IMBB 25: Taramasalata

Don't you notice my last 3 posts were all for food blogging events? Just goes to show how involved I am offline with things such as moving and buying a car, etc.

Well then, let's get down to business. I was gifted immensely by a good friend in Greece with loads, and I mean loads, of food stuffs that she made her sister carry on the latter's way back here in London. Thanks Sha! *mwah* One of the wonderful things she gave me was this big block of fresh salted fish roe called 'tarama' in Greek. As expected, I immediately set out to make some taramasalata - the Greek fish roe dip or salad dressing greatly enjoyed here and one of mine and my husband's favourites.

Derrick's theme in the current IMBB edition says to use stale bread. Mine used nearly new bread but I'm sure using not-so-new ones is okay. I was thoroughly fascinated with the making of this delightful dip which is very much akin to making mayonnaise though sans the eggs. Which also reminds me to grab a food processor in the next sale because holding a handheld mixer on one hand and slowly dripping olive oil in the other is no fun at all. Definitely not. :( What's more fascinating for me is how long this dip stayed unspoiled in the fridge with no loss in taste until nearly a month! The recipe I adapted is from another friend, Stel, who in turn adapted it from Craig Clairborne.



Taramasalata

1/4 cup fresh salted fish roe
3 crustless white bread
1/2 cup olive oil
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Soak the bread slices briefly in warm water and then squeeze dry. Set aside the water.
2. Combine the bread and fish roe in a bowl and with a handheld mixer beat the mixture for a few seconds until completely combined (or use a food processor).
3. While the mixer is still running, add the olive oil slowly in a thin stream.
4. When all the olive oil is incorporated, add the lemon juice little by little also.
5. The resulting consistency should be that of thick mayonnaise. If it is too thick to your liking, add some of the reserved soaking water until you get the viscosity that you want.

I can't finish this post without shamelessly bragging about what I got from Sha. Just look at that spread above. And to think that I just requested for some halva (see below). You know me, a thorough nut lover. All the labels were Greek to me - figuratively and literally. So I let my smell and taste be my guide. My husband loved all the different olives and both of us enjoying the varied flavours of teas, the sweets they were long gone (I love the gum mastic flavoured ones; now I know what they use to make Turkish delights and the wafers in some reminded me of the communion wafers in church), the other items like mushroom orzo, various canned and bottled goodies, etc. - I will try to make the savouring of them last as long as possible. :) Thanks very very much Sha. :)

LP 9: Lengua Estofado

I know Cia encouraged us to make something different out of innards and offal. But I'm pretty helpless on this since I really do not cook offals that often. So you would have to forgive me if I make this thoroughly standard fiesta dish. Cia, as mentioned, of Pabulum is currently hosting the 9th edition of Lasang Pinoy.

I had a lot of fun making this I must say. Starting with shopping for the tongue. Now I wouldn't find this in any ol' supermarket around here so off I went to Tooting (no kidding!) which has a very lively (and cheap) market. (I must blog about this place soon). Lots of fresh veggies and fruits plus this is where I get my fix on pork legs (properly cut), goat meat, whole baby back ribs, fresh chicken liver galore, and supermarket-rare offals - all in very reasonable prices. I went in a butcher shop and got this big boy of a tongue.



It was more than 14 inches long and ... well ... resembles something like ... oh never mind. Hehehe! Finding a big pot to fit it in was a challenge but I managed to unearth one of my moth-balling-seldom-used stock pots and just about fit it in. The removal of the skin was a joy - not! Reynaldo Alejandro's recipe from The Food of the Philippines (where I adapted this from) said to scrape or peel. Well I scraped and scraped and scraped but most of the white film is still there. So I had to slice it off trying to take off as little and as thinly as possible. After a prolonged struggle with a double dead tongue I finally got it all off! Hurray, on to the cooking!

The marinade was quite good, though, I noticed that you can substitute cooking wine or lemon for the vinegars. I bet it would taste great as well. The only problem I had was in the browning of the meat since the marinade has sugar hence the residue got burned. I had to wash up the pot pronto before continuing with the sauteing. I know I lost some good flavours with all those drippings washed away but it was burned and I don't want that to ruin the sauce. Other than that everything else was surprisingly a breeze. And I originally thought it would be horrific including the taste and texture of the meat. The first time I had this was when I was 12 years old and even then, even though I had a pretty fussy tastebud I loved that properly tenderly cooked lengua from a relative's wedding banquet. Finally, I was able to recreate it.


Lengua Estofado

1.5 kg  beef tongue

*Marinade:
1 tsp peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp cider vinegar or white cooking wine
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp sea salt
1 cup water

3 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/2 cup minced onions
1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes
350 g  potatoes - peeled, quartered and sliced
1 big carrot - peeled and sliced
salt and freshly milled black pepper
1/3 cup pimiento-stuffed olives
1 cup button mushrooms - halved or sliced

1. Boil the tongue in a large pot of water for 20 minutes. (You may cut the tongue in half if it cannot fit). Drain from water and leave until cool enough to handle.
2. Peel off the (usually white) outer skin. You may have to use a very sharp carving knife for this. Trim ends and wash.
3. Combine all marinade ingredients and marinate the tongue for 1 hour or overnight.
4. In a large pot heat the oil and brown the tongue on all sides. Remove and set aside.
5. If the residue in the pot is not burned, use it with the same oil, if it is then clean the pot and heat it up again with about 2 Tbsp oil.
6. Saute garlic for about 2 minutes in gentle heat - *do not* burn it.
7. Turn up the heat and add in the onion, cook for about 4-5 minutes or until translucent.
8. Add in the tomatoes and cook until soft.
9. Put the tongue back in the pot together with the marinade.
10. Add about 1/2 cup water. Bring back to boil and then simmer for 2.5 hours or until tender. Prick the tongue to let the liquid penetrate. You may add more boiling water a little at a time if it is drying out too much.
11. Tip in the potatoes and carrots - cook for about 5 minutes.
12. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.
13. Just before serving, remove tongue from sauce and slice crosswise. Arrange in a platter and ladle sauce and vegetables on top. Serve hot.

What's For Pud? Bakewell Tart !

St. George's Day is celebrated every 23rd of April in England where Georgie boy is the patron saint. Why he was made one? A legend had it that he skewered a large lizard. I don't know if he barbecued it with sauce on the side. Obviously, it's not as widely celebrated as St. Patrick's Day of Ireland. In fact, a lot of people hardly remember or know when it is or whether to celebrate it at all. Besides a few English flags in pubs you could hardly see much evidence of the event. Although in my former company our CEO was a diehard Englishman that we were 'gently' coerced to wear red and whites on the day and our offices decorated with red and white flags and buntings.

Sam of Becks & Posh sought to redress the problem by teaming up with Monkey Gland of Jam Faced to host a one-time blog event of What's For Pud? Traditional British food is not renowned for its popularity or sophistication but the puddings (desserts, puds, afters) are something else. My own personal favourite is the Sticky Toffee Pudding. Among the store bought ones, Marks & Spencers comes up trumps in my book. Really really delish and so satisfying. I wanted it to be my entry but I wasn't sure if it's English or where exactly it originated. Then I pondered on Sussex Pond but I don't want to go steaming for 3 hours! So to be safe I chose another favourite that I am sure is from England.

