Cookery Magic Singapore Peranakan/Nonya Cooking #1

Not all Asian recipes call for prawns (or shrimp) to be de-shelled but when it does, it only takes a few seconds to do it, if you know how. Here, you'll learn how easy it is to de-shell and de-vein a prawn or shrimp.

When you butterfly or cut open a prawn, it allows the marinate to evenly distribute into the prawn. In this video, you'll learn how to do this and why this technique is important in Peranakan cooking.

In this video, you'll learn how to make prawn or shrimp stock using Asian ingredients. Using these ingredients the stock has a different flavor which is appropriate for making many Asian recipes. Find out what are the essential ingredients used. 

In the previous video, I showed you what essential ingredients you will need to make Asian style prawn stock. Let's now learn how to make the prawn/shrimp stock.

Tamarind water is one of the most essential ingredients used in Peranakan cooking. In this video, you'll learn the different types of tamarind paste available and how to make your tamarind water more or less sour.

Many Asian recipes require coconut milk. You can get coconut cream in a ready pack but if you do have coconuts available where you are, why not make a fresh batch of coconut milk and store it for later use? Learn how to squeeze milk from grated coconut and find out the difference between the first and second squeeze. 

The Pandan or Pandanus plant is a natural ingredient for producing coloring and flavor. I'll teach you how to extract its juice and provide tips on how to best preserve the juice.

Peanuts are a nutritious source of food for the heart. In Peranakan cooking, we roast them to get maximum taste and texture. But do you roast with or without the skin? Find out the right way to roast your peanuts in this video.

There are many ways to peel and slice a pineapple but I think I've found the easiest way to do it. In this video, I'll show you my little secret in how I effectively peel and slice a pineapple. 

In this video, you will learn what are the ingredients required to make Cucumber & Pineapple Salad, a simple, yet delicious pickle dish. Also known as Achar, a pickle dish like this is almost always present at any Peranakan meal. It is said that this dish 'perks' up the meal!

With your ingredients all prepared, in this video, I show you how to put  together this dish. It's really quite simple. 

This video shows you what ingredients you will need to make Tofu & Cucumber Salad or (as it is known in Asia) Tahu Goreng.

In this video, I show you how to make the peanut sauce. This requires no cooking, just mixing the ingredients.

Now that your peanut sauce is done, let's see how to prepare the rest of the vegetable and plate the dish.

In this video, I show you what are the ingredients required to make Chinese Leek Flowers with Tofu. It is a simple stir fry dish, Chinese style, so the ingredients are pretty simple. 

It's always a good idea to prep your ingredients before you start cooking. This video shows you how to prep your ingredients.

With your ingredients and prep done, I now show you how to cook this dish. I have broken it up into 2 parts to make it easier for you, starting with cooking the tofu.

In this video, you'll learn the final step in making this dish and plating it. 

In this video, I'll show you what ingredients you need to make Sweet Potato Leaves in Coconut Milk Stew.

The spice paste or 'rempah' (as it is known in Peranakan cuisine) is the most important step in Peranakan cooking. Once you get this right, you can be sure your dish comes out perfect. 

With your spice paste or 'rempah' ready, you're now all set to start making your dish.

Here are the ingredients you'll need to make this herb infused rice.

In this video, I'll show you how to use the ingredients and how to cook the rice without the use of a rice cooker. You'll learn how to cook your rice soft, al dante, or just the way you like it.  

These are the ingredients you'll need to make this dish.

We start making this dish by first creating the marinate for the prawns or shrimps. The marinated prawns need to sit aside either overnight or a minimum of four hours. This helps the marinate to soak into the prawns and absorb all the flavors. 

With the prawns now marinating for the minimum four hours, we are now ready to cook them. 

This video helps you prepare your ingredients for this dish. 

With all your ingredients prepared, I'll walk you through the marinating process.

In this final step, I'll show you how to cook the chicken. I am BBQ-ing it but if you don't have a BBQ, then deep frying or grilling the chicken pieces are other ways to do it. 

The best way to cook this dish is to have all the ingredients ready and approach it in a step-by-step method. I'll walk you through the steps and by the time you are done, you'll see how easy it is. In this video, I show you what ingredients you will need to make this dish.

The spice paste or 'rempah' is the basis of this dish and getting it cooked just right is important. In this video, I'll show you how to get your paste right and how you can tell when it is cooked.

We continue with the step-by-step method of competing this dish by preparing the vegetables.

In this final step, I show you how we put the ingredients together to make this dish.