Archive for Malaysian food

My Best Ever, Delicious Beef & Chicken Rendang Recipe For Hari Raya 2009

September 23, 2009 · Filed under Malaysian food · Tagged , , , , , ,

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Chicken Rendang

(Click on picture for a more yummy view)

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Beef Rendang

(Click on picture for a more yummy view)

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Hi there, dear friends :D

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Happy Id to all my Muslim friends from around the world! :D

This is the third year that I had cooked a traditional Malay feast for Hari Raya. The first time, I made Rendang with Beef but for the second year, we had Chicken Rendang instead. This year, I couldn’t decide on which meat and so I had cooked both Chicken and Beef Rendang instead! :lol:

Am I glad I did! Because the new recipe that I had followed this year turned out to be so delicious that all my rendang was finished in just 3 meals! We had it for lunch, dinner and for dinner the next day with Nasi Lemak.  When my husband first tasted this year’s Hari Raya feast, he was in absolute heaven and he said, “If I were to die right now, I will die a very happy man!”…and he continue to stuff himself with more Ketupat, Kuah Kacang and Rendang! :lol: :roll:

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Ketupat (Rice in Coconut Casings) and Kuah Kacang (Satay or Peanut Sauce)

(Click on picture for a more yummy view)

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Somehow, this year, my Hari Raya cooking was perfect (IMHO) as even the Ketupat was of the right texture. The Ketupat was the main star of the meal as the coconut casings are NOT available throughout the year but only for the Hari Raya festival and the other Muslim festival in November/December…I forgot the name of that festival. :oops:

READ HERE for my Kuah Kacang Recipe, and for instructions on how to cook the Ketupat, READ HERE.

For 2009, I cooked 1 1/2 kg of Beef Brisket and 1 large whole chicken (separately). Because I was also making Kuah Kacang, I made 3 portions of the ingredients for the Rendang recipe. This helps to cut down some of the cooking time and in one go, I had already cooked the Rendang/Kuah Kacang paste together. :idea:

The Beef Rendang was simmered over 3 hours, with frequent stirring to prevent burning at the bottom of the wok, whilst the Chicken Rendang was slow cooked over 1 1/2 hours (chicken take a shorter time to get soft).

Although the recipe may seem like tedious, cooking rendangs is like that but its heavenly taste will more than make up the time and effort that you have put into cooking this. Best is when you see your family or friends tucking happily into your rendangs and you will be very proud of your achievement! :wink:

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Here is the recipe for the Delicious & Fragrant Beef Rendang (for more meat, just increase the amount of ingredients accordingly) -

250 grated coconut, to make kerisik or toasted coconut (READ HERE for Kerisik recipe. You can make this in advance and refrigerate)

1 1/2  kg Beef Brisket, washed, cut into cubes  ( can use Beef Chuck also)

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(A) Ingredients to be dry roasted in a wok/pan over a small fire for about 5 minutes, cooled down, and then pounded or grinded :-

35 gm whole black peppercorns

35 gm coriander seeds

35 gm fennel seeds

35 gm cumin seeds

(the dry roasting makes these spices very aromatic)

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(B) Ingredients to be blended with a cup of water to make a spice paste :-

100 gm galangal

60 gm ginger, skin removed

60 gm fresh turmeric root, skin removed

1 whole bulb garlic, skin removed

60 gm dried red chili (soaked in hot water until soft. Can be replaced with 1 cup good Chili Boh)

300 gm shallots, skin removed

3 to 4 stalks serai or lemon grass (use bottom white part only)

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Other ingredients to be prepared and set aside :-

2 cinnamon sticks (about6 cm long each)

20 cloves

6 star anise

1 cup or 250 ml oil for frying rendang paste

Thick Santan or Milk from 3 coconuts, or 3 cans or 3  180ml packets

2 cups or 500 ml of water to be added to coconut milk

3 turmeric leaves, cut into 2 cm lengths

1 piece kaffir lime leaf, cut into 1 inch width

Salt & Sugar to taste (for me, I had put about 3 tbsps of sugar and 2 tbsp of salt, but it is better that you estimate your own amounts)

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Cooking Instructions :-

1) Heat up wok with oil and add in cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise. Fry for 1 minute.

2) Add in the blended ingredients/spice paste (B)  and fry until they are dry and aromatic… and the oil separates. Keep stirring frequently.

3) Add in the powdered spices (A) and mix thoroughly into spice paste.

4) Add in the beef cubes. Fry for about 5  minutes.

5) Add in the coconut milk and water.

6) Bring to a boil…..then lower heat to small and simmer for about 2 to 3 hours, depending on the cut of beef that you are using.

