Chinese Wraps

One of my favourite Chinese dishes from back home is a Peking duck meat lettuce leaf wrap. This is often served when you order a Peking duck in a restaurant and after having consumed the skin, they will use the meat from the duck to make this dish. There are many variations on this dish, some using chicken, others using squab or another kind of meat.

Since pork mince is more readily available in the supermarkets here, I decided to make a version with pork instead. As some of you may recall, this is actually a dish that I served when M's parents were here to visit. At that time, I forgot to take a picture of the dish but since it was such a hit, I have been looking for another opportunity to make it. The opportunity finally arose two nights ago after a particularly easy day at work. It was definitely as good the second time around. Maybe even better!

Minced Pork in Lettuce Wraps
Adapted from Shun Lee Cookbook

Pork:
8 oz minced pork
1 1/2 tsp egg white
1 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
vegetable oil, for passing through

Sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp cornstarch

4 celery ribs, string removed, finely diced (1 cup)
4 scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and minced (3/4 cup)
3 carrots, finely diced (1/2 cup)
1 tsp dark sesame oil
2 tsp hoisin sauce
8 whole Bibb or iceberg lettuce leaves
2 tbsp lightly toasted pine nuts

To prepare the pork, place the diced pork in a medium bowl. Add the egg white, cornstarch, and salt; toss to coat.

To prepare the sauce, whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine, sugar and white pepper in a small bowl. Dissolve the cornstarch in 1 tbsp water in another small bowl. Set the bowls aside.

Heat a large wok over high heat. Add enough oil to come 1 inch up the sides of the wok and heat it to 300F. Add the pork and stir gently, keeping the pieces from sticking together, until they turn white, about 45 seconds. Using a wide wire mesh skimmer, transfer the pork to a colander to drain. Discard all the oil except for 2 tablespoons.

Heat the wok with the oil over high heat. Add the celery, scallions, and carrots, and stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 45 seconds. Return the pork to the wok. Stir the sauce, add it to the wok, and stir-fry for 20 seconds. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir-fry until the pork is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, about 30 seconds. Stir in the sesame oil. Transfer the pork mixture to a serving bowl.

To serve, spread about 1/4 tsp hoisin sauce in the center of each lettuce leaf. Add 3 tbsp of the pork mixture, and sprinkle with a few pine nuts. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

Pumpkin Harvest

Since my previous experiment with pumpkin turned out so well, I’ve been looking for opportunities to use pumpkin in my baking. If I lived in the US, this wouldn’t be a problem since pumpkin features so heavily in Thanksgiving cooking. Thankfully, Sugar High Friday comes to the rescue as the theme for the 37th SHF is The Beta Carotene Harvest. This episode is hosted by Leslie of Definitely not Martha. I very nearly missed the announcement altogether but am glad that I found it just in time to squeeze in an entry this past weekend.

Looking through my treasure trove of recipe books, I found a scrumptious sounding recipe in a book that I really like but haven’t made anything from recently. That’s the problem when you have over 100 cookbooks fighting for your attention and not enough time to try all the recipes and not enough stomachs to feeds.

This time, rather than pairing pumpkin with the traditional mix of spices such as cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, the recipe simply calls for pumpkin and orange juice. Yet, although surprising simple, I found the cake exceedingly flavourful. I think I’m really starting to develop a love for all things pumpkin. Best part is since this cake is called a breakfast cake, I feel like I’ve been given the green light to substitute this for my daily bowl of cereal.


Pumpkin and Orange Breakfast Cake
From In the Sweet Kitchen

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp finely grated orange zest
3 large eggs, two of them separated, all at room temperature
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch fluted tube pan and set it aside. Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light and fluffy. Add the whole egg and the two egg yolks, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Beat in the pumpkin puree.

Sift together the flours, baking powder an salt. Add to the pumpkin batter in three or four stages, blending gently but thoroughly after each. Stir in the final addition of dry ingredients by hand if you have been using a mixer, so as not to overwork the batter. In a clean, small bowl, whip the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Fold into the batter, then scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in the centre of the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is springy when lightly touched, the sides are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan and a wooden skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

This cake keeps very well for several days, well wrapped, and it freezes beautifully for up to 2 months.

Makes 10 servings

One good turn deserves another

I had my first chausson aux pommes just 2 years ago when we were taught to make it during pastry school at Le Cordon Bleu. I remember thinking at that time that these were great, but for some reason, I haven't made any of my own since then. I guess that's mostly because it involves making puff pastry from scratch which is a hard thing to do properly in the heat of Singapore. Now that I'm in London, however, I figured it was high time that I got reacquainted with the pleasures of homemade puff pastry.

Since I've been reading so much about Pierre Herme's inside-out puff pastry, I decided to give it a try. Apparently, its supposed to be much easier to handle than regular puff pastry even though the bulk of the butter is on the outside of the dough. Sounds counterintuitive, right? I was a little skeptical when I embarked on this mission but I reasoned that the man whom some hail as the Picasso of pastry can't be wrong.


