Soy Milk Beef Rendang

Rendang is a Malay meat dish that can't quite be described using a single English term. Some call it a curry, but a curry gives you the impression that a spicy sauce is involved, whereas rendang is slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices until almost no liquid remains. This isn't to say that it's a dry dish (although you can dry it out and it becomes what we call serunding, a spicy meat floss which can keep for months), the meat usually soaks up the spices and coconut milk quite nicely and the end result is tender, juicy, spicy, coconut-based meat.

In Malaysia, the more popular rendang dishes are made with either beef or chicken, and is typically served during Hari Raya Aidilfitri (or Eid ul-Fitr as it's known in Arabic), the festival that marks the end of Ramadhan. I have a special place in my heart for my mum's chicken rendang, so as a rule I've never attempted to reproduce any version of the chicken variety, just because it'll never be as good as hers.

I made my first beef rendang six years ago. I was in England at the time and shared the kitchen with a friend who was also making beef rendang, but using an East Malaysian recipe. I remember not quite following the recipe my mother had scribbled on a tiny piece of paper I had shoved in between the pages of a textbook. I threw everything together in a blender and went by my third sister's words of wisdom (when it came to cooking rendang, at least), "you can't go wrong as long as you've got the right ingredients".

She was right, by the way, my mess of spices and beef turned out all right. I served it to a group of Malaysians and nobody complained. Mind you, we can be very critical when it comes to food. We Malaysians definitely live to eat, not the other way around. Food is very central to our cultural identity.

Well here's the thing though. Two years ago, I made a conscious decision to eat healthier. Anyone who has known me since way back when can tell you that I've never been very fussy with what I put into my body, but these days I'm obsessed with choosing healthier options when I can. Brown rice has replaced white rice, whole grain pastas in place of refined pasta, the list goes on. While we were in New Zealand and didn't have a fridge, Kyle refused to drink room temperature boxed milk, so we bought only soy milk. I chanced upon using soy milk in my cooking once (in place of using coconut milk like normal Southeast Asians do) and found out it worked like a charm! So I started to wonder whether soy milk would work in rendang as well...and decided to give it a trial run before Hari Raya arrives, just around the corner.

The verdict?

Success! Especially considering I didn't exactly have all the right ingredients and had to work with what was in the fridge. For all of you who think it almost blasphemous that I used soy milk instead of coconut milk, I'll have you know that it tasted just like rendang, AND it's so much healthier than authentic rendang. Coconut milk has more than five times the calories, and saturated fat content that soy milk has, as shown below.

Who wants to know my cheat recipe for healthier beef rendang? Hands up! Well too bad...this is my blog entry so I'm going to give it to you anyway!

Ingredients

1/2 pound of beef (cut into little slices)

2 tbs of curry powder (I used Shan's meat curry mix...it was the only kind I found that was under a buck :P)

A bit of ginger (hrm...I used just a wee bit. You don't want it to overpower the taste), chopped into as itsy bitsy pieces as you can

5 cloves of garlic (sliced)

Half a HUGE red onion (finely sliced)

A pinch of belachan (optional, especially if you don't know what this is)

2 tbs of Huy Fong's Sambal Oelek (available in most grocery stores under Asian foods)

1 tsp of brown sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

1 tsp of tamarind juice (you can probably substitute this for lemon juice if you don't have tamarind juice)

1 stalk of lemon grass (was very fortunate to find this. You can probably do without, but it tastes so much better with)

1 1/2 cups of dried grated coconut (unsweetened. This is usually found in the baking aisle)

1/2 tbs olive oil

Some water

Some soy milk

Mix the beef with the curry powder, ginger, belachan, sambal oelek, brown sugar, salt, tamarind juice, with about 1 1/2 cups of water and set aside. Spread out the grated coconut as thinly as possible on a cookie sheet and bake it in the oven until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside. Then saute the garlic and onion in oil until onions are soft, then throw in the beef mix, soy milk (pour in as much as it takes to cover the beef completely and throw in the lemon grass stalk (pound the bulb a little beforehand) and let it simmer with occasional stirring. Once the beef is cooked and there's not much liquid left, throw in the golden brown coconut. It'll soak up the rest of the liquid...and TADA!!! All done!

