Recently, my friend told me that I should be sharing more everyday recipes on Rasa Malaysia—meaning homey recipes that can be served on a constant basis. Truth be told, I cook and eat mostly everyday dishes at home. I mean, blog aside, most of the recipes I make are humble, everyday dishes that you will want to eat over and over again, without ever getting bored. Clay pot chicken with mushroom is one of them. I don’t know why it has taken me this long to share this wonderful Recipe; I guess the notion that it is not that visually appealing is the main reason.
Anyway, during winter months, I use my clay pot almost once a week. I have so many recipes that can be easily prepared in a clay pot, for examples: Taiwanese 3-Cup Chicken, Sesame Oil Chicken, Cantonese Beef Stew, Malaysian Yong Tow Foo, Curry Fish Head, Bak Kut Teh, pork belly in soy sauce, and braised pork ribs with daikon. Clay pot is without a doubt one of my favorite kitchen utensils. The thought of something stewing, braising, and simmering in this kitchenware is enough to stir up my appetite.
Clay pot chicken with mushroom is a very versatile dish. You can throw in extra ingredients to dress up this humble dish—carrot, daikon, onion, or even Cantonese lap cheong (sausage). Either way, the taste is remarkable and the sauce is great with a bowl of soft, fluffy steamed rice.
(Click Page 2 for the Clay Pot Chicken with Mushroom Recipe)
As you might have guessed, my favorite region in the whole world is Asia. And of all Asia, my favorite island is Penang, my hometown, and my second favorite is Bali, Indonesia. I love Bali”its lush green fields, Hindu temples, rolling highlands, sandy beaches, rich culture, and friendly people. Ive been there a few times and wish to learn more about its cuisine. I’m so happy to come across Cooking Tackle, an Indonesian food blog by Ira, based in Bali. Cooking Tackle is a visual eye candy. I absolutely love the exotic recipes and mouthwatering food photography. The blog is simply delicious! Please welcome Cooking Tackle and Ira to Rasa Malaysia, with a traditional Balinesechicken, or ayam pelalah Recipe.
Although the sky for the most part is grey here in Bali recently, it doesn’t mean that I’m lack of motivation. In fact, cooking has always been an enjoyable experience, so you could imagine how excited I was when I received an email from Bee, inviting me to be a guest writer on Rasa Malaysia.
We discussed the recipe via email and I proposed a Balinese recipe to showcase Balinese cuisine to Rasa Malaysia readers. I was very happy that both Bee and I liked the idea. To be honest, I take this guest post as the perfect opportunity to share my passion for Balinese cooking with the many readers on Rasa Malaysia, especially to those who are not familiar with Bali and its interesting cuisine. I’d like to thank Bee for the honor to be here. I feel privileged to be able to share my humble recipe here.
Let me introduce myself: M name is Ira, an Indonesian woman who lives in the island of the God, the island of a thousand temples—Bali. Bali is genuinely beautiful; it’s a magical island to many people who have visited it. Bali is the island chosen by God, by its people…it’s exotic and heavenly!
I’m sharing a recipe of Balinese food today. Balinese chicken or ayam pelalah is a traditional and authentic Balinese dish, an everyday dish as well as a ceremonial staple. It™s basically shredded chicken. The chicken is first grilled and then tossed with many aromatic Balinese spices. It’s one of the most scrumptious Balinese recipes and it’s iconic to Bali. Ayam pelalah is commonly served as a side dish or as a compliment for nasi campur Bali or Balinese mixed rice.
The general assumption is that Balinese cooking is tedious and takes a long time to prepare. However, I believe that if you’re passionate about learning Balinese cuisine and have patience, you’ll never be hindered by this presumption. I personally think differently as cooking traditional Balinese food is like a sacred offering to the God—its the belief of Balinese Hinduism. However, I must warn you that Balinese food is spicy and calls for numerous spices in the preparation process, so it’s true that cooking Balinese food is a tedious process.
