I’ve developed this recipe for my ‘3 Ingredient Recipes’ book. The requirement is that only three main ingredients (usually fresh) can be used, the rest must be long-shelf life produce and seasonings.

It was one of the most difficult culinary tasks I’ve undertaken (creating 50 recipes using only 3 fresh ingredients). I would never have been able to only include this recipe if I did not discover kaffir lime leaves powder.

Grounded kaffir lime leaves is so convenient – you don’t have to buy a packet of kaffir lime leaves from the supermarket only to use a few pieces and waste the rest. The dried powder emits similar fragrance and flavour as fresh leaves.

This is one of my favourite recipes in the book. On top of kaffir lime leaves powder, I normally have eggs and chili paste in my fridge. All I need to get is ready made fish paste from the supermarket and long beans. Making Thai Fish Cakes has never been this easy!

TOOLS

• Wok
• Chopping board + Knife
• Chopsticks
• Mixing bowl

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

In a large mixing bowl, mix 250 g fish paste + 1/2 beaten egg + 2 tbsp chili paste + 2 tsp kaffir lime leaves powder/ 5 kaffir lime leaves until smooth. Add long beans and mix. Shape into 10 patties. Deep-fry until golden brown.

STEP-BY-STEP

1. PREP: Beat egg. Slice long beans. Roll and thinly slice kaffir lime leaves (if using).

2. COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, combine fish paste, egg, chili paste, and kaffir lime leaves powder/leaves and mix with a pair of wet chopsticks until a smooth paste if formed. Add long beans and mix well.

3. SHAPE: Wet your hands and shape fish paste into round patties.

4. FRY: Heat oil in a wok on medium fire. Deep fry fish cakes until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

COOKING TIPS

1. Get pre-made fish paste from the wet market. Fish paste is unfortunately not available at the supermarket. You will need to get them from the wet market. Get in touch with a local fishmonger.
2. Use kaffir lime leaves powder for convenience. At the time of writing, I only found one brand selling kaffir lime leaves powder and it’s only available at JUSCO. Read: kaffir lime leaves powder.
3. Use fresh kaffir lime leaves if you have access to it. I normally use fresh kaffir lime leaves because I could get it easily. Sometimes, I even add some sawtooth coriander. The result is amazing!
4. Use fresh chili paste if possibl. If not any blended chili paste will do. If you can make your own from dried chili, it’s the best (I’ve tried using bottled chili and freshly blended chili, the latter tastes so much better). However, if you prefer convenience, I suggest getting freshly made chili boh. If you really have no choice, then get bottled chili paste which can be kept in the fridge for a long time.
5. Make more and freeze them. Because this is one of my favourite snacks, I normally make double or quadruple the amount. I’ll then pack them in containers and freeze.
6. Quick snack or toppings in noodles. Whenever I feel like some savoury snacks, I’ll pop some in the AirFryer/ oven. I also put them in noodle soup.

It’s time to get that five ingredients and make some of these for yourself!

The post Easy Thai Fish Cakes – 5 Ingredients appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

You will have to marinade it overnight (at least 12 – 24 hours of waiting time) and you will have to thread every piece of chicken into the bamboo skewers.

If you need to bring something to a barbeque party, it’s definitely easier to buy marinated meat from the supermarket or just get good quality steak.

But since there is nothing that pleases me more than having good conversation with good food, I very willingly go the extra mile to make the party memorable for my companions’ belly.

Having said that, though this dish is time consuming, it’s not difficult to make. It’s a matter of pouring sauces and spices on sliced chicken to marinate. How hard can that be?

If that is not enough to convince you to give this a try, this is an improved version of a recipe I gotten when I took a course at Le Cordon Bleu Thailand. So you can bet that it’s good!

TOOLS

• Bamboo skewers
• Blender
• Grill/ Wide pan

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Slice 750 g of boneless chicken thigh into long 1 cm slices. Blend 1/2 bulb of garlic + 9 lemongrass + 3 bunch coriander roots. Combine blended spices with 1 tsp black pepper powder + 1 tsp salt + 1 1/2 tsp cornflour + 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp light soy sauce + 2 tbsp oyster sauce + 6 tbsp coconut milk + 1 Egg white + 2 tbsp vegetable oil

STEP-BY-STEP

1. Prep:
Peel garlic. Chop lemongrass and coriander roots. Slice chicken into long pieces of about 1 cm width.

2. Blend aromatics:
Blend coriander roots, lemongrass, and garlic into a paste. Transfer into a large container for marinating.

