Valroni cuisine

Valroni cuisine is an integral part of Valroni culture and includes cuisines originating from Valron and different dishes influenced by foreign dishes such as Viodoxan cuisine and Ryzani cuisine as people immigrated to the area.

Background
Modern Valroni cuisines encourages steaming and stir frying fresh food as it's considered the healthiest. Though some food are pan fried, deep fried foods aren't as common. As Valroni cuisine doesn't promote the usage of oil, this causes a relatively low obesity rate and deaths due to heart related diseases comparing to the rest of the Archonal Union.

In comparison to the city of Krigor, though their culture is influenced by the Valroni culture deep fried food are relatively popular in the city.

Fish, meat and dairy
Valronis eat every single non-venomous animal you could think of. From cows, pigs, sheep, duck and chicken to dogs, cats, fox and goat. Though the Lûn and the Skeleton horse is not used. Most fish, marine invertebrates and marine mammals are also eaten. Most inverteberates are also eaten.

Valronis eat every single art of the animal, from the muscle and tissue to the organs and the blood. The bones are used to make broth. The peasants eat the dung with the bile removed. Poorer people eat the fur, hair or feathers of the animal by crushing them up and mixing water and starch with some seasonings to make a flat bread.

Seasonings, flavourings, condiments, herbs and spices

 * Soy sauce
 * Oyster sauce
 * Belacan - a fermented shrimp paste
 * Salt
 * Pepper
 * Garlic
 * Chilli powder
 * Blood sauce
 * Chicken essence

Techniques
In Valron, regardless of social class. You cook with a charcoal stove (mukfolo) and litten with a match (pat-pui). If the person using the stove wants the fire to be more large they blow on a piece of hollow bamboo called the fozuk if they want a smaller fire they add a little water.

Desserts
Though Valroni cooking includes lots of desserts. There are a lot of techniques to cook these desserts, though, desserts are mainly baking and steaming. Most desserts are molded using a mold.

Wheat straws
Wheat straws are made by a selectively bred wheat, created to create thicker stalks of wheat. This wheat variety (Triticum aestivum valronensis) is variety of wheat that yields more wheat berries. The stalk is taken and the middle of the stalk is extracted out and sun-dried.

History
Valron was found on the mouth of the Cuvon River, meaning that the first people ate fish and other grasses, shrubs, vegetables, leaves and other plants in the area. Soon, animals were introduced, meats eaten are usually pork, fish and some other exotica (e.g. cat, dog). Horse and beef aren't usually eaten as they are integral to Valroni farmers and integral to transportation.

Sausages
Sausages are a variety of cured meat. In Valron it is usually made of pork and seasonings. It is usually round and long. Most sausages are wrapped either in stomach, skin or caul fat. Some varieties of sausages are fermented or pickled.

Liver sausage
Liver sausage is a part of Valroni cuisine mainly enjoyed by itself, in dishes or with rice. It is mainly made out of pig liver (though other livers are also used), garlic, salt, sugar and other seasonings. It is usually soft and sweet. Though dry varieties are common also. The sausage also is fermented to bring a unique flavour.

Blood sausage
Blood sausage is a breakfast item eaten by most Valronis. Most people eat it for breakfast, though those who don't like it don't eat it. It is made by boiling blood on high heat with seasonings and a sort of cereal, usually wheat or rice. It is then put in pork intestines and left to dry in fire.

Blood and meat sausage
Blood and meat sausage is a more popular variety of blood sausage in Valron. It is made by boiling the blood, just until all the pathogens in the blood die, which is approximately boiling for 10 minutes and adding minced meat, usually liver and lean meat. Then the blood and the meat is mixed with seasonings until the meat is marinated and impregnated with the blood. It is then wrapped in caul fat and dried for a few days.

