HK Style Cheese Baked Rice

I'm like on a cooking spree these week, perhaps its just an appreciation of my free time remaining before I start losing it next week in a different work setting...

Another new thing I've not really tried before, but conceptually it shouldn't be too difficult, the HK Style Cheese Baked Rice. It basically goes with most chinese stir fried dishes, and just adding an additional layer of cheese on top and baked it in the oven. Tonight, the base is gonna be Stir fried Pork with Broccoli and Chinese Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce. Yup, the name is a handful, but the ingredients aren't.

You'll need 400g-450g of pork, about 10-12 dried chinese mushrooms (soaked a few hours till soft), 1 big broccoli, garlic (cloves crushed), oyster sauce, shredded cheese (cheddar/mozzarella), rice. So whilst cooking the rice (I used brown rice here, hence taking longer), boil some water and cut the broccoli into bite size pieces. Pour the boiling water into a pan, and steam the broccoli over it in the covered pan for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the pork thin lengthwise, about 2-3 cm each. In a bowl, season the pork with some cornflour and dark soy sauce. Take care not to oversteam the broccoli and it's perfectly cooked with a nice crunch (not mushy!)

Heat the oil till hot in the wok, fry the garlic, add in the pork and show of your wok stir frying skills :P After 5-7 minutes, or whenever is pork is almost done, add the mushrooms and broccoli in to the mixture, add a little bit of water for more sauce, and add 1-2 tablespoon of oyster sauce (it's very salty, adjust the amount to your taste buds). Gently mix and coat with the sauce and it should be done when the pork is cooked.

The final step is simple just assembling your cheese baked rice, get an oven proof plate/bowl, spoon some rice at the base and gently place the stir fried dish on top, sprinkle generously with some cheese of your choice (red leicester is possible too, giving you an orange topping!), and pop it in the pre-heated oven of 160C for 2-3 minutes and dinner is ready!

Back to Basics

First things you always crave for after not cooking for ages are the ones you grew up eating... And for me its nothing more than simple homey styled dishes, improvised of course with what's available in Britain.

Spring onion and ginger is always a match made in heaven for Chinese cooking, it somehow gives a subtle invigorating flavor to meat dishes. Goes particularly well with white meat, e.g. fish, chicken and frog (yes, frog meat, which tastes something like poussin). However, nowadays its common with red meat like beef too, and can be pretty much found on the menu of any chinese hawker-style restaurants.

I'll stick with the classics for now, starting with Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onion. Thighs/drumstick meat is preferable (chicken breast is ok but drier texture). So for a you'll need about 6-8 sprigs of spring onion, 2-3 inch ginger, 400g-500g chicken meat, dark and light soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, chilli (optional).

I used thigh meat, and de-boned about 8 thighs and cut into bitesize pieces. Spring onion stalks are chopped about 2 inch long, separating the white bit (at the bottom) and the 'leaves' (the green bits at the top). Slice the ginger thin, producing a size like your thumb print. For the garlic, I prefer to just skin them and crush the cloves with the back of the knife (yup, I'm one of those that actually love fried garlics, hehe), and we're ready to go!

So heat up a little bit of oil, and once hot, put the ginger and the white stalk of the spring onions in and stir quickly. About 2-3 minutes, the ginger should be brown and then add the garlic and chicken meat in whilst tossing as usual. The key point should be here, add a few drops of sesame oil for wonderful nutty aroma and flavor, then the usual light soy sauce for taste, dark soy sauce for a little bit of color... Do add a little bit of water if its too dry, and the meat should be roughly cooked in 5 minutes or so. Remember to add the green leave bits of the spring onions, and continue to stir fry for a minute or so, and its done! You can garnish with finely chopped red chillies on top for that extra spicy kick :)

The next vegetable dish is somewhat of an experiment, inspired by a dish in Chinatown recently. It was some sort of tofu dish with leafy vegetables stir fried in bean sauce. Here's my version of it with long beans instead.