As the name suggests, Bakewell Tart originally came from Bakewell, Derbyshire - that's Mr. Darcy's home county mind you. I've visited that town a decade ago, too long ago that I could hardly remember what it looked like except that it's near that beautiful pile of a house called Chatsworth. I tried to delay posting this with a plan to visit the Peak District and Bakewell a week ago during the school term break so I could have some really attractive pictures of the town. But the family car died and we couldn't make the 4-hour drive. Such a shame. :(

The tart was originally known in the form of Bakewell Pudding which according to legend has been in existence as far back as the 1500s. The more recent history of it tells of a mistake (like the Tarte Tatin) in the kitchen of the White Horse coaching inn when an inexperienced cook mistook the instructions for a strawberry tart. Instead of putting the egg and sugar in the pastry, it was poured on top of the jam which was on an obviously plainer crust thus accidentally creating this delightful dessert (or tea fodder depending on your inclination).

Anyhow, the tart is a thin layer of raspberry or strawberry jam on a shortcrust pastry with almond cake on the next layer then topped with icing. I really do not fancy the icing, in fact whenever I eat a shop-bought one I scrape it off completely so I just omitted it this time so as not to prolong the start of my enjoyment of it.

Just look at that nice sliver of tart above, a lovely meld of the raspberry jam and almond based cake. The addition of orange and lemon zests was a brilliant idea of Brian Turner from whose book, Favourite British Recipes, I adapted my lovey-dovey delish tart.

All puffed up just out of the oven.

Bakewell Tart

*Pastry:
175 g  [heaping 1 1/3 cup] plain flour
pinch of salt
25 g  [5 tsp] caster sugar
finely grated zest of orange and lemon (optional)
80 g  [1/3 cup] cold unsalted butter
2-3 Tbsp cold water

*Filling:
100 g  [5 Tbsp] raspberry or strawberry jam
3 eggs
115 g  [1/2 cup] caster sugar
115 g  [scant 1/2 cup] unsalted butter - melted
115 g  [1 cup + 2 Tbsp] ground almonds
25 g  icing sugar, mixed with a little water (optional)

• For the pastry:
  1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, orange and lemon zests in a bowl.
  2. Cut in the cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or with two butter knives until breadcrumb-like in texture.
  3. Sprinkle the cold water while tossing the mixture until it can be gathered into a ball. Press and knead a little to keep it together. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  5. Roll out and line a 25cm (10-inch) tart pan. Crimp the edges.
  6. Warm the jam. (Optional) Press into a sieve to remove seeds. Spread over the base of the tart.


• For the filling:
  1. Beat the eggs with the sugar.
  2. Fold in the melted butter and ground almond slowly.
  3. Pour carefully on the pastry-lined tart pan.
  4. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes. Remove and cool completely.
  5. (Optional) Pour the icing in the centre of the tart and using a palette knife spread as thinly as possible.

Tagged with: What's For Pud? and St George's Day

SHF 18: Red Wine Tart

First thing that came to my mind for the current SHF 18 are one of those liquour-laced cakes or desserts. But I thought why put a puny little amount when you can have it as a main ingredient. Thanks to a recipe I found in Anne Willan's fabulous book, A Kitchen in Burgundy, I was able to do a certainly interesting dessert.

As usual I made some blunder. Instructions clearly said to bake blind but my eyes were wide open when I did - I forgot the baking beans! So the pastry was too puffed up to my liking but no matter it still did the job. In fact, it was a very nice butter biscuit/cookie base so good that I balled up the excess and baked into cookies.

As for the filling, it didn't quite looked like the sea-of-tranquility smooth as that in Anne's book's picture. More like the Pink Floyd-y dark-side-of-the-moon pockmarked. But I was more surprised by the taste. I was preparing to dislike it or just have a passable 'okay' kind of flavour. However, it was only a little alcoholic, mildly bitter, and had an unexpected grape-y flavour (well *duh* wine is made from grapes for pete's sake!). I used (well actually used up left-overs) Merlot wine although Anne suggested to use Pinot Noir for a more fruity flavour. I have to say this is a keeper of a recipe although I definitely have to fiddle with the sugar in the pastry probably change it to caster sugar maybe even to icing sugar to remove the grittiness. And most of all to remember those blasted baking beans!




Red Wine Tart

*Sweet Pastry (Pate Sucree)
175 g  [1 1/2 cup] plain flour
100 g  [7 Tbsp] butter - softened
3 egg yolks
100 g  [scant 1/2 cup] caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla

*Filling:
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp ground cinammon
2 eggs
100 g  [1/2 cup] sugar
250 ml  [1 cup] red wine

1/2 cup double cream for decoration

• For the pastry:
  1. Mix salt and flour in a bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry cutter or with 2 butter knives. Rub butter in with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
  2. Combine egg yolks and vanilla in a small bowl. Sprinkle this mixture to the butter-flour mixture and gather the dough into a ball.
  3. Knead and press dough between your hands just enough to hold it together. Do not over knead.
  4. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C/fan 170°C.
  5. Roll out into an 11-inch circle. Line and press into a 23cm [9-inch] fluted tart pan. Prick base with fork.
  6. Put an aluminium foil (shiny side down) on the pan and fill this with dry or ceramic beans.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake for another 5 minutes. Cool.


• For the filling:
  1. Combine cornstarch and cinammon and mix well.
  2. Whisk egg gently in a bowl and add the cornstarch mixture. Keep froth to minimum.
  3. Stir in the wine gently.


• Place the tart pan on a baking sheet. Put this on the oven shelf and while it's partially pulled out gently pour the filling in the pan. Push it gently in the oven.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes in 375°F/190°C/fan 170°C.
• Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes. Unmold. Cool completely.
• Before serving whip double cream until stiff peaks. Pipe on the edge of pie with a star tip.

Fish Cakes

I've always followed closely a number of regular columns in the BBC Good Food magazine. One of them is the 'Ultimate' series currently done by Angela Nilsen. Wherein she attempts to find or develop the ultimate the best recipe for our favourite dishes and desserts. That actually, is my objective, too. Sometimes I go to all sort of lengths to source out the ingredients or required cooking utensils just so I could do my 'ultimate' creation. This just underlines my keen interest in this column.

For this month's edition, she makes fish cakes. I love fish but often than not the fish cakes I find in the fish & chips around here or even in restaurants are chock-full of fillings and very little fish. A name change to 'fish-flavoured cakes' should be done to aptly describe them. Hence, I was heartened to discover Angela's recipe to be more fish and less fillings. I could clearly see whole flakes in it with just enough of the potatoes to keep it together. I also love the tartare-style sauce she made. Even my sauce-finicky husband roundly approved!



