Who wants a second helping of cincaluk???
I do, I do!
Actually, I’d really appreciate it if my FIRST helping would hurry up and finish cooking already. RUDE. I’ve been slaving away over a medium-high hot stove all night and I have nothing to show for it but slightly slurred speech and orange fingers. We can thank boxed wine for the former, and baked cheetos for the latter.
So lately I’ve been on this “branching out” kick, and methinks it ain’t half bad, so I wanted to extend my semi-adventurous attitude to the kitchen. I’ve always been fascinated by the cuisine I grew up with in my nomadic, transcontinental youth, but I’ve never really put in the time or effort to master (massacre?) the recipes on my own. Until now… dun dun duhh!!!
On the menu tonight? Stir-fried pork (duh.) with cincaluk (huh?).
Cincaluk is a disgustingly delicious staple in Malaysian and Southeast Asian dishes. It’s super-salty, fermented shrimp. Yuck. Yum? I’m confused!
You can find it at any and every Asian market, and they usually sell it at Central Market (where I found mine). I really can’t give any tips on how to buy it, other than paying for it with money, because I have no clue how to judge it. I just followed my own advice and bought it with money. Pretty simple, really.
You know what else is simple? This recipe. If I were more careful with the wine in the kitchen, I could have had it ready in 25 minutes. But, eh… The ingredients and instructions are below.
In the shopping cart:
2-3 tbsp oil
3 shallots (thinly sliced)
3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
1/2 lb pork fillet (cut into small pieces)
4 teaspoons cincaluk
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste
1 red chile (deseeded and cut into small pieces)
1/2 bell pepper/1 green chile (deseeded and cut into small pieces)
In the kitchen:
1. Heat up the oil in a wok over medium heat to fry the shallots until they turn golden brown and crispy. Dish out and set aside.
2. In the remaining oil, fry the garlic slices until fragrant and just lightly browned. Remove half of the garlic and set aside before adding the cincaluk.
3. Sauté the cincaluk until fragrant before adding red chile and bell peppers.
4. As soon as you smell the aromas of the chile and peppers, add in the meat. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and add the tamarind juice, sugar, and salt to taste.
5. Continue to stir-fry the pork until it’s cooked; dish out onto a serving plate.
6. Top the stir-fried pork and cincaluk with shallot crisps and fried garlic slices.
And there you have it! Now, I believe it’s time for my first helping. If I don’t post for a while, it’s because I’ve come down with a horrible, horrible case of food poisoning. Please alert authorities, if need be.
