Condiment Queen: January 2010

Monday, January 11, 2010

Sambal Belacan

Sambal Belacan (My version)

4-5 red chillies (cut into 3-4parts)
6 red chilli padis
1 cube of ABC Terasi Udang (basically it is 5g of shrimp paste belacan & from most Oriental shops)
5 red shallots

Above ingredients to fry at low heat with a little oil, till chillies a little soft. Pound or blend with 1 tspn sugar & a pinch of salt. Serve with juice of 2 lime kalamansi or 2 slices of lemon.

Selamat Datang...Welcome

I am passionate about cooking. And I cook as an expression of my personality. Food for me has always been about sharing and bonding with people. As a Malay-Javanese woman, my mother and late grandmother had thought me how to taste, how to cook passionately and how in every event - from weddings, festival gatherings, family dinners to funerals, food is presented with generosity and as a mark of the event.
And as a mother to 3 daughters, I want to impart the passion and skills of cooking Malay food as my mother and late grandmother once did.
I was eating a Malay french toast called Roti John (a soft baquette fried with egg mixed with minced meat, onions & spices) & thought it was a regular savoury snack...till I tasted it with the chilli sauce condiment. And Bam! It was one of the best I had ever tasted. Thus I want to conclude, food taste heaven with condiments. Eastern or Western cooking, without condiments the thrill of Eat, is no fun.
& I realized as a Malay, every decent meal I had must be accompanied with condiment. Thus this is the objective for the blog, to write recipes on condiments. Hope you enjoy the writing as much as it is a pleasure of me to share what I know about what I love.

Not Inspired to Cook? Here are some reasons why you should

1. Cooking for the family brings family togetherness and bonding. These days when each family members are busy with own activities, it becomes necessary to get together and what best way to do it than over a nice meal. Make family dinner on the table (without TV distractions) compulsory.
2. Cooking does not need to be tedious. Start simple with a few ingredients. Or get the ready mix spices from supermarket to help you along. Add onion, lemon grass etc to enhance the flavour. Learn to taste. I started with clear soups (recipes for another day) with vegetables and meat balls. Eaten with rice, top with sambal belacan or ikan asin (salted fish) for kicks , it makes a wholesome meal.
3. Cooking for children is good. It is healthier for them when we know what we cooking, limiting the salt, sugar, oil etc intake. And adding more vege, grains or beans into the food, help with their digestion and hence healthier kids. It is also good to hear, that a few dishes that you cook, can be their favourites, which kids can treasure for their whole life. I still remember my late grandmother sambal jenganan & my mother's chelok nangka.
4. Cooking the food of your culture preserves your identity, your race & your dialect group. And how you cook the food with what ingredients, identify your uniqueness among others in your community. I can certainly identify how my maternal grandma cooked her rempeyek, a Javanese peanut cracker with anchovy & green beans. My paternal grandma loved to fry her homemade salted fish marinated with coriander seeds...food that I can no longer taste these days but I remember their distinctive smell.

Condiment Queen

Monday, January 11, 2010

Sambal Belacan

Selamat Datang...Welcome

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