2 dried red chillis, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes to soften

2 cloves garlic, peeled

3 tbs peanut oil

1 bunch gai lan (Chinese broccoli), stems sliced thinly on diagonal, leaves cut into 4cm lengths

1 lap cheong (Chinese sausage), thinly sliced on the diagonal

1/2 cup leftover soya chicken (from Chinese BBQ shop)

1/2 cup leftover BBQ pork slices

1 tbs light soy sauce

1 tbs kecap manis

300g fresh flat rice noodles

1/2 bunch garlic chives, chopped into 3cm lengths

1. Pound soaked chillis and garlic to a smooth paste in a mortar and pestle

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a seasoned wok over high heat. When oil starts to shimmer add chilli and garlic paste and cook 10 seconds until fragrant. Add gai lan and stir fry for 1 minute until leaves have softened. Remove contents of the wok to a bowl.

3. Add another tablespoon of oil and fry lap cheong, chicken and pork for 1 minute or until heated through. Remove contents of the wok to a bowl.

4. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the wok and heat until smoking. Add noodles and spread out up the sides of the wok to get nice and charred. Toss a few times to make sure noodles don’t stick. Add soy sauce and kecap manis and cook 20 seconds. Add garlic chives and stir through. Add cooked ingredients to the wok and stir well. Serve immediately.

Here is my first batch of prawn sambal, based on a recipe given to me from my friend Malini Ganesan who is a wonderful cook and keeps herself sane in Germany with a curry, laksa or sambal here and there to break up the delicious meatiness and carbohydrate-rich German cuisine.

I have included the recipe below in case anyone would like to try it themselves and let me know what you think. It is very tasty eaten with a curry on the side, lots of basmati rice, and please, do try eating it with your fingers. Mush the sambal into the rice bit by bit. It is irresistable, pungent, spicy and addictive. It is the only way to truly experience it. Well, that and in the traditional Nasi Lemak of course, see post on Temasek Restaurant for dishes included in Nasi Lemak.

The curry I made above was fish and eggplant curry from a Madhur Jaffery cookbook.

Prawn Sambal

Ingredients

• 10 dried red chillis
• 4-5 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2-3 stalks lemon grass, thick outer layers removed, finely sliced
• 5-10 red asian eschallots, sliced
• 1 tbsp belachan (shrimp paste, solid block)
• vegetable oil
• 1 large red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp peeled and chopped ginger, pounded to a paste in a mortar and pestle (if you don’t have a mortar and pestle you can chop it very finely)
• 1 tbsp sambal oelek
• 1/4 cup tomato puree
• 2-4 tbsp ikan bilis from asian grocer
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Blend chilli, garlic, lemongrass, eschallots and belachan to a fine paste in a blender or small food processor, adding a tablespoon of oil until a rough paste forms.
2. Fry paste in a few tablespoons of oil for a few minutes or until fragrant. Remove paste from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside, reserving some oil in the pan.
3. Fry onion in the same oil over a low to medium heat until clear. Add pounded ginger and cook for one minute. Add chilli/garlic mixture and fry for one minute. Add sambal oelek, fry until dark.
4. Add tomato puree and cook until oil separates and comes to the top of the mixture. Add dried shrimp, stir. Finish by stirring in lemon juice. Serve with lots of basmati rice, a curry or some dahl on the side.

Enjoy!

There is a lovely light mustardy tasting broth called Sambar that moistens the rice and the sambal and is very nourishing that I need to get the recipe for, will post it here if I can persuade Malini to part with it She has agreed to share, will post soon.

This is a place to go for the food. If you don’t want to be disappointed, book a table. The walls could use a paint and the seating plan is sometimes questionable. Why would you place two separate couples two inches from each other in an otherwise empty restaurant? If it is really busy and at peak time, say 7pm on a Saturday night, you might be eating outside on metal tables. All this really doesn’t matter once you try the Laksa, Nasi Goreng or the Char Kway Teow. These spicy numbers are all washed down best with a coconut juice, in my opinion. Just a word of caution, they will ask if you want chilli- if you don’t like to suffer too much, ask for mild chilli, or just a little. Though some would consider it worth the pain.

Gado Gado Salad

Chicken and Prawn Laksa

Nasi Goreng (fried rice)

Nasi Lemak (coconut rice)

Hainanese Chicken Rice

If by some miracle you still have room, try one of the many coloured desserts on the table as you pay at the counter. The cassava one is mild, not too sweet and has a lovely texture.

View Larger Map