FOOD & BEVERAGE吃

MAGNUM'S PLEASURE POP-UP STORE @ SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

2014-09-10T13:31:00.001+01:00

There it comes again... The Magnum Pleasure Pop-Up store, celebrating its 25 years birthday this year. It was a customize ice cream instead of eating a plain magnum.

My mate who went to try it out last year told me that the line were unbelievable long but since there was nothing much for me to do on my holiday, we went over to Westfield on the Chinese Mooncake Festival at Monday to try it out.

Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad which it took us less than 10 minutes in line, and also we have our own sweet time to watch how the pleasure been done.

There are 18 types of toppings to choose from, which mainly from chocolate, nuts and dried fruits.

I picked a dark magnum chocolate with roasted pistachio, rose petals and mocha chips with white chocolate drizzle to finish where else my mate had a very simple milk magnum chocolate with roasted pistachio and rose petals finishing with dark chocolate to drizzle on top.

It was a fun experience designing our own ice cream and watching it made in front of us :)

STIR FRY GARLIC SHOOT WITH PORK BELLY

2014-09-03T03:41:00.002+01:00

My mate in Oz introduced me with this new bright green veggie - Garlic Shoot, which are also called stems, spears and scapes. The garlic which we known has separate cloves and white papery skin and obviously garlic is amazing for lots of food but this is a new plant which can be edible on whole in general. It doesn't really taste like garlic overall but much to a bright, fresh, verdant version as they have a milder flavor. It is when cooked, the scapes become much more sweeter with subtle garlic undertone and the texture is quite similar to asparagus to be honest. Thus, in Korea this garlic shoot are commonly used as a veggies for side dishes.

Garlic shoot is so much cheaper during the coming of Spring. Stalls in the market in Oz are selling as cheap as 3 bunch for 5 dollars, a bunch for 1.50 and even 2 bunch for 2.80, etc as the supplies are so much during the season. There are hundred of ways to cook it and the most simple way i can think of for a simple lunch / dinner to goes with a bowl of boiled rice is to stir fry; basis and mother of all Chinese. It is a very simple, fresh ingredient which is fast and tasty. It is so super easy to cook and especially delicious with its crunchiness and sweet.

Ingredients:-

A bunch of garlic shoot (cut into 4 segments)
2 x clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
Slice of ginger, chopped
2 x carrots (cut into long thin strips)
100 gram of pork
2 tbsp veggie oil
2 tbsp Shao Hsing Chinese cooking rice wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

(It can be with any vegetables, meat, or even tofu and employ the same technique. The philosophy behind Chinese stir fry is to present with 3 basic steps - color, smell and taste).

Method:-

Heat up wok / frying pan with high heat and once it is piping hot, add in the veggie oil and reduce to medium heat. Put in crushed garlic and chopped ginger and stir fry until smell the fragrant.

Add in pork belly slice and stir fry until half cooked.

Add in carrot strips and cooked it until soft, place the garlic shoot at last and bring up the heat. Splash in the cooking wine on the sides of the wok / frying pan. Mix well and allow the heat to evaporate all the alcohol. Keep on tossing the ingredient well and finally add in the soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix well.

Arrange onto serving plate and serve yourself with an inexpensive and simple meal which goes so great with just a bowl of steamed boiled rice.

I left a few for dinner to add in my plain congee and surprisingly it goes so tasty with it as well. Lovely ~

SALMON TERIYAKI

2014-08-30T10:46:00.003+01:00

I worked in a Japanese restaurant when i was in London 9 years ago. It was owned by a real japanese family instead of those made-in-china owner who knows nothing about the origin japan cuisine. They had only little of dishes in the menu and all of the methods are passed down in the family tree from the great ancestors.

My boss taught me a very common dish which are widely eaten all over but little known how and what is the best way to cook it - Salmon Teriyaki.

Salmon, along with sardines, mackerel, herring, halibut and black cod is a sustainable source of omega 3 fish. The most beneficial omega 3 fish fats occur naturally in oily fish as EPA (eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (docosahexanoic acid). Both are contribute to healthy brain function, heart, joints and common general well being. It's firm enough either to grill, can be cooked in many ways and doesn't dry out as easily as other fish does.

Some may add sake and mirin (sweet japanese cooking wine) but to make as simple as possible, my ex-boss just use 3 types of items to make the marinade sauce and it taste a lot better than those teriyaki sauce selling in bottle.

Ingredients:-

120 ml japanese soy sauce
6 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp ground ginger
3 tbsp olive oil
2 x thick fillet salmon, skinned-on
1 rice cup of rice (choices of japanese rice / long grain rice)
mix salad to garnish at side
1 x boiled egg

Method:-

Mix soy sauce, sugar and ground ginger together in a bowl and have the salmon to place in. Preferably to marinade overnight if possible or else an hour or 2 will be good too.

Cook rice and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan to medium heat. Drain the salmons reserving the marinade sauce and pat dry. Cook the salmons with skinned bottom. Turn each side after a min or two and be careful not to overcook the fish, it will taste nicer with slightly under-cooked in the center and moist.

When it is almost done, pour it the marinade sauce in the saucepan to heat up. The sauce will gradually thickened because of the sugar.

Set salmons on plate with boiled rice, salad and boiled egg. Low cost affordable healthy meal presenting on table. Everyone can cook it.

DRY POT @ "GAN GOU"

2014-08-25T10:44:00.002+01:00

My colleagues told me few years back that hot pot days is dead and the new era for a new family member called Dry Pot is taking over, which i think is a bit too much and exaggerated. I do really love hotpot. It is a must for me in each and every occasions, but to this whole new thingy - Dry Pot.... was a big question mark for me.

It is said that Dry Pot comes originally from an area in Deyang, Sichuan and spread out all over the mainland and especially popular in ChongQing as well. It is a northern Sichuan dishes where the local will only add veggies cooking in the wok with the seasoning but they would serve generously with meat and seafood when there is guest on the house to make it richer.

I was introduced to this Dry Pot aka "Gan Guo" in mandarin saying 2 years back for the first time when i dropped in Oz at a chinese Sichuan restaurant in Chinatown, and unlike hot pot where we dip our raw meat, seafood and fresh veggies into a pot of bubbling hot desire soup for a quick boil / cook, in Dry Pot we choose our variety ingredients of meat, seafood and veggies, etc. and make a combination ourselves into a colorful ready-to-eat pot. The chef behind the kitchen will flash stir fried and cook in a spicy hot sauce with fresh red and green chillies peppers, scallions, ginger, garlic and nonetheless, Sichuan peppercorns which is later transfer in a mini wok to serve on the table. In Chinese cuisine however, the cooking theory includes 5 colors of veggies as in red, greee, yellow, white and black. For example; red peppers or sweet potatoes are red, celery or coriander are green, potatoes are yellow, onions or cabbage are white and dark fungus are black.

Dry Pot in fact are actually another type of pot-eating but differs from the tradition of hot pot which comes with soup based, instead it is directly use of oil in cooking in very high temperatures, focusing in burning out the hot fragrant. The seasonings, ingredients and cooking theory are totally different. Lots and lots of dried red chilies are throw along with the rest of chosen ingredient. Some might think it is a simplified hot pot but well compare to that, Dry Pot is much more easier to prepare because it is cooked behind the kitchen and serve right on table. Less hassle.

BAK CHANG / ZHONG ZI

2012-06-21T21:31:00.002+01:00

"Bak Chang" (in Hokkien dialect) or "Zhong Zi" (in Mandarin) which literally means Pork Dumplings made from glutinous rice stuffed with variety of filling and wrapped in bamboo leaves. It falls every year on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calender. It was a tradition family event to making Bak Chang when my mother was still around. She would gave away most of them to friends and relatives, and kept a whole bunch which filled up half of the fridge for us. At that time i was consider far too young to learn the preparations and wrapping techniques or skills so usually i was not allow to go in the kitchen when my mother was busy preparing it. I didn't get the change to learn it either when I grow up as i had moved out from the house and has been drifting outside the world ever since. Now, sadly to say there is no one in my family knows how to make Bak Chang anymore.

