Chinese Food Culture

I love red curry and Thai curries in general–be it green curry, Panang curry, massaman curry, yellow curry, or red curry. There are many red curry recipes, each with slightly various ingredients, for instance: potatoes, bamboo shoots, winter squash, pumpkins, Thai egg plants, etc. Chicken is commonly employed for red curry, but you’ll find pork red curry and beef red curry. Regardless of the meat of selection and side ingredients applied, red-colored curry is invaribly satisfying.

Thai red curry is traditionally richer compared to Malaysian chicken curry and Indian curries. Infused with lots of coconut milk, spice paste, and flavored with palm sugar plus fish sauce–two secret ingredients of Thai recipes–red curry goes very well with soft and aromatic jasmine rice. It is no wonder Thai curries are fast gaining popularity across the world…(get Thai red-colored curry Recipe after the jump)

For my red-colored curry recipe, I used scallops, chicken, and paired them with some long beans and carrots. I also added some finely cut kaffir lime leaves that inevitably made the red-colored curry additional aromatic and exotic in flavor. My red curry tasted utterly delicious, so much as that I finished the whole serving of steamed rice that was employed for my photo prop. Talking about my red curry food photography, you ought to check them all out. I seriously like the red curry photo set–the vibrant colors and also the tempting searching red-colored curry would make you hungry. Just click on the image or “NEXT” to view the complete photoset.

Below please come across my red curry recipe–a painless recipe that takes less than Ǿ minutes to prepare, and you will have a bowl of scrumptious and authentic Thai red curry.

August 4th, 2010 | Announcements | 40 Comments

(This is not the real cover of the cookbook. It’s just one of the pictures I’d shot for the book.)

I am almost done with the cookbook writing and am ready for recipe testing. My cookbook will be released in Fall 썛, by Tuttle/Periplus Publishing. It will be available worldwide. The title of the cookbook is not final yet, but it’s likely to be “EASY CHINESE: Chinese Classics, All-time Favorites to Dim Sum & Dumplings” or something along the line. Regardless of its final title, it’s a Chinese recipes cookbook with 80+ easy, healthy, and delicious Chinese recipes. It has tons of new recipes, color photography, step-by-step picture guide, and more!

For the Recipe testers, here is what I am looking for…

Chinese food fans and enthusiasts from all over the world, especially those based in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia Pacific. However, if you are based elsewhere, you are most welcome to volunteer.

If you are interested, here is what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post with the following information:

1. Your current location:
2. Your Chinese cooking level: Professional / Intermediate / Beginner
3. Make sure you have the correct email address in the E-mail field in the comment form so I can contact you.

What will you get in returns?

1. Your name in the Acknowledgments chapter
2. I’ll be giving away two (2) copies of my cookbook to the participants, so you will be entered into a raffle  to win the cookbook, when it’s available.
3. You’ll get to see the picture of the dish you will be testing (including the step-by-step picture guide, if applicable). No one has seen my cookbook pictures yet, and you will be the first one to see it!

What do you need to do?

1. Test two (2) recipes assigned to you
2. Fill out the recipe testing evaluation form (which I will provide) by August 22, 2010. The evaluation form is painless; it’s a 1-page form where you can rate the recipe and write your feedback and suggestions!

Unfortunately, not everyone volunteered will be selected to participate in the recipe testing. That being said, I might have to do a drawing to pick the recipe testers if the responses are overwhelming. If you are selected, I will be in touch with you via email.

Thank you so very much for your kind support and I look forward to working with you! 

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I’m not a big meat eater, in fact, I don’t even eat red meat. Elk backstrap is certainly a extremely exotic ingredient that I wouldn’t know how to prepare, and that�€™s why Matt of Wrightfood and I thought it would make a fantastic guest post on Rasa Malaysia. I 1st discovered Matt’s great blog quite a few months ago and was instantly hooked. Matt makes definitely good and sophisticated seafood dishes (you all know how I love seafood) that look like they came out of Michael Minaâ��s kitchen. Please welcome Matt of Wrightfood as he shares with us his elk backstrap recipe and the story behind it. It is actually refreshing–and new–to have a non-Asian Recipe on Rasa Malaysia; I hope you enjoy this guest post as much as I do.

Elk Backstrap Recipe

Guest Writer: Wrightfood

I have been waiting a little bit to do this recipe. A couple of months ago now Danika’s Dad got a call from a friend saying that he was proceeding elk hunting, and would Matt like some of the meat if he got anything. To be honest, I didn�€™t have my hopes up. Any time Danika’s dad goes hunting with this bloke, they don’t precisely come back again with a truck load of meat. They tend to come back again slightly fitter than when they left, and somewhat hungry.

