My days of growing up in Kuching, Sarawak I only ever known cangkuk manis or mani chai cooked 3 ways. In Pan Mee soup, fry with eggs and masak lemak like this. I have seen people adding to BiHoon goreng (fry vermicelli) etc but that’s individual prerogative I believe, not traditional but I can stand to be corrected of course.

I was lucky that a friend shared half her pumpkin with me but boy was it tough to slice. I was so worried that I would cut my fingers. Very stressful. Next time I will ask her to please slice for me too. – kekekekeke I sliced and freeze them waiting and waiting for fresh mani chai. Luckily I found them yesterday at my local Asian shop! I was so happy. Finally I can cook Mani Chai masak lemak.

My mother often refers to this vegetable as Lakian Chai. We eat it quite often including Midin. When we eat outside, if mother believes we are heaty then she would order mani chai and if not we would have Midin goreng belacan. Ah…..those were the days. This is a super easy dish to cook.

Firstly, fry the shallots, remove and keep aside. Do the same with the dried anchovies (ikan bilis). Then using the flavoured oil add in mince onions, lemon grass, garlic and fry.

Secondly, add in the turmeric, pumpkin, chicken stock cube, coconut milk, sliced red chillies or bird eyes chilies and simmer.

Lastly, bring to boil and simmer till your pumpkin has soften. Taste, season, heat off and add in your mani chai. After a good stir topped with the crispy shallots and anchovies. Serve hot.

On my last trip back to Devon, where I lived for close to a decade originally, a long time close friend gave me 2 huge lump of beef. A beef rump which I have portioned into steaks, cooked SousVide and a topside which I have been pondering what to cook with it. I have now decided it is going to be beef floss. Then I will surprise my friend by packing some and posting back to my friend so she can try and fill her breads with them as she is a very good baker, training and baking almost daily for the last few years!

Serunding daging – I will cook mine to how I like to taste. When we were young and the parents used to buy these in Malaysia I always tried to search hard for the nice strands and not the fine like ‘dust’ floss. They are more crispy and taste much nicer. I like to ‘chew’ food. Period. I love soft bones ribs and I will eat it all. I even chew 90% of a skate wing cartilage and enjoy them – kekekekeke

As I am cooking just over 3kg of beef I decided to do this in 2 days.

So the day before I cut my beef into smaller chunks and put them to boil in seasoned water till tender. Took me just over 3 hours. I let them cool before shredding them by hand while watching television. Stored them in containers till the next day.

The next day I peeled the stuff and blend the paste and started the frying process.

I like to boil my beef in seasoned water, not plain. I find this adds to the taste. Of course it is entirely up to you.

I also prefer to watch television and hand shred my beef. I do not want to use gadgets or pond them. Again it is entirely up to your choice. As for me I find the stages of cooking therapeutic.

TIP – If you want crispy Serunding daging be sure to add some oil at the end, to fry them a bit. Yummmmmmm…..crispy bits. Please refer to pics.

As in all my recipes please feel free to add or minus any of the ingredients to suits your taste. Tomorrow I will serve this in an innovative way (I hope) I just told a friend I have this idea knocking about and I am dangerous when I have an idea. I need guinea pigs – kekekekeke

Enjoy.

p/s I was just told this minute that this is very expensive to buy. Actually it is not hard to make. They longest time is the frying. However after the sauce have been all absorbed you can transfer to a paella pan to fry dry quicker. (I am just stubborn though I have good? ideas)

Insert a moan/complain (kekekeke) – The hub said it is all his because I do not eat pulled meat. What he said is true. I will never touch pulled meat of any kind that I am not able to SEE the chunk it has been pulled from! However this is different as I not only cooked it but I actually know the famer whose cow this belonged to.

Update – After packing I found 3kg of beef just gave me 2kg plus after cooking.

Those who know me well know that I do NOT like Katsu curry at all. However my boy loves it as he is not a spicy fan. He doesn’t mind Katsu styled curry though as the ‘heat’ is all right for him. Recently he has been buying Katsu ready meals as mummy has been poorly.

I actually do not like him to do that if I can help it because I know prepared food sold in supermarkets contain a lot of e-numbers. It is not hard to make Katsu sauce from scratch so today I cooked it for him with help from my daughter using chicken thighs.

I even went the extra mile of marinating and then frying the chicken skin to give that extra texture. I do not like soft curried chicken skin myself.

On the other hand my girl prefers my normal Malaysian version curries with added belacan. Hubby will eat both as he eats anything I serve him, no complains. All he asked is that I do not serve him fats and innards. Heck he even like petai, stinky beans that I do not eat or cook myself. Since lockdown he has not had any because we could not visit a friend who sometimes cooks it for him. Poor man, not really. kekekekekeke

So I am into making talam at the moment. Making and doing research and I felt like I have been to mathematics class last couple of weeks and back. kekekekekeke

Luckily I have enough guinea pigs and even the British neighbours have been promoted to try though it is very far and few that you will meet any British born and bred whom will like our kuih-muih. Well except my husband! He has actually placed an order for a special kuih lapis of his designs! I accepted his challenge. I just have to figured out how to make what he wants as I have not seen this designs online So watch this space!

