Kidney-Bean Curry Recipe and Interview with My Favorite Chef, my Mom.

If you’re practicing social distancing, there’s a good chance you’re missing a few of the most important people in your life.

If you’re me, then you’re also spending some time being worried about them... because some of the most important people in your life just so happen to be essential workers in New York City.

For me, these people are my parents.

I wish I could say the combination of missing a loved one, with a heightened fear of never seeing them again is just something I am experiencing on my own, but it’s not.

It’s probably most of you reading this.

I don’t have the answers, but I do know what makes me feel better…

Blocking out some time to whip up a nice, warm meal for myself.

Stress baking. Stress cooking. There’s some type of off relief going on in the kitchen, and I’m all for it.

I realized that complimenting my cooking frenzy with a dish that reminded me of home was the perfect way to be near my mom’s presence, even miles apart.

There’s just something about cooking, smelling, and then eating something that reminds you of your childhood that is grounding.

For me, this dish is my mom’s vegetarian red curry.

My mom’s curry usually includes a variety of fresh vegetables ranging from okra, cabbage to eggplant. I, however, wanted to share a dish that would be cohesive of some of the flavors I grew up with and something most of you could easily find in your pantry at the moment.

Thus, this red kidney-bean curry was born.

Find the recipe at the bottom of this post!

Of course, it would be silly for me to write a blog post about my mom’s amazing cooking without giving her some credit. So... I gave her a ring last week to find out more about just how she came to be the cook she is today.

(This might have been an excuse to talk to my mom without admitting how much I missed her, but my ego and I will just say it’s mainly for content purposes).

Enjoy!

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Where did you learn how to cook? And how did you learn?

I learned from my mom. We were a family of six kids, and both my parents worked long hours. Every morning, she would wake up early to prepare lunch for us to come home to after a long day at school. I decided to start waking up just as early as my mom did to help her in the kitchen. I was more interested in being an extra set of hands, but soon realized, I had a true knack for cooking!

At first, I learned by just watching over her shoulder, which then turned into helping her prep. I became her sous chef, helping her cook the rice, and washing and chopping the vegetables, as she worked on the actual cooking.

Soon, I started going to the Pasar with my mom in the morning to help her with groceries, and before I knew it, I started going on my own.  

When I turned 14, I started cooking full meals for the family.

A lot of good cooks tend to have some secret tips and tricks they pick up along the way. Did you learn any unique type of cooking lessons from your mom?

I’m not too sure if you would call this a “cooking secret”, but my mom was a big fan of using ginger to cook. She explained to me that cooking fresh ginger with certain fresh meats and fishes was a must because the ginger could react to reveal spoilage in the meat dishes. 

We didn’t grow up with much, and this was the same for many of the other people living in Bidor, which resulted in a lot of people catching fish and crab from nearby ponds. These catches had a high potential of being contaminated though because the water wasn’t always clean. My mom taught me that if the ginger cooked with the sources of meat turned dark, it meant that the catch was not safe to eat. Although I don’t have to worry about that now, I still use ginger in all my seafood dishes...

I guess some things just stick!

How was it coming to America and realizing the way we eat here is very different from what you were used to? 

At first, it was really tough.

There were not many Malaysian communities in New York when I first arrived here and it was hard finding the right ingredients to make my favorite foods. A lot of Malaysian dishes call for coconut milk and back home, we would actually use fresh coconut to cook with our foods! I never even heard of canned coconut until I got here. That took a lot of getting used to. At first, I really couldn’t believe they could call canned coconut milk actual coconut milk!

Growing up, we were also very used to going to the Pasar and making our curry paste by selecting our desired spices to achieve a certain flavor profile. Here, curry paste for traditional red curry is just found in a packet.

What are six ingredients that can always be found in your kitchen?

1. Curry paste

2. Coconut milk

3. Garlic 

4. Onions

5. Soy sauce

6. Ginger 

What is your favorite savory dish, and what is your favorite sweet dish? How about your least favorite?

Tofu is my favorite savory dish because you can cook it in so many ways. I like savory dishes more than sweet, but I really love and miss my fresh durian and jackfruit.

When you make trips to go visit family and friends back in Malaysia, what do you usually do first?

Famous Pun Chun Restaurant in Bidor Perak, Malaysia.
Image by: @hellotammylim

One of the first things I do almost immediately is make a trip to the street market.

Street food in Malaysia is nothing like it is here. There are tons of vendors, with so many different dishes and they are all affordable.

This has become a problem over the years though. I notice a lot more people opt to eat dishes prepared outside than actually spending time to cook food in their own homes. Malaysian food can be quite heavy, and it’s high in sodium, so after a while, I just crave cooking my own food. 

If you could give one piece of advice to anybody that is looking to learn how to cook resourcefully, what would it be?

Stick to basic dishes and don’t stray too far from them until you’re comfortable moving on to more elaborate dishes. You don’t have to spend lots of money to make a great dish. For example, good fried rice just calls for rice and eggs, which are affordable ingredients. 

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Kidney Bean Curry Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes
• Total time: 25 minutes

Servings: 2 - 3

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp coriander spice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 15 oz can whole tomatoes
• 1 15 oz red kidney beans (low-sodium preferred), rinsed and drained
• 1/2 can of coconut milk (i used reduced, although you can use full-fat)
• 1 small white onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• black pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste

Jasmine rice: Make according to packaged instructions.

Instructions:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a pot over low-medium heat. Add the chopped onions, coriander, curry powder, and cumin and cook until aromatic.
2. Add the can of tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes on low-medium heat.
3. Use a metal fork, or a potato masher to mash the tomatoes until they are reduced into more of a slush and let simmer for another 5 minutes.
4. Add rinsed kidney beans and coconut milk and stir to fully combine.
5. Simmer on low-medium heat, uncovered for 10 minutes.
6. Garnish with dried parsley and serve with jasmine rice.

Nutrition (without rice):
Serving: 1

• Carbohydrates: 25 g
• Protein: 5 g

• Fat: 7 g

• Calories: 190