Ayam Buah Keras (Candlenut Chicken)

I never know that candlenuts can become one of the main ingredients in a dish.  As far as I know, candlenuts (or in Malay it is called buah keras) are used in traditional Asian dishes (mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia) to thicken sauces ie satay and sambal.  The nut is similar in flavour (though much bitter) and texture to a macadamia nut, which similarly has a high oil content.

Buah Keras / Candlenuts

The other day, I was browsing through for a nyonya chicken curry recipe that my late mother used to cook for me and incidentally I stumbled upon this one over here from My Kitchen Snippets.  At one glance, it looked similar to the recipe that I was looking for.  I clicked, went in and instantly had my heart set on cooking this dish, of course still assuming that it was THE recipe I was looking for.

However, in the midst of preparing the dish, I realized that I was cooking something else.  While dishing out onto the plate, I knew that it's gonna be a good one, based on the texture, consistency, color and aroma.

Then came the moment of truth!  My wife took her first bite..........mmm, okay-lah, cukup rasa (tasty enough)!  As her usual self, always stingy with her compliments, I still could not assume the dish had convinced her.........U-N-T-I-L she took the second piece.  PHEW!!  I gave out a small sheepish smile.

In the evening, on the dining table, my eldest who had just come back from school tried the dish together with steamed rice.  After his last spoon, he went up straight to my wife and blurted out..........."mummy, can you please ask papa to cook some more?"   

So, here it is, two 'likes' from two of the most important people in my family.  Humbly, I have somehow succeeded in this dish that I feel it's worth trying if you are looking for a nyonya chicken dish.....yes, Ayam Buah Keras/Candlenut Chicken.

The Recipe:

The ingredients:

Kaffir Lime Leaves

600g chicken, cleaned and cut into small pieces
Candlenut paste (please refer to the recipe below)
1 Lemongrass, slightly smashed
2 pcs Kaffir lime leaves
3/4 cup of water
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste


Method:
1. Heat about 4-5 tablespoon of oil and put in the candlenut paste and fry
     until fragrant (this normally take about 10 minutes).  Use low to medium
     heat and be careful not to burn the paste.
2. Add in the chicken pieces, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass  Coat the chicken
    with the paste and keep stirring until the chicken turns opaque.
3. Add in salt, sugar, and some water and stir every now and then.
4. Cook until the chicken is done and gravy thickens slightly.  If the chicken is not
    cooked but the gravy is starting to dry up, you can add more water.
5. Dish out and serve.

Preparing the Candlenut Paste:
   100g fresh chilies (about 10 pcs)
   5 candlenuts
   100g shallots (about 10-12 pcs)
    8g fresh turmeric/kunyit hidup (about 2 inches)
    10g shrimp paste/belacan
    oil
    water

Method:
1. De-seed the fresh chillies if you do not like the paste to be too spicy.
    Cut the chillies, shallots and turmeric for easy blending.
2. Put all the ingredients into a blender and add a little water.  Blend
    into fine paste and set it aside.

BON APPETITE!

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

Nyonya Pulut Inti

My brother in-law gave us a packet of uncooked glutinous rice, specially brought back from Singapore.  He reckoned that it was of a high graded one.  As a matter of fact, we have never had any glutinous rice in the house ever since we shifted in 5 years back.  Besides, we have never cooked it either and certainly none of us knows how to exploit it.  So, whether it is high graded or low graded, it does not matter to us even a wee bit. Anyway, thanks to you, bro!

Not knowing what to do with it, my wife, again gave another of her brilliant suggestion.

"Why don't we make pulut inti!"  

"Yeer, so simple" was my only response.

Uninterested, I did not bother to ask her any further and just walked away.  After a few reminders, I finally gave in.  Hesitatingly, I googled search for the recipe and did a little bit of reading.  Little did I realize that I began to lurve and appreciate this classic Nyonya  kuih.

As a Melaka-born Baba, I used to eat this kuih when I was young.  It has been quite some time since my mom and tuah ee (aunt) last made this kuih.  As a kid (even till now), I did not quite crave for this delicacy simply because I was just too lazy to unwrap the banana leaf which would always make my fingers sticky and messy. 

