I knew very little about Khmer food prior to Siem Reap, but I had heard of Amok, a strong contender for the title of Cambodia’s national dish. I was also vaguely aware of some lively online debates as to what constitutes an authentic amok.

Chef Chanrith Van of Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort would later explain that there are in fact two broad versions of amok; one that’s steamed à la Thai Hor Mok or Penang Otak-Otak, and this one here which is like a mild curry.

Not knowing this at the time, I went into this shoot fully expecting to see steamed fishcake wrapped in banana leaf, so I think I deserve some credit in the video for hiding my surprise at the end.

Click to watch >>

Should you insist on the set custard version, just crack an egg into the sauce, mix well, transfer the ingredients onto a banana leaf and steam it for 8-10 minutes.

As with all recipes supplied by the chefs I work with, I try to keep any tweaking to an absolute minimum, hence why you might find some ingredient measurements different to what you might otherwise be accustomed to seeing.

PART 1

Amok Paste

INGREDIENTS:

25g lemongrass
¼ brown onion
1 garlic clove
1 kaffir lime leaf
10g turmeric
10g fresh krachai (Chinese ginger)
5g dried big chillies (soaked in hot water until soft)
50ml ice water

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients and blend to a smooth paste.

PART 2

Amok Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

30g olive oil
5cm young ginger
85g Amok paste
15g dried chilli paste
1.6g Prahook (fermented fish); (substitute with fish sauce)
25g Palm sugar
20ml fish sauce
25ml chicken stock
125ml water
½ tsp chicken powder
¼ tsp salt
400ml coconut cream

METHOD:

Combine chicken stock, water, chicken seasoning and salt; set aside.
Heat oil in wok, add ginger and saute until fragrant.
Add amok paste followed by dried chilli paste; fry for 30 seconds.
Add fermented fish sauce and palm sugar; cook until sugar is caramelised.
Add fish sauce, stock mixture and coconut cream. Simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat.

PART 3

Seafood Amok

INGREDIENTS:

50g butter catfish, sliced 1.5cm thick (substitute with any white fish fillets)
30g cuttlefish, cut 4cmx6cm
3 prawns, peeled; tail-on
50g oyster mushrooms, diced
180g Amok sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil or corn oil
2 tsps roasted peanuts, crushed
1 Amok (aka Noni) leaf, cut into 2mm strips (substitute with kai lan or spinach)
2 tsps coconut cream
3 pcs red needle flower (optional)
1 Tbsp deep-fried amok leaf

METHOD:

Season seafood with salt.
Heat oil until smoking hot; sear seafood. Remove and set aside
Wash wok, heat oil and saute mushrooms. Add 50g amok sauce and toss. Set aside.
Wash wok again, add seafood, amok sauce, crushed peanuts and amok leaves. Cook to 75C; remove from heat.
Place sauteed mushrooms on middle of plate, arrange seafood, flowers and deep-fried amok leaf and top with amok sauce.

My Wok Around Asia Siem Reap trip was made possible through the support of the following –

The post How to Cook Khmer Seafood Amok first appeared on Jackie M..

However, this particular batch turned out different enough (in a good way) that I thought it worth sharing. Plus there’s the added element of serving it with egg noodles as an alternative to boiled rice.

There were several points of difference in this chicken curry recipe; I can’t nail down which of these elements helped lift it a notch above my usual effort but it’s worth considering next time you’re in an experimental mood –

• the use of turmeric leaf which was generously given to me by a fellow former Malaysian, Haryati
• a different brand of curry powder
• fresh chillies (I usually omit adding chillies)
• a different brand of coconut cream

Watch the Replay to get the most out of this recipe –

Malaysian Chicken Curry with Turmeric Leaf

INGREDIENTS:

2kg chicken drumsticks
8 cloves garlic
1 ½ onions, peeled & quartered
4 Tbsps (Malaysian) Parrot Brand meat curry powder
2 large chillies
3 Tbsps minced lemongrass
1 turmeric leaf, tied in a knot
2 cups Rasaku coconut cream
2 cups water
2 Tbsps chicken powder
1 tsp salt
⅔ Tbsps sugar
4 Tbsps oil

To serve:

Rice, or –

Fresh egg noodles, cooked in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then drained. Different types of egg noodles will produce different textures; in these photos, I used “wonton noodles” ie. thin egg noodles that look like they’re lightly coated with flour, available in the refrigerated section of Asian grocery stores.

