Sushi With a Twist

When I looked at the date of my last blog post, I decided to just resign to the cliche, "How time flies!". Hehehe. I won't blame motherhood for everything - it's a wonderful journey that's filled with tons of responsibilities, joy & the occasional heartache.

The truth is, I have been spending a lot of time reading about child development and growth, researching for activities to do with my pre-toddler (and actually doing them), hunting down, organising and participating in playgroups, playgyms, playdates and any other appropriate social platforms to give her a headstart she deserves. Then there's the daily walk to the park or around the suburb, the trip to the playground and the list goes on. It all seems too much to do for a small person. I am enjoying this phase of my life, to be honest. It is exhausting (most times, what with sleep being so elusive) but I know this roller coaster ride won't last. Once gone, I can only look back at the memories. I'm digressing into melancholy, aren't I? Look at what motherhood has done to me! Did I say I wouldn't blame motherhood for everything? Right.

I haven't got much time or desire to sit in front of the PC of late. I've decided to download the Blogger app into my Samsung so I can update my blog on the go. I wish the app has more features but it's easy to use and good enough for now. Let's zoom into my kitchen.

Amidst all the motherly duties, I still make meals for my family. I need to eat well to maintain a good energy level. On days when I could only manage a simple dish, I would indulge in a visual feast. With so many talented ladies uploading pics of their kitchen adventures on Facebook and Pinterest, it's not difficult to get a constant dose of inspiration. And that's what catapulted me into making this one helluva Sushi.

It is Japanese in nature but Malay in taste. A cross-cultural adaptation, if you like. The traditional Malay Pulut Kunyit, which is served with curry used to be the centrepiece at Malay weddings. In these modern times, fancy cupcakes/wedding cake towers have taken over the limelight instead. I should have used "beras pulut" (soft rice grains) to make this dish but I used real sushi rice instead, which didn't hurt. In place of beef curry, the filling is spicy beef floss (serunding daging), which is shredded beef popular in Indonesian and Malay cuisines. Ready made ones can be bought for abt A$20 for a small tub. I reckon that's a tad too expensive for a condiment! Making it from scratch is not rocket science. Plus, I love that I could tweak the taste to my liking; I like it to be a little bit sweeter and then punch it with hotness from the chillies and tangy flavour of tamarind.

When I sank my teeth into this fusion Sushi, my feet took me to perform the Happy Dance, my eyes closed in a moment of delirium, my mouth munched away in divine deliciousness. The flossy filling is moist, sweet & spicy all at once, the rice soft & tasty and the gentle flavour of the nori seaweed just envelopes everything perfectly together. It's goodness re-defined. Ummph!

Ingredients:
(Makes 2 lengthwise sushi rolls)

For the Rice
2 cups sushi rice (wash & drain)
Water
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
Salt to taste

For the Beef Floss
300gm beef (boil, shred finely & put aside)
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds*
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds*
(gently heat cumin & coriander in an oil-less pan for a minute to extract the fragrance)
1 lemongrass (chop bottom half into 1cm pieces, discard the stem)*
2cm galangal*
2cm ginger*
5 dried chillies*
4 shallots*
2 cloves garlic*
1/2 cup diluted tamarind juice
2 tbsp sugar (more if prefer sweeter)
A dash of tumeric powder
Salt to taste
2-3 kaffir lime leaves
Oil for frying
Cucumber (cut 0.5cm thick lengthwise)
Nori seaweed sheets

*Grind ingredients with a bit of water to form a paste

Method:

1. After adding water to the rice, mix in the tumeric powder & salt. Give it a stir and cook rice according to packet instruction either in the rice cooker or in a pot over the stove.

2. When rice is cooked, gently comb it with a fork to mix it. It should be soft and sticky. Coat it with a bit of rice vinegar if it's not already sticky. Set aside to cool.

