Category Archives: Cooking Asian

Sichuan chili oil

This is the home made version of a famous chilli sauce called Lao Gan Ma but this is better because we make it from scratch. This I learnt actually from my student Hao Wang ..

  • chilli flakes- 2 T / 20 g
  • chopped garlic- 1 t/ 10 g
  • Oil -50 g
  • sesame seeds- 1 t / 5 g
  • chilli powder/ paprika-1 t
  • fermented dry black beans -1t/ 10 g
  • sugar- 5 g
  • stock powder / ji jin – 1t/ 5 g
  • sesame oil- 1 t/ 5 ml

It’s fairly simple to make and stays for months in the fridge . Heat the oil and saute the garlic and beans and once it smells aromatic add chilli flakes-Do Not BURN.. then add the sesame seeds and let brown lightly .finally add the chilli or paprika and sugar , stock powder and sesame oil. Chill and serve with dumplings and so on..

Nasi Goreng- just like INdo style

So there is this rice, fried rice, some say from Indonesia and some say,’Gulp, dare i say it Malaysia”Oh god, well in any case we arent here to argue over the provenance, but rather to look for the best way to cook it.

Since i learnt to make this from my Indonesian Chefs, one Nety Rudat and Harryson Tobing , im dedicating this to them.

  • Shallots or small red onions- 6-8 or2 medium/ 100 g
  • Red chillies non spicy banana pepper kind- 5-6
  • Garlic cloves -8 large ones peeled….with all of these there is room for give and take, depending on how hot the chillies might be or how pungent the garlic and so on.

We peel the shallot/ onions and grind it to a paste with very little water.

  • Cooked Jasmine rice- 2 cups/ raw approximately 1 cup/ 100 g
  • Oil for cooking- 30 g
  • raw chicken cubes- 100 g
  • peeled and deveined prawns – 100 g
  • spring onions -2 green separate and white separate sliced
  • Prawns krupuk- as many or as few as you like look for the ones wit mst prawn content, not the cheapie ones.( fry these in advance and hide them, they will disappear otherwise )
  • Kecap Manis ABC- ive put a photo of this in the saus kacang recipe- how much to put…is dependant on how sweet you want the rice too be.. it gives it caramelly tones and colur and offsets the heat from chilli garlic.
  • Salt or Light soy sauce-little.

The way to make it very simple. Heat the oil and add the chilli paste and saute it till fragrant. Add in the chicken and cook till done., when the chicken is nearly done add in the spring onion whites(no greens yet)

Add the prawns then too saute for a minute or two till they turn pink and add the rice and rest of the imgredients..saute it so it doesnt burn because Saus ABC is very sticky….

Serve with some krupuk, and maybe a Telur bawang/Fried egg, ( i dont put it on mine because i dont like eggs ).

The saus kacang / peanut sauce which makes you want to sing out loud

There are peanut sauces/ satay sauces which you get in a bottle which make you cringe and squirm with all the citric acid in there..in a pinch you could use it as an abrasive cleaner for your pots or pans..

Not that the one I’m telling you about will actually make you want to sing in joy but I had to use a catchy title or you might go away and look at that recipe from the Net with brilliant photos .

You won’t get that here.. what you will is something which is tried and tested and tasted .. and something which is truly ” Enak Sakali”( tasty in Bahasa). I learnt how to make this from my Padawan Chef Harryson Tobing. Harryson now is culinary Jedi master in the usa.

I had seen a different version which was served in our Thai restaurant at The Oberoi which was good too but the Indo version with its Saus (not misspelt)ABC- kecap Manis .was something else.. a sweet molasses like sauce which makes it even more special.

I have deviated from the original I learnt only to simplify it because I like the Kiss( keep it simple,stupid) principle quite a lot.