7) Add in the turmeric and kaffir lime leaves, and the kerisik and stir thoroughly….bring up the heat again to boil the rendang again, then lower heat to simmer until the oil separates at the top, from the kerisik.

8) Add salt and sugar to taste.

Tips

- if your rendang mixture gets too dry but your meat is still tough,  add in half cups of water at a time.

- if you don’t want your rendang to be too dry, you can add more water to it and simmer for at least another 20 minutes

- to make your rendang lasts longer over a few days, refrigerate immediately when cool and only take out enough portions for a meal

- you can also freeze some rendang for eating later. Just bring to a boil again over a small heat.

- my family all agree that the Beef Rendang tasted much better than the Chicken Rendang.


Hope you will give this recipe a try and do let me know how your rendang turns out, okay?

Happy Cooking!

With best wishes,

choesf :D


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Steamboat Lunch For A Lazy, Rainy Day

March 9, 2009 · Filed under Malaysian food, Whole Lunch or Dinner Menus · Tagged , , ,

Hi there, dear friends :D

Yesterday, I was feeling kind of lazy and was not up to cooking at all :oops: , and yet, I wanted to do something special for my family. Seeing as it has been raining and the days are quite cool these days, I decided to do a “Steamboat Lunch” instead.

A “steamboat” is like a hot pot or Chinese fondue, where there is a pot of hot simmering soup placed at the centre of the table, and a wide array of meats and vegetables are available for selection and cooked by the individual diners.

Ah, how wonderful for me – the cooking is left to my family, who enjoy tremendously our steamboat meals. All I needed to do was just make a simple chicken stock out of chicken necks and bones and prepare the meats and vegetables before the meal. Then, I just sat back and let my husband and children did all the cooking for me! Easy! :wink:

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A Steamboat with the soup simmering at the centre of my dining table, with meats to be cooked – from right:- fish balls, squid or sotong balls, Fu Zhou fishballs (stuffed with pork), crabsticks, tofu-fish squares. All these were purchased from the wet markets.

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On the other side – oyster mushrooms in a bowl, golden needle mushrooms or Enoki, marinated pork and chicken slices, shelled prawns

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Some soaked rice vermicelli, raw eggs, lettuce leaves…I also have on the other side some assortment of vegetables like sliced Napa Cabbage, kangkong…usually, the eggs and the noodles are to be eaten towards the end of the meal when the soup stock is really rich and tasty from cooking all those meats :D

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Each person has his/her own dipping sauce consisting of “teem cheong” or a kind of sweet sauce (hoisin sauce can be used in place of this), some finely chopped garlic and bird-eye chili (cili padi), with a squeeze of lime juice

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We had this for lunch and I made double portions of the meats and vegetables – one half was eaten for lunch, and the other half was kept in the refrigerator for dinner. Dinner was a Thai spicy and sour soup noodle (Tomyam noodle). Yummy! :D

Do have a wonderful week!

With peace and harmony,

choesf :D


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My Deepavali & Hari Raya Haji Festival Food

December 29, 2008 · Filed under Festival Food, Malaysian food, Western Food, Whole Lunch or Dinner Menus · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, dear friends :D

I have been feeling under the weather these few days and although I want to write here, my lethargy and “uncooperative brain” is not allowing me to do much. So, seeing as I have some photos taken earlier for you, I’ll just post them all here and add on the recipes later.

On the day of Deepavali (the Hindu Festival of Lights) in October, I cooked a full Indian meal for the first time and my hubby was very impressed. He loves Indian curries but somehow, I thought they were difficult to cook. But then, since I love to celebrate the various culture’s festivals with some unique feasts, I decided to take out my dusty “Malaysian Cookbook” and look up some Indian recipes.

I had also cooked some Rasam (sour soup) and made some cucumber achar, but I forgot to take pictures of them.

Here are pictures of my Deepavali feast -

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A creamy, delicious Mutton Curry with carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, coriander leaves, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, cardamon, fennel and cumin

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Ayam Kurma, which is a very mild (almost non-spicy) Indian Chicken Curry

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deepavali-dinner-003-smallNasi Briyani – good quality Basmati Rice cooked with ghee (clarified butter), spices, mint leaves and garnished with crispy, golden fried shallots. Here, some Ayam Kurma gravy has already been poured onto the rice ..

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Then, for the Muslim festival called “Hari Raya Aidil Adha”, I cooked some Dried Chicken Curry (Chicken Rendang, Rendang Ayam), Peanut Sauce (Kuah Kacang) and made some Ketupat (Compressed Rice in Coconut Leaf Casings). I finally perfected my Ketupat recipe this time because the other two times, the ketupats were either too sticky or hard.

