I made another dish with some of my crab meat. This time I made a very simple crab cakes recipe.

I did not coat my crab cakes with breadcrumbs as I am not a big fan of bread crumbed stuff really. If you do not want to use bread crumbs like me you will have to fry your crab cakes gently as they are softer and can break easier.

I bind my crab cakes with just an egg. I wanted them not mess about too much so I can taste the crab. I used the ratio 1:2, one being crab meat and 2 being mashed potatoes.

Please do not forget to season well.

I have not cooked asam jawa aka tamarind fish for ages. Just last month I was talking with a friend about this dish.

She had bought some amazingly fresh mackerels and I suggested to her this is one of the dish she can cook with her mackerels. This dish must be sour, sweet and spicy. All you need is a big pot of rice.

It is an extremely simple cook and the most difficult thing to do was to clean the kitchen after frying!

Actually I have made a mistake. I should not have bought such a big wild seabass as it was so big my biggest wok 36 cm can’t fit! Thus frying the fish crispy was not so easy. It’s just that the seabass was so fresh and winking at me yesterday at the fishmonger.

In the end, however the dish prevails.

p/s Taste and adjust to your taste. I prefer mine more sour, follow by spicy then sweet. The touch of soy sauce also adds that bit of extra depth of flavour. Season it to your taste.

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

One of my vices is chicken gizzards. It’s not often that I can buy them here in the UK. Sometimes I do not see any fresh ones for more than a year. They can usually be found in Chinatown but I seldom travel down to London.  However when I do get them this is how I like to eat mine. 

I have tried to convince my family that crispy chicken gizzards with a glass of cold beer and a good film is the bomb but I have yet to convince them. Thus whenever I cook this dish I have to eat them all by myself over a 2 day period but I am certainly not complaining. 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 BY ADMIN