Singapore Food Recipes Options Rating

[londonchinese]

Note: Gingelly oil is light oil made from unroasted sesame seeds, this is quite different in flavour from the Chinese sesame oil. It adds a distinctive touch to Indian pickles. One should be able to get it in any Asian shops.

Just to reinforce what Amy has said - DON'T buy the Oriental sesame oil which is brown in colour and smells strongly of sesame. If you use this you'll ruin any dish that calls for gingelly oil, which is transparent white (like distilled vinegar) and almost odourless (but has a subtle flavour).

San

[Amy Kiesgen]

Amy, any recipe for 'Acar limau' like the one served in the wedding in SG? When I googled, I got the Malaysia's or India's versions. I like to use the Key Limes (big green limes).

Shilah, sorry for the delay. I have tried this recipe last year and the taste is quite similar to the ones served at Malay weddings. Do try it out!

Acar Limau (Lime Pickles)

Ingredients:

10 large green limes
3 tbsp salt
½ cup gingelly oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 cm ginger, sliced
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp fennel (jintan manis)
1 tsp cumin (jintan putih)
1 tsp turmeric powder
10 curry leaves

Method:

Put the whole limes into a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to stand for 20 minutes. Drain, cut each lime into 8 pieces and rub with salt. Put in a glass jar with a lid and leave in the sun for at least two hours a day for a minimum of 6 days to “cure” the limes.

Heat the oil and fry the mustard seeds until they begin to pop. Add garlic, ginger and all other ingredients and cook gently for two minutes. Add the limes and any liquid that may have accumulated and cook over very low heat, stirring from time to time, for 45 – 60 minutes. Can be kept in a covered jar for several months.

Note: Gingelly oil is light oil made from unroasted sesame seeds, this is quite different in flavour from the Chinese sesame oil. It adds a distinctive touch to Indian pickles. One should be able to get it in any Asian shops.

[Mrs. C]

This message is not about Singapore recipes. Last night (Wednesday) at a social event in town, I met a Malaysian guy - well actually he has a Malaysian Chinese father and a Thai mother, and he was brought up in Kota Bahru in Kelantan, which as you all know, is very near the Thai border. Of course we ended up talking about food for well over an hour, and it turned out that he is a very keen amateur cook. He mentioned some dishes that I have never heard of - I have tried to translate the Malay names to the best of my ability into English, but Malay speakers must excuse any errors

Nasi Pulut Biji Teratai (Lotus seed with Glutinous rice)

Ubi Kentang Panggang Berinti Ayam (Roast Potatoes stuffed with minced chicken)

Ayam Bumbu Siam (I presume this is a hybrid Malay-Thai chicken curry)

Kuzi Itik Serati (I think Itik Serati is the wild duck)

and a few other dishes, some of which I have eaten before, like Northern Dagang rice.

He has promised to send me recipes so when I get them, and if they taste good, I shall post them up here. I was just wondering if some of you have heard of these dishes before?

San

San,

I have not. Kelantan dishes, the northern Malays cuisine, are very different from the Malays from the south like Spore, Johore and even Melaka. My good friend here is a Kelantanese and she would serve nasi dagang on Hari Raya day and I would eat just a little. My mother however, once said that while traveling there yrs ago simply couldnt get enough of Kelantan food. So it is a matter of one mans meat is anothers poison?

But for discussion sake, pls share the recipes here whenever you are ready. Once in awhile I would like to surprise my friend.

[londonchinese]

This message is not about Singapore recipes. Last night (Wednesday) at a social event in town, I met a Malaysian guy - well actually he has a Malaysian Chinese father and a Thai mother, and he was brought up in Kota Bahru in Kelantan, which as you all know, is very near the Thai border. Of course we ended up talking about food for well over an hour, and it turned out that he is a very keen amateur cook. He mentioned some dishes that I have never heard of - I have tried to translate the Malay names to the best of my ability into English, but Malay speakers must excuse any errors

Nasi Pulut Biji Teratai (Lotus seed with Glutinous rice)

Ubi Kentang Panggang Berinti Ayam (Roast Potatoes stuffed with minced chicken)

Ayam Bumbu Siam (I presume this is a hybrid Malay-Thai chicken curry)

Kuzi Itik Serati (I think Itik Serati is the wild duck)

and a few other dishes, some of which I have eaten before, like Northern Dagang rice.

He has promised to send me recipes so when I get them, and if they taste good, I shall post them up here. I was just wondering if some of you have heard of these dishes before?

San

[I.M. Shilah]

Hi Shilah,

I found another recipe which I have tried. The taste is very good.

