The Flavors Of Malaysia

Malaysia is a food lover's paradise, with our multiracial community, we have exposed to all sorts of delicacies and desserts. Malaysia food is heavily influenced by Thai, Chinese, Indonesia, Indian, Portuguese, Dutch and British cuisines. This influences from the use of the wok to the combinations of spices used in many popular dishes, the result in a symphony of flavors making Malaysian foods highly complex and diverse.

The flavorful food of Malaysia is one of the best part of the country, its literally a melting pot. A complex mix of salty, sweet, sour and spices heat makes Malaysian food a joy to savour on your taste buds.

Some of our Malaysian  popular street foods which we can easily prepare at home with simple ingredients.

"Rojak" is a traditional fruits and vegetables salad commonly found in Malaysia, Singapore  and Indonesia and some part of Asian countries.

 Rojak aka fruits & vegetables salad

You can easily prepare rojak at home as and when you like, you need pineapple, guava, green mango, cucumber, turnip and fried bean curd. Cut  or slice all the fruits and vegetable into bit size.

Stir fry the groundnuts in non stick pan until slightly brown. Cool it and remove the husk.

Blend or pound the groundnuts coarsely.

For the sauce, you need shrimp paste.

It is a gooey paste make out of fermented shrimp heads, shells and salt. This is a common ingredients in Southeast Asian cooking. 

Rojak Sauce
200mls water
100mls tamarind juice
3 tbsp  shrimp paste
1/2 cup sweet black caramel sauce
Sugar to taste
3 tsp corn starch mix with 1 tbsp water, mix well.

1/  Dissolve 1 tbsp of tamarind pulp with 100mls water and sieve.
2/  Mix the water, tamarind juice, shrimp paste, caramel black sauce together and let it boil using medium low heat. Stir constantly, add sugar to taste.
3/  Add the corn starch mixture to thicken and remove from stove.
4/  Cool completely before use.

Blanch the bean sprout in boiling water for 1 min. Drain and keep aside.

Mix 3 to 4 tbsp rojak sauce with 1 tbsp chili sauce of your choice. Add the fruits, vegetables and mix well. Sprinkle generous amount of groundnuts on top and serve immediately.

Squeeze one or two calamansi  for extra kick.

One of the main ingredient in rojak is youtiao aka fried cruller which I did not add in. You can either buy from hawker stalls or frozen youtiao at supermarket. But if you are adventurous to try making your own youtiao, click here for recipe. 

Blanched cockles is another favorite street food in Malaysia.

1/  Wash and scrub the cockles with toothbrush. Give the cockles a good body scrub.
2/  Soak the cockles in water with a tsp of salt for few hours to remove the mud and sand.
3/  Rinse several times and drain.

4/  Bring a pot of water to boil, switch off the stove.
5/  Plunge the cockles into the pot, leave the cockles in the hot water for 1 minute or 1 minute 20 second depend on the cockles size. Do not cover the pot.

The cockles is cooked yet tender. To eat the cockles, spring open the shell, use the fork to dig out the cockles flesh and dipped in chili sauce to enjoy. If there is any sand at the edge of the cockles flesh, just remove it with  a toothpick.

Another meaning for cockles.....What are the Cockles of Your Heart?
One of the meanings of "cockle" is the chamber of a kiln: in reference to the heart, it refers to the chambers, of which there are four (two atria and two ventricles). The heart has always been associated with emotions, especially love, excitement and fear, probably because when we feel a strong emotion we feel our heart thumping and beating faster. So when something "warms the cockles of our heart", it is a reference to something pleasant that makes our heart beat faster and makes us feel good. It is probably also the origin of the saying that something gives us that "warm and fuzzy feeling". BY: John Frith, Paddington

The cockles of the heart are its ventricles, named by some in Latin as "cochleae cordis", from "cochlea" (snail), alluding to their shape. The saying means to warm and gratify one's deepest feelings. BY: Patricia McPhee, Booker Bay. Article source from here.

Sotong Kangkong aka Cuttlefish with water spinach is another popular appetizer in our country.

You need 2 cuttlefish, 1 bunch of water spinach, groundnuts and sweet sauce.

Pluck the water spinach shoot and leaves into bite size, wash and rinse several times. Blanch the water spinach in hot water for 1 minute. Drain dry and keep aside.

Water spinach is a tropical vegetable for its tender shoot and leaves. This water spinach is from our little heaven.

Cut the cuttlefish into 2 -3 inch rectangle pieces. Then using a sharp knife make thin diagonal cuts on one side of the cuttlefish without cutting all the way through. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the cuttlefish for 3 minutes and drain dry. Do not overcook or else it turn rubbery.

Cuttlefish from the wet market.
You need to wash, rinse and soak the cuttlefish for one day before cooking. Rinse and change the water several times, at least 5 to 6 times.

