VEGETABLES pg Pnee Hu Char 32 Lengkuas Belachan 60 pg RICE & NOODLES Sambal Belachan 60 Blue Rice 48 Kerabu Kacang Botol 62 Nasi Kunyit 48 Sambal Bunga Kantan 62 Laksa Lemak 78 Kerabu Jantung Pisang 63 Sambal Sayur Rumi 64 Or Kueh 70 Kaduk Omelette 76
MEAT pg Too Kar Chor 22 Mua Eu Kay 24 Too Thor Th’ng 26 Pork Cincalok 34 Braised Lamb 42 Buah Keluak Kay 46 Cashew Nut Chicken 54 Khong Assam 86 Too Kwa Kean 94 Hainanese Pork Satay 100
4 | Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry DRINKS & DESSERTS pg Pengat 68 Bee Koe Moy 104 Ais Tingkap 106 “932” 106 Nutmeg Cordial 108 Blue Flower & 108 Coconut Water
CONDIMENTS pg Cincalok 32 Lengkuas Belachan 60 Sambal Belachan 61 Satay Sauces 101
SEAFOOD pg Char Siput 16 Lemak Perut Ikan 36 Sambal Hae Bee 38 Assam Pedas Belimbing 88 Fish Head Curry 96
18 | Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry These bottled items don’t need to be refrigerated and are best tucked away in your pantry away from direct sunlight.
Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry | 19 Sesame oil (Mua eu) welcome visitors. When I was young I was Sesame oil is a typical Penang flavour, and its always teased that I would grow up to marry a unmistakable aroma is really noticeable as soy sauce man as I loved adding it to everything you walk down certain roads in Penang where I ate (I still do!). hawker food is being cooked. Whenever I’ve been away, its aroma reminds me how much For me, an unflavoured soy sauce is perfect for I’ve missed home. Nyonya and Chinese cooking. Many premium brands do add certain flavours such as Sesame oil is a crucial ingredient for Chinese mushroom or oyster flavour to their soy sauces confinement recipes – when you see people but I don’t feel that this is necessary. Do choose buying plenty of bottles in one shot it means a Chinese soy sauce as Japanese soy sauce that there’s just been a new birth in the family! tends to have more sugar in it, which will affect The oil is full of anti-bacterial properties and your cooking. helps to expel wind. Most importantly, the oil is very “heaty” which helps new mothers to return warmth to their bodies and to replenish the Dark soy sauce (Or tau eu) energy lost during pregnancy and childbirth. Dark soy sauce is made by adding palm sugar or molasses to light soy sauce. This second Most Chinese confinement food for new process makes the sauce sweet and thick and mothers includes sesame oil and ginger. it is an essential in Tau Eu Bak (pork in dark soy Some lovely dishes include, Mua Eu Kay (ginger sauce). The “burnt” flavour of the sauce really chicken with sesame oil, see pg 24), Mua Eu helps to add more kick and depth to stews. Chien Chuan Hu (fried fish with sesame oil) and Mua Eu Nui (omelette with sesame oil). For daily use, add a teaspoon or so when steaming Black vinegar (Or chor) fish or meat, for extra flavour, as well as to When opening the bottle, it really smells so chicken rice sauce and claypot fried rice. pungent that you don’t look forward to using it. But believe me, after cooking it has a sweet flavour. Black vinegar is usually used for Light soy sauce (Tau eu) meat stews or in dipping sauces for baos and If you are ever in Penang, a visit to a soy sauce wantons. When cooking stews we tend to add factory is a must as there are still a few that in half or a full bottle.
20 | Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry Lye water (Air abu soda/Kee chui) This is mostly used in kuih, sticky rice dumplings, baos and noodles as it helps to give food a chewy texture. Very little gets added to recipes – about a teaspoon or less - so a small bottle should last you a long time.
White pepper (Pek hor cheow) Malaysians and Nyonyas love white pepper and my preference is white pepper from Sarawak in east Malaysia. Whether it’s freshly ground or pounded into coarse bits, a dash of white pepper on rice and noodle dishes can make a world of difference. This is mostly used in seasonings and meat rubs.
Bean paste (Tau cheong) Bean paste is made from the “leftovers” from making light and dark soy sauce. These matured and softened soy beans are then packed into jars for sale. There are two varieties of bean paste, the coarse version which still has bits of soy beans and the fully ground fine version. I use both and love to add these to gravies for fish, omelettes and stir fried vegetables. This needs to be stored in a cool pantry or in the fridge.
Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry | 21 Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry | 27 lemak perut ikan Spicy fish stomach in coconut sauce
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pengat This is a yummy traditional Nyonya dessert that is usually eaten on the final day of Chinese New Year.