METHOD:

1. Combine garlic, onion and chillies in a food processor and blend.
2. Mix to a paste with minced lemongrass and curry powder.
3. Heat a heavy-based pan and saute the curry paste with oil until the onion is browned.
4. Add chicken drumsticks and saute a further 3 minutes.
5. Add all other ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked. Adjust seasonings as needed before removing from heat.
6. Alternatively, after step 3, transfer all ingredients into a pressure cooker and pressure-cook for 15 minutes. This will produce a more saucy (ergo: watered-down, therefore add more seasoning as needed) chicken curry, which you can use as a curry base for egg noodles.

The post How to Cook Malaysian Chicken Curry Noodles first appeared on Jackie M..

I’ve had an aversion to pork since I was a kid, so I have no recollection of ever having eaten Bak Kut Teh (BKT), which is traditionally made using pork spare ribs. The smell of BKT is quite unmistakable however, and hard to avoid if you grew up in Malaysia or Singapore. Since I knew how it’s meant to smell, I felt vaguely confident going into this Live Asian Kitchen session despite it being my first attempt at the dish, and despite using chicken as a substitute.

I know this sounds like a cop-out, but nobody I know actually makes Bak Kut Teh using their own mix of spices; they buy pre-made BKT packs, either from their local Asian grocery store, or from their Chinese herb shop. You will see why when you read the ingredients listed on the packs, further down in this post.

I managed to pick up two different brands of BKT spice mixes during my recent Wok Around Asia trip; one was made in Johor (A1 Brand) which is the southernmost state in the Malaysian Peninsula, and the other was made in Penang (CKC Brand), up north.

This gave me the perfect opportunity to test both out in front of my Live online audience, and along the way, I found out there are different versions of BKT floating around; for instance, the Singaporean version is meant to be lighter and more peppery, whereas in Malaysia it’s darker and richer.

I had been told prior to the broadcast by KL native Alexx Lee of MyBlueTea.com.au that eating BKT with fried crullers (yow char kway) is a uniquely Kuala Lumpur-thing. During the live video, however, Lisa Lee Allerton of AussieTrendHandicrafts.com, who’s from Penang herself, insisted she did in fact enjoy hers with crullers, so there you have it. A mass of culinary confusion all round, the lesson here being that even we Malaysians don’t see eye-to-eye regarding our own food.

Further research tells me that some typical sides that work well with BKT are –

• Crullers (as mentioned previously)
• Lettuce
• Yam rice
• Meat floss (this sounds odd even to me, but apparently it’s the done thing at some stalls in Penang)
• Steamed rice

I found from testing both brands of spices, that they are worlds apart in flavour, cooking instructions and even in what’s in them; the A1 brand BKT pack contained what looked like a couple of mega-sized teabags, while the CKC brand had a combination of whole herbs and a smaller teabag of powdered spices.

I’m reposting the cooking instructions for both brands, and I’ve also added below, what I used in mine (along with splitting the difference between the two sets of instructions).

Watch the full replay to see how I tackled these recipes, along with their outcomes >>

A1 Bak Kut Teh Spice Pack (made in Johor, Malaysia)

Contents –

Cinnamon, angelica pepper, aralia cordata, sinensis, star anise, paurantii, cigusticum, radix rehmanniae, rhisoma atraclylodis, radix glycyrrhizae, rhizoma lingustic

Cooking instructions –

Combine meat, 1 garlic bulb, thick soya sauce, light soya sauce, oyster sauce, salt, msg, water and spices; simmer for 30 minutes, add pepper before serving.

