Assam Pedas Fish (Sour and Spicy Fish)

Assam Pedas Fish, or literally "Sour Spicy" Fish is a classic Malaysian dish. Ask any home cooks in Malaysia--Malay, Chinese, or Indian--and you are bound to get a number of different recipes for Assam Pedas. Everyone has their own interpretation for this favorite dish and there are endless adaptations; suffice it to say, it's sour, fiery hot, and tastes extraordinarily satisfying.

It is an extremely easy dish to prepare and can be ready in an hour.  I love having this dish with rice.  In fact the gravy taste even better the next day



Assam Pedas Fish (Sour and Spicy Fish)
Recipe Adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients:

1 spanish mackarel, pomfret or any firm white fleshed fish (1/2 pound to 1 pound)
8 small okras (ladies fingers)
1 medium tomato (cut into wedges)
1 teaspoon of fish curry powder
1/4 teaspoon tumeric powder
2 sprigs of daun kesum (or you can use Vietnamese coriander)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 tablespoon of white sugar (you may need more depending on taste)
Salt to taste

Spice Paste:

3 clove garlic
1 stalk of lemon grass (white part only)
4 shallots
1/2" fresh ginger, sliced
2 fresh red chillies, de-seeded
6 dried chillies (more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tablespoon of belacan (prawn paste)

For the Tamarind Juice:

1 1/4 cup of water
Tamarind pulp (size of a small lime)

Method:

1) Pound the spice paste with mortar and pestle or grind them in a food processor. Set aside.

2) Soak the tamarind pulp in warm water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind pulp constantly to extract the flavor intto the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.

3) Heat oil and fry the spice paste for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

4) Add the tamarind juice, fish curry powder/turmeric powder and bring to boil.

5) Add the tomato wedges and okras and bring to boil.

6) Add the fish, salt, and palm sugar/sugar.

7) Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Serve hot with white rice.


 

Salmon Teriyaki with Lemon Pomegranate Cous Cous

This is an absolutly simple, delicious and flavourful meal when you are really rush for time.  I had made this for dinner after work one evening and dinner was served in less than an hour - and this is including prep time as well. 

If you are even more rush for time, forget about making your own marinade.  Bottled eriyaki sauce is easily available in most Asian grocery shops.  It's great on fish, BBQ, roast chicken and I even drizzle a bit of it on my cold tofu dishes.



Salmon Teriyaki with Lemon Pomegranate Cous Cous
Serves 4
Recipe Adapted from BBC Goodfood

Ingredients for the Salmon Teriyaki:

4 pieces of salmon fillets
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp sake (or substitue with Chinese wine) 
1 Tbsp brown sugar 
4 cm root ginger , grated and squeezed to give 2 tsp juice
Pinch of black pepper

Method:

1) Heat the grill to high. Mix together the marinade ingredients, put the salmon in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over. Leave for 20 minutes.

2)  Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and cook the salmon, skin-side-down, for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crisp and the salmon almost cooked through. Spoon over a little leftover marinade and slide under a hot grill. Cook until the surface is glossy brown.

Ingredients for the Lemon Pomegranate Cous Cous:

500 g couscous
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, juice only
500 ml boiling chicken stock or water
1 tsp salt and black pepper
3 tbsp chopped mint or coriander
1 pomegranate, cut in half, seeds removed

Method:

1) Place the couscous in a bowl and add the olive oil and lemon juice, and mix well.

2) Pour over the boiling stock or water and season with salt and pepper.

3) Leave on one side to sit until all the liquid has been absorbed - about 5-10 minutes.

4) Stir in the chopped herbs and add the pomegranate seeds.

Clam, Chorizo & Mixed Bean Stew

I had some left over chorizo sausage in my fridge from a breakfast recipe. This therefore gave me inspiration to use the remaining for a new dish and when I chanced upon this stew, I knew it was the right recipe. This recipe comes from the monthly BBC Goodfood magazine.