As always Chinese delicacy has its own legend about how and why it was invented. It is prepared during the "Duan Wu" festival, honouring "Qu Yuan", a famous Chinese poet and statesman of the ancient state of Chu in the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty. Due to hopelessness of the corrupted government and the defeat of his country, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo river on the fifth day of the fifth month in 278 BC. His last poem was:

Many a heavy sigh i have in my despair,
Grieving that I was born in such an unlucky time.
I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix chariot,
And waited for the wind to come,
To soar up on my journey

Upon hearing Qu Yuan's suicide, the local fisherman paddled out in their long boats, beating drums and shouting out loud in the hope to scare the fishes or sea creatures away (it was believed that this is how the Dragon Boat event is related to the festival). At the same time, the local people would also threw in sticky rice balls into the river, so that the fish or sea creatures will be distracted and feast on the rice balls instead of his body (that is how Bak Chang was born).

Most of the Chang is filled with glutinous rice containing fatty pork meat, Chinese mushroom, salted duck yolk, chestnut, dried prawn, etc. There are also those with very little ingredients, some just filled with beans, lye water, black-eye bean, shrimps and many more version and style of Chang.

My colleagues and I were talking the other morning about all sorts of Chang, and only then i found out that eating lye water Chang with caster sugar was origin from Toi San, which is why i realize that was the way my mother taught me when i was small, and her ancestors was from Toi San.

I come from a family steep with traditions. Thus, when it comes to festivals like this I could feel the emptiness and gloominess setting inside me as the hour approaches for me to go home, eventually.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH HAM AND TOASTED CROISSANT

2012-02-22T00:00:00.000+00:00

Scrambled eggs are the classic popular breakfast dish where it is also called the perfect English breakfast by some. It looks quick, easy and simple but the truth is, it can be surprisingly difficult to master. The key is in the texture - creamy and hence, it need to cook fast in a low-heat as cooking the eggs at a higher temperature makes them rubbery.

I worked in a restaurant back when I was in London last time and I happened to know a chef who had the chance to work with the Michelin-starred chef, Gordon Ramsay. He told me that Gordon cooks his egg in a very rare and different way as we thought it is suppose to be. He showed it to me and it is the most superb tasty scrambled egg I had ever eat !

I was craving for a nice scrambled eggs for breakfast one morning (as i am on diet recently due to over gaining of fat where someone said that I will turn to an old and ugly pig - yes, u know who you are ~ ) and nothing else comes to my mind than the recipe I had mastered years ago and added in some extra ingredients of my own. Well, just scrambled eggs will looks dull and bored so I added a little sparks to it, anything will ease my crave but still healthy one way or another.

Simple and very straight forward :

3 x eggs
1 x plain Croissant
3 x slices of ham
3 knobs of butter
dash of salt and black pepper
shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 x teaspoon of crème fraîche / fresh cream (or else milk will do but it wouldn't gives the creamy texture as crème fraîche)
dash of mix herbs.

Slice the croissant and season lightly with some salt and pepper. Put it onto a dry pan and toast it. There is no oil needed as the croissant already contain lots of butter in them. Toasted them both side, place on the plate after it is done.

Arrange the slice ham on top of the toasted croissant.

Break the eggs into a cold pan with the knobs of butter. Now here is the tricks, do not whisk the eggs beforehand as it will break down the eggs.

Put the pan onto the heat and all there is to do is stir and stir and more stirring, otherwise the portion of the eggs on the bottom of the pan will be overcooked while the other portions on top won't get cooked properly. When the butter melted with the eggs it will gives a rich creamy texture to it.

When the eggs feel like thicken but still soft, remove it from the heat and keep on stirring. Scrap the bottom and side to prevent the eggs from over-cooked. The heat on the pan will continue cooking the eggs.

When it looks cooked and creamy, add salt and pepper. Mix it well, add in the crème fraîche. It will prevent the eggs from over-cooked as it will cool it down.

Back onto the heat for 30 seconds, add in the cheese. Fold the eggs well and lastly, throw in the mix herbs.

Transfer the scrambled eggs onto of the ham, garnish it with some crispy salad and there it is, the simple and yet, nicest breakfast of all, Scrambled eggs with Ham and toasted Croissant.

STEAMED SEA BASS

2011-12-25T02:02:00.001+00:00

Steaming, a cooking method believe to date back way before the discovery of fire, when foods were cooked over hot springs or stones, is now as popular as ever. Oriental cooking has always made great use of steaming as a main cooking method, both for health reasons and because ovens are very rare to Chinese. Many foods are steamed, rather than baked, as for example rice, being perfect for this. Chinese have used steaming method for at least 3000 years or more, with early steamers being made in stoneware and originating in the province of Yunnan. Suitable for most foods and a surprising variety of recipes, steaming has great advantages over other cooking methods. A far higher level of nutrients, vitamins and minerals is retained than by other cooking methods. Steam cooking reduces Vitamin C in vegetables by 40% whereas boiling reduces it by 70% because it is lost in the cooking water. Steaming also does not immerse foods in water into which nutrients, particularly in vegetables, can escape. Foods are generally more nutritious when steamed, and as additional fat is not required for cooking it’s also healthier and lower in fat. The most popular and the quickest method for cooking meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and light desserts, is to suspend over boiling water, cover tightly and cook in the steam. Ensure the lid fits well to prevent the steam escaping and thus prolonging cooking time.

A meal of Chinese steamed fish is very common in some Cantonese households. A white fish is steamed, then topped with green onion, ginger, soy and hot oil. My mum loved to cook this dish for us back then. Pompret is my mum favourite fish. I havent taste my mum's pompret ever since i move out from the house when i was 17. I remember very well she would steamed a piece of pompret when i was ill, with light porridge to goes with it. I havent had pompret for so so long time and its so hard to find one which is at least 50% fresh in the market. Though it is the simplest of many memorable dishes, the steamed fish stuck with me because of my mum and from what she always told me last time, fish is good for health. It is so cheap to DIY rather then to order one in the restaurant to be frank.

Sea bass is the most common, affordable and fresh fish I can find here in UK and very suitable to have it steamed. It's roughly 3 big pieces of sea bass for 10 quid. If getting one in the restaurant it will be at least 15 quid for one of this dish. Get a fresh piece from the local fishmonger. Choose those with bright eyes and shiny skin. Don't buy it if it doesn't meet this criteria. The fishmonger will be happy to clean, gut and de-scale the fish but sometimes I'd rather to clean it myself as the fishmonger might destroy rather than gut my fish efficiently.

Ingredient :

Fresh whole sea bass

Spring onions (one small bunch)

Ginger

Soy sauce

Sesame oil

Salt

Coriander

Rub a generous amount of salt into the fish skin.

Sprinkle sesame oil on top.

Cut ginger into sizes of strips. Stuff it into the fish and on top of it.

Cut the spring onion into inch long.

Steamed the sea bass for 10 minutes. Check for doneness by poking the flest with chopstick at the thickest point, if the flesh flakes off easily then it is done.

Discard the fishy and cloudy fish water after steaming. It doesn't add any flavours to the steamed fish but only leave a bitter and fishy taste - from the fish guts if the fish was not cleaned properly.

Heat a pan up to a very high temperature. Pour some olive oil into the pan and let it heat up. Remove the oil from heat and pour it onto the fish before adding the soy sauce. Toss the spring onions and coriander all over the fish.

