Assam Pedas Fish

One of the joys of being married to a man of a different race is that I get to learn about their culture and the food that they eat. One spoonful of the Assam Pedas stew and I was instantly hooked. This is also my late FIL’s favourite dish.

Literally means “sour spicy” is a classic and well-loved Malaysian dish. Different spices and types of fish may be used but the end result is always the same. Spicy and tart. Traditional Assam Pedas calls for Spanish mackerel but this recipe works great for stingray, red snapper or pomfret too.  You may use the fillet, tail, head or slices of fish cut thickly.

You may also substitute the tamarind paste with lime juice. The spices have to be well cooked to bring out their aroma but be careful not to burn it. Stir constantly and keep a close watch. Add the tomatoes just before you turn off the heat as not to overcook them or they will become very soft.

The ingredients for this recipe may seem like a lot but don’t let that deter you from trying it out! You can make a bigger batch of the spice paste as it can be refrigerated for upto 1 week. So the next time you want to cook this dish, you’ll just have to get the fresh ingredients as you already have the spice paste.

Assam Pedas Fish

Ingredients

4 slices of medium-sized Spanish Mackerel
1 stalk lemon grass (white part only) – smashed
1 tsp Adabi tamarind paste
3 cup water
8-10 sprigs Vitnamese Mint leaves
1 stalk of torch ginger flower – halved
4 pcs okra
1 tomato – cut into wedges
Salt – to taste

Sugar – to taste

¼ cooking oil

Spice paste

7 shallot

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp turmeric powder / 1-inch fresh turmeric
1 tsp shrimp paste
5 tbsp chili paste (add more if you want it spicier)

Directions

Wash and pat dry the fish. Set aside.

Grind the spice paste in a food processor. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok over medium heat and stir fry the lemon grass until fragrant. Add the spice paste and stir fry for about 3 minutes until the oil starts to separate out.

Add the water, Vitnamese Mint leaves, torch ginger flower and tamarind paste and bring to the boil then simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes.

Add the fish and okra then continue to simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes until the fish is cooked.

Finally, add the tomatoes and season with salt and sugar. Dish out.

Serve with steamed white rice.

Fried Spanish Mackerel In Spicy Soy Sauce

If you are tired of plain fried fish then try this recipe. I bet you will love it.  Cook this for dinner tonight. My son loved it so much that he cleaned his plate! 

For this recipe, I always use a non-stick pan to fry the fish so that it won’t stick to the pan. But if you do not have a non-stick pan then you can use an ordinary wok but just make sure your wok is super hot before you drop the fish into the wok. This recipe works great with tuna fish too…yummy!

Fried Spanish Mackerel in Spicy Soy Sauce

Ingredients

4 slices of medium-sized Spanish Mackerel

1 green chili - sliced

½ yellow onion - sliced

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp tomato sauce

Juice from 2 pcs calamansi lime + Juice from ½ calamansi lime

2 tbsp sweet soy sauce

1 sugar or to taste

½ tbsp salt or to taste

½ cup water

Ingredients to blend into a paste

10 shallots / 1 big yellow onion

5 cloves garlic

10 bird’s eye chili

1½-inch ginger

Directions

Wash and pat dry the fish. Rub salt and dust with turmeric powder on both sides of the fish. Then squeeze the calamansi juice (from 2 pcs calamansi lime) over the fish.

Heat oil in a frying pan on high heat and deep fry the fish till golden brown on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Heat oil in a wok over medium heat and stir fry the sliced yellow onion until fragrant. Stir in the paste and cook until the oil starts to separate out.

Add the water, tomato sauce, oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce and the calamansi juice (from ½ calamansi lime) then bring to the boil.

Stir in the sliced green chili. Season with salt and sugar then add the fried fish. Stir to coat the fish. Simmer for 1 minute then dish out.  

Serve with steamed white rice.

Little Italy, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Last July, David and Victoria Beckham celebrated their 17th Wedding Anniversary. The 17th anniversary may not seem worth celebrating compared to a 25th or 50th wedding anniversary but I believe celebrating one’s anniversary must never be overlooked as it reinforces the fact that your marriage is a priority. An anniversary celebration also allows you to pull back from your daily routine and relive a moment that changed your life forever. Always make it a point to celebrate!

17 years ago, I married my confidant and best friend. Many predicted we wouldn’t last and there have been times when I probably stayed just to prove them wrong. During our first 15 years of marriage, we never really care to celebrate our anniversary. But as I’ve watched several of my relatives’ marriages end in divorce I know now for sure how potent a force and how dangerous complacency can be in a relationship and in today’s world of high divorce rates, being married a long time is a source of pride.

So to celebrate our latest milestone, Hub brought us to Little Italy for dinner (we don’t normally buy gifts for each other, only for birthdays). We had Fileto ai Funghi, Salciccia Casereccia, Ravioli Combo fiesta, beef lasagna, Insalata Di Cesare and iced Peach teas. An absolute feast! 

