Over here in Singapore, we are really spoilt with a wide array of international cuisines. Just look at our very own home-grown multi-racial fare, it is already quite an impressive spread of mouth-watering delights. Take for example the Chinese food here. I could easily enjoy cuisines from various dialect groups such as Teochew, Hainanese and Cantonese. If I’m bored with these, I can switch over to Malay or Indian food any time. And there is also the Peranakan food, a fusion of Chinese and Malay cooking, which I can happily divert to.
One of my favourite Malay dishes is sambal goreng (meaning: chilli stir-fry something). Surely the name doesn’t lift an eyebrow but oh the flavours! This is a protein- and calcium-packed powerhouse, not to mention the telling fire-power from chilli itself. Below is a glimpse of the nutritional value of the main ingredients (by bulk) of this dish:
Long beans: a vegetable rich in protein and calcium
Firm tofu (‘tau kua’): coagulated soy milk rich in protein and calcium – yep
Tempeh (fermented whole soy beans into cake form): fermented soy product rich in protein and calcium – need I say more?
Fresh prawns: seafood rich in protein, selenium, vitamin D and low in calories – raise your hands if you already like this dish!
Just the other day, I decided to pluck up some courage to ask the mak cik* selling Malay rice dishes at my workplace for her sambal goreng recipe. And she so generously did. Thank you, mak cik!
Recipe for Sambal Goreng
Ingredients:
- red chilli – 1 big, deseeded if you wish to reduce spiciness
- onion – 1 big, peeled and quartered
- garlic – 2 cloves, peeled
- lemon grass – 1 stalk, cut off the very bottom bit and top part leaving 7-8 cm of the bottom portion. Peel away any outer layer that is dirty. Chop into 2-3 parts.
- belacan – 1/4 tsp
- tomato paste / sauce – 1 tbsp
- sugar – ¾ tbsp
- salt – ½ tsp
- long beans – 4 stalks, cut into 1-inch lengths
- prawns – 6 medium, shelled and deveined, each divided into 3 chunks
- firm tofu (tau kua) – 1 block, cut into 1-cm cubes (buy freshly made ones at any wet market or Sheng Siong if you can)
- tempeh – 1 piece, cut into small cubes
- vegetable oil
- water
Method:
1) Blend the first 4 ingredients with some water to form a chilli paste.
2) Heat up some vegetable oil in a heated non-stick pan and fry tofu and tempeh cubes. Stir every now and then to ensure all the sides of the cubes are lightly fried. Remove from pan and set aside.
3) Add 1 tbsp oil and stir fry the chilli paste until fragrant. Add belacan, tomato paste, sugar and salt and stir to combine well.
4) Add long beans and stir fry in the chilli paste until cooked. You might want to add some water to aid in the cooking of beans. The water will evaporate after a while.
5) Add prawns, the fried tofu and tempeh cubes to the long beans and stir to combine well. Once the prawns are cooked, dish up and serve with steamed white rice. Sedap**!
*A respectful way of addressing an elder woman in Malay, just like the way we call any elder woman as ‘auntie’ here.
**Delicious in Malay.
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