FUNNIEST BEVERAGE

2011-09-21T23:40:00.000+01:00

CHOCOLATE BEER

FRIED CHICKEN BEER

BREAST MILK

FRUIT PUNCH TASTE WATER

PINEAPPLE BEER

MILK VODKA

BEER + MILK = BILK

PEPSI@CUCUMBER

PEPSI@YOGURT

CANNABIS DRINK

PUSSY ENERGY DRINK

WASABI BEER

CHICKEN YAKITORI

2011-09-16T21:34:00.000+01:00

Usually when people think of Japanese food they would think of sushi. I can assure you that there is a lot more to this wonderful cuisine that will meets the eye.

"Yakitori", is commonly a Japanese type of skewered chicken. The term of Yakitori can also be referred to skewered food in general. The average of Yakitori is made from several bite-sized of chicken meat, normally boneless chicken breast and skewered on the bamboo skewer and grilled. The history of Yakitori dates back to the "Edo" period around 1600 where it was described as a bird meat stuck on skewer, grilled and flavoured. Yakitori was sold for the first time around 1912 in Kanto, the eastern area in Japan. Though the name means grilled chicken but back then it had various kinds of meat such as horse meat, beef guts and even dog meat just to make it cheaper and it had become popular among all Japanese due to the low cost. Cheap Yakitori went down well with alcohol, so it appeared majority on the Izakaya (pub) menus. For more than 100 years, this traditional Japanese food has been loved by many people of all sorts, elder to children at all the time.

The sauce for Yakitori plays a very important part in the dish. Soy sauce are the main heart in the recipe but the thing is not all kind of soy sauce can be used in cooking Yakitori. To most people all soy sauces are the same and but like all products they come in varying degrees of qualities. Originally, Chinese developed soy sauce and it was produced using a shorter brewing process as well as having a higher salt content than the Japanese version of soy sauce. Many content caramel colouring, added sugar, mono-sodium glutamate (MSG) and preservatives which will give the sauce kind of artificial taste. In another version, authentic Japanese soy sauce, also referred as "Shoyu" is brewed with cultured yeast for many months. The latter generally has a lower salt content and includes roasted wheat which in turn improves the flavour, aroma and the colour too.

INGREDIENTS:

2 pieces of boneless chicken breast
7 wooden skewers

150 ml of Japanese soy sauce
80 ml of sake
50 gm of sugar
3 tablespoon of honey
1 piece of crushed garlic

Soaked the wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes, this can avoid the skewers from getting burned.

Make the sauce. Stir in soy sauce, sugar, sake and crushed garlic in a small pan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced by one-third. Set aside let it cool down.

Cut each chicken thigh into bite-size pieces and place it in the sauce to marinade for an hour or more.

Preheat the griller.Thread the chicken on to the drained skewers. Grilled under medium heat, brushing generously several times with the sauce. Allow 5-10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked but still moist.

Drizzled the remaining sauce on the Yakitori.

SIRLOIN STEAK

2011-09-10T22:57:00.000+01:00

I love to have sirloin steak once a while. It has the best flavour and texture compare to any part of a cattle. When it comes to steak, I am a bit of a purest. I dont really eat it that often, when i do, I love to indulge in a really good piece of meat and a good piece of master meat doesn't need to have any sauces or whatsoever. Just marinade with salt and pepper will do and that will bring out the greatness in the meat. Steak from supermarkets is fine but it is definitely not quite the best and variable in quality. I used to love sirloin steak from MnS but since i found my own butcher, it is far more better then any steak from commercial supermarkets to be frank. The meat will be honestly better and i can talk to my butcher to get a clearer picture of a fine steak. Hence, it is cheaper then all the supermarkets too.

A good steak comes from dry aged beef that has been hung for around three weeks, which means by 21 days of matured steak - less excess of water and gives the minimum flavour. I always look for the nice piece of fat running through it, dont be put off by that as it will keep the steak nice and moist. I love to get a steak which the outside fat is rich and creamy looking because as the steak is cooking, that part will melts and impulse the flavour making it becoming more and more juicy.

Fist of all, season the steak both side with salt and pepper properly because when the minute the steak is to put on the pan, it will drops off 30% of the season.

Pan on, do not put the oil in the pan unless the pan is absolutely hot. If not, the steak will become dead without any heat and colour. If there is no heat on the pan there is no colour and when there is no colour there is no flavour. Hold back and wait for the pan to get hot before putting in the oil.

When the pan just starting to smoke with the oil on it, place in the steak firm them down to the base of the pan. This will help seal in the steak juices.

I love my steak to be medium, which will be around 3 minutes then turn the steak and cook for another 2 1/2 minutes.

Do not over turn the steak that regularly. Once will be enough of each side and the important part is to cook the top creamy fat part.

Before the 1 1/2 minutes from coming out, put a piece of butter on the pan. This will gives a really nice brown colour to finishing it.

Before taking the steak out, turn the steak on its back and cook that little bit of fat on that side.

With some greens and a nice piece of sirloin steak, it makes them a perfect couple !

YONG TAU FOO

2011-08-23T21:33:00.000+01:00

"Yong Tau Foo", is very common found in Malaysia and Singapore. It is literally means a dish made with small pieces of tofu and vegetables stuffed with fish paste (sometimes substitute with mince pork). The main factor is actually from the fish paste. A good fish paste is one where it wouldn't be too hard to eat once it is cooked and provide with a nice chewing sensation. Since the fish paste would be flavoured before they are stuffed in the food, it wouldn't be too fishy smelly.

This excellent delicacy is believed to have been invented by the Chinese Hakka in around 1960s'. Soy products like plain tofu, deep-fried tofu, tofu puff or even tofu skin are often used where else vegetables such as bitter melon, aubergine, chillies and okra are the common choices.

Besides the stuffing, sometimes other selections are also available - fish balls, crabmeat sticks, seaweed, various of Chinese vegetables, cuttlefish balls, pig blood, etc. but mostly the variety offered depends on the hawker's choices. The dish are served either plain, with soup on the side or can be in clear broth of any kind and even curry gravy (that's how they served in Kuala Lumpur). Sometimes, various kind of noodles can be added in the soup base.

My dad used to take me on his Honda Cup for some nice Yong Tau Foo back in Penang when I was a kid. Of all, I believe the one and only place that can represent this delicacy is in Padang Brown Food Court in Dato Kramat Road. It is always pack with people choosing and ordering from that particular stall. I would squeezed among all the grown ups' to reach out for a bowl and a pair of chopsticks picking up choices of fish balls, pig blood, okras', chillies, crabmeat sticks, pig's skins, etc. and finishing up with a small bunch of pak choy and glass noodles. Then, my dad would informed the "aunty" of the hawker's stall where we were seated and they will take care of the rest. The selection in the bowl will be cut into bite-size pieces and put to boil briefly in the serving. It was then brought to us on our table with sweet brown sauce and chilli sauce.

(A post dedicated to my maker for the wonderful trip to Padang for this excellent delicacy when i was young.)

Thanks to Immy Lee for the pics taken.

EGGS WITH MINT LEAVES SOUP

2011-08-02T00:57:00.000+01:00

Back in my childhood days in Penang, one of the most simplest and most delicious soups my mum boiled was Eggs with Mint Leaves soup. My mum would bought a large bunch of mint leaves from the market and I would helped her to pick out the leaves. Back then life was simple, our needs were so basic and one bowl of this soup can go a long way.

