Sambal Rembau

In continuation of my last posting on Raub, durian and Dr Ban, I just want to share with you a wonderful experience I had over the weekend, experimenting with durian.

I saw on AFC a couple of days ago, Chef Wan cooking up “Tapioca Leaves with Fermented Durian”, or in Bahasa Malaysia, “Pucuk Ubi Tempoyak Rampai”. I looooovvvve this sambal! Some people call it "Sambal Rembau".

I was first introduced to this dish by a friend who hails from Negeri Sembilan. Her dear mum, who lived in Kg Juaseh, had given me a small container of Sambal Rembau during one of those fasting months in Ramadhan for berbuka. I’ve never seen or tasted this dish before. However, from that moment on, it was like love at first bite!

It was so delicious! Those who have tasted it would know what I mean...

Unfortunately, that was the only time I had it because I couldn’t find it anywhere else in KL. Every once in a while, I would teringat-ingatkan this authentic sambal… especially when I was having lauk masakan kampung, but I could only dream of eating it again.

Then I married my husband, a pure orang Nogori, whose mother cooked the most delicious masak lemak kuning. Her masak lemak ikan senangin is out of this world! It is so simple and yet, neither me nor my husband could copy her masak lemak.

But she had never made or served the Sambal Rembau when we ate at her house, and I had never asked either.

Until one day, I was pregnant with Nizzar at that time, tiba2 I had a craving for this sambal. I asked my husband’s aunty if she knew how to make this sambal. She said yes, and made some for me.

I didn’t know how to cook it, I never asked her anyway coz I figured it must be very tedious. With so many types of leaves, thinly sliced… masak lemak… tempoyak… I thought it must be very difficult.

Until I watched Chef Wan demonstrating how to cook this dish on AFC last week.. “Ahh… that doesn’t look too hard..”, I thought. I told my husband about it and he said, “Jom lah buat!”

So, we went to the market, bought the daun and such (according to Chef Wan’s recipe) and started cooking. Since it was unplanned and we didn’t have any tempoyak at home, we bought some fresh durian and use the flesh as a substitute for tempoyak. It turned out quite well but you have to add some lime juice to give the sour taste.

The result - very nice!! Sehingga menjilat jari!! Bukan nak memuji but it was seriously nice, and it was easy to make. Hence, I’ll share the link & recipe with those who want to try it.

Ahhh… Sambal Rembau! The thought of it makes me smile... :)

It's best to have it in the afternoon with steaming hot rice and ikan masin goreng. Sure dua kali tambah lah! Hee.. hee...

Try it! This sambal is indeed OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!


Chef Wan's Recipe


MrsNordin's Recipe:

Ingredients (dimayang halus):
Daun pucuk ubi (tapioca leaves)
Daun kunyit
Petai
Serai

Bahan2 tumbuk/blend:
10 biji cili hijau
6 biji cili padi
Kunyit hidup (1 inci)

Perencah: (rendam sekejap & tumbuk sedikit)
Ikan bilis
Udang kering

Tempoyak
Santan

Cara2:

1) Campurkan semua bahan2 didalam periuk dan masak sehingga dedaun jadi lembut
2) Kalau terlalu pekat, boleh tambah air.
3) Masakkan selama 30-45 minit.

Selamat mencuba!