sambal bendi (okra sambal)

Okra is a sadly misunderstood vegetable, the operative word being "misunderstood", because, as much as it is reviled by many, it is equally loved by Indian, Nyonya, Malay and Louisiana Cajun and Creole cooks. Did you ever wonder how a vegetable with a reputation for being as slimy as a snail trail, or as wooden as a Dutch clog, could possibly be loved by anyone in their right mind?

pulut serundeng (glutinous rice with spiced grated coconut)

I promised in my last post, to show you one of my favourite dishes which uses serundeng, so here I am, with a treat tempting enough to send your diet to Brokenresolutionville. Mine's already there, head hanging in shame. I thought it could use some company. Pulut serundeng is a favourite tea time treat, breakfast or snack item, especially  in the Malay and Indonesian communities, either one or both of whom we owe thanks to, for this inspired creation. Now that I've painfully twisted my tongue, your brain and possibly, English grammar, let's get to the good stuff.

It's extremely moreish and I've never been able to stop at just one or two soft, chewy, coconut topped mounds. Making it is a bit time consuming, but most of it involves leaving the rice to soak for a few hours. If you have your serundeng ready and waiting to crown the mounds of lightly compressed rice, it's not too much of a bother to put together.

serundeng (spiced grated coconut)

One of the most pleasurable aspects of Asian food, for me, is the dizzying array of condiments and side dishes that often take up as much space on the dinner table, as the main dishes themselves. Like skilful use of punctuation, these little culinary accents, usually saturated with colour, flavour and texture, add just the right punch, in exactly the right places, to a meal and make it that much more memorable.

From amongst the wide range you will find in the south east Asian region, one of my favourites is serundeng, a side dish of spicy sweet and intensely aromatic fresh coconut shreds, that is unfortunately not prepared or seen as commonly these days, except around Hari Raya (Eid).

spiral curry puffs (karipap pusing)

Since this post, I have become rather proficient at making not just ordinary curry puffs, but the swirling and visually arresting spiral curry puffs too. Why are these called spiral curry puffs? One look at the pastry and the answer is clear.

prawn and pineapple curry

The pineapple has to be one of nature's most well considered gifts to tropical dwellers. What I love most is its ability to cross over from raw to sweet to savoury recipes, with complete ease, a triple threat of the culinary world, if you will. Imagine an existence, if you can, without pineapple tarts, pineapple upside down cake, sambal nenas (pineapple sambal), Hawaiian pizza (hah! busted!!) pina coladas or a juicy, golden, stickily sweet wedge of cold pineapple, on a blistering day at the height of summer!

I would eat them a lot more, if not for their prickly, armour-like skin and pesky, tongue shredding 'eyes', I do like pineapples enough though to have learnt from a young age, how to skin them and deftly remove the eyes without mangling them; watching one turn and roll against the knife blade, in my grandmother's worn, wrinkled and masterful hands was worth a month of lessons in culinary school.

mee siam (rice vermicelli in spicy sour gravy)

Any Singaporean with an appreciable interest in food would probably have heard of something called "Singapore noodles". Hmm. I can almost hear the heckles rising. We're a funny lot - not given to soaring passions, and quite content to let most things slide by, often, even small injustices, because we are a peacable people, and we don't like conflict. When it comes to food though, we have something of a Jekyll and Hyde complex. Cases in point - the curry conflict and more recently, the tau huay tantrum.

I wouldn't put the Singapore noodle (Singapore mai fun) issue in quite the same category, but there are more than a few Singaporeans who get all up in arms when the subject arises. I should know. I used to be one of them. There never has been such a dish here, and if sentiments are anything to go by, there never will be.

sambal udang (prawn sambal)

I'd like to say a really big thank you, to all who attended the official Mum's Not Cooking Book Launch at Kinokuniya, last week on Saturday 21 July. I was a bundle of nervous energy, full of anticipation, anxious that I might trip up, twist my ankle (damned stilletoes *grrr* damn you and your Amazonian stature Michelle *GRRR*) or kill someone with my fiery curry devil.

baked kueh keria (sweet potato doughnuts)

Hi All! I hope you haven't forgotten that my book launch is coming up next Saturday, 21 July from 2pm - 3 pm at Kinokuniya, Level 3 Takashimaya Shopping Centre. My official e-vite finally came last week and it's so adorable, I just have to show you what it looks like : 



I'm really looking forward to it and hope to meet as many of you there, as possible. The event is open to all and if you'd like to take a friend or two or three along, go right ahead! Now let's get on with today's post.....

