Friday, March 20, 2009

BUTTER AND CHEESE PRAWN & CALAMARI


This recipe has been perfected over and over again until I find it just right. Depending on whether you like it hot or mild, adjust the amount of bird’s eye chili accordingly. Use the biggest prawn & calamari that you could get. You can even use lobster for this recipe. The taste will blend nicely in your mouth.

Prepare the prawn & calamari...
For the prawn, Remove the head & devein them, leaving the shell intact.
For the calamari, cut them into 4x4cm squares. If you have time, you could make crosses pattern with a knife on the calamari squares so that they look nice.
Deep fry the prawn & Calamari for 20 seconds & set aside
If you use lobster, slice them into 2 pieces, from head to tail and fry for 25 seconds.

Egg Floss Topping...
Melt 2 tbsp of salted butter
Add 6 tbsp of canola oil
Keep swirling oil & butter under high heat. Use a ladle bottom.
Add 4 egg yolk and keep swirling
Add 1 teaspoon sugar & 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 6 pieces curry leaves quickly
When it turns brown & flossy, strain the floss of the oil

Use oil absorbing kitchen paper towel to remove the oil
Keep them aside as garnish


Cheese & butter Sauce..
Under low heat,
Add ½ block of butter (Unsalted)
When the butter melts:
Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic,
A handful of crumbled curry leaves
5 thinly sliced bird’s eye chili
When the garlic turns light brown:
Add 1/2 cup of evaporated milk
½ teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoon of sugar
Add parmesan cheese
Add the prepared prawns & calamari or lobster
Increase the heat into high and continue to stir for another 1 minute

Sprinkle with egg floss & coriander Leaves.
As an alternative to the Egg floss or an addition, here's the recipe for Nestum cereal topping:
Heat 3 heaped table spoon of butter
Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 tablespoon of grounded black pepper
3 pieces of sliced bird's eye chilli
Handful of crumbled curry leaves
Keep stir frying for 2 minutes
Add a 2 cups of Nestum cereal
Stir fry for another minute
Add to the prawn.

This would be the best ever butter & cheese prawn you will ever taste. Bon appetit.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE




The Dish...
Invented by the people of Hainan (an island off the southern-most coast of China), this has become a South East Asia’s most popular dish, loved by Malaysians & Singaporeans especially. Originally this gourmet is boiled chicken and rice cooked with chicken broth. However the chicken could then be roasted or fried as you prefer. The dish consists of three main component. The chicken, the rice and the chilli sauce.

Chicken Ingredients
One chicken
10 glasses of water
Index finger length fresh young ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
One stalk of spring onion, chopped
Half tsp salt
2 Tbs olive oil (or canola oil)
How to cook the chicken broth...
Wash chicken and remove knobs of fat on either side of the buttocks. Smash the ginger and garlic and tie the spring onions into a knot.
Stuff the chicken with salt, garlic, ginger and spring onions.
Boil 10 glasses of water in a large pot. Add chicken, breast side down, submerging completely.
Boil water, turn the heat down to very low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, uncovering once to turn chicken over.
Remove chicken and drain liquid from the body cavity. Retain liquid for later use.
Wash under tap water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking process and to tighten the skin.
Drain, rub some Sesame oil over and let the chicken cool to room temperature.
Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and serve garnished with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. Coriander (cilantro) leaves can be used to decorate the top. Keep broth for cooking rice, making the soup and to make the chilli sauce.

Alternatively, rub the boiled chicken with light soy sauce, sesame seed oil, cumin powder & honey. Fry the chicken for about 5 minutes or roast them for 10 minutes

Chicken Rice Ingredients...
3 cups long grain rice
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely (For best result, use the food processor. Not the blender)
5 shallots or onions, peeled and chopped finely
Two-and-a-half Tbs olive oil
Three-quarter to three-and-a-half cups chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
Three-quarter tsp salt
How to cook the rice...
Wash rice and drain in a colander for 10 minutes
4 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a rice cooker pot. Add shallots and stir fry for one minute till fragrant. Add garlic and stir fry for one minute.
Add the rice grains and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and salt. Start the rice cooker or boil over high heat and lower down the heat to steam the rice when the water level reaches the level of the rice grains and steam holes appear. Steam for 30 to 40 minutes till rice is cooked.

Chilli Sauce Ingredients..
6 fresh red chilli peppers
4 shallots
1 bulb of garlic
Thumb size fresh young ginger
Half cup boiling chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
4 tsp lime or lemon juice
One tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
One tsp salt
How to cook the chilli sauce..
Peel shallots, ginger and garlic. Add the chillies and use a food processor to grind the ingredients.
Put all into a bowl and add the boiling chicken broth. Add remaining ingredients, cool and leave for at least one hour before serving.