Mutton Dalcha (Indian Style)

Oh... Amy, you remind me of my Mom's Dalcha. This dalcha is too much for me. I regreted I did not learn from my mom, I am only the helper but not the student. After I perfect my 'dal lemak', then I will cook this 'dalca'.

Amy, any recipe for 'Acar limau' like the one served in the wedding in SG? When I googled, I got the Malaysia's or India's versions. I like to use the Key Limes (big green limes).

[Amy Kiesgen]

Hi Shilah,

I found another recipe which I have tried. The taste is very good.

Mutton Dalcha (Indian Style)

To serve 4 – 6 persons

Ingredients:

1 kg mutton ribs, washed and drained
6 cups water
1½ cups tur dhall, washed and drained
2 potatoes, quartered
2 carrots, halved and slantly sliced
100 g white cabbage leaves, shredded
2 brinjals, cut lengthwise and then cut into 2 cm pieces
¾ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1½ tsps chilli powder
2 tsps coriander powder
salt to taste
2 cups water
fresh tamarind (the size of a lemon) to be mixed with 1 cup of water and strained

Ingredients to be blended with 1 cup of water until smooth:

4 cm fresh ginger
20 cloves garlic
1 big onion
3 green chillies

Ingredients for frying:

8 tbsps oil
a sprig of curry leaves
1 big onion, sliced
3 cinnamon sticks
3 cardamons
3 cloves
1 tsp aniseed, slightly crushed

a sprig of coriander leaves

Method:

1. Put mutton ribs, blended ingredients, salt and 6 cups of water in a big pot and bring to boil.

2. Cook over gentle heat until meat is tender. Then, add dhall and cook until dhall is soft.

3. Add the vegetables, the spices and water. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Once tender, add in the tamarind juice and season with salt to taste. Let it boil for about 5 minutes.

4. Heat oil in a pan and fry all the frying ingredients until fragrant. Add mixture to the dalcha along with the coriander leaves. Boil for another 5 minutes and serve.

[I.M. Shilah]

Amy,
My Dhal curry recepi, the Indian style, exactly like the first recepi. My mom is Indian-Muslim. I have everything in but somehow the taste is not quite right. I guess I just need more and more practices ........ that all.

San,
I missed my mom's Indian dhalca.

[londonchinese]

San, I would recommend you to use channa dal. It is true that most recipes in the Malay cuisine cookbook do not specify which dal to use but my mother always use channa dal which is yellow in colour. And I just carry on the "tradition".

That's good, I like channa dal anyway, it's nice and crunchy. Have you ever tried mixing dals? I sometimes mix mung dal and channa dal, as mung disintegrates but channa retains its texture, and makes a nice contrast. Tip: soak channa dal for at least 6 hours, or overnight if possible, before cooking it - I find it cuts down cooking time considerably!

San

[Amy Kiesgen]

San, I would recommend you to use channa dal. It is true that most recipes in the Malay cuisine cookbook do not specify which dal to use but my mother always use channa dal which is yellow in colour. And I just carry on the "tradition".

[londonchinese]

Dhal Masak Lemak (Dhal in coconut gravy) - Malay-style

Ingredients:

1 cup dhal, to be boiled in water until tender

Hi Amy, I often see recipes for dal in Malay cuisine cookbooks (like for dalca) but the kind of dal used is not specified. What kind of dal would you recommend? There's channa dal and mung dal of course, but in Indian cuisine they also use toovar or tur dal (which look like European yellow split peas), urid dal (the white coloured lentils with a black skin) and masoor dal (the little salmon-pink ones that disintegrate and turn orange when cooked). I have used all of these in preparing Indian dishes and mung dal is my favourite. Which would you use for your dal dishes?

San

[Amy Kiesgen]

Hi Shilah,

Following is a very simple recipe from my mum for you to try. It is one of my favourites.

Dhal Masak Lemak (Dhal in coconut gravy) - Malay-style

Ingredients:

1 cup dhal, to be boiled in water until tender
1 can coconut milk
3 fresh eggs
ghee (minyak sapi)

1 big onion, to be finely sliced
1 stalk red chilli, to be finely sliced
1 stalk green chili, to be finely sliced
1 clove garlic, to be finely sliced
a bit of ginger (about 5 thin slices of ginger)

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a medium-sized pot and stir-fry the sliced ingredients until fragrant.
2. Add in cooked dhal and enough coconut milk (whether you want the gravy to be thick or thin). Cook until the gravy is simmering. If the gravy is too thick, add a little water.
3. Add in the eggs one at a time (the eggs should be "poached") and season with salt. Serve with rice.