3. While rice is cooking, heat oil in a pan. Fry the ground ingredients & tumeric until fragrant.

4. Stir in the shredded beef. Add tamarind juice, sugar & kaffir lime leaves.

5. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring the ingredients occasionally. Season with salt.

6. Once cooked, set aside to cool completely before preparing the sushi roll.

7. Lay a piece of nori seaweed on a sushi rolling mat.

8. Scoop rice onto the seaweed, pressing it down, leaving 0.5cm around the edges.

9. Spoon beef floss & spread on top of rice. Place 2 pieces of cucumber in the middle section.

10. Roll the sushi. Cut the sushi according to preferred thickness using a slightly damp sharp knife. Serve.

Nasi Goreng Tom Yum (Tom Yum Fried Rice)

It is a strange summer in Australia this year.  According to the met services, we're experiencing the coldest summer in Canberra in 47 years! I felt the weather reverted from Spring to Autumn instead of progressing into sunny days, with temperature hovering between 19*C and 23*C since the start of the season. Suffice to say that we still need thick woollen blankets to sleep at night.

With the cold weather comes the need for comfort food. One of my perennial favourites is fried rice.  It's one of the easiest yet tastiest complete meals to produce. The best fried rice is made with yesterday's rice.  Even better refrigerated.  I must say, fried rice is highly customisable too.  There's the Malay version, the Chinese version, the Indian version and more. I am passionate about fried rice so much so that I contributed a recipe to an international magazine some time this year and it got published - in full glossy glory (with my name on it!).  Yay!

Add any "side kick" as you wish.
I have here slices of Vegetarian Mock Duck (Char Siew) and cucumber

Fast forward to my kitchen.  I was hooked on making Chinese fried rice for several days in a row.  This followed a friend's Facebook posting of the glorious dish she had in food-loving Singapore, of course.  I must digress a little here with a small confession to make. When I run out of ideas to cook, I turn to Facebook. My countrymen have a peculiar obsession of posting pictures of their gastronomic indulgences with pride. After all, might I remind you that we're people of Makan Nation, of which eating is second only to shopping as a national past time ("makan" is Malay for "eat").  

So, back to my kitchen.  The thing about fried rice is that you must allow for the rice to cool down (if you are cooking/steaming fresh rice) to at least room temperature.  If you fry the rice while it's hot, you will get clumps, which will kill the joy of having a delicious meal. I decided to give this fried rice a little twist. I got the idea from a Malaysian friend who cooks Thai Fried Rice regularly for her Aussie husband. I put the culinary experiment on my own husband who turned out to love this version of fried rice with a passion - once again, his Western taste bud tickled towards the Asian direction!

I have tried many different kinds of Tom Yum pastes but found this one
to be the mother of all instant Tom Yum pastes! It's sufficiently spicy and sour
and it's Halal! Just add some kaffir lime leaves for more punch, if you wish.

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

2 cups rice (cooked & cooled to room temperature)
1 carrot (diced)
1/2 red or green capsicum (diced)
1 small bowl frozen corn kernels
2 cloves garlic (diced)
1/2 onion (diced)
4 seafood/crab sticks (cut into 1cm pieces)
100gm prawns
2 chicken stock cubes
2 eggs
1 tbsp Tom Yum paste
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste


Preparation:

1.  Heat oil in a wok or a large frying pan.  Stir in garlic and onions, fry them over medium heat until onion is tender and fragrant.

2.  Add carrots, stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add capsicums, stir fry for 2 minutes.

3.  Add seafood/crab stick pieces and prawns.  Stir fry until prawns turn pink.

4.  Separately crush chicken cubes until crumble and add to the ingredients in the wok.  Add corn kernels and stir fry all ingredients.

5.  Add Tom Yum paste and stir for 30 seconds.  Create a well in the middle of the wok (if too dry, add 1 tsp of olive oil).  Break the eggs in the well and leave them to cook slightly for 30 seconds before stirring the eggs to break the yolk.  Leave eggs to cook for a further 20 seconds.  Do not stir the other ingredients with the eggs at this point in time (they will become clumpy).  When eggs are almost cooked, fold the ingredients together.

