I've eaten goat a few times over the years, but never cooked it. So, when I saw how cheap it was in the local butchers I just had to snap some up. I have a cold at the minute so settled on a recipe which would give me plenty of spice in the hope it will sort me out. This curry has all the heat you'd expect from Pakistani food but the spice appears to come more from the black peppercorns than the chilli. It's an unusual and rather delicious flavour. As for the goat, so long as you cook it for long enough it's tender as can be. It's pretty similar to lamb albeit a bit bonier. If the thought of eating goat fills you with horror then try this recipe using the equivalent weight of lamb shanks instead.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:
1 small onion (roughly chopped)
8 cloves garlic (chopped)
5cm piece of fresh ginger (peeled and chopped)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
4 tablespoons coriander powder
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1.5kg goat meat (trimmed of fat and cubed)
500ml natural yoghurt
1/2 lemon (juice of)
1 tomato (chopped)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 160ºC.
In a blender or pestle & mortar, blend the onion, garlic and ginger with 4 tablespoons water into a smooth paste. Set aside. Heat a large stove and ovenproof casserole pan over a medium heat. Brown the goat in batches on all sides then remove to a plate. Now add to the pan the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon and stir for 10 seconds. Add the onion paste and stir fry for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the yoghurt and stir well. Now add the remaining yoghurt, coriander, chilli powder, turmeric and salt and stir well. Top up with 450ml water stir, then return the goat to the pan. Place over a medium/high heat until the sauce begins to simmer. Remove from the heat, put on a lid and then cook in the oven for 2 1/2 -3 hours. Stirring every 30 minutes.

Place the pan back on the stove over a medium heat and let it simmer for 5-8 minutes to reduce the sauce until thick. Add the lemon juice and adjust the salt to your taste if necessary.

SERVING:
Sprinkle over the chopped tomato and serve with Indian breads or rice.

Yes. You read that right. To my knowledge, cooking cucumbers is not an enormously popular practice. But I find myself doing it often. Fried cucumbers pair well with beef in fact, but because I rarely eat beef at home, I just eat the fried cucumbers all by themselves. The flavor provided by the ginger is satisfying enough. If you have access to Japenese shiso, it'd be perfect here.

If you don't, that's okay too. Use a combination of mint and basil, which is what I mostly do. For the first time since living anywhere in New York, I live in close vicinity to countless generic and overpriced yuppie food stores. I don't want to sound ungrateful because I appreciate the availability this provides (and very vividly remember times in my life when skim milk nor wheat bread were available within a reasonable radius.) But, still, I regularly lament the loss of Asian food products that were once much more readily available to me. Nonetheless, mint and basil work quite well.

AKA "Kinda like pierogi, but not."

Yesterday I took a trip to HMart, my favorite source for cheap Asian food. (Actually, it's my only source for cheap Asian food. I miss it terribly when I'm away at school.) My findings included a 1 lb. package of wonton wrappers for $1.29, which I bought in the hopes that I'd find something around the house to fill it. In a Sudden Fit of Genius^TM last night, it occurred to me I should fill them with potatoes, making something resembling a pierogi, but less labor-intensive. And then I remembered my Huge-ass Jar of Curry Powder.

I bought this curry powder about a year ago and have, sadly, only used about a quarter of it. I don't make curry nearly enough, I guess. "They" say you should buy new spices every six months so the flavor is fresh. I say that if the spice starts losing its flavor, just add more of it.

So here are the other ingredients I dug up:

Besides the wonton wrappers and the curry powder, I've got a quarter of an onion that I found in the back of the fridge (the last bit of onion in the house!), butter, cheddar cheese (obscured by glare), 1.5 lbs. potatoes ($.99/lb), an egg that I ended up not using, and a can of coconut milk powder.

The coconut milk powder was another HMart find from my a few weeks ago, before which I never knew that such a thing existed. I bought it even though I wasn't sure what I would cook with it because it was $.79, and if it was any good it was a great find, since coconut milk (the non-powdered kind) can be expensive. If you aren't like me and don't happen to have weird Asian food randomly lying around the house, you can use regular milk.

Here it is in the can, looking a bit like cornstarch.

The label said to mix the powder with 3 cans worth of water, but 2 1/2 cans was all I could fit in my measuring cup--which ended up to be a good thing, because the flavor was a bit weak. Next time I will probably only add 2 cans worth of water.

Peel and quarter the potatoes, then give them a rinse and stick them in a pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes.

Mince your onion. I probably would have used more if I had it around, but this ended up being a good amount.

Then wait impatiently for the potatoes to be done.

When the potatoes fall apart when you try to stick a fork in them, drain them, rinse and dry the pot, and melt 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Throw in the onions and cook until they look like this:

Have I mentioned my love for onions?

