Saturday, September 24, 2011

Fish Porridge


First of all, 'porridge' to me (and other Malaysians/Singaporeans) is a Chinese rice based.....let's call it 'soup'. Elsewhere, it's known as congee to avoid being confused with with what Westerners call porridge (cooked oats). In fact, now most Chinese restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore have 'congee' in the English portion of their menus, even though it has always been colloquially known as porridge. Regardless, a good porridge (like good soup) can have real depth and a wonderfully comforting quality. My mom's pork porridge is one such example, but when I am in the mood for something lighter, I crave fish porridge. 

In Malaysia or Singapore, I would get this at a hawker stall or with dim sum at a restaurant, i.e. I wouldn't cook. And as you well know, I only cook when I crave something that I can't buy or convince someone else to cook. I don't hate cooking and am able to cook some things reasonably well, but have none of the desire or passion to cook that consumes S and E. They get very antsy and a little neurotic when they haven't cooked or baked in a while. I am very fortunate indeed to be or have been (E is too far away now *pout*) the recipient of the results of many a cathartic mission in the kitchen - including meltdowns and tantrums when things don't turn out quite right (according to them). 

Unlike them, I have no desire to make anything from scratch or in the most authentic, 'correct' way possible. Quite the opposite - if I have to cook, I try to reduce it to the simplest, quickest way to get a result that is to my satisfaction. This recipe is a perfect example - incredibly easy and the produces a fish porridge that is pretty close (S can attest to this) to the 'real-deal' (which includes laboriously making stock with pork and fish bones, etc, etc, which would take half a day at least). The monk fish was delicate and smooth and the porridge had a great savoury flavour with just a hint of the fish's sweetness. The crunchy, freshness of the spring onions, sweetness of the crisp, fried shallots, nuttiness of the sesame oil, sharp saltiness of the soy sauce and slight bite of the pepper are all absolutely essential to this dish and give it the complexity in textures and flavours that makes this dish. 

Ingredients:
Monk fish
Ginger (whole)
Anchovy stock
Chicken stock
Medium/Short grain rice

Toppings:
Shallots (finely sliced)
Cooking oil
Spring Onions (sliced about 1cm width)
Ginger (finely sliced)
White pepper
Soy sauce
Sesame oil

Method:
1. Put about 1 cup of uncooked rice in rice cooker pot (mine cooks up to 7 cups of rice) and fill 3/4 of pot with cold water.
2. Add 1 peeled, two-inch piece of ginger and 1 cube of anchovy stock (may be substituted with chicken stock) to the pot and cook.
3. Check porridge periodically. Should take about 1.5 - 2 hours to soften properly. I prefer my fish porridge really runny, so I periodically stir, add water and let it simmer to get the right consistency.
4. While porridge is cooking, prepare the toppings and cut up the monk fish to approximately 2-inch sized chunks.
5. Fill a shallow bowl with roughly enough cook oil to cover all the sliced shallots. You can put the shallots in the bowl and then pour the oil over it, but I prefer to heat up the oil in the microwave first before adding the shallots. Heat oil in microwave on high for about 2 minutes, then test with a piece of shallot to see if it sizzles. If it does, add in all the sliced shallots and heat on high in the microwave for 2 minutes at a time - there's no precise way to do this, you just have to keep heating and checking to see if it has browned enough. Alternatively, you could just fry them in a pan over a stove.
6. When the porridge is close to the consistency of your liking, add the monk fish chunks and 1 cube of chicken stock and stir. Add water if necessary (if there is too much porridge, before adding the fish, scoop up some into a container and store in the fridge for another day).
7. Cook until fish is cooked and consistency is right.
8. Serve in a bowl, drizzled with sesame oil and soy sauce, and topped with spring onions, fried shallots and a dash of white pepper.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Avocado Wedges


This recipe is from that beer cookbook I reviewed last year, and it's just too good not to share. It has become a real favourite of mine (and S's too!) and we never bother with the cherry tomatoes or chives anymore. No need to gild the lily as they say. 

These wedges, combined with the dipping sauce from the 'Sesame Green Beans' recipe from the same cookbook, is one of the best snacks that I've discovered....EVER. A must-try!

Ingredients:
250ml beer (lager) (the author recommends Export Gold)
1 cup all-purpose flour 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1.5 teaspoons paprika
2 avocados peeled and cut into wedges
salt and cracked pepper to season
vegetable oil for deep frying
8 small cherry tomatoes halved (optional)
2 tablespoons chives (optional)

Dipping Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar

Method:
1. Combine the beer, flour, garlic and paprika in a bowl and leave to stand for 2 hours.
2. Cut the avocadoes into wedges (about 1.5 cm thick at the base). Lightly season with salt and pepper and coat them with the batter.
3. Pre-heat oil to 180 degrees celcius (or test with a cube of bread - if it crisps easily and quickly, it's hot enough).
4. Fry wedges in hot oil until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
5. Season again with salt and pepper.
6. Mix dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl, taste and adjust to your preference.
7. May be served with salsa, or cherry tomatoes, with chopped chives.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Cauliflower & Egg Curry (Alison Holst's recipe - modified)


I have previously blogged about this curry here, but it is so good that I have to share the modified recipe. The photo isn't going to get any better, so I will just use the one from the previous post, even though I don't use peas anymore. It's such a great, satisfying vegetarian dish that I normally just eat it on its own, but of course it would go beautifully with a bed of fragrant basmati rice.

Ingredients

410g can seasoned/normal tomato puree
160ml can coconut cream
1/2 a large cauliflower - cut into florets
4 medium sized carrots - chopped into 2 cm thick wedges
1 onion - finely minced
5 cloves of garlic - finely minced
ginger powder
garam masala
2 OXO beef stock cubes
Brahim's curry powder
4 - 6 Eggs
salt
oil

Method

1. Hard-boil eggs.
2. Saute the onions in some oil (in a large pan or wok) until translucent and then add the garlic. Continue sauteing until fragrant.
3. Add 1-2 tablespoons of ginger powder and 2-3 tablespoons of curry powder (Sorry, I just chuck in whatever I feel like and taste it later on, so I can't give you exact measurements).
4. Continue sauteing for a few minutes until mixture darkens a little, then add can of seasoned tomato puree. Simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add garam masala and OXO beef stock cubes and mix well.
6. Add carrots. Simmer until semi tender.
7. Add coconut cream, mix well, then add cauliflower. Simmer until tender.
8. Taste and add salt (and/or curry powder and/or other spices) to your liking.
9. Add peeled, halved hard-boiled eggs, mix gently and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes before serving.
10. Garnish with roughly chopped coriander if you like.

PS: For those who are interested, the original recipe called for minced fresh ginger (which I swapped with ground ginger/ginger powder because the fresh ginger doesn't dissolve and leaves chewy bits in your curry), canned whole tomatoes (which I thought made it far too watery and I didn't care for the bits of resistant tomato skin - see if you can spot a piece in the photo) and peas (which I didn't think really added anything to the dish).

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