Thursday, June 20, 2013

Nyonya Timun Sui [Stir Fried Cucumber in Vinegar]

This is a traditional dish of the Peranakan cuisine and my late father in-law's favourite.  I cooked this dish for him at that time when I was newly married into the family.  He was so pleased with the dish and told me he had not taken this dish for many, many years.   Since then I cooked this dish during festive seasons, for ancestral worship  or whenever he came home from his overseas business trips.  

For this dish, I used prawns which can be replaced with blanched chicken innards [gizzards and liver] and meat slices.  

Ingredients
recipe adapted from Nyonya Flavours with slight modifications
[serves 2-3]
1 medium size cucumber [200 gm]
1 small carrot - peel and slice diagonally
1 big onion - cut wedges
1 red chilli - halved and seeds removed
150 gm prawns - shelled, season with a little sugar
2 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tbsp oil
Seasoning Sauce [mix together]
1 tbsp plum sauce
2 tbsp white vinegar
80 ml water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
a dash of pepper
1 tsp cornflour
  1. Combine seasoning sauce, set aside.
  2. Run a peeler along the length of the cucumber, leaving some space in between with each peel to retain some skin colour.  Split the cucumber into long halves.  Remove the core then slice diagonally [about 1/2 cm width].
  3. Heat oil, saute garlic until aromatic, add in prawns.  Fry until firm.
  4. Add carrots, cucumber, onions and chillies.  Stir fry for a minute.
  5. Pour in seasoning sauce.  Stir fry to mix well and bring gravy to boil until thickens.  Taste to adjust seasoning.
  6. Dish out to serve immediately. 



    I'm  submitting this post to  Malaysian Food Fest [June 2013] - Penang hosted by 



    I'm also linking this post to Cook your Books #1 Event hosted by Kitchen Flavours

    Cook-Your-Books
at

7 comments:

  1. kitchen flavoursJune 20, 2013 at 1:57 PM

    Hi Kimmy,
    This dish is very appetizing! Looks delicious and the vinegar must have added the extra "oomph"!!
    Thank you for linking to Cook-Your-Books!
    Would appreciate if you could provide the name of the book or magazine for this recipe. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. lenaJune 21, 2013 at 8:21 AM

    good morning kimmy, i also understand that many chinese likes cooking this dish during cny..also in vinegar. I hv also cooked it twice i think, long time, next time i can add in the plum sauce.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ~~louise~~June 21, 2013 at 10:54 AM

    Hi Kimmy,

    Just dropped by from Joyce's Cook Your Books.

    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe especially since it has a sentimental connection. The best kind! It looks yummy too:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. PHJune 21, 2013 at 1:19 PM

    Kimmy, I have cooked this dish from Nonya Flavours and haven't posted it yet. I like it except that my cucumber leaked a lot of water and diluted the taste.

    ReplyDelete
  5. kimmyJune 21, 2013 at 2:44 PM

    Hi Lena, most Peranakan homes will cook this dish for almost all family gatherings for festivities or prayers. Easier way of cooking this, the sauce is substituted by chilli and tomato sauces [not too good].

    ReplyDelete
  6. kimmyJune 21, 2013 at 2:46 PM

    Hi Phong Hong, do not over-fry it. This is a very quick stir fry dish. I like the taste with plum sauce added.

    ReplyDelete
  7. kimmyJune 21, 2013 at 3:12 PM

    Hi Louise, yes this dish brings back all the fond memories of my late father in-law. It's great satisfaction seeing him enjoying the traditional and authentic food at that time.

    ReplyDelete