It's just a 5 ingredient dish!! 1 carrot (sliced into matchsticks), fried hard tofu or taukwa (sliced lengthwise), long beans (sliced into 2 inch pieces), garlic (crushed cloves), and fermented soy bean sauce (tau chu). This sauce is available in many Asian grocery stores, and is basically soy beans fermented and tastes sweet and salty.

Heat some oil in the pan, and let the garlic sizzle in it till slightly brown-ish. Carrots in first, and 2 minutes later the long beans. Alternatively, you could actually pre-cook the long beans and carrots by steaming them for about 3 minutes before stir frying if you prefer. It's perhaps faster and healthier. For the former case, the stir frying time is longer, and adding some water helps. 5 minutes later, or whenever the vege are cooked till your preferred level of crunchiness, add in the tofu and half a tablespoon of the bean sauce, adjust to taste, and it's ready to be served with some rice!

Review: Awana at South Kensington

It's been 3 months since I've been home, but yet it somehow feels much, much longer than that ... It may be the working factor, which probably make the days feel more strenuous and long, or it might just be London itself, doing one thing to another non stop, and the only time you can slowdown is the weekend which is way too short to begin with :P

So with the taste of familiar dishes from home feeling ever so distant all of a sudden, P and I decided to go for some authentic Malaysian street food, albeit in a fine dining setting, at Awana Restaurant in Sloane Avenue, London.

Having been there once, I was pleasantly surprised as my initial doubts of losing the mamak stall atmosphere whilst having those street food wasn't really an issue after all. Awana proved that having authentic traditional Malaysian food in a classy setting is possible and the Malaysian cuisine is increasingly well known and accepted in London just like its other Asian cousins (Thai, Chinese, Indian etc). We had the Rewards Menu as P had enough points for redemption to get us both a 3 course meal free!

For starters, we had Chicken Satay with Homemade Spicy Peanut Sauce and Popiah Sayur Goreng, which are vegetable spring rolls served with sweet chilli sauce.

The Popiah/Spring rolls were fresh, crisp and piping hot when served, always a good sign. It was filled with minced carrots and chopped Chinese mushrooms, nevertheless I found it a little too salty for my taste, but the sweet tangy chili sauce balanced it out so it was okay.

Definitely preferred the chicken satay starter! Perhaps its the peanut sauce factor, but I found the succulent chicken pieces to be well marinated and grilled to perfection, slightly charred, just the way it is back home. Peanut sauce is delicious, I love the bits they sprinkle on which gives a chunkier texture so the sauce can hold better when you dip your satay into it. Would be more authentic if they had the rice squares (ketupat) to go with it as well! And of course, more peanut sauce, I could drink that thing :P

P ordered his favorite Bandung drink, which is a pink colored drink consisting of rose syrup with added milk, hence the color. A popular drink back home as its cold and sweet, Awana definitely created a classier version of this drink when served in cocktail style, with swirls of mango and raspberry puree, lychee juice, rose syrup, milk, brown sugar - Fruity Bandung. As you can see below, they've not mixed the drink entirely and the layers of red rose syrup and milk and clearly separated.

Definitely like the funky cocktail glass a lot ...

For mains, we chose Ayam goreng kacang gajus and Kari Ayam. The former is basically chicken fillets stir fried with peppers and cashew nuts, whilst the latter is good ol' comfort food of (corn fed) chicken curry served with coconut, potato and snake beans.

The dishes were served in a nice dark green/brown plate, giving the white rice a nice stark contrast. Somehow gives you an impression of the exotic tropical cuisine you're about to experience ...

All in all, I felt that they were presented well, nothing surprising or unexpected taste wise.. Perhaps its the choice of the dishes itself that is not too exciting, given that I had higher expectations from previous visit having things like Lobster Char Kuey Teow (Lobster Stir Fried Rice Noodles), so it's not comparable:) The only gripe I probably have, especially for P, is that the portions are too small, but then that serves as a great excuse to try out many other dishes in their menu, as we'll see later ...