Remove from heat and add the potatoes and 1/2 cup coconut milk (or regular milk) and mash until smooth.

Then mix in 1/2 cup shredded cheddar (store brand) and 1 tbsp. curry powder. You could use less curry powder, but you'd be a wimp.

Try not to eat too much of it out of the pot, because we need that for filling!

Use about 1 tbsp. filling per wrapper. Brush the edges with water and then stick a second wrapper on top, making sure you don't have any big air bubbles.

Now, do it again. You'll be done when your counter looks like this:

The recipe made 30 potstickers, using 60 wrappers and leaving me with an extra 12 in my package to figure out something to do with. It takes a bit of time to fill them all, so you might want to find a friend to help you, except then they'll probably want to share.

Dissolve 2 chicken bouillon cubes in 2 cups of water. You could use vegetable bouillon if you want to keep it vegetarian; I just wanted to get rid of these bouillon cubes.

Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a large pan, then add potstickers to cover the bottom. Don't overlap them quite this much--I was impatient and hungry so I wanted to squish as many into the pan as possible, but it would be better to do them in smaller batches.

Also, make sure to use a nonstick pan. I have a whole set of pink nonstick pots and pans that I bought at a steep discount because half the covers don't fit, but they're all packed up in storage at school. My mother doesn't own a single piece of nonstick cookware. Don't be like her.

Let the potstickers cook for three minutes or so, until the bottoms brown slightly, and then add 1/3 cup broth for every 5 potstickers in the pan. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, until the broth is absorbed.

They looked really nice until I tried to pry them out of the pan. Thankfully, torn and mushed-up curred potato potstickers taste just as good as whole ones.

These are two of the four or so that I managed to pry out whole. Mmm, crusty and delicious.

And those are the rest of the first batch. Not too bad, all things considered.

Serving suggestion: top with the rest of the plain yogurt from yesterday's Whatever's On Sale Casserole. If you're really nice, you'll share this with your mother.

Recap:
1 1/2 lbs. potatoes
1/4 large onion, minced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp. curry powder
2 tbsp. butter, plus more for frying the potstickers
60 wonton wrappers
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

Peel and quarter the potatoes, then boil for about 20 minutes, until they fall apart when you poke them with a fork. Drain.

Rinse and dry the potato pot, then melt 2 tbsp. butter and sautee the onions in it until brown. Remove from heat and add potatoes and coconut milk and mash until smooth. Stir in cheese and curry powder.

Place about 1 tbsp. potato mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper, then brush the edges with water and top with another wonton wrapper. Repeat 30 times.

Cook the potstickers in fairly small batches in a nonstick pan. Melt a little butter, then add the potstickers and cook about 3 minutes until the bottoms are slightly brown. Add 1/3 cup broth for every 5 potstickers, then cover and cook for 5 minutes, until the broth is absorbed.

Serve with plain yogurt.

sumptuous chicken & pork satay w/ peanut & pineapple sauce

(dedicated chef in the making)

malaysian-style noodles (a delicious tamarind tinted soup could be added to the noodles for a wetter version :)

paratha

other parts of the meal included a peanut based potato curry and beef stew.

dessert - gorgeous banana cake (with rice based cake), honeycomb dessert & fresh mango + watermelon

perfect asian canada day w/ family & friends.

between the three of us we sprang for a wide variety of snacky food to go w/ our kirin & sapporo beer-u.

first on the list was the "ping fries" that came with kewpie mayo, shoga (pickled ginger often used for yakisoba or fried noodles), aonori (seaweed often used for the same fried noodles or takoyaki), and a gravy used for okonomiyaki. yummmy!

next, deep fried tofu, also w/ a "bulldog" worchestershire type of sauce + mayo/tomato(?) sauce.

to continue down the deep fried road we ordered some delicious croquettes. something the japanese have down to an artform. perfect spheres of deepfried delight.

one thing one of my friends (caucasian on the outside but deeply japanese on the inside) has missed terribly since leaving japan is properly done karaage (or deep-fried chicken morsels). he was not disappointed:

of course we needed to counterbalance some of this deep fry with some kinpira gobo (burdock root w/ carrot) w/ a bit of "kick"

and some refreshing saba (mackerel)

all in all a wonderful snack. we didn't venture into the larger meal-size goodies. saving that for next time.
choices included "Hambaguu" (hamburger sans bun) and a scotch egg.. which i've never had before.. and much more... to be continued...

In our household, Summer Time means friends, playing in the water, baseball and berry picking! This weekend we covered it all!

Friday night we had three families from church over for dinner. Our minister and family were included, like us they have a larger family with four children. Our evening also included two young couples, one recently married and the other getting married next month.

