Pepes Udang (Spicy Prawns Grilled in Banana Leaves)

Pepes is an Indonesian food usually wrapped in banana leaves. There are a number of different pepes, depending on the ingredients and spices used. "Udang" means prawns in Indonesian. So, pepes udang is spicy prawns grilled in banana leaves. I used foil wraps and my pepes still tastes as good as those I had in my hometown.

I remember the times when our family enjoyed a variety of pepes served with veggies and steamed rice. It was so delicious and our tongues were crazily burnt because of the chillies. I recently made pepes using my mum's recipe. Surprise surprise... my hands were burning since it took me a while to wrap the prawns. Oh boy!! It wasn't comfortable to have burning hands for several hours.

I made two recipes for pepes sauce and kept some in the freezer.  This would save me so much time to prepare pepes next time. As long as the sauce is kept in an airtight container, your pepes will taste as good as the first batch.

Ingredients (for 6 pepes):

• 42 raw prawns (peel and de-vein)
• 16 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 tomatoes
• 8 big red chillies
• 10 small red chillies
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 big red onion
• 5 candle nuts (fried first)
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tbs sugar
• a pinch of white pepper

Preparations:
Fry candle nuts with some oil until they turn golden brown.

Chop chillies, tomatoes, red onions and garlic into smaller pieces.

Process chopped ingredients, fried candle nuts and 4 kaffir lime leaves using a juicer. They should turn to a smooth pepes sauce.

Pan-fry the sauce until it turns to a thick sauce. Add salt, sugar and a pinch of white pepper.

Combine the prawns with pepes sauce well. Add 7 prawns + 2 kaffir lime leaves in each wrap.

Steam each wrap for 20 mins and put in the oven for 15 mins. Pepes is now ready to serve.
If pepes is still a bit wet, remove the foil wrap and put in the oven for another 5-15 mins.

Wonton Noodle Soup

I made wonton noodle soup to celebrate Chinese New Year last weekend. It was a long process as I tend to make 80-100 wontons in one go and freeze them in small containers (10 wontons/pack). These supplies will be very useful during busy days when I don't have time to cook or not in the mood of cooking. I usually feel so exhausted after wrapping 80-100 wontons but it is worthwhile to do so.

People add different ingredients in their wontons. Mine has minced pork, prawn, shiitake mushroom, garlic, spring onions and coriander. This is my mum's version. Very simple and tasty!

Ingredients (for 80-100 wontons):

• 500 gr minced pork
• 500 gr prawns
• 15 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked in water overnight)
• 5 cloves of garlic
• half bunch spring onions (cut thinly)
• half bunch coriander (cut thinly)
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp white pepper
• 1tbs sesame oil
• 1 tbs tapioca starch
• 2 packs of wonton skins 

 Noodle soup (for 2 people):

• half pack of egg noodle
• 1 tsp hondashi powder
• 2 cups of water
• 5 tbs chicken stock
• salt and pepper (based on taste)

Preparations:
Peel and de-vein prawns. Wash and drain them. Cut into small segments (1 cm long).

 

Put garlic and shiitake mushrooms into food processor. Process until they are cut into small pieces.

Add all ingredients together (except wonton skins). Mix well.

  

Add 1 tsp of wonton filling in the centre of wonton skin. Wet with small amount of water along the edges and fold into a triangle. Wet two triangle corners and meet them together (as shown in the picture).

 

Boil egg noodle based on instructions given on packet. Serve noodle in the bowl and garnish with spring onion and coriander leaves.

 

Boil wonton for 7 mins with a small amount of oil added to it. Drain and wash with cold water quickly to prevent wonton sticking together.

 

Prepare the noodle soup. Add any green veggies once the soup is boiling. Finally, wonton noodle soup is now ready to serve!

Steamed Scallops on Shell

This is Thu's most favourite dish. When I asked him what food he would like to have on his birthday, he answered "Scallops on shell, please". We specifically went to Hurstville to buy these scallops. They are reasonably cheap ($12.99/dozen) compared to the restaurant price ($3.50/shell). It is very easy to prepare as I used microwave to steam the scallops. Only took 2 minutes for 10 shells on a plate. 

My coriander plant is also ready to be used for garnishing. I planted the seeds early December and they grew pretty quickly on the kitchen windowsill. We had our first taste of home-grown coriander on this dish! Here is a picture of my coriander plant sitting next to the window.

