Famous Asian Recipes Blog

Ingredients

1 Red snapper or Pomfret (size about 300 grams), 10 small onions (sliced) , 3 cloves garlic (Minced), ginger (shredded), 1 fresh chili (sliced), 1 tablespoon fermented bean paste, 4 tbsp tamarind juice, 1 stalk spring onion (sectioned), 10 tbsp of cooking oil

Method

• Clean fish, wash and drain then pan fried fish till brown, set aside.
• Leave about 3 tbsp of cooking oil in the wok, saute onion, garlic and ginger to fragrant.
• Add fermented bean paste and stir fry until aromatic then add in the tamarind juice. Add sugar to taste, if required.
• Add fish and chili to simmer for about 1 minute, dish out and serve warm or cold.

Ingredients:
500 grams  Sardine or Mackerel fish, 2 liters of water, 4 pieces of dried tamarind peel (soaked), some Vietnamese mint leaves, 300 grams cooked laksa noodles
Spicy Paste (process into fine paste with a blender)
6 fresh chilies (seeded), 10 dried red chilies (seeded), 8 small onions, 1 stalk lemon grass (use only about 4 inches from the bulb, crushed), 1 thumb size belachan
Tamarind Juice
Extract juice from 3 tbsp of tamarind paste with 1/2 cup water (repeat 3-4 times)
Seasonings
Sugar, salt and fish sauce to taste, Penang prawn paste (hae ko, add only when serve)
Garnishing
1 cup shredded cucumber, 1 red onion (sliced thinly), 1 bunch pepper mint leaves, 1 ginger bud (bunga kantan, chopped finely), 1 lettuce (cut into small pieces), 1 red chili (cut into small slices), 5 chili padi (cut into small pieces), 1 slice of pineapple (cut into thin strips)
Method

• Remove scales and innards of the fish and clean well. Bring 2 liters of water to boil in a deep pot then add in the fish and boil for about 10 minutes. Strain the fish stock into another pot and leave the fish to cool.

• Bring the strained fish stock to a light boil again then add in the peeled tamarind and the Vietnamese mint leaves and continue to simmer in low heat.

• Pick the flesh out from all the fish and discard the bones. Break the flesh into small pieces and return the fish into the stock and continue to simmer with low heat.

• Saute the spicy paste with little bit of cooking oil until it become aromatic then add it to the stock together with the strained tamarind juice and continue to simmer with low heat. Add seasoning to taste.

• To enjoy this sweet, tangy and spicy dish,  arrange cooked laksa noodle in a serving bowl and garnish with all vegetables. Pour the piping hot soup over the noodle and serve with a spoonful of Hae Ko.

Related Recipe
More Nyonya Recipes

Ingredients
800 grams large prawns, 4 tbsp Chinese celery (diced), 4 shallots (chopped), 1 tbsp red chili (cut into rings), 2 tsp curry powder
Marinade
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine, pinch of pepper
Seasoning
100 ml chicken stock, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, dash of sesame oil, salt, sugar and pepper to taste
Method

• Trim prawns, keep shell and rinse well then pat dry.
• Marinate prawns for 20 minutes, coated with little bit of cornstarch and deep-fry briefly until slight golden in color.
• Saute shallots and curry powder to fragrant, return prawns and sprinkle cooking wine then add seasoning and stock.
• Let the dish boil for 2 minutes and when gravy thicken and almost dry up, stir in the celery and chili, toss wel and dish up.

Related Recipe
Nyonya Recipes

Prawns is quick and easy to cook. You can grill, steam, fry or simply cook in boiling water and it will give you a different flavor by different ways of cooking. The important thing is that the ingredient must be fresh and you must never over cooked it.

The Nyonya way of preparing prawns is one of my favotites not only because it is simple and quick to prepare, but most important is that the dish is very appetizing especially if you take it with nasi lemak (rice cooked with coconut milk) and the spicy sambal.

Nyonya Asam Prawns Recipe

More Nyonya Recipes

It is commonly known that Nyonya cuisines are fusion dishes from Chinese cooking, Malay cooking and Thai cooking.

This characteristic is obvious in some of the recipes.

The Nyonya Black Fungus Salad or Kerabu Bok Nee is a typical example as Bok Nee (black fungus) is a very traditional Chinese ingredient, grated coconut, ginger bud (bunga kantan) and sambal belachan are popular ingredients used in Malay cooking and the sweet and sour finishing touch is very much of Thai style.

This combination of different cooking culture although simple to prepare, is a wonderful appetizer that stimulate your taste bud.

Nyonya Black Fungus Salad Recipe

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I am quite surprised to learn that growing water-spinach is prohibited in some states in America. This fast growing plant is said to be growing at the rate of 4 inches a day and is a significant threat to native plant habitats and flood control.

In Asia,  water-spinach has been one of the most common vegetables that consumed by every household. This vegetable dose not possessed very strong taste but has a crunchy texture that simply taste good even if it is just quick fried with garlic oil and seasoning.

In most South East Asian countries where people prefer spicy flavor, sambal (chili paste) and belachan (shrimp paste) is the most popular combination to prepare a stir-fried water-spinach dish.

Water-Spinach with Sambal Belachan Recipe

More Nyonya Recipes

Ingredients
30 grams cooked shredded jelly fish, 300 grams cooked small prawns, 600 grams paku vegetables
Ingredients to be pounded
8 red chilies, 3 chili padi, 30 grams toasted belachan, 1 tbsp dried prawns
Other spices
50 grams sliced shallots, 3 red chili (shredded), 5 cloves garlic (sliced), 3 pcs shredded lime leaves, 1 tbsp minced ginger bud, 2 tbsp shredded coconut (pan-fry to golden brown then pounded coarsely)
Dressing
180 ml thick coconut milk, 6 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
Method

• Bring a pot of water to boil then blanch the paku vegetable for 3 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
• Mix well all spices and dressing in a big bowl then add the pounded ingredients, cooked prawns, jelly fish and vegetables and serve.

*More Nyonya Recipes*
*Related Recipe*

Sambal Prawns Petai or Sambal Udang Petai has been one of the most popular dish from the Nyonya kitchen but not everybody will like the stinky taste of this bright flat nut shaped beans with a peculiar smell. Just like durian, it’s either you love it or hate it. For the petai lovers, some will just take it raw with a dip in the sambal paste but most people will cook it with prawns and sambal. Petai is also known to be good for health especially help in treating diabetes, depression, obesity, constipation and blood pressure.

*Sambal Prawns Petai Recipe*

*More Nyonya Recipes*

This dish is very common in Malaysia and I believed each ethnic group will have their own version of this Asian salad or Asian Coleslaw. But what makes the Nyonya Acar stand out to be the most popular among all?  I personally feel that Nyonya version not only has many variety of veges, but also in it’s unique way of preparing it. It is a mixture of pickled, freshness, spices, toasted  nuts and seeds. Take a look at the recipe here.

*More Asian Recipes*

Some times it is hard to tell whether it is a Thai food, Nyonya or Malay cuisine when come to dish like sambal kangkong (water spinach), sambal asparagus. I think people living in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia are cooking this dish almost the same way. So I think it is only fair to classify it under a fusion dish rather than classify it under any specific country cuisine.

As for the sambal, the main ingredients are toasted shrimp paste, chilies, small red onions, garlic, lemongrass but you can always adjust the ratio of spices according to your own taste and liking.

It is quite a simple dish to make after all, saute the blended sambal in warm oil to fragrant then stir fry with asparagus (peeled and sectioned) with some small shrimps for 3 minutes, add seasoning to tatse and it is done. Try it and enjoy.

*More Asian Recipes*