chilli

Thai Green Curry

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Thai Green Curry

I have always wanted to learn how to make Thai Green Curry, and chanced upon a healthy cooking workshop at one of those Residents Committee places. They were demonstrating how to cook a healthier version of Thai Green Curry, and while watching them demonstrating it, I thought to myself that the healthier version actually looked quite oily in reality.

Anyway, I was there to observe, so no comments. Like I always say, if I wanted to say anything, I will only make comments on my own cooking. It looked fairly easy enough. And surprisingly, the results were really yummy when I cooked it. I used fresh Chicken Drumsticks as the meat was usually more tender and juicy. I think the meat from chicken breasts would be too dry or tough if not cooked properly, and not as yummy as the chicken drumstick meat. For my version I added a little more colour in terms of the vegetables used, yellow and red capsicum, carrots and long beans, and instead of the recommended high calcium milk, I used packet Coconut Cream (more lemak, more nice).

The key ingredient is of course the Thai Green Curry paste, I decided to get a pre-mix version from NTUC called “Dancing Chef”, and it was really nice. Of course, you can make everything from scratch if you wanted to.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 Chicken Drumsticks with Adjoined Thigh (Chopped into small pieces and marinate with Light Soya Sauce and White Pepper)
1 packet of “Dancing Chef” brand Thai Green Curry paste
3 cloves of Garlic (Chopped finely)
1 medium Yellow Onion (Chopped finely)
3 sprigs of Curry Leaves (Use only the leaves)
3 stalks of Long Beans (Chopped into 3 cm pieces)
Half of a Carrot (Chopped into bite-sized pieces)
Half of a Yellow Capsicum (Chopped into small pieces)
Half of a Red Capsicum (Chopped into small pieces)
1 small packet of Kara Coconut Cream
2 cups of Water
2 tbsp Light Soya Sauce
1/2 tsp White Pepper
Drizzle of Thai Fish Sauce (Optional)

Method

1. Chop the chicken thigh into bite size pieces and marinate with light soya sauce and white pepper for about 5-10 minutes.

2. Add 1 packet of the Thai Green Curry paste into a wok and fry at medium heat. There is no need to add additional oil as there is already oil in the packet (The paste can be quite spicy, so no need to add additional chilli). Add the chopped garlic and onions and fry together with the paste (Actually the paste is made up of these ingredients, I just added more so that it is not so spicy).

3. Add the Curry Leaves into the paste to fry, this will make the Thai Green Curry paste more fragrant (See picture below). Add the marinated chicken pieces to fry. Fry at medium heat for about 5 minutes. After that, add the chopped capsicum (both red and yellow), long beans and carrots. Continue to stir fry, this time around, turn the heat up to high.

4. Add the Kara coconut cream and add water. Give it a good stir. Do a taste test. If it is okay, then there is no need to add more flavouring. But if it is not tasty enough, then add a drizzle of Thai Fish Sauce. Cover the lid and let it boil for about 8 minutes or until it is bubbling. Do another taste test, it should be tasty and full of flavour with the coconut milk, the chicken pieces should be juicy and succulent. Then it is ready. Serve with steamed rice.

Bon Appetit!

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Sambal Kembong

Ho Sim Lang

Sambal Kembong

I love Kembong Fish, and if there was a choice between Selar and Kembong, I would choose the latter. The flesh of the Kembong fish is sweet and delicious, much nicer than the Selar. Try it.

I love having the fish fried with a little oil and making diagonal cuts along the slides of the fish to fill its guts with freshly chopped red chillis that have been mixed with a sprinkle of sea salt.

I like it fried until it is crispy and crunchy when you bite into it and with a squish of lime – it is perfect. The confluence of salty, sour and spicy flavours mixed together just makes you want to munch the crispy fish head. The perfect dish to accompany any meal, especially porridge.

Recipe

Ingredients

Kembong Fish (a few will do actually, usually I am only cooking for me and my wife)
Red Chilli 2 pcs (chopped with a sprinkle of sea salt)
Sea Salt (just a sprinkle will do)
Calamansi Lime 2 Whole

Method

1. Wash the fish and remove the guts if you haven’t already. If you are not eating the fish on the same day, it is better to keep the guts of the fish in when buying the fish. This helps to keep it fresh longer.

