We’re trying out some non-dessert uses for the Royal Selangor Jelly Mould now.

Fried Rice with Anchovies and Dabai

Here’s one of our go-to dishes when we’ve got leftover rice: Fried Rice. Nothing fancy like our Spam Fried Rice but something simple enough that I can make because Annie didn’t feel like cooking that night.

This one is more like our Nasi Goreng Dabai recipe but instead of using big anchovies and Mukah smoked shrimp, I just went with these smaller anchovies which are more suited for fried rice. We picked up these smaller anchovies on our recent trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. *sigh* – another trip that I’ve really got to blog about – there’s so much wonderful food in the hometown of fellow Get Your Jelly On participant Terry from A Daily Obsession!

Small Dried Anchovies from Kota Kinabalu

What I can tell you is that Kota Kinabalu (and Sabah as a whole) is known for its seafood, particularly the dried kind. We stayed at a hotel on the Waterfront, within walking distance of the main wet market and the Filipino Market where all the crafts were. Between the two markets is an open-air structure where vendors were selling all these different dried seafood products from anchovies to larger fish, shrimp, squid, scallops and even large sea cucumber.

We didn’t buy too much, because we weren’t sure if we’d be cheated or not. But we did pick up some anchovies, shrimp and fish maw to bring back with us to Kuching. (We’ll blog about cooking with the fish maw in a later post.)

Shopping for Dried Seafood in Kota Kinabalu

Bringing it Back

So besides the dried anchovies from KK, I also had some dabai (Sibu olive) paste that we bought at the Rainforest World Music Festival. With all the ingredients in place, I got to frying.  When it was done I scooped some of the hot rice and packed it into the mould.  (Note that I’m using a towel to hold the mould because the hot rice heats up the metal pretty quickly!)

Hot Fried Rice in Mould

Finally I inverted a plate over the base of the cone and then tipped out the rice.  Luckily, I had packed it tight enough that it held the shape together pretty well!  Garnished with some chopped green onions and decorated with two dollops of Lingham’s brand chilli sauce.

Fried Rice with Anchovies and Dabai

The rest of the family ate the remainder of the rice, and fortunately there was even enough leftover for lunch!

Isn’t this fun? All the participants in the challenge are proving that a jelly mould has WAY more uses than just making jelly. So get in on some of the fun yourself! Purchase a jelly mould from Royal Selangor – the proceeds go towards supporting the Breast Cancer Welfare Association of Malaysia (special bonus for Malaysian customers: you can enter to win an Olympus Pen Lite E-PL3 camera!) – and start playing around.

Aloha, Nate

Breast Cancer Fact: The majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer are in the 50-59 age group, followed by the 40-49 age group. Visit the Breast Cancer Welfare Association website for more information.