Malaysian Satay

Every time we have satay, i never have the opportunity to take a picture because it disappeared, devout as soon as they are off the grill. Fortunately, this time, 2 sticks and 2 pieces of cucumber were reserved for me. I was told that the word 'satay' is actually hokkien - 'sa' means three and 'tay' means pieces. That's why there are 3 pieces of meat in a stick.



Ingredients:

600 gm/1 1/3 lb beef , chicken or pork meat

Marinate:

10 small onions / shallots
5 cloves of garlic
2 inch long galanga /lengkuas
2 stalks lemon grass /serai
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp kurma curry powder
1/2 tsp belacan powder(shrimp paste)
A teaspoon tumeric (kunyit)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil or thick coconut milk

a bundle of 6 inch bamboo skewers

1 lemon grass(serai) - crush

oil/coconut milk for basting

Method:

Using the microplane, grate lengkuas and lemon grass.

Using the food processor, chop up the shallots and garlic. Add in the grated galanga ,lemon grass and the rest of the marinate.

Cut meat into 1/4 inch thick and 4 - 6 inch length.(with this length i will have 2 pieces to a skewer)

Marinate meat with the marinate for at least 2 hours.

Skewer meat with bamboo skewers.

Grill meat and using a crushed lemon grass as a brush, baste meat with oil/coconut milk.

Serve grilled meat with Satay sauce, cucumber and onions. Ketupat or Nasi Impit would be good but i stopped serving them as they are always not consumed and wasted all my effort to make them.

Satay Sauce:

1 lb raw peanuts - soak overnight in water and 2 tsp potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution(for picture of bottle refer to Ban Jian Kuih).

1 packet of Chan Hong Instant Curry Assam Mix(available online at http://mytasteofasia.com/)

1/2 lb roasted peanuts - chopped fine

Drain peanuts and wash away the potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution(kan sui)Steep in clean water for 1 hour.

Using the pressure cooker, cook peanuts in water for 15 minutes from hissing.

Remove some liquid (if you have used too much water to cook the peanuts as sauce should be thick ) and use a potato masher, mash the soft peanuts.

Add in the packet of instant mix and bring mixture to the boil.

Add in the roasted chopped peanuts.

Adjust the taste.

Chilly oil or sambal chilly can be added to sauce for additional spiciness.

Serves

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Tean's Gourmet Chicken Curry

What am i going to cook for lunch especially when curry chicken is the request. Imagine the hassle if i did not have one of this instant curry mix in hand. All i needed to do is to defrost the chicken, open a can of coconut milk and then cook with a pkt of curry mix. Viola - curry is ready for lunch.




Ingredients:

3 chicken legs - chop into bite size
1 can of 400 ml coconut milk
1 packet Tean's Gourmet Chicken Curry Paste(available online at http://mytasteofasia.com

Method:

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.

Heat wok with 1 tsp of oil and brown chicken , add in the curry paste and coconut milk.

Cook until chicken is cooked through and adjust the taste if necessary.

Serves
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Kuala Lumpur Black Hokkien Mee

The style of frying these noddles, the darker the better, is only done well with the fat yellow hokkien noodles that are sold only in Kuala Lumpur but now, i am sure these noodles are readily available anywhere in Malaysia.. The crave for this noodle is so great that whenever we are home for holidays, we would request a stop to pack some as soon as we leave the airport for home. I homemake these hokkien noodle and although the thickness it there, i am not happy with the shape though. But, beggars have no choice - the pasta maker did it's best. I have also found an alternative by using japanese udon and it is very near to home. For this dish, pork fat rules and of course you could skip it and be healthy.




Ingredients:

500g fat yellow hokkien noodles (tai lok meen) - soak noodles in cold water for 15 mins to get rid of some of the potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution used to make these noodles.
100g meat (pork or chicken) - cut into thin slices
150g prawns, shell and devein
100 g squid - cut into bite size
100g Choy sum wash and cut into 1 inch pieces
100g pork fat, cut into cubes and fried till crispy (keep the oil)
2 cups stock/water

Seasoning:

1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce(add more if not dark enough)
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp monosodium glutamate(optional)

Method:

Season the prawns and squid with a dash of salt, sugar and pepper.

Heat 2 tsp of the lard (from frying the pork fat) and saute the squid and prawns. Dish out and leave aside.

Add in another tsp of lard and brown meat, sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper to the meat before turning over to brown the other side.

Add in stock/water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding in the choy sum.

Then add in the noodles and the seasoning, mix well, cover wok with lid and simmer until noodles is tender. Add more dark soy sauce if the color is not black enough and simmer noodles till gravy is thick.

Add in the cooked prawns and squid and more lard.

Turn the heat to high again and give noodles a quick stir. Add the crispy lard cubes before dishing up the noodles.

Serve with sambal belacan

sambal belacan:

5 fresh red chillies - cut small
2 chilly padi(optional)
1 sq inch x 1/4 inch thick raw belacan or 2 tsp belacan powder.
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
lime juice.

Grill raw belacan until it is dried and fragrant. (i will wrap with paper kitchen towel and microwave 1 minute at the time until it can be crumbled)

I do not own a mortar so i use the chopper. Chop everything up except the lime juice.

serve with lime juice. adjust the taste as some belacan can be very salty.


Serves
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