Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Eating well?

I'm snowed in in Kansas City at the moment, where we are visiting The Boy's family. Don't worry, my in-laws a big time foodies, so we have a lot of food stored up for the winter blizzard days. I've also been, quite literally, eating for two. =)

You may notice that I've expanded my Table of Contents on the right-hand column to include some more technical methods of cooking: Braising, Stewing, Roasting and Baking. The Boy and I have also been trying to eat vegetarian at least once a week, so I've included a category for "Vegetarian". All my Asian cooking is also clearly marked under "Asian" with the country of origin.

Thank you for reading my blog so faithfully. Do leave a comment if you are passing through, tell me what you like to eat, share a recipe, say hello.

Coq au vin

It is ok to use sparkling shiraz to make coq au vin.

At least, that's what I discovered this time...

Coq au vin used to be *the* dinner party dish. But with the simplification of cooking, it's halo has somewhat dimmed. I know we have had several chicken casserole dishes recently, but this was what I made for a dinner party last Thursday, so thought I would post it.

You won't believe the funny story I have though: So, I knew I had a bottle of red someone had given us in the pantry. A Beaujolais or dry fruity Pinot Noir is recommended, but really any table red has worked well for me in the past. So I don't give it a second thought. I go grocery shopping, come home, prep everything, dredge the chicken and all. Just as I'm ready to pour in the braising liquid, I happen to glance at the label casually and, guess what it was? *Sparkling* red wine. Well, too late now. I prayed and poured it in.

It worked great.

So, I'm even more convinced now that absolutely any red will work. But this might be black swan white swan thing.

Anyways... recipe adapted from Molly Stevens fantastic book on braising.

RECIPE: COQ AU VIN
Cooking time: 1 hour
Equipment: 1 cast iron Dutch oven or heavy casserole, tongs, parchment paper, 1 covered non-stick skillet

A - Meat
4 oz bacon, diced - slab bacon (without the rind), pancetta, or the bacon fat you have in a teacup in the fridge will work
1 whole chicken (4-5 lbs), cut into 8 pieces - the butcher can do this for you
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp butter

B - Aromatics
1 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped into 1/2" pcs
1 carrot, chopped into 1/2" pcs
1 tbsp tomato paste

C - Braising liquid
2 tbsp cognac
1 bottle dry, fruity red wine (750ml)
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup chicken stock

D - Garnish
10 oz frozen pearl onions
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

*****

A - Add the diced bacon in your Dutch oven, cold, and turn the heat to medium. Cook the bacon until it is browned and crispy all over on the outside. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels, leaving the rendered fat behind. Add 1 tbsp of butter to the fat.

While the bacon is cooking, season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Spread the flour in a small baking dish or other flat dish and dredge each piece of chicken, coating on all sides. When the butter has melted, lift each piece of chicken with tongs, shaking off any excess flour, and ease them into the hot bacon fat/butter. Sear on both sides, turning with tongs, until the skin turns a deep golden brown. Transfer chicken to a large platter (I usually use the overturned side of my Dutch oven cover). You will probably have to do this in two batches - just add another tbsp of butter for the second batch.

Pre-heat oven to 325 F / 163 C.

B - Melt the butter in the pot. Saute the onion and carrot until the vegetables are softened and very slightly browning. Add the tomato paste and mix well with the vegetables.

C1 - Add the cognac and bring to a vigorous simmer. To deglaze the pot, scrape off the caramelized bits at bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Simmer and stir until the liquid is almost all gone.

Raise the heat to high, add the red wine, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Bring to a boil. Then lower the heat to medium and simmer until the wine has reduced to half.

Add the reserved bacon and chicken stock, bringing to a boil. Then turn off heat. You should have a rich red liquid. Ladle 1/2 cup of braising liquid and set aside (to cook the pearl onions later).

C2 - Return the chicken pieces into the pot in a single layer, with the chicken breasts on the top, skin side down. Pour in any juices that collected as the chicken sat.

Cover the pot with parchment paper, pressing down so that the paper nearly touches the chicken and extends over the sides of the pot a little. Weigh the parchment paper down with the lid. Place the pot on the lower rack of the oven to braise.

After 15 mins, uncover and turn the breast pieces over with your tongs. Return to the oven - do all this quickly so that the braising liquid doesn't lose too much simmer! Continue braising for another 45 mins until the chicken meat is fork-tender.

D1 - While the chicken is cooking, start working on the garnish. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a non-stick skillet. Add frozen onions and saute until they are slightly browning. Season with salt and pepper, and add the reserved 1/2 cup of braising liquid. Cover and simmer until onions are tender (test with a fork). Remove the lid, increase heat to a boil and reduce the liquid to a glaze. Transfer onions and glaze to a small platter, scraping the skillet with a wooden spoon.

Return the skillet to the stove and melt the remaining 1 tbsp of butter. When the butter stops foaming, saute the mushrooms, seasoning with salt and pepper. Continue to saute until the mushrooms have released all their moisture and start searing slightly. Remove from heat.

Return onions and glaze to the skillet with the mushrooms and set aside.

D2 - To finish the dish, remove the Dutch oven from the oven when the chicken is fork-tender. Transfer the chicken pieces to a serving dish and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Place the pot over high heat and bring the gravy to a boil, reducing it until it has thickened to the consistency of a vinaigrette.

Lower heat and add reserved garnish of onions and mushrooms. Heat through and spoon gravy over chicken pieces. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

You can serve this with tagliatelle or mash potatoes. We made super healthy mash potatoes with non-fat milk and non-fat sour cream and lots and lots of black pepper!

Chicken and No Dumplings

There is nothing more warming on a winter's day than a bubbling braise. Particularly, for the first time in history, we have early snow in Houston!

I made this braise for a quick family dinner when we were up in Kansas City over Thanksgiving with The Boy's folks. It was so good that I was thinking about it the next morning and the next night, and had it for breakfast and a late night supper!

It's super easy too. Braising has only a few basic steps - sear meat, cook aromatics, deglaze pan with braising liquid, cook, garnish and serve - and then it's all about practice. Every time you braise, it's just about these 4 things: meat, aromatics, braising liquid, garnish.

The reason why I've called it 'Chicken and No Dumplings' is because we aren't very fond of dumplings in this household. The only dumplings we like are Chinese jiaozi, which I make fresh and always have a batch in the freezer for a quick meal (like the one The Boy is having at the moment, after having been sent home from work because of the snow *pfft*). The chicken stands magnificently on its own though, so it's not a big loss. You can serve it with mashed potatoes, or boiled fingerling potatoes, and/or a baguette. Yum.

Here's to heartwarming homecooked meals this winter!

