SMOKED FISH IN COCONUT MILK GRAVY- A TRADITIONAL MALAYSIAN DISH. SIREH-PINANG OR BETEL QUID– THE ANCIENT CHEWING GUM

31^ST AUGUST 1957 is Independence day for the Federation of Malaya

A new Federation under the name of Malaysia was created on 16 September 1963. 

I am proud to be a Malaysian and would like to share a simple traditional recipe from the ancient , to celebrate this occasion.

Traditional Malaysian foodies are known to be spicy, aromatic and very flavorful.

I like to present this recipe in a traditional way, from memory- 

and not the usual orderly way such as listing the ingredients first, then followed by the cooking techniques.

Recipe:

SMOKED  FISH IN COCONUT GRAVY or you may do grilled fish

Ingredients

Fish- preferably the not too soft type and has some good fat content

A good example  is catfish which is high in vitamin D and some omega fatty acids.

There are many edible catfish varieties that are prepared as food, in many different ways worldwide. Catfish makes an interesting ingredient for this ancient dish.

Smoke or grill 3 medium size catfish. Let them get burnt a bit, but remain soft on the inside. Coal fire would be great. When done cut into half- careful not to break into pieces.

1 cup concentrated coconut milk mix with 1 ½ cup water OR vice versa if you prefer a thicker and richer gravy.

3 pieces bitter gourd- halved and seeded. This gives great flavor, just a slight bitter taste helps make it a more authentic dish with great medicinal value.

1 large eggplant- quartered

Half  inch fresh mature turmeric root. It is not an original recipe, if you use turmeric powder.

Some fresh chili- this depends on your feel for chili hot taste.

Traditionally, we use the very hot bird chili variety.

1 piece/ 1 slice sun dried asam gelugor (dried garcinia/ gandarusa) – an origin of Malaysia- see image

A substitute for this traditional asam will be green unripe mango, which is crispy and has a sour taste. A quarter cup of sour green mango slices will do just fine.

Blend turmeric with chili. Use a cooking pot-add in coconut concentrate with water, blended ingredients, bitter gourd and eggplant.

Let boil and stir consistently to ensure a smooth gravy texture. After 10 minutes, add in fish and asam / mango.

Stir for another 10 minutes and put off fire.

Serve with rice as a main dish. You may complement this with fried chicken and omelet.

Traditionally, we used claypot to cook this- 

it helps bring out the best of flavors, 

as well, retain heat for a long time.

SIREH PINANG –

BETEL QUID- THE ANCIENT CHEWING GUM

After a hearty meal and a whole morning workout in the fields, it is time to  relax, stay indoors and shelter oneself from the afternoon sun.

Betel leaf and betel leaf gold plated holder

The elderly, especially grandparents will help themselves to what I personally call  the “ancient chewing gum”. Yes, it’s eating sireh pinang time.

Sireh (betel leaf-as in topmost pic)  in an addictive psycho-stimulating  formula, popularly eaten in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and in Asian countries like Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Here, areca nut, catechu (kattha) and slaked lime is wrapped with the betel leaf. This combination is called “Betel quid”. The betel quid has been popular for several  thousand years and still is.

Areca nut or betel nut with a cutter
both holder and cutter pics(excluding leaf and nuts)
are from perpustakaan negara

In some countries tobacco is added, but not in ours. According to medical studies, excessive intake may cause oral cancers, but I have never seen one affected this way. 

Medicinal value

In India, betel leaf is used to cure worms and antiseptic. In ayurvedic , it’s a remedy for bad breath.

Both betel leaf and areca nuts are stimulants. Stimulants induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both.

Examples on the effects of stimulants may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion etc. Their effects typically have an "up" quality to them, stimulants are also occasionally referred to as "uppers". Depressants are "downers", which decrease mental and/or physical function.

Formula

In some countries, Betel quid may include coconut, fruit preserves, rose petal preserves, various spices or candy coated fennel seeds, for a sweeter variety.

May be you know of other interesting formula using betel leaf and areca nuts  to psycho stimulate one’s brain. Do share with us. Thank you.

PUMPKIN SERAWA RECIPE. RESIPE SERAWA LABU

PUMPKIN SERAWA.  SERAWA LABU

Ingredients:

1 medium size whole pumpkin, cut into four. Cut again each quarter into half. Total 8 pieces. Do not peel skin. Remove seeds.

