Sunday 8 July 2012

Terengganu Green Salad (Chenh)




The word "Chenh" means green, raw or unripe in Hokkien. In the context of this salad, it refers to the green leaves of the "Pak Choy" and the raw vegetables used. The dressing is made from dried chillies, small onions, palm sugar, tamarind juice, belacan and bean paste. It is salty, sweet, sour and pungent. It may not be to everyone's liking but to a Terengganu native, this is a very appetising salad.

"Chenh" is great with "keropok" (fish crackers) and for me, it is totally addictive. My family loves this salad and my grandmother used to make this once in a while.  There are two versions i.e. the "Kay Chenh" ("Chenh" with shredded chicken) and "Nui Chenh" ("Chenh" with hard boiled eggs). I prefer the one with eggs. This is one of the culinary treasures of my home state. 

Vegetables :
Pak Choy (thinly sliced)
Cucumber (julienned)
Carrots (grated)
Daun kesum (laksa leaves, thinly sliced)
Daun Selasih (basil, thinly sliced)
Mint

Garnishing :
Roasted peanuts (crushed)
Sesame seeds (toasted)
Hard boiled eggs (cut in wedges)

Dressing (makes 1 liter) :
1 liter tamarind juice
10 dried chillies (soaked)
15 shallots
2 tablespoons bean paste (taucheow)
Belacan (2 heaped tablespoons if using belacan granules)
Gula Melaka to taste

To make dressing :
Blend dried chillies, shallots, bean paste and belacan.
In a pot mix blended ingredients with tamarind juice and add gula Melaka to taste.
Bring mixture to a boil and boil until dressing becomes thicker.
Cool and store in the fridge. This dressing can keep for up to a month.

In a mixing bowl, throw in all the vegetables, hard boiled eggs  and add dressing. Sprinkle crushed peanuts and toasted sesame seeds and mix until vegetables are well coated.  Sprinkle more peanuts and sesame seeds if you like.

Fresh Pak Choy. Choose organic if possible.
Put daun kesum and basil into a leaf or stack a few leaves.
Roll the leaf tightly.
Slice very thinly.
Salad dressing.
Raw vegetables.

All tossed together.
A very addictive salad
Serve with keropok.
And more keropok.


























38 comments:

  1. Looks nice...and healthy too. Wouldn't mind giving it a try one of these days.

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    1. Yes, please try this and let me know how it turns out.

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  2. Hi PhongHong ,

    salad looks Yummy!!!

    and delicious:)))

    Keep on PhongHong...

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    1. Punitha, it is a yummy salad and I can eat a big bowl of it!

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  3. Phong Hong, just seen this recipe on TV. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I like.

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    1. Oh really? What show was that? If you have the time, try to make this salad.

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    2. Phong Hong, this comment was from me. How it becomes 1travel? Strange.. It's Astro 333 'Hua Hee Makan makan' hosted by Phoebe on Sunday nite [think it's 8.30pm]. Cook is To' Puan Rosita of Trengganu. The dish was called Sotong Chenh as sotong was added.

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    3. Hi Kimmy! Yah, funny how you became 1travel. By the way, To' Puan Rosita is a family friend, too bad I missed the show.

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    4. Phong Hong, if I'm not wrong there will be several repeats, maybe on Sat.afternoon.

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    5. Oh good. Will try to catch the repeat. Thanks!

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  4. Hi Phong Hong, lovely salad and very appetizing. Thanks for sharing this delicious salad.

    Have a nice day.

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    1. Hi Amelia, hope you try this salad.

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  5. hi phong hong, you're from trengganu? very excited to see this cos i'm looking for trengganu dishes for an event coming up in oct, thanks so much for featuring this!

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    1. Hi Lena, you are most welcome. Yes, I'm true blue Terengganu mari. Yah, you do this salad for the event and be sure to have lots of keropok!

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  6. OMG...the combination of ingredients in the salad and the keropok simply mouthwatery!!! Can't stop salivating...:)

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    1. It is, it is....that's why my family love this so much.

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  7. Replies
    1. Hi Ola, you can handle the hot chillies ? Yah, do try it.

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  8. You're right Phong Hong, it is an addictive salad. I also love the hard boiled eggs on it with the hot sauce. So delicious, and inviting:D

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    1. Hi Elisabeth, the salad dressing might be a bit strong for you, what with shrimp paste and fermented beans. But if you are familiar with Asian food, I think you will enjoy this.

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  9. Wow, i am intrigued by this salad...never heard this before but sounds pretty appetizing. I try not to eat spicy food as i hv a sensitive throat, is it ok if i omit the chilies?

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    1. Hi Esther, I guess there is no harm omiting the chillies.

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  10. Oooohhh! I love any kind of Chenh ... wait, how do you spell that ....yeah, chenh, kerabu, whatever you call it. My eyes are chenh with envy at your having this right now. Great diet food tho. Hmm ... god time as any to make some.

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    1. Ping, this is great diet food but the spoiler here is the keropok. The chenh makes you want to eat more keropok. Very counter productive unless you forgo the keropok but that would take the joy out of it :)

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    2. I'm not much of a keropok person anyway so that's ok, don't need much it. I can eat this all by itself! Oh yum! Besides, I think my diet is shot :( It's the summer hols and all the kwai los are back and demanding Chinese food. Most dishes need to be eaten with rice ... so how? Sigh.

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    3. Aiyah, Ping. Let's face it lah, what's a bit of fat? Go ahead and enjoy your rice. After the kwai lohs go back then you can get back on track again :)

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  11. I am not familiar with Terengannu dish, this is new to me, but it sound really good and tempting! I still have prawn crackers, maybe is good to have it with this Chenh.

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    1. Sonia, prawn crakers will be good with this.

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  12. Wow! sedap sangat ni... pernah makan sekali.. dah berbelas tahun tak merasa.. lebih kurang macam ni juga di Ganu i makan.. sedap sangattt

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    1. Memang sedap, Shahriah. Amat menyelerakan apa lagi dengan keropok!

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  13. This looks good. Great salad and I have never tried Terengganu green salad before. And what more the keropok looks good with the salad. Great combination I would say :) Thanks for sharing this local salad :)

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    1. You are welcome, Elin. Hope you will try this someday.

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  14. I don't think I've eaten this type of salad before. Looks really nice especially with the kacang and keropok on top.

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    1. Thanks for coming by. The kacang and keropok compliments this salad very well.

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  15. never heard about this green veggie.. sounds good.. glad to follow u dear.. do stop by mine sometime..

    http://jopreet.blogspot.com/

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    1. Hi there! Thank you for visiting. I just went over to your blog and wow! Indian food! I love Indian food and am following you now.

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  16. Hi, guess what ? I already bookmarked this recipe for the next MMF event! :)

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    1. That's great, Peng! For a thicker dressing, I suggest you use only 500ml of tamarind juice. The rest of the ingredients stay the same.

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