3. Make marinade sauce:
Pour the paste, pepper powder, salt, sugar, oyster, soy sauce, corn flour, coconut milk, egg white and cooking oil into a container.

4.Marinade: Add sliced chicken. Mix well and marinate for at least 30 minutes or preferably overnight. Add sliced chicken. Mix well and marinate for at least 30 minutes or preferably overnight.

5. Thread chicken on skewers:
Poke marinated chicken through bamboo skewers.

6. Grill on a wide pan or a barbeque pit
On a wide pan, pour some oil and pan-fry each chicken skewer on high OR grill over a barbeque pit.

COOKING TIPS

1. Marinate it over night. This will make the difference between good and amazing. If you are making this to impress your guest, I suggest that you let it marinate overnight.
2. Use pork if you like This recipe originally use pork. In Thai, it’s called moo-ping (grilled pork). However, as I throw house party with family and friends of different religions, I normally serve chicken.
3. Shorter skewers I have a rather wide pan which I believe is not common in Asian household. If you don’t have one, I suggest buying shorter skewers.
4. Triple the recipe for a large party As this recipes makes only a dozen of chicken skewers, I suggest multiplying the ingredients for a bigger batch. At a party, I will buy 1.5 kg of chicken which means I increase the sauce by three folds.
5. Ask you friends to help you thread the meat. For a potluck party, I sometimes gather my friends to help me thread the satay.

Why not make this at the next BBQ party? I assure you that your family and friends will love you for this, as did mine 🙂

The post Thai Lemongrass Chicken Satay appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

But fruits is not good only for constipation. It provides fibre and fibre is an important part of a healthy balanced diet. It can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, weight gain and some cancers, and can also improve digestive health. (source: UK National Health Service)

So in my attempt to make fruits more enticing, I thought of flavouring it with a Thai dip: prik-kab-klua. In Thailand, this salt-sugar-chili mixture comes along with fruits that you buy from a roadside stall. The additional tastes – salty, sweet and spicy – gives another dimension to tropical fruits.

I personally like the colour and texture. Fruits look so invited with sprinkles of red and white on top (sometimes I even oregano for the extra taste and additional green colour). Perfect to jazz up an ordinary plate of fruits for a party!

TOOLS

• Dipping bowl

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Mix 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp sea salt + 1 tsp chilli flakes

TIPS

1. Use sea salt I’ve switched to using sea salt in flavouring my food. Unlike table salt which has a sharp taste, sea salt milder and gentler to the tongue. Find out why sea salt is better than table salt
2. Add oregano I like to add another teaspoon of oregano into this traditional dip. Why? Of all herbs, oregano is one of the highest in antioxidant. Hence, I always find ways to sneak them into my cooking. I was so please to find that this dip taste much better with the addition of this spice. The herbaceous green notes tone down the spiciness of the chilli powder, the sweetness of the sugar, and the saltiness of the sea salt.

Sprinkle these over guava, mango, pineapple or any other fruits. Enjoy!

The post Thai Chilli Salt (Prik-kab-klua) – 3 ingredients  appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Despite all of them being mouth-watering, most are incredibly difficult to make or time-consuming. The list of ingredients are so long, and the process so tedious that I doubt I’ll be making it daily.

As I believe in cooking more at home, naturally I prefer simple recipes. Thankfully the cooking class offered one recipe that is perfect for home cooking: the versatile salad dressing for spicy tropical mixed fruit salad.

When I hear the word ‘salad dressing’, I immediately think of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Not only these ingredients are rather pricey in Asia, it’s just not quite suitable to pair with the other Asian dishes I like to cook. Besides, I’m not a big fan of raw vegetables (i.e salad).

Besides I think good salad are hard to come by; most taste rather bland and one-dimensional. If you’re like me, you will enjoy this salad dressing which teases your taste buds with an amazing combination of umami, sour, sweet and salty. This dressing makes vegetables taste so delicious!

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RECIPE CARD

Pour dressing over any salad. Try my favourite Thai Spicy Mango Salad. 