I learned about Balinese food when I attended a Balinese cooking class last year. I also own a couple Balinese cookery books. After the cooking class, I couldn’t wait to go home and started cooking Balinese food for my family. I was so excited to be able to make authentic Balinese dishes; it was a fun and wonderful experience. I was very lucky as I learned authentic Balinese cooking from a native. Nothing beats learning from native home cooks; they are the most humble, kind, and sincere people I’ve ever known. Since then, I’ve been cooking and experimenting authentic Balinese cooking at home.
(Click Pageł for the Balinese Chicken/AyamPelalah Recipe)
Malaysian cuisine consists of three main flavors: Malay, Chinese, and Indian. I have said it many times, but I love Malay cooking and only wished that I could eat more Malay dishes. Today, I have invited my friend Zurin from Cherry on a Cake to guest post and she shares my favorite Malay Recipe with us: Spicy Honey Chicken. Cherry on a Cake is a delicious food blog with many baking and savory recipes. The recipes are authentic and the food photography is pure eye-candy. Check out Cherry on a Cake and I am sure you will like it.
Like those before me I was ecstatic to be invited to guest post on Bee’s blog Rasa Malaysia. It is the food blog that every food blogger aspires to guest post on. Bee asked me if I would be interested. Was she kidding?! If there is a hole in my roof I think I just made it…
Hers is one of the first blogs I scrolled through in my early days of blogging and still follow silently because my jaw hangs each time I stop by. Everything seems professional, the recipes precise, the photography perfect and most of all her repertoire of dishes are endless. It was and still is sheer inspiration. And here I am now making my little mark and taking up a teeny space on the famous food blog of Rasa Malaysia. Imagine that!
Spicy Honey Chicken is quite akin to the Malay Ayam Masak Merah (red cooked chicken). In both, tomato ketchup is one of the main ingredients used. It is the Malay version of a Chinese sweet and sour chicken.
Ayam Masak Merah and Spicy Honey Chicken are relatively “modern” dishes. These two dishes go back only as far as the Western tomato ketchup became a popular condiment in our households and when, after much dipping, we decided to incorporate it into our cooking as an ingredient. Hence, the Ayam Masak Merah was born followed closely by Spicy Honey Chicken when honey too began to be used in our cooking.
So these were not dishes I grew up eating when I was a child. It was only in later years that it amassed popularity and became a dish that was discovered to pair well with a Rice Biryani or Nasi Minyak and was thus served at special occasions, particularly weddings.
Where most Malay dishes including Ayam Masak Merah (Red Cooked Chicken) use large amounts of onions or shallots to give sweetness and to bulk up the sauce Honey Spiced Chicken does not. This dish has very little sauce or gravy unlike a curry or sambal dish…which is quite uncharacteristic because sauce or gravy in our world serves only one purpose. To drown our rice in.
Lets face it. Rice. Is. Bland.
But I suppose we have compromised our love of sauce and sambal and have come to accept that little sauce is acceptable in some cases. And Spicy Honey Chicken is one of them.
To this recipe, however, I have departed a little by adding an extra ingredient—some lime juice—to balance out the sweetness from the honey.
Malaysian cuisine consists of three main flavors: Malay, Chinese, and Indian. I have said it many times, but I love Malay cooking and only wished that I could eat more Malay dishes. Today, I have invited my friend Zurin from Cherry on a Cake to guest post and she shares my favorite Malay Recipe with us: Spicy Honey Chicken. Cherry on a Cake is a delicious food blog with many baking and savory recipes. The recipes are authentic and the food photography is pure eye-candy. Check out Cherry on a Cake and I am sure you will like it.
Like those before me I was ecstatic to be invited to guest post on Bee’s blog Rasa Malaysia. It is the food blog that every food blogger aspires to guest post on. Bee asked me if I would be interested. Was she kidding?! If there is a hole in my roof I think I just made it…
Hers is one of the first blogs I scrolled through in my early days of blogging and still follow silently because my jaw hangs each time I stop by. Everything seems professional, the recipes precise, the photography perfect and most of all her repertoire of dishes are endless. It was and still is sheer inspiration. And here I am now making my little mark and taking up a teeny space on the famous food blog of Rasa Malaysia. Imagine that!
