Tag: curry paste

• 

  PK Makes Heng’s Brand Nyonya Chicken Curry

  Malaysian cuisine features some of my favourite comfort food. I was in my local Asian grocer last week and saw a Chicken Nyonya Curry ‘ready to cook’ paste made by the Heng’s brand.

  

  I love making Nyonya rempah from scratch but I thought I would give this product a try. I was thinking forward to times I might need a comfort curry but can’t be bothered cooking one from scratch.

  It was amazing and I am going to stock up this and their other flavours. The colours and fragrances balanced perfectly and there was just the right amount of chili kick.

  Heng’s has posted a youtube video here and I am going to show you what I did too.

  Note: This is not a paid post.

  First I parboiled about 600g of peeled chunky sliced potatoes in boiling water with a pinch of saffron. I misunderstood the label’s directions and thought I needed 1.5kg of chicken pieces and potatoes combined. It is actually 1.5kg of chicken pieces and additional potatoes. No problem, it still worked out fine and the paste didn’t miss a beat.

  While I was doing that I heated the paste until the oil started to separate out.

  

  I very gently mixed in my ~900g chicken pieces, coating every bit of them with the paste.

  

  I added the potatoes and a generous handful of fresh curry tree leaves.

  

  After gently mixing everything, I added 500ml of water (taking care not to wash the paste off the chicken and potatoes).

  I slowly brought everything to a gentle boil and then simmered, covered, for about 15 minutes. Just look at the colours!

  

  I then added 100ml of coconut milk and let the sauce simmer for a few more minutes. You can certainly skip this step if you want a runnier sauce.

  

  

  Serving

  Gently place the chicken and potato into serving bowls and then spoon lots of sauce over everything.

  White rice and plenty of roti wouldn’t go amiss either. 🙂

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 20, 2018

• 

  Galangal (Alpinia galanga)

  I was first introduced this root (from the ginger family) when I fell in love with and started cooking Tom yum goong. Tom yum is a Thai soup with a, hard to perfect, balance of hot and sour flavours and is exceptionally high in aromatic and visual appeal. I grow a lot of the ingredients for these soups in my kitchen garden, I like it that much :).

  

  However, I generally buy the whole root (pickled) from my local Asian grocer. In Australia it is often called  Galanga. It is also commonly available sliced and vacuum packed in the frozen section.

  I used to buy Galangal 🙂 now I grow it myself in pots rich in organics and in full sun. When you want to harvest it, pull a chunk out, cut what you want and slap the rest back under the soil. Be as rough as you want, this plant can take it!

  I then use it in one of two ways:

  1. For soups I add it whole (see the picture above) but I bruise it with a rolling pin or score it with a knife to release the flavour. When the soup is done, I chuck the root into the compost bin.
  2. In pastes I slice it finely first (it is a very hard root and may make the wet blender wobble) and then blend it into the paste.
  3. Young leaves can be eaten too.

  It is true what they say about regular ginger root being a poor substitute as it is much stronger flavoured in my opinion.

  From Wikipedia:

  Alpinia galanga, (also Languas galanga), a plant in the ginger family, is an herb used in cooking, especially in Indonesian and Thai cuisines. It is one of four plants known as galangal, and is differentiated from the others with the common name greater galangal (or simply Thai galangal).

  An example of a live plant in my garden:

  

  The flower is a beauty too:

  

  So easy to split and regrow:

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see more cooking with see more galangal posts here
  • go to all meal ingredients here

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 30, 2016

• 

  Poh’s Nyonya Chicken Curry

  What I like most about this dish is that you get to make your own curry paste (or in Nyonyan cuisine ‘a rempah’). Please see Malay for spice if you want more information.

  When I cook this meal I reduce the sauce until it sticks to the chicken, the roof of your mouth and, of course, your fingers :).

  I have tried it with boneless chicken breast but I have to say I prefer using chicken drumsticks. The bones make for a tastier sauce and the thighs for tenderer meat. If you don’t like the look of the bones at serving time use two forks to jerk the chicken.

