Monday, May 21, 2007

Goreng Durian (Durian Fritters) or is it Durian Goreng?

Goreng Durian ( for tea)

Ingredients:
A couple of durian fruits (or buy a container of freshly shelled durians )
1 packet of Nona or Adabi Goreng Pisang flour mix
or
Prepare your own:
Half cup plain flour
Half cup tepong beras
2 tablespoon cornflour
1 large egg
1 sachet ENO fruit salt dissolved in a mug of water
pinch of salt
Low/No Cholestrol Oil for deep frying

Method:
1. If using instant mix, follow instructions on packet
2. If preparing your own:
Sift all the flours into a mixing bowl
Make a well in the center and break the egg in it
Pour in enough ENO mixture
Stir until a nice batter is formed
Add the salt
3. Heat up oil in a deep fryer or kuali/wok
4. When oil is ready, dip each "ketul" of durian into the batter and deep fry 3 or 4 at a time
5. When golden, lift out and drain excess oil
6. Serve while hot with plain tea. Yummy and creamy ....so, so exotic!


It is a shame that we (as in me and my family) discovered this way of enjoying durian only in 2005! We enjoy a good durian "harvest" every year from my dad's little dusun and after running out of ideas on how to use up the left over durians (after giving away to relatives ), we normally turned them into serawa, lempok or tempoyak. Never thought of doing a Durian Goreng the way we do Pisang Goreng or Cempedak Goreng. It is so elementary and we missed it, until one of my male cousins in Melaka sent some some Durian Goreng to our house and we couldn't have enough!

Not recommended for those watching their cholestrol levels though! Maybe just one ketul.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Kerabu Ikan Sembilang (Catfish Salad)

Kerabu Ikan Sembilang (Catfish Salad)

Ingredients:

1 kg ( about 5-6) live catfish ( from Pasar Tani or better still home reared if you have a pond)
1 cup thick santan(coconut milk from 1 coconut)
10 shallots, sliced finely
4 pips garlic, sliced finely
5 cili padi, sliced finely
2 red cilis, sliced finely
5 limau kesturi ( separate pips from juice, and slice skin finely)
Half teaspoon black pepper
pinch of salt


Method:
1. If possible grill catfish over live coal fire asap after you knock them out and have them cleaned
2. When skin of fish turns crispy and flesh is cooked, remove from fire
3. Pound fish in a "Lesong" to lightly smash it but please retain their fish shape
4. Remove and arrange on a flat dish.
5. Pound lightly all the finely sliced ingredients and black pepper
6. Sprinkle pounded ingredients over the fish in the serving dish
7. Pour thick santan ( to which salt has been added according to taste)
8. Sprinkle the juice from the limau kesturi onto the serving

9. Serve ( for 4 people, with 2 left over for "seconds" by fast eaters)


Tips: Best enjoyed hot and fresh from the fire to the pounder to the table. This is my late Mum's recipe and so far I have not tasted anything better than the one we had at home. I was surprised to find a similar dish in Tahiti (on the island of Moorea) where their fish salad made use of almost the same ingredients, except for the limau kesturi. They had used lemons imported from Australia. But they did not use catfish, it was Marlin and they had used small pieces of fillet smothered in coconut milk and lemon juice. The fish was fresh and raw. It was tasty, rather like sashimi drowned in a concoction of santan and lime. Still delicious but not quite as exquisite as the Kerabu Ikan Sembilang I am accustomed to. I will try to include an illustration later.