Dangerous Creations on a Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Ros, my wife, says that I am very ‘dangerous’ in the kitchen. I like to improvise when cooking, with a “anything goes” philosophy. So every time I go into the kitchen, something different emerges. In fact, its also “never the same thing twice” for the same reason.

I was home alone last Sunday and feeling too lazy to drive out for lunch. Looking around, I found 2 pieces of carrot cake that Ros had bought for breakfast but had not eaten. In the fridge I found some left over pork rendang (this had been in the fridge for weeks) and a pack of wild boar curry. Carrot cake is not one of my favorites and I prefer the stir-fried version with the addition of some bean sprouts, onion shoots and garlic that you find at some Dim Sum places. So I thought, why not create something with the leftovers?

Carrot cake with pork rendang

Ros made the pork rendang using lean pork cut into small pieces. Now pork is actually not a good meat for cooking rendang, especially lean pork when cut into small pieces which cooks very quickly. The result is that the meat breaks up after cooking for some time. It tastes good and is OK to eat with rice but not quite right with the small broken up bits of meat – making it almost like serunding actually. A more tough meat (wild boar perhaps) may have been a better choice. So that explains the left over pork rendang. I just chucked some into a hot non-stick pan, added some dried chilli shrimp sambal from a bottle for some added flavor and heat and mixed in the diced carrot cake. Wallah! a new fusion creation is born – carrot cake with pork rendang. I left a little for Ros to taste when she got back home and it got the thumbs up from her too.

Carrot cake with wild boar curry

The wild boar curry (I’m not sure where Ros bought this from) was sufficiently spicy and already with enough gravy, so I did not have to tweak it further. Just heated it in the pan and added the cubed carrot cake. Presto! another great fusion creation.
I was so pleased with the results, I took some photos to share with everyone. Blending Indian and Chinese food holds endless possibilities. How about a murtabak with chopped “siew yoke” filling or tosai with “kung po” prawns ? Now you know why I’m dangerous in the kitchen ……