Please welcome Nyonya Pendek Melaka, also known as Petite Nyonya as a guest writer today. Nyonya Pendek Melaka is a wonderful food blog with many delicious and authentic Nyonya recipes. Today, she shares with us her family’s udang masak lemak nenas recipe, or pineapple prawn curry. I tried out this classic Melaka Nyonya recipe and absolutely loved it. Enjoy!
Guest writer: Nyonya Pendek Melaka (Petite Nyonya)
When I started looking into food blogs, Rasa Malaysia was one of the first few I stumbled upon and was in full admiration for. When Bee launched Nyonya Food, I was really glad to see it takes shape as a focused tribute to our rich culinary heritage. Thus, I was honored and delighted to receive an invitation from Bee to be a guest writer on Nyonya Food and contribute to it. I just don’t seem to be cooking Nyonya dishes as often as I should unless I am back in my hometown for family gatherings, so this invitation is just perfect! Bee also requested if I could prepare a dish that is synonymous with the Peranakan household in Melaka. While there are many similarities with Peranakan food in Melaka (where I’m from) and Penang (where Bee’s from), there are a few distinct signature dishes exclusive to or more favored in each of these two Malaysian states…
The dish that I have presented here is very popular and much loved by many Peranakan families in Melaka, as well as in Singapore—as a result of my hometown’s influence due to its geographical proximity to the island nation. Called Udang Masak Lemak Nenas or Pineapple Prawn in Spicy Coconut Milk Gravy, it was often prepared for Chinese New Year family reunion dinners, at any other family gatherings and for prayers to the deceased relatives on special prayer months. Now, we cook it as and when the palate craves for it or when friends come over for a Peranakan food feast. Below is my family’s recipe taught by my deeply missed late Mom to my sisters and I. It is packed with flavor and aroma from the spices, and sweetness from the prawn and pineapple. Serve it with plain white rice is the best, and it will never fail to whet one’s appetite! Here’s the recipe.
Part I:
- 15 to 20 dried chillies (cut, discard seeds and soak in hot boiling water for 20 mins)
- 10 to 12 shallots
- 4 pips garlic
- 2 candlenuts
- 2 stalks lemongrass (use the pale part about 4 inches from the base)
- 1 inch-long turmeric
- 1/2 inch-long galangal
- 1 tbsp Asian shrimp paste (belacan)
Part II:
- About 1 litre water
- Half of a ripen pineapple (but not too over ripe), cut into 1.5 inch pieces
Part III:
- 250 ml thick coconut milk
Part IV:
- 10 to 12 large prawns with shell intact
Method:
Blend all ingredients in Part I to form a paste. Heat 3/4 cup oil in a wok/pan and saute the paste till it becomes a bit drier and fragrant. Transfer the sauteed paste to a cooking pot and add Part II. If you find the gravy a bit too thick, you can add a little bit more water. Allow it to simmer for about 15 mins till the sweetness from the pineapple is released into the gravy. After that, pour in Part III and allow it to simmer to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Then, add in the washed prawns and let it boil till they are cooked. Turn off the heat and serve hot with a plate of rice. Bon Appetit!
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wow…this dish looks and sounds delicious! thanks for the recipe….hope to try it soon!
This pineapple prawn curry loves wonderful. I have never had pineapple in a savory dish, this is very interesting.
Thank you very much, Bee for this invitation and experience to share my family’s recipe for this delicious dish. Your version looks just as mouth-watering and I’m so glad that you like it too. I’m certain this won’t be the only time you’ll cook this :). Thanks again and do keep up your great work on Nyonyafood. Cheers for the New Year!!
Swing in from PetiteNyanya’s site. Like this Pineapple curry which is my favourite. Will be back for more recipes.
That is a beautiful prawn dish. I canimagine ( fantasy) pouring that curry into my rplain rice and enjoying the whole expirence. Well i can dream can’t I. Drool.
Oh yummm………. *slurp*
Thanks for sharing, Petite Nyonya. It looks very delicious and most importantly, do-able.
You are welcomed, kl_changs.
This dish look so mouth watering, must try this soon.
what a lovely dish! thanks for sharing the recipe petite nyonya!
oh, and a question for you both (Bee & Petite Nyonya), have any of you come across a Nyonya style thick pineapple curry? I think its called mesak assam or something. I had it a friend’s house last year and it was cooked by one of his mother’s relatives (who’s in her 70s). My other friend recognized it and said its a very unique dish that’s hard to find these days (her mom used to make it but she has passed on). It’s just curry with huge chunks of pineapple and coconut.
