Rice and its variety

Malaysians grew up with rice since Parameswara founded Malacca or even before that. Rice is the staple food of Malaysians for either Malays, Indians, Chinese, Orang Asli(native Malaysians) and other minor natives. Rice comes from paddy which is mainly planted in Northern Malaysia which is also know as the rice bowl of Malaysia. The natives in Borneo plant their Huma paddy on the hills which required lesser water to grow. This variety of rice is also known as Bario Rice comemrcially.

A paddy field located in Perlis, Malaysia.

There are 2 different kinds of rice to choose from, polished and unpolished rice. The popular choice is the polished rice. It is nearly white in colour and free of impurities, which is the reason why it is popular as compared to the dull colour of unpolished rice. Unpolished rice is full of impurities which are actually nutritious for us. Unpolished rice is gaining popularity with many health advocates due to the nutritional content. There are varieties of rice and some are as expensive up to the point of RM8.00 per kilogram. Apart from polished and unpolished rice, rice is differentiated by their grain size, nutritional properties and the place they originated from.

American rice is short grained, cheap and contains loads of starch which is economical for restaurants. The Basmati rice, the grade A rice and high in nutrition yield after can cost up to RM7.00 per kilogram. Thai fragrant rice is a long grain rice from Thailand which gives a very fragrant aroma after cooking and glutinous rice which is high in starch and perfect for making rice dumplings. You can find most of the popular rice at any local departmental store and is sold in different packing from 1kg to 20kg packs.

Rice is the staple food of most parts in Asia and is prepared and eaten differently depending on culture. In India, rice is cooked wtih sufficient water in electric cookers or pots under wood fire until fully cooked and is served either piping hot or warm on a banana leaf that magnifies the aroma. They also cook rice in a special procedure of sautéing with ghee, spices and vegetables and cooked in sufficient water and yoghurt. This recipe is called Bryanni rice with different variations of meat and seafood cooked together with the rice. This is an equivalent of Paella from Spain or Jambalaya from South Africa. In Japan, rice is steam cooked and served in bowls and chopsticks and glutinous rice is used to make sushi.

In Malaysia, rice is cooked in a lot of water which is called congee or porridge and there are different variations of it too from chicken porridge to oyster porridge. The best porridge is prepared by the Teochew Chinese which originated from China and is one of the many peasant food made into a gourmet food and fast food. McDonald's in Malaysia sells chicken porridge which is now widely accepted and enjoyed by other races. In the UK and Malaysia, rice is made into rice pudding as dessert.

Rice pudding dessert (UK style). Chinese style is different.

While I was studying in UK for my degree, I saw my hostel mate cooked rice by boiling them in water and then strain all the water off before eating. I even had the opportunity to try frozen fried rice and frozen Thai green curry rice which is prepared by heating them up in the microwave. It tastes just like freshly cooked rice and even the texture is the same. There are even rice in pre-packed food grade safe plastics which are prepared by boiling them up in water and then drain the water off as the wrapping have small holes which made life much comfortable. I have to admit that the plastic pre-packed rice is my favourite as you can prepare them in under 5 minutes. Rice is being creatively prepared all over the world and being accepted in nearly every country as either a source of carbohydrate, snack or dessert. It is hard to imagine living in a world without rice.

Uncle Vinny's Recipe – Steam Fish with Star Anise

Uncle Vinny's Recipe – Steam Fish with Star Anise


500gm to 1.8kg of either Siakap, Kerapu, Jenahak or Senangin

2 cloves of Star Anise

Carrots/ Baby carrots

Spring Onions

Coriander

Young ginger

Chilli/ Birds-eye Chilli

Soya Sauce

Garlic infused oil

Coarsely grounded peppercorns

Vegetable stock/ fish stock


Method:

De-scale and gut the fish thoroughly. Slice the carrot into thin slices, finely chop the coriander and spring onions and cut the ginger into thin strips. Halve the chilli and retain the seeds. Lay the vegetables on a ceramic or steel plate and lie the fish on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle some soya sauce and the coarse grounded black peppercorns on the fish and pour the fish stock/ vegetable stock on the plate. Glaze the fish skin with some oil (olive oil/ garlic infused oil). Add the star anise to the plate and put the plate with the fish into the steamer. Time your steaming as a 500gms fish would need around 5 to 6 minutes to cook at high flame. The texture of the fish meat will on how long it's being cooked. Remember, fish meat is very delicate.

You can check the meat by poking the flesh with a fork. If it is cooked, the fork will pierce through the meat with ease. Before serving the steam fish, decorate it with the finely chop coriander and spring onions. Sprinkle the fish with some garlic infused oil too to get a dash of fragrant aroma. You can get the freshest fish at wet markets or you could get them from fish farms :) .

Steamed Fish

Fish is part of a staple Malaysian diet, especially for the Chinese and it represents prosperity and the wealth status of the host. Fish is a must serve dish in every Chinese banquet. With the depletion of seafood products from our rich Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, fish prices are soaring up the scale and thus aqua culture is the temporary solution for this problem currently.

I grew up near the sea and my family were pioneer fish merchants in Northern Malaysia. Fish is one of my favourite white meat as it is healthy. There are many ways to cook a fish (not skin a cat) and the most popular method for Chinese are steam fish. There are unlimited ways to steam a fish depending on the creativity of the chef.