Pickled sausages
Pickled sausages are fermented sausages that is made out of pork mince that is cured. After being cured, the sausage is soaked in brine for weeks. After the weeks of pickling, the sausages are stuffed with rice and a variety of spices before being dried by getting smoke, after smoking it is then fermented to make a slightly astringent flavour. This sausage is usually soft, spicy, salty and sweet. The brine of the sausage is made out of water, herbs, pig blood, lots of salt, sugar and spices and the brine strongly impregnates the meat. Before getting brined the meat mixture is made out of a mix of pork mince that is cured with spices, salt, sugar, bread crumbs, starch, eggs and herbs. It is usually smoked with oak, bamboo and pine wood, as it is believed it is believed to flavour the meat and the wood gives a very unique flavour. The fermentation then gives a nice astringent flavour that is abit like lime that pairs well to the flavour.

Stir fry
Stir fries in Valron can vary as many ingredients could be used. Popular ingredients are fish, prawns, pufferfish (for the rich), meat (usually offal and giblets. Less commonly muscles and tissue like loin), vegetables and edible flowers like torch ginger flower. Potatoes are rarely used in this dish. Seasonings commonly used are chilli peppers, garlic, salt, sugar and some condiments.

Torch ginger flower and liver
A common cut of meat used is liver, it is prized in Valroni cooking for its unique flavour and not having to use much blood to season and its tender texture. Torch ginger flower is a common flower used in cooking for its piquant, sweet, ginger-like flavour. This stir fry is usually cooked using pork liver, torch ginger flower, ginger, garlic, and an array of condiments

Blood and vegetables
A common stir fry enjoyed by those who enjoy it. It is made by mixing any variety of blood cake and a mixture of vegetables with some condiments and heaby amounts of seasoning

Liver sausage and egg
This is a more common stir fry eaten as a lunch food, it is made by stir frying a chopped up liver sausage, 2 eggs, spring onions, garlic and sometimes some chilli is stir fried, seasoning in this stir fry is usually kept at a minimal as the liver sausage is already heavily seasoned and fatty.

Potato cake
Potato cake is a common savoury snack food eaten in Valrôn and is one of the few food that is actually fried. Though it is pan-fried and pan-fried food is quite common. It consists of mashed potatoes, minced meat, garlic, onions and spring onions, when the mixture is made it is then pan fried and fills the stomach easily. This is the most well-known and popular snacks from Valrôn.

Soups
Soups in Valrôn are usually fish-based and made by fish organs, fish heads and fish tails. Popular soups include fish ovary soup and other soups. Vegetables and seasonings are used to flavour the otherwise bland soups.

Blood soup
Blood soup is a soup that gives energy to labourers and popular among nobles because of its unique flavour similiar to turtle soup in other cuisines. It contains a bit of chicken bone stock, pig's blood, some vegetables and chopped pig muscle to flavour the soup. More flavourings are added, usually spicy to flavour the soup even more. Starch is added to thicken the soup to make it thicker and gives a nice texture. It is usually consumed straight after cooking so the blood and bone mixture doesn't coagulate.

Blood cake
Blood cake is a gelatinous cake made out of a liquid mixture of pig blood and seasonings (mainly a mix of garlic, salt, dried herbs and chilli) that has been left to clot and curdle until it becomes gelatinous. This is a popular Valrôni side dish either prepared in meals or eaten with rice. Most people say that you either love it or you hate it. There are multiple varieties of blood cake, some more popular than others. Blood cake is also known as Tee hue kuih and it's a savoury kuih.

Sanguinis papaver crustulam
Sanguinis papaver crustulum is a very uncommon variety of blood cake that is created in a way that a film will be created around the blood, this makes it easy to pop and if cut or squished in any way will make blood come out.

Sanguis crustulum gelatinosum
Sangus crustulum gelatinosum is created by boiling bones until they reduce. This lets it to have a soft texture similiar to jelly. Though when cooked it has the possibility to melt as it contains gelatin.

Frumenti sanguinem crustulam
Frumenti sanguinem crustulam is a more popular variety of blood cake, more popularly consumed raw. It is slightly more grainy than the other varieties. It is cooked by adding a form of grain to the mixture and letting it dry. There are 2 varieties of this, a soft one and a hard one.

Sanguis crustulam frumenti mollis
Sanguis crustulam frumenti mollis, is the more popular variety of the two and is slightly more gelatinous than the other type, this is because it only needs little starch and reduced bone for it to set. This leads it to be used more in stir fries and soups.

