Otak-Otak and Sambal Udang Sukses

Cookout @ MCC place on Singapore's National Day. Super auntie post ok.

A many firsts of DIYs. 

 MCC's dry curry chicken paste. She refused to let me know what the ingredients are. Hmmph. I said I'll somehow dig out from Mum but she said hers nicer. Meh.

 I tried a couple of recipes- sambal udang and otak-otak!

Blend to a smooth consistency. I can't completely remember the recipe, but it's something liddis la hor.

Sambal udang-
Belachan
Shallots
Dried red chillies
Turmeric
Red chillies
Shrimps
Tamarind juice

Otak-otak -
Shallots
Dried red chillies
Turmeric
Red chillies
Tamarind juice
Galangal
Coconut milk
Eggs
Daun kaduk
Banana leaves
Fish fillet

 The outcome from the two not-so-different mixtures. The sambal udang one on the left is almost like sambal belachan, whereas for otak-otak it has a similar consistency to Thai style chili sauce.

 Making coconut milk ourselves! Added water to grated old coconuts and press for juice :D I told MCC that this is great stuff - can get to moisturize hands while at it heheheh. She just made a face hahahaha. This goes into the otak-otak as well.

 I like posting unflattering shots of her :D

 We had the utmost difficulty balancing the sweet-sour-salty ratio for the sambal udang!! As the paste itself contains belachan, which is already incredibly salty to begin with, MCC further added in like almost a fistful of sea salt before tasting it! LOL. The paste turns out sibeh salty can almost dehydrate right away kekekeke. We both scrambled to add in sugar, more tamarind juice, water, simmer, simmer ... luckily still salvage-able :\

 Combining the otak-otak mixture.

 Trying to put the custard mixture into the banana leaves along with the daun kaduks is a pain in the a$$!!!!! The mixture is still very runny and it's a complete herculean task to shape the banana leaves while making sure the mixture doesn't spill and the leaves don't tear.

End results: misshapen, odd but still passable looking otak-otaks.

 Just the remainders of the mixture into a bowl lolz. Btw, daun kaduks are freshly picked from one of the bushes downstairs by the HDB blocks kekekeke.

Rice cooked in coconut milk but I guess MCC must have miscalculated the amount of water to be used, cause the rice is as dead hard as uncooked rice kernels! ROFL.... but we just quietly eat la hor.... unless you want to die early...

 Otak-otak verdict: I am very pleasantly surprised by how good it turns out! May need more salt, but otherwise as good as any. One of IKK's friend who joined us for dinner said if we do otak-otak business sure chaplap cos of the heaping amount of fish fillet and the otak size is darn huge! lol... of course lor, this is what we call homemade ;)

 And MCC's jealously guarded dry curry chicken. Was superb! Must have loads of curry leaves for the extra oomph.

:)