RECIPE: CHICKEN AND NO DUMPLINGS
Cooking time: Approx. 1 hour
Equipment: 1 Dutch oven or heavy casserole

A - Meat
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces - the butcher can do this for you
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp butter

B - Aromatics
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 yellow onions, chopped into 1/2" pieces
2 celery stalks, chopped into 1/2" pieces
2 strips lemon rind
1/4 tsp nutmeg

C - Braising liquid
1 cup Vermouth or a dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock

D - The Liason (a French technique to thicken and enrich the gravy at the end)
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and black pepper
1/2 lemon, squeezed
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

*****

A - Season the chicken pieces on both sides with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven or heavy casserole, melt the butter and sear the chicken meat until the skin is blonde (not brown). If you cannot fit all the meat in at one go, do it in two batches. Set aside (I always set aside the meat on the overturned cover of my casserole).

B - Melt the butter and fry the vegetables until the onions are soft and glistening. Take in the aroma of the onions, mixed with spices and heady fragrance of the lemon.

C - Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape off those caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan which will give the braise depth of flavor. Bring down to a simmer and cook until the liquid has been reduced by half. Add in chicken stock and bring to a simmer.

Return the chicken pieces into the casserole in this order: layer all the pieces in a single layer at the bottom of the casserole, and the two breasts pieces on top, skin side down. Cover and simmer gently for 10 mins.

After 10 mins, uncover the casserole and turn the breast pieces over so that it's laying skin side up. If the liquid is simmering too turbulently, lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover again and continue to braise for another 30 mins. The chicken is cooked when the juices run clear when pierced with a fork.

Remove the chicken pieces to your serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

D - Whisk the egg yolks, cream, salt and pepper. Whisk in a ladle of the gravy in to warm the egg mixture slowly, so that the eggs do not scramble. At very low heat, slowly incorporate the egg mixture into the gravy and stir until it thickens and leaves the side of the pan slightly - a little like making custard. Be careful to control your heat - you don't want the eggs to scramble! Taste and add more salt or pepper or lemon juice as desired.

Spoon over the chicken. Garnish and serve with some boiled fingerling potatoes and sliced baguette to soak up that delicious gravy.

Clay Pot Rice

The Boy and I are on a little health streak at the moment, with a special focus on diet. I find that, when eating out, ordering a steamed chicken breast with the sauce on the side is an easy way of keeping my diet clean but still accessible. Most restaurants will be happy to oblige.

At home, it is equally easy and can be very flavorful. Claypot Rice is basically rice and steamed chicken, with a dash of soy, a touch of ginger and combined with the sweet juiciness of Chinese mushrooms, cooked in a clay pot. Very healthy (although my nutritionist will probably insist on cutting out the sesame oil). Very delicious.

A clay pot is, at the very basic, a pot made of clay. It is traditionally porous and unglazed, but modern clay pots have a smooth finish and don't require pre-soaking. Because clay diffuses heat well, it doesn't get very hot and acts like a "quick" slow cooker. As the food cooks, it slowly releases juices and everything cooks in its own juice, all of which is kept sealed in the pot until it has all been absorbed/evaporated. This results in a tender flavorful chicken in a relatively short time.

If you don't own a clay pot, a heavy lidded casserole is a good substitute.

Definitely much better than fried rice.

RECIPE: CLAY POT RICE
Prep time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 25 mins

A - Meat
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size strips OR chicken pieces
2 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp dry sherry
1 tsp chicken stock powder
Dash of white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1" ginger, cut into thin strips
6-8 Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 15 mins

B - Rice
2 cups rice
Water

C - Optional meats
1 low fat Chinese sausage, sliced

D - Seasoning
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
Dash of white pepper

E - Garnishing
Small bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

*****

A - Marinate the chicken and mushrooms with the ginger in the fridge for 1 hour.

B - Cook rice - I do this in an electric rice cooker.

C - When the rice is cooked and hot and still moist, transfer it into the clay pot. Layer A and C on top. Cover tightly and cook for 25 mins on low heat. Do not open the cover at any point!

D - Meanwhile, fry the garlic till it is fragrant, then add the rest of the seasoning. When C is cooked, pour the seasoning over and mix the whole pot thoroughly. Do not worry if there is a hard layer of rice at the bottom - this is, for me, the best bit! Almost like baked chewy rice that you can dig out with a metal spoon at the end of the meal.

E - Garnish and serve immediately.

MUMMY LIM'S CHICKEN CURRY

There is no way I can ever replicate my mum's curry. I've tried.

But I've come pretty close.

My mum's curry is simply the best chicken curry in the whole world. The Boy is a biiiiig fan. If you've ever eaten curry of any sort in a restaurant, which invariably involves coconut milk, you may be surprised to find out that curry can be exceedingly healthy. Nothing but chicken breast, spices, vegs and water.* In other words, full of mummy goodness. And it tastes just as rich and yummy as the coconut milk version.

* At home, we use chicken pieces on the bone - basically one chicken chopped up. This makes the curry more flavorful. But The Boy doesn't like bones (it's too fiddly), so I use breast instead. P.S. Mummy Lim says: Flavor and moisture comes from the bone and skin. If using breast, mix 1-2 tbsp of water in with the chickent marinade.

The secret is time and quantity of water. The chicken needs to be marinated for at least one hour (just do it before you go to work in the morning), and always add less water than you are thinking. Don't forget, everything else - chicken, vegs - gives off water as they cook.

With that introduction, I present...

MUMMY LIM'S CHICKEN CURRY
Cooking time: 20 mins

A - Marinade
2lbs chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces OR chicken pieces
2.5 tbsp curry powder
Light soya sauce

B - Aromatics
2 onions, finely chopped or blitzed in short spurts in the food processor
1 fresh red chili (optional), chopped or blitzed together with onions
5 cardamon seeds
4 cloves
2" cinnamon stick

C - Vegetables
4 tomatoes, chopped or blitzed
2 potatoes, cut into bite size pieces

D - Garnishing
Parsley, chopped finely

*****

A - Marinate chicken with a splash of soy and half of the curry powder for at least 1 hour in fridge. Mix the other half the curry powder with a small splash of water to create a thickish paste.

B - In a pot that will be big enough to accommodate the chicken and potatoes in roughly one layer, heat 1 tbsp of oil, fry onions and spices until fragrant. Most of the water from the onions should have evaporated and the mixture glistens slightly. Add the curry paste and fry until fragrant.

Add in marinated chicken and mix well.

C - Add tomatoes and some water. An approximate gauge for the quantity of water would be up to the level of the chicken and (later on) potatoes. Bring to a boil.

D - When the gravy is at a rolling boil, add the potatoes. Keep at a rolling boil until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes soft (approx 20 mins). Add more salt to taste.

E - Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with white rice.

Note: If you add too much water, do not fear. Just scoop up the chicken and potatoes when they are cooked, and boil the gravy alone until it has reduced to a thickish consistency.

It is truly my joy to share some of my culture and heritage with you. I hope this allows you to enjoy some South East Asian home goodness, at home!

