Sayur lemak with masin ikan (vegetables cooked in coconut milk with salt cod)

Sayur lemak - which roughly translates as creamy vegetables - is made by cooking vegetables with plenty of coconut milk, lemongrass, turmeric and sambal belacan. Here, Ramael Scully puts his twist on the classic by adding plenty of salt cod.

Ingredients

• 50 g of shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 10 g of garlic, peeled
• 70 g of shrimp paste, or belacan
• 100 g of red chillies, deseeded
• 100 g of whole dried kashmiri chilli, deseeded, and soaked in warm water
• 40 g of tamarind concentrate
• 2 tbsp of lime juice
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of cane sugar
• 150 g of vegetable oil
• 150 g of shallots, thinly sliced widthways
• 20 g of garlic, minced
• 30 g of ginger, minced
• 5 g of fresh turmeric, or 1tsp ground turmeric
• 3 lemongrass sticks, lightly bruised with a knife and finely chopped
• 5 makrut lime leaves
• 400 g of coconut milk
• 100 g of water
• 100 g of snake beans, cut into 3cm lengths
• 100 g of okra, trim the tops but leave the okra whole
• 100 g of cavolo nero, roughly chopped
• 100 g of spinach
• 500 g of salt cod fillet, soaked in water for 24 hours, skin and bones removed, then flaked into large pieces
• 3 tbsp of lime juice
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of cane sugar

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C
2. Wrap the belacan in foil, and roast it in the oven for 10-20 minutes, or until fragrant
3. Pound or blitz the shallots, garlic, belacan, fresh chillies and dried chillies together until they form a smooth or coarse paste. This can be done in a blender or pestle and mortar
4. Add tamarind and lime juice, then season with a pinch of salt and sugar. Sambal belacan can be stored in the fridge for a few days or frozen. Defrost the paste before using as needed
5. In a medium saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over a medium-high heat. Sauté the shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass and lime leaves until they are soft and transparent. Add 3-4 tbsp of the sambal belacan and sauté until everything is fragrant. Add the coconut milk and water, then bring everything to the boil
6. Add the snake beans and okra, then cook everything for 2-3 mins. Add the cavolo nero and spinach, and cook for another 2-3 mins or until all the greens are just tender
7. Fold in the salted cod flakes gently, stir for a minute, then season the whole dish with lime juice, salt and sugar. Serve with steamed rice, boiled eggs and thinly sliced cucumber