yunnermeier

Nooooo, cannot slather on the fish! This is not the other kind of ikan bakar (I think that's Nyonya Portugese style) where the sambal is quite thick and grilled in foil. This is.. uh.. is this Penang style? (could be the other way round) You dip your bit of fish in the chilli before you put it in your mouth. This sambal is more tangy (because of the limes)

Pontormo asked if I could tell how I prepared the fish. Now, my mother is very generous with her recipes (and no she doesn't hide steps or ingredients) but my father's family isn't (long story about some food writer stealing one of their kuihs and Nyonya dish!). However, this is Mum's so here you go! She didn't give me an exact recipe (it was on MSN, she said things like "Rub the fish with the kunyit" but this is what I used: Ingredients: For the fish Kunyit powder (According to Google, also known as Kurkuma, Turmeric or Indian saffron) salt Sambal belacan 7 chillis (no bird's eye or red peppers please!) a small amount of belacan (I used a small block of about 1cm) Asian limes (quite a few) if possible, if not large Brazillian limes are fine too 1 redonion /shallots (chopped) salt & sugar to taste Fish i) Make slits and liberally rub kunyit powder (and also some salt) ii ) My mother didn't say this (so Tepee , if I'm wrong please say something), but I did this early and left the fish to marinate so that it'd have more taste (at least that's what I think) Sambal i) Roast the belacan (shrimp paste) in a pan on the stove. Make sure not to burn it or it'll be bitter. ii) In a granite/clay bowl (you know the one Jamie Oliver made famous? comes with a pestle) , pound the chillis and belacan until to a pulp (or nearly) iii) Squeeze lime juice (until everything is nearly submerged) . Add sugar and salt to taste (I think I didn't add that much salt actually but quite a few teaspoons of sugar). iv) Add chopped onions I also made this in advance because I believe this way the flavours get to develope. This is a very easy dish but it tastes great (in my opinion). The chilli compliments the fish beautifully. This is not for people who enjoy bland food If anyone tries this, please tell me. I'd love to know how it turned out

Hello hathor (and Megan Blocker & saskanuck) ! No, I didn't know any Dutch before I came but my host family pays for me to go to Dutch class (all Dutch host families do this) at the local ROC. It's not the best because it's mostly for people who will be staying here long-term (so you mostly learn how to make appointments). I think they term it 'integration course" but at least I learn something (especially since my host family and I only converse in English). Why did I pick Holland No, it's not for the uh.. liberal policies ! I knew I wanted to go to Europe but I didn't want to go to an English-speaking country. After crossing out a number of countries not allowing non-EU ,non-first world au pairs, and countries I had less interest in, I was left with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. My host family contacted me and they seemed great so Holland it was! When I go back, I'll continue my degree at college but the thing is, I may not actually be going back at all. My boyfriend and I have been seriously discussing if we should get my visa switched to a relationship visa but this all depends if we get a house/apartment (living together is a requirement under this visa) . I'm a little bit stuck on this one though because I know life back home (for me) is definitely better than over here and by living here, I'd have to be resigned being a cashier at the local supermarket plus I'd have to be completely dependant on him the first 6 months or so (not allowed to work until immigration decides to approve your application). Help! I'm only 21! But I've never liked a guy so much

Wow, I'm just so cool I also have done my shopping for the spacecake operation on Thursday or Friday . eGullet kills me, it really does! Here I am, an au pair on an allowance of a very sad 70 euro a week, spending half off it on 4 grams on hash (the recipe recommends 8grams but I'm too poor and I'm making a much smaller batch). If my parents disown me, I can always say "eGullet made me do it"! Coffeeshops (there are also much better looking ones... it's like a cafe or a pub..high-end,low-end, neighbourhood,swanky...)

Aunty Tepee (in Malaysia, younger people call older women 'aunty') Why are you doing this to me. I miss nasi lemak so much. Once on the bus, I was SO SURE I smelled nasi lemak but I think I was just dreaming since there were only 2 Dutch farmers on it! Thanks for your offer to send me ikan bilis but surprisingly it's readily available here (although it's definitely not as fragrant as the ones from Pangkor!) . What I'd really like is pandan leaves but I guess that isn't possible I was actually thinking of making curry puff this week but my schedule this week is crazy so probably not~! This is a picture my mum sent me of the kuih talam she made on Sunday. I'm not a big fan of kuih , I prefer western pastries and Japanese wagashi but one kuih I always eat is kuih pulut teratai/pulut tekan/ pulut taitai (it's the blue and white block ).