Whether this elk was sleeping or not, I have no notion, but somehow he managed to wind up obtaining shot… (follow the story and get the recipe after the jump)

A fast phone call to me from Danikaâ€�s Dad, a fast call back again to his friend,and it had been setup. I had no notion what I had been receiving at the time – I was hoping for some decent cuts, but er, totally free is free of charge, and I will take what I can get! Thankfully I got some excellent cuts – a backstrap, and a top and bottom round. I am planning to make the rounds into some salumi (a lot more on that later), but the backstrap required a distinct approach – this is usually a genuinely fine eating cut.

Points started to get interesting thanks to my twisted sense of humor. I had been talking to Danika’s mum about the elk, and she happened to mention that she hated elk (that is refining the phrase she employed somewhat, in case delicate eyes are reading this blog). Ohhhhhh dear. She genuinely shouldn’t have mentioned that. It had been decided then and there. I had been likely to cook her Elk. I was about to tell her it had been steak, and she was going to like it.

Now, you’ll find some factors to know about Danika’s mum. If I cook one thing with wine in, she will most most likely consume it. If I cook some thing in lard, she will most most likely eat it. She has her head screwed on properly basically! So, I figured if I had those two key components, we couldn’t go far wrong.

Juniper berry is a favorite flavor of mine with any game. Oddly adequate it isn’t really a berry, more a seed. It’s flavor is pretty difficult to describe�€¦ it is really a tiny sharp, somewhat floral, but also a small earthy.There, that doesn’t truly clear that up does it. The outside in the “berry” could be somewhat flavorless, so you need to smack it hard using the side of a knife before utilizing – just a little crush.

Now, it still being winter here in Seattle, I still have a complete crush myself on roasted root vegetables. Turnips are my vegetable of selection, along with parsnips as well. You possibly can add a few potatoes inside mix as well, and I won’t precisely be annoyed either. It just happens that using the sauce I was planning, some from the sweet root vegetables would be a nice compliment – the juniper/red wine reduction may end up a tad sharp, so some sweeter veg would operate nicely me thinks.

There’s one thing that I try and keep some of in the freezer. Heck, it can remain frozen for, er, virtually ever. LARD. Yes folks, the very good old rendered pork body fat. I’m sure for several that the notion of lard makes men and women run straight to the gym, or their cardiologist, but it gets an unfair wrap. It is excess fat profile is up there with olive oil in terms of health, and is basically much better for you than butter. Certain, go eat your hydrogenised body fat marg, and I’ll eat my lard..
I can tell ya who is likely to see the cardiologist initial, and it ain’t me.

Lard happens being a excellent excess fat to roast with. Almost as very good as duck extra fat, which is pretty much as good as goose extra fat. It results in quite flavorful, really crisp roasted veg… and that’s what we all want. Plus, it makes your fingers smell great when you function with it. Rumor has it that men and women would smear it on themselves to remain warm through the winter (way back again when).. you ask me, they just invented perfume.

So how is the backstrap cooked? Nicely, I treated it like a good steak. I cut it into medallions, no less than an inch thick. I heated up a cast iron pan until it had been really darn hot. In goes a tiny grapeseed oil (fantastic for high heat you know).
Get it smoking. In goes a couple of medallions. If you’re lucky, it all catches on fire. Yep, it’s hot sufficient. Blow it out, and keep heading. Sear on 1 side for a couple of minutes, then on the otherside for a couple. You are able to now either turn the heat down, and finish cooking inside pan, or put them into a roasting pan, and finish inside the oven. I opted for the later, considering that I had a fair couple of medallions to cook. You want to make sure you cook this medium-rare – overcooked and it really is just planning to be a chewy mess, because this is really a genuinely lean meat.

The sauce is dead easy. In a small pan I combined a few glasses of red wine, a diced shallot, the crushed juniper berries, some black peppercorns and some thyme. I allow this cut down down to about 1/4 its authentic volume. To this I additional some genuinely good beef stock (you can absolutely use veal if you’ve it), and allow this reduce down to about half its genuine quantity. This gets strained, as well as a small butter is whisked in for richness.

So.. how did the elk go down?

“Matt this incredible steak”

Sufficient mentioned. She now likes Elk. And yes, I did tell her what she just ate soon after the meal.

Several readers sent me emails requesting for Peanut Sauce recipe to go with my chicken satay, a recipe that I shared not too long ago. I apologize it look me this long to post the Recipe for satay peanut sauce it’s just one of those things that I procrastinate.