Lingzie – I have never heard of it, you mean just pineapple and curry, and nothing else?
My pleasure to share & you’re welcomed, Lingzie. I’ve not heard of the pineapple curry you asked about. Do you mean it contains curry powder and coconut milk? If it’s masak assam, it should use tamarind juice. I’m sure there are several Nyonya dishes which have lost their tracks in this modern day. If you do find out more from your friend, do let us know. Would love to learn. :)
hi bee and petite nyonya – yup this is just curry and pineapples. i couldnt taste the shredded coconut, but my friend says it usually has them. and the curry is lemak.
hopefully i can ask my friend if his relative would be open to teaching me the recipe. :) would love to maintain these recipes as it would be a shame to just let them fade away with time.
Hi lingzie, I think it’s called Pajelis Ong Lai (pineapple) It’s the northern nyonya dish.
oh wow this curry looks amazing love shrimp
oh wow this sounds and looks so good! Love the shrimp and pineapple combo.
Yummy dish!! Love the pineapple & shrimp in the curry!!
Absolutely wonderful writing & photography! You guys have made a great team!
Petite Nyonya rocks with this pineapple prawn curry. It’s a fantastic recipe!
Hi, Petite Nyonya, this is a very mouthwatering recipe!
Just a question: What do you do with “black strings” inside the shrimps?
They taste so awful…
And another one: Do you think a little bit of assam should be very good here
Thanks, Alex! With this dish, the shell is left intact to get the sweetness released into the gravy, and as such, no need to de-vein the “black strings”. If you want to remove it still, then you have to peel off the shell but it’ll serve no ‘kick’ when eating it. For me, the vein when eaten together whole shrimp, does not affect the taste at all. As for adding assam, I’m afraid it won’t be suitable for this dish and will defeat the originality of it. The assam taste will probably ‘wrongly interfere’ with the sweetness from the pineapple and shrimps.
Thanks, Petite Nyonya, for your replay.
I think, if you use not very big shrimps this vein is not a big deal, but it is not the same with the big ones though….
It is definitely a great dish and a very good presentation! Waiting for more of your recipes
This Pineapple Prawn Curry is so yummy with hot steamed rice !
Yes, you are right about it. Yummy.
heya !! thks for the wonderful recipe. wot is candlenuts n how does it looks like, cos i went to the chinese supermarket n no one can understand wot i was looking for.
btw, i reside in the uk.
thks again for all the wonderful recipe.
Candlenut is like macadamia nut. I should a new post about it. If you can’t find it, you can use macadamia nut.
This is interesting, Bee! Didn’t know macadamia nut can be a substitute. Great to learn something new.
Hi,
The “just pineapple and curry” – do you mean “Pajeri nenas”? Foodilicious has a recipe for it (link below), but it doesn’t call for any assam. Anyway, I hope one day you will put up a recipe for “Assam Pelai”, one of my favorite dishes! Thanks :)
http://myfoodilicious.blogspot.com/2008/06/pajeri-nenas-sweet-pineapple-curry.html
Thanks for the lovely post Nyonyapendek. Last year my friend from Malacca came to stay and we went hunting for buah keras in London and manage to find some to cook this very dish.
FYI Kaprico you can get candlenuts from oriental supermarkets in London chinatown or order online if you are not in London. Here is a link on how they look like http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/313150121_6012a453ea_o.jpg
Dont try asking the shop assistants in these places for anything as none of them speak any English!
I just finished watching a TV series called Little Nyonya , which is recently on in mainland china. A wonderful tv play ,and I’m now more interested in the culture and traditional food of the nyonya .
My mom learnt how to cook this dish from my grandmother. It’s a family all time favourite. I love the pineapple flavour of the soup and the prawns is just so delicious and fragrant.
I enjoy this dish. The pineapple makes it all the more enticing. Thanks for the recipe
looks nice and try the dish for coming CNY… terima kasih banyak banyak nyonya petite! Btw do you have this recipe from Penang dish… in hokkien its called ‘timbun swee”or sour cucumber.. it a popular dish during CNY too.
My late mother always made a stir-fried tibun dish with shrimp…I will have to ask my sister for the recipe.
Thanks for sharing ur recipes…!
Hi,
I was born and raised in Melaka, I guess I can be considered a “trueblue” Baba since both parents are Peranakan.
We often cooked this same dish but with salted Ikan Sepat (not sure what they call it in English) instead of prawns. I remember one of my first attempts at cooking this and forgot the candlenut… made all the difference in the taste!
I saw and bought several times this food at Vietnamese Bakery shops in Seattle.