Spicy Honey Chicken is quite akin to the Malay Ayam Masak Merah (red cooked chicken). In both, tomato ketchup is one of the main ingredients used. It is the Malay version of a Chinese sweet and sour chicken.
Ayam Masak Merah and Spicy Honey Chicken are relatively “modern” dishes. These two dishes go back only as far as the Western tomato ketchup became a popular condiment in our households and when, after much dipping, we decided to incorporate it into our cooking as an ingredient. Hence, the Ayam Masak Merah was born followed closely by Spicy Honey Chicken when honey too began to be used in our cooking.
So these were not dishes I grew up eating when I was a child. It was only in later years that it amassed popularity and became a dish that was discovered to pair well with a Rice Biryani or Nasi Minyak and was thus served at special occasions, particularly weddings.
Where most Malay dishes including Ayam Masak Merah (Red Cooked Chicken) use large amounts of onions or shallots to give sweetness and to bulk up the sauce Honey Spiced Chicken does not. This dish has very little sauce or gravy unlike a curry or sambal dish…which is quite uncharacteristic because sauce or gravy in our world serves only one purpose. To drown our rice in.
Lets face it. Rice. Is. Bland.
But I suppose we have compromised our love of sauce and sambal and have come to accept that little sauce is acceptable in some cases. And Spicy Honey Chicken is one of them.
To this recipe, however, I have departed a little by adding an extra ingredient—some lime juice—to balance out the sweetness from the honey.
Malaysian cuisine consists of three main flavors: Malay, Chinese, and Indian. I have said it many times, but I love Malay cooking and only wished that I could eat more Malay dishes. Today, I have invited my friend Zurin from Cherry on a Cake to guest post and she shares my favorite Malay Recipe with us: Spicy Honey Chicken. Cherry on a Cake is a delicious food blog with many baking and savory recipes. The recipes are authentic and the food photography is pure eye-candy. Check out Cherry on a Cake and I am sure you will like it.
Like those before me I was ecstatic to be invited to guest post on Bee’s blog Rasa Malaysia. It is the food blog that every food blogger aspires to guest post on. Bee asked me if I would be interested. Was she kidding?! If there is a hole in my roof I think I just made it…
Hers is one of the first blogs I scrolled through in my early days of blogging and still follow silently because my jaw hangs each time I stop by. Everything seems professional, the recipes precise, the photography perfect and most of all her repertoire of dishes are endless. It was and still is sheer inspiration. And here I am now making my little mark and taking up a teeny space on the famous food blog of Rasa Malaysia. Imagine that!
Spicy Honey Chicken is quite akin to the Malay Ayam Masak Merah (red cooked chicken). In both, tomato ketchup is one of the main ingredients used. It is the Malay version of a Chinese sweet and sour chicken.
Ayam Masak Merah and Spicy Honey Chicken are relatively “modern” dishes. These two dishes go back only as far as the Western tomato ketchup became a popular condiment in our households and when, after much dipping, we decided to incorporate it into our cooking as an ingredient. Hence, the Ayam Masak Merah was born followed closely by Spicy Honey Chicken when honey too began to be used in our cooking.
So these were not dishes I grew up eating when I was a child. It was only in later years that it amassed popularity and became a dish that was discovered to pair well with a Rice Biryani or Nasi Minyak and was thus served at special occasions, particularly weddings.
Where most Malay dishes including Ayam Masak Merah (Red Cooked Chicken) use large amounts of onions or shallots to give sweetness and to bulk up the sauce Honey Spiced Chicken does not. This dish has very little sauce or gravy unlike a curry or sambal dish…which is quite uncharacteristic because sauce or gravy in our world serves only one purpose. To drown our rice in.
Lets face it. Rice. Is. Bland.
But I suppose we have compromised our love of sauce and sambal and have come to accept that little sauce is acceptable in some cases. And Spicy Honey Chicken is one of them.