Red Braised Pork Belly (Lo Bak)

White people approach pork belly the first time with caution. But when they taste the meltingness of pork belly in their mouths, they are invariably won over. Of course, there is the health issue. Pork belly - much like duck, fried chicken, the New York strip, cheeseburger soup etc - is a heart attack waiting to happen. Which kinda makes me hope that Guy Fieri works out after every episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Hey, even Chinese people don't eat pork belly everyday.

But on special occasions, this can be a very warming dish. Particularly now that the weather's gotten nippy. I am told that chefs of old used to strain the red braise liquid (lu) and store it for the next braise, so that every new braise added another depth of that rich, salty, sweet, aromatic flavor. I've tried that with mixed success - maybe I shouldn't have put it in the freezer. But it gets used up pretty fast before the next braise anyway. I like using leftover lu to flavor fried rice, hard boil eggs in, crack a soft boil egg in etc.


RED BRAISED PORK BELLY (LO BAK)
Cooking time: 3 hours

A - Meat
1 slab pork belly (1.5 to 2 lbs), without the rind
2 tbsp five spice powder

B - Base
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 oz Chinese rock sugar or 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

C - Braising liquid
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup mushroom flavored dark soy sauce
5 cups chicken stock or water

D - Aromatics
2" galangal (also known as blue ginger or lengkuas) or fresh ginger, thickly sliced
3 scallions or leeks, cut into 1" pieces
3" cinnamon stick
2 star anise

E - Garnish
1 bag of bak choy

*****

A - Rub the meat with the five spice powder and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

B - In a wok or pot (I use my trusty Le Creuset casserole here), heat the oil and sugar on medium heat until all the sugar has melted and turns golden. Add the garlic - be careful as the sugar will bubble up. Turn the heat down so that the sugar doesn't burn.

C - When the garlic is yellow and fragrant and the molasses colored, add the braising liquids. Don't worry if the sugar hardens at first - it will melt back into the liquid in a while. Turn the heat up and bring the mixture to a boil.

D - Add the spices for 1-2 minutes to make sure the aroma of the spices melds into the liquid. Slide the pork in carefully and braise, uncovered, for 3 hours. Make sure that the gravy is constantly on a rolling boil. It should thicken towards the end of the cooking time, reducing about half. But if it is too thick (and therefore salty), add more chicken stock or water as needed.

E - Meanwhile, wash and trim the bak choy, paying particular attention to the dirt inside each leaf that collects at the base. Drain or give it a quick spin in a salad spinner (one of my best kitchen buys!). Just before you are ready to serve, bring a pot of water to boil and slip the bak choy in, head first. Par-boil for about 3 mins - you want the bak choy to still be crisp and retain its nutrients.

Arrange the bak choy on a large platter. With tongs, take the pork belly out and slice into 1cm pieces or 2cmx2cm chunks. Arrange the pork belly slices neatly on top of the bak choy, and ladle some gravy over. Strain and serve the rest of the gravy in a separate bowl.

Serve with white rice.

Roasted Butternut Squash

I have a fantastic and simple recipe (aren't the most fantastic recipes often simple?) from one of my best friends and bridesmaids, the gorgeous, passionate and talented Anna Bishop. We started this recipe chain thing (people who have not replied, you know who you are!) and this was the recipe that she sent along.

It's also very versatile. I would eat it alone, as a trimming to a roast, or make soup. It's quite difficult for two people to finish an entire squash, so I took the leftovers and made soup the next day! Just blitz with some chicken stock and a dash of milk/cream and reheat. Serve with toast. It was yummy...

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Cooking time: 30 mins

1 butternut squash
3/4 tsp cumin
3 tbsp oregano
3 tbsp ground coriander seeds
3 tsp garlic powder
Pinch of chili powder (to taste)
3 tsp salt
Olive oil or olive oil spray

*****
Cut butternut squash into 4 inch wedges (quarter it lengthwise, half each quarter). Spray each wedge with olive oil, toss in mixed spices. Arrange on baking tray. Roast at 200 C/ 390 F for 30 mins.

The sweet and tender meat of the butternut squash simply melds in the oven with the salty and crunchy spice mix. Beautiful!

Imjadarah

I'm going to try this recipe that my friend, Fadi, just shared with me from his childhood in Lebanon. Quote Fadi: "It's high fiber, high protein, low fat, filled with goodness." How can I not experiment? But I need some friends in the know to help me out with tasting whether my version is authentic or not!

Shared with permission.

RECIPE: IMJADARAH

Equipment: 1 big pot

A - Aromatics
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic chopped
3 stalks scallions, chopped

B - Lentils
2 cups brown lentils
3 cups water

C - Rice
1 cup rice (basmati)
2 cups water

D - Seasoning
Salt, to taste
Cumin, to taste
Pinch of all spice

E - Garnishing
Yoghurt
Srirarcha
Cabbage salad

*****

A - Sautee till onions are brown.

B - Add lentils and water and bring to a boil for 5 mins. Turn heat down and simmer for a further 20 mins.

C - Add rice and water and bring to a boil for 2-3 mins.

D - Add seasoning. Cover the pot and turn heat down. Simmer for 15 mins. Fadi says that you need check it occasionally and gauge the amount of water carefully. The mixture should be loose, not too dry but not too wet either.

E - Turn off heat and let mixture sit for 2 mins.

F - Serve on a plate with garnishing on top.

Picture to come!

Fresh loot from Singapore

The 'Rents are in H-town! And they brought with them a grocery store and the clothes on their back.

Guess what these are?!

Mooncakes!

Dad even bought be a "little piglet".
He does that every year.

Our gift from their Hokkaido trip.
These are hand blown and hand painted glass soy bottles.
Aren't they gorgeous?!

Gift for the home: Lamp Berger

Chinese soup mixes, tea, herbs, ginseng,
almonds, honey dates, buddha fruit, sambal, candlenuts etc etc.
This took up one side of the largest suitcase!

The good stuff: Abalone!

A great Taiwanese cook book that I can't wait to dive into!

Clay pot.

Double boiler.

A Kyocera ceramic knife from Japan.
Watch out, it's sharp!

My present

The Boy's present.

Much needed make up - it's cheaper at Tangs!

Erm... H1N1 protection.

And best of all: Our wedding album.

Laksa - Singapore's soul food

Picture courtesy of
www.singaporefoodrecipes.com -
sorry, I don't take pictures when
I have guests to feed.

I've had the immense privilege of moving around the world and living on three continents, with another move always just ahead. Because of the international nature of the oil industry, I've met even more mobile people and families from all around the world in Houston, who've lived in more countries than I can count on one hand.

The one funny thing about people who move around is that, invariably, they will talk about food - particularly, food from home. Stories about craving bacon in Qatar, or finding the one brand of peanut butter they will deign to eat in Indonesia, and conversely the one brand of cereal that cannot be found in America (Dorset Cereals from England).

[Plug: People, you can find Divine Chocolate at Central Market. It's a UK brand with a revolutionary business model. More information can be found here: http://www.divinechocolateusa.com/about. Become a fan! Eat it. Use it in your cooking. Scharffen Berger is ubiquitous, but Divine Chocolate is better!]