We started the evening off by letting all the kids play on the Banzai water slide while we visited and got dinner ready. We enjoyed garden rolls (tapioca wrappers, rice, sauteed veggies), chicken skewers on the BBQ fruit salad and garden salad. We decided that Asian food was the way to go as we had numerous allergies to contend with. The evening was concluded with young and old(er) alike playing Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii, It was a great time.

Saturday morning we woke up and decided to go Strawberry picking. We found the spray free fields recommended by the other Mom who was over the night before. A half hour later we had 22 lbs of beautiful, ripe strawberries.

What to do with that many berries? Oregon Dad and I decided to make jam. I've never made jam before, but part of my "plan" for this year is to can and jam everything! We used a low-sugar recipe and it turned out amazing! Oregon Dad and I both received several splatter burns, and the kitchen was a disaster once we were done! We are already plotting our next round, Raspberries followed by Blackberries. :)

Saturday night found us at a Triple A ball game, but that's a post by itself. And Sunday took us to the skating rink. Tales of those fabulous events are to come! Sometime this week I will get pictures and recipes up for the dessert's I made Friday. Chocolate rice pudding (YUM) and Faux Flan (my eggless version).

Cheers!

This dinner actually was our second time at Nonki. Cel, Jenny and I just stumbled on this little restaurant in SM when we were in one of our little jaunts. Jenny and I like Japanese food, so our attention was piqued. Cel was not so averse to the idea either because Jenny and I have been trying to convince her of the "yumminess" of Japanese food during dinners previous to this. Sneaky, huh? Hahaha! So we went inside, had a really delicious dinner, and spent more than two thousand in one freaking night. But we actually didn't mind, and we were even a little bit appeased when the waitress gave us a coupon that said we can get one order of some yummy rolls for free the next time we eat there. As a result, after that first dinner there, we planned to come back to redeem the coupon. Kind of stupid to be duped by a coupon, but duped we were. We didn't mind, especially when we thought of their food. Yes, they are a little pricey, but we can afford to splurge...once in a while.

Now back to this particular dinner. This was the night we redeemed the coupon for a serving of their yummy tuna rolls. Aside from Cel, Jenny, and I; Ley and Glenn decided to come along and see this restaurant we were ranting so much about. Before we all decided to go, I warned Ley that we'd be having Japanese food because I know he is not so adventurous when it involves his palate. He went with us anyway. Oh well, "Munch at your own risk," I muttered to myself. Haha!

Note: The employees there have this cute little habit of greeting you in Japanese when you come in and go out of their restaurant. It made Jenny and I smile. c",)

Itadakimasu!

The free Tuna Rolls! [Rating: 10/10]

Yummy Yakisoba [Rating: 10/10]

Yasai [Rating: 10/10]

My Calamnsi Juice and Somebody's Iced Tea

The Pretty Bentos

My somewhat unusual Ice Cream [Rating: 8/10] It tasted like Green Tea.

The Menu

The company

Ley: Makapasar na ni para commercial?

Cel: Nahulog akong tuna roll. (pout)

Glenn: Pila kaha akong mabayran ani ron?!

Ley: Yay! Another pose!

Jenny: Waaah! Paparazzi! Nooooo!

Incidentally, the waitress gave us another coupon when she gave us our bill at this dinner. We realized we couldn't afford to come back anytime soon, so we let it expire without redeeming it. Too bad, I know.

Itadakimasu again, everyone!

They serve this buffet daily (including holidays and weekend).

TOO MUCH? DEFINITELY!

Singaporean Style Prawn Toast

That's how much food were served to us when we visited the Banana Leaf Asian Cafe earlier this evening. Of course, we started off with appetizers. My favorite among which was the Singaporean Style Prawn Toast. Mainly because there were sesame seeds on top. White and black! YUMMY! It was a bit greasy but I didn't mind. I also likes the Roti Dog with Mango and Curry Sauce. The curry sauce was a bit mustard-y. Another hit was the Vietnamese Prawn Ball with CHEESE.

Shrimp Wanton Soup with Curry Laksa

Then we had the Shrimp Wanton Soup with Curry Laksa. It was a bit spicy, with a tinge of sourness which I absolutely loved. The soup was a bit creamy yet very thin and light. The shrimp wantons were also very tasty.

Then, dish after dish after dish of viands, rice, and noodles were brought out and served. GRAWRRR! There was pork, beef, chicken, fish, squid, and vegetables. My favorites were the Wok Fried Squid with Basil, the Malayan Beef Curry, and the Macau Style Baked Mixed Vegetables.