2. Score the sides of the fish deep enough to create pockets to fill the sambal (aka chilli) paste.

3. Chop the red chillis until a fine paste. This paste I also call sambal. It’s a Malay word that means chilli? Sprinkle a little sea salt and give it a good mix with the spoon.

4. Fill the fish with the sambal paste and the fry it under medium heat in a frying pan. Make sure there is sufficient oil so that it can be crispy and crunchy when you bite it.

5. I usually use Olive oil or soya bean oil. The last thing you should be using is any vegetable oil that lists palm oil as its main ingredients. Palm oil is not healthy for you. So Olive or soya bean is best.

6. Serving suggestion: you may add a little bit of coriander leaves for colour, a drizzle of dark soya sauce if you want more flavour and a slight sweetness. Otherwise it is good just as it is.

Bon Appetit!

Sambal Belacan Petai with Prawns

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Sambal Belacan Petai with Prawns

I decided to cook Sambal Belacan Petai with Prawns tonight. The stinky beans Petai is one of those lesser cooked at home and not generally appreciated, but with sambal belacan, it is magically transformed into a delicacy.

The wet market vegetable uncle had a huge supply of Petai that weekend and I had to grab a pack and plan it into my weekly gastronomic journey through the kitchen. One of the things that I enjoy doing these days is quick cooking. That is to come back and quickly whip up dinner dishes for the family in under 30 minutes. It’s a challenge to do it, but I totally look forward to doing it everyday.

So this simple recipe cooked with pre-made sambal belacan will definitely rock your socks off. The key is the cooking time and a non stick pan/wok. Otherwise it is very easy to cook Petai.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 bag of Petai (stinky beans usually available at the wet market)
1 large tbsp of Sambal Belacan (I got those pre-made ones at the supermarket)
1 large Yellow Onion (quartered)
6 large Glass Prawns (I realised that this type of prawns are perfect for the dish, they are expensive, but no regrets)
2 cloves of Garlic (minced)
2 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

1. Some preparation needs to be done with the Petai beans. You need to split the beans into halves and wash them thoroughly. We split the beans because sometimes there are worms burrows and those need to be discarded.

2. In a non-stick wok, add olive oil and stir fry the onions. You would want a non-stick wok or pan because you would be frying the ingredients over high heat for a while and you generally don’t want the ingredients to char and burn.

3. After frying the onions until they are softened and fragrant, add the Petai to stir fry. You then continue to stir fry until some of the onions begin to brown slightly. These visual milestones are important because cooking equipment and timing may differ.

4. Add the minced garlic and fry till you can smell the fragrance of the garlic. Then add a generous table spoon of Sambal Belacan and continue to stir fry, making sure that the ingredients are coated with the sambal sauce.

5. Once you can smell the fragrance of the chilli paste. Add in the prawns to cook. For this dish, you would want to cook the prawns until they turn into an “O” shape. Although I often say “O” means overcooked, it is permissible for this dish as the direct heat is shared with other ingredients.

6. Once sufficiently cooked, taste that the Petai beans are soft and yummy. Serve with steamed rice.

Bon Appetit!

Mala Hotpot (Review)

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Mala Hotpot (Review)

Mala Hotpot has become so popular in Singapore in recent years such that it is almost impossible to ignore it. In fact it has become somewhat a staple for some as they crave and savor the insane levels of spiciness in the dish.

I remember doing a half-baked review of this other Mala place named 日日生麻辣香锅 which was located in Chinatown and another outlet in Tampines. The most outstanding difference is that they charge the items according to the portion as opposed to most other places that charge it according to type of ingredients and its weight.

But I also mentioned that my favourite Mala Hotpot had to be the one at Tampines Mall at the Kopitiam Food court. The prices are exorbitant as they charge according to weight of the ingredients and prices range from a low ten to about twenty dollars for a bowl.

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You can choose from a huge variety of ingredients and they are mostly fresh as the stall is quite popular. So at least the ingredients enjoy high turnover, which is good. I love it because they use a particular soya bean to fry the ingredients and it is delicious.

I usually take the 少辣 (read: least spicy) version of the Mala Hotpot so that I could enjoy my lunch but that day I decided to have the works and opted for 大辣 (read: very spicy). Thinking back it was most definitely a mistake.

