Crispy Bean Steamed Cod (豆酥鱈魚)

This is steamed cod served with a topping made with hot bean paste, crispy beans (豆酥), garlic and spring onions. The fish is moist and oily. The topping is crisp and fragrant.

This is a ball of crispy beans, aka 豆酥, the main ingredient in the topping. The taste is a bit like natto.

The ball has to be broken up and pounded into coarse bits.

This is the video that shows how to steam the fish and make the topping.

Ladies and gentlemen, good luck. . . .  . . .  . . .  . .  . . . . .

CRISPY BEAN STEAMED COD (豆酥鱈魚) Source: Adapted from 阿基師 (Recipe for 4 persons) 800 g black cod cut 3-cm thick, rinse, debone and slice into 8 equal size pieces any white fish such as threadfin, sea bass or red snapper would do too ½ tsp salt 2 tsp white rice wine 1 sprig spring onion, wash, trim and cut 5 cm long 4 slices ginger 4 tbsp 辣豆瓣醬 (hot bean paste) 5 tbsp vegetable oil 45 g 豆酥, pound/grind into coarse bits, 1-2 mm 1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cloves garlic, peel and mince very finely 1 sprig spring onion, wash, trim and cut ½ cm long Preheat plate by steaming over rapidly boiling water for 3 minutes. Sprinkle salt and rice wine on fish. Mix thoroughly. Spread ginger and spring onion on plate. Place fish on ginger and spring onion. Cover and steam over medium-low heat till just cooked, 7-10 minutes. Check that fish is totally opaque inside by flaking thickest part with chopsticks. Remove from heat. Discard ginger and spring onion. Baste fish with liquid in the plate. Whilst fish is steaming, stir-fry hot bean paste in 5 tbsp oil over low heat till fragrant. Strain oil onto crispy beans. Mix well. Set aside till fish is cooked. If pan/wok is not non-stick, wipe clean with paper towels. Keep drained hot bean paste for other dishes, such as 麻婆豆腐 or 回锅肉. If pan/wok is not non-stick, wipe clean with paper towels.) Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil till moderately warm. Add crispy beans, minus excess oil (which may be used as for drained hot bean paste). Stir-fry over low heat till colour changes slightly, removing bubbles if any. Add garlic. Stir-fry till mixture is lightly golden. Taste and add some drained hot bean paste if too bland, or pinch of sugar if too salty. Turn off heat. Add spring onion and stir through. As residual heat dissipates, beans and garlic should turn just golden brown. Spread mixture evenly on steamed fish. Serve immediately with rice.

Sambal Ikan Bilis (I)

The good news is, anchovy stocks have doubled because their predators – the type that doesn't have legs – have declined sharply in numbers. This is where we, the two-legged predators, need to step up our efforts. Eat more anchovies, people!

I don't know about you but I don't need much persuasion to eat sambal ikan bilis. The salty little fishies and deep-fried peanuts make a perfect ménage à trois with the sweet and spicy sambal.

Nasi lemak simply woudn't be complete without some sambal ikan bilis. No coconut rice? Never mind, it also goes well with Teochew porridge and steamed rice. Or just eat it on its own, but be warned that once you start nibbling, you won't stop till you eat everything. Which is fine if it's everything on the plate. Just don't go eating every anchovy in the oceans.

