Brunei

Welcome to our first stop, Brunei!

The menu for our trip to Brunei includes a bamboo chicken that is marinated in ginger, garlic, lemon and a blend of spices served with rice and a vegetable salad. Dessert features a wonderful custard tart!

Please see the links provided for the original recipes or scroll down to see any alterations I made.

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A little more about Brunei...

Brunei is a small country located on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. The capital of Brunei is Bandar Seri Begawan. The population of Brunei was 428 963 in 2018. The official language of Brunei is Malay, other common languages include English and Chinese.

The country of Brunei gained independence from Great Britain in 1984 and is now lead by an absolute monarchy. The Sultan serves as the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister. The economy of Brunei is heavily based on the production of crude oil and natural gas. Islam is the official religion of Brunei.

The cuisine of Brunei is influenced by Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia as well as China, Thailand and Japan. Dishes are usually spicy and consist of fish, seafood, beef and rice or noodles. Most food consumed in the country is halal, pork is avoided and alcohol is banned.

Now on to the good stuff.... the recipes!

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Bamboo Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts

• turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

• garam masala 1 tsp

• coriander powder 1 tsp

• red chilli powder 2 tsps

• salt, to taste

• juice of 1 lemon

• crushed ginger 1 tsp

• crushed garlic 1 tsp

• oil 4 tsp

• chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) 1/2 cup, can substitute parsley if you do not like cilantro

Preparation:

Marinate chicken in spices, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, oil and cilantro or parsley for 30min-1 hour.

*Traditionally the chicken is then placed inside hollow bamboo logs, sealed with coconut leaves and cooked over an open flame, since I have a lack of access to bamboo or coconut leaves I had to get creative*

I cooked my chicken in my sous vide at 140 degrees for 3 hours than quick seared it over a griddle pan to add that charred flavour. This recipe could easily be prepared on the stovetop by sautéing the chicken in a pan, baking it in the oven or grilling it on the BBQ. Cooking times will vary depending on the method chosen.

The Verdict

The chicken was moist and delicious and the marinade had a perfect blend of warm spices and tang from the lemon. The addition of the char from the grill made this dish perfect. Everyone loved it, including my picky toddler and this recipe will be a welcome addition to my regular dinner rotation.

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Brunei Veggie Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

• 2 stalks celery, cut into julienne strips

• 2 carrots, shredded

• 2 Italian plum tomatoes, cut into thin wedges

• 1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced

• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts

• 1 c broccoli florets

For the Dressing

• 1/3 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

• 1/2 cup hot vegetable stock

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp rice vinegar

• 2 tbsp safflower oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 tsp dry crushed red pepper (1 tsp if you prefer spicy)

for garnish: raisins, toasted sesame seeds, fresh water crest sprigs or chopped unsalted peanuts

Preparation:

In a large bowl, gently toss together the salad vegetables.

In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Pour over salad and top with garnish.

Avoid preparing in advance.

*note that for my version of this salad I omitted the the tofu as well as the tomatoes. I could not find safflower oil at my grocery store so I substituted olive oil*

The Verdict

This crunchy and super fresh salad paired really well with the heavily spiced chicken and rice. It helped to lighten up the meal. I will say that I am not a huge fan of peanuts/peanut butter being used in a savoury manner so I would probably look for a different dressing if I were to make it again, but that is just a personal preference!

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Custard Tart

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp salt, divided

• 1 cup vegetable shortening

• 4-6 tbsp hot tap water

• 3 eggs

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 1/2 cups milk

Preparation:

1. Combine flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a mixing bowl, cut in shortening until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Mix in enough water to form a dough ball. Cut in half.

2. Roll out each half on a lightly floured surface until 1/8 inch (0.5 cm thick). Cut 12, 3 inch diameter circles. Fit pastry circles into greased muffin cups, pressing sides so they reach the rims.

3. Beat the eggs, stir in the sugar and remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Gradually blend in milk. Fill pastries with egg mixture, leaving some room at the top of the pastry.

4. bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until knife inserted in the center of the custard comes out clean. Aprx 25-30 minutes. Remove tarts from pan, and cool on wire rack.

The Verdict

This dessert was very light, the custard was creamy and very eggy, which I happen to love. I did sprinkle to tops lightly with some cinnamon just for some extra flavour. I will say that I found the pastry quite difficult to work with. It was rather dry and crumbly and very hard to roll. If I were to make this dessert again I would probably find a different pastry recipe. Other than that they were delicious.

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Final Thoughts

The capital of Brunei is approximately 14 450 km (8979 miles) from where I sit writing this blog.

I would say week 1 of this crazy adventure went very well. During our dinner I played this playlist of traditional music from Brunei to set the mood. My daughter got right into it, grooving along as she ate her dinner.

If you enjoyed this meal you can check out other dishes from Brunei here.

Stay tuned until next Friday when we make our next stop in Barbados!