I really like this magazine and have been diligently purchasing a copy over the last six months from my local newstand vendor whenever a new issue comes out. This magazine is very visual with beautifully plated dishes and the photography is amazing - practically jumps out at you! Simple, easy to prepare dishes is probably their motto, although there are some slightly more complicated recipes as well. They are also not afraid to publish recipes that sometimes takes short cuts and this is exactly what some of us want. Epecially if we already have a full-time day job.



Clam, Chorizo & Mixed Bean Stew
Recipe Adapted from BBC Goodfood
Serves 2

Ingredients:

50g chorizo sausage, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
Small bunch of mixed herbs, basil, parsley,roughly chopped
200ml hot stock, fish or vegetable
400g canned stewed tomatoes, roughly diced
400g canned mixed beans, rinsed and drained
600g white clams (or mussels)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Black pepper and salt to taste
Extra chopped parsley for dressing

Method:

1) Fry the chorizo in a large frying pan with a lid, over medium heat until it starts to crisp and release its oil. Add the onion and cook for 5 mins until it starts to soften. Then add the garlic and chopped herbs and fry for another 1 minute.

2) Pour in the stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and add in the beans and red wine vinegar. Simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the liquid has slightly reduced.

3) Scatter the clams into the pan, cover with lid and let it steam for 2 - 4 minutes. Shake the pan occassional to let the clams open. Remove lid, discard any clams that have not opened as they are likely bad.

4) Season to taste with black pepper and salt. Remove from heat and serve in bowls. Scatter some parsley on top and serve with crusty bread.

Kerabu Beehoon (Rice Vermicelli Salad)

Throughout this blog I have featured a few Nyonya or Peranakan recipes. Nyonya or Peranakan Recipes is a combination of dishes that incoporates sour, sweet, salty, hot and spicy. The best of Nyonya recipes are their curries (spicy or mild), soups, vegetable dishes, salads and pickles. Besides this, they are also known for their all-time favorite nyonya desserts recipes and nyonya kuih recipes which are easy and simple to cook or prepare.



Nyonya food is influenced by the combination of many cultures. Nyonya cuisine is now acknowledged as one of the earliest examples of Asian exotic and fusion food. The secrets to Nyonya method of cooking is by the infamous "agak-agak", translated means rough estimates method as most of these recipes have been passed down through generations, from great grandmother, to grandmother, to mother and then to daughter. Most of the time these recipes are not properly documented and as a result of this a number of nyonya recipes have been lost.





Kerabu Beehoon (Rice Vermicelli Salad)
Recipe Adapted from "Chef Wan"
Serves 5 - 6

Ingredients:

8 fresh red chillies, deseeded, finely pounded (add more chillies if you want a spicier dish)
1" roasted shrimp paste or 2 tsp shrimp paste granules
8 Tbsp Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka), grated
7 Tbsp Fish Sauce
10 Calamansi Lime Juice (you can substitute with about 5 - 6 limes)
250g dried Shrimps (Hebi, Udang Kering), stir-fry crisp and finely pounded
500g fresh prawns, shelled, blanched in boiling water, deveined and kept whole
300g Rice Vermicelli (Bee Hoon), cooked and drained
3 tomatoes, remove seeds and cut roughly into cubes
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely pounded
1 inch Ginger, peeled and finely pounded
250g roasted peanuts, pounded lightly so that you still the crunch
150 g / 9 oz crisp-fried Shallots (Bawang Goreng)
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves (daun limau purut), sliced into thin narrow strips
6 pieces of beancurd puffs, toasted and then cut into small cubes
4 Lemongrass (Serai), thinly sliced
10 Shallots (Red Onion), peeled and finely sliced (can replace with other onion though wont be so fragrant)
170g Chinese Parsley, finely chopped (use the stem as well)
125g Laksa Leaves or Vietnamese Mint (Daun Kesum), finely chopped. Can substitute with normal mint but taste of the dish will be different

Method:

1) In a small bowl, place garlic, fish sauce, palm sugar and half the lime juice and stir well until the sugar has dissolved.

2) In a large salad bowl, place all the other ingredients with the exception of the dressing. Mix well.

3) Then pour in the dressing and toss well. Slowly add in the rest of the lime juice, adjust taste accordingly to how sour you wish the salad to be. Also adjust seasoning and add more fish sauce if required.

