Nyonya Cincalok Omelette

Here's a dish which I would categorise as real, unpretentious, homecooked fare. It is simple. And cheap. And easy. AND so delicious. It's called Nyonya Cincalok Omelette and it's something you might want to consider whipping up as a light meal or as a side dish. That is, if you like stinky food in the first place. Me? I adore it!

Cincalok, belacan, hae ko, fish sauce ... you name it, I love it (although I draw the line at petai, sorry!).



When inSing featured this dish (contributed by Debbie Teoh, cookbook author and Nyonya food consultant for Tourism Malaysia), I was totally sold. After all, I am such an eggs person! :D Also, with the recent rainy weather, it looked like perfect comfort food to have with white porridge. Mmmm ...



Recipe
(from inSing)

Cincaluk or cincalok are made from fermented shrimps or “gerago” or “geragau”, as the locals call them. Found along the shores of Malacca, these shrimps are less commonly available today as more beaches are being reclaimed. One Nonya favourite using this shrimp paste is the cincaluk omelette, whose taste is fully enhanced with a squeeze of kalamansi lime.

Serves 4

Ingredients
- 5 to 6 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons Cincalok
- 3 grade A eggs
- 1 big onion, peeled and sliced
- 4 bird’s eye chilli, sliced (omit if you can't take the heat)
- 1 big red chilli sliced
- Pinch of ground white pepper
- Salt to taste (optional, I omitted because it was salty enough for me)

Garnishing:
- 2 kalamansi lime, squeezed over the omelette before serving (substitute with regular lime if you can't find kalamansi)

1. Heat oil in wok, sauté the chillies and big onions until fragrant.

2. Add the eggs and give it a stir before adding the Cincalok and cooking it over low to medium heat. Adjust seasonings to taste. Omit the salt if it’s already tasty enough.

3. Once the omelette starts to set, flip it over and brown the other side. I like my eggs to be slightly tender on the inside, so I don't cook for too long.

4. Remove from wok and serve omelette with steaming white rice. Squeeze the lime juice over the omelette and enjoy. I only used one half of the lime and I thought it was sufficient. My helper, on the other hand, preferred it without the lime. Well, different strokes for different folks.



If you notice, my omelette is in a very pale shade of yellow because instead of using 3 eggs like the recipe stated, I used only 2. I had 2 egg whites leftover from making Spaghetti Carbonara for my children the night before, so I conveniently used them up for this dish. See, it's a great way to clear out the odd yolk or white you have sitting in the fridge!

PS: I used this (and another yellow) enamel plate for my guest post for Rasa Malaysia. Some of you emailed me to ask where I got them from. In Singapore, they can be found at those shops which sell "household" items (those that sell mops, pails, pots & pans, etc). I found THREE such shops selling these plates near my home, which means, they must be quite easily available. This green one costs S$1.70 and the other smaller yellow one costs only S$1.30 ... and I love how they trigger childhood memories the moment I serve my food in them!

Sambal Fish (With Tortillas)

I so loved that bowl of yummilicious Sambal Prawns that I quickly made the same dish again, but with fish instead. :) Call me unoriginal, but I'm all for making spin-offs with things I like! That philosophy extends particularly to shoe shopping ... if I like the cut and feel of a pair of shoes, I usually get the same pair in a few colours. ;)


Sambal Fish and Tortillas? That's what I call fusion, peeps!

I ditched steamed white rice in favour of tortillas, just for a change, but mainly because I saw some really awesome ones at my favourite lovelies - Penny's and Trix's. Thank you, dearies! I went with Penny's version for this because I had so much coriander in the fridge ... and coriander is just perfect with fish.

Recipe for Tortillas
(from Jeroxie)

- 200g of flour
- Pinch of salt
- 225ml of water (it varies, just add a bit at the time if it is too dry)
* Note: I halved the measurements and it yielded just enough tortillas for 2 persons.

1. Mix the flour, very finely chopped coriander leaves, salt and water. Work the dough till it becomes quite soft. Divide into 1-inch balls.

2. Flatten the balls and roll it out flat and quite thin. No oil is required. Place the thin dough onto a heated pan (lower heat) and allow it to sit about 40secs on each side. It's quite fun to see it bloat and balloon as it cooks!

3. Place a towel over the tortillas as you continue making the rest.

Honestly though, I still prefer pratas to tortillas. Pratas are greasy and flaky, that's why! But I'm glad I gave tortillas a shot, cos you don't know till you've tried. :)


For this Sambal Fish, you can use any type of firm white fish. I used snapper fillets. I also made the tortillas small, so that I could fold and devour whole. ;) Kinda like eating sushi ... toss the whole thing in! Nom nom nom.