Crus durum sanguinem crustulam
Crus durum sanguinem crustulam is a less popular variety and is used by mixing whole wheat berries, starch and flour to the mix. The result is a grainy, musty cake that is usually reserved for peasants to eat as it gives more energy to them when working the fields

Vapor crustulam sanguinem coctum
Vapor crustulam sanguinem coctum, or Pellentesque sanguinem crustulam is the most popular variety of blood cake. It is made by steaming blood and sticky rice together, until it is solid. This is the only variety of blood cake that has sweet and savoury varieties. After it is steamed, it is then cut and different stuff is added. Ground-up nuts (usually peanuts) and coriander is traditionally added as toppings with a form of sauce, usually salty. It is usually served on a stick as street food in Valron. This is also usually eaten alone, with rice or with crushed up dried potatoes. This is sometimes added to meals

Laksa
Laksa is a filling noodle based meal made using thick noodles, using a spicy mackerel based broth and topped with shredded mackerel. Toppings added are pineapple slices, mint, prawn paste, chillies, cucumber, torch ginger flower and chillies.

"The Heavenly Kings"
The Heavenly Kings are a group of fritters and meat rolls eaten together as a snack in one meal.

Water chestnut egg slice
Egg, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and crushed water chestnuts are mixed together and pan fried to make a thick omelette and it is then cut into squares and served

Egg slice
Egg, sweet soy sauce, salt and spices are mixed together and pan fried to make a thick omelette and it is cut into squares and served. There is a popular legend where if you are a young woman and you ate egg slice, you'll get

Oyster omelette
Oyster omelette is an omelette made of eggs, oyster sauce, salt, sweet potato starch, garlic and small oysters (usually farmed from the Cuvon). It is also known as Oyster cake. Sometimes a chilli sauce and lime juice is added. prawn and prawn paste is sometimes used to substitute oysters and this is called Prawn omelette/Prawn cake.

Non-Crispy
Non-crispy prawn fritters are made of prawns, salt, flour, egg and water and panfried

Crispy
Crispy prawn fritters are made of prawns, salt, flour, egg, water and bread crumbs and are shallow fried

You zha guai
You zha guai is a stick of dough and are one of the few foods fried. when it is cut, it usually looks like a flower. There are usually 2 sticks stuck together and can be seperated at the middle

Daikon fritters
Daikon fritters are made from daikons dipped in a batter of eggs, flour and some salt. It is pan-fried

Pulut serunding
Pulut serunding is a glutinous rice ball with spicy grated coconut.

Curry puff
Curry puff is a baked pastry stuffed with a curry with potato andor chicken

Soon Kuih
Soon Kuih is a dumpling with dried shrimp and bamboo shoots

Red peach cake
Red peach cake is a dumpling with mushrooms and meat

Chwee kuih
Chwee kuih is a kuih that is made from glutinous rice formed into a bowl, chopped pickled radish is put in.

Ku chai kuih
Ku chai kuih is a kui made with chives and prawns stuffed in a glutinous rice flour skin.

Yam paste
A savoury kuih made by steaming blended yams/taro with dried prawn and rice flour.

Kuih Pie Tee
Kuih Pie Tee is very interesting and tasty. It is quintessentially Peranakan and cannot be found in any other cuisines. It is a small crispy pastry cup filled with stewed turnip, bang kuang (jicama), bean sprout, egg, shrimp etc.

Lemper udang
Lemper Undang is glutinous rice with savoury spicy dried prawn filling. It is made by cooking glutinous rice in coconut milk. The cooked rice is rolled and filled with spicy dried prawn, then wrapped in banana leaf. Cooking is completed by either steaming or grilling over charcoal fire which impart an additional smokey and sweet aroma.

There are other versions of lemper with seasoned chicken, dried fish floss or toasted grated coconut pulp filling. All have lovely nicely balanced savoury sweet taste.

Balut
Balut is an egg of a bird, usually a duck that has been incubated for 14-21 days and cooked.