At level 3 spiciness, which was also the maximum level of spiciness before it becomes illegal, your tastebuds are wretched and there is very little taste of anything else except the stinging and burning sensation of the chilli. It’s Mala Hotpot Hell if there was such a thing as Mala Hotpot Paradise. Neither exist, but you can imagine the agony and pain that my mouth was going through.

But the sadist in me rather enjoyed it and finished the entire bowl but at the same time vowed silently to never order these ridiculous levels again. In fact when I ordered, the counter guy let out a smirk and laughed to himself. He probably thought I was being silly. He wasn’t wrong to have thought that way. It was foolhardy. Maybe I should consider buying my own Mala Hot Sauce to cook at home. Now that would be a pretty good idea.

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Don’t get me wrong, I still love Mala Hotpot even though there was no trace of umami in this dish. It was very nicely prepared and I would still eat there. By far it is one of my favourite Mala Hotpot places. My favourite ingredients to order would be the mushrooms (all types) and chewy soya bean sticks and big intestines. Shiok!

Bon Appetit!

Stir Fry Belacan Wing Beans

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Stir Fry Belacan Wing Beans

My wife bought this odd looking vegetable the other day and told me to work the magic. Of course everyone knows there is no such thing as magic, at least not in my kitchen that is.

Nevertheless, I took a long hard look at this vegetable otherwise known as “Wing Beans” or as they call it in Malay, “Kacang Botol“. It is a weird looking vegetable indeed with its “C-shaped” body if you were to slice it through. I remember having it once at some coffeeshop zi char stall and it was presented to us in an intense sambal belacan sauce. I thought that it was delicious.

So what better way to cook this dish than to do it in sambal belacan. My twist is to add a few glass prawns (my favourite prawns) and it would be perfect.

Recipe

Ingredients

6 medium sized Glass Prawns
300 grams of Wing Beans
Handful of Dried Shrimps (hae bi)
1 piece of Red Chilli (chopped finely)
3-4 grams of Belacan
Light Soya Sauce
Olive Oil

Method

1. Wash and slice the wing beans into 1 cm length pieces. Mix the belacan, dried shrimps and finely chopped chilli into a blender and blend the ingredients into a paste. At this point, it would be good to ventilate the kitchen.

2. Wash and prepare the glass prawns, heat oil in the wok and then fry the prawns until they curl into a “C-shaped” position. This means the are cooked. Reserve the prawns aside.

3. Now heat another batch of oil in the wok, throw the belacan paste into the wok and stir fry until fragrant. Then add a little more oil and throw the prepared wing beans into the wok and give it a good stir. Continue frying until the colour of the vegetable turns a dark green. Then add the prawns and continue stirring. Continue frying for another five minutes and it is ready to be served.

Bon Appetit!

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Wing Bean aka Kacang Botol

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Belacan, finely chopped chilli, dried shrimps

Sambal Fried Fish

 

Ho Sim Lang

Sambal Fried Fish

A simple peranakan style of frying fish with sambal or chopped/pounded Chilli filled in between cuts along the sides of the fish. Usually Selar or Kembong fish would be ideal for this slightly spicy fish dish. Sambal here refer to Chilli, plain and simple.

The fish is lightly salted and finished off with lime juice after frying it. The key is to cook the fish until it is crispy and fragrant. I also julienned strips of ginger and fried them until crispy as well. These are great as garnishing. I have also recently discovered green chilli or sambal hijau. It’s become my favourite, and it is so easy to prepare as well. Just cook the green chilli until soften in oil and salt. Shiok.

Sidetracked, ready to try Sambal Selar? Here’s the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 x Selar or Kembong fish
3 pcs of Red Chilli
4-5 cm of Ginger
Limes
Olive oil
Sea salt

Method

1. Julienne the ginger into strips. Then chop Chilli and then pound into a paste. Scored the fish along its sides and stuff the Chilli paste into the sides of the fish. Lightly salt the fish and leave it aside.

2. Heat about 6-7 tbsp of oil and then fry the ginger strip till light brown and crispy. Remove the ginger and place in a bowl. Now fry the fish already marinated with the Chilli paste and salt. You would want to fry till crispy. Do this over medium heat and make sure the fish is evenly cooked.

3. Once the fishes are cooked, garnish the ginger and squeeze juice of 2 limes onto the fish and serve.

Bon Appetit!!

Ho Sim Lang

 

Fill the sides of the scored fishes with Chilli paste.

Ho Sim Lang

Fry the fishes in wok with sufficient oil.