There comes a time in most mortal food bloggers' lives (like when a shoe horn becomes necessary to get into a pair of jeans) when the painful realisation that some serious calorific intervention is required, hits home, hard. 

nasi goreng ikan bilis merah (anchovy fried rice)

If I posted on a daily basis, you would probably see about 100 different versions of fried rice in a year. It may sound dramatic, but consider that I make fried rice about twice a week, some times more, practically every week and the numbers will start to add up. Told ya!

I could probably get away with cooking it almost everyday; such is the versatility and potential of left over cooked rice.

sambal belacan (chilli and shrimp paste relish)

It hit me a few days ago, that sambal belacan or sambal terasi as it's known in Indonesia, keeps popping up on my blog, as a suggestion with this, that and the other dish. How could I not keep bringing it up, when sambal belcan is one of the cornerstones of Malay, Nyonya, Indonesian and to a slightly lesser extent, Kristang (local Portuguese descended Eurasian) cuisine?

five day supply of kristang crack

The fact that it is the common thread running through these cuisines speaks volumes about how closely linked they actually are, though to the casual observer, they may appear distinct from each other. 

easy cucumber and pineapple achar

***************************THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED********************

Hi all! This is it! The Mum's Not Cooking Book Giveaway starts today 25 May 2012 and ends at midnight Singapore Time (GMT +8) on 4 June 2012 or noon EST ( GMT-4) on 3 June 2012.

All you have to do to win one of 3 copies, is to leave a comment after this post, telling me your favourite Singapore dish, if you have one. If you don't have a favourite dish or don't know any Singapore dishes, just say hello! If you like Singapore Shiok, please go to my Facebook page and gimme me some looove ;)

Only entries submitted between the given dates and times will be included in the draw to determine the winners, who will be chosen completely randomly.

Before you know it, you'll have this little red beauty in your hands. How easy is that?! Remember this is OPEN TO ALL MY READERS, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! May the best um, reader win!!!Yaaaaaaay!

epok epok sardine (sardine curry puffs)

Giveaway Reminder : If you read my last post, you'll know about the upcoming giveaway I have planned to celebrate the completion of work on my second cookbook, Mum's Not Cooking and to say "thank you" to you, my readers for following, subscribing, reading and commenting. Without readers, blogs would be unheard voices in the wilderness. I am giving away 3 copies, one each to 3 lucky readers from anywhere in the world, not just Singapore. If you've been a silent reader so far, please introduce yourself during the giveaway - there's no better time to say hello as you stand to win a great prize.

Winning  it will be easy I promise, and you will loooove this adorable little book or I will cook it and eat it! It will hit local bookstores in June 2012, but I am telling you now, lovely readers because you are special (because you're MY readers!) and I don't want you to miss out, so stay tuned and keep checking back here for details. And now, it's Nona Nona time!

kerabu kacang botol or spicy winged bean salad - a new collaboration

This is a special post, one that to me, celebrates friendship and proves you don't have to be in the same neighbourhood, town or even country to form meaningful bonds with someone. I first 'met' Biren in January 2010, when we were both  fledgling bloggers. I had dived head first into the deep end of the blogging pool, wide eyed, unknowing and wretchedly challenged in the ways of blog administration and networking, trying my best to helm my first blog.