Pale
Pale in Valroni dessert cooking means a slight change in tint (lighter colour). Rookie dessert makers mistake pale for white

Red bean paste
Red bean paste is made from boiling kidney beans and light palm sugar until the water evaporates, and then mashed until its a paste.

Mung bean paste
Mung bean paste is made from boiling mung beans and light palm sugar until the water evaporates and then mashed until its a paste

Lotus seed paste
Lotus seed paste is made from boiling lotus seeds and light palm sugar until the water evaporates and then mashed until its a paste

Peanut paste
Peanut paste is made from crushing peanuts, peanut flour, sugar and abit of salt together until it becomes a paste, peanut oil is usually added.

Gula melaka
Gula melaka is a syrup made from palm sugar.

Coconut custard
Coconut custard is made from eggs, sugar and coconut milk. Sometimes pandan leaf extract is added.

Cudweed paste
Cudweed paste is made from boiling cudweed for 2 days and adding tapioca starch. This results in a black paste.

Kuih (sweet)
Most kuihs are either shaped in a mold or are shaped as parellelograms

Ang ku kuih
Ang ku kuih, also known as Red tortoise cake, is a dessert with a skin made from sticky glutinous rice flour. The skin is usually wrapped around a filling, usually sweet peanut paste or mung bean paste. It is usually shaped with a tortoise shell shaped mold or a floral pattern mold and its steamed on a bamboo steamer. The cake is put on a banana leaf to steam. As the name suggests it is red in colour from red dye.

Kuih tutu
Kuih tutu is a kuih made by putting rice flour in a chrysantamum-shaped mold and putting in the filling (gula melaka, coconut or peanuts). It is then steamed on a banana leaf. It is derived from Sung Kuih.

Man chang kuih
Man chang kuih is a pancake made from flour, butter, sugar and water and a thin layer is spread on a pan and part of the sides so the sides can be crispy. The butter, creamed corn and crushed sweetened peanuts are added. Then the pancake is folded and served

Kuih bahulu
Kuih bahulu is a cake made from egg, and usually shaped like a star. It is a baked egg cake. It is a variety of kuih bolu (sponge cake). There are 3 varieties, the more common one, bahulu cermai (star shaped), and the more elusive ones bahulu gulung (rolled) and bahulu lapis (layered). Unlike other kuihs, this kuih is steamed.

Borasa
Kuih borasa is a variety of kuih bahulu that is flavoured with palm sugar and sesame seeds

Kuih akok
A rich confection made with liberal quantities of eggs, coconut milk, flour and sugar, akok have a distinctive sweet caramel taste. There is another variant that contains black sugar.

Kuih cara
Kuih cara is basically kuih bahulu but pandan flavoured

Kuih dadar
Kuih dadar is composes of gula melaka flavoured shredded coconut rolled up in Kuih ape.

Kuih jelorot
Kuih jelorot is a Kuih that is a cone wrapped into banana leaves. It is made of tapioca starch, sugar and coconut milk and its steamed..

Love letters
Love letters is a rolled baked, crispy pancake

Kuih kochi
Kuih kochi is a glutinous rice dumpling filled with gula melaka and grated coconut

Kuih lapis
Kuih lapis is a layered cake, made from coconut milk, pandan, rice flour and the food clouring (pink dragonfruit extract for red and pandan extract for green). It is done by steaming each layer at different times.

Kuih pinjaram
A saucer-shaped deep fried fritter with crisp edges and a dense, chewy texture towards the centre. It is widely sold by street food vendors in the open air markets of East Valron.

Kuih serimuka
Kuih serimuka is a two-layered Kuih that comprises of steaming glutinous rice on the bottom and steaming a green pandan custard on the top, coconut milk and sugar is important in making the custard

Kuih wajik
Kuih wajik is a Kuih made from glutinous rice, gula melaka and coconut milk.

Onde-onde
Onde onde are small round balls made from glutinous rice flour coloured and flavoured with pandan, filled with palm sugar syrup and rolled in freshly grated coconut.

Pulut inti
Pulut inti is a piece of triangular glutinous rice that is wrapped in banana leaf with gula melaka candied coconut.