Basically, pulut inti is made of steamed glutinous rice with coconut milk and eaten with dessicated coconut filling caramelized with palm sugar and it's all wrapped in a banana leaf.  "Pulut" means glutinous rice and "inti" means the filling.  The original version of pulut inti will have its pulut soaked with bunga telang (or Blue Pea flower in English) to give the rice a sweet pastel blue hue.  Since I had totally forgotten to hunt some, I would have to settle for the plain colorless rice.

 Bunga Telang (Blue pea flower)

Generally, I find making this legendary kuih so much fun and most importantly, it's so nyonya......

Pulut Inti Recipe
(I adapted this recipe from nyonya food -
http://nyonyafood.rasamalaysia.com)

A) The Pulut

15 dried Blue Pea Flowers
1/4 cup of hot water
300 g glutinous rice
230 g thick coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Soak blue pea flower in hot water for 15 minutes till water turn blue. Sieve the water out.
2. Soak the glutinous rice in blue pea flower overnight or about 6 hours.
3. Steam glutinous rice in steamer for about 25 minutes or till rice is soft.
4. Mix coconut milk and salt. Add into steamed glutinous rice and continue to steam for another 10 minutes.
5. Remove and leave to cool.
6. Serve with coconut filling.

 B) Coconut Filling
     150 g brown sugar / palm sugar
     3 Tbsp sugar
     1 pandan leave (knotted)
     1 grated coconut (white part only)
     80ml water
     1Tbsp cornflour mix with 1Tbsp water

Method:

1. Break the brown sugar/palm sugar into small pieces. Combine with the sugar, pandan leave and water. Cover over a medium flame until sugar dissolves.
2. Add in grated coconut and stir till fragrant.
3. Add conflour mixture and stir for 2 minutes. Leave to cool.

Hope you will like this recipe!

Happy Trying!!

Traditional Chicken Rendang

On our way hunting for breakfast two days ago, my wife suddenly craved to eat rendang ayam (or chicken rendang) and asked me to cook.  Any particular reason? I have no idea.  What I could think of, it's probably due to the Ramadan month fever (fasting month for the Muslims) where food bazaars, displaying all kinds of traditional Malay food and snacks are prominent at almost every nook and cranny of the town.  As the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festival (a new year festival celebrated by the Muslims after observing a-month long of fasting period) is fast approaching, the smell of ketupats and rendangs, which are synonymous to the celebration begins to fill the festive air.   

So, immediately after breakfast we headed to the nearby market to get the ingredients needed.  As soon as wife got down from the car, I remained in and started googling for the recipe on my mobile phone.  After just a few clicks, I caught sight on this particular one here and bingo!  Barely 10 minutes, we were already in the car heading back home. 

Basically, rendang is a caramelized curry cooked with either chicken, beef or mutton.  This is a spicy meat dish originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia to serve at ceremonial occasions and now a popular Malay staple in Malaysia.  Rendang is often served with steamed rice, ketupat (a compressed rice cake), or lemang (glutinous rice barbecued in bamboo tubes).  It is a must-have dish in every Malay house during Hari Raya Aidilfitri festival.

Interestingly, in 2011, an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Rendang as the number one dish of their 'World's 50 Most Delicious Food' list.  Wow, what a revelation!

Cooking rendang is time-consuming and requires patience.  The meat pieces are slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices at precisely the right temperature until almost all the liquid is gone.  The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender.   The generous use of numerous spices makes rendang to have a complex and unique taste.

So, here it goes.......

The Recipe:

500g chicken, chopped (or mutton, beef, cubed)
3 potatoes, quartered
10 shallots
4 cloves garlic
2 stalks lemon grass/serai, smashed for flavour
1 cm ginger
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
sugar to taste
lots of pepper
1 tsp chili paste or 3 fresh chilies
1/2 tsp turmeric

1 cup coconut milk
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 turmeric leaf

1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup pounded kerisik (dry roasted dessicated coconut that is golden brown and very fragrant)


Method :-
1) Blend onion, garlic, ginger, salt, turmeric and chili paste until smooth.
2) Heat oil in wok and add blended mixture. Stir fry for 5 minutes or until paste separates from the oil.
3) Add chicken and potatoes.  Then, stir fry for 5 minutes.
4) Add kaffir lime leaves and turmeric leaf together with coconut milk and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes or until meat is tender, adding a bit more coconut milk as necessary to keep sauce from drying and burning.
5) Add the coconut kerisik when the meat is almost tender, like 10 minutes before finish.