[Amy Kiesgen]

A very simple to cook recipe ("campak" style - throw everything into the pot):

Beef Rendang

Ingredients:

1 kg beef (top side or bug), cut into big cubes
1 tsp salt
1 stalk serai (lemongrass), crushed
2 daun limau purut (lime leaves)
1 daun kunyit (turmeric leaf)
2 pieces asam keeping (dried assam)
1 tbsp sugar

1½ grated coconut) can be substituted with a can of coconut milk
1 cup water)


Pounded ingredients:

20 dried chillies, cut into small pieces and soaked in water
2 cm lengkuas (galangal)
1 cm halia (ginger)
½ cm kunyit (fresh turmeric)
3 cloves bawang putih (garlic)

Method:

Throw all ingredients in pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and put on lid and cook over low heat for about 3 hours. The gravy should be thick or cook according to one's preference.

Note: If cooked one day before, it will taste better. Can be served with rice or roti prata.

[Amy Kiesgen]

Another easy recipe which I have tried out. This recipe is taken from "Delicious Asian Food", ISBN: 962-593-851-6. I would recommend that one gets this book on their next home trip!

Sweet and Sour Fish

Ingredients:

1 kg grouper, cleaned and scaled
1/2 teaspoon salt
40 g rice flour
500 ml oil

Sauce:

125 ml tomato ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon garlic chilli sauce (one can purchase it in any asian shop)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
125 ml water
2 tablespoons oil
60 g onion, cut into small wedges
1/2 green bell pepper (capsicum), cut into rings or wedges
1 medium fresh red chilli, deseeded and sliced
4 slices canned pineapple, cut into wedges
1 sprig corriander leaves
5 spring onions, cut into finger lengths

Method:

Rub salt into fish, the coat it with rice flour. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the fish until crispy. Place the fish on a serving dish.

To prepare the sauce, first combine the tomato sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic chillie sauce, salt, cornstarch and water in a bowl, then mix well and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion and capsicum for 2 minutes. Add the chilli and pineapple and cook for a further 1 minute.

Add the reserved liquid mixture to the saucepan. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the sauce thickens. Pour the hot sauce over the fish, garnish with spring onions and corriander leaves and serve at once with rice.

[Amy Kiesgen]

Another easy recipe to try out and the end product is delicious. Please note that the recipe is taken from "Malaysian Hawker Favourites" ISBN 0-7946-0425-0. I would recommend that one gets this book on their next home trip!

Fishball Noodle Soup (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised
2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
150 g ikan bilis, briefly rinsed in a sieve
1 1/2 litres water
250 g tanghoon (dried glass noodles) or 500 g kway teow (fresh flat rice noodles)
50 g bean sprouts
salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons crispy fried shallots, to garnish
1 cup finely shredded lettuce, to garnish

Fishball ingredients if you want to make your own:

4 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
300 g mackerel, skinned and deboned to yield about 150 g flesh
4 teaspoons cornflour

Method:

If making homemade fishballs, combine the water, salt, pepper and cornflour in a small bowl, stirring until the salt dissolves and there are no lumps in the mixture. Pulse the fish and the cornflour mixture in a blender until it is a smooth, tacky paste.

Bring a small pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Scoop a heaped portion of the fish paste onto a teaspoon. Use another teaspoon to form the paste into a small ball roughly 2 cm across and drop it into the boiling water. Repeat with the rest of the fish paste to yield 25 to 30 fishballs. When the fishballs float to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. Alternatively, purchase fishballs from the maket or supermarket.

To make the soup, heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and stir-fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ikan bilis and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture starts to brown. Add the water and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes. Strain the soup into another pot and discard the solids.

Prepare the tanghoon by blanching in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes, then drain in a colander. If using fresh kway teow, blanch for 2 minutes, then drain. Blanch the bean sprouts for 30 seconds, drain and refresh under running water. Drain well.

To serve, reheat the soup, add the fishballs and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the noodles, fishballs and beansprouts into 4 serving bowls. Ladle the soup over and garnish with the crispy fried shallots and shredded lettuce. Serve immediately with a small bowl of sliced fresh chillies in soya sauce on the side.

[Amy Kiesgen]

Since we can get frozen roti prata almost anywhere in the world, below is the Lentil Curry (Dhal) recipe which is taken from Malaysian Hawker Favourites (ISBN 0-7946-0425-0) which I have modified a bit. The recipe may look difficult to cook but I think it is worthwhile if you are craving for the mama's dhal curry. Another way of cooking this curry will be posted soon.