Nian gao
Nian gao is a food prepared from glutinous rice flour and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is also simply known as "rice cake". While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during the Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time of the year because nian gao is a homonym for "higher year" or "grow every year", which means "a more prosperous year".

Ki Zhang
Kee chang aka alkaline dumplings are either served plain with palm sugar syrup or filled with red bean paste cooked and served in banana leaf. It is basically a triangle of sweetened glutinous rice steamed in a banana leaf and sometimes filledwith bean paste andor served with palm sugar syrup

Kuih lopez
Kuih lopez is a square of glutinous rice that is steamed triangle of glutinous rice steamed in a banana leaf for one hour, it is then served with grated coconut and gula melaka. Usually consumed with coffee.

Sung Kuih
Sung Kuih is a round cake make of plain rice flour and sugar and its cut to squares and a red dot is put on each square.

Yi buah
Yi buah is a glutinous rice dumpling filled with grated coconut and gula melaka

Kuih bingka ambon
Kuih bingka ambon is a kuih made from tapioca flour, eggs, sugar, yeast and coconut milk. It is usually coconut, pandan or banana flavour. It is known for its sponge like holes and known for its chewy texture. This is a baked kuih.

Kuih bingka ubi
Kuih bingka ubi is a kuih made from shredded tapioca/sweet potatoes/taro/yam/cassava, sugar, eggs and coconut milk and its baked.

Kuih kosui
Kuih Kosui is made of glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and sugar. There are green and brown versions blended with either green pandan leaf or brown gula Melaka. The blend is put in little cups and the contents are cooked by steaming. The bouncy jiggly mini sweet cake is eaten with lightly salted grated fresh coconut pulp.

Kuih talam
Kuih talam is a kuih similiar to kuih serimuka, the two layers are made using rice flour. The bottom layer is either green, brown or other colours depending on what the rice flour is blended with. Pandan leaf gives it green colour, palm sugar give brown colour and so forth. This coloured layer is laid in an aluminium tray first and it is cooked by steaming. When partially cooked, a second white layer is added. This white layer is rice flour blended with coconut milk. The tray is returned to the steamer till the Kuih talam is fully cooked. It is basically kuih serimuka with opposite layers.

Again, this Kuih is addictive to its fans due to its blend of different sweet and soft-tender layers. The green / brown bottom layer is firmer than the white layer on top.

Putu ayu
Putu ayu is a pandan flavoured kuih bahulu with a hole in the middle and served with grated coconut

Pulut tai tai
Pulut tai tai is simply glutinous rice boiled with butterfly pea flower which gives it an attractive blue tint. The cooked glutinous rice is compacted, cut and served in bite size cubes (hence it is also called pulut tekan which means "pressed glutinous rice"). Gula melaka is sometimes put on the top.

Kuih sago
Kuih sago is a kuih made from steaming sago starch, sago, sugar, and coconut milk, it is then dipped in grated coconut and served

Chi kak kuih
Chi kak kuih is a kueh is cudweed paste wrapped in a skin and steamed

Kuih agar-agar
Kuih agar-agar is a cold cake made in fridge made from making a sweet jelly and chilling it and pouring a coconut jelly on the top.

Kuih ape
Kuih ape is a thin pandan flavoured crepe. It is basically kuih dadar without the gula melaka-candied coconut

Kuih apem
Kuih apem is a crepe made from a fermented rice batter and coconut milk and pan fried until it rises

Blood Vodka
Blood Vodka is a popular beverage among all Valronis, as it is simple to make. Since Vodka is mass-produced in Valron it makes it very cheap. Blood is also very abundant as it is extracted when the meat/fish is killed. Some blood goes to making Blood cake. But some goes into the vodka. The result is a redish coloured, strong alcohol that is usually consumed at the end of the day.

Soy Milk
Soy milk is made of soaking dried soyabeans in water until they are wet and getting crushed and the liquid is strained. The byproduct of this is okara

Potato soda
Potato soda is made of potato skin and sugar and it is artifically carbonated.

Jennux Tea
Jennux tea is a tea served with milk and stewed candied tapioca pearls. Though lactose intolerant people in Valron replace it with soy milk or maybe not even put milk. People drink it through straws made of wheat fibres.