I miss savory, fiery, rich, sweet, sour, salty, and pungent Malaysian food.
As much as I love other cuisines and am constantly infatuated with various exotic dishes from other countries, I always go back the colorful, complex and utterly delicious taste of Malaysian food.
My mother and aunt called this “masak berana” which is supposedly a type of Nyonya cooking style with tamarind juice and onion as the two main ingredients.
The real name of this cooking style is called Masak Branda/Belanda.
This is easily one of my favorite egg recipes.
A few eggs drenched in the ever-appetizing sweet and sour sauce served with steamed white rice plus dollops of sambal belacan (a Malay style sambal with roasted shrimp paste), I am in food heaven.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 280 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
Eggs Masak Branda/Belanda
A few eggs drenched in the ever-appetizing sweet and sour sauce served with steamed white rice plus dollops of sambal belacan (a Malay style sambal with roasted shrimp paste).
Ingredients
- 4-5 eggs fried "well done"
- 1 onion cut into rings and then cut into half
- 1/2 red chili sliced thinly
- 1/2 stalk scallion sliced diagonally
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fish sauce optional; if you don't use fish sauce, add extra salt
- 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar or to taste
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- Tamarind pulp the size of a small ping pong ball
- 1 cup water
Directions
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1Fry the eggs "well done" and set aside.
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2
In a small bowl, add one cup of water to the tamarind pulp and soak for 10 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind pulp to extract the juice. Use only the juice and discard the pulp.
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3Heat up your wok and add in the cooking oil.
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4Sauté the onions for 2-3 minutes until they turn slighly brown or aromatic.
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5Add in the fried eggs and do a quick stir.
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6Lower the heat, add the tamarind juice and bring it to boil.
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7Add in sugar, salt, fish sauce, scallion and chili. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.
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8Serve hot.
Recipe Notes
It's not easy to get the perfect sweet and sour flavor so you have to taste the sauce a few times in order to get that perfect balance. This dish is supposed to be both sweet and sour, and a little salty. When I made this in Penang, I used less sugar because the sugar in Malaysia is a lot sweeter/stronger than in the US. So, please let your taste bud guide you during the cooking process. If it's not sour enough, extract more juice from the tamarind pulp. If it's too sour, add more sugar and some water. My mother also makes masak branda with salted fish . I will have to share the recipe one day.