4) Leave salad to stand for about 15 - 20 minutes before serving. Left overs should be kept in the refrigerator to be consumed within 24 hours.

Cucur Udang (Prawn Fritters) - A Malaysian Tea Time Snack

A few weeks back I was approached by Sophia of Chew On That to do a guest post on her blog. The subject-matter was a tea time snack and I decided to do a Malaysian favourite.

Cucur Udang or Prawn Fritter is one of the all time Malaysian favourite tea-time snacks. These fritters are usually made one or two bite size and therefore makes great finger food. They are crunchy on the outside and the inside is soft and moist when you bite into it.

I have used prawn in this particular one but sometimes the ingredients can be varied to include anchovies, thus calling it Cucur Ikan Billis or Anchovy Fritter. You could also use corn kernels as another main ingredient. These fritters can be found commonly at road-side street carts in Malaysia, in the day time and even at night markets. The ones sold outside are usually round and if they are prawn fritters, a small prawn with it's head and shell intact, is placed on top of the batter before being fried.

Visit my post at Chew On That to get the full Recipe for this delicious snack.

Yam Som-O (Spicy Pomelo Salad)

I was pleasantly surprised when I was checking my personal emails one evening to receive an invitation from Jasmine to attend a Food Bloggers tea-party. I did not know who Jasmine was but did know a couple of bloggers on the invitation list, namely Edith and Zhuoyuan . The tea-party would be hosted at Edith's house. This would not be the first time Edith would be hosting a food bloggers gathering. A year and half ago, she had hosted our first gathering and it was a tremendous success. Again Edith has so kindly opened her beautiful home to all of us.





As usual whenever food bloggers get together there would be a huge assortment of treats. This time round was no exception and the menu consisted mainly of desserts with a couple of savoury items thrown in. Almost everyone brought two types of desserts and we ended up with a huge feast. We had cupcakes, brownies, lemon bars, durian swiss roll, durian chiffon cake, cheesecakes, meat balls, macarons and more. Check out the below blogs of my "old" and new blogger friends, each and every one so very talented as well.

Edith of Precious Moments
Wendy of Wen's Delight
Cathy of Cathy's Joy
Jean of Noms I Must
Jess of J3ss Kitch3n
Jasmine of The Sweetylicious
Zhuoyuan of Baking Library

I decided to bring something savoury instead. And as I didn't have much time over the week, I made a Thai pomelo salad instead.



Yam Som-O (Spicy Pomelo Salad)
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 medium sized pomelo or 2 grapefruits
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
150g cooked prawns, sliced half lengthwise
200gm cooked chicken breast, shredded
2 Tbsp dessicated coconut
1/2 cup coconut cream
1 Tbsp dried shrimp, toasted and finely chopped
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Handful of mint leaves

Method:

1) Peel pomelo and shread the flesh. Leave as chunky pieces.

2) Place lime juice, fish sauce and sugar in a bowl and stir to mix until sugar has dissolved.

3) Then add in the prawns, chicken, dessicated coconut and coconut cream. Toss to coat the pomelo. Add in the mint leaves and transfer to serving platter. Sprinkle the top with dried shrimp and toasted sesame seeds and a few mint leaves.

4) Serve immediately as this salad does not keep over night.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)

I guess if you happen to venture to a Vietnamese restaurant for a meal you would definitely order their fresh Vietnamese rolls. The fried version of this is called Cha Gio which does resemble the Chinese fried spring rolls. Cha gio comes in many different sizes and can be made with spring roll wrappers or rice paper. Traditionally, rice paper is used in Vietnam to make this rolls and you would likely find the filling to be made from pork, shrimps and crab meat. This is a really simple dish to make and makes for a delicious tea-time snack or an appertizer to a main meal.



Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)
Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients:

200g minced pork
150g medium prawns, de-shelled/deveined and minced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
50g mung bean noodles/cellophane noodles/glass noodles – soaked in hot water for 30 minutes or until they turn very soft, cut into 3" length
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 pieces fungus ear, soaked until soft and sliced thinly (can be replaced with 6pieces shitake mushroom, thinly sliced)
1 1/4 tsp fish sauce
1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves
Vietnamese rice paper

Method:

1) Place all ingredients into a bowl and mixed well. Leave in the refrigerator for about an hour before using.

