Frying of Sambal, Curry or Spice Paste

When I first started cooking curries, the frying of the paste 'until fragrant and oil separates from the paste ' was a puzzle. No matter how long I fried it, no oil appeared. So I had to resort to guess work as to when the paste is considered ready. One day I decided to try out the gas bbq wok burner to fry the paste and voila - oil did start coming out of the paste.

This is the sequence of frying the spice paste for my satay sauce.

grinded paste ready for frying


Pic 1. The paste is fried in 2 Tbsp of oil.
Pic 2. After a few minutes of frying, the oil is slowly absorbed.

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Fish Head Curry

This fish head curry is the closest to what I can remember eating in Malaysia. The texture of the flesh from the fish head is so smooth and surprisingly there was quite a lot of flesh to eat.
As Mr Redneck did not like the idea of eating the head, I added fish fillet so he can enjoy the dish as well. Currently salmon fish head only cost me $4/kg - which is really cheap.


Ingredients
1 (500g) salmon or snapper fish head
200 g fish fillet (optional)
5 okra (ladies finger), halved
2 long slender brinjal, cut into 2" pieces
1 tomato quartered

1-2 Tbsp oil
2-3 sprig curry leaves
3 Tbsp Baba curry powder mix with 1 Tbsp water
2 cup water
1 Tbsp tamarind pulp soak in ½ cup water
½ cup thick coconut milk
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Spice paste (grind together)
5 garlic cloves
1 big onion
2 red chillies
1 piece (1") ginger root
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 stalk lemon grass

Optional
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp mustard seed
¼ tsp fenugreek

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Kangkong Belacan ~ Water Convolvulus fried with Spicy Shrimp Paste

I cook this dish of kangkong sambal belacan as often as I can especially during the summer season. That's when it is really cheap and fresh. The aroma from the belacan will make your mouth water. The kangkong have to be stir fried over a very hot stove very quickly so as not to loose its crunchy texture. A simple yet very popular and uncomplicated dish.


Ingredients
250 g kangkong
½ Tbsp belacan
1-2 Tbsp dried shrimps
3 red chillies
1 small onion
4 garlic cloves
1-2 Tbsp oil
2-4 Tbsp water

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Crabstick Salad

We don't go ga ga over salad but this crabstick dish is by far our favourite summer salad. Great with a barbecue or steak and even on a filled roll. It is really cool and refreshing especially on a hot day.


Ingredients
4-5 lettuce leaves
3-4 crabsticks
3 medium size tomatoes, diced
2-3 Tbsp Best mayonnaise

Method
1. Shred lettuce leaves into narrow strips. Dice tomatoes and slice crabstick.

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Yeh Chi Tong ~ Coconut Sweets

Yeh Chi Tong is a lolly with a very rich flavour.

Makes 185 g

Ingredients
100g gula melaka
75g mak ngah tong (maltose)
2 tsp sugar
125ml thick coconut milk

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Beef & Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay is an all time favourite with almost anyone. I decided to experiment and create my own combination of marinade and satay sauce. It also gave Mr Redneck a chance to test out the new barbecue. Needless to say he was pleased with the performance of the bbq - it passed the satay test without burning the sticks or the satay! The satay and sauce were good and Mr Redneck said it was by far the best and most authentic satay sauce I have ever made and it tasted like those we had from Malaysia.

Don't let the long list of ingredients deter you. The tedious part in making satay is the stringing of the meat to the sticks but Mr Redneck does a wonderful job of this.

Makes 21 chicken & 31 beef satay

Ingredients
600 gm chicken breast
400 gm porterhouse beef

Marinade
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground fennel
1 tsp ground tumeric
3 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp garlic flake or fresh garlic
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt

Method
1. Soak 50-60 satay skewers in cold water for at least 2 hours to prevent them from burning during grilling.

2. Cut the meat into small strips about 2" long and 3/4" wide.

3. Grind marinade ingredients until fine and mix with the meat to marinate overnight.

4. Thread 4-5 pieces of the meat onto the skewer.

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