The Food Canon

Prawn briyani rice cooked on a paella pan. Why not.

White peppercorns, coriander roots and garlic

Claypot Chicken Rice meal

My version of egg pancake

Picanha beef

Jap Beef Bowl: onions, corn, beef and rice

It goes without saying that we are in season where home-cooking has become a necessity. 

Cook a pot of good rice.
Prepare some delicious sambal.
Fry some ikan bilis and peanuts.
Make some hard-boiled eggs.
Cut some fresh cucumbers.

1.  Wash the rice 2-3 times and drain.
2.  Add equivalent amount of water (5 cups) and salt.
3.  Start cooking the rice.
4.  When the rice has risen (button on rice cooker turns to "warm”), add the coconut milk and knotted pandan leaves.
5.  Stir and mix the rice and milk. Keep the rice warm till you serve.

Notes: Basmati is forgiving and stays separated and less likely to be mushed up when cooking in a rice cooker cf to jasmine rice. It is also lighter than jasmine rice. Don't cook rice with coconut milk at the start. It will end up looking like chicken rice with the oil soaked through. Jasmine or regular Malaysian rice has a fluffiness which you can’t find in Basmati. You can still make good NL rice with  it (my Mum uses Jasmine rice) but sticks strictly to a 1:1 water:rice ratio. See this post for some tips when using Jasmine rice.

As for coconut milk, any kind will do. If you are squeezing your own coconut milk, the steps are different as spelt out here.

1.  Blend or dice 2 onions.
2.  Slice 2 onions and set aside.
3.  Blend the chilli into a paste.
4.  Heat up the oil in a wok on low fire.
5.  Add the blended/diced onions. Simmer for 15 minutes.
6.  Add the chilli paste, water, sugar and simmer for 10 minutes.
7.  Add the fried ikan bilis and sliced onions. Stir and mix.
8.  After 2 minutes, the sambal is done.

Fried Assam Prawns: Marinate in tamarind sauce, pepper, salt and dark sauce. Pan-sear each side for 2 minutes.

Dinner Spread.

I am not cooking as much as I used to and even when I do, I will be cooking recipes which I have already blogged about or published in the cookbook.

Some recipes for home-cooking should evolve. It can involve variations or simply just improvements.

The following cooking notes can be helpful if you have been following some of these recipes in may cookbook:

Hae Mee or "Penang Prawn Noodles" (p 177) 

This remains our favourite noodle recipe and as I have said, it is among some of the top noodles recipes in the world when prepared well.

I have modified my Mum's recipe as I will normally buy pork soup bones and use it as a base. This will result in a milkier soup and I avoid using any chicken stock or granule powder. Slowly simmer the bones for at least two hours.

The rest of the ingredients remain and of course, prawns heads and shells are very important for a good Hae Mee stock. I have a few posts on Hae Mee here. Check them up. This is a great recipe to work with and feel free to improvised to suit your taste.  

Assam Laksa  - Kembung fish (p 179)


Kembung fish remain the fish of choice for Assam Laksa. I have grown in confidence in cooking this well. The fish carcasses are the key to a good stock. Deboning it is troublesome but with experience, you will know how to use your hands to detect and remove them. Pull the flesh gently from the tail's end. The small bones in the middle of the fish can be tricky. If you gently break apart the flesh, the bones will be visible. Use a blender to blend the carcasses very finely. When you strain the stock later, you can remove whatever that is sieved.

Like strong tasting foods like durians, you will either love or hate this amazing bowl of Malaysian goodness. I have met some Assam Laksa lovers who are addicted to it. I can understand why.

I have a series of posts here on this wonderful recipe.

Ikan Sumbat or Chilli Fish (p 144)
I am now convinced that the best fish to use for this recipe is Kembung fish. Selar and Saba can also be used but kembung brings the taste and texture closest to how my Mum used to make. Remember to fry it gently in medium fire and let the fish gently bubble and cook away.

I have recipe here which uses Ikan Selar. The technique remain the same.

Curry Puff (p 216)

Diced prawns

Frying the filling

Gorgeous filling - don't stinge with the diced chicken and prawns

Along with the Food Ministry team from my church, we made a batch of 700 puffs recently. Undoubtedly, the best way to enjoy it is to eat it while it is still warm. Don't eat it when it is just fried unless you enjoy burning your mouth. Let it rest for half and hour.

For the filling, I was generous with the chicken and prawns. Diced it to the size of the tip of your last finger. Home-made curry puffs are amazing and 2020 should see me making them more regularly.

I have blogged the recipe here.

Nonya Curry Chicken (p 40)

If I want my curry chicken to taste like the ones my Mum made, the coriander and cumin seeds (in my book's recipe) should not be used. If you are using curry powder, use the lighter ones which do not have the usual spices that are used for Indian curries. Don't get me wrong. I love Indian curries. But for Nonya ones, let the herbs shine (i.e. tumeric, lemon grass). And yes, make as many variation of chicken curries as you wish. Just observe some of the basic principles of good curry making. Check out this link.  