Ravioli Combo fiesta – Ravioli Beef with Bolognese sauce, Ravioli Ricotta with Spinach in Quattro Formogi sauce and Ravioli Mushroom with Panna E Funghi sauce 

Salciccia Casereccia (freshly made lamb and beef sausage skewers, grilled to perfection and served with potato wedges)

Beef lasagna

Insalata Di Cesare (Ceasar Salad—lettuce, tomatoes, sliced onions, beef bacon bits and marinated chicken breast, tossed with an emulsion of mayonnaise. Chopped garlic, Parmesan cheese and olive oil)

Fileto ai Funghi (180gm of New Zealand beef fillet served in a mouth watering fresh mushroom sauce and accompanied by roasted eggplant, zucchini and vegetables of the day) 

    

 Iced Peach teas

I still can’t believe that Hub and I have been married for 17 years now. It has not been a perfect 17 years but we have learned how to make it work in the best way possible. Marriage is hard work and celebrating all you do to stay in love and happy is very important.

After two children and seventeen years later, we still hold hands everywhere. Some of our friends think that’s “so awkward”. Whatever! I can honestly say that holding my husband's hand is second nature. So, I guess...I'd really never given it a thought as to if it's appropriate or not?

Growing old with the one I love is my dream. My grandparents lived so inseparably throughout their six decades together that even death couldn’t keep them apart for more than a few months. So many shared memories and so much love that they shared right up until the end. I also want to have that kind of marriage.

The most important thing that I’ve learned is to see each other for who we really are and we see each others needs and try to meet them to the best of our ability. I try to actually tell my husband what I want instead of making him guess. I praise him when he does things I love and I always thank him for what he does for me. But without love, I know we wouldn’t have made it this far. 

Dear Hub,

Our marriage may have been a bumpy ride with many speed breakers but that is what has made us circumvent those obstacles and fly high in the sky. Even though I have a million imperfections, you’ve always made me feel perfect. Even though I have a thousand flaws, you’ve always made me feel flawless. Even though I’ve made hundreds of mistakes, you’ve always made me feel the best. Happy anniversary to the best husband ever. 

For our Anniversary this year, my gift to you is a song that makes me think of you, of us. I love you.

Steamed Chocolate Cheese Layered Cake

I made this cake 2 days ago and it was gone the next day. In fact, I make this cake every year for Raya as the recipe is simple and easy to put together. The worst thing about this cake is that it goes so fast so normally I will double it. But honestly, I am not personally a fan of this cake but my family is.

Last year my brother’s DIL was craving for this cake when she was pregnant with her second child. The baby boy was then nicknamed Bxxxx.  So that’s how this cake got its nickname ‘Bxxxx’s Cake’.

This is a really simple but delicious cake. No butter, just oil in this recipe that delivers a rich, cheesy and chocolate-y in about 2 hours.

I don’t remember where I got this recipe from but anyway, I would like to thank him / her for sharing this simple but great recipe. May our gracious Lord bless and repay him / her for his / her kindness and generousity.

Steamed Chocolate Cheese Layered Cake

This recipe yields a 8x8-inch square cake.

Ingredients A

2 whole gr. A eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
½ cup boiling water
½  cup fresh milk / evaporated milk
½ cup corn oil
1 cup plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder 

Instructions

Start by boiling the water in the steamer over medium heat.

Grease the cake pan and line with parchment paper. Grease the top of the paper too. Set aside.

Sift the plain flour together with cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt. Continue to beat for 30 seconds.

Add the hot water, milk and oil. Beat at medium speed until well-mixed.

Add the dry sifted ingredients a little at a time and mix to combine well. Rest the batter for a while then divide the mixture into two equal portions. Measure well or else the layers will not be of the same height. Set aside.

Ingredient B

250 gm cream cheese
60g castor sugar
1 whole gr. A egg
1 tbsp plain water
1 tbsp plain flour

Instructions

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

Add the egg and then followed by the plain water and flour.  Continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Now we’re ready to steam the cake.

Pour in one portion of the chocolate cake batter into the cake pan. Level the batter. Cover the pan with cling wrap and steam for 25 minutes.

Remove from the steamer and discard the cling wrap. Add the cream cheese batter and cover with cling wrap then continue to steam for another 20 minutes.

Remove from the steamer and discard the cling wrap. Pour in the other portion of the chocolate cake batter onto the cheese layer.

Then cover with cling wrap again and steam for another 45 minutes or until the cake is cooked. Check with a prick.

Leave the cake to cool in the steamer for a few minutes. Remove from the steamer and let it cool completely before removing it from the cake pan.

Coconut Milk Pancake

I love to eat pancakes. They are warm and light yet very filling. Great for breakfast on cold mornings. They are good with honey or maple syrup. This recipe serves 4 people, fewer if they are very hungry and it uses only 5 ingredients you probably already have. Anybody can add water to a boxed pancake mix but you are better than that.

