Resepi Senang Lempeng & Sambal Ikan Bilis // Easy Recipe For Local Pancake & Dried Anchovies Sambal

*scroll down to read in English (not a direct translation, but with content catered to my international readers!)

Haritu masa weekend tengah rehat tengok TV lepas makan tengahari, tiba-tiba rasa nak makan lempeng dengan sambal ikan bilis untuk minum petang. Masa tu sebelum PKP satu Malaysia yang second time ni tapi memang time-time Covid ni memang tak lah nak keluar cari makan sedap-sedap. Kenapa masa PKP ni lah kita tiba-tiba craving makan itu ini? Jadi sekarang ni kalau teringin nak apa-apa, masa tu jugak saya akan Google resepi and usaha buat.

Nasib baik lah resepi-resepi lempeng yang saya jumpa online semua senang je nak buat. Compare dengan pancake yang saya memang selalu buat, lempeng style local ni memang sikit je bahan nak guna. Cuma resepi saya jumpa online banyak tak cakap portion untuk berapa orang, so saya kena adjust sendiri so that tak membazir sebab nak buat untuk saya dengan suami je.

Resepi Lempeng

Bahan-bahan (untuk 2 orang makan - dapat buat dalam 8 keping):

• 1 1/2 cawan tepung serbaguna 
• 2 cubit garam (boleh adjust ikut rasa)
• 2 cubit gula (boleh adjust ikut rasa)
• 1 1/2 cawan air masak 
• 1 telur

Cara-cara:

1. Letak tepung, garam, dan gula dalam mangkuk and kacau sedikit.
2. Masukkan air dan telur, kacau sampai adunan jadi sebati.
3. Panaskan non-stick kuali atau pan dengan sedikit minyak; biar api perlahan je.
4. Tuang dalam setengah senduk adunan lempeng dalam pan; masa tuang atau selepas tuang, pusingkan pan tu sambil gerakkan pan ke atas dan bawah, untuk biar lempeng tu mengalir jadi bulat leper.
5. Tunggu permukaan lempeng tu nampak macam tak cair dah, lepas tu terbalikkan lempeng.
6. Bila permukaan bawah tu dah nampak bintik-bintik macam dalam gambar saya ni, boleh lah angkat. Kalau nak lempeng betul lembut, tak payah tunggu sampai bintik tu coklat gelap macam lempeng saya ni (saya suka lempeng tu ada crunchy-crunchy sikit, sebab tu suka biar lama sikit).

Resepi Sambal Ikan Bilis

Bahan-bahan (untuk 2 orang):

• 1 cawan ikan bilis
• 2 sudu besar cili kisar
• 1 biji bawang merah besar
• 3 ulas bawang putih
• 2 sudu besar air asam jawa (boleh adjust ikut rasa, sebab asam jawa ni masam dia lain-lain)
• Garam secukup rasa
• Gula secukup rasa

Cara-cara:

1. Masuk cili kisar, bawang merah dengan bawang putih dalam blender, tambah air sedikit; kisar sampai hancur.
2. Panaskan minyak dalam kuali dan goreng ikan bilis sampai ranggup. Tepikan. Biarkan minyak goreng ni dalam kuali. (PS: Nanti bila masak dalam cili, ikan bilis akan lemau balik ya).
3. Dalam kuali sama, tumis cili blend dengan bawang tadi sampai pecah minyak.
4. Tuang air asam jawa.
5. Letak garam dan gula, gaul; jangan letak garam terlalu banyak sebab ikan bilis memang dah masin, so boleh je tambah nanti kalau perlu.
6. Masukkan balik ikan bilis dalam sambal dan gaul sebati. Kalau rasa tak cukup kuah, tambah air dan kacau. Kalau perlukan tambahan rasa - masin, manis, masam - tambah lah apa yang perlu. Ikut lidah masing-masing ok!

Siap! Boleh lah hidang untuk tea time atau sarapan.

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

*Post in English starts here!

Shah and I eat homecooked meals nowadays but to be honest, it's not entirely by choice; we live in a small town with very limited choices. But turns out this is an upside for us as we're cooking homemade more than ever now, which is much healthier as we know they're made with good, clean ingredients, plus they're handled by our own two hands.

If I crave something, I would immediately Google for a recipe for that something, but my way is to find a recipe that has the least amount of ingredients and contains ingredients whose name I recognize and preferably already own in my kitchen!

I was craving for this local dish recently: a flat pancake eaten with dried anchovies sambal. The flat pancake is similar to the breakfast pancakes you're used to, albeit, with fewer ingredients and notably, instead of milk, you add water instead. Sambal is basically a dish made from chilli paste combined with onions and garlic. The way to make chilli paste: softened dried chillies by immersing about 3-4 handfuls of them in hot water for 15 minutes, then blend with about 1/4 cup of water - we want a thick paste so you can adjust amount of water here.

This Malay combo dish is eaten usually for breakfast or during tea-time but I'm game to have it for lunch too since it's filling and savoury. I wouldn't recommend you trying out this dish if you're not into spicy food but if you're feeling particularly adventurous, give this combo dish a go.

Flat Pancake Recipe

Ingredients (for 2 people):

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pinches of salt (can be adjusted to taste)
• 2 pinches of sugar (can be adjusted to taste)
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg

Method:

1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl.
2. Break the egg in and pour in the water. Mix the batter well.
3. Heat a non-stick pan with a little oil on low heat.
4. Pour in about half a laddle of batter; as you're pouring or after pouring, rotate the pan while tilting it up and down so that the batter spread to form a bigger circle - we want a thin layer of pancake here.
5. When the batter doesn't look as wet anymore, that means it's ready to be flipped.
6. The pancake is ready when dots start to brown on the pancake's surface underneath, like the pancakes in my photos here. If you want your pancakes to be super soft, don't wait until they get as brown as on mine.

Dried Anchovies Sambal Recipe

Ingredients (for 2 people):

• 1 cup dried anchovies
• 2 tablespoons chilli paste
• 1 shallot
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons of tamarind juice (adjust to taste)
• Salt, to taste
• Sugar, to taste

Method:

1. Blend chilli paste with shallot, garlic cloves and a little bit of water until it becomes a thick paste.
2. Heat up a non-stick pot and stir-fry dried anchovies with a  lot of oil. Remove after they're browned and crunchy, but keep the oil in.
3. In the same pot, put the blended mix chilli paste in and stir fry it around, until the paste sort of separates in texture and oil comes through, and becomes a deeper red colour (this is when the chilli paste is entering the sambal phase!).
4. Pour in tamarind juice.
5. Add salt and sugar and stir the sambal; do not add too much salt as dried anchovies are already salty.
6. Transfer the fried dried anchovies into the sambal and mix them around. Add more salt or sugar if needed, and if the paste has dried up, you could add a little water to get more of the sambal "sauce".

All done and ready to serve! A note: I'm obviously an amateur cook and I wouldn't dream of pitting anything I cook against the supercooks in my family e.g. my mom or my mother-in-law but my recipe here makes a decent enough dish, I promise! Good luck in giving a go at a little taste of Malaysia's local cuisine ❤