Fish Cakes

450 g  skinned fillet of white fish (haddock, cod, etc.)
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup water
2 bay leaves
350 g  floury potatoes (Maris Piper, King Edward, etc.) - peeled and quartered
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp finely chopped chives
1 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 egg
85 g  white breadcrumbs
flour
1/4 cup oil for frying

*Tartare-style Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp capers - rinsed, drained, and roughly chopped
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp creamed horseradish
1 shallot - finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Mix all ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.
2. Put the fillet of fish in a pan. Add the bay leaves, milk and water. Cover, bring to boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered for 10 minutes to finish cooking the fish. Drain the fish from the pan and cool completely on a plate.
3. Put potatoes in a saucepan with just enough boiling water to cover them. Bring back to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes or until cooked but not broken up. Drain in a colander for one minute and then bring the potatoes back to the hot saucepan on the lowest heat. Let them dry out for 1 minute and mash the potatoes in the saucepan. This will result in a dry and fluffy mash. Take off the heat and mix in 1 Tbsp of the tartare-style sauce, lemon zest, chives, and parsley. Season well with salt and pepper.
4. Flake the fish in big chunks into the mashed potatoes. Mix a few times just enough to combine them. Set aside.
5. Beat egg in a shallow bowl. Put the breadcrumbs in a plate.
6. Divide the potato mixture into 4 or 5. With floured hands, shape each piece into a ball then flatten them to form small cakes.
7. Sit the cakes one by one in the egg bowl and spoon over egg to coat completely. Then sit the cakes in the breadcrumbs and pat sides and top to cover completely. Transfer on a plate, cover and chill for 30 minutes.
8. Heat oil in a pan. Drop a little dry breadcrumbs in it, if it sizzles it is ready. Fry the fish cakes on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden.
9. Serve with the sauce and and lemon wedges.

A Foodbloggers Meme Around The World

The talented Dilek of Dilekce, one of the non-English foodblogs I regularly read (well actually just drool at pictures since I don't have a clue on what the text is all about), has tagged me for a meme. Let me have a go at these questions ...

1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try.

Like Dilek, I also have a long wish list but here's an excerp:

• Choco-mocca Liquer - by the Passionate Cook. Once I get those resealable bottles I'll make a big batch and force my friends to take one each.
• Creme Brulee - from Keiko of Nordljus. I know this is pretty basic but I've never done one and I think using one of those torch thing is quite cool.
• Kangkong Blachan - from Reid's Onokinegrindz and Stellie's Babyrambutan. Several times I have assembled the ingredients for this but somehow I never get to cook it.

2. A foodblog in your vicinity

As far as I know, the nearest one to me is Johanna of the Passionate Cook.


3. A foodblog located far from you

Probably one of the farthest would be someone like Clare of Eatstuff. I've visited and enjoyed her food blog from time to time when I get the chance to bloghop.


4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?)

I actually met Monkey Gland at that EB with Sam of Becks&Posh when she came to town. But I have to admit I only got to read his blog Jam Faced recently and I think I'm hooked. Him and Sam are co-hosting the one-off food blogging event of What's For Pud?


5. Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this meme?

I hope these people hasn't been tagged yet: Sha-sha who's somewhere in the Mediterranean right now, Jmom in North Carolina, and Boo_licious in Malaysia.

Spinach With Fried Garlic

Here's one recipe that I adapted from Ken Hom's Hot Wok that I use when I have excess spinach from the usual sinigang. The other stir-fry spinach recipe that I blogged here also have garlic although it's not as fried crisp as these. I love the crunch of the garlic in contrast with the soft spinach besides the utter simplicity of the cooking and the ingredients themselves.


Spinach with Fried Garlic

750 g  fresh spinach - washed and drained well
1 1/2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp thinly sliced garlic
1 tsp sea salt
pinch of sugar

1. Heat oil gently in a wok. Add in the salt and garlic. Fry on low heat until garlic is golden and crisp.
2. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
3. Heat the oil again this time on high heat until it is smoking.
4. Tip in the spinach and stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
5. Add a pinch of sugar. Stir-fry for a further 3-4 minutes or until spinach is wilted.
6. Remove and dish up. Scatter fried garlic on top. Serve immediately.

Spiced Apple Cake

I adapted this loosely on Delia Smith's recipe in her How To Cook Book 1. This is probably my third try on the recipe with lots of changes from the original. For one, I reduced the baking time and temperature because at 190C for 1.25 hours it practically reduced the top to cinders. Then the sugar in the cake is increased to improve the blandness. I felt there was too much baking powder so that got reduced and I will try to reduce more of it in my next tries. Despite these, you can see it did come out quite well. A very nice tea-time treat to have with a hot cuppa of tea (coffee for some).


Spiced Apple Cake

350 g  peeled and chopped baking apples (Golden Delicious/Bramley/Braeburn/Cox)
275 g  [2 cups] plain flour
110 g  [scant 1/2 cup] butter - melted
2 eggs - slightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves (optional)
1/2 whole nutmeg - finely grated (about 1 tsp)
170 g  [3/4 cup] caster sugar
175 ml  [scant 2/3 cup] milk

*Topping:
75 g  [1/3 cup] demerara sugar
75 g  [heaping 1/2 cup] self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
25 g  [2 Tbsp] butter - softened
50 g  pecans or walnuts - roughly chopped
1 Tbsp cold water

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4. Grease the bottom of a 23 cm (9-inch) springform round cake pan.
2. Mix the topping - combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour in a small bowl. Cut in the soft butter with two butter knives into the mixture. Then proceed to rub in it with your fingertips. Add in the nuts - mix well. Sprinkle the cold water and toss. Set aside.
3. Combine the flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, and salt in another bowl.
4. Put the eggs in a big bowl. Add in the milk, sugar, and melted butter.
5. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture with a wooden spoon in as few stokes as possible just enough to combine.
6. Fold in the chopped apples.
7. Pour into the greased cake pan.
8. Sprinkle the topping on the surface of the batter.
9. Bake in oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10. Cool for about 5 minutes, turn out from the pan then cool completely.

LP 8: Puto

The current theme of the eighth Lasang Pinoy, hosted by the lovely Iska of Edible Experiments, is centered on food for/by children. I wanted to create my husband's favourite childhood snack of bibingkang malagkit but my recipe fell short of expectations. The bottom - soggy, the top - too sweet. Maybe I'll blog it some other time. So off I went recruiting my kids in making a very simple Filipino steamed cake - puto. Mind you this is not your regular traditional puto which is made of malagkit (sticky rice) flour. This is of recent provenance, probably as early as the 80s when the popular Filipino bakeshop, Goldilocks, came up with this rich cake-like puto. There are very few ingredients to have and it's just a matter of mixing them all up in a bowl which a kid can easily do. My eldest daughter remarked that the batter is very much like that of a pancake. Well what do you know, she was right of course. More like a very sweet pancake version which is steamed instead of panfried. My kids are usually enthusiastic with 'helping' out in cooking and baking especially ones where they are actively involved in as opposed to just watching. I hope this would encourage them to be more adventurous in eating as well as in kitchen activities.


