Tamarind Prawn (Assam Prawn) pictures (1 of 6)
Click the image to see next picture
Tamarind prawn or assam prawn is a Malaysian-Nyonya recipe, one that I grew up eating as my late mother made a killer dish of assam prawn, or “assam heh/亚参虾” (in Hokkien dialect).
While most Nyonya recipes call for long list of ingredients and tedious preparations, tamarind prawn (assam prawn) is surprisingly easy to make and takes only a few ingredients: tamarind, sugar, and salt. Despite the easy recipe, tamarind prawns (assam prawns) are impossibly delicious as the tamarind gives the prawns the bold and tart flavors while accentuating the briny sweet taste of prawns…(get tamarind prawn or assam prawn recipe after the jump)
Click for more
Chicken Curry pictures (1 of 7)
Click the image to see next picture
There are many variations of chicken curry in Malaysia: Indian, Chinese, Nyonya, Malay, but chicken curry with potatoes is possibly the most common chicken curry in Malaysia. Everywhere you go where curries are served, you will probably find this type of chicken curry.
For the Nyonyas in Penang, chicken curry is especially popular and often served with nasi kunyit (coconut milk and turmeric-infused sticky rice). In fact, there is a Nyonya ritual that celebrates the first month of a new born baby. Called “mua guet” or 满月 in local dialect, this celebration comes complete with a nice food package–in the old days, the food package was packed in a delicate and beautiful Nyonya sia na (wood basket) –that contains chicken curry, nasi kunyit, and a few other goodies…(get Chicken Curry recipe after the jump)
Click for more
(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
Please meet Piggy at Piggy’s Cooking Journal–a beautiful food blog that I absolutely adore and constantly drool over. A fellow Malaysian–from my hometown Penang–Piggy cooks, bakes, and writes about Asian food and other good eats. Please welcome her as a guest writer on Rasa Malaysia with the following serving of sweet and sour fish. Yum!
Sweet and Sour Fish
Guest Writer: Piggy’s Cooking Journal
Most of my friends do not cook as they find that cooking is a chore rather than an activity they’d enjoy. They are always bewildered that I am willing to put in a lot of effort to cook, even when I’m dining alone at home.
Contrary to what these friends may think, I usually do not spend long tedious hours in the kitchen. I do, occasionally, whip up some complicated dishes but that might not be something I’d like to do everyday. Just like the others, I do have those moments when I just don’t feel like doing anything at all.
But no matter how unwilling I am to cook, I still need to eat, especially after eating similar dishes for several days. That’s when I turn to my piles of cookbooks and look for the simple yet satisfying recipes to try out. Over time, I have gathered quite a long list of recipes that I would take out from time to time when I want to have a yummy home cooked meal in the shortest time…(get the sweet and sour fish recipe after the jump)
Click for more
Chicken Curry Kapitan pictures (1 of 6)
Click the image to see next picture
After two weeks of intense Chinese cooking, it’s time I get back to my root of cooking Malaysian dishes. As a born and raised Malaysian, with the unique Nyonya heritage, I have to say that I am very fortunate to have learned many different–and exotic–techniques and styles of cooking from my family. On any given meal, I usually combine different kinds of food on my dining table: Malaysian, Chinese, Nyonya, and Indian. As a melting pot of diversed ethnicity and cultures, this is how Malaysians eat.
Chicken curry has always been my favorite, but I hardly spend time and effort making chicken curry from scratch. First of all, I can always rely on my favorite chicken curry paste; secondly, I just don’t have the patience, especially when my craving hits. But this past weekend, I felt inspired and motivated. I wanted to make a mean pot of chicken curry properly, without cheating with curry paste. Good recipes are meant to be shared…
Click for more
Since I am in the business of selling Nyonya Kuih Pie Tee molds (email me to inquire about the mold), I thought I would provide a Nyonya kuih pie tee step-by-step cooking guide.
Making Nyonya Kuih Pie Tee is a two-step process:
1) the making of the cases/shells, and
2) the preparation of the filling and toppings.
Now, please [...]
Before I start writing this post, I have a confession to make. I have an Asian (Chinese/Malaysian) mouth. In my gastronomic dictionary, it simply means that I can’t live without rice and noodles, soy sauce, sambal belacan, spicy and pungent food–the foods of my Chinese-Malaysian root.
Just this past week, I had a massive Asian mouth [...]
(Click on the above image to view the complete photoset of 5 pictures)
As a big fan of shellfish, there is a ritual that I always practice whenever I go home to Penang–scouting for the scarce shellfish species and had a fix or two (or three) of them. They are the kind of shellfish that I [...]
(Click on the image to view the complete photoset of 3 pictures)
I do eat vegetables and other foods. I really do. I just don’t post them that much on this blog (which I intend to change soon) because seafood dishes are a lot more photogenic than, say, tofu, beans, turnip, chicken with skin and [...]