6.  Add rice.  Stir all ingredients gently.  Increase heat to high and stir all ingredients until rice is thoroughly coated with the paste.  Add salt to taste.

7.  Serve hot.




Fearlessly Simple & Home Cooked

Pulut Serunding (Savoury Glutinous Rice with Spicy Coconut Floss)

My Cooking Affairs wishes you

Eid ul-Adha Mubarak!

Eid ul-Adha in Australia was celebrated on 16 Nov this year, one day ahead of that in Singapore and in most countries.  In addition to the religious significance of a special occasion as such, families all over the world would also gather for a feast (partial lyrics from "Hotel California" eh?).  In the Malay households, there are many signature dishes for Eid. Too many for me to list here.  I have my favourites, one of them is "serunding".  I can't quite recall how my love affair with this flossy side dish started.  All I know is I eat it with anything I could get hold of - rice, bread or lontong/ketupat (Malay rice cakes).  In case you start picturing someone (me) gobbling all of the aforementioned in one go with "serunding", take heart. I meant to say either of them at any one time, not all at once.  

In case you think that hairy brownish ball (left) is a meteorite, I have to quickly say
that's a real coconut. The white flesh (right) when grated will result in tiny flakes   

I did the most unexpected. Well, nothing rocket science, just a little bit of an old school technique.  I actually bought a whole coconut (dehusked) and grated the flesh by myself! The last person I saw doing that painstaking task was my mum, when I was 8 years old.  I would help her out sometimes.  I was always fascinated with the coconut milk that came out of every squeeze of the grated flesh.  Through the years, machines have taken over labour functions in a manner that's almost unbelievable.  Today, coconut milk comes in a can.  Even my mum now buys it ready made like that.  Lest the future generation thinks metal tin is the primary source of coconut milk, I think it's worth preserving and practising some traditional technique whenever we can.  So, when I came across coconuts at the supermarket, I grabbed the chance to relive my childhood. And boy, did I grate and squeeze!

While serunding is a side dish, I decided to make Pulut Serunding, which is a traditional Malay savoury dessert or what we Malays call "kueh".  No prizes for guessing that this is one of my favourites because the main feature is serunding.  I love the chewy texture of the glutinous rice combined with the fragrantly sweet/sour/spicy taste of the serunding.  Simply mouthwatering!  And for nostalgia's sake, I served my Pulut Serunding on a banana leaf.    

(From L to R): Freshly squeezed coconut milk and coconut flakes, lightly fried (without oil) coconut flakes
and a tub of glutinous rice in coconut milk and pandan leaf (screwpine leaf) ready to be cooked  

Ingredients:

Serunding (Coconut Floss)

Grind to form a paste
2 lemongrass
4 cloves garlic
1 large red onion
1cm galangal
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
10 dried chillies (reduce quantity if you prefer less hot)

****

Coconut flakes from 1 whole coconut
350gm minced beef (fried without oil)
100gm brown / palm sugar
5-6 kaffir lime leaves
1 tumeric leaf (optional)
1/2 cup tamarind juice
Salt to taste
Cooking oil


Preparation:

1.  Lightly fry the coconut flakes until they turn slightly yellowish.  Set aside.

2.  In a medium saucepan, heat oil and fry the ground paste for about 5-7 minutes until fragrant.  Stir the paste occasionally while frying to prevent it from getting burnt.

3.  Add the minced beef.  Stir for about 20sec.  Add the tamarind juice, followed by the coconut flakes, sugar, salt, kaffir lime leaves and tumeric leaf.  Lower the heat.  Stir all ingredients well and cook until the coconut flakes get drier.  Be sure to stir regularly to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

4.  When the mixture is not soggy anymore, that's the right consistency.  Turn heat off.  Taste that the floss is a little sweet, sour and salty.  Otherwise, add sugar/tamarind juice/salt to taste.


