After over a year of being back in the States, Annie’s Mum has come over for a visit! Here’s some of the stuff she brought with her:
Mortar and Pestle
Our beloved stone mortar and pestle, which we used to prepare ingredients for lots of dishes in Sarawak (like our Stir Fried Pork with Long Beans). We had to leave it in KL with Mum because it was just too heavy to bring with us. But now we have it again – YAY! 🙂
A eye-opening dish that Sarawakians are crazy for.
Sarawak is a wondrous place that is distinctly different from the other states in the Malaysian Federation. Their history is different (they gained independence from the British in July 1963 whereas Malaya or Peninsular Malaysia became independent in August 1957). Sarawakian culture is different (the ethnic mix is balanced between native Ibans, Malays, Bidayuh and other tribes plus Chinese while Malaya is majority Malay with Chinese and Indians making up the rest). And, Sarawakian food is different as well.
Making this favorite Nyonya dish is easier with the Royal Selangor jelly moulds.
Today is the most time-pressed post yet. We started prepping for this dish at 8pm so please forgive us for the brevity as I am writing this under immense pressure to meet the Jellyriffic challenge midnight posting timeline. I think we’re pretty crazy to try something this ambitious so late especially when it’s our very first time making this as well.
But guess what? It took all of 1 hour to prep. Despite the number of ingredients, this dish actually comes together quite quickly especially if you have a blender at home or food processor to do all the hard work!
Do you love it because of its sweetness? Do you love it because of it’s symbol of spring? Or are you like Nate, who just recently came to love it because of someone else’s persistence in pushing this vegetable?
