PicoBlog

People think rendang is a beef dish, but it’s a coconut dish.

You rendang it with coconut milk.

And you add the desiccated coconut.

The same pack of desiccated coconut I used in Diem’s mango magic cookies.

I was staring at it yesterday night, and somehow during this long weekend, I ended up making beef rendang.

The recipe calls for 250ml of coconut milk.

I was staring at the remaining 150ml in the can, and somehow during this long weekend, I ended up making nasi lemak with beef rendang.

I’m telling you, it’s a coconut dish.

Call it self-conscious, low self-esteem - everything I know, I thought everyone else knew.

It wasn’t always like this.

I remember when I was starting in advertising, everything sucked.

The typeface could’ve been better. The colour could’ve been better. The voice over. The layout. The opening sequence.

Everything was so lame.

Food Safari on SBS was so lame.

Little did I know, it was the pinnacle of Australian cooking travel show.

Everything I thought was lame, became endearing. No unnecessary treatment, no close-up, no cinematography, just Australians and their stories and recipes.

What would I give to have something like Food Safari today.

Where’s Meave? I honestly thought she’d be the new judge for Masterchef.

My rendang recipe came from the Malaysian episode of Food Safari broadcasted on SBS almost 15 years ago. Who is Alvin Tan? Is he still cooking?
I hope so.

Because the recipe was 24k solid gold.

Another dish I won’t be ordering from the restaurant again.

I had sauerkraut and pickled daikon in the fridge.
So happened to make a batch of sambal two days ago.
Frozen ikan bilis (anchovies) in the fridge.

Here's a pro tip: mix the anchovies with a tbsp of oil, and microwave it in 2-minute intervals until desired colour and crispiness. It’ll stink up the microwave, but if you fry it the traditional way it’d stink up the whole house. Choose wisely.

What’s missing? Peanuts. I thought I had some, but seems like we used it for zong zi a few weeks ago.

Someone once asked me why I share Japanese recipes, cook Japanese food?
Why not Malaysian food?

Well, one, duh, soft power - no one cares about Malaysian food.

Two, check the nationality of my wife.

And three, it’s difficult.

Not difficult to make, but difficult to source fresh ingredients.

Our pandan leaves are frozen. Coconut milk and flesh are all pre-packed. I have memories of walking to the Indian grocery store as a kid, asking for ‘santan’ and the guy would just shave one on the spot for us with a bucket over a mechanical cactus. Kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, galangal, turmeric leaves … all probably being foraged by an auntie somewhere.

It’ll never be as good.

All I’ll be chasing, is a shadow.

So lame.

That’s what I thought ten years ago.

Now, I know not everyone knows what I know.

What, do I deny my wife, daughter, her god-sister a dish, just because of my impossible standard from memory?

Or, let them try out a delicious coconut beef curry-ish?

This abomination is a combination of Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia.

And it’s not a bad thing.

Everyone cleared their plates.

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