Years after that i found out that mint leaves actually are very healthy. According to the traditional Chinese medication theory, sometimes, our stomach is not working that good in digesting food or maybe eating too much food that causes our stomach bloated as the result there might be tight feeling or "wind" build up inside, all the way down to our digestive tract. Symptoms of this "wind" in our body are funny sounds (but not from rumbling hunger) coming from our digestive systems, mild cramping in the stomach and even a lightly knock on the abdomen there is a hollow sound like playing on the drum. Worst comes to worst, the "wind" can spread to other parts in the body and cause other illness like joint pains, headaches or migraine that wouldn't go away despite taking any medication. But once this "wind" problem is solves, the person would feel more energised.

By that time I finally understand that every food my mum cooked for us was for the sake of our health and goodness. My dad and sister both have terrible migraine illness and due to the hot weather in Malaysia, I was always ill when I was young. Mint leaves can helped to smoothen our pain and illness and makes us feel better and good for maintaining the health of our body as well.

Ingredient:-

a bunch of fresh mint leaves

2 eggs, lightly beaten

slices of garlic

3 bowls of water

handful of dried anchovies

2 carrots, cut as desired

5 pieces of oyster mushroom (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Method:-

Boiled the water on a pot with dried anchovies, carrots and ginger for an hour for the sweetness and taste.

Add in the oyster mushrooms and boiled for a few minutes.

Add in the eggs and stir lightly until it becomes fluffy.

Put in mint leaves, switch off the heat and stir. Season to taste.

Serve immediately (without the anchovies and carrots, as they only act as the ingredients for the sweetness of the soup).

I would have it with a bowl of boiled rice. Taste perfectly awesome and even good for this summer time ~

DUMPLINGS

2011-07-25T02:31:00.000+01:00

Chinese dumpling, is commonly called "JiaoZi" in Mandarin and "Gao Zhi" in Cantonese, consists of minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped into a round thin piece elastic dough skin which are then sealed and pleated by hands. As a carrier of culture, dumplings are typical of tradition Chinese cuisine cultural. It is totally different from any Western food. For example, a hamburger is sandwiched with beef or chicken. It can be seen clearly from the outside but dumplings are quite different. One cant know its stuffing from the outside but can only find out once it is eaten. Dumplings are usually boiled or steamed. The meat fillings can be ground pork, beef, chicken and even fish. Filling mixtures vary and depend on personal interest and region too but whatever the fillings are, the wrapping skill needs to be exquisite to make dumplings look attractive. Dumplings are eaten all year round at any time of the day, breakfast, lunch or dinner. It can constitute as one course, starter or side dish or even as the main meal.

Dumplings dated back many centuries from the originated place in Yellow River valley where wheat was grown. Chinese people already knew how to grind wheat into four, make wheaten type of food with stuffing back in the period about 2,500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn seasons. Dumplings are one of the most important foods in Chinese New Year. Since the shape of it is similar to ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots, symbolize wealth. As the Spring Festival marks the start of a new year, Chinese people choose to eat dumplings to connote their wishes for good fortune in the new year. China has been perfecting the art of dumpling making since the Sung Dynasty.

There are also ways of serving dumplings from place to place. In general, dumplings are boiled in clear water and served dry with vinegar, soy sauce, chopped garlic or chilli oil. But in some parts in the Northern China, dumplings are boiled in broth together with vermicelli and vegetables to make like soup noodles.

I had some friends coming over for a chill out night during the weekend and i was thinking, the best way to serve them is to make some nice lots and dumplings to let them dig in, rather then common dishes with rice and soup.

Ingredients:-

200 gram of pork mince meat

10 pieces of Chinese leaves

handful of fresh corianders

2 cloves garlic

small pieces of ginger

3 tablespoon of salt

4 tablespoon of sugar

10 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 tablespoon of white vinegar

2 tablespoon of sesame oil

2 egg yolks

Preparations:-

Blend the Chinese leaves in blender until bits. Squeeze the remaining water out from the leaves.

Blend the garlics and gingers.

Chopped the corianders.

Mix everything together in the mince meat.

(I get the wrappers from Chinatown rather then to make the dough myself, which save up lots of the time)

Wrapped the fillings on the dumpling wrapper as desire shape. But don't be too greedy on the fillings or else it will gonna break out while in the process of cooking, or else, undercooked from inside.

I made 3 types of dumplings that night - Steamed ("ZenJiao"), boiled ("ShuiJiao") and pan-fried ("JianJiao").Now there are 2 different types of pan-fried dumplings. If fried uncooked, for example without boiling or steaming them first, they are called "GuoTia" in Mandarin or "WorTip" in Cantonese (Chinese cuisine are indeed very complicated in words and ways of cooking!).

Cooking:-

Steamed the dumplings like normal process of steaming for 10 minutes.

Boiled the dumplings on a boiling pot. The water should rest down after the dumplings was put in. Pour in a glass of cold tap water when it starts to boil again. Wait for it to boil again. That means it is cooked. Take it out and set it aside to use for pan-fried. Repeat the steps again for the soup dumplings. Add some desire vegetables to sparks up the colour and presentation.

Pan-fried the cooked dumplings on a heat-up pan until golden brown.

D' Threesome ~

STICKY PORK RIBS

2011-07-22T01:13:00.000+01:00

Recently I had too much of vegetarian food and as I am a pure class-A carnivore, its time to have some animals meat now.

Pork ribs can be use for a lot of dishes.. deep fried, stir fry, oven baked, grilled, BBQ or even for soup stocks. Pork is also naturally low in salt and a rich source of good quality protein. It is also a good source of several vitamins and minerals needed for better health including iron, zinc and some group in vitamin B. Spare ribs are the traditional slab of ribs. It comes from the pig belly, right behind the shoulder. There is a covering of meat on top and between the bones.

I found that majority of the English loves to BBQ ribs with the taste of sweetness and thickness in sauce. And since it is summer now lots of supermarkets are selling pre-made ribs with sauces for BBQ. To be frank, it is a very easy dish where everyone can prepare it. Hence, it will be much more cheaper to DIY from scratch then to get it prepared from supermarkets. Chinese supermarkets always have this bags of raw spare rib more then a kgs' selling only less then 5 quid, compare to some non-Chinese supermarkets selling for 3 quid for only less then 500 gram.

Ingredients:-

Spare ribs (800 gram or more)

Soy sauce, around 250 ml

5 tablespoon of Hoisin sauce

3 tablespoon of five spice powder

4 tablespoon of golden syrup / maple syrup

half squeeze lime juice

1 clove of chopped garlic

grated gingers

Preparations:-

Add all the ingredients together (besides the spare ribs), whisk to mix. The sauce might be a lot for the ribs but it will still be using at the end of the cooking.

Marinade with the spare ribs. The sauce will gonna penetrate the ribs, helps tenderise and adds flavour to it. Mix well. Keep it over night in the fridge.

Pre-heat oven to 170 / 180 degree. Spread the marinade spare ribs on the roasting tray. Left the remaining sauce aside. Bake for 45 minutes.

Now, most after this step, there are two ways to finishing the touch. It can either be grilled on the griller to make it dry and crispy or, I choose the more Chinese way, shallow fried and added the remaining of the marinade sauce to make it more sticker with the sauce. I prefer it juicer then dry.

Heat up the wok. Add in oil until smoky hot. Add in all the spare ribs and stir fry it for a minute or two. Add in the remaining sauce. Boiled for a few minutes or until it is almost caramelized.

Served on plate and garnish as desire, with or without white boiled rice.

My buddies basically sucked on the bones like a cigar. It is truly amazing for summer dish.

CHINESE DRY ASSORTED VEGETABLES WITH STIR FRY VERMICELLI

2011-07-20T03:04:00.002+01:00

My English-ex liked Chinese food, because of me perhaps. She rather had noodles or even egg fried rice then white boiled rice, because of the taste(she claimed white rice taste nothing). I know she preferred noodles so I tried to make her the dish as much as I could. Thus, she is a pescetarian and loves seafood a lot.