Me? The food I talk about invariably involves the likes of tumeric, galangal, lemongrass, red finger chillies, belacan (shrimp paste), kecap manis (sweet dark soya sauce), dried shiitake mushrooms, agar agar etc... and let's not start on fruit. But, unlike the Japanese, Thai and Chinese communities for example, my (other) South East Asian counterparts don't seem to be as quick to establish roots wherever they are. So looking for ingredients becomes an adventure each time I move. And having to find substitutes where none can be found.

This weekend past, The Boy very generously (although somewhat unsuspectingly) invested his entire weekend to explore the nether corners of Houston, Texas with me in search of such tropical offings.

First stop, we braved the Chinese weekend crowd in Chinatown (Bellaire). Urg, no luck, but we did find some frozen fish cake - product of Singapore, hoorah! P.S. If you've never braved a Chinese weekend crowd before, just try going to the Forbidden City in summer some time. Don't forget your elbow guards.

At my beloved H-Mart, there was a small selection of South East Asian fare, but nothing great. We did discover red finger chillis there where they have never been found anywhere in Houston. Seriously. I did a little dance on the spot (much to the curiosity of the Korean grandma next to me who was checking out a root of daikon). My mum is also doing a little dance too, because she doesn't have to smuggle chilli seeds across the border now - I was going to grow red finger chillis, you see.

Tumeric, galangal and lemongrass, strangely enough, can be found at Whole Foods - but you must wait till Wednesday, when they get their "exotic" shipment. Which brings me to our biggest find in Houston to date: Asia Market in the Heights (Calvacade Street)! The Fearless Critic (actually, that might count as our biggest find) warns: don't be put off by the run down 7-11 with bars across the window; if your idea of heaven is tumeric, galangal, lemongrass etc (they also had fried grasshoppers and milk worms, eech!), then you will die and go there here. Also attached to the grocery section is a small eatery (might be stretching it to call it a "restaurant"), where the best pad thai, som tham (mango salad) and green curry can be found, IMHO (The Boy disagrees with my assessment of the pad thai). Three words: oh. my. goodness.

With these lovely finds at hand, what was I going to do? What else but make Laksa. I really didn't have a choice, if you think about it.

This recipe is adapted from A Treasured Collection, a collection of recipes by the women of the Covenant Community Methodist Church of Singapore, by Janie Wong, with my own substitutes, additions, comments and tips:

"Very often at church meetings, social gatherings and special occasions, members could look forward to enjoyin delicious and mouth-watering fare lovingly prepared by teh many culinary wizards in our midst. It was then felt that these precious recipes could be preserved in a cookbook to be shared with all who love and enjoy food. This is how "The Treasured Collection" was conceived. A Committee comprising a group of enthusiastic ladies, bonded together by God's love, was then formed. In line with our church's mission of showing compassion for the disadvantaged and needy, it was decided that proceeds from the sales of the book could assist "women in distress".

I wish they would launch a big reprint. But if this or any of their other recipes reprinted in this blog blesses you in any way, it would make me - and I hope you - very happy if you made someone else's life better in one small way today. Reminds me of when I was a Girl Guide in school way back when - one good deed a day. Maybe with some laksa? =)

RECIPE: LAKSA - Singapore's soul food
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 10

A - Stock
1 lb/500g prawns
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2.5 litres water

B - Coconut
1.5 coconuts, grated } OR
3 cups water } 3 cups canned coconut milk

C - Fragrances
1" / 2.5 cm galangal (otherwise known as "blue ginger"), peeled and sliced
1" / 2.5 cm tumeric, peeled and sliced (careful, your fingers will turn yellow!)
2 stalks lemongrass, sliced (remove the woody exterior layer first)
10 candlenuts (or 10 macadamia nuts)
2 cups shallots (approx. 1 bag), peeled and sliced
30 dried chillies, seeds removed and softened in cold water
19 fresh red finger chillies, seeds removed
1 pc belacan (2.5cm x 2.5 cm x 1 cm / 1" x 1" x 0.5")

D - Spices
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dried shrimp, pounded (I minced mine in the food processor)
2 stalks lemongrass, bashed
1 tbsp coriander powder, roasted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

E - Noodles
3 lb / 1.5 kg white rice bee hoon noodles (or spaghetti)

F - Garnishing
1/2 lb / 250 g bean sprouts, scalded
Prawns from A
5 pc fried fish cake, sliced into strips
5 hard boiled eggs, halved
1 pkt triangular tofu puffs, each halved
1 cucumber, peeled, cored and thinly sliced into strips
3.5 oz / 100g laksa leaves, finely shredded (or a mixture of mint and cilantro, chopped finely)

*****

A - Marinate prawns with salt and sugar for 15 mins. Bring water to boil. Add prawns.

Remove prawns when cooked (approx. 10-15 mins) and set aside prawn stock. Cool prawns under running tap water. Remove prawn shells. Cut prawns into half lengthwise. Set aside for garnishing.

Return shells and heads to the stock and simmer for 15 mins. Drain and discard shells. Set aside prawn stock.

B - Extract 2 cups 1st squeeze coconut milk and set aside. Add water to the coconute and extract 2nd squeeze coconut milk. Add 2nd squeeze coconut milk to prawn stock in A.

OR Add 1/3 of coconut milk to prawn stock.

C - Grind ingredients into a fine paste. I use the food processor. Note: This takes a while - it must be a fine paste.

D - Heat oil and fry C till fragrant. Add rest of ingredients and fy till oil bubbles through.

Add to the prawn stock. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 mins.

Add 1st squeeze coconut milk and stir to prevent coconut milk from curdling. Remove from heat when gravy begins to boil.

E - Scald bee hoon in boiling water. Drain. Divide into individual serving bowls.

OR Cook spaghetti till al dente.

F - Garnish and add hot gravy. I like adding the bean sprouts beneath the noodles, arranging the food on top of the noodles, and garnishing with the cucumber strips and laksa leaves.

I was a happy happy camper on Sunday night.

Char Bee Hoon (Fried Rice Vermicelli)

If I were back in Singapore, this would be breakfast - at a hawker centre. My mother also makes fantastic char bee hoon - for breakfast, for parties, for picnics - it's a versatile dish for big groups (and leftovers). One of my fondest memories of growing up in Singapore was my mother frying up a big wok of bee hoon, a pot of curry chicken with a few loaves, and my whole family would take this simple Asian feast out for a warm tropical afternoon by the beach. Not quite the sandwich people, my family. =)

The key to this dish is good stock and colour. Carrots and chilis add red, scallions green, radish and the noodles themselves white/yellow. Since we also eat with our eyes, the toss of colour goes a long way to making this an enticing dish. It is a very versatile dish, however, so don't worry if you don't have one or two of the vegetables, or any meat for that matter. It's also a great way to use up leftovers.