  My notes say that I originally got the recipe from Taste.com.au and that it was by Poh Ling Yeow. I can’t find that original post now but she wrote that it took her lots of trial and error to get that ‘authentic taste.’ She wrote “The first time I made this and it worked, I jumped around like a lunatic, I was so happy. I felt like I had conjured magic, to make a dish like this and have it hitting all those familiar notes of home”.

  The ingredients list might look a bit daunting at first but trust me it is worth it. I have of course tweaked it a bit for my lazy cooking style and reduced the chili content for my family. Add your favourite whole chilis after the paste has been sautéed if you like it hot.

  Oh, by the way, you can double the recipe as this meal freezes well. I recommend keeping any leftover rice in a separate container for a stress free microwave reheat though.

  STEPS:

  1. Make the rempah
  2. Cook the spices and then mix everything in one pot
  3. One pot simmer

  You will need:

  • Rempah Ingredients:
    • 1 tsp table salt
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • 3.5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole fennel seeds
    • 1 tsp powdered kashmiri chili (at the minimum)
    • 1 Tbsp dried belacan (shrimp paste)*
    • 1 Tbsb powdered turmeric
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 270g red shallots (sliced)
      
    • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
    • Note *: I sometimes use a treacle consistency type of belacan but find it too sticky and harder to blend than the dried version.
  • Curry Ingredients
    • 3 Tbsb coconut cream
    • 10 sprigs of curry leaves
    • 1 star anise
    • 2 whole cloves
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • 1.5kg chicken thigh fillets
    • 500g potatoes
    • 500ml coconut milk
  • Rempah Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a medium sized bowl
    • a small plate
    • a wet blender with a very small bowl
    • a dry spice mixer (or a mortar and pestle)
  • Curry Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a measuring cup for the coconut milk
    • 2 large plates
    • a large deep frypan or stockpot

  Make the rempah

  I listed all the ingredients for the curry itself and the rempah for your shopping lists but I’ve actually posted the rempah recipe separately here – A Nyonya Rempah.

  Cook the spices and then mix everything in one pot

  In summary:

   

  Steps:

  1. Peel, halve and parboil the 500g of potatoes in the saucepan. Rinse and then drain them.
  2. Bring the 3 Tbsp coconut cream, 1 star anise, 2 whole cloves and the 1 cinnamon stick together. Then chuck them in the pot.
  3. Bring your Nyonya curry paste out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature somewhat. If you are using a frozen batch you should have defrosted it fully by now. Chuck the paste in the pot too.
  4. Sauté everything that is in the pot for about 10 minutes. Watch the colour of the Nyonya paste change and the oil start to separate out. See the image below showing the raw paste on the left and the cooked paste on the right. By now your kitchen is smelling amazing :).
  5. To the pot, add the 1.5kg chicken thigh fillets, pausing to mix them with the spice blend as you go.
  6. Add the now parboiled potatoes, 10 sprigs of curry leaves and 500ml of coconut milk to the pot and simmer until the potatoes and chicken legs are cooked through.

  Serve with lots of your favourite rice. Mine is Basmarti and please don’t tell anyone I use the store bought packets you microwave for 90 seconds.

  

  Poh is amazing,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see all recipes using chicken here
  • see more Southeast Asian posts here
  • see all curry recipes here

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 16, 2016

• 

  PK’s Nyonya Rempah

  This Malaysian curry paste looks hard to make on first glance. After a few goes though you will be able to make it blindfolded  and I hope like me you find it an enjoyable process :).

  I make it well ahead of time for my favourite south-east Asian curry, a sticky Nyonyan Chicken Curry (see the post here). Please give this paste recipe a try, you won’t be disappointed. The only drawback is that you might not look at store bought pastes in the same light ever again.

