Another easy mid-week dinner

As I referenced in a previous post, simplicity rules the day in my kitchen when it comes to cooking mid-week dinners. However, simple doesn't mean having to sacrifice on flavour. One of my go-to authors for quick, easy, yet absolutely delicious food is Aussie's number one celebrity chef, Bill Granger. I have yet to visit any of his restaurants, though its on my list of to-dos if I make it over to Australia. I have, however, tried a fair number of his recipes and they've all turned out great. My sister is a fan as well.

Last night's dinner was again one of the staples in our household -a caramelized salmon inspired by the flavours of Vietnam. It literally takes no more than 15 minutes to cook, but served with rice and a side of greens (I used kai lan), its a perfectly wholesome meal.

As an aside, it was M who bought me this cookbook for Christmas last year. I guess you could say that it was a stroke of genius on his part. Since this is one of his absolutely fave dishes, for M, it is the gift that keeps on giving. M, if you are reading, Christmas is coming up again, make your choice wisely!

Caramel Salmon
From this book

1 tbsp vegetable oil
800g salmon fillets, with skin
1 red onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
115g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp lime juice

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the salmon in two batches and cook each bath for a couple of minutes until lightly browned. Turn over and cook the other side for 1 minute, then remove from the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium and add a little extra oil to the pan, if needed. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the soy sauce, sugar and fish sauce. Return the salmon to the pan and cook for 1 minute, or until the sauce is rich, dark and syrupy. Sprinkle liberally with black pepper and stir through the lime juice.

Serve with steamed rice, with a little sauce drizzled over the top and lime wedges.

Serves 4

Inexplicable cravings

Its been about 7 months since I left home and moved to the UK. Not so long considering the fact that when I first left to go to college, I ended up staying away from home for 10 years. So I find it very strange that this time, I'm developing cravings for foods that remind me of home so soon - even ones that I don't usually eat!

Just this weekend, I had baked pineapple tarts - my favourite sweet treats from back home. Yesterday, I had an inexplicable craving for char kway teow (fried rice noodles), one of the most popular hawker dishes in Singapore. What's inexplicable about this particular craving is the fact that in all my life, whether in Singapore or out, I have never ever ever ordered a plate of char kway teow. Its just not something I've ever really enjoyed. Part of it probably has to do with its reputation as one of the more unhealthy hawker foods you can eat (Not so hard to understand when you realize that the dish was traditionally cooked with lard). Despite all this, when planning what to cook for dinner last night, it was all I could think about. So, I gave in to my cravings and whipped up a batch and for a momentary 15 minutes, I felt like I was home.

Char Kway Teow
Adapted from Shiok!

4 tbsp vegetable oil
1½ tbsp crushed garlic
1 Chinese sausage, very thinly sliced
250g fresh prawns, peeled
350g kway teow (fresh rice noodles)
75g choy sum
3 eggs
3 tbsp ketjap manis or thick dark sweet soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1-2 tbsp chili sauce
3 tbsp water

Heat oil in a wok over high heat and fry garlic for 1 minute, until golden and fragrant. Add Chinese sausage and prawns and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Create a well in the center of the wok and crack in the eggs. Stir well - they should set pretty quickly.

Add choy sum, kway teow, soy sauces, chili sauce and water and stir vigorously for 3 to 4 minutes until well mixed. Noodles should be moist and aromatic. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary and serve hot.

Serves 4

TGRWT #5: Waiter, there's chocolate in my pasta!

Who would have thought? Pasta and chocolate go well together! I was a skeptic at first but given that the assignment for TGRWT #5 (They go really well together) was to find a chocolate and meat recipe, I decided to ignore my misgivings and try out a meat sauce recipe that i found in this book, one of my favourite books on one my favourite foods in the world - chocolate.

Besides the addition of chocolate, this pasta sauce was otherwise much like any other bolognese sauce, albeit a hearty one with the addition of pinenuts and raisins as well. It took a relatively short amount of time to cook and soon M and I were sitting down to dinner. Since I hadn't told M in advance that I was planning to try this recipe, I told him that I wanted him to taste the pasta and guess what special ingredient I had added to the sauce. Unfortunately, the cocoa nibs that I put in a small side dish for garnishing the pasta was a dead giveaway. He guessed chocolate. After asking him if he could actually taste it though, he confessed that if he hadn't seen the nibs, he wouldn't have thought there was chocolate in the pasta.


Tasting the pasta for myself, I had to agree with him. The first sensation of flavour that I got when I took my first bite was the lingering aroma of the red wine, and although the sauce was sweeter and slightly thicker than most bolognese sauces, I wouldn't have guessed there was chocolate in there either. Despite not being able to pick out the chocolate flavour, we both agreed that the chocolate added to the richness of the sauce. If you get a chance to make it, I'd highly recommend garnishing with cocoa nibs - they add an interesting texture to the dish.