Here are the pictures for my Hari Raya Haji feast -

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Fresh, woven coconut leaf casings for making Ketupat – filled up to 55 % with long grain rice (I used good quality Kedah, a state in the northern region of Malaysia) grown rice, and boiled over low heat in salted water for 4 hours

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Cooked Ketupat, ready to be cut into cubes and eaten with Kuah Kacang, Chicken Rendang, some sliced cucumber and raw onion

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Kuah Kacang or Peanut Sauce to go with Ketupat or Satay

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chicken-rendang-smallMalay Dry Chicken Curry or Chicken Rendang

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For my Christmas Roast Turkey Dinner, I had cooked a 15-pound turkey, with mashed potatoes, broccolli, green peas, baby carrots, and a fresh button mushroom stirfry. However, I couldn’t show you their photos because they looked rather dodgy…… :oops: , anyway, I had photos of last year’s Christmas Eve Roast Turkey Dinner here. :wink:

I wish you a Happy New Year! :D

With peace and joy,

choesf :D


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A Pictorial Recipe – Simple Delicious Onion Cinnamon Chicken Stew

November 27, 2008 · Filed under Chinese Food, Malaysian food · Tagged , , , ,

Good morning, dear friends :D

Ah, this is my husband’s favourite comfort food from his childhood – every time I cook this, he will rush home immediately from work for dinner and have one big serving of freshly, cooked rice to go with it. Just this one dish is enough for him and he doesn’t even go for the other dishes that I had cooked. :roll: :lol:

For a slow-cooker version of this recipe, visit my dear blogger friend, sweetrosie’s, site HERE .

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Freshly cooked, hot, steamy Onion Cinnamon Chicken Stew – yummy! :D

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Now, this dish is extremely easy to cook – it is the simplest of all my recipes – there are just a few ingredients required, but the chicken stew is so full of flavour and tender. Best is, there is only one pot to wash if you are cooking it in a Corningware casserole like I did. Usually on those days when I really don’t feel like spending a long time cooking in the kitchen, I would cook a large batch of this chicken stew and have a simple vegetable stirfry on the side, and of course, a bowl of nourishing soup. Fortunately, all my kids go crazy over this dish, too. :lol:

This recipe is dedicated to Nic and her 2-year old son and I hope this yummy stew will whet her son’s appetite! :wink:


Here is a pictorial recipe to make it easier for you to cook this dish.

Simple Delicious Onion Cinnamon Chicken Stew

Ingredients and Method -

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3 large, whole chicken legs (they are more tender, but you can use 1/2 a large chicken also) -

chopped into bite sizes….marinate with 2 tbsps of oyster sauce, 2 tbsps of soy sauce, 1 to 2 tbsps of black soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, a few shakes of white pepper

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1 large cinnamon stick (smashed into smaller pieces), 4 large potatoes (cut into wedges or chunks), 5 large onions (peeled and sliced). The more onions, the better! :wink:

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I like to use a Corningware casserole to cook this dish so, there is one thing less to wash.

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Heat up about 2 tbsps of vegetable or olive oil. Pour in the chicken together with the marinate and ctir for about 3 minutes. This step is to seal in the chicken juices to make the chicken tender. There will be some browning at the edges of the casserole and you have to be careful to scrape the sides down to prevent burning.

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Tip in the plate of potatoes, onions and cinnamon stick. Add in 1 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp oyster sauce and mix all the ingredients thoroughly, about 3 minutes.

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Add in about 2 cups of water – until the water level reached half the chicken and potatoes….stir to mix thoroughly and bring to a boil.

Lower heat to low and simmer chicken stew for about 40 minutes….be sure to stir every few minutes for even cooking as the water does not cover everything.

At the end of the cooking time, check the gravy to see if it is thick enough. If not, then use a cornstarch-water mixture to thicken it further.

Check the taste of the stew and adjust with more salt or soy sauce to your preference.

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Voila! Your simple yummy onion cinnamon chicken stew is ready. If your family can hang on a bit longer before you serve this (because the smell of this stew is so aromatic and appetising while you are cooking it), let the stew stand for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, so that the flavours are all totally infused.