Desserts was probably one of the more exciting courses given that I love and miss the kuih-muih (local Malay cakes/desserts) from home. We decided to go for Tiga Krim Chocolate - a trio of chocolate mousses, served on a crisp biscuit with raspberry sauce ...

and Dadar - a pandan flavored pancake with a sweet dessicated coconut filling, served with a scoop of coconut icecream! The coconut ice cream was Awana's own addition, but it matched the dadar perfectly as pancake and ice cream usually never go wrong together.

The chocolate mouse fits well into any chocoholic's dream, since it has white, milk and dark chocolate all in one plate. Being a dark chocolate fan, I was slightly disappointed as it was infused with Brandy or some sort of alchohol which distorts the bittersweet taste I was looking for... but that's just me :)

Feeling a bit underfed given the tiny portions, we decided to indulge in some extra Roti Canai goodness post desserts :) For those who are not familiar, Roti Canai is a type of local flatbread with many of its variations found mainly in Asia. It's a usual breakfast item or a great tea time snack. Definitely not the healthiest of all breakfast, but heck, its so GOOD!

We ordered a Garlic Roti Canai (£5.50) and it arrived on our table fresh and crisp 10 minutes later after witnessing the roti chef exhibiting his roti-flipping skills. Apparently they have a large flat screen LCD focusing on the chef and it seems to be quite a star attraction at Awana. And yes, I can feel all your wide gaping mouth at the price tag for this, especially when it's like 20 times cheaper in Malaysia, LOL. But rest assured, it's well worth every penny when its done to perfection as in Awana. The roti was garing (dry and crispy) outside, but soft inside and melts in your mouth instantly! The accompanying dhal curry was nice, mild and did not overpower the slight hint of garlic flavor in the roti. So they say leaving the best for last, in this case it was definitely accidental for us :)

Overall, Awana did Malaysian cuisine a great justice, providing creative improvisation of local dishes in a classy dining ambiance without losing the key authenticity features, very important in our increasingly globalised world of food.

A few words of wisdom to maximise your gastronomic and cultural experience at Awana: be brave, be adventurous in terms of trying out a variety of new dishes and definitely go for at least one Roti Canai!

Awana
85, Sloane Avenue,
London SW3 3DX
Nearest Tube: South Kensington

Every Cook's Dream Dish: Lamb Stroganoff

This dish is probably one of those that I often call misleading ... Why, I hear you ask?

First, the name. Being such a ubiquitous dish in many cookbooks and the British menu, it was a slight surprise to find that it originated in Russia with the beef version, and has been popular in Europe since with many variations of it.

Second, it requires less types of ingredients than perceived. With a name like that, you'd think it involves a combination of millions of spices, ingredients that are in general expensive or hard to get.

Third, the method of preparation is easier than you think! There's no long hours of braising, watching over the oven times, or marinading required at all!

Isn't this essentially what we are all looking for in a recipe? A dish that provides minimal headache over the ingredients, tastes amazing yet so quick and easy to prepare? Not to mention that it's easy to cook in bulk (unlike stir fries), without sacrificing the flavors and results, perfect for a party? Not to mention that for this recipe can definitely fit into the menu of those health conscious too! So here goes:

Ingredients for two
300g Lamb fillet/neck strips/shoulder bits (I personally prefer fillets, as its a whole chunk of solid meat and not too fatty)
Mushrooms (as much as you like, the more variety the better, I used chestnut and closed cup mushrooms)
1 Onion
250ml of crème fraîche/sour cream (I used a reduced fat version)
1 Lemon (juiced and 1 tsp of lemon zest, or if lazy, bottled lemon juice)
3 tbsp paprika (or season to taste)
Salt (season to taste)
1 knob of butter (optional)
Olive oil

So, the meat is first cut into thin slices, about 0.5cm thick or finer would do. Then mix the paprika, and about 1-2 teaspoons of salt for a quick marinade. Mince the onions into chunky pieces, cut the mushrooms into bite size quarters or cross section slices (or whatever shape you fancy) and we're set to go! That probably takes 15 minutes max isn't it?

