Second Helpings

Taking a Short Break

2011-12-07T11:19:00.005+08:00

Just wanted you to know that I've taken a short blogging break while I pursue a postgrad degree. Hope to be back every so often, but until then, thanks for stopping by and I will see you real soon!

Expeditions

2011-06-24T15:50:00.005+08:00

We've had a wave of guests coming through Singapore at the moment. It's a good excuse to revisit the sights, discover little alleys, gorge on the wonderful local food, and shop! I love shopping with my guests. And although I don't buy anything, just the experience of trying those killer heels, testing different scents, carrying a designer bag on my arm, makes for a really enjoyable day. After a successful expedition, we ended the day with a dinner of Curry Prawns (adapted from a Hong Kong magazine clipping called Lisa's World), accompanied by Crab Cakes (adapted from Bon Appetit).

Curry Prawns with Pineapple

500g medium prawns

1 cup pineapple chunks

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1 red onion, minced

1 cup coconut cream

1/2 cup pineapple juice

(from the canned pineapple)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Shell and devein prawns (keep the tail end). Wipe dry. Stir in a little salt, cornstarch and pepper. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes, then deep fry in hot oil, remove and drain on paper towels.

Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the pan. Saute onions and curry powder for about 2 minutes. Pour in pineapple juice, salt and sugar, and stir until well blended.

Add the prawns, coconut cream and cook until sauce has thickened. Add in pineapple chunks, bring to a brief boil, and serve.

Crab Cakes

4 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, minced

1/4 cup cilantro, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, minced

1 can (6 ounces) fresh crabmeat

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon chili sauce (asian)

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers

1 egg

Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Canola oil for frying

Melt butter in a frying pan and saute onion and garlic until soft, about 10 minutes, on medium heat. Add bell pepper and saute for another 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in crabmeat, lemon juice, cilantro, Worcestershire and chili sauces. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a large bowl and mix in egg and crackers until well blended. Shape into little cakes and lay on a baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Place bread crumbs on a shallow dish. Take the crab cakes and gently press each one onto the bread crumbs, on both sides.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry cakes until golden brown.

Nice on Rice

2011-06-20T14:51:00.002+08:00

Once in a while, my neighborhood Japanese supermarket hosts a rice festival, and I treat the family to a sack of glorious Japanese-grown rice. Because the short grains are slightly sticky but still retaining a little bite and bounce, it's great for absorbing saucy dishes. I made Gyudon, or Japanese Beef on Rice as a topping, and Saucy Eggplant as a side dish. The Gyudon recipe is adapted from a favorite cookbook called Harumi's Japanese Cooking, and the Eggplant dish is from an old Chinese cookbook that I pinched from my Mom's collection. Now this is my idea of comfort food!

Gyudon

(Beef on Rice)

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

6 fresh shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 cup white wine

1/2 cup water

500g sukiyaki beef (or thinly sliced beef)

3/4 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup mirin

4 tablespoons white sugar

cooked white rice

Pour the wine and water into a saucepan and boil over medium heat. Once it has boiled, lower the heat and add your beef one slice at a time and simmer for about a minute. Skim the surface of the broth for any residue.

Add soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Prepare a piece of aluminum foil in the diameter of the saucepan and let it sit directly on top of the beef mixture. This "drop lid" technique concentrates the flavor of your broth. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the onions and mushrooms, and continue to simmer until soft.

Scoop the freshly cooked rice into your bowl. Spoon the beef, onions and broth onto the rice bowl. Garnish with sesame seeds and spring onions. Serve with japanese pickles, if available.

Saucy Eggplant

500 g eggplant

1 cup oil for frying

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon chinese black vinegar or

Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup water

Peel the eggplant. Cut off both ends and cut the remaining section into 3-inch lengths. Halve lengthwise.

Heat pan and add oil. Deep fry the eggplant pieces in batches for about 2 minutes. Remove and drain. Leave about 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan.

Stir fry garlic until fragrant, then add the eggplant, soy sauce, sugar, salt, vinegar and water. Cook over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes, or until the liquid is nearly evaporated. Garnish with spring onions. Serve immediately.

Bananas

2011-06-13T11:50:00.003+08:00

I usually make a banana bread out of leftover ripe bananas, but I wanted to try something different this time. I found an interesting recipe on epicurious.com originally called Banana Coffee Cake Diamond, which combined bananas with chocolate and coffee. The cake was very moist, and the flavor combination was intriguing. The teenagers loved it. Serve with some whipped cream or your favorite frosting.

Chocolate Banana Coffee Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 ver ripe bananas, mashed well

3/4 cup sour cream

125g butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon espresso or strong coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175 deg C.

I used a silicone baking mold, but if you are using a regular bundt pan, grease and flour it beforehand.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix bananas and sour cream.

In another bowl, beat butter, white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then coffee and vanilla.

Alternately beat in flour and banana mixture in batches, until well combined.

Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven for about 45-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Dust with confectioner's sugar, and serve with whipped cream or frosting.

Homemade

2011-06-04T10:36:00.006+08:00

I have not had many successes in baking, I can probably count the few triumphs on my one hand. I've always loved that wonderful, homey smell of fresh bread baking in the oven, but I never thought I would enjoy that in my own kitchen...until a dear friend (thanks P) showed me how homemade bread can be as simple as apple crumble (the ONE thing I can bake!). This is her recipe. The dough should be prepared the night before baking.

Multi-grain Buns

(makes about 12-15 buns)

500 ml lukewarm water

1 sachet of dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar or honey

1/4 cup lukewarm water

400 g all-purpose flour

200 g whole wheat flour

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 handfuls rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)

2 handfuls flax seeds

1 handful pumpkin seeds

(feel free to add raisins, chopped dried fruit if desired)

Pour the sachet of yeast into 1/4 cup lukewarm water, add the sugar and mix well until dissolved. Set aside while you prepare the dough. If active, the yeast will rise.

In a large mixing bowl, add the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, salt, oats, and seeds, and mix well. Pour in 500 ml water and the risen yeast mixture, and mix well in the bowl. The dough should resemble wet porridge (if too dry, add a bit more water to get the right consistency). Leave in the mixing bowl and cover tightly. Leave overnight in the fridge.

The next morning, preheat your oven to 275 deg C.

Use a large soup spoon to scoop out the dough, and form into buns with floured hands. Lay them side by side on a baking tray lined with a silpat mat or baking paper.

Bake for 5 minutes to brown, then lower the heat to 220 deg C, and bake for another 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool before separating into individual buns. Store in an airtight container.

A Long Break

2011-05-24T08:43:00.005+08:00

I sat, staring at my screen for the longest time, and usually the words would flow from my thoughts to my fingers, tapping away at the keyboard. But I just stared. All of a sudden I was unsure of what I should say, or if I wanted to say anything, whether it was important at all. Day after day, I kept drawing a blank, until I finally just turned off completely, and took a break. Although the cooking still continued, I had a bad case of writer's block.

It's been a month or so. I started to miss my blogging world - the photos, the recipes, the comments, my friends, and yes, even the writing. Sorry to have disappeared for a bit, but I'm back. Here's a very hearty recipe for Slow-Roasted Pork Belly, adapted from the traditional Danish technique and a more modern Jamie Oliver.

Slow-Roasted Pork Belly

1.5kg pork belly with skin on

sea salt

2 apples, cored and sliced

5 shallots, sliced

2 sprigs of rosemary

Preheat the oven to 220 deg C. In the meantime, with a small sharp knife, score the skin, through the fat, but be careful not to cut into the meat (or ask your butcher to do this for you). Place pork belly skin side down into a roasting tray and pour enough water just to cover the layer of skin and fat. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the baking tray from the oven, and reduce the heat to 180 deg C. Pour out the water from the baking tray and set aside. This can be used for making gravy if desired. Turn over the pork belly so it is skin side up. Rub salt onto the skin and into the grooves.

Add the apples, shallots, and rosemary underneath the pork, making a flavorful nest.

Roast for another 2 hours. At this point, the skin would have started to puff up into a crackling. If not, turn up the oven to broil, carefully watching the pork as the skin starts to puff up, making sure it does not burn.

Remove from the oven and let the meat rest for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Serve with pickled red cabbage and a good strong mustard. You can also make a brown gravy from the drippings, and serve with potatoes.

Decadent Food@Kulinarya

2011-04-24T16:25:00.005+08:00

Thanks to Lala of Kulinarya Cooking Club, who came up with another challenging theme of Decadent Food. My dish for April is Calamansi Lime Pie, made creamy by the surprise ingredient, condensed milk. The sweet, tart and creamy combination makes you crave for another slice. The recipe is adapted from Jeanne Kelley's wonderful cookbook, Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes.

Calamansi Lime Pie with Blueberry Compote

1 prepared 9-inch pie crust

1 (14-ounce can) sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup freshly squeezed calamansi limes

(or regular limes)

1 teaspoon lime zest, finely grated

2 eggs

16 ounces fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.

Mix together the condensed milk, lime juice, and zest until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and pour into the condensed milk mixture, mixing thoroughly. Pour into the prepared pie crust and bake until filling is set, about 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely. Chill in the refrigerator while making the compote.

Place blueberries and sugar in a saucepan and let simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes. The mixture will thicken and reduce. Set aside to cool. Spoon over the pie slices and serve with whipped cream or creme fraiche, if desired.

Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.
Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.
If you’re interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by our foodblogs and leave a comment. We would love to hear from you!

Time Flies

2011-04-19T19:13:00.006+08:00

Do you find yourself driving the usual route - to the kids' school, to work, to the supermarket - only to realize that you're already there? But wasn't it just a few minutes ago that you got on the highway, cranked up the radio and started the journey?

And just like that, I realized too that I've now been blogging for a year! What started off as a challenge after taking a writer's workshop, and inspired by a retreat in Bali, my blog now has 72 entries. I've met many like-minded, food-crazy friends and even felt an instant kinship with some of you over our posts. I've travelled around the world vicariously through your blogs, savoring the aromas and tastes that your recipes brought to my kitchen.

So thank you, bloggers, for sharing your world with me, as I've enjoyed sharing mine with you. And thank you, readers, for stopping by to visit. See you again soon.

Saved

2011-04-02T11:00:00.005+08:00

I had a panic attack yesterday.

It was late in the afternoon, and as I was walking to my car in the basement parking lot, I picked up my iPhone, did the habitual click and swipe, and then again and again, but my fully-charged phone remained black, and silent. How could it be? Like a crazed woman, I raced home, plugged it into its lifeline - not a peep. It was gone. Kaput. I googled "dead iPhone", called the Apple store, followed the tips, but still no luck. Hysterical thoughts started rushing through my head like scrolling headline banners - What if My Class Schedule Was Changed? Is Teenage Son Stuck Somewhere? The Physiotherapist Can't Make it Tomorrow and Can't Reach Me! (And to think just a couple of years ago, I threatened to throw my husband's Blackberry overboard while on our cruise holiday, accusing him of being too obsessed! Oops...)

Then Teenage Son arrives home, listens to hysterical blabber from Panicked Mom, grabs the phone, and a few simultaneous clicks later, hands it back revived and alive, walks into his room, and shuts the door. Order is restored!

I even had time to make dinner of Prawn Cakes with fresh shitake mushrooms and wasabi vinaigrette, adapted from an old clipping I saved from Gourmet Magazine's October 2002 edition.

Prawn Cakes with Wasabi Vinaigrette

500g medium prawns, shelled and deveined, finely chopped

150g skinless cod or any white fish fillet, finely chopped

2 tablespoons minced carrots

1/4 cup minced onions

1/2 cup minced fresh shitake mushrooms, caps only

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

Oil for frying

for Wasabi Vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon prepared wasabi paste

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

Saute carrots, onion and mushroom in a bit of oil until softened, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together minced prawn and fish, carrots, onion and mushroom mixture, egg, salt, soy sauce and sugar. With your hands, knead the mixture until well combined. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

In the meantime, make the wasabi vinaigrette by whisking the wasabi paste, mayonnaise, mirin, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar until well blended.

Take the chilled prawn mixture and shape into 1/2 inch cakes. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and fry cakes until lightly golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain well over paper towels.

Serve over mixed greens. Drizzle wasabi vinaigrette over the prawn cakes. Top with sesame seeds and pea sprouts.

Overdrive

2011-03-28T16:52:00.008+08:00

Nurses and Caregivers, I have one word for you - RESPECT! Teenager no. 3 came home from the hospital last weekend, and I have tagged on an addendum to my multi-hyphenated job description of Mom. I am now Mom-Nurse to my son, who is lying in bed, cranky, in pain, and temporarily immobile. His needs have gone on overdrive. I've only been a couple of days on the job, but I am exhausted! I am either going to make myself a cocktail, or something good to eat. So I made noodles.

This recipe is adapted from The Taste of Thailand by Vatcharin Bhumichitr, substituting red curry paste with sambal.

Curry Noodles with Sambal

200g fresh Asian egg noodles

2 tablespoons oil

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons sambal paste

(or 1 teaspoon red curry paste)

1/2 cup coconut cream

125g minced pork

250ml chicken or pork stock

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Blanch the fresh noodles in boiling water for a few seconds, separating the strands. Drain and set aside.

In a wok over high heat, add the oil and fry the garlic until just golden. Add curry paste, stir well, then coconut cream. Lower the heat and simmer for a minute. Add the minced pork and saute until it turns opaque. Add the stock, curry powder, turmeric, fish sauce, sugar and lemon juice. Stir well. Increase the heat to high and continue stirring for about half a minute.

Add the noodles and mix until the sauce is well incorporated.