To this recipe, however, I have departed a little by adding an extra ingredient—some lime juice—to balance out the sweetness from the honey.
(Originally published on 9/4/2006. Updated with new pictures.)
Malaysian Satay—those little skewers of meat with satay peanut sauce and ketupat (Malay rice cake) is a very popular dish in Malaysia. Walk down any street in the country and the mouthwatering aroma of satay exudes from practically every corner you pass: roadside satay stalls, hawker centers, pasar malam (night markets), kopitiam (Chinese coffee shops), and even high-end restaurants…
Of course satay is universally loved across Southeast Asia. (It’s commonly believed that satay is the region’s distant cousin to the Middle-Eastern kebabs, thanks to the spice route and the culinary influence of the early Arab traders.) However each country has their own interpretation for satay, influenced by their own unique food culture and distinct palate. For instance, Indonesian satay tend to be sweeter because of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) while the Thai satay is slightly less sweet since coconut milk is used instead…
No surprise then that Malaysian Satay is made with ingredients and spices commonly found in Malaysian cooking; shallots, lemongrass, turmeric powder (kunyit), and coriander powder. The basic Recipe calls for the cook’s meat of choice—be it chicken, beef, lamb, or pork—to marinate for many hours or even overnight so as to lock in the flavor. In addition to the peanut dipping sauce, Malaysian satay is served with ketupat, onions, and cucumber. Trust me, the taste of these side dishes complement each other exquisitely.
When I make chicken satay at home I often save time by using off-the-shelf satay marinate powder such as Ayam brand satay seasoning (aka “cheated“), but the existence of Rasa Malaysia has motivated me to try making everything from scratch, if possible. So I will admit to modifying the traditional and authentic Malaysian chicken satay recipe with a tint of kecap manis and Chinese oyster sauce substituting for salt and sugar. But as you can infer from these pictures, the end results were delicious. You can almost smell the enticing aroma of the chicken satay from your computer screen, can’t you?
July 9th, 2011 | Malaysian Recipes, Singaporean recipes | No Comments
You know that someone is a serious and great cook when she tirelessly perfects her recipes even though it means that the family has to eat the same dish over and over again, Sherie of Maameemoomoo is just that with her Hainanese chicken rice Recipe, a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore. Maameemoomoo food blog is one of the finalists of Singapore Blog Award; it beckons with mouthwatering recipes and gorgeous photography, one that is sure to stir up your appetite. Please welcome Maameemoomoo to Rasa Malaysia with her perfect Hainanese chicken rice recipe. Enjoy!
Truth be told, I got to know about Rasa Malaysia quite sometime ago back in 2006 from one of my favourite food blogs then. All these years, I’ve been silently supporting Bee without her knowing but now, errrmmm… not so silently anymore aye?
When Bee invited me to do a guest post for her last month, I was elated but at the same time, a little worried…
Why?
Just take a look at the Bee’s recipe index. I doubt that there is any Malaysian/ Singaporean dish that has not been featured on Rasa Malaysia already. Fortunately, 1 out of 2 suggestions suggested got Bee thrilled and she was quick to agree to it because she hasn’t featured this particular dish, yet.
Hainanesechicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin most commonly associated with Hainanese Cuisine, Malaysian Cuisine and Singapore Cuisine. It is based on the well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞). Don’t be surprised though, if you find the chicken rice served in Hainan, China is different from what you can find in Southeast Asia. Over the years, adaption has been made by the Chinese Hainanese clan who migrated to Southeast Asia which resulted today’s Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore and Malaysia.
Being a Hainanese myself, I often eat this when I was growing up. My mother has this ultra soft-spot for this dish, perhaps, because it is the only Hainanese dish which she can whip up perfectly. Tee hee hee!
So, how do you define a good plate of chicken rice?
You might be shocked to know that each and every one of us defines it differently. While a bowl of kick-ass rice works for me, some may think it is the oh-so-tender-chicken pieces with its silky smooth skin, or some, it is the one-of-its-kind-chili sauce. I say, whatever works for you and that is that.