Sweet Sago Soup with Coconut Milk with Watermelon Bits

Finally, there were desserts. We THOUGHT we had to choose one of the four on the menu. But no, each one of us was served all four. Another GRAWRRR! I liked all the desserts: Sago Pudding in Thai Pandan Leaf, Coconut Custard Sangkaya, Chilled Mango Cream with Pomelo, and Sweet Sago Soup with Coconut Milk with Watermelon Bits.

I had my dinner with the Iced Chrysanthemum Tea Shake which was refreshing but had a weird taste.

It was a very, very filling dinner with other bloggers and some journalists (traditional + new media). There was too much food and some of us had to take home most of it. Thank you Banana Leaf!

Banana Leaf Asian Cafe is located at the Chimes Mall along Sales Street, in Davao City.

I absolutely love Chinese pork dumplings. Can't get enough of them! We eat out very regularly at our favourite dumpling house in Ashfield, Sydney and to be honest, I've never seen the need to compete with them. Why bother when they're so good and so cheap!? Well, I happened upon some wanton wrappers at the supermarket today and bought them on a whim. I decided to give them a go. I have eaten them so often I took an educated guess as to their ingredients and let me tell you, the results were a surprise! Fantastic! They're so delicious and addictive - not to mention hotter than the face of the sun. We both burned our mouths in our eagerness to stuff our faces. Give them a go!

The recipe will make about 60 dumplings, but in their raw state they freeze brilliantly in little airtight bags. Just defrost before you cook them and they'll taste like new.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:
For the Filling:
500g pork mince
100g prawn meat (finely chopped)
2 spring onions (finely chopped)
1 small green chilli (seeded and finely chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh coriander (finely chopped)
1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger (very finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper

60 wanton wrappers (rice flour wrappers)

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all the filling ingredients to form a smooth paste. Then, take 1 teaspoon amount and place in the centre of the wanton wrapper. Wet half the edge with your finger dipped in water then fold up the wrapper to bring the two edges together. Firmly press the edges together to form a little semi-circle. Repeat the process until you use all your wrappers.

To steam the dumplings, place batches of 6-8 dumplings together in a vegetable steamer or bamboo steamer if you're fancy, making sure they're not touching. To avoid the dumplings sticking lay out a few leaves of lettuce on the bottom of the steamer pan and place the dumplings on top. Or for a bit of added flair, balance each dumpling on top of a thin slice of carrot which you can serve with the finished article. Steam for 10-12 minutes then serve immediately.

To deep fry the dumplings: Cook, as above then cool on a lightly oiled plate making sure the dumplings don't stick together. Heat a medium pan with 8-10 cm vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil until hot. Drop batches of the dumplings in and cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels then serve immediately.

SERVING:
Serve with sides of soy sauce, Chinese vinegar sauce and some hot chilli sauce.

This past week (no students) the senior play (a Shakespeare production) was held on Monday evening.

Tuesday was a lavish, catered (Middle Eastern) dinner for Juniors, Seniors, their parents, faculty and staff, and our retiring headmistress. Here are some of the things we had (photos off the web, however):

Pigeon Pastilla

Chicken with Olives

Mechoui (pronounced "MESH-wee")- Whole Roast Lamb, served on platters almost a meter wide

Couscous

Wednesday evening we had graduation on the school lawn. The American ambassador from our country attended, as well as the new incoming headmaster and elementary headmistress, and a few other local impressive figures. It was our school's first twelfth-grade graduation, complete with caps, gowns, and sashes ordered from the United States. Eighth-graders passing into high school also participated in the graduation, wearing suit and tie for boys, and elegant white dresses with high heels, for girls.

I'm not as exhausted, mentally or physically, at the end of this school year, as I was last year at this time. I hope to get busy cleaning up the numerous things around my house that need doing, such as unpacking and sorting through boxes from when we moved into our new house almost three years ago. I also hope to be starting a diet in the next day or two. I got to the swimming pool for the first time this season, and was able to swim ten laps. Please wish me luck all on these endeavors!

Eileen

As Asian soups go, I adore Malaysian Laksa - But (and it's a huge but) it's horrendously fattening - not to mention impossible to make properly. This Thai soup called Tom Yam Goong is much more manageable and pretty damn delicious. Who knew it would be so easy to make!?

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:
250g prawns (with their heads and shells)
40g small button mushrooms
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
10 red birds eye chillies (crushed to a pulp with 1 teaspoon peanut oil)
1 stalk lemon grass (white part only, very finely sliced)
4 thin slices ginger
2 kaffir lime leaves (finely sliced)
3 coriander roots (washed and crushed to a pulp)
salt & pepper
fresh coriander leaves to garnish

DIRECTIONS:
Remove the heads, shells and tails from the prawns (devein them and set aside). Put the heads and shells into a large pan and cover with 400ml water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and then strain the liquid twice through a seive. Discard the shells.

