Rawon – Indonesian Black Nut Stewed Beef
Rawon is a classic East Javanese dish which either you’re gonna love or loathe. It extracts its unique flavours from the use of the “Indonesian black nut” commonly known as “buah keluak” or “kluwak/kluwek“, or more scientifically Pangium edule. In Singapore and Malaysia, buah keluak is better known as part of a signature dish in Peranakan cuisine “Ayam Buah Keluak” to which it lends its name. In fact, the recipes are so similar that I would like to think that one is necessarily evolved from the other! So if you love Ayam Buah Keluak and like to give it a little twist by using beef instead of chicken, Rawon is definitely the dish for you.
Bovril Oxtail Red Wine Stew
Oxtail is a beautiful cut of meat from a steer’s tail, a well exercised muscle marbled with fat. Imagine the periodic pendulum-like swaying of the tail as a fly swat day in and out as the animal chews and grazes in an uttermost nonchalant manner and you’ll know what I mean. The segments are vertebrae so they have lots of iron-rich marrow as well. As with most tough cuts like shank and brisket, oxtail are best slow cooked for several hours. So here’s a really simple recipe that just takes a couple of minutes to prepare, a few hours ahead of meal time and dinner can be served almost effortlessly.
Rendang Tok Perak
The last installment of Malaysia Food Fest (MFF) brings us to Perak and it is just in time for Eid al-Fitr. After a long month of Ramadan, it is time for our Muslim friends to break fast and celebrate during what is more commonly known as “Hari Raya Puasa” over here in Malaysia and Singapore. One of the absolute must-haves for Hari Raya celebration is a spicy beef stew which originated from Indonesia called “Rendang“. I’d cooked Rendang Daging Rembau earlier this year for Negeri Sembilan but rendang cooking has a long withstanding tradition in Malaysia and has since evolved and developed so many varieties, with almost every state having their own unique variation. So it comes as no surprise that Perak too has its own “special” rendang and rightfully so as it is very famous, enjoyed by not only the Perakians but also visitors to the state. “Rendang Tok” as it is known, with “Tok” to mean royalty, this delicious rendang is literally food befitting the kings!
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一个人的午餐 – 牛肉濑粉 Beef Noodles
Woke up real late yesterday and missed the marketing hours of our local morning bazaar which is colloquialised as “pasar”. Not wanting to “succumb” to instant noodles, I prepared “instant” beef noodles with the beef brisket I braised couple of days back and some ingredients I had at home. Simple fanfare with a few ingredients for that extra touch! The gratification was instant as well oh yeah!
柱侯萝卜焖牛腩 Braised Beef Brisket with Daikon
柱侯萝卜焖牛腩 Braised Beef Brisket with Daikon in Chu Hou Sauce is one of my favorite dishes from the 粤菜系 Cantonese cuisine. It is a must-order for me whenever I visit chinese restaurants, be it Hong Kong cafes, or traditional Cantonese restaurants. Succulent beef brisket, beef tendon and daikon braised to perfection, drawing in all the flavours from the condiments and spices added, making it a rare treat for me. And the sauce is simply out of this world, especially when left to mature overnight for the flavours to fully develop! Give me a bowl of the sauce and I could polish off 3 bowls of rice with it! Unfortunately not every Cantonese restaurant offers this, owing to the long cooking time required, and for those which do have it on their menu, not all of them do it well. Yes, it is a time-consuming dish to prepare but reassure that it is well worth the effort! Braise a huge pot of it, which is usually what I do, and it would keep me happy for days at ends!
This is going to be a long post given the long ingredients list and cooking method. So please bear with me as the details cannot be spared!
