This weekend, our Muslim brothers and sisters will be celebrating Eid al-Fitr (Hari Raya) or the end of the Ramadan season. It’s going to be a huge celebration among families here in Malaysia. Being ‘that’ kind of foreigner who tries to immerse herself in different cultures to the point of either looking silly or too eager, I found myself quite excited for this year’s Hari Raya.
Last year – only a few weeks after our arrival here in KL – we were invited to a couple of open house celebrations which were the cause of major weight gain for us. Food in Malaysia is just too good and hard to pass up so I’ve been working out to get ready for this year’s celebrations! 😉 (But really, eating more should not be your motivation in working out! Don’t be like me! Haha!)
(Read more about the Career Girl Cooking Series here: Career Girl Cooking Series – Ham, Bacon, and Mushroom Alfredo)
I even found myself thinking as to what should I be cooking for Alvin and I this long weekend. I think it’s a great excuse for me to get myself back in the kitchen and enhance my cooking skills. 😉 While I am not confident that I can make Nasi Lemak from scratch yet, I can truly say that I can impress my husband by making pasta – my field of expertise. But for Raya, I shall be Malaysianizing (is that a word?) my usual pasta dishes!
Thanks to San Remo for teaching me some new recipes btw. They invited me to an event a while back where there was a cooking demo and some tips on how to make pasta that’s perfect for the Asian tastebuds. We even had a cooking challenge wherein the people who attended the event were divided into groups and were tasked to create their own, Asian pasta dish. That was a lot of fun!
https://instagram.com/p/2pnjZTCqeq/
I will be sharing with you two recipes! One that was shown to us during the event and another which is in the cook book they gave us and have already tried myself a couple of weeks back. They are super easy and they take very little time to prepare!
San Remo Angel Hair Pasta in Curry Gravy
Ingredients:
250g San Remo Angel Hair pasta, cooked as per instructions on the packaging
100g Mussels
100g Medium sized prawns, peeled
50g Bean sprouts cleaned
4-5 Long beans cut into 4cm
3 Long eggplants cut thin into 4cm and deep fried
2 Eggs, hard boiled and peeled
Lime, red chilli, and spring onion sliced thinly for garnishing
Ingredients for Gravy:
1L Coconut milk
3tbsp Curry powder
1tbsp Chilli paste
1 Large onion blended
4 Garlic blended
50g Dried shrimps blended
3tbsp Shrimp paste (belacan)
3tbsp Cooking oil
Sugar, salt, and pepper to taste
Procedure:
1. For the gravy, heat the cooking oil in a pot. Sauté blended ingredients until they are fragrant. Add shrimp paste, curry powder, and chilli paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
2. Pour in coconut milk and simmer for about 10 minutes in medium heat. Add mussels and prawns.
3. Add a little bit of sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.
4. To serve, place cooked angel hair on a bowl/shallow plate. Pour the curry gravy and garnish with all the other ingredients. Serve immediately.
Tips: Mussel can be substituted with chicken or cockles. Coconut milk can be replaced by low fat milk. When frying/sautéing the chilli paste and curry powder, make sure to continue stirring it to avoid burning the paste.
One Pot San Remo Basil and Mushroom Penne
Ingredients:
220g San Remo Penne pasta
1 Yellow onion, sliced
1 Tomato, sliced
5 Cloves garlic chopped
150g San Remo Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce
2c Water
2 Portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 Yellow capsicum, sliced
50g Cheddar Cheese, grated
2tbsp Olive oil
5g Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
1. Place the first 6 ingredients in the inner pot of a rice cooker. Ensure that the pasta is complete covered by the liquid ingredients.
2. Set timer according to the recommended cooking time on the pasta’s packaging.
3. After 10 minutes, open the cover of the rice cooker and add in the mushrooms. Keep the cover open and stir the pasta occasionally.
4. When the liquid has reduced, add the capsicum and the grated cheddar.
5. When the cheddar has melted and the sauce has thickened, stir in the olive oil. Serve immediately with grated parmesan cheese.
Tips:
Portobello mushrooms can be replaced by other kinds of mushrooms.
And there you have it! Recipes perfect for this weekend! Let me know how the cooking goes for you, guys!
While doing your shopping for the Raya weekend, do check our the pasta aisle and grab some San Remo for your pasta dishes! Choose the packets that have a free recipe book attached to it so you can try all the other Asian-inspired pasta dishes that they whipped up!
Love,
Carol