9 July 2012 Update

SAMBAL IKAN BILIS (ANCHOVIES WITH CHILLI PASTE) (Recipe for 6 cups) Sambal (makes 1 cup) 40 g lemongrass, white part only 150 g shallots 75 g garlic 20 g ginger 50 g red chillies 15 g dried chillies trim stems, cut 2 cm long, soak in warm water till soft, about 30 minutes; squeeze dry and discard water 15 g belachan roast at 150°C or dry-fry over medium-low heat till dry and crumbly 80 ml vegetable oil 20 g tamarind paste mash with 2 tbsp hot water, drain and discard seeds 30 g palm sugar, roughly chopped vegetable oil for deep-frying 150 g peanut ½ tsp salt 250 g ikan bilis, gutted and split 4 tbsp sugar Rempah (spice paste): Wash, trim, peel and roughly chop lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger and red chillies as appropriate. Grind or pound with dried chillies and belachan till smooth. Set aside. Peanuts: Deep-fry in warm vegetable oil over medium-low heat, stirring, till light brown. This should take 4 minutes or so. Turn off heat. Remove peanuts from oil. Immediately season with salt. Set aside. Anchovies: Rinse briefly and immediately dry with paper towels. Heat oil till just smoking. Add anchovies and deep-fry over high heat, stirring, till lightly golden. Push anchovies to side of wok. Let oil reheat to just smoking. Stir anchovies into oil and fry till almost golden brown. Turn off heat. Continue stirring till residual heat dissipates. Place anchovies with peanuts. Sambal: Remove excess oil from wok, leaving about 80 ml. Stir-fry spice paste over medium-low heat till fragrant, colour darkens and oil separates. Add palm sugar. Stir till melted. Add tamarind water. Stir till evaporated. Turn off heat. Remove to a bowl. Mix: Remove oil from the wok. Over medium heat, stir sugar till melted. Reduce heat to very low. Add peanuts and anchovies. Toss till evenly coated. Add sambal. Toss thoroughly. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Turn off heat. Remove to a plate to cool down completely. Serve: sambal ikan bilis is excellent with steamed rice, nasi lemak, or Teochew porridge. Also makes a great nibble. Store leftovers in the fridge, tightly covered unless you like your fridge smelling of fish.

Pickled Green Papaya

The world is divided into two parts: those who love pickles, and those who hate pickles. ....... . . . .. ... . . ... . . .... . .. . . . . . .

If you're a pickle lover, you'd be drooling over this crunchy, sour and spicy pickled green papaya. If you're pickle hater, no amount of persuasion would make you make crunchy, sour and spicy pickled green papaya. Hence, no persuasion is necessary. .......  . . . .. ... . . ... . . .... . .. . . . . . .

PICKLED GREEN PAPAYA (Recipe for 1 kg) 300 g sugar (1½ cups) 300 g white vinegar (1¼ cups) 1.15 kg firm, unripe papaya, with green skin that has a hint of yellow peel, halve, remove seeds and trim head to yield 1 kg 2 tbsp salt 3 bird's eye chillies, rinse and slice thinly After cutting the papaya, you may find that it's too ripe for pickling, and too green for eating. In which case, please proceed to plan B: Buah Paya Masak Titek. Please note that pots, bowls and jars used should be non-reactive. Heat and stir sugar with vinegar until dissolved. Leave till cool. Rinse papaya thoroughly. Slice crosswise as thinly as possible, with a mandolin if available. Sprinkle with salt and mix thoroughly. Leave till limb and soft, about 10 minutes depending on the thickness. Rinse and drain. Mix with vinegar mixture and chillies. Cover and refrigerate. Papaya may be served after turning translucent. This may take 12 hours if papaya is paper thin and not too green. If totally green and not-so-thin, you'll have to wait 1-2 days. Adjust seasoning after papaya is ready for eating, if necessary, then wait at least 3-4 hours before serving.

Bubur Cha Cha

Coconut milk is the most important ingredient in bubur cha cha, so I've got a photo of a coconut tree:

Nice, eh? ....... . . . .. ... . . ... . . . . . . ... . .. . . .... . .. . . . . . .

How does Miranda Kerr get her million-dollar bikini body?

By eating coconut oil everyday, as reported here and here. If you think coconut oil is evil, you are so last century. There was a time when the luscious oil was public enemy number one because of its saturated fats, but it's now the darling of health food enthusiasts.

What's the spin this time? It's medium-chain fatty acids. The MFAs, found in great abundance in coconut oil, supposedly help your body burn fat, and boost your metabolism. In other words, coconut fat is a fat that makes you thin. I'm sure the health 'experts' will, in due course, change their minds. But until then, coconut oil is the 'miracle food' of the moment, and you can even learn about the benefits of coconut oil whilst earning a nutrition degree online. Not only does the wondrous liquid make you look like a Victoria's Secret model (only from the neck downwards, I presume), the lauric acid it contains helps boost immunity, improve digestion, stop itching and inflammation, kill viruses, bacteria and fungus, prevent aging, high cholesterol and high blood pressure . . . .

I'm not into coconut oil much but I love coconut milk. So I'm inhaling laksa, nasi lemak, curries, all sorts of Nyonya kueh . . . anything cooked with coconut milk, all in the name of good health. Oh yes, mustn't forget bubur cha cha, the Peranakan sweet soup that's as colourful as a sarong kebaya. Mustn't forget my bikini either. See? It's working already. MFAs improve the memory.

