Nasi Dagang

Hello,

I've made classic nasi lemak last few weeks and last weekend I made another Malaysian dish popular in east coast region especially in Kelantan and Terengganu. Nasi dagang is another delicious dish consisting of rice steamed or cooked in coconut milk and served with fish or prawn curry, hard boiled eggs and vegetable pickles.

This recipe might not exactly the same as the original nasi dagang because I don't have a special curry spice from the east coast Malaysia but it close enough to the recipe that I follow from cikwankitchen.com website.

NASI DAGANG

Ingredients;

For the rice;

1 1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup glutinous rice
200ml coconut milk mix with 1 cup of water
1 shallot, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
2cm ginger, sliced
1 teaspoon fenugreek

Method;

- Soak both rice in water for 4 hours or overnight.
- Drain well and transfer to rice cooker. Add shallot, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, a pinch of salt and 2 cups of coconut milk. Press the cook button and let the rice cooked.

For the prawn curry;

Ingredients;

300g prawns
2-3 hard boiled egg
200ml coconut milk
2 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1cm ginger
1cm ganagal
1 teaspoon chili paste or chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek
2-3 red or green chilli, optional

Method;

- Place shallot, garlic, ginger, ganagal, chili paste and turmeric powder in a blender or food processor and blend into fine paste.
- Heat little oil in a saucepan and fry fenugreek for a few seconds.
- Add shallot garlic paste and cook for a few minutes.
- Add in curry powder and a bit of water and cook for another few minutes until the oil separated. Add a bit more water if necessary.
- Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle boil over low heat until thickened and slightly reduced.
- Add prawns and hard boiled egg, cook until the prawns are cooked through.
- Add red or green chili and season with salt, pepper and a bit of brown sugar.
- Serve rice with prawn curry and pickles.

Enjoy nasi dagang!

Classic Nasi Lemak

Hey everyone!

It's weekend and it's nasi lemak time for me..A relaxing weekend calls for a classic nasi lemak, a dish that I have wanted to make since last week. Nasi lemak is an all day dish, so I'm pretty sure I can treat myself on a classic nasi lemak during the weekend.

Since I'm far far away from home in Malaysia, I must admit that I don't eat this dish often now and the truth is I don't make this dish often too but when I do, I will do the best I can. I grew up on classic nasi lemak and I love it.

CLASSIC NASI LEMAK

Ingredients;

2 cups basmati rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cup water
2cm ginger, sliced
1 shallot, sliced
A pinch of salt

Method;

- Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Transfer in the rice cooker and add coconut milk, water, ginger, shallot and a pinch of salt. Press the cook button and just let the rice cook itself.

NASI LEMAK SAMBAL 

Ingredients;

1/2 onion, thinly sliced
10-15 dry chilies or more, boil or soak in hot water until chilies softened
1 onion
2 garlic
1 cm ginger
1/2 cup tamarind juice, from 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
Salt and palm sugar/brown sugar to taste

Method;

- Blend chilies, onion, garlic and ginger with a bit of water into fine paste.
- Heat up about 1/4 cup oil in a wok or saucepan and fry sliced onion until fragrant.
- Add chilies paste and cook until the oils separate onto the surface, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add in a bit of water little by little if it too dry. Stirring frequently.
- Add tamarind juice and season with salt and sugar.
- Simmer over low heat and let the chilies paste cook for 20-30 minutes or until the sauce are thickened as desired. The sambal has a good balance of sweetness, saltiness and spiciness taste.
- Serve nasi lemak with basic condiments like sambal, fried anchovies, fried peanuts, hard boiled egg and cucumber.

Happy weekend and enjoy a classic nasi lemak!

Village Style Fried Rice

Hello,

In Asia, when we think of breakfast, fried rice is one of the dish that we served in the morning. Just like fried noodles, fried rice also is an all time favourite for many people. There are many varieties of fried rice and this village style fried rice or what we called 'nasi goreng kampung' cooked with fried anchovies, long bean and water spinach as a main ingredients. All those ingredients are easy to find when we live in the village and I suppose that's where the name come from.

The only one ingredient I don't have is water spinach, it's almost impossible to find water spinach in our place unless in the Asian grocery store, so far away from home.

VILLAGE STYLE FRIED RICE

Ingredients;

2 cups cooked rice
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
2-3 small red chili
1/2 cup chopped long beans/french beans
1/2 cup anchovies
A handful water spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan, fry anchovies until crispy. Set aside.
- Blend or pound garlic, shallot and chilies to a coarse paste.
- Heat little oil and fry garlic chili paste until fragrant.
- Add the long beans and fry for a few second.
- Add in rice and water spinach, stir fry until the rice is heated through and well coated.
- Add fried anchovies and season with salt and pepper.

