After my heavy Malaysian cooking sessions recently, I run into a problem–my whole house smells like a typical Malaysian kitchen–the now stale smell of pungent ingredients such as belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste) and spices lingers in the air and I must say that it’s quite unpleasant this time of year. (Winter tends to trap the cooking after-smell longer.)
So, I’ve decided to prepare smell-friendly foods (aka western-style food)–at least for a week–that do not require me to fire up my wok and cook up a storm in the kitchen, for example, this eye candy mini French endive with celery mayonnaise, artificial crab meat, and raisins.
Only a mouthful and entirely healthy, they are hassle free to prepare and you can make over a dozen of them in a jiffy. Plus, they are just so tasty and satisfying.
Now if only I can get rid of the smell in my house.
Recipe: French Endive with Celery Mayonnaise, Artificial Crab Meat, and Raisins
Ingredients:
1 French endive or Belgian endive
2 stalks of celery (chopped into small pieces)
1/2 cup of artificial crab meat (diced into small pieces)
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon of Sri Racha chili sauce (or any chili sauce)
1/8 teaspoon of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of lemon / lime juice
1/4 cup of raisins
Mix all the ingredients in a small b0wl and toss well. Fill each leave of French endive with 1 tablespoon of the filling. Serve cold.
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Easy and pretty! But Malaysia food is more satisfying.
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wah…if i eat this everyday, then i can really “lost 40lbs in 2 months” LOL! Alas, the ad is targeted! LOL!
The endive looks like mini napa cabbage…
Such a refreshing appetizer/salad!
But I’m hungry now, when can I have your Malaysian cooking again ?:p
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My house smells like a mix of burnt oil, spicy garlic and Kimchi.
I might need to do the same thing. :)
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alas, endive here is darn exp. i think like RM9 for a measly …herd? pod? bunch? whats the katanama for endive? clove? u know what i mean, like one large brussel sprout.
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I can understand about ’smell in the house’. With winter here in Toronto, we basically are ’sealed in’ for 3-4 months!!! Try using ‘Febreze’. You can spray on almost all ‘cloth like materials’.
BTW, I am with ‘Ho Jiak’ Malaysian Food is much better on ‘hitting the spot!!!
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HI RM
The pictures sure are pretty but they don’t make my mouth water like your chilli crab, yong tau foo and other asian cuisine!
Anyway, are you into lamb? If you have any good rack of lamb recipe do share!!!
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Try burning candles. I use them in my bathroom to absorb ahem, gassy smells.
Looks yummy. At first I thought it was a Waldorf salad. I bet sliced apples would make it tasty. I’ve been eating salads too since I cooked butter chicken and curry last week.
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Rasa Malaysia,
that’s a great recipe, thanks for sharing! going through your recipes now.. wish I can cook like you! :)
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Ho Jiak - Of course, that goes without saying! Everytime I eat Malaysian & Chinese food, I am very puas hati! I don’t get that kind of satisfaction with other cuisine (not yet!). :P
Tiga - you are too funny. Yeah, that “I Lost 40 Lbs in 2 Months” ad just love my site. It won’t go away! Don’t worry, I will make more Malaysian food (even Nyonya Food, see my top navigation?). Stay tuned. :)
Sue - yes, it’s like a cleansing ritual…make some strong and pungent smelling foods, and then some easy and no-fuss food. It’s a vicious cycle.
FBB - I have one solution–look for mini-me version of napa cabbage and you have yourself endive. ;)
Tricia Lee-Chin - true story, one time I cooked Assam Laksa during winter in the midwest and the police came (courtesy of my American neighbors downstairs); they thought there was a dead animal in my house!!!
Fraggle Freak - LOL! I have got readers saying that they need to find tissue paper or buckets to fill their drool, so I am glad that this post didn’t not make your mouth water. If you haven’t yet noticed…I am not so much a meat person, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t make a lamb dish. ;)
WC - I tried and I got this weird half stinky (from the belacan and spices) and half sweet smell…not the best combination I reckon. LOL!!!!!
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looks real light! :) that’s all you eat !!! hehe it looks good. What is endive? I’ll go google it. hehe
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I read somewhere (dunno which mag) that you can get rid of smell by boiling a pot of water and dump in some cinnamon and cloves, that is unless you prefer cinnamon than belacan smell.
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Know what catches my eye immediately? The big black raisin!
These pictures look like they belong in a salad recipebook. Colourful, neat & fresh.
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He! he! Try placing charcoal around the kitchen to absorb the smell ;)
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Hi, I know that you do not “understand”French but I have to put a comment in french here: C’est juste superbe, tu m’étonnes et je te félicite !!!! So it is something like : It’s just wonderful, you estonish me and congratulation !!! Your pictures are just amazing for this kind of “salad”…woaw !!!!!!! For my recipe, it was a sabayon, yellow part of egg, sugar and old pearl alcohol..mix together and heat slowly…you will obtain a “mousse” like a cloud ;-) Just add a chocolate piece and that’s it !!!