Before this, due to my non-existent chopping chicken skill, I usually cut the chicken into just 4 sections and let the children tear the meat off by themselves. However, ever since I promised Bee that I’ll produce a decent looking plate of chicken rice for her, my poor family had been consuming chicken rice for almost 5 weeks consecutively for the past month!
Thankfully on my 5th attempt, I managed to get a plate of OK-looking chicken pieces and i thought that was the end of my chicken rice meal for the next 3 months at least, but guess what? I’ve just been sent a request to cook this dish on Sunday for my partner’s family and his beloved sister who would be back from the States for a short holiday!
o.O
Guess it’s not that easy to get bored of Hainanese chicken rice eh?
Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe Serves 4
For the rice
3 cups uncooked washed rice
5 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
4 finely chopped shallots
2 + 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp chicken broth
4-6 blades of pandan leave (screwpine leaves)
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
1 tbsp of the garlic and shallot oil
70g chicken fats
1+ 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
For the chicken
1 whole chicken, preferably free range organic chicken
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
5-6 stalks of scallion, washed
10 bowls chicken stock, adjust accordingly
4 blades of pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 + 1 tsp of salt
90g red chilies (you may add in some bird’s eye chili)
ಏg garlic
50g ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
50ml chicken broth
60ml lime juice, to taste
To garnish
few sprigs of cilantro
Method:
For the chicken
1. Wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger and scallion into the chicken’s cavity. Using 2 tsp of salt as scrub, rub the salt all over the chicken for smooth looking skin.
2. In a not too large stockpot which fits the chicken perfectly, boil the chicken stock (enough to cover the whole chicken) together with pandan leaves, carrot and salt.
3. Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down in the boiling water for 35-45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Lower the heat to gentle simmer immediately.
4. When chicken is cooked, remove chicken and plunge it into prepared cold water at once for 10 minutes. Keep the chicken broth** for later use.
5. Drain the chicken, discard ginger and scallion from the cavity and set it aside to cool before chopping it neatly into desired serving size.
For the rice
1. Heat oil in wok, fry chopped shallots and garlic till fragrant and golden in colour. Add rice and stir well. Transfer the rice mixture to rice cooker.
2. Once transferred, add chicken broth, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic and shallot oil, chicken fats and salt into rice mixture. Cook according to rice cooker’s manual instruction.
To prepare chicken rice
1. Line a serving plate with cucumber slices.
2. Arrange chicken pieces on top, pour in the prepared sauce before garnishing with cilantro. 3. Serve with chicken rice, side soup and chicken rice chili sauce.
**Any left over chicken broth can be served as side soup, garnish with cilantro or chopped scallions. I like my soup with fish balls.
Cook’s Note:
Never let the Great-Wall-of-China-long list of ingredients and methods intimidate you. It’s really not as tough or scary as it seems + the ingredients can be easily attainable almost everywhere and importantly, your effort will be extremely well paid off after.
July 9th, 2011 | Malaysian Recipes, Singaporean recipes | No Comments
You know that someone is a serious and great cook when she tirelessly perfects her recipes even though it means that the family has to eat the same dish over and over again, Sherie of Maameemoomoo is just that with her Hainanese chicken rice Recipe, a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore. Maameemoomoo food blog is one of the finalists of Singapore Blog Award; it beckons with mouthwatering recipes and gorgeous photography, one that is sure to stir up your appetite. Please welcome Maameemoomoo to Rasa Malaysia with her perfect Hainanese chicken rice recipe. Enjoy!
Truth be told, I got to know about Rasa Malaysia quite sometime ago back in 2006 from one of my favourite food blogs then. All these years, I’ve been silently supporting Bee without her knowing but now, errrmmm… not so silently anymore aye?
When Bee invited me to do a guest post for her last month, I was elated but at the same time, a little worried…
Why?