Giuliano's sweet and savory meat sauce with chocolate
From bittersweet

1 medium red onion
3 celery stalks
2 medium carrots
1 medium garlic glove
10 sprigs Italian parsley, leaves only
4oz pancetta
3 to 4 tbsp olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
11/4 dry red wine
1 cup drained canned Italian tomatoes, or 3/4 cup tomato puree
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp pine nuts
3/4 ounce bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp sugar
1 pound dried or fresh tagliatelle or other egg pasta
Cocoa nibs, crushed with a rolling pin or coarsely chopped (optional)

Finely chop the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and parsley. Dice the pancetta. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped vegetables, parsley, and pancetta, and saute slowly over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and beginning to brown. Add the ground meat and stir it into the sauteed ingredients with a fork or wooden spoon. When the meat is no longer pink, add the wine and simmer to evaporate it, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, unless using puree, pass the tomatoes through a food mill.

When the wine has evaporated, add the tomato puree to the pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and simmer slowly for about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the dolce-forte: Combine the wine vinegar, raisins, pine nuts, chocolate, and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

When the sauce is ready, stir in the dolce-forte and simmer 5 minutes longer. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper, and add additional vinegar or sugar if necessary.

Cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve some of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Pour a little sauce into the bottom of a serving dish and top with the pasta and the remaining sauce. Toss the pasta and sauce together, moistening it with a little of the reserved pasta water if necessary. If you like, pass a bowl of cocoa nibs at the table to sprinkle over the pasta.

Green tea delight

M is a big ice cream fan and truth be told, so am I. As such, our ice cream maker is probably one of the best investments I ever made. Besides, ice cream is one of those desserts that really doesn't take that much work to make but that never fails to impress guests. Maximum reward for minimum effort, what more could you want?

One of my favourite flavours which I have never been able to get quite right is green tea ice cream. Until today, that is, thanks to a recipe that I first saw on Kuiadore, a food blog written by the enormously talented Joycelyn. I think the addition of white chocolate in this recipe adds depth and richness to the green tea, making this an incredibly luxurious way to finish off any dinner.

For us, it was a perfect way to end a perfect weekend.

Dreaming of Chinese New Year

One of my favourite celebrations of the year, besides Christmas, is Chinese New Year. For me, growing up, Chinese New Year was always a time when family got together to celebrate the start of what was hoped to be a prosperous new year. On top of that, my memories of CNY are also filled with food. It is customary when visiting friends and relatives to bring along mandarin oranges as the word for them in cantonese sounds like gold. In return, you also receive oranges and are usually treated to an array of sweets and cookies.

You're probably wondering why I'm talking about Chinese New Year in August. Well, the reason is simple, its the theme for my entry into SHF #34. When I read that the theme was local or regional specialities, I knew immediately that I had to make pineapple tarts. Although you can get pineapple tarts year round in Singapore now, they are particularly associated with Chinese New Year where there are often served to guests when they come a visiting. Having spent so many years away from home, they are one of the foods that I miss the most. I have never been able to find them outside of Singapore and often have my parents bring me a few boxes whenever they come to visit.

For those who have never had a pineapple tart, they are really more like a cookie than a tart and they are filled with a pineapple jam that has been spiced with cinnamon, star anise and cloves. The pastry itself has a tender, flaky crumb that marries perfectly with the sweetness of the jam. Pineapple tarts are just one of those things that I find impossible to stop at just one. Can you?

Pineapple Tarts
From Shiok!

Pineapple jam:
4 cans (about 500g each) pineapple chunks in natural juice
1 whole star anise, broken into petals
3 cinnamon sticks
7 cloves
450g caster sugar, plus more as necessary

For the pastry:
400g plain flour, sifted
2 tbsp caster sugar
⅔ tsp salt
250g cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
50 ml iced water
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water

To make the pineapple jam, drain pineapple, reserving juice, and chop it very finely in a food processor. Combine with juice, spices, and sugar in a large, wide pot. Stir well over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Taste, then add more sugar as necessry for good tart-sweet balance.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring very frequently, until the mixture is reduced to a thick, amber-colored jam, 1½ to 2½ hours. Watch it carefully towards the end of cooking, stirring constantly to prevent it from burning. Let cool completely. Store in a clean airtight jar.

To make the pastry, whisk flour, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Add butter cubes and rub them in with your fingertips or a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Whisk egg yolks, vanilla, and water together and drizzle evenly over flour mixture. Stir with a fork to bring dough together into a ball. Knead lightly for 5 seconds, then divide into three portions. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Repeat this step to make another batch of pastry as you will need at least 2 batches of pastry to finish using up the jam. Alternatively, the jam will keep well in the fridge for use at a later time.

While dough is chilling, pinch off small teaspoonfuls of pineapple jam and shape them into little balls about 1-1.5cm in diameter. Warning: the jam is very sticky so it is a good idea to have a wet towel nearby.


To make open tarts (as in the opening picture), roll out pastry dough about 5-6 mm thick. Cut out tarts with open tart cutter. Place one ball of jam onto the centre of each shape and pat it down gently. Place tarts on baking sheet and gently brush the rims with eggwash if desired. Bake at 325°F/170°C for 15-18 minutes, until pastry is pale gold. Cool on a rack.

To make closed tarts (as in the picture below), take a walnut-sized ball of pastry and flatten it to a round about 4 mm thick with your fingers. Place a ball of jam on pastry and bring up edges to enclose. Pinch off excess pastry and pinch seams well to seal. Then, roll ball between palms to make it evenly round. Brush tart with eggwash and stick a clove into the top for decoration. Place tarts on baking sheet and bake at 325°F/170°C for 20-25 minutes, until pastry is pale gold. Cool on a rack.