I used to cook her vegetarian vermicelli. She loved it a lot as far as I can tell. Few days ago, I was cleaning up my kitchen and found a pack of Chinese assorted vegetable packet, which I had bought long time ago just for her.Well, it has been a while and I was thinking there is no point of me to keeping it any more now. I don't want to throw it away as it is a real delicacy where it seldom be found in any Chinese supermarket. The taste is very authentic as that was what my mum used to cook for me when I was young during some certain occasions. I think that was why I bought this pack, hopefully to share with my ex, but there will be no longer the chance to do so now.

The memorial packs

Ingredients:-

Dried Assorted Vegetables Pack - Black Moss, Dried Lily Flowers, Dried Bean Curd, Chinese Mushroom, Dried Black Fungus, Dried White Nuts and Red Dates.

Add a personal touch of slice baby corns and mange touts

half of clove of chopped garlic

slices of gingers

Vermicelli, half the pack

5 tablespoon of dark soy sauce

4 tablespoon of light soy sauce

2 tablespoon vinegar

2 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

dash of black pepper

dash of cornstarch

slice of tomatoes to garnish

Soak everything together until soften

After.

Preparations:-

Soaked the dry vegetables (besides the black moss, as it will break off and separate like dust) for an hour until it is soften. Drain the water. Slice the dry bean curb, mushroom and black fungus.

Break off the shell of dried white but, slice into half and dig out the bits in the middle of the fresh.

Boiled a kettle water, poured in on the vermicelli, until soft (estimate around 10 minutes maximum). Drain the water and set loosing it on a large bowl or plate for it to cold down.

Stir fry vermicelli

Add in the dry assorted vegetables

Directions:-

Heat up the wok, drizzle olive oil and when it's smoky hot, add garlic and stir fry until fragrance. Add in vermicelli. Stir it. Add in dark soy sauce, dash of soy sauce, salt, sesame oil and vinegar. Stir fry the vermicelli until the colours are even. Add in some water to prevent the bottom of the wok to burn.

Transfer it to a plate cooling it down.

On the other wok, heat it up again, add in the remaining of the garlic and ginger. Stir until fragrance. Add in lily flowers and mushroom. stir fry for a minute and add in bean curb, white nuts and black fungus. Step by step for the ingredients which is slow to cook first to easily done. Add in baby corns, mange tout and red dates. At last, in the black moss. Stir it vigorously, add in the soy sauce, salt, sugar, black pepper and a bit of water with the cornstarch to thicken the sauce.

Top up on the vermicelli and garnish with tomatoes.

PORK LIVER SOUP

2011-07-19T18:36:00.000+01:00

I used to go for supper with my colleagues after work at 4 am and we would loved to order a big bowl of "Pork Liver Soup" and fight for the livers. It was really happy back then. I can have nothing but the soup and a bowl of rice only. Pork liver soup could taste quite gross if it doesn't prepare properly. I had cooked a few times of it in UK but it always taste, not right. At last I found out that it is the liver problem, not the way I cooked.

Fresh liver should buy in Chinatown instead of getting it from Asda or Morrison. Chinese supermarkets sell the nicest and fresh liver as we Asian will actually buy, cook and eat it ourselves compare to the white people where they only purchase it for doggy's meal. I remembered telling my English friend once that I love to eat pig livers and she looked at me as if she just "saw a ghost" expression. She said that liver is for dog's meal.Cultural crash again. Actually pig liver is really good in nourishing our liver.

Ingredients

Pork livers of course.
Slice of gingers
Chopped garlic
Fresh corianders
Oyster mushroom
Pork balls around 150 gram from mince meat)
2 shots of Brandy (My dad told me to use Brandy instead of Chinese white wine)
Dash of cornstarch
2 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoon of salt
Dash of white pepper
4 bowls of water

Generous on the Brandy

Oyster Mushroom and Pork Balls

Preparations

Wash the livers on running water until it is clear from blood. Slice but not too thin, around 2 inch.
Marinade it with cornstarch and brandy.
Self-made pork balls - marinade for half an hour with soy sauce, sugar, salt, white pepper and sesame oil. Made it into the shape of balls.

Bring to boil.

Directions

Heat up the wok, drizzle olive oil and when it's smoky hot, add in gingers and garlic and stir fry until fragrance. Add in livers and stir vigorously until it is half cooked.
Add in the water and pork balls.
Bring the wok to boil then turn the heat to medium low for another 2 minutes.
Add in oyster mushroom, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, sugar and white pepper. Stir it and boil for another 3 minutes.
Garnish it with coriander.

The most important thing is, the pig liver must be fresh and free of vein. It must not be cook for too long, otherwise it will become old and hard.

Superb !

CURRY MEE

2011-07-18T23:56:00.004+01:00

"Curry Mee" or also known as "Curry Laksa" is one of the popular hawker's dish in Penang. If one is from the Southern part of Malaysia like Johor or Singaporean coming to Penang ordering a bowl of laksa, they will be surprised that the dish will be served in a thick flat noodles together with the hot and sour fish gravy paste. To make it clear, laksa in Penang means "Assam Laksa". Sometimes confusing, although similar in some ways, the primary difference is the stock between the two of them (Curry Laksa aka Curry Mee and Assam Laksa). Assam laksa is based on sour tamarind paste with fish stock. However, the Penang Curry Mee version is served almost white, the first glance of it one might think it is a noodle cooked in a hot soapy water. It sometimes looks dull or boring at first but once the chilli paste is added in, the white soup suddenly transform into a delicious curry gravy with top layer filled with red spicy oil. It works like magic when the both of them join together.

Penang Curry Mee is serve with cube of "too huik" (pig blood), cuttlefish, "see hum" (fresh cockles), prawns, egg, bean sprouts, tofu puff top-up with yellow noodles and sometimes "bee hoon" (vermicelli) too. With a handful of fresh mint leaves to finishing the touch, it makes the perfect blend of Penang very special one and only Curry Mee. What is so special about this authentic Currry Mee?, one may asked. Well, you have to be a Penangites to understand that.

SAMBAL

2011-07-17T23:19:00.000+01:00

Sambal is a multi-purpose food trademark in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore . Sambal refers to a kind of ready-to-eat chilli paste using variety of spices like the basic shallots / onions, garlic and ginger. The paste must have some mixture of spicy hot, sour, salty and a little sweetness. Sambal can be a substitute for fresh chillies.It is usually served as an accompaniment to rice and curried dishes, either as a condiment or as a side dishes. There are many varieties of sambal in Malaysia as sambal belacan , sambal daging or sambal tempoyak. Sambal can be used with a a numerous kinds of food. The chili sauce is often used with seafood such as prawn, fish or cuttlefish as well as poultry like chicken. This condiment works very well with all kinds of vegetables for example, aubergine or petai. Thus, not every sambal is made the same way, even within a region. Some places might use a fermented shrimp paste, tamarind concentrate or crushed fried peanuts.

In Malaysia when one eats out for lunch or dinner at a typical Malay restaurant, sambal is always served in a huge bowl on the table. We will tuck in, get sweaty and grit our teeth in pain because of the fiery chillies. The spicy chillies in sambal also contains health benefits too. Chillies may be able to lower the bad cholesterol in our blood stream. In addition, it can increase the production of endorphins. Spicy chillies are also thought to aid in digestion.

I have been craving for a nice sambal since yesterday night. I even had a dreams of eating sambal with my dad. So, the first thing I did after woke up on a drooling wet pillow, is sambal. I usually will make a whole container and keep the extra portion for craving use.

