The Recycled Cook

Malaysian Beef Rendang Although this is a beef curry the uniquely Malaysian Rendang sauce can be used for making a chicken, fish or even vegetable curry. As Malaysia is a Muslim country, unlike many other South East Asian countries Pork curries are not really an option. Just like the Mussaman curry the first thing to decide is if you are going to make your curry paste from scratch or simply buy it in a jar which I do sometimes when time is prohibitive. To make the paste from scratch you will need 1 brown onion coarsely chopped, 3 long red chillies (Mild), 3 small red chilies (hot) both deseeded and sliced thinly,  2 stems of lemon grass crushed and chopped (or 1 tablespoon of lemon grass paste), 3 garlic cloves crushed and chopped roughly, 2 teaspoons of finely chopped Galangal (or ginger),  2 teaspoons of ground coriander,  2 teaspoons of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of turmeric and a splash or two of Fish sauce or salt to taste. To make the Rendang paste...

Mussaman Curry On a cold autumn evening there is nothing quite as satisfying as a home cooked curry. This is one of my favourites from southern Thailand. As the name suggests this curry is as more Malaysian than Thai, the name actually means Muslim curry. This makes a delicious vegetarian dish or, if preferred you can add meat too, but the flavours are so rich it doesn't really need it. For a really authentic Mussaman curry you should make your own curry past but I do use pre-mixed paste if time is short or I am feeling lazy. Surprising;y you can now find Mussaman curry paste as well as the more common Red and Green Thai curry pastes in several supermarkets. To make the paste from scratch you will need 50g of finely chopped shallots, 3 bay leaves (fresh if available), 3 tablespoons of palm sugar, 3 tablespoons of Thai Fish sauce (Nam Plah), 10 small garlic cloves chopped roughly (I hope you like garlic), 6 small red chillies (deseeded) and chopped roughly, a few white pe...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Rice, the world's number one staple This is without doubt the  most widely consumed  staple food  for a large part of the world's human population, especially in South East Asia.  Rice  is the  seed  of the  grass  species  Oryza sativa  (Asian rice) or  Oryza glaberrima   (African rice).  Rice was first domesticated by the Chinese over 10,000  years ago    in the  Pearl River  valley region of  China .   From East Asia, rice as a food staple spread to South East and Southern Asia.  Rice was eventually  introduced to Europe through India, and to the Americas through European colonisation.  Growing up in wales for me rice was usually served as a milky pudding with a lovely skin on top but over the years and with much travel I have learned that rice is probably the most versatile staple in the world. We are now of course ...