon or at the night market. This is something so readily available back home and I don’t usually make them. But here in the US when craving strike I have to make it myself. The last time I made this was in 2007 when my sisters came to visit us so it is time to make some for my evening tea and keep some for my mee rebus.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup tempura flour/mix
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4cups water (the amount of water depend on how thick you like the batter to be)
Small bunch Chinese chives – cut into 1” length
1 cup of bean sprouts
1 tsp chicken granules
½ tsp turmeric powder
Salt and pepper to taste
20 medium size shrimps/prawns – clean and leave the head and tail intact
Oil for frying

1. Combine the flour, tempura flour, baking powder, turmeric, chicken granules and salt into a mixing bowl. Add water and mix it with a spoon to make a fairly thick batter. Leave the batter aside to rest for 15 minutes. Then stir in the chives and bean sprouts.
2. Heat the oil for deep frying over medium heat. Place a medium size ladle in the oil to and heat it for 2 minutes. Remove the ladle from the oil and allowing excess oil to drip off.
3. Spoon enough batter to fill the ladle almost to the top and press a prawn into the center of the batter and gently lower the ladle into the oil.
4. After 2 to 3 minutes, when the base of the fritter has formed a crust, gently loosen the out the fritter from ladle by using small knife and allow it to continue frying until golden brown.
5. Refill the ladle with more batter and continue until all the batter is used up.
6. Remove fritters and drain the oil on paper towel. Allow the fritters to cool down before cutting it into cubes and serve with some chili sauce.

I am submitting this dish to Muhibbah Malaysia Monday

For more details please refer here

Spicy Prawns with Sataw Beans/Sambal Udang dengan Petai Recipes

I was clearing up my freezer the other day and found a small packet of petai (stink beans) in it. I can’t even remember when I bought that. The last time I saw petai was when I visited my friend Zue at Harrisburg during last year Hari Raya and I might have bought it there. So you can imagine how long these beans had been sitting in the freezer. I check the petai and they still look ok and in order not to waste it I cook some sambal out of it.

Not everyone like Petai because of its bad smell especially when you visit the bathroom after eating it. For someone who likes it they are good. I guess these beans are very much like Durian the king of fruits. You either love it or hate it. Petai is actually healthy for us. It contains a type of Protein that known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier! It also stimulate the production of hemoglobin in blood, reduce the blood pressure ,stroke, boost brain power, overcome constipation, relief heartburn etc. It also can be used externally. Before reaching for insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of petai to the skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling, irritation and itchiness. As for the after effect smell there is a way to get rid of it. My mother told me that when you eat petai try to eat some eggplant (brinjal) at the same time and it will reduce or get rid of the strong smell. I didn’t try it yet but I will when I cook petai You can get more informations about petai here.

Ingredients:

1 pound of shrimps – peel and deveined
1 large onion – sliced thinly
200 gram of petai beans/Sataw Beans
2 tbsp tamarind paste – mix with 1/2 cup water

Sambal Paste

15 dried chilies – soak in hot water and cut into small pieces
4 fresh red chilies – removed seeds if you want it less spicy
4 shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp roasted shrimp paste (belacan)

1. Put all the sambal ingredients in the food processor and blend until it become a paste. If it is too dry add a bit of oil to it and continue to blend.
2. Heat up about 3 tbsp of oil and sauté the sambal paste over medium low heat until fragrant. Then add in slice onion. Stir fry until the onion soften. Add in the shrimp and petai. Add in sugar and salt to taste.
3. Continue to stir-fry until the shrimp is slightly pink in color. Add in the tamarind paste. Continue to stir-fry until shrimps are cooked. Check seasoning as you might need to add a bit more sugar or salt at this stage.
4. Dish out and serve with warm rice.

Note: before you cook the petai make sure you split the beans into two to check if there is any worm in it.

Nate and Annie from House Of Annie will be hosting the September event. They have set up a form for all submissions.

