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Monday, March 19, 2012

W/W - Keeping the meat off your plate

Growing up in a strict Catholic family, we always went meatless on Fridays not only during the 40 days of Lent but all year round. But my mom would take things a little further. In addition to a meatless meal, she would keep the meals humble to remind us to be appreciative of what we have and to give a thought to those less fortunate. I remember having either fried rice with salted fish or rice porridge with peanuts almost every Friday and those meals drove us nuts!
In her defence, coming up with different takes on a meatless meal can be quite challenging and in those days, Mom had no food websites to devour recipes to broaden her menu-planning.

My obnoxious 13 year-old son says stomaching the stuff I cook daily is as penitential as any other day of the week! Hey, my cooking isn't that bad if I made a concerted effort in it! And there are a few dishes I could rock!

In keeping up with this tradition to skip the meat, I have been googling recipes to spice up our Lenten meals.

I made this last Friday

Udang Kelio

* Udang means prawn in Malay

Turned out, it wasn't much of a sacrifice at all. I loved, loved, loved it! It was so good, it missed the whole penance thing!

Warning! Not recommended for those observing Lent!

UDANG KELIO
BY AMY BEH

INGREDIENTS
650-700g large prawns
250ml thick coconut milk
3 kaffir lime leaves
4-5 tbsp oil

SPICES
4 cloves garlic
100g shallots
50g ginger
2 thick slices galangal
1 thumb-sized piece fresh turmeric
2 stalks lemongrass
250g red chillies

SEASONINGS
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
Combine all spice ingredients in an electric food processor. Process to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a nonstick saucepan, add blended spice paste and sauté until fragrant.

Pour in coconut milk and add kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a low simmering boil until the gravy is almost thick.

Add prawns. Stir gently until the prawns are cooked through. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste.

17 comments:

  1. So... Shrimp is not meat? Regardless, that looks delicious. I saw the recipe. Seems easy enough. Although I'm not a huge shrimp fan... Maybe chicken could take its place? Hubby likes shrimp though. Hmmmmm. Thanks for sharing. I hate cooking sometimes. But it's necessary. Have a great week, V!

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  2. My mom tried to keep the meat out of our plates every Wednesday and Friday but now is almost impossible! My husband eats a lot of fish and my daughter and I chicken and pork.Nowadays you don' t know what's best to eat anymore as everything contains all sorts of "evil" chemical elements...
    But your shrimps look so delicious!
    May I taste this?
    love you,aureliaeugenia

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  3. We've been eating fresh fish all winter...we catch it ourselves. Nothing is better than fresh fish!!! Your prawn dinner looks so good. You are so right, we eat too well for penance to have anything to do with it.
    Rosemary

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  4. Shrimp is my weakness and that looks amazing! Can I come for dinner..lol :)

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  5. yum!! we still try and go meatless fridays too....so I have learned to make yummy delicious fish....which like you said defeats the whole purpose of a sacrifice! your shrimp dish looks way yummy.
    and happy lent!

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  6. I know that this is a crazy question but shrimp is not meat? That recipe looks delicious! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. That meal looks yummmy!!!

    I think it would be a challenge cooking without meat.

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  8. Looks really good! Thanks for telling us the story about Lent. I think many of us can relate to it.

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  9. We've been doing meatless Fridays as well - only throughout Lent. This looks great and I don't even care for shrimp! lol!

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  10. My 14 yr old just saw your pic and said 'yum'!

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  11. Shrimp is definitely my favorite penitential meal during lent. I am going to have to try this recipe.

    Come link up your Wordless Wednesday post at <a href="http://royalegacy.blolgspot.com>Royalegacy Reviews and More</a>

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  12. Lent means cheese pizza at our house!

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  13. As a meateater turned veg, let me offer you a few suggestions (these have been approved by my meat eater friends – it’s what I make when they visit so they will keep coming over):

    Quorn Naked Chick’n Cutlets - Great for chopping up and putting into lao mein or other noodles, great for chicken pie recipes, and great for “chicken” parm.

    Boca Chick’n Nuggets

    Boca Spicy Chik’n Patties – Make
    great sandwhiches

    Boca Original Chik’n Patties – Great for “chicken” parm sandwhiches! Or cut up in fajitas.
    (anything Boca make sure you get the Non GMO Soy)

    Nate’s Meatless Meatballs (Zesty Italian is their best) – make melt in your mouth “meat”balls in 15 minutes on the stovetop. Yummy and fast!

    Hope this helps make your "meatless" days a little easier. :) Happy WW!

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  14. We are meatless on Fridays too, but during Lent, we allow ourselves meat on the main meal.
    When I was in the Philippines, the priest would caution us about our non-meat choices. In an island country like the Philippines, seafood is oftentimes tastier and pricier than meat. Choosing the fancier kinds definitely defeats the reason for being meatless. :-)

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  15. oh yummm!

    Yea dinner is tricky and adding meatless days while awesome is not always easy with picky eaters. Still I try.

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  16. Looks tasty!! I didn't like seafood growing up, so I would have been out of luck if my parents observed no land animal meat on Fridays.

    -:¦:- Featured Photo: Venus Sculpture -:¦:-

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