Nyonya Salmon Curry

After a few days in Singapore on my return from the winter in the UK I sampled some delicious local food. I ate an amazing fish head curry which was cooked in a traditional Nyonya sauce. Nyonya food takes its influences from Chinese Malay cuisine but with a real south east Asian twist. While this curry was delicious, I decided to recreate it at home using salmon instead of a fish head. It’s a little more appealing to most people’s palette. Be sure to use the garnish of tomatoes, spring onions and coriander for this curry. It REALLY makes a difference.

RECIPE:

Palembang Chicken Curry

I’m off on holiday for a few weeks – I shall be passing through delightful Singapore for a few days. While the place itself isn’t the most memorable of destinations, the food IS! A mixture of the regions delights and takes its influences from Chinese, Malay, Thai and in this case Sumatran food. It’s amongst my favourite styles of cuisine. There’s something so gratifying in their curries and spiced up salads, to their elaborate soups and laksas. It’s a diverse food which is never dull. I’m really looking forward to gorging myself on it. I made this as both a delicious curry and as a test to see how my cooking stands up to the real thing. I shall let you know. See you in a few weeks.

RECIPE:

Hainanese Chicken

I was feeling pretty healthy a a couple of weeks ago today after swimming many lengths of a pool, the gym is right next door to my favourite Malaysian restaurant and instead of my usual weakness for Roti Canai I went for my second favourite Malaysian treat. A couple of weeks on I decided to try it at home. This amazing chicken dish is suprisingly delicious. There are a few processes to go through. But don’t be put off, none are too stressful. The resulting dish is equally as delicious as the restaurant’s offering. Clever me.

RECIPE:

Beef Rendang

I have another recipe for rendang here which I’d made with lamb but on looking at it again I just found it quite fussy. I ate an amazing rendang at a restaurant last night. A Betawi restaurant – Betawi being an ethnic cuisine from Indonesia – and it was absolutely amazing. It looked less complicated than the last one I’d made so I hunted out a simpler recipe and gave it a try. I must say, even for such a seemingly complex dish, less is definitely more. Less hassle, more taste. Very easy.

RECIPE:

Malaysian Pork Kapitan

This is an alternative recipe for one of my favourite Malaysian curries. I would normally eat it with chicken, but pork works equally well so you choose. The vivid colour is so appealing – and the taste is so utterly delicious that I just can’t stop my urge to pile my bowl in a disgraceful heap of meat and sauce.

RECIPE:

Malaysian Spicy Squid

I do love a bit of squid, so when I happened upon this recipe in one of my many South East Asian cook books I had to make it. Malaysian food is up there as one of my favourite styles of cuisine. I eat it at least once a week. This is pretty healthy by Malaysian standards, giving me the excuse I need to eat it more often!

RECIPE:

Singapore Crispy Chicken

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I must admit, I am a bit partial to a bit of “Dirty Bird” (a nickname I use for KFC). It’s especially helpful with a hangover, and one of the only options when you’re dying on your feet – a grease fest extraordinaire. There is an Asian alternative however which packs flavour and avoids the traumatic queues in The Bird. Prepare and marinade the night before so all you need to do is dust the chicken and cook without leaving the house. You’ll thank me. You really will.

RECIPE for 4 people: