Recipes from Malaysia

So yes, shrimp paste. Now, here's a funny thing about shrimp paste, I really, really hate how it smells, and I hate working with it, but it's not actually that bad in stuff. There, I said it. It's a little bit like a really stinky cheese in that if you can just get past how it smelled when the food was cooking, it's actually almost enjoyable to eat.

Of course, I have never personally been able to get past the cheese stink in order to actually like eating stinky cheese, but that might have something to do with the fact that I once read that stinky cheese smells like someone's dirty feet because the bacteria in it is literally descended from the stinky feet of monks who used to press the cheese curds with--you guessed it--their stinky, unwashed feet. I guess I really don't care that those were unwashed feet from centuries ago, because that still has a seriously huge ew factor.

Wait, how did I get off on a stinky cheese tangent? Oh yeah, shrimp paste. Before I head off into that direction again, let me just tell you what recipes I chose for our culinary trip to Malaysia.

Beef Rendang. A flavorful beef dish that does not have any shrimp paste in it.

Nasi Goreng.  A fried rice dish that does have shrimp paste in it.

Pineapple Cookies. Modestly entitled "Best-Ever Pineapple Cookies," which might come pretty close to actually deserving that title, though I admittedly don't have any other pineapple cookie recipe to compare them to.

Recipes from Malaysia: Beef Rendang

I was really looking forward to this dish, because it had such an interesting combination of flavors, plus it was totally devoid of shrimp paste. It didn't disappoint me, although my fat-hating husband thought differently. Short ribs, of course, are a pretty fatty cut so if you're like him you could probably make this with a leaner meat. There would be a slight hit to the authenticity of the dish, but I'm thinking that there's probably such a thing as someone in Malaysia who has made Beef Rendang with a piece of sirloin instead of short ribs, and I honestly don't think you'll notice much difference beyond the lesser degree of fat.

Here's how you make it:

First, you need galangal. You can buy this stuff dried but I seem to recall it's exorbitantly expensive--I happened to find some at the co-op this time, though they don't always carry it. If your grocery store has it it's probably going to be near the ginger and lemongrass. It looks a little bit like peeled ginger and it's usually kept in water.

Once you have your galangal, chop it up roughly along with some shallots, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and dried, soaked red chili peppers. Put everything into a food processor and blend into a paste.

Now heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and add the paste. Drop in the cinnamon, cloves, star anise and cardamom. Fry until fragrant.

Add the beef and some white ends of lemongrass that you've mercilessly pounded flat (this helps the flavor get into the stock). Stir for a minute or so, then add the coconut milk, tamarind and water. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the meat is close to being done.

Add the kaffir lime leaves, coconut flakes and palm sugar and stir until blended.

Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 60 to 90 minutes or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Add salt to taste and serve.

There were a lot of complex flavors in this recipe, and I really liked it. I was the odd man out, though. I actually do think it would be worth doing again, as I said, with a different cut of meat, because the flavor profile was pretty interesting and unique. You can decide for yourself which cut to use, but I don't think you'll be disappointed with the results (unless you're terrified of fat, like some people I know).

Here's the printable recipe:

Beef Rendang

from Taste.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound boneless beef short ribs, cut into cubes
• 5 tbsp oil
• 1 2-inch cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 4-inch lengths and pounded flat
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp tamarind pulp, soaked in some warm water
• 6 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• 6 tbsp toasted coconut
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or to taste
• Salt to taste
• 5 shallots
• 1 inch galangal (I got mine at the co-op; if they have it you can find it kept in water next to the ginger)
• 3 stalks lemongrass, white part only
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 10 to 12 dried chilies, soaked in warm water and deseeded

Instructions

1. Roughly chop the shallots, galangal, (unpounded) lemongrass, garlic, ginger and dried chilies. Put them all into a food processor and blend into a paste.
2. Heat the oil and add the paste with the cinnamon, cloves, star anise and cardamom. Fry until fragrant.
3. Now add the beef and the pounded lemongrass. Stir for a minute or so, then add the coconut milk, tamarind and water. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the meat is close to being done.
4. Add the kaffir lime leaves, coconut flakes and palm sugar and stir until blended.
5. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 60 to 90 minutes or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Add salt to taste and serve.