I hope your family will love this chicken stew as mine does! :D

Bon Appetit! :D

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A Pictorial Recipe – Yummy Yam Rice Kuih aka Woo Tau Koh

November 3, 2008 · Filed under Chinese Food, Malaysian food, Uncategorized · Tagged , , , ,

Two pieces of yummy Woo Tau Koh with some sweet sauce/teem cheong and chili on the side

Good afternoon, dear friends :D

My hubby loves Yam Kuih or Woo Tau Koh in the Cantonese dialect, but thus far, my recipe for Yam Kuih was only mediocre. :oops: The last time I made some Woo Tau Koh for my family was on the Winter Solstice Festival or Tung Jit on 22 December, 2006. Yes, that sure was a long time ago! :roll:

A few years back, we had the best tasting and ”melt in the mouth” Yam Kuih at a cousin’s house during Chinese New Year but she didn’t have the recipe. The kuih was given by someone from Penang. All she knew was that Yam Kuih had pork belly in it and that was why it tasted soooo good. Ever since, that particular taste of Woo Tau Koh has been “haunting” me and my hubby.

Last week, I had bought a recipe book specializing in traditional Malaysian desserts and kuih muih and I was so happy to find in there a Yam Rice Kuih recipe that has pork belly as an ingredient as the other recipes I had came across never did. So, I quickly bought all the necessary ingredients to test out this recipe on Saturday ……. and ……..

I am very happy that the Woo Tau Koh turned out sooo delicious! :D

My family said it was the best they ever had - we enjoyed it so much that we had Yam Kuih for lunch and tea on the same day, and more on the next day for breakfast!  :lol:

So, here is my recipe which was slightly modified from the one in the book and you know me by now – I always cook a lot for my family and the recipe here makes one huge tray of Woo Tau Koh, measuring 18 inches in diameter and 2 1/2 inches high. You may like to cut down the ingredients by half for your family. :wink:

Yam Kuih or Woo Tau Koh

Ingredients & Method -

Dried Shrimps, Rice Flour, Corn Flour, Yam

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800 gm pork belly or streaky pork – cleaned. Steam for 10 minutes over high heat. Then chop coarsely. Marinate with 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsps soy sauce, 1 tsp white pepper.

160 gm dried shrimps, rinsed clean and then soaked in half cup of water for 10 minutes. Remove shrimps from water and chop coarsely. Reserve liquid for flour mixture later.

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1 kg yam, peeled and diced

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2 rice bowls of homemade fried golden shallots – 1 bowl for mixing into the rice flour mixture, 1 bowl for garnishing the top of the kuih

(Reserve 10 tbsps of the fried shallot oil for cooking yam, shrimps and pork)

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To make this rice flour mixture, you need to mix the following in a bowl -

600 gm rice flour

100 gm corn flour

100 gm all purpose flour

10 cups water

Liquid left from soaking dried shrimps

2 ikan bilis or chicken stock cubes (or 4 tbsps of stock granules)

1 tbsp white pepper

1 tsp 5-spice powder (optional)

4 tbsp salt (or to taste

Method -

1) In a wok, heat up the 10 tbsps of shallot oil.

2) Put in the chopped pork and dried shrimps. Fry for about 2 minutes.

3) Tip in the diced yam and fried golden shallots, and stirfry everything until aromatic….about 5 minutes.

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5) Pour the rice flour mixture into the wok now. Stir thoroughly to mix the flours and water

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6) Keep stirring until the mixture gets thickened like in the picture above. Pour into a pre-oiled (using more fried shallot oil) metal tray.

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7) Smoothen the surface of the kuih and steam for 1 hour over high heat.

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8 ) Let cool, and then garnish with fried golden shallots, chopped green onions and red chili. Serve Yam Kuih with some sweet sauce (teem cheong) or hoisin sauce and chili sauce.

Because my tray of Woo Tau Koh was so huge, it took a long time for it to cool down completely (more than 45 minutes). My hubby was too hungry to wait and we had it while it was still warm, which was a mistake – the kuih was still too soft for cutting and was a bit gooey. So, the trick is to let the Yam Kuih cool down completely and let stand for at least an hour more to get the best texture. :idea:

I hope this recipe works for you, too, and do let me know how your Woo Tau Koh turns out for this recipe. :wink:

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!

choesf  :D

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How To Make Kerisik (Toasted Cocunut) For Rendangs (Dry Curries)

October 21, 2008 · Filed under How To's & Guides, Malaysian food · Tagged , , , ,

Good afternoon, dear friends :D

As I am typing this, it is raining dogs and cats here in Kuala Lumpur, a wonderful, cool change from the really hot and humid weather that we usually experience. Phew! :roll:

Here is the procedure on how to make toasted coconut or “kerisik” as it is known in the Malay language. Kerisik is a must-have in cooking traditional Malay Beef or Chicken Rendangs (dry curries) because it adds on a really fragrant and smoky taste to the curry, making it distinctive from all the other curries. Try cooking a rendang for yourself and enjoy its yummy taste! :D

 

You will need 2 cups of shredded, fresh coconut. Choose the type of coconuts that are used to squeeze santan or coconut milk because they are older and contain more aromatic, coconut oil. The shredded coconut that looks very white and are used for coating kuih or desserts are obtained from  young coconuts.

