Saucy recipes

Brahim’s premier sauces are not only delicious but also easy to cook and saves a lot of time, writes Zuliantie Dzul

WHAT to eat? That’s the daily dilemma most people face. There are times when you’re just so tired of outside food and want to cook for yourself. But the thought of all that time needed to go into preparing the food — cutting the ingredients (provided you already have the ingredients in your kitchen, otherwise you have to go to the grocery store), blending and frying. Well, forget that plan!

Thankfully, the research and development team at Brahim’s SATS Food Services understands this predicament.

Sometime in May last year, the team introduced Brahim’s latest creation — simmer sauces that save on cooking time.

The sauces come in five flavours, namely the award-winning Thai chilli and basil sauce, the best-seller Indonesian rendang sauce, Malaysian nyonya sauce, Thai green curry sauce, and Thai masaman curry sauce. So how good are they?

I got the chance to sample them on a recent visit to Dewina Holdings office in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor where Brahim’s executive chef Faizal Rosli Abdullah and executive sous chef A Rahman Mokhtar whipped up a veritable spread.

I recall my eyes widening in pleasure when I saw the Thai chilli and basil tiger prawns, beef cheek and chicken rendang, green curry smoked duck, fried salmon with nyonya sauce dipping, and masaman curry chicken on the table.

So how to cook the sauces? I asked the chefs. “It’s very simple,” replied Faizal before turning on the stove. As the pan heated up, he poured a packet of nyonya sauce and stirred it on medium heat before putting in 350g of diamond cut cuttlefish and some vegetables. Barely three minutes later, the sauce was simmering and the dish was ready.

Wait, that’s it?

“I told you it’s easy,” retorted Faizal, chuckling as he took in my bewildered expression.

Chefs A Rahman Mokthar (left) and Faizal Rosli Abdullah.

“Cuttlefish only needs two to three minutes of simmering to keep them chewy, and one packet of sauce can serve up to two people,” he explained, putting the final touches on the piping hot dish.

TIME TO DIG IN

As we gathered around the table for the sampling exercise, we were joined by Dewina Trading sales and marketing manager Mohamad Fazil Othman.

I take the opportunity to ask him more about the sauces, which are part of the black pouch series of Brahim’s food products.

“We wanted to create something that would suit local taste buds. The R&D team took into consideration what consumers like and what we could do that would be different from our existing products. After almost a year of thorough study and research, we finalised the flavours,” explained Mohamad Fazil.

He added that the price for the sauces is higher than Brahim’s blue pouch series of

paste, comprising a base sauce which still needs water or coconut milk to be added in.

“With these premium sauces, you pay for the quality and the fact that they’re real time-savers,” added Mohamad Fazil.

The packets come with simple steps that you need to follow. With these sauces, he added, one doesn’t need to be a master chef to be able to whip up a delicious meal.

“All you need is your choice of protein and a dash of creativity,” chimed in Faizal, referring to the vegetables he added to the cuttlefish dish.

The dishes were certainly delicious. Two thumbs up for the tender chicken rendang and the flavourful chilli and basil tiger prawns. The rendang was simply exquisite, sweet and not too spicy, while the chilli and basil sauce coated the prawns beautifully without rendering it too “gravyheavy”.

Hats off to the chef and the real stars of the show, the sauces!