You don't know how much frustrations this seemingly innocuous snack has given me for the last ... oh ... 15 years. It's not a problem in the batter, more on the process of making these cakes rise in the steaming. The biggest Darth Vader-like enemy of steaming puto is water or condensation dripping/forming on top while it's cooking. Once water dripped on top then your puto is doomed to be earthbound. Never to rise in all its peaked glory. I've had this problem over and over again in the years that I was trying to make it. Often times I have to disguise my failure from our guests by saying it's actually my new version of kutchinta. LOL! I changed steamers, used rice cookers, metal steamers, and now just about having moderate success using a cheap and simple bamboo steamer. Really, sometimes you don't need high-tech gadgets to achieve good results.


The recipe is something I got from my sister-in-law, Ate Eva, in Toronto which in turn she got from a friend of hers. I have to tone down the recipe considerably because it was cloyingly rich (nakaka-uta). The original measure of 2 tablespoons baking powder is I think too much. It actually have an slight aftertaste which I don't like so I proceeded to halve the baking powder. Same with the milk and eggs. I also added salt since I noticed that it doesn't rise as much as I want to and as you know, salt reacts with the baking powder that causes cakes to swell. As for my dreaded steaming, normally I would cover the baking pan to prevent condensation to drip on it. But since I'm using small (different sized at that) moulds, it would be truly troublesome to cover them all individually. Life is too short for me to get that tedious. So I covered the top of the steaming basket itself with a cloth. That didn't work since the water vapours came in unimpeded thru the slats at the bottom. So I moved the cloth onto the bottom of the first level basket. Finally, I had my well-risen puto (well most of the time).




Rich Puto

2 cups plain flour
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 egg - slightly beaten
1 Tbsp baking powder
scant 1/2 tsp fine salt
1 1/3 cup sugar

1. Mix all ingredients well.
2. Pour into small cake moulds. (Any small ramekins or tiny bowls/plates may be used). Cover with aluminium foil, tea towels or cloth (or you may cover the steamer itself with cloth).
3. Steam in medium heat for about 20-25 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and pry off the puto from the moulds with a butter knife. Serve warm or cold.

*Variation: Mix grated or slivers of cheese just before steaming.

Chicken Soy Sauce

"Chicken again?!" is my kids' gripe whenever they see a winged creature on my chopping board. I was afraid they might picket outside the kitchen to demand other food. Well, what can I do? Barring bird flu or salmonella, chicken is probably the cheapest meat you can have. We really prefer fish and other seafood but my gulay! The prices of fish here in London! No way we can afford them everyday. Unlike back in the Phils. where fish is so commonplace that people turn up their noses on galunggong (fish similar to mackerel). Getting back to my cooking, I came face to face with some chicken and this laziness to go to the supermarket for additional ingredients. Solution -> find a recipe which uses the usual cupboard ingredients or ones that I already have and voila mwala! Here comes the Chinese Cooking for Beginners by Huang Su-Huei to the rescue.


Chicken Soy Sauce

500 g  - 600 g  chicken legs or wings - cut into bite-size pieces
1 Tbsp soy sauce
oil for deep-frying
1 potato (about 250 g) - cut into bite-size pieces
1 medium carrot - cut into bite-size pieces
1 green onion - cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbsp cooking wine

*Sauce:
1 cup water
1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce

*Thickener:
1 Tbsp water
2 tsp cornstarch

1. Marinate the chicken in the 1 Tbsp soy sauce for about 20 minutes.
2. Mix the sauce and thickener in separate containers. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in the wok and deep-fry the marinated chicken for about 4 minutes or until golden. Remove and drain briefly in paper towels. Set aside.
4. Deep-fry the potatoes and carrots until golden (about 3 minutes). Drain and set aside.
5. Remove the oil from the wok and then add 1 Tbsp oil.
6. Stir fry the green onions until aromatic.
7. Add the chicken, wine and sauce. Cover, bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Add in the potatoes and carrots. Cook for a further 10 minutes.
9. The sauce should reduce to about 1/2 cup. Stir in the thickener and bring gently to boil. Dish up and serve.

Ginataang Halo-Halo

This is one of my all-time favourite hot Filipino snack. Although there was a time when just the mention of the name makes me turn green - not with envy - but as in almost sick. See, there was a period (a long one) when my father insisted on having this *every* Sunday without fail. We, of course, loved it what with my father asking for gabi (taro) and ube (purple yam) to be required in the mix. The ube makes the sweet soup turn rather bluish as if somebody tipped in some tina (blue laundry tint). But no matter how much you love a certain food, if you have it every week for more than a year, your infatuation soon wanes. Nowadays I cook it only several times a year usually in winter time when having something hot and soupy is almost de rigeur for our family.

The ingredients I used here is based on what I can source in my area. So fresh coconut milk is out as with saba banana. That's one thing I miss from Pinas. The plantain, in my opinion, still can't compete with the taste and texture of the saba. But I can't find it anywhere here so to the plantain I must stick. One thing about plantain, when it's very ripe it will literally turn almost black. I was wondering before why grocers continue to display 'rotten' pieces of these. Until a Filipina friend kindly informed me that it still edible in that state. In fact, most prefer it black-ripe for a softer and sweeter banana.

I noticed as well that the sweet potatoes (kamote) here is softer or rather cooks more easily than the ones back home. And lastly, I think I prefer to use the glutinous rice flour rather than soaking the malagkit overnight then grinding it then straining it in a cheese cloth. *sigh* The ready-made flour just makes ife so much easier. By the way, there's a lot of coconut soup in this one since I love it soupy rather than chock-full of halo with hardly any soup.





Ginataang Halo-Halo
(Mixed Fruits In Sweet Coconut Milk)

*For the bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls):
1 cup malagkit (glutinous) rice flour
scant 1/2 cup water

3 x 400 ml cans of coconut milk
3 x 400 ml cans of water (use the can of the coconut milk)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup tiny sago (tapioca) pearls
500 g  kamote (sweet potato) - peeled and cut into serving size pieces
350 g  gabi (taro/eddo) - peeled and cut into serving size pieces
2 pcs ripe plantain bananas - peeled and cut into serving size pieces
250 g  fresh or canned langka (jackfruit) - drained and cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces
coconut cream (optional)

1. Mix the malagkit rice flour and water. Add in more water or flour to make into a dough-like consistency.
2. Get a small piece off it and, with your hands, roll into a ball about 1/2-inch in diameter. Repeat until you have used up all of the dough. Set aside.
3. In a big pot, tip in all the coconut milk and water. Bring to boil - watch out this mixture usually boils over.
4. Add the sago pearls. Turn down heat and continue to simmer uncovered until there are no more opaque white bit in the middle of the sago pearls (about 20 minutes).
5. Add in the sugar and stir to dissolve. Taste to see if the sweetness is to your liking. If not, add more sugar.
6. Tip in the bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls) in the pot. Bring to boil again until all the bilo-bilo has floated on the surface.
7. Add the gabi, simmer for 3 minutes.
8. Add the kamote and banana and simmer for another 4 minutes or until the gabi and kamote are almost cooked.
9. Add the langka and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
10. Serve hot in a bowl with 1-2 Tbsp of coconut cream on top.