Yup, that's right! Please PM me with your address, letter of your choice and whether you prefer milk or dark chocolate

Hello! I'm not sure what mackeral is like in the US but the mackeral I bought this morning is ikan tenggiri batang (Spanish mackeral or narrow-barred mackeral). It has stripes and very little bones. Abra , do tell us the results!

Both of you are getting close but Rooftop 1000 needs something from nakji's answer and nakji is missing one last thing which Rooftop 1000 mentioned so the chocolate letter is still waiting to be sent! Anyone else?

I am so happy with the ikan bakar results It reminded me so much of home. The fish was very fresh and the sambal belacan was sublime. Ikan bakar (usually stingray) is usually eaten as a snack or a side dish in Malaysia but I decided to pair it with potatoes and a salad here. Before going into the grill-oven: After: My host family really liked it too! ETA: Dessert was stoofpeertjes vla (stoofpeer are braised pears and vla is something I've only seen in Holland. It's like custard but is in a liquid form? ) The box it comes in

I had quite a fright because I thought I had a lump of belacan (shrimp paste) in my room which I bought from Amsterdam about 6 months ago but I forgot that I threw it away when I cleaned my room just before my best friend arrived! I panicked because I'd bought the fish, the red chilli, everything and without belacan, my chilli is nothing which means my Malaysian grilled fish is also nothing I'd all about given up with today's food experiment but SURPRISE SURPRISE, a visit to the supermarket made me very happy. Not only did this tiny town (Weesp has only 15 000 residents)'s c1000 (supermarket) have belacan in the Asian section, the box also proclaimed "MADE IN MALAYSIA" . I'm a very happy woman The sambal is finished and the fish is in the fridge (also marinated it at 1p.m.) ready to be grilled at 6. Because I'm in such a good mood, I will offer one Chocolate Letter (a Sinterklaas tradition!) of your choice (traditionally the first letter of your first name)to the first eGullet-er who answers this very easy question correctly What is patat speciaal ? Good luck! p/s: Feel free to PM Chufi or Markemorse

We had this with tea : Borstplaat (literally breast plate,) It's mostly sugar with just a little bit butter. It melts in your mouth and is available only from October- December (traditionally eaten to celebrate Sinterklaas on December 5th).

Thanks for telling me what that chocolate 'machine' is! No, it's definitely not set up to encourage immigration The Dutch government is getting more and more strict each year regarding immigration (ie. you don't automatically receive the right to stay here if you're married a Dutch person or if you're born here. Or even if your husband AND your child is Dutch! ). Most au pairs stay for one year. However, plenty of au pairs from the EU usually stay longer; especially if they're from 'poorer' EU countries such as Poland. There are also summer au pairs but not many because it's illegal. Au pairs are popular because childcare here is extremely expensive (at least 1000euro per child but the government sponsors 1/3rd of this ,as does your employer so you only pay 1/3rd) and because having an au pair is so convenient! . An au pair is only legally allowed to work 30 hours a week and do only light housework. I suppose my experience as an au pair is probably slightly different from an au pair from a first world country. I get very ,very iritated when people say "Wow, is life back home so horrible?" when in actual I lead a much better quality life back home in Malaysia than I am leading now (now= no shopping, no dining out ) while a first world au pair often get reactions such as "Wow, you're so adventurous!". Still, I am enjoying my year a lot and I did meet a lovely farmboy from Zutphen petite tête de chou I like bread, I really do but not when I have to eat the same kind every day! My host mum buys half a loaf from the local bakery everyday and granted, they aren't always exactly the same but really, I swear they do taste the same, except perhaps with different grains sprinkled

