Siew Yoke Kerabu

Pork.   I love pork.  No one comes between me and my oinks.  Siew Yoke is, in my humble opinion, a great accompaniment to kerabu.  The salty, crispy cracklings add to the excitement of the already vibrant flavours of the kerabu.  Besides, I am always looking for healthy ways (or rather excuses) to eat my oinks, and what better way to do it than to have it in my kerabu (healthy, mah....got fresh raw vege whaaatt...).


I have always wanted to make my own siew yok and was delighted to find the recipe in Blessed Homemaker.  But that will have to wait for another day.  For now, I'll let An Xin's Healthy MEAT Shoppe do the honours (notice the word "Healthy" ?). 

Today, I paid my healthy meatshop a visit.  "You want the fats??", the young lady asked, eyes wide open in disbelief.  Not to mention the dirty looks from the ladies behind the queue. Yes, I confirmed, the fats.  I'm menopausal and I don't follow rules.  Now, whats the point in eating lean Siew Yoke?  Its the fats that lend the flavour.  Besides, ever since I followed the Atkins eating plan, I have no fear for fats.  Within reasonable limits of course.  I lost 15lbs on the diet and have not looked back since.  And I bought 2 strips of my porkie for RM23.00.



Now, when it comes to kerabu, there are three must have herbs.  Mint, laksa leaves (daun kesum) and local basil (selasih/kemangi).

Shall we proceed ?


What you need is :


1. Cucumber
2. Carrot
3. Pineapple
4. Alfalfa sprouts (I used this instead of the traditional bean sprouts, see I told you its healthy)
5. Onion slices
6. Mint/Kesum/Basil
7. Bunga Kantan


or whatever else you fancy, like young papaya, mango, etc.

For the dressing :


1. Sambal belacan (recipe to follow below)
2. Plum sauce (I come from the East Coast and we like our dressing on the sweet side)
3. Dried prawns, soaked, washed and coarsely pounded
4. Lime juice


Just mix everything together and taste.  The dressing must be sweet, sour and salty.  


Then pour your dressing into the veges and mix.  But don't forget........


                    the Star of the show

Coming from Nyonya stock, I love my sambal belacan in almost everything.  So it makes perfect sense to make a batch to last for the whole week.  I mean, who has the time to prepare sambal belacan everyday?


The ingredients are super simple - red chillies, belacan and some asam jawa juice.

Plonk everything into the blender and whizz away.

Empty contents into a clean bottle.  Always place the bottle on a plate in case you spill, like I did.

The sambal belacan will keep very well in the fridge for up to two weeks.  But mine never lasts that long.  And yes, I ate the whole bowl of kerabu all by myself.  I don't follow rules :)