Belacan is raw and need to be cooked. At supermarket, you can also find those that are pre-toasted in sliced and powdered form.

You can learn more about the different type of shrimp paste, health benefits, storage, etc in another post that I have written (Read: Belacan Shrimp Paste).

In this post, we’re going to talk about how to cook shrimp paste.

How to toast belacan

Belacan must be cooked before eating; dry toast it until it is crumbly.

1. SLICE
Slice belacan into small pieces of about 0.5 cm thick. The thinner it is, the faster it cooks.

2. TOAST
Dry toast it on medium fire until the belacan is dry.You can see that it is cracked and no longer sticky. It takes about 15 minutes. In between, flip the slices.

3. DISH OUT & LET IT COOL
Place toasted belacan on a large plate. Let it cool before storing.

When do I know it’s ready?

It’s ready when its dry, hard, and crumbled easily.

Turning belacan slices into powder

At this stage, belacan is cooked, dry, and easily crumbled. If you like, you can crush it with a spatula to turn it into smaller pieces.

This is why my Mom likes to use a wok, its easier to crush the belacan into smaller pieces. However, because of the small surface area, we can only toast about 1 block at a time.

Tips when toasting belacan

1. Cook in somewhere with good ventilation Belacan has an extremely strong smell in itself. When cooked, it emits an even more pungent smell that Europeans had mistaken for a corpse! (Read: French Neighbour Mistake Grilled Belacan To Be Rotten Corpse). So do make sure the kitchen has good ventilation. As I have a garden and a portable stove, I toast belacan in my garden.

2. Cover belacan to protect it from flies Make sure you prepare a food cover or a container with lid to keep the belacan. When toasting belacan, it will attract a lot of flies.

3. Use a flat pan. My Mom traditionally use a wok. But I prefer using a flat pan has more surface area; it allows me to place all slices from 1.5 blocks of belacan.

3. Don’t wear your best clothing You will smell of belacan after cooking. I normally schedule to do it before my bath time.

4. Crush toasted belacan into smaller pieces. I suggest doing this. It’s easy to measure with spoons and it dissolve quickly when cooking.

Toasting belacan in the oven?

I have tried and it makes my oven smell of belacan for days! But if you live in an apartment without good ventilation, perhaps it’s a better way to keep the smell from bothering your neighbour.

In that case, using an oven make sense. To lessen lingering smell of belacan in your oven, perhaps wrapping the sliced belacan in aluminium foil before putting it in the oven helps.

Storage

I like to put crumbled, cooked belacan in an empty glass container. In my cooking class, this is what I use for cooking things like rojak sauce and nasi lemak.

Recipes

• Asam Laksa
• Sambal belacan
• Ladies fingers with dried prawns sambal
• Dried shrimp sambal

The post How To Toast Belacan Shrimp Paste appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

In Malaysia, food is available 24 hours a day (yes, even at 3 am!), almost everywhere. and very affordable. There is plenty of different cuisines to choose from: Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nyonya, and more.

That is because Malaysians are made up of different ethnic groups. Yet each race still speak a different language, wear different clothes, believe in a different religion, and cook different food. And we celebrate our differences.

Kuala Lumpur is a peninsular surrounded by the sea. Hence, we have an abundance of seafood which we preserved and become our staple ingredients e.g belacan (shrimp paste) and ikan bilis (anchovies). On top of hat, our tropical weather, fertile low and highland, allow us to plant crops like chillies, durian, coconut, petai (stinky beans), and tamarind.

What does all that lead to? An amazing array of delicious food with different flavours!

Photo credit: Jerzil

WHY SHOULD YOU FOLLOW THIS LIST?

As a food consultant, cookbook writer, and cooking class instructor – I get a lot of questions from travellers about what to eat in Malaysia.

As there is too much delicious food to try (and most people have limited time and stomach space), I came up with a list that gives you a taste of Malaysia.