Time to cook! Heat up some olive oil, as usual. Then fry the onions until brown and soft. Scoop them up and set aside. Do the same for the mushrooms, but add the lamb pieces in when the aroma of mushrooms fills the air. It should be soft and smaller now, given that some moisture is lost. Add the onions back to the pan, and continue stirring them around for a bit before adding the crème fraîche, lemon juice and zest.

Now, the tasting bit. Which you absolutely have to do. Can't imagine a cook who doesn't taste before serving, pretty risky even for the pros. I tried mine, and found it slightly too spicy for a stroganoff, hence leveled off some of the heat with a pinch of sugar. Sugar works to counter a bit of saltiness too, as in this case you shouldn't add water to this dish as its meant to be creamy and thick. If desired, you can add a small knob of butter, it does add a nice creamy flavor to it.

When you're happy with the taste, serve with rice, and eat right away. In this case, I used wild red rice, has more of a nutty taste which I love, a nice change from the usual white rice. The whole process took about 30 minutes or less, great for those of you who are rushed for time yet still want to eat something wholesome and delicious.

There's another venison version of Jamie Oliver's website, with parsley and gherkins to match, will try that sometime soon! Now that summer's here, it's time to bring up the BBQ!

Bento Boxes?

Call me odd, but there's just something about food being presented in tiny proportion in many dishes that I really enjoy, not just because of the variety (having a bit of everything), but presented delicately in little boxes/plates & bowls that somehow enhances the dining experience.

In particular, Japanese bento boxes. Yes, it may seem uncool as it feels like your lunch box in the olden school days, but they do make it a point to have a good color balance as you see below from a Chicken Teriyaki set I had a while ago. And yet somehow, I only get this feeling when having a bento set. Not from Chinese dim sum, Spanish tapas, or even the French way of food presentation. That's because in all those, the norm is that you share the dishes or take it as starters. But for bentos, all the variety in front of you is ALL FOR YOURSELF.

Yup, maybe I'm a greedy monster, maybe not, I don't know. It's the only difference I can observe thus far. What do you think?

Indian Rissotto

I am surprised if this is not invented already. But it's actually NOT exactly risotto. What I did was cook my normal curry, this time it's prawn tikka masala and boil the basmati rice. The difference is that instead of serving them separately, I pre-mixed them together in the pan for ease of P who does that anyway messily in his plate. A surprising positive result as the dish looked more appetizing than served separately actually, provided you eat it right away of course before it turns cold and mushy!

Misato Mania

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
No, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you have,
MISATO ...

Well, I could go on and on singing about this place, but nothing beats value for money if you can stomach a plate of Chicken Curry Katsu so BIG, on a cold winter night... :P

We were walking around London Chinatown one weekend and the craving hit us, fitting the criteria of having something wholesome, big, crunchy, warm and fast. Z ordered Pork Katsu Curry, which is about £6, and basically larger than life.

I had Chicken Teriyaki with Rice instead, and it was crisp and crunchy, just perfect. I think it'd be better if it was less salty though. I guess I'm not that large a fan of Japanese curry as they are just not the real ones, seems to have this strange sweet after taste for me. Nevertheless, it was a simple happy giant meal in a overcrowded student-y place in Chinatown on a cold Saturday night. You'd be amazed how guys can eat after you visit this place.

National Food

In conjunction with Malaysia's Independence Day the end of this month, I thought it'd be appropriate to list down my favourite food that I think represents Malaysia. But then due to the immense culinary diversity in Malaysia, I just have too many favourites (if that makes sense) across the different local cuisines.

Hence, if I just have to list down my absolute favourite which I think is uniquely Malaysian, it's gotta be Nasi Lemak and Ice Kacang.

Nasi Lemak typically comprises of some warm fragrant rice steamed with coconut milk, slices of cucumber, fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, hardboiled egg, a good dash of sambal (a sweet and hot chili paste with caramelized onions) and chicken/beed rendang. The meat curry can vary from seafood (squid, prawn) to chicken and more usually beef. The preparation of each ingredient is rather simple, but it's slightly time consuming since there's so many ingredients needed for this dish. I'll post one in the future with my simpler version :)

In my opinion, Ice Kacang goes perfectly hand in hand with Nasi Lemak especially if the sambal is pungent and spicy! A standard ice kacang is made of shaved ice, dollops of Gula Melaka (a local brown sugar syrup), creamer, accompanied with some red beans, jelly, peanuts, sweet corn and canned fruits to form a gigantic snow mountain. It is a good drink/dessert on a hot summer's day, or for those craving for a good sugar high, hehe.