Garnish with julienned cucumbers and carrots. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or ground peanuts. Serve with additional sambal on the side.

Vegetables@Kulinarya

2011-03-20T14:46:00.003+08:00

This month's Kulinarya Cooking Club challenge is Vegetables, Philippine Style. Thanks to Erika for a refreshing theme!

Ask a fellow Filipino what their favorite home cooked dish is, and most often you'll hear them craving for adobo, kare-kare, longganisa, or lechon kawali. We're a carnivorous bunch!

According to Encyclopedia of the Nations, the country's main agricultural crops are rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane, bananas, pineapple, coffee, mangoes, tobacco, and abaca (a banana-like plant). Secondary crops include peanut, cassava, camote (a type of rootcrop), garlic, onion, cabbage, eggplant, calamansi (a variety of lime), rubber, and cotton.

My featured dish is a grilled eggplant salad, which is a perfect accompaniment to all that meat we're craving! The tanginess of the dressing comes from calamansi, or Philippine limes. Adjust the sourness according to your taste, and if calamansi is not available, limes or lemons can be used. A drizzle of coconut cream rounds out the flavors. Add some crushed peanuts, chopped cilantro and more chili to the dressing for a Thai twist.

Grilled Eggplant Salad

1 Asian eggplant (long)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 shallots, minced

1/2 tomato, diced

1 chili, minced

2 tablespoons fresh calamansi juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons coconut cream

Grill the eggplant until skin is blackened. Let cool for a minute, then peel off the charred skin.

Dice eggplant and place in a serving dish. Top this with the diced tomatoes, shallots and minced garlic (which can be pan-fried in a bit of oil until lightly brown for a milder flavor).

For the dressing, combine the calamansi juice, fish sauce, sugar and minced chili. Mix well until the sugar is dissolved.

Pour dressing over the salad and drizzle the coconut cream over to finish.

Fish Tales

2011-03-18T11:02:00.004+08:00

There was a point in my childhood where I wanted to marry a fisherman. During my summer holidays, we would visit my grandparents who lived by the river. My Dad would take me on a little canoe with an old fisherman called Mang Tino, and we'd row out to the bay in the cool, dark and quiet dawn. The soft ripples of waves, the gentle splash of the oars as they cut through the still water was hypnotic. No conversation. This was Dad's downtime. We stopped a bit by the river bank, where our fisherman scooped up tiny shrimp for bait. We fished for a couple of hours, until the hot morning sun came bearing down on us. That meant it was time to head for shore, where twigs and branches were collected to make a fire to cook our breakfast. Our catch of the day, tiny silver fish, were put into a clay pot, with some onions, garlic, ginger and salt. The sweetness of the fresh fish over hot steamed rice was the best breakfast a little girl could share with her Dad, sitting under a shady tree, by the riverbank. This was serenity.

Here's a recipe for Grilled Fish (adapted from Terry and Christopher Tan's Shiok cookbook), using fillets you can easily find in your neighborhood supermarket. In Singapore, the ideal fish used is Stingray, on the bone, and of course, the fresher the better. It is served with a sweet-salty-spicy sambal and slices of calamansi, our local limes. The sambal recipe yields about a cup. I plan to make more dishes using this condiment, so watch out for it in my future posts.

Grilled Fish with Chili Sambal

500g sole or any white, firm fish fillet

2 tablespoons kecap manis (thick dark soy sauce)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

fresh calamansi or limes, halved

for Chili Sambal:

6 cloves garlic, peeled

4 candlenuts

(closest substitute would be cashew nuts)

2 large onions, chopped

8 dried chilies, soaked for about 30 minutes to soften

2 tablespoons tamarind pulp

3/4 cup water

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon shrimp paste

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to grill (you may also use your barbecue grill).

Pat dry the fish fillets with a paper towel and place in an oven-proof dish. Mix together kecap manis, pepper, salt and sugar. Brush liberally over fish.

Place in the oven and grill for about 3-4 minutes (4-5 minutes for thicker fillets). The fish is cooked through when the meat can be flaked with a fork. Serve with cut limes and chili sambal.

To make the sambal, finely grind garlic, candlenuts, onions and chilies in a food processor to make a moist aromatic paste. Add the tamarind paste into the water and knead until a pulp is produced. Strain into another bowl.

Heat the wok and add the oil. Reduce heat to low and add the aromatic paste. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes to ensure that the raw ingredients are thoroughly cooked.

Add the tomato paste, salt, sugar and stir well. Add the strained tamarind liquid a little at a time, stirring well, and continue until all liquid has been added and absorbed, and the sambal has turned a deep, rich red.

Serve with grilled fish, or as a condiment to your favorite meat, noodle or rice dishes.

The cooled sambal can be kept in a clean, airtight container for a few weeks in the refrigerator.

Memories

2011-03-12T13:21:00.010+08:00

I've been in a daze lately. A few weeks ago, I faced the sad reality of a dear friend's passing away from cancer. The memories came pouring in. From the first time we met in Copenhagen, she took me under her wing, and showed me how to live like a Dane, but without forgetting our Philippine roots. Her traditional Christmas dinners of roast duck, roast pork, caramelized potatoes and red cabbage were always followed by adobo, lechon kawali and rice. When we bought our very first home, she came by, sewing machine in hand, and we spent all day eagerly sewing up curtains to decorate the rooms. She watched my boys grow up, and as my family became more nomadic through the years, she opened her home to us as we came to visit every summer or winter holiday. She enjoyed life. And now I wonder why she couldn't enjoy it for a bit longer.

I'm grateful to have spent the holidays with her, where she served a delicious appetizer, Pate de Foie Gras with Green Grapes. Here's how it was done: Take some green grapes, cut in half lengthwise, and toss with sugar to coat the fruit. While the grapes are macerating, slice the pate into 1 inch thick pieces, and pan fry them carefully in butter. Remove the browned pate, and toss in the grapes. Saute briefly and add white wine, reduce until the sauce becomes slightly syrupy. Lay the foie gras on toasted brioche over some arugula, then drizzle the green grape sauce over. Delicious.

Good memories, L.

Old Friends

2011-02-28T13:50:00.002+08:00

There's nothing like old friends. Each time I travel back home, I get together with these girls I've known since grade school, and it always feels like I've never left. Although we hardly keep in touch, the bond we formed through all those years growing up together has remained intact, and we pick up quickly where we left off.

When I was back home for a mini-break, I caught up with a dear old friend for lunch. After hours of catching up, she served these mini banana spring rolls with a dipping sauce of dulce de leche, the sweet taste of nostalgia.

To make dulce de leche, simply remove the paper label from a can of condensed milk, place in a pot full of water (making sure the can is covered to the brim), cover and simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove the lid, and scoop out the thick, caramelized milk.

Use as a dessert dip or serve with your favorite sweet bun.

Leftovers

2011-02-26T14:35:00.000+08:00

Weekends are for cleaning out the fridge, and trying to find ways of transforming leftovers into a new dish, a nice treat for my nocturnal Teenagers, whose first stop is the kitchen after a night out with friends.

I had a few slices of sauteed pork and a tub of kimchi, and I thought - Kimchi Fried Rice! I have always eaten kimchi as a side dish, but never as an ingredient in a cooked dish, so this was intriguing. Contrary to what I expected, the fried rice wasn't spicy at all! It was delicious, wiped out in the wee morning hours by my hungry vultures.

The recipe is from About.com, check out the original here.

Kimchi Fried Rice

1 cup kimchi, drained and chopped

1 small onion, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon butter

1/2 cup leftover meat, chopped

3-4 cups cooked rice

salt to taste

fried eggs for topping

Add some vegetable oil into a hot wok and saute onions and kimchi until transparent. Add the leftover meat, then garlic, soy sauce and butter. Cook for a minute, then pour in the cooked rice. Mix very well, breaking up any lumps of rice. Season with salt to taste. In a separate pan, cook about 3 fried eggs and place on top of the fried rice before serving.

Two for One

2011-02-16T20:44:00.006+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I made Hainanese Chicken Rice, a favorite Singaporean dish where chicken is boiled in a rich stock, with flavorful accompaniments of chili and ginger sauces, and served with with fragrant sauteed and steamed rice.

This Cantonese favorite, Soy-braised Chicken, uses five spice powder as its dominant flavor. A blend of star anise, cinnamon, fennel, cloves and szechuan peppercorn combines the unique flavors of Chinese cuisine - sweet, salty, sour, pungent and bitter.

The next day I marinated and braised some pork spareribs in the leftover sauce, and they were just as delicious!

Soy-braised Five Spice Chicken

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons sugar

1 whole chicken (about 1.5kg)

6 cups water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

5 tablespoons kecap manis or thick, dark soya sauce

large knob (about 3 inches) ginger, bruised

3/4 teaspoon five spice powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon sesame oil

In a wok over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and sugar. As soon as the sugar begins to caramelize into a golden brown syrup, immediately add the chicken and roll around the caramel to thoroughly coat all sides. Turn chicken over a few times for an even golden coating.

Add the water, soy sauces, ginger, five spice powder and salt. Bring stock to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes. Turn chicken over gently, making sure not to bruise the skin, then continue simmering for another 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let chicken rest in the stock, covered, for another 10 minutes.

Lift chicken from the stock onto a chopping board. Chop into small pieces (debone the chicken if desired). Arrange on a serving plate with some sauteed chinese vegetables.

In the meantime, reduce the remaining stock over high heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add sesame oil. Drizzle over the chicken and serve some extra sauce on the side.

Many Thanks

2011-02-13T14:39:00.023+08:00

Thank you to Karen and Nigella for including me on her list of Stylish Blogger Awardees! I always look forward to reading her posts with wonderful anecdotes and recipes.

There are four rules to accepting this award: thank and link the blogger who nominated you; share seven things about yourself; award fifteen new bloggers and tell them you have done it. So here goes:

I used to be afraid of dogs; I now have two.

My grandmother taught me how to cook at the age of 10 during my summer holiday - I was mad at her for weeks
I am a cookbook fiend - take me to a bookstore and I will procrastinate about the bestsellers but will always leave with a cookbook

My most loyal and favorite cookbook, though, is my old, stained spiral notebook
I can spend hours in a kitchen gadget store (a shoe store tops my list too)
Baking makes me nervous, but I'm trying
I am happy to be living in one of the world's food capitals

I stepped into the blogging world with the intention of simply having a journal of the dishes I cooked for family and friends, and the memories that came along with it. But I have met many like-minded friends through this avenue, and would like to share the Stylish Blogger Award with them:

Until my next post, happy reading!

Banana Turrones@Kulinarya

2011-02-13T12:44:00.009+08:00

Thank you to fellow KCC member Pia for this month's challenge of Filipino Aphrodisiac Food. Now didn't we all think of the same thing when we read Pia's email? Yes, balut, a boiled, fertilized duck egg is the ultimate in Filipino aphrodisiac food, sold by street vendors all over the country. Not my favorite food, to be honest.

After a bit of researching, I was pleased to find that bananas, widely grown in the Philippines, are in Gayot's list of top ten romantic foods. The banana "is a complete meal, loaded with potassium, magnesium and B vitamins. Central Americans drink the sap of the red banana as an aphrodisiac, while Hindus regard it as a symbol of fertility. A banana left on a doorstep indicates that a marriage is about to take place. Bananas made an early appearance in the Garden of Eden; according to Islamic myth, Adam and Eve covered themselves not with fig but banana leaves."

So what better way to sweeten a Valentine's Day meal than with these Banana Turrones? I sliced some bananas (plantains are ideal, but regular bananas will do), placed them on a spring roll wrapper, sprinkled brown sugar over the filling, and rolled these into tight batons. Deep fry them briefly in vegetable oil until golden brown and drain well on paper towels. In the meantime, make a dipping sauce by mixing 1 cup coconut cream with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence. Simmer on low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Serve Turrones with the Coconut Cream dip, or cinnamon sugar on the side.

By the way, the lovely serving dishes were made by some very creative students at Impressions Art Studio in Singapore, who offer batik, ceramic and canvas painting in a bright and cheerful room on the second floor of an historic shophouse. Thank you Anna and Raquel for loaning these dishes for my post today!

Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

Where's the Beef?

2011-02-08T15:10:00.003+08:00

Here are two great Asian beef dishes - one requires patience, the other speed.

After a disappointing first try at making Beef Rendang a couple of weeks ago, this recipe is a winner, adapted from RasaMalaysia's Easy Asian Recipes. Rendang is a Malaysian/Indonesian stew, made with fragrant spices and coconut milk, simmered slowly until the sauce is reduced to a luxurious gravy. Don't make this if you're in a hurry - it will take at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours to tenderize the beef and thicken the gravy - but it is guaranteed to be well worth your patience!

Beef Rendang

700g beef rib cap, or boneless beef short ribs, cubed

(use a cut of meat with some marbling, a lean cut will become too dry and tough)

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon five-spice powder

1 lemon grass, halved and pounded once

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup water

2 teaspoons tamarind pulp

(soak tamarind paste in water, mash and remove seeds, then strain)

(if not available, you could substitute this with lime juice)

6 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced

6 tablespoons dessicated coconut, dry-fried until lightly toasted

1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt, to taste

for the spice paste:

5 shallots, chopped

1 inch piece galangal, peeled and chopped

3 lemongrass stalks (white part only), chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped

10 dried red chilies (soak in warm water and seeded), chopped

Blend spice paste ingredients until very fine.

In a casserole or other heavy bottomed pot, fry the spice paste and 5-spice powder in oil until fragrant. Add the beef and lemongrass, and mix well with the sauteed spice paste. Pour in the coconut milk, tamarind pulp, and water. Stir well for about 5 minutes. Add the kaffir lime leaves, toasted coconut, salt and sugar. Mix well and let simmer on low, covered tightly, for about 1 hour.