Mix the chilli paste with the lime juice and fish sauce and set aside.

Bring the stock back to a simmer then add the lime leaves, ginger and lemongrass, coriander root pulp and mushrooms simmer for 2 minutes then add the prawns and simmer for 1 minute until cooked through. Stir in half the chilli mix add salt & pepper and serve.

SERVE:
Divide the soup into two large bowls and sprinkle over some coriander leaves. Serve the remaining chilli on the side so you can adjust the heat levels yourself.

serves 4

4, 6 oz. salmon fillets, preferably thicker than 1 in.
1/2 C maple syrup
1/4 C soy sauce
sesame seeds

1. place oven rack so that fish will be 6 inches from broiling implement. preheat oven to broil (high, if there is a low and high setting).
2. combine maple syrup and soy sauce in a small pan. simmer on medium heat until it becomes thick, about 5 minutes.
3. place aluminum foil over baking sheet. spray with non-stick cooking spray. place fish on foil and season with salt and pepper.
4. brush fish with 1/2 of the sauce. broil for 5-6 minutes.
5. brush fish with remaining sauce. and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. broil for 5-6 minutes, or until salmon is barely cooked through.

Ingredients:

2lbs. boneless pork ( roast or chops )

10oz. Yoshida sauce ( this is an asian stlye bbq sauce, you can find it in the ethnic food section of your store )

3 to 4 green onions ( sliced )

1 thumb ginger ( about 2oz. thin sliced )

1 pkg. chuko soba noodles ( also found in the ethnic section )

16oz. bag of frozen stir fry vegetables

sesame oil

sesame seeds

chow mien noodles

water

Method: pork

Trim excess fat from pork roast and cut into 1 inch steaks ( if using chops this should already be done for you ) and place in a big ziplock bag. Pour 8oz. yoshida sauce, ginger and green onions into the bag, mix well and marinate for at least 4 hours, overnight is better ( 8 hours ) in the refrigerator ( place on a plate or in a bowl just in case your bag leaks ).

Discard marinade and grill on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes a side or until done ( at least 155 degrees internal temperature ). You will want to keep an eye on it because the sugar in the marinade will burn if the pork is too close to the flames. If you can change the level of your grill adjust to a distance of about 4 inches between fire and pork and close the lid.

Note: For cooking in the oven place a rack on the bottom of a baking dish and arrange your pork on rack leaving a little space between each piece and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes flipping the pork at the half way point ( about 7 to 10 minutes ).

Transfer to a plate and cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Slice into 1/4in. slices.

Method: stir fry noodles

Add remaining yoshida sauce ( 2oz. ) and a tablespoon of sesame oil to a big skillet and cook on a medium heat for about a minute ( until it just starts to bubble ). Add your stir fry vegetables and cook just long enough to thaw ( not cook ) the vegetables ( about 1 more minute ). Add your dry chuko soba noodles and 1 cup of water and cover. After about 3 to 5 minutes stir mixture and check to see if noodles need more water and add a little at a time ( re-covering ) until noodles are al dente.

Note: When adding more water give the mixture a little time to absorb the liquid. The noodles will get mushy on you if you add too much.

Now all you have to do is plate and sprinkle chow mien noodles and sesame seeds over the top. Now is a good time to drizzle with soy sauce and maybe a little more sesame oil if desired.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Tip:

It is usually preferred to use fresh vegetables instead of frozen but sometimes it is not cost effective for the home cook. In order to cook a vegetable stir fry ( in this case ) you would have to buy a whole list of vegetables just to use a little of each. For instance I would have to buy broccoli, green beans, carrots, celery, onions, water chestnuts, snap peas etc. This can get costly and wasteful if you don't use it all. Frozen vegetables can also be fresher than "fresh". Most frozen vegetables are harvested and flash frozen immediately which can significantly reduce the amount of decay time. When you buy something in the produce section of your local store do you really know when that product was picked, how long it took to reach your store and how long it has been sitting on the shelf?

I hope this little bit of information will prove to be helpful to you in your culinary endeavors.

Until next time.... HAPPY COOKING!

Need kitchen supplies? Check out www.onestopcook.com

Larb is one of my favorite Thai dishes. Chances are, if I am going to a Thai restaurant for the first time and they have Larb on the menu, its what I am going to be ordering -- it's one of those "benchmark" dishes because its so simple to make. Anyone can make a good Larb at home, because it doesn't require difficult to obtain ingredients (fish sauce is easy to get these days) or technical skills to prepare. Larb was a huge subject of interest back when I was still involved on eGullet -- it was one of those huge monster threads that kept on going, and going. The general rule of thumb is that If it's a protein, you can larb it. I have to give fellow blogger tommyeats the credit for starting it, it was inspired genius.

