Nasi Ulam

Ingredients:

• 4 cups rice
• 1.5 coconuts, desiccated
• 1 large basket daum kaduk (wild pepper or betel leaf)
• 2 large bunches peppermint, leaves separated
• 2 large bunches, laksa leaves, leaves separated
• 3 cups cekur manis (sweet leaf or star gooseberry)
• 3 whole fish (mackerel or any sweet white fish)
• ½ cup dried shrimp
• ½ cup dried salted fish
• 1 cup string beans, sliced thinly
• 1 cucumber, cut into small cubes
• 1 Laksa flower, top portion thinly sliced
• ¼ cup limau purut (kaffir or leper lime leaf), sliced thinly
• 2 cups shallots, sliced thinly
• ¼ cup lemongrass, thinly slice the ends
• ¼ cup lengkuas (galangal), sliced thinly into strips
• ¼ cup fresh turmeric (yellow ginger), thinly sliced into strips
• Freshly ground white pepper
• Salt to taste

Optional: sambal for individual serving

Daum Kaduk (wild pepper leaf)

Cekur Manis Leaf

Kaffir Lime Leaf

Lemongrass, Galangal and Turmeric

Method:

Cook the rice and once it is ready, spread it on large plates or serving trays to let it cool down.

Wash all the leaves and dry them in the sun.

Fry the desiccated coconut in a dry wok over medium heat until golden brown. Can be fried the previous day and stored in an airtight container.  

Deep fry the whole fish and when it has cooled, pick apart the meat from the bones. Set aside.

Toast the dried shrimp and the dried salted fish in the toaster oven until golden brown. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the dried shrimp into smaller pieces. Using a sharp knife or scissors, cut the dried salted fish into small shreds.

Once the leaves are ready, start by placing a few daum kaduk leaves on a cutting board, then add a few cekur manis leaves, peppermint leaves and laksa leaves on top of the daum kaduk leaves.

Roll everything together tightly into the shape of a cigar and use a sharp knife to thinly slice strips of it. Repeat for the rest of the leaves. Set the strips aside in a large bowl.

Place equal amounts of room temperature rice in two large shallow serving bowls or trays. Add about 5 tablespoons of desiccated coconut on top of the rice and toss everything together until properly mixed. You may want to add more depending on taste. Add the rest of the ingredients by eyeballing the amount. Keep tossing until everything is mixed well together and taste to make sure the flavour is to your liking.

Can be eaten as it is, or mixed with sambal for a spicier nasi ulam. 

Jiew He Char (Dried Squid Chop Suey)

Jiew He Char Recipe

Time taken: 3-4 hours (if you are cooking by yourself)

Ingredients

Broth:

2 pieces pork belly

1 medium pot of water

6 cloves garlic

Salt to taste

Stir fry:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 bulb garlic, chopped finely

1/2 cup shallots, chopped finely

Cooked pork belly from broth, chopped into small pieces

1 teaspoon sugar

1.5 cups red onion, sliced finely

1.5 cups leek, sliced finely

1.5 cups Beijing cabbage, sliced

1 cup dry Chinese mushrooms, soaked in water and sliced

1 Tablespoon tao jio (fermented bean paste), chopped finely

1 cup dried squid, soaked in water with a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and cut into very thin slices

2 bang kuan (jicama), peeled & cut into thin matchsticks

2.5 cups carrots, peeled and shredded

Soy sauce to taste

Salt to taste

Method:

Boil pork belly in a medium pot of water with garlic and salt to make broth. Take out the pork bellies and when they are cooled down, chop them into small pieces.

Heat up 1/2 cup oil over medium heat in large wok. Fry garlic and shallots until golden brown. Remove garlic and shallots and most of the oil. Put in a bowl.

Fry pork belly pieces with 1 teaspoon sugar in same wok.  Remove.

Fry leek and red onions for a few minutes until cooked. Remove.

Add more oil with garlic and shallots into wok.

Fry cabbage until cooked. Remove.

Fry mushrooms with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Remove.

Fry tao jio with dried squid. Remove when squid is curly and browned.

Add more shallot/garlic oil to wok.

Fry bang kuan and carrots for a few minutes. Add salt to taste and broth until soft.

Mix cooked leeks and onions with bang kuan and carrots. Then add everything together into 2 big woks. Add salt and soy sauce to taste.

Mama's Blue Kueh (Kueh Salat)

Ingredients:

1 KG glutinous rice, rinsed well in a sieve

5 cups water (or more)

1.25 cups of dried blue pea flower

1 assam peel (dried tamarind)

2 pandan leaves, knotted

Fresh milk from 1.5 coconuts (3/4 cup coconut milk)

2 teaspoons salt

1 large banana leaf

Boil the water and pour it over the blue flowers. Let it soak for a few minutes until the water turns dark blue. When the water has cooled down, strain out the flowers. 

Pour the blue water over the glutinous rice in a medium pot and add an assam peel in it. Cover and leave overnight for 8 to 10 hours.

Strain the rice in a sieve and remove the assam peel. Place the rice on a muslin cloth that’s already in a steamer. Add the pandan leaves with the rice and steam for about 45-60 minutes until the rice is soft.

Take out the entire muslin cloth with the rice and place in a huge mixing bowl. Add the salt in the coconut milk and stir. Then carefully stir the milk into the rice and mix well. Put the muslin cloth with the rice back into the steamer and steam for another 5 minutes.

After the rice is ready, place in a 9-inch cake tin lined with banana leaf at the bottom and sides. Evenly press the rice down. Then lay saren wrap on top of the rice and place another slightly smaller tin on top with something heavy (dumbbells or a heavy book) pressing it down. The goal is to get the rice pressed down tightly and evenly. Leave it to rest for a few hours.

When cutting it to serve, use a sharp clean knife. Serve with a kaya spread on top.