Mama J's Bakso

Yes, its Mama J's Bakso. Mama J or Kakak is my sister in law's (Lin) eldest sister. My children and her nephews and nieces call her Mama J because she use to live in PJ, I call her Kakak. Kakak is like Lin's family's guardian angel as her mom passed away when she was very little. Since she takes care of the family, so does the family's tummies and ours too...Her food is briiliant!

I decided to prepare Bakso last Saturday after reading Eating Asia blog which featured "Not so rubbery bakso", looks very appetising. I got the meatballs (ready to be cooked) from Pasar Tani Melawati. Kakak says if you are in Ulu Langat, where she now lives, you can get the meatballs from AA Minimarket.

So, here's Bakso, adaptation from Ngaini, Lin's previous Indonesian maid...

Ingredients
1 kg meatballs
2 tsp white peppercorns, mildly roasted
2 tsp corriander, mildly roasted
10 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
4 tbsp oil
1 litre water
salt to taste
choice of rice, yellow noodle or rice vermicelli
choice of bak choi, cabbage, beansprout, carrots, soaked in boiling water, to garnish
spring onion
caramelised onion

Method
1. Mill roasted white pepper and corriander. Pound or blend garlic and ginger adding the milled white pepper and corriander.

2.Heat oil, fry 1 above until fragrant.

3.Add water, leave to boil and add in meat balls. Add salt to taste.

4. Serve with rice or yellow noodles or rice vermicelli, garnish with vegetables of choice, spring onion and caramelised onion. If you like add a dash of soya sauce and chilly sauce,hmmmm brilliant! Love it.

My Mom-in-law's Assam Pedas

Hi everyone. In the last posting, the reference himalayan sea salt should actually be himalayan rock salt! Hiya, dont know tt there exist a sea on top of the himalayas!!

Now I'd like to share the recipe that I will never forget. Took me a while to master this, ever since I was dating.... ye ke? my husband. Anyway, how my mom prepares this dish is totally different from how my my mom-in-law does it. And for the Johorean (the southern state of the peninsular), assam pedas is like curry in Kedah(the norther part of the peninsular), they have it every day! My father-in-laws obsession with assam pedas in that he has it with rice for lunch, with bread for dinner and cream crackers for tea or breakfast. Now, my daughter Khadijah has it with bread and Yusof likes it with cream crackers.

I dare not improvise this recipe, choi! So, here's assam pedas muar....

Ingredients

20-25 dried chillies, deseed, soaked or boiled
(I also like to add about 5 fresh chillies, to give a "fresher" taste to the gravy)
10-15 shallots (or 2 large red onion)
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 inch ginger
1 1/2 inch fresh turmeric
1 teaspoon belacan(dried shrimp paste, the maggie belacan granules is equally good)
2 tbsp tamarind paste, add with water to dilute
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 bunga kantan (torch ginger), sliced or quartered
5 stalks daun kesum (polygunom leaves)
3 cups water
2 pieces parang/ jenahak/red snapper/pomfret fillet

Method

1. Blend dried chillies, fresh chillies, shallots, ginger, garlic and belacan with a bit of water to form a paste.

2. Heat oil, fry the assam pedas paste on a slow medium fire until fragrant. Add tamarind paste.

3. Add water, leave to boil.

4. Add fish fillet, torch ginger and daun kesum.

5. Add salt to taste.

I have tried cooking ikan pari (stingray), and adding a few dash of black pepper milled into the paste, to get rid of the "fishy" smell from the fish. My mom loves adding tomatoes and/or ladies fingers into her assam pedas. I have never tried that, before. However, yesterday whilst having dinner at "Cable Car" in Jaya Supermarket in PJ, I notice that in their assam pedas was red bell peppers, ladies fingers and tomatoes, and the assam pedas is more of a "Nyonya" style. Try the recipe and tell me waht it is like.

Shilla, I'll give you the crab curry recipe later. Better still, when I make it , I'll pass over to your house!