SOUTHEAST ASIAN FOOD & DIET - NO FRIEND.

Living in Southeast Asia, makes any sort of diet regime becomes a mission. Why? Because everything just taste SO good here. The staple food in this region are carbohydrate based - from rice, to roti and noodles. Also, we do prefer eating our Southeast Asian delicacies rather than eating raw carrots and a thin slice of grilled chicken as a diet menu. So, how do can you keep to your diet but still eat good Asian meals? Here's how...

Spicy Chicken & Prawn Coconut Soup

This one is for you Agata. 

A good friend of mine all the way in Estonia has requested for me to put up a recipe that incorporates fish or any other Malay type soup that has seafood as an ingredient. In response to her request, I have cooked up a whole pot just for her. If you have any requests, just post it as a comment!

Know Your Coconut Milk.

Coconut milk is a staple ingredient in South East Asian countries, it is also commonly used in places like Brazil, the Caribbean Islands, India and Polynesia. Coconut milk is extracted from mature coconuts. The white inner layer of the husk is grated then either pressed through a machine or squeezed out by hand.

There are two types of coconut milk (santan) that is squeezed out from grated coconut; (1) thin coconut milk which is usually used in more lighter broth like stews or soups like tom yam gong and (2) coconut cream that is thick in consistency commonly used in thicker gravy dishes like curry, dhal and masak lemak or even desserts. You can also combine both of the choices together in 1 main dish, instead of using water with the creamier choice. To make thinner consistency, water is added to the grated coconut and the process is repeated several times more.

In Malaysia, we are lucky to still have the option of purchasing freshly squeezed coconut milk from places like Chow Kit market or at our local kedai runcit/sundry shops. But if you are in areas that do not have sundry stores that provide freshly squeezed santan, you can use the ones available in cans and boxes. If you need a more lighter version, just add water and stir. 

Does your coconut cream curdle when poured into a hot pot on the stove?

Sweet Leaf & Sweet Potato Simmered in Coconut Milk

Sweet Leaf & Sweet Potato simmered in coconut milk or famously known as Pucuk Manis Masak Lemak, is a typical vegetable dish found in any Malay home. This vegetable dish does not require any frying or saute, it is an easy chop, slice and dump recipe that takes very little time to prepare and cook. You can serve this with rice or it can be eaten on its own as a soup if you'd like. In which case you add more of the sweet potato as a substitute for the carbs. 

The umami agent for this dish would be the dried shrimp. If you are not in Asia, you can easily get this from the Asian food markets. The price for dried shrimp in general even for us here in Malaysia, is one of the more expensive key ingredients in our recipes. But because you buy in bulks and only use about 1 - 2 tablespoon as a base, buying them in large amounts is actually very reasonably priced. To read more about this stay posted to my Umami Agent post.