Today I have decided to finally pen this recipe out. If I tried some more (research) my friends and neighbours and family might kill me. I have bought 2 dozen tins of coconut milk. Go figures However when my classmate from age 13 years old informed me that I have made the best talam pandan she have ever tasted I believed this recipe is a keeper.

Now when I said I felt like I have been to Mathematics class the last week, I meant I have calculated ratios of countless talam recipes online and from my cookbooks. This is the final ratio that I settled on which I can comfortably slice without breaking because I prefer softer talam.

However I did make some in glass jars and those I add a touch more liquids and a touch more salt for the crazy hubby who (thinks he’s a food critic) really like a touch more salty top to contrast with the sweet bottom (his words; not mine!) Shocking right? Coming from a white British guy – hahahahaha

Now if you have read all my musings this far I think you deserve a good tip. I actually added A DROP of alkaline water to my top layer. it works fine but do not be tempted to add more. If you want to know why, you can try it and see I did and the talam went into the bin.

TIP – Use as many pandan leaves as you can afford. Blend with water the night before. Store in a container with a cover and put in the fridge. I hate cross contamination of smell in the fridge. My everything is in either lock & lock, tupperwares or vacuumed sealed. For this recipe of 7×7 tin I used 2 packets of pandan leaves.

The next day when you are ready to make, it is entirely up to you how you use your pandan juice. You can throw the top water away and used the more condensed bottom bit or you can use all but sieve again one more time to remove residue.

TIP – If you want your pandan green to be slightly more deeper green try adding a few drop of intense blue pea flower water. Just boil blue pea right down to get a darker colour. However I am not sure I like it. I prefer a more natural pandan leaf colour. Which do you prefer?

TIP – As long as you stick to the flours and liquid ratio, do experiment. You can omit the tapioca flour and used just green bean flour and rice flour…..but you cannot do the reverse aka you cannot omit the green bean and used tapioca instead. Well I suppose it is all up to you to try Enjoy trying. I did.

p/s I am also trying to perfect the gula Melaka talam. Will update that recipe this weekend if free. It’s so much easier to make as just need to melt the gula Melaka

Beef rendang is one of the most well known of Malaysian dishes. It is as synonymous to Malaysian cuisine as nasi lemak.

We, the Malaysian have adopted and embraced this dish from our neighbour Indonesia and made it our own.

Living in the UK we will never make as nice a beef rendang or nasi lemak as we could in Malaysia. This is because we cannot get nice fresh coconut milk. Some may say that the tin coconut milk is just as good but in my opinion, I beg to differ. However as a Malaysian living in the UK I do not really have a lot of choice. I have a coconut shredder chair (yes the old school one) please refer to pic) but I still cannot buy nice enough coconut to give me any worthwhile coconut milk.

To cook beef rendang it not difficult. The hardest job is frying the kerisik kelapa (shredded coconut strands) Please do not buy the ready fried ones. They taste of stale coconut oil – yikes. Buy the frozen coconut strands and fry it yourself on a dry non stick clean pan/wok.

I would have used more galangal but I did not have more. I really love the taste of galangal. You can find it normally at any Chinese supermarket. Galangal is not hard to find.

TIP – In all my curries and cooking I prefer to make my own paste and I always prefers to blitz some of the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves etc with my paste. This not only gives any dishes more uuumph but thicken the sauce without the need of buah keras (candlenuts)

As for my DIY lemang there is a long story of trial and errors. When I first tried to make it in UK I made tons of mistakes and this is the closest I can get to the real thing now.

Basically it is just mix the drained soaked glutinous rice to a tin of coconut milk, mix in the salt, the pandan leaves, stir and steam for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and remove the pandan leaves.

Then scope some onto your ready banana leaves and more pandan leaves, wrapped and steam again for another 15 minutes. This will cause the banana leaf taste to seep in.

Remove and use a blow torch to torch the banana leaves (you can use gas stove or BBQ) for this to achieve the smoky taste. This give me the closest taste I can get to the real lemang minus the bamboo. When you served your lemang you will see light green on the sides. That’s the taste and look you want.

Again as I have stressed before use my recipe as a guide and create your own to your own taste.

I still recall most embarrassingly the first time I tried to make lemang I actually boiled the glutinous rice then roll them into tube using cling film and of course it tasted nothing like lemang!

TIP – Do not add your gula Malacca till the last hour to limit the chance of sticking.

TIP – Taste and season with salt if not salty enough or add more sugar if too spicy during the last 30 minutes.

