Diana Chan won the ninth season of Masterchef Australia in 2017. Since then, the self-taught Malaysian-born cook has been on a mission to share and celebrate the flavours and dishes of the Southeast Asian country.
Her latest project is The Golden Wok, a colourful cookbook that’s both a celebration of, and a guide to, using this versatile Chinese-cooking staple. In its pages Chan shares how to achieve wok hei (the breath of the wok; the unique flavour, aroma and texture that can only be mastered with a wok), how to nail a stir-fry and why woks are passed down through generations of Chinese families.
The book stars 80 wok-based recipes for dishes from Malaysia and beyond – think mee goreng, black pepper crabs, butter prawns with egg floss and this assam pedas, a spicy-sour fish dish.
“Assam pedas is a dish widely cooked in Malay and Nyonya cultures,” writes Chan. “It is believed to originate from West Sumatra. However, it is incredibly popular in the Malay culture. Assam means tamarind and pedas means spicy or hot. One of the key ingredients of the dish is fresh daun kesum (Vietnamese mint) and lots of it. It imparts a beautiful fragrance paired with the sourness from the tamarind. The other ingredients that are imperative are the tamarind and okra.”
This recipe is a tweaked version of Chan’s mother’s recipe. And though its ingredients list might look intimidatingly long, the recipe is very straightforward. You can prepare the spice paste up to a day ahead and store in a clean, sterile, airtight container in the refrigerator.
Diana Chan’s assam pedas
Serves 6
Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 5 minutes cooling
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
200ml neutral-flavoured cooking oil, plus extra for the spice paste
100g tomato, quartered
130g tamarind puree
60g caster sugar
60g torch ginger flower (bunga kantan; optional), halved lengthways, plus extra, thinly sliced, to garnish (find in Asian supermarket freezers)
30g Vietnamese mint, plus extra, shredded, to garnish
1kg white fish of choice (such as snapper, sea bass or stingray. You can use the whole fish, but Chan uses deboned fillets)
80g okra
2 tsp salt
Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
Spice paste
50g dried red chillies, seeded, rehydrated in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
100g long red chillies, seeded and chopped
30g garlic
60g red Asian shallots, chopped
30g piece fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped
60g fresh lemongrass stem, white part only, chopped
4 tsp belacan (shrimp paste), toasted
Method
Start by making the spice paste. Put all the spice paste ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Add some extra oil to help blend.
Heat a wok over a medium-high heat then add the oil. Cook the spice paste, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes until fragrant. (You will start to notice the oil splitting from the paste as the colour of the paste deepens. That’s when you know it’s ready.)
Add the tomato and allow to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the tamarind, sugar, ginger flower if using, mint and 1L water. Cover with a domed lid and simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes.
Add the fish and cook for a further 8 minutes or until the fish is nearly cooked through. Add the okra and salt. (The flavour you are looking for is predominantly sour with a hint of sweetness.)
Remove from the heat and allow to cool on the stove for 5 minutes. Serve with rice and garnish with some extra mint and ginger flower, if using.
This is an edited extract from The Golden Wok by Diana Chan (Hardback, RRP $50) published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores nationally now.
