Wednesday

Beef Rendang-software for recipes




INGREDIENTS


* 1 1b/ 500g beef (cleaned & cut into cubes)
* salt & pepper to taste
* 1 1/2pt/ 900ml thick santan (coconut milk)
* 1 stalk lemon grass (crushed)
* 1 turmeric leaf (shredded)
* 4 to 5 kaffir leaves (cut into slivers)
* toasted fine coconut crumbs (optional)

GROUND INGREDIENTS

* 12 red chillies
* 1 in/ 2.5cm piece galangal (lengkuas)
* 5 cloves garlic
* 15 - 20 shallots
* 1 in/ 2.5cm piece ginger
* 1/2 in/ 1.3cm piece tumeric
* 2 tsp salt

* Season meat with salt and pepper. Leave aside for 20 to 30 minutes.
* In a pan, mix together the santan (coconut milk) and ground ingredients.
* Place over medium heat and stirl slowly to the boil.
* Add meat and continue boiling for 10 minutes.
* Put in the lemon grass, turmeric and kaffir leaves and seasoning to taste.
* Reduce heat to low.
* Simmer till meat is done and dark brown in colour.
* When the gravy becomes oily in texture, remove from flame.
* Discard lemon grass and turmeric leaf.
* Add coconut crumbs just before serving. Mix well.

Serve hot with lontong, ketupat or lemang. These are different types of Malay compressed rice.

Beef Rendang is very popular amongst Malays

FYI: The typical rendang sauce may contain Coriander Seed, Onion, Cumin Seed, Garlic, Fennel Seed, Ginger, Chilli, Galangal, Turmeric, Cinnamon Quills, Cloves, Black Pepper, Green Cardamom and Lemon Myrtle.

Tumerica leaf is difficult to find. If you cannot find this, omit this herb entirely from the recipe. There is no subsitute for this.

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Sunday

Malaysian Foods-software for recipes



Malay Food typically uses a lot of coconut milk, chillies and belacan. With coconut milk and cream, you would need to be careful because they contain a lot of calories and is high in cholesterol. To avoid this problem, use coconut milk instead of cream. Nothing is complete without the addition of chillies to the Malay cuisine and I love all types of chillies. Be sure to de-seed and remove the membranes from the chillies (wear gloves!) if you do not wish your food to be extra spicy. Note that dried chillies are actually more potent than fresh ones (except bird-eye chillies). Shrimp belachan is wonderful (see description below in glossary) but the smell can penetrate the house so be sure to open all your windows when you do dry-roast them. Grind them up aftewards then store in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator. Examples of Malayan dishes include; nasi lemak, chicken satay, ketupat, beef rendang, Spicy Belchan Prawns and many more.

In the northern states of Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Kelantan, you would find the flavors Thailand in the cuisine. There is a hint of fragrant sourness that is often associated with the use of tarmarind, sour carambola and limes as well as hotness of chillies (Thai) that is so popular in northern Malaysian cuisine. Another popular dish is the Nasi Ulam or Kerambu which is a rice dish that is cooked with pandan, galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and a mixture of other herbs and spices.

Nyonya Food is peculiar to only the Chinese of Penang, Malacca and Singapore. Now I love Nyonya food, having grown up with this cooking. My mother learnt from her mother and I am proud to say that I've learnt quite a lot from these remarkable women. I must say, it does take a lot of getting used to the cooking methods. My mother would be famous is saying 'you just have to guess and get a feel for it'. Luckily, I watched her and measured whatever she put into her cooking so I am now proud to include the measurements in this website. Be aware, though, I may not be exact so you may have to adjust your measurement. Examples of Nynonya style food include; Cendol, Penang Laksa, pie tie, kuih ketayap and kuih lapis.

Chinese Food in Malaysia differs slightly than what you would normally find in a typical Chinese restaurant. In Malaysia, the Chinese cuisine shares many similar cooking method with that of Singapore so it is not unusual to find many dishes that are a blend of both. However, the Chinese dishes of Malaysia is different from that of China or Hong Kong because they are influenced from Malaysia's neighbor to the north, Thailand as well as Malaysian and Indian cuisine. Examples include; ham choy soup, char koay teow, steam fish, black pepper crabs and many more.

The Chinese also place a great importance on the contrast of lively colors, flavors and texture in their cuisine. There are Cantonese, Sichuan, Hokkien, Teochew, Hockchew, Foochow, Hakka, Hainanese and Hunghua influences in Chinese cooking. When travelling to Malaysia, it is often noted that the Chinese people always seem to bea eating. That is because food plays an important role in the Chinese family where meal time is seen as a gathering of family and the renewal of family ties.

Indian Food in Malaysia has a unique and wonderful flavor altogether. It is a blend of southern and northern Indian cuisine with influences from Malay and Chinese cooking alike. I love the Indian curry with its thick coconut flavor and the spiciness of chillies that come with it. Our housekeeper was a wonderful Indian cook who would always make us curry every week and even snuck in a couple of desserts every so often. Examples of Indian food include; lamb curry, mutton kurma, dhal or lentil dish, roti canai and so much more.

If you were to go into an Indian restaurant, you might find yourself at a table where the plate is a banana leaf. Indian cuisine, especially from the south where most of Malaysian Indians originate, share some similarities with Malay cooking. Because they share a lot in common, you would not find pork in most Indian restaurant. Apart from Roti Canai, you can also find great Indian dishes like Indian Mee Goreng, Mee Siam and Mutarbak which is a type of pancake that is filled with onion and minced chicken or mutton.

I hope you will enjoy making Malaysian cooking as much as I do. The recipes below are mere guidelines so feel free to experiment and adjust to your own palate and taste.

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