Biren was one of the first fellow bloggers who made the food blogosphere feel less bewildering and more welcoming. Think virus attacks, snooty established bloggers, one crushing rejection after another from photo submission titans Tastespotting and Foodgawker. 

kueh bakar or kueh kemboja (baked pandan cake)

Dessert is not negotiable in our house. Hubs daily craves something sweet after dinner, and glares balefully at my proffered plate of fresh fruit, when guilt drives me to seek healthier alternatives. It's only minutes before he'll be opening and closing the fridge and pantry cupboard doors in search of something for his throbbing sweet tooth. Determined resistance on my part only sends him down to the McDonald's outlet five minutes away on foot, for his cinnamon melts fix. I now know better than to even start peeling an onion for the main dish, if dessert isn't ready and waiting.

This  delicious Malay kueh (cake in Malay) is one of his favourites as it's wobbly, creamy with coconut milk and amazingly fragrant because of the ridiculous amount of pandan leaves I use to flavour it. That gorgeous jade-like green did not come out of any bottle, let me tell you.

sambal kerang (cockle sambal)

Hi! I have not been on an extended Spanish holiday. I wish. I did make it back from Barcelona, umm..... almost 4 months ago. And yes, I did promise photos, and yes, I did take them. Lots and lots of them. About two hundred, so you will understand my dilemma here;  I'm the kind of person who is crippled when I have too many options. Sometimes I think I might be happier in a vanilla only world............ naaaaaah, who am I kidding? Give me my Cherry Garcia, and make it a triple!

The last year has been a hectic one, thanks to a couple of back to back projects and my mulish insistence on starting yet another blog (this one) even as I struggle to find time to mind kids, hubs, home and self. Did I really ever have pedicures, gossipy afternoon tea sessions and spend hours at Borders and La Perla, just browsing?! 

kueh keria (malay sweet potato doughnuts)

Before I share today's recipe for an old school sweet treat, I just want to let you know that this will be my only post for this week and the next, as I will be leaving for Barcelona in two days and will not be back until the week before Christmas. Yes, I'm expecting the time of my life and I hope I don't forget to take photos in the midst of the fun I wil be having. Now about those doughnuts....

My grandmother loved to regale me with stories of the war she witnessed and just barely survived. The one thing she missed, or so she told me, while evading bombs and eking out a living as a widow with three children, during World War Two, were these simple but oh so moreish doughnuts. She sure was right about that much - of the dozen that I made, six went on a treacherous journey, down my gullet, never to be seen again. 

beef rendang

First thing I have to say is that rendang is not Singaporean, it's not Malaysian, it is Indonesian, and to be very specific, it is from the Padang area of Sumatra. How do I know? Ask my born and bred Padang mum-in-law, who makes the best rendang I have tasted. Period. 

Still, we love it so much, we've embraced it completely and given it a special place in our hearts and bellies.  Today, I won't be sharing my mum-in-law's recipe with you (come on, are you kidding? Sure she loves me, but she don't love me that much)  but a scrumptious and simpler version I taught my 13 year-old boy to cook.

acar (mixed vegetable pickle)

The fact that my maternal Portuguese Eurasian grandmother was raised by her Chinese Peranakan stepmother,  and taught everything she knew, by her stepmother, sometimes gives me grief, when talking with fellow Eurasian or Chinese Peranakan foodies and friends.

Because of the early Peranakan influence in her life, my grandmother's cooking style evolved into one that was a hybrid of Eurasian and Nyonya cooking styles, and so it goes, that I too find that the way I cook at home is occasionally at odds with how many local Eurasians and Nyonyas cook. My Eurasian dishes tend to have Nyonya influences and vice versa - great for adventurous palates and truly, truly, I believe I have gained what I see as the best of both worlds. 

ayam bakar pedas (chilli baked chicken)

If your family loves chicken as much as mine, I'm thinking you can never have too many chicken recipes. This is child's play and the fresh garlic and chilli powder give it a real punch! The mayonnaise may sound like a strange addition but it helps the spices, seasonings and panko to stick on to the chicken. Enjoy the spicy savoury flavour on it's own, with white rice or nasi lemak (coconut rice).

This recipe has saved dinner time from a pizza delivery or burger blowout, more times than I can remember and goodness, who doesn't like tender, juicy, flavourful chicken under a golden crust, that you could put together, practically with your eyes closed?