Pecal - A Perak-syle

The Pecal recipe that I'm sharing with you tonight is a type of salad which is a cross between gado-gado & rojak petis. The assortment of vegetables added in this dish is almost similar to but not as wide as that of a typical gado-gado. The sauce is quite similar to that of the rojak petis except that here, the petis (black shrimp paste a.s.a. hae ko) is replaced with the dried shrimps. Also, unlike the rojak sauce, shallots are added into this sauce & most of the ingredients used are cooked first before they are blended & combined.

Pecal - A Perak-syle (Salad with Peanut Sauce)
Recipe by Datin Norsiah Bakhiri
fromA Taste of Batu Gajah, Traditional Malay Family Recipes by Datin Seri Raihan Abdul Rahman.

Ingredients:
200 g or 1 bundle kangkung, remove hard stems & cut into small pieces
200g taugeh (bean sprouts), cleaned
6 strands long beans, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 cucumber, cut into strips
1 medium-sized sengkuang (sweet turnip), cut into strips
4 pcs fresh soft tofu (bean curd), deep fried & sliced
3 eggs, hard boiled & cut into wedges

Sauce:
500g peanuts
10 pcs dried chillies, sliced
4 shallots, sliced
2 tbsp udang  kering (dried shrimp)
1-inch square belacan (shrimp paste), roasted
2 level tbsp seedless tamarind paste or 2 tbsp asam jawa (tamarind pulp) mixed with 1/4 cup water, seeds discarded
2 tbsp white sugar - I used dark brown sugar (gula timbang).
1 cup hot water
salt to taste

Method:

1. In a hot wok, fry the peanuts without any oil, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
2. Transfer the fried peanuts onto a tray & remove the skin. They will come off quite easily after being fried.
3. Pound the peanuts with a mortar & pestle until they are broken into thin pieces, but are not too fine. Alternatively, you can roughtly grind them in a food processor.
4. In a wok or pan, fry the dried chillies, shallots & dried shrimp - one ingredient at a time - & set aside. Some oil is required for frying the dried shrimp, so start with the other two.
5. Pound these fried ingredients together with the shrimp paste.
6. Mix the pounded ingredients with the pounded or ground peanuts & transfer to a large bowl ( for easy mixing).
7. Add in the tamarind paste, sugar & hot water. Make sure everything is thoroughly mixed, then season with salt accordingly.
8. Just before serving, toss the vegetables & tofu with the sauce, making sure the ingredients are coated with this delectable peanut sauce.

I'm submitting this post to the Malaysian Food Fest (Perak Month) hosted by Wendy of Table for 2 .. or more &  Cook Your Books No 3 organised by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

Mee Rebus - Perak-style

Today's lunch was Mee Rebus, Perak-syle.... I've been meaning to cook this dish since my husband bought me A Taste of Batu Gajah on our recent trip to KL. Just like the Penang-style Mee Rebus, the noodle is served with rich & spicy tomato-based broth. In Singapore, this noodle is referred to as Mee Bandung.  But this one is different as it uses dried cuttlefish, my favourite! The rich flavour of this noodle is derived from the combination of the ribs & 3 types of seafood. My siblings found the rich meat flavour a little overwhelming....  I agree with them... I would reduce or just do away with the ribs, in future.

Some notes & modifications:

1. I made only half the recipe & it made a big pot.
2. When serving, instead of pouring the gravy over the blanched noodle, I heated up some gravy & added the noodle, bean sprouts & chye sim. I cooked it for a few minutes. Then I lowered the fire & broke an egg & cooked the noodle until the egg is half-cooked.
3. The combination of tamarind & tomato juice produced quite sour gravy. So I added some sugar to balance the sour with a little sweet flavour. I also omitted the limes.

Mee Rebus - Perak-style
Recipe by Datin Norsiah Bakhiri 

from A Taste of Batu Gajah, Traditional Malay Family Recipes by Datin Seri Raihan Abdul Rahman.

( I made only 1/2 of the recipe below.)

Ingredients:
1 kg yellow noodles, scalded or 1 pkt spaghetti, cooked according to instructions.
300g bean sprouts, cleaned & trimmed
300g chye sim (sawi) - cleaned & trimmed - I added.
6 pieces soft bean curd, deep fried & sliced
8 hard-boiled eggs, halved - I didn't cook the eggs beforehand.
500g fresh cockles, blanched & shelled - I didn't add.

Gravy
2 kg beef ribs
2 tbsp seedless tamarind paste or 2 tbsp asam jawa (tamarind pulp) mixed with 1/2 cup water, seeds discarded
500g sotong kering (rehydrated cuttlefish), cleaned & cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 kg medium-sized fresh prawns, cleaned & shelled
8 tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 potatoes, boiled, drained & mashed
2 litres store-bought tomato juice
8 cups of water for stock
3 cups of water
8 shallots*
4 cloves garlic* (*pounded)
4 tbsp cili boh (ground chilli paste)
2-square inches belacan ( shrimp paste), roasted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cooking oil
4 tsp salt or to taste
2 tbsp sugar - I added.

Garnishing
1 cup crispy fried shallots
1 cup green chillies, sliced thinly - I added.
1 cup daun sup (Chinese celery), finely chopped
1 cup daun bawang (spring onions), finely chopped
1 cup kalamansi limes (halved) - I didn't use as the gravy is already quite sour.

