Kenny

I wasn't sure that I could make a batch of dumplings in someone else's kitchen - we get used to what we get used to, and the kitchen is a very personal environment, you know? But if anyone was going to have just about anything I needed, it'd probably be Kenny. Kenny identifies as a chicken nugget or, after I clarified the question, Chinese Singaporean. I met him sometime within the first week of college. He was my neighbor - we were the divide between the girl and guy dorms on our floor. I mostly remember being aware that he could crush me under his thumb if he wanted to. Now he just crushes me under his disappointed/flabbergasted gaze when I say something stupid.

So Kenny's dumpling is basically the love child of nasi lemak + the curry part of roti prata with curry. Nasi lemak apparently directly translates to "oily or fatty rice," owing to its rich and creamy rice that's soaked in coconut cream before steaming - often with pandan leaves too for its distinctive flavor and aroma. The dish is commonly eaten in Malaysia and Singapore for breakfast and can be found at hawker centers or streetfood stalls. Traditionally, it is garnished with sambal, fresh cucumbers, anchovies, peanuts, and a hardboiled egg. With fried chicken or fish, cuttlefish, cockles, or even beef for some extra protein.

A go-to rice wrapper is still a work in progress for me, so these wrappers are my typical wheat recipe, but I subbed in coconut milk for water, which made for a satisfyingly smooth round of dough.

The minced swai (neutral white fish) filling was flavored with curry made with this recipe as my guide [sans eggplant, with the only curry powder blend I found at H-Mart, and reduced down to a thicc sauce]. I spent a bit of time trying to understand the distinction between Malaysian curries vs other types of curries by googling a bunch of recipes. I wonder if someone has tried to write a book on regional curries. I imagine they got overwhelmed and just gave up trying to categorize it. Because there's the bold dried spices, which I associate with Indian, and the coconut milk, reminiscent of Thai curries. And tamarind, which I just learned right this minute is indigenous to tropical Africa. And some recipes included star anise and cinnamon, which I associate with my mother's food. 

Well however you want to break it down, it was delicious in these fragrant and chewy envelopes.

Eat one with a slice of cucumber. Eat one with a handful of crispy anchovies. Dollop some sambal on it. Eat one with all the garnishes. Dip it in some of the leftover curry sauce you'll definitely have made too much of. You all know how much I love an interactive meal.

In the end, I added curry powder, tamarind puree, and the wrong kind of sambal to Kenny's pantry, and filled his apartment with curry fumes for a few days.

Things I would do differently: first time having a sous chef meant first time we were able to sample a batch and make adjustments - the adjustment was basically to add more curry sauce to the filling lol.

Kenny's complete list:

nasi lemak

teochew porridge

roti prata with curry

anything with nutella

sara lee pound cake

mom's apple pie

wonton noodle

popiah