Larb, Laab, Larp... doesn't matter what you call it, let's eat it! Click on the "Read the rest of this entry" link below for more.

For the basic recipe, I used the one from Thai Table, but adapted it to increase vegetable content and to lower fat. Here's our version:

THAI LARB SALAD

1 Tbs Toasted Rice Powder
1 Shallot or small Red Onion, thinly sliced
3 Limes, Juiced
12 oz ground turkey or ground chicken breast
1/2 Tbs dried ground chili or 1 Tbs Sriracha Sauce
1-2 Fresh Asian Chiles, preferable Red, such as Thai Bird or Long Chinese Hot (to taste)
3 Tbs Thai Fish Sauce. You can use a Vietnamese fish sauce but it will have a slightly different flavor profile
1/2 tsp freshly ground White Pepper
1 Handful of Cilantro leaves (most of stems removed)
1 Handful of Mint leaves (all stems removed)
1 Handful of Asian Basil leaves (stems removed, tear large leaves) If you don't have Asian Basil, use Italian, but it won't have that licorice bite (if you have Tarragon, you can add some of that)
4 cups Napa Cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup Red Cabbage, thinly sliced
1 bunch of Scallions, Whites and Greens sliced and separated

Optional: Sliced Radishes (use the radish greens as well torn up), Shredded Carrots, Chopped Culantro (Recao, Sawtooth Herb), Sliced Cucumber, Red Pepper julienne, celery, mushrooms

Pour 1/3 of the lime juice on the raw ground meat. Mix well and let it marinade for just a couple of minutes until you are ready to cook it.

Heat up a pan on high until it is very hot. Add two tablespoons of water and then immediately add your marinated meat and stir. Toss in chopped Scallion whites and 1/2 of your sliced fresh chiles. Keep stirring until the meat is well done, but not browned. Reserve in a separate bowl.

Get out your largest salad bowl. Mix together the fish sauce, remaining lime juice, ground chili pepper or chili sauce, 1/2 of toasted rice powder, remaining fresh sliced chilies and ground white pepper. Stir well and taste for salt and sour. Add herbs and vegetables to the salad bowl and toss well.

Red Chiles with Toasted Rice Powder

Toss up the salad with cooked ground meat mixture. Mix well and taste. It should be a little bit hot, and you should be able to taste tartness from the lime juice and the salty-fishiness of the fish sauce. If you need to add more fish sauce or lime juice, don't be afraid. Getting the flavor balance right is a trial and error process. Sprinkle on the remaining toasted rice powder and serve.

Ingredients for 4 persons:

For the Curry:

• 4 chicken breast filet (make it five if they are small)
• 2 to 3 table spoon curry
• 2 onions
• Salt, pepper and even chili to taste
• 1 or 2 coriander stalks and leaves to taste
• 1 can of coconut milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the rice:

• Basmati rice for 4 (sorry I can't give you the exact weight... I live in a big rice-eating family :p )
• One stick of cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 2 dried cayenne chilis
• Salt

Preparation:

Peel, slice and fry the onion. Slice the chicken filets in small chunks. Once the onions are golden brown, add the curry and chicken and mix it together. Let the chicken fry a little until it is nicely white outside (or rather yellow because of the curry. But you got what i mean: the outside of the chicken must be cooked). Then add the coconut milk until it covers the chicken. Add salt, pepper, coriander and eventually chili. That's is, reduce heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes!

On to the rice now: in a saucepan, let the cinnamon stick, the dessicated chilies and the clove infused in salty water which you will bring to the boil. Once boiling, transfer into another saucepan in which you will have the basmati rice for 4. Add water until it covers the rice at roughly 1.5 the size of rice (basically, if you have 1 cm in your pan, add 1,5 cm water :) ) Cook until the rice absorbs all the infused water. If you find the rice not be cooked, add a little more infused water.

It is your choice to present the rice with or without the cloves and chilies in it. You can also place a few coriander leaves on top of the plate for decoration. A piece of advice: do the spicing to your own taste. Some people like it strong, some like it milder. Some like cloves, some don't...

Serve with naan bread. And since this recipe is all about convenience, I use ready made naans ;) Here you go: chicken curry in 30 minutes!

Briouats - A Favorite Food at Our Middle Eastern Class Parties!

Photo from: http://www.lejus.com/recette-1032.htm

Briouats are triangle-shaped filo pastries, which when served here are usually filled with shrimp and vermicille (hair-fine spaghetti), or with cheese, sometimes with a mixture of cinnamon-spiced ground beef or lamb, and scrambled egg.