Bon appétit!

Prawn Fried Rice

Hello,

Quick and easy, healthy and delicious prawn fried rice can be ready in less than 15 minutes. Obviously, fried rice has no limit to what we can add along with it, meat, seafood, vegetables or even a simple egg fried rice, it'll still turn out perfectly and delicious.

Fried rice, an easy dish that perfect for lunch and dinner but in Asia, fried rice is served for breakfast too.

PRAWN FRIED RICE

Ingredients;

2 cups/ bowl cooked rice
8-10 prawns
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1 egg, beaten
Soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Heat little oil in wok or frying pan, fry garlic until fragrant.
- Add carrots and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the beaten egg and scramble lightly, add prawns and stir-fry for a couple of minute.
- Stir in cooked rice and spring onion, season with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Toss together and cook for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.

Corned Beef Fried Rice

Hello,

I am not a meat person but I do eat more seafood and only eat beef once in a while. I cooked a simple fried rice quite often but sometimes I cooked with corned beef. I bought a can of corned beef just to make a sandwiches and this corned beef fried rice is a great way to use up my leftover corned beef in the fridge.

Fried rice is quick and simple dish that can be made with any meat or seafood, I had my corned beef fried rice for dinner.

CORNED BEEF FRIED RICE

Ingredients;

1 bowl leftover rice
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup carrot, chopped
Leftover corned beef, around 1/4 cup
Soy sauce, chili paste, salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Heat little oil in a frying pan and saute onion and garlic until fragrant.
- Add the chili paste if using and cook for a minute.
- Add the peas and carrot, cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the corned beef and mash it, mixed it all up.
- Add the rice, season it with soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Happy cooking!

Pineapple Fried Rice

Coucou...

We are still in the summer season and as usual, there are a lot of tropical fruits selling in the market like pineapple, mango and even papaya. I've bought pineapple last week but it didn't taste as good as the last one I bought few weeks ago. Usually I can eat an entire pineapple but not for this one, I made pineapple fried rice with the balance anyway.

It's been a while I don't eat pineapple fried rice and don't even think about it, but yesterday night I cooked for our dinner. It was a delicious pineapple fried rice indeed. Mon mari ate a lot of it, it was a pleasant surprise and I'm glad he likes it.

PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE

Ingredients;

2 cups leftover rice
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup medium or small prawns
1 cup pineapple
1/4 cup fried or roasted cashew nuts
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
Soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and white pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Heat up little oil in a wok or saucepan and fry onion and garlic until fragrant.
- Add prawns and cook for a few seconds and push the prawns to the side and add in the eggs, scramble it just until it half cook.
- Add the rice, pineapple and curry powder and stir together.
- Season with soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper.
- Add the cashew nuts, cook and stirring constantly until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.

Enjoy the simple pineapple fried rice!

Sticky Rice With Cucumber Salad

Sabaidee,

Few days ago I've watched a travel documentary about Laos and the memory I had in mind it's all about food. I had worked at insurance company for almost 3 years and traveling to all provinces is something special for me and I'm exciting to do things, no matter which province I've visited. I get used with the Lao culture and also the food that make me feel want to visit Laos once again.

When I was travel by bus or by boat to other provinces, I've seen most of the local people brought their own food like steamed sticky rice, boil egg, grilled chicken or just simple salad all the time. They eat whenever and wherever they want, as simple as that. Living in Laos can be fun specially for those who like nature and quiet place to live.

STEAMED STICKY RICE

- 1 cup sticky rice, soak in the water for 4 hours or overnight.
- Strain the rice, place in the cheesecloth or bamboo steamer and steam for 20 minutes.

CUCUMBER SALAD

Ingredients;

1 cucumber, shredded/sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic
1 red chili
1 tomato or baby tomatoes, sliced
1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
Brown or palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce to taste

METHOD;

- Using mortar and pestle, roughly pound garlic, chili and shrimp paste just until everything mix together.
- Add tomato, sugar, lime juice and fish sauce, mix thoroughly.
- Add shredded cucumber little by little, and gently pound and mix well.
- The taste should be a little bit spicy, salty, sour and a little sweet flavors.
- Serve with steamed sticky rice.

Enjoy!

