Home-style Gong Bao Chicken/ Kung Po Chicken 宫保鸡丁

Gong Bao Chicken is undoubtedly a popular Chinese dish. I had a hard time deciding which term to use for this recipe. In case you are wondering, Kung Po Chicken is the Cantonese dialect for this dish, while Gong Bao Chicken is the Mandarin pronunciation. Both are legit and refers to the same thing. Gong Bao is a style of cooking, not unlike your sweet sour chicken. You can use this style of cooking on other proteins too, such as prawns or even frog!

Thai Green Curry Chicken 泰式绿咖喱鸡

I had my first taste of Thai green curry many years ago, not in South East Asia but in London. I was a student then and one kind friend brought this Thai takeaway and shared it with me on a cold winter's night. Needless to say, I was hooked from that fateful day. There is something about the blend of aroma from the herbs and spices with that creamy coconut milk that makes this so aromatic. It is not as intense a dish as its other curry counterparts, yet it holds its unique taste that is utterly addictive.

Chilli Anchovies Bun/Sambal Ikan bilis bun 参巴江鱼仔餐包

If you have ever bought those round buns from Gardenia with chilli anchovies or sambal ikan bilis inside, then you know what I am talking about. Although modest in looks, these filled buns are quite celebrated here. You could see bakeries selling this type of buns with all sorts of fillings. It is suitable as a quick snack, or even a light meal for many on the go. This chilli anchovies bun has worked wonders for me whenever I am too busy to have a proper meal. You see, although I like buns with sweet fillings (which is what you normally get), I do get bored with the monotony of sweetness sometimes. I find the sambal filling much more satisfying as not only has it sweetness but saltiness and spiciness as well. And the sambal itself is just so aromatic and tasty, it complemented the whole bun so well.

Chilli Anchovies/Sambal Ikan Bilis 参巴江鱼仔

It is without a doubt nasi lemak or coconut fragrant rice is our national treasure. I believe most people would agree to this. Every household would have some tricks down their sleeves to making a mean plate of nasi lemak. Today I am not going to talk about the rice but its humble accompaniment - the sambal. In fact, it goes hand in hand with the rice and mutually complement each other. Without sambal, nasi lemak is just bland. Most people like to take this sambal as it is but I like it with fried anchovies. It totally elevates the taste by adding texture and flavour to this dish.

Asian Chilli Paste/Sambal Tumis 参巴辣椒酱

When it comes to SouthEast Asia, eating chilli pastes or sambal is akin to eating to ketchup in the West. This is how popular chillies are here. There are many varieties and versions to making an Asian chilli paste; the Thais have their namprik pao, the Indonesians their sambal oelek and the Malaysian the humble sambal tumis. These Asian chilli pastes have quite similar ingredients but shine with their own distinctive tastes.

Today, I am introducing a basic sambal tumis recipe that is used in a variety Malaysian cooking. It has a fiery sweet and spicy taste with just a tinge of sourness as a balance. This sambal tumis is strongly fragrant with garlic, shallot and the most pungent of all, shrimp paste or belacan. This sambal tumis is meant to be spicy and I wouldn't (and refuse to) recommend it any other way.