Lentil Curry (Dhal)

Ingredients:

100 g split chickpeas (channa dhal, see note below), washed
1000 ml water
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 onion, diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and cubed
1 small round eggplant, cubed
1 ripe tomato, cut into wedges
2 green finger-length chillies, cut into short lengths
1 heaped teaspoon tamarind pulp
125 ml warm water
100 ml thin coconut milk or plain milk
salt to taste
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds (see note below)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
1 dried red chilli, cut into short lengths
3 shallots, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thin sliced

Method:

Rinse and discard any grit from the lentils. Place them in a pan with the water and turmeric, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the onion, carrot, eggplant and tomato, and cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables are almost tender. Add the green chillies and cook for 5 minutes.

Mash the tamarind pulp in the warm water, squeeze and strain to obtain the juice. Add the tamarind juice, coconut milk and salt, and cook for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and stir-fry the mustard and cumin seeds for 30 seconds until the mustard seeds pop. Add the curry leaves, dried chillies, shallots and garlic, and stir-fry until the shallots and garlic turn golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour this mixture into the pan with the chickpeas and stir to mix well. Cover, and remove from heat. Serve hot with roti prata (roti canai).

Note:
Split chickpeas (channa dhal), resembles yellow split peas, which can be used as a substitute, but are smaller.
Black mustard seeds are small, round seeds that impart an almost nutty flavour to dishes. Do not substitute yellow mustard seeds as the flavour is different.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes

[Amy Kiesgen]

This recipe is my son's favourite:

Meat, Shrimp and Noodle Platter

Ingredients (for 4 persons):

350 g dried ‘quick cooking’ noodles

300 g lean beef, to be sliced thinly
½ tbsp soy sauce ) to be added to meat
1 tsp cornstarch ) and marinate for
1 tsp wine or sherry ) 20 minutes

250 g frozen raw prawns without shells, to be thawed
4 – 5 dried black mushrooms, to be soaked in warm water and sliced thinly
4 – 5 leaves of nappa cabbage, to be cut into bite-size pieces
5 tbsp oil

Stir-fry ingredients:
4 spring onions, to be sliced into 2 cm lengths diagonally
6 – 8 slices of fresh ginger

Ingredients for gravy (to be mixed together):
1½ cup beef or vegetable stock
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
dash of pepper

To thicken gravy (to be mixed together):
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

Method:

1. Cook noodles as directed on package or boil a pot of water. Once water comes to boil, add in dried noodles and soak for about 2 minutes. Drain well and put noddles on a serving platter.
2. Heat wok and then add 3 tbsp oil. Stir-fry the meat until the color changes, remove.
3. Stir-fry the shrimps for one minute and remove.
4. Add 2 tbsp oil to wok. Add in the stir-fry ingredients and fry until fragrant. Add in the sliced dried mushrooms and cabbage and stir-fry lightly.
5. Add in the gravy ingredients and bring to boil.
6. Thicken gray and stir well. Then add the meat and shrimps. Bring to boil, season to taste and pour over the noodles. Serve hot with sliced green or red chillies in light soya sauce.

Happy cooking!

[Heather :)]

wow, i didn't know kaya is so easy to make thanks for sharing the recipe. I'll try it out!

Here is another recipe which I have tried before and it is easier to make. It is taken from "Hawker Food" by Jimmy Chua (ISBN: 988-202-270-7):

Kaya Coconut Spread

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks
200 g sugar
250 ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon Pandan juice
a drop of Pandan essence

Method:

Whisk egg yolks and sugar together till well mixed. Add coconut milk and mix well. Add Pandan juice and Pandan essence. Stir well and then, sieve it. Pour mixture into a pot. Heat the mixture over low heat with constant stirring. Cook for 20 - 25 minutes till smooth and thick.

[Yeo Chris]

Hi Richard,
I have played with the idea in my head long time ago but unfortunately, it is not possible at present cos I have a six year old son who will start school soon. Do you know that we have a singaporean restaurant, Tengs in Munich (see Restaurant Review in Germany)? You might at least get your Hainanese Chicken Rice every Tuesday on your next trip to Europe.

LOL Amy, that idea has been running through my head as well.

[Amy Kiesgen]

KA, can consider opening a kopitiam in Munich!
Then I would make Munich my transit port for every trip to Europe.

Hi Richard,
I have played with the idea in my head long time ago but unfortunately, it is not possible at present cos I have a six year old son who will start school soon. Do you know that we have a singaporean restaurant, Tengs in Munich (see Restaurant Review in Germany)? You might at least get your Hainanese Chicken Rice every Tuesday on your next trip to Europe.

[Sim Richard]

KA, can consider opening a kopitiam in Munich!
Then I would make Munich my transit port for every trip to Europe.