Cheryl's Top 5 Malaysian Recipes

Hi folks! A bit of background to this post. My friend Cheryl is a wonderful cook – consistently whipping up an array of yummy Malaysian specialties. AND, being Cheryl’s neighbour has its benefits, as I’ve been privy to some really authentic & scrumptious home-style Malaysian cooking. Upon my incessant prodding, Cheryl has kindly contributed and shared with us her Top 5 mouth-watering recipes. WOK not included! Enjoy! :)

1. Cheryl’s kung pow prawn (serves 2)
*Best served with rice

Ingredients:

12 large prawns (de-shell, de-vein & leave the tail on)

10 dried chillies

4cm length x 2cm width fresh ginger, finely sliced

8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1/3 bunch of spring onions (cut into 5 cm long strips)

4 tbsp of dark soy sauce

4 tbsp of oyster sauce

5 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tbsp of raw sugar
Few stalks of coriander

* Ingredients are a rough guide and can be adjusted to taste. Alternatively, you can substitute prawns with chicken.

Steps:

1. Pour half a cup of peanut/sunflower oil into heated wok

2. Once oil is heated, fry ginger & dried chillies till lightly brown, then add garlic and fry till crisp and brown

3. Add onion & sauté for a minute

4. Stir in prawns and cook for a couple of minutes (prawns); or cook for 5-6 minutes (chicken)

5. Then add oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce & sugar

6. Finally, add the spring onions & fry for another minute before serving
7. Garnish with coriander

This is my opinion is Cheryl’s signature dish – a truly authentic full-flavoured Malaysian specialty.












2. Cheryl’s home-style fried rice (serves 2)



Ingredients:

11/2 cups of cooked rice (for best results, leave cooked rice in the fridge overnight)

4 finely julienned fresh ginger slices (3cm lengths)

1 cup of finely chopped spring onions

2 strips of short cut bacon (diced into 1cm squares)

Half a cup of frozen peas & corns

2 eggs

3 tbsp of sesame oil (or more for those who love the sesame oil flavour)

2 tbsp of peanut/sunflower oil



* Ingredients are a rough guide and can be adjusted to taste



Steps:
1. Fry diced bacon in a heated wok with a teaspoon of oil till it’s cooked. Take it out from the wok & put it aside for later use.
2. Pour the sesame & peanut oil into the heated wok.
3. Once the oil is heated, add ginger into the wok and fry till lightly brown.
4. Loosen the cooked rice, add it into the wok & fry it for 2 minutes.
5. Add peas & corns & stir it into the rice for another minute.
6. Using your spatula, form a hole in the middle of the rice, add eggs into the hole, leave it for a minute before mixing it with the rice & stir fry the rice for another couple of minutes.
7. Then add spring onion & cooked bacon (from Step 1) and fry till the spring onion is cooked.
8. Finally, add salt & pepper to taste before serving it onto a plate.

You will find that the flavour from the bacon, ginger and sesame oil will permeate this dish, resulting in delicious home-style fried rice not unlike your mom’s. You can serve the rice in lettuce “bowls” like a san choy bao or add chilli oil for a more spicy flavour.










3. Malaysian style stir fried Hokkien Noodles (serves 4)



Ingredients:

2 rashes of bacon, cut the fat & dice it into 1cm squares, leaving the lean meat aside

7 to 8 groves of garlic, finely diced

Palm sized pork loin (thinly sliced, then marinated for 30 mins with 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper & a dash of flour
)
6 to 8 stalks of choy sum, broken into 5cm lengths (separate the leaves from the stalks)

500g of Hokkien noodles (soak in hot water for 10 mins to loosen the noodles, then drain)

8 prawns (de-shell, de-vein & leave the tail on)
Half a cup of hot water

4 tbsp of dark soy sauce

4 tbsp of oyster sauce

4 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tbsp of raw sugar

6 tbsp of peanut/sunflower oil
Several stalks of coriander leaves



* Ingredients are a rough guide and can be adjusted to taste



Steps:

1. Fry prawns with 1 tbsp of oil till cooked, remove from wok & set aside for later use.
2. Add a tbsp of oil into heated wok.

3. Once the oil is heated, fry bacon fat till brown.

4. Add garlic in & fry till lightly browned.

5. Then add in pork & fry for 2 minutes.

6. Add noodles followed by water, stirring for a few minutes.

7. Add in all the sauces & stir well.

8. Add choy sum stalks, frying for a minute before adding the choy sum leaves for half a minute.

9. Garnish with coriander and serve

These hokkien noodles pack up a punchy mix of sweet, savoury and spicy flavours.

4. Cheryl’s soup noodles (serves 2)



Ingredients:

6 to 7 dried shitake mushrooms (Soak them in a bowl of hot water for 4 to 5 hours, then slice them up into half a cm thick slivers)

Palm sized pork loin (Thinly sliced, then marinated with 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper & a dash of flour. Leave it for 30 mins. Alternatively, you can replace it with beef balls)

3 shallot onions (Thinly sliced)

4 to 5 gloves of garlic (Finely chopped)

6 to 8 stalks of choy sum (also known as Chinese flowering bak choy or Chinese flowering cabbage), break the stalks into 5cm lengths, separating the leaves from the stalks)

1 tbsp of chicken stock powder

1 pack of Vermicelli noodles or any type of noodles (Soak noodles in hot water for 3 to 4 mins then drain it)(Cheryl’s favourite vermicelli noodles is the Kong Moon brand - with yellow & red packaging)

4 tbsp of peanut/sunflower oil



* Ingredients are a rough guide and can be adjusted to taste


Steps:

1. Add oil in a heated wok, once oil is heated, add shallots & fry for a minute, then add garlic.
2. Once both shallots & garlic are browned, remove from wok & set aside for later use.

3. Add 1 litre of hot water into the wok, add chicken stock powder, mushrooms & meat, and simmer for 10 mins.

4. Add choy sum stalks, followed by noodles, and leave it for a minute before adding in the choy sum leaves.

5. Add salt & pepper to taste, as well as the fried shallot & garlic (from step 1), and the soup noodles are ready to be served.

For those who enjoy chilli, add a dash of Sriracha chilli sauce or fresh red cut chillies to the soup for an extra kick!


5. Cheryl’s white radish soup (serves 6)



Ingredients:

2 white radish, cut into 2cm lengths, then halved or quartered

600g of pork ribs

10 red dates

1 cup of goji berries (soak for few mins in warm water with red dates before draining)

2 dried cuttle fish (soak for few mins in warm water before draining – you can leave this out if you don't like the cuttle fish taste but we find it makes the soup sweeter)


Steps:

1. Place the pork ribs in 1 litre of water in a big pot for 5 mins then drain the water out.

2. Add 2 litres of hot water into the pot & bring it to boil.

3. Add all other ingredients in & simmer it for 2 to 3 hours (the longer the better).

4. Season with salt & pepper before serving.

Simple but oh so delicious – this soup will warm you up this winter.