Our last week of school is a bit different than in United States schools. I read some schools have Field Day on the last day. Here it would be too hot to have Field Day in June. We have that in early April. We always have a show the last day of term. All the classes sing a song or two for the parents,. Some classes do a poem, a skit (short play) in English , or something else. We also have short Arabic plays and French plays. Our students come late, at 10:30, and by 12:30, are going home with their report cards.

Usually the day before this show, most of us have class parties. Students bring in gargantuan feasts of pizza, briouats (pronounced bree-watts), chicken, Chinese food, custard fruit tarts, lasagne, spagetti, pannnini or whatever their favorite foods were.

For tomorrow's party, my third-graders were supposed to be having ancient Roman foods. But my students' parents mostly didn't follow through with searching out ancient Roman recipes on the internet. So I suggested yesterday that we dress in our togas, and pretend we are introducing the ancient Romans to our modern favorite foods. Some kids are haivng togas made, other kids are bringing sheets, and probably some kids will just be in school uniforms. The party's tomorrow. Expect a post of mouth-watering pictures in the next day or two!

Eileen

This is the ultimate curry! I kid you not, this is a fantastic dish, absolutely packed with flavour. The crispy onions, which may seem like a complete pain in the arse to prepare, are the key ingredient I feel. They add a depth and nuttiness to the dish that is just unbelievable. It's par for the course that this isn't particularly healthy but I made it alongside a fat-free daal and had a smaller portion size. However, I did have two helpings which cancelled out all my good intentions. I'm so weak.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:
4 medium onions (peeled)
2 cups peanut oil
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
5 cm piece of ginger (chopped)
1 large tomato (peeled and chopped)
1 cinnamon stick
5 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons greek style yoghurt
1 large bunch English spinach
1 kg chicken thighs (cut into chunks)

DIRECTIONS:
Cut 2 of the onions in half, then into thin slices. Pour the oil into a large frying pan and heat over a medium temperature. When hot, add the sliced onions let them sizzle for 1-2 minutes then turn the temperature down to medium low. Sizzle gently stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes until they turn light brown. Turn the temperature down to low and let the onions sizzle for another 10-12 minutes. The onions will turn an orange/brown colour. Be careful not to let them burn as this will ruin the taste of your curry. Drain the onions (making sure to keep the oil!). Spread out the crispy onions on waiting paper towels. and pat off any excess oil. Leave to cool.

Chop the remaining onions and add them to a food processor with the garlic and ginger with 4 tablespoons of water and puree into a paste. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

Chop the spinach into large pieces and arrange in a medium pan. Cover with 100ml water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes until wilted. Drain and cool slightly, then add to the food processor. Blend into a rough paste, and spoon into a bowl. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat 4 tablespoons of the reserved onion oil over a moderate heat. Add the cardamom and cinnamon and fry briefly. Add the onion paste and fry for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Add the cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper and fry for 1 minute. Now add the chicken and tomatoes and fry for 4 minutes. As you do this, gradually add the yoghurt tablespoon by tablespoon. Add the spinach and 1 teaspoon salt and stir well - cook for 2-3 minutes then crumble over the crispy onions and add 300ml hot water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium/low and gently simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

SERVING:
Serve with rice or breads and sprinkle with fresh coriander and fresh chopped tomatoes.

1231 N. Academy Boulevard map

719.622.9595

Thousands of people drive past the unassuming blue Asian-themed architecture of Halla San Korean BBQ everyday on Academy Boulevard, and few probably give it a second look while scanning the traffic around them. But when you enter the restaurant from the east side, you are pleasantly surprised by the classy and modern interior design, the open yet cozy dining rooms and the multi-level layout. We were definitely surprised; the restaurant's humble exterior looks are definitely deceiving, and maybe they're helping to keep this great restaurant a tasty secret.

The friendly restaurant owners led us to our table in the main dining room and we proceeded to ask what they recommended. I was in the mood for some bulgogi, but Clare had soup in mind, so I decided to be adventurous and split the haemul jungol with her. We also ordered an appetizer of fried mandu, the Korean equivalent of wontons or fried potstickers. The mandu were tasty and came in a generous portion with a soy-chili-shallot sauce for $5.99.

Then came the haemul jungol. The restaurant owner (and cook, we presume) brought us a large bowl of sizzling spicy seafood stew on a portable gas stove and placed it on our table. She then brought us soup bowls, metal bowls of rice, fish cake, and five different types of kimchi: traditional cabbage, cucumber, potato, sautéed spinach, and radish.