Last weekend, I was devising and perfecting my Malaysian satay recipe for the Southeast Asian cooking class that Jaden of Steamy Kitchen and I will be co-teaching, so it sort of forced me to make the peanut sauce and documented my recipe, finally…

The cooking class will be held tomorrow and I am so looking forward to it. This will be my first venture into cooking instruction and I hope that it will turn into something meaningful in the near future (read: my own cooking class!). I have made many friends from food blogosphere, but Jaden is a real gem. We share a lot and constantly exchange ideas and share our dreams; she has helped and supported me so much and “hooked me up” with many great opportunities. I can’t thank her enough, she is a star, really!

I will post my recipe after the cooking class tomorrow…for now, you can feast your eyes with my Malaysian Satay with Peanut Sauce gallery above.

My self-imposing carb-free and sugar-free diet worked. After 3 days of eating organic greens, tofu, fruits, and soups, I developed a critical craving for carb and sugar–I required a kick to my bland palate, I essential something loaded with carb, hopefully sweet and sinfully buttery. Then, I thought about the various pineapple tarts recipes that I have been saving for months. What a brilliant idea! Pineapple tarts have gotten everything that I was craving for: carb, check; pineapples, mmmm yum; sugar, oh yeah; butter, hell yeah!

And hence, two trays of buttery, sweet, flaky, delicious, and stunning pineapple tarts were born in my kitchen. Thanks to my Malaysian friend Mandy at Fresh from the Oven, I couldnâ��t get enough of them, and I am absolutely saving her Recipe for good…

Pineapple tarts (凤梨酥/� è����) are commonly baked for the celebration of Chinese New Year festival in Malaysia and Singapore. In Taiwan, pineapple tarts or 凤梨酥 are exceedingly popular but their pineapple tarts recipe calls for shortening and milk powder and taste slightly different. Because shortening is used in the Taiwanese version, they are also called pineapple shortcakes.

Making these pineapple tarts (凤梨酥/��萝酥) takes some patience, especially with the pineapple jam or pineapple tarts filling. As with every single baking project that I have undertaken, I cheated and took some shortcuts and luckily they worked out.

The pineapple tarts looked so photogenic I just had to put in some extra efforts to make them picture perfect. So, please remember to view the complete pineapple tarts pictures above.

Below is my pineapple tarts recipe. Enjoy!

Keep in mind I told you that I hardly ever make my curry from scratch mainly because you’ll find several excellent curry pastes readily obtainable in Malaysia? Go to any markets or stores 1 can discover a variety of selection of curry pastes–they commonly arrive packaged in little plastic bags. All you have to do is adding your meat or seafood to the curry paste and you will have a pot of sinfully good–and authentic–Malaysian Indian-style curries.

That being said, this seafood curry was prepared just that–from a seafood curry paste that I brought back from residence. The curry paste was really beneficial; there are mustard seeds, cardamons, cloves, and curry leaves in the paste–which are some from the secret spices/ingredients for a extremely beneficial pot of Indian-style curries…

For my US readers, you might be a lot more familiar with Thai or Indian curries provided here at Thai or Indian restaurants. Malaysian curries are really several. Unlike Thai curries, Malaysian curries are not sweet since coconut milk is utilised sparingly to complement the spices but not overshadow their tastes. Also, no sugar and fish sauce are added so you get the natural flavors in the ingredients–be it meat, chicken, fish, or other seafood. Malaysian curries are also heavier in spices and thus hotter. Compared for the Indian curries, Malaysian curries are also diverse since yoghurt isn’t utilized. The cooking model originated through the southern part of India, but had considering that been localized to a Malaysian taste.

Anyway, everytime I go home to Penang, I am sure to bring back loads of these curry pastes. They keep well within the fridge and last a handful of months. If you would like to uncover out a lot more about what brands I like, drop me a comment or email.

Enjoy!

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 stimulating�not 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.

Recipe: MALAYSIAN CURRY CHICKEN

Ingredients:

one boneless/skinless chicken breast meat (cut into tiny cubes)

3 tablespoons Instant Meat Curry Paste

3/4 cup drinking water

1 tablespoon coconut milk

one shallot (diced) 1 tablespoon oil

Technique:

Heat up a small pot and bring from the oil.

Saute the diced shallots until light brown.

Bring in the curry paste.

When it smells aromatic, include in the chicken meat and do a handful of quick stirs.

Add in the water and let it boil.

Lower the heat and simmer the curry for about 10-15 minutes.

Add within the coconut milk and serve hot.