Ingredients:

• shallots (cut into fine strips and put them in cold water to curl)
• ginger (cut into tiny strips)
• coriander leaves (chopped thinly)
  
• 12 scallops on shell (washed and arranged on a plate)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 6 tbs Lee Kum Kee seasoned soy sauce for seafood
• 6 tbs water

Preparations:
Cut shallot into fine strips and soak in cold water for 10 minutes or until they curl.

Fry the ginger on a saucepan with olive and sesame oil until they turn slightly golden. Add seasoned soy sauce and water. Mix well.

Spoon the sauce over the scallops arranged on the plate (I used ginger for the aroma and left them behind). Add curled shallots over the scallops. Microwave with a lid for 2 minutes. Do not overcook scallops as they will turn hard. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Ready to serve!

Spicy Calamari Salad

It's summer time here in Sydney. My indoor plants start showing some flowers. Very exciting! I really doubted that they would flower this year as I haven't done much except water them when they look a bit floppy.
As summer can be very challenging for me to stay in the kitchen, I tend to prepare salad more often. So, I recently came up with the idea of spicy calamari salad. Thu and I really like it and will definitely prepare this for all the chilli lovers that we know. The recipe below is for 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 3 pieces of calamari tubes (cut into squares)
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 bird's eye chillies (finely chopped)
  
• 2 garlic gloves (finely chopped)
  
• 4 tsp kecap manis
• 4 tbs olive oil
• a pinch of salt
• freshly ground peppercorns
• mixed salad (baby spinach, mixed lettuces, and rocket leaves)
  
• grape tomatoes
• a handful of toasted almond flakes and pumpkin seeds

Marinating Sauce for Calamari:

• 2 tbs olive oil
  
• 2 bird's eye chillies (finely chopped)
  
• 2 garlic gloves (finely chopped)
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of half lemon
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tsp kecap manis

Salad dressing:

• 2 tbs tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp kecap manis
• juice of half lemon
  
• a pinch of salt
• freshly ground peppercorns

Preparations:

1. Wash calamari tubes and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into medium-sized squares and marinate overnight with marinating sauce.
   
2. Pan fry the calamari squares (3 mins each side) on a hot pan without any additional oil. Do not overcook the calamari. In the same time, start toasting the almond flakes and pumpkin seeds until they turn slightly brown (my mini oven does this for 5 mins).
3. Wash the salad and grape tomatoes with salad spinner. Add cooked calamari, toasted seeds and salad dressing to each bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls (Banh Trang)

During the first visit of my mother in law to our place in Sydney, I specifically asked her to show me how to prepare banh trang. It is not difficult and the sauce is the key ingredient in this dish. Thu and I slightly modified the recipe based on our preference of omelette, chicken rather than pork, and we add extra lemon and roasted peanuts to the sauce.

This is our signature dish when we invite friends to come over. As I am Indonesian and Thu is Vietnamese, I love to introduce this dish to my Indonesian friends. They always had fun make their own spring rolls on the dining table. If you have some guests over to your place during spring/summer and want to have a healthy dish. I suggest you to try this. I guarantee you'll be the star!!

Salad Ingredients:

• half chicken breast fillet 
• 15 green prawns
  
• 2 eggs
  
• a handful of bean sprouts
• a range of Vietnamese herbs (Vietnamese basil, Vietnamese garlic chives, mint leaves)
• Lettuce
• 1 pack of dongguan rice vermicelli
• 1 pack of banh trang rice paper (round shape)
  
• 1 big bowl of boiling water
  

Sauce Ingredients:

• 5 tbs Tung Chun brand hoisin sauce
• 2 tbs white sugar
• 2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 0.5 cup chicken broth from the boiled chicken breast
• 2 tbs roasted granulated peanuts (buy granulated peanuts from any supermarkets and place them in the oven for 3 mins or until slightly golden)

Preparation:

1. Boil the chicken breast fillet with water in a small pot. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. When the chicken is cooked, take it out to cool. Run the chicken broth through a filter and use 0.5 cup of the broth for the sauce. Cut chicken breast fillet into thin strips (about 3cm x 6cm).
   