1 1/2  cup palm sugar/ maple syrup

2 pieces screw pine leaves (pandan)

25 pieces cloves

1 cm young ginger root- chiffanade (paper thin slices)

A pinch of salt- I prefer the Himalaya rock salt

The way to do it:

Fill up a large pot with water and boil the pumpkin (submerged) until cooked, not too soft. You may test- poke a bit with a tiny stick, if it feels soft, then its cooked.

Carefully take out each piece from the water (avoid breaking) and place on individual serving plates. I serve 2 pieces per plate. Set aside.

Use a small pan and add 3 cups of water. Add in palm sugar, salt, ginger, knotted screw pine leaves (pandan) and cloves. Stir until sugar dissolves. Here, we get fresh and pure palm sugar and it’s flavor is most suitable for making desserts.

Pour the syrup onto the pumpkin when ready to eat.

You may use maple syrup instead. Over here maple syrup is rather a much more expensive imported ingredient.

This is a vintage recipe from the Malays of Malaysia. It is a sweet, savory and fragrant dessert, best for tea… better yet chamomile tea or chamomile tea with lemon.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PUMPKIN:

Pumpkin,   a low calorie vegetable, is rich in beta carotene (anti oxidant).Usually, the darker the skin, the higher the beta carotene content.

It is an excellent source of vitamin A, a great source of vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber.

Also contains vitamin B1, B3, B5 and B6 and Omega 3 fatty acids.

Beta carotene is of red, orange and yellow pigments called carotenoids, provides approximately 50% of our body’s vitamin A requirement.

Beta carotene helps prevent certain cancers, heart disease, cataracts, Alzheimer disease, depression, heartburn , parkinson and  rheumatoid arthritis.

Beta carotene  SUPPLEMENTS are not recommended for general use.

Preventing bronchitis and difficulty  breathing in smokers- beta carotene from food helps, but beta carotene from  SUPPLEMENTS do not

There are so many health benefits which i have earlier posted on this in greater details at

http://cooking-varieties.blogspot.com/2011/06/winter-squash-bread-recipe-squash.html

FRIED BEAN SPROUT TOFU. HEALTH BENEFITS OF BEAN SPROUTS

FRIED BEAN SPROUT TOFU

Cut each tofu into 8 pieces and fry until golden brown. Drain oil.

Fry garlic and onion in 1 tbsp oil until golden brown. Add  cabbages, salt and pepper. Stir for 4 minutes . Add in bean sprouts, fried tofu, chili and spring onion. After 2 minutes, immediately put off fire. Serve hot. 

You may eat this almost perfect "al dente" , by itself or as a side dish with rice.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF BEAN SPROUTS:

Normally in previous posts, i always add in some reliable health benefits, so as to refresh./ benefit every reader.. I have not done that for the past month, now i am back to it, with which i feel my post is more complete. Stay tuned.

Double the rate of vitamin B and E

Beans, in the form of sprouts have more vitamins than in the form of seeds.

During germination, the vitamin B increased by 2.5 to 3 times.

Similarly, (anti-oxidant)  vitamin E , also increases from 24-230 mg per 100 grams in dried beans TO  117-662 mg per 100 grams in sprouts.

Sprouts are a natural estrogen with estrogen synthesis. Estrogen in the bean sprouts can increase bone density and structure, which helps prevent bone loss (osteoporosis)

SAGO DESSERT WITH RED BEANS AND COCOA RECIPE. NUSANTARA SAGO DESSERT RECIPE

SAGO DESSERT WITH RED BEANS AND  COCOA  RECIPE

SAGO PEARLS WITH RED BEANS AND COCOA

Ingredients: from cooking-varieties exclusive recipe

2 cups sago pearls

2 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 cup red beans – soak overnight and boil

4  tablespoon sugar

Banana leaves (about 20 pieces, cut into 11 cm width)

 Wash the red beans and soak overnight in the fridge, to soften them a bit. Next, boil until cooked and the beans cracked up. Drain away water and coarse blend. Set aside.

When boiling, you may add about 1 cm ginger into the water to get rid of wind/ gas from beans. Once boiling is done, remove the ginger. 

Over here, you can buy banana leaves from the wet market. Banana leaves need to be softened or slightly wilted, so that it won’t tear off, when folded.  To do this, you can heat the leaf over your stove fire for a few seconds. Or you can put it under the hot sun for 30-40 minutes.

You may substitute this with some other large non-poisonous leaves. The leaf texture should not be too soft.  Wrapping them with leaves, makes the sago cooked with excellent results. If it is  too soft and soggy, it means the dessert is already ruined. This happens especially when sago is boiled directly in water. This is the intricate part of cooking sago, although the recipe is very simple to follow.

