Amok Trey @ Cambodian Fish Mousse - AFF Indochina~ Cambodian #3

Amok Trey is freshwater fish in a spiced egg mousse.
It is not too foreign to us, as it is similar to the local nyonya otak-otak, but quite different in many ways.

One of the important ingredients in amok trey is again, prahok. You can substitute it with other ingredients like fish sauce or shrimp paste, but I personally find the flavour profile to be quite different. The other special ingredients used is fingerroot (krachai, temu kunci).

Grilled Pork Rice @ Bai Sach Chrouk - AFF Indochina~ Cambodian #2

Bai Sach Chrouk is a popular breakfast item in Cambodia.

In this dish, grilled meats are served with broken rice. Not only pork is used, but beef, chicken, duck fish, egg or whatever you prefer can be the topping for broken rice. Broken rice is rice that has broken to about less than 3/4 of their original length. A humble rice that was meant to feed chickens has now become a popular thing. There is a tale behind this dish and you can read about it here.

Num Banh Chok @ Khmer Noodles - AFF Indochina~ Cambodian #1

Num Banh Chok is fresh rice noodles in Cambodia. Quite similar with Vietnamese bún. It can be served with many types of gravy and broth. This time, I want to try Samlor Khmer, the traditional version.
Because the fresh version isn't available here, I made do with dried bún.

After I cooked this.... it hit me that it has similarities with the local Kelantanese Laksae and Laksam. Aromatic coconutty fish broth with fresh noodles...what's not to love?

Khao Piak Sen @ Lao Tapioca Noodles in Chicken Broth - Indochina AFF~ Lao Food #3

Khao Piak or Ka'piek is a chewy noodle, almost similar to the texture of udon, of which is made with wheat instead. For locals, we will find it not too far off from the texture of Lai Fun (Assam Laksa noodles, but Lai Fun is less chewy. The Vietnamese has another noodle similar to this, called Bánh canh. But served in other ways.

Lao Beef Larb - Indochina AFF Laotian #2

Larb is the national dish of Laos. It is also eaten by the people in Isan, Thailand of which most of its population are of Laotian descent. There is another Northen Thailand version that uses spices to season. Some people will make it with fresh raw beef, and it is alright if you want to have a cooked version. I'm not that brave to go for a Tatare version.

Lao Khao Soi - Indochina AFF, Laotian Week #1

This is one noodle that I highly recommend if you are a busy person and love to prepare your meals in advance.

It feels like eating instant noodles, but the soup paste is homemade! Awesome!
Just blanch your noodles, top with the meat paste and pour hot water from the kettle and you're done. The meat slices are optional. Better than instant noodles from the packet. I love to keep my sliced coriander and spring onion is a covered container, kept chilled all the time, so that I can sprinkle them on whenever I like.

How to make Roasted Rice Powder

Roasted Rice Powder also known as Toasted Ground Rice, is an important ingredient to Laotian and Vietnamese dishes and some Thai and Cambodian recipes too.

Since the amount needed is usually not much, but is crucial, it's wasteful to buy a big packet not knowing when can one finish it. But here in Malaysia, it's not available at all. So... I can only make some by myself.

It's very easy.

Put some raw glutinous rice onto a pan.
Toast it on medium low heat, shaking it every now and then until it turns golden and some of them puff up.
Let it cool down and grind it to your desired texture.

I used the mill that came with my blender set to grind it fine. Takes only a few pulses.

From white glutinous rice to golden rice... and puffy too!

And yes, if you want to ask whether I washed it, nope I didn't. Like how we don't wash peanuts or almonds  before roasting.... 

Bò Kho, Vietnamese Beef Stew - Thịt Bò - AFF IndoChina # 3

This is one of my favourite dishes at the Vietnamese restaurant. Each time I hoped that baguette is available, they always say no and in the end I have to eat it with rice.

I didn't really plan to make this, but it seems that I have collected the perfect cuts for this dish over a few weeks. I tend to buy whatever I see as nice and freeze them. And so, I decided to cook this. No regrets!

Bo Luc Lac @ Shaking Beef -Thit Bo AFF IndoChina #2

I tried this recipe and it's so easy to cook and nice to eat. I like the presence of pickled onions in this dish as it cuts away the grease, oh well, at least it gives me the feeling of it. It just makes eating more pleasurable.

But it tasted different from one I had a Vietnamese hawker. It tasted like as if, the dish was cooked with butter instead of oil! So yummy!

Bo La Lot, Vietnamese Beef Rolls with Wild Betel Leaf - Indochina AFF Bò # 1

For this month's Asian Food Fest, it's the month of Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian food, grouped under Indochina. For more information, hop over to Kelly's blog, this month's host.

Bò lá lốt is a popular Vietnamese dish that is not served in the Vietnamese restaurants here in Malaysia.
It's one of the dishes in "7 course of beef", served usually during weddings.

In some countries where wild betel is not available, grape leaves are used to wrap these, but it may not have the same fragrance.
In Malaysia, wild betel is abundant and is used in the local cuisine and is locally known as daun kaduk.