  Note: All my recipes have their chili quota curbed at my family’s request. I am slowly increasing the amount on the sly so don’t tell them :). Add extra chili for that authentic taste if you can get away with it.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1 tsp table salt
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • 3.5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole fennel seeds
    • 1 tsp powdered kashmiri chili (at the minimum)
    • 1 Tbsp dried belacan (shrimp paste)*
    • 1 Tbsb powdered turmeric
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 270g red shallots (sliced)
      
    • 1/3 cup olive oil
    • Note *: I sometimes use a treacle consistency type of belacan but it is so sticky and harder to blend than the dried version.

  • Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a small bowl
    • a small plate
    • a wet blender with a very small bowl
    • a dry spice mixer or a mortar and pestle

  Make the rempah

  Steps:

  1. Have a quick read of my PK’s Curry Paste Kit post if it has been a while.
  2. Bring all of the rempah ingredients together. I use a small plate to make it easier to add the ingredients to the frypan or blender.
  3. Dry fry the  whole spices (3.5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds, 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds and 1.5 tsp whole fennel seeds).
  4. Let them cool and add to your spice mill. Mill them in bursts to avoid cooking the spices further in the heat caused by the blades. Keep going until you get a fine powder. Add this powder to your wet mixer and enjoy the aroma.
  5. Roughly chop the 270g red shallots and 3 garlic cloves and add to the wet mixer.
  6. I use Sim Seng Lee brand dried belacan (1 Tbsp worth) and it stores really well and doesn’t smell out the house! Add it to the wet mixer.
  7. Add the rest of the ingredients to the wet blender (1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp kashmiri chili and 1 Tbsb powdered turmeric).
  8. Blend to a smooth paste, add to a bowl and place in the fridge for short-term use or the freezer otherwise.

  Better than a store bought paste by a long shot:

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 5, 2016

• 

  How To Make A Nyonya Rempah Paste

  This Malaysian curry paste looks hard to make on first glance. After a few goes though you will be able to make it blindfolded  and I hope like me you find it an enjoyable process :).

  I make it well ahead of time for my favourite south-east Asian curry, a sticky Nyonyan Chicken Curry (see the post here). Please give this paste recipe a try, you won’t be disappointed. The only drawback is that you might not look at store bought pastes in the same light ever again.

  Look at the colourful ingredients:

  

  Note:

  1. All my recipes have their chili quota curbed at my family’s request. I am slowly increasing the amount on the sly so don’t tell them :). Add extra chili for that authentic taste if you can get away with it.
  2. The paste freezes well.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1 tsp table salt
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • 3.5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole fennel seeds
    • 1 tsp powdered kashmiri chili (at the minimum)
    • 1 Tbsp dried belacan (shrimp paste)*
    • 1 Tbsb powdered turmeric
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 270g red shallots (sliced)
      
    • 1/3 cup olive oil
    • Note *: I sometimes use a treacle consistency type of belacan but it is so sticky and harder to blend than the dried version.

  • Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a small bowl
    • a small plate
    • a wet blender with a very small bowl
    • a dry spice mixer or a mortar and pestle

  Make the rempah

  Steps:

  1. Bring all of the rempah ingredients together (see What Does Mise en Place Mean?.
  2. Dry fry the  whole spices (3.5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds, 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds and 1.5 tsp whole fennel seeds).
  3. Let them cool and add to your spice mill. Mill them in bursts to avoid cooking the spices further in the heat caused by the blades. Keep going until you get a fine powder. Add this powder to your wet mixer and enjoy the aroma.
  4. Roughly chop the 270g red shallots and 3 garlic cloves and add to the wet mixer.
  5. I use Sim Seng Lee brand dried belacan (1 Tbsp worth), it stores really well and doesn’t smell out the house! Add it to the wet mixer.
  6. Add the rest of the ingredients to the wet blender (1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp kashmiri chili and 1 Tbsb powdered turmeric).
  7. Blend to a smooth paste, spoon it into a bowl and place in the fridge.

  Better than a store bought paste by a long shot:

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 5, 2016