The Spirit of Hari Raya Feast Recipes

Each year, Malaysians from all walks of life, irrespective of their ethnic origin and faith join hands to celebrate the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri together with their Muslims friends. This celebration that falls on the first day of Syawal (the 10th month of the Islamic calendar) is celebrated with great enthusiasm, especially after the Muslims had completed a month of fasting during Ramadan (the 9th month in the Islamic calendar).

Besides the sumptuous array of delicious food, songs and dances, this festive celebration inculcates the spirit of sharing, caring and forgiving. Similar to the Thanksgiving Day celebration, the Hari Raya Aidilfitri instills Muslims with the need to seek forgiveness and blessings from other fellow Muslims and friends. In this way, Muslims can fortify their relationships among their friends and relatives by choosing peace and harmony as their way of life.During this month-long celebration, Muslims will invite their relatives and friends over to their homes to join in the celebration and merriment. This special invitation – which is open to all visitors, irrespective of their race, creed and social status – is generally known as the “Open House” – a tradition that our foreign visitors find very fascinating. Primarily, the objective of the “Open House” is to create harmony and forge a better understanding among friends and relatives. This is the time of the year that you can sample the most delicious dishes from the traditional Malay culinary repertoire.

Being away from Malaysia for so long makes me reflect on many things in my life be it my root, my homeland Malaysia, my family, my friends and many celebrations. In the spirit muhibbah and Hari Raya our group of Malaysian ladies decided to cooked some traditional Hari Raya fares for our  monthly meet up. We prepared rendang ayam (dried curry chicken) serunding (shredded beef) sayur lodeh (vegetable stew) nasi impit (pressed rice) lemang (glutinous rice) mee goreng, lychee and pineapple agar agar, kuah kacang (peanut sauce) and dodol. Here are some pictures of what we prepared to share it with you.

Nasi Impit (pressed rice) and Lemang (glutinous rice)

Sayur Lodeh (vegetable stew in coconut milk)

Kuah Kacang (peanut sauce)

Serunding Daging (spicy shredded beef) - thanks Zue for the serunding.

Rendang Ayam (dried chicken curry)

Mee Goreng (fried noodles)

Dodol (toffee-like delicacy made from glutinous rice flour, coconut milk and palm sugar)

Cookies - pandan cookies, mama carries and pineapple tarts (thanks Zue for the tarts)

Lychee and Pineapple Jelly

Even though we are not back in Malaysia but I don’t think we miss anything this year as we had a great time preparing some of the food and eating it. Needless to say, I'm grateful to be able to celebrate the season, not just with great food but with wonderful company in an environment of peace and love. Now we are anticipating for our November Deepavali celebration. Do come back to check out what we cook on that day ;)

Kale in Coconut Gravy/Kale Masak Lemak Recipes

Kale is a leafy vegetable that is usually grouped into the “Cooking Greens” category with collards, mustard and Swiss chard. The leaves can be curly and quite ornamental, but become too tough to eat fresh, as they mature. Kale is a member of the cabbage family and is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties; kale is considered to be anti-inflammatory. The beautiful leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy flavor and more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food around. Although it can be found in markets throughout the year, it is in season from the middle of winter through the beginning of spring when it has a sweeter taste and is more widely available.

My friend Zue introduced me to cooked kale this way. Back in Malaysia they usually cook masak lemak with cassava leaves or pucuk paku (fiddleheads/fern shoot) but we can’t get this type of vegetables here so we replace it with kale which tasted pretty similar to pucuk paku.


Ingredients:

One big bunch of kale
10 shrimps – peel and deveined
1 sweet potato – peels and cut into chunks
2 cloves of garlic
3 bird eyes chili
1 tbsp of turmeric powder
1 stalk lemon grass
1” ginger - sliced
1 cup of coconut milk
1 cup of water
Salt and sugar to taste

1. Wash the kale and remove the hard steams.
2. Bring the water and coconut milk to boil. Add in  sweet potato, garlic, turmeric, lemongrass and ginger. Stir until combined and add in the kale. Continue to cook until the kale and potato are soft.
3. Add in the shrimps, salt and sugar to taste. Cook for another 2 minutes. Dish out serve warm with rice.

