PENANG CLOVES RECIPES

Steps:

• Finely grate the coconut, then toast slowly in a wok, stirring until evenly dark brown (it will start to smell very strong, but it will work a treat). While it’s still warm, pound to a paste with the sunflower oil using a pestle and mortar. Set aside.
• Finely grate or pound the ginger and garlic together using a pestle and mortar. Make a loose curry paste by adding 75ml water to the curry powder. Heat the oil in the wok until it’s just starting to smoke, then throw in the curry leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom pods and cloves and cook for 1 min until fragrant.
• Add the shallots and ginger and garlic paste, cook for around 7 mins until softened and starting to brown, then add the curry powder paste. This is the most important part of making the curry. Ideally, cook over a very low heat and wait until the oil separates and bubbles over the paste, around 10-12 mins. Scrape the bottom of the pan occasionally to remove the crust.
• When the oil has come to the top, add the tamarind paste, pineapple and sugar. Pour in the coconut milk. When the mixture starts boiling, add the prawns and return to the boil, then stir through the toasted coconut. Season the curry with salt, scatter over the coriander and serve with rice.

Steps:

• Cook the dried rice sticks according to the instructions on the packet. Drain through a fine strainer and run cold water over them to cool thoroughly (don’t miss out this step otherwise the noodles will continue cooking and then clump up in your wok later). If using fresh ho fun rice noodles, loosen the noodles so that they are in individual strands rather than one massive lump. Microwaving fresh ho fun, straight after you’ve taken them out of the packet, for 30–60 seconds (60 seconds if they are fridge-cold), loosens them perfectly. Mix the seasoning in a bowl so it’s ready to throw into the wok later in one fell swoop. Place a wok over a high heat until it is smoking. To achieve any sort of wok hei, you MUST fry only one portion at a time. As always, frying rice or noodles is much easier in a wok (yes, it is possible to do so in a frying pan but spillage is unavoidable). Add the oil, garlic and half of the Chinese chives. Stir-fry for a few seconds until the chives have charred a bit. Add the noodles and seasoning. Stir-fry for several minutes until the noodles are charred and have picked up some smokiness from the wok. Now add the prawns and stir-fry for 1 minute. Make space towards the side of the wok, crack in an egg, stir to mix and cook for a few seconds. Finally, add the beansprouts along with the remainder of the Chinese chives and the sambal tumis or simple chilli sauce. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and serve hot. SAMBAL TUMIS Start by cooking the sambal – it can even be cooked the day before and keeps well refrigerated for up to two weeks. Soak the dried red chillies or chilli flakes in more than enough water to cover them, using water that has just boiled. Leave for 15 minutes then drain. Blitz the onion, garlic, chillies and rehydrated dried chillies until the consistency of a smooth paste is achieved. Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan over a medium heat. Stir-fry the onion mixture and lemongrass for 10 minutes, stirring often. Make sure your windows are open as the chillies will start to smoke! Add the dark brown sugar, tamarind and shrimp paste. Continue stir-frying for another 5 minutes until fragrant and the oil separates. Remove the lemongrass and it is ready for use. SIMPLE CHILLI SAUCE Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Switch off the heat and leave for 1 hour. Bring to the boil again and simmer over a medium heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and use a hand blender to blend into a sauce.