Pulut (Glutinous Rice)

3 cups glutinous rice - washed & drained
3 cups coconut milk
1-2 pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
Salt to taste


Preparation:

1.  Put glutinous rice, coconut milk, pandan leaves and salt into a microwavable container and cover with lid.  Cook on high for 15 minutes.  Pause microwave every 5 minutes to gently stir the rice.

2.  When rice is cooked, remove container from the mircowave.  Remove the lid, cool rice for 1 minute.  Scoop the desired amount of glutinous rice into a small bowl to make a round shape.  Invert bowl so rice is released on a plate.  Sprinkle a generous amount of serunding onto the glutinous rice and serve.     

Tips:

- Glutinous rice must be used to make "pulut" as it is sticky, which is the texture desired for this dessert.  Normal grain rice will not give the sticky effect.

- Minced beef is optional for the serunding.



Fearlessly Simple & Home Cooked

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice)

As I'm writing this post, it's rightfully Spring here in Australia.  However, the weather has been rather atypical and temperature for much of last week was meandering between 12*C and 15*C.  That's prominently cold for someone like me who hailed from a perpetually sun-kissed island where humidity is overdone.  Thus, I felt it appropriate to knock out the unseasonal chills with a familiar food that guarantees me good warmth and gratification - Nasi Lemak.  

To add to your Malay vocabulary, "nasi" means rice while "lemak" has two meanings: (i) fats (ii) creamy.  The latter sounds more palatable than the former, of course.  But you can't go around Singapore or Malaysia asking for Creamy Rice.  If you do, you will be greeted with a You-Must-Be-Nuts and confused look from the food seller.  It's the same as how in Italy, you won't ask the waiter for "Pick-Me-Up" which is English for Tiramisu.  You have to say it in the native language.

I'm a real sucker for Sambal and Kangkong Belacan.  Those plus the fragrant
coconut rice make this meal superbly satisfying 

Although Nasi Lemak is an original Malay dish, over time, it's been given many facelifts and customisations to suit different taste buds.  I must have tried more than a dozen varieties that are great but my favourite is still my mum's (and mine!).  That's the beauty of home cooked meals.  Regardless of all the fancy restaurants in the world, mum's cooking is sentimental and one-of-a-kind. 

The secrets to a good Nasi Lemak lie in the pandan leaf that's cooked with the rice, good quality coconut milk and the sambal (chilli paste sauce).  When I made this dish for lunch, I wasn't sure how my husband would take to it as it can be pretty chaotic for someone who is not used to a myriad of things on a plate.  I mean, for Nasi Lemak there's rice, sambal, egg, cucumbers, anchovies, peanuts and in my case I love it with Kangkong Belacan too.  To my surprise, my husband loved my Nasi Lemak, belacan and all.  As he waxed lyrical about the fragrant rice and how interesting the sambal tasted, albeit it's chilli hot, all I could do was to sit there and wonder how I had managed to swing his European palette to like belacan ;)  
   

No, these are not my ingredients for Nasi Lemak but my coconut-based
toiletries that I love. Organic, fragrant and superbly moisturizing 

Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

For rice
2 cups of long grain rice
250ml coconut milk
2 pandan leaves - tied into a knot
2 tsp salt
Water

For prawn sambal (chilli paste sauce)
12 dried chillies - washed and soaked in warm water for 5 mins before using
1 large onion - peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic - peeled and chopped
3 tsp belacan (shrimp paste)

Others
250gm prawns - washed & de-shelled
3 tbsp tamarind juice
2 cups water
Sugar & salt to taste
4 tbsp cooking oil
Cucumber - sliced into 1/2 inch circles
4 hard boiled eggs
Fried peanuts & crispy anchovies for garnishing (optional)
Kangkong Belacan (optional)

(See Kangkong Belacan for recipe)


Preparation:

1.  Rinse rice cleanly, add salt and pandan leaves to rice and cook with water quantity according to rice cooker instructions. 