Cal's Fried Chicken with Sambal, Ikan Billis (Anchovies) and Telur Mata Kerbau (Sunny Shine Up Egg):-

Dry Shrimps ("swim" all the way from Malaysia)

Ground Dry Chilli Flakes

Ingredients are very simple. Get 4 slightly chopped red onions (it is suppose to be shallots but I cant go out to get any due to the stupid rain), 2 garlic cloves, ginger (small piece will do), ground dry chillies flakes (ground chillies is an important herbs in my kitchen) handful of dry shrimps, 4 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt and a dash of lime juice with the grated lime skin.

Blending

The Paste

Sauté

Preparations:-

Blend all the ingredients into paste (Back in the olden days, my mum would use mortar instead of blender. It is an old tradition of sambal making with mortar).

Heat oil in a pan.

When the oil is moderately hot, paste in and sauté it until fragrant and dry. Use medium heat and stir constantly to avoid the paste sticking to the pan.

Let it rest and cool down before storing the rest in the fridge.

Cal's Sambal

Raw Ikan Billis (Anchovies)

After Deep Fried.. CRISPY !

NASI KANDAR

2011-07-16T16:49:00.000+01:00

The origin of "Nasi Kandar" is an Indian Muslim dish and an icon in Penang island. It is a meal of steamed rice which can be plain or midly flavoured with Indian herbs, served with varieties of "gulai" (curries) and side dishes. The word Nasi Kandar came from a time when "Nasi" (rice) vendors would "kandar" (balance) a pole on their shoulder with two huge basket of rice meals. The rice is accompanied by side dishes such as fried chicken, beef curries, fish curries, prawn curries or squid. The vegetable dish would usually be aubergine or lady fingers (okra). Nevertheless, the chosen mixture of curry sauces is poured directly onto the rice. Today, the word Nasi Kandar is seen on most Indian Muslim or "Malaysian Mamak" restaurants, serving up business of 24 hours a day.

We Penangites grew up eating nasi kandar for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper. My colleagues and I would grab a meal of Nasi Kandar after work at 4 or even 5 in the morning. We would just chilled out in the restaurant drinking local coffees or teas, gossiping bout the work while enjoying the big plate of rice with lots of curries flooding on top of the rice. Those were the days of Nasi Kandar.

Appetiser of "Popadum"

"Lady Fingers" (Okra)

Deep fried Chicken local style

Beef Curry

"Sotong" (squid) curry

Prawn curry

Nasi Kandar - the finest creation

(Beautiful pictures contributed from buddy Immy and Nasi Kandar restaurant researcher Poay Lai from our beautiful Penang island)

FUNNY CHINESE DISHES NAME

2011-07-15T02:18:00.000+01:00

No one can really understand the culture of a country without first experiencing its food and drinks. Chinese cuisine has been developed so highly that it has reached the status of an art form, have adapted freely and changed fluidly with time. Rich and poor, Chinese people consider that delicious and nutritious food is the basic necessity.Confucius emphasized the artistic and social aspects of cookery and eating. The Chinese don’t gather together without involving food for it is considered to be poor host to invite friends to our home without providing appropriate food. Thus, Chinese cuisine came out with lots and lots of funny and weird names for the dishes over the centuries.There are key differences between the dish names of Chinese and English. English names basically list what's in the particular dish or the ingredients, and how it was cooked. The challenge of understanding English menu is to understand the name of the limited amount of vegetables, fruits and sauces names. Where else the Chinese dishes name in contrast, are completely irrelevant from the ingredients. The chef tends to think of a very short and beautiful name for their dishes. Typical Chinese dishes name are only four characters long. There are many dishes where the name originated from folklore, legend and stories too. There are 3 factors that may play an important role in naming a Chinese dish, which are the appearance of the dish, the person who is supposedly invented the dish (or caused the dish to be invented) and how the dish is made. There are few famous Chinese dishes with very legendary names :-

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN

The stories was originated in the early Qing Dynasty in Jiangshu province tells on a homeless, starving beggar wandering along the village when he caught sight of a chicken. Desperate for food, he killed the chicken by pulling off the neck. Lacking of stove, cooking utensil or any spicies, he covered the chicken in muds, starts a fire, put to roast and cooked it until the mud dried. When the dried mud was cracked open, the chicken exposing juicy tender meat and creating an incredible aroma. Unknown to him, he had just invented one of the greatest culinary traditions of China. At this point, the Emperor passed by with his followers. Attached by the aroma of the roast chicken, he stopped and dined with the beggar, demanding to know how he created such a delicious meal. From there, the "Beggar's Chicken" is subsequently added to the list of dishes served in the Imperial Forbidden court (Beggar's chicken is also called the "Rich and Noble Chicken" in Beijing nowadays).

CROSSING THE BRIDGE NOODLES

There is a beautiful legends regarding the birth of this dish - Crossing the Bridge Noodles. In the South Lake in Mengzi County, south-east of Yunan province boasted an extremely beautiful scenery where many imperial scholars would studied hard to become an official at that place. According to the most popular legend, this dish was discovered by a woman whose husband was one of the imperial scholar back then. He had to study for his exam on the other side of the town from where they lived. Everyday, the wife would walked over the bridge with his lunch but the dish would get cold on the way. One day as she was cooking, she discovered a simple solution to the problem, where she would covered the broth with a layer of hot oil from chicken fat and it will retained the heat. Then, she could add noodles to the hot broth once she served it to her husband. The liquid was once said that it is so hot that when slide think slices of meat, fish, bean curd and vegetables into the bowl, it will instantly cooked. Many people cooked the noodles in the wife's innovative way and found it really delicious and fresh. Since the wife had to cross a bridge to reach the other side for her husband, the dish was named Crossing the Bridge Noodles in her honour.

HUSBAND AND WIFE'S LUNG SLICE

It was translate words by words from Chinese, which possibly terrify lots of diners and making them think that they are visiting an uncivilized tribe in a jungle. Proper English translation should be "Spicy Ox Lung Slice". There is a romantic story of the origin for this famous Szechuan dish. During 1920s and 1030s in Chengdu, Szechuan, there used to be a man called Guo Zhaohua (the inventor) and his wife opened a small restaurant serving sliced ox lungs. They took so much care in preparing the dish and used the right degree of heat and spices. Their dish was so delicious that no one could resist them and customers praised their dishes so often, so the locals decided to name it after the couple, "Husband and Wife's Lung Slice". It has from then becoming a very famous Szechuan style of appetiser cold dish.

LION'S HEAD MEATBALL

It is a dish originates from Eastern China which the history of it goes back to the Sui Dynasty. It consisting large meat balls (usually mince meat pork). The dish name was inspired from the shape of the meatball which is supposed to resemble the head of a lion, stewed with cabbage. It is usually served in a set of four. It is said this dish was to be an imperial dish, that the emperor used to consume. It was also believed that whoever eat the Lion's Head meatball would become as strong as the lion. English translation should be, "Freshly Stewed Mince Pork Balls".

ANTS CLIMBING THE TREE

The "ants" in this dish are mean for the tiny bits of mince pork that cling to pieces of stir-fried glass noodles (the tree). During the Yuan Dynasty, a famous dramatist wrote a play which told how the dish was born - A man needed to pay off debt so he sold his daughter, Dòu É to his creditor as a wife for her son. Dòu É was a good girl taking care for her mother in law and husband but unfortunately her husband fell ill and died very soon after their marriage. Hence, she took up upon herself to support the family. Soon after the family went poor and she was force to buy food to put on tab. Eventually she cant even able to pay for any food, she begged the vendor until getting a very small chunk of pork. From the leftovers she had of only a handful of glass noodles and the meat, she cooked up a dish. Her mother in law found many little black spots in the dish and asked, "Why are there so many ants?". After Dòu É explained the situation in the family, her mother in law expressed gratitude for her kindness and care. So her mother in law gave the dish the name, Ants Climbing the Tree.