CKC Bak Kut Teh Spice Pack (made in Penang, Malaysia)

Contents –

Fructus jujubae, polygonatum odoratum, codonopsis pilosula, rehmania glutinosa, fructus lycii, rhizoma linguistici, angelica sinensis and spices

Cooking instructions –

Combine water, bak kut teh spices, meat, 3 garlic bulbs, salt & soya sauce; simmer for an hour.

Tldr; the A1 version produced a very dark BKT, and the CKC version produced a light, very aromatic soup.

Ingredients I used, along with what was specified on the packs –

1 whole chicken, about 1.6kg
8 dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water, drained
8 tofu puffs, halved
1 Tbsp chicken powder for every 1 cup of water

Let me know if you have a favourite brand of BKT spices, and also what your favourite side dishes are; as mentioned at the start, this is all very new to me, and I’ll admit I’m still trying to wrap my head around its popularity

Finally, a shoutout to AussieTrendHandicrafts.com, the Australian distributor of Diamond Dotz facet art, for sponsoring the Giveaway for this broadcast; Karen Khoo of Melbourne won this Flower Mandala Diamond Dotz kit just by tuning in to my Live Asian Kitchen >>

If you know anyone who’s interested in sponsoring Giveaways for my Live Asian Kitchen shows, just get them to drop me a line

The post How to Cook Chicken Bak Kut Teh (Chik Kut Teh) first appeared on Jackie M..

Sup Soto

INGREDIENTS:

1 piece chicken breast, poached, cooled and shredded

2 cups beansprouts, blanched

½ lemon (optional)

2 eggs, boiled and halved

6 pieces white medium firm tofu, fried until browned, then quartered

2 ketupat (compressed rice squares), cooked and cut into squares – (omit if opting for low-carb)

————————————-

1 onion, quartered

5 cloves garlic

1-inch piece of ginger

30g Sup Soto spice mix or mild curry powder mix

1-inch stick of cinnamon (optional)

2 star anises (optional)

1 ½ L water or chicken stock

250ml coconut milk (optional)

3 Tbsps chicken powder

2 Tbsps oil

Fresh coriander and sliced spring onion for garnishing

METHOD:

1. Combine onion, garlic and ginger and blend in food processor.
2. Transfer into a deep saucepan and fry until most of the moisture has evaporated.
3. Add oil and saute until browned.
4. Add spice mix and fry until aromatic.
5. Add water, coconut milk, chicken powder and cinnamon and star anises.
6. Simmer for 10 minutes; adjust seasoning, then remove from heat.
7. Arrange chicken tofu, egg, ketupat and beansprouts in a bowl; top with soup and serve optionally with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice and sambal.

The post How to Make Indonesian Sup Soto (Low Carb) first appeared on Jackie M..

As with my pineapple fried rice recipe, you’re best served watching the broadcast rather than merely reading the recipe, unless you’re already quite a whiz with stir-fries.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

INGREDIENTS:

½ head of cauliflower, cut into florets, then shredded in a food processor

2 tsps minced garlic

¼ cup diced meat (in one version I used some leftover salmon)

2 eggs

1 tsp chicken powder

1 tsp fish sauce

½ tsp pepper

½ cup Asian greens (optional)

2 Tbsps oil

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in thin wok until smoking hot. Break 2 eggs into it, cook until still slightly runny, remove and set aside.
2. Add more oil, bring to smoking point, then add cauliflower and garlic.
3. Fry until garlic is aromatic and cauliflower is slightly scorched.
4. Add diced meat, mix and saute.
5. Add seasoning and vegetables and continue cooking, adjusting heat and drizzling more oil as needed.
6. Fry until cauliflower is cooked through, toss in eggs, fold and cook until eggs are done.
7. Remove from heat and serve.

The post How to Make Cauliflower Fried Rice (Low-Carb) first appeared on Jackie M..