Pandan Nasi Lemak

Hello,

A busy month has passed! Last week I came back from my home town where I spent 3 weeks for holidays. I felt the weather was a little bit sunny and hot but when it was raining for a few days, the temperature was just nice for me, just like here in Brittany.

This time my holiday it's all about food and meet up some relative which are some of them I haven't seen for quite long time. This holiday also means it's time to let go for a while or to forget all the food guilt and just enjoy the good food that I missed for so long.

Once arrived here, it won't take me that long to cook some Asian famous dish after my holiday and last few days, I made pandan nasi lemak using the fresh screw pine leaves that I brought from my mum house. It was similar with the nasi lemak recipe from my previous post, I just used and add the pandan juice together with the coconut milk. It seems like this nasi lemak with the sambal is the best one I've made so far, it tastes as good as it looks. We both agreed with that!

PANDAN NASI LEMAK

Ingredients;

2 cups rice
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup pandan juice, (5 pandan leaves blend with 1/2 cup water)
2 shallot, sliced
2cm ginger, sliced

Method;

- Heat up some oil by using the electric rice cooker pan and fry shallot and ginger until fragrant.
- Add coconut milk, pandan juice and a pinch of salt.
- Add in rice, stir to mix well and cover. Let the rice cook itself. Once the rice are cook, use chopsticks to loosen the rice and cover again.

NASI LEMAK SAMBAL

Ingredients;

1/2 cup fried anchovies
10-15 dry chilies or more, boil or soak in hot water until chilies softened
6 shallot
4 garlic
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1/2 cup tamarind juice, from 1 tablespoon tamarind paste

Method;

- Blend chilies, shallots, garlic and shrimps paste into fine paste.
- Heat up about 1/4 cup oil in a wok or saucepan and fry chilies paste until the oil comes out and separated about 4-5 minutes.
- Add in a bit of water little by little if it too dry. Stirring frequently.
- Add tamarind juice, sugar and salt.
- Simmer on low heat and let the chilies paste cook for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce are thickened as desired.
- Once the sambal are cold, add fried anchovies.

Enjoy the pandan nasi lemak with other choice of condiments!

Yellow Glutinous Rice

Hello,

Yellow glutinous rice or what we called "pulut kuning" or "nasi kunyit" in malay is one of the dish that I have not eaten in a very long time. I remembered when I was young, this dishes were served in the wedding as some of the families maintain their common traditions especially in the Malay wedding but as of now, only some people continue and keeping the tradition and served this pulut kuning in the wedding or any other special event. Some of the thing were going different and we have to accept that times and society were changing too.

Last weekend, I made pulut kuning with sambal anchovies for our lunch and it brought back my childhood memories eaten these dishes in the special event in my hometown. The sambal anchovies recipe that I used here is the same recipe for my coconut rice sambal and I just add fried anchovies in it.

YELLOW GLUTINOUS RICE

Ingredients;

1 1/2 cup glutinous rice
1/2 tablespoon turmeric powder
2 tamarind peel/ asam gelugor
250ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon oil, optional
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

METHOD;

- Soaked rice in turmeric water and tamarind peel for 8 hour or overnight.
- Prepare the steamer and round baking pan.
- Wash and drain the rice and transfer to the round pan.
- Mix coconut milk, oil, sugar and salt and pour to the rice pan.
- Steam the rice for 25-30 minutes and stirring occasionally with chopstick just to make sure all the grains are cooked.
- Serve the yellow glutinous rice with any preference dish like chicken or beef.

Bon appétit!

Tomato Rice

Bonjour,

Just like potato, rice is one of the most important staple food in Asia and certain country in the world. Cooking rice is not complicated and there are so many rice recipes that we could easily find in the internet. From plain rice, fried rice and butter to tomato rice, all these rice are so easy to cook. If there are something to impress our dinner guests, these butter rice and tomato rice are perfect and I've made it quite often. Easy yet delicious!

TOMATO RICE

Ingredients;

2 cups rice, rinse before cooking
2 shallots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1cm ginger, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 cardamom
2 cups water
1/4 cup evaporated milk
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon oil
Salt to taste

METHOD;

- Heat up butter and oil in the rice cooker pot or saucepan and fry shallot, garlic and ginger and the other 3 spiced until fragrant.
- Add water, evaporated milk, tomato, ketchup and salt. Bring to boil.
- Add rice, stir and transfer the pot to the rice cooker, press and let the rice cook itself.
- Cook the rice over low heat if using saucepan and cover with a lid when water is almost dry. Cook until the rice are fully cooked, switch off the heat and wait for 10-15 before serving.