Kapitan Chicken Curry Recipes

The Peranakan cuisine is found in south-eastern Asia. Also known as Nyonya Food, they are an amalgamation of Chinese and Malay dishes, with the extensive use of herbs and spices, especially belachan, turmeric, galangal and pandan leaves.

One of the dishes is Curry Chicken Kapitan. It has a milder taste compare the usual Malay or Indian curry. This curry has a distinctly Nyonya flavored of lemon juice, candlenut, kaffir lime leaves, fresh turmeric roots and leaves. Besides the usual steamed white rice, this dish is excellent served with turmeric glutinous rice and Roti Jala.

Ingredients:
1 chicken – cut into medium bite size pieces
4 kaffir lime leaves
3 turmeric leaves – tear into small pieces
2 - 3 cups coconut milk
Juice of a lemon
Salt and sugar to taste

To blend into paste:

8 shallots
1 bulb garlic - peeled
3 stalk lemongrass – remove the hard outer layers and cut small
10 dried red chili
5 fresh red chili
3 " fresh turmeric or 2 tbsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp curry powder
8 candlenuts/buah keras (you can replace it with almond or macadamia nuts

1. Put the paste ingredients in a blender and blend into paste and set it aside.
2. Heat up about 4 tbsp of oil in a wok or a pot and fry the blended ingredients until fragrant. While stirring add about ½ cup of coconut milk to make a paste and to prevent the spices from burning.
3. Add in the chicken, fry for a few minutes. Keep on stirring and coating the chicken pieces with the paste. . Pour in the rest of coconut milk (amount depend on how much gravy you like) and bring it up to a boil. Add in kaffir lime and turmeric leaves. Lower down the heat and cover. Cook over low heat (stir occasionally) for about 30 mins or until chicken is tender and gravy thickens. If it gets too dry you can a bit more coconut milk or water.
4. Add in the lemon juice, salt and sugar to taste. Serve with rice or roti jala or even crusty bread.

Note: If you like this dish to be less spicy you can always reduce the amount of chilies.

Spicy Fried Noodles/Mee Goreng Recipes

Every since I saw this noodle dish at 3hungrytummies I’ve been thinking about it. Since coming back from Malaysian I’ve been craving for something from back home. I went to the Asian supermarket in Philly with my good friend Choy and gather all the necessary ingredients for a quick fix of my craving. So here is my version of the Mee Goreng. It was pretty similar to my previous Mee Goreng Mamak . I used the sambal that I made earlier to fry this.

Ingredients:

8 oz of yellow noodles (1/2 packet) - wash
10 shrimps – peeled and deveined
1 small piece of fish cake - sliced
1 tomato – cut into small wedges
2 piece of fried tofu – cut into ½” cubes
A small bunch of mustard green – wash and cut into 1” length
2 shallots – sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic – chopped
¼ cup water


Seasonings:

3 tbsp of sambal
2 tsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat up a wok, add in about 3 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté garlic and shallots until fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add in shrimp, tofu, tomato and fish cake. Stir-fry for a minute, add in the sambal, and the rest of the seasonings. Mix well.
3. Add in the noodles, stir well. At this stage you can add a bit of water and the vegetables. Cook and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes. Check seasonings.
4. Dish out and serve warm.

Spicy Honey Chicken/Ayam Masak Madu Recipes

Ayam Masak Madu or Spicy Honey Chicken is a common dish found at Malay food eateries in Malaysia. It has a savory,sweet and spicy sauce made from chili paste, tomatoe paste and spices. This dish goes really well with rice or nasi briyani. The chicken is usually deep fried until golden brown before added into the sauce but this is a healthier version. Instead of frying I baked it in the oven before cooking it.