I’ve also included the recipe for tapioca flour jelly which is really simple to make. Although the jelly isn’t usually included in traditional Pengat recipes I think it adds a nice texture to the dessert.
72 | Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry A typical Malay or Nyonya meal includes a plate of Ulam or fresh leaves and herbs gathered from the garden. These can simply be eaten raw or dipped into Sambal Belachan and Kicap Manis (sweet, thick soy sauce). Nyonyas believe that eating fresh green herbs and leaves helps to dispel wind from the body. Fresh herbs are packed with healing properties.
Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry | 73 If you do decide to grow this in your garden keep an eye on it as it can grow wild in no time wrapping itself around tree trunks and other plants, and then your garden will really smell!
Stink beans (Petai) These are called stink beans for a reason and after you eat them you will soon discover why. Having said that, the taste is heavenly especially when fried with Sambal Belachan. If you add Skunk vine or aubergine into the mix it miraculously removes chicken poo leaf the smelly effects of the petai. Amazing! (Daun sekuntut) Before I start my cooking classes I always I once watched an elderly Malay makcik give guests a little tour of my garden as I love pounding Sambal Belachan while sitting on the showing off the herbs we use in Malaysian cement floor of her kitchen. She held a petai cooking. Chicken poo leaf is a real favourite of pod under one foot and while still pounding, she mine for its flavour, it really smells of chicken expertly peeled out a petai bean, scooped it into poo when you crush the leaf. It is a timely the fresh Sambal Belachan and then popped it reminder that not all flavour-packed herbs are straight into her mouth. Absolute bliss. pleasantly fragrant. Petai is a good source of protein, calcium, You should see my guests’ expressions after phosphorus, iron and vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. they come face to face with the leaf. They just can’t believe that something so foul smelling can make Nasi Ulam taste so good. Believe me, Cosmos caudatus add these finely sliced leaves to your Nasi Ulam (King of the salad leaves/ and there won’t be any left over. Ulam raja) Ulam raja has a pleasant sweet smell and is also The leaves are also thought to prevent hair a great addition to sandwiches and burgers. greying. The leaves are dried in the sun and then baked before being immersed in hot water. The leaf-infused water is then rubbed Mint on to the person’s head and left to naturally Fresh mint is excellent for freshening up the dry. kitchen, I keep a pot of mint near my work
74 | Pearly’s Nyonya Pantry area to get rid of the smell of fish and prawns. The leaf is a main component of the Thai snack, As a garnish, it adds zest to any dish from Miang Kam, the fresh leaf is folded into a cone salads to curries and it perks up hot and cold and filled up with lots of toasted, crispy and tea too. crunchy ingredients like dried shrimp, grated coconut and peanuts. To store mint, I first wash it, shake off any excess water and pat it dry. Then I spread it Daun kaduk has plenty of medicinal properties out on damp clean tissues before rolling it up when eaten raw or cooked. In the old days in newspapers and putting it in the fridge. The people chewed the roots to treat toothaches newspaper absorbs all the humidity and keeps and boiled the roots to treat coughs, flu, the mint fresh. lumbago and rheumatism.
The leaves look very similar to betel leaf or Thai basil (Daun selisih) daun sireh, the easiest way to tell these apart is I love to eat raw basil leaves with hot rice to feel the leaf – wild pepper leaves are much and Sambal Belachan - simple and delicious! thinner than sireh leaves. Thai basil grows so easily in Malaysia and is a tropical sweetheart, preferred to many other fresh herbs. It has a real ‘chameleon’ flavour - Laksa leaf (Vietnamese mint/ when used fresh, it has traces of aniseed and Daun kesom/Chien hong) some dried spice. When dried, it has tinges of Laksa leaf has a peppery and spicy taste, its cinnamon and clove. lovely floral essence is perfect for almost any tamarind based soup or curry, especially Assam Munching on a few fresh basil leaves helps with Laksa. Just drop some fresh leaves into curries, nausea and indigestion. rice and hot soups for some spicy zing.
This herb is incredibly easy to grow, just go Wild pepper leaves to the market and pick up a handful, pluck (Daun KADUK) off most of the leaves leaving only a few at Daun kaduk can be found all over Malaysia the top, then stick the 5-6 inch stems into the growing by the roadside, in gardens, in the ground and water these every morning. It jungle. As children, we are always told to go grows fast and soon you’ll be giving it away to to the riverside to pluck these for old-time your friends. favourites such as, Perut Ikan and Otak Otak. We were told to pluck young leaves for ulam (salad) and the older leaves for cooking.
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