Khai Luu

CHEF PROFILE | Wed, 26/10/2011 - 15:42

Flemington Khai's Restaurant

Shop 11, 90-95 The Crescent, Homebush West Phone: 9746 8999

What type of food do you serve?

Mostly Southern Vietnamese dishes, plus some Malaysian cuisine. My wife Hong Goh is from Malaysia – she does some of the cooking too.

How long have you been a chef?

For about 20 years. After my apprenticeship in Cabramatta I worked all over [New South Wales] – in Cooma and Bega.

Where did you learn to cook?

In various Vietnamese restaurants in Cabramatta.

What is your specialty?

Our soups are always popular. At the moment I’m doing a spicy beef and pork soup. That soup comes from Hue city in Vietnam. Other popular dishes are nasi lemak (Malaysian coconut rice) and belacan okra (ladies fingers with shrimp paste).

Where do you source your ingredients?

We’re very close to the Flemington Markets, so we buy a lot of our ingredients there. We also buy a lot of things like meat and seafood from shops around us.

What is your signature dish?

Probably our char kway teow. This is a traditional fried noodle dish from Malaysia usually made with prawns, soy sauce, shallots, garlic and seafood. It’s a very spicy dish.

BEEF RENDANG

Ingredients:

1kg beef, rump or fillet
100g dessicated coconut
5 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn
1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised

Spice paste
2 medium-sized onions, quartered
4cm galangal
4cm ginger, peeled and sliced
6 cloves garlic
4 stalks lemongrass, outer layer removed and sliced really finely
2 tbs chilli powder
3 tbs curry powder

To be added later (not for paste)
500ml coconut milk
500ml water
2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar

Serves 4-6 people, serve with coconut flavoured rice, boiled rice, roti or bread roll.

Method

• Slice the beef into 3cm cubes.

• Place the coconut in a dry frying pan and toast over low heat until golden brown – approximately 10 minutes.

• Cool for 5 minutes before grinding in a small food processor. Set aside.

• Place spice paste ingredients in a food processor. Blend to a fairly fine paste, adding a little water to help the blades work.

• Heat a little oil in a large pan and add the spice paste, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes.

• Add the beef, mix well and simmer for a couple of minutes.

• Add the water and the coconut milk. Bring the pan to the boil over a high fire, and then simmer for 1.5 hours.

• Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally to prevent the spices from settling at the bottom of the pan.

• Add the toasted coconut. Simmer until the meat is tender; add salt and sugar and desired amount of Rendang sauce.