Star Lifestyle cover story on home cooks traditional dishes for Hari Raya by Datin Norhayati at Taman Mulia on March 25.—AZMAN GHANI/The Star
She may be 72, but Datin Norhayati Mohd Nor has the energy of someone half her age. In her cavernous kitchen, this sweet, gentle lady hustles and bustles relentlessly and seems perennially perky, despite having spent the past three days cooking up a storm for Hari Raya.
But this isn’t particularly surprising, given that Norhayati has been hovering around kitchens since she was seven years old.
“I’ve loved to cook since I was a young girl. When I was seven, I went to live with my grandmother in Negri Sembilan for three years. I was the only girl staying there – my four other cousins were all boys.
“So after my studies, if I had time, I was asked to go to the kitchen. So, naturally, when I watched my grandmother cooking, I tended to be curious and wanted to know more.
"I was so interested in cooking that I started making butter cakes when I was eight. We didn't have an oven – we were from an average family in the kampung. So my grandfather would cut out an aluminium tin or cooking oil container and we used coconut shells as a source of heat – so that became our oven,” recalls Norhayati, laughing.
Norhayati has been hovering around kitchens since she was seven years old.
When Norhayati grew up and married her husband, Datuk Abdul Malek Abdul Hamid, 76, she had the opportunity to learn from another formidable home cook – her mother-in-law.
“When I got married, I watched my mother-in-law cook and she was a lady who was very strict about her cooking, so I learnt a lot from her,” she says.
Norhayati’s culinary tutelage from the many matriarchal figures in her life proved extremely beneficial when she herself had her five children and maintained a career as a radiographer.
She says Hari Raya was often a very busy time for her as she would take three weeks’ leave to prepare up to 3,000 pineapple tarts as well as cook for the family and extended family.
Norhayati's family loves her traditional Hari Raya festive spread. Clockwise from left: grandson Said Haris, daughter Dr Nazurah Malek, husband Abdul Malek , Norhayati, son-in-law Said Harull Nizam Said Umar (standing), granddaughter Hannah Arissa (baby) and daughter Noor Syarikin Abdul Malek. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
These days, she is retired and Hari Raya continues to be a treasured family get-together. Which is why she enjoys whipping up evergreen heirloom favourites, like her rendang Minang Negri Sembilan, which is a family recipe that she learnt from watching her mother cook.
“I had to cook this rendang together with my mother; otherwise, I would never have learnt how to gather this recipe because my mother never wrote anything down. The only recipe books she had were for British-style cakes,” says Norhayati, laughing.
Norhayati’s rendang Minang is sensationally good – thick and rich, redolent of coconut milk with an herbaceous element (courtesy of the lemongrass and turmeric leaves) underlining its foundational structure.
Rendang Minang
The beef in this configuration is incredibly tender and succulent and is coated in the kuah rendang. It’s a constellation of flavours that are intoxicatingly addictive in that can’t-stop-eating sort of way.
Rendang typically takes hours to cook, as the oil has to separate (pecah minyak), which is why Norhayati says she starts making hers about three days before Hari Raya. But unlike most home cooks, she doesn’t just make one rendang; she makes three!
Aside from her rendang Minang, she makes another beef rendang and a chicken rendang, both of which utilise her homemade rempah Rembau spice mix, which utilises spices like coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cloves, star anise and mustard seeds, among others.
The other style of rendang that Norhayati makes is her mother-in-law's rendang Rembau, which utilises a rich spice mix that she makes herself. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
“I inherited the rempah Rembau recipe from my mother-in-law. It’s very famous in Rembau in Negri Sembilan. In the olden days, they used to make this rendang with buffaloes because they had so many buffaloes roaming the paddy fields. Nowadays, most people make it with beef or chicken,” says Norhayati.
Norhayati’s beef rendang made using rempah Rembau is phenomenal. Each mouthful yields a spice-riddled undercurrent and opulent coconut overtures. It’s a masterclass in how to attain the ultimate sweet, smoky, spicy beef rendang.
Another must-have on Norhayati’s Hari Raya menu is the sweet, sweet treat of wajik, a glutinous rice recipe that she learnt from her indomitable mother-in-law, whom she recalls making the best wajik she has ever tasted.
Wajik
“I practised making this in front of her three times and failed miserably. The fourth time I made it, she was not around. Then she popped into the house and I said, ‘Oh, I already made wajik,’ and she was skeptical because she had tried my other attempts but this time, she tried it and said, ‘Oh, this is good!’
Norhayati’s wajik is lovely – the rice is mellow and squidgy yet retains a slight crust and the flavours of the Negri Sembilan gula anau (nipah palm sugar famed in the southern state) really come through, adding a delicate sweetness to this festive treat.
This year, Norhayati’s husband, children and most of her 16 grandchildren will converge at her home for Hari Raya and she is already hard at work making their favourite Raya delicacies.
Another mainstay that Norhayati's children always look forward to is her kuah kacang, which is made to her exacting standards. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
To this lovely lady, cooking for her family is an act of devotion and love that she hopes to continue doing for as long as she can.
“Nowadays, people just buy food for Hari Raya. And my kids tell me, ‘Mak, why do you take all the trouble?’
Even my sister was telling me yesterday, ‘Don’t tire yourself out so much’. But the thing is, I can still cook, so I will cook,” says Norhayati, smiling sweetly.
Serves 6
- 1kg beef
For blending together
- 50 fresh small bird's eye chillies (cili padi)
- 1 big onion
- 5 cm galangal (lengkuas)
- 5 cm turmeric
- 5 cloves garlic
For cooking
- 2 litres water
- 5 sticks lemongrass, pounded salt to taste
- 1 piece asam gelugor (tamarind slices)
- 2kg fresh coconut milk
- 3 pieces fresh turmeric leaves
- 1 tbsp kerisik (toasted, grated coconut)
- 3 pieces fresh turmeric leaves
- Cut the beef into 2 cm cubes and wash and dry.
- Blend chilli, garlic, onion, galangal, turmeric with 1 cup of water into a soft paste.
- Prepare a large kuali. Add oil on high heat. Then add beef, ground paste and 2 litres water. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add lemongrass, salt and asam gelugor. Slowly add coconut milk and keep stirring on strong heat so that the rendang does not burn.
- When the coconut milk has been used up and the oil has separated (pecah minyak), add the kerisik and turmeric leaves.
- Reduce the heat and keep stirring until the meat is fully coated with the kuah rendang.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then serv
Wajik
Serves 6 to 8
- 2 cups glutinous rice2
- blocks gula anau or palm sugar
- 500ml coconut milk
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 to 3 pandan leaves
- Soak the glutinous rice in water for 3 hours. Then steam the rice for 45 minutes.
- Boil gula anau with 1 cup of water over low heat until it melts into a liquid form.
- In a pan, combine the boiled sugar, coconut milk, white sugar and pandan leaves. Stir the mixture over low heat until it thickens.
- Add the steamed glutinous rice and continue stirring until the mixture becomes thick and sticky.
- Once ready, transfer the wajik to a tray and let it cool before slicing.
