Masak Lemak Cili Api Udang & Nenas

MASAK LEMAK CILI API UDANG & NENAS

PRAWN WITH PINEAPPLE IN CREAMY COCONUT CHILI GRAVY

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS   

                                                 

·         400g prawns

·         250ml thick coconut milk

·         1 cup water

·         4-6 red chili api (bird’s eye chili), split lengthwise

·         3 asam gelugor

·         2 stalk of lemongrass, smashed

·         2 pineapple slice, cut into bite size

·         1 tumeric leaf

·         3 kaffir lime leaf

·         sugar to taste

·         salt to taste

Spice Paste

·         10 shallots

·         4 garlic cloves

·         ½” slice of young ginger

·         2 stalk of lemongrass, sliced

·         tumeric root, thumb-size

DIRECTIONS      

        

• Trim prawn, devein but leave shell on.

• Combine the spice paste ingredients, pound using a pestle & mortar until forms a fine paste.

• Put coconut milk, water, chili api, smashed lemongrass and spice paste in a pot, bring to a gentle simmer.

• Add prawn, slowly bring to boil. Add asam gelugor and pineapple.

• Add roughly torn tumeric leaves and kaffir lime leaves, reduce heat and cook until fragrant.

• Season with salt and sugar to taste.

• Garnish with finely sliced tumeric & kaffir lime leaves and fresh red chilies.

• Serve with hot white rice.

* Note : This recipe was tweaked to suit the non-spicy palate, feel free to add more chili if you wish.

KERABU KACANG BOTOR & TAUGEH

KERABU KACANG BOTOR  &  TAUGEH 

(FOUR ANGLE WINGED BEAN &  BEANSPROUT SALAD)

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

·         6 kacang botor (four angle winged bean)

·         1 cup taugeh (beansprout)

·         2 lemongrass

·         1 torch ginger flower

·         6 shallots, sliced

·         ½” slice of  young ginger

·         2 red chili, seeded

·         ½ cup grated coconut, lightly toasted

·         4 calamansi lime, juiced

·         1 tsp sugar

Sauce Paste

·         2 tsp dried shrimp

·         1 lemongrass, sliced

·         4 shallots, sliced

·         2 garlic, sliced

·         2 bird’s eye chili

·         ½ tsp belacan (shrimp paste)

·         ½ cup grated coconut, toasted until golden

DIRECTIONS

·         Slice kacang botor thinly, diagonally. Finely slice seeded red chili and young ginger into strips. Remove the tough outer layer of the lemongrass, slice the inner part finely. Thinly slice the shallot and torch ginger flower.

·         Remove tail and bean skin from taugeh. Put in a bowl, cover with hot water. Leave for 2 minutes, drain and rinse in cold water to stop further cooking.

·         Dry fry all the spice paste ingredients until fragrant. Pound in a pestle & mortar until forms a paste. Thin with calamansi lime juice.

·         To make the salad, place sliced kacang botor, taugeh, red chili, ginger, shallot, torch ginger flower and toasted coconut in a bowl. Add the spice paste and sugar. Toss until well mixed, add salt and more lime juice or sugar if required.

·         Keep cool until serving time.

Of curries, chapatis and biryanis

We braved the traffic jam, ventured through the small lanes of Little India for the sublime curries from Tajudin Hussein's Restaurant that happens to be right smack in the middle of the bazaar Ramadan!

Plenty of the stalls are at least second generation sellers, most are not seasonal hawkers, their usual restaurant or stall are indeed the area selling age old favorites such as the Biryanis and curries of Tajudin Hussein's (you'll be amazed at the number of different fowls they made into a variety of curries), and the fluffy soft capati stall that also sells delicious curries made of various parts of a mutton, the fire roasted mutton limbs are especially scrumptious.

There's also stalls selling 'murtabak', 'putu mayam', 'taukua rendang' and various sweet and savoury snacks, including various halvas, samosas and vadais with a smattering of young faces selling the usual bazaar Ramadan fares.

Sweet and savoury snacks, including various halvas, samosas and vadais.

Murtabak is still RM2.50 here.

Tajudin Hussein opens a stall right outside their restaurant during Ramadan. This is the only place I buy from during Ramadan, as this is one of the places we eat at during regular months.

Behind their mask of meekness

I am very much 'amused' with some people who let people bully them and not stand up for their rights or even attempt to do so even though there's opportunity, time and it's safe enough to do so. When I say bully I mean it in the loosest manner, it could mean being discriminated based on gender, race, religion or social standing; road or parking bullied, treated rudely by service staff, bad service or overcharging at that restaurant. Or it could even be as simple as having people cut in line at that checkout counter. They then come to whine about it on social media, which usually leads to public outcry and shaming and cursing. Chances of the bullies finding out that people are upset with them via social media are almost zilch, especially if the 'crime' are not so big.

And sometimes, the chance arises where someone else is around and the person stands up for them, trying to defend a friend, righting what's not right. After all, friends do fight for friends, don't they?

So here's the funniest part, instead of being grateful, the whiner goes around whining that the friend embarrassed the whiner by defending them, that the friend should have just kept quiet about it. And the whiner goes around to a lot of people to whine about this friend. And this will start a round of bashing and shaming the friend instead. People who fraternize with the whiners aren't usually the kindest kind, they thrive on gossip and shaming. Words they use are cruel at their most charitable The injustice that was stopped is no longer the issue, but the friend who defended the whiner is. The friend's defence embarrass the whiner, that's really a major crime, that friend must be made to look like a major villain!

So what do you say of these people? Are they really the bigger bully hiding behind the mask of meekness? Or do they let themselves be bullied to satisfy their cravings of pure unadulterated meanness?

Yes, this is a whine post, though I am still deeply amused.

Stranger Things

If you grew up in the 80's, mad about Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Atari and high handlebar bicycles, and wished that they'd put together all your favorite coming of age movies, this is definitely a must watch.

Taking the best of  films, books, and TV shows from the 1980s and mixing them into it's very own sci-fi magic, this Netflix series gives homage to The Goonies, E.T, Stand by Me, Close Encounter of the Third Kind, Gremlin, Indiana Jones as well as a few  Stephen King's thrillers. The sense of dejávu you get in almost every other scene, is like going back into the comfort of simpler times.

I'd recommend a marathon of all the 8 episodes from Season 1 over a weekend (or in one night like we did )

Just watch it!