2) Place some warm water into a large shallow plate. Set aside a clean dry kitchen towel on a flat surface. Quickly dip a rice paper into the water and place on top of the kitchen towel. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of the filling on the bottom 1/3 of the roll. Fold the bottom part of the rice paper over the filling. Then tuck in the sides, then roll to form a cyclinder about 3 inches long. Lightly dampened the edges to ensure that the roll is properly sealed.

3) Heat oil over medium heat in a wok or a large frying pan. When the oil is hot, gently place a few of the rolls into the oil Do not over crowd. Fry slowly until the rolls turn golden brown. Dish out and drain the excess oil by lining them over some paper towels.

4) Serve immediately with a chilli dip and fresh herbs.

5) To make the dip, minced 3 fresh red chillies and 3 cloves of garlic finely. In a bowl add 1/3 cup white vinegar and sugar to taste. Add in the minced chillie and garlic and set aside for about 15 minutes before using.

Tom Kha Goong (Thai Coconut Prawn Soup)

Thai cuisine has such an interesting array of dishes as well as flavours. Their dishes incorporates the four vital flavours which is spicy, salty, sweet and sour. The basic ingredients used to achieve the four flavours are:

Spicy - chillies, peppers, fresh and dried spices, shallots, garlic
Salty - fish sauce, soy sauce, dried shrimps, shrimp paste, salt
Sweet - coconut milk, palm sugar, fruit
Sour - lime juice, tamarind, vinegar, vegetables

The ideal Thai meal is a harmonious blend of all the four flavours above. The dishes are meant to be equally satisfying to eye, nose and palate. A typical meal might include a clear soup, a steamed dish, a fried dish, a hot salad and a variety of sauces into which food is dipped. The meal is then rounded off with sweet desserts or fresh fruits.

This particular tom yam dish which I have posted is probably the lesser known of the two. It is much lighter and less spicy and uses coconut milk. You would find this recipe using chicken instead of prawns. Preparation wise this dish is easy and takes no time at all to put together. End result is a really delicious soup.



Tom Kha Goong(Thai Coconut Prawn Soup)
Serves 4

Ingredients:

500ml chicken stock (fresh or canned, unsalted)
4 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
1 lemon grass, crushed (white part only)
1 lemon grass, sliced diagonally 1" (white part only)
12 thin slices of galangal
200g fresh prawns, shelled leaving tail intact, deveined and slit along the top mid-way
100g red snapper fillet, sliced to 1" thick
500ml coconut milk (fresh or canned)
60g canned mushrooms
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice
4 Tbsp fish sauce (to taste)
8 pieces of bird's eye chilli (chilli padi), 2 lightly crushed, the remaining leave whole

Method:

1) Heat the chicken stock in a pot. Add in the lemon grass, lime leaves and galangal and simmer for about 10 minutes,

2) Then add in the coconut milk, chillie and seafood and bring to a boil.

3) Add the mushrooms, lime juice and fish sauce to the pot. Cook the soup on medium heat, uncovered for another 5 minutes.

4) Remove from stove and dish out into individual bowls. Serve immediately.

Spiced Fish with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

I am now on the look out for simple recipes that can be easily prepared after a hard day's work in the office. I think most of us who work and have no time to prepare meals would usually eat out (as this is relatively easy to do in Asia), grab a meal from a fast food restaurant or the easiest, instant cup noodles. However there are surely days when you just want something prepared at home!

So to kick start a series of quick after work recipes, I am posting here a spiced fish dish that can be prepared in 30 minutes. Simple and delicious, and of course absolutely healty too!



Spiced Fish with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
Serves 6
Recipe Adapted from "After Work Cookbook"

Ingredients for the Fish:

6 x 180g firm white fish fillets (I used red snapper)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp groud coriander
2 tsp finely grated lime zest (or lemon zest)
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely minced
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt (or to taste)

For the Cucumber Yogurt Sauce:

2 cucumber (remove center core and seeds),grated (squeezed out the juice)
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 1/2 tsp lime juice (or lemon juice)

Method:

1) Clean and pat dry the fish fillets. Combine the seasoning with the exception of the oil and rub onto the fillets. Leave aside for about 10 minutes to marinate. Whilst waiting prepare the yogurt sauce.