Cheers
Claude
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Hi! I saw your comment on Véro’s blog!!! I have to congratulate you for your beautiful looking and surely delicious recipes!!!! I will come back as your recipes are the kind of food I love!!!! XX
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Hi RM, aren’t they kind of bitter when they get that green? Endives are widely cultivated in the region where I live, and best eaten when still white and mild. Not that I eat them often though! :)
Please don’t mind me pointing it out, dear, but it’s spelled “Hors d’oeuvres” (with the o stuck to the e). :)
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Hi RM,
Glad to see you are not that “takut” enough to churn out more goodies…Ha ha ha…Mmm! Love this salad combo!
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Since u r de Nyonya Princess, so I have to vehemently disagree,
on one or 2 things.
1 it is not unpleasant ok its wonderful
2 what smell friendly ?
where’s da friendly pandany & serai aroma ?
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I use Lysol liberally when I cook my Tom Yum Soup.
I bought a new one just so as to be prepared to spray after I cook your Malaysian dishes. :p
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Tsk, is anyone else OFFENDED by the fact that Rasa Malaysia’s downstairs neighbour thought she had a “dead animal” in her apartment or is it just me?!? Okay, fine, I know not everyone is used to the aromas of Malaysian cooking and different people are put off by different smells, but STILL — it really pisses me off when people compare our food to nasty things! And come on, laksa has a strong smell, sure, but it does NOT smell like a decomposing animal! To say so seems somehow mildly racist to me. Maybe I’m just overreacting, but that’s how I feel. Hmph!
By the way, Rasa Malaysia, I left my mum’s crab recipe as a comment under your chili crab post. A bit malu because it did turn out to be very long, but I hope you’ll try out the recipe the next time you see a special offer on crabs :-) .
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Hi, your recipe, chicken satay is published on my blog !!!!! There is a small text in english for you ;-)
Cheers
Claude
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wow! look slike a healty and hearty food! Must try it out one day!
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Hahahah…Belacan smelling. I wonder what the neighbours thought when you were ‘koking’ away with your tumbuk :)
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Budding Cook - are you going to try this recipe?
Precious Pea - I am not sure about cinnamon and clove. ;)
Tummythoz - yep, the filling is actually salad.
Pablopabla - thanks for your suggestion but aiyo, where can I find charcoal?
Claude - the French comment you left for me sounds very good, anyway, thank you so much, you are always so sweet!
Claire Chen - thank you and welcome! Do pop in more. :)
Shilpa - yes, it has a slight bitter edge, that’s why I added some sugar to the filling, which neutralize the bitter edge, so it was not bad. Plus the artificial crab meat is also sweet, so I like them. Thanks for correcting me, I can never figure out how to spell Hors d’oeuvres!!!!!!! ;)
WMW - I no longer takut liao! :)
Toni - I usually do not mind the smell, come on, that’s that smell I grew up with, but during winter, since the windows are all sealed, the ventilation in the house is bad and the belacan, curry, spices smell all “meresap” into the carpet, etc. And there is this pocket of air that traps in my staircase. Anyway, you just gave me an idea, I am going to boil a big pot of pandan water to infuse my house with its aroma. ;)
Simcooks - I sometimes use Lysol too, but I hate the artificial fragrance. OK ok, I confess, I am impossible. :P
Cheese with a spoon - Actually that incident amused me more than anything else…I thought it was really really funny. I wasn’t offended or anything.
Anyway, thanks for your fantabulous crab recipe. I will definitely make it. Reading through the ingredients and cooking method, I am 101% positive that it will rock!
Claude - again, thanks for trying my recipe. You are a doll! :)
Jackon - yes, please.
Unka - yep go figure. ;)
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RM, have you watch the Glade commercial ? hehehe :)
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Good thing that in Asia, we can open our kitchens wide open. I remember those days when living in Melbourne, cook liao, you can smell bak kut teh or curry the next few days! LOL.
But then we have people over for dinner, we have the air-conditioning on for the whole house, so it’s ‘air tight’ and the food smell lingers. We will switch on our “plasma clusters air purifier machine” when people are around. When they leave, it will be spraying the house with disinfectant! haha.. a bit kiasu right? Then we will be mopping the floor. Children will spill food and drinks, hide food anywhere and everywhere!
I better stop. People will think I am mad. Unless most people here also do the same. haha…
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French endive… hmmm. In fact it’s a belgian vegatbale which has been created in Brussel. The only real name for french endive is “Chicon”
It’s a wonderfull vegetable to eat raw or cooked, caramelized… a real wonder.
You should try with some very small “crevettes grises”, it’s very small shrimps mixed with mayonnaise, coriander leaves and some lemon juice. A real wonder !
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I made your french endive with celery mayonnaise for a party last weekend and it was everybody’s favorite. ;)
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