Grandma's Recipes

My family on my Dad's side is from Malaysia / Singapore.  The food is to die for.  We used to call my grandma "Mama;" I hope you enjoy her recipes as much as I do.  All of this food is best served with sambal belacan, a chili condiment consisting of chilies and belacan shrimp paste.  Please note, the food in the photo above was cooked by a good family friend, not by me.

Curry Chicken

Ingredients

·      Salt

·      ½ cup coconut milk

·      4-7 pieces of chicken (cut up)

·      Garlic, ground

·      Ginger, cut in strips

·      Shallots, sliced

·      Curry powder (~1/4 cup) made into paste with water

·      Cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom seeds

Directions

1.    Fry shallots until brown in oil

2.    Take aside

3.    Fry ginger, garlic & spices

4.    Add more oil, the shallots, curry paste & a little salt

5.    Cook 10 minutes until crispy & slightly brown

6.    Put in chicken & cook until done

7.    Add enough water to make a little gravy and cook until chicken is soft

8.    Add coconut milk and stir for 5-10 minutes

Pork Chops

Ingredients

·      4 small pieces pork

·      1 tsp dark soy sauce

·      3 Tbs light soy sauce

·      Pepper

·      Pinch 1 tsp sugar

·      Diced onions

·      1.5 cups Water

·      3 tsp Cornstarch

·      Cinnamon

·      Star anise

·      Cardamom seed

·      Cloves

Directions

1.    Fry onions & remove

2.    Season chops w/ sugar & pepper

3.    Fry chops w/ cinnamon, star anise, cardamom seed, and cloves until brown

4.    Remove the pork chops, but leave spices in the pan

5.    Make gravy by adding soy sauce, water & cornstarch (to taste)

6.    Pour gravy on pork chops (through a strainer to remove spices)

7.    Add onions to pork chops

Beehun

Ingredients

·      1/3 colander-full of Beehun (rice noodles)

·      Meat (shrimp, pork, chicken, fish ball, etc)

·      Soaked, dried mushrooms, sliced

·      Green veggies (not celery), esp. cabbage sliced

·      Egg-fried like omelet, sliced

·      Can add “anything”

·      Light soy sauce

·      Fried shallots

Directions

1.    Soak noodles in cold water until soft

2.    Drain

3.    Pun in bowl

4.    Pour in boiling water

5.    Soak 2 minutes

6.    Fry shallots

7.    Add meat and veggies (except leafy veggies) and cook

8.    Add soy sauce, water & dash of pepper and cook

9.    Add Beehun and cook

10.  Add fast cooking veggies

Chicken Soup

Ingredients

·      ½ whole chicken

·      Chicken broth cube

·      Fried shallots

·      Macaroni

·      Pepper

Directions

1.    Boil chicken cut up in big pieces w/ bones

2.    When cooked, debone & cut up meat

3.    Boil the bones 20 more minutes

4.    May add broth cube

5.    Pour over cooked macaroni, chicken & fried onions

6.    Add your own pepper

Fried Rice

Ingredients

·      Meat (shrimp-cut up, fish ball-cut up, pork-small pieces , chicken, Chinese sausage)

·      Cooked rice

·      Light soy sauce (to taste

·      Shallots

·      Veggies (peas)

·      Eggs

·      Garlic

Directions

1.    Fry shallots until brown

2.    Add meat

3.    Crack in an egg – fry part way

4.    Add cooked rice & fry

5.    Add soy sauce

6.    Put in veggies

Pro tip: My favorite dish is beef rendang, which unfortunately I do not know how to make from scratch; however, there are spice packets you can buy that make preparation of beef rendang very simple (my favorite is Prima Taste Rendang Curry Sauce Kit, they also have a pretty good chicken rice kit).