And yes, come to think of it, the recipes in the cookbook do need their own table of content list. The next cookbook will have that.

Note: I am sorry. I forgot to take any photos. I will post one when I next cook this. Hope this stand-in will suffice!

My wife love fish soup noodles.

Regarded as a healthy and light meal, it is a lunchtime favourite for office workers. And with the recent rainy weather, to be greeted by homemade fish soup after work a cold day is comforting indeed.

This recipe can be prepared simply if you wish. The fish is filleted and the rest of the carcass go into the soup. If you have time, you can add steps or ingredients to elevate it.

At the heart of it is of course the fish carcass. This is very similar to Assam Laksa, which is based on those from Ikan Kembung. In our wet markets, carcasses from a good fish like grouper are cheap. They are basically leftovers from the fillets of fish meat that have been removed. Just ask your regular fish monger for advice. I paid for $10 worth of carcasses to feed 20 people. Another way is to buy the whole fish and ask for it to be filleted. There will be true head to toe (fin!) eating.

The fish bones and heads should be deep fried first to reduce the fishiness of the soup, before going into the boil.

Adding pork bones may be optional but it does add some body to the soup. I don't find the fish carcass alone to be sufficient for a tasty soup. Adding pork bones or ikan bilis (anchovies) helps. Chicken stock or anchovies seasoning are also possible. I should add that adding dried sole powder will elevate the flavour of the soup but I won't bother if I don't have it in my larder.

Fish stock is quick to make as the flavours are extracted quicker then meat-based soups. This is a good point to note as you plan your stock making.

As for garnishing, there are many choices. Red grouper meat will be a top choice but it is expensive. Brown grouper will be cheaper. In fact, any white meat fish like snapper or snakehead will be fine as well. Some may enjoy eating fish head pieces. Ask your fish monger to chop the heads into pieces for you. Coat lightly with some flour and deep fry beforehand. Tomatoes, coriander leaves, silken tofu fried shallots, salted veg, sliced red chillies can be added to balance the bowl of fish soup. Fried ikan bilis for the crunch and  "encapsulated" flavour will go well with it too. Likewise, blanched prawns, with shells on as it will add some colour.

Carnation milk, which is basically cream can be added. Likewise, lardon and  oil. But these will add calories to the bowl.

As for noodles, the thick rice noodles or the thinner bee hoon (rice vermicelli) will go well. Some will like to add yellow wheat noodles or quay teow (flat rice noodles) and that is fine as well. And of course, fish soup go well with rice.

Once you are comfortable with making this seafood based soup, you can serve it in many ways.

Ingredients

1.5 kg of fish carcass, chopped into pieces
1 kg of pork bones
100gm of ikan bills

500 gm of fish fillet, sliced for serving

Preparing the Soup
Simmer the pork bones for an hour and a half in 5 laters of water. At the hour mark, add the fish bones and ikan bilis. Strain and season (with salt or soy sauce) the soup.

Blanch the fish slices  in the soup. till the meat is opaque.

Serving the bowls
When you are ready to serve, boil the soup and add the tomato and cabbage. After 3 minutes, add the rice noodles for. minute and dish out into a bowl. Garnish with coriander leaves and fried shallots. Serve immediately.

Cut red chillies in light soy sauce is a perfect accompaniment.

Sometimes, some of the simplest dishes are the comfort food we love.

Stir-fry potatoes with meat is one of my Mum's staple dish. Both children and seniors like it and it goes very well with rice. It is also simple to cook. Potatoes keeps well in the open (cool and dry place) and meat can always be kept in the freezer, which explains it's frequent appearance on our dining table.

Choose the right potatoes. Those yellow ones  grown locally (i.e Malaysia or Indonesia) are tasty and they cook fast. As for meat, you can use slice pork, minced pork or diced chicken. As for the sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and a dash of dark source will do. And garlic of course.

It is really that simple.

Ingredients

1 kg yellow Potato
500 gm meat
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp of dark sauce
1 tbsp of oil
1 tbsp of minced garlic
1 tsp corn starch and I cup of water
Some diced spring onions (for garnishing)

Preparation:
Peel and slice the potatoes, about half a cm in thickness.

Hit up the oil in the wok in gentle fire. Add the minced garlic. When the garlic is browned, add the potato slices. Stir and let it cook for about 10 minutes.

Then add the meat. Add the sauces and stir. After 5 minutes, add the slurry of  corn starch and water. Stir and after 2 minutes it will be ready.

This dish can be prepared hours before dinner. Just reheat before you serve and garnished with the diced spring inions.

You can consider these variations:

• Add slices of Chilli or chilli paste
• Add some curry powder
• Use minced beef
• Garnish with coriander leaves
• Adjust the amount of ingredients used for the sauce to suit your preference.