2) Heat oil in non-stick frying pan and cook the fillets in batches until browned on both sides and cooked through. Serve with the yogurt sauce on the side.

3) To make the yogurt sauce, combine all the ingredients together. Serve fish hot with a side salad.

Creamy Curry Prawns

Having too much seafood is not good for your cholesterol level! That's what we always read in any health magazines. Well I say having it once in a while should be fine. The thing about having seafood is that you really, really must buy the freshest. Any seafood that isn't, be it fish, prawns or crabs, will end up totally destroying your entire dish.

So before you go out to buy your next batch of prawns, you should be looking out for:

* The shell of the prawns should be firm and glossy and not broken or slippery

* There should be no discolouration of the heads or the shells, as this is an indication that the meat is starting to go bad

* They should smell fresh and salty. Avoid if there is any hint of a smell of ammonia

* The eyes should be prominent and shiny and not shrunken inwards or missing

* If you are buying raw prawns, do not be put off if they are translucent or a different colour then the typical pink prawn. Prawns and shrimp only turn this colour once they have been cooked



Creamy Curry Prawns
Recipe Adapted from "Women's Weekly - July 2010" Edition
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
30g unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1 red chilli, sliced
1 1/2 tsp seafood curry powder
500g medium sized prawns, shelled with tail intact and deveined
2 stalks spring onions, sliced (extra for garnishing)
300ml thickened cream
Salt to taste

Method:

1) Heat oil and butter together in a large fyring pan over high fire. When the butter starts to bubble, turn fire to medium.

2) Add in the garlic and chilli and fry for 2 minutes.

3) Stir in the curry powder and cook for 30 seconds, stirring. Add prawns and spring onion and cook for 3 mins until prawns change colour.

4) Pour in the cream and bring to a boil. Reduce fire and cook for 1 - 2 mins, until sauce has thickened and prawns are cooked through. Season to taste with salt.

4) Serve immediately with a bowl of steaming white rice.

Thai Fried Rice with Clams and Holy Basil

When it comes to left-over white rice, it is astonishing what type of ingredients you could add to it to turn this into a simple fried rice dish. I would usually cook a Chinese fried rice version using Chinese sausages, frozen mixed vegetables and eggs. However this time round I wanted to do something different and be a bit more adventurous.

I decided on a Thai version using fresh basil as one of the key ingredients. So when I happened to be at my local supermarket buying groceries, I came across fresh white clams. I thought to myself “heh, how about some clams to go with the Thai fried rice! I could add some long beans as well.” I must confess that I had concocting this recipe as I was walking through the aisle in the supermarket. So with this in mind, I started to throw packs of ingredients into my shopping basket. If you are not into clams, you can use prawns or even chicken meat as substitute. And again if long beans are not your “thing” substitute with frozen mixed vegetables, peas, carrots, corn … or just do your own thing! The dish will still come out delicious.





Thai Fried Rice with Clams and Holy Basil
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, roughly minced
1 ½ Tbsp of Thai chillie paste (found in local Asian groceries. Vary the chilli paste according to your taste)
2 cups heaped cold cooked rice
200g - 250g white clams, shell intact and thoroughly cleaned
1 ½ Tbsp fish sauce, or more to taste
¾ cup of long beans, chopped to ¼” thick
1/2 cup loosely packed Thai holy basil (regular basil ok)
2 medium sized eggs, lightly beaten
Dash of white pepper
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro and extra sprigs for decoration

Method:

1) In a wok or large skillet over medium fire, heat up the oil. Add the garlic and fry until lightly browned

2) Then add in the chilli paste and stir fry for about a minute. Add in the clams and basil leaves, and fry for about 2 minutes. Add the long beans and fry until slightly soften (not too soft). Add the cold rice and fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.

3) Add fish sauce and pepper. Then drizzle the beaten egg onto the rice and stir to mix well. Fry for another 1 to 2 minutes.