The stew was outstanding. It had a thin, red, chili-based broth with spinach, onion, green onion, mushroom, red and green pepper, tofu, shrimp, mussel, fish (mackerel, maybe?), crab, calamari, octopus, and pork slices. It was very spicy, but had a great sour/savory taste as well, and tasted fishy--but good fishy--not overwhelming stinky fishy. It is the type of soup you ideally eat in the winter to warm you up or to clear out your sinuses, but it was awesome as dinner for a cool summer evening too. The kimchis and fish cake were also tasty. Clare and I both liked the traditional cabbage kimchi--it was sour, spicy, and fresh. The cucumber kimchi was also good, and Clare liked the fish cake. I really liked the radish kimchi and it reminded me, oddly enough, of coleslaw. It was vinegary and sweet, with a little radishy heat. The potato and spinach kimchis were good, although not as good as the cabbage and radish kimchis.

The two of us ate about 2/3 of the stew and about 1/2 of the kimchi as there was just so much food--even enough to share with a third person. The stew and included side dishes more than justified the $29.99 we paid for them. The owner/cook/waitress brought us sweet orange wedges as a dessert (and digestion aid) and we left with full stomachs and pleased palates. We left a generous tip because we thought the service and food were both outstanding, and told the owners that we will definitely return next week to try out other menu items.

Food quality/taste: * * * * *

Service friendliness: * * * * *

Service speed: * * *

Prices: $$ (Appetizers around $6, most entrées $12-16, and some shared specials $30-$40)

So off we went to Ginza to look at the Marc Jacobs sunglasses I've been drooling about... I've been thinking if I should buy it or not for weeks now and Bogdan said I would never be sure so better to just take them without so much thinking. Ka-ching! And he bought them! :)

We then had a lunch buffet at this Indonesian restaurant called Bali Hai. Not bad but not something I would rave about. I'm not really a fan of buffets as they fill you up in a bloated kind of way. I just feel like throwing up after one plate whenever I go to buffets. But oh well, Bogdan and I wanted to see what Indonesia has to offer in the kitchen. You can check it out at Ginza INZ 2 for ¥1,480 per person.

After that, we split up. He went to his laboratory and I went to the National Film Center to catch the last day of the EU Film Days. I felt a little bad that I didn't go the past 3 weeks so I definitely had to watch the 2 films for the day. First was Kinky Boots from U.K., which was hilarious to my opinion despite the relatively low rating in IMDB. It's about this guy trying to save his family's business ( a shoe company) and along the way met this drag queen who inspired him to change their product to men's fetish footwear. :) I had a good laugh, considering it's based on a true story.

After that, I walked around Ginza for a couple of hours while I waited for the next movie at 6pm. I love Ginza! I used to work there for about a year and a half but I never got to appreciate the place much coz I was always just at work or running to school afterwards. They have all the high-end boutiques and it's much wider than most of the shopping places here in Tokyo. It is also known for having the most expensive real estate on Earth. Hmm.. I'm almost convinced the air smells different up there.

After a poop-inducing drink at Starbucks (don't you always get that after going to Starbucks?), I went back to the National Film Center for the last film of the EU Film Days, Suicidio Encomendado from Portugal. It's about this lonely guy who wanted to commit suicide but kept on failing with each attempt. And with each failure, you get a glimpse of his reasons for deciding to do so. It was presented in a comical way but not enough to keep my eyes open throughout the movie. I won't say it's bad though. I guess my eyes are just used to the usual Hollywood flicks I watch, and European films are everything but that.

Anyway, I like it. It's another conquest for me. Lately, I've been reading, watching, and doing various things just to get a feel of everything and anything I can get my hands on. I think it's very important in widening one's knowledge and refining one's tastes.

So after buying a pair of sunglasses by an American designer, having lunch at an Indonesian restaurant, watching a film from U.K., then from Portugal, my Romanian boyfriend and I, decided to go to a French restaurant for dinner. Of course, here in Japan. :)

]]> http://whatyouhavingforyourtea.wordpress.com/?p=735 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:00:51 +0000 whatyouhavingforyourtea http://whatyouhavingforyourtea.wordpress.com/?p=735

This went deliciously well with the Southern Indian Mackerel Curry I made. It was fresh and light with enough of a flavour to stand on its own. I've made this many times in the past using different recipes. This one gave the tastiest results so far.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:
4 sweetcorn heads
2 tablespoons ghee
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon fresh ginger (minced)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
10 curry leaves
2 dried red chillies
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Melt the ghee in a small pan and then mix in the ginger, chilli powder and turmeric. Brush each head of sweetcorn with a little of the ghee mix and wrap in foil (retain the ghee mix). Cook the corn under a medium hot grill for 10 minutes, turning a few times. Cool for a few minutes then slide a knife down the length of the corn to remove the kernels.

Reheat the remaining ghee mix, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves. Sizzle for 30 seconds then remove from the heat. Pour the mix over the corn add the lemon juice and stir well.

SERVING:
As a side dish to accompany a curry. Or as a snack with breads or rice.