If you follow this list, you will get to:

• Taste the most popular food from each ethnics: Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Nyonya
• Visit different types of shop: kopitiam (coffee house), mamak stall (Indian-Muslim restaurant), hawker stall, and food court.
• Try a variety of food and drinks: rice, noodle (fried and soup), bread (toasted and pan-fried), coffee, and tea
• Enjoy food made from the best local produce: e.g coconut milk, palm sugar, anchovies (ikan bilis), belacan
• Taste different tastes that Malaysia offers: spicy or light, hot and cold, sweet and savoury.
• Try some food that you will never find in another country (except maybe Singapore which was a part of Malaysia) because it’s originated from Malaysia or made unique by us
• Eat at restaurants that is made for locals
• Reduce your travel time as most of the restaurants I recommend are near the city centre

Photo credit: Time Out Kl

1. Nasi Lemak 

Nasi Lemak is Malaysia’s defacto National dish.If you travel in Malaysia Airlines (MAS), you will be served this food. It is made from coconut rice, spicy sambal sauce, accompanied with eggs, peanuts, fried anchovies, and cucumber. Many Malaysians like to top it up with an extra side dish like fried chicken or beef/chicken rendang.

Where can you get it? It is available everywhere. Two very popular nasi lemak place Malaysians go to is Nasi Lemak Village Park (At Uptown Damansara, Petaling Jaya) and Nasi Lemak Tanglin (near Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur)

Photo credit: Malaya Chronicles 

2. Nyonya Kuih

Kuih (singular) and Kuih-muih (plural) are Malaysian cakes. While western desserts are made from wheat flour and milk, Malaysian cakes are made from rice flour and coconut milk. I have a cookbook that list 80 variety of them! But I suggest that you can try a few of the most popular ones like the photo above. If I must name the top 3 kuih to try, I would suggest: Bingka Ubi, Ondeh-ondeh, and Rempah Udang.

Where can you get it? You can get it at the farmer’s market and stalls incertain food court. But as a tourist who is not familiar with unnamed stalls, I suggested visiting Nyonya Colours which is available at major shopping malls.

Photo credit: Malay Mail

3. ‘Kaya’ Coconut Jam Toast and Soft-boiled Eggs with Coffee

One very special breakfast that is unique to Malaysia is a combo of:  Kaya-butter toast bread + soft-boiled eggs + local coffee. Our ‘Kaya’ jam is made from coconut milk and eggs. The jam and butter is then slather over a light bread (which you can’t get from the supermarket). We break our eggs into plates, season with soy sauce and pepper, then slurp it in! Finally, our coffee is toasted with butter and sweetened with condensed milk.

Where can you get it? You can get it at local coffee house called kopitiam. Most Malaysians go to a kopitiam near their home. When I am in the city, I like to visit Yut Kee Restaurant or Capitol Cafe.

Photo credit: Malay Mail

4. Cendol

Cendol is a type of dessert made shaved ice, green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. I chose to include this dessert because you have to try Malaysian palm sugar and fresh coconut milk combo – it’s amazing. Secondly, if you’re adventurous, some cendol stall allows you to top it up with durian. It’s a delicious way to try this pungent fruit!

Where can you get it? Try Teochew Chendol a chain store (though its origin is in Penang). My favourite is Kwong Wah at Petaling Jaya.

5. Curry Laksa

Curry Laksa is listed in Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Eatlist book lists as the second best food experience in the world. But that is not the only reason why this noodle is in the list. The soup is made from spices and coconut milk; while the ingredients includes egg noodles, fried tofu, cockles, long beans, and a side of chili sauce. It’s a complicated dish that’s why it’s so delicious!

Where can you get it? Try the one at Madras Lane in Petaling Street, the store which gets this bowl of noodle in the list. If you like air-conditioned restaurant, Madam Kwan, a chain restaurant, also serves a good bowl of curry laksa (and nasi lemak too!)

6. Char Koay Teow

This is arguable Malaysia’s most famous noodle. From my experience as a Malaysian and cooking instructor, both locals and tourist rate this as their top favourite noodle. Char Koay Teow literally means ‘Fried Flat-Rice Noodle’. The noodle is fried on a wok on intense high heat with prawns, fish cakes, chives, eggs, beansprouts, and topped with lard and cockles.