Recipe for Sambal Fish
(adapted from inSing)

Serves 2-4

- 200g to 300g firm, white fish fillets
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 300g grated coconut, squeezed for thick cream (about 1/4 to 2/3 cup), or use coconut milk from packets or cans (I used about 1/2 cup coconut cream from a packet)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon assam pulp (tamarind)
- 1/4 cup water
- Handful of chopped coriander

Spice mixture*:
- 5 buah keras, aka candlenuts (if you don't have candlenuts, use macademias)
- 10 fresh red chillies
- 1 stalk serai (lemon grass), use only the bottom 2 cm at the root end
- 1/2 teaspoon belacan (shrimp paste)
- 10 shallots, peeled
* Note: If, like me, you have ready made rempah in the freezer, just use 2 to 3 tbsps and you'll get your piping hot dish in even lesser time.

1. Pound or grind all the spice ingredients except for the shallots. When the paste is semi fine, add the shallots and grind to make a fine paste. You add shallots last as they are the softest ingredient and if mixed with the hard ingredients, will prevent the harder ingredients from being ground to a fine paste.

2. Rinse fish fillets and season with a little salt.

3. Mix assam pulp with water, knead and strain through a sieve to remove seeds. Retain assam water.

4. Heat a wok or saucepan, add the oil and when it is hot, add the spice mixture and stir fry for 3-4 minutes till fragrant and the oil has exuded.

5. Add fish fillets and gently stir fry to coat them with the spice mixture.

6. Add coconut milk and tamarind water, coriander leaves, and bring to a slow boil. Cook fish fillets through ... about 4 mins. Taste test and add salt and sugar if required.

7. Time to eat!


See the sad life of a food blogger? Gotta cook, style, photograph AND pose with my own food! :( Thank goodness the eating makes up for everything.

Sambal Prawns

I love spicy dishes, and I was really eager to try out this sambal dish. It's from one of Singapore’s leading authorities on food - Violet Oon, and I knew it would be scrummy.

Now, this was actually a Sambal Sotong (squid) dish. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any sotong at the market that morning, so I used fresh prawns instead. They work great too! Coincidentally, we had cool, rainy weather that day and that just made this dish even more delicious to dig into. I slurped up every drop of the yummy gravy. It was so, so good. :)



I know some people prefer to shell the prawns and only keep the tails on, probably for easy and dainty eating. But for home cooking, I like to keep the shells on (although I remove the heads) because it keeps the prawns from over-cooking, somewhat. Besides, peeling the shells and sucking them dry of the sambal gravy makes eating this dish all the more hearty! Now, THAT'S finger lickin' good. ;)

Recipe
(from inSing)
The marriage of spices like chillies and lemon grass with the creamy flavour of coconut milk is what makes Malay food so attractive to the palate. Well, here's how you do it, with prawns.

Serves 2-4

- 500g prawns, with shells on (I used 300g)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 300g grated coconut, squeezed for thick cream (about 1/4 to 2/3 cup), or use coconut milk from packets or cans (I used about 1/2 cup coconut cream from a packet)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon assam pulp (tamarind)
- 1/4 cup water

Spice mixture*:
- 5 buah keras, aka candlenuts (if you don't have candlenuts, use macademias)
- 10 fresh red chillies
- 1 stalk serai (lemon grass), use only the bottom 2 cm at the root end
- 1/2 teaspoon belacan (shrimp paste)
- 10 shallots, peeled
* Note: If, like me, you have ready made rempah in the freezer, just use 2 to 3 tbsps and you'll get your piping hot dish in even lesser time.

1. Pound or grind all the spice ingredients except for the shallots. When the paste is semi fine, add the shallots and grind to make a fine paste. You add shallots last as they are the softest ingredient and if mixed with the hard ingredients, will prevent the harder ingredients from being ground to a fine paste.

2. Clean and devein prawns.

3. Mix assam pulp with water, knead and strain through a sieve to remove seeds. Retain assam water.

4. Heat a wok or saucepan, add the oil and when it is hot, add the spice mixture and stir fry for 3-4 minutes till fragrant and the oil has exuded.

5. Add prawns, salt and sugar; stir fry till the colour changes.

6. Add coconut milk and tamarind water, mix well continue to stir fry for 1-2 minutes till the sauce thickens.

7. Serve with steaming hot rice as part of a meal. So sedap!