Passport & Plate - Malaysian Wild Rocket Salad
Australia | Monday, February 3, 2014 | 4 photos
Ingredients
I re-created this salad recipe from one that I had when I was on holiday in Sydney. I do not know the exact ingredients but I improvised and added a little Malaysian flavor to it.
1. A bag of wild rocket leaves.
2. A packet of feta cheese
3. A handful of cashew nuts
4. Cherry tomatoes halved or dried tomatoes
5. A few pieces of dried chili
6. Dressing:
a. 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil
b. 4 table spoons of balsamic vinegar
c. 1 table spoon of honey
d. A pinch of Salt & Pepper
How to prepare this recipeThe wild rocket salad that I had in Sydney originally had walnuts. In Malaysia, you hardly find a dish with walnuts or any type of nut for that matter. So I swapped the walnuts with cashew nuts, which is one of the more frequently used nuts in Malaysian dishes. Second to the peanut.
In Malaysia, we love our chili and our spices. The spicier the better. The first thing you need to do is roast the cashew nuts together with the dried chili. Heat a big wok on a small to medium fire. Stir fry the cashew nuts and dried chili together without adding any oil. This will roast the cashew nuts and at the same time infuse the spiciness of the chili on to the cashew nuts.
Once the cashew nuts have been roasted, set aside to cool and remove the dried chili. Dried chili in any Malaysian dish is only to create spiciness but it is not edible because once dried, the chili has a texture almost like leather.
Next in an empty jam jar, add all the ingredients for the dressing into the jar. Close the lid and shake the jar vigorously till the dressing is well combined.
Now you are ready to plate your salad. Place the wild rocket salad on a large plate. Break up or shred the feta cheese into smaller chunks and spread it out on the wild rocket. Pour the dressing from the jam jar on to the salad and finally add the roasted cashew nuts. Serve cold or at room temperature. But because Malaysia is a hot climate country, I always serve it cold.
The story behind this recipeSunny & breezy.That is how Sydney is like in autumn.The summer sun still lingers in the sky, giving birth to red & yellow shrubbery.The favorite Sydney past time during this season is lying on manicured grass & bask in the sun’s warm glow.
“Why do they lie down on the grass?” I asked my boyfriend.It was our first overseas vacation together. “It is their culture” was Adrian’s short reply.“But isn’t it dirty?” I pressed on.“In Malaysia always rain sure muddy - lah.” he said in the Malaysian slang.
It was close to lunch time & I was determined to experience the Sydney way of life.So we went scouting for food that we can take away & then have a nice picnic on the grass.I was immediately attracted to a small café that had a huge display counter with different types of salads. Salads that I cannot find in Malaysia, other than coleslaw & chicken Cesar salad.
We quickly picked out the wild rocket salad with feta cheese & walnuts.We took our meal back to the same grass & chose a nice spot under the shade of a tree & dug into our meal.While we were eating,a flock of cockatoo flew in & began to dig & search for worms, entertaining us with their demeanor
Once we were finished with our lunch,we packed up to leave.When we got up, we discovered that the soil was damp and had given us wet buttocks!“If the soil is wet then why is that guy lying on the grass in his business suit? I asked, pointing at a man dozing off not too far from us.Upon closer look we discovered that the man had brought a poncho along with him & is using it as a mat.
Looking back,Adrian & I always laugh at ourselves over the wet bum incident.We had no choice but to continue our tour of the city with wet bums.It dried off by dinner time but it left an embarrassing stain. It may seem like an unfortunate incident that happened while we were on holiday.But I think it made Sydney,a special place in our hearts, ingrained in our memories forever.
