Here is another mango salad recipe.  A Malaysian Nyonya version.  The key flavoring here is belachan.  Now, the following paragraph may scare you away from this recipe, but do trust me, once the belachan is roasted and mixed into the sambal, the salad is just absolutely scrumptious!  Ask any Malaysian, and they will surely defend the belachan.

Belachan is to Malaysian cooking what fish sauce is to Thai cooking.  To get the full, sweet flavor of belachan, buy a block of it, slice it up and dry toast it in a skillet.  Just be aware that your neighbors may not be liking it too much!  When I lived in Guangzhou about 20 years ago, I toasted some belachan and thought I was smart to leave the windows opened….after all, I was in US consulate housing and I don’t think my neighbors really dig the smell!  Before I knew it, every fly in Guangzhou decided to join me in the cooking!  After a humourous battle tracking down the flies and shooing them away, I was able to get all but one fly out of the apt.  To get the last fly out, I placed my bottle of now sweetly toasted belachan by the window sill.  The lone fly decided to come out of hiding and follow the waft of the belachan by the window sill.  At that point, I turned on the fan, and off he went out of the window!

Chef’s tip: You can also roast the belachan in an oven.  400F.  Chop up the belachan, spread it on a baking sheet and roast about 7 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, break up the pieces further till crumbs form.  Return to oven for another 5 minutes.  Store leftover roasted belachan in an airtight bottle for future use!

Sambal Belachan:
6 Fresno/ red jalapeno chilies
1 Tablespoon belachan, more if desired

Dressing:
2 Tablespoon prepared sambal belachan
3 Tablespoon lime juice
2 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 Tablespoon dried shrimp, soaked
2 Tablespoon dessicated shredded coconut, toasted
2 green mangoes, peeled and shredded
2 shallots, finely sliced
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely chiffonaded

1. In a food processor, finely grind the red chilies into a paste. Mix with belachan.
2. Make kerabu dressing – mix together sambal belachan, lime juice, sugar and salt.  Set aside.
3. Soak dried shrimp in water until soft.  Drain and pound coarsely with a mortar and pestle or pulse with a food processor.  Set aside.
4. Toast desiccated coconut in a pan till golden brown.  Pound coconut lightly.  Set aside.
5. Shred mangoes, cut shallots into thin slices lengthwise.  Slice kaffir lime leaves finely.
6. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients with the dressing. Serve immediately.

Note: Mangoes must be green, unriped firm mangoes

Serves: 6

Tags: Malaysian, nyon, Salads.

This simple, Vietnamese-influenced shrimp salad encompasses the full flavors of hot, sweet, sour and salty.   The dressing is really versatile and you can vary the choice of fruit, too – for example, use pomelo, green papaya, even Granny Smith apples, peaches or cantaloupe.

Chef’s tip:  To peel soft, ripe fruits like mangoes or peaches, use a serrated peeler.  Kent mangoes work well for this salad.  To seed it, peel the mango.  Then cut off about 1/2 inch off the bottom and it will reveal part of the oval, flat shaped seed.  Noting the flat side of the seed from the cut tip,  stand the mango on the cut tip, then cut along the flat side of the seed from the top down, applying a slight pressure towards the seed.  Repeat with the opposite side.  Then carefully slice off both vertical side edges along the seed.  To chiffonade herbs, stack several leaves, then roll them tightly into a little cigar.  Next, slice through the roll to create thin slices.  Fluff the sliced herbs to break up the strands.

Dressing
3 small Thai red chilies, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, finely chopped
¼ cup olive oil (not extra virgin)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons palm sugar/ brown sugar
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon finely chopped kaffir lime leaves, optional

Salad
1 lb medium sized shrimp, shelled, deveined
2 ripe, firm mangoes, peeled, cut into thick juliennes
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 cup coarsely chopped basil leaves
1/2 cup mint, chiffonade

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Preparing the Dressing and topping:
1.  Place the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined.
Preparing the shrimp
2.  In a pot of salted boiling water, drop in the cleaned shrimp.  when shrimp turns pink, remove and immediately plunge into an ice bath.   Drain and pat dry.
Preparing the salad
3. Peel mangoes, and remove pit and slice flesh into thick juliennes.  Toss mangoes herbs and half the dressing.  Set aside.
4. Toss the shrimp with remaining dressing.  And place on top of the mangoes.
5. Garnish with pine nuts and cilantro leaves.

Serves: 6

Tags: Salads, Thai.

When Chinese New Year comes around in Malaysia and Singapore, one cannot escape the symbolic dish of Yu Sang. When I was a corporate banker in Kuala Lumpur (in my previous life), we would take our customers out for Yu Sang lunch, and Yu Sang dinner during CNY. If it was served for breakfast, we would have taken them out for Yu Sang breakfast, too! When I got home, my mom would ask “We have to have Yu Sang!” Yu Sang, Yu Sang everywhere!

In the Cantonese dialect, “Yu Sang” is literally translated as raw fish. The words sound like the words for “abundance and growth”. This dish is also sometimes referred to as “Lo Hei” which sounds like “growth in business undertaking”. So when we do the “Yu Sang”, we are wishing our colleagues, friends and family, at the start of a new year, lots of prosperity, good luck and good business.

PS: Don’t forget the red packet!

Chef’s tip: To create the beautiful vegetable julienne spirals, use a Benriner Japanese spiral mandoline.

Ingredients

Special equipment needed A Japanese mandolin/ vegetable shredder

2 cups medium sized carrots
2 cups large white radish/ daikon
1 cup of small green papaya*
1 cup of spring onions
1 cup of cilantro leaves
½ cup pickled shallots*
½ cup of pickled ginger
1 pomelo or 1 grapefruit

½ lb fresh ahi tuna – sashimi grade
1 cup of Asian plum sauce* (Lee Kum Kee brand)
½ cup of grapeseed oil or other mild flavored oil
½ lime

½ cup of roasted peanuts, crushed
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon Asian 5 spice powder
6 pieces of wonton skin
1 cup of canola oil for frying
1 red envelope

Preparing the crunchy topping
1.    Cut wonton skin into juliennes.
2.    Heat oil in pan.  Fry wonton skin till golden brown.  Drain.
3.    Roast peanuts in an oven 350F till golden brown.  About 7 minutes.
4.    Coarsely crush with a mortar and pestle.
5.    Dry roast sesame seeds till fragrant.
Preparing the vegetables and fish
6.    Shred all vegetables into thin long strips using a Japanese mandolin.
7.    Cut scallions into 2 inch long juliennes, and then slice lengthwise thinly.  Soak in cold water 10  minutes, then drain.
8.    Slice pickled shallots and pickled ginger finely.  Remove tough stems from cilantro.
9.    Remove skin and membranes from pomelo to obtain the fruit sac.
10.    Arrange all vegetables on a large platter in a circle, taking care to alternate colors.
11.    Slice fish about ¼ X 2 x 1 inch and place in the middle.
Assembly:
12.    Just prior to serving, drizzle with oil and plum dressing
13.    Sprinkle on peanuts, sesame seeds, wonton skin crisps
14.    At the table, sprinkle Asian 5 spice (served out of the red envelope).
15.    Squeeze lime over fish.
16.    Toss for good luck

Serves: 6-8

Tags: festive foods, Malaysian, Peanuts, Salads, sashimi, Singaporean, tuna.