Sunday November 8, 2009

Lesson in prudence

Makan Makan
By FARIDAH BEGUM

Leftovers are turned into a delicious breakfast staple.

THE morning after Hari Raya Puasa is always anticipated in my mother-in-law’s home.

Most of us women, her daughters and me, would peep into the kitchen, knowing that she would be opening her pantry and refrigerator looking for leftovers to make her favourite breakfast offering, Nasi Goreng Budu.

A prudent and creative woman, she would always keep leftover meats aside and shred them or cut them up into smaller bits before making a batch of her Nasi Goreng Budu.

Budu, an anchovy essence that is peculiar to the East Coast states of the Peninsula, is now readily available in the West Coast.

To the uninitiated, budu is a “odorous essence”, made from anchovies. Good news is that it is now manufactured according to good manufacturing practices when it used to be made with anchovies piled up in earthern urns, left in the backyard for about six months before getting the brown-black liquid.

Tastier than kicap, once you acquire a taste for it, it is the sole reason why the East Coast Malays are big on greens. This is a must-have daily from breakfast to dinner, served with rice, fresh ulam, lightly steamed lady’s fingers, four-angled beans, cucumbers, watermelon, little bird brinjals or terung pipit and other herbs of great medicinal value.

It is also an important but inexpensive ingredient in preparing the sambal tumis for nasi kerabu.These days, it is even shipped abroad in plastic bottles that are tightly wrapped in cling film. It is a specialty that reminds those from the East Coast of home.

One of the common requests when my family makes trips abroad are for bottles of budu to be brought along. Indonesian maids who have worked long enough in my home often tell me that when they go back, the items on their list would be budu and curry powder.

With heatiness being a problem of late, squashes and fruit like pumpkin have become a favourite addition to the menu. For my first dish, I used pumpkin, a vegetable often frowned upon by the older generation as it was believed to be “full of wind” and those consuming it would end up with bloated tummies. It is actually a cooling ingredient that helps to minimise the rashes.

Not too difficult to cook, the pumpkin is a really a great alternative to vegetables, given its mineral and fibre content. And how do you get rid of the supposed wind that comes with the pumpkin? Easy, use a bit of ginger and garlic to finish the job.

Adding ginger and garlic also makes the dish a lot lighter as the heaviness of the coconut cream used in the cooking and the rich texture of the pumpkin is balanced; and there is hardly a hint of the two ingredients in the dish.

A tip: buy pumpkins that are heavy for its size so that you get pumpkin pulp and not only the heavy and thick shell. Be careful when peeling the pumpkins as you are likely to nick your hands. Always peel away from you to minimise possible injury.

Lastly, the dessert is really a lazy, oops, no, humble dish as it can be prepared in just half an hour if you have soaked the sago pearls overnight. Though easy, it is said to be the favourite of many great individuals, including the Sultan of Pahang, who serves elaborate desserts at his dinners yet partakes of this traditional dessert himself during these occasions.

So, here’s to another fortnight of good food and great times, until my next column on what to cook during the coming school holidays.

Faridah Begum loves to cook up a storm in her Gaggenau kitchen, feeding family and friends.

Pumpkin in light coconut cream

1 pumpkin, cut into 3cm squares

A handful of dried anchovies, washed and drained

6 shallots, sliced thinly

3cm ginger

4 cloves garlic

2 stalks of lemongrass, bruised

Salt to taste

1 cup coconut cream

2 cups water

Pound the ginger and garlic together until fine. In a pot, put the coconut cream, water, pounded ingredients, dried anchovies and shallots. Add salt to taste and let the mixture simmer until it comes to a boil.

Lower the heat and let it continue to simmer for another minute or two. Add the pumpkin, and stir carefully. Cook until the pumpkin is tender and serve.

Nasi Goreng Budu (Fried Rice with Anchovy Essence)

3 cups rice ( preferably overnight rice)

Leftover chicken, shredded

50g garden peas

6 shallots, sliced thinly

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon chilli sauce

2 tablespoons budu

3 eggs, make into omelettes and slice thinly

2 stalks spring onions

1 stalk coriander leaves

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pepper for seasoning.

Mix the tomato ketchup, chilli sauce and budu in a bowl. Heat the oil in a wok and saute the shallots and garlic. When fragrant, add the shredded chicken and fry until the oil surfaces again. Add the mixed sauces and let it simmer until the oil rises to the surface.

Add the rice and peas and fry until all the ingredients are well-mixed.

Maintain a moderate flame and keep frying the rice until it is a little dry. Add the omelettes, spring onions and coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

Serve with lots of greens such as four-angled beans, cucumber, thinly sliced long beans, basil leaves and other Malay herbs that are available.

If the rice is not salty enough, then add a little budu.

Serve a side dish of budu with thinly sliced shallots and birds-eye chillies with a dash of lime juice for added kick.

Sago Pudding

300g sago, soaked overnight

200g gula melaka or palm sugar

200ml coconut cream/ freshly-squeezed coconut milk

1 teaspoon of salt

Boil a huge pot of water. When the water is at rolling point, quickly add the sago and stir briskly. Stir continuously or else you might find the sago clumping together.

When the sago pearls are translucent, pour the mixture into a huge sieve and wash under cold running water to remove the starch.

Pour the drained pearls into a bowl or into individual containers and chill.

In a small saucepan, add about 1/3 cup of water to the palm sugar and cook over a small flame until the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking for another five minutes to thicken the sugar syrup a little. Strain to remove impurities and chill.

Just before serving, if using coconut cream, add about half cup of water to the cream and microwave for about 30 seconds.

To serve, pour the palm sugar and coconut milk over a portion of sago pearls and enjoy.