As I have mentioned in my Beef Panang post, I have saved a couple of juicy pieces of top sirloin sponsored by my friends at TX Bar Organics for an upcoming recipe, which is this one. Top sirloin is a very versatile cut of beef that can be enjoyed as a nice juicy piece of steak, sliced up for a beef stir-fry, or diced up, skewered and grilled ala shish kebabs or satay. Since I am in the mood for an appetizer, I decided to use it to make some Malaysian-style Beef Satay.
I would say Satay is undisputably Malaysia’s “King of Street Foods”. It is enjoyed by people from all walks of life, regardless if you is looking for a light appetizer or a complete meal. It is the perfect item to order, especially when you’re out with a group of friends. And it will definitely impress anyone that you are introducing Malaysian street food to for the first time.
Just as Ampang is famous for Yong Tau Foo and Klang for Bak Kut Teh, Kajang is another town in the State of Selangor that is famous for a signature street food – Satay. Kajang Satay is renowned for it€™s signature Satay sauce and slightly larger portion of meat among other secret ingredients used that have yet to be made public. I am sure it’s a closely guarded family secret just like KFCs 11 herbs and spices. Anyway, nowadays you don’t have to make a special trip to Kajang just for the Satay as more and more Kajang Satay outlets are springing up all around Malaysia. If you are jonesing for some Satay right at home, you can always follow my Recipe to satisfy your craving instead.
Growing up in Malaysia, I was very much spoiled by all the exotic tropical fruit varieties. From the seasonal Durian ‘King of Fruits’ and Mangosteen, the mighty Queen, to mangoes that are amongst the royal fruits you will see everywhere throughout the year. Fruits are abundantly available, so much so that restaurants are always coming up with fresh new ideas to incorporate fruits into the local dishes, eg. Durian with sticky rice and fried fish with Dragon fruit sauce, just to name a few. Ripe mangoes are used to cook dishes like Mango Chicken, whereas fresh, unripened mangoes are used in most fruit salads, eg. Rojak. Ripe green mangoes impart a distinct sweet and tangy flavor to any chicken or shrimp dish, especially when rendered spicy.
Out of the three mango varieties that I am fond of, two were grown in our family garden. Apple Rumanis, sweet and tangy apple-shaped mangoes with a crunchy texture and Champagne / Honey Mangoes, aka Manila Mangoes, which are super sweet and juicy, and bigger than the kind found in the USA, roughly 5-6 inch long. Some of the best moments in my life were shared with my dad around the garden. I vividly remember how exciting it was during mango picking time when we couldn’t wait till we finished picking them and started peeling them off and enjoying them right under the trees. The third variety came from a tree that grew right outside our house and it bore green mangoes throughout the year for, much to the delight of any lucky passer-by. When those mangoes ripen, they emit a highly aromatic and unique scent and to this day, remain my personal favorite over the yellow kind. For those unripe mangoes, my folks would put them in a rice bucket, buried in the rice for a few days. Remember those days?
One of the most popular uses of mango in Malaysian cooking is in making Mango Chicken. And there are two delicious versions. The first one is more of a Thai influence using mango slivers with other shredded veges served with crispy chicken and a sweet spicy sauce. The other is a stir-fried version with chicken and mango slices. The latter style being the one more popular in the USA because itâs widely offered by most, if not all of the Malaysian restaurants here.
Unlike other sweet-sauced chicken dishes, eg. Sweet and Sour Chicken and Orange chicken, stir-fried Mango chicken does not use any frying batter. It is certainly an appetizing dish that will satisfy your tastebuds when you are in mood for something light and tangy. Just be sure to pick up a nice fresh, ripe or medium ripe mango, which I prefer. Let the mango work it’s magic. Simmer the mango until the juices surrender and you will definitely be on your way to a truly delicious Malaysian Mango dish!