Note: My portions are a rough estimate. You can probably work with different portions to 'taste'.

You can have this with rice but we decided to have it with pita bread tonight.

As usual, enjoy! :o)

Milo & Hot Cocoa Mix Brownies

If you don't know this already, both Kyle and I like to cook and bake. When we first discovered we shared this, we tried cooking recipe after recipe together...only to realise that we both had different methods when it came to being creative and modifying recipes. I'm more of what I call the 'college student' type cook...where I randomly and every now and then intuitively throw things together and hope for the best, while Kyle's more careful, he thinks and adds things slowly 'to taste'.

Fortunately for us we're both quick learners, and it didn't take us long to figure out that one person had to be the head chef in the kitchen while the other follows instructions...or sits quietly in a corner and offers suggestions...only when asked :o).

So anyway, I thought I'd share an interesting recipe I used last night because it turned out beautifully! My old friend and tennis partner from secondary school was in Chicago for the weekend and we met up with her and her husband. She brought us a little gift, Godiva chocolates and Caramel Cocoa. The chocolates went quickly...we had them for a pre-dinner snack the next day. The Caramel Cocoa...well it hasn't been cold enough to want a mug and I was wondering what else I could do with it.

We happened to also have a can of Milo malt...and I wondered if I could make brownies using both mixes....and TADA! You can!!! :o)

I don't exactly remember where I got the original recipe from, so I'm sorry that I can't reference it...but here's my own modified version :o)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups of whole grain flour (Kyle and I only use whole grain when we can help it :o) )

1/4 cup of Milo malt

1/4 tbs baking soda (the original called for 1 tbs of baking powder, but we didn't have any)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of Godiva Caramel Cocoa (you can probably use regular hot cocoa mix too)

3 beaten eggs

1 cup of brown sugar (we also only use brown sugar)

1/2 cup of butter or margarine (we used 1/3 reduced fat Imperial margarine

2 tbs of skimmed milk (I'd recommend it if you're using baking soda)

Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter. Add eggs. You can add the milk in here if you think it's not moist enough. Pour into greased cake tin (8'' by 8'') and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Enjoy :o)

I also have a regular brownie recipe using whole grain flour and brown sugar and cocoa powder if anyone wants it. I modified it to make them chewwwyyyy. Email me if you want that one :o)

Kitten Therapy

Kyle and I are enjoying some sessions from four furry little counselors with sandpaper tongues and long tails. They specialize in dissolving mild forms of anxiety or stress and focus on spreading warm, fuzzy feelings of love, pleasure and contentment.

I just spent a weekend sneezing, coughing and battling a slight fever and Kyle (bless him) ran around making sure I was warm, well-hydrated and on my way to recovery.

What a perfect way to recuperate...a comfortable couch, a warm blanket and lovable kittens nestling up against you.

The Job Search: Part I

Tell us about yourself.

I was trained as an engineer. An aerospace engineer to be exact. When I was little, I liked writing short stories and most of them were science fiction and space-related (Star Wars rocks). I had always been good at math and when I entered secondary school, I found out I was good at physics too. It occurred to me one day that I might actually be able to turn my fascination with space and science fiction into something more substantial and so I started to aim towards becoming an aerospace engineer. I had grand dreams of building the first moon base (complete with in situ propellant) and discovering lightspeed (this was before I learnt about relativity, of course).

I enjoyed my years studying aerospace. Immensely. My interest in the space industry has not dwindled. But alas, the reality is my passport (probably my most prized worldly possession) hails from the wrong side of the world and opportunities to work in space are...well...few and far in between. Not for a lack of trying, mind you. And I don't think I ever will give up sending out my CV to company after company. Who knows? Might not be my time just yet.

After spending two years in graduate school, I decided it was time to gain some work experience. I wanted a non-conventional job which promised a lot of travel. With my engineering qualifications, I landed a field engineer position with an oilfield services company. I was shipped off to China where I went out to oil rigs and drilled for oil. Seriously. It was a fun job. How many jobs do you know allow you to dress up in coveralls and get muddy and greasy all the time? And if you haven't guessed, I'm a girl. So the answer is, not many jobs at all. They also delivered on their promise that I'd get to travel. I finally visited the Middle East, something I had been wanting to do all my life.

