International Food Project –Asia, continued…

Welcome back to my International Food Project! Today I’ll prepare two Asian dishes:

1. Nasi Goreng
(a popular Indonesian main dish, which stands for fried rice)

1. Mango Fudge Pudding
(a fusion between Thai and American cuisine, a fudge pudding filled with mango slices)

To make it a little bit more interesting and easy for you to follow the preparation for the dessert, I have attached my first podcast! (Please click here to access the link for the Mango Fudge Pudding Recipe. Thanks!)

The Nasi Goreng preparation will be lengthier, thus I wanted to spare you some time by listing its preparation and main ingredients below for quick view, and might consider creating another video podcast in the future.

Nasi Goreng. (Photo courtesy of mysoorean)

Nasi Goreng Recipe: (serves 4+ people)

Total duration for the dish: 30-40 minutes preparation

Note: For best results, cook the rice (preferably Jasmine rice, due to its fragrant flavor) the night before in a rice cooker or pot, let it cool down at room temperature and refrigerate it before using it for the next day. This method will prevent the fried rice from being too sticky or soggy. It will also make it easier for you to mix the other ingredients into the rice, as it is more fluffy.

Main ingredients for the dish:

•  8 oz. rice (cooled down/refrigerated)
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 garlic, chopped
• 1 red chili (remove the seeds if you prefer it less spicy)
• 30 g small peas/mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, corn)
•  ½ teaspoon kecap manis (=sweet soya sauce, available via online Asian shops)
• 1 fried egg
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1 pinch of salt or 1 tbsp of soya sauce (reduced sodium)

Preparation:

1. In a wok/regular non-stick frying pan, add oil and sauté the shallots, garlic, and red chili until fragrant.
2. At the side, fry an egg and set aside.
3. Add the peas or mixed vegetables and keep stir-frying.
4.  Add the rice, followed by the remaining ingredients (kecap manis, soya sauce) and stir well.
5. Once the rice is blended well with all ingredients, serve it hot on a plate with the fried egg.

Mango Fudge Pudding-homemade.

(In case you prefer not to scroll all the way up again, I have attached the same link here to follow my audio podcast on the Mango Fudge Pudding Recipe.)

Mango Fudge Pudding Recipe: (serves 8 people)

Total duration for the dish: 10 minutes preparation time + 35-40 minutes for baking = 50 minutes total

Main Ingredients:

• 50 g/ 4 tbsp margarine, plus extra for greasing
• 70 g/ 6 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 350 ml/ 1 ¼ cups milk
• 40 g/ ¼ cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 mango, sliced (optional; mango can be substituted by other fruits)
• 2 tbsp of icing (confectioners’) sugar

Preparation:

1. Lightly grease a 1 litre ovenproof dish.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs fluffy first. Then add margarine and sugar and continue to beat until creamy.
3. Gradually stir in the milk. 
4. Add the flour into the mixture and fold in gently, until well mixed. (Add the mango slices last).
5. Pour the mixture into the dish and bake it in a preheated oven at 180° C for 35-40 minutes or until the pudding is cooked.
6. Dust with icing (confectioners’) sugar and serve warm.

Et voilà!

Hope you were able to try some Asian flavors today.  Drop me a comment if you have any suggestions on improving the dishes and/or would like to add one of your own creations. Thanks!  I will post more Asian foods’ recipes in my next entry.  See you then!

(Note: Nasi Goreng’s recipe was adapted from rasamalaysia.com; Fudge Pudding’s recipe was adapted from “Cookshelf vegetarian” by Jenny Stacey.)