Currently in Princeton, US at the moment. First day of training is pretty hardcore. Hope to get some good posts in NYC next week then! Stay tuned :)

Swanky Sweden II

Speaking about my IKEA furnished rooms previously, here's a few pictures for illustration. Strangely how something so basic and simple can look so elegant and classy, don't you think?

Even the wash room is spacious and practically designed. You can see the simple curtains for the shower on the mirror image. Somehow everything in Sweden seems to be designed to maximize space without making it look tacky or extremely claustrophobic, especially noticeable in the place we stayed in Stockholm. Apparently Britain may start building "IKEA-villes" in the future to increase home affordability for first time buyers, with houses/apartments furnished with IKEA furnitures and designs to save space. That'd be cool to see :)

Dinner was a stone's throw away from our hotel. Barely 20 seconds walk there (yup, the island is that small). I decided to take my parents and family for a full fine dining experience, not sure why I decided to do that in Sweden, a country with 25% service charge :P (ouch!). But it's well worth the time and money of course as I get comical responses from my parents given its their first time trying out fine dining.

Starters are either Seafood Cocktail with Buttered Toast

or Grilled Scallops with Asparagus Soup. I got my taste of both and I must say the latter is slightly better and more unique as I've never had home made asparagus soup before. It was creamy with tiny bits of asparagus, served in a dainty cup as you see below. The seafood cocktail was light and well dressed with citrusy flavours, matched well with the mini buttered toast. Grilled scallops done to perfection, lightly seasoned and bursting with springy-ness. Yumz!

I had Chargrilled Lamb shoulder with Polenta. I usually like my lamb slightly medium done, still pinkish, hence this fits my palate nicely. I was quite excited to try out Polenta too, which is basically coarse ground cornmeal, forming a thick mush after boiling and lightly salted. To describe the taste, let's just say Polenta is to Italians, what potatoes are to the Brits. I quite like it for a change of scenery after 5 years of potato, but I think I'd still miss my potato mash after a while :P

G had Steak with Mash and Tomato Salsa, I'm sure they'd a nicer name but the menu was in Swedish, hence I'm providing the basic breakdowns, heh. I don't really take beef, but with the lightning speed he ate, I'm sure it's good stuff.

M chose to have Squid Ink Tagliatelle (pronounced tah-lyah-tel-le) with Poached Sea Bream and Asparagus. You all know I'm a super-big-squid-ink ANYTHING fan (well, maybe not a drink on it's own), so I was relieved when M liked my recommendation :)

Think the highlight of the meal wasn't really the taste of the food nor ambiance of the restaurant, but rather the opportunity to be able to gather around as a family over dinner, and more importantly laughing over M's comical expressions of wonder and confusion like "You pay so much for this small amount of food?!". I don't understand much either about the fine dining concept, maybe the price you pay also includes the presentation (BIG plates with SMALL servings), ambiance (candles and yellow lighting etc), and even the expensive rent these restaurants have as they're usually situated at prime locations. I somehow prefer more 'down to earth' cooking, like the ones I had in Portugal, but nevertheless, it's nice to pamper and treat yourself once in a while :)

Swanky Sweden!

Finally managed to get hold of the photos taken from my Stockholm holiday. Thanks to K's Canon SLR, photos (especially the food ones) showed significant improvement in quality! Hope my compromise on getting a Panasonic Lumix TZ2 recently provides an adequate compensation in terms of quality, trading off on it's weight/bulkiness .