Where can you get it? Almost every food court has one hawker stall selling char koay teow. If you’re at Bukit Bintang area, try Lot10’s food court called Hutong where the dish is made from duck egg instead of chicken egg. It’s easily available at chain Malaysian restaurants like Madam Kwan.

Photo credit: Miss Tam Chiak

7. Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh means ‘Meat Bone Broth’. This dish is unique of Malaysia. While many Chinese-Malaysian food can be traced back to China, this is truly made in Malaysia. It’s a pot of herbal soup with pork, garlic, and fried tofu. It’s served with rice and a soy sauce-garlic condiment. It’s best topped with sliced youtiau (chinese fried dough).

Where can you get it? Most Malaysian agree that the best bak kut teh are from Klang (a town 45 minutes away from the city centre). If you don’t want to go that far, try  Pian Qian Bak Kut Te at Lot 10 Hutong food court or Samy and Min Bak Kut Teh. While they are in the mall, they originate from hawker stalls in Klang.

Photo credit: https://thegardennom.wordpress.com

8. Chili Pan Mee

Pan Mee too is unique to Malaysia. There are two variety: dry and broth. I suggest trying the dry noodles where sauced noodle is topped with minced pork, poached egg, fried anchovies, and chili flakes.

Where can you get it? The go-to restaurant for many local is Kin Kin Chili Pan Mee. I often visit the one at Publika’s food court.

Photo credit: www.sayaiday.com

9. Roti Canai with Curry

While roti canai is also available in India, Malaysian gives it a very unique tweak. We have a variety of roti (bread) made with milo, margarine, cheese, garlic etc. I suggest trying regular, egg, and planta (margerine with sugar). The bread is then dipped in a few types of curries!

Remember to look at how the bread is made – the cook professionally flip the bread in the air!

Where can you get it? Mamak, like McDonalds, is everywhere in Kuala Lumpur. Roti Canai unlike other food like curry laksa is similar everywhere. So just walk into any mamak stalls or restaurant near your place.

Photo credit: Amir Rashid

10. BBQ Satay with Peanut Sauce

All kinds of meat – chicken, beef, or even rabbit – are marinated in spices and grilled on charcoal. It’s then dip in sweet peanut sauce served with chop cucumber and onion. While meat skewers are also available in other countries, Malaysian makes some of the best.

I suggest getting them at places where it is made with charcoal. Satay taste best when barbecued as it gives a delicious smoked flavour.

Where can you get it? Satay is also easily available at restaurants and hawker stalls near your hotel. If you don’t mind getting out of the way, you can try Sate Kajang Hj. Samuri, arguably the most popular satay restaurant.

BONUS:

credit: Gizmodo

11. Teh Tarik

The reason why I include this drink is because the process of making it in an experience in itself. Teh Tarik means pulled tea. You will see cook pouring tea from one mug to another – it’s a sight to behold! Besides, this is probably the first drink a Malaysian will order.

Where can you get it? Any Malaysian restaurant or hawker stall will serve this. But I suggest visiting a road side hawker stall where you can view the making of it for the full experience.

More food adventures

This is just the tip of the iceberg, there is a lot more Malaysian food to explore (I had a hard time choosing the top 10 dishes). But if you have limited time or space in your stomach, this is a good start.

If you are interested to learn more about Malaysian food and culture – why not join my cooking class where you get to learn how to make the most popular food in Malaysia?

Notes for foodies

• This list is assuming that you may not be able to visit Penang (my favourite state after Kuala Lumpur). If so, get Char Koay Teow and Chendol in Penang instead). Replace the two dishes with Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Mee at Kim Lian Kee, Wantan Mee at Koon Kee, banana Leaf Rice or Hainanese Chicken Rice at Nam Heong at Chinatown.

Happy eating!

The post Top 10 Food To Eat In Malaysia (according to a Chef) appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

For my cooking class, I was searching high and low for high quality palm sugar in Kuala Lumpur for making Peanut Sauce of Satay and Sago Gula Melaka (Sago Pudding and Coconut Milk).

I went to the wet market as well as a few supermarket. Alas, nothing beats those that I get from Melaka sundry shop. Finally, I found it at Jaya Grocer. It’s called Gula Melaka Comel.