"Hey, anyone seen my bikini?"

BUBUR CHA CHA (YAM & SWEET POTATOES IN COCONUT MILK) (Recipe for 4 persons) Tapioca jelly (makes ½ cup; source: Cooking for the President) boiling water 60 g tapioca flour (½ cup) 2 drops red food colouring, or 10 g dark brown palm sugar finely minced 3 drops green food colouring, or juice of 25 g young pandan leaves 1 tsp sugar 75 g rock sugar, break into small pieces if big boiling water 6 pandan leaves, lower half only, wash and cut each piece into 2 1 cup yam (aka taro) diced 1½ cm ½ cup orange sweet potatos diced 1½ cm ½ cup purple sweet potatoes diced 1½ cm pinch of salt 200 ml undiluted fresh coconut milk Choose yam that's light for its size and has lots of red veins inside. Trim about 1 cm thick when peeling, and 2-3 cm around the head and bottom. These parts are usually not powdery. Drizzle 50 ml boiling water on tapioca flour. Knead to form an elastic dough, dusting with tapioca flour if too sticky. If too dry, wet hands before kneading. Divide dough into 2 equal size pieces. Add red colouring (or palm sugar) to one piece. Knead till colour is even. Roll into a rope 1½ cm thick. Cut crosswise 1½ cm wide. Dust thoroughly with tapioca flour to prevent sticking, and set aside. Add green food colouring (or pandan juice) to remaining dough. Proceed as for red dough to make jelly beads. Cook in boiling water till floating, stirring to prevent sticking. Remove with slotted spoon to a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp sugar (to prevent sticking), mix thoroughly and set aside. Discard water. Place rock sugar, 1 cup boiling water and pandan leaves in a pot. Stir till sugar melts. Add yam and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently over low heat till just soft, about 7 minutes. Don't use high heat or yam would disintegrate. Discard pandan leaves. Remove yam with slotted spoon to a bowl. Place sweet potatoes in the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently till just soft, about 5 minutes. Add salt, coconut milk, and boiling water to dilute coconut milk to taste, about ¾ cup. Stir to mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary. Turn off heat as mixture comes to a gentle simmer. Add tapioca jelly and yam. Serve hot or chilled.

Fried Wontons

Fried wontons are different from wontons in soup, apart from the fact that they're fried.

The filling for boiled wontons should have dried sole (大地鱼, aka 铁脯). The fish is toasted till brown, crisp and fragrant, then chopped into little bits. If it's not available, deep-fried shallots are a good substitute. With either of these ingredients in the filling, wontons cooked in soup would have a rich, intense aroma they wouldn't have otherwise. In Hong Kong, the motherland of Wonton Soup, the stock used is made with dried sole, amongst other things.

Fried wontons, on the the hand, don't need any dried sole or deep-fried shallots because the fragrance from the golden brown wrappers is sufficient.

Boiled wontons may be any size so long as the seams don't burst. Fried wontons, however, have to be quite small. If there's too much filling, the wontons would be brown before the inside is cooked. How much is too much? It depends on the mix of meat – use less if there's more pork, more if there's more prawns, and chicken would be somewhere inbetween. If you like your fried wontons big and meaty, 100% prawns would be the way to go.
 If you hate deep-frying because of the mess it may make, fried wontons would be good news. The wrappers are dry, so the oil doesn't splatter at all. Having your deep-fry and no cleaning is better than having your cake and eating it too!