RECIPE: CHAR BEE HOON (FRIED RICE VERMICELLI)
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 6

Equipment: One big wok

A - Preparation
1 packet of white rice vermicelli
5-7 dried shiitake mushrooms

B - Vegetables
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2" ginger root, minced
1 handful of bean sprouts
2-3 stalks scallions, julienned
1-2 carrots, julienned
2" daikon/radish root, julienned
2-3 red chillis, de-seeded and julienned

C - Seasoning
1 jug of chicken stock (or water)
Kecap manis (sweet dark soya sauce, or use black soya sauce with 1-2 tsp of sugar)
White pepper

D - Protein
5-6 Eggs
Cooked meat (e.g. leftover chicken breast, shredded, prawns, luncheon meat, fried and cut, Chinese fish cake)

*****

A - Soak the white rice vermicelli in a bowl of cold water for 30 mins. Soak to the mushrooms in hot water for 30 mins to reconstitute them. Cut off the stems with a pair of kitchen shears and slice them in strips afterwards. Save the mushroom water as stock for later on.

B - Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a big wok. Fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add the rest of the vegetables and stir-fry in the wok for 3 mins.

C - Add the vermicelli, stock, a few swirls of kecap manis and 1 tbsp of white pepper into the wok. Flip the ingredients a few times to mix them up. When the stock is boiling, lower the heat and let the vermicelli soak up the liquids, flipping occasionally and adding more liquid as needed. The goal is to get the vermicelli to soak up all the liquid until it is very dry and let it dry-fry for a few minutes. The whole process will take approx. 15-20 mins. Season according to taste.

D - When the vermicelli is done, push the whole lot to one side of the wok as far as possible. In the empty space, heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Crack the eggs in and scramble with the wok ladle. When the eggs are fried and done, flip them together with the vermicelli and serve with some sambal belacan (chili paste) or sriracha.

Voili! Fried bee hoon.

Edible Adventures: The Non-Artisan Post

I haven't been posting anything on 'Artisan Edibles' because all I've done these coupla days is experiment with chocolate, particularly, different chocolate frostings. Firstly, there was the experiment with chocolate ganache frosting:


Then there was the experiment with a chocolate glaze, which The Boy took to his fantasy football league draft:


The Boy, sweet man he is, took over the feeding. In the process, he did some experimenting himself. First there was that yummy rigatoni with what he wants to call The Boy's Falling On The Floor Easy Tomato Sauce. Then, get this, he made a pizza. This is it, with a margherita topping:














On a little excursion of his own whilst I was otherwise engaged, he also found these amazing concord grapes at Central Market, which you can squeeze out of their skins:


So, that's how it's been, folks. Back to regular scheduling soon.

Basic Tomato Sauce

The Boy is a big fan of tomato sauce. And he insists that the best tomato sauce is simply garlic, tomatoes and basil. Fresh. And the best tomatoes to use are Roma (meatier) or Campari (sweeter). We like serving it over rigatoni.

I love it when he cooks.

RECIPE: THE BOY'S FALLING ON THE FLOOR EASY TOMATO SAUCE

A - Meat
Fist-size of ground beef or turkey

B - Tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic, sliced or minced (we are still debating this)
12 Roma tomatoes OR 20 Campari tomatoes, tops sliced off

C - Garnishing
Bunch of fresh basil

*****

A - Fry the ground beef/turkey in a skillet until cooked.

B - Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, heat 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. Fry the tomatoes, flesh side down and covered, until the skins peel off (approx. 10 mins). Mash the tomato flesh and add in the garlic. By adding the garlic without frying, it infuses a more mellow flavour into the sauce.

Add in cooked ground beef/turkey. Season with salt and pepper.

C - To chop the basil leaves, roll a bunch of them together, lengthwise, and cut into thin strips (when unrolled). Mix pasta in with sauce and garnish with the chopped basil. It's that simple.

I was trying to find a really old picture of me in eating rigatoni amatriciana in Rome a coupla years ago - the rigatoni there is a longer thinner tube. It was a happy place.

Miso Experiment 2: Miso salad dressing

I think the salads at California Pizza Kitchen are simply one of the bests, but it's also $9 plus service for a salad!??

It's not very hard to chop up some vegetables, particularly with the nifty tool to julienne greens that my mother brought me in her last visit. So I've brazenly copied CPK's salad ingredients, and keep a bag of homemade salad leaves in the fridge all the time, for a quick meal. They may include:

Shredded Napa cabbage, fresh avocado, julienne cucumbers, daikon, edamame, carrots, red cabbage, scallions, cilantro, crispy rice noodles and crisp wontons. For the health conscious, I substitute crispy rice noodles and wontons with bean sprouts. Give it a spin in the salad spinner (I love my salad spinner) and plonk in a ziploc bag!

For the miso paste, I continue my experiments with miso (check out the recipes for Chilean Sea Bass and Aubergine 'Dengaku' Style!) - this time, with white miso.

RECIPE: MISO SALAD DRESSING

3 tbsp white miso
1/2 tsp powdered mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
drop of sesame oil

Whisk ingredients together, whisking the oils last.

The quantities are only an estimate. You may adjust them to suit your tastes, but this is what I finally liked.

Miso Experiment 1: Aubergine 'Dengaku' Style

The Boy and I have been discussing having a few vegetarian meals each week. Aubergine (or 'eggplant', as people this side of The Pond call it) is a soft but robust vegetable when cooked, and a fair substitute for meat.

Aubergine 'Dengaku' Style is one of my all time favourite dishes to order at Japanese restaurants, but it is not commonly found on the menu in Houston. It is, however, an easy dish to make at home.

Ever since I discovered that my favourite Asian grocery store in Houston, H-Mart (Blalock/I-10), carries a variety of miso pastes, I've been experimenting with various miso dishes. In my next post, I shall put up the recipe for a deliciously simple miso salad dressing. For those in a hurry, Whole Foods carries a smaller but adequate variety of miso pastes too.

Tonight's recipe called for 'hatcho' miso, which can be substituted with red miso paste ('akamiso'). The recipe is from Harumi Kurihara's acclaimed 'Japanese Home Cooking'. Served with rice and Braised Cabbage.

RECIPE: AUBERGINE 'DENGAKU' STYLE

A - Vegetable
1 Aubergine

B - Miso paste
6 tbsp 'hatcho' miso
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sake (I substituted this with extra dry Vermouth, which I always carry in my pantry)

C - Garnish
Toasted sesame seeds

A - Cut the aubergine in half lengthwise. Run a knife around the edge and score the flat surface in a lattice pattern.

In a skillet, heat 3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Fry both halves of the aubergine, flesh side down, until it browns. Then turn it over and cover loosely with foil. Continue cooking until almost cooked (approx. 10 mins).

B - While the aubergine is cooking, mix the ingredients for the miso paste and heat in a saucepan over medium heat until it thickens. Turn off heat.

