Nasi Kerabu ( Rice Salad )

Nasi Kerabu literally means "rice salad". Kelantan has a variety of Nasi Kerabu. Nasi kerabu biasa (normal) or nasi kerabu putih (white) which comes with its own sambal tumis (a special coconut milk based gravy with local herbs and spices, with a hint of chillies) or Nasi kerabu Hitam (black) though the actual color is blue (after the rice is soaked and cooked with a local flower although some people use artificial equivalents) and nasi kerabu kuning (yellow) which use tumeric in the preparation of the rice. Nasi Kerabu Hitan and Kuning does not require a sambal tumis, instead, it has a watery chilly sauce which makes it slightly hotter. The “kerabu” (salad) could be any vegetables or edible leaves though the more or less standard version will have daun kesum, taugeh (bean sprout), thinly cut; long green beans, bunga kantan, cucumber (connoisseurs will insist “seeded”), and daun kadok. Apart from that it is also served with fried breaded fish, keropok keping, salted egg, "solok lada" (fish fillet and coconut-stuffed chillis), and pickled garlic (local gherkins)

Ingredients

5 tenggiri steaks
1kg rice

Ulam to cook with rice:
2 turmeric leaves
2 torch ginger leaves
2 stalks daun kesum
2 cekur leaves
2 na dam leaves
2 daun kentut
2 daun kudu
2 stalks curry leaves
2cm fresh turmeric
2 stalks lemon grass
(You can omit or add the ulam listed subject to availability)
2 pandanus leaves
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoon palm sugar

Garnishing:
1 cucumber, pared and julienned
1 onion, finely sliced
15 stalks of polygonum leaves, finely cut
10 long beans, finely sliced
1 bunga kantan, finely cut
3 stalks of lemongrass, finely sliced

Fried grated coconut:
1/2 a coconut, finely grated
8 shallots, finely sliced
2cm ginger, sliced
Palm sugar and salt to taste

Sambal Belacan:
15 chillies
5 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
Budu
4 bird’s eye chilli
Lime juice, to taste
Fish crackers

Method
Slice all the ulam leaves and either blend or pound finely. Add 2 glasses water to leaves and extract the juice. Sieve and repeat with another glass of water.

Wash rice. Add ulam juice to the rice. Add three pieces of pandan leaves and kaffir lime leaves, and 1/2 a block of palm sugar. Cook in a rice cooker.

Rub some salt on the fish and grill over a low fire. When cooked, let it cool and then break into flakes.

Dry fry the grated coconut with sliced shallots, ginger, palm sugar and salt over a low fire. When the mixture turns fragrant, lightly flatten the grated coconut with the back of your spatula.

Dry fry belacan with shallots and garlic over a low fire until fragrant. Blend this mixture with chilli to make the sambal belacan.

Mix some budu with limau kerat lintang and bird’s eye chilli.

Serve the rice with the grilled fish, finely sliced garnishings, sambal belacan, budu and fish crackers.

Kelantan Laksa

Kelantan laksa (Malay: Laksa Kelantan) is the easiest laksa recipe that is famous among peoples from the town of Kota Bharu of the Kelantan state, located at the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The main ingredient of Kelantan Laksa's sauce is 'ikan kembong' or round scad mackerel that are boiled and minced. The minced fish are fried with onions, garlic, ginger, datil pepper, belacan, 'kantan' flower, Vietnamese coriander or 'daun kesum', lemon grass and dried tamarind slice. Coconut milk will then be added as the final ingredient and stirred until it all mixed up and become thick. Kelantan Laksa is served just like the Italian spaghetti by adding 'ulam' (raw vegetables) and blended chili on the side. Another variable of Kelantan Laksa is 'Laksam'. The sauce's recipe are exactly the same but the noodles are a bit bigger and flat.

Ingredients
3kg laksa noodles
1kg ikan kembung
1kg thick coconut milk
3 stalks lemongrass
15 shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 slices dried tamarind
palm sugar and salt to taste

Garnishing:
1 cucumber, pared and julienned
300g beansprout
2 onions, finely sliced
2 bunga kantan, finely cut
15 stalks daun kesum, finely cut

Method
Boil fish with two bowls of water, dried tamarind slice (to remove the fishy odour) and 1 teaspoon salt. Let cool, debone and flake the fish. Pound it.

Blend the lemongrass, shallots and garlic finely.

Add 1 bowl of thick coconut milk to 3 bowls of water. Boil the mixture with the blended ingredients and two slices of dried tamarind over a low fire, stirring constantly. When a layer of oil surfaces, add pounded fish with salt and palm sugar. Continue to stir. Add thick coconut milk slowly until required thickness is achieved. To serve, pour the laksa gravy over the noodles and garnish with the sliced vegetables.