Kerabu Bok Nee (Nyonya -style Black Fungus Salad)

When I wrote Burnt and Alive, I said for Chinese Reunion Dinner, my mom wanted to make Nyonya Style Nasi Ulam to accompany the dinner. But all that changed when my dad's eldest brother invited us to have reunion dinner with his family, so the idea of making Nasi Ulam was scraped. I did however get the opportunity to eat Kerabu Bok Nee (Nyonya-style Black Fungus Salad) in Penang.

I was looking forward to making the Nasi Ulam and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when we couldn't. We were planning to go back to Penang on the 2nd day of CNY. To cook and clean on the first few days of CNY is taboo, of course, because according to Chinese traditions, we wouldn't want to wash the luck and prosperity away.

But back in Penang, my 5th grandaunt had already planned to cook a huge feast for all our immediate family members. The gesture was a real gem because she IS a wonderful Nyonya cook - her food is like a mirror to my late grandmother's, her older sister, except maybe a bit healthier. Anyway one of her dishes was Kerabu Bok Nee. It's been years (I think almost 10 years or more) since I've tasted this kerabu dish and hers was excellent. I got the recipe from her, of course. How could I not? It's a keeper. :)

You will note that preparation is more tedious than the actual assembly time. Like all good food, give it a bit of love and patience. You'll be rewarded splendidly :D






Kerabu Bok Nee recipe:

50grams black wood-ear fungus (bok nee), soaked for 10mins and cleaned off all dried/hard bits.




Dressing:
2 tbsp sambal belachan (Sriracha chili + a bit of fish sauce sauce can be a good substitute )
3 tbsp calamansi lime (normal green lime works as well)
2 tbsp Sugar, or to taste
1 tsp Salt, or to taste
150 grams of shallots, peels and sliced thinly length-wise
4 tbsp ginger flower/bunga kantan, finely sliced
2 tbsp of toasted grated coconut, pounded
1 fresh red chillies, de-seeded, diced finely
300 grams of chicken breast, steamed to cook and shredded

Assembly:

1. Combine the ingredients for Dressing starting with the liquids into a big bowl. Mix well.
2. Add black fungus and shredded chicken into the bowl and again toss until it is well combined.

You can eat the salad as it is. It's very refreshing and crunchy, I love the combination of texture and aroma a lot. Or you can eat it with rice and a dollop of sambal. You can double/triple/quadruple the recipe safely too.

Acar Fish - Nyonya style pickled fish

I remember quite vividly of a curiously yellow dish on the table. Hands were dirtied and tainted yellow with the mix of rice and fish. A big dollop of sambal on the side of the plate and a satiated silence permeates the dining table.

Acar Fish was the order of the day, it's loaded with turmeric which gives it that distinct yellow color and a spicy acidic flavor from the vinegar used. It's a very simple recipe really, and a tasty one. My father loves this dish and would never fail to have at least a second helping when this is cooked.

I used smelt for this recipe because they were so fresh in the market when i bought them. I couldn't help it but get reminded of this pickled fish dish (Mind you, in Malaysia, you don't use smelt. It's a fish that looks like smelt though - i just don't know what it's called). So, I bought 6 smelts to make this dish.

**edit: My dad told me the fish they use in Penang is called "belanak" or "beranak" cos it's usually filled with eggs or something. Hmm...maybe it's a cousin of the smelt. AND apparently i have missed a very important step in making this fish: Drying it under the sun before the dry rub and frying. Crucial, apparently. But i made this during winter and there was no sun at 6pm in the evening :P SIGH... it tasted good though. I think i made up for the sun-bathing process by frying till it's crisp :D

I shall share this Nyonya recipe with you because it's just delicious with rice and I'm a generous girl ;)

Acar Fish recipe:
5 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
8 slices of ginger, thinly julienned
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 cup of white vinegar
1 tablespoons of sugar, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup of oil

1 teaspoon turmeric for marinating fish
salt and pepper
1 cup of Oil for frying.

Method:
1. Marinate your fish with some salt, pepper and turmeric powder for about 30 minutes--it's like a dry rub. You can prepare the other ingredients in the mean time.
2. Heat pan with 1 cup of oil on medium high. Once the oil is hot enough, if you have a cooking thermometer, reading should say 300F, fry your fish until it is crispy and golden brown.

Now the trick here is to fry the fish on medium high heat (turn the heat down to medium if it gets too hot) until the fish becomes crispy. You want to fry the water content of the fish away so that it will become a sponge for later cooking. This is how the fish will absorb all those flavors of ginger, turmeric and garlic. The vinegar cuts the oiliness and imparts a nice appetizing bite to the dish.

3. Once the fish is done, take it out of the oil and lay them on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.
4. On a different pan, heat with 1/4 cup of oil. Saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add turmeric powder and vinegar in. It'll be splashy for a few seconds so be careful.
5. Add the fried fish into the pan and let it come to a simmer. Add salt, sugar to taste. Let the dish simmer for about 15 minutes and then serve.