Bon appétit!

Nasi Lemak

Hello,

Nasi lemak or coconut milk rice is one of the Malaysian's or Singaporean's favourite dishes, and most of the time people having nasi lemak for breakfast. The basic nasi lemak should have the condiments of sambal chillies, anchovies, peanuts, cucumber and hard boiled egg. But nasi lemak also can served with an additional of fried chicken, fish, prawns etc...

We had nasi lemak for breakfast with friends not long ago and for the first time I guess, they having a spicy food in the morning. Introducing them to the taste of nasi lemak was something that I wanted to do to all my friends here and I suppose they enjoy to discover the new dish. I've made nasi lemak at least once every two or three months.

NASI LEMAK

Ingredients:

For coconut rice;

2 cups rice, Thai or Basmati rice
3 cups coconut milk
2cm ginger, crushed
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, sliced
Salt to taste

For sambal chilli;

2 onion, sliced
10-15 dry chilli, soaked in hot water until soft
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2cm ginger, sliced
2 tablespoon tamarind, add 1/2 cup water to make a paste
Palm sugar or brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
Salt to taste

METHOD:

To prepare the coconut rice:
- Wash and clean the rice and put it in a pot or rice cooker.
- Add coconut milk, ginger, garlic, shallot and salt.
- Cover and bring to boil and then simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. If using the rice cooker, just press the button and let it cook itself.
- Removed from heat and loosen rice with chopstick or wooden spoon.
- Cover up and allow rice to cook in its own.

To prepare the sambal chilli:
- Using a blender or food processor, blend onion, chilli, garlic and ginger into fine paste.
- Heat oil in a saucepan, over meduim heat and sauté blend ingredients for a 5-10 minutes.
- Add sugar and tamarind paste and allow to cook for another 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is slightly thick.
- Season with salt and stir a while, remove from the heat.
- Add fried anchovies as individual preference.
- Dish a serving portion and serve the coconut rice with sambal and other condiments like fried anchovies, fried peanuts, hard boiled egg or fried egg and cucumber.

Bon appétit!

Fish Fried Rice

Salut,

Leftover rice normally will not stay too long in my kitchen. There is always a way to use up leftover rice and what I like the most is to make a quick fried rice. From vegetables, meat or seafood, there is almost anything can go into fried rice.

Fish fried rice is one of my favourite because my mom and my sister used to cook this fish fried rice everytime we had leftover fried or grilled fish at home. Simple food yet so tasty and delicious. Let's cook this quick and easy recipe for lunch or even dinner any day of the week.

FISH FRIED RICE

Ingrediens;

1-2 cups leftover rice
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
2-4 small chilli
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fish meat (leftover cooked fish, fried or grilled)
Salt, pepper and soy sauce to taste

METHOD;

- Pound or blend garlic, shallot and chilli into a course paste.
- Heat up little oil in a wok or saucepan and fry garlic chilli paste until fragrant.
- Add beaten egg and scramble it for a few seconds.
- Stir in rice and season with salt, pepper or add an additional amount of soy sauce if needed.
- Add fish meat and stir-fry over a high heat for a minute or two.

Enjoy the fish fried rice!

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

Sawadee kha,

Thai food again and again. Apart from the Pad Thai noodles, Thai pineapple fried rice also one of the signature dish of Thailand. This dish available in almost every restaurant or food stall because pineapple fruits are everywhere in Thailand and they are cheap. I have to wait for summer to enjoy and buy cheap fruits like pineapple and melon when they are in season.

I have made pineapple fried rice not long ago and this dish may seem complicated to prepare in fact they are not difficult at all.

THAI PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE

Ingredients;

1/2 cup pineapple, cut into small pieces
6-8 prawns
1 onion, chopped
1 egg
1-2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1 teaspoon curry powder
1-2 teaspoon fish sauce
1-2 teaspoon light soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- In a wok or saucepan, heat a few tablespoon of oil and fry prawn until golden brown. Set aside.
- Use the same oil and fry onion until fragrant.
- Add egg and scramble slightly until it half cook.
- Add rice, peas, curry powder, fish sauce and soy sauce. Toss until everything mix together.
- Add in pineapple and season with salt and pepper, cook for a few minutes.
- Lastly add prawn and give a quick stir and turn off the heat.

Bon appétit!

Dried Chilli Fried Rice

Hello,

Fried rice, the simple and easy food to prepare and these dried chilli fried rice is one of the dish that my mum used to cook if we had leftover rice at home. I miss my mum fried rice, simple yet tasty.

