Stein on Malaysian times

"Challenging" is how Rick Stein describes his commute to work. While the TV chef, known for his culinary colonisation of the Cornish town, Padstow, hasn't officially moved to Australia, where his fiancee Sarah lives - he does spend a lot of time travelling between the two places.

But the 63-year-old reveals that if he hadn't fallen in love with the land of Neighbours 15 years ago, he would never have discovered Malaysian cooking.

Currently supporting a year-long PR campaign aimed at raising the profile of Malay cuisine, Stein says he first had a taste of their food during regular journeys down under.

"I've been going to Australia really regularly for years, and quite often using Malaysian airlines - actually because it was cheap," he says, laughing at his admission.

"On the way, I started to enjoy the food on the airline. They did things like satay chicken and nasi goreng. It was good food... for aeroplanes."

Stein, of course, is not suggesting that Malay food is best served at high altitudes; rather that he found himself looking forward to his aeroplane meals - a phenomenon he'd never encountered before.

"They also did this hot sweet tea in the mornings," he reminisces. "It's sweetened with condensed milk."

It was clearly love at first bite, and since then, Stein's travelled more widely through Malaysia and South East Asia, and published a book on Eastern cuisine (Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey, £25, BBC Books).

This year, he's hoping that the campaign, Malaysia Kitchen, will get more people cooking this food, than ever before.

"There's not enough Malaysian food in the UK," he says. "I can't understand it, when there's so much Thai food. You'd have thought the reverse would be true, as we have a colonial past in Malaysia and not in Thailand... I mean, we've got so many Indian restaurants," he says, with confusion.

"Maybe they were perfectly happy there and didn't want to come over," he concludes, with a chuckle.

For Stein, Malaysian food is all about full, snappy favours.

"Like Thai food, a lot of their dishes combine flavour elements of salty, sweet, spicy and sour."

"They also like lots of chilli, lots of lime juice, lots of fish sauce, and shrimp paste and lots of sugar. Malaysian cooks, more than anywhere else, use lots of sugar to create balance."

His favourite 'go to' Malaysian dish is Nasi Goreng - a fried rice dish with tamarind and chilli.

"I've always got the paste in the fridge - and it's the sort of thing anyone can knock up anytime. You should make the paste from scratch though. With shop-bought pastes, well, you can sense things in there that shouldn't be there."

He also enjoys whipping up a Malaysian salad.

"I use fish sauce, lemongrass and chilli, some fruit - like sliced mango - rice noodles, lots of peanuts, dressing and some protein maybe prawn, sliced beef or salted fish."

Here are some of Stein's delicious Malaysian dishes to try...

:: Black rice pudding with iced fresh mangoes and toasted coconut ice cream (Serves 6) For the toasted coconut ice cream: 75g finely grated fresh coconut 400ml coconut milk 100ml single cream 6 large egg yolks 200g caster sugar 1tbsp cornflour ½tsp pandan essence Salt For the black rice pudding: 200g black glutinous rice 2 pandan leaves, twisted into a knot (optional) 175g palm sugar Salt To serve: 1 large, ripe mango 200ml can coconut milk For the ice cream, heat a dry, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Add the coconut and stir it around for until it is nicely golden. This is a bit tricky because the little bits always brown first, so if you can, scoop these out from time to time so that they don't burn. Tip onto a plate and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, put the coconut milk, cream and a pinch of salt into a non-stick pan and bring to the boil. While this is happening, mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together in a heatproof bowl. When the coconut milk and cream comes to the boil, slowly whisk it into the egg yolk mixture. Strain the mixture back into a clean pan and cook over a low heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture lightly coats the back of a wooden spoon, but don't let it boil. Pour back into the bowl, stir in the pandan essence, cover and set aside in the fridge to chill.