Stockholm is a beautiful city by the sea, boasting hundreds of beautiful islands on the archipelago. We spend 5 days in Sweden, with one in Sandhamn, a quaint island just a short ferry ride away from the city. It's my favorite day in Sweden, just because the island is really small and there's not much to do except wine and dine and slacking around, which fits my criteria of a retirement plan :P

There are 3 main accommodation on site, 2 restaurants, a cafe and some grocery stores. That's a tiny island yea? But there are plenty of yachts around that day, as there's a competition going on. We arrived at noon and were instantly mesmerized by the crisp and fresh air, clear blue sky and crystal clear water



Lunch was at Seglar hotel's bistro, the largest hotel at the island (there are only 2 anyway) ...


I had Truffle risotto with grilled vegetables and pesto. It was a large serving, but it was really good that I manage to clean the plate :) The risotto was creamy and fluffy, yet maintained it's bite and not overcooked. The pesto sauce was freshly made, a good match with the lightly salted grilled peppers and even the truffle risotto.

G had beef for starters. Somehow I can't recall what it's called, but it was a roast beef dish served with some grilled vegetables and sausages, in a spicy tomato sauce, if not mistaken. Ain't it pretty?

M had fish for main course, also beautiful presented below. Poached lemon pike in a cream sauce served with vegetables. I really like the way to line up the carrot, beetroot and radish, not chopped up and on top of each other, making something so common and plain special.

And after lunch, all of us just retreated in our IKEA-like furnished hotel and slept for the afternoon... Now that's a real holiday :P

Bah Zhang (Savoury Dumplings) Round 2

This is the revenge of the Bah Zhang that I'd promised since the first attempt in May that went awry. Good and accurate control of the water level is key, turns out perfect after the porridge-y version episode :)! However, this time I was less ambitious and reduced my 'guinea pigs' by 33% (from 3 to 2) :P

Same recipe as before (check out the May 07 archive for details), here are some photos of my attempt. This is the lap cheong (chinese sausages), sliced and dry fried. The more observant ones will notice that there's a small piece of the fat casing that fell off the top layer of the sausage on the table.

This is the wok in action, a picture of stir fried pork loin pieces (I used this instead of chicken this time), dried prawns, and Chinese mushrooms with seasonings.

Adding the glutinous rice that were soaked overnight, there's loads of tossing and stirring to be done...
Adding some light and dark soy sauce (I'm not really an Oyster sauce person somehow) for color and taste ...
Yan kindly brought a special extra ingredient of chestnuts to add the authenticity of the dish. And to think that I even forgot about that! You can see them in the final result below :D


Another dish improved, thankfully :) Taste wise you'd better consult Yan and/or P about it for a more objective opinion, as it's the norm to love eating what you cook :P

Copper Kettle

The Copper Kettle restaurant at the heart of Cambridge (Kings Parade, just opposite the touristy King's College) serves a pretty good fare from breakfast to dinner. It's a good place to pop by for tea as well, sipping a cuppa with their beautiful array of desserts, cakes and snacks :) I brought my parents and Yan here on their visit to Cam for a try on their Mediterranean food.

Mom had grilled swordfish and aubergine with salad. This was all I could manage to take given the direct sun shine still at 7pm that day.

I on the other hand, was feeling slightly carnivorous that day and craving something meaty and more substantial. This gigantic braised lamb shank was the answer to my prayers :P

I also ordered hummus and pita bread as starters, as my parents have not tried them out before. Despite their curious looks and lack of adventurous spirit, they finally tried it out thanks to our persuasion :) I guess it's difficult to imagine eating mashed chickpeas with tahini sauce and pita bread for the first time!

Paella Party!

Another post exam (rare) cookout. Promised R on this since last term so it's the perfect opportunity for a Spanish themed party coupled with a few jugs of ice cool Sangria after exams. I made Seafood Paella this time, and probably one of the easiest Seafood Paella recipe ever, so here it is to share with you guys to impress your friends during parties!

It's really easy, I presume this recipe is with minimal, essential, and easily available ingredients with maximum taste, speed and authenticity. :) Spoken like a true blue economist yea!

