I was at the Supermarket 88 shopping for big prawns. I planned to cook Masak Lemak Chili Api. I learned to enjoy this dishes when I was working in Singapore. A Johorian girl who shared the apartment with me introduced this dishes and I was hooked. She taught me how to prepare it." A lot of chiliapi (birdchillies) and a very thick creamy coconut milk", she told me. It was superhot and supercreamy. The first time I had it I couldn't help it but crying because it was an asskicking hot. The girl cracked up and laughed at me. I wiped my tears and kept eating. She could eat a raw bird chilly without a flinch.
When I prepared it myself for the first time, I used less chillies, half of the amount she used. When I went home to visit my parents I raved it to my mother endlessly. The next day when my mother returned home from the market, she showed me what she got in her raggedy ruttan basket she likes to carry to the market.
I kilogram of big prawns.
2 cups of sliced fresh bamboo shoot.
A handful of birdchillies.
I kilogram of coconutmilk. (A customer has a choice to buy a whole coconut, grated coconut or coconut milk).
My mother used her old stone pestle and mortar to crush the chillies. In a deep pot she put together pureed birdchillies, two stalks of lemongrass, a few slices of dried asam keping (tamarind juice is fine too), prawns and bamboo shoots. She used a low heat when she cooked the dish. She kept stirring the gravy until it was cooked. The aroma of a combination of coconut milk and lemongrass alone could make me drooling. Ohhh....Heaven.....It tastes better when my mother cooks it.
Finally I got all the ingredients I needed except fresh bambooshoot. They have fresh bamboo shoot at the supermarket, but the size was too big, all I needed was a cupful of it. And I didn't want to get canned bambooshoot either. I settled for a green plaintain. My mom loves dried fish curry with green plaintain. I'd probably make some soon.
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