Borough Market

   

Underneath the railway arches of London Bridge station, beside the Southwark Cathedral lies this small open air food shopping area called Borough Market. On this approach you can access the market through the small alley of Green Dragon Court. [Click on the pictures for a bigger view.]


I have heard a lot about it, mostly along the lines of excited chatter on great foodie finds or fresh organic produce. One fine Saturday in October I was able to verify that and I had a great time with my son foraging through the numerous stalls with loads of wonderful produce usually from small artisanal producers.

Its got a great atmosphere with lots of people mingling and craning their necks on the goods laid out on the tables. A favourite of my son is the hot apple juice laced with cinnamon. Lovely when drank in cold cold weather.

If you look closely, the place might seem familiar because it's always been a popular movie location - Harry Potter 3, Bridget Jones, Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels, etc.)

   

In the early mornings (as in pre-dawn) the market caters more for the food/restaurant trade and wholesales. I have it from a reliable source (thanks Hanna) that it's open for retail trade on weekdays as well as on Saturdays. Fridays and Saturdays are its busiest.

   

Among the few things you can find there are saucisson sec (dry French sausages) of different flavours. The truffle saucisson is particularly delish. There is a stall for bratwurst and other types of German sausages, pickles, etc.

   

You can also find all manner of sweets, chocolates, fudges, toffees, etc. Baked goods also abound - numerous breads, cakes, pies, tarts, cookies.

   

I love rummaging through the stalls with fruits and vegetables where they have both organic and regular ones. You can often see unusual and hard to find vegetables that you don't normally get from your local supermarkets.

There are also a number of stalls selling food on the go - juicy hamburgers, raclette sandwiches, roast pork sandwiches, pizza (crust remained crispy!), oysters, yoghurt and others. You will never go hungry there definitely.


Anything food related can be found there. Just take a look at these lovely hand painted plates for sale. The same stall also sells coasters, placemats, and aprons.


Besides the temporary stalls, there are food shops, pubs, and restaurants which are open everyday since they are in permanent spaces. The restaurant (and overpriced) Fish! can be found there with a new one right above the market whose name I couldn't recall.


Among the favourite shops that I love returning to again and again are Brindisa for anything Spanish (chorizos, wines, paprika, etc.; they also have a separate tapas bar), Neil's Yard for robust breads and cheese and a branch of Konditor & Cook's for delectable cakes, cookies, and other sweet stuff.

   

Lumpiang Togue

This is actually a lumpiang gulay (vegetable spring roll) but since the dominant veggie is the togue (beansprouts) so I've decided to call it same as that snack you get from roadside shacks or in markets in the Phils. I've been trying to adapt this recipe from Huang Su-Huei's Chinese Cooking For Beginners for years. But always my problem is the lumpia wrappers getting soggy hence getting holes or breaking up during frying. I've tried so many different tacks from draining for a whole day to actually laying on paper towels just to get it drier but to no avail. The problem stems from the fact that the procedure calls for blanching the vegetables with boiling water for a few seconds and that's where all the water comes from. So this time I decided to stir fry it for a few seconds in oil then drained it well (for a few hours actually). That's when I had a breakthough of having fully fried lumpias with no holes. What I like about this recipe is the flavouring of sugar and sesame oil at the end. It gives it a nice sweet-savoury finish. To make this fully vegetarian, substitute the meat with mushrooms. The combination vegetables here can be varied as well according to your taste. If you're not too excited by togue then by all means replace it with shredded cabbage and/or throw in some woodears or shiitake mushrooms, etc. The variation is limitless.

Lumpiang Togue
(Beansprouts Spring Rolls)

1/2 cup minced pork or chicken or beef (optional)*
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cooking wine
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups togue (beansprouts) [about 400 g]
1 stalk celery - shredded
1 medium carrot - finely julienned
8 big egg roll wrappers (about 9 inch x 9 inch)
2 Tbsp oil

*Seasoning:
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp sesame oil

*Flour Paste:
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp water

*Dip:
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 garlic clove - smashed

1. Mix all seasoning, flour paste and dip ingredients separately. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix the cooking wine, salt, and cornstarch. Stir until salt is dissolved. Add the meat into it and mix to combine.
3. In a wok, heat the oil. Tip in the meat mixture and cook until meat changes color - about 3 minutes. Making sure to mash it from time to time to separate the meat.
4. Turn heat to high and add in all the vegetables. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and transfer to a colander.
6. Mix in the seasoning. Leave to drain in the colander for several hours or until completely cool and fully drained.
7. Place the egg roll wrappers on a clean working surface. Put about 3 Tablespoonful of the vegetable mixture on the wrapper. Fold and roll like an envelope.
8. Seal with the flour paste.
9. Deep fry for a few minutes or until golden brown. Drain vertically on a small colander or sieve or on paper towels. Serve warm with the dip.

Note: You may replace the meat with shredded mushrooms or omit it altogether. The vegetables can be varied as well according to your taste as long as you keep the volume/amount the same.

Low-fat Banana & Blueberry Muffins

I wanted to make something to take to a family friend who recently had a spell in the hospital after an operation. He's been recovering well at his home for several weeks and I just wanted to give him a treat while at the same time not increasing his sugar and cholesterol level. Thank goodness the March 2006 BBC Good Food Magazine just went thru our letter box and contained this recipe which I think is quite wholesome. It is certainly not sweet and quite moist inside because of the fresh bananas and blueberries.


Low-fat Banana & Blueberry Muffins

300 g  self-raising flour
50 g  porridge oats plus 1 Tbsp for topping
100 g  [2/3 cup] light muscovado sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 medium bananas - mashed (about 1 cup)
284 ml  buttermilk
5 Tbsp olive oil
2 egg whites - slightly beaten
150 g  fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper muffin cases.
2. Reserve 1 Tbsp of the muscovado sugar. Mix the rest of it with the flour and 50 gm oats.
3. In another bowl, mix the egg whites, oil, and mashed bananas until well combined.
4. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and quickly stir and fold until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Add the blueberries and give it a few stirs.
6. Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pans. Sprinkle the 1 Tbsp oats and 1 Tbsp muscovado sugar on top.
7. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.
8. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan then remove and cool completely.

LP7: Pan de Sal

Gising na! Wake up! Breakfast time ... that's the current theme of the 7th Lasang Pinoy ably hosted by the early-morning-food blogger Joey of 80 Breakfasts.

The traditional breakfast of Filipinos has been rice or garlic fried rice with either fried/grilled fish, tocino, or longganisa. But in our family, a lot of our mornings are filled with that ubiquitous crusty roll endemic to Filipinos called Pan de Sal (also spelled without the spaces - pandesal) which means literally bread with salt. I could imagine the original pan de sal must have been more on the salty side rather than the sweet one that is common now which is how I have always known what a pandesal should taste. There was a long time in my youth that I could not imagine a morning without a warm pandesal to satiate my hunger. It's very versatile you see, you can spread a variety of things between its fluffy insides such as butter, liver spread (pate), jams, preserves, matamis na bao, peanut butter, pancit, ice cream - you name it. Or you simply dunk it in coffee or tea.

