Growing up, I never used to like Rempah Udang as the ones I’d tried tended to be dry, have an imbalance of pulut-to-filling, lacked freshness or simply didn’t taste nice. Quite likely it could also have been just my luck to have not bought from the right places. Or there’s the possibility I wasn’t evolved enough to appreciate it properly.
Regardless, somehow, and I’m not sure what possessed me to, I decided to order @gabdominic_kuehstry’s Rempah Udang the other day. It proved to be a life-changing decision.
His version, an exquisite banana leaf-wrapped log of soft glutinous rice naturally tinged a pretty blue in places, was filled with the ideal amount of deeply aromatic spicy dried shrimp filling. I didn’t waste any time inhaling one but mere seconds later, a WhatsApp message arrived from Chef Gabriel, asking me to “panggang” (grill) the kueh in a pan. I took it as a sign that I needed to have another 😁. So since I was at my parents’ home, I dug out their old-fashioned wire grill and did it the traditional way. Good golly - the man was right!
This is one step you should not skip because while the fire charred and blistered the banana leaf, it also softened the “pulut” (glutinous rice) and sharpening the flavours of the filling. When I took a bite of the still-very-hot Rempah Udang (greedy me couldn’t wait and had reddened fingertips to show for that), the smokiness on top of everything else, had me swooning.
Having left KIN where he was making kueh-kueh day in and day out, Chef Gabriel is now able to focus fully on his home-based #Kuehstry business. I recommend following him on Instagram so you’ll know when he’s ready to accept new orders because last I heard, he’s sold out.