Fried Prawns with Assam Sauce

Fried Prawns with Assam Sauce. Photo is only for illustration purposes.
(Shared on Flickr by rovingl)

Not everyone will automatically use MCM Assam Sauce when it comes to fried dishes. However, we at MCM believes that cooking should all be about experimentation. So, we found this recipe, Crispy Chili Fried Prawns, at allrecipes.co.uk. The ingredients are simple enough.

1. Oil, for deep frying

2. 125gm plain flour

3. 2 tablespoons chili powder

4. 3 teaspoons salt

5. 500gm prawns, heads removed

6. 1/2 lemon, quartered

Well, why don't we alter this recipe a little bit. Instead of chili powder, we substitute it with 2 to 3 tablespoons of MCM Assam Sauce. Take out the lemon, because Assam Sauce is quite sour as it is. But, if you prefer it to be sourish, then go ahead with the lemon. Lastly, add garnishing such as coriander or parsley.

Method:

1. Heat deep-fryer to 180 - 190 degrees Celsius.

2. In a bowl, mix flour, Assam Sauce, and salt together.

3. Coat prawns with flour mixture and deep-fry in batches; cook for a minute or two until they look crispy. Remove excess oil by draining in kitchen paper towel.

4. Serve warm with coriander/parsley as garnishing.

Enjoy your experiment!

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What's The Difference Between Sambal Sauce & Belachan Sauce?

The words 'sambal' and 'belachan' are closely associated with each other, as all Malaysians and a number of Singaporeans would know. So, what is the difference between Sambal Sauce and Belachan Sauce?

Well, there are TWO ingredients in Belachan Sauce that are not in Sambal Sauce: Candlenut (or 'buah keras' for those not in the know) and Lemongrass. So, basically the focus of this post is trivia on candlenut and lemongrass.

According to webmd.com, lemongrass can cure a lot of ailments, including stomachache, vomiting, coughs, the common cold, fever, exhaustion, achy joints, convulsions, high blood pressure and digestive tract spasms. So, lemongrass on its own is really good. But, you know what's better? Lemongrass in MCM Belachan Sauce! Anyway, the use of lemongrass in cooking is as versatile as its use for medicinal purposes. It can be used in teas, soups, broths, braising liquids, curry pastes, marinades, stir-fries, salads and spice rubs. 

Okay, an interesting trivia on candlenut. Do you know that it can be used as a candle? Hence, the name candlenut. According to culinarylore.com, this is because candlenuts have such a high oil content (Wikipedia mentions that 15% to 20% of the nut's weight is purely oil). When it comes to cooking, culinarylore.com mentions that candlenuts are predominantly used in Malaysia, Indonesia and Hawaii. Mostly used as a thickener and texture enhancer in curry pastes and other dishes. The site mentions that candlenut is used in a Malaysian curry dish called kapitan. Well, we Googled 'kapitan curry' and on asianfoodchannel.com, there's a recipe by Martin Yan for Kapitan Curry Chicken. Yup, candlenut is used in the curry paste for that dish. 

So, does this make MCM Belachan Sauce superior to MCM Sambal Sauce? Why don't you be the judge of that because obviously we created these sauces for all kinds of cooking. Belachan Sauce & Sambal Sauce – Best Friends Forever <3

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The Goodness of Garlic

Some time ago on our FB Fanpage, we at MCM posed this question to our fans: What does MCM's Sambal Sauce, Belachan Sauce, Assam Sauce and Gan Xiang Sauce have in common? Though we got a number of Likes for that post, no one actually came up with an answer. Well, there's more than one answer, and one of those answers is garlic. Yes, all four sauces contain garlic, an essential ingredient in many Asian dishes. But, did you know that garlic has medicinal benefits?

According to authoritynutrition.com, the father of Western medicine, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, used to prescribe garlic as treatment for some medical conditions. 

An ounce or 28 grams serving of garlic provides:

1) Vitamin B6: 17% of the Required Dietary Allowance (RDA).

2) Vitamin C: 15% of the RDA.

3) Manganese: 23% of the RDA.

4) Selenium: 6% of the RDA.

5) Fiber: 1 gram.

6) Also some amounts of Vitamin B1, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium & copper.

Read up more on the article at at authoritynutrition.com to find out more about the health goodness of garlic. 

Check out MCM's convenient sauces at our e-store on Dinasou.com. 

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Fruits that are good eaten with just MCM Rojak Sauce

1. Pineapple

2. Guava and Water Guava ... The popular choice of fruits for rojak sauce. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a nice pic of such fruits for this post.