Method:

1. In a pot, boil the beef ribs in 8 cups of water for at least 2-3 hours until the stock is reduced by half & the meat is soft. Remove the bones, trim off the fat from the meat & set aside the stock.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot & fry the pounded ingredients until golden.
3. Add in the ground chilli paste & tamarind paste, cover & cook over medium heat until the chilli paste is cooked.
4. Add in 2 teaspoons of salt then pour in the beef stock. Cover & allow to boil fro 5 - 10 minutes.
5. Add the tomato wedges & again, let the gravy boil while covered for another 10 minutes.
6. The cuttlefish pieces go in next. Cover the pot & let the cuttlefish release its juices.
7. Add the tomato juice & 2 tsp of salt, stir gently & let the gravy simmer for about 5 minute.
8. Add the prawns. Prawns take very little time to cook so be careful not to overcook them.
9. Finally, add in the mashed potatoes to thicken the gravy & give it that familiar mee rebus flavour. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes then check the taste before removing form heat.
10. Divide the noodles, bean sprout, bean curd, eggs & cockles into individual serving dishes, pour the gravy over & sprinkle with garnishing.

I'm submitting this post to the Malaysian Food Fest ( Perak Month ) hosted by Wendy of Table for 2 .. or more &  Cook Your Books No 3 organised by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

Lapis Strawberry Ice-Cream

I bake Lapis Strawberry Ice-cream every Hari Raya. It's hard not to, as I'd always be reminded by my youngest son not to forget to bake it. Although I've shared this recipe two years ago, I'm sharing this again.... with new pictures & rewritten recipe. Also, I added some tips... hope they'd be helpful to the novice lapis baker.

Some tips when baking lapis cakes:

1. I always bake my lapis cakes in my 20-year-old Baby Belling. I tried using my other ovens, but it took a longer baking time. So if you are using Belling oven, set the grill to No 3-4. That I believe is about 180-190 deg C. To gauge what temperature to set the oven at, bake each layer at a temperature such that it will cook & the top will turn golden brown in about 2-3 minutes. (Warning: don't try to wash the dishes while waiting for the layer to cook or your cake will end up burnt!) Just bear in mind, each layer must be cooked before baking another layer or the uncooked layer will not cook even after baking the next few layers.
2. Once the mixture is ready for baking, do not stir the mixture anymore. Just scoop the top part of mixture onto the pan... the bottom of the mixing bowl may contain water or oil residue. Do not use this residue as, if baked, it will produce a hard layer.
3. To produce nice & even layers, the amount of batter scooped for every layer must be the same. I usually just scoop 2 ladleful for each layer. But this time I used 100g for each layer.
4. After baking the final layer, I usually bake the whole cake for 10-15 minutes using the top & bottom heat at about 180-200 deg C. This step is required, especially for very moist lapis cakes, so that the cake, especially its sides, is fully cooked & not so wet.
5. As most lapis cakes contain a very high fat content from the eggs & butter, they keep very well! They freeze very well. I normally cut my whole cake into 4-5 parts. Then I wrap each part with a cling wrap, & then with an aluminium foil & followed by a newspaper. Then I freeze it if I'm keeping it for more than a week. Before serving, I  just leave it in room temperature for a while before cutting.

Lapis Strawberry Ice-Cream 
Recipe by Hawa Ismail from Resepi Pesta Perut. 
(I modified & simplified the method in the book.)

Ingredients:
450g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
24 egg yolks
5 egg whites
280g fine sugar
80g self-raising flour
1 tbsp ovelette

130g milk powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
170g strawberry ice-cream powder (I used vanilla ice-cream powder & added 1 tsp strawberry paste)
150g strawberry ice-cream (softened)
pink colouring

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 180 deg C. Use top heat only. 
2. Line & grease (based only) of a 10x 7-inch baking pan. Set aside.
3. Cream butter & vanilla essence until white & creamy.
4. Combine egg yolks, egg whites, sugar, self-raising flour & ovelette in a mixing bowl & beat on high speed for about 7 minutes until thick & fluffy.
5. Add in butter & mix thoroughly. (I used a hand whisk.)
6. Divide mixture into 2 parts.
7. Add in milk powder & vanilla essence into 1 part & mix thoroughly.
8. Add in strawberry ice-cream powder, strawberry ice-cream & pink colouring into another part & mix thoroughly.
9. Pour 2 ladles of plain batter (this time, I weighed 100g) into  baking pan. Grill for about one & a half to two minutes or until the cake is cooked & the top turns golden brown.
10. Repeat step 9.
11. Then pour 2 ladles of strawberry batter into pan & bake.
12. Repeat step 11.
13. Then continue baking 2 layers of plain batter followed by 2 layers of strawberry batter until finish.
14. After baking the last layer,  bake the whole cake using top & bottom heat at 200 deg C for about 10 minutes.
15. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool on a cooling wire rack before serving.

I'm submitting this post to the:

1. Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event organised by Bake for Happy Kids &  my little favourite DIY and hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out. Take a look at the other egg recipes here, &
2. Cook Your Books No 3 organised by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.