Laksa With Ground Bison

It is pretty cold out there, so a bowl of spicy laksa is really good for dinner. It is one pot meal kind of thing, so no need to think about side dishes.

Today, I want to share laksa recipe that I made using  ground bison (American buffalo)  instead of  a big chunks of meat. It was one of those day that I wanted to cook a meal that won't required a long time to cook it. You could use regular beef chuck or beef shoulder for this laksa, or you can also use poultry such as chicken, or duck. If you do, obviously you will need to adjust the cooking time as well.

Laksa With Ground Bison
Serve 4 - 6

1 lb ground bison, or ground beef
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/2 tbs chopped garlic
2 candle nuts, chopped (use cashew nuts if you can't find candle nuts)
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp grated fresh galangal, or 1/4 tsp powder
1 tbs coriander seeds, grind
3 red jalapeno chilies ( as much as you can take), chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped two of the Roma tomatoes, and quartered the remaining two.
3 - 5 kaffir lime leaves
1 lemongrass stalk, discrad the outer leaves, cut into 3 -inch, then smash to release its aroma
2 tbs canola oil
5 to 6 cup water, beef, or chicken stock
1 cup coconut milk
8 button mushroom, sliced
250 g fresh egg noodles
Brocoli florets, or other vegetable of your choice
salt and pepper, according to your taste

To serve:
2 to 4 boiled eggs, cut each egg in half
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped green onion (scallions)
fried shallots, optional

Place chopped shallots, garlic, candle nuts, grated ginger, grated galangal, ground coriander, red jalapeno, and chopped tomatoes  in a food processor. Process to make a smooth paste.

Heat canola oil  large soup pot set over medium heat. Add laksa paste, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass,  fry until fragrant. Add ground bison, break up the lumps using large fork, or the back of wooden spatula. Cook for about 5 minutes, pour in  water, bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper, then simmer for 20 - 30 minutes until the meat is cook. Add mushrooms, cook for one minute, add brocoli florets, remaining tomatoes, and coconut milk. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Bring the laksa back to a simmer for about 3 - 5 minutes.

In another large pot, bring water to a boil. Cook noodle according to package direction, drain, divide among 4 - 6 bowls. Add laksa, garnish with boiled egg, chopped cilantro, green onion, and fried shallots. Serve as a main dish.

Talam Ubi (Steamed Sweet Potato Cake With Coconut Milk, Lemongrass and Kaffir Lime Leaves)

Ever since I got a Asian style steamer, I have been trying out so many Asian treat, especially kue from Indonesia and Malaysia. They are  many kue that I haven't tried to make, but first thing first I really wanted to make kue Talam Ubi (sweet potato).  I was quite pleased when I found Belzy's recipe. Only one trial, and I found myself already made a second batch, it was that delicious. Thanks Belzy!

Belzy's recipe is pretty straight forward and easy to follow. The recipe is in Indonesian language, so if you really like to make it, you can either find someone to translate it, use google translation, or you can use my adaptation. Don't worry, I used the exact measurement given in the recipe, but added a few touch of my own. For example, she uses plain coconut milk in her recipe, but mine is flavored with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Another unintentionally changes I made was, rice flour, and sago flour. For rice flour I substituted with sweet rice flour, and tapioca flour for sago flour. Resulting a slightly chewier then using regular rice flour. So here is my adaptation from Belzy's Talam Ubi. 

Talam Ubi (Steamed Sweet Potato Cake With Coconut Milk, Lemongrass and Kaffir Lime Leaves)
Recipe adapted from Belzy's Talam Ubi
Makes 1 - 9-inch kue

Bottom Layer
300 g sweet potato, steamed-cooled, then mashed
225 g sugar
300 cc (about 1 1/4 cups) coconut milk
70 g tapioca flour
35 g sweet rice flour (I used Michiko brand)
1/2 tsp salt

Top Layer
300 cc coconut milk
100 g tapioca flour
20 g sweet rice flour
1/2 tsp salt, or according to your taste

Additional ingredients:
2 lemongrass, discard the outer layer, cut into pieces - bruised
5 kaffir lime leaves

Heat 600 cc coconut milk with lemongrass, and kaffir lime leave until you see bubbles just start to appear around the edge. Remove from the heat. Let steep until coconut milk is cool completely. Strain, and discard lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

Place the steamer on top of the stove set over medium high heat. Place a 9-inch cake pan that has been lightly coated with oil inside the steamer, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together mashed sweet potato, sugar, tapioka, sweet rice flour, salt, and 300 cc cooled coconut milk. Pour into a cake pan, steam on a medium heat for 10 to 20 minutes, or until set.

In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 300 cc coconut milk, tapioka flour, sweet rice flour, and salt. Pour this mixture directly on top of the sweet potato layer. Steam for 10 to 15 minutes until top layer is set. Remove from the heat, and cool completely before cutting.