Recipes from Malaysia: Nasi Goreng

Here it is, the shrimp paste recipe of the week. Now, I've just spent a whole lot of time telling you how awful shrimp paste is, but it's really just a smell thing. It's not so bad to eat, but I honestly wouldn't blame you if you left it out.

If you have to order your shrimp paste, and it arrives, and you smell it ... don't throw it out and order another one. No, you did not get a spoiled batch. It is supposed to smell like that.

With that in mind, here is the recipe (Note that the original version called for a small chicken breast and 12 oz of prawns, which I left out becasue I was making it as a side dish. I did find other Nasi Goreng recipes that didn't include meat, so I felt like it was still authentic.):

First mix the kecap manis, soy sauce and sweet chili sauce together and set aside. I actually have a bottle of kecap manis left over from another blog meal, but you can also make it from scratch by boiling a half cup sugar with 3 tbsp water, a half cup soy sauce, one star anise and one crushed garlic clove (discard the garlic and anise pod after boiling).

Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a frying pan or wok over high heat. Add about a quarter of the beaten egg to the pan and swirl it around until it coats the entire pan. Cook for 30 seconds or until the egg is completely set. Remove from the pan and repeat until you have four really thin omelets. Let cool, then roll them up and slice thinly.

Heat up the rest of the oil in the wok or frying pan. Add the onion, sambal olek (A spicy chili paste--if you can't find it in the ethnic foods section of your local supermarket, you can buy it on Amazon.com), garlic, shrimp paste and carrot. Laugh as your kids start running desperately around the house like trapped rodents, screaming "What is that SMELL???"

Fry for a minute or so, or until stinky I mean fragrant. Add the rice, sauce mixture, green onions and cabbage. Keep cooking for three or four more minutes until the rice is heated through. Toss with half the omelet, and then put the other half on top with the fried shallots and sliced chiles.

So yeah, it wasn't awful. I didn't eat the leftovers, though, so I guess like stinky cheese I wasn't able to get completely past the shrimp paste thing. If you're still on the fence about whether or not you should make this with shrimp paste, ask yourself how you feel about stinky cheese. If you hate the smell but love the taste, I think you'll be OK with shrimp paste too. I can't really promise anything when it comes to the rest of your family, though.

Here's the printable recipe:

Nasi Goreng

from Taste.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
• 2 1/2 tbsp kecap manis
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce (I used Mai Ploy)
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp sambal olek
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 small Chinese cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 cup fried shallots
• Thinly sliced red chili peppers

Instructions

1. Cook the rice just as you would usually cook it. Drain and let cool, then move to the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
2. Now mix the kecap mais, soy sauce and sweet chili sauce together and set aside.
3. Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a frying pan or wok over high heat. Add about a quarter of the beaten egg to the pan and swirl it around until it coats the entire pan. Cook for 30 seconds or until the egg is completely set. Remove from the pan and repeat until you have four really thin omelets. Let cool, then roll them up and slice thinly.
4. Heat up the rest of the oil in the wok or frying pan. Add the onion, sambal olek, garlic, shrimp paste and carrot.
5. Fry for a minute or so, or until fragrant. Add the rice, sauce mixture, green onions and cabbage. Keep cooking for three or four more minutes until the rice is heated through. Toss with half the omelet, and then put the other half on top with the fried shallots and sliced chiles.

Recipes from Malaysia: Pineapple Cookies

For my kids, blog night is only worth doing if there's some dessert involved. Of course they feel that way about every meal, which is why most of them hardly ever eat anything (I'm a Dessert on Special Occasions Only kind of gal). Blog night is sometimes a special occasion, and since I was pretty sure that they weren't going to like either of the main dishes I decided to throw them a bone with these little pineapple cookies.