*NOTE: As of early 2021, I noticed that the company changed their recipe. I believe sugar is added although the company denied it; it’s no longer as soft and as pure as it was originally. I used to be able to slice through it easily. Not anymore.

WHY I LIKE THIS?

1. Pure

This gula melaka, as indicated on the packaging, is made from pure palm sugar.

2. Easy to slice and crumbles

I can easily cut this block with a sharp knife. Grating is easy too as this palm sugar is rather soft.

3. Small blocks

I like that it comes in small blocks of about 55 g each. Normally other gula melaka comes in larger blocks; I only use a little of it and store the rest. For Gula Melaka Comel, I normally use up at least one whole block for making Sago Gula Melaka.

WHERE TO BUY PALM SUGAR

I always get this gula melaka from Jaya Grocer. I have been to a few supermarkets such as TESCO, Aeon Big, and Jusco. At the time of writing, this brand of gula melaka is not available at those supermarket.

Although the price is slightly higher than the other palm sugar, it’s definitely worth every cent in my opinion.

The post Where to buy good quality Gula Melaka (palm sugar) in Kuala Lumpur appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

IS MSG BAD FOR US?

https://www.newmalaysiankitchen.com/is-msg-really-bad-for-you-5-things-to-know/

HOW TO MAKE FOOD TASTY WITHOUT MSG

I don’t go out of my way to avoid MSG (life is meaningless if we can’t enjoy dining out which will normally involve ingesting some MSG). However, I don’t enhance my cooking with it. Instead, I use a lot of herbs, umami-rich ingredients, and make slow-boiled stock (Homemade Vegetable Broth) to make my food taste good.

While it might be enough for me (and possibility our healthier ancestors), I realise that natural flavouring sometimes is not enough to please the tastebuds of family and friends; they expect food to taste as flavourful as char koay teow or food in McDonalds that they are so used to eat.

That led me to the discovery of powdered dried shrimps which I fondly call my ‘homemade MSG’. A spoonful of this in stir-fry vegetables and soup gives a pleasantly savoury flavour. I fondly call this my ‘homemade MSG’.

TOOLS

• Blender
• Bottle/ container
• Tray

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Rinse 250 g dried shrimps. Air-dry. Blend into powder. Transfer into a container. Freeze.

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: RINSE AND DRY SHRIMPS
Rinse dried shrimps. Scatter shrimps on a large tray and air-dry it.

STEP 2: BLEND
Put dried shrimps in a blender and process until it turns into powder.

STEP 3: STORE & LABEL:
Transfer dried shrimps into a container and label it.

COOKING NOTES

1. Ikan Bilis Powder. If you are allergic to shrimps, try making ikan bilis (anchovies) powder instead.
2. Make sure dried shrimp is completely dry. You want to make sure it is completely dry as water can harbour bacteria and causes it to deteriorate. It took about 6 hours to completely dry the shrimps. Of course, this changes according to humidity and temperature.
3. Keep it in the freezer. It is best to keep the dried shrimp powder in the freezer. If kept properly, it should last indefinitely. It’s still in powder form when frozen. I could just scoop for stir-frying vegetables and curries.
4. 250 g makes 3 small bottles. A quarter kilo of dried shrimps produce three small bottles of dried shrimp powder.
5. Toast it and pound for crunchy texture My friend, Murni, said “I usually put my udang kering in the oven for about 15 mins on 150 degrees C after washing and air drying. Once it’s toasted, I’ll roughly pound it because I like the crunchy texture.”

How do you enhance the taste of your food?

The post Dried Shrimp / Udang Kering Powder (‘Homemade MSG’) appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

While cooking it took me no more than 10 minutes, cleaning the clams took a lot time and effort. I washed it the only way I knew: soak the clams in salt, wash and drain many times. Still it wasn’t clean enough. And that was the downfall to a perfectly delicious dish.

The Internet is divided on how to clean them – some merely ask to be soaked in fresh water for 20 minutes or adding black pepper into water. What is more reliable than the Internet? A reputable chef. Riccardo Ferrarotti, chef and director of Bottega Mediterranea, who once showed me how to make a super delicious seafood soup  gave some tips.