To serve, mix the water spinach with cuttlefish, chili sauce, sweet sauce and generous amount of groundnuts. Mix well and serve immediately. ( For this batch I used ready made sweet sauce )

For homemade sweet sauce
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp shrimp paste
3/4 bowl Water
Sugar to taste
2 tsp cornstarch mix with 1 tbsp water.

1/  Boil the water, hoisin sauce, shrimp paste and sugar.
2/  When boil, add the corn starch mixture and remove from stove.
3/  Drizzle the sauce on cuttlefish with water spinach to enjoy.

Grilled fish with hot chili paste

1/  Clean and gut the fish. Best to use stingray fish.
2/  Cut 2 pieces of banana leaf about 7 x 8 inch size. Wash and dry properly.
3/  Heat up the wok with 1 tbsp of oil, put in the banana leaf. Put the fish on top the banana leaf, scoop 2 tbsp of hot chili paste on top the fish and cover the wok with lid.
4/  Use medium low heat cook for 4 minutes and turn the fish, add another 1 tbsp of hot chili paste cook for 3 minutes.
5/  Remove from stove, squeeze 2 calamansi or lemon juice on top the fish and serve immediately.
Optional:
You can grill this fish in the oven or BBQ pit using aluminium foil.

Grilled Squid with long beans and four angle beans.

500gm fresh squid
4 pieces of angle beans - slice thinly
4 length of long beans -  cut into 1 inch length

Hot chili paste for fish or squid.
3 tbsp dried chili paste**
2 bird eyes chili
3 cloves garlic - chopped
3 shallots - slice thinly
2 stalk lemon grass- use the bottom section, cut into small pieces
1/2 inch galangah
1 tbsp tamarind pulp mix with 1/2 bowl water
1 tsp salt or to taste
3 tsp sugar or to taste
2 tbsp oil
1 large onion

**Dried Chili Paste**
Cut 1 bowl of dried chili into 1/2 inch length. Soak in hot water until soft, approximate about 30 minutes. Remove the seed and drain. Blend the soak dried chili with a bit of water into fine paste, add 1 to 2 tsp of salt and cook for 5 minutes. Cool completely and store in jar. You can freeze the chili paste for other cooking.

1/  Blend or pound the bird eyes chili, garlic, shallots, lemon grass, galangah into fine paste. Add in the chili paste and mix well.
2/  Mix the tamarind pulp with 1/2 bowl hot water.  Smash the pulp and remove the seeds. Strain the tamarind with a sieve. Keep aside.
3/  Heat up 1/2 tbsp of oil, saute the onion for 2 minutes. Keep the onion aside.
4/  Add the balance oil add in the grind paste and stir fry for 10 minutes. Add tamarind juice, salt and sugar to taste. Continue cooking using low heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. The oil must be separate from the chili paste. Add in the saute onion and mix well.

Hot Chili paste for BBQ fish or cuttlefish.

1/ Wash and cut the squid to 1/4 inch ring. Toss the squid in wok without oil to remove the water and fishy smell.

1/  Remove the squid from wok and drain off the squid water.
2/  Wash and dry the banana leaf. Cut the banana leaf to about 7 x 8 inch size
3/  Heat up the wok with 1 tbsp of oil. Put banana leaf into the wok and pour the squid on top the banana leaf. Add in the four angle beans, long beans and 3 to 4 tbsp of hot chili paste.
4/  Mix well and cover the wok with lid for 5 minutes.
5/  Open the wok lid, add salt and sugar to taste, mix well and remove from stove.
6/  Best to serve immediately.

Optional:
You can grill the squid using oven or BBQ pit using aluminum foil.

This grilled squid is great to go with white rice. Squeeze one or two calamansi juice for extra kick.

Until next time, I will share the part two of "The Flavors Of Malaysia."
Amelia

Laughter is brightest, where food is best.

Egg Foo Yong is a popular omelet dish during the 50's and 60's, it was on almost every Chinese America menu. The name comes from Cantonese language, it's a mainland Chinese recipe from Shanghai closely related to egg foo yong slice.

This omelet dish is actually very versatile and a quickie dish when you run of out idea what to cook. You can change the ingredients depending on what you have in the fridge. You can use chicken, turkey, pork, capsicum, coriander, long beans, french beans, tofu, mushroom, ham or any left over vegetables.

Egg Foo Yong ( serve 2 person )

Ingredients:-
2 large eggs
1 stick celery
1 stalk spring onion
1 handful bean sprout
3 to 4 water chestnuts - peel the skin and cut into small cube.
1/4 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
Dash of sesame oil

10 medium size prawns
1 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp Chinese wine
2 tsp light soya sauce

1/ Peel the prawn shell, wash and pat dry. Split the prawns lengthwise.
2/ Season with pepper, sugar, Chinese wine and light soya sauce.
3/ Heat up 1 tbsp of oil, stir fry the chopped garlic until golden brown.
4/ Add the prawn and stir fry for 3 to 4 mins. Keep aside.