(You can use canned dessicated coconut if fresh ones are not available in your area, but the cooking time will be shortened for this)

Toast the shredded coconut in a dry (no oil required), non-stick pan over medium heat, stirring frequently until the coconut is golden brown……

 

Pound the toasted coconut in a pestle or mortar to release the fragrance and oils. You can also blend it in a spice mill.

There you have it – homemade kerisik, to be used for cooking rendangs ===> :D

 

Readymade kerisik is available for sale at the stalls selling coconut milk and shredded coconut, but I prefer to make my own as it is fresher and more hygienic. Personally, I normally make a double batch of kerisik each time and freeze half of it for use later. :idea:

Happy Cooking!

choesf :D

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A Pictorial Recipe – Easy Homemade Malay Beef Rendang Recipe (Dry Beef Curry)

October 18, 2008 · Filed under Malaysian food · Tagged , , , , , , ,

My Hari Raya Dinner consisting of a bowl of Kuah Kacang (Satay or Peanut Sauce), some Beef Rendang, Ketupat, and Chicken Satay :D

Good afternoon, dear friends :D

Here is a pictorial recipe for the Beef Rendang that I had cooked for my family’s Hari Raya 2008 feasting – I am hoping that the pictures below will be able to guide you slowly and make it easier for you to cook your very own homemade, delicious rendang for your loved ones to taste. :wink:

We can also use this recipe for cooking Chicken Rendang, which is what I planned to do this coming Hari Raya Haji festival in December. Heheh, in case you are wondering, I am not a Muslim but with this coming festival, there will be ketupat casings on sale at the markets as the Muslims would be cooking their Ketupat & Beef Rendang and I will be able to improve on my ketupat recipe. :lol:

This recipe is an adaptation from Makcik Sham’s Beef Rendang recipe which I had posted last year HERE .

Ingredients & Method-

1) 2 kg topside beef – cut into 1-inch cubes and marinated with 2 tbsps salt (optional -add a tbsp of papain tenderiser to cut down cooking time). Set this aside and go to the next step.

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2) Blend with 1 cup water the ingredients in Pictures 1 & 2 below -

5 stalks Lemon Grass (use the bottom 1-inch), 20 fresh red chilis (add soaked dried chilis for more spicyness), 1 whole bulb garlic (skin removed, here I used smoked garlic), 1 large knob (about 1-1/2 inches) of fresh ginger, 1 large knob of galangal or lengkuas, 3-inch knob of fresh kunyit or turmeric…and 25 to 30 peeled shallots…..(below)..

3) Other ingredients to get ready (not blended) …

…another 4 stalks of Lemon Grass, smashed at the roots to release aromatic oils

…1 to 1-1/2 cups of KERISIK or toasted and pounded shredded or dessicated coconut. This imparts a very aromatic, smoked fragrance which is a very typical feature of Malay rendangs/dry curries :idea:

1 Turmeric Leaf or Daun Kunyit, cleaned and cut into 2-inch strips

2 tbsps each of Cumin and Fennel Powder (can use Coriander Powder, also) – Serbuk Jintan Putih, Jintan Manis & Ketumbar

Thick Coconut Milk from 2 coconuts, or 500ml of coconut milk of the packaged or canned types

1 cup water

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 cup cooking oil (not olive oil)

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4) Start cooking by pouring in the blended ingredients into a wok over high heat. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until most of the liquid has dried up.

5) Add in the cup of cooking oil – you will now be frying the blended ingredients to make it more aromatic – this takes about 10 minutes.

6) Add in the smashed Lemon Grass, Cumin & Fennel Powders, Turmeric Leaf strips, coconut nut milk and water and bring ingredients to a boil.

7) Add in the beef cubes. Once the curry has come to a boil, reduce heat to medium to stew the beef.

8 ) The beef curry will slowly dry up as the cooking process go…remember to stir often to prevent burning at the bottom (at the beginning the rendang will look like the picture below) -

9) After 20 minutes of simmering, add in the KERISIK as in above…and continue to simmer and stir the rendang….

