Cook The Books : Rasa Malaysia - Beef Rendang

I brought this book many years ago in a small bookstore somewhere in Singapore. I know I don’t cook out of it as much as I should, but it’s one of the best cookbooks I own.

The wonderful Betty Saw seems to be the Delia Smith of the Malay/Singapore world, and has written about as many books as Delia herself. Whether she has a lucrative supermarket deal is anyones guess.

The chapters of the book are the States of Malaysia and Borneo, which makes cooking really interesting. But you therefore have so many choices for the same dish. I’m amazed there are so many different versions of the mighty laksa.

My favourite Malaysian dish is Rendang Daging or Beef Rendang. By far the best recipe I have found not only from the book, but on the interweb as well, is the recipe from Pahang. This state has the delights of the Cameron Highlands, plus the bizarre city of Kuanton and my favourite town of Cherating. All these places are within its borders.

If you are only going to cook one recipe from Malaysia, then it should be this one.

Ingredients

600g Beef, cut into 2 ½ cm cubes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black peppercorns

1 ¼ litre of coconut milk

1 piece of dried sour fruit (asam gelugur)

2 Lemon grass stalks, lightly bruised

2 turmeric leaves

Salt to taste

Ground Ingredients

15 Dried chillis – soaked

15 birds eye chillis

2½ cms piece of galangal

2½ cms piece of Turmeric

2½ cms piece of Ginger

15 Thai shallots, peeled

5 garlic cloves

1. Season the beef with the salt and ground black pepper. Leave for 30 minutes.
2. Heat a pan and add a tad of oil. Add the ground ingredients and fry until it becomes fragrant. Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
3. Add the meat, sour fruit, lemon grass and the turmeric leaves. Simmer for about an hour and a half or until the meat is tender and the gravy thick and oily.
4. If the meat is tender but the gravy is still a tad too loose, then remove the meat and boil the sauce hard until the gravy is nice and thick.
5. Remove the lemon grass and turmeric leaves. Season with the salt and serve with rice.

It’s that easy. It’s thick, coconuty, spicy and totally bloody unxious. I’d advise you all to give this a try. You can of course reduce the amount of chillis but the coconut milk will reduce the kick of them. But each to his own. Enjoy.

Cook the Books : Made in Italy Food & Stories - Spaghetti al Crudo

I made this and took the photos way back in June last year, before I went on that trip. I just forgot it was there until recently, but as it is a great dish I though I would share it with you all.

Since returning from Colombia back in March 2010, I haven’t had the same passion for cooking that I once had. No idea where it had gone. But it went somewhere. Maybe the one dimensional cooking style of Colombia zapped it out of me. But slowly it is coming back, so maybe I will put more recipes on here. That’s the idea anyhows. But we’ll see.

I know I am a good cook. I’m a crap photographer who had a crap camera. Now I have a good camera, which took a beating over those 10 weeks. As I took over 4000 pictures. At least 3500 of them were of hotels and the like. All very dull. Now I just have to name them all for work. No idea when I will get around to that. (It’s been 6 months since I returned and I still haven’t got round to it)

So back to the recipe. This is a great dish for those summer months, when tomato’s are at their juiciest and most favourable, which is what Italian food is all about. The quality of the ingredients. It is worth for this one dish to buy the best of everything.

The below recipe is from Giorgio Locatatelli’s book: Made in Italy Food & Stories. A truly great coffee table book, with lot’s of great stories and pictures. Some of the recipes are not even worth trying unless you have an army of chef’s to hand. But it is full of practical advice and good tips which you can use in everyday Italian cooking.

The many times I have eaten at Locanda Locatelli I have enjoyed the food and the ambiance of the restaurant, although the bill’s have been some of the highest I have paid for food in London, and always left with a feeling that I wanted more. Especially for the price you pay. Over priced. Maybe. Good food. Definitely.

So anyhows the recipe in the book calls for

2 Tbsp Capers

4 Tbsp Pitted Black Olives

5 Finely Chopped Anchovy fillets

2 Chopped Best Quality Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Tomato Passata

400g Spaghetti

Bunch of Basil

5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1. Put all the ingredients except the spaghetti, basil, ½ the olive oil and seasoning in to a pan.
2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add salt and the pasta.
3. Whilst the pasta is cooking, put the sauté pan on top of the pasta pot, and let the steam gently warm those ingredients up a little.
4. When the pasta is cooked. Drain and reserve some of the cooking liquor.
5. Add the pasta to the sauté pan and mix through. Add some of the water to loosen if need be.
6. Add the rest of the oil and toss.
7. Season and then tear the bsil leaves. Add them and them toss again. Serve. Enjoy.

If you would like to buy the book you can here. Or sample some of Giorgio’s food here. But for sure try this recipe in the summer if you can. It’s worth it.

Cook the Books : Sichuan Cookery - Hot and Numbing Chicken Slices

I am a big fan of Fuchsia Dunlop. You have to hand it to her, not many people would not only learn how to cook in the Sichuan way, but also learn the language so she could learn how to cook in the Sichuan. Amazing.

I’ve had her book “Sichuan Cookery” for a few years now, and am slowly (too slowly if you ask me) working my way though it.

The food of Sichuan has hooked me, I think it’s something to do with those peppers, they don’t attack you full on, but slowly oh so slowly they work their wonderful magic upon you, and instead of burning your mouth, they numb it. But in a fresh way, not a painful way. Well I do not find it painful, I enjoy the sensation.

I recently made a “master sauce”. It’s three weeks old now, so it will take many more months and uses for it to become how I want it. So after poaching a chicken in it, I let the chicken cool down, then sliced the meat very thinly, as I was a twitching to make this recipe again.

It’s great as a snack or part of an appetizer for dinner with friends. I did however forget to buy the spring onions, they add a good textural addition to the dish.

Hot and Numbing Chicken Slices by Fuchsia Dunlop

300g Cold cooked Chicken meat

4 Spring onions, white part only (if using)

4 tsp White sugar

2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

2 – 4 Tbsp Chilli oil

1 tsp Sesame oil

½ tsp Ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns

1. Cut the chicken into thin slices
2. Thinly slice the spring onions on the diagonal
3. In a bowl, add the sugar, then the soy sauce. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the oils and stir.
4. Place the spring onion and chicken slices on a plate.
5. Sprinkle over the ground Sichuan pepper. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and onion slices.
6. Mix the chicken in with the sauce so every part is covered.
7. Eat and enjoy.

Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop - Buy Here