This dish is known by different names depending on which part of Malaysia you grew up in; I know it as har meen (literally prawn noodles), and being pork-averse, I make mine with a combination of prawn and chicken stock, and top it with chicken in lieu of pork. The low-carb version covered in this recipe involves the use of konnyaku noodles (available here in Australia in Japanese or Korean grocery stores, and possibly the health food section of some supermarkets) or, alternatively, zoodles (zucchini strips)

Frankly, since this broadcast, I’ve been more inclined to just bulk up the dish with extra beansprouts, greens and protein, and just skip the noodles altogether. But that’s just me.

Low-Carb Har Meen

INGREDIENTS:

Prawn heads and shells from 1kg of prawns

2L chicken stock or water

5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

⅓ cup oil

4 Tbsps chicken powder

½ tsp white pepper

2 Tbsp (equivalent) rock sugar or white sugar

Separately poached or boiled –

3 zucchinis, shredded, drenched with salt for 20 minutes & drained OR konnyaku noodles

1 Chicken breast, shredded and tossed with sesame oil, white pepper and salt

Prawns, peeled and sliced in half

3 eggs

2 cups beansprouts

2 bunches kangkung, cut into 3-inch lengths

To assemble –

Fried crispy shallots

Fried sambal belacan (shrimp paste sambal)

Garlic chives, cut into 2-inch lengths

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in a stock pot, add garlic and brown.
2. Add prawns and saute until aromatic.
3. Add chicken stock or water, bring to a simmer
4. Add chicken powder, pepper and sugar.
5. Simmer for 30-60 minutes, adjust seasoning, then strain out prawn shells.
6. Assemble noodles (if using) and vegetables; top with soup followed by chicken, prawns, half a boiled egg, crispy shallots, garlic chives and a spoonful of sambal. Serve with a separate side of sambal.

The post How to Make Low-Carb Malaysian Prawn Noodle Soup (Har Meen) first appeared on Jackie M..

The ingredients listed in this recipe reflect my go-to options, since they’re readily available in my pantry; feel free to adapt to your own situation, and definitely treat this as one of those “fridge clear-out” type dishes where you can throw in any variety of leftover spam, chicken, ham and vegetables etc. depending on whether you want to build it into a substantial meal in itself, or serve it as a side dish. Fun fact – the Thai version, from what I’ve seem, adds some curry spices to the dish – this is something you might want to try as well.

Pineapple Fried Rice

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup pineapple, cut into chunks
2 cups cooked white rice
2 Tbsps dried shrimp (soaked and minced) – optional
2 tsps minced garlic
1 tsp chicken powder
½ tsp white pepper
½ tsp fish sauce (alternatives – soya sauce, Ayam seasoning sauce)
½ tsp sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsps oil

Garnishings – cucumber slices, chillies, spring onion.

METHOD:

1. Heat wok until it starts to smoke, then drizzle oil in it.
2. Break eggs into wok, spread it out and remove when it’s still runny. Set aside.
3. Add more oil, heat until smoking hot.
4. Add rice and spread it out to make sure it heats evenly.
5. Add garlic and fry until aromatic/lightly browned. Add more oil as needed, but in small amounts, drizzling around the perimeter of the food.
6. Add dried shrimp and toss well. Add pineapple and cook a further minute or so.
7. Add all other seasoning ingredients, stir and cook until rice is light and dry, drizzling oil as needed.
8. Add eggs and fold into mixture. Remove from heat once egg mixture is cooked through, garnish with cucumber, sliced chillies and spring onion, and serve.

NB. When cooking fried rice, remember to adjust the heat as you go along, so you don’t end up with a risotto on one end of the spectrum, and burnt rice on the other.

The post How to Cook Pineapple Fried Rice first appeared on Jackie M..