Remove lid and let it cover the pot only halfway. Continue simmering on low for another 45 minutes to an hour, stirring the beef occasionally. Turn off the heat once the meat is tender and the gravy is almost reduced (this will continue to thicken as the dish begins to cool down). Adjust your salt and sugar to taste.

Serve with steamed rice. Save some for leftovers the next day - the flavors intensify overnight!

The second recipe is for Stir-Fried Beef with Kailan (Chinese Broccoli), adapted from Christopher Tan's cookbook Shiok! As with all stir-fries, once your prep work is done, cooking is done swiftly.

Stir-Fried Beef with Kailan

250g beef sirloin, sliced thinly

300g kailan (chinese brocolli)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons shaoxing wine

vegetable oil for frying

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons water

Wash and dry kailan, then cut into 2 inch lengths. Blanch vegetables in boiling water for maximum 2 minutes, then drain and dry well.

Mix cornstarch, soy sauce and 1 1/2 tablespoons shaoxing wine. Pour marinade onto beef and mix well.

Pour oil in a wok and heat until just smoking. Fry garlic and ginger, and immediately add beef, stir-frying quickly so the pieces separate and cook evenly.

Add the remaining wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, pepper and water, mix well. As soon as the sauce thickens, add the blanched kailan and toss well with the beef. Serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Mad Dash

2011-02-07T10:44:00.004+08:00

The 4-day Chinese New Year weekend is the only time when shops close in this otherwise consumer-friendly paradise. Our neighborhood grocer calls and reminds us to send him our list for the long weekend, just to make sure we don't panic when food runs out. I feel like a hoarder! I make a last minute dash to our fishmonger, and grab a can of crabmeat, which I use for one of our favorite pasta dishes, based on one of the many wonderful recipes I learned at an Italian cooking class many, many years ago. There were no hand-outs given before class, so we would furiously take notes as the teacher whizzed through her repertoire. My well-stained notebook is a cherished archive of favorites, filled with scribbled recipes such as this....

Capellini with Crab and Roasted Red Peppers

1 can (450g) crabmeat

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch Italian parsley, minced

1 small red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and diced

olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground pepper or dash of chili flakes

for tomato sauce:

2 cans Italian chopped tomatoes

1/2 onion, diced

2-3 large basil leaves, chopped

olive oil

salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Make the tomato sauce by sauteing the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add in the chopped tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, pepper and sugar, and a splash of red wine (if available), and simmer for about 30 minutes.

In another pan, saute the garlic and parsley in olive oil until fragrant. Add the crabmeat and roasted red peppers. Season with salt and pepper (or chili flakes). Pour in the white wine and simmer until just reduced. Add the freshly made tomato sauce and mix well.

Prepare pasta according to package instructions (make enough for 3-4 people).

Pour drained pasta into the sauce and mix thoroughly. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil just before serving. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

A Medley of Tastes

2011-01-30T12:44:00.003+08:00

Looks can be deceiving. Hainanese Chicken Rice is a seemingly simple dish of poached whole chicken, with steamed white rice and cucumber slices, accompanied by sauces of chili, ginger and sweet soy. But that first bite is so full of flavor, a surprising medley of savory, spicy, sweet and fragrant tastes that define Singaporean cuisine.

Traditionally, chicken fat is rendered for its oil, in which the rice grains and aromatics are sauteed before steaming. Although the chicken fat does bring a richness to the steamed rice, I thought I would try and make a lower-fat version by using canola oil instead. Here's my adapted recipe from Terry and Christopher Tan's cookbook Shiok.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

1 large chicken

10 cups water

3 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

3 slices ginger

sesame oil

for the rice:

600g uncooked Jasmine rice

2 tablespoons oil (canola or peanut)

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 tablespoons ginger, minced

2 shallots, minced

2 pandan leaves, knotted loosely

1 lemongrass stalk, cut into 2 pieces

for the chili sauce:

6 large red chilies, seeds removed

(keep seeds to make a spicier sauce)

2 birds eye chilies

4 large cloves garlic

2 teaspoons ginger, minced

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons calamansi or lime juice

2 tablespoons hot chicken stock

(from poaching chicken above)

for the ginger sauce:

100g ginger, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon oil

condiments:

thick sweet soy sauce

cucumber slices

cilantro leaves

In a large stock pot, add water, garlic and ginger and bring to a boil. Submerge the chicken in the stock, let simmer vigorously, partially covered for 25 minutes. Switch off the heat, cover tightly, and let stand for another 30 minutes.

In the meantime, wash and drain rice in a colander. Leave to dry well for about 10 minutes.

In a wok over medium heat, add oil and fry garlic, ginger and shallots until fragrant. Add rice and stir-fry until grains become translucent. Transfer to rice cooker, top with pandan leaves and lemongrass, salt and 4 cups of hot chicken stock (from your standing pot). Turn on your rice cooker and leave to cook. Remember to remove the pandan leaves and lemongrass before serving rice.

Lift out chicken from the hot stock, rub skin all over with sesame oil and set aside.

For the chili sauce, blend all ingredients well, add the hot stock and process until well combined.

For the ginger sauce, blend ginger, add oil and hot stock, then process until well combined.

Chop chicken into pieces, remove bones if desired. Serve with the steamed rice, accompanied by the thick soy sauce, chili and ginger sauces on the side. Garnish with cucumber slices. Season your hot stock with salt, sugar and sesame oil to taste, sprinkle some cilantro leaves, and serve as a side dish.

Birthday Treat@Kulinarya

2011-01-23T14:22:00.010+08:00

When Jenn, Tressa and Maribel came up with this month's theme of Birthday Treats for Kulinarya Cooking Club, I imagined a buffet table filled with my favorites - a tangy adobo stew made with lots of garlic; a whole roast pig, lechon, with its wafer-thin, crispy skin; lumpiang ubod, fresh spring rolls made with hearts of palm; pancit palabok, rice noodles with a rich prawn gravy. I could go on and on!

For today's challenge, I decided to make Mango Tartlets, a favorite dessert from our family's buffet table. My easy version used pre-baked tartlets and a coconut custard (Martha Stewart's custard recipe), topped with diced Philippine mangoes that I caramelized with sugar, butter and Grand Marnier. What a treat (and it's not even my birthday)!

MANGO TARTLETS

12 pre-baked tartlets

for the custard:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1 3/4 cups coconut milk

4 large egg yolks

for the topping:

2 mangoes, peeled, seeded and diced

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

In a medium saucepan (off heat), whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in milk, making sure to dissolve cornstarch. Whisk in coconut milk and egg yolks.

Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 5 minutes, or until just boiling. Reduce heat to low, cook for another minute, making sure to whisk well. Remove pan from heat.

Pour custard into tartlets, smooth top with spatula.

In the meantime, pour sugar in a pan and let caramelize over medium-low heat. When sugar has turned into a golden brown syrup, add butter, Grand Marnier and mix well. Add diced mangoes and mix until all of the fruit is coated well.

Spoon mangoes over filled tartlets and chill in refrigerator for about 4 hours. To serve, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Check out my fellow KCC members and their favorite treats here.

Test Kitchen

2011-01-21T09:54:00.003+08:00

As you all know, not all recipes bring you the success that's evident in cookbook photos. I tested a recipe for Beef Rendang (an Indonesian/Malaysian beef curry), but while prepping the ingredients, I already had an inkling that the quantities and spices were wrong. I won't even bother posting the photo here, because it turned out to be one big yellow-green stew, and still gloppy after 3 hours of slow cooking. If you have a tried and tested recipe for Beef Rendang, I'd love to hear from you!

Thankfully, this next recipe for Char Kway Teow (Singaporean Fried Flat Rice Noodles), adapted from Food & Travel magazine, was a success! Make sure you have all the ingredients close at hand, as cooking is swift. If the noodles come compressed in a pack, loosen them up by hand for easier stir-frying. Char Kway Teow is best eaten immediately, to keep the noodles saucy but still springy (if you wait too long, rice noodles are like sponges, absorbing the sauce quickly, making the noodles limp). Serve with sambal chili paste and calamansi limes.

Char Kway Teow

Fried Flat Rice Noodles

500g kway teow (fresh flat rice noodles),

loosened and separated by hand for easier stir-frying

5 large garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons oil

250g fresh medium prawns, shelled and deveined

2 chinese sausages, sliced thinly on the diagonal

3 eggs, beaten

150g bean sprouts, tops and tails removed

100g baby bok choy greens, leaves cut into 2cm lengths,

stems sliced into strips

about 1/4 cup seafood stock or water

Seasoning:

3 tablespoons fish sauce

4 tablespoons kecap manis or sweet dark soya sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Combine the seasoning ingredients in a bowl, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or large pan over medium-high heat. Fry garlic until fragrant, then add prawns and cook until just pink, stirring continuously. Move prawns to the side of your wok, adding some oil if necessary, then pour in the beaten eggs and stir vigorously for a minute.

Lower the heat to medium. Add the kway teow noodles and seasoning. Mix thoroughly. Add the chinese sausages, bean sprouts and bok choy. Stir fry for another minute. You can add a bit of stock at this point if the noodles are still slightly hard, or if you want a saucier dish. Toss well and serve immediately.

Carry On

2011-01-14T16:08:00.004+08:00

And so the diet continues. The boys are craving red meat after a week of nothing but chicken breasts and fish fillets, so I thought I would make something tasty while still keeping our carb intake down (a thin sheet of pie pastry doesn't count, right?).

I've been making Quiche Lorraine from the New York Times Cookbook for many years now, and it has become one of our family favorites. This rich and creamy cheese, bacon and onion tart should distract the boys from their carnivorous cravings. Then again, Burger Shack's just down the road....

Quiche Lorraine

adapted from the New York Times Cookbook

Frozen Shortcrust Pastry

6 strips streaky bacon, diced

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Preheat oven to 225 deg C. Following manufacturer's instructions, defrost shortcrust pastry and line a nine-inch pie plate. Bake for five minutes, remove from oven and set aside.

Cook the bacon until crisp and remove from skillet. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat and cook the onions until transparent. Set aside.

Sprinkle bacon, onions and two cheeses over the partially baked pie pastry.

Combine eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper and pour over the bacon mixture.

Bake the quiche for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 175 deg C and bake for a further 10 - 15 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Slice quiche into 6-8 wedges and serve immediately.

Salad Days

2011-01-11T13:52:00.007+08:00

Now that the holidays have come and gone, the food bounty savored, the wine and spirits sipped and swigged, it's about time for that dreaded Diet. It's the crash after a 20-day high. Denial sets in at first ("I'm just bloated"), then Withdrawal ("Should have packed that Marzipan Log..."), and then Reality ("three kilos in three weeks??").

So it's now, dangit, NOW!

I thought I would start to our diet with the Pesto Marinated Chicken Fillets recipe from Expat Kitchen. Skewered and grilled, it's lean and low-fat, but full of flavor from the pesto, garlic and lemon marinade. You can used store-bought pesto, but homemade always tastes better, of course.

Pesto Marinated Chicken Fillets

serves 6

4 chicken breasts, skinned and boned, or

15-18 chicken fillets

1 medium lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons pesto sauce (recipe below)

salt and pepper

pre-soaked bamboo skewers

Cut chicken breasts into cubed, bite sized pieces, or, if using fillets, pound into even thickness.

In a shallow dish or zip lock bag, add lemon, olive oil, garlic, pesto sauce, salt and pepper. Combine well.

Toss in the chicken pieces ensuring all are covered with the marinade. Leave to marinate for a minimum 2 hours, or overnight in the refrigerator.

Ribbon the fillets onto presoaked skewers. Cook on the grill or grill pan until chicken is cooked through.

Serve immediately with a green salad, and some pesto or marinara sauce on the side.

To make pesto - in a food processor or blender add 2 cups packed fresh basic leaves, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino or parmesan cheese, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Blend until smooth.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-07T15:34:00.010+08:00

We've just gotten back from our family holiday in Denmark. Before leaving Singapore we monitored the weather and kept our fingers crossed for snow, and as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for...

Yet there was something beautiful about all that. The vast, white, powdery fields and the tree branches outlined in snow were Christmas card perfect.

We spent much of our time indoors, warming up by the fireplace. Our meals were a highlight: breakfast of poppy seed bread with strawberry jam and danish cheese, scrambled eggs and chives on paper-thin slices of ham;

pickled herring in curry dressing on rye bread for lunch (chased down with schnapps and beer);

a savoury crepe filled with creamed spinach, smoked salmon and asparagus; foie gras on toasted walnut bread and arugula with grapes and sweet wine ;

a pork aspic with creamed cabbage and pickled red beets; and for dessert, ris a l'amande, a creamy rice pudding speckled with vanilla pod seeds and slivered almonds, topped with a sweet and tart cherry sauce. Delicious!

I wish I took pictures of all the other wonderful meals we had, but I guess I was just too busy eating!

Good food, good company, good memories!

Cold

2010-12-23T20:50:00.004+08:00

As the snowstorm rages outside our cottage, we're all huddled around the fireplace, watching the landscape turn powdery white, the trees' dark branches becoming thickly outlined with snow. I won't be posting recipes while on our winter break, but I hope to see you back again in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday everyone!

