Pineapple Prawn Curry (Udang Masak Lemak Nenas) 香辣黄梨虾

The Peranakans* have a rich culture in food and cooking. This dish is no stranger to the Peranakans. It has that distinct sweet-sourish spicy taste that is so synonymous with Peranakan dishes. I am not of a Peranakan descendant but I do appreciate their dishes well.

Crunchy Prawn Wonton Soup 虾云吞汤

Wonton is a smaller version of sui kow or dumplings, often with a thinner and and smaller skin. Just like its cousin, you can put almost any proteins to be wrapped in that silken skin. Prawn is a very popular ingredient for wonton. Unfortunately, we seldom find places selling good prawn wonton soup in Malaysia. I suspect fresh prawn is pretty costly, hence, making the business of selling prawn wonton soup unattractive.

Chinese New Year Dinner: Five Spice Meat Roll/Ngoh Hiang/Lobak 五香滷肉

Often, this five spice meat roll would be called ngoh hiang (五香) or lobak (滷肉), the shortened Hokkien dialect for this dish. In the northern states of Malaysia, it is more popularly known as lobak whilst moving southwards, this immensely popular dish is known as ngoh hiang.

You could find this dish sold in many hawker stalls but traditionally, this dish is a staple during Chinese New Year dinner (reunion dinner) for the Hokkiens. Nowadays, it is also a staple for the non-Hokkiens' Chinese New Year dinner.

Mini Sambal Prawn Roll 虾米卷

Mini Sambal Prawn Roll (or Shrimp Roll) is not difficult to make, just tiring.

This dish needs no introduction since it is a very popular Chinese New Year snack. It is crispy, spicy and pungent, typical of a Malaysian delicacy. The process is pretty easy but time-consuming. The skill here is to get it looking neat and pretty since the rolls are pretty dainty. Believe me, after a few dozens your hands would automatically protest.

As for the filling, the recipe I used was borrowed from my Sambal Udang Kering recipe. Only this time, I made it more dry and finer by reducing the water, oil and blending the dried shrimp finely. If you find it too tedious, you might want to consider getting a jar of the dried shrimp floss from your favourite joint. Exorbitant price as usual, but it saves you the hassle.

Prawn Sambal/Sambal Udang 参巴虾

When it comes to those big juicy prawns, I have a hard time resisting. Pair this with some good sambal tumis, I am sold! These prawns are basically cooked in chilli paste that has a vast variety of aromatics and spices inside. Nothing beats the exotic taste of this dish in all its aromatic spicy goodness. But guess what? It is never too much to have more spicy food as research has found that spicy food actually prevents cancer!(source: Natural News: Jan3, 2009) Here's that perfect excuse to a no holds barred binging.  Pair this prawn sambal with a plate of steamy hot rice or nasi lemak (coconut fragrant rice) for that ultimate perfection.

This recipe here is the extension of my sambal tumis recipe (chilli paste) that I have posted recently. You can prepare this sambal tumis in advance and keep it frozen to be used later in smaller batches. This way your work would be greatly reduced. Once you have handled your sambal, cooking the Prawn Sambal is as easy as 123.

Prawn Sambal/Sambal Udang 参巴虾

Makes portion for 4-5 persons

Ingredients

500 g prawns shelled (I left heads intact)
1/2 portion (approx 260g) sambal tumis (recipe here)
1 tomato, cut into small wedges
1-2 big onion cut into rings
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
pepper

Cooking Instructions

1. Prepare prawns and season with salt, sugar and pepper. Cut onions and tomato.

2. Prepare sambal tumis. When sambal tumis is about ready, add in tomato and onion and stir until it starts to soften. Stir in prawns and cook until prawns are cooked (when it change colour and feel springy). Remove from fire and serve hot with rice.


Variation
1. Replace prawns with squid for a dish of Squid Sambal.
2. Replace onions with stinky beans for that unique taste of stinky beans. 

Chilli Prawn 辣椒虾

Following my post on the sweet and sour sauce, I am now providing another use for this wonderful sauce - the ever famous sauce for chilli crab. Chilli crab is famous in Malaysia and Singapore and it has since gained popularity beyond just these two shores. It has become so significant a dish that Singapore named it its National dish. The sweet and spicy sauce, which I am highlighting today, combines sweet, sour and spicy flavour to give you that perfect umami taste. The sauce itself is so good that most of the time this dish is served with mantou or buns to soak up that sauce for a perfect juicy burst of flavour in your mouth. Awesome!

Crispy Stuffed Tofu Puffs 炸豆包球

After all my postings on desserts in the past week, I think it is only apt that I balance it up with some savouries. Therefore, today I am introducing a simple dish that is easily replicated. A common recipe in the Chinese kitchen - Crispy Stuffed Tofu Puffs. This dish makes a good appetizer or finger food. The trick is to deep-fry it until crispy. This is how I prefer to eat my tofu puffs. Deep-fried to crispy. You could practically hear the crunch. It is so delicious!

Cheese Baked Stuffed Shrimps 芝士烤虾

The other day, my sister-in-law bought some very large shrimps home. The shrimps were as big as my palm (see pix). Initially it was meant to be grilled. However, I felt that just grilling these large shrimps is a bit of a waste. I suggested we do something more special to it. Then it dawned on me that I have no such recipe. At the end, I decided to do cheese baked stuffed shrimps. I have always wanted to make stuffed lobster or lobster mornay and having these large shrimps seems to make it perfect. Since lobster is almost beyond reach in this part of the world, large shrimps would just be as good.

Easy Breaded Prawn Recipe 面包屑炸大虾作法

This one is for my mom. My mom is a very simple person. She loves eating and she could literally eat a horse. No joke! She is 68 this year and God is kind enough to bless her with a healthy appetite and good health. She especially likes crispy and crunchy food and that only means deep-fried oil-laden food. While you (and I) are using every technology possible to reduce fats to keep healthy, she is possibly happily devouring her favourite KFC and its crispy skin too! Just today, she brought home a few very large fresh prawns and asked me to fry it for her. It is her favourite, or rather, one of her many favourites. Hence, this recipe is dedicated entirely to her.

Chinese Dumpling Soup (Sui Kow) 水餃

This dish really needs no introduction. I bet every Chinese (and many non Chinese) around the world knows what this is. In fact, it is so popular that it has become part of the Chinese culture. Go to any Chinese restaurants overseas and most likely you would find something like this in the menu.