…as you can see from the picture above, the curry liquid is drying up somewhat (sorry for the yellow tinge to the picture, I had used a flash when I shouldn’t have)

….the rendang is getting more dry….continue to cook and stir your rendang…

…and more dry…it is almost done…

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10) Add in the salt and pepper now. We don’t want to add the salt earlier because that will cause the meat to be dry. Season to taste and please note that the taste should be more salty than normal because the beef rendang is going with some plain white rice, or ketupat, or bread. :wink:

11) Some of you may prefer to have more gravy in your rendang and not have it so dry like the picture below, and therefore, you can stop the cooking now and dish out rendang.

Voila! You have cooked your very own homemade Beef Rendang!

The rendang tastes better over time…try tasting some now and then some on the next day to see for yourself. Keep the rendang refrigerated and warm up enough for serving at meals. Rendangs can keep well up to a week refrigerated.

I have seen beef rendang for sale and it is so expensive – good beef rendang costs about US$3 for 1 cup (about 200 gms, I think) but the cost of ingredients here  is about US$18 here in KL but it could serve my family of 6 over 3 days and we had the rendang at every meal! :lol:

Hope you do give this recipe a try and I look forward to your comments on how your rendangs turn out! :D

Bon Appetit!

choesf :D

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How To Cook Ketupat (Malay Style Rice In Coconut Leaf Casings)

October 12, 2008 · Filed under Malaysian food, Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

Good morning, dear friends :D

I remember when I was young, ketupat (rice cooked in coconut leaf casings) was usually served with satay at the satay stalls,  but these days, we can hardly find ketupat anymore and only nasi impit (compressed rice) is served in place of ketupat here in Kuala Lumpur. I missed the taste of ketupat so much that last year, I decided to join in the Hari Raya festivities and cooked a traditional Hari Raya feast with all the trimmings like ketupat, kuah kacang and beef rendang. :D

However, last year’s ketupat didn’t turn out well because I had erroneously used fragrant rice (beras wangi) instead of normal rice and I ended up with very sticky ketupats. This year, I got the right type of rice but I think I filled up the ketupat casings with too much rice and next year, I should get it right…hopefully.. :roll: :lol:

Empty ketupat casings – when selecting ketupats, choose those that are as green as possible without the brown edges

1) Wash empty ketupats casings and set aside to drain.

2) For 30 small ketupat casings, I used about 1-1/2 kilos of plain local rice (I used Kedah Beras Tempatan)

3) Wash rice and then set aside to dry. It is easier to fill up ketupats when rice is dry, or the rice will stick to your fingers.

4) Make the ketupat opening larger at the end where the longer leaves are and fill up to 45% full of the casings with rice.

5) Seal that opening by tightening the leaves with a pulling motion. Knot them twice.

6) At the opposite end of the ketupat casings where there are two short parts of the coconut leaves jutting out, tuck the loose ends into the ketupat to seal the hole.

7) Bring a large pot of water (add 3 tbsps of salt) with ketupats to a boil. Lower heat to small and simmer the filled ketupats for 5 hours, ensuring that they are covered with water at all times, i.e. refill water when the water level goes down. This makes the ketupat rice last longer and not go bad easily in a few days.

Cooked Ketupats

My Hari Raya 2008 Lunch

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My Hari Raya 2009 Ketupat & Kuah Kacang

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To serve, halve ketupat lengthwise and then cut into 9 sections to make rice cubes. Serve with Kuah Kacang, Beef Rendang and cucumber slices. Yummy! :D

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My Family’s Hari Raya Feasting

October 5, 2008 · Filed under Festival Food, Malaysian food, Whole Lunch or Dinner Menus · Tagged , , , ,

Good morning, dear friends :D

…and a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to my Muslim friends here, too! :D

My family also enjoyed the Hari Raya festive spirit in a muhibbah way and I cooked up a storm with some yummy traditional Malay dishes. On the eve of Hari Raya, I had spent the whole day in the kitchen, cooking 40 Ketupat (rice in casings weaved from coconut leaves), 2 kilos of Beef Rendang (Dry Beef Curry) and a pot of Kuah Kacang (Peanut or Satay Sauce)…. they were to be had on the first day of Hari Raya but ……my hubby and children were already drooling over these Malay delicacies that in the end, because they couldn’t wait, we had them for dinner instead…on the eve of Hari Raya! :roll: :lol:

My Hari Raya Eve’s dinner – a bowl of Kuah Kacang, some sliced cucumbers, Beef Rendang, and some cut-up Ketupat :D

A large bowl of cooked Ketupat ( RECIPE HERE)

Beef Rendang (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE)

For our Hari Raya Brunch, I cooked a simple Nasi Lemak with Malaysian Fried Chicken, simple Potato & Cabbage curry (sort of like a Sayur Masak Lodeh) and Sambal and the Beef Rendang from the day before also complemented the Nasi Lemak.