Of course, he wasn't. Even though most of the butter was on the outside, the dough was surprisingly easy to handle, probably because its a relatively sturdy dough. The hardest part of making it was really just planning your day around the time that the dough is required to rest in between turns.

Once the dough was completed, making the turnovers was a cinch. Were they as good as I remembered? Absolutely! In fact, its impossible to stop at just one. So, at least in this context, the old adage, one good turn(over) deserves another, holds true.

Chausson aux Pommes (Apple Turnovers)
Adapted from The Secrets of Baking

For the apple filling:
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 recipe puff pastry (I used Pierre Herme's inside-out puff pastry)

For the egg wash:
1 large egg

Pinch of salt
1 tbsp water

1/2 cup sugar

Filling
Toss together the apples, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla seeds, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat until it turns a light nutty colour, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the apple mixture and saute until the apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the cooked apples to a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the turnovers. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Pastry
On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the Puff Pastry out to 1/4 inch thick. Using a large, round, fluted cutter, cut out circles of dough. Use a rolling pin and lightly press down on the cutter of each circle, creating an oval shape.

Egg wash
Whisk together the egg, salt, and water in a small bowl.

Shaping
Place a spoonful of filling into the center of each oval (amount depends on the size of your cutter). Using a pastry brush, apply a thin coat of water to the lower half of the oval. Fold the top of the dough down and press to seal the edges together. At this point, the turnovers can be frozen, wrapped tightly, for up to 1 week.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Carefully transfer the turnovers to the prepared baking sheet, placing them 1 inch apart. Brush a light coat of egg wash onto each turnover, then sprinkle each with a pinch of sugar.

Bake the turnovers for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan from back to front, turn the oven temperature down to 350F, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve the turnovers warm or cool and store in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Childhood pleasures

Back in Singapore, I used to make ice cream a lot as the equatorial climate meant any day was a perfect day for ice cream. Since moving to London, however, I can count the number of times I've churned ice cream on one hand. To me, save for a few days a year, its just never quite warm enough to eat ice-cream in London. M, on the other hand, begs to differ. Ice cream is his hands-down favourite treat and if its sitting around in the refrigerator, its almost guaranteed never to live to see another day.

Since M has been working really hard again, I decided to surprise him with some homemade ice cream, in his favourite flavour no less - Mint-Chocolate Chip. We also purchased the UK equivalent of Magic Shell and some dark chocolate mint flavoured Cadbury fingers as toppings for the ice cream. Apparently, the combination of Magic Shell on ice cream was THE special treat in M's household growing up and though it was slightly disconcerting to see a grown man so excited by a bottle of chocolate sauce, its nice to know that some things never change.



Mint-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp peppermint extract
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
90g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tsp canola oil

In a heavy 2-qt saucepan, combined the mik, 1 cup of the cream, and the peppermint extract. Cook over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges of the pan, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 20 minutes to steep.

Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks, sugar, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup cream in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk about 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping the custard at a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn through it, 4-6 minutes. Do not let the custard boil. Strain through a fine -mesh sieve into a bowl.

Place the bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice cubes and water. Stir occasionally until cool. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

About 1 hour before freezing the ice cream, melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Stir the chocolate until it is melted, then stir in the oil. Transfer to a small pitcher. Let cool to room temperature.

Pour the custard into an ice-cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When nearly frozen and the consistency of thick whipped cream, add the chocolate while the machine is churning or stop the machine temporarily, add the chocolate, and restart to mix. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving.

Makes about 1 quart

Back to cooking again

If you've been following my blog, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted many dinner recipes as of late. Instead, most of my posts have been dessert or baking related. Reason is, I haven't been doing all that much cooking lately as M has been working late most nights. Since cooking for one is not much fun, I've just decided to skip it all together.

Yesterday, being Friday, M finally had an early night. As such, I decided at the last minute to get back in the kitchen and whip up a home-cooked meal again. To make up for many nights of eating poorly, I decided to make something relatively healthy and that we both like a lot - salmon.

This time, the salmon was marinated in a mixture of red miso, ginger, soy sauce and mirin and then cooked under a grill. The result is a salmon that is incredibly tender and which just flakes off with the prod of a fork. I chose to serve mine with a side of broccoli and wild rice but I think this would work just as well with other Asian greens or even noodles.

Glazed Salmon
From Bill's Food

1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp red miso
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
4 salmon fillets (each 6 0z), skin on
oil, for greasing

dressing:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
2 tsp sugar

to serve:
1 tsp black sesame seeds

Stir the mirin, soy sauce, ginger, miso, sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl until combined. Put the salmon in a shallow dish, pour the mixture over it and marinate in the fridge for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

To make the dressing, bring the ingredients to the boil in a small saucepan, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until syrupy or like thin caramel.

Heat the grill. Remove the salmon from the marinade and place with the skin side down in a lightly oiled, non-stick, ovenproof frying pan. Cook under the hot grill for about 7 minutes, or until the fish is still pink in the centre and is nicely coloured.

Sprinkle the salmon with the black sesame seeds and drizzle with some of the dressing. Serve with a side of greens and steamed rice, if you like.

Serves 4