Hope this recipe will fire your taste bud, just like how it did on mine!

Bon Appetite!

Nyonya Pineapple Tarts, The Crispy Type

 
I started making pineapple tarts about 2 years ago.  Seriously, pineapple tart making is utterly labour-intensive and time-consuming.  Nevertheless, it is indeed a labour of love.  For those who have attempted making this Nyonya staple, you should know what I mean!

The work includes cutting the pineapples, removing all the eyes (gosh, I hate this the most), grating the fruits, slow-cooking it under low heat until it turns jammy (well, this itself takes about 1-2 hours), preparing the dough, assembling everything and finally baking the tarts.  I usually spend about 3-4 hours just on the assembling part and just to make a batch consisting of a mere 50 bite-sized pieces.

Well, I have to say that the whole family: my wife, my kids, including my in-laws really have a weakness for pineapple tarts.  However, as a matter of fact, not only that the price of a box (of tarts) sold outside is escalating like nobody's business but getting one that is nice and authentic is indeed hard to come by nowadays.  Hence, I feel it is high time that I get my hands dirty and learn to make my own.  Well, before getting down to business, I did my homework ie doing lots of reading from the net including seeking advice from my septuagenarian aunt (I affectionately call her Tuah Ee) whom we, among the relatives recognize her as the sifu of pineapple tart.  So, this could be the reason why when I made my very first batch of tarts, I did not encounter much hiccups and the outcome was fairly good and far from being disastrous.  I have made pineapple tarts for umpteen times and am now still fine-tuning it.

Basically, there are two types of pineapple tarts ie the hard crispy type and the soft melt-in-the mouth type, the latter being more preferable.  Actually, it all boils down to the pastry.  Personally, I prefer the hard crispy pastry.  I do not like it too hard though but most importantly, the pastry must be crissppy.  When you make a cross section to the tart, you can see layers forming the pastry.  This is what I mean......

Well, it all depends on the butter and the duration of baking.  To get this result, you must use the rub-in method.  While rubbing the butter with flour, it is important that you do not allow chance for the butter to melt.  That is the reason you need to work using your finger tips (as this is the coolest part of the hand) and everything needs to be done fast.  Secondly, you must never knead the dough.  Next, to make the pastry crispier, you just need to bake the pastry a little longer (about 5-10 minutes longer).

If you like the crispy type, nah....here you go :

Recipe
(this yields about 50 pcs depending on how thick is your pastry and the size of your pastry cutter)

A) For the pineapple jam:
        - 500g grated or chopped pineapple flesh (I always chopped)
        - 125g caster sugar
        - 125g rock sugar
        - 5 cloves
        - 2 cinnamon sticks

        Method
        1. In a heavy based saucepan, place the grated pineapple and spices and stir
            to dry the pineapple before adding the sugar.
        2. Once the sugar is added, reduce heat to low and stir regularly for about
            1 hour or until pineapple jam is relative dry. (remember that when you
            bake the tarts, the jam will further dry out)
        3. Make sure you stir it frequently as the bottom will burn easily.  Once it's
            thick and jammy, take it off the heat, remove the spices and allow to cool
            completely.
        4. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.  This makes it easier for us to
            shape it into balls later.


B) For the pastry:
     - 500g plain flour
     - 300g unsalted butter (slightly softened)
     - 2 eggs
     - 1 tsp salt
     - 2 tbsp icing sugar
     - 1 egg yolk (for brushing over pastry to create golden hue)

      Method
      1. With your fingertips, rub together the flour and butter until it resembles
          bread crumbs.
      2. Add the egg and gently coax all the crumb until it binds together.
      3. Bring it together and shape it into a disc (remember, DO NOT knead)
      4. Wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour. 

C) The Assembling Process:
        1. Pre-roll the pineapple jam into small balls.
        2. Roll out the pastry dough to desired thickness.  Cut out dough using cutter.
            Arrange neatly onto the baking tray.
        3. Once you have arranged the tart shells on your tray, pop them into the
            pre-heated oven.  Bake at 175 degree Celsius for aboiut 10 minutes or until
            the shells are about to turn brown.  Note that at this point, the tart shells will
            expand.
        4. Take out from the oven and glaze the rims with egg wash.
        5. Place the pre-rolled pineapple jam balls onto the centre of each tart shell.
        6. Make a criss-cross pattern on the jam.  Then, glaze the patterns.
        7. Pop into the oven for the 2nd time.  Bake for another 10 minutes or until
            the tarts turn golden brown.

