Sunday, May 17, 2009

Rempah Udang: Vlog of the Classic Recipe by Peramakan

I met Melvyn the videographer recently while filming for Planet Food. As we talked, we thought it would be fun to make some Video Blogs (Vlog) on Singapore Food. Since Nonya food is still very much the rage at the moment, we decided to start with the one dish that I have been curious about ever since watching "The Little Nonya". It's none other than the Rempah Udang. In this Vlog, Bibik Kathryn from Peramakan restaurant will show us how to make Rempah Udang .



Bibik Kathryn grew up in a traditional Nonya family where, very much like the Little Nonya, she was trained to cook since a very young age. She is very meticulous about only using the best ingredients and cooking the traditional way. You only have to taste her food at Peramakan to know how much passion goes into cooking her dishes. Her Beef Rendang is still slow cooked over a charcoal fire and so far is the most tender Beef Rendang I have ever tasted.


Rempah Udang

One of the things that used to baffle me when I watched Little Nonya was the fact that they kept saying that Rempah Udang was a dessert. I have eaten many similar snacks which consist of glutinous rice with shrimp filling wrapped in banana leaves before, but I have never considered them to be desserts. So it was quite interesting when Rempah Udang turned out to be sweet! Kathryn explained that the savoury version of the dish is actually known as Pulut Panggang and should not be confused with Rempah Udang. Ah, now at last I know just what Zhor Zhor (Great Grandma in the Little Nonya) was talking about.

Here are the ingredients if you want to make it at home.

Rempah Udang Recipe

Ingredients

Rice

Glutinous rice 500g
Bunga Telang juice 1/2 cup
Santan 150ml
Salt 1 teaspoon

Soak rice overnight and steam with the rest of the ingredients.

Spice Paste

Lemongrass 40g
Young tumeric 30g
Red chillies (deseeded) 60g
Red chilli padi 6
Shallots 70g

Pounded together and fried till fragrant

Filling

Fresh prawns 200g
Dried prawns 100g
Freshly grated coconut 50g
ikan bilis powder 2 teaspoons

Fry together with spice paste

Others

Santan 200ml
Oil for frying
Banana leaves 15cm x 15cm 15 pieces. Blanched in hot water.

This next clip is my attempt at rolling it.



Many thanks to Bibik Kathryn from Peramakan for sharing her recipe with us. Here are the contact details should you wish to order some Rempah Udang from Peramakan.

Peramakan
Level 3, Keppel Club,
10 Bukit Chermin Road
Singapore 109918
Tel 63772829
www.peramakan.com

Link to my last post on Peramakan

25 comments:

liverpool1965 said...

interesting! should have more of this vlogs ieat!

ice said...

very interesting! and hunger-inducing. les you should do more these vlogs, the "moment of revelation" part is very funny!

The blue coloring actually comes from the butterfly pea flower/blue pea flower. Nyonyas use this as natural dye in their kuehs.

ieat said...

Thanks for your comments and glad you like the vlogs. Melvin is quite a pro with the videos.

singaporeshortstories.blogspot.com said...

The food seems GREAT!

P. Chong said...

Nice one, Les...Thumbs UP!!

Holy Drummer said...

Rempah Udang!

Video certainly adds a new dimension to the post. Very drama-mama ah Les? Where's your sarong kebaya LOL

Wah now I feel like popping over to peramakan for lunch -_-

liverpool1965 said...

yes for the beef rendang! Lunch Wednesday anyone? :)

cactuskit said...

Great job! My whole family burst out laughing when you said: "这个味道,就是这个味道!".

JENCOOKS said...

Good Vlog by melvyn and I am sure the presenter, non other than our BABA LES can receive the same accolades as Little Nonya. Well done.

Pong said...

I like this vlog!!!

You get to see the making of Rempah Udang, Bibik Kathryn in action.

Almost the whole process of the introduction of the food.

And of course "Mdm Chen"'s (Zhor Zhor) expression!!!

Very good!!!
In my kind of business, well produced I must say! =D


PS: btw who is the other Pong?

cookiepoh said...

zhor zhor...can hold a tok pajang (long table feast) liao...kekeke

iJeff said...

Great Vlog, Les! The 陈老太 part was hilarious!

ieat said...

Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments! I hope to do a series of Vlogs on basic cooking techniques as well as recipes of famous Singapore food like the one above. So if there is anything in particular that you all like to see, please let me know.

The next one will be about Chinese Tea which I hope will tweak everyone's interest in Chinese Tea culture.

ieat said...

Hi Pong,

That's a great encouragement coming from Caldecott Hill!

The other "Pong" was Yung Yih who subsequently deleted and reposted right after you. Yung Yih's a nice guy so don't worry about him. If we both started speaking Chinese to each other, you all will laugh till your side splits.

Pong said...

I was just being honest about the comment ;D

Keep it going!!!

Anonymous said...

Another very satisfying experience from your blog. The planning, filming and editing of the video is very well done. Something like an online version of MakanSutra.

kueh fanatic said...

the best rempah udang I've tasted is in Malacca... it was nicely balanced - sweet and salty with a bit of spice, nothing like Singapore's largely-savoury versions. i haven't tasted anything like that locally. any recommendations? haven't had the one at Peramakan though.

ieat said...

The Peramakan version is sweet and savoury, ie real Rempah Udang. You should try it and let us know how it compares with Malacca

kueh fanatic said...

i recently tried the one at Peramakan and still finds it a far cry from those from Malacca. The taste is simply distinct.

kueh fanatic said...

wow confusing me, i was wondering if i wrote the previous comment in my sleep... pls don't copy nicknames..... - the real 'kueh fanatic'

Kathryn said...

Hi kueh fanatic, I'm Bibik Kathryn, So far, we have not made rempah udang for sale at Peramakan, how can you say that ours is a far cry from Malacca's? Our promotion on rempah udang will start in June.

ieat said...

It is obvious that the first kueh fanatic was trying to use someone else's name to push a personal agenda.

Most readers are wise enough to take comments with a pinch of salt unless it comes from someone who is a regular commenter of the blog.

ieat said...

Best to give them a call first.

Reg said...

is the kueh available as takeaway everyday? how about other varieties? was thinking of popping by to pick some up.

bingyan said...

Rempah Udang is also available at www.sgkueh.com at $1.20 each.

also available is Rempah Ayam and Durian Pulot

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