FRIED WONTONS (炸云吞) (Makes 50 pieces) Filling 150 fatty coarsely minced pork 250 g prawns peel, devein, wash and dice 5 mm 3 water chestnuts peel, wash and dice 3 mm 2 tbsp thinly sliced spring onion 1 tbsp finely minced ginger 1 tbsp oyster sauce 2 tsp Shaoxing wine 2 tsp white sesame oil ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp sugar ¼ tsp ground white pepper 50 wonton wrappers water for sealing wrappers oil for deep-frying To make filling, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Gather mixture in one hand and throw back into the bowl, hard. Repeat till mixture is sticky, 3-4 minutes. To wrap, please refer to video below but use only 1 rounded tsp filling per wonton. Wrappers may be sealed with beaten egg as in the video, or water. Alternatively, you could put some filling in the middle of the wrapper, dab some egg/water on the edges, fold to form a triangle/rectangle/semi-circle, then press edges to seal. (Click here if you need 12 photos (!) to show you how to make triangular wontons. But I'm assuming you are quite intelligent . . . .) Wonton wrappers brown very easily. Do not use too much filling, oil that's too hot, or fry the wontons when they're chilled. Otherwise, the inside may still be raw when the wrappers are brown. To fry, use moderately hot oil. Test by dipping wonton (or an uncoated wooden chopstick) into the oil. Temperature is just right when oil bubbles softly. If there's rapid bubbling, let oil cool down slightly before testing again. If there's no reaction from the oil, continue heating till bubbling softly. When oil is at right temperature, fry wontons over medium heat till golden brown, about 90 seconds. Drain and serve immediately with garlic or sweet chilli sauce on the side.

Nyonya Fried Rice

Fried rice is one of those things. It may be a great chef's finale for a grand Chinese banquet, or it may be something rustled up by a hungry youngster snooping round the kitchen when Mum is out. Brilliantly executed, fried rice is sublime. If not, it's (usually) at least edible.

Baba fried rice is easier than the Chinese version. The latter requires fierce, intense heat for best results (imagine a massive fire breathing dragon underneath the wok). The Straits Chinese, however, use spices to create an alluring aroma. Finely pounded shallots, dried chillies, fresh chillies and candlenuts, along with belachan and dried prawns, are slowly persuaded over gentle heat to release their fragrance. Each and every grain tastes of the spicy, aromatic and umami paste, so the fried rice is delicious even when it's lacking in wok hei.

Leftover rice is great for making fried rice but, contrary to popular opinion, freshly cooked rice is perfectly ok too. All you have to do is use a bit less water than usual, and the cooked rice would be quite dry, as if it's been drying out overnight. If the rice is cooked at a lower temperature, by steaming instead of boiling in an electric rice-cooker, it's even better because the texture would be firmer and more chewy.

I don't wait till I have leftover rice to enjoy a bowl of fried rice. But I always make fried rice when I have some. Resteamed overnight rice isn't very nice, but I hate throwing away leftover rice because I grew up singing: planting rice is never fun, bend from morn till set of sun, cannot stand and cannot sit, cannot rest a little bit . . . .

Planting rice is no longer the back breaking work it used to be. Nonethess, each and every grain is precious. Savour it, fried or otherwise.

NASI GORENG REMPAH (SPICY BELACHAN FRIED RICE) Source: Adapted from Cooking for the President (Recipe for 4 persons) 375 g long grain white rice wash and rinse thoroughly; soak 10 minutes in 340 ml water 45 g dried prawns, rinse 20 g candlenuts, rinse 3 g dried chillies trim stems; cut 2 cm long; soak in warm water till soft, about 30 minutes; squeeze dry and discard water 30 g red chillies, rinse and trim 3 bird's eye chillies, rinse and trim 80 g shallots, peel and rinse 4 tbsp vegetable oil 12 g belachan, toast till fragrant and dry; pound or grind finely to yield 1 tbsp 8 medium size prawns (150 g), shell, devein, wash and dice 1½ cm ¾ tsp salt ¾ tsp ground white pepper 1 large cucumber (450 g), peel, wash, core and dice 4 mm to yield 1½ cups Steam rice over rapidly boiling water for 15 minutes, then check whether rice needs more water. If surface layer is cooked but still hard, this is the ideal texture. Steam another 5 minutes and remove from steamer. If surface layer is not cooked, sprinkle with 1 tbsp water and steam 5 minutes. Repeat if necessary, then remove rice from steamer. When surface layer is cooked and soft, remove rice from steamer immediately. After rice is cooked, fluff and set aside. Whilst rice is steaming, pound dried prawns finely and set aside. Cut candlenuts, dried chillies, fresh chillies and shallots into small pieces. Pound or grind very finely. Stir-fry with 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok over medium-low heat till medium brown and aromatic. Add belachan powder and stir through. Push to one side. Place 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the middle of the wok. Reduce heat to low. Stir-fry dried prawns with the oil till aromatic. Increase heat to high. Mix everything in the wok evenly. When wok is very hot, add prawns and stir through. Add rice and stir till thoroughly mixed and hot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Turn off heat. Add cucumber and stir through. Serve immediately with fried fishcake, fried eggs, achar timun, etc.