Cool

2010-12-11T11:05:00.006+08:00

I finally did it! I bought a self-freezing ice cream machine, an upgrade from my ten year old machine that required a pre-frozen canister. A few weeks ago, I checked out the new kitchen supplies superstore close to my neighborhood. The place was so huge, well-stocked with absolutely everything, and displayed so tastefully that I just had to buy something for my already jam-packed kitchen. Did I really need one more appliance, one more gadget? (Do I really need that gorgeous bag, those beautiful pumps?) So when the store clerk said that there was only one Cuisinart machine left on stock, I knew that was a sign. Here's one nostalgic flavor recently churned from my appliance du jour, adapted from David Lebovitz's fanastic ice cream cookbook, The Perfect Scoop.

Orange Popsicle Ice Cream

1 cup sugar

grated zest of 2 oranges

1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 5 oranges)

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup full cream milk

1/4 cup thick cream

2 teaspoons Cointreau

Blend orange zest and sugar in a blender until very fine. Add orange juice, sour cream, milk, cream and Cointreau and blend until sugar is dissolved.

Chill the mixture in the freezer for about 2 hours, then freeze it in the ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Makes about 1 liter.

Stir Fry

2010-12-02T12:46:00.005+08:00

I think I've found my go-to stir fry sauce, which combines the sweet-salty-spicy triumvirate of tastes. I've used prawns and broccoli in this recipe, but the sauce is versatile enough for any combination of meat and vegetables or tofu.

As in western cooking, use a good quality of Chinese wine. I initially asked my grocer for the cheapest rice wine, and he looked at me with a frown. He gave me a bottle of wine called Hua Tiao Chiew, a 5 year vintage shao hsing from China. Splash it on steamed fish, he says, and you'll taste the difference. His grandmother kept herself able-bodied by drinking a shot of warm hua tiao chiew with sour plum. My grandfather preferred his daily bottle of beer (or two), happily singing Cielito Lindo every afternoon as we came home from school.

There isn't enough wine in the recipe to make you swoon, but the flavors certainly will.

Prawns and Broccoli in Black Bean Garlic Sauce

adapted from Chinese Cooking by Willie Mark

1 kilo fresh medium prawns, shelled and deveined

2 egg whites, whisked lightly

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons Chinese wine

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1 onion, largely diced

4 spring onions, diced

2-3 fresh green long chilies, minced

2 inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and minced

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets and blanched

2 tablespoons black bean paste

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 cup chicken stock

sesame oil

Marinate the prawns in a bowl of egg whites, cornstarch, wine, salt and pepper, making sure all the prawns are coated evenly. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

Pour about 1/2 cup of peanut or canola oil in a wok on high heat. Flash fry the prawns and remove from wok immediately when they just turn pink. Set aside.

Remove the excess oil from the wok and leave about 2 tablespoons to saute the onions, chilies, ginger and garlic on medium heat. When fragrant, pour in the bean paste, soy sauce and sugar. Mix well, increase the heat and add the prawns and the broccoli, stirring continuously. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. Sprinkle a few drops of sesame oil and serve.

Serves 6.

2010-11-22T19:49:00.004+08:00

Still in the mood for prawns? I saved three pieces for Teenage Son who was home recuperating from surgery, and just scrounged around my pantry to make something quick and easy.

I mixed some Boursin garlic and herb cheese with softened butter and a squeeze of lime, spread this over the butterflied prawns and grilled them until brown, about 3 minutes.

Quite yummy if I may say so myself!

Relleno@Kulinarya

2010-11-21T15:59:00.008+08:00

This month Kulinarya Cooking Club celebrates its First Anniversary with a glimpse into one of the festive Filipino Christmas specialties called Relleno, which simply means a stuffing of any variety of meats, seafood, fish or vegetables.

It is time-consuming to make a good Christmas relleno. I remember how my grandmother would start making Galantina, or stuffed Capon, 48 hours before our family Christmas Lunch. The kitchen would be a beehive of activity, from deboning the chickens to dicing the chorizo, olives, pimientos, chestnuts and whatever else went into the minced pork stuffing. After the chickens were stuffed, the cavities were sewn up neatly and wrapped tightly in muslin. These were then left to marinate in the fridge overnight, then steamed slowly the next morning, and left to cool before serving. It was so delicious!

I haven't had a good Galantina since my grandmother passed on years ago, so to this month's challenge, I bravely said Yes, I can do it! But my nostalgia for the Galantina of my childhood stopped at my attempt to debone the chicken. Granny made it look so easy, but after slicing my thumb and nicking my knuckes, and piercing through the all important chicken skin, I gave up.

So instead I made Camaron Rellenado, or Stuffed King Prawns.

Shell and devein 10 King Prawns, leaving the tail end. Butterfly the prawns and marinate in a teaspoon each of soy sauce and lime, plus 2 minced garlic cloves.

While that's marinating, prepare the stuffing by mixing 250 grams minced pork with garlic (1 or 2 cloves), 4 water chestnuts, 2 spring onions, half a carrot, all finely minced. Add one egg and half a teaspoon of salt, and mix thoroughly.

Take the butterflied prawns and spoon some stuffing on.

Wrap a rasher of bacon around the stuffed prawn and secure bacon end with a toothpick. Repeat with the rest of the prawns.

Heat a pan with enough oil to deep fry the prawns. Before frying, dip the bacon-wrapped prawns in a thin batter of one beaten egg and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Deep fry until golden brown.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce (to which I added some diced pineapple and onion).

Check out Kulinarya Cooking Club members here.

For Emily

2010-11-10T15:34:00.005+08:00

My niece is probably my blog's youngest follower. Like all the kids in my extended family, she is a foodie. Here's a recipe for one of her requests, easy enough for a budding epicurean to make on her own.

Coconut Banana Muffins

170g softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon molasses (optional)

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas

(usually 3 bananas)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup dessicated coconut

(if you omit the coconut, increase flour measurement to 1 3/4 cups)

Preheat oven to 175 deg C. Beat all the ingredients together at high speed with an electric mixer. Line 18 muffin pans and fill with batter, about 3/4 full as the batter will rise while baking. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Food Fix

2010-11-09T13:12:00.008+08:00

There's a Danish grocery that we go to whenever Husband or the Teenagers need their comfort food fix. In a drab and threadbare neighborhood of colorless food stalls and grey industrial supply shops, where cars battle with trucks for parking space, the trip to the grocery is quick. The baskets are soon filled with cheeses, freshly baked and very dense rye bread, crisp fried onions, pickles, chocolates, and sweets.

Christmas is now just around the corner, so the grocery was stocked with bars of nougat and marzipan, which we make into festive Danish petit fours called Nougat-Marzipan Broed. I made my own marzipan base from ground almond meal, icing sugar, and egg whites, inspired by Food and Style's Sienese Almond Cookies, and stuffed these with slices of Danish Soft Nougat, a rich, creamy confection made from Turkish hazelnuts and chocolate.

Nougat-Marzipan Petit Fours

1 3/4 cups almond flour

2 tablespoons white flour

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

2 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Odense Bloed Nougat, cut into 1/4 inch squares

Preheat oven to 220 deg C. In a mixing bowl, blend almond flour, white flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer, whisk egg whites and almond extract at high speed until peaks are firm. Add this mixture to the blended flour and fold in with a spatula until just mixed.

Transfer the dough to a piping bag and pipe into silicone moulds. Insert the nougat slices into the dough.

Sprinkle icing sugar on top and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool in the moulds for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes about 8 petit fours, which can be sliced into smaller portions to serve.

Flow

2010-11-02T18:40:00.009+08:00

There are some days where one thing seems to flow into another and before you know it, the day's over, and you just hadn't had time to think about the next meal. After a morning at a very busy doctor's office (the wait was so long, I was desperately reading classified ads after exhausting all the magazines), I spent my afternoon at a chocolate workshop where we learned the art of tempering, the meticulous process of melting chocolate to a specific temperature, to be used in our truffle making lesson. After a few hours of dipping ganache, nuts, candied orange peel, strawberries and pralines, I had 2 boxes of chocolate heaven to take home. But I didn't have dinner planned, and it was getting late. Thankfully the butcher was still open and I whizzed about, my impromptu shopping list spilling out from memory, to make one of the easiest, but truly delicious chicken dish taught to me years ago by an Italian lady from her kitchen in Hong Kong.

Chicken Fillets with Prosciutto and Parmesan

Take about 12 pieces of chicken fillet and season with salt and pepper. Fry them on medium low heat in a pan with olive oil and butter. Turn over when underside just turns opaque. Spread a thin layer of pesto on top of the fillets, then layer with prosciutto (or mortadella), then a slice of parmesan cheese (or gruyere). Pour heavy cream into the pan, enough to just cover the fillets. Cover and cook on low heat until cheese has melted. Serve with rice or pasta.

Suman@Kulinarya

2010-10-23T18:23:00.008+08:00

This month's theme at Kulinarya Cooking Club is Suman. Traditionally, it is glutinous rice cooked in coconut cream, wrapped in either banana or coconut leaves, steamed and served with sugar on the side. (Check out the other blogs below for their delicious take on this popular Filipino snack.) My version is called Sumang Hubad, or Naked Suman, cooked without the banana leaves, using mini-cake molds instead. Glazed with salted caramel topping, these little sumans are a comforting snack on this rainy afternoon.

Sumang Hubad

2 cups glutinous rice

3 cups coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

caramel topping, purchased or home-made

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Wash the glutinous rice and drain well. Over medium heat, cook rice with coconut milk and salt in a heavy bottomed pot, stirring occasionally. Cook for about 20 minutes until the coconut cream is absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.

In the meantime, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of caramel topping on each mold. Fill the mold with the partially cooked rice, pressing to fill the mold evenly. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a baking tray, pouring enough water in the tray to make a water bath (bain-marie).

Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the rice is tender.

Let cool for a few minutes before removing from mold. Makes 12 mini-sumans.

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

The current members are:

Kath - http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/
Trisha - http://sugarlace.com/
Trissa - http://trissalicious.com/
Olive - http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline - http://whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Ninette - http://bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com/
Peach- http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/
Althea- http://www.busogsarap.com/
Asha - http://forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/
Malou - http://www.impromptudiva.com/
Cherrie - http://sweetcherriepie.blogspot.com/
Acdee - http://acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie - http://www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl - http://crispywaffle.com/
Divina - http://www.sense-serendipity.com/
Annie - http://www.anniesfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Dahlia - http://www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Joy - http://joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com/
Maribel - http://www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Jen - http://www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com/
Pia - http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/
Malaka - http://thegrandinternational.com.
Mimi - http://lapinchecocinera.blogspot.com
Erika - http://ivoryhut.com/
Kat - http://twitter.com/alanokat
Lala - http://thislittlepiggywenttothemarket.blogspot.com/
Selfie - http://eats.sefiebee.com/
Connie Veneracion frm http://homecookingrocks.com/
Oggi from http://oggi-icandothat.blogspot.com/
Katrina Kostik from http://lardonmyfrench.blogspot.com/
Rochelle Ryan from http://www.whydiss.blogspot.com/

Duck!

2010-10-22T15:05:00.004+08:00

It was a hard-fought battle between the two favorite football teams. My sons' team was the defending champion, but unfortunately had been beaten by a wisely-coached rival. The ride home was heavy with unuttered frustrations, until Son #2 declared that HE'S HAD IT WITH FOOTBALL!, and would now BECOME A VEGETARIAN! (please don't ask me to explain the connection).

We'll see, I thought, knowing that I had prepared some duck breasts that the butcher had been raving about earlier that morning. My butcher usually sells these imported from France, and was thrilled to have found a local farmer that supplied him with fresh duck of the same high quality. After looking into my pantry, I thought of using some orange marmalade, balsamic vinegar, and marsala wine for a sweet and tangy glaze. True to the butcher's word, the duck was indeed juicy, tender and flavorful. Delicious enough to forget the vegetarian idea until the next football season!

Duck Breasts with Balsamic Orange Glaze

2 duck breasts

olive oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup marsala wine

2 shallots, minced

1 large garlic clove, minced

salt and pepper

Season duck breasts with salt and pepper. In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat olive oil and pan fry the duck, skin side down for 15 minutes under medium heat, until skin is golden brown.

Turn over and continue pan frying for another 5 minutes for medium doneness, 10 minutes for well done. Remove and let the duck rest on the side.

Remove excess oil from pan and leave about 1 tablespoon in. Saute the shallots and garlic until translucent, then pour in chicken stock, marmalade, balsamic vinegar and marsala wine. Stir well and reduce until the glaze is thick and syrupy. Season to taste.

Slice the duck breasts and spoon the glaze over the crisp skin.

Recipes Lost and Found

2010-10-13T09:40:00.004+08:00

In this digital age, our generation reveals itself when we still collect newspaper clippings and file them in a folder. I have such a folder sitting on my kitchen bookshelf, filled with recipes in greying newsprint, having caught my interest at one point, waiting to be tested, but mostly ignored in favor of brighter food magazines and cookbooks.

These days we scan through information at warped speed, getting to the point in nanoseconds with a series of rapid clicks. I found this recipe the old fashioned way, leafing through the pages of my folder, straightening the folded edges, reading each clipping to find my culinary inspiration for the day.

I thought I would challenge my aversion to baking once more, and this recipe from The Straits Times October 2007 issue looked simple enough. It involves boiling and pureeing oranges and does not use any butter, but a lot of eggs and two kinds of flour. This zesty cake is as yellow as the afternoon sun! Serve with a bowl of cream cheese frosting on the side.

Orange Cake

3 fresh oranges, medium sized

230g granulated sugar

6 eggs

140g cake flour

100g ground almond flour

1 heaped tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Boil the washed oranges in a pot of water for about 20 minutes. Drain and cool. When cooled, slice oranges into quarters, remove seeds, and puree in a blender, unpeeled.