When that is done, cut the banana leaves into pieces, about 11 cm wide and set aside. Leave the length as it is.

 Wash sago pearls and drain away water. Do not use strainer. The sago is wet enough to enable it to soften- with plenty of moisture but not soggy.

Using a mixing bowl, add in about 6 tablespoons hot water, sugar and cocoa. Stir until  dissolved. Add in sago pearls and red beans. Mix well and ensure that all ingredients are properly mixed.  Set aside and cover  bowl  for 15-20 minutes  to allow the ingredients to blend well and  to let the sago soften a bit.

Boil water in a Steamer pot.

While waiting for water to boil, start wrapping up the sago using banana leaves.

Shape banana leaf into a cone, fill it up with sago and press down the sago using a spoon (not too compressed). Fold the top to close the cone. Place and arrange this cone directly onto the Steamer pan. Repeat this, until all sago has been wrapped up. Put pan on Steamer pot. Cover with lid and let it cook for about 15- 20 minutes- depending on your steamer size/layers of cones stacked, as in the case of a small-size steamer.

You can open up one cone and check- if sago has turned translucent color, then it is already cooked. Remove from Steamer and leave to cool. When serving, do not remove the leaves because it enhances the authenticity of the dessert.

PAN FRIED FISH WITH CHILLI RECIPE. ALSO KNOWN AS SAMBAL IKAN GORENG RECIPE OR NUSANTARA SAMBAL IKAN TOFU RECIPE

NAME OF COOKING -VARIETIES RECIPE
PAN FRIED FISH WITH CHILLI RECIPE
OR SAMBAL IKAN GORENG RECIPE
Ingredients:
2 pieces medium size fish
2 pieces tofu- each cut into 8
Coarse blended ingredients:
2 pieces red chilli- seeded, but do not remove the highly nutritious white stem
2 pieces green chilli- same as above
Large red chili is called red chili pepper in wikipedia- you may use capsicum
1 large onion
1 large red tomato
2 pieces shallots
2 pieces garlic
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon thick tamarind juice
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Blend all the above ingredients with 1 cup of water
Boil fish in water mixed with 4 tablespoons of salt until half-cooked. Drain away water.

Heat up oil in a wok. Fry tofu until golden brown. Set aside
Using the same oil, fry the boiled fish until browned. Set aside
Using the same oil ( to enhance flavor),stir fry all the coarse blended ingredients. After the saucebecomes thick or almost dry, put off fire. Arrange tofu and fish on a serving plate and pour sauce on top. Serve hot

Want to know why I always add chilli in my recipes? Read the health benefits below.
The Health benefits of chilli
Chili is a natural antibiotic
The white stem inside the chilli contains capsaicin which is extremely beneficial for health
Capsaicin in chilli produces the hot and sharp taste on the tongue “taste cells”
To overcome excessive capsaicin taste:
Chew foods containing casein. eg. powdered milk, rice, and bread. Casein dissolves capsaicin
Oil also dissolves capsaicin.
Cooking Varieites suggest you dab sugar on the hot/ burning hot spot, especially on the tongue. In just a few second the feeling will certainly go away..

The many benefits of capsaicin:
Capsaicin is a safe and an effective topical analgesic agent in the management of arthritis pain, herpes zoster-related pain, diabetic neuropathy, postmastectomy pain, and headaches
Capsaicin helps minimize stroke risks, impotence, and coronary heart disease. Capsaicin will prevent blood thickening, thus reducing blood clot problems (thrombosis).

Chilis as a whole, can relieve headaches and joint pains
Red chillis contain high amounts of vitamin C and carotene (provitamin A). A good source of most B vitamins, and vitamin B6 in particular. They are very high in potassium, magnesium, and iron.
Red color in chilli and tomato is due to lycopene, an anti oxidant of one of the compounds of beta carotene.

The health benefits of fish and tofu/ beancurd:
Both contain proteins
Fish has omega-3 fatty acids, though not as much as salmon, sea bass and sardines.
Also contain vitamins and minerals that benefits general health-
The American Heart Association recommended at least two servings of fish per week.