10-Minute Kaya (I)

If you google "kaya hours of stirring", you'll find people (like here and here) who really do stand beside their pots of kaya, stirring away for hours on end. I greatly admire their patience, dedication and tenacity but sadly these are virtues I don't possess. So I make kaya the quick way, in 10 minutes.

What's the difference between the longie and quickie? More importantly, is the quality compromised if you take 10 minutes instead of two hours? Well, the ingredients are more or less the same except for egg whites. The longie has egg whites; the quickie doesn't. Egg whites, being 90% water and 10% proteins, make the kaya less rich. That is, to me, not a good thing, especially when "kaya" means rich. But I imagine those in the anti-fats and anti-cholesterol brigade would jump with joy. In fact, they probably make their kaya whites-only, no-sugar, and without coconut milk. Urgh!

Kaya made with whole eggs has to be cooked at a very low temperature. That's why it's heated over a water bath, and it has to be stirred continuously. If the temperature is too high, the egg whites would turn lumpy and ruin the kaya.

Meanwhile, the sugar has to caramelize, which starts happening at about 160°C. But it's sitting in a pool of coconut milk that consists of mainly water. H2O's maximum temperature is 100°C, right? That's way too low for browning sugar. So, before any caramelization takes place, most of the H2O has to evaporate. Which is done ever so gently over a water bath so that the princessy egg whites don't get grumpy and lumpy. Even when the caramelization finally happens, along with the thickening as water evaporates, it's very slow because of the minimal heat. Now you see why making traditional kaya takes hours of dedicated stirring?

The hard labour may be easily avoided by doing two things: One, omitting the egg whites, thus allowing the kaya to be cooked at a higher temperature without a water bath. Two, replace some of the white sugar with palm sugar, which doesn't need to be caramelized. It has a lovely caramel fragrance as it is without any fuss. The simple re-engineering slashes the cooking time to 10-15 minutes. Efficiency improves, productivity rises, hallelujah! Making kaya is a royal pain no more.

Imagine smothering your morning toast with kaya that's full of the fragrance of fresh coconut milk, palm sugar and pandan. But it's not cloyingly sweet, and you're in the comfort of your own home instead of fighting the crazy crowds at Ya Kun or Chin Mee Chin. Oh yes, don't forget the slices of cold butter and half-boiled eggs, and tea or coffee to wash everything down. Now that's a breakfast worth waking up for!

12 June 2012 Update
Click here for my step-by-step video.

10-MINUTE KAYA (COCONUT EGG JAM) (Recipe for 1 cup) 45 g sugar 45 g palm sugar 200 ml undiluted fresh coconut milk 4 young, light green pandan leaves wash and cut 5 cm long 4 yolks make sure there's no egg white at all To make kaya, cook sugar, palm sugar, coconut milk and pandan leaves over medium heat, stirring constantly, till just starting to simmer gently. Turn off heat. Stir egg yolks and, at the same time, slowly add half of coconut milk mixture. Next, pour all of egg mixture into remaining coconut milk in one go. Over medium heat, cook combined mixture till slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Continue stirring till mixture is thick enough to coat sides of pot thickly. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Discard pandan leaves. Transfer to a bowl or bottle. Leave till completely cool. Cover and refrigerate. May be stored up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before serving if you want a softer, squidgy consistency. To make kaya toast the traditional way, grill thickly sliced old-fashioned white bread over charcoal till surface is burnt. Scrape off burnt layer. Cut each slice horizontally in the middle into 2 thinner slices. Spread with kaya, generously, and top with slices of cold butter. Butter should be at least 2 mm thick or you're a wimp. Cut sandwich into 2 or 3 pieces. Serve immediately whilst hot and crisp. Best when dipped in half-boiled eggs seasoned with dark soya sauce and ground white pepper. Coffee or tea, made with water boiled over charcoal – gas or electricity is for wimps – is a must. Slice of butter in the coffee isn't but it's an excellent option. To cool drink quickly, pour into a saucer and then drink from the saucer. Yes, drink from the saucer like a cat.