"Ayam Goreng Berempah" - Fried Chicken with Spices

Ayam goreng berempah daun kari

“Fried Chicken with Spices” or better known as “Ayam Goreng Berempah” in the Malay Language is a very popular dish in Malaysia. It goes well with rice, in particular “Nasi lemak”. Please find below my recipe for making “Ayam Goreng Berempah”.

Ingredients

2 kg of chicken pieces
5 shallots
4 cloves garlic
4cm ginger
½ tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander powder
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp meat curry powder
2 strings of curry leaves (optional)
2 ½ tsp of salt
1 tsp sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp corn flour
Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Pound shallots, ginger, garlic, coriander seeds and cumin seeds.

In a bowl, mix the pounded ingredients with cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric and meat curry powder, salt, sugar, eggs and corn flour.

Mix well and leave the marinated chicken overnight so that all the flavour will absorb into the meat.

Heat oil on a pan and deep fry until chicken is cook and turns golden brown. Drain the fried chicken on the kitchen towel.

Heat up 2 tsp of the leftover frying oil with small flame fire and fry the curry leaves until crispy. Turn off the fire flame. Return the chicken into the pan and mix it together.

My kids love it, I hope you do too.

Food review at Sedap, Malaysian cuisine at Westfield, Chatswood

Sedap at Westfield, Chatswood

Today takes us to Sedap, a food stall selling Malaysian cuisine at Shop 432, Level 4, Westfield, 1 Anderson Street, Chatswood. Sedap is located in a fairly large food court and gets really crowded during lunch hour. Even though it sells Malaysian cuisine but I noticed that the stall was run mainly by the Thais. We ordered “loh bak” (Malaysian deep fried meat roll), “Assam laksa” (Malaysian sour and spicy noodle), “Char Kway teow” (Malaysian fried rice noodle), Hainanese chicken rice and “Wah Tan Hor” (Cantonese style fried rice noodle) and a cup (in this case, a tin cup) of “teh tarek”. Once you have placed your order, the cashier will give you a device that will buzz when your food is ready.

"Loh Bak"

The first dish was “loh bak” which is the Malaysian deep fried meat roll. We found the “loh bak” very meaty and when we took a bite, we couldn’t taste anything else but meat, meat and more meat. Oh yes, the “loh bak” came with some chilli sauce, so it was the taste of meat and chili sauce. As the dish was just meaty, we give it a rating of 3/10.

"Assam Laksa"

The second dish was “Assam laksa” which is made up noodles, chopped onions, chopped pineapple, mint leaves, sliced chilli, slices of fish and prawn paste. It was served in an old canteen style “tin plate” and metal spoon. The broth was quite average with a tinge of sour and slightly spicy. The presentation was well done using the “old canteen” concept. We will give “Assam laksa” a rating of 6/10.

"Char Kway Teow"

The third dish was “Char Kway Teow” which is Malaysian fried rice noodle. It is made up of  rice noodle, a few pieces of prawns, some fish cakes and bean sprout. The “Char Kway Teow” has got the “wok hei” or “burning” smell and taste, which speak well for the dish. We will rate this dish 8/10.

"Wah Tan Hor"

The fourth dish was “Wah Tan Hor” or the Cantonese style fried noodle. Sedap’s “Wah Tan Hor” is made up of some meat, a couple of prawns, some vegetables, a few pieces of squid, fried rice noodle all soaked up in a gravy which in our opinion is nothing more than an “egg drop soup”. We find this dish rather disappointing and give it a 3/10.

"Hainanese Chicken Rice"

The fifth dish was “Hainanese chicken rice” which made up of rice cooked with chicken stock, steam chicken, a few slices of cucumber, tomato and some pickles on the side. A small container of chili sauce is given together with this dish. The rice wasn’t aromatic and the steam chicken in the soy sauce were just plain average. We will give a rating of 5/10 for the “Hainanese chicken rice”.

"Teh Tarek"

As for the “tin cup” of “teh tarek” which is boiled tea mixed with condensed and evaporated milk and then “pulled” to create the bubbly appearance was rather good. It has the right amount of sweetness, milk and the strength of the tea was just right. It was served in a “tin cup” which made it really authentic. We will rate the “teh tarek” a high 9/10.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we didn’t find Sedap (at least the one in  Westfield Chatswood) all that fantastic as some friends suggested. Some of the dishes were good while others, could be better. Overall, it was just an average dining experience.