2.  Grind all chilli paste ingredients with a bit of water to form a fine paste.  In a medium saucepan, heat oil and fry chilli paste for 3-4 mins until fragrant and it changes to a darker shade.  Do not let it burn.

3.  Add water and tamarind juice and let it simmer.

4.  Add prawns, sugar and salt to taste.  Cook for a further 5-8 mins until prawns are thoroughly cooked and sambal gets a little thick.  Turn heat off.

5.  Serve rice with sambal.  Garnish with hard boiled eggs and cucumbers.  Optional garnishes can include fried peanuts, crispy anchovies and Kangkong Belacan.


Tips:
- Besides hard-boiled eggs, Nasi Lemak can be served with egg omelette or sunny side up.
- Prawns can be substituted with anchovies, squid or simply plain sambal.
- Good quality canned coconut milk can also do a good job with the rice.


Fearlessly Simple & Home Cooked

Sushi for Beginners!

If the idea of eating raw food sent shivers down your spine but at the same time you're intrigued because you've read that the Japanese famously have a long and healthy life, I would suggest you go with sushi first.  Be warned, though - go slow with that innocent looking green paste made from horseradish called wasabi, lest you would be gasping for air and fear if you'd be able to breathe normally ever again.  But then, a little adventure in the pursuit of longevity does make for a cheap thrill, don't you think? Ha.   

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not suggesting eating sushis would certainly prolong your life.  It's just that you've got to give this famous food a try some day, if you haven't.  I adore sushi because of the wide variety and it is so easy and fast to make.  The freshness of the ingredients and the delicate flavour of the seaweed wrap make for a blissful indulgence.  Oishi!  As for wasabi, you can buy them ready made from the supermarkets.  Because I don't consume alcohol and the commercial sushis are often made with sake (Japanese wine), I quickly learnt to make my own sushis.  If you don't already own a rice cooker, get one. It's one of the best kitchen inventions you would treasure.

The full set of ingredients and utensils I used to make sushi.
You decide what fillings you want but be sure you can roll them with the rice!

As sushi's variety is wide ranging and limited only by one's creativity, I'm going to reveal the ingredients and preparation differently from my other recipes - via my favourite sushi making video.  You decide what you want to put into your sushi - I like mine with salmon, crab stick, egg omelette along with avocado and cucumber.  Pay attention to how the rice is cooked and the sushi rolling technique.  It's foolproof.  Have fun!

Fearlessly Simple & Home Cooked

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani Rice

My kitchen experiment with Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani Rice happened quite accidentally.  I was beguiled by an Indian chef on Youtube one fine day in Ramadan, as I was researching on what to cook for the day's iftar (the meal to break fast).  He not only makes cooking an elaborate dish like this seem like a cinch, his eyes enlarge at every emphasis of the dish's deliciousness.  At the risk of sounding like a Michael Jackson publicity trailer, I decided then "THIS IS IT!".  I would make biryani for iftar and in the process of it, immerse myself in spice therapy.

As Singapore is a fantastic melting pot of cuisines, I have very good recollections of biryani.  Biryani there comes in all tastes and sizes.  There are chicken, beef, mutton and fish biryanis.  It's traditionally (and best) eaten with your own fingers, like many Malays and Indians graciously do.  Right hand, not left.  I can't explain the delight but it's probably something to do with the intimate connection between the food and your own skin. 

For me, the biryani aroma that sticks to the fingers thereafter is nothing short of divine!



