Mama's Nyonya Otak Otak

Ingredients for Rempah (spice paste):

• 1 inch galangal, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 2 stalks lemongrass, slice bottom stalk finely
• 1 inch yellow ginger (turmeric), peeled and cut into small pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 5 dried chilies or to taste
• 10-15 small purple shallots, peeled and cut into half
• 1 sq inch belachan (shrimp paste), toasted

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon Nyonya fish curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 leper lime leaves (limau purut or kaffir lime) sliced thinly
• 500 g threadfin fish fillet (or tenggiri/Spanish mackerel), sliced into bite sized chunks
• 20 daum kaduk (wild pepper leaf)
• 10 banana leaves (18x20 cm), soaked in hot water to soften, then dried and set aside
• Toothpicks
• 1 pandan leaf, knotted

Method:

Blend in a food processor or pound the rempah ingredients together until it forms into a fine paste.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and rempah together and add coconut milk. Mix in a teaspoon of fish curry powder and salt.  Add the leper lime leaves to the mix.

Place 2 daum kaduk leaves at the centre of each banana leaf and add 2-3 pieces of fish. Top it with 2 tablespoons of the rempah and egg mix. 

Wrap by folding opposites of the banana leaf to meet in the middle, then fold the other two sides to meet. Secure the pyramid with one or two toothpicks. You can also add another 2-inch strip at the bottom of the banana leaf (pictured) before folding it (optional).

Add a pandan leaf in the boiling water for more flavour. Steam over rapidly boiling water for 10-15 minutes.

Mama's Kueh Bengka

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds grated tapioca
• ¾ cup grated coconut
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 pandan leaves
• 1.5 cups coconut milk
• ½ cup water
• 2 large banana leaves

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Add the tapioca, coconut, eggs, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir everything together until they are mixed well. Tie the pandan leaves into individual knots and add them into the mixture. Using a wooden spoon, crush the leaves for a few minutes until you can smell the pandan scent in the mixture. Add coconut milk and water and stir.

Line a 9 inch square or round baking pan with banana leaf pieces, shiny side up.

Remove the pandan leaves before pouring the mixture into the baking pan. Shake it around until the top becomes even.

Bake in the oven for 1¼ hours. The top should be golden brown and the edges lifted off the sides and crusty.

Take it out of the oven and leave the kueh in the baking pan for another 45 minutes for it to cool down and firm up. Turn it over onto a wire cooling rack and leave it to cool down for another hour.  Slice into small pieces to serve.