Prawn Cha Keow Teow/Stir-fried flat rice noodles with prawns
(Serves 4)
200g flat rice noodles
2tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 onion, thickly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
4-6 garlic chives, sliced into batons (or normal chives if you can’t find them)
200g raw shelled king prawns
2 free-range eggs, beaten
2tbsp sweet soy sauce
2tbsp light soy sauce
1tbsp dark soy sauce (optional)
180g bean sprouts
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the noodles for about 10 minutes, or until soft but still with a bit of bite. Drain and drizzle with a little vegetable oil to stop them sticking.
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat until smoking, then add the onion and stir constantly. You want to char the onions but not burn them. Add the garlic and garlic chives. Stir for one minute, then add the cooked noodles. Let the mixture sit for a minute over the heat, untouched.
Add the prawns to the wok or pan and stir-fry for one minute. Push everything to the edge of the wok furthest away from you and add the beaten eggs to the empty part of the pan. Stir, to cook the eggs a little, then gently fold the rest of the ingredients into the eggs until well incorporated.
Add the sweet soy sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, if using, and stir-fry well for 30 seconds.
Finally, tip the bean sprouts into the wok and work them through the noodles. They cook very quickly and are ready when they have just softened. You want to keep their crunchiness. Taste and add more soy or sweet soy sauce if necessary. Serve immediately.
Daging Lembu Dan Saderi/Stir-fried beef and celery
(Serves 2-4)
250g rib-eye steak, cut into thin strips
1tsp Chinese fermented black beans (optional)
4 celery sticks, trimmed
2tbsp vegetable oil
1tsp whole black peppercorns, slightly crushed
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1tbsp oyster sauce
2tbsp water
For the marinade:
1 1/2tsp cornflour
1tsp light soy sauce
Pinch of ground white pepper
Mix the ingredients for the marinade together in a bowl, add the beef and stir to coat, then set aside for 20 minutes.
Soak the black beans, if using, in a bowl of cold water for five minutes, then drain.
Using a vegetable peeler, carefully peel a thin layer off the celery sticks, to ensure they’re not stringy. Then, cut them into four 1cm batons.
Heat half the oil in wok or frying pan until smoking, then throw in the marinated beef and fry over a high heat for 30 seconds. Remove the beef and set aside. There might be bits of beef left in the wok or pan but don’t worry, it all adds to the flavour of the dish.
Turn down the heat to medium, add the remaining oil and the crushed peppercorns, drained black beans and garlic and fry for one minute until fragrant (be careful not to burn the mixture).
Add the celery batons and fry for two to three minutes, then return the beef to the pan, add the oyster sauce and water. Stir and cook for a further 30 seconds. Serve immediately.
Mess Malaysia/Malaysian Mess
(Serves 4)
For the coconut meringues:
4 medium free-range egg whites
100g caster sugar
100g icing sugar, sifted
70g unsweetened desiccated coconut
For the compote:
1 large ripe pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm cubes
2 star anise
1/2 lemongrass stalk, bashed
Juice of 1 lime
70g soft dark brown sugar
For the whipped coconut cream:
80ml coconut milk, chilled
200ml double cream, chilled
For the garnish:
6tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut
Start by making the meringue: whisk the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl until they form soft peaks, then whisk in half of the caster sugar, adding the rest gradually while continuously whisking, until the mixture is thick and glossy.
Fold in the icing sugar and desiccated coconut.
Preheat the oven to 110C/fan 90C/Gas 1/4. Line two baking trays with baking parchment, securing them with little dots of meringue mixture at each corner, to keep the paper attached to the tray. Spoon about 12 dollops of meringue, roughly the size of tennis balls, onto the trays with a metal spoon.
Transfer the trays to the oven and bake the meringues for one-and-a-half hours.
Put the cubed pineapple, star anise, bashed lemongrass and lime juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the pineapple is soft but still holds its shape. Remove from the heat and set aside. Discard the lemongrass and star anise.
Toast the desiccated coconut for the garnish in a dry frying pan for five to seven minutes, until golden brown. Tip into a bowl and set aside to cool.
Using a hand-held electric whisk or stand mixer, whisk the coconut milk with the double cream until it forms soft peaks (it should still run off the spoon).
Assemble the dessert in bowls or small glass tumblers: start with a layer of pineapple, then broken bits of meringue, then coconut cream. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle with toasted desiccated coconut to serve.
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