I thought about how to celebrate the opening of my new, permanent blog on this very first post. (yes I decided to leave Tumblr as it didn’t truly give me a blogging vibe). What’s better than having a feast? 😋
To be fair, my tumblr blog was really made half assed. 😒 And Tumblr style really isn’t mine (neither was blogspot). I wanted something I could have full control over. I finally decided to go with hosting my own website. Well to be fair I finally have a stable job to pay for it now (I mean compared when I started blogging in secondary school).
Phew, being able to pay for my own web hosting and domain surely feels good! It’s not really expensive either. Like a cup of starbucks? But I was a horribly poor student before I entered working life so I definitely couldn’t afford it anyway. 😅
ANYWAY, since I can’t host a feast so I guess the best I can do is to share my favourite fried rice that my mom used to cook for us. Its not a lavish dish but it’s one that always brings my heart back home with every bite.
Ingredients – for blending
- 5 handful of dried red chilli – cut and deseed
- 6 shallots / 1 large red onion (basically 1 fist size of onion)
- Half bulb of garlic – mince extra and set aside if you love garlic like me!
Optional blending ingredients:
- 1 inch of ginger – feel free to omit
- 1 Tablespoon of shrimp paste / belacan if you like (I burn it before blending
- 2 red bird’s eye chilli if you love spice!
Ingredients for frying
- Half bulb of onion (white), roughly chopped
- Extra minced garlic as above if you like
- Large deshelled and deveined prawns (roughly 6 per serving). Rub in sugar during prep
- Overnight / cold rice (2 large bowls)
- Cooking oil
Optional frying ingredients:
- Finely chopped spinach / bak choy / Lettuce (I have mine raw as garnish)
Instructions
- Boil dried chilli has been deseed for 5-8 minutes.
- Once chilli appear plump and soft, drain well and transfer to blender.
- Blend boiled dried chilli with other ingredients above until it becomes a nice thick paste. Add 1-2 Tablespoon if water if the paste appear too coarse, and continue to blend it. Try not to add too much water!
- Rinse away sugar from prawns and drain prawn until dry.
- Heat up cooking oil in wok – don’t be stingy with the oil, you need enough to be able fry everything at the end. Add in prawns when hot at medium heat.
- Remove prawns semi cooked once it turns pink. Remember, you’re cooking it again later.
- Now turn on high heat. Add in your 5 tablespoon of blended sambal. Depending on the types of dried chili you have, the spice level will vary. Add more if you prefer to torture your taste buds.
- Once the oil appear to mix well with your sambal, add in chopped onions.
- Add in your rice and try your best to separate chunks of rice with your spatula. Mix well with the fried sambal
- Add in your chopped vegetables now!Â
- Throw the cooked prawn back into the wok. Add salt generously!! Salt is what brings this dish out!! 😱 Mix well and taste, adjust salt as desired.
- Serve hot garnish with spring onion / cucumber / your preferred vegetables🔥
P/s: extra sambal can be frozen up to 3 months!
P/p/s: im terrible with measurement……. I just add sauces and salt until the ancestor within me say ‘stop’