Nasi Ulam (Malaysian Mixed Herb Rice)

Nasi Ulam Recipe (Malaysian Mixed Herb Rice)
Prep Time: 40 minutes | Total Active Time: 50 Minutes

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dried shrimp
1/2 cup fresh or frozen shredded coconut
2 cups cooked rice, chilled
5-6 medium daun kadok (wild betel leaves), finely sliced
1/4 cup Thai basil leaves, finely sliced
1/4 cup mint leaves, finely sliced
1/4 cup daun kesom (polygonum leaves/Vietnamese mint leaves), finely sliced
3 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
5 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lemongrass, white part only, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 heavy dashes white pepper powder
3 heavy dashes black pepper powder

Method:

Soak the dried shrimp in warm water until softened. Coarsely pound them using a mortar and pestle. Heat up a wok and dry toast the pounded shrimp until they are dry or smell aromatic. Do not burn the dried shrimp.

Make the shredded coconut into kerisik by stir-frying them continuously in a wok, until they turn golden brown in color. Transfer to the mortar and pestle and pound until fine. Set aside.

In a big bowl, combined the cooked rice and all the herbs, shallots, toasted coconut, and dried shrimp together. Add the salt, sugar, and peppers. Toss to combine well. Serve immediately.

Cook’s Note:

For nasi ulam, I prefer to use basmati rice as the rice is drier and less sticky, fluffy, and nutty in flavor compared to Thai jasmine rice. I find the texture of basmati rice the best for nasi ulam. If you use regular rice for this recipe, you might want to chill it in the fridge overnight to lose the moisture content in the rice.

Napoleons

This classic French pastry, whose name in both French and Spanish—mille-feuilles and milhojas, respectively—means thousand leaves (for its delicate multiple layers), is also known as the napoleon. The name is probably a reference not to the diminutive Corsican emperor, but to the multilayered confections of Naples.

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS

2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
5 egg yolks
12 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch, sifted
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 8" x 18" sheets puff pastry
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To make the pastry cream, put milk into a medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean, add seeds and pod to milk, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and set aside to steep for 1 hour. Strain milk into a bowl, discarding pod. Return milk to saucepan and bring to a simmer again over medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks, 10 tbsp. of the granulated sugar, and cornstarch together in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale yellow and mixture falls from beaters in thick ribbons, 3-5 minutes. Gradually add 1 cup of the hot milk to egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly; then gradually add egg yolk-milk mixture back into hot milk in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir constantly until custard is very warm (about 125° on an instant-read thermometer), 5-10 minutes. Add butter, 1 tbsp. at a time, whisking well after each addition. Cover surface of pastry cream with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 375°. Put 1 sheet of puff pastry on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover with another sheet of parchment, and refrigerate until chilled, 20-30 minutes. Put another baking sheet directly on top of parchment-covered pastry to weight it, then bake until pastry begins to turn brown, 10-15 minutes. Remove baking sheet and parchment from top of pastry. Sprinkle pastry with 1 tbsp. granulated sugar, then bake, uncovered, until pastry is golden brown, 6-8 minutes more. Transfer pastry to a clean surface and remove parchment from bottom. Set aside to cool. Repeat process with remaining 1 sheet puff pastryand 1 tbsp. sugar. Using a serrated knife, cut each pastry into twelve 4" x 2" rectangles, making 24 rectangles in all.