This version of biryani involves cooking the meat in and together with the rice



Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into 6 parts
4 cups Basmati rice
2 green cardamons
2 black cardamons
1 tbsp mace (javetri)
1 tbsp black cumin seeds
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 cinnmon stick
4 cloves
1 tbsp tumeric powder
2 tbsp ginger & garlic paste
2 green chillies
2 bay leaves
1 cup mint leaves
1 cup coriander leaves
1 cup fried shallots
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp chilli powder
2 cups yoghurt
5 tbsp cooking oil
1 lime
Salt to taste
A few strands of safron
Water

If the list of ingredients appears exhausting to you, you could also use the ready made Biryani Masala Mix from the shop - but nothing beats mixing your own spices!



Unearthing the treasure within - the tender chicken

Preparation:

I'll hand over this section to the aforementioned chef.

Fearlessly Simple & Home Cooked

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice is understandably a celebrated dish in Singapore because it is lip-smacking, aromatic and can be enjoyed by people of all ages.  The main excitement of this dish is in the, you've guessed it - chicken.  There are all kinds, from fried to roasted.  You can easily get lost in delirium as you sink your teeth into the tender and juicy chicken meat.  

I've always wanted to make my own Hainanese Chicken Rice but was dismayed at hearing how complicated the chicken cooking process could be.  Until I found a video on it.  It's like a windfall!  With my Netbook in tow, I wasted no time in getting the ingredients out of the fridge and following the video instructions fastidiously.  The result was an absolutely succulent chicken without a sweat. It's unbelieveably simple to poach the chicken to perfection that you won't want to fry your chicken for this dish ever again. Poaching the bird is healthier than frying it, anyway.  Love the aroma of garlic and ginger throughout the house while cooking was in progress. If Fried Rice was Paradise, then this Hainanese Chicken Rice is Ecstasy.

Succulent and tender, the chicken skin will rip off the meat easily

Ingredients:

Chicken

1 whole fresh chicken
1 tbsp light soy sauce
6 slices fresh ginger
1 garlic, slightly bruised
2 shallots, chopped
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt

Chicken Rice

3 cups long grain rice
2 tbsp cooking oil
2-3cm ginger, grated
3-4 garlic, chopped very finely or grated
1-2 tsp salt (to taste)
3 1/2 cups chicken stock from the boiled chicken or amount according to rice cooker instructions
2 pandan leaves (optional)

Chilli Dipping Sauce

10 fresh red chillies, seeds removed
1-2 garlic
5cm fresh ginger
2 tsp chicken stock (from the poached chicken)
Kaffir lime juice to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Rub chicken's inside with soy sauce. Grind ginger, garlic and one shallot. Stuff mixture into chicken.

2.  When the water boils, turn heat off.  Add remaining ginger and shallot into water and gently sink in the chicken into the hot water. Leave chicken in the water for one hour. After the first 5 minutes, lift up the chicken, drain the water from the stomach cavity and put chicken back in the pot. Repeat this process 2 to 3 times during the poaching period to make sure the chicken is cooked inside and outside.

3.  After 30 minutes, turn on the heat to bring the water back to just before boiling point, then turn heat off. Do not allow chicken to boil so it will be very tender and juicy from the poaching (boiling the chicken will harden it). At the end of the hour, raise the chicken from the water and gently rub it with the remaining soy sauce, sesame oil and salt.  Cut into bite-sized pieces to serve.

4.  Wash the rice in the rice cooker pot and drain well.  In a wok, fry the ginger and garlic with oil.

5.  Add the fried ginger and garlic to rice.  Sprinkle salt to taste.  Add water and pandan leaves.  Cook rice according to the rice cooker instructions.

6.  For the chilli sauce, grind chillies, garlic and ginger. Add chicken stock, lime juice and salt to taste.

7.  For chicken soup, ladle a small amount of chicken stock into serving bowls. Add finely chopped shallot.

Tips:
- Ensure that your pot is large enough to fit the whole chicken.
- If the chilli sauce tastes too hot, add a small amount of sugar into the sauce and squeeze a small amount of dark or sweet soy sauce when serving.
- The chicken skin gets very tender and succulent if chicken is correctly poached.  Handle the delicate bird with care.


Fearlessly Simple & Home Cooked