SHORT RECIPE

Boil and simmer 1.5 cups water + 1 tbsp tamarind paste + 100 ml fish sauce + 150 g gula melaka + 1/2 tbsp shrimp paste. Simmer until all ingredients melted. Add 1.5 tbsp lime juice. Cool.

COOKING TIPS

• The saltiness of fish sauce and shrimp paste varies. Do adjust the amount accordingly.
• Depending on how salty or sour you like the dressing to be, add more fish sauce and lime juice respectively.

STORAGE TIPS

• This recipes makes a big batch of salad dressing. Transfer it into a bottle, label it and keep it in the fridge.
• If made and stored properly, this salad dressing can last to up to a month or longer.

I’m trying to incorporate more vegetables into my diet. If you have a good recipe, please drop me a line below!

The post Thai Salad Dressing appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

In the effort to look for salad I genuinely love to eat because of its taste and not only for its health benefits, I’ve found this: Thai spicy fruit salad. The traditional recipe uses tropical fruits such as green papaya, green mango, star fruits or rose apple. It also includes string beans and cherry tomatoes.

If you’re a fan of the sour, sweet, salty, and umami combo, you’ll love this recipe. As some ingredients are hard to come by, I only use the more common mango, string beans, and cherry tomatoes.

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Blend 3 garlic cloves + 6 pcs cili padi + 10 pcs cherry tomato + 40 g palm sugar + 3 tbsp roasted peanuts + 1 tbsp dried shrimps. Toss in 60 g chopped french beans and 120 g shredded green mango. Flavour with Thai Salad Dressing.

COOKING TIPS

• Originally the ingredients are crushed with pestle and mortar. To cook faster, I use a blender instead. To achieve a rough texture, do not over-blend it.
• If the salad is not salty or sour enough to your taste, add more fish sauce and lime juice respectively.

What other salad do you like? Do you have any good salad recipe to share? Drop me a line below!

The post Thai Spicy Mango Salad appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Naturally, I prefer Chinese and Malaysian desserts which feature natural ingredients like pomelo, sago, tapioca, coconut milk, and black glutinous rice. Think of mango and pomelo sago, kuih bingka and bubur pulut hitam (黑糯米). I think they are equally, if not more, delicious than cakes and pastries.

Find out more about the health benefits of black glutinous rice 

This nutritious dessert is a rich source of antioxidants – much more than blueberries! The only caveat that it normally takes a long time to make and need constant monitoring. The best way is to toss all ingredients into your slow cooker before you sleep at night. Leave it to cook overnight and enjoy a delicious pot of bubur pulut hitam the very next day!

TOOLS

• Slow cooker
• OR Pressure Cooker (Soak grains for 12 hours or overnight. Pressure cook for 30 minutes)

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Toss 1/2 cup glutinous rice + 2 pandan leaves + 3.5 – 4 cups water into the slower cooker. Cook on high for 6 hrs. Remove pandan leaves. Add 80 – 100 g gula melaka. Mix well to dissolve. Serve with coconut milk + a pinch of salt.

COOKING TIPS

• I usually dry roast the glutinous rice before adding water. This extra step would release more of its good aroma. However, most people are not sensitive enough to notice the subtle difference so you can skip this step.
• I have an Instapot (the Philips All-in-one Cooker) and I normally cook mine with that. It allows me to dry roast the rice before slow cooking it.
• The consistency for this recipe is more thick than watery. I’ve tried cooking it many times for this consistency which to me is just right. If you prefer your bubur lighter, do add more water; use 1000 ml (or another 1/2 cup) instead of 875 ml.
• Tear the pandan leaves to release more of its fragrant aroma into the dessert
• I normally make it right before I sleep and have a bowl for my breakfast. It’s very filling!
• If I have extra, I’ll pack it into small containers to freeze.
• I normally only use 80 g of gula melaka. I think the sweetness is just right. For my own consumption, I put even less. If you like it to be sweeter, you can add more. Perhaps another 20 g of gula melaka.
• After reading the book Salt, I’ve become a salt snob…I like my bubur served with generous amount of coconut milk and a pinch of fleur de sel sea salt to tantalize the tastebud.

What is the difference between sea salt and regular table salt?

Enjoy!

The post Bubur Pulut Hitam in Slow-cooker (Black Glutinous Rice Dessert Soup) appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.