SPICY FRIED RICE – NASI GORENG CILI PADI

Fried rice is a very common dish throughout most parts of Asia. It is the best way to reuse leftover cooked rice. There are no limits on what you can put into the dish. You can choose to put any proteins or vegetables you desire that will make this dish as one complete meal. Fried rice has so many varieties. Some are mild in flavour, and some are spicy – just like how many Malaysians love to have their fried rice. This spicy fried rice recipe is one of Malaysians favourites. It is spicy of course but what’s best about this recipe is how easy and simple it is for one to cook. There are of course other more ingredients can be incorporated into this dish to elevate it to the next level, but this is for us lazy bums out there who want to have something delicious but very simple to make.

INGREDIENTS

• Cooked rice – from a cup of uncooked rice
• 1 shallot, 7 cloves of garlic and 7 bird’s eyes chilies - pounded/blended
• 1 tsp of fish sauce
• 1 egg
• Few strips of boneless chicken – chopped
• Half a handful of dried anchovies
• Cabbage – roughly chopped
• 4 tbsp of oil
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook rice and let it cool down for a bit.
2. Heat wok with vegetable oil on medium heat.
3. Fry the dried anchovies and once cooked, take it out and let it sit on a plate to be used later.
4. Put in your pounded/blended shallot, garlic and bird’s eyes chilies into the wok and stir for a couple   of minutes.
5. Add in the chopped chicken and stir until they are cooked. Pour in the fish sauce and mix.
6. Set the chicken to one side of the wok. Add in one egg.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Put in the cooked rice and mix.
9. Add chopped cabbage and the fried dried anchovies and mix everything together well.
10. Serve and enjoy.

Watch the video on how to make this HERE!

• This recipe is for 2 portions of serving.
• Suggestion: Have this dish with an additional fried egg and some fried fish crackers!
• Bear in mind, that this dish is quite spicy. So if you can’t handle the heat, please omit or reduce the use of the bird’s eyes chillies. You can add more if you want it to be spicier!
• You can always use other kinds of vegetables such as carrots and green peas.
• It would be nicer to use prawns instead of chicken.
• If you want a touch of sweetness to the dish, you can include about a tbsp of sweet soy sauce.

ROTI CANAI

Roti canai or roti kosong

Roti canai is an Indian-influenced flatbread widely available in Malaysia. It could be found at all local mamak and some Malay stalls. This dish is usually eaten during breakfast or tea time. They are also called Prata and Porotta, in different regions of the world.

The dough of the roti canai is made from such simple ingredients: plain flour, fat (oil or ghee) and water. But making them is not that easy. The dough needs to be flatten, tossed and stretched multiple times until it is paper thin and then folded before placed on a large flat pan. Only experts can do this. Watch the video if you think you can master this technique on one go.

Preparing the roti canai

Roti canai is delicious by itself but goes extremely well with dhal (lentil curry) or overnight curry – you know what they say, “overnight curry tastes better!” The dhal and curry are also served with a spoon of sweet and spicy sambal (Malay chili condiment) – trust me, the sambal takes this dish to another level!

Egg roti canai or roti telur

The roti canai is versatile too! They come with many variations such as roti telur (with egg), roti sardin (with sardines) roti pisang (with sliced banana) and believe me, many more!

The crispy exterior and fluffy interior of this flatbread is such an amazing dish to have. Having it together with teh tarik (pulled tea), this meal will definitely make you addicted for more!

ASIAN STYLE FRIED SPAGHETTI – SPAGHETTI GORENG

Pasta is such an amazing ingredient. Apart from Italian cuisines, it goes great with Asian flavours too!

One of them is FRIED SPAGHETTI. Here’s how to make a spicy fried spaghetti with an Asian twist!

Watch the video on how to make this HERE!

INGREDIENTS

100 – 110 grams of spaghetti

½ of onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 5 bird’s eyes chilies (optional) – all finely chopped

1 tbsp of chilli paste, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, oyster sauce

1 - 2 tbsp of sweet soy sauce

A few strips of chicken breast – chopped

2 eggs

1 red chili and 3 stalks of gai choy – chopped

3 tbsp of vegetable oil for cooking

Salt and pepper for seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

1.    Put some water in a large pot. Turn the stove on and once the water is boiling, add a tad bit of salt and olive oil. Then add your pasta and let it cook (time: refer to the instruction of the pasta packaging). Once cooked, set it aside (with some of the pasta water).

2.     Heat wok with vegetable oil on medium heat.

3.   Once the wok is hot, put in the chopped onion, garlic and bird’s eyes chili and stir for a couple of minutes.

4.     Add in chili paste and let it cook until the oil is separated for the chili.

5.     Next, put in chili sauce, tomato ketchup as well oyster sauce. Mix everything together.

6.     Add about 3 tbsp of pasta water and stir with the rest of the mixture.

7.    Add in the chopped chicken strips. Once they are cooked, set them to one side of the wok and break in eggs on the other side of the wok.

8.     Season with salt and pepper.

9.   Add in the cooked pasta and pour in the sweet soy sauce. Mix everything well till the pasta is all coated with the sweet soy sauce.

10.  Taste for seasoning.

11.  Finally, add in the chopped gai choy and red chili. Stir everything together for about a minute.

12.  Serve and enjoy.

·       This recipe is for 1 portion of serving.

·      Bear in mind, that this dish is quite spicy. So if you can’t handle the heat, please omit or reduce the use of the bird’s eyes chilies.

·       You could always use other kinds of vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage and carrots.

·        Apart from chicken, feel free to replace/ add together with prawns or beef.