1/  Cut the celery and half of the spring onion into chunk. The other half spring onion cut 1 inch lengthwise ( reserve for the gravy). Remove the bean sprout tail, wash and drain dry. Reserve a little bit of celery, bean sprout to cook the egg foo yong gravy.

2/ Beat one egg lightly with dash of pepper, pinch of salt and dash of sesame oil. Heat up the small wok with 1/2 tbsp oil, pour 3/4 of the beaten egg into wok. Reduce the heat to medium.

3/ Sprinkle some celery and spring onion. Add 3 to 4 prawns and some bean sprout. Pour the remaining 1/4 beaten egg on top the vegetable. Cook till the egg puff up and golden brown then flip the omelet and cook the other side till golden brown. You can add more ingredients if you like. I omit the water chestnut cos no fresh chestnut in the market.

The egg foo yong is a delicious dish and sure can get your family out of the egg doldrums.

It's a healthy and perfect omelet for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Serve egg foo yong with gravy, its a great way to mix things up when egg boredom set in.

Or you can serve egg foo yong with my favorite killer dipping sauce for extra kick.

Addictive killer Dipping Sauce (Credit to my crazy buddy )
A handful of bird eye chili
5 shallots - slice thinly
5 cloves garlic - slice thinly

1/ Heat up oil, deep fry the garlic and shallot separately until golden brown. Dish out and keep aside.
2/ Deep fry the bird eyes chili, make sure you cover the wok immediately to prevent oil and chili "explode" all over your kitchen. Fry the bird eyes chili until "explosion sound" stop, about 5 to 8 mins. Drain the chili and keep aside.
3/ Remove some of the oil from the wok. I use about 1 tbsp oil, add 2 tbsp dark caramel sauce, 3 to 4 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp light soya sauce, 1/4 cup vinegar, bring to boil. Adjust the sweet and sour taste to your liking. Cool completely.

4/ Mix the sauce to the chili, garlic and shallot and store in sterilize glass bottle with cap. For best result marinate for 1 to 2 days and enjoy this addictive dipping sauce with any dishes.
5/ Do not chill this dipping sauce in the fridge.

For the egg foo yong gravy.......
1/ Heat up 2 tsp of oil, stir fry 1 tsp of chopped garlic.
2/ Add the cooked prawn, celery, spring onion, bean sprout. Give a quick stir, add 1/4 bowl water.
3/ Add salt, oyster sauce, pepper, dash of sesame oil, Chinese cooking wine to taste.
4/ Thicken the gravy with corn starch mixture. (Mix 1/2 tsp corn starch with little bit of water.)

For a change you can also make egg foo yong sandwich. Add dill pickles, salad, slice tomato, chili sauce and enjoy!!

Today's Dessert Pineapple Coconut Tart.

This recipe make about 12 to 15 tart shells.

1/  Sieve the flour, custard powder, icing sugar and milk powder. Cut the butter into small cubes.

2/ Rub the butter with flour using your finger tips to resemble breadcrumbs. Add 1/2 an egg and mix well.

3/ Knead lightly to form a dough. Do not over knead or else the pastry will shrink and taste rubbery.

Aluminium tart mould, you can use it for any mini tart or cupcakes. For cupcake you need to put cupcake liner.

4/  Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut with a 2.5inch round ring cutter.  Gently press the pastry on the aluminum pastry cup, trim off the excess. Use a fork to prick several holes, do not prick thru the pastry.
Below is my round ring cutter.

Bake the pastry casing in pre heat oven at 180 deg c for 10 mins.

1/ Melt the butter, add sugar and stir till sugar melt. Remove from stove. Add the beaten egg and flour, mix till flour is well blend.
2/ Add chop pineapple, coconut and vanilla extract in rum. Mix well.
Note: If you like, you can add extra pineapple.

3/ Scoop the pineapple coconut filling till 3/4 full and bake the tarts at 180 deg c for 20 to 25 mins until the filling set. If you like you can bake it a little longer 30 mins.  Cool slightly and remove the tarts from the aluminum pastry cup.

4/ Toast 2 tbsp of fresh grated coconut in a non stick wok for several minutes. ( optional )

5/ Sprinkle some toasted coconut on top the tarts and enjoy with iced coffee. The toasted coconut add extra flavor to the tart.

This oh la la pineapple coconut tart is another killer dessert. Eat 2 pieces might not split your waistline but no guarantee for 4 pieces.

Bite one mouthful and chew the luscious tart slowly to enjoy aromatic taste.

What's not to love in this amazing pineapple and coconut combo.

A great dessert to please everyone's palate.

Another day, another blessing.