A Taste of REAL Malaysia

For those of you who've read the early days of the blog, you'll have noticed that I didnt get the chance to have a cooking class in Malaysia. I stayed in Pangkor Laut Resort Malaysia for a review, spent weeks in KL and no cooking class. I didn't even do one in Singapore (and yes, I know they're different) even though I spent lots of time researching the coolest spots in Singapore.  Ridiculous really considering that, along with Thai and Indonesian, it was really my favourite cuisine in SE Asia. So you can imagine my glee when I saw the three magic words pop up on Twitter: Malaysian Supper Club.

Yes, YES YES. My reaction might have given Sally a run for her money in 'that' scene in the diner as she temporarily silenced a boggle-eyed Billy Crystal or Harry.
It didn't disappoint. A night with lovely food bloggers, Andre Dang and the chef du jour, his mother - accompanied by gorgeous weather on an outdoor patio and, of course, the food. Far superior to the rubbish passing as Malaysian in some of London's high class eateries (I name no names).

You have to get this into your life so quickly that I'll make it easy. Just words and pictures...




AYAM SIOH (Tamarind chicken)
Ingredients :
1 whole chicken (abt 1.5kg, cut into 8 large pcs)
90ml cooking oil

Tamarind sauce :
360g tamarind pulp (mixed with 810ml water & strained)
1 ½ T rice vinegar
2T dark soy sauce
150g sugar
2t salt
3T ground coriander (toasted)
12 shallots (peeled & ground)
3 clove garlic (peeled & ground)

Method :
(1) Marinade chicken with combined tamarind sauce in a large bowl & leave overnight in the refrigerator
(2) Pour tamarind sauce into a pot & bring to a slow boil. Add chicken pcs & boil over moderate heat for 20 mins or until chicken is cooked & tender
(3) Drain chicken in a colander & continue cooking sauce, stirring until thick. Remove from heat
(4) Heat oil in a wok until hot & fry chicken for a few min. until brown. Drain & arrange on a serving dish. Pour thick tamarind sauce over chicken. Serve hot or cold



ONDEH-ONDE) RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

250 g Glutinous Rice Flour
200 ml Pandan Juice
150 g Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar), finely chopped
100 g Grated Coconut
A Pinch Of Sea Salt

METHOD:

In a large bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour with Pandan juice and knead lightly. Pinch a small piece of the dough (about 40 g) and drop it into boiling water. When the dough rises up the surface, remove it with a slotted spoon and shake off the excess water. Mix it back into the main dough and knead well to form smooth dough. Cover the dough and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Mix the grated coconut with a pinch of salt and steam for about 2 – 3 minutes and let it cool completely.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Pinch a small piece of dough (about 15 g each) and flatten lightly. Fill the center of the dough with palm sugar. Roll them in your palm to form a smooth ball and cook the glutinous rice balls in the boiling water. When the rice balls float to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon and shake off the excess water.

Coat the rice balls with grated coconut and serve immediately.

COOK’S NOTE:

To make the Pandan Juice. Blend 10 Pandan leaves with 220 ml water.

Kueh Lapis - Layer Cake
Ingredient:
1. 800 g.coconut (grated)
2. 650 ml water (for squeezing coconut)
3. 400 g rice flour
4. 280 g sago flour
5. 1/2 tsp salt
6. 550 g granulated sugar
7. 10 screwpine/pandan leaves
8. 350 ml water
9. a dash of red and orange food colouring

Kueh Lapis Method Step By Step:
1. Squeeze the grated coconut with 650 ml water. Top up with more water to get 950 ml.

2. Mix the rice flour, sago flour and salt in a bowl. Pour in the coconut milk, a little at a time to get a smooth dough.

3. Boil the sugar and screwpine leaves in 350 ml water for 10 minutes. Strain the syrup, and add in extra hot water to get 450 ml.

4. Add the syrup to the flour mixture. Stir till well blended.

5. Divide the mixture into 3 portions. Add red and orange food colouring to two portions.

6. Grease a baking tin. Place it in a steamer with boiling water.

7. When tin is hot, pour a layer of the coloured mixture into it. Steam for about 5-8 minutes. Pour some of the uncoloured mixture on top and steam again. Repeat for the next coloured mixture. Continue till all the mixture is used up.

8. When all of the mixture is used up, remove tin from steamer and let kuih cool for 8 hours.

9. To serve, cut kuih lapis into slices.