When the aubergine has cooked, transfer to a baking dish. Spread 2-3 tbsp of the miso paste on each half of the aubergine. Cook under a broiler for approx. 5 mins.

C - Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Dire lack of posts due to gluttonous experiments with chocolate, and one pavlova.

Always a work in progress...

Please note that the url of this blog has changed to:

http://www.artisanedibles.blogspot.com

Siew Yoke (Roast Pork with crackling)

My mother adores The Boy. She also loves to feed him. To give you an example: Once, he casually mentioned that he loves roast pork with crackling. Immediately, the wheels started turning, and she started researching and experimenting with her old recipes for siew yoke* (if you were wondering where I get it from...). My poor father was (happily) the guinea pig of at least three versions of roast pork before it was good enough to be presented to The Boy. Being a true believer that the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach (contrary to popular belief), she kindly shared her perfected recipe with me.

* Siew yoke = Chinese roast pork with cracking, often served with rice and other roast meats

Anyway, fast forward to last week. The Nutritionist Nazi informed us that we should not consume, on a normal day, any food that contained more than 20% of fat from calories, and sent us away with a list of information. Perusing the list in the car, I should tell you that almost no beef or pork or lamb of any sort made the cut (excuse the pun). The forced conclusion was that we would have to live with a diet of chicken breast and fish during the week.

But this also meant that there was now cause to celebrate our weekend "cheat" meal. Hence, this post - a tribute to my mother's culinary endeavours and a reward for a week of "good" eating.

Roast pork with crackling is wonderful. You can have it for an Asian meal - it goes well with Braised Cabbage. You can have it for Thanksgiving or Christmas in place of ham, served with apple sauce - children always love the crackling. It is one of those versatile roasts that can be both prosaic and celebratory.

There is much debate what is the best way to achieve crackling. Some like Ellis Handy tout vinegar as their secret ingredient. Others like Gary Rhodes would exhort crackling the rind separately. In our family, we believe simply that the simplest way to achieve the best and tastiest crackling is salt and patience: giving the rind hours and hours to dry out. Hence, this dish should be prepared the day before. We also like to keep the seasoning simple: just pepper and five spice powder. The perfect roast pork should be crispy and crunchy on the top, pink and tender on the inside.

Note: You can get a slab of pork belly with the rind still on at most Asian grocery stores. In Houston, I recommend H-Mart (I-10/Blalock), as always.

RECIPE: SIEW YOKE (ROAST PORK WITH CRACKLING)
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins

1 roasting dish with rack

A - Meat
1 slab pork belly with rind

B - Seasoning
2 tsp salt
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp pepper

C - Vegetable oil

*****

A - Wipe the meat dry with kitchen paper. Score the rind of the pork belly with a sharp knife.

B - Dry fry the seasoning ingredients for a few minutes. The portions are for 2 lb / 1 kg of meat. Depending on how much meat you have, you may adjust the portions, always keeping the proportion of 2:1:1.

When cooled, rub the seasoning all over the rind of the meat. If there is excess seasoning, leave it - do not rub over rest of meat as, in my experience, this makes the final product too salty.

Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.

C1 - Heat oven to 290F / 200 C. Put pork with rind facing up on a roasting dish with rack, and roast for 10 minutes.

C2 - Turn temperature down to 320 F / 160 C and roast for a further 1 hour.

C3 - Crackling: Increase temperature to 480 F / 250 C. Using a long spoon, spread some oil on the skin. Don't worry about quantity because the excess oil will just drip and collect below the rack in the roasting dish. Roast for a further 15-20 mins to crackle the skin.

Remove and cool. Alert: Make sure you have all your kitchen windows opened, the kitchen vent turned up to the max and the fire alarm turned off - because a lot of smoke will be coming out of the oven when you open it!

Fresh Purple

A friend of mine in London has set up her own online jewelry store, named after her favourite colour. Being impeccably dressed herself always, I'm eager to go check it out myself now. See you at Fresh Purple!

Flowers from the Cotswold, England

Roses and carnations brought all the way from a cottage in the Cotswold, England, by visiting friends and their three beautiful children. Charming!

We cooked over the weekend - first, the Asian experience on Saturday, then a little bit of the South on Sunday. Roast pork with crackling, braised cabbage, kung pao prawns, as well as beans and tasty cornbread - topped up by a belated homemade chocolate cheesecake birthday cake! There was feasting and laughter, fellowship and prayer. What a wonderful thing friends are!

Wind the bobbin up, wind the bobbin up,
Pull, pull, clap clap clap.
Wind it back again, wind it back again,
Pull, pull, clap clap clap.

Point to the ceiling, point to the floor,
Point to the window, point to the door.
Clap your hands together, one two three,
Put your hands upon your knee.

~ An English children's song ~

Navy Bean Soup

Following up on the theme of easy home cooking, I'm starting a series called 'One Pot Fits All' (OPFA) - check out the Table of Contents on the right hand column.

Today's contribution to the OPFA (otherwise known as "op-fah") family is known simply as "Beans". Like when The Boy would ask his momma what was for dinner, she would quite often say "Beans".

That is code for Navy Bean Soup - a good 'ol Southern dish.

Incidentally, you would never believe what Southern boys talk about when they're gathered around the dinner table. That's right, food - like their momma used to make it. Fried okra, fried chicken, fried catfish, cornbread... the list goes on. Southern boys are uniquely good-looking too, quite beside the point.

So yesterday, The Boy and I are trailing the aisles at our local Whole Foods, and suddenly I lose him. I retrace my steps, only to find him standing, almost stupified, in front of a big silver pot poised on a nice table with some paper tubs and lids. What's wrong? I ask. He points to the big silver pot. I look inside.

Yes, you got it right. It was Beans.

Now, to be honest, we both found the Whole Foods version quite awful. But it did get The Boy going. He couldn't sleep last night, and the first thing he did when dawn broke (and it was a decent time) was to call his momma back home to get the recipe for Beans.

So off we were to a butcher (I found one in Houston at last!) to get some smoked ham hocks, and then to the grocery store for some navy beans and cornbread ingredients. And for the whole afternoon, our apartment was filled with the lovely smells of Beans slow-cooking atop the stove.

It was delicious too, with cornbread and freshly churned butter (Central Market is selling the churned butter that used to be hawked at Borough Market!). We ate in silence (always a good sign). It was just what I needed after a long run - a healthy, hearty, navy bean soup.


RECIPE: NAVY BEAN SOUP
Equipment - One big pot

A -
2 lbs Navy beans
1 lb Smoked ham hock
1/2 Large onion (or 1 Small onion), diced

B -
2 Carrots, diced
1 Jalapeno, diced
1/2 Large onion (or 1 Small onion), diced


A - Put the beans, ham hock and onion in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer on low heat for at least 4 hours, if not the whole afternoon. The soup should be reduced to a thick consistency by the time you're ready to eat.

B - 40 minutes before serving, add the diced carrots, onion and jalapeno. The Boy does this right after he pops the cornbread into the oven.