Seafood Paella

Ingredients

2 lemons, quartered
1-2 onions, diced into cubes
Two packs (200g) of mixed seafood (mussels, crayfish, prawns etc)
500g of Paella rice (or using Italian arborio rice is a good substitute)
A pack of frozen mixed vegetables (peppers, corns, peas etc)
1 can of chopped tomatoes with tomato juice
1-2 cubes of chicken/seafood stock
Salt to taste

Steps

First, heat up the pan with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Then add in the onions to stirfry till soft.

Then, add in the Paella rice, and swirl it around for a bit. Next up put in the whole can of chopped tomatoes. This gives the rice the red/orange-y color. Add 2-3 cups of hot boiling water to the whole mixture and let it boil.

As the frozen vege and mixed seafood are partially cooked already, you only add them last when the rice is almost ready.

It's important to check the consistency of the rice, you won't want it over mushy or too hard. You want it al dente and slightly hard in the middle for the 'bite'. So watch over your rice carefully, stir it around occasionally to prevent it sticking to the pan, add water bit by bit so that it does not overcook.

Meanwhile you can add the stock cubes for some taste. Add salt as well to adjust the taste of the rice. The rice probably takes about 30-40 minutes to cook to the right consistency.

Now when the rice is almost ready, add the frozen vege and mixed seafood into the mixture and mix thoroughly.

(*) Once that is done, you can turn the heat to maximum and leave the pan there for about 3 minutes to hopefully get the crispy, caramelized, toasted bottom found in traditional paella (called socarrat in Valencian). Once the aroma of toasted rice comes from the pan, remove it immediately, take the pan aside to let it cool.

Note that even though your paella may seem a little wet, it will absorb the excess broth when cooler, so not to worry, you'd want it slight wet when done. :)

Finally, just add the sliced lemon for decoration on top. Make sure your guests remember to squeeze the lemon on top of their rice before eating! It gives the paella an added dimension :)

There you go, the easiest, no frills paella you've ever eaten! Just like the theme of this site, we go for simple, do-able and speed, without sacrificing quality, taste and authenticity.

I'm in the process of reorganizing the site, so not only you all can refer for emergency recipes like these, there are also slightly more complicated and time consuming ones to come, for those who love a greater challenge in the kitchen :)

Comments and suggestions are definitely welcomed! :D

London Escapade

London was on the menu last week for a great break from Cambridge, tying it in with watching Les Miserables, the musical! The best part was getting center first row seats, as I booked it real in advance during the Easter term. 3 words, a must watch (!) and it's my favourite musical thus far :)

But before theater, a group of us paid a visit to C&R, the Malaysian restaurant in the heart of Chinatown for a quick bite. Brought R there as she has not been before and I was keen to introduce this place to her as the food there is quite authentic. This is the Kampung Nasi Goreng (Village Fried Rice) that P had. Nicely done with the rice dry and separated well, fried with chilli and seafood and some cabbage.

R and I had Wah Tan Hor, as you'd probably have guessed, since it's my favourite noodle dish when eating out back home. It is flat rice noodles (kuey teow) fried with vegetables, fish cakes, thin slices of pork and seafood, all covered in a starchy eggy sauce. MmmmM bliss :P

Unfortunately, I had food poisoning soon after dinner, and thankfully it was much better before the show start after spending some quality time in the loo. :S

Seems like this is a recurring theme as my brother had the same experience a few month ago after having dinner there. Sadly the food quality in terms of cleanliness has gone down tremendously, so do be careful if you are still going there for dinner. Food there is still great though.

C&R Cafe Restaurant
3 Rupert Court
Soho
London W1D

Chicken Porridge

Having bought a pack of 3-4 chicken breast meat, I foresee that it'll be a series of "Chicken dishes in 101 ways" LOL :P Well, probably in 3-4 ways in this case...

Hence, following up from the previous Wagamama inspired dish, Ginger Chicken Noodle (Udon), this is the 2nd recipe using chicken breast that I'd last night ... Cantonese style porridge with shredded chicken. It's really simple to make really, especially if you have a slow cooker (rice cooker will do too).

