I made a pseudo Nasi Kerabu but without the blue colouring for the rice (I used some blue flower powder but the rice turned out grey, so I made a second batch just using pandan extract plus some coconut cream to compensate. Accompaniments are - solok lada (chillies stuffed with fish paste and simmered in coconut cream), ikan goreng (fried fish - I used tilapia fillets marinated with turmeric and salt and pepper), mixed herbs (laksa leaves, Thai basil & bunga kantan) with cucumber, keropok (usually fish crackers, but I fried up some prawn crackers instead), and serunding (shredded beef cooked with spices & coconut & coconut cream), served with budu (fermented fish sauce) and salted egg. I also separately fried up some lamb mince with cumin and korma curry powder (not pictured) - to be served separately another time. Nasi Kerabu recipe to follow!

This morning at Cookalong, Jackie was busy and fast-moving making curry puffs for another catering gig. She was so quick with the curry puffs, I reckon she could make ‘em blindfolded! I was having a go at making Pulut Panggang, inspired by Jackie who was making them as one of the dishes for her catering gig last week. So I started by steaming the glutinous rice, whilst gently frying the desiccated coconut. Then I mixed it with the Sambal Udang Kerring I made last week at Cookalong, chucked in some shop bought fried shallots too - think they added a nice sweetness. Since I’d never made Pulut Panggang before I was glued to Jackie’s instructions 😊. Guess what, I hope Jackie’s not going to shoot me….when the rice was done I realised I’d forgotten the pandan leaves! No worries, I rolled up a small amount of rice with a tablespoon of the Sambal Coconut filling, wrapped it in prepared banana leaves with both ends secured with cocktail sticks. Kept going till all the rice were used up - ended up with 17 sticks of Pulut Panggang! Popped the Pulut Panggang in the fridge and brought them out to room temperature for the evening Cookalong. Had a fab chatty night. Jenny was whizzing up beef stock with Chinese vibes, and Jackie was at it again, but making Yong TauFu blitzing up the fish paste with her new toy, the thermocook. There was Yong Tau Fu galore in her kitchen! I shallow fried the 17 sticks of Pulut Panggang gently in a scan pan - smelt lush! At Jackie’s instruction, I tasted one - was good, just think the pandan leaves would’ve taken it up a notch. 😋

This was the result of the serimuka I made in yesterday's Open Kitchen Hour 2, testing the recipe supplied by the Kuih Master in Perak. For those who missed the session, I made it so I could take photos of the dish to go into the digital magazine I'll be publishing. I'll need to make more batches to get it right - you can see from the photo that despite the top being overcooked, the lower layer of custard was actually still a bit gooey.

Hi guys, I'm working on the next issue of my Truly Malaysian magazine; here's one of the recipes it will feature. Thought I might share it as a sneak peek.

Here's the dried shrimp sambal from last night's cook-along - based on Chef Azzam from Authentique Restaurant's recipe, adapted for the Thermomix. Tastes fabulous, though I will blitz the dried shrimp into a finer texture (like his) next batch.