Sea Cat Fish Curry in Laksa Leaves with Roe

.. was browsing for fish in the market this morning when i came across a plate of fish roe and sea cat fish or ikan sembilang as the Malays refer to. My mouth watered and immediately i remembered my mom's curry. This version of curry is a bit different as it includes laksa leaves.. hmm.. a curry between normal fish curry and nyonya assam curry.
For this curry.. you'll need:

Part 1:
1 packet of Baba's Fish Curry Powder
2 tbsp dried chilli paste
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 big onion
3 shallots
2 garlic

Part 2:
1 sea cat fish
1/2 fish roe (telur ikan duri)

Part 3:
tamarind juice from 1tbsp of tamarind paste
100gm coconut cream

Part 4:
1 large tomato
a handful of laksa leaves
1/2 big onion

Method:

1. In boiling hot water, boil fish roe till it cooks.

(Note: cut the roe sacks open before boiling it)

2. Once cooked set aside.

3. In a curry pot, heat oil and stir fry the onions and garlic.

4. Once done, pour in tamarind juice.

5. Combine curry powder, chilli paste, grinded coriander seeds, cumin and black pepper into a paste.

6. Pour in the paste into the pot and let it simmer.

 7. Simmer the paste till the oil appear on the top of the paste- d sign that the paste is done.

8. Pour in coconut cream and water. Once it started boiling, put in fish roe and the cat fish.

9. When the fish is about 3/4 cooked, put in sliced big onion, tomato, salt and laksa leaves.

10. Simmer for about 10 minutes. 

Serve hot.

Goes well with sambal belacan, ulam and fried salted fish.

~ Bon Appetite ~

Beef Rendang: Rendang Tok

Rendang Tok is one of my all time favourite rendang. Originated from the Perakian Malays, this version of rendang is less spicy and requires more toasted coconut (kerisik) than the rest. Inspired by the recipe Chef Wan included in one of his recipe books - 'Sedapnya', I would like to share this delicious kids-friendly rendang to all Goodeats visitors.

To make rendang tok, the ingredients required are:

Part 1:  2 big onions, 6 shallots, 4 garlic, 4 lemon grass,
3cm ginger, 3cm galangal, 15 dry chillies (soaked), 15gm fennel powder (1 packet),
15gm cumin powder (1 packet), 2 tbs brown sugar, sea salt.

 

Part 2: 500gm meat preferably shoulder or thigh where the meat is tough.
Marinade the meat with fish sauce & brown sugar.

Part 3: 1 liter of coconut milk, 4 tbs kerisik, 2 tumeric leaves.

Method:

1. in a pan- brown marinated beef and set aside.

 

2. In a blender, blend Part 1 till fine. Then, pour into a pot filled with brown beef.
Pour in water jst enough to cover the beef. Simmer in a medium heat till the beef is 3/4 tender- if the water dries up before the beef is tender, then add in coconut milk bit by bit first.

No additional water is required anymore.

 

3. Keep on adding coconut milk till the last quarter liter and put in kerisik.

Stir till it dries up.

 

4. Julienne the tumeric leaves finely and add to the rendang.

Note: for 500gm of beef rendang- 2 big sized tumeric leaves are required.

 

5. Mix well and simmer in a slow heat till the rendang dries up.

Serve with ghee rice or ketupat.
~Bon appetite~

 

 

 

seafarer's stew

Hrmmmm... seafarer's stew??
Well.. i was about to ran out of ideas of cooking brain booster dishes recently when i came across a recipe- the fisherman soup.. looking into my freezer- i could only find three kinds of fish fillet- salmon, cod and tuna.. hrmm.. couldnt make fisherman soup- so i compromised a few ingredients and - ta daaaa... the new cousin of fisherman soup: my Seafarer's Stew.

Seafarer's stew will definately excite your tastebuds as the combo of paprika, tomatoes and olives enriched this stew.. Basically, the ingredients are:

Part 1: a tray of baked sliced yellow onion, cherry tomatoes & swiss brown mushroom (the onion,, tomatoes and mushroom are drizzled with olive oil & sea salt - then baked for 25-30 mins);

Part 2: salmon, tuna and cod fillet seasoned with paprika & sea salt, 1/4 cup of black pitted olives, 1 can of tomatoes.

Part 3: fresh oregano & sage (finely chopped)

 

Method:

 1. Fry the seasoned fish fillet wth olive oil - 1/2 cooked.

 

2. Put aside the half-cooked fish fillet, and in the same pot-

pour in Part 1 (baked tomatoes, onion & mushroom)

 

3. Cook Part 1 for about 5-8 mins in high heat- till d tomatoes liquidify

and pour in the tomatoes in can, black pitted olives and fisk stock (optional).

Simmer it for about 10 mins and pour in 1 cup of hot water.

 

4. Put in the fish fillet, fresh chopped sage & oregano.

Note: Becareful not to over stir the stew as the fish fillet esp cod may easily break into pieces.

~ bon appetite ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steamed Fish with Pickled Lettuce and Cocktail Onion

One thing i feel privileged living in Penang..particular at this side of the island is - daily fresh catch and definately steaming fish will be the best to celebrate their freshness. I like this dish as the sourish pickled lettuce and cocktail onion as well as lemon rind complement the taste of the fish.

Ingredients:

 

1 fresh golden pomfret, 2"young ginger (julienned), 10 cloves of garlic (julienned), 3 pickled lettuce, 15 - 20 pickled/cocktail onion, 4 pickled plums, fish sauce, sesame oil, pepper, sea salt.