Recipe -"Nasi lemak"

Homemade "nasi lemak bungkus"

Today is Sunday and one of our family’s favourite Sunday brunch is “Nasi lemak” (Coconut rice) with the usual condiments (eg: anchovies, cucumbers, egg and sambal). One of the secrets in making a good “Nasi lemak” is creating a good coconut “pandan” flavoured rice.  Today I am going to share with you my recipe in cooking the “nasi” (rice) in the “Nasi lemak”. Let’s get on with it.

“Nasi lemak” (Coconut rice) recipe

“Nasi lemak” is a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut cream and pandanus (screwpine) genus aka ‘pandan’ leaves. “Nasi lemak” is commonly found in Malaysia where it is considered the national dish.

Once I cooked “nasi lemak” for dinner when my parents came to visit us.

Me: Dad, how do you find my nasi lemak?

Dad: To be honest, the rice is not nice.

Me: (Hmmm… having followed the recipe and ingredients, yet not good enough)

Me: How come, dad? Why not nice?

Dad: You don’t cook “nasi lemak” in the rice cooker. Girl! You have to steam the rice.

I am pleased to share with you the ingredients and procedures here.

Main ingredients

3 cups of rice
3 pandan leaves
200ml coconut cream
½ tsp salt
Water

Wash and rinse the rice. Drain the water. Set the rice aside.

Heat a pan or wok. Adjust to low heat. Stir fry the rice for 2 minutes. Add salt and pandan leaves. Stir fry for another 30 seconds.

Transfer the rice into a line baking tray. Get wok ready for steaming. Spread the rice evenly in the tray. Pour in the coconut cream with water and make sure the coconut cream and water cover slightly above the rice.

Steam it for 30 to 40 minutes at high heat.

Serve it with eggs, fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, “kangkung”, “sambal” and etc…

Just a few days ago, I steamed the “nasi”(rice) in the “ nasi lemak”. My husband had two helpings of the “nasi” (rice) and my daughter asked me to pack the “nasi lemak” for her lunch the next day. I am happy with the result of steam (kukus) “nasi lemak”. I hope you will enjoy eating and cooking it too.

"Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah" and Iced Lychee Soda at Pappa Rich, Chatswood

 When we were living in Malaysia, one of our favourite restaurants is Pappa Rich. So last year, we were elated to find out that Pappa Rich was going to open an outlet right here in our neighbourhood. As a matter of fact, the outlet in Chatswood was Pappa Rich’s first outlet in the State of New South Wales. The food served in Chatswood may not be of the same standard or quality found in Malaysia but close enough to enjoy some good Malaysian cuisine.

"Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah"

So, for today we are going to review a dish that is not in the Pappa Rich menu in Malaysia but it is in their Chatwood’s menu. The dish is “Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah”. This dish consists of fragrant basmati rice cooked with cloves, cardamons and fried shallots, 3 pieces of fried chicken dipped in sweet spicy chilli sauce (“Ayam Masak Merah”), some sambal prawns, few slices of cucumbers and “papadam” (a type of cracker normally served with Indian dishes). The basmati rice gives a rather strong flavour to the dish due to the various spices such as cloves and cardamons. If you are not used to the spices, you may find the flavour of the rice overpowering, especially if you bite into one of the cardamons or cloves. The wise way would be to remove the cardamons and cloves and put them aside before digging into the basmati rice. As for the “Ayam Masak Merah”, the chicken pieces were deep fried with crispy skin and succulent meat. The sweet spicy chilli sauce goes well with the chicken but personally, it was a bit too sweet for us. The sambal prawn was well cooked with a good balance of spiciness without compromising the flavour of the prawn. As for the cucumbers, they were fresh and the “papadam” was nice and crispy. We would give the “Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah” a rating of 9/10.

Iced Lychee Soda

In order to compliment the “Nasi Briyani Ayam Masak Merah”, we ordered the “Iced Lychee soda”. We find the “Iced Lychee soda” very refreshing as it contained some lychees, soda water, lychee juice and some mint leaves that made it a good concoction and brought out the beautiful flavour in the drink. We will give it a 10/10 rating.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we will give the service 7/10 for prompt service due to its systematic approach in ordering and requesting for service. Like the Pappa Rich in Malaysia, the one in Chatswood adopted the same method where you tick whatever you want, the quantity and any specific instruction. After that, you just need to press the bell and a server will come to your assistance. Immediately after your order has been taken, the server will place the bill on your table. You can bring your bill to the payment counter once you are ready to leave. As for the ambient, we will rate it 7/10 for  its decoration and being spacious. However, for its toilet, we will rate 4/10. Somehow, the toilets remind us of being in Malaysia. So guys, please spend some time on keeping your toilets clean and friendly. 