Ingredient A

6 drumsticks – clean and removed the fats and skin
1 tsp of turmeric powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients B

2 tbsp of ground chili paste (I used sambal Oelek)
3 tbsp of tomato paste
1 big onion – cut into rings
3 cloves of garlic – chopped
1 tbsp of chopped ginger
Some curry leaves (optional)
1 star anise
1 cinnamon bark
2 cloves
½ - ¾ cup of water
Honey to taste
Salt to taste

1. Put all the ingredients A together and marinate for half an hour. Line the chicken on a baking pan and bake in a pre-heated 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes.
2. While the chicken is baking, heat up a wok. Add about 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry cinnamon, cloves star anise and curry leaves until fragrant. Add in ground ginger and garlic and continue to stir-fry until lightly brown.
3. Add in tomato paste, chili paste, honey and stir well for 10 seconds. Add in the water. Bring it up to boil and toss in the chicken and onion rings.
4. Give a quick stir-fry, bring the heat to slow simmer, covered and cook until the sauce thickens and the chicken is done. Check seasonings to make sure that it is the sweetness and saltiness you like.
5. Dish out and serve with warm rice.

Note: You can either deep fried, pan fried or baked the drumsticks before cooking it in the sauce.

Ayam Percik/Malay Style BBQ Chicken Recipes

This is such an exotic Malay style BBQ chicken. It has the full flavor of spices and sweet fragrant smell of coconut. This dish is originated from Kelantan, a beautiful state in the Northern East Coast of Malaysian. You can find this dish at every food bazaar during Ramadan month in Malaysia. The Ramadan market will not be complete without the sweet smell of the vendors grilling this special Ayam Percik.

The most important part of this dish is the blended paste. Like many other Malaysian dishes we uses a lot of fresh herbs and spices like Chilies, Lemongrass, ginger, shallots, buah keras and garlic all blended together with some tamarind paste and cinnamon. It gives this dish such a rich and aromatic flavor. The sauce is perfectly sweet, sour, salty and spicy. Traditionally cooked over hot charcoal fire but because of the cold weather here I just baked it in the oven.

Ingredients:

4 whole chicken legs with thigh attached
1 tsp tamarind paste (Asam Jawa)
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 cup of coconut milk
1/4 cup of water
1 tbsp of brown sugar
Salt to Taste

Spice (Blended to paste)

4 candlenuts/buah keras (or macadamia nuts)
6 Cloves Garlic
2 tbsp of chili paste (I used sambal Oelek)
1” ginger
4 shallots
2 lemongrass – sliced thinly

1. Clean the chicken, removed all the skin and fat. Make some light cuts on the surface of the meat. Pat the chicken dry with paper towel.
2. Mix the paste with the rest of the ingredients together in a Ziploc bag. Marinate the chicken for at least 3 – 4 hours. Make sure the chicken is well coated with the marinate.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree F. Put the chicken in a deep dish together with all marinates. Cover it with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for half an hour. Remove the foil and then continue to bake until chicken cooked and golden brown. Make sure you turn the chicken occasionally and basting it with the gravy.

Note: If you are using tamarind pulp, just mix the pulp with the ¼ cup of water from the recipe.

Beef Rendang/Dry Beef Curry Recipes

When we talk about beef rendang, we associated it with Hari Raya (the first day after the end of Ramadan fasting month) it is the main celebration of the Malay communities in Malaysia. Rendang pairs well with Lemang (glutinous rice packed in bamboo tube and smoked slowly on low fire) The Beef Rendang recipe I prepared is pretty special as I managed to grown some turmeric and I used some of the leaves to cook this dish. As with all good rendang, it can be kept up to a week in the refrigerator and if frozen, can last up to a month. This is a rich, wholesome dish is great for family gatherings and for those who are on a diet, better stays away (if you can!).