Beat the eggs, adding the sugar a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl, add the almond flour and fold gently. Mix in the orange puree and fold until blended.

Lightly grease a cake tin and pour in the batter. You may need 2 tins depending on its size. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour, testing for doneness by inserting a skewer. If batter clings to the skewer, bake for a little longer and continue testing until the skewer comes out clean.

Dust top with icing sugar, or serve with your favorite frosting.

Little India

2010-10-07T14:42:00.006+08:00

Which shop should I enter, I wonder, as I walk down Little India's streets in search of the ingredients I needed for a new recipe. I spot a stall where a little granny, in her bright pink sari, hovers over a large basket of dark purple eggplant, just delivered by the Chinese lorry driver. The granny furiously picks through the heap, and soon enough a crowd of market-goers, including me, were joining in. A young lady catches me with an eggplant in hand and teaches me to discard the ones with tiny holes. This is the place, I thought, and entered the adjoining spice shop with my basket of veggies and my grocery list. There were rows and rows of herbs and spices, black lentils, yellow lentils, flours from wheat to chickpeas, and mounds of fresh curry leaves and cilantro. I was overwhelmed. I didn't know where to begin, so I showed the shopkeeper my list and asked him to help me. With a little smile, he went from shelf to shelf, dropping into my basket the cumin seeds, chili powder, garam masala, mustard seeds and chickpea flour I needed. After paying for all this, the shopkeeper reminds me to pass by the huge trough filled with curry leaves and cilantro, and take as much as I needed, no charge to his customers.

In the spirit of the Commonwealth Games going on in Delhi, the October issue of Food and Travel (UK) magazine featured a luscious feast. This is one of the many tempting recipes I have adapted, tucking into my spice basket from Little India.

Aubergines (Eggplant) in Yoghurt

serves 4-6 people

300g eggplant, washed and dried

125g besan or gram flour

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp chili powder

oil for frying

300g plain yoghurt

1/4 tsp paprika or cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

2 sprigs of curry leaves, stems removed

(or you can use mint leaves)

lemon or lime

Slice the eggplant 1.5cm thick, place in a colander and generously sprinkle some salt to draw out the bitterness.

In the meantime, mix the flour, garlic, chili powder and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl. Add enough cold water to make a thin tempura-like batter.

Dry the eggplant slices on kitchen towels and heat oil in a frying pan. Dip each slice into the batter and fry as many pieces in a single layer in the pan. When golden brown on each side, transfer to a platter lined with kitchen towels to drain excess oil. Add more oil as necessary while frying the rest of the eggplant.

In another bowl, whisk the yoghurt, paprika and cumin powder. Season to taste. Layer the cooked eggplant in a flat serving platter and trickle the spiced yoghurt over them.

Heat up about a tablespoon of oil in another frying pan and quickly fry the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Immediately pour this over your eggplant dish. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice and serve.

Lazy Daze

2010-10-03T12:44:00.005+08:00

Another Lazy Sunday Morning. I've just let the dogs out to graze in the garden and chase after the blackbirds poking around the freshly cut grass. Husband's catching up on sleep after ten days of time zones and jet lag, and the teenagers never get up before their internal alarm clock says need....food....now. On Sundays, breakfast is at noon, and lunch is whenever. Our otherwise scheduled life gets put on hold, and today we're all allowed to be in a daze.

Yesterday I had a craving for something chocolate, so I drove to Jalan Merah Saga, a street lined with cookware boutiques, a cooking school, an Italian deli, a French bistro, a butcher, and a pet shop. Everything I need, and want, in one stretch! I popped into the cooking school to get a supply of Valrhona cooking chocolate to make the rich, dark and delicious Chocolate Pots which we'll enjoy after dinner today, whenever that will be.

Valrhona Cholocate Pots

from Shermay's Cooking School

300 ml whipping cream (35% fat)

200g Valrhona or other good dark chocolate, with 53-70% cocoa solids

2 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons liqueur of choice (Grand Marnier, Kahlua, etc)

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (for a non-alcoholic version)

20g unsalted butter

chocolate powder for dusting

Over medium-low heat, bring the cream to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan, until cream just starts to bubble slightly.

Immediately remove from heat and add the chocolate pieces. Allow the chocolate to rest and melt in the cream for a few minutes then stir with a whisk until smooth.

Add in the egg york, stirring continuously to avoid curdling. Add liqueur or vanilla extract, then butter. Stir well until blended.

Pour into espresso cups or any small individual pots. Cool to room temperature then transfer to fridge to set for about 2 hours.

Dust with cocoa powder or sprinkle with chocolate shavings just before serving.

Serves 6.

Revived

2010-09-25T10:21:00.009+08:00

The boys are aching from their hard-fought game last night. I don't quite get football, so I'm usually seated at the far corner, trying to follow the game, cheering for my teenagers. Son #2 had played through all the four quarters, and crawled out of bed like he just came out of a train wreck. Our plans to go shopping for his newly re-modelled room were quickly scrapped (the word shopping doesn't excite the boys as it would us girls!), so I decided to use the time to make Dumpling Soup.

Adapted from the Singaporean cookbook Shiok! by Terry and Christopher Tan, the hours spent filling, folding and sealing the little dumplings are worth the effort. As I watch the boys take seconds, and even third helpings, the heavy blanket of exhaustion lifts off slowly as they become their sprightly selves again. But not enough to go shopping. I will have to bribe them with something else next time!

Minced Pork and Prawn Dumpling Soup

For the Dumplings:

500g minced pork

(minced chicken is a good substitute for non-pork eaters)

250g fresh prawns, peeled, deveined and minced

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

4 spring onions, sliced thinly

2 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked until soft, minced

1 teaspoon salt

pepper

1 pack wonton skins, preferably round shaped

For the Soup:

6-8 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

For the Garnish:

10 garlic cloves, minced and sauteed until lightly brown

2 spring onions, sliced thinly

shredded cooked chicken breast

julienned iceberg lettuce

chili oil

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix minced pork, prawns, cornstarch, soy sauce, sesame oil, spring onions, dried mushroom, salt, and pepper.

Take 1 wonton skin, place 1 teaspoon of dumpling mixture in the center. Make a slurry of cornstarch and water and use this to moisten the edges of the dumpling skin. Quickly fold edges together to resemble a half-moon and press edges firmly with your fingers, ensuring that it is sealed completely. You will be able to make about 40 dumplings with the above filling. Add as much dumplings as you wish to the soup. The rest can be frozen.

For the soup, add chicken stock, sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar to a pot and bring to a boil. Add your dumplings one at a time, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring very gently to avoid the dumplings sticking together.

Top with a garnish of julienned lettuce, shredded chicken, spring onions and garlic. Spice it up with some chili oil, if desired.

A Boost

2010-09-21T08:20:00.010+08:00

The neighborhood kids take turns boarding their respective school buses, which drive by our road like clockwork, same time, same place. It's still dark when my boys run (actually it's more of a frankenstein trudge) to the bus, hauling their two-ton backpacks and football gear. The English boys cross the street and wait their turn patiently, already looking polished and proper at 7am. Later on the sun comes up, perking up the littlest ones, who play war games with their paper airplanes, happy that their bus is late.

Like Japanese Salarymen, my boys go about their early mornings like robots, moving from bed to shower to taking that death march to the bus in a stupor, then immediately fall asleep through the 45 minute ride to school.

Although nothing will ever shake them out of that morning daze, I thought a granita would be a welcome treat when they get back later.

Inspired by David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, granitas are a great way to sneak in fresh fruit that the boys take for granted, never mind that the sugar content is substantial. Combining the techniques from David's cookbook and my earlier post on Watermelon Granita, this granita has the sweetness of strawberries, an exotic tartness from the kiwi, with a fresh citrus twist from the lime. The fleshy textures of the fruit give this granita a nice density, where the flavors linger a bit longer in your mouth before melting into a refreshing coolness.

Strawberry-Kiwi Granita

1 kilo fresh strawberries, hulled

4 pieces fresh kiwi, peeled and quartered

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

juice from 1 lime

for the sugar syrup:

1 cup water

1 cup granulated sugar

zest from 1 lime

In a large bowl, mix the strawberries and kiwi with 6 tablespoons of sugar. Let stand, covered, for 1 hour.

In the meantime, make the sugar syrup by combining water, sugar and lime zest in a pot. Stir and cook until just boiling. Remove from heat and cool completely. Pass through a strainer to remove lime zest. Set aside.

Pour strawberry-kiwi mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Strain to remove most of the tiny seeds, and pour into a freezable container. Add cooled sugar syrup and lime juice and mix well. Cover and freeze for about 3 hours.

After 3 hours, take the container from the freezer. You'll find the granita beginning to freeze on the sides. Scrape this and stir through the mixture. Return granita to the freezer and leave to set for another 8-12 hours, depending on your freezer capacity.

When the granita is thoroughly frozen, take a fork and scrape through the mixture to create the slivers of slushy ice characteristic of a granita. Scoop and serve in a chilled glass.

Chill Out

2010-09-17T11:04:00.007+08:00

Leisurely mornings are a luxury for my young widowed sister, who admirably manages kids, housekeeping, elderly parents and a career, running from one to the other throughout her whirlwind days. So when she finally decided to take that well-deserved break to visit with us, our mantra for the week would be relax, chill out (and, as previously posted, eat our way through Singapore).

Under a warm duvet in a cool, dark and quiet room, her internal clock quickly shifts to vacation mode. No crack-of-dawn carpool, no rushed presentations, frantic phone calls from Mother, or that long commute! Only the yap, yap, yapping of my hungry dogs wake my sister, as if to tell her that she gets breakfast too, if she comes and joins us in the kitchen.

As she makes her morning coffee, I prepare a family breakfast favorite, Spanish Omelet with Chorizo Bilbao.

Dice a quarter of a large onion, a small tomato, and one chorizo. Scramble two (or more) eggs, add salt and pepper to taste. In a pan, saute the onions and tomatoes in olive oil until onions are translucent and tomatoes have softened slightly. Add chorizo, saute for another minute. Add the eggs and fold into the onion-tomato-chorizo mix. Season to taste. Serve with rice or your favorite bun.

Foodies

2010-09-13T10:44:00.008+08:00

Not a good day to rain, I thought. My sister and her kids are visiting, and they're eager to do some sightseeing. Our first stop is the National Museum. We wander through the exhibits, and my nephews are impressed by the story of Singapore, at how this tiny dot of an island rose to become a first-world country in a region of emerging nations. They admire the harmonious existence of three ethnicities in the country, and their strong influences on the culture and cuisine of Singapore.

Which leads us to lunch. And to Hainanese Chicken Rice. A whole chicken is rubbed with salt, stuffed with spring onions and ginger, then dipped and dunked in a large pot of boiling water. It is served with the most fragrant rice, first sauteed in rendered chicken fat, garlic and ginger, then cooked in chicken stock and pandan leaves. Three condiment sauces of chili, ginger and thick soya heighten the taste experience.

In the next stall, the surly cook stands in front of a huge wok, endlessly frying garlic and prawns, then pours in a rich pork stock to cook two types of noodles. As she covers the wok, she has only a minute of rest, until the finishing touches of beansprouts, chives, fish cakes, squid rings, eggs, and fish sauce are stirred in vigorously. Hokkien Prawn Mee (Prawn Noodles) is served with sambal blachan, a fiery condiment made of shrimp paste, chillies, and lime juice.

The boys order Roti Prata, a thin, layered Indian pancake made of flour, milk and ghee, tossed and stretched by the cook until it's as thin as skin, then folded and pan-fried until browned on the outside, but still soft and springy on the inside. Some pratas are filled with cheese or eggs, or a combination of minced meats, onions and eggs (then called Murtabak). A bowl of curry gravy comes with the order, to dip the warm pancakes in. Delicious.

Of course, they had to try the "unofficial" national dish, Chili Crab, made with plump and juicy crabs in a sweet and tart gravy of chili sauce, ginger, garlic and onions, thickened with beaten eggs. It's messy, but oh so scrumptious, and the rest of the gravy is mopped up by fried sweet buns called mantou.

Crispy baby squid in sweet caramelized soy sauce and sesame seeds, deep fried prawns with a topping made from cereal flakes and spices, and salted fish fried rice, where slivers of salty fish and eggs coat grains of fluffy rice. What a feast it was!

Time and Again

2010-09-03T10:10:00.010+08:00

In our agenda-packed day, sometimes the easiest way is to simply turn to old-reliables; the oversized handbag stuffed with everything, your little black dress, the neighborhood grocery stocked with the basics and token exotics, ready-packed salad greens, or curry powder.

I had planned to make an old-reliable curry dinner tonight. I had fresh prawns in the fridge, coconut cream and curry powder in the pantry. Then I found a clipping from our local paper, The Straits Times, featuring a recipe on Prawn and Squid Moilee, a south-Indian dish that combined the flavors of ginger, turmeric, herbs and chili into a luscious curry. Notice the absence of curry powder on the ingredients list? I was intrigued.

I adapted the recipe, using a kilo of prawns instead of adding squid, but I would recommend both ingredients to transform the dish into a medley of flavors and textures. Listen out for the crackling of the curry leaves as you saute them in your hot pan. As the kitchen fills with the nutty, piquant aroma of the Moilee, I glance at my ever-faithful tin of curry powder and return it to the pantry. Until next time.

Prawn and Squid Moilee

2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, sliced thinly

2 green chillies, finely sliced

(I deseeded my chillies before slicing for less heat)

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

2 sprigs curry leaves, remove from stalks

1 teaspoon chili powder

(I used Asian chili sauce this time)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, optional

500g medium prawns, shelled and deveined

4 squids, cleaned and sliced into rings

550ml coconut cream

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a wok or large pan, saute onions, chillies and ginger over medium-low heat. Stir well and cook for about 5 minutes until onion is soft and translucent.