My hubby’s plate of Hari Raya Brunch – Nasi Lemak (Fragrant Coconut Rice) with sliced cucumbers/tomatoes, Sambal, Beef Rendang, Malaysian Fried Chicken, Fried Ikan Bilis, Potato & Cabbage Curry :D

Malaysian Style Crispy Fried Chicken

Potato & Cabbage Curry (similar to Sayur Masak Lodeh)

Spicy Sambal/Chili

Continuing on with our Hari Raya celebratory mood, I decided on the spur of the moment to cook some Chicken Satay for dinner, something I hadn’t done in 20 years because we always had satay bought from the Malay stalls…..but riding on the tide of Malay food, I thought having homemade satay was a fantastic idea. The only problem was my satay was grilled in the oven, instead of over some hot charcoals (which would have made the satay more authentic and flavourful) …. but luckily, my hubby and children loved the taste of my satay very much and I was much relieved! Phew! :lol:

Chicken Satay (recipe at the bottom of page)

….and my family’s Hari Raya feasting came a full circle..for the Chicken Satay complemented the Ketupat and Kuah Kacang perfectly! Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri 2008! :D

My dinner plate of homemade Kuah Kacang, Beef Rendang, Ketupat and Chicken Satay :D

I will be posting the recipes and more pictures for each of the Malay food here and put their links here as well for easy finding! :wink:

Added on 29 June, 2009 - Easy Chicken Satay Recipe

500 gm of chicken breasts – cleaned and cut into cubes

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp or more sugar (usually satay is a little sweet)

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tbsp fennel powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

3 shallots and 2 cloves garlic, pounded

5 tbsps of thick coconut milk

Method :- Mix chicken with the rest of the ingredients. Set aside for an hour to marinate (overnight is better). Skewer with bamboo sticks. Brush a little oil before grilling in the oven. The satay  tastes best if grilled over some charcoals. You can adjust the amount of the spices in the marinade to suit your tastes. :wink:

Note – soak the bamboo skewers in water for a few hours. This prevents them from burning. :idea:

Bon Appetit! :D

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Yummy Spicy Noodle Soup – Laksa Lemak

September 15, 2008 · Filed under Malaysian food, Whole Lunch or Dinner Menus · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Delicious Laksa Lemak with garnishings (clockwise from top) of bean sprouts, slices of fish cakes, fried beancurd puffs (taufoo pok), steamed chicken slices, prawns/shrimps, fish balls and a condiment of prawn sambal with a squeeze of calamansi lime. In the centre, there is a sprinkle of shredded assam leaves and some mint leaves :D


Happy Mid-Autumn Festival (Mooncake Festival) today, dear friends :D

As promised a couple of weeks ago when I showed a picture of Laksa Lemak in my Nasi Lemak post, here is the recipe for my version of Laksa Lemak. I have not really cooked a Curry Laksa or Laksa Lemak before and I was inspired to cook this because I was craving for some Laksa after having watch the Asian Food Channel which featured Singapore’s Famous Katong Laksa. :roll:

After going through some Laksa recipes available on the Internet, I came up with the following recipe. Please note that this is a guideline only and the ingredients can be adjusted to suit your preferred taste, okay? :wink:

Laksa Lemak (serves 10 persons)

Ingredients & Method for Soup Stock/Base -

Enough chicken necks and bones to make a good stock – cleaned and boiled in a stock pot of approximately 7 litres of water. Simmer over low heat for as long as possible to get the most flavour. You can do the other stuff while this is simmering away. Here, I had used 2 free range chicken/ayam kampung’ breasts and bones.

Meanwhile, blend the following ingredients to make up the spicy flavour to the soup -

Ingredients to be blended with some water – to spice up the soup -

10 fresh red chilli – deseeded if you want to reduce the spicyness

10 dried red chilli – omit and replace with fresh red chilli to reduce spicyness.

