Passage to India, Vindaloo

Every week, I will review an Asian inspired premix and follow the cooking instructions. Which is ...hard.

This week, its Passage to India's Vindaloo simmer sauce.

It warns HOT. I like spicy but I have my limits. Hmmm...scratches head.

I decided to use pork. Its a solid meat so it won't start to disintegrate too quicky in this sauce.

I broke the rule by adding some diluted coconut cream as the sauce was getting too thick. I could have used plain water but the smell as it was simmering was telling me its chilli hot...I was hoping I could tone down the 'hot' so I can taste the spices.

You will need to cook/simmer it till the oil rises to the top. This is basic for all curry type cooking. Its the test that tells you the sauce is cooked and ready to serve.

So, the verdict?

Chilli hot: 9/10, too hot for me actually but my welsh other half thinks it could be spicier.

Spice mix: 7/10, despite the 'hotness', the spices was still tasty. Sometimes, all you can taste are just two spices.. chillies and curry, this still has a good blend.

Overall sauce: 7/10. It was a little too starchy I think. The sauce would keep together in a flat bread really well. I served it on basmati rice with stir fried long beans. But I think I will serve this next with naan and yogurt raita!

So yes. Definitely will buy again but served with bread me thinks!

My notes on Laksa

I am a huge laksa fan. There are so many versions of laksa and currently.

I am still trying to debunk all the different types...

1. Penang Laksa, usually extremely hot and spicy with a huge prawn on top 
2. Curry Laksa, normally comes with copious amounts of tofu and the curry base comes out very strong 
3. Prawn laksa, stock is prawn based, very yummy, and as the name implies, usually comes with a giant prawn 
4. Singapore laksa, usually thick with fried tofu 

Yes, there all sound similar, I know. I love them but debunking the ingredients and delicately identifying the differences is beyond me.

My favorite, is the Sarawak laksa. Thick, spicy with de-shelled prawns and flossed steam chicken with bean spouts and fried shallots. My tummy grumbles as I scan my brain-archive and recreate the experience in my head. I have been testing a few laksa premixes available in the stores. Some turned out less then yum but yesterday's laksa was great! Its Singapore laksa by Hai's found in the dry isle so it can keep quite well.

I must do my reviews more systematic, thats the plan. So watch this space.

Meanwhile if you do decide to buy one always think about making a fishy stock for the soup. More often it says add just plain water or chicken stock...just work a little harder...make a home made fish stock for the soup.

Here is how I made mine:

Quick and easy fish stock for laksa 

• Large pot 800 ml/1 liter water (usually per packet it will ask for 800ml to 1 L of water) 
• Throw in Prawn heads (you can fry these in some butter before adding to pot but the premix is usually already oily and I don't really need anymore oil added if I can help it) 
• Fish bones 
• Fish meat 
• 1 large onion cut into half 
• 1 carrot break into two 
• Salt to taste 

Boil for about 15 minutes then simmer for another 30 minutes.

Drain stock into a jar or straight into the pot you intend to use for the Laksa premix.

Taddaaaa. What ever Laksa premix you have will taste 10X better.

UPDATE

Recomended and easily available, Hai's from the fridge section. There is also the Hai's from the dry aisle. Both are good. I recently bought a 'home mix', will try that!

Satay the quick and easy way

Satay is a Malaysian favorite but all other nations has its version of satay. Its a two part dish, the satay sticks and the satay sauce.

Way back in Malaysia, almost no one makes satay at home because its so easily available in the food stalls and hawker centers. They are often cheap at around $0.15 per satay stick. And this includes the satay sauce already!

My mom home cooks satay in a dish form to be eaten with hot steamed rice. This I will write about later.

Here, I have found them for $1 each with barely enough sauce to cover the meat sticks.

So, I've decided to make it as part of my 'dinner' reportoir.

As it turns out, marinating the meat requires an entire garden of asian herbs and spices and grounding them. Errr....no time...two feral kids who always seem hungry and always trying to wage a war between them accords me with really 'minus' minutes.

There are premixes too but I decided to just reconstruct so I can have it anytime.

I use all dry powdered products.

1 part garlic
1 part tumeric
1 part lemon grass
0.5 part ginger
1 tbls soy sauce
2-3 tbls brown sugar
2-3 tbls of oil
Dash of sesame oil

This pretty much seals the deal. I sometimes get a bit generous with the sugar and soy sauce depending how 'dark and sweet' i feel like. Malaysian satays are generally sweet...but I feel guilty!

Leaving it overnight ensures the powdered texture of the spices dissapears.

Then its oven time.

Doing it on the barbie is a luxury. So
Oven at 180c for 20-25mins cooks it.

Bask it with sesame oil before it goes into a preheated oven.

Tadaa.

I squeeze lemon juice on the satay as it comes out.

Now...the sauce.

Premixed satay sauce is handy. The best is Brahims satay sauce. It says just heat up...nope. Add tamarin juice, about 1 tbls and add peanut butter...about 1 tbls spoon too. If you want it creamier, add one more tbls but no more. Tadaaa. All done. The tamarin brings the spices out a bit more I think!

By the way, I am leaning towards chicken thigh meat or anyother meats with a bit of fat for this and cut it in long strips of 1cm ish versus cubes. Then thread it on a pre-soaked bamboo stick. Pre-soak it for 20 mins in boiling water. This makes sure the sticks are clean.

Enjoy. Aramaiti! (Cheers in indigenous Kadazan)