Sometimes even in the evenings when someone in the household comes home late, passes by a bakery then buys fresh-off-the-oven pandesal. You can bet that anyone among us kids will awaken with the fragrant waft of the hot pandesal. Down the stairs we came to partake in the midnight snack. I love it smeared with liver spread. Yum!

This is my very first time to bake pandesal and I had to call my aunt in Cavite to get her recipe which she got from her Home Economics subject when she was studying in Teacher's College about 35 years ago. Yeah that long ago. Now I don't know if I misheard the measurement of the liquids because the dough turned out very sticky and really hard to handle. I don't know if it's supposed to be like this. I think I'll be calling my aunt again in the weekend. Despite the intense stickiness, I managed to knead it (with a lot of help from sprinkled flour) and let it rise. She said it will double in bulk after 2 hours, I think mine tripled that's one reason why I suspect there's too much yeast. Maybe the yeast that I use here is more potent/concentrated. I'll certainly have to play around with the proportions in this recipe later. It was also hard for me to cut it to uniform-sized individual rolls since it's very soft. Thank goodness it came out alright from the oven - fragrant and crusty though somewhat moist inside. I don't know if it's supposed to be like this but it certainly was good enough for my family. :)




Pan de Sal

8 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 1/2 cups cold water
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 Tbsp yeast

1. In a small bowl, combine the lukewarm water, 1 tsp of the sugar and yeast. Let stand for about 15 minutes in a warm area. By this time it will be foamy; whisk well.
2. In a big bowl, mix cold water with oil, salt and the rest of the sugar. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved.
3. Add the yeast mixture and 1 cup of the flour. Stir to combine.
4. Add the rest of the flour a little at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth. If needed sprinkle some more flour to keep the dough from sticking too much.
6. Put in a greased bowl and turn to coat the dough all over with oil.
7. Cover and let rise in warm place for 2 hours.
8. Punch dough and turn out on a floured surface.
9. Divide into 4 and roll each into logs. Cut the logs into individual rolls.
10. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on the rolls and arrange in greased baking sheets.
11. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 30 minutes.
12. Bake in a preheated oven of 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F for 13-15 minutes.
13. Remove from baking sheet. Serve hot or cold.

IMBB 23: Quiche Lorraine

The 23rd monthly edition (hosted by Cucina Testa Rossa) of the premier food blogging event Is My Blog Burning? requires us to create something staunchly French. I was planning on taking on the formidable task of cooking bouillabaisse or cassoulet but the sheer scale of the mammoth undertaking made me chicken out. Just the number of ingredients plus the length of time it will take to cook it completely intimidated me. I could easily have opted for the more easy or shorter versions of it but for me that would be cheating. So in came this idea of doing my son's request of a Quiche Lorraine.

A quiche is also known as a flan or tart. This version, as you might have guessed, originated in a north-eastern region of France called Lorraine. A once independent and properous region, it was only assimilated to what we know now as France as late as 300 hundred years ago. Due to its position by the German border, it saw its owners changing hands several times during World War I and II. More of its history can be seen here.

The first time I made this is via a BBC Good Food magazines 'ultimate' recipe. In there, it instructed to add Gruyere cheese. I did, but my son would not even touch it. He objected to the smell of the cheese. So I researched on what constitute a traditional quiche Lorraine. According to Elizabeth David in her book, French Provincial Cooking, the Quiche Lorraine that the natives of that region regard as such is simply a savoury custard pie with eggs, cream, smoked bacon and *no* cheese. That was a revelation to me, since everywhere I went whether here in UK or in Paris, these tarts almost always have some cheese in them. But I have to agree with Ms. David because when we passed by the area of Nancy in Lorraine last year, all the Quiche Lorraines we ate had no smidgen of cheese.

That settled it, I have to do this first without the cheese then with it (just to make the comparison). I have to admit I liked it regardless if it has cheese or not. Surprisingly, my son favoured the one with cheese. Could it be because I used the less smelly mature cheddar? The dominant flavour of the smoked bacon in the custard was simply divine whether served hot or cold. Although I have to remember next time to make the crust thicker. I like it thick as a foil to the richness of the filling. This is best served with a big salad and a chilled Sauvignon Blanc. (sorry no pictures of the wine) Recipe was adapted from the September 2005 issue of the BBC Good Food Magazine.




Quiche Lorraine

*Pastry
175 g  [1 1/3 cups] plain flour
100 g  chilled butter
1 egg yolk
3-4 Tbsp cold water

*Filling:
400 ml  [1 2/3 cups] double cream (or half creme fraiche, half double cream)
50 g  Gruyere or mature cheddar (optional)
150 g  smoked/unsmoked bacon lardons or streaky bacon slices
3 eggs - beaten
pinch ground nutmeg

• Take 2/3 of the cheese and cut it into small dice. Grate the remaining 1/3 of the cheese.
• Dice the bacon finely.


• For the pastry:
  1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process until it forms into a ball.
  2. Or if you don't have a food processor: cut the butter into the flour in a bowl until it has the consistency of coarse crumbs.
  3. Add in the egg yolks and toss with fork.
  4. Sprinkle the water little by little until you can gather the mixture into a ball.
  5. Press and knead between your hands until it just about holds together.
  6. Roll out with a rolling pin into a circle 11 inches (28 cm) wide.
  7. Carefully put on a fluted tart pan.
  8. Trim the pastry edges about 1/4 inch higher than the pan edge.
  9. Press the pastry into the flutes and prick the base with a fork.
  10. Chill for 10 minutes in the fridge.
  11. Preheat oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F.
  12. Bake blind: put a piece of aluminum foil (shiny side down) on the pastry-lined pan. Fill it up with dry or ceramic beans and place on a baking sheet before putting in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.
  13. Remove foil and beans. Bake for another 4-5 minutes.


• For the filling:
  1. Reduce oven temperature to 190°C/fan 170°C/375°F.
  2. Fry the bacon (without oil) in a small frying pan.
     Remove any liquid that comes out and cook until bacon changes color. Drain on paper towels.
  3. Mix the double cream, eggs, and nutmeg in a container.
  4. Scatter the fried bacon and diced cheese on the bottom of the pastry case.
  5. Pull out half of the oven shelf and place the pastry case/tart pan on the baking sheet.
  6. Pour the double cream mixture in the pastry case. Scatter the grated cheese on top.
  7. Carefully push the oven shelf back in. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
  8. Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Tagged with: IMBB23 + French

Banana Date Cake

This is one moist and scrumptious cake perfect for teas. I was skeptical at first since I've done a lot of these banana cakes that usually turn out a bit hard and more bread-like rather than cakey. But this one was a revelation so a definite keeper. I think the dates provided the needed moistness while the muscovado sugar imparted a delicious treacly taste in its personality. You can see in the picture that the edges of the top was definitely burned. Hehehe. I was too smug in my baking abilities and assumed that the baking temperature is the usual 180C/350F. Forty minutes after putting in the pan in the oven, I sneaked a peek in the recipe book and it said there - 160°C *not* 180°C. Yikes! That's a 20-degree difference! I lowered the temperature immediately good thing it did not singed to ashes the rest of it. :)

The nifty BBC books cookbook 101 Cakes & Bakes, provided the recipe I adapted.