Churn the mixture in an ice cream mixture, which should take approximately 20 minutes, adding the toasted coconut about 5 minutes before the end. Alternatively, pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container, cover and chill until almost firm. Scoop it into a food processor and blend until smooth, the return to the container and re-freeze. Repeat this process another 2-3 times, then fold in the toasted coconut. Transfer the mixture to a rigid plastic container with a lid and leave in the freezer for 4-6 hours or overnight until firm.

For the black rice pudding, rinse the rice thoroughly in cold water. Put into a pan with the pandan leaves if using, and 2 litres of water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Lower the heat slightly and simmer gently, stirring now and then, for 1¼ hours.

Meanwhile, peel the mango and cut the flesh into small bite-sized pieces. Cover and chill in the fridge along with the can of coconut milk.

Add the palm sugar to the rice and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes until the excess liquid has evaporated and the rice is suspended in a thick, dark purple liquid. Remove and discard the pandan leaves if necessary, stir in ¼ teaspoon of salt and leave to cool to room temperature.

To serve, spoon the rice pudding into glass bowls and top with a scoop of toasted coconut ice cream. Scatter over the iced mango, drizzle over a little chilled coconut cream, and serve.

:: Grilled prawn and green mango salad (Serves 4) 16 large, raw, peeled prawns Flat, wooden skewers Salt and pepper Lime wedges, to serve For the salad: 3 green mangoes 125g (1 large) carrot 75g roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped 1tbsp roughly chopped mint?

1tbsp roughly chopped coriander For the dressing: 1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped 1 red bird's eye chilli, very thinly sliced 4tbsp fresh lime juice 4tbsp Thai fish sauce 4tsp palm sugar or light muscovado sugar?

Preheat the grill to high. Thread the prawns onto the wooden skewers and season lightly. Peel the green mangoes and shred them on a mandolin, working your way around each fruit until you reach the stone, which you then discard. Peel the carrot and finely shred this as well. Toss them together in a large bowl.

For the dressing, put the garlic and chilli into a mortar and bruise lightly with the pestle, then stir in the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, until the sugar has dissolved.

Grill the prawns for about 2 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, pour the dressing over the salad and toss together well. Add the chopped peanuts and herbs and toss together once more.

Divide the salad between each plate and slide the prawns off the skewers onto the top. Garnish with the lime wedges and serve.

:: Chicken curry kapitan (Serves 6) 1kg boneless, skinned chicken thighs 2tbsp vegetable oil 2 fat lemongrass stalks 400ml coconut milk 6 kaffir lime leaves 2tsp palm or light muscovado sugar Juice ½ lime A handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped, to garnish Salt For the kapitan curry paste: 6 dried red kashmiri chillies 4 heaped tbsps desiccated coconut 250g shallots or onions, roughly chopped 6 fat garlic cloves 50g peeled fresh galangal or ginger 2tsp turmeric powder 4 fat lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed and core roughly chopped ½tsp shrimp paste 2tbsp vegetable oil Steamed rice, to serve For the kapitan curry paste, cover the dried chillies with boiling hot water and leave them to soak for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat, add the desiccated coconut, and stir it around for a few minutes until lightly golden. Tip onto a plate and leave to cool, then tip into a mini food processor and grind quite finely.

Drain the red chillies, put them into a mini food processor with the remaining ingredients and the toasted coconut and grind everything into a smooth paste.

Cut the chicken thigh fillets into small chunks. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole or large, deep frying pan over a low heat. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry for 2 minutes until lightly golden. Lower the heat slightly, add the spice paste and fry gently for 5 minutes, stirring now and then.

Meanwhile, cut away and discard the top two-thirds of each remaining lemongrass stalk. Bruise the bases with the end of a rolling pin.

Add coconut milk, lemongrass stalks, kaffir lime leaves, sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt and simmer for 30 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Add the lime juice and simmer for 1 more minute. Scatter over the chopped coriander and serve with some steamed rice.

:: For more information about the Malaysia Kitchen campaign, please visit www.malaysiakitchen.co.uk :: A 'free' Malaysian Night is being held at Trafalgar Square on September 24, 2010, to celebrate the best of Malay cuisine.