Ingredients for garnishing: vinegared lemon rind, coriander leaves and spring onions.

 

Method:

1. clean the fish and sprinkle sparingly sea salt and pepper. (not too much of salt as we are using fish sauce as well)

Note: fish sauce is used as it gives a fragrant smell to the dish.

 

2. apply half of all the ingredients on the plate before putting the fish on the plate.

 

3. apply the rest of the ingredients on top of the fish as well as in side the fish.

4. steam on high heat for 8 - 10 mins (depends on the size of the fish)

 

while steaming the fish.... :

julienne lemon rind and soak them in a mixture of vinegar, sea salt & sugar for 10 mins and drain the excess liquid.

 

5. Once the fish is done, sprinkle the vinegared lemon rind, coriander and spring onion.

Serve hot.

 

~ Bon Appetite ~

Hummus

One of my favourite Middle East dip is hummus. It is a simple dip to make and best eaten with pita bread and sweet basil. There's a sweet story behind this dish. The very first time i tasted hummus is when one of my colleague introduced it in one of our potluck/cooking-sharing session in the school where i taught previously. Being a foodie like me.. we've grown quite close. It was later that year, i received a call from her...after confirming a few facts abt my family..soon we realized that i am her aunt! what a small world.. so..whenever i made this dip.. it surely reminds me of her.. :)

Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas
1 tbsp tahini
2 cloves of garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
black pepper
sweet basil
pita bread

 

Method:

1. In a food processor, blend garlic, chickpeas with a quarter of the chickpeas' juice and tahini.

2. Half way through put in lemon juice, sea salt and olive oil.

3. Blend the mixture till smooth.

4. Serve with pita bread and sweet basil and a dash of coarsely cracked black pepper.



Herb Rice Salad/ Nasi Ulam

When i think about Nasi Ulam.. it always reminds me of the days during my confinement.. My mom would always make Nasi Ulam by carefully selecting herbs which their medicinal properties are well known especially for blood circulation and flatulence prevention. Long ago..where ulam is abundance and easily accessible..making nasi ulam requires 44 kinds of herbs! Now..getting even 7 types of herbs would be a challenge. A few days ago, the sight of an old man squatting by the road side selling a few types of ulam made me suddenly crave for nasi ulam. Starting from 3 types of herbs- tumeric leaves, indian pennywort and wild betel leaves., I started hunting for more fragrance ones like cekur leaves/sand ginger. I had to go from market to market just to search for these herbs and to my 'agony' for a few handful of herbs- they cost me RM10!! - and i could only manage to collect only 9 types of herbs.. crazy eh..- the things that i'd do only to have a plate of nasi ulam.. ;)

Basically the ingredients are:

A. 4 cups of plain cooked white rice.

B. Herbs:

a few sprigs of polygonum leaves, lemuni leaves, wild betel leaves, young mengkudu leaves,

cekur leaves, tumeric leaves, selom kafir lime leaves & pennywort.

 

the 9 types of leaves is rolled up tighly (so that it is easier to slice them as thinly as possible), fried salted talang fish, 1tbsp black pepper, 1 big onion, 4 shallots, 4 garlic, 3 lemon grass, 1 1/2" young galangal, 1 1/2" young ginger, 1" young tumeric roots and 

a handful of cekur roots as well (not in the pict).

 

 

Method:

 

1. Chop finely all the young roots, onion, shallots, garlic and lemongrass.

 

2. Pound black pepper first then the fried salted fish.

 

3. Mix the chopped roots, garlic, onion, shallots and garlic well with the pounded ingredients.
Basically, this is called: sambal lada.

 

4. To cut all the herbs as thinly as possible conveniently and less messy,

arrange all the herbs and roll them tightly and secure the roll with a rubber band.

 

5. Mix the thinly sliced herbs with plain cooked rice first evenly.

then, add the 'sambal lada' to the rice and mix well.

 

~ Bon Appetite ~

 

 

 

Cooking with Ribs, Lamb Shank : Soup Stock

Today i would like to share a little secret of my cooking especially when cooking beef/lamb in making soup/stew. This little tip is suitable for soups that are thick / creamy in nature as the ingredients used will cause the soup to be murky not clear. First of all.. credit goes to one of my idolised chef - Chef Wan: the food ambassador of Malaysia. It was back in mid 90's i watched his cooking show where he shared his little secret of having delicious meat after simmering for hours. So- let's start.

Coat any meat of your choice with sea salt, pepper & corn flour.

The one that i'm using in this post is a quarter of lamb leg.

Note: by coating the meat with seasoning & flour,

simmering it for hours till tender will help to regain the sweetness of the meat.

 

Heat the pan with olive oil or corn oil and

pan fry / sear the meat till the coating covering the meat is golden.

Once done in all sides of the meat, put it aside.

 

On the same pan, pour in more oil (if needed) and with medium heat,

caramalise 1 big yellow onion & 1/2 Australian big onion.

This may take a while. Caramalizing the onions this way would

result into a sweeter & creamy taste to the soup- and i find that using

a combo of yellow onion and Australian big onion gives better taste.

 

Once caramalised, put in the onions into the pot with the meat.

 

Pour water enough to cover the meat, put in a few bay leaves,

1 cube of knorr beef stock. Let it simmer till the meat is half tender then the stock is ready.

Note: when the meat is half tender- pour in the main ingredients of any soup that you wish to make and let it simmer till the meat tender.