Star Q
I have never eaten this type of rice before. So, it was with much eagerness that I accepted a whole kilogram of this grain given to me by a colleague who had just returned from Sarawak, her home town. We had been talking food (what else!) prior to that, and she had asked if I wanted to give the rice a try. Where food is concerned, I am game to try anything (well, almost!)
My colleague, Debra, told me that the rice would go nice with any kind of traditional dishes especially those that did not have any cream (coconut) in them. Well, I had some 'tempoyak' in the fridge, so I knew it had to be Asam Tempoyak. But, since I cannot eat fish with scales (according to my doctor!) my choice was Talapia! And so we had Talapia Masak Tempoyak with the rice (purple no less!), sambal belacan and some Selom shoots.
The Sarawak Rice is cooked just as would normal rice. But it much softer in texture, slightly sticky and it clumps together, which in fact, goes well with the Asam Tempoyak. So, no recipe needed on how to cook the rice. I'm only enclosing a recipe for the Talapia Asam Tempoyak
- 2 Talapia, each cut into two
- 2 thumb size fresh turmeric
- 4 shallots, pounded
- 20 birds eye chillies, pounded
- 2 lemongrass, bruised
- 3 pieces dried Asam Gelugor
- 1 1/2 cups tempoyak
- 1 turmeric leaf, torn and knotted
- 4 cups water
- Salt to taste
Put all the ingredients into a large and bring to a boil. Once it has boiled bring down to a low simmer and continue to cook for about eight minutes. If your tempoyak is the slightly sweeter variety (which means it has not been fermented long enough) you can add a few pieces more of the dried Asam Gelugor.
Serve hot with the Sarawak rice accompanied with the sambal belacan and Selom shoots.
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