Popular salt-water fishes such as Kerapu, Senangin, Siakap, Jenahak, Tauteh and many more are getting more and more expensive every year and especially during festive seasons such as Chinese New Year. There are around 7 types of Kerapu in Malaysia and the most popular ones in Peninsular Malaysia are the orange dotted Kerapu, which is the second most expensive and the light browned Kerapu. The most expensive Kerapu comes from Borneo which is called the 7 coloured Kerapu (directly translated from the Hokkien dialect).



The Kerapu and Siakap fishes are being cultured in a large scale as Kerapu is a popular fish for Chinese wedding banquets and Siakap is enjoyed by all the ethnics in Malaysia especially the Malays as Siakap is popular for Ikan Bakar (grilled fish/ restaurant serving seafood in Malay cuisine). Cultured fishes is nowhere compared to wild fishes in taste, texture and price.

In Kuala Lumpur, fresh water fishes is a popular alternative for the Chinese community. This situation was influenced by inland Perak and Pahang as they rely on freshwater fishes for white meat. Popular freshwater fishes are Carp, Ikan Hantu(Lam Kor Yi), Patin, Tilapia and Sultan fish. Freshwater fishes are hard to cook as the stomach of the fish has a stench of soil if not washed properly. Ikan Hantu is the most expensive fish in Peninsular Malaysia. I've eaten Ikan Hantu before, the texture of the fish is unbelievably delicate and the flavour of the fish is strong and pleasant. The last time I ate it, it cost me RM10.00 for 100gms plus cooking charges.

I would like to share a few tips and tricks so you can get that perfect steamed fish:

1. Buy a fresh fish. It would be the best if the fish is still moving when you buy it.
2. Starve your guests before serving your steamed fish and describe how fresh the fish was,
eg. how it was moving to cook up a desire to dine the fish mentally.
3. Make sure you don't overcook the fish or the texture will be hard.
4. Discard all the organs and the blood in the stomach immaculately.
5. De-scale the fish properly. You don't want scales in your mouth.
6. Apply some oil on the skin of the fish before steaming (Virgin olive or palm oil preferred).
7. Make sure your guest eat the fish while its still piping hot.

If you follow all the steps above, you will experience a good time eating your steamed fish with your guests or loved ones. Remember, fish is a very sensitive meat to prepare. It needs extra attention and love to cook fish. If you have any inquiries, please mail me @ vsleep@gmail.com

Tempe

Tempe or Tempeh is part of Malay cuisine in Malaysia. Often sold in most food outlets as an alternative source of protein and most of the time served deep fried. I found out about tempe while I was in sceondary school and it became one of my favourite food until today. I went to the market one day and found out that tempe was sold for just RM1.00 per piece. I was shocked and began to explore and experiment with tempe.

Tempe packaging

The tempe sold at my place is wrapped with banana leaves. I bought some back and started to experiment marinating tempe with different spices. I tried marinating with salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder for a few hours before deep frying. It was delicious and healthy. I even tried to marinate it with just salt n pepper and coat lightly with corn flour. It just blew my brains as tempe worked magic with different marination and all of them were delicious. Tempe has a deep bean flavour after cooked and with salt alone, you can unlock its full flavour. Although tempe might not be pleasant when it is raw, I assure you that it taste good after being cooked.

Tempe is the cheese of the South East Asia. Tempe is made by fermenting whole soya beans into a soya bean cake. There are a few versions of tempe. Ever wondered why tempe is not famous globally? I guess that the Indonesians doesn't know how to market their product to the world unlike the Caucasians. Cheese is one of the products of the Caucasians which is sold and eaten nearly everywhere in the world. How did they manage to do this? They have the resources and the skills needed to make cheese a must have product in every house. Let's hope tempe can make it globally too.

Asian cheese

Laksa in Petaling Jaya SS5D/1

Most of the times when we look for a place to eat, it will be in hawker centres or shoplots. Some of us would go the length to search for food by the road side. For me and some of my friends, food by the road side is the best. You can smell the eau de diesel, take in the sights and sounds of cars, lorries, embrace dust and dirt. And in some instance, Mat Rempits zoom by with fantastic acrobatics. It may be dirty, but hey the essence of all makes the food tastes good. Have you seen how dirty a kitchen is in a hotel or even a KFC restaurant? This is like a kitten in comparison.

Last Saturday, I went searching for Laksa (previous post). This time in the PJ area and a specific road side stall. It's located at the T junction of Jalan SS5D/1. I have actually eaten at this stall few times before this. Suffice to say, the proprietors sells their wares which include the laksa, nasi lemak, cendol (chendol) and ikan bakar (grilled fish) from a van and a small pickup truck. It is a typical Malay stall operated by 3 Malay ladies for food and two malay/sometimes three men for the drinks. The best thing is, everyone whether it's Malay, Chinese or Indian would dine here.

Imagine dining under the cool shades of the trees while watching the world go by with a wok of laksa and a bowl of cendol. Now, that is what I call blissful. It rained the day I was there though. :)

The laksa is served in a mini wok laid over a rattan basket which is quite unusual. It reminds me of claypot rice. The presentation looks really cute. The difference between this laksa and the previous laksa is the gravy. This one is thicker than a typical Chinese laksa. Chopped cili padi (small spicy chili) were sprinkled on top of the noodles. There is a half-cut egg served together with massive amounts of sliced cucumber and big sliced red onions.

I ordered two woks of the laksa. I ordered two slices of grilled fish as well. The fish they use are stingrays.It is just superb. We'll review the grilled fish soon enough. The price is quite reasonable. Try it out. I bet you'll like it.