3. 'Sengkuang'. We looked up Wikipedia and found funny names for it in English, so we'll just stick to the Malaysian word for it.

4. Mango. Try rojak sauce with a mango that's not too ripe, as that's how a number of Malaysians enjoy it.

5. Papaya. This is a rather unusual choice of fruit, but give it a go. Again, go for the not-so-ripe ones.

6. Starfruit. The most unusual combination with rojak sauce, but hey, you only live once!

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Hot Grilled Seafood Mix

Ingredients:

1. 400gm stingray

2. 2 fresh squids

3. 100gm clams

4. 3 long beans

5. 3 lady’s fingers

6. 3 shallots

7. 2 cloves of garlic

8. 4 tbsp MCM Sambal Sauce

9. 1 tbsp MCM Assam Sauce

10. ½ tsp MCM Belacan Sauce

11. 1 tsp turmeric powder

12. 1 tbsp dried prawns (coarsely chopped)

13. 1 tbsp MCM Superior Light Soy Sauce

14. 1 tbsp sugar

15. Small piece of cut out banana leaf

Method:
1. Cut the stingray into 2 pieces, the fresh squids into rings, the long beans into sections and the lady’s fingers into slanting thick pieces.
2. Mash the shallots and garlic until they become a paste. Mix this with the Sambal Sauce, Assam Sauce, Belacan Sauce, turmeric powder and dried prawns. Mix this concoction well.
3. Add some oil to a wok and heat it up. Fry the concoction paste over low heat and then add in the Superior Light Soy Sauce and sugar.
4. Divide the fried paste into 2 portions. Take a double layer of aluminium foil. Put the banana leaf over the foil.
5. Scoop the first portion of the fried paste and spread it over the banana leaf. Lay the cut stingray, squids, clams and all the vegetables on the banana leaf. Pour the remaining fried paste over the all the ingredients. Wrap up the foil neatly into a parcel.
6. Grill the aluminium parcel in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 20 – 25 minutes or until ingredients are well cooked.

Visit MCM's e-store at Dinasou.com.

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Trends in Consumption of Sauces, Dressings and Condiments (as of November 2015)

According to a summary of a report compiled by euromonitor.com for Malaysia, the trend for sauces, dressings and condiments in the country in 2015 hardly changed and continued to remain essential despite the introduction of the 6% Goods & Services Tax (GST) earlier in 2015. In fact, as the GST raised prices for most items, home cooking, as opposed to eating out, became de rigueur as consumers needed to compensate for the price hikes. Due to this, consumers switched to cheaper brands, forsaking the need for quality with regards to their cooking ingredients.

We at MCM are well aware of the situation and the prices for our sauces remain competitive with other more well-known brands, despite the 6% GST rate. At the same time, we have not compromised the quality of our sauces in order to compensate for the increase in prices. 

Check out our sauces on MCM's Brand Street e-store at Dinasou.com. 

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Stewed Spiced Farm Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole farm chicken

2. 3gm galangal (sliced)

3. 2 whole garlic (smashed)

4. A stalk of spring onion

5. 800ml water

6. 1 pkt spices mixture

7. 5 pcs cloves

8. 6 pcs star anise

9. 2 inches cinnamon

10. 3 tbsp sugar

11. 1 cup MCM Superior Light Soy Sauce

12. ½ tbsp MCM Golden Thick Soy Sauce

13. ½ tsp salt.

Method:

1. Clean chicken thoroughly by removing all innards and drain after cleaning.

2. Heat a wok and sauté sugar until it turns into golden syrup. Add 1 tbsp oil and sauté the galangal and garlic until fragrant. Pour in Superior Light Soy Sauce and Golden Thick Soy Sauce.

3. Add in all the spices, chicken, water & salt and then bring to boil. Transfer all ingredients to a pot. Cover the pot and simmer the chicken in low heat until it is well cooked. 

Check out MCM's selection of sauces on our

 Brand Street page at Dinasou.com

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5 Ways To Enjoy Soy Sauce

1. To enhance the flavours of foods typically eaten as dessert.
    Here in Malaysia, there are people in some parts of the country that will enjoy a sprinkle or a good dash of 'kicap' with 'pisang goreng', or banana fritters. But do you know that soy sauce can be added to ice cream? If you buy a tub of vanilla ice cream, and you want to bring out the butterscotch flavour in it, soften the ice cream first, meaning don't put it in the freezer for a while. If it's a one-litre tub, pour one teaspoon of soy sauce in the softened ice cream and mix well. Put the tub back in the freezer to harden the ice cream. Ice cream is only nice to eat when it's firm. 

