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When I was blogging on my assam fish the other day, my brother reminded me the kari ikan. Kari Ikan (fish curry) is one of the Malaysian curries and it can be found in mamak stalls. I used to have it once in a week in high school after activities or sports in a nearby authentic mamak stall which is my group’s hang out spot.

I was eager to make my first kari ikan with the kari ikan powder from Malaysia this weekend. Thus I went over to the Asian market and bought all my ingredients but sadly I couldn’t get okra. So I substituted it with green beans. Surprisingly the result was pleasing but it was just a little sour due to too much tamarind paste. I added 3 tablespoons in it. In the recipe, I changed it to 2 tablespoons.

Ingredients:

2 pieces swai/striped catfish fillets (cut into pieces)
2 tomatoes (quartered)
5-6 okras
2 shallots (chopped)
1 onion (sliced)
3 garlic cloves (sliced)
2-3 red chili peppers (sliced)
3 curry leaves
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
2 tbsp tamarind paste (mixed in 1/3 cup water)
3 cups coconut milk
1 small pack Alagappa’s fish curry powder

Cooking Method:

1. Heat the pan with oil. Sauté the shallots, onions, garlic, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves until golden or fragrant.
2. Add fish curry powder and tamarind juice. Bring to boil for 3 minutes.
3. Pour in coconut milk and bring to boil.
4. Add fish fillets, okras, tomatoes, and red chili peppers. Simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Dish up and serve hot.

P/S: You can deep fry or pan fry the fish fillets for better result.

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Time out for the Thai curries. I craved for Assam Fish this week.

The Assam Fish (Asam Fish) is a classic and authentic Malaysian dish which I love the most. I was blissful enough to have this heavenly dish for three times when I was having my recent vacation in Malaysia. It is a spicy sour tasted dish, where fish is cooked in assam (tamarind) fruit juice together with some other ingredients like tomato and okra. Normally, fish (such as mackerel, stingray or red snappers) or even fish heads are used. Stingray was the common fish my mom used for this dish. She made this dish so good!

Nowadays assam pastes are sold in convenient packs and I bought few Tean’s Gourmet brand assam pastes from Malaysia. I thought it’s so complicated to make the Assam Fish but I was totally wrong! With the convenient pack and a few easy steps, I completed my first Assam fish. It was good.

I supposed to use the stingray but ended up with swai (striped catfish) fillets. It was much easier and I was lazy. You may put in any of your desired fish or seafood for this dish.

Ingredients:

2 pieces swai/striped catfish fillets (cut into pieces)
2 tomato (quartered)
5-6 okra
1 ½ cup Water

Seasonings:

1 pack of Tean’s Gourmet Assam Fish paste

Cooking Method:

1. Mix the Assam fish paste with water in a pot and bring to boil.
2. Add the swai fillets, simmer with medium heat for 10-12 minutes.
3. Add the tomato and okras and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Dish up and serve hot.

P/S: The cooking method is from the back of the assam paste packet.

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Happy 4th of July weekend everyone! Hope all of you had an amazing weekend full of fun, laughter and most importantly great food. We went to the London Bridge at Lake Havasu, Arizona for a weekend getaway.  It was way too hot there, 100 degrees F and above. We were just like the roasted pigs in the hot oven, hot and heat steaming. However the best thing was just to stay in the water with a beer on hand, that felt so good. There were many families and friends out in the lake with boat party and barbecue all day long. Since we didn’t prepare for barbecue, we managed to go some food and hang out in the park by the lake in the evening waiting for the fireworks. Overall it was a good trip, it would be perfect if it was not that hot.  :P

I made some Salsa & Guacamole dip for Tortilla chips last weekend for a hot summer Sunday afternoon. It is always popular snack to munch on for any parties especially for hot days like these. It is really an easy recipe, no cooking is needed which is good, just some chopping and mixing to do. I usually serve it with Mexican Tortilla chips, but we bought a big bag of Five Grain Tortilla chips from Costco to tryout, it is thicker with grains, still taste good with the dips. This is definitely a great snack to prepare for barbecue, pool party, or even for the coming World Cup final this weekend. We are really excited and looking forward to it.

Ingredients:

For Salsa

6 roman tomatoes (chopped)
1 big white onions (chopped)
2 ripened avocado
2 Serrano chile (seeded, finely minced)
2 clove garlic (finely minced)
1 handful bunch cilantro sprigs(trimmed bottom stem, chopped)
1  tbsp Tapatio spicy sauce (depends on spiciness desired)
1 fresh lemon
3/4 tsp salt
Few dashes black Pepper

Preparation:

1. Rinse and chop tomatoes and onions separately, mix them in a big serving bowl. Finely mince Serrano chile, garlic and cilantro sprigs, add them into tomato mixture.
2. For the avocado, cut avocado lengthwise around the seed, open to two halves and remove the pit. Use a dinner  knife to slice the avocado half in a cross-hatch pattern. Then use a spoon to scoop out the pieces. Mix into the salsa mixture.
3. Squeeze fresh lemon juice into the mixture, discard the seeds. Add in the Tapatio spicy sauce based on desired spiciness, add in seasoning of salt & pepper , taste and adjust. Chill in the fridge up to 1 hour before serving. Serve with tortila chips.