4. To assemble the napoleons, spoon 2 tbsp. of the pastry cream down center of each sugared side of 8 pastry rectangles and stack another pastry rectangle on top. Repeat process with remaining pastry cream and pastry rectangles. Sift confectioners' sugar over napoleons.

spinach, mushroom & feta crustless quiche

Ingredients

• 8 oz. fresh mushrooms 
• ½ tsp minced garlic 
• as needed non-stick spray 
• 1 (10 oz.) box frozen spinach 
• 4 large eggs 
• 1 cup milk
• 2 oz. feta cheese 
• ¼ cup grated parmesan 
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella 
• to taste salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If your frozen spinach is not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave. Empty the box into a colander and let it drain while you begin to prepare the rest.
2. Quickly rinse the mushrooms and slice them thinly. Place the sliced mushrooms in a skillet coated with non-stick spray, add the minced garlic, and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Turn the heat on to medium-high and saute the mushrooms until they release all of their moisture and no more water remains on the bottom of the skillet (5-7 minutes).
3. Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray. Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and spread it out on the bottom of the pie dish. Next add the cooked mushrooms and crumbled feta.
4. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth. Add the milk, parmesan, and another small sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. (This step can be completed while the mushrooms are cooking) Pour this mixture into the pie dish over the spinach, mushrooms, and feta.
5. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over top. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer into the oven. Place the quiche into the preheated oven and bake until it is golden brown on top and the center is solid. Every oven is different but this should take between 45 minutes and an hour. Slice and serve!

Step By Step Photos

The key to preventing a soggy quiche is to reduce the moisture in your vegetables. This is why the spinach is squeezed dry and the mushrooms get cooked before adding to the quiche. I start by draining the spinach in a colander and then squeeze the rest of the moisture out before adding it to the dish.

Next, move onto the mushrooms. Sometimes pre-sliced mushrooms are the same price as whole, but not this time around…

So I washed and sliced my own. I usually cut them in half first (to get a flat surface) and then slice them.

Mushrooms are like sponges that are secretly holding a lot of water, so you need to saute them before adding them to your quiche. I just placed them in a skillet coated with non-stick spray (and a little garlic for flavor) and then sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Just a touch. The salt will help draw out the moisture.

Turn the heat onto medium or medium high and saute them (cook while occasionally stirring) until the water cooks out. This picture is about half way through the process. You’ll notice that the bottom of the skillet is covered with water that has seeped out of the mushrooms. Just keep cooking past this point until most of that water has evaporated off and the bottom of the skillet is relatively dry. This should take about 5-7 minutes, depending on how hot your skillet is. You can prepare the custard (egg and milk mixture) while you’re waiting for the mushrooms to finish.

Coat the inside of a 9 inch pie dish with non-stick spray. Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and place it in the bottom of the dish along with the cooked mushrooms and feta cheese… in no particular order.

To make the custard, begin by whisking together four eggs until they are fairly smooth and uniform in texture.

Next whisk in the milk and parmesan cheese… and a little more pepper or any other herbs that you might like.

Pour the custard mixture over the vegetables in the pie dish. Oh, and the quiche is much easier to get in and out of the oven if it’s on a baking dish, so I put it on there before pouring in the liquidy custard mixture.

Sprinkle on more cheese (mozzarella in this case) if you want… again, I probably went overboard on the cheese but boy, was it tasty ;)

Bake the quiche in a preheated 350 degree oven until it is golden brown on top and the center is no longer liquid. This will take anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven. Just start checking it at 45 minutes. You’ll notice as it cooks that it begins to puff up a bit. It will deflate once it comes out of the oven but the “puff” is a good way to tell which areas are cooked and which are still liquid.

Thai Green Mango Salad (Som Tum Mamuang)

SERVES 4–6

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. small dried shrimp
8 red Thai chiles, stemmed, seeded, and julienned
4 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 shallot, minced
3 small, green unripe mangoes (about 1 1⁄2 lbs.), peeled and julienned
18 green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" lengths
14 grape tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
4 tsp. palm sugar or brown sugar
2 tbsp. roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Using a mortar and pestle, pound shrimp until coarsely ground; transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

2. Place the chiles, garlic, and shallots in the mortar and pound until bruised. Working in three batches, add mangoes and pound, using a spoon to combine, until softened slightly, 2–3 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.

3. Add green beans and tomatoes to mortar and lightly pound them to extract juices; stir in fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. Transfer to bowl with mango mixture. Toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with crushed dried shrimp and peanuts.