Midweek comfort food: Singaporean curry sauce and rice

Somewhere between a Malaysian nasi lemak and a Japanese katsu curry, Singaporean ‘scissors-cut rice’ is the perfect midweek meal, says Prudence Wade

This dish originates from Hainanese Chinese descendants (Kris Kirkham/PA)

There’s a meal in Singapore called ‘scissors-cut rice’, a selection of dishes piled high over a plate of lovely fluffy rice and topped with curry sauce,” says chef Jeremy Pang.

“Originating from Hainanese Chinese descendants, the dish can be seen as a cross between a Malaysian nasi lemak and a Japanese katsu curry.”

Curry sauce and rice

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 cups of jasmine rice

2 cups of water

1 onion, finely diced

½ thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 green chillies, pierced with the tip of your knife

1 potato, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks

300ml chicken stock

200g okra (swapsies: green beans), cut into 3-4cm lengths

Vegetable oil

For the sauce:

150ml coconut milk

1 tbsp sambal (swapsies: chilli bean sauce/toban jiang)

1 tbsp light soy sauce

½ tsp salt

For the spices:

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1½ tbsp curry powder

Method:

1. Wash the rice at least three times. Place in a bowl and run under cold water, gently moving the rice grains between the tips of your fingers. Pour the rice through a sieve in between each wash, until the water runs clear. Sieve one last time and set aside.

2. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a jug.

3. Build your wok clock: start at 12 o’clock with the rice, followed by the onion, ginger and garlic, the spices, green chillies, potato, the sauce, chicken stock and lastly the okra.

4. Place the rice in a saucepan with the measured water. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, place on a medium-high heat and bring to a vigorous boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer with the lid on for 12-15 minutes until the liquid has evaporated to the point where you start to see air pockets form in between some of the rice grains. Replace the lid, turn the heat off and leave the rice to sit for another 15 minutes or so until ready to serve.

5. Once the rice is cooking, heat one to two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan to a medium heat, add the onion and fry for two to three minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or so. Then add all the spices together, the green chillies and potato in turn, frying for about a minute after each addition. Pour in a quarter of the sauce and bring to a vigorous boil. Add another quarter of the sauce and again bring to a boil, then repeat this process until all the sauce has been added. Bring to a boil once again, pour in the chicken stock and cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes. Then add the okra and cook for five to 10 minutes before serving with the rice.

‘Jeremy Pang’s School Of Wok: Simple Family Feasts’ (Hamlyn, £22).