D

atuk Redzuawan bin Ismail is better known as the rapid talking chef Wan from Malaysia. He hosts Best Wan on the Asian Food Channel and is the author of cook book The Best of Chef Wan: A Taste of Malaysia.

He brings Malaysian cuisine to an international audience including for a Ramadhan fasting month promotion at the Dharmawangsa Hotel in August.

One of the 54-year-old chef’s favorite dishes is freshwater prawn rendang, prawn cooked in spices and coconut milk. Although rendang with beef as an original ingredient originates from West Sumatra, the prawn rendang is popular in the Perak region of Malaysia.

“Perak is rich in freshwater prawns, so naturally there are many dish recipes in the region using prawn as a base ingredient. The prawn rendang is a specialty and a favorite of Perak Palace,” he said.

Here he shares his recipe for cooking freshwater prawn rendang.

Ingredients
4 tbsp cooking oil
1 kg freshwater prawns (shrimps), cleaned and feelers trimmed 500 g shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
4-cm knob ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 stalks of lemongrass, finely sliced
1 turmeric leaf, finely sliced, and more for garnishing
20 dried chilies, soaked,
seeded, drained and coarsely pounded
750 ml coconut milk, extracted from 2 grated coconuts
750 ml water
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Heat the oil in a wok and put in all the ingredients
Cook over medium heat until it comes to the boil. Turn down the heat and continue to simmer until the gravy thickens
Garnish with finely sliced turmeric leaf and serve immediately with rice.

+Frederica Ermita Indriani