Food review at Petaling Street Restaurant (Malaysian cuisine), Sydney CBD

Petaling Street Restaurant at Sydney CBD

We heard so much about the Malaysian restaurant called Petaling Street in Sydney CBD that we need to try at least once. So, recently we had the opportunity to have dinner there before proceeding to watch Disney’s Lion King, the Musical at Capitol Theatre which is just nearby to that restaurant. Petaling Street Restaurant is located at 760 George Street, Sydney CBD. As you probably guessed by now, Petaling Street or Jalan Petaling in the Malay Language is a famous bazaar in Kuala Lumpur that sells hawker food as well replicas of branded goods.

The rather diluted "Air Bandung"

We were there early so we got a nice table on the ground floor of the restaurant. We ordered its famous “char kway teow” (fried rice noodle), “fried tofu with condiments” ,  “Nam Yu Pork Rib” and a glass of “Air Bandung”. Even though there were not many people at that time but it took a while for us to get our food. For some reason, the “Air Bandung” took longer (about 20 minutes) in spite of the repeated reminders to the servers to check on that drink. “Air Bandung” is a concoction of rose syrup and evaporated milk and it is relatively easy to make. We couldn’t really understand the delay. The “Air Bandung” which was served to us was rather disappointing. From its colour, one can already see that it was diluted and not that bright pink colour which it ought to be. The “Air Bandung” had insufficient rose syrup and evaporated milk. It tasted more like milky sweet tap water, to put it bluntly.

"Char Kway Teow"

As for the “char kway teow” (fried rice noodle) - it was delicious. The “char kway teow” was made up of rice noodle, baby clams (not to be confused with cockles), bean sprouts, a couple of prawns, chinese sausage, a few slices of fish cake, egg and sprinkle of fried lard to give that extra flavour. The “char kway teow” has that beautiful “burnt” aroma and flavour or better known as “wok hei” in Cantonese. “Wok hei” denotes that the “char kway teow” was cooked in a wok under a very hot and high flame which gave it that “burnt” flavour. We would the “char kway teow” a strong rating of 8/10.

Fried tofu, sliced cucumber, and bean sprout with prawn paste and "kicap manis"

Our next order was a simple dish of fried tofu, sliced cucumber and bean sprout served with a sauce made up of prawn paste mixed with “kicap manis” (sweet soy sauce). Some people may find this dish rather plain but when the fried tofu is dipped into the sauce, it changes the taste of the fried tofu which we find it delightful. We will give a rating of 7/10.

"Nam Yu Pork Rib"

The last dish was the “Nam Yu Pork Rib” which is fried pork rib in bean paste. Even though it was supposed to be rib but we found it to be rather meaty and the seasoning was very light which did not do any justice to this dish. We will rate as 5/10.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we would rate the service in Petaling Street Restaurant a 6/10 for courteous service even though there was delay in serving the food and 5/10 for ambient as the place can be rather cramped when it gets crowded.

Malaysian Curry Laksa review at Alice's Makan, Sydney CBD

Malaysian Curry Laksa (Prawn and Chicken)

 If you fancy some good Malaysian curry laksa in Sydney CBD, we recommend that you try Alice’s Makan located at 580 George Street, Sydney (close to Town Hall Station). “Makan” in the Malay Language means “Eat” which is rather apt in the case of Alice’s Makan as they serve a variety of good and affordable Malaysian food. They even have Malaysian “Nyonya Kueh” (pastries and puffs that originated from the Peranakans (mixed marriages of the Chinese and Malay) which usually contain coconut and palm sugar as its major ingredients). We will try that the next time when we visit Alice’s Makan.

We ordered the Malaysian curry laksa which was very much to our liking as it is “lemak” (full of flavour - a mixture of mild curry and lots of coconut milk). Alice’s Makan has a selection of laksa that you can choose from - “Chicken Curry Laksa”, “Prawn laksa” and “Prawn-Chicken Curry Laksa”. For indecisive people like us, the best bet would be the “Prawn-Chicken Curry Laksa”. Our laksa comprised of “bee hoon -mee” (vermicelli and yellow noodles), “tau pok” (fried square bean curd), slices of fish cake, a few pieces of chicken fillet, a couple pieces of prawns, mint leaf for flavour and some “sambal” (chilli paste). We must say that the “sambal” was very good and it went very well with the curry laksa. If you like, you can request for additional “sambal” without any additional charge - kudos to Alice’s Makan for been generous with the “sambal”.

In conclusion and based on our experience at Alice’s Makan, we would rate the Malaysian curry laksa 9/10, its service 7/10 and its ambient 6/10 (as what you would expect in a food court). As for the price, taking into account that Alice’s Makan is in the CBD, it is moderate at the price of AUD12.00 per bowl.