Ingredients:

2 pounds stewing beef
3 fresh turmeric leaves – sliced thinly (optional)
3 tbsp of kerisik (coconut paste)
3 kaffir lime leaves (limau purut)
2 cup of coconut milk + some water
Salt and sugar to taste

To blend into paste:

10 shallots or 1 big onion
2" of lengkuas (galangal)
2" of ginger
2 stalk of lemongrass
4 cloves of garlic
10 dried chilies (soaked until soft)
10 fresh red chilies
2” fresh turmeric or 2 tbsp of turmeric powder

For Kerisik (coconut paste)

1 cup of fresh grated coconut

1. In a non-stick pan, dry fry the grated coconut until golden brown.
2. Removed and blend it into paste while it is still hot until it is fine and paste like.

This is the turmeric plant.


1) Heat about 3 tbsp of oil in a wok and gently fry the blended paste for 2 minutes or until slightly dry and fragrant.
2) Add in the beef and continue to stir-fry until the beef changes color. Add in coconut milk and enough water to cover the beef. Bring it to boil. Roughly tear up the kaffir lime leaves and add it into the beef. Reduce heat to simmer.
3) Cover and simmer and stir occasionally and cook until meat is tender. If the dish dries up too fast, do add a little more hot water or coconut milk to it.
4) Add in sugar, salt to taste. Add in the turmeric leaves and kerisik (coconut paste)and cook till the sauce dry up. Serve with warm rice.

Note: I added some potatoes to this dish too. All you have to do is peel and cut it into chunks, pan fried them until lightly brown (this will prevent the potatoes from getting mushy when you cook them) and add it into the rendang when the meat is nearly done.

Spicy Turmeric Beef Recipes

Turmeric is one of my favorite spices to use. Besides many health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties, it makes food taste good and I love the yellow hue it gives a dish. I used it a lot when I cook our Malaysian dishes. One of the dishes I tried out is a recipe from Salt & Turmeric . This dish is cooked on low flame till the water evaporates completely and the beef and potatoes are tender. Delicious!!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Salt & Turmeric with minor changes

1lb beef tenderloin, thinly sliced
Water, enough to cover the beef
4 tbsp olive oil
2 small potato, peel and cut into 1” pieces – par-boiled until slightly soft
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp sambal Oelek (optional)
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
1 yellow pepper - cut into 1" cube
2 red chilies - cut small
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
2 spring onions - cut into 1" length
Salt, black pepper and sugar to taste


1. Put the beef in a sauté pan or wok and add water enough to cover the beef. Cook until the beef is soft and water has completely evaporates. Stir occasionally.
2. Add in the oil, garlic, potato, sambal oelek and turmeric powder. Turn down the flame, stir regularly until the beef looks crunchy and the potato is soft.
3. Add the bell peppers, salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Continue stirring for 2 minute. Check seasoning, add in the spring onions.
4. Serves with warm white rice.

Prawns Sambal Delicious Recipes

After a few days of mild western food I need my dose of hot and spicy Malaysian food. I don't think I can survived without it for too long. This dish is cooked in sambal paste and tamarind juice. I found by adding some lemongrass to the paste it add some extra 'kick' to the dish.

Ingredients :

300 grm of prawns - clean
2 tbsp of tamarind pulp - soak with 1/4 cup warm water
1 small onions - sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp of sugar

Spicy Paste - Blended

6 red fresh chilies
4 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
1 stalk of lemongrass - sliced thinly
3 candle nuts or almond
1 red tomato - quartered

1) Put all the paste ingredients in a food processor withs some oil or water and blend into smooth thick paste and set aside.
2) Sieve the tamarind pulp, get rid of the seeds and set the juice aside.
3) Heat up frying pan with some oil. Add in paste and stir fry until fragrant and oil separates. Add in slice onions and stir fry for 30 seconds.
4) Add in prawns, stir fry for 30 seconds and add in tamarind juice. Continue to stir until prawns cooked and sauce thicken, add in sugar and check seasonings.
5) Dish out and serve with warm rice.