Banana Date Cake

175 g  butter - softened
100 g  [1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp firmly packed] light muscovado sugar
3 Tbsp honey
2 eggs - beaten
225 g  [scant 2 cups] self-raising flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 medium, ripe bananas - mashed (about 1 cup)
100 g  stoned dates - chopped
50 g  walnuts - chopped

1. Grease and line the bottom and long side of a 1 kg/2 lb loaf pan. Preheat oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/325°F.
2. In a small bowl, mix the flour and cinnamon until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a big bowl, beat the butter with the muscovado sugar.
4. Add in 2 Tbsp of the honey and the eggs. Beat and mix well.
5. Add the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon.
6. Tip in the mashed banana and dates, mix until well blended.
7. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
8. Scatter the chopped walnuts evenly on top.
9. Bake for about 1 hour. Press the top lightly, it should be firm. If not, bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
11. Lift out of the pan and drizzle the remaining 1 Tbsp honey on top. Cool completely.

New Blog Skin

For the longest time, I was trying to change my blog template and finally I found the time to do it. Originally I scouted a lot among the free templates floating around in the web. Then decided on getting this from Caz. Thanks Caz!

But I did have to change *a lot* in the html and css codes to tailor it to my needs and style. Now the problem is changing almost all of my posts because the recipe font is too big. Never mind I'll do it one step at a time. For now, I shall enjoy this one until that is, my fingers get itchy and I'll change it again. :)

Welsh Rarebit

First time I heard the name, I thought it was stewed rabbit or maybe lamb. My son (J1) thought it was frogs. :) We had no idea that it will be something very tasty and delicious and very easy to make. That's one thing I like about Brits they affix witty, oftentimes funny, names to their food. This my friends, is essentially grilled cheese on toast, as simple as that. But made several degrees more delicious with the small addition of flavourings. Sharp tasting cheddar would be best so the extra mature ones would be great and in the US, the Kraft Crackle Barrel brand comes to mind. The Canadian extra mature cheddar would be excellent as well. So far, this is the best version I've tried which is adapted from Brian Turner's Favourite British Recipes.

J1 was very wary when he saw me making it. Just when I was adding in the English mustard he declared he's not going anywhere near it. Fine I thought. Come early morning he saw me grilling these babies. He asked if the ones in the oven are plain cheese and not the welsh rarebits. I said yes (I lied). So down he scoffed one. All I heard were - hmmm ... mmm ... and something along the lines of "it's delicious". That's when I broke the news that it was actually Welsh Rarebit. He was grinning from ear to ear. See, mums have to do a lot of underhanded tactics to make their kids eat something different and I'm glad my lie did not go to waste. LOL!


Welsh Rarebit

250 g  mature cheddar - grated (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup double cream (heavy cream)
1 Tbsp beer or ale or water
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp English mustard or Dijon mustard
2 egg yolks
thick slices of wholemeal bread (or any type of bread)

1. Heat the double cream until gently boiling.
2. Add the beer and bring back to boil.
3. Turn off heat; add the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and grated cheese. Blend well.
4. Add the egg yolks and stir well until the cheese has slightly melted and mixture is soft and liquidy. You may have to return the saucepan to the cooker at very low heat.
5. Put in a container and cool. (It is best to use this the next day to let the flavours develop).
6. Arrange the bread slices under the grill to toast one side. Remove.
7. Spread a generous amount of the cheese mixture on the *untoasted* side of the bread.
8. Put back under the grill until golden and bubbling. Serve warm.

Char Siu (Barbecued Pork)

Sorry the picture isn't so pretty. Me and my husband were already quite famished when I took out of the oven. There was no time to arrange and make it pretty coz we were ready to devour it! I have several recipes of Char Siu or Cha Siu - known in English as Barbecued Pork. I intend to try them all but first I did Renee's (of the now defunct Shiokadelicious blog) recipe. Shame her formerly very popular and award-winning food blog is not online anymore. She probably is busy with some other things. Thanks very much Renee for sharing the recipe!

This is the reddish lightly charred roasted pieces of boneless pork meat hanging off a hook that you see in lots of Chinese restaurants. Very nice teamed with hot steamed rice poured with some soy sauce based sauce. Used in so many other Chinese dishes such as noodle soups, stir fried noodles, char siu pao (siopao), etc. It's quite universal and basic in Chinese cuisine or at least in the Cantonese style of cooking.

For this, I followed Renee's suggestion of using maltose. Which a type of sugar that is formed from malt usually from the production of beer. The one I got from the Chinese grocery is a very thick liquid. By the time I used it, it got cold a bit and was so very thick hence, very hard to take out of its plastic tub. I had to put it out for a time somewhere warm to soften it. Additionally, it's only mildly sweet (I tasted of course). So the resulting char siu was more on the salty side. Next time I think I'll replace some or all of it with honey just to see how the flavour will develop. But the one thing good about maltose is that it gives the char siu this nice glossy sheen that makes it look so attractive. No wonder restaurant chefs use them a lot. So maybe next time I'll keep the maltose for glazing and just increase the sugar or use honey in the marinade? Also, I did not use any red food colouring. I don't think it needs one since the Hoisin sauce already gives out the rouge it needs. Besides, I'm not too fond of artificial colouring what with all the chemicals you can find in there. I'll have to experiment on that soy sauce-based thin sauce that they pour over this on rice. My hunch is it's made from the drippings of the barbecued pork itself. If any of you have a recipe for that sauce please give me a tip. Thanks. :)


Char Siu
(Barbecued Pork)

1 kg  pork (fillet, liempo, shoulder steaks, etc.)
5 Tbsp light soy sauce
3 Tbsp dark soy sauce
5 Tbsp maltose (or honey or combination of honey & maltose)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup rice wine (or sherry)
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
3 pcs 1/4-inch thick slices of ginger - smashed
4 garlic cloves - kept whole and smashed
red food colour (optional)

*Glaze
2-3 Tbsp maltose (or honey) - warmed

1. Mix all ingredients (except pork) in a saucepan. Heat for about 1 minute just enough to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and cool.
2. Marinate pork in this mixture for at least overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 210°C/fan 190°C/410°F.
4. Remove pork from the marinade and arrange on a rack set on a roasting pan with about 1/2 inch of hot water in the pan. (This is to keep the meat moist during roasting). Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Lower heat to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F, baste the meat with its marinade and turn them over. Cook for a further 15 minutes.
6. Baste again with marinade and cook for another 10 minutes. Check if meat is done.
7. Remove from oven, brush with the warmed maltose (glaze) and grill for about 2-4 minutes until it's nicely browned or charred - whichever degree of finish you like.
8. Serve hot or cold sliced on hot steamed rice, noodles, etc.

Fried Savoury Beancurds

I found another beancurd recipe to use up a box that was soon to expire. This one has a very tasty and slightly spicy batter. And I suspect this is very similar to the fried beancurd we used to have in a Chinese restaurant in the basement of the old Makati Cinema Square in Pasong Tamo Ave. down in Makati. That one had a very nice sauce which complements it well. I guess I'll have to concoct that next to complete the similarity. The book The Food of China yielded this nice dish.