BUDDHA JUMPS OVER THE WALL

There are many stories been told on its origin. One of them, a common story was about a scholar travelling by foot to the Imperial court for the examination during the Qing Dynasty. He preserved all his food for the journey in a clay jar used for holding wine while he travelled with other fellow scholars. Whenever he had a meal, he would warmed up the jar over the fire. The smells spread over to a nearby Buddhist temple where the monks were meditating at that time. Although monks are not allowed to consume meat, but one of the monk who was so tempted by the smell, jumped over the wall to where the scholars gathered for cooking. A poet among the scholars said that even Buddha would jump the wall to have this delicious dish. It is regarded as a Chinese delicacy known for its rich taste, usage of various high quality ingredients and special manner of cooking. The dish is a soup or stew consists of many ingredients of non-vegetarian including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, dried scallops, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, chicken, ham, pork, ginseng and chinese mushroom and requires 2 days to prepare.

VIRGIN CHICKEN

It is only refers to young bird being slaughtered for meat before it can lay eggs. French call it "Poussin" and English is refer to "Spring Chicken".

DONGPO PORK

First of all, "DongPo" is not a named after a region nor any part of the pork. It is named after a poet, writer, painter, calligrapher and also a good chef by the name of "Su DongPo" from the Sung Dynasty. Born in Szechuan but famous for his work as a government official in Hangzhou, he was very fond of pork and besides creating this fantastic recipe, he even wrote a poem called "Ode to Pork". The poem goes like this:-

Pork in Hangzhou is plenty
There it costs utterly low,
The rich detest it; the poor fluff itSlow the fire, hold the water, it comes alive when the time is right.

Another version of the story of this dish started when Su DongPo was a local official in Hangzhou, he launched tens of thousand workers to build a dam for the locals benefit. During the Spring Festival in that year, villagers brought him so much of pork and wines. He thought of sharing it with the workers, so he told his servants to cook the pork and sent it to the workers. Unexpectedly his servants mistakenly cooked the pork and the wine together and as a result, the pork was extraordinary delicious. As Su DongPo was a great official and nice to the villagers, the pork that was cooked in this way was called "DongPo Pork" by the locals and it has become a famous tradition dish in Hangzhou.

DongPo Pork is the fatty pork belly which is braised in soy sauce and Chinese white wine until the meat cant barely holds up together. A nice fatty pork is the key and in fact the fattier the better. The pork should be so tender that it can easily separate into small pieces with chopsticks.

BANG CHANG KUIH

2011-07-14T00:49:00.000+01:00

"Bang Chang Kuih", also called "Apom Balik" in Malay is a very popular snack in Malaysia. Traditionally made in a cast-iron like pan over charcoals, this sweet pancake is usually eaten for breakfast but also enjoyed in the evenings. Its origin probably from Southern Indian or Sri Lankan, as a similar sweets called "Apom" sold by the Indian in Penang.

Roast Ground Peanut Filling

Cream Sweet Corn Fillings

Bang Chang Kuih is a big crispy pancake filled with sweet fillings and most commonly the fillings are roasted crushed peanuts, caster sugar and sometimes creamed sweet corn too.

I grew up eating this for breakfast. Dad would gave me money to go to the market and buy 2 pieces for both of us to eat with kopi-o.

It is still my favourite and bring back lots of memories when I was still living with my parents back in Georgetown.

The steps of Bang Chang Kuih making:-

(A post thanks to a buddy of mine IMMY in Penang for the beautiful pictures taken.)

RICE

2011-07-12T23:48:00.008+01:00

Rice is Asia's staple of food and crucially important to the Asian way of life, culture, customs, traditions and spirituality. Almost 7 billion Asians live on rice. Many think of rice as being a Chinese food but in the modern days now it is eaten all over the world. Rice is arguably the world's most important food as it is second most widely cultivated cereal after wheat. In much of Asia, it is so central to the culture that the word is almost synonymous with food. For Chinese the line in the Lord's prayer is translated as "give us this day our daily rice" and a Japanese proverb stated that "A meal without rice is no meal".

There are over 7 thousand varieties of rice grown around the world but there are only a few varieties that most consume and consider nutritious. Rice is roughly divided into 2 simple types. The "Japonica" and "Indica". Japonica rice is usually grown in temperate climates. The grains are round and do not easily break off or even crack. When cooked, this rice is sticky and moist. Rice produced in Japan is mostly Japonica. Indica rice is usually grown in hot climates. It is long and tend to break easily. The grain is fluffy and does not stick together. Most rice produced in Southern Asia including India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Southern China is Indica rice.Both Japonica and Indica types of rice include non-glutinous and glutinous rice. Each type of rice has its own characteristics and each has its own way in cooking. Non-glutinous rice is used in general cooking. It is nearly white and transparent. It is full of impurities which are actually nutritious for us. Glutinous rice tends to be more whiter and sticky when cooked. Commonly used to make rice cakes or various kinds of desserts.

With over more then half the population of the world eating rice two or three times a day, it is not surprising that there are many arguments over how it should be cooked. Indeed rice can be cooked in a variety of ways - boiling, baking, roasting, frying and pressure-cooking. Rice is best cooked immediately before serving, but cooked rice can be kept in fridge for up to 4 days but after 3 days it will be dry out. Leftover rice is good for stir-fry, which producing different fried rice. Its easy in preparation, very flexible and it got the ability to absorb flavours in retaining its texture. Rice dishes can be spicy or tangy, savoury or sweet. Rice soaks up gravies and rice sauces and cools and refreshes the palate when served with spicy food. Baked with milk and sugar, rice transforms itself into one of the western world’s best-loved creamy puddings. Rice has no fat, no salt and no sugar but many important nutrients.

My British friends cooked rice by boiling them in water and then strain all the water off before eating. In India, rice is cooked with sufficient water in electric cookers or pots under wood fire until fully cooked and is served either piping hot or warm on a banana leaf that magnifies the aroma. It is also cooked in a special procedure of sautéing with ghee, spices and vegetables with sufficient water and yoghurt. This recipe is called Briyani rice with different variations of meat and seafood cooked together with the rice. This is an equivalent of Paella from Spain and Jambalaya from South Africa. In Japan, rice is steam-cooked with vinegar to make sushi. In Malaysia, rice is cooked in a lot of water which is called porridge. The best porridge is prepared by the "TeowChew" Chinese which originated from China and one of many peasant food made into gourmet food or fast food. Even McDonald in Malaysia sells chicken porridge which is now widely accepted and enjoyed by other races. For the Malays, rice can be thickened with coconut or flavoured with aromatics like star anise or fried rice. Rice is being creatively prepared all over the world and being accepted in nearly every country as either a source of carbohydrate, snack or dessert. Little wonder then that many of the world’s finest dishes have been based around it. It is hard to imagine living in a world without rice.

There are no exactly rules on how to cook the rice. My mum cooked her pot of rice just like how everyone did back in the olden days. We use electric rice cooker back in Malaysia. Fast, convenient and this is how we do. Funny thing is, my British friends were quite surprised that there is a thing called rice cooker. Like I said, there is no definition on how to cook rice.

This is how my mum taught us to cook rice:-

I have this hardcore rice cooker for more then 7 years.. all the way from Malaysia to UK

Washed rice by rinse it at least 3 times until the water runs pure. Drain. Back then, my mum would kept the water ( washed from the rice) to use it for her face mask. She claimed that its better then any moisturiser cream !

Now many people said 1 cup of rice with 1 1/2 cup of water that theory. In the olden days, grandmothers and mothers cooked with their own way. There is no need to have measurement on things with Chinese cuisine to be frank. This is the trick my mum taught, and still using up until now with in my family.