Lunch was yet again more boring bread! Toasties with ketchup and curry sauce Weesp is known for a number of things. It's very popular with the boating crowd during the summer (simply because it's pretty, I suppose). What most people do is moor their boats and go to Nelis Ijssalon (Nelis Ice Cream Parlor) . Nelis actually won an award a few years ago - it won 2nd price for best ice cream in The Netherlands. It is ALWAYS crowded -even on cold ,windy days like today. (I was again too chicken to take a proper picture). Besides that, Weesp is also home to Van Houten chocolates! I bet you didn't know that! I didn't too. I don't know if the Van Houtens still live here but the church the Van Houtens opened still stands til this day. The townhall opens once a year on National Monument Day (sometime in September) . It hosts a number of Van Houten paraphernalia . I think this is a chocolate tempering machine. If I'm wrong, please correct me! Other random pictures: Edited to correct spelling of toasties from 'toaties' and the p -word and please read Kerry's post about that chocolate thingmajig (it's not a tempering machine)

Today is a miserable day. Cold, rainy and wet. I did my marketing armed with Sebas (in his buggy) and shopped in English (I only recently started this because I noticed that I get treated better when I don't speak accented or broken Dutch!). My host mum gave me 20euro for tonight's meal because 'fish is expensive'. Surprisingly, I only spent 4.55 on fish (just over 1 kilo of mackeral). There were of course much more expensive fish (I was too embarassed to take pictures of individual stores) but the only one I was familiar with (for ikan bakar) was mackeral. The market is only 10 metres from my house (or even less depending on which part of the market I want to go to!). I love Weesp. It's so quaint!

I actually DID take pictures of the joint and of the surroundings with my mobile phone camera but my stupid Nokia 6111 is officially dead for the 2nd time in 10 months (I only used it for 4 months because when it died the last time, I could only afford to get it repaired in June. My warranty isn't valid here ). I am no longer a loyal Nokia customer. Markemorse, thank you for your recommendations. Your Field Tasting Agents , you say? I just checked the internet for recipes and apparently all I have to do is melt hash in the butter so I'm going to get one of those instant brownie mixes from Dr. Oetker and make special brownies this weekend (I can't make them from scratch because the bf has NOTHING, no pan, no bowl, no mixer, no SPOON for that matter). Anyway, this is breakfast (I'm horrible at photography): I am a sissy coffee drinker. Back in Malaysia, I was a loyal fan of CoffeeBean's ice-blended coffee (and if Coffeebean wasn't available, I'd have Starbucks) but there are no coffee chains here (yep, not a single one!) . I buy these from the supermarket about 3-4 times a week. The Korova cookies are fresh from the oven. I chopped some macademias and put them on top of the 2nd tray (which are in the oven now). mizducky , that is indeed a blue m&m (my favourite part of the cake!)

I want those egg molds! They rock!

Macaroons bought from the little neighbourhood French bakery in Paris. Only 2 euro per 100 grams I think

Haha, I really feel like getting you to make the 'pak chan' soup but I'll be nice What is this ayam taipan thing, I don't recall myself ever having ayam taipan! Would be nice if you could make that and post a picture ETA : Happy Halloween! Edited again to add: Just made Korova cookies because I'm bored. In the freezer now and I should be able to put it in the oven in 15 minutes!

Good morning! I'm up at the unearthly hour of 6.15 because I'm always 'too alert' after a few glasses of wine and in this case, some 'erbs . Amsterdam's Red Light District was dirty, weedy and sexy (as usual) We'd planned to go to 2 coffeeshops namely The Greenhouse Effect (pretty, tourist crowd) and the Funny People coffeeshop (strong joints). We only ended up going to Funny People because we both had enough! Here's what was ingested: That was the most disgusting cake I've ever tasted. It was dry but considering that it was a spacecake, it wasn't that bad. I think I sort of expected it to taste like a joint but it didn't (just a tiny bit!). Still, I don't think I could've eaten the whole slice or even half of it because of how it tasted. The back of the wrapping said "This is not less strong than a joint! Do not eat the whole thing. Effects will appear in 30 minutes-1 hour" or something similar. We also ordered a bottle of water and a joint. In total, the bill was only 9 euro. I want to stress that while coffeeshops and soft drugs are decriminilised here, not every Dutchie is a stoner. I read somewhere that only 5% of the population smoke regularly. In my opinion, the coffeeshops in Amsterdam are mostly for tourists. Up Next : Tuesday is Market Day in Weesp. I love markets! The market is very small but it has everything (fresh) you need . I'm going to make ikan bakar (Malaysian grilled fish) with sambal belacan tonight Laters!

The steamer seems to be receiving quite a bit of attention! Yes ,it is a steamer with a few options (high ,mid,low pressure + defrost etc). We only use it to sterilise the baby's bottles, steam vegetables , potatoes, heat food up etc.

