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Madam Ha's Kitchen - A Taste of Sarawak

With a multicultural background that consists of Chinese, Malay, Indian and minority ethnic groups from both East and West Malaysia, borrowing and adapting from each other's cooking techniques and ingredients that spice up the kitchen, it is hardly surprisingly that Malaysian cuisine is often considered as one of the most well known in the region and has increasingly became popular throughout the world.

Many of the dishes are moderately spicy and rich in flavors from a mixture of ingredients including coconut, coriander, cumin, ginger, mint, nutmeg, pepper, tamarind, turmeric and many others.

Amongst the various spices mentioned, we’ll be looking at one particular ingredient that has been widely used by the locals and one that has earned international recognition over the years and is now synonymous with quality in the spice trade – “The Sarawak Pepper”.

Pepper, the “King of Spices”, originated from the south-western part of India and was first introduced to Sarawak by Spencer St John in 1856.

The tropical climate of Sarawak is ideal for pepper cultivation, and is often available in white and black, ground or whole.

Over the past 100 years, Sarawak pepper has been exported throughout the world and has earned numerous awards and recognition and often featured in their culinary creations by top gourmet chefs all over the world due to its distinctive aroma and flavour.

This absolutely delicious dish is very easy to prepare and your family, friends and guests will, without a doubt, find it most palatable.

Ingredients:
500 g of fish fillet ( eg. cod )
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Dressing:
2 tablespoons of crushed black peppercorns
1 teaspoon of sugar
4 tablespoons of good quality oyster sauce
3 tablespoons of sweet cooking wine (or sherry)

Preparation:

Pour the tablespoonful of olive oil into the frying pan and gently heat up the oil.

Now place the fish fillet into the frying pan and fry the fillet on both sides until cooked.

Remove the cooked fillet onto the serving dish, leaving the excess oil in the frying pan.

Add the crushed black peppercorns into the remaining oil in the frying pan and turn up the heat slightly and stir fry until you smell the distinctively and spicy aroma rise from the pan.

Add the oyster sauce into the frying pan and continue to stir. Add a little water if the sauce appears too thick. It should be slightly runny.

Add the sugar to give it that little taste of sweetness to tame the pepper.

Lastly, add the cooking wine / sherry to give it the final sweet peppery flavour.

You are now ready to pour the hot mixture over the cooked fillet and serve.

Enjoy !

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About the Author

Renowned cooking instructor / presenter of ASEAN cuisine

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