HAPPY TRYING!!

Roti John, the Melaka Style

I was watching a cook show, 5 Rencah 5 Rasa on Astro's AFC (Asian Food Channel) the other day and almost instantaneously, I got hooked to this recipe.  Looking at how the chef prepare the dish, it immediately brought me back down memory lane where how I used to take a forty-minute drive to Tanjung Kling (in Melaka) occasionally just for its Roti John and Ayam Golek.  It could be said that it was at this humble hut that I tried my first ever Roti John.  Instantly, I fell in love with it and till to-date no other Roti John's (though I have tried some other variations) could replace my stubborn little palate.   

Of course, this simple yummilicious local snack has that little something that has been drawing people there until today, but what it is.....only God knows!.......UNTIL one day,  I was browsing through this blog here that I finally knew that little secret, thanks to Wendy of Table for 2...or more.  Well, it was all about that fried ANCHOVIES!! This is THE ingredient that gives the roti john that extra kick and makes it so distinct that it has to be called - the Melaka style!! 

To put it simply, Roti John is essentially an omelette toast consisting of the sliced halves of an 11-12 inches long bread (similar to a French loaf) fried with a topping of minced mutton/chicken/sardin fish, sliced onions and scrambled eggs.  This dish is a popular Malay breakfast and snack item in Malaysia and Singapore.

Coming back to my version, well I used hot dog bread in replacement of the original long bread.  Reason? I can't seem to find any in town.

Ingredients:
(serves 4 pieces of hot dog bread)

Hot Dog Bread/long bread/French loaf
Oil for greasing

For the filling:
3-4 pcs canned Sardin fish + 1 tbsp of the ketchup
1 big onion, cut into slices
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 red chillies, roughly chopped
2 tbsp anchovies, slightly blitzed after frying them till crispy
spring onion, roughly chopped 
cucumber, thinly sliced
1 dash white pepper

For the dipping sauce:
2 tbsp chillie sauce
2 tbsp hot water

Method :
1. Combine all the filling ingredients into a bowl.
2. Slice the bread into halves
3. Grease the frying pan generously with oil
4. Spread the filling mixture onto the bread and quickly place them
    onto the frying pan, with the filling side down. Remember to drain
    the liquid from the mixture before spreading onto the bun otherwise
    it will soak into bun making it soggy.
5. Let the bun sizzle for about 1-2 minutes or until it turns golden brown
6. Serve the buns with the chillie dipping sauce

1. Grease a baking tray with oil. Put into oven, on the lowest rack and preheat at 200C, bottom heat only.
2. Coarsely blitz anchovies and chilli. Combine with the rest of the filling ingredients.
3. Split the bun and spread the filling onto it. Top with some thin butter slices.
4. Place bun, filling side down into hot baking tray and bake until it smells good, about 5-7 minutes.
5. Slice roti john and serve with chilli dipping sauce. - See more at: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2012/08/roti-john-mff-melaka-4.html#sthash.oNWApUmh.dpuf

1. Grease a baking tray with oil. Put into oven, on the lowest rack and preheat at 200C, bottom heat only.
2. Coarsely blitz anchovies and chilli. Combine with the rest of the filling ingredients.
3. Split the bun and spread the filling onto it. Top with some thin butter slices.
4. Place bun, filling side down into hot baking tray and bake until it smells good, about 5-7 minutes.
5. Slice roti john and serve with chilli dipping sauce. - See more at: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2012/08/roti-john-mff-melaka-4.html#sthash.oNWApUmh.dpuf

1. Grease a baking tray with oil. Put into oven, on the lowest rack and preheat at 200C, bottom heat only.
2. Coarsely blitz anchovies and chilli. Combine with the rest of the filling ingredients.
3. Split the bun and spread the filling onto it. Top with some thin butter slices.
4. Place bun, filling side down into hot baking tray and bake until it smells good, about 5-7 minutes.
5. Slice roti john and serve with chilli dipping sauce. - See more at: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2012/08/roti-john-mff-melaka-4.html#sthash.oNWApUmh.dpuf