NUSANTARA VEGETABLE URAP (SALAD) RECIPE OR INDONESIAN COCONUT URAP RECIPE OR URAP-URAP SAYUR NUSANTARA RECIPE

NAME OF COOKING-VARIETIES RECIPE:
VEGETABLE URAP RECIPE

NUSANTARA VEGETABLE URAP (SALAD RECIPE)

URAP-URAP SAYUR NUSANTARA RECIPE

Vegetable Ingredients (Al-dente)

6 pieces long beans- cut 6 cm slices -boil crisp tender(al-dente)
12 stalks kangkung or water spinach or water morning glory- cut 6 cm- al-dente
1 cup cut cabbage- cut into smaller pieces- al-dente
1 cup bean sprouts- wash clean- eat raw

Ingredients for urap paste:
2 cups fresh grated coconut-
4 cm cekur-cut into fine slices (optional, a rhizome family)
2 red chilies- cut into fine slices
2 bird chilies (green)- minced
1/2 cube anchovies
2 pieces shallots
1 teaspoon sugar and salt to taste
Coarse blend  all the above ingredients except grated coconut.
Boil water in a steamer pot. Mix blended ingredients with grated coconut and wrap them up. When water starts boiling, steam "wrapped-up ingredients" for 6 minutes only.
Boil the above vegetables separately until crisp tender. Do not overcook.
When ready to serve, mix all vegetables with "wrapped-up ingredients"

The Health benefits of Long Beans
Protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, and potassium,very good source for vitamin C, folate, magnesium and manganese.
Protein is required for the growth of body and hair cells
Iron, magnesium, manganese and potassium are very essential for body metabolism.
Manganese is a co-factor for the enzyme superoxide dismutase, which is a very powerful free radical scavenger.
Potassium is important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure.

The Health benefits of Kangkung or Water spinach or Water morning glory
Nutrition value Per 100g serving of kangkung: 30 kcal, 2.7 g protein, 60 mg calcium, 2.5 mg iron, 2.9 mg vitamin A, 45 mg vitamin C

The Health benefits of Cabbage
Half cup of cabbage provides the same calcium as an 8-ounce glass of milk.
The  Health benefits of Bean sprouts
Bean sprouts have more vitamins than in the seeds. During germination, the vitamin B increased by 2.5 to 3 times.
Vitamin E, also increase from 24-230 mg per 100 grams in dried beans to 117-662 mg per 100 grams in SPROUTS. Vitamin E-an antioxidant, protecting cells from free radicals
No Vitamin C in soya bean seed, but starts to form on the first day of germination and reaches 12 mg per 100 grams after 48 hours in sprouts.
Natural Estrogen in sprouts can increase bone density and structure, and prevent bone loss (osteoporosis)
Silica in sprouts- helps in the absorption of vitamins and minerals, lack of which will reduce absorption of these nutrients. Silica is for healthy hair growth and slows down baldness

STEAMED SAGO PUDDING WITH CORN SYRUP RECIPE- A NUSANTARA SAGO PUDDING RECIPE- ( RESIPI PUDING SAGU)



Image of Steamed Sago Pudding with corn syrup

NAME OF COOKING-VARIETIES DESSERT RECIPE:
STEAMED SAGO PUDDING WITH CORN SYRUP (RESIPI PUDING SAGO)
Ingredients: from cooking-varieties exclusive recipe
2 cups sago pearls
2 cans of 425 grams Corn in syrup
6 tablespoon sugar
2 pandan leaves- shred (substitute with 2 drops vanilla essence)
Banana leaves (about 20 pieces, 11 cm width)
Permitted food coloring- orange
1 1/2 cup coconut milk (substitute with 5 cups low fat milk
3 teaspoon cornflour

Image of Steamer filled with Sago wrapped in banana leaves

Banana leaves need to be softened or slightly wilted, so that it won’t tear off, when folded. To do this, you can heat the leaf over your stove fire for a few seconds. Or u can put it under the hot sun for 20 minutes. You may substitute this with some other large non-poisonous leaves. The leaf texture should not be too soft.

Cooking-varieties use leaves, to ensure that the sago cooks with excellent results and not soften and get ruined if it’s boiled directly in water. This is the intricate part of cooking sago, although the recipe is very simple to follow.
When that is done, cut the banana leaves into pieces,about 11cm wide. Set aside. Leave the length as it is.
Wash sago pearls and drain away water. Do not use strainer. Add food coloring and 3 tablespoon sugar- mix well with sago pearls. Set aside for 15 minutes, to let sago soften a bit.
Boil water in a Steamer pot.
While waiting for water to boil, start wrapping up the sago using banana leaves.
After 10 minutes, sprinkle sago with some water and turn over to ensure it is evenly spread (use about ½ cup of water only-not more than this amount).
Shape banana leaf into a cone, fill it up with sago and fold down the top to close the cone. Place and arrange this cone directly onto the Steamer pan. Repeat this, until all sago has been wrapped up.
Put pan on Steamer pot. Cover with lid and let it cook for about 20 minutes- depending on your steamer size/layers of cones stacked, as in the case of a small-size steamer.