Another dessert which you can enhance the flavour of with soy sauce is chocolate brownie. Before baking, add two teaspoons of soy sauce so that the brownie's flavours will be intensified.

You can do the same to other desserts such as blueberry muffins and cakes. Add two to three teaspoons of soy sauce to the mixture before baking and voila! The sweetness of the desserts will be enhanced.

2. To add flavour to meat
    This is not a secret as some of us may actually use soy sauce to boost the richness of meat. But, there's a way of doing it that all of you may not know, such as mixing soy sauce with marmalade before basting chicken or lamb. Roast the meat when its properly basted with the marmalade & soy sauce mixture to give a citrus boost to your chicken or lamb. 

If you like making burger patties from scratch, don't forget to a teaspoon of soy sauce for every 100g of mince beef. This will definitely improve the taste of of your burgers. 

If you want a rich taste and a deep mahogany colour to your ribs (not your ribs, but those taken from a cow, like, duh!) or a beef roast, use soy sauce as a baste. Before or during roasting chicken, make sure to brush soy sauce over it to make it evenly brown and for better flavour. But we're sure you know this already, or else how can we enjoy one of Malaysia's quintessential dishes, 'nasi ayam'?

3. If you want to add depth of flavour to your stews, soups and casseroles, use soy sauce in stock instead of salt. 

4. There are many ways to enjoy pumpkin and pineapple, either in savoury or sweet dishes. But how about just enjoying pumpkin and pineapple on their own with soy sauce? Mix soy sauce with honey and drizzle it over pineapple. Chargrill until golden and just warm. Mix soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce and glaze the mixture over wedges of pumpkin. Pop the wedges in the oven and bake until golden. 

5. This last one may not be a secret at all to most Malaysians. Then again, who knows? We all enjoy our curry gravy, right? But what about brown gravy? The one which you eat with meatballs, for example. For every quarter of water, add a quarter of soy sauce before making your gravy. It will sure add a kick to that brown gravy of yours. 

Source: taste.com.au

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The Longest Yee Sang in Malaysia?

Image taken from: thecoverage.my

We at MCM try our best to pick out the most interesting news for our fans, and in light of the upcoming Chinese New Year, we came across a rather not-so-old piece of news regarding Yee Sang. Apparently, for the Chinese New Year in 2013, people came together to join 1,000 tables to make the longest spread of Yee Sang along Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur. The Yee Sang spread was measured at 999 metres long. 

You may ask, how do we know that it's CNY 2013? Well, we trawled all over the Internet and found this reference to a "World Record 999 meters LO HEI function" that supposedly took place on Sunday 17th February 2012, according to lungmu.blogspot.my. Okay, the year does not tally, but the post on the blog started by mentioning the Year of the Snake, which corresponds with the starting of the Chinese lunar year in 2013. 

Anyway, we also checked World Guinness Record's site, and it does not mention WORLD's longest Yee Sang. There's almost 600 entries if you search "longest yee sang" on the World Guinness Record's site. 

It is still Chinese New Year. You can order MCM's Red Box Prepacked Yee Sang at our e-store on Dinasou.com. 

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Yee Sang

Main ingredients:
1. 200gm fresh salmon (sliced thinly)
2. ¼ lemon juice

Juliennes ingredients:
1. 1 pkt MCM Yee Sang
2. 1 carrot
3. 1 yellow pear
4. 1 Japanese cucumber
5. A stalk of coriander
6. A sprig of spring onion

Sub ingredients (all from Yee Sang pkt):
1. 3 tbsp chopped peanuts
2. 2 tbsp chopped sesame seed
3. 1 pkt crackers
4.  Some pepper
5. 5-spice powder

Sauce ingredients:
1. 3 tbsp MCM Gan Xiang Sauce
2. 1 tbsp MCM Rojak Sauce
3. 2 tbsp plum sauce (from Yee Sang pkt)
4. ½ lemon juice
5. 3 tbsp olive oil

Method:
1. Shred the carrot, cucumber and yellow pair; arrange these together with the sliced salmon on a serving plate.
2. Mix all sauce ingredients and set aside.
3. Arrange all Yee Sang and shredded ingredients on a big serving plate.
4. Squeeze lemon juice over the salmon and pour sub ingredients and combined sauces over. Stir well before serving.

Check out MCM's Yee Sang at Dinasou.com. 

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