We had dried chilli fried rice last Sunday for lunch and to be honest one bowl of fried rice is definately not enough for us. Maybe it's because I didn't cook this dish for quite some time so we want more than just one bowl of fried rice. I would make this delicious fried rice again soon!

DRIED CHILLI FRIED RICE

Ingredients;

2-3 cup of leftover rice
5-10 dried chilli, soak in the hot water
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 egg
2 tablespoon dry anchovies
Salt to taste

METHODS;

- Use a blender or food processor, grind chilli, shallot, garlic and shrimp paste into a coarse paste.
- Heat a little bit oil and fried anchovies. Set aside.
- Use the same oil and fry the chilli paste until fragrant and the chilli paste are fully cook, around 5-8 minutes.
- Add the egg, cook and scrambled.
- Add the rice and season with salt. Stir well until everything well combined.
- Turn off the fire and add fried anchovies.

Bon appetite!

Thai Egg Fried Rice

Sawadee ka...

Hello in Thai language, a basic Thai words that everyone should know whenever we are in Thailand. When I was working in Laos few years ago, both Thai and Lao language have something in comman. They understand each other just like Indonesian and Malay language. We understand each other even the accent was a little bit different.

I love to hear when people talk in a different language and their language is so beautiful. It's not easy to learn, speaking other language was difficult for me but to know a few words from other country is quite amazing actually.

Now, back to the food and my appetite was on the hunt for Asian food to fulfill. There is more Asian food that I have been having lately. One of those are Thai food and yesterday I've made a simple and quick Thai egg fried rice.

THAI EGG FRIED RICE

Ingredients;

1-2 cups leftover cooked rice
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Thai red chilli, optional
1 egg
Thai fish sauce
Oyster sauce
Pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Heat little oil in a wok or saucepan and fry onion, garlic and chilli until fragrant.
- Add cooked rice and mix well.
- Season with fish sauce, oyster sauce and pepper.
- Push the rice to the side and add egg. Let the egg cook for a while, scramble and stir with rice for a second and voila, the fried rice ready.

Taan-ah-haan hai a roi!

Rice Porridge

Hello,

For most of the time in Asia, rice porridge or sometimes called congee are often served or eaten for breakfast. In fact, congee is a simple Asian dish.

While in Asia I don't eat congee in the morning since I'm not a fan of these dish, but now I do eat what called breakfast food at lunch or dinner time. And now I have to admit that how good to have rice porridge some time for dinner. Porridge is a really simple and healthy food and it makes us full enough and satisfied for a long time.

RICE PORRIDGE

1/2 cup rice
2cm ginger, sliced
4-5 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Boiled rice, ginger and water and reduce to a simmer with cover until the rice broken and creamy.
- Stirring frequently and season with salt and pepper.

Porridge accompaniment;
Spring onion, fried anchovies, soy sauce, fried fish or seafood or other side dish according to individual preference.

Bon appétit!

Seafood Paella

Hola, buenos dias!

It's a beginning of spring season now and soon there will be flowers popping up everywhere. The weather has been very good and pleasant over the past few days, winter almost over and no more ice in the car every morning. J'adore le printemps!

Alors, let's talk food now. Paella, Spain's most famous dish, a good food and colorful one dish meal that people want to eat a lot. I made this dish many time even during my holiday in my hometown and sure my family liked paella too.

There are many versions of paella recipe and this one is just a simple seafood paella or paella de marisco which is contains a mix of fish, squids, prawns, clams and mussels.

One big pan of paella for my big family in my hometown

SEAFOOD PAELLA

Recipe for 3-4 people
Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 cups grain rice, washed
4 cups water or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, soaked with 1/4 cup water for 1-2 hours
1 tablespoon saffron powder
200g squids
200g prawns
200g fish
200g mix frozen seafood
1 cup frozen green peas
Salt to taste
Olive oil

METHOD:

- Heat little olive oil in paella pan or work and sauté onion until soft and add tomatoes.
- Add bell pepper and squids, stir for a few minutes.
- Add the rice, and stir thoroughly until the rice coat with other ingredients.
- Slowly pour water, saffron threads and saffron powder until all ingredients are all cover.
- Arrange the other seafoods and spreading out evenly around the pan. Salt to taste.
- Simmer in a medium heat, and once the rice is almost cooked, sprinkle peas over the top.
- When rice is cooked, remove from heat and let paella rest for a few minutes.
- Slice lemons and serve alongside paella.

Bon appétit!