I read in this month’s Saveur that Penang is having its international food festival this week where the celebration is Penang’s foodways.  First of all, in food-obssessed Penang, every day is a celebration of food.  In the same blurb, it described the local specialty, Assam Laksa, as aromatic, tamarind-based fish noodle soup.  Hard to imagine with such a description what the dish really is – except for those in the know.  My mouth starts to water at the thought of the tang, sour, saltiness and spicyness of the beloved noodle dish.

Chef’s tip: You can find fresh tamarind in the pods at Asian, Indian, Latin markets and Whole Foods.  To prepare tamarind, peel off the tough outer skin of the tamarind pod.  Place the flesh, seeds and veins in a bowl and add some warm water.  Using your hands, gently massage the tamarind to dissolve it.  Sieve.  You can also find tamarind in the block at Asian markets, which is essentially the peeled version.  Tamraind concentrate in the bottle is a lot more sour than fresh tamarind, so start with half the amount.

Ingredients:

1 lb bluefish (Traditionally mackerel, otherwise, any oily flaky fish)

Spice Paste:
6 dried Japanese chilies or 3 fresh red jalapeno
2 pieces of lemongrass
5 shallots
1 tablespoon roasted belachan
¼ cup of canola oil for frying

Soup:
1/2 cup tamarind pulp (including seeds) + 1 cup warm water
6 cups water or fish stock (use fish bouillon if necessary)
5 pieces of dried tamarind slices
4 stalks laksa leaves
Salt to taste (at least a few pinchfuls of salt)
2 teaspoons sugar

Toppings:
1 cup of shredded English cucumber
1 red jalapeno
½ red onion
1 cup of fresh pineapples
1 cup of mint leaves, whole
2 tablespoons laksa leaves, finely minced

12 oz thick fresh rice noodles (lai fun) or 6 oz dried rice vermicelli

1 lime, preferably calamansi
2 Tablespoon haeko

Preparing the fish
1.    Steam the fish until opaque and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Reserve fish stock.
2.    When cooled, remove bones and skin, coarsely flake the fish with a fork.
Preparing the spice paste
3.    Grind together spice paste ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Set aside.
Preparing the laksa soup base
4.    Peel tamarind.  Mash tamarind flesh in 1 cup of warm water.  Remove solids, reserve juice.
5.    Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat until just hot.  Stir in spice paste. Cook, stirring constantly, until the red oil separates from the spice paste about 8 to 10 minutes.
6.    Lower the heat, slowly add tamarind paste, water, fish stock, tamarind slices and laksa leaves and bring to a slow simmer, stirring constantly.  Simmer for at 20-30 minutes.  Add salt and sugar to taste.  Remove tamarind slices and laksa leaves. Just before serving, add the flaked fish.
Preparing the vegetables
7.    Finely julienne cucumber, jalapeno, slice the red onion and cut pineapples into small wedges.
8.    Mince the laksa leaves.
Preparing the noodles
9.    Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add salt and oil.  Blanch rice vermicelli quickly – a few seconds.
Assembly
10.    In a small bowl, mix hae-ko shrimp paste with 2 tablespoon warm water
11.    Place a serving of noodles and vegetables in bowls and ladle laksa broth over.
12.    Serve with halved limes and a dollop of hae-ko.

Tags: Malaysian, noodles, street foods.

Chinese food is all about texture.  The chewy starch juxtapose the fluffy egg and smooth, slimy texture of the oysters as you slide them down your throat.  I must admit, the slippery mouth feel is an acquired taste.  A hawker store favorite in Chinese communities in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, the dish makes a great entree with all the goodness of eggs and oysters.

Chef’s tip: Starch cooks translucent.  The minute it turns clear, it no longer taste powdery.

6 eggs
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Batter
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese wine
½ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoon tapioca/ potato starch
1 tablespoon rice flour
8 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup cilantro leaves
White pepper

½ cup green onions, chopped
12 oysters, shucked, drained
1 Tablespoon fish sauce

1.    Whisk the eggs with salt. Set aside.
2.    In another bowl, whisk batter ingredients together.
3.    Heat a large non stick pan over medium heat until hot.
4.    Add  2 tablespoons oil, followed by the batter and cook for a  minute until translucent, stirring continuously
5.    Pour in the eggs, allow the eggs to cook for half a minute, then stir inwards to let the runny eggs go to the bottom of the pan to make an omelet
6.    When eggs have somewhat thickened, make a whole in the center
7.    Add 1 tablespoon oil, the minced garlic and fry for a 10 seconds until the garlic is fragrant
8.    Add in the oysters and the seasoning mixture.  Sprinkle in chopped green onions.
9.    Stir the eggs over the oyster mixture.  Drizzle on fish sauce.
11.    Garnish with cilantro leaves, sprinkle with more white pepper and serve with Chili Garlic Sauce

Serves: 6

Tags: Chinese, Malaysian, street foods.