Place the washed rice in the pot. The most easiest way to measure the water is to use the knuckle trick. The water should come up to the first joint of the knuckle. No matter how many rice to cook, this is still going to work fine.

Bring the rice to boil in the rice cooker. Let it to sit still after its cooked, for at least 10 minutes before opening the cover of the pot.

There we have, a nice pot of white boiled rice.

(A post dedicated to my best friend's G/f - "You will be in-charge of the rice cooking in the future".)

PIG BRAIN

2011-07-11T01:50:00.000+01:00

My mum loved to boil pig brain soup with Chinese herbs for my dad back in the old days. My dad has a very serious illness of migraine and pig brain has the benefits treating in wind syndrome of head and dizziness. Back then I would took a few slips from the bowl and damn it was so good. The older generations strongly believe that "what you eat is what you become" or that consuming a certain animal body part will enhance the same part of the human body and in this brain thing for instance, if you eat lots of it, you will become brainy and smarter. Now pig is not suppose to be smart and maybe their brain is never been used and that's why older generation believe it has lots of memory power in it. Other superstitious beliefs also led to the consumption of exotic food. For other example,eating fish eyes will improve a good vision, chicken feet will improve stronger legs or drinking tiger penis wine will.... well you get the story.

Pig brain is certainly not a dish fancy by the British or any white people. But majority in Asia countries, it is a delicacy which cant be miss. In Cambodian cuisine, it is served raw seasoned with pepper and lemon juice, China have it in hotpot, Malaysia used in soup and stir-fry omelette. These are the foods that I grew up on. My goodness I miss it a lot. I can never find all this in UK.

GINSENG CONGEE WITH RED DATES AND GOJI BERRIES

2011-07-10T01:10:00.000+01:00

Congee are basically rice cooked in a lot of water to form a think or creamy consistency. In Malaysia, we called it Porridge. When I say porridge, most people think of that as the sludge that Goldilocks ate in the Three Bears' House. As far as equivalents for other nationalities go, it seems to me like a real watery version of Italian risotto. Now lots of my British friends get very confused when I mention the dish porridge. To them it is a dish made from oats and primarily a savory dish, where else our Asian porridge is cooked from rice with variety toppings and condiments, from red meat to white meat, vegetables, pickles, etc. I remember my British ex used to say, "U guys are weird" whenever I tried to persuade her to have Chinese porridge and we will had this funny conversation of who is weirder..... British porridge or Chinese porridge. That was really funny.

The most accurate English name should be rice porridge. But in various parts in China and places with Chinese settlers, there are many variations for the names as well as how to serve. Cantonese called it "Jook/Juk". It resembles a kind of thick soup and raw ingredients like minced meat or seafood cooked together, making it a one-dish meal. Other types of rice porridge include the "TeowChew / Chiu Chow" porridge, Japanese "Okayu", Korean "Juk", Thai "Jok" and the Filipino "Lugao". A lot of restaurant or food sites on the Chinese rice porridge tend to use congee as an overall term in referring to all types of rice porridge. But whatever name it is called, Congee is surely a pure comfort food. It is so easy to prepare and most satisfying at any time in any season throughout the year. It doesnt matter if one is a great cook or a rookie. There is also no limit to what can be added in the congee. Have it sweet or savoury, thick or thin, luxurious or simple.

Congee is one of the traditional Chinese food which has thousands of years of history in China. There was this legend which during in the Qing Dynasty where a famine broke out. Emperor Yong Zheng ordered his officials to make congee and distribute to the starving people but the corrupt officials would skimp on the rice and gave out very watery versions of congee, almost like clear water. When the Emperor found out, he set a rules which the congee must be so thick that when a pair of chopsticks was to be poke in, it should stays upright. Any officials who disobey this rule will be beheaded.

The ancient people were very picky about congee back then. In order to cook a delicious and good congee, the fresh rice will have to be selected, the second was the water and they will use the rain water at the beginning of the spring or the snow water in the midwinter. The heat for cooking comes the third and great attention should be paid to the level of heat. The heat can be put into two category - the quick and strong (Wu fire) and the slow and low heat (Wen fire). Yup, Chinese are weird !

So what's so good about it? There are so many of advantage in congee to name a few. When people are ill or are on recovering from an illness usually have poor appetite. Congee will help improving appetite and provide much needed nutrients. For those having diarrhoea and vomiting should take some plain congee. Not only it can ease the diarrhoea but also replenish lost fluids. And it is a good alternative food for celiacs, those who are allergic to gluten too.

I love congee a lot. I came towards a chef from Hong Kong where he taught me the proper way to cooking a nice smooth congee. He is one good guy and he swears a lot. Apart from congee, I also learned the way the Hongkee talks in pure Cantonese. And damn that was one good experience and knowledge.

I am not feeling very well lately. Sleepless night and pushing myself to exercising in the morning trying to kick off some bloody thoughts which I am hoping to get rid off, and over drank. So I cooked a nice congee where this time I didnt add any meat or vegetables nor seafood. My dad left me a few packs of slice ginseng last time. So I make some Ginseng Congee with Red Dates and Goji Berries. Ginseng is gentle tonic, makes up the vitality and damages in the body and promote metabolism and blood circulation.

Very straight forward recipe. No hassle nothing involves with oil or pan. Just get half a handful of goji berries, 3 red dates, few slices of ginseng and 1 cup of rice.

Wash and soak goji berries until soft.

Wash and soak the rice for an hour (this will shorten the cooking time).

Place the rice, slice ginseng, goji berries and red dates in a pot and add in water, around 8 cups at least.

Bring it to boil. Now this is the part where everyone lower the heat to a simmer but according to my Hongkee chef, the trick is to let it boil to the highest heat. The theory is very simple, the heat will keep the rice busy "dancing" inside the pot. Instead if it is lower to simmer, the rice will falls to the bottom of the pot, and that is the reason why the pot will burned at the bottom. Just remember to check on it occasionally and top up with boiling water from the kettle instead of cold water. If cold water is added in, the whole process for the heat will cold the pot off, and the congee wouldn't be smooth at the end of the cooking.

It only takes an hour to cook, until the rice starts to break down and the liquid around it gets creamy. There's no need to add in anything extra, not soy sauce, not salt just have it like it comes.

CHICKEN FEET

2011-07-09T00:17:00.000+01:00

Every time when i tell my British friends about eating chicken feet, they will look at me like I am crazy and grossed them out. My mum loves making soup from chicken feet. It was the richest, most flavourful stock one can imagine. Chicken feet are a lowly thing. It scratch in the dust and shuffle over crowded cage. In many European countries, chicken feet usually ended up being ground into parts or throw away. Chicken feet are a very common dish enjoyed by Asian, most often in braising, stewing or boiling as soup where we prefer the taste of meat on the bone.

Braised Chicken Feet on Dim Sum

Chicken feet are actually very high protein and really taste superb if one can get over the "EWW" factor. The "EWW" factor of chicken feet comes from the fact that it looks creepy raw like witch hands, and to be frank it looks disgusting, even after cooked, it actually looks more human-like hands. Many of the Asian grandmothers or great grandmothers used chicken feet in their stock and as a matter of fact it has been a human activity for thousands of years. Stock made from chicken feet is fabulous and incredibly good with all its gelatine. It is also high nutritional value, rich in calcium and collagen. The gelatine gives it that special richness missing from using a normal chicken carcass for stock.

My mum would get freshly slaughtered chicken feet from the market just behind the back of our house when we still lived in Georgetown. I still remember very well how the guy killed those chickens. He caught the bird, turning it upside down, hold the legs firmly and with a firm and fast action, pulling the neck downwards. It will flapped its wings like crazy ! I would just sat at one corner watching the whole process while my mum choose the feet on the other corner.