4) Finally add in the chopped fresh cilantro. Dish out warm and serve with lime wedges, Thai chillie sauce and cilantro for decoration.

Sui Kow (Chinese Dumplings)

If you are familiar with Chinese food, you would probably know what Sui Kow is. If not, it's a boiled stuffed dumpling. It could be passed of as an Italian ravioli ... but a Chinese version.

Sui Kow or roughly translated in English is known as 'water dog' - don't ask me why cause I really have no clue at all. It is like a wantan but only much bigger. The filing can be made of meat, seafood or a mixture of both with some vegetable. Personally I prefer having sui kow as compared with wantan. You can have this as a dish by itself or accompany the sui kow with noodles (which is a very popular dish here in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong) or steamed rice.



Sui Kow Recipe (Chinese Dumplings)
Makes about 30 dumplings

Ingredients:

160g medium size shrimps (net weight), shell removed
100g minced pork (leave some fat in it)
5 pieces water chestnuts, chopped into small pieces (do not mince as you want to have some "crunch")
3 pieces dried black fungus, soaked in water for 5 mins (you can replace this with 5 pieces of shitake mushroom)
1 1/2 Tbsp coriander, finely chopped
1 or 2 packets of round-shaped dumpling wrappers (store bought)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Water for boiling
Spring onions (chopped) – for garnishings

Seasonings for the Filing:

2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs cooking oil
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 to 1 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp chinese cooking wine
1/2 tsp of white pepper powder

Method:

1) Remove For prawns, devein and rinse. Place prawns on top of kitchen towel to dry them out. Mince 1/3 portion of the prawns and the other 2/3 leave as whole.

2) Cut the soaked dried fungus into thin strips. Squeeze out the water and leave aside.

3) Combine all the filing ingredients into a bowl. Add in the seasoning and mix thoroughly. Cover bowl with clingwrap and place in the fridge for about 1 to 2 hours.

Wrapping & Cooking:

1) Dry your hands properly before you start wrapping the dumplings.

2) Place dumpling wrapper on your palm, put 1 Tbsp or slightly more of the filling in the center of the wrapper. Do not overstuff the dumpling as the wrapper will break easily.

3) Wet the edge of one half of the wrapper. Then fold into half and seal by pressing firmly (edge to edge).

4) Place the prepared dumplings onto a tray or plate dusted with a bit of plain flour to avoid them from sticking together. (At this stage you can also freeze your dumplings to be used another day. Just ensure that you separate each layer with a plastic wrap to prevent them from sticking together.)

5) Fill a large cooking pot with 2/3 full of water and bring it to a boil. Divide the dumplings into 2 batches and then place each dumpling into the water, one at a time. Stir gently with a wooden spoon to prevent them from sticking together.

6) Bring the water to a boil. Once it starts to bubble, reduce heat to low. Cook without the lid on and do this process until the filing is cooked. Do not cook too long as the wrapper may tear.

7) When the dumpling is cooked, turn off the heat. Place cooked dumplings into a serving bowl. Pour chicken or vegetable stock into the bowl and sprinkle chopped spring onion as garnish.

Assam Fish (Fish in Spicy Tamarind Sauce)

I always look forward to weekends .. tell me who doesn't. These are the two days when I get to chill out and think about what to cook or bake or blog about! I sometimes I find it very hard to decide what recipes to try out as I want to experiment with so many!

I also noticed of late that I have been doing posting up more recipes on cooking rather than baking. Good for my other half as he prefers savoury foods rather than sweets. When I do tend to cook a proper dish I noticed that it is usually chicken. So maybe I should add fish into my repetiore of dishes and they do say that fish is "brain food". Hmm maybe that's the cause of my forgetfulness of late.

This particular recipe is well known and loved in Malaysia. It does not contain coconut milk and therefore keeps better in hot climates. Tamarind or "assam" as called in local Malay language is widely used throughout Asia. The word "assam" means “acid” or in layman's terms "sour". In cooking, it combines well with sugar, chillies and other flavours. Tamarind is also said to have medicinal uses. It cools the system and cleanses the blood. The pulp or paste is rich in vitamins and minerals, and is used in Chinese medicine. The bark is said to treat asthma while the flowers are said to reduce blood pressure. So this particular dish not only has medicinal value, it also stimulates your brain activity (i.e. fish meat). Now what else was I about to say .......