  • Peanuts balanced and deep fried ..or make it simpler and use a very good quality crunchy peanut butter – how much ..let’s say about 250 g
  • Red chilli fresh preferred – 2-3 big ones not very hot
  • Garlic cloves- 2-3 large ones
  • Dessicated coconut- 10 g/ 1 T approx
  • ABC kecap Manis / sweet soy sauce- 1 T or a bit more it’s hard to say depends on how sweet you want the sauce to be and how dark.. don’t substitute unless you just can’t get it but I think this is the best..
  • Coconut cream- 400 ml
  • Brown sugar or Gula Melaka- again depends on how sweet you want it to be..I don’t like it too sweet.
  • Kaffir lime leaves/ Daun Limau/Bai makrut – 1-2 torn
  • Oil – quite a lot..nearly 50-60 ml.. I never said this sauce will make you slim, I said sing..

So you grind the garlic and the red chilli together .heat up the oil and add in the chilli garlic mix till gets a nice colour then add in the coconut and peanut and get ready to not leave the stove side because if you do it’s going to burn horribly and can’t get rescued..

Which is also one of the reasons to add in all of that oil..when you see the oil start to separate out from the mix then add the kecap Manis and coconut cream( when you buy this look for the one with maximum coco content ) or use the Maggi Coco milk powder .

also add in the Daun Limau / what is that…the lime leaves which smell like summer refreshed ..and can’t be substituted with anything else.

Some people also like to add some tamarind extract inside their peanut sauce..I’m not one of those people’s!! Having said that if that’s what floats your boat go for it..

Serve this pot of delicious NESS with satay or grilled fish or tofu or with crackers if you like.. you will thank me and throw away that yucky tacky stuff from the bottle in the closest bombing site where it will get obliterated never to bother decent hoomans again.

The photo above shows chilli grown in my garden and the ABC which didn’t ..don’t be tempted to save money and buy the 6 kg plastic tub..this is better..keeps better and can be recycled better.

Wonton/ Hun tun

Will write about one of my fav appetizers here coming soon as soon as I finish walking many kms.

I learnt how to make these not in some random little tea shop in Canton like some of them famous people claim.

Nah that’s not for me I instead had to make these as per order(8 ) for every portion and sometimes for banquets at the Krishna Oberoi a luxury hotel in Hyderabad. For banqueting they were ordered in dozens so the chef would tell out to me.” Hey bamboklat in the break just make 125 dozen wontons”. What the *#”@’:&_&–..

So I had to get pretty fast at it or would get no break at all….This was when I was a trainee from the Oberoi school of hotel management..and we were treated like the lowest of the low by all. The staff hated us cos at some point of time we would become their bosses / supervisors and the supervisors would think yeah right , let’s see if this young fella can take as much torture as I think he can…no how about 24 hr shifts..yeah just have a nap on the oil drum in the dry store .

Ok before we go far far away in the tales of the enchanted forest..lets go back to these delectable morsels.

You will need to find a good source of wonton/ hun tun wrappers somewhere in your town.too hard to make from scratch and they are reasonably cheap to buy ready made .1.9$ at local supermarket in Sydney and can be used also to make teeny tiny spring rolls ( also make a 85 dozens of those Yash) and Shu Mai/ sui Mai .

For the filling we need

 

  • Chicken mince – 250 ( can use a mix of chicken and prawns )
  • Chinese rice wine ( Hua Tia chiew)-5 ml
  • Chicken stock powder/ Ji Jin – pinch
  • Light soy sauce- 2 ml or so
  • Celery chopped fine- 5 g
  • Coriander stems -2 g
  • GingerĀ  finely chopped 5 g
  • Garlic finely chopped -5 g
  • Cracked pepper- pinch
  • Sesame oil – 2 ml
  • For the outer we will use store bought wrappers ..we’ve already said why before in the rambling stuff written above.
  • so you fold the wrapper in half and then twist it and stick them behind each other to form that funky shape.(hmm you probably are going to need a video or so to get it right).
  • but once i do that you can poach or fry these beauties and sing happy songs!!