Add curry leaves and saute for another 3 minutes. Then add chili powder, turmeric and fennel seeds. Mix well and saute for 3 more minutes.

Turn the heat to high and add the prawns. Once the prawns begin to curl, add the squid.

Stir fry for a quick minute, then pour in the coconut cream. As soon as the coconut cream begins to boil, turn the heat to low and allow it to simmer for another 4 minutes.

Season with salt, adding more if necessary. Pour in lime juice and stir well before serving.

Let the Games Begin

2010-08-25T15:20:00.003+08:00

American football season has begun at my boys' high school. Gruff-voiced coaches bark out unending commands at practice, guaranteeing that my sons come home exhausted, beaten and scarred. (This is obviously a Mom's point of view. If you ask the boys, they'd probably say "Bring It On!"). I watch them come down from the late bus drenched in sweat and mud, dragging helmets, pads and sports bags with whatever strength they have left, showing off the bruises and gashes they've collected for the day.

Unlike his older brother, Son #3 is as tall and skinny as a string bean. He would certainly be a good fit for basketball, but football has been his sport of choice, brushing off the incident a few years ago where a hefty teammate fell on his arm in a touchdown attempt. With a broken arm in a cast for the rest of the season, he was silently hailed by coach and team as a hero. I wonder if that's why he keeps signing up.

So his diet strategy this season is to "buff up" with copious servings of protein and carbs, and I sneak in salads and veggies to complete the meal. This is a delicious dish that even ravenous, meat-eating teenagers would scarf down.

Dry Fried Long Beans

adapted from The Best of Chinese Cooking by Willie Mark

450g long beans

75g shrimps, peeled, deveined and diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece fresh ginger, minced

75g pickled chinese vegetable, diced

(or you can use japanese pickled daikon)

75g minced pork

oil for deep frying

3 tablespoons chicken stock

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoon chinese black vinegar

(or rice vinegar)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

red chili for garnish

Slice off the top and tail of the long beans and cut into 2 inch lengths. Heat oil in a wok until smoky and deep fry the beans for about 3 minutes until they wrinkle.

Remove and drain on colander lined with kitchen paper. Pour oil from the wok and set aside. Return wok to heat, add the drained beans and stir fry until they start to brown. Set aside.

Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the wok, reheat to high and add the shrimp, garlic, ginger, pickles and pork.

Stir fry for a few minutes then add the stock, soy sauce, sugar and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add the beans and mix thoroughly over high heat until liquid has just evaporated.

Stir in vinegar and sesame oil. Garnish with slices of red chili (or red bell pepper) and serve.

Around the World

2010-08-25T15:17:00.005+08:00

As the joke goes, a wife asks her husband about vacation plans, and he declares, "Honey, I'm taking you to a place you've never ever been to!" The wife gets all excited and pleads, "Tell me, tell me, where!" To which the husband replies, "I'm taking you to the kitchen!"

My mom doesn't cook. In fact, she probably couldn't boil an egg. But she had a wonderful collection of cookbooks. The books were pristine, and still had that new-book smell, because they were kept in a special cabinet in her air-conditioned bedroom. No oil stains on the bookmarked pages, no scribbles of measurement conversions, no flour dust on the book rib. These cookbooks were loved, but from a distance. Whenever she purchased a set from a door-to-door salesman, the books were carried upstairs like a new baby, unwrapped and carefully tucked into the mahogany cabinet. I don't remember whether she ever looked at them again, but they were there for me. I would sit on her bedroom floor leafing through the pages of her Foods of the World cookbook collection and be transported to France, Italy, Germany. I imagined the creaminess of a Zabaione, or what the heck was so good about Oeufs en Gelee.

Many years later, each time I would travel home to visit family, I'd take back with me whatever remained of the cookbooks. I still leaf through the books in awe of the wide world of food, but now the yellowed pages are stained and scribbled on and well loved. This is one of our favorites.

Polpette alla Casalinga
Italian Meatballs
adapted from The Cooking of Italy
Time-Life Books

2 slices bread, torn into small pieces
(I used 2 leftover croissants)
1/4 cup milk
500 grams minced beef
2 pieces raw Italian sausages, casings removed
6 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
grated lemon peel (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
olive oil for frying

Soak the pieces of bread in milk for about 5 minutes. Mash softened pieces with your hands until most of the lumps are smoothened out. In a bowl, combine softened bread, egg, minced beef, sausage meat, parmesan cheese, parsley, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, lemon peel, salt and pepper. Knead the mixture vigorously by hand or with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are well blended.

Shape the mixture into small meatballs. Lay on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Heat about 1/4 cup of olive oil in a heavy skillet. Fry the meatballs over moderately high heat, shaking the pan constantly to keep from sticking to pan. Cook for about 8-10 minutes. Serve with favorite tomato sauce over preferred pasta.

Lumpia@Kulinarya

2010-08-25T09:29:00.005+08:00

While on a recent mini-break in Manila, I went on a Lumpia binge at the neighborhood farmer's market, in keeping with Kulinarya Club's theme for the month. Here's a sampling.....

Chinese-style Fresh Vegetable Lumpia

*****

Fried Lumpia with Beansprouts, Carrots and Green Beans

*****

Fresh Lumpia with Heart of Palm, Shrimp and Green Beans

*****

Caramelized Lumpia with Plantains and Brown Sugar

*****

While most of the Lumpias consisted of the standard sauteed vegetables and shrimp (or pork) rolled in a fresh or fried wrapper, the Chinese-style Lumpia had all that, plus some interesting toppings of seaweed flakes, a ground peanut-sugar crumble, and crisp vermicelli noodles. According to the Vendor, she prepares the vegetable filling by sauteeing diced shrimp and pork belly in plenty of shallots and garlic. She then adds sliced green beans, cabbage, carrots, firm tofu, and seasons it with salt and pepper. She makes a brown sauce by boiling water, brown sugar, soy sauce and minced garlic, thickened with a cornstarch slurry. I watch her assemble the Lumpia as she lays a romaine lettuce leaf on the fresh wrapper (see top photo), then proceeds to layer the drained vegetable filling, topped with the crisp vermicelli noodles, seaweed flakes, ground peanut-sugar crumble, fresh cilantro leaves and some minced boiled egg. Brown sauce is drizzled on and the lumpia is done. It's a wrap!

Summer Breeze

2010-08-11T20:08:00.004+08:00

The summer exodus is making its about-face, with families trickling back from their long holidays in time for school opening. Over a decidedly light lunch (our waistlines!), we share our vacation stories of visits to medieval villages, mountain biking through ancient temples, white sand beaches and dog sled rides. Most of our holidays these days involve enough research, planning and logistics to rival a seasoned travel agent.

I remember the time when summer vacation simply meant taking the long drive down to see the grandparents. Mine lived by a river bank, in the days where the water was cool and clean, shallow enough to play in. When the afternoon sun got too hot, we'd come back to the breezy verandah and just lie in the hammocks, waiting for the local ice-cream man to come by with his cart, sampling weird but good flavors like cheese, yam, or corn. There were no schedules to follow, no must-see sights, no must-do excursions. Our only obligation was to come to my grandmother's dinner table on time. She was a wonderfully meticulous cook, and every meal was delicious. One of her most comforting dishes was Pote Gallego, or Galician Stew, which has its influence from Spain, and adapted to the Philippine palate. To accompany the pote, my grandmother would serve cow's brain fritters with a crispy edge and a creamy center, which I loved as a child but haven't had since. Our family's version of Pote Gallego has been passed down the generations, from Lola's table to my Dad's to ours, all without a written recipe. I hope my memory served me well.

Pote Gallego

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, diced

3 lage tomatoes, diced

olive oil

1 teaspoon spanish smoked paprika

2 chorizo bilbao, sliced diagonally

5 large veal or beef shanks, deboned and cubed

about 2 cups water

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 large sweet potato, cubed

1 large potato, cubed

1/2 head cabbage, cubed

1 beef bouillon cube

Preheat oven at 175 deg C.

In a large cast iron or ovenproof pot, saute garlic, onions and tomatoes in olive oil for about 20 minutes on low heat. Add chorizo and saute for another minute.

Add the shanks. (Note: I like to leave the bone on the shanks to enhance the flavor of the broth, specially if it has the marrow, then dice the meat and remove the bones after the cooking process. For easy cooking, you can use deboned shanks.) Mix well. Pour about 2 cups of water into the pot, enough to cover the meat.

Remove from stove and transfer to the oven to braise for about 2 hours.

When meat is tender, remove pot from oven and transfer meat with a slotted spoon to a bowl. (If you used shanks with the bone in, separate the meat from the bone, scoop out any marrow, and dice the meat. Discard the bones). Set aside.

Place a sieve onto another bowl and strain the broth through. Pour strained broth back into the pot and bring to a boil. Add the diced meat, garbanzos, potatoes, sweet potatoes and beef bouillon. Mix well. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the cabbage on top of the stew, cover and cook until just done. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with rice, couscous, or toasted sourdough bread.

Get Well Soon

2010-08-02T13:08:00.008+08:00

Teenage son #2 had been in the hospital, weakened by a nasty virus. All the rooms were occupied, except for a bed in the children's ward. Knocked out by drugs, he was thankfully oblivious of the crying babies and whining toddlers and worried parents shuffling about. Still, the nurses were kinder and gentler, and looked into the patients more often than usual. Meals were even provided for the accompanying parent (ok, it's hospital food, but it was a considerate thought nevertheless).

We're back home now, and I've had to keep him on a soft diet. After days of nothing but Creamy Scrambled Eggs, I thought of making Macaroni and Cheese. This is an adapted recipe from Gourmet magazine's 2002 edition. It's so easy, and you could use any cheese you have in your fridge. I added a bit of dijon mustard to lift the flavors, and lots of freshly ground pepper. The bread crumb topping transforms this into a comforting gratin.

Easy Creamy Mac and Cheese

adapted from Gourmet Magazine

2 cups elbow macaroni

2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup grated Gruyere

1/2 cup grated mozzarella

1/4 cup grated Cheddar

1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (or Japanese bread crumbs)

1 large clove garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 170 deg C.

Cook macaroni in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring cream and butter to a boil, then turn heat to medium-low and simmer for about 5 minutes, uncovered. Reduce heat to low, then add cheeses, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix well until cheese melts.

Add cooked macaroni to cheese sauce and mix thoroughly. Transfer to ovenproof dish.

For the crumb topping, thoroughly mix bread crumbs, garlic and olive oil together. Sprinkle evenly on top of macaroni and cheese. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes or until crust is golden.

Chinese Takeout

2010-07-30T15:49:00.004+08:00

I was watching a sitcom where six friends were hanging out, eating Chinese food directly from the takeout boxes, when I thought "I miss Chinese takeout!". (Which is absurd, considering I now live in Singapore, where delicious, authentic Chinese food is an obsession.) Our favorite takeout meals - Wonton Soup, Chow Mein, Egg Rolls, General Tso's Chicken - were Americanized versions of dishes whose authenticity didn't really matter. Was it the ease of ordering a complete dinner, on days where the rest of my afternoons were spent ferrying the boys from soccer to tennis to baseball practices? Was it the thrill of reading your fortune from a little cookie, no matter how ridiculous the prediction was? Or was it that the food came ready-to-eat, packaged in neat, little rectangular boxes - no dirty dishes or greasy pans to wash?

Whatever it was, here's a recipe of another takeout fave, Honey Walnut Prawns. The version I made for dinner omitted the walnuts (I didn't want to bother caramelizing them, actually), so I just sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds on the dish instead. Make sure to pat the prawns dry after peeling and deveining, so the batter stays crisp.

Honey Walnut Prawns

adapted from Shrimp.com website

500g medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup walnuts
5 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 cups oil
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup egg whites
2 Tbs honey
3 Tbs mayonnaise
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 Tbs condensed milk
1/2 cup oil

Rinse walnuts, then boil in 5 cups water, continually changing water until clear.When clear, boil with sugar until sugar dissolves.Heat 2 cups oil until almost smoking, then deep fry walnuts until they're shiny and brown, no longer golden.Place walnuts on cookie sheet, let cool.

Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to form a thick, sticky texture and mix well with Shrimp. Set aside.

Mix honey, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and condensed milk in a medium bowl until smooth.

Heat oil until boiling, then deep fry the shrimp until golden brown.Drain, then fold in honey mayonnaise mixture. Mix well, sprinkle with walnuts, and arrange on platter.

Far Away Home

2010-07-20T15:51:00.020+08:00

Our summers are usually spent in Denmark, in a little cottage by the north coast. While our other holidays are driven by a list of sights to see, adventures to pursue, or new places to eat in, we arrive in our home away from home with no daily schedules planned in advance.

Some days are spent cleaning up the overgrown garden. (Thankfully, the weed whacker and lawn mower replaces the boys' PS3 obsession!) Another day could mean painting the wooden deck and garden furniture. (A good exercise in perseverance!) There are other days where we just wing it, hopping into the car to check out the other seaside towns and beaches. When the boys were little, they used to crack up laughing at these Danish road signs:

(this actually means Speed Control)

(and this means Bath + Toilet available)

At the harbour, little kiosks sell the freshest fish and seafood for lunch. The ubiquitous burger and hot dog stands are there too, as well as a sashimi bar and a Thai food stand (huh?). Step into the blackened walls of the Smokehouse and you'll find rows of smoked salmon, mackerel, herring, and fish roe. The butcher secures his place amidst the fish and seafood mongers, and touts his frikadeller as the best in town.