For Guacamole
3  ripened avocado
1 roman tomato (finely chopped)
1/2 white onion (finely minced)
1 Serrano chile (finely minced)
1 handful bunch cilantro (chopped)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp salt
Few dashes black pepper
2 tbsp water

Preparation:

1. Cut avocado lengthwise around the seed, open to two halves and remove the pit. Scoop out the avocado and put in a bowl. Mashed with water till desired consistency.
2. Add in finely chopped tomatoes, onions, Serrano chile, cilantro. Mix well.
3. Mix in fresh lemon juice, and add seasoning of salt and pepper to taste. Chill in the fridge for up to 1 hour before serving.

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Red Cooked Chicken or Ayam Masak Merah is one of the famous red curry or red chili dishes in Malay cuisine. It is one of those curry dishes that doesn’t use coconut milk. The specialty about the Ayam Masak Merah is the chicken pieces are pan fried till golden brown and cooked in the red hot and sweet tomato sauce. The sauce is made freshly from tomatoes, red chilies, herbs and spices. It adds a hint of spiciness to the sweetness of the sauce. Great for those who don’t like too spicy.

Ayam Masak Merah is a popular dish among the Malay communities. You can usually find it serving with nasi tomato (tomato rice) or nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) in the Malay stalls. Some people may think this is something similar to Italian spaghetti tomato sauce as it uses mainly tomatoes as the main ingredient but the difference is the Malay style has a more spicy hot kick to it and different spices that made it so special in taste.

Ingredients:

1 Chicken thighs and 1 Chicken breast (cut into pieces)
2 tbsp turmeric powder ( young ginger spices)
1 tsbp salt
2 Red onions (cut into rings)
4 Tomatoes (cut into pieces)
1 6 oz can Tomato Puree
2 tbsp Ketchup
1 tbsp dark sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
2 cups water
1 tbsp sugar
Zest of lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

For the chili sauce (ground to paste):
6 dried chilies
3 red chilies
5 cloves garlic
8 medium shallots
4cm ginger

Cooking Method:

1. Coat the chicken pieces with turmeric powder and salt, marinate for half an hour.
2. Finely grind the dried chilies, red chilies, garlic, shallots and ginger in a food processor into paste.
3. In a pan or wok, heat enough oil to pan fry chicken. Fry the chicken in three batches until they turn slightly golden brown. Drain with paper towel and set aside.
4. Heat remaining 3 tbsp oil in a pot at low heat, cook the chili paste until it oozes from the oil surface.
5. Add the red onions and tomatoes until fragrant and slightly soft.
6. Pour in the tomato puree, tomato ketchup, dark soy sauce and sugar, stir to combine. Add in water bring to boil and reduce to low, simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Add the pan fried chicken, mix well with sauce. Bring sauce to rapid boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for another 30 minutes covered till the sauce thickens.
8. Add in some lime juice and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with steamed rice, nasi lemak or nasi tomato.

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If you ever visit a Hong Kong style western café, you will know once you are seated, the waiter or waitress will serve you with a hot cup of their daily special soup. This is a common practice in most Hong Kong style cafés, in fact Hong Kong people like to drink their soup before the meal. So don’t be surprise. The two popular soups that are usually serving are either the cream of corn (something like Campbell soup) or Luo Song Tong (羅宋湯) / Russian Borscht Soup, this is what I like the most.

I love the taste of Luo Song Tong (羅宋湯) , it is a hearty tomato based vegetable soup that is is quite similar to our ABC Soup actually (in Patrick’s previous post). The main difference is the Luo Song Tong is much more intense in flavor as the soup base is cooked with beef bones or beef stew with lots of tomatoes and all kind of vegetables such as carrot, onion, potato and celery. I always want to try to make this at home. So this has been a good timing since I removed my wisdom tooth and I couldn’t eat too much of solid food, I’ve made a pot of yummy Luo Song Tong for my weeknight dinners with some greens.

Despite my love to Luo Song Tong, I actually just found the soup has been modified from the Russian Borscht soup, a hearty beetroot vegetable soup originated from Ukraine or Eastern Russia. I always couldn’t figure out why it is called “Luo Song” Soup, it is actually a translation of pronunciation for the word Russia. Please excuse my unknown. Enjoy a hearty meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb beef stews or beef bones for soup
5 tomatoes (cut into cubes)
3 carrots (cut into cubes)
3 talks celery (cut into cubes)
1 red onion (cut into cubes)
1/4 cabbage (optional)
4 garlic (crushed)
10-15 peppercorns (crushed)
1 bay leave
1 6 oz can tomato puree ( you can make your own tomato puree from scratch)
1/2 cup of beef stock
1 1/2 all purpose flour (dissolve in water)
2 tbsp ketchup (for flavor enhancement-optional)
Salt &  black pepper to taste

Serve size:  4-6 people

Cooking method:

1. Blanch beef stews or beef bones in boiling hot water, drain and rinse slightly with running cold tap water.
2. Add the beef stew or beef bones into a pot of boiling water, add the beef stock, bay leave, crushed peppercorns, garlic and half of the chopped onions into the pot. Cook for 90 minutes until the meat is tender.
3. Rinse and cut up all vegetable ingredients into cubes or bite sizes.
4. Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat, stir fry the onions until translucent. Add some tomatoes and stir fry for a while till tender. (This is to make the tomatoes more thicker and cook quicker, you can skip this step.)
5. Toss all the cut vegetables into the pot, bring to boil and turn to low simmer for 45 minutes until the vegetables become tender. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom.
6. Add the tomato purees and flour water into the pot to increase its thickness. Bring to boil, turn to low and simmer for another 15 minutes, stir occasionally.
7. Tip, add in 1 to 2 tbsp ketchup for flavor enhancement and sweetness.
8. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley or cilantro. Serve hot.