I also did some research by reading some books and extensive Googling (Yes, I am determined to never leave the tiniest morsel of sand in my lala dish ever again). This is what I gathered:

UNDERSTANDING CLAMS

Clams – like oysters and mussels – are in the molluscs family. It is wrapped in two shells, and dig themselves in the ocean or river bed. That explains why the interior of the clams is sandy.

According to Chef Riccardo Ferrarotti, the best way to clean clams is to soak them in a saltwater solution that mimics the sea; sea water contains roughly 28.0 g of NaCl (salt) per litre.

CHOOSING CLAMS

1. Type

In our supermarkets, there are two popular types of clams: lala, a regional clam, and Manila clams which have thicker shells. The latter is widely farmed because it’s robust and lives in shallow burial. The Internet did mention that farmed variety may be less sandy as they are cleaned beforehand. However, I am not sure if it’s applicable in Malaysia.

2. Colour

The fishmonger told me that the lighter the clams, the better. The one is the photo is not bad but I’ve bought lighter.

3. Looks

Choose clams that are alive; otherwise, they already began to spoil. A healthy clam is one with a shell that is closed, indicating the muscle is active and holds the shell tightly together. They should not be opened or chipped.

tldr: Choose light coloured clams with whole and tightly closed shell.

MATERIALS

• 500 g clams
• 1 litre of water
• 28 g (about 2 tbsp) sea salt
• Tablespoon/ electronic weighing scale
• Large mixing bowl

HOW TO REMOVE SAND FROM CLAMS

1. Pour 1 litre of water into a basin.
2. Add 28 g of salt and mix well. If you don’t have an electronic weighing scale, simply add 2 tablespoon of salt (1 tbsp = 15 ml).
3. Pour in clams.
4. Leave the soaked clams in the fridge for up to two days. During this time, the clams will choke out the sand. The longer you can keep it, the cleaner it is.
5. Pour away dark, sandy water. With your hands, move clams into another basin. Do not pour into another basin, otherwise you are pouring the sand back into the clams. You’ll see more sandy residue in the main basin. Repeat until water is clear.

OTHER NOTES

• Soaking the clams for two days, to me, is too long. However, it is said that the longer you soak, the cleaner it’ll be. I merely tried 24 hours
• Check out this recipe Easy Clam Soup

The post How to choose & clean clams the right way appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Answer:

Soaking grains making the grains more mineral-available and improve digestibility.

I love eating healthy, carbs and all. As I believe in eating a balance meal, I watches the ‘gluten-free’ and ‘no carbs’ trend with immense incredulity. Is grains really that bad? After some research, I found that If you’re allergic to grains, perhaps all you need to do is to soak them before cooking them. Even if you have no allergies, soaking grains has immense health benefits.

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SOAKING GRAINS

1. All grains and legumes have a protective layer called phytic acid, which is an anti-nutrient.

2. Phytic acid prevents the absorption of minerals such as zinc, calcium magnesium and other minerals. This acid can be removed by soaking

3. The prevention of these mineral absorption into can contribute to anemia, nervous disorder and rickets.

4. Soaking softens skins and begin the sprouting process, which eliminates phytic acid, making more mineral available.

5. Soaking also improved digestibility as the gas-causing enzymes released in soaked water.

HOW TO SOAK GRAINS & LEGUMES?

1. Soak in four parts of water to 1 part grains or legumes.

2. Soak for 12 hours or overnight.

3. For best results, change the water once or twice.

Notes: Lentils requires shorter soaking while soybeans and garbanzo beans take a longer time.

HOW TO MAKE SOAKING GRAINS PART OF YOUR LIFESTYLE?

I often cook brown rice and other grains and legumes like quinoa, lentils and beans. My before-bedtime task includes soaking rice grains in water. In the morning, if I don’t cook it immediately, I’ll remove the water and replace with a new batch to soak until I’m ready to use it.

If you are unable to use the activated grains, you can cover it and store in the fridge for a few days. Rinse before cooking.

The post Why you should soak grains (like rice) before cooking? appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.