Here's a very old and traditional recipe for frikadeller, from the Danish food bible Froeken Jensens Kogebog (Miss Jensen's Cookbook), first published in 1901! She explains that the meatballs can be made from veal, beef or pork, or a blend of either two. The binding agent is most often flour, but eggs, breadcrumbs or soaked bread slices can also be used. Milk, cream, broth or water facilitates the binding. Salt and pepper provide flavor, but onions and different herbs can be added accordingly. A good meatball mix demands constant stirring of the ingredients, and the more you stir, the lighter and more moist the consistency becomes. Cook the mixture immediately though, as its shelf life in raw form is very short.

Frikadeller

(Danish Meatballs)

for 8 persons

500g minced pork

500g minced beef or veal

3 teaspoons salt

1 large onion, diced

1 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

freshly ground pepper

Mix all the ingredients together, stirring constantly until you have a smooth consistency.

If the consistency is too runny to hold a shape, add more flour to the mix.

Heat pan to medium, add 50g butter and a splash of olive oil to pan. Using a spoon, scoop mixture and drop into pan. Turn heat to low and fry meatballs for about 5 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned. The meatballs can be flipped over a few times so meatballs are cooked thoroughly and evenly browned.

Serve with boiled potatoes and pickled red cabbage or cucumber salad.

For the cucumber salad, peel, remove seeds and slice cucumber thinly. Place in a bowl or colander and sprinkle with salt. After 20 minutes, discard extracted liquid and give the cucumber slices a good squeeze before placing in serving bowl. Mix about 3-4 tablespoons white or cider vinegar, 4-6 tablespoons sugar and freshly ground pepper. Pour over cucumber and chill before serving.

(At home, I serve the frikadeller with gravy which I make from the pan drippings, but this is not traditionally Danish.)

Coconut Cream@Kulinarya

2010-07-18T16:19:00.012+08:00

For today's Kulinarya Club theme of Gata (Coconut Cream), I made Guinataang Sitaw at Kalabasa (Prawns, Long Beans and Butternut Squash in Coconut Cream) with a twist, inspired by my brother-in-law in Vancouver. His addition of lemon grass adds another level of fragrance to the dish, and using grated fresh coconut with its juice naturally sweetens the broth.

Now for my twist within a twist (blame it on my watching Inception yesterday, which was about a dream within a dream within a dream), I marinated the prawns in garlic and cilantro, added some crisp-fried pork belly lardons, and baked the dish with a browned topping of ground peanuts and bread crumbs.

I usually make this guinataang gulay with a thick coconut cream sauce, and sometimes it can get cloying. This version was pleasantly light, and very flavorful.

As an option, I would add one or two long green chillies while cooking the vegetables for a spicier dish.

Masarap, Arnel. Salamat!

Guinataang Sitaw at Kalabasa

Prawns, Long Beans and Butternut Squash in Coconut Cream

1 small onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 inch piece ginger, grated

1/2 stalk lemon grass, halved lengthwise

1 fresh coconut, meat grated, juice set aside

1 slice pork belly, boiled to soften, then diced
and fried crisp

500g prawns, peeled and deveined, marinated

in minced garlic and cilantro

1/4 piece butternut squash, peeled and diced

1 bunch long beans, cut into 3 inch pieces

200 ml coconut cream

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

handful of peanuts, ground

panko bread crumbs

peanut oil

Sautee onion, garlic and ginger in oil over medium heat.

Add prawns and crispy pork. Sautee until prawns just turn pink. Add grated coconut, coconut water and cream. Place lemon grass stalks into liquid. Bring to a boil.

Immediately add long beans and squash, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well, cover and simmer on low heat until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.

When vegetables are done, remove lemon grass stalks, and transfer to a baking dish. Prepare crumb topping by combining ground peanuts, bread crumbs and a tablespoon of oil to bind. Sprinkle mixture over vegetables and brown under a broiler (watch carefully so you don't burn the topping).

Serve with steamed white rice and a slice of lime or calamansi.

Sweet

2010-07-15T15:31:00.007+08:00

....and now on to Dessert! As you know, I am admittedly not a successful baker (evidence: my Streussel Sour Cream Coffee Cake post). But I will attempt to make desserts that require "simple" assembly, like those Ikea cabinets in the kids' rooms. By default, I am the official assembler of Ikea furniture at home, since the Husband loses interest (actually patience) when attaching Leg A to Base B with Screw 256 after Step 3. Years ago we moved to a new house in England and I decided to assemble the boys' bunk beds by myself. As I was hauling the finished product up, my neighbor's husband walked into the kids' bedroom and was so impressed that he brought in two cold brewskis. Men!

Here's a "simple" dessert adapted from bon appetit's comfort food issue.

Caramel-Apple Crisp

Topping:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

12 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

125 grams (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, diced

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

(use water if you don't want your filling to be sour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Whisk first 5 ingredients in a bowl to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until small moist clumps form. Cover and chill.

Preheat the oven to 375 deg F. Stir sugar and butter in large skillet over medium heat until smooth sauce forms. Add lemon juice and cook, stirring, until caramel is deep brown, about 5 minutes. (It is very important not to burn the caramel, or else it will turn bitter). Mix in salt, then apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Scrape apples and caramel into 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish; spread evenly. Sprinkle topping evenly over.

Bake crisp until apples are tender, sauce is bubbling thickly, and topping is golden, about 50 minutes. Let crisp cool 15 minutes before serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

In Transit

2010-07-15T12:38:00.010+08:00

While in transit at the Hong Kong airport, we were hungry for decent-enough food as we landed at 5am. Even at this ungodly hour (for me anyway), travelers were already bustling about, rushing to departure gates, meandering through the few open shops, and queueing at Aji-sen Ramen! Slurping through a steamy bowl of noodles and gyoza soothes the cricks and twitches one develops after sitting mummy-like through the 12-hour transpacific flight. Oldest Son had the Japanese Curry Rice, and asked if I could replicate this when we got back home. After looking through a few recipes, here's my adapted version.

Japanese Chicken Curry Rice

3 whole chicken breasts, sliced into chunks

1 teaspoon curry powder (medium spicy)

2 onions, sliced thinly

2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

2 large potatoes, cut into chunks

2 cups water

1 small apple, peeled and cored, grated finely

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1 cup coconut cream

Marinate chicken in 1 teaspoon curry powder. Set aside.

Saute onions in oil over medium low heat until golden brown, for about 30 minutes. The caramelized onions will help sweeten the dish when cooked. Turn up heat to high and add chicken pieces. Saute until browned.

Add the carrots and potatoes, pour in water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and add the grated apple, salt and 2 tablespoons curry powder. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Add ketchup and worcestershire sauce, pour in coconut cream and mix thoroughly. Let simmer for another 10 minutes. In the meantime dissolve 1 teaspoon cornstarch with a bit of water for the slurry. Add to sauce to thicken.

Serve over rice.

Back in a Bit

2010-07-05T12:38:00.004+08:00

I've been away for a while now, cruising through the fjords of Alaska. We're back on land, with another week of adventure. I'll see you soon with new recipes!

Raging Waters

2010-06-16T19:15:00.013+08:00

The mornings have been heavy with rain lately. It's as if the tropical rain front decided to hover over our little island and dump its burdensome weight over us. Today's storm was a full-scale downpour. By 9 am many streets were engulfed by raging waters and traffic came to a near stand-still. I had planned to take the boys to Orchard Road, our shopping district, and have lunch at Wendy's, which just opened a while ago. (Although the boys are spoilt for choice in foodie Singapore, sometimes you just can't shake their craving for junk!) Shortly before leaving, Son #2 gets this message on Facebook, and this is what we saw:

So much for our expedition.

And what else to do on a rainy day? Here's my easy version of Jeanne Kelley's Orzo with Butternut Squash and Sage Cream recipe. I used Risoni instead of Orzo, and simplified the procedure for a quick weekday dinner. Serve with your favorite breaded cutlet and marinara sauce. Perfect!

Risoni in Butternut Squash and Sage Cream Sauce

250g butternut squash, diced

1/2 cup heavy cream

6 fresh sage leaves, cut crosswise

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

300g risoni or orzo pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Saute butternut squash, garlic and sage leaves in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Remove cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until liquid has almost evaporated.

Lightly mash softened butternut squash with the spatula. Remove sage leaves. Add cream, parmesan cheese and mix well. Check for seasoning.

In the meantime, cook pasta according to instructions. Drain well and add to the cream sauce. Blend thoroughly. Transfer to dish and sprinkle parmesan cheese just before serving.

Leftover Magic

2010-06-10T10:14:00.011+08:00

There's a Japanese supermarket I go to occasionally to purchase sukiyaki beef, shusi-grade tuna or salmon, miso, bottled sauces, etc. There are stalls with Japanese cooks promoting freshly-made specialties of the day that range from udon soups to stuffed croquettes to seafood fritters to sweet bean cakes. I can spend hours just moving from stall to stall, sampling every single tidbit, and come home with what the boys call "weird but good" things to eat, the latest being a savory pancake called okonomiyaki, which is a large frittata made with bits of octopus, julienned cabbage, noodles, and other unknown things in a creamy batter, pan-fried and drizzled with a barbeque sauce and mayonnaise. Very weird, but good.

For dinner that evening, I had wanted to use up the leftover ingredients from the previous recipe, specially the fresh water chestnuts which were holding up well in the fridge. So I bought some very thinly sliced pork at the Japanese supermarket, and remembered a recipe I had earmarked in an old issue of Cook's Illustrated. After much tweaking, here's what I came up with. Frying the noodles into a crisp pancake can be a bit of a pain, but persevere, and you'll have a delicious dinner ready in no time. Feel free to substitute the pork with chicken or beef.

Stir-Fried Pork on Crispy Noodle Cake

380g thinly sliced pork

2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 1/2 tablespoons rice wine

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Thai chili garlic sauce

1/4 cup water

500g fresh Chinese egg noodles

4 spring onions, white and light green parts sliced thin,

dark green parts sliced thin diagonally

peanut oil for frying

150g brocolli, cut into small florets, blanched for 3 minutes

4 water chestnuts, sliced into batons

a handful of roasted cashew nuts

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

Marinate pork in 1 tablespoon each soy sauce and rice wine. Set aside.

Bring water to boil over high heat. Add noodles and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes (do not overcook). Drain, then toss with white and light green parts of the spring onion. In the meantime, mix together hoisin, oyster and chili sauces, sesame oil, water, and the remaining soy sauce and rice wine in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a nonstick large skillet over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Spread noodles evenly across bottom of skillet; press with spatula to flatten and cook until crisp and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Slide noodle cake onto large plate. Add another 2 tablespoons of oil to skillet. Invert noodle cake onto a second plate and slide it, browned-side up, back into hot skillet. Cook until golden brown on second side, about 4 minutes. Slide onto serving plate.

Add another tablespoon of oil to skillet; heat over medium-high until just beginning to smoke. Stir fry ginger, garlic, and then the pork, separating the pieces while cooking. Add brocolli, water chestnuts and cashew nuts and stir fry for a minute. Add hoisin sauce mixture and continue to cook for another minute. Thicken sauce with a slurry of cornstarch and water. Spoon over noodle cake. Sprinkle dark green slices of spring onion to garnish.

Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, slice noodle cake into wedges and serve.

Dinner Time

2010-06-07T15:28:00.011+08:00

Food's ready! I scream upwards, hoping my voice travels through the staircase and into the boys' bedroom doors, which, of course, is shut tighter than a bank vault. While reverberating music throbs through one of the rooms, the other one is eerily silent, except for the spasmodic click-click of a gaming mouse. Did they hear me? I call their cell phones. Only a ring tone can catch their attentions.

We're having Chinese Tacos tonight, which isn't really the dish's name. It is probably more elegantly called Phoenix Nest or Dragon's Parcels, but when I first made this years ago from a handed-down recipe, the boys loved the fact that they had another excuse to eat with their hands, aside from the usual burgers, fries, nuggets and Mexican tacos!

The dish has an extra crunch to it today with the addition of fresh water chestnuts. Although the canned variety provides enough texture to a dish, I was really pleased with the firm, crisp bite and sweet flavor the fresh water chestnuts gave. Adding it at the last minute preserves their texture. If these are not available where you are, how about experimenting with Jicama?

Serve with fried rice or noodles.

Chinese Tacos

300g minced pork
300g minced chicken

1/2 cup frozen peas

4 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

1/2 cup coarsely chopped water chestnuts

4 dried mushrooms, soaked then chopped

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

For sauce:

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 head iceberg lettuce, washed, leaves separated

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil. Saute ginger and onions. Add minced pork and chicken. Mix well and cook until meats are opaque.

Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar. Mix well. Add mushrooms, peas and water chestnuts and stir for 2 minutes, or until meats are cooked. Transfer to serving platter.

In the meantime, make the sauce. Mix hoisin sauce, sesame oil and sugar in a pot and simmer over low heat, continuously stirring for about 1 minute.

To serve, eat as you would do with a taco, laying a lettuce leaf on your plate and placing some meat mixture in the middle of the lettuce. Drizzle sauce over the meat and pick up filled lettuce with your fingers, folding over the leaves to prevent the meat and sauce from dripping .

Hola!

2010-05-31T15:48:00.004+08:00

Gossip mags lay on the coffee table in the lobby of my Language School. An old issue of Hola! headlines the scoundrel Jesse James on its front cover, lamenting "Sandra Bullock sospechaba que yo le era infiel y sabia que algun dia me pillaria!"