While I enjoyed the traveling, the outdoors work, the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds, there were other sides to the job I did not like. I witnessed firsthand how damaging drilling for oil is to the environment and how it directly affects the rural communities who live in nearby areas. These issues were ones that I could not turn my back on. And while I understand the current need for (it's more of a dependency, though, isn't it) oil, I realised that I could not see myself progressing very far on the career track that I was on. So I packed my bags and left.

I applied for an NGO position not long after, and was rejected due to being overqualified. Whatever that means. So I did some brief volunteer work, then traveled to the Middle East again, then to Egypt, then to New Zealand (where this blog comes in), then to Malaysia, then back to the US.

Oh, by the way, I also have five years journalism experience under the belt. I started stringing for a Malaysian English language newspaper at the age of 16 and stayed on for five years.


What next?

Hopefully, a job.


What kind of position are you looking for?

In ten years time, I would like to be part of a large non-governmental organization, such as UNESCO. I like UNESCO because I cannot stress enough the importance of education in social progress. I strongly believe that education is key and educating is something I can do. Plus, I am scientifically inclined, therefore UNESCO is a natural choice.

With this in mind, I'd like a position that could help me in that direction. Obviously, the number of options are limitless. I have been applying to management consultancy firms, since management skills are extremely essential in being effective in non profit work. Such skills are also highly transferable and would be useful anywhere. I have also been applying to technical positions which involve project management, also transferable and useful skills to have. One position I've applied for which would not require much consideration if offered to me is a marine conservation position. Did I mention that I am a trained scuba diver? Marine conservation with an international organization would be a dream job. Lots of project management, lots of diving, lots of interaction with people and learning new things everyday.

I have also been applying for the more mainstream type engineering jobs. You know the kind, the ones entitled 'Systems Engineer', 'Project Engineer', or 'Senior Plant Engineer', or 'Manufacturing Engineer'. These profiles are beginning to look the same to me. I apply to these jobs mainly because sometimes I wonder if I will ever find a path that would lead me to my ultimate goal and that a job is a job and I need an income for practical reasons, if nothing else. Then again, you never know. Life is so unpredictable who really knows what might lead you when and where. I could be offered a manufacturing position tomorrow and find myself 5 years down the road applying those skills to remote locations in countries which really need them. I'd be closer to my ten-year goal than I would be now, no doubt.


What kind of responses have you had so far?

Not very favourable, I must admit. I have received rejections from all but one management consultancy firm. Fortunately for me, the last one I'm waiting on is the one I am really hoping to get a job with, they do the most work with non-profits and have the best reputation with the social sector. So for now, I am holding on to the 'No news is good news!' idea.


What do you require in a position?

That it be a global one. That it allows for creativity. That it has good prospects for advancement. I'm a highly adaptable and flexible worker, but I'm looking for a career that I can grow with more than into.


What has been your biggest professional achievement thus far?

My last position as a field engineer was not an easy one. When I first arrived in China, I was one of only two international engineers. The others on our team were all local. The language and cultural barriers were difficult to overcome, but I had strong interpersonal skills thanks to my years in journalism. At the time of my departure, despite my decision to resign, I was a valuable member of our engineering team particularly because I had extremely good rapport with everyone. This was something the other international engineers did not share. I was able to interact and work efficiently with all levels of our business segment in a way that no one else could.


What are your strong points?

My communication skills. My self motivation. My creativity and resourcefulness.


What are your weak points?

The need to work in dynamic work environments. When things become routine, I get bored. I'm also an independent worker, which means working under supervision all the time is something I might have to work on.


Any last words?

Employ me :o). Thank you!

You don't have to leave Earth...

...to see stars.

Job hunting is repetitive. What an understatement :o). I've ran so many searches for potential job opportunities (by potential I mean ones that I'm qualified for, not necessarily ones that appeal to me) that I'm beginning to see stars. 

*****

Have you ever wondered how some people find themselves non-conventional jobs? I wonder all the time.