2. Remove the prawn shells and cut sideways in half. Pan fry the prawns with a small amount of olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground blackpepper.
3. Using 2 eggs to make a thin omelette. Cut into strips.
4. Wash all the vegetables. Cut lettuce in half so that they can fit nicely in the spring rolls. Separate herb leaves on the plate as some guests may not like certain type of herbs.
5. Boil vermicilli in hot water for 5-7 mins, wash with cold water for 30 sec, then drain for 20 mins.
6. Once the sauce is made, put 4 tbs of sauce into a number of small bowls based on how many people you are serving.
   
7. When the salad and sauce are ready, boil water using kettle. Transfer the hot water into a big bowl and locate it in the center of the dining table so that everyone can use it for their rice papers.
   
8. Dip the rice paper in hot water. Place it on your plate. Add a small amount of vermicelli, 2 strips of chicken/2 pieces of prawn, 1 or 2 pieces of omelette and different herbs. 
9. Roll the rice paper with all ingredients into a spring roll shape. Eat it with the sauce.
   

Vietnamese Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua Ca)

 I firstly had this Vietnamese dish in one of the restaurants in Footscray, Melbourne. I love the taste of pineapple and tamarind in the soup. I tried the recipe from "Wandering Chopsticks" cooking blog and it is very authentic. Just make sure that you have to go to Vietnamese grocery store to buy all the herbs before you cook this dish. I usually go to Marrickville and can easily find everything there.



I have had so many funny experiences when I tried to ask for some herbs in Vietnamese language and the shopkeepers looked blankly at my face. Thu just couldn't stop laughing at my 'go' for Vietnamese!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized barramudi fish (cut into 4-5 pieces)

• 3 pieces of celery stems or bac ha (sliced on the diagonal)

• 3 stalks lemongrass (bruised and cut to several pieces)

• 2 tomatoes (cut into medium-sized pieces)

• 1 handful of bean sprouts

• 1 can of pineapple slices (drain)

• 10 okra pods (cut each into 3 pieces)

• 1 clove garlic (crushed)

• a small bunch of rau ram (Vietnamese spiky coriander) (cut thinly)
  

• a small bunch of ngo om (Vietnamese rice paddy herb) (cut thinly)
  

• 0.5 pack of tamarind soup base (Knorr)

• 2 tbs fish sauce

• 2 cups of water

• 2 tbs lemon juice
  

• salt (based on taste)
  

• pepper (based on taste)
  

Preparation:

1. Add a small amount of oil to your pot. Stir-fry the garlic and lemon grass until fragrant.
2. Add water to the pot. Then add the tamarind soup base powder, fish sauce, salt, pepper, celery, pineapple and tomatoes.
3. Wait until the soup is boiling, add the fish pieces to the soup.
4. When the soup is boiling for the second time, add okra pods, rau ram, ngo om, beansprout and lemon juice. 
5. Taste it before serving, see if the sourness is balanced in the soup. If not, add more salt/fish sauce.
   

Red Salmon with Caramelised Shallot and Chilli

A very delicious dish! It reminds me of my mum's cooking although her version is not exactly the same. It is worthwhile to prepare this dish in the weekend. This dish takes a bit of time to prepare. It needs your patience for cutting the spring onion, shallot, and chillies thinly. You will need to take a break in between as your eyes will be teary when cutting them.

You also need low heat for pan-frying the fish so it will turn out nicely. High-heat will cause your salmon fillet to be overcooked. The result for this dish will make you feel like "I am a cool chef!" Hahaha... That's what I always think everytime I make a great dish.

Ingredients:

•  1 atlantic salmon fillet (boneless) cut into two pieces
• 1 bunch spring onions (cut diagonally)
• 6 shallots (cut thinly)
• 3 birds eye chillies (cut thinly)
• 3 tbs Seasoned soy sauce for seafood (Lee Kum Kee)
• 5 tbs water
• a pinch of pepper
• olive oil (approx. 5 tbs, for pan-frying)

Preparation:

1. Pan-fry the salmon with olive oil (the skin side facing the pan surface first). Leave for 10 mins in low heat. Cover your pan with the lid so that the oil won't spread all over your kitchen.
2. Turn the salmon fillet to another side and pan-fry for another 10 mins (until golden and slightly crispy).
3. Take the salmon fillets out and add the sliced spring onion, shallot, chillies, pepper, soy sauce, and water to the pan. Stir-fry until they are caramelised.
4. Add the fried salmon fillets in until the sauce is slightly absorbed.