Image of Sago pearls in a mixture of yellow and white color

While waiting for sago to cook, boil corn syrup with 3 cups of water, pandan leaves (or vanilla), 3 tablespoons sugar, cornflour and coconut milk. Do not add water, if you use low fat milk. The sugar may be too much, if the brand of corn syrup is already very sweet. Stir continuously and let boil for 5 minutes .Turn off fire.
You can open up one cone and check- if sago has turned translucent color, then it is already cooked. Remove from Steamer and leave to cool.
When ready to serve, pour corn syrup into individual serving plates or bowls. Add sago. When served, do not remove the leaves.
Health benefits:
Sago is mainly carbohydrate (carbs) with very little protein, vitamins, or minerals. Energy in the form of glucose, is obtained faster from carbs, as compared to protein intake. Some cell tissues (eg. in the brain) are dependant on glucose from carbs souces, hence low carbs intake can result in slowing down brain function.
It is in Ayurvedic belief- sago helps to cool down body heat.
For more Appetising Sago recipes, view cooking-varieties-nusantara- click at Tab menu above.

Image-of-Sago-Pudding-cooked-by -Steaming

SALAD NUSANTARA RECIPE- AN ORIENTAL RAW VEGETABLE-SALAD RECIPE

RECIPE ON VEGETABLE-SALAD-NUSANTARA
 My very own Oriental Salad Recipe, a combination of raw vegetable ingredients
Ingredients:
1 cup ripe pineapple slices-see picture
1 cup cauliflower slices- see picture
2 ripe tomatoes- quartered
1 green chili- slice
3 pieces shallots- slice
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoon preserved prune powder (use non-salted)
Salt to taste

Put shallots, chili, sugar, prune powder, vinegar and salt in a mixing bowl and mix until sugar dissolves. Add in pineapples (nenas/ anana), tomatoes and cauliflower.
Marinate for an hour. Eat by itselr or with rice and complimented with some other dishes like fish or beef curry and prawn crackers.
THIS "VEGGIE-SALAD-RECIPE" IS REALLY A  VERY SIMPLE SALAD-RECIPE TO FOLLOW.
Health benefits:
Pineapple contains vitamin A, B and C. Many belief that eating pineapple helps kill worms in the intestine and heal digestive infection. Also helps prevent stroke and heart problems. The best and sweetest variety in Malaysia is the "Sarawak pineapple" or "Nenas Sarawak". This is an image of "Sarawak Pineapple"

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO IS THE SWEETEST OF THEM ALL ?  :)

HOW TO COOK FRIED-SALTED- FISH WITH CHILI AND SPICES OR SALTED-FISH WITH CHILI RECIPE (SAMBAL IKAN MASIN)

Chili Salted-Fish Ingredients
 3 cups (cut) salted fish –use the fleshy part and cut into small pieces.
Soak in water for 1 hour to wash excess salt
½ cup young ginger root- cut very fine strips- see picture
1 large onion- Coarse blend (dont add water)
1/2 cup coarsely blended pickled radish (lobak asin)
1 clove garlic-peeled. Do not slice. Wash and towel dry
10 pieces shallots- Do not slice. Wash and towel dry
5 tablespoon curry powder
4 tablespoon chili flakes
5 pieces buah keras (kemiri) powder (grounded)
2 1/2  cups vinegar
Mix curry powder, chili flakes and buah keras with vinegar to form a paste
1 piece lemon grass-cut into 3
1 cup cooking oil
Oil for frying salted fish
10 pieces (whole) chili padi (small hot chilis-see picture)
1 teaspoon sugar
Use non stick pan. Fry salted fish until brown. Drain fish and wash pan.
Heat up 1 cup cooking oil in non-stick pan. Add in ginger, blended large onion and
pickled radish. Stir continuously with a spatula, until onions turn light brown.
Cook on low fire. Add in lemon grass, garlic, shallots, chili, curry and buah keras paste.
Stir until onions are  half-cooked and crisp tender.
A pungent aroma here, due to vinegar content. Add sugar, chili padi and salted fish.
 Mix well for 1 minute and put off fire. This dish can last for 3 days without refrigerating,
 since no water is used in this recipe.