{"id":1202,"date":"2011-04-08T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-09T00:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/?p=1202"},"modified":"2011-04-08T20:32:17","modified_gmt":"2011-04-09T00:32:17","slug":"where-is-malaysia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/?p=1202","title":{"rendered":"Where is Malaysia?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight was Malaysian cooking using the care package that Lisa sent us.  It was filled with a number of Malaysian ingredients.<\/p>\n<p>Never having been to Malaysia, or had Malaysia food, or even knowing where Malaysia is (somewhere over there, you know, by Indonesia or someplace, <a href=\"http:\/\/lmgtfy.com\/?q=malaysia\"> here, you look it up<\/a>) I approached the ingredients with trepidation but full of resolve.<\/p>\n<p>The menu was:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prawn crackers<\/li>\n<li>Ginger scented coconut rice<\/li>\n<li>Shrimp sambal udang<\/li>\n<li>Onde onde<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The prawn crackers were these translucent disks about the size of a quarter that you fry.  When you fry them they puff up white and crispy.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1203\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1203\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1169.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1169-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1169\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1203\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1203\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prawn Crackers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>They&#8217;re sort of like shrimp pork rinds.  I just cooked up a few, because they are a bit odd.  Debbie crunched one up and said, &#8220;we need more of these,&#8221; and she cranked up the skillet and fried up a bowlful.  Like pork rinds, if you have a taste for shrimp, they&#8217;re addictive.<\/p>\n<p>Next was the shrimp in a sambal udang sauce.  The sauce for the shrimp contained tamarind.  I had a big ol&#8217; block of tamarind which you mix about 1 to 4 with water to make a tamarind juice.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><figure id=\"attachment_1204\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1204\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1157.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1157-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1157\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1204\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1204\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tamarind Paste<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<td><figure id=\"attachment_1205\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1205\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1162.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1162-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1162\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1205\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1205\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soaking Tamarind<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>The tamarind paste has pulp and seeds and so you soak it in water and then strain out all the solid bits.  Lime juice is suggested as a substitute for tamarind.  I&#8217;d buy that, it does have a limey flavor.<\/p>\n<p>I took a big spoonful of the sambal paste that Lisa sent and cooked it for a bit in oil until it was really fragrant.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1208\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1208\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1163.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1163-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1163\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1208\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1208\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">You Wish You Could Smell This<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then in went the tamarind and some water and I cooked it down until it was thick.  The shrimp went in next for just a few minutes until they were pink.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1209\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1209\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1168.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1168-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1168\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1209\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1209\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shrimp Sambal Udang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Was this good?  If I could find Malaysia I&#8217;d go there just eat this.  It was splendid.  Spicy, but not hot.  Fragrant with garlic.  Sour with the tamarind.  Just layers and layers of flavor.<\/p>\n<p>The rice was cooked with half coconut milk and half water.  Plus a big chunk of ginger.  It was good, but the shrimp sauce tended to overwhelm it.<\/p>\n<p>Dessert was onde onde, just like Mom used to make!  Seriously, I&#8217;d never heard of onde onde until I asked Lisa what we were supposed to do with pandan and palm sugar.<\/p>\n<p>Onde onde is glutinous rice flour made into a soft dough, rolled into a small ball filled with palm sugar, boiled, and then rolled in coconut flakes.<\/p>\n<p>Does that sound odd?  Well, just to top things off it includes pandan (screwpine leaves steeped in water) which turns it a bright green.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1210\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1210\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1166.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1166-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1166\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1210\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1210\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Dough<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That&#8217;s green all right.  Here&#8217;s the palm sugar that goes in the middle.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1211\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1211\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1175.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1175-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1175\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1211\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1211\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dough and Filling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then you roll them into a ball and boil them.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1212\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1212\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1179.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1179-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1179\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1212\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1212\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boiling Onde Onde (was the deep fryer broken?)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And finally roll them in coconut flakes.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1213\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1213\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1180.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1180-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1180\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1213\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1213\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Green Balls o' Goodness<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And what did they taste like?  Well, they were ok.  But I couldn&#8217;t help thinking, deep fry this, roll it in sugar, and you&#8217;d have a real treat!<\/p>\n<p>Owen was ever hopeful.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1214\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1214\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1174.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/DSCN1174-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSCN1174\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1214\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1214\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poor Hungry Owen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But he did not get any onde onde. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight was Malaysian cooking using the care package that Lisa [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckzumbrun.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}