Just take a look at the Bee’s recipe index. I doubt that there is any Malaysian/ Singaporean dish that has not been featured on Rasa Malaysia already. Fortunately, 1 out of 2 suggestions suggested got Bee thrilled and she was quick to agree to it because she hasn’t featured this particular dish, yet.
Hainanesechicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin most commonly associated with Hainanese Cuisine, Malaysian Cuisine and Singapore Cuisine. It is based on the well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞). Don’t be surprised though, if you find the chicken rice served in Hainan, China is different from what you can find in Southeast Asia. Over the years, adaption has been made by the Chinese Hainanese clan who migrated to Southeast Asia which resulted today’s Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore and Malaysia.
Being a Hainanese myself, I often eat this when I was growing up. My mother has this ultra soft-spot for this dish, perhaps, because it is the only Hainanese dish which she can whip up perfectly. Tee hee hee!
So, how do you define a good plate of chicken rice?
You might be shocked to know that each and every one of us defines it differently. While a bowl of kick-ass rice works for me, some may think it is the oh-so-tender-chicken pieces with its silky smooth skin, or some, it is the one-of-its-kind-chili sauce. I say, whatever works for you and that is that.
Before this, due to my non-existent chopping chicken skill, I usually cut the chicken into just 4 sections and let the children tear the meat off by themselves. However, ever since I promised Bee that I’ll produce a decent looking plate of chicken rice for her, my poor family had been consuming chicken rice for almost 5 weeks consecutively for the past month!
Thankfully on my 5th attempt, I managed to get a plate of OK-looking chicken pieces and i thought that was the end of my chicken rice meal for the next 3 months at least, but guess what? I’ve just been sent a request to cook this dish on Sunday for my partner’s family and his beloved sister who would be back from the States for a short holiday!
o.O
Guess it’s not that easy to get bored of Hainanese chicken rice eh?
Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe Serves 4
For the rice
3 cups uncooked washed rice
5 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
4 finely chopped shallots
2 + 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp chicken broth
4-6 blades of pandan leave (screwpine leaves)
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
1 tbsp of the garlic and shallot oil
70g chicken fats
1+ 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
For the chicken
1 whole chicken, preferably free range organic chicken
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
5-6 stalks of scallion, washed
10 bowls chicken stock, adjust accordingly
4 blades of pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 + 1 tsp of salt
90g red chilies (you may add in some bird’s eye chili)
ಏg garlic
50g ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
50ml chicken broth
60ml lime juice, to taste
To garnish
few sprigs of cilantro
Method:
For the chicken
1. Wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger and scallion into the chicken’s cavity. Using 2 tsp of salt as scrub, rub the salt all over the chicken for smooth looking skin.
2. In a not too large stockpot which fits the chicken perfectly, boil the chicken stock (enough to cover the whole chicken) together with pandan leaves, carrot and salt.
3. Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down in the boiling water for 35-45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Lower the heat to gentle simmer immediately.
4. When chicken is cooked, remove chicken and plunge it into prepared cold water at once for 10 minutes. Keep the chicken broth** for later use.
5. Drain the chicken, discard ginger and scallion from the cavity and set it aside to cool before chopping it neatly into desired serving size.
For the rice
1. Heat oil in wok, fry chopped shallots and garlic till fragrant and golden in colour. Add rice and stir well. Transfer the rice mixture to rice cooker.
2. Once transferred, add chicken broth, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic and shallot oil, chicken fats and salt into rice mixture. Cook according to rice cooker’s manual instruction.
To prepare chicken rice
1. Line a serving plate with cucumber slices.
2. Arrange chicken pieces on top, pour in the prepared sauce before garnishing with cilantro.
3. Serve with chicken rice, side soup and chicken rice chili sauce.
**Any left over chicken broth can be served as side soup, garnish with cilantro or chopped scallions. I like my soup with fish balls.
Cook’s Note:
Never let the Great-Wall-of-China-long list of ingredients and methods intimidate you. It’s really not as tough or scary as it seems + the ingredients can be easily attainable almost everywhere and importantly, your effort will be extremely well paid off after.