Cooking is not one of my duties but I do ocassionally cook. And yes, I do help prepare meals; nothing significant mind you- just potato-peeling or chopping onions that kind of thing. Sebas is absolutely adorable, good natured but also high maintenance (in the good natured way)sometimes. He's the best! Hiya Abra ! Did you try making anything at all? I remember that the instant ayam masak merah is not bad at all. Markemorse , that is a very good idea I may just try it when I go to Arnhem later this week (baby+ marijuana = not a good idea). I am not a stoner and only tried weed twice in Amsterdam, more for the experience than anything else. I dislike smoking but I'm in Amsterdam, aren't I?! Now that Ju is here on a visit, it's time to do my duty as temporary Dutchie and take her (she requested it btw!) for a taste of some herbs

Hola! Almost time for dinner; we're just waiting for Walter to get back but in the meantime, I'll post some pictures This is Maartje (my host mum) cooking. She's a lovely lady and one cannot ask for a nicer host mum. Oh yes, I forgot to say that my host family made stofvlees (braised beef, you can get the recipe from Chufi's Dutch Cooking thread) yesterday. There's quite a bit leftover so we're eating hutspot tonight. Hutspot is the only stampot I don't care for ; thanks to the mashed carrots, it tastes a little too much like baby food (in my opinion). It is said that stampot came to be when Leiden was attacked by the Spaniards a few hundred years ago (Dutchies, please correct me if I'm wrong). The mayor closed the gates and the locals ran out of food after a while. Finally, the Spanish army left . A little boy was so hungry that he climbed over a wall (or went through a hole in the wall or something like that) and found, still hot in a pot, what is today known as hutspot! Hutspot with stofvlees For dessert, we will have stofpeers (also leftovers from yesterday) with biterkoekje pudding. You'll notice that the top part of the pear is not red. This is because my host dad cheated by using the steamer. Ok I'm going to go downstairs and wait with Maartje for Walter to be back! Toodles! Next : A spacecake and a joint or two at one of Amsterdam's famous coffeeshops

Hi Racheld! Yes, Chufi's Dutch cooking thread is one of my favourite threads (Chufi is practically my eGullet idol )though I've never tried anything until today (above apple pie)! One of these days I'm going to make Chufi's Frisian suikerbrood. The huge window is a constant problem because passerbys WILL peep and look at us . It's funny because everyone tries to look in our kitchen and quickly turn away everytime I catch them (Looking into people's houses is a favourite Dutch passtime) . My host family and I don't really mind that, though as we are not really private people (we're also not allowed to change the design outside as the house is a monument). ETA: obligatory picture of fridge and sauce cupboard. I didn't take a picture of the freezer and the larder because they're in 'drawer-style' (ie you can only see the top)

That is a steamer. We do use it everyday, mostly to sterilise baby bottles and for vegetables /potatos (3 minutes at 120degrees is enough to make mashed potatos, much faster than boiling!) Foo , am I tired or what. I decided to make Chufi's Dutch apple pie because we had some apples sitting around. It was Sebas' birthday a few weeks ago and they went to pick apples from his apple tree. This didn't go as planned because I couldn't find the pie tin and I couldn't go out to buy one because Sebas was in bed , host dad went to the DIY shop (he's home this week to paint and do up the attic) and Jules had gone to Amsterdam (I was literally ready to cry). Finally I saw some disposable lasagna containers in the drawer and used that instead. I figured since it's already spoilt , I'm not going to bother following the recipe anymore so I 'seasoned' the apples to taste using mostof the ingredients from Chufi's recipe and added a bit more,namely vanilla sugar and I sprinkled granulated sugar on top of the pastry. Surprisingly, it actually came out really good! My host dad ate HALF THE PIE . At least it was good for something (I served it with vanilla ice cream)!

Hi, I actually put these pictures in my foodblog but I thought it'd fit here too. This is not my house, it belongs to my host family. The house was formally a butchershop (late 1600s- probably 1980s). Until August last year, it belonged to a family of butchers but it hasn't been in operation for the last 30 years or so. The entire house (before my host family did it last year that is) hasn't been renovated for the last 100+ years . The Before Picture After You can't really see it but the walls have been repainted silver . It's messy because I hadn't had time to clean up yet.