Serve warm with cornbread.

Beans, beans, the magical fruit,
The more you eat, the more you toot!
The more you toot, the better you feel,
So let's have beans for every meal!

Braised Cabbage

This is a winner. And it's easy. I make it at least once a week. Molly Stevens, whose book 'All About Braising' I have exhorted time and again, calls it the World's Best Braised Cabbage. It really is. It's healthy. It's delicious. It's easy. And it goes with all types of food, whether you are serving Chinese or a Pot Roast. We had it for dinner last night with Kung Pao prawns! We're eating it with Pulled Pork tonight. Try it to believe it!


RECIPE: MOLLY STEVEN'S BRAISED CABBAGE
Cooking time: 2 hrs 15 mins
Serves: 8

Equipment -
1 saute pan
Aluminium foil

A -
1 cabbage (approx. 2 lbs, so that it fits into the saute pan)

B -
2 carrots, chopped into small rounds
1 onion, sliced
3 dried red chilis OR Chili flakes

C -
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water

D -
Splash of red vinegar

*****

Heat oven at 325 F / 163 C.

A - Chop the cabbage into 8 parts and arrange around the saute pan in a single layer. It's very important that it's in a single layer.

B - Scatter the onions, carrots and chili flakes around. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

C - Add olive oil and water into the pan, and cover tightly with aluminium foil. Braise in oven for 1 hour. Molly Stevens advises to turn the cabbage halfway, but that's messy so I usually leave it.

After an hour, turn heat up to 400 F / 205 C and remove aluminium foil. Braise for another 15 mins.

D - Before serving, splash a little red vinegar around - this brings out the sweetness of the cabbage.

Serve warm.

4th of July food: Potato Salad

We apparently have a great view of the downtown fireworks from the roof of our apartment complex. So this 4th of July, we had some newlywed friends over for a grill out - my first 4th of July!

Aaron was so excited about making his momma's famous potato salad that he dragged me grocery shopping at 10pm on Friday night. Momma Akins' potato salad lives up to its name indeed. It's pickly and eggy and potatoish. I personally dislike mayonnaise in large quantities, and always leave it out in my subways and then sparingly in salads and coleslaw - which is why I love this potato salad, which is relatively mayo-free. The only time I will eat mayonnaise in large quantities is with my fries (chips to my friends across the pond), which The Boy finds disgusting.

We had so much fun on Saturday evening. I love grilling out!


RECIPE: MOMMA AKINS' POTATO SALAD

A -
1 bag potatoes, approx. 1 per person

B -
4-5 eggs

C - Dressing
Mayonnaise
Hot dog relish
Dill pickles, chopped roughly
Scallions, chopped
Celery seeds
Black pepper
Onion powder


A. Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and parboil potatoes, covered, until they are soft (but not mushy - test with a fork). Drain and place back on heat to boil off any remaining water.

B. While the potatoes are cooking, hard boil the eggs by placing them in a pot of cold water, add some salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain and peel eggs under cold running water. Dry with a paper towel and chop roughly.

C. In a large bowl, fork through the potatoes and mix in the cooked and chopped eggs. Assemble the rest of the salad dressing to taste: a few tbsps of mayo, several squirts of mustard, approx half the bottle of hotdog relish, the pickles, scallions and other condiments.

Serve chilled.

The Best Banana Cake in the World

Everyone has eaten banana cake before. Banana cake is like the cake that you will bake (and eat) at some point in your life - if any baking happened at all, that is. It is the cake to bake if you are in a hurry. It is the cake to bake if you are not a confident baker. It is the cake to bake just to remember home, remember your mum, remember how to bake.

It is a very helpful way of using up those over-ripe bananas too. Our house designer was coming over for a meeting tonight, and I had bananas that were so black and squishy that my housekeeper worriedly pointed them out to me this morning with a tut tut. So, banana cake it was.

The perfect banana cake for me is fluffy and moist, with small scattered squishes of banana in between, and a toasty nutty caramelized shell. No nuts required.

This recipe is by Carrie Ho from A Treasured Collection (2001). A few years ago, the ladies of Covenant Community Methodist Church in Singapore gathered together to collate their time-treasured recipes. It's a dying tradition, but church gatherings used to be fed with food lovingly prepared by its members. Nowadays we cater (still lovingly) fried chicken, hotdogs and cookies. Call me old-fashioned, but I kinda miss those days and am fighting it tooth and nail!


RECIPE: THE BEST BANANA CAKE IN THE WORLD
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 8

Equipment -
1x 20 cm square baking pan (I used a pie pan last night. A decorative alternative is to use a bundt pan.)
Wax paper

A -
180 g / 6 oz Butter
180 g / 6 oz Sugar

B -
2 tbsp Sour cream
1 tsp Vanilla essence

C -
3 Large eggs (60g each)

D -
210 g / 7.5 oz Self-raising flour, sifted
4 Large ripe bananas or 8 Small ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

*****

Pre-heat oven to 170 C / 340 F. Grease and line baking pan. Dust with flour.

A - Cream butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. I use the flat paddle for this.

B - Add sour cream and vanilla essence to A.

C - Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. I switch to the egg beater for this.

D - Fold in sifted flour and bananas gradually into the mixture. I do this manually with a flat spatula. Pour mixture into baking pan and bake for 1 hour. Then cover cake with foil and bake for another 10 mins. Remove from oven and let cake stand for 5 mins before taking it out. Cool on wire rack for at least another 10 mins before serving.

You can serve it with dusted icing sugar or a simple sour cream frosting.

Sai Yong Choi Shui (Sweet Watercress Drink)

There really is no end to the kind of Chinese "torture" that I am willing to inflict on my American friends in the name of nutrition. My friend, Leslie, in particular, has gamely drunk every herbal soup I have presented her and once sat, fists clenched, through a meal with Japanese fried fish shishamo (smelt) on the table in full glory with their heads, eyes, roe and tails intact (she did scream when someone touched her).

One type of soup, however, has never failed to please - a sweet beverage with cooling properties on a hot summer's day. It also seems universally cultural: the Mexicans have ponche, Singaporeans have sugarcane, the Japanese have a watercress drink too (what issit called?). One of the many drinks the Chinese have is watercress.

Each major ingredient in this delicious concoction presents a nutritional benefit or symbolic meaning:

Watercress - The Chinese call watercress 'The Vegetable from the Western Oceans', because watercress is not native to China and the name reflects the fact that it was first introduced by Portugese sailors via Macau more than a century ago (1988, Ng Siong Mui). It is believed to have refreshing and soothing properties for the lungs, and is drunk in hot weather.

Almonds - There are two kinds of almonds in Chinese cooking: the bigger sweet almonds, and the smaller bitter almonds. The latter is used here. Here, both are really kernals from different species of the apricot. The smaller bitter almonds have stronger herbal properties and good for alleviating dry coughs (1988, Ng Siong Mui). I add it here because it gives a fun crunchiness to the drink.