I'll just say up front: theses things are yummy. Now, you could go to all the trouble of making the pineapple filling but I'll be quite honest with you, you could easily make these with some store-bought pineapple jam and I'm pretty sure they would come close to being just as delicious. Making the filling is really the most time consuming part of the process.

Here's how:

First you have to trim the pineapple. Now, you could probably use canned pineapple too, but you didn't hear that from me. If you're using a fresh pineapple, make sure you've removed all those little brown specs and hairs, because you don't want those in your cookies. 

Now chop up the pineapple and put it in a food processor. Process until it's a smooth puree.

Put the pineapple puree into a non-stick pan and cook over medium heat. You can add some whole cloves at this point too, but I didn't, because I hate cloves. This is really just like making jam: you need to keep stirring it to stop it from burning. You want most of the moisture to cook off--when the puree is almost dry, add sugar and lemon juice and stir to combine.

Reduce heat to simmer and keep stirring until the pineapple filling turns a lovely golden color. It should be really sticky.

Transfer to a bowl, remove the cloves (if using) and chill for a half hour.

Cream the butter and milk together until fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat gently until combined, but don't go overboard or the eggs will curdle.

Add flour and stir gently until you have a soft dough.

Mix the remaining egg yolk with the 1/8 tsp condensed milk and 1/4 tsp oil. Set aside.

So now you're going to divide the dough and the filling up into 50 portions. That's right, these things are pretty small. First roll the dough pieces up into balls.

Take one of the balls and flatten it with the palm of your hand. Add one portion of the pineapple filling to the center.

Now fold up the edges to form a little packet. Then gently roll the packet into a ball. Repeat until you're out of balls and filling

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put all the balls on the sheet. Cut a little criss-cross pattern into each cookie with the back of a knife, and then brush with the egg wash.

Bake at 330 degrees for 20 to 33 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before serving. Post guards to protect from your children.

I probably don't have to tell you how much my kids liked these (Martin and I did, too). Really, as far as they were concerned, it made having to smell the shrimp paste all worthwhile. In fact I made this meal more than a month ago, and they still dream about pineapple cookies. My oldest daughter was watching me put this post together and when she saw the photo, she said, "Can you make those tonight?" Haha. As if I'll ever have time to make these from scratch again! Maybe on her birthday?

Here's the printable version of the recipe:

Pineapple Cookies

from Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour or plain flour
• 1 whole pineapple, trimmed
• 1/4 tbsp whole cloves (optional)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/8 tsp condensed milk
• 1/4 tsp oil

Instructions

1. First make sure you've removed all those little brown specs and hairs from the pineapple, because you don't want those in your cookies. Now chop up the pineapple and put it in a food processor. Process until it's a smooth puree.
2. Put the pineapple puree and cloves (if using) into a non-stick pan and cook over medium heat. Keep stirring or it will burn. You want most of the moisture to cook off--when the puree is almost dry, add the sugar and lemon juice and stir to combine.
3. Reduce heat to simmer and keep stirring until the pineapple filling turns a lovely golden color. It should be really sticky.
4. Transfer to a bowl, remove the cloves and chill for a half hour.
5. Cream the butter and milk together until fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat gently until combined, but don't go overboard or the eggs will curdle.
6. Add the flour and stir gently until you have a soft dough.
7. Mix the remaining egg yolk with the 1/8 tsp condensed milk and 1/4 tsp oil. Set aside.
8. So now you're going to divide the dough and the filling up into 50 portions. That's right, these things are pretty small. Roll the dough pieces up into balls, then flatten. Add one portion of the pineapple filling to the center and fold up the edges to form a little packet. Then gently roll the packet into a ball.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put all the balls on the sheet. Cut a little criss-cross pattern into each cookie with the back of a knife, and then brush with the egg wash.
10. Bake at 330 degrees for 20 to 33 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before serving.