noodle soup with fragrant herbs (pho) 155
Chinese rice congee with all the trimmings 156
Saffron rice with cloves and cashews 159
Basmati rice with spiced chicken and yogurt 160
Chicken rice with fresh chili ginger sauce 162
Tomato and olive couscous with curry leaves 164
Sweet blue ginger duck with star anise 167
Black soy duck with orange and cranberries 168
Lamb baked with dates, tomatoes and cumin 171
Grilled beef steak with asian spices 171
Barbecued beef steaks with sweet onion jam 172
Sweet soy pork with mushrooms and star anise 174
Poached chicken breasts with sichuan pepper oil 176
Stuffed crabs baked in their shells 177
Seared scallops with orange clove sauce 179
Fish hotpot with coconut broth and dill 180
Black pepper lobster tails with garlic butter 183
Herbed potatoes with sundried tomatoes 184
Eggplant sambal with black mustard and cashews 186
Okra stuffed with dried shrimp and coconut 188
Eggplant salad with tomato and coriander 189
Semolina halva with almonds and cardamom 191
Spiced mangoes in yogurt and honey 191
Kulfi ice cream with cardamom and pistachios 192
Cardamom cake with rum and passionfruit 192
Plump apricots with rum cream and clove syrup 194
Green mango and saffron lassi 194
Issac’s baby banana cinnamon pancakes 195
COOKING WITH AROMATIC ASIAN SEASONINGS 196
Chinese Black Vinegar * Fermented Soybean Pastes * Fish Sauces * Hoisin Sauce * Mirin * Oyster Sauce and Abalone Sauce * Rice Wines * Plum Sauce and Lemon Sauce * Sesame Oil * Shrimp Pastes * Soy Sauces
Watermelon rind salad with sweet thai dressing 211
Grilled fresh scallops with ginger mirin dressing 212
Grilled shrimp on a stick with sweet chili dip 213
Fresh seafood salad with sesame lime dressing 214
Beancurd skin sausage rolls with sweet soy dip 217
Crisp dried shrimp with lime, ginger and chilies 218
Sweet and spicy ikan bilis nibbles with peanuts 219
Nonya pickled vegetables with dried shrimp 220
Rice noodles with pork and sweet chili dressing 221
Crab soup with lemongrass, tamarind and mint 223
Fish soup with lemongrass, coriander and lime 224
Crisp barbecued pork marinated in sweet soy 227
Aromatic ginger soy chicken with rice wine 229
Sweet soy and sambal fried chicken 230
Quick eurasian curry captain 231
Beef and black mushrooms with chinese broccoli 233
Eggplant and tofu with sweet spicy bean paste 235
Parsnips and carrots sautéed with rice wine 236
Asian greens with shrimp and cashews 236
Chinese greens with mushrooms and oyster sauce 239
Basic Recipes 240
Index 252
Dedication 254
Acknowledgments 254
TAPPING INTO
DELICIOUS MEMORIES
I have been fortunate enough to have eaten Carol’s food many times, sometimes with Carol sitting next to me telling me the most marvelous tales of her family, her Amah and her childhood in Malaysia. I sat mesmerized as she wound her stories around her food—until I was not sure which was the more alluring. But I was always left wanting more, and I was not alone in this as I know many who have been held in the same thrall of her charm and her cooking.
“We cooked for pleasure,” she told me. “We forgot which community we belonged to and we cooked to feed and to please our friends—whether they were Malays, Chinese, Tamils, or later Australians.” And such hospitable charm fills this book.
Heavenly Fragrance is an account of these stories and their dishes—a dance through her childhood, tapping into delicious memories with the steady, rhythmic clunk of the granite pestle pounding the spices and filling our senses with the pungent aromas that still hold such a powerful sway over her and her cooking. The garden of her youth was filled with lemongrass, galangal, roseapples and durians. Her Amah’s Chicken Curry skips straight out of her rich, happy past. I can imagine it served with Fragrant Pandanus Coconut Rice (nasi lemak), or on special occasions with Roti Jala, the lacy pancakes of Malaysia. Flaked Fish Salad with Spices and Coconut was a dish which her husband, Selva, insisted on preparing himself to ensure the proper seasoning, while her “lethal weapon” of Babi Tayu (Tau Yew Bak)—Sweet Soy Pork with Mushrooms and Star Anise—packs an Amah’s love!
This book is not just based in the vivid but somewhat distant past. It is a collection of the author’s memories throughout her life—and it contains many recipes that are not just Asian. They are her own authentic recipes reflecting her life’s journey. Carol’s Leek and Potato Vichyssoise with Lemongrass captures the change in food that occurred around the time she arrived in Australia, when cooks began to dabble with spices to color their otherwise dull cuisine. Carol’s version adds lemongrass and