Serve the dish with light soy sauce, the chicken broth, rice, the chicken, tomatoes, cucumber & lettuce. Enjoy the best Chicken Rice recipe ever.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

TOM YAM GOONG




Tom Yam Goong or Tom Yam prawn is a de facto official food of the Kingdom Of Thailand. It is characterized by its distinct hot and sour flavors, with fragrant herbs generously used. The dish is not only delicious, it is also relatively easy to prepare. Tom Yam is known to have it medical benefits too. It is said that substances released from the heating of lime leaves & mushrooms has could aid in preventing cancer. Follow the instructions step by step and if it’s done differently, the taste would be different.



It's cooking time..
Boil 4 glasses of water
Add 2 cubes of good quality chicken stock


Add these into the boiling chicken stock:
3 stalk of bruised lemon grass (Cut each stalk into 5 parts )
3 cm of galangal (Cut thinly)
½ Onion or 4 shallots (Cut into wedge shape)
4 bird’s eye chilli (Cut each chilli into 3 pieces. You can have more if you want it hotter)
2 coriander root (Crushed. The root has a special flavour. Just make sure you clean them well)
2 wedges of garlic (Crushed)
A handful of Kaffir lime leaves. (Strip the veins of 6 kaffir lime leaves, the middle part of the leaf)
Add 2 tablespoon of sugar
½ teaspoon of salt

After 5 minutes add:
Small Tomatoes (Cut into 3 pieces. It important to use tomatoes even if you don't like to eat them)
Straw mushrooms or button mushrooms (Do not use mushrooms that has strong taste like shitake and oyster mushroom)
Nam Prik Pow mixture (½ a cup of Evaporated milk, mixed with 2 tablespoon of Thai Chili Paste known as Nam Prik Pow. A good brand is Pantai Norasingh or Mae Pra Nomh)

Switch off the heat and immediately:
A mixture ofLime juice from 3 large seedless lime and same amount of Thai fish sauce (Use good quality fish sauce)
Add Spring onion, & Prawn (deveined)
Garnish with coriander leaves (This is important too)


Bon Appetit. I think this is the best Tom Yam Recipe ever. Try it out step by step. Don't skip on anything at all.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

NORTH INDIAN FISH CURRY


This is a much loved dish in most Asian countries and gaining popularity in Europe especially in the United Kingdom! Depending on your tolerance to chilli, you may opt to reduce or increase the amount of chilli powder. The curry will taste better if consumed after a couple of hours after cooking or even the next day!!

This will allow the flavours to blend in perfectly.


This is how it's done...


Mix the spices to make a paste:
2 Tablespoon of fish curry powder
1 Tablespoon of Chilli powder
½ a glass of warm water


Set aside:
1 Tablespoon of tamarind pulp (Dissolve with a bowl of warm water, remove the seeds)
½ a cup of Olive oil
1 bulb of garlic (Sliced thinly)
4 shallots (Sliced thinly)
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds & fenugreek seeds (Mixed)
2 stalk of lemongrass (Smashed)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 handful of curry leaves (Divide by 2 portions)
1 tablespoon of almond powder
1 glass of fresh milk or coconut milk or 1 cup of plain yoghurt (Your choice)
Vegetable of your choice: Aubergine or eggplant or lady’s finger (Optional)
1 Tomato ( cut into 4 pieces)
1 fish, cut into pieces (Any fish of your preference)
Coriander leaves (For garnish, it's important too)

It's cooking time…
Heat up the olive oil & immediately fry the:

Garlic & shallots
Add the curry leaves, mustard seeds & fenugreek seeds
Mix in the spice paste & fry until the mixture turn brown

Add and continue cooking under medium heat:
The tamarind juice
Lemongrass
Salt & sugar
Some more curry leaves (crumpled)
Almond powder
The fresh milk or Coconut milk or plain yoghurt (I would prefer to use the low fat milk or yoghurt)
Then you may add the fish & continue to cook for 5 minutes
Then add the vegetables & tomato, after 3 minutes, turn of the heat.
Serve & garnish with coriander leaves (This will a special taste to the curry too)

Eat with steamed rice or any kind of bread. Bon Appetit!!



Monday, March 2, 2009

XINJIANG LAMB KEBAB


The dish...

Xinjiang is a predominantly Muslim region of western China. It holds the world record of being the city furthest away from sea. So seafood are scarce and they make their lamb really good. The lamb kebab, or known as Yang Rou Chuan are really popular food in china. They are spicy and should be eaten fresh from the grill. This recipe is really rare and the best you could find.


Preparation...
Cut the 1kg of lamb into long thin strips with a good ratio of its fat


Blend these spices together..
1/2-cup ground cumin
1 tablespoon coriander seeds (optional)

1/4-cup chili flakes

2 tablespoon ground black pepper

1-tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground Sichuan peppercorns (optional)

2 tablespoons granulated fresh garlic

2 tablespoons salt
½ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoon of light soy sauce

1/2 cup of olive oil

Method...

In a large bowl marinate the lamb with the spices for 2 hours.


Soak bamboo skewers in cold water. This will make the meat slide onto the skewers better and they won't burn as easily on the grill.


Slide the meat into the skewers and you are now ready to grill them.

Grill the meat over medium heat charcoal fire for abour 3 minutes on each side only.

While grilling, dust some more cummin & chili flakes.


Bon appetit..