TIP – Add some fresh cili padi (birdeye chilli) if not spicy enough

TIP – Cook rendang the day before and let it steep overnight. Then the next day you only need to steam and make the lemang.

It has been a very long time since I last wrote on my blog. Today I decided it is time I start again after being unwell.

I chose to post this old Nonya kuih – Bingka Beras. This seem to be a forgotten Nonya Kuih which I love with all my heart. As a young child I remember wanting this always whenever I was taken to the morning market where the hawker sold this. I just love the aroma of the coconut with the slightly burnt bits on top! The coconut sweetness, the banana leaves smell, the slightly caramelized top and sometimes the taste of a bit of bitter burns is FABULOUS. I just <3 <3 <3 this “fei chui yuk” aka fat pork belly, in Cantonese because they resemble a piece of fat pork.

Luckily my husband, though British born and bred loves all kuih-muih. Makes life a lot easier for me. I can make a kuih and he’ll eat it all day long and I don’t need to cook anything else.

This kuih is so easy to make so I hope those who have rice flour handy will try it out. Especially more so now we are still staying at home. This lockdown due to Covid19 have seen such a lot more baker, home chefs, gardeners, hairdresser, dressmakers as well as teachers and many other skills. Amazing what we can do when we have to.

TIP – Melt some butter and mix with the reserved 1 tbsp coconut milk. Brush on top of the kuih for that extra ummmph before you grill. kekekekeke

Pulut Tai Tai with gula malacca kaya (gift from a friend) Pulut Tai Tai according to Wikipedia – Pulot Tartal is Malacca-based dish where white coconut milk sauce is served with glutinous rice (pulut)

I have always been a bit of a rebel deep down. Hence a green coloured Pulut Tai Tai

I am steamed my glutinous rice the same way I did for my Seri Muka recipe. https://www.julieolive.co.uk/2018/12/26/kuih-seri-muka-special/

Compress the rice lightly but firmly. Do NOT press to hard until your rice are tough! I prefer my glutinous to have a little give myself. However this is again arguably to personal taste.

I also like my rice slightly more salty as it goes so well with the sweet kaya. Again you can adjust to your taste.

If you soak your rice a longer time, say more than 8 hours you might need less coconut milk and less steaming time. It is entirely up to you to try.

Of course it stands to reason then your steaming time also depends on your heat. I used medium. Happy trying.

Beehive cookies or Honeycomb cookies or Phang Siew Kueh or Kuih Rose is normally eaten and served to visitors during Chinese New Year.

It can be a bit difficult to make until you get the oil at the right temperature, the mould at the right temperature or else you will have trouble. However once you got the hang of it then it is easy. Just takes time.

I have been making these every year in the UK for Chinese New Year ever since I got some moulds from home. I have this recipe in my lost old blog and it’s about time I add to this new blog.

Trust me I have had lots and lots of failures and I dread having to change my wok because it means I have to adjust and get to know what heat setting for my new wok.

Hence I actually have a few woks for special dishes/cook/bake. (I know I am weird that way)

Sarawak Laksa – a dish I cook a few times a year when I feel the urge and when I really, really miss the taste and when I feel a bit hardworking. I always ended up slurping a big bowl of the broth though.

I am quite particular when cooking Sarawak Laksa. I will buy fresh prawns, clean them, fry the heads and make a big pot of prawns broth. You can do this days or weeks ahead.

Then I will buy a corn fed chicken and boil it for chicken broth. Both the broths with be combined to make the main Sarawak Laksa stock. First fry the Sarawak laksa paste and then add in both the broths and bring to a boil. Let the stock simmer slowly for an hour or so or as long as you can stand it, before sieving and transferring to another clean pot.

TIP – You can make this the night before than on the day itself you only need to reheat and add in your coconut milk and evaporated milk. When I make this I never have enough broth and even worse when I invite my friends who all insist on tapaus! I think next time NO tapaus

To make the sambal to go with this I always used the sieved paste. My way is to fry the paste with the ‘oil’ from the Sarawak Laksa broth and add belacan, dried chillies & udang kering (dried shrimps). Season with a pinch of sugar to taste. Please refer to the pics.

Sarawak Laksa is special to all who have grown up with it. In fact for Sarawakian aboard the mere mention of Sarawak Laksa will make us really homesick! This is the same as Asam Laksa to Penangites. Non other paste in the world can compare to it’s distinctiveness. One taste you will be hooked forever. Like my friends here who have never eaten Sarawak laksa before until I cooked for them. Now they will always ask me for Sarawak Laksa when we do have a gathering. However my pastes are precious.

I am indeed lucky to have classmates who will bring over and classmates who will send me the paste. I am seriously considering importing Sarawak laksa paste to sell in the UK ——- if only I were 10 years younger and bother to – kekekekeke