February 13th, 2011 | MalaysianFood, Travel | No Comments
It’s been almost two weeks since we arrived in Malaysia. Needless to say, I have been stuffing myself silly with lots of great food daily. I apologize for the lack of posting but there are just too much fun being home, especially during the festive Chinese New Year celebration. There are always friends and family to visit, places to go, foods to eat, etc. Anyway, the good news is that I am currently working with my designer on a brand new Rasa Malaysia Photoblog, a new sub-domain which is pretty much about my life in photographs. The Photoblog will be a great tool for me to share many things with you, without writing a lengthy post. I am just very excited. Please stay tuned for the launch…
Anyway, when I was in Kluang during the first few days of Chinese New Year, I tried out some of the best Bak Kut Teh in town. Bak Kut Teh originated from Klang, Malaysia. It’s a hearty soup made of pork ribs, Chinese herbs, mushrooms/wood ear, fresh lettuce, etc., and eaten with side dishes such as yam rice and fried youtiao. Bak Kut Teh is available throughout the day but I love it as my breakfast. Nothing comforts the empty stomach more than fall-off-the-bones pork ribs, fluffy yam rice, crispy fried youtiao, and the aromatic herbal-infused broth.
Here are the photos of the Bak Kut Teh I had. My favorite is the clay pot Bak Kut Teh at Teoh Heng.
Restoran Teoh Heng (潮兴肉骨茶)
53 Jalan Lim Swee Sim,
Kluang Baru,
86000 Kluang, Johor
Phone: +6-016-754-4932
Chinese (Lunar) New Year is just 10 days away. To celebrate the festive season, I’m giving away two pounds of bak kua, or Malaysian pork jerky, courtesy of Little Red Dot Kitchen based in Sunnyvale, California. Started by bak kua lovers, their bak kua are freshly made, juicy, and delicious, and I love their pork and turkey bak kua! Check out Little Red Dot Kitchen‘s offerings here.
This giveaway is open to US residents only and will close on January 25th, Tuesday, at 12 pm EST . There will be two (2) winners in this giveaway and each winner will get 1 pound of the bak kua for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebration. To enter, please below with a valid email address. One entry per person.
Chinese (Lunar) New Year is just 10 days away. To celebrate the festive season, I’m giving away two pounds of bak kua, or Malaysian pork jerky, courtesy of Little Red Dot Kitchen based in Sunnyvale, California. Started by bak kua lovers, their bak kua are freshly made, juicy, and delicious, and I love their pork and turkey bak kua! Check out Little Red Dot Kitchen‘s offerings here.
This giveaway is open to US residents only and will close on January 25th, Tuesday, at 12 pm EST . There will be two (2) winners in this giveaway and each winner will get 1 pound of the bak kua for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebration. To enter, please below with a valid email address. One entry per person.
I have said it many times. I am constantly amazed by the many talented Malaysian bloggers living overseas. Thanks to Almost Bourdain, I recently discovered yet another beautiful blog authored by Steph, a Malaysian currently living in Sydney—Raspberri Cupcakes. As the name suggests, Raspberri Cupcakes is mostly about baking, cupcakes, and desserts, a department which I am pretty much useless. Please welcome Raspberri Cupcakes to Rasa Malaysia with the decadent Malaysian Banana Pancakes with Lemon Coconut Curdrecipe.
After spending several years growing up in Malaysia, there are so many fabulous Malaysian dishes that I associate with happy childhood memories. These days as I am living in Sydney, and am always excited to go back to Malaysia on holiday, or have my Mum visit and cook to me my favourite Malaysian treats. As I am a complete sweet tooth, I thought I would share a Recipe of my Mum’s that I am incredibly fond of – Malaysian Banana Pancakes. Whenever we had overripe bananas in the house my Mum would mash them up and make these deliciously fragrant pancakes for breakfast. I would wait by the frying pan impatiently and eat them too quickly, burning my tongue. Theyâre very different to regular pancakes, small, a bit denser and a little oily thanks to the banana and coconut milk. They taste pretty great on their own, but my Mum used to serve them with fresh lemon slices and golden syrup. It was definitely one of my favourite breakfasts. The leftover pancakes were always warmed up in the microwave for a delicious afternoon snackâ
Since I always like to put a fun twist in all of my recipes, I decided to replace the fresh lemon slices with an indulgent sauce – Lemon & CoconutCurd. This sauce is amazing; it’s smooth and creamy and the flavour matches the banana pancakes so perfectly. The tangy flavour of lemon is the first thing to hit your tongue, but you’re left with the beautiful, creamy aftertaste of coconut. I couldn’t resist serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as well. As soon as I tasted these banana pancakes, I was transported right back to my Mum’s kitchen in KL. It’s packed full of rich banana flavour, with lovely crisp brown edges. If you wish you can serve the pancakes traditionally without the lemon coconut curd, but I think the sauce adds a little something special. Any leftover curd can be stored in the fridge for a few days and served with vanilla ice cream, or spread on toast.