This Acar Fish can last for a long while and it actually tastes better as time goes by. You can make a big batch of this and keep it refridgerated for weeks. But i doubt it'll last a week in the fridge - i'd eat it everyday ;)

Otak-otak finally!

My very own otak-otak!

After seeing many of my food blogging peers making otak-otak in their respective foreign countries and salivating profusely, i've decided to use the cod in my freezer to make myself some otak-otak for dinner. After all, I still remember vaguelyhow my grandma in Penang went about making her otak-otak in her kitchen for us when we visit. Since she has passed on when I was 15, we haven't had much otak-otak save for the ones sold outside the hawker centers in Penang. I'll always remember the big bamboo steamer filled with otak-otak wrapped in banana leaves in my grandma's kitchen...it was just huge and the aroma just attacks your senses as soon as you enter the house.

Anyway, I had some of the essential herbs that makes otak-otak taste what it is - the kafir lime leaves as well as some lemongrass. So away i went, experimenting :)

First, I cook my otak-otak base, a type of spicy chutney to which I will mix my fish and egg whites into later. I had some left over curry base in the fridge; a blend of onions, garlic, ginger and galangal. I sauteed that in my frying pan along with the lemongrass and sliced kafir lime leaves until fragrant (1-2 mins) and added some tumeric powder in it. I also add some Maggi Belacan powder about 1/4 tsp in, some chili flakes and continued saute-ing my way until everything is amalgamated into a nice yellow paste. It takes about 5-8 minutes of sauteing at the end. So i scoop my otak-otak base out, chop my one fillet of cod into chunks, throw it into the base, add an egg white and stir. You'll have a sticky, mushy mixture to which you will pour them out into banana leaves if you have some or in aluminium foils. Close them nicely, tightly shut and steam them on your rice cooker until they're done (about 10-12 minutes)

EAT~! :D Otak-otak is delicious with rice.

My otak-otak tastes pretty passable. I mean, I don't have that herb in which they use to cook the otak-otak with that makes it have that really unique taste...in hokkien it sound something like OonKaLong or close to that. I remember seeing these leaves growing wild at the back of my grandparents' house. Now that the house is torn down for development, it's quite a pity that those lovely herbs had to go with it too. In some recipes online, they even suggested substituting that herb with mint leaves. I didn't have either but the otak-otak tasted alright anyway. I'm happy that i got to satisfy this craving :)

Curried Chicken, Sambal & Rice

Chicken Curry

I made a pot of curried chicken yesterday and it was just what I needed even though I am down with the flu...:P No one can't stop me from having my hot fix! And to make it even hotter, i had sambal with it.

A true Penangite will always eat their rice with sambal belacan. Well, that's what I was brought up to assume because when my grandmother was still alive, she'd always eat her rice with sambal on every meal, regardless of whatever dishes she forked out to go with the rice. Oh and she usually has a plate of fresh veggies like lettuce leaves, cucumber and four sided bean around so she can eat it with her sambal belacan and rice.

I am a Penang girl; born in Penang and will always take Penang as home even though I lived in KL, Malaysia. I spent most of my girlhood in Penang, in my grandparents house, which i still dream of at night when I go to sleep. Now, even though I live in Canada, I still eat like a Penangite and I am proud that my kitchen reeks of sambal belacan and all the other pungent spices :P

Anyway, back to my curried chicken, i used yoghurt instead of coconut's milk. Healthier and i feel less guilty scorching my throat when the curry is healthier, mind you! Everybody seems to have a way of cooking their curried chicken. Mine? I will never add water to my curry; instead I add chopped up juicy tomatoes to it :)

Here's what I used in my chicken curry:


Half a chicken, cut in to 8 pieces

Marinate chicken with:-
150g of yoghurt
4 tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin, whole
1 teaspoon salt

Curry base, to be blended:-
3 large onions (green or red)
half a bulb of garlic
1x1 inch knob of ginger
1x1 inch knob of galangal/lam keong (optional)
Water, enough to get the stuff going
*you can make a large amount of this paste for keeps. This is the basic base for any curry.

Other dry ingredients:
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 pods of cardamom
5 pieces of cloves
1 star of anise or aniseed
1 cinnamon stick (3-4inches long)
5 tablespoons of oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
Method:

1. Marinate your chicken with all those ingredient for about 30mins -1 hour.
2. Heat oil on medium high heat in a pot. Add your mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, star of anise and cinnamon stick in and saute till mustard seeds starts popping.
3. Add your paste, chili powder, coriander powder and stir-fry for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Add your chicken and its entire marinate in, mix to coat well.
5. Let it simmer and stir occasionally until chicken is cooked. It'll take about 1 hour and more. Frankly, I let my curry simmer longer so that it's tastier and the flavors blend.

Ahhhh.....

So once my curry is done, I spooned some rice on my plate, pluck some of my romaine lettuces, add a dollop of sambal on the side and my curry of the other. Ahhhh.....a feast!