Assam Fish (Fish in Spicy Tamarind Sauce)
Recipe Adapted from "Female Cookbook vol 12"
(Serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 onion, cut into quarters
500g spanish mackeral (tenggiri)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic (grind finely)
20g ginger (grind finely)
15g ketumbar (coriander powder)
10g jintan putih (cumin)
15g chilli powder
10g tumeric powder
1/2kg lady's finders
2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbsp tamarind paste
2 tomatoes, cut into halves
2 green chillies - cut into halves
Salt and sugar to taste

Method:

1) Add tamarind paste to the water and squeeze the paste to extract the juice. Then pour tamarind juice through a sieve and leave aside.

2) Heat oil in wok. Fry onion with mustard seeds, garlic, ginger until fragrant. Then add in coriander powder, jintan putih, chilli powder, tumeric powder. Fry ingredients on low flame until fragrant.

3) Add in lady's fingers, tamarind water, salt, sugar, tomato and chillies. Bring to boil. Add in fish. Cook until fish and vegetables are soft.

4) Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Penang Steamed Otak (Steamed Fish Parcels)

Otak-Otak is a fish cake dish that is common in Malaysia as well as Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Although the dish itself is served in a number of countries in South East Asia, you could probably say that each country has evolved its own unique recipe.

The version I grew up eating is the Penang Steamed Otak. The Penang version which has Nyonya influence, is a steamed fish cake made from a mixture of eggs, fish fillet and a whole lot of herbs including serai (lemon grass), lengkuas (galangal), ginger, chillies, kaffir lime leaves and kaduk leaves. The fish paste is wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. The steaming method produces a dish that is fragrant upon opening the parcel, thoroughly delighting your sense of sight and smell. The fish cake itself is smooth, a custard/souffle like texture with chunks of fish in between. Totally delicious!

The style of wrapping otak-otak is also somewhat unique and immediately recognizable as Malaysian otak. Some would wrap it in a parcel shape and some is done up in a box-like shape. I choose the box-like shape for this particular recipe.



Penang Steamed Otak
Recipe Adapted from "Meals from Asian Kitchens"

Ingredients:

1.5kg fish fillet (eg. red snapper or threadfin)

To grind finely:

4 stalks (white part only) lemon grass (serai)
5cm piece ginger
7cm square piece shrimp paste (belacan)
6cm galangal (lengkuas)
10 fresh red chillies
25 white peppercorns
300g shallots
10 cloves garlic
3 1/2 Tbsp rice flour for thickening
2 coconuts, grated (can substitute with 200ml thick coconut cream)
5 large eggs
3 Tbsp oil
12 fragrant lime leaves (daun limau purut)
1 1/2 to 2 tsp salt
14 - 16 kadok leaves (Piper sarmentosum, pointed pepper leaves)
1 1/2 bundle of banana leaves

Preparation:

1) Cut the fish fillter into 1" slices

2) Squeeze the grated coconut without adding water for first milk.

3) Beat eggs. Shred lime leaves

4) Cut banana leaves into 16 pieces measuring 4" square and 16 pieces of 8" square. Wipe to clean the leaves and pass over a fire to soften them.

5) Fold up 2" of the edges of the larger piece and staple corners to make a box. Put one kadok leaf in the box. Repeat for remaining cut banana leaves.

Method:

1) Put ground ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add oil, first coconut, beaten eggs, shredded lime leaves and salt. Mix well and add the fish fillet.

2) Place a larger piece of banana leaf on a deep plate. Put a smaller piece of banana leaf in the centre of the larger piece.

3) Place 1 ladlefulof mixed ingredients with 3 slices of fish into each box. repeat until all the banana leaf boxes are filled. (Alternatively place 1 ladleful of mixed ingredients with 3 slices of fish on a leaf and fold the two sides over each other. Secure the ends with toothpicks)

4) Steam the packages for 10 - 15 minutes. Serve immediately.