I make this for my family quite often.  You can make it extra special with berries. But my family likes to eat it with Sambal Ikan Bilis (Dried anchovies cooked in hot sauce).

Coconut Milk Pancake

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk

1½ cup water

2 cups plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt / to taste

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Make a well in the center and pour in the coconut milk, water and salt. Mix until smooth. Leave it to rest for 15 minutes.

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over moderate heat. Ladle the batter onto the pan, using approximately ¼ cup for each pancake, tilting the pan to move the mixture around for a thin and even layer. Return the pan to the heat then leave to cook, undisturbed for 45 seconds - 1 minutes until it turn golden underneath.

Flip it over to cook the other side, for another 45 seconds - 1 minutes. Continue with the rest of the batter.

Serve with Malaysian Sambal Ikan Bilis or honey or maple syrup. Enjoy!

Banana and Glutinous Rice in Sweetened Coconut Milk

Just got back from my vacation and while I am sad that it is over, I am happy to say that more posts will be coming soon! But before that, today, I would like to talk about the 2016 Primary School Assessment Test (UPSR).

The results of the 2016 UPSR were announced today. This year’s candidates are the 1^st cohorts who sat for the test under the new UPSR format in line with the implementation of the Primary School Standard Curriculum which also emphasizes elements of the Higher Order Thinking Skills.

Alhamdulillah, my husband and I are relieved that my daughter has obtained good results for all subject except for her B.Malaysia – Writing paper which is less satisfactory. I felt sad for her as I know how hard she studied. She reads well but she is weak at writing, when she writes essay, she would first write it in English then later translates it to B.Malaysia. We even sent her for private tuition to help her improve in B.Malaysia.

She comes from an ideal Malaysian ‘muhibbah’ family – father is Malay-Indian, mother is Kadazan-Chinese and yet is unable to speak the national language fluently. Yes, I know what you people out there might think of us. The thing is that my husband and I speak different languages so as not to confuse the children more, we decided to choose only one language to be our home language and our children dominant language.  It was difficult in the beginning with our first child. Although I’m bilingual it felt strange speaking English so I also spoke my home language to my children but then my husband didn’t understand me!

Our son go to government school whilst our daughter is studying at a missionary school therefore they get plenty of B.Malaysia at school but when they are home, we speak to them in English even when they respond in B.Malaysia, we maintain English environment.  That is the least I can do to help my children since I can’t afford to send them to boarding schools in UK or international schools in Malaysia.

I am not saying that my English is good enough to teach my children but the point here is, like it or not, English is the universal language and the main issue that is more significant is about the declining standard of education in Malaysia -- that includes the shocking standard of English taught in our schools.

I still remember a few years ago when my estranged father called my working place to look for me then left a message to return his call as I was engaged on the other line; my colleague was so amazed that it became the hottest topic of the day -- my father speaks English very well. She said she didn’t know that my father is an educated person considering that (unlike her) I come from a rural area. She was more surprised when I told her that my father was the product of a British school. Even my maternal grandfather speaks English fluently because he studied at a missionary school. However, should I be ashamed if my parents don’t know how to speak English or speak broken English? Why should I, it’s not their native language. 

Okey dokey…Let’s get down to our main business!  So, in order to cheer my little girl up and get her mind off of the ‘less satisfactory’ result (at least for a little while), I decided to make this dessert.

Banana and Glutinous Rice in Sweetened Coconut Milk

Ingredients

2 cups thick coconut milk

2 ½ cups water

¾ cup palm sugar

½ tsp salt

10 pcs Sabah banana - peeled

½ cup small pearl sago – washed and drained

1 pandan (screw pine) leave – washed and knotted

Directions

In a pot, bring to a boil, 5 cups of water and drop the pearl sago in. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Occasionally stirring to prevent it from sticking to the bottom or the side of the pot.

After 10 minutes, it will turn partially translucent. Turn off the heat and let it stand (covered) for 10 minutes to continue cooking by itself. Then rinse it through a sieve to remove the excess starch. Set aside.

In another pot, combine the water, palm sugar syrup, salt and pandan leave and bring to a boil over medium heat.  

Add the coconut milk and bring it to a boil once again. Keep stirring at this stage as we don't want the coconut milk to curdle. Discard the pandan leave.

Add the bananas and turn down the heat then simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the cooked pearl sago. Leave to cool completely.

Serve with glutinous rice.

Note:

This is also delicious with durian in place of the bananas. You don’t need a thickening agent for this dessert as the gravy will thicken a bit as it cools.

Steamed Glutinous Rice

Ingredients

500gm glutinous rice

200ml coconut milk

400ml water

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Directions

Wash the rice and soak atleat for 3 hours.

Drain the rice and put them into a steaming tray.

Combine the coconut milk, water, sugar and salt then stir to mix well. Pour over the rice. Steam the rice for 15 minutes.

Take out the steaming tray and fluff up the rice and continue to steam for another 15 minutes or until the rice is done.

Remove the steaming tray. Set aside to cool.