Sounds better than "Yeah, she knew I was cheatin' and that someday I'd get bagged!", right?

I imagine the "Spanish-speaking" Jesse morphing into an Enrique Iglesias look-alike, his lustrous black hair pulled back into a slick ponytail, in designer jeans and a fresh, white shirt, exuding macho sophistication as he grants the interview. The Spanish language is so emotional, crisp and fiery that a change in personality happens when it is spoken (even if only in my imagination). As a Czech proverb says, Speak a new language and get a new soul.

At our last session, we pumped up an otherwise serious class with a lesson on superlatives: Guapisimo! Divertidisimo! Rapidisimo! A quick coffee break, and we pushed on with Cansadisimo! and even Dificilisimo!

In the mood for some Patatas Bravas, then? According to spain-recipes.com, Patatas Bravas is one of the most demanded tapas in any bar in Spain, along with the Spanish Omelette. Serve this tangy version with chilled white wine or a pitcher of Sangria!

Patatas Bravas

Crisp Spiced Potatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 large Russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons minced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons Spanish paprika

1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup Ketchup

1/4 cup mayonnaise

chopped parsley

1 cup olive oil for frying

In a saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft. Turn off the heat, and add paprika, tabasco sauce and thyme, stirring well. Transfer to a bowl and add the ketchup and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Sprinkle the potatoes lightly with salt and pepper. In a large skillet fry the potatoes in 1 cup olive oil until cooked through and golden brown. Take care when adding the potatoes to the pan because the oil will splatter due to the salt. Drain on paper towels.

Mix the potatoes with the sauce immediately before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve warm.

School's Out

2010-05-30T14:00:00.011+08:00

Our last cooking class for the season ended with the theme Sunday Roast Dinner, requested by my British neighbor. It is said that this traditional meal originated in the days where the King of England ruled over vast farmlands tended by serfs. The serfs had no freedom, worked the land for 6 days a week, with Sunday being their only "free" day. After Church service, the serfs were still required to practice war games to ensure that they would be able to protect their King in battle. The slaves were then rewarded in kind with a feast of ale and roasted ox.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten, who uses the fairly inexpensive beef chuck to make a delicious Pot Roast. The ideal cut of meat for this type of roast should be marbled with fat and connective tissue to ensure moist slices of beef after hours of cooking.

A Pot Roast will usually take at least 2 hours to tenderize, so be patient!

Beef Pot Roast

1 kilo boneless beef chuck roast, tied
Salt and pepper
All-purpose flour
Olive oil

1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped leeks
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 cup red wine

1 tablespoon brandy
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water

1 chicken bouillon cube

2 branches fresh thyme

1 branch fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 325 deg F/170 deg C.

Pat beef dry with paper towel. Season roast all over with salt and pepper. Dredge the whole roast in flour, including the ends. Sear roast in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned on all sides. Set aside.

Sauté carrots, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper, for about 15 minutes until tender. Add wine and brandy, bring to a boil. Add tomatoes, water, stock cube, thyme and rosemary. Put the roast back into the pot; bring to a boil and cover. Place in the oven for at least 2 hours, or until the meat is tender.

Transfer half of the sauce and vegetables to a blender and puree until smooth. (For a thicker gravy, puree all of the vegetables). Return puree back into pot, and simmer sauce over low heat. Add butter and taste for seasoning. Remove strings from roast and slice the meat. Serve with sauce spooned over it.

Pancit@Kulinarya

2010-05-23T10:53:00.002+08:00

This month's theme at Kulinarya Cooking Club is Pancit. I was inspired by my bible of Filipino cuisine, Memories of Philippine Kitchens. The authors, Amy Basa and Romy Dorotan say, "Ask a Filipino to name typical dishes and he or she will invariably list pancit and lumpia. I encounter dumbfounded looks when I mention that these are Chinese in origin. Much of Filipino home cooking traces its roots to Chinese ingredients, cooking methods, and seasoning. The influence of the Chinese came with the traders (from Fujian and Canton), who brought noodles, ducks, duck eggs, soy sauce, soybeans, sausages, and other affordable, accessible foods that could be eaten on a daily basis."

Each family has their favorite recipe of pancit, using a wide range of ingredients. Our version is one made by Yaya, who helped care for my boys as we hopped from country to country, and introduced them to the tastes, smells, and textures of Philippine home cooking. Thanks to her, the kids never cringed at the smell of fish sauce, or the sight of a fish head popping out from a bowl of soup, or an overload of garlic in their fried rice.

Yaya decided to retire many years ago, after we moved (again!) to a country she thought was too cold for her arthritis. Yaya's Pancit embodies all the care and love she shared with us. There is never a day that we don't miss her.

Yaya’s Pancit

adapted from Memories of Philippine Kitchens

1 pack (250g) vermicelli sotanghon noodles
1 pack cooked Chinese egg noodles
2 pork cutlets (slightly marbled with fat)
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups water
1/3 cup peanut oil
2 Chinese sausages, sliced diagonally
1 onion, diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in water for 30 mins, drained then sliced
2 carrots, julienned
½ head cabbage, cored, halved and sliced thinly
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
Spring onions for garnish, sliced
Lemon wedges

Soak vermicelli noodles for 30 minutes, making sure water covers noodles. Drain and set aside.

Place pork cutlets in a pot and add 6 cups water and salt, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until pork is cooked. Set aside to cool. Slice thinly and set aside. Leave broth in pot for later use.

Heat oil in a wok and saute sausage and pork. Add garlic and onions and cook until softened. Add mushrooms, carrots and ½ cup of broth and saute for 2 minutes.

Add cabbage and another ¼ cup of broth and cook for another 2 minutes.

Mix in vermicelli and egg noodles, continue cooking while mixing thoroughly until the broth is absorbed by the noodles. Season with soy sauce and fish sauce, salt and pepper. Toss in the sliced spring onions. Serve with calamansi or lemon wedges.

Mrs. Fixit

2010-05-20T14:22:00.009+08:00

It's not a big deal! You don't get it. You can't help me! I hear my teenager yell as I furiously knock on his locked door, in another futile attempt to understand him. My right is his wrong, my principles become his defiance, my advice rejected as intrusion. I've hit a brick wall.

So I baked. And failed miserably too, I thought. I am not a confident baker. I over-filled the bundt pan with cake batter so that halfway through baking time, I had a thick flow of yellow magma creeping down the mold, dripping through the rack, burning into a black heap. But, wait, what was left in the cake pan looked salvageable, and with a little quick thinking and desperate creativity, I sliced off the nasty bits, made a sugar glaze and fixed it. Not bad for a potential complete disaster!

I thought of my teenager, looked at my cake and realized, hmm, maybe someone's trying to tell me something. It's not that bad. You can fix it. It will all work out in the end.

Streusel Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Gourmet February 2002 issue

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup (250g) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped

1 cup sour cream

1 whole large egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange zest

Preheat oven to 175 deg C or 350 deg F.

Stir together granulated sugar, flour, salt, and 3/4 cup brown sugar in a large bowl, then blend in 3/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-sized lumps. Transfer 3/4 cup of this to a bowl and blend in cinnamon, remaining butter and remaining brown sugar until crumbly. Stir in pecans and chill topping for 15 minutes.

Whisk together sour cream, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, baking soda and zest, then stir into remaining flour mixture until just combined.

Pour into a 9 1/2 inch buttered springform pan and sprinkle with streusel topping, pressing it lightly into batter. Bake for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 30 minutes. Carefully remove cake from pan.

The Cafeteria

2010-05-18T12:57:00.017+08:00

Nuns in deep purple habits and white veils that flap in the wind as if in flight, rosary beads sashaying from their waists. Everything else is silent as they hurry down the path, except for the scurrying of little feet drawn into the chapel by the clanging of bells. My Kindergarten is scary, I thought. Climbing up the dark marble staircase always gave me the creeps. Specially when Ms. Catherine was waiting on the landing, so serious and stern, white as a ghost, and always smelling of baby powder or Ivory soap. But the sight of her also meant it was lunchtime, and she would be taking us to the cafeteria! There the lunch ladies would pamper us like surrogate grannies, serving an extra heaping spoonfull of warm Cottage Pie. Each dish was lovingly cooked fresh, from the jam tarts to the pork dumplings to the beef stew and rice. Here was my refuge from the scary, new world of Kindergarten. And the food was always good.

So when I found this recipe in an old magazine, I wondered whether the boys would find this as comforting as I had then. What food brings back your childhood memories?

Cottage Pie

adapted from bon appetit

500g eggplant, unpeeled, diced

salt

olive oil for sauteing

500g minced beef

1 cup onions, diced

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 can diced tomatoes in juice

1 cube beef bouillon

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

about 2 tablespoons ketchup

5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup whole milk

grated cheddar cheese for topping

Place eggplant on a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, over a plate to catch the extracted liquid. After half an hour, squeeze eggplant to remove remaining liquid, and pat dry.

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Saute eggplant until tender. Add onions and 4 cloves minced garlic and cook until softened.

Add minced beef and saute until cooked. Add oregano, tomatoes, bouillon cube and wine, and boil over high heat until liquid almost evaporates completely, about 5 minutes. Add a squeeze of ketchup and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a glass baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 175 deg C. Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling, salted water until tender. Drain the potatoes and mash until smooth, mixing in the butter, extra-virgin olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

Drop mashed potatoes over the filling and spread evenly, covering completely. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top. Bake for about 45 minutes or until topping is golden.

Healthy

2010-05-14T10:31:00.022+08:00

My wardrobe of the '90s hangs neatly in the guest room closet; cocktail dresses in garment bags, suits from my working days hang by color-code, coats and jackets remind me that I once shivered in the cold (and not from airconditioning!).

Store...donate...keep...with good intentions to clean up, I chanted the mantra as I bust open the closet doors. Oh, I loved this outfit, I thought to myself, wiggling into an off-the-shoulder patterned velvet flared-leg pant suit (yeah, baby). I was sucked into a time warp, cocktail in hand, mingling with the young and upcoming, standing on a balcony with a skyline view. Eighteen years later, my velvet outfit isn't slinky anymore and blatant blobs of flab make an embarrassing spectacle of themselves in unwanted places. How did I get here??

"Unfortunately, the flow of fat from our arms, legs, and hips to our stomachs is a natural part of ageing", says Dr. Pamela Peeke of the University of Maryland. "Up to about the age of 40, estrogen in women and testosterone in men controls fat allocation, keeping it away from the abdomen. Once these hormones decline, it becomes easier for excessive calories to be stored deep inside the belly."

Darned mid-life crisis!

My mantra shifts. Must....Lose....Weight! Eat less, make healthy choices, and exercise daily. We all know what to do. Let's start now.

Fresh Pineapple, Orange and Apple Juice

(you will need a juicer for this)

1 whole Pineapple, peeled and sliced

4 whole Oranges, peeled, white pith removed

2 Apples, sliced in half

Juice all of the fruit in a juicer. Start the day with a tall glass.

Cooking Class

2010-05-12T18:01:00.016+08:00

"THIS is how you peel them!" Ms. L says, a little too loudly, to her co-students in Cooking Class, and completely takes over the task of peeling, deveining and butterflying the prawns. The other ladies leave her to it and wait for my next instruction.

Ms. E looks up from her inconspicuous corner as I ask her to pound the spices into a paste. She is quiet and restrained in every movement, from chopping onions to using a mortar and pestle. We cheer her on like a last-place marathon runner dragging herself to the finish line...."pound, Ms. E, harder, c'mon, you're almost done!" Meanwhile, Ms. C takes notes on every tip, every secret I share while going through the recipes, and happily volunteers to sautee or deep-fry or stir. Cooking class can be frenetic!

This week's lesson has simmered down quite a bit. I'm sure Ms. E is relieved that the pace has mellowed as we learn how to make soothing and flavorful soups.

Beef and Mushroom Barley Soup

Adapted from The Food You Crave

4 teaspoons olive oil
500g beef stew meat (preferably shanks), cut into ½ inch pieces
¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
1 cup button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
2 stalks celery, diced (about ½ cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
6 cups beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes with their juice
½ cup pearl barley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

In a large soup pot, heat 2 teaspoons of oil on medium-high heat. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Set aside.
Add remaining oil to the pot. Sauté onion and mushrooms until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add carrots, celery, garlic and cook for 5 minutes more. Add broth, tomatoes, meat, barley and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the barley is cooked and meat is tender (about 50 minutes). Taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish each serving with a sprinkling of parsley.

Second Helpings

Taking a Short Break

Expeditions

Nice on Rice

Bananas

Homemade

A Long Break

Decadent Food@Kulinarya

Time Flies

Saved

Overdrive

Vegetables@Kulinarya

Fish Tales

Memories

Old Friends

Leftovers

Two for One

Many Thanks

Banana Turrones@Kulinarya

Where's the Beef?

Mad Dash

A Medley of Tastes

Birthday Treat@Kulinarya

Test Kitchen

Carry On

Salad Days

Winter Wonderland

Cold

Cool

Stir Fry

More

Relleno@Kulinarya

For Emily

Food Fix

Flow

Suman@Kulinarya

Duck!

Recipes Lost and Found

Little India

Lazy Daze

Revived

A Boost

Chill Out

Foodies

Time and Again

Let the Games Begin

Around the World

Lumpia@Kulinarya

Summer Breeze

Get Well Soon

Chinese Takeout

Far Away Home

Coconut Cream@Kulinarya

Sweet

In Transit

Back in a Bit

Raging Waters

Leftover Magic

Dinner Time

Hola!

School's Out

Pancit@Kulinarya

Mrs. Fixit

The Cafeteria

Healthy

Cooking Class