Food Praxis #4-Asian Cuisine (Malaysia)
#1: Research and inquiry about a course/meal:
Researching and looking up recipes was extremely difficult when it came to finding authentic Malaysian
dishes. I had a hard time identify specific ingredients and the measurements were not in tablespoons or cups but rather in grams. I honeslty was'nt looking for a certain dish, I simply just chose the first recipes that I could understand and that I could imagine making. There were so many dishes that looked and sounded delicious but most contained unidentifiable ingredients or ingredients I knew I couldn't get from Price Chopper or Shaws. I finally decided to make Soto Ayam (a chicken soup), Nasi Goreng Pattaya (an omlet-like dish), snap peas (which I could get from our garden) and Teh Tarik (a Malaysian Tea).
RECIPES:
1. Teh Tarik (Tea-Dessert)
Teh Tarik which literally means 'Pulled Tea' in English is a very popular drink in Malaysia. The reason why it is called teh tarik is because the drink is achieved by 'pulling' the tea from a big container into another until it is foamy and frosty (see picture). Once the tea is mixed, one has to pour the tea, from as high as possible, and put it into another glass. This has to be done a few times until you find the desired texture. The process of pulling and pouring will eventually make the tea frosty and foamy,hence the name teh tarik. Tarik, means pull in English and Teh is simply tea.
Teh tarik must be mixed with milk, or it will not be called teh tarik. The trademark of teh tarik is, it is served in a clear glass instead of a cup. The rich taste of the tea and milk definitely meet one's satisfaction. It is widely found in almost any restaurant in Malaysia, and if you happen to be away from this country, here is a recipe for you to try at home.
Teh Tarik
4 tbsp powdered tea (any type)
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp condensed milk
boiling water
Methods
1. Put 4 tbsp of powdered tea into a large glass or cup. Add hot water (exactly after you boil it) and leave the tea to mix for about five minutes.
2. Sieve and transfer the tea into another glass. Add sugar and milk. Stir well.
3. Take two big glasses, and start pouring the tea from one glass to the other, ensuring that you pull it from as high as you can.
4. Stop when you have achieved the desired foamy texture.
*Serve 1
Note: Make sure the tea is as thick as possible if you want to achieve the best result. Too little tea will not produce the desired taste and will be too plain and bland.
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2. Nasi Goreng Pattaya (Omlet/Rice Like Dish)
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of boiled rice
1 slice of chicken breast (cut into small pieces)
5 cloves of shallot (finely chopped)
3-4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 capsicum (cut into small pieces)
1 carrot (cut into small pieces)
3 eggs
Some cooking oil
Salt to taste
HOW TO:
Step one (Fried Rice): Heat the oil and fry shallots and garlic until fragrant. Then add chicken and continue frying about 2 minutes. Add carrot and capsicum continues frying for about 3 minutes. Add one egg and stir well. Finally add rice and some salt. Continue to stir until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Step two (Omelet Wrap): Whisk 2 eggs with a bit of salt. Heat some oil into a frying pan. Add the whisked eggs to make omelet. Once ready put a cup of fried rice at the center of the omelet and wrap it up.
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3. Soto Ayam (Chicken Soup)
Ingredients
1 cup onions, chop coarsely
3 cloves garlic, chop finely
2 tbsp. ginger
1 tbsp. macadamia nuts, chop finely
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. chili paste
Chicken
6 cups water
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 cups noodles, cooked
2 cups bean sprouts
Oil for frying
2 eggs, hard boiled and cut into wedges
½ fried shallots, for garnishing
Directions
Heat oil in wok and fry onions, garlic and ginger until onions are transparent. Add macadamia nuts, ground coriander and chili paste. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Add chicken parts and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add water, bring to boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove chicken parts. Strain stock and return to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place noodles, bean sprouts and chicken meat in bowl and pour soup over. Garnish with fried shallots and eggs. Serve hot. Serves 4 bowls.
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4. Snap Peas (Vegetable)
Split peas
Water
Steam and serve.
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#2: Gathering/hunting/harvesting:
Gathering up ingredients for my meal wasn't too hard because I chose to substitute and swap a lot of things. For example my Teh Tarik recipe called for powdered tea and condensed milk. I didn't want to buy these ingredients because the recipe only called for a small amount of each. So for the powdered tea I simple used tea from cut open tea bags and regular milk. For my soup recipe it called for macadamia nuts, Christine had some slivered almonds left over from her recipe so I used that as a substitute as well. The major issue I faced was the "capsicum" pepper. I "Googled" it to get a better definition and it said it was a type of chili pepper so I thought I wouldn't have any problems when it came to finding one in the produce section. Boy I was SO wrong. When I got to the pepper section of the produce display I came face-to-face with good 15 different options of peppers, green, orange, red, hot, mild, hot to mild. It was crazy! I finally just chose a pepper that I thought looked like a chili pepper and left. (Only cost me 3 cents!!)
#3: Processing and preparation:
The preparation and cooking for this specific praxis was very difficult, frustrating and even dangerous at times. I started off making the tea first, thinking it would be a nice little introduction to my cuisine and a nice little something to sip on while I was cooking. This recipe was definately my favorite because I got to improvise a lot, creating my own strainer and "pulling" the tea (see YouTube video below). It was easy to make and tasted very good, Christine and Dad thought so too which was great to hear and gave me confidence for the rest of my meal. Well as it turned out I needed a lot more than confidence when it came to my two other recipes. They both required a lot of pots and pans and I soon became very frustrated with my lack of stove space and the chaos my kitchen so became. I burned my left hand and then followed it up with cutting my thumb reaching for a knife in the silverware drawer. But once I started actually assembling my dishes, putting the finishing touches on my soup and folding my rice omlet I became very proud of my meal.
#4: Consumption:
It not only looked very pretty and professional, it also tasted great! Everything came out so delicious. The soup was very good, all the ingredients accented eachother, the warm broth, the soft noodles, the crunchy bean sprouts and the flavored chicken with its ginger, garlic and onions. And the hard boiled egg added some color as well. The snap peas accented the omlet/rice dish which was also very colorful due to the shallots and carrots. Overall the meal was very aesthetically pleasing, tasted great and came together to make a very unique meal. I'm very proud of it!
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Teh Tarik Photos:
Blended black teas, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, and ginger
My altered/improvised ingredients and tools.
Left: Boiling water and tea. Right: Strainer contraption to strain the loose tea.
It worked! My paper towel strainer captured all of the loose tea!
People always talk about reading tea leaves, so I thought I'd try.
Does anyone see the whale with his tail up shooting water out of his blow hole? :-P
Click to view
Dad, Christine and I each had a cup of Teh Tarik.
We all thought it was very yummy!
Christine and her cat, Stinker enjoying my tea and the nice weather outside.
Snap Peas Photo:
Soto Ayam and Nasi Goreng Pattaya Photos:
Hard boiled eggs for garnishing on top of the soup.
Shallots for the omlet.
Onions for the soup.
Garlic for the omlet and soup.
Some random ingredients: (L to R) Coriander, Noodles, Oil, Ginger,
Bean Sprouts, Capsicum (pepper), Baby Corn and Green Chilis
(didn't use but considered) and garlic.
Noodles for my soup.
Chicken for my soup.
Basmati rice for the filling of my omlet.
Broth for my soup.
Noodles for my soup.
Chicken for my soup.
Carrot and capsicum pepper for my omlet.
Filling of my omlet (minus the rice).
Soto Ayam (broth, noodles, chicken, bean sprouts and hard boiled eggs as garnish.)
Snap peas (mixed with some green beans) and Nasi Goreng Pattaya.