In a rice pot, put 1 cup of rice (depending on how many you are cooking for, this is for 1-2 person) with 7-8 cups of water. Add Chinese mushrooms, ginger slices (optional) and anything else you want really. But to stick to the authentic version, you can add a big chunk of unsliced chicken meat (breast meat is used here) to cook. It takes about an hour or you can boil it until you reach your desired consistency. You can add some chicken stock cubes as well for taste.

Make sure it doesn't burn though! Yes, porridge can actually get burnt and still looks normal (i.e white with a sticky consistency). You know you've made a blunder when you start smelling a burnt smell from your porridge. So remember to keep an eye on it and slow down the fire once it's boiling! For those who are using pressure cookers, I think it should not be a problem. For me, I have a smart rice cooker with a porridge function, hence it takes about an hour where it automatically keeps warm after that.

After it's all done, take the piece of meat out and flake/shred it with a fork. Scoop some porridge in a bowl, top it up with some chopped spring onions, shredded chicken and ginger slices with sesame oil, if desired. Simple and comforting on a rainy evening... I've also added loads of deep fried shallots for the extra 'oomph' :)

Loh Mai Kai/Bah Zhang?!

Man, the weather has been gloomy all these week with a bit of a spring rain session, better hope it'll be back to good ol' sunny Cam soon!

Meanwhile, this is what I did a month ago (delayed due to a long post), to celebrate the completion of my dissertation. Suits well with my dim sum craving too :) I had a bag of glutinous rice, mushroom, dried prawns, and lap cheong (chinese sausages), which easily equals Loh Mai Kai (Glutinous Chicken Rice)! This is not difficult to make, it's just lengthy with more steps, so don't be afraid to try it out! Note that I've done it impromptu and the ingredients and recipe may be unconventional, but it still tastes authentic :)

Ok, so here's what you need (tentatively) :

5 chicken drumsticks, deboned and meat sliced into bite size, reserve bones
3 cups of glutinous rice, washed & drained
2 tbsp oil
some chinese mushrooms, soaked & sliced
1-2 chinese sausages, thinly sliced
2 1/2 tbsp fried shallots
A handful of dried prawns, soaked, reserve the 'dried prawns water'

Seasonings A
1/4 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp ginger juice
1/4 sesame oil
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 corn flour
A dash of white pepper

Seasonings B
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp five spice powder

Step-by-Step (Oh Baby! LOL Anyone recall New Kids on the Block? :P)

1. Season chicken slices with Seasonings A for 1 hour
2. Make chicken soup stock by adding the bones into a pot of water with the reserved 'dried prawns water, put to boil or slow cook for 1 hour
3.Heat the wok, and dry fry (i.e. without oil) the chinese sausages till fragant and crispy, set aside
4. Heat (sesame) oil in a wok, and fry the shallots till crispy
5. Add the chicken and Chinese mushrooms, stir fry for a minute or two
6. Add in the glutinous rice and Seasoning B, mix and continue stir frying
7. Finally, use a ladle and scoop some of the homemade chicken stock into the wok, allow rice mixture to boil till cook. Do adjust the amount of liquid carefully that is required for cooking the rice and not add a lot of water in one go!
8. Remember to add the Chinese sausages before you serve!

Here are some illustrative pictures for guidance:

Homemade chicken stock

Dry-frying the chinese sausages (lap cheong)

Soaked and sliced dried mushrooms and dried prawns


Stirfrying the dried prawns in the beginning


Stirfrying the well marinated chi
Adding in the rice to the mixture and mixing them well ...


Add the delicious chicken stock and put to boil ...

A HUGE batch of cooked loh mai kai !

Unfortunately, I added too much water hence the porridge-like consistency :S But nevertheless, the authentic taste is there. In effect, some of my friends said it tastes like Bah Zhang (chinese dumplings), which is probably true, given that the ingredients I've listed is actually more towards the making of the dumplings, LOL. I guess I just improvised what my mom makes at home and didn't know that Loh Mai Kai doesn't come with Chinese sausages!

Note that due to the lack of steaming tools, I did not resort to the original way of steaming the glutinous rice for this dish. Be careful about water estimation, as you've seen how my experience went! I'll definitely make it again, and this time, it'll hopefully be more authentic :D