Friday, November 7, 2008

Pennywort Leaves Salad / Ulam Pegaga with Sambal Belacan


Ulam is a Malay word meaning eating vegetables raw and bitter. Sambal Belacan is sambal (chili paste) with belacan (fermented shrimp paste). For Malaysian in general and Malay in particular, ulam with sambal belacan is eaten as a side dish together with white rice and other dishes. These are all spread like a buffet and enjoy by the whole family together for lunch or dinner.

Finding a typical leaves for ulam here in the USA is of course not an easy task. They are of course the usual 'suspects' that I usually use for my ulam here like cucumber and cabbage. Others like petai (stinky beans), ulam raja (wild cosmos) and kacang botol (winged bean) are not easily available. But I am pretty lucky since the Asian community in California is huge and ulam pegaga or pennywort leaves is plenty at the asian supermarket.

You can eat them just like that with sambal belacan or you can make a salad. Today I am going to show you how to make the salad.

Pennywort Leaves Salad

A bunch of pennywort leaves, rinsed and chopped/sliced
2-3 tbsp grated coconut

Sambal Belacan

4-5 red chilies
2-3 thai chilies
1 tsp belacan
1.5 tbsp sugar
A pinch of salt

1. Put the chopped pennywort leaves and grated coconut in a bowl.

2. Pound all the ingredients for sambal belacan in mortar and pestle or you can also use food processor.

3. Transfer the sambal belacan into the bowl and mix well.

4. Serves with warm white rice and other dishes.

I also made catfish in spicy coconut broth to go with my rice and ulam which I will post the recipe next. Please do come back for that recipe soon.








21 comments:

Tastes of Home said...

yeah so hard to find petai, i dont think I have seen any here!..ulam is very appetizing :)

Zue Murphy said...

Ulam pegaga memang sedap. But I have not find fresh one in my area. Most of the time they look limpy to me.

Nazarina A said...

You are really amazing! I learn so much about what my Malaysian ancestors used to eat. I am very interested in these leaves and I am so sure they are tasty and goodness knows what health benefits these leaves possess.

Salt N Turmeric said...

Jannie, I promised him tht i wont eat petai as long as we have 1 toilet. lol.

Zue, 2 yrs in PA and iv never even seen them. The ones that i get here are fresh and veary healthy looking. gemuk2!

Nazarina, if you eat sambal with your rice, you're going to love these ulam pegaga. ;)

sj said...

looks delicious! Tell me... is your Husband American? Seems I saw a picture once and I didn't think he was Malaysian. Does he enjoy the foods of your homeland? I think it's so neat that he gets to try all these unique and wonderful foods@

lubnakarim06 said...

A small suprise waiting for you dear.Click on the link to follow Award Time

tigerfish said...

Pennywort leaves? They are new to me...

pearly said...

this really health dish , yeah i think i will have problem to get this too in uk . but i will try out with other veg you have mention . i never know so many Malay food thank to you yo share i also learn lot from you too .

Salt N Turmeric said...

Jo, yes my husband is American and no, he doesnt rally dig Malaysian food. lol. That's why I would cook 2 separate meals for us. ;)

Lubna, thank you. I will hop over soon.

Tigerfish, im pretty sure they'r available in Singapore. If you like ulam, you must give this leaves a try. ;)

Pearly, you are most welcome. I know they sell petai in a bottle now. Not sure how they taste like but a few of my friends seem to like them. :)

Noob Cook said...

woah, I've never heard of pennywort leaves too... they look so pretty, hope to try it one day. I love sambal belacan and I just know I will love this dish ;p

mysimplefood said...

Hi! How are you? Been following yr blog. I just tagged you for a meme! Check out my blog and the posting.

sj said...

Farina... silly man... I have a hunch he doesn't know what he's missing. Wanna come cook for me? Think he'd let me rent for a few days? :)

HomeKreation said...

Living abroad is not bad at all nowadys so long you know how to cook... surprise you can obtain daun pegaga in US.

Jo said...

Heh what's ulam without sambal belachan. Wanted to let you know that I've passed you an award, please check my blog to pick it up.

Salt N Turmeric said...

Wiffy, this is really great pairing up with sambal belacan. ;)

Mysimplefood, iv checked your blog but havent had the time to do anything yet. i will do tho. :)

Jo, yes he is silly. lol. But for someone who eats just so that he's not hungry, I doubt he knows what he's missing. I'l ask him if you can rent me for a few days. lol.

Roz, i was surprised too.Thank god the Vietnamese eats ulam pegaga. ;)

Jo, thank you. Nnati I will go to your blog ok?

Anonymous said...

ayo yo Farina,i dnt knw daun pegaga can do like that.....tomorrow nak try lah...

Salt N Turmeric said...

Sue, now you know. ;)

Dayang said...

sis,kamek xda nemu pegaga pon kat cnun,wahh bertuah na jak kitak hehehe nyaman kohhh

Salt N Turmeric said...

Dayang, kamekpun terkejut juak nangga ada pegaga sitok. big bag pun big bag lah. lol.

Anonymous said...

I have not tried this before...I love the chili paste....!!

Salt N Turmeric said...

Leemei, can you find pegaga at where ur at?