25 shallots – peeled (they give a natural sweetness and fuller flavour to the soup)

2 inch knob of fresh turmeric, or 2 tbsps of turmeric powder

2 inch knob of lengkuas or galangal

2 inch knob of fresh ginger

2 tbsps of toasted belacan powder/shrimp paste

10 candlenuts or buah keras

1 cup of dried prawns/shrimps – rinsed and soaked in some water for 20 minutes. Thereafter, pour the liquid into the simmering soup stock

Other ingredients -

4 stalks lemon grass - use the bottom 5 inches, bruised or smashed to release the aromatic oils

Fresh Santan or Coconut from 3 coconuts, or 3 to 4 cans of packets of coconut milk – this depends on your preference but more santan means a thicker soup

2 Bunga Kantan or Torch Ginger Flower – stalks removed, flower bud halved

1.5 kg fresh Laksa Noodles, or cooked Meehoon/Rice Vermicelli, or cooked spaghetti, or cooked fresh mee

Ingredients for Garnishings/Toppings –

2 whole chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs), deboned and rubbed with salt and pepper

20 fish balls

3 large fishcakes

1/2 kg fresh prawns/shrimps – peeled, cleaned and seasoned with some salt and pepper. The shells are dropped into the soup stock to simmer with chicken bones

Some bean sprouts, blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes (personally, I love to eat them raw with my laksa for that added crunch and flavour)

20 fried beancurd puffs or taufoo pok – put into boiling water for 1 minute, remove from water and squeezed dry to remove the oil in them

Polygonum Leaves or Assam Leaves – cleaned and shredded finely

Mint Leaves

Method -

1) The first thing is to start you chicken soup stock and while that is simmering away, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2) Put the prawn shells into the soup once you have shelled the prawns.

3) Place the deboned chicken meat into the soup pot (over low heat) for 15 minutes, until just done. Remove and plunge into cold water for 3 minutes. This makes the chicken texture really smooth and enjoyable. :idea: Remove chicken and rub all over with 1 tbsp of sesame oil and 1 tsp salt. Cut into strips or slices. Set aside as garnish.

4) Cook fish balls and fishcakes in the soup stock for about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside as garnish. Remember to slice the fishcakes.

5) In a small pot, pour in about 3 cups of the hot soup stock and cook the prawns for about 2 minutes, until they are just done. Remove the cooked prawns and rub 1/2 tsp salt over them. Pour back the leftover soup into the chicken soup stock.

6) Leave the soup stock to continue simmering…

7) Next, heat up the 2 cups of oil in a wok and then fry the blended spices for about 10 to 15 minutes, until fragrant. Remember to keep stirring to avoid burning.

8 ) Now, remove all the chicken bones and prawn shells from the soup stock with a slotted spoon.

9) Bring up the fire to high for the soup pot and add in the fried blended spices.

10) Add in the bruised lemon grass and bunga kantan or torch ginger flower.

11) Bring the soup to a rolling boil and simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

12) Bring to high heat again and add in the coconut milk.

13) Add in about 4 tbsps of salt and 2 tbsps of sugar. Check the taste of the soup and adjust seasonings accordingly. The soup should be more salty than normal because it has to balance with the bland taste of the noodles.

14) Lastly, add in the fried beancurd puffs/taufoo poks.

15) To cook the laksa noodles (only this type of noodles are cooked this way) – place some laksa noodles into a serving bowl (for one person), pour some hot laksa soup over and swish the noodles in the soup. Pour back the soup into the pot and scoop out more hot soup over the laksa in the bowl. Repeat this 2 to 3 times to heat up the laksa noodles thoroughly.

16) To serve, pour some hot, spicy, yummy laksa soup over the noodles (or other cooked noodles/meehoon/spaghetti)…..garnish with the various available topping…and Voila! Your very own homecooked Laksa.

It goes very well with some Prawn Sambal (Chili Paste) and a squeeze of lime. Below is my recipe for the Dried Prawn Sambal -

Dried Prawn Sambal

Ingredients -

6 shallots, peeled and chopped finely

6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely

6 dried chillis, soaked in hot water and pounded or blended

1 tbsp of toasted belacan or shrimp paste

1/2 cup of dried prawns, soaked in water, then chopped finely. Liquid is to be used in the soup stock

salt and sugar to taste

1 cup oil

Method -

1) In a wok, heat up the oil and fry the chopped garlic and shallots until golden brown. Remove garlic and shallots only, leaving the oil behind.

2) Now add in the chopped dried shrimps and fry for about 2 minutes, until aromatic.

3) Add in the pounded or blended dried chilli and fry for about 2 minutes with the prawns.

4) Next add back the golden shallots and garlic, and the toasted belacan or shrimp paste.

5) Mix everything thoroughly, add in 2 tbsps of sugar and enough salt to taste. Remove and set aside in a bowl.

6) To serve this sambal, put some into a soy sauce plate, and squeeze some lime juice over it. Wow, this just whets the appetite! :D

Bon Appetit! I hope you like this Laksa recipe. The recipe may look tedious but the taste is well worth it and once you get the hang of cooking the laksa one time, it will be a breeze the next time! :wink:

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