Red dates and Honey dates and Dried Longan flesh - There is no added sugar to this drink at all. It is flavoured entirely with a combination of these sweet fruits. Longans are my particular favourite, and they are the fruit of 'sweetness and roundness', which in the Chinese mind means 'everything will be perfect' (1988, Ng Siong Mui). I love honey dates too - sweet yumminess!

Buddha's fruit - Buddha's fruit is a brownish-green, round and light fruit with a sharp, sweet taste. The name is derived from the fact that the fruit grows in clusters of 18 - exactly the number of Buddha's close disciples - and is grown only in China's Kwangsi province (1988, Ng Siong Mui).

Dried tangerine peel - Dried tangerine peel is one of the three treasures of the Cantonese. My mother remembers her grandmother hiding it in an air-tight biscuit tin under her bed because it was so precious. I added a small slice of this to counteract the 'yin' in the drink.

Boil all ingredients for 15 mins on high and then lower heat to simmer for 2 hours. Serve chilled.

Kung Pao Chicken / Prawns / Scallops

Now that you have assembled your basic Chinese kitchen, it's time to put it to good use! Like the Steamed Sea Bass, this recipe will use the ingredients found in a Basic Chinese Kitchen (see previous post).

We served the scallops version of this dish to our friends from church last Friday - guys, we totally forgot to mention (because we actually forgot) that it was our 6 month anniversary that day!

Since then, however, I've been experimenting a little. Chicken turns out fine with no incidents usually, but I have been unhappy with the texture of the prawns/scallops when we've gone the seafood way. So I did a little research. What I was aiming for was a firm texture (so no wet ingredients in the marinade), while protecting the seafood's natural moisture (so not too much salt) and sweetness.

And I decided to try toasting the nuts beforehand, to add a little smokiness.

Kung pao is also a classic in Asian American cuisine - but here, sans the 'Pei Wei' effect (read: cloyingly sweet, unredemptively starchy, and ever-abundant sauce).

It is also easy - I promise you will get this done in less than 30 mins. I love stir-frys for that reason: they are quick and relatively straightforward, although its taken me a little longer to do it well. My passion is to share the little secrets I've learned and discovered along the way with you, so as to demystify Asian cooking once and for all.

I've added little notes here, to show how the different layers of flavours build on each other. It should be noted that I use filtered water only because I've lived in different countries and it's the only way I can ensure (as far as possible) that the progeny of the water I get from my tap, wherever I am, does not affect my cooking. But if you are happy with the water from your tap, then by all means use it.

As always, the biggest secret to Chinese (or any) cooking is: CONTROL YOUR FIRE.

Photo from ex-blog

RECIPE: KUNG PAO CHICKEN/PRAWNS/SCALLOPS
(Cooking time: 30 mins)

A - Meat
Chicken breast, cut into small cubes
OR
Prawns, shelled and deveined (by slicing the top curve of the prawn longitudinally and taking out the thin black "worm" hidden inside)
OR
Scallops

B - Marinade
For chicken:
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp thin soya sauce
2 tsp Shaoshing wine or Vermouth
1 tsp cornflour

For prawns:
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp oil

For scallops:
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp oil

C - Sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce (saltish)
2 tsp rice wine vinegar (sour)
2 tsp sugar (sweet)
1.5 tbsp cornflour
6 tbsp filtered water

D - Aromatics
Vegetable oil (eyeball amount depending on amount of meat)
2 cloves of garlic, sliced diagonally
4 slices of ginger (6 slices if using seafood)
Handful of dried chilis
2 tbsp Shaoshing wine or Vermouth

E - Garnishing
3 scallions, cut into small rounds
Handful of cashews or skinless peanuts, toasted with a spray of oil (smoky)

*****

A - Dry the prawns/scallops (if using) with a paper towel. This will ensure that the outer layer sears better.

B - Mix the meat with its respective marinade. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 15 mins. Take out and let it get to room temperature before cooking.

C - Prepare the sauce while the meat is marinating. You can save time by toasting the nuts and doing all your chopping at this point too.

D - Heat 2-3 tbsps of oil in wok over high heat until smoke rises. Swirl it around. Lower the heat to medium and fry the garlic, ginger and dried chilis to "release" their aroma. Once you smell their fragrance, but before the garlic and ginger burn (CONTROL YOUR FIRE), add the marinated meat - searing the meat, then stir-frying it, tossing and turning. When the meat is half-cooked, splash the wine around the sides of the wok (to heat it before it hits the other ingredients), tossing and turning continuously.

E - When the meat is cooked, add scallions and sauce from C. Toss for a few seconds. Turn off fire and toss in nuts.

Serve immediately with white rice and some vegetables - an instant Chinese meal!

Trout, Asparagus and New Potato Salad

Lunch today. I love it when somebody rhapsodizes about things simple. Like a new potato. Or the sound of a dishwasher. It's mindful. It's comforting. It's chastising.

This recipe is from Rowley Leigh's food column in the FT. I substituted asparagus for about-to-wilt rocket leaves and chopped Romain lettuce that I had in my fridge, which is fine, except you'll probably need more dressing to cover the expansion of foliage. I used fresh trout.

"A simple enough assembly: the most important point is not to let any of the ingredients see the inside of a fridge once they are cooked. Fillets of smoked trout could well be substituted for fresh. Enough for a light lunch for four or a starter for six.

Ingredients
750g Cornish early, Jersey new or other new potatoes, as fresh as is conceivably possible
2 trout weighing 300g-350g each
1 lemon
1 bunch green asparagus (454g)
2 egg yolks
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbs sunflower oil
1 tbs cream or crème fraîche
10 tarragon leaves

Method
● Place the new potatoes in a bowl of cold water and agitate fiercely with a coarse scrubbing pad to remove the skins. If that fails to remove them, scrape them off them with a small knife or abrasive cloth. Place the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water and a teaspoon of salt and bring to a simmer. Cook until tender – 20 to 25 minutes – and then drain and allow to cool. If using potatoes with tough skins, it is best to cook them with the skins on and then remove them while they cool.
● If using fresh trout, sprinkle some sea salt on a sheet of foil and season the cavities of the fish with sea salt, milled pepper and a few slices of lemon. Wrap each trout in the foil and bake in a hot oven, 200ºC, for 15 minutes. Remove and leave to cool in the foil packages.
● Peel and trim the stalks of the asparagus and place the spears in a very large pot of boiling, salted water for two minutes. Remove and allow to cool, having spread them out on a tray in a cool place.
● Make a dressing by whisking together the egg yolks, mustard, vinegar and seasonings before adding the oil, cream and chopped tarragon. Add a little lemon juice to sharpen if required. Remove the foil and skin from the fish and lift the fillets off the bone. Break the flesh up into large flakes and place in a large bowl. Slice the potatoes thickly and add them to the bowl. Cut the asparagus into short finger lengths and add them in turn. Pour the dressing over, very gently mix together and spoon on to plates."

~Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009~