This recipe (as well as the next couple of duck ones) is from this Live Asian Kitchen broadcast >>

Ps. I know I’m not the most specific when it comes to recipe instructions, but my style of cooking doesn’t lend itself to exact measurements and steps, hence the videos

Chinese-Style Braised Duck with Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS:

Meat from ½ a duck (approximate size 2.5kg), cut into pieces

10 dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water and drained

5 cloves garlic, crushed

2” piece of ginger, crushed

1” piece cinnamon (optional)

2 star anises (optional)

2 dried chillies (optional)

2 Tbsps thick soya sauce (aka cooking caramel)

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1 Tbsp soya sauce

1 Tbsp chicken powder

1 Tbsp sugar

1 L water or chicken stock

2 tsps tapioca starch + 1 Tbsp water

2 Tbsps oil

METHOD:

1. Heat oil, then add add garlic and ginger. Saute until lightly browned and aromatic.
2. Add duck pieces, sauces and seasoning ingredients. Saute another minute, then add water, star anises, cinnamon stick and dried chillies.
3. Simmer, covered until meat is tender and sauce is reduced. I did this step in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes.
4. Adjust seasoning to suit, then thicken sauce with tapioca starch mixed with a little water.
5. Serve with steamed rice.

If you want to find out about the Optimum PressureCook pressure cooker that you see in my live videos, visit www.prestigehomeappliances.com.au .

The post How to Cook Chinese-Style Braised Duck with Mushrooms first appeared on Jackie M..

I went through a spell when I would bake this bread 2-3 times a week; however, it’d been months since I stopped doing so at the time of this Live Asian Kitchen broadcast, so I kind of messed up one of the steps. Just a heads-up. Another heads-up – the pics of the bread in this post were from early efforts at the recipe; they should really look a lot fluffier and lighter.

Hainanese Bread

INGREDIENTS:

110g bread flour

125ml water

———————-

270g bread flour

20g bread improver

8g yeast

2 Tbsps sugar

1 tsp salt

100ml water

50g butter

METHOD:

1. 1. Combine 110g bread flour and 125ml water; mix well and cook, stirring, until it reaches 65’C. Much easier if you own a Thermocook or a Thermomix, which is how I do this step. This is called tang zhong and it should look like a paste. Allow to cool.

1. 1. Combine all other ingredients in a dough mixer, add the tang zhong, and knead for 20 minutes. Dough should be elastic.

1. 1. Remove dough hook, cover and rest the dough until doubled in size.

1. 1. Transfer dough onto work surface and flatten into a rectangular shape about 7×4 inches.

1. 1. Roll up the long end of the dough, then transfer into a deep and tall bread tin with straight sides. I don’t actually own a tin like that so I used to rig my regular bread tin with 6 chopsticks held together with kitchen string to create height. It didn’t always work so in this video I used cardboard wrapped in foil. If you can’t be bothered you could split the dough into 2 bread pans (I often did that too).

1. 1. Allow dough to proof until it’s risen 3x in height.

1. Bake for 40 minutes at 190’C.

Visit www.prestigehomeappliances.com.au for more information about the Optimum Thermocook

The post How to Make Hainanese Bread first appeared on Jackie M..

Vegan Pulut Panggang

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbsps  minced preserved radish (usually used in Pad Thai)

1 onion, quartered

5 cloves garlic, peeled

3 Tbsps sugar

1 Tbsp mushroom (or any vegetarian) seasoning granules

⅔ cup desiccated coconut

1 Tbsp chilli crush

4 Tbsps oil

2 cups glutinous rice

1 cup coconut milk

1 ½ cups water

½ tsp salt

Banana leaves cut into 4 x 6-inch pieces, for wrapping; alternatively you can wrap them with cling wrap

METHOD:

1. Combine glutinous rice, coconut milk, water and salt and cook, covered, until done. If using an automatic rice cooker, you will likely need to cook it for 2 cycles.
2. Blend onion and garlic in food processor.
3. Transfer into a frying pan and saute until some of the moisture is eliminated. Add oil and brown the onion mixture.
4. Add all the other filling ingredients and cook until everything is combined and heated through. Adjust seasoning to taste.
5. Place 2 Tbsps of the sticky rice on a banana leaf. Form into a flat, rectangular shape.
6. Place 1 Tbsp filling in the middle, then  roll up like a sushi roll.
7. Secure the ends with bamboo toothpicks or staples.
8. Lightly grill to release the fragrance of the banana leaf before serving. (Skip this step if using cling wrap.)

The post How to Make Vegan Pulut Panggang first appeared on Jackie M..