Last night in class, we made Hainanese Chicken Rice.  The dish, often being claimed as the national dish of Singapore, always surprises folks unfamiliar to it on how tasty and flavorful it can be for a poached chicken and rice dish.  You need to use a whole chicken – chicken parts just won’t do.  Preferably a yellow-feathered, free range, organic chicken, or what they say back home, a “kampung” chicken.  The sauces are a must.

Chef’s tip: Poaching the chicken as described in great detail in the recipe – hot dip, long bath, and cold plunge  – may sound like a spa treatment, but it makes for really tender and moist chicken.  There you go -  proof that spas are good for you.

Rice:
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 inches ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 cups jasmine rice
4 ½ cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
4 Pandan (screwpine) leaves

Chicken:
1 small chicken, about 3 lbs
2 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 teaspoon five spice powder

Soup:
2 inches ginger, peeled, smashed
3 stalks green onions, cut into 4 inch pieces
2 tablespoons Chinese wine
3 tablespoons kosher salt

1 small head of napa cabbage, tear into large pieces

Dressing Sauce:
3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
¼ cup canola oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon brown sugar

Garnish:
½ English cucumber, sliced thinly
1 cup green onions, julienned
1 cup cilantro

Preparing the Rice:
1.    Smash garlic with skin on lightly, lightly smashed with the back of the knife, garlic should still be somewhat whole.  Peel ginger.  Smash into large pieces.  Set aside.
2.    In a 6 quart pot, fry garlic and ginger in sesame oil till fragrant. Add dry rice and coat the rice with the oil.  Saute for 1 minute until rice is translucent.
3.    Add chicken broth and salt.  Tie the pandan leaves into a knot and embed into the rice.
4.    Bring to a boil.  Wrap the pot cover with a tea towel and cover the pot and simmer under low heat for 20 minutes.  Do not open the cover at all.
5.    Remove from heat, and let sit 10 minutes.
6.    Remove garlic, ginger and pandan prior to serving.  Fluff the rice.
Preparing the chicken:
7.    Mix grated ginger with the five spice powder. Rub the chicken inside with it.
8.    Fill a large stockpot of water enough to cover the chicken.  Add ginger, green onions, Chinese wine and salt and bring to boil. When water boils, dunk in the chicken and bring to a boil again.  When it comes to a boil, cover, turn heat down and simmer 5 mins. Turn off heat & leave chicken for 40 mins in the covered pot.  Remove scum that forms on top with a slotted spoon.
9.    Remove chicken, and plunge chicken into a ice water bath for 5 mins.
10.    In the meantime, bring the chicken soup back to a boil.   Turn off heat. Plunge chicken back into hot soup for 2 mins to reheat. Remove chicken, and drain. Cut up chicken to 8 pieces.
11.    Add napa cabbage to the soup, salt to taste, and boil another 10 minutes till soft.
Preparing the dressing sauce & garnish:
12.    Mince garlic.  Brown garlic in oil till light golden brown.  Remove from heat.  Let cool.
13.    Whisk into the garlic oil the sesame oil, soy sauce and brown sugar.
14.    Slice cucumber.  Finely shred green onions (length wise) and cilantro
Assembling
15.    Mount a bowl of rice, top with chicken pieces.  Drizzle dressing on chicken. Garnish with cucumber, green onions and cilantro.  Serve with Ginger-Green Onion Sauce and Chili Garlic Sauce and a bowl of the soup.

Serves: 8

Chili Garlic Sauce

4 cloves garlic
10 fresh red chilies, deseeded
5 small sweet red peppers, deseeded
1 ½ inch ginger, peeled, chopped
2 small shallot, peeled, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
Juice from 2 limes, to make ½ cup
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
½ teaspoon kosher salt

1.    Process to a fine paste all ingredients together in a food processor
2.    Season with sugar and salt to taste.
3.    Add more lime juice if needed.

Sauce will last for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Ginger-Green Onion Sauce

3 inches length young ginger, peeled and grated to make to make 4 Tablespoons
1 stalk green onions, green parts only, finely minced
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 – 2 teaspoons kosher salt

1.    Grate ginger with a microplace and mince green onions
2.    In a small pot, mix all ingredients together and heat mixture.  Bring to boil for ½ minute until the mixture fully sizzles.

Tags: Singaporean, street foods.