My mom is a great cook and its undeniable with her skills in Penang Nyonya dishes (minus cakes & pastry) and everyone sang high praises on her food. She always ensure that all ingredients ((no cooking if missing 1 ingredient)), needed are ready before preparing and cooking. Unlike me, I will proceed to cook even though one or more ingredients are missing!
Our family loves eating Acar/spicy vegetables pickle. I can just wallop one container on its own, just like eating salad and it taste so much better cos' its not only hot & spicy but also sweet & sourish! For others, they prefer to enjoy it with rice, noodles or fish/prawn crackers. This dish suits vegetarian too. Usually, my mom will whipped up a big wok and distributes to family and friends. Some even placed order from her especially during festive season.
STEP 1
It is very simple. Cut into strips all the greens i.e. cabbage, carrot, cucumbers, long beans and pineapple. Then blanched vegetables with vinegar, salt and sugar in a pot of hot water for about 5-6 minutes. Drain the water and leave it aside.
STEP 2
Another easy step. Pound/grind skinless roasted peanuts and roasted sesame seeds separately. Set it aside.
STEP 3
Tedious part is when preparing and cooking the sauce and this is where my mom skill comes in. . You can adjust the portion and taste according to your liking.So here is the 'guesstimate' recipe.
Sauce
CUT AND BLEND ALL: fresh red chillies , dried chillies (soak in hot water until soft), shallots, garlic, fresh turmeric, ground turmeric, galangal/lengkuas, candle nuts, and lemon grass.
HEAT UP few table spoons of oil in a medium size wok and fry all the blended ingredients. Put in water,vinegar, sugar and salt and bring it to boil. Leave it to cool . Mix all the blanched vegetables with pounded peanuts and sesame seeds. Store in a plastic container or jar. Keep in the refrigerator and this will last for half a month.