Fried Savoury Beancurds

500 g  beancurds
100 g  minced pork (optional)
1 cup plain flour
1 egg - beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp chicken stock powder
1 Tbsp chilli sauce
water to mix
oil for deep frying
freshly ground black pepper
shredded green onions or chopped herbs (for garnish)

1. Combine flour, egg, salt, sugar, chicken powder, chilli sauce, pork and enough water to make a batter with the consistency of double (heavy) cream.
2. Cut the beancurd into pieces of 1/2 inch thick, about 2 inches long, and 1 inch wide.
3. Heat oil in a wok or saucepan until slightly smoking.
4. Dip the beancurds in the batter then slip them one by one and in batches in the oil. Deep fry for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Garnish with black pepper and herbs.

Meme: Three tips to losing weight

Now I need these tips badly. I am supposed to be on a diet but as often I find myself slipping into snack attacks - of the most yummy and weight-busting kind! Help! Mel of Hecticium tagged me for this almost a month ago. It's always at the back of my mind ever since but I couldn't find the time to sit down and type away things I found useful in my perpetual quest for the perfect body weight. Here they are and I hope you find them benficial to you:

1. Drink lots of water. Even when not on a diet, we don't often take the recommended amount of water everyday. We need it much more when we're demanding a change in our body during diets. The recommended daily amount is between 6-8 glasses. Believe me when we drink it that much and that often you'll feel so much refreshed and our skin will look nicer afterall it washes away toxins from our body and gives us a very necessary ingredient to our bodily functions. Drink up!


2. Exercise regularly. I should tell this to myself. *sigh* It's becoming a habit now of me forgetting to exercise to help in the shedding of the pounds. As you well know, just dieting will not make your weight loss stick. With a regular regime of exercise, not only will your weight loss accelerate but it will most likely help keep it off. Besides exercise makes your body secrete endorphines which makes us happy bunnies.


3. Right frame of mind. For me this is one of the most crucial thing before I set off to do something. I have to visualise it and create it in my mind first before physically acting on it. Otherwise the venture would be just half-hearted and many times won't work. So it's important for me to start a diet with a firm resolve and will power to carry it through.

Well I hope I can follow my own advise. ;) I actually don't know who to tag next so if you're interested please tag yourself. Now, I think I was tagged for another meme ... what was that one? Hmmm ... thimk think thimk.

Chicken Curry

I can still smell the pungent rich aroma of this nice curry. Lots of spicy tang from the tanglad (lemon grass), belachan (shrimp paste), lots of ginger, and of course the curry powder. Then enriched with the addition of coconut milk. Yum! This is more of a Southeast Asian type of curry rather than the Indian type which is noticeable with the lemon grass and belachan.

I've been hankering for a nice hot curry probably prodded on by the cold weather permeating Southern England right now. Instead of buying or borrowing another cookbook, I rummaged through all of mine scattered throughout the house where I found this gem of a recipe from one of my oldest cookbooks that hails all the way from Hong Kong (circa 1991), Cecilia Au-Yeung's Chopsticks Recipes: Introduction. And I just love love love the resulting aroma in this fabulous keeper of a dish. The only thing I had a problem with was the ginger juice. I didn't have enough of the root crop to squeeze that much besides I thought it's too much work for moi. So I just julienned about 2-square inch of it for the marinade and removed them before adding in the chicken. Other than that, it would help if you have an electric chopper so you could just whiz all the spices and wouldn't have to pound away with a heavy mortar and pestle. So if you find yourself in an Oriental store one time, pick up a few of the more exotic ingredients (the rest are common in kitchens everywhere) then do try this one - I highly recommend it!


Chicken Curry

1 1/2 kg  chicken - cut into serving pieces
2 onions - mashed or pureed
3 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 Tbsp ginger juice*
2 Tbsp cooking wine
2 slices ginger
1 lemon grass
5 Tbsp oil
3 garlic cloves
2-3 chillies - seeded and chopped
2 tsp belachan (shrimp paste)
500 g  waxy potatoes - peeled and quartered
1/2 cup water
2 cups coconut milk
2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp chicken powder

1. Mix the ginger juice, 1 Tbsp of the curry powder, and wine with the chicken. Marinate for at least 1 hour. Set aside.
2. Remove outer skin of the lemon grass. Lightly mash then chop into smallish pieces.
3. Using a mortar and pestle (or an electric blender/chopper) mash the lemon grass, garlic, ginger, belachan, and chillies into a smooth paste. Set aside.
4. Combine 1 Tbsp of the oil with the turmeric powder and 2 Tbsp of the curry powder to make a thick paste.
5. Heat a pan with 1 Tbsp oil and saute the pureed onions until aromatic.
6. Add in the curry mixture and fry for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
7. Mix in the lemon grass mixture and stir to combine well.
8. In a medium sized pot, heat 3 Tbsp oil and saute the curry-lemon grass mixture over low heat until pungent.
9. Stir in the chicken with the marinade and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
10. Add in the water, salt, sugar and chicken powder. Simmer for 20 minutes.
11. Tip in the potatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.
12. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to boil again.
13. Remove from heat and dish up.

*Note: If you don't have the equipment nor the inclination to make ginger juice, peel and julienne a 2-inch square piece of ginger and use this instead.

Almond Apricot Torte

If you recall a month ago, I made leche flan several times. After that, I was like a woman possessed and obsessed with trying to use up all the resulting left-over egg whites. Thus all this flurry of recipes of meringue-based desserts that makes use of the egg whites so effectively. I think I should make another recipe category here - 'Egg Whites Repository' or something like that.

This cake was described by a friend as having a very delicate lovely flavour. What I like most about it is the contrast of the softness of the cake with the crunch of the almonds and chocolate chunks then topped with the sublime cloud of apricot-flavoured whipped cream. This is definitely a keeper. Adapted from my favourite 101 Cakes and Bakes of the BBC GoodFood Magazine.


Almond Apricot Torte

5 egg whites
200 g  [1 cup] caster sugar
100 g  [1 cup] ground almonds
50 g  [1/2 cup] flaked almonds - toasted
50 g  dark chocolate - chopped

*For the apricot cream:
300 g  apricot compote or preserve
425 ml [scant 1 1/3 cup] double cream

*For the decoration:
3 Tbsp flaked almonds - toasted
25 g  dark chocolate - shaved
icing sugar for dusting (confectioner's sugar)

• For the torte:
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Butter and line the base of a 25 cm (10-inch) springform pan.
  2. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Then gradually whisk in the caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time.
  3. Using a metal spoon, lightly fold in the ground almonds, toasted flaked almonds, and the chopped chocolates.
  4. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until crisp at the top and light golden.
  5. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.
  
  
• For the apricot cream:
  1. Beat the cream until soft peaks.
  2. Fold in the apricot compote gently to give you swirls of apricot. Spread this mixture over the torte.
  
  
• For the decoration:
  1. Scatter the shaved chocolate and toasted flaked almonds on top of the apricot cream.
  2. Dust lightly with icing sugar.