A huge thanks to Bee for letting me share this recipe with all of you, I hope you get the chance to try these pancakes and enjoy them!
Malaysian Banana Pancakes with Lemon Coconut Curd Makes approximately 7 pancakes
Ingredients:
For the lemon & coconut curd:
1ǚ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (approximately the juice of 1 lemon)
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (approximately the zest of 1 lemon)
1/3 cup (70g) sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter, cubed
4 tbsp coconut milk
For the pancakes:
1 egg
30g (approx 1/8 cup) sugar
಼g (approx 1/2 cup) self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup coconut milk (can be replaced with regular milk if unavailable)
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
Butter, for frying
Optional: vanilla ice cream to serve
Method:
1. Prepare the lemon and coconut curd first; place lemon juice, zest and sugar in a medium saucepan. Place on medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves completely.
2. Whisk egg yolks in a medium heatproof bowl until frothy and then gradually add the hot lemon mixture, whisking continuously to combine. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve.
3. Return to the heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
4. Remove from the heat and add the butter cubes, one at a time, whisking until fully combined. Finally, add the coconut milk, whisk to combine and set aside to cool.
5. For the pancakes, whisk eggs and sugar until light and frothy in a large mixing bowl.
6. Sift flour and salt and fold into beaten eggs, along with the coconut milk. Add in mashed banana and mix until combined well.
7. Heat a small frying pan with a small pat of butter. Pour in two tablespoons of batter at a time, turning the pan so that the batter forms a thin layer (or you can spread it out with the back of a spoon as the mixture is quite thick). Cook until lightly browned on both sides. You can use a paper towel to dab off any extra grease on the pancakes. Stack pancakes on a plate to keep them warm while you are cooking the rest of the batter.
8. Serve pancakes warm with the lemon and coconut curd and (optionally) a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Pancakes can also be served with slices of fresh banana or lemon.
Roti Jala–means “net bread” literally–is one more Malaysian delicacy that deserves unique introduction on Rasa Malaysia. These lacy and net like pancakes/crepes are extremely well-liked throughout the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, where vendors set up temporary stalls selling roti jala to go with several curries offered. Roti Jala is also extremely favorite as an afternoon tea snack. For me, I can eat them anytime with the day as long as I’ve some curries to go with them. I’ve always wanted to create Roti Jala, but there is really a issue, I didn’t have the mold. Recently I brought 1 back from home, together with the pie tee mold that I’d blogged about. I got to play with my new toy yesterday and dished out these fantabulous Roti Jala…(discover how to produce roti jala with my YouTube video after the jump)
Producing Roti Jala was a fun exercise, so much in order that I had to capture the following video to share with you. Suffice it to say, the mold was actually effortless to use; in no time, I finished up the batter and created 12 gorgeous searching lacy lads. (I can also entirely use the mold to make this fabulous eggnet salad I had at Longrain, Sydney!) No Roti Jala is complete with out curries, so I whipped up some chicken curry with an instant curry paste.
Malaysian food is just so varied, compelling, and stimulatingânot a single meal is ever boring, bland, or uninteresting. RECIPE: ROTI JALA “NET BREAD” OR MALAYSIAN LACY PANCAKES
Elements:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (1/2 lb)
one 1/2 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup drinking water
one egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 tablespoon oil Ghee or butter (to grease the pan)
Procedure:
Sieve the flour and set aside.
In a big bowl, mix all of the ingredients well together (except the oil) and strain the batter.
Combine in 1/2 tablespoon of oil and set aside.
Heat up a pan with medium heat and grease it with some butter or ghee.
Pour some batter into the mold and transfer the mold towards pan.
As the batter flows by means of the holes of the mold, make circular rounds around the pan to form the netty patterns. (Refer towards video above.)
After the top is set and done or when the bottom turns light brown, transfer the Roti Jala out and fold it into triangle shape.
Arrange a couple of Roti Jala on a serving plate and add some curry chicken on the side and serve immediately.
