Steak, medium rare

I have what might be considered a curious way of cooking a steak, just the way I like it. Crispy on the outside, red and bloody in the middle. I heat a non-stick pan on high, season a piece of sirloin about 1 inch thick with salt pepper and olive oil, and pan fry it (careful, it sizzles), counting 120 slowly on each side.

Simon Hopkinson has a much more erudite piece on achieving the perfect steak in his book, The Prawn Cocktail Years. You should probably listen to him instead.

My dinner tonight, served with an onion/tomato chutney (impromptu homemade recipe) and 3 swedish meatballs that was my flatmate's dinner.

Ferrero Rocher

Oh, if I could name one of my weaknesses, this would be it:


Have an sudden impulse to serve these at wedding, stacked like a croquembouche, like in the ad.

Dorset Cereals

The Boy has a gift for sniffing out healthy foods. When he was living in England, he used to buy muesli and porridge (oats) from Dorset Cereals, which is widely available in grocery stores. When he was gone, I got curious. So one day, I trotted down my local Waitrose with A Project in mind: to compare the nutritional values of every brand of porridge on the shelf (yes, in England, there's usually only one shelf, sometimes less than that, so it was a very doable project). I shouldn't have been surprised: The Boy was right. Dorset Cereals Porridge really had the least carbs and sugars. And it is yummy to boot! Crammed full of fruity goodness. Plus, they turned out to be really nice people too.

Yesterday, I was just about to swipe a box of banana date oatmeal into my shopping cart, when I spied their new cranberry raspberry line. Having been inculcated with the superlative nutritional values of berries, I took the step of comparing the two flavours. Turns out, the berry oatmeal has less sugars than the banana oatmeal (11.0g compared to 17.3g per 100g serving). Cautious as I was about fruit that tastes like fruit in my food (I really don't like it), I decided to give it a try. This morning, I can report that it is yummy yummy yummy!

For folks in the US of A, try the Ezekiel brand: their recipes are inspired by Ezekiel 4:9! And I really do love their instant oatmeal. Alas, I'm always one step behind: The Boy has since moved on to steel cut oats.

Ikan Belado

Just wanted to show how versatile the Indonesian chili paste (garam belado) recipe is. Here, it is served with pan-fried monkfish. There are some stir-fried vegetable in the background. My dinner.

How long should fish be cooked? I've never learned. Suggestions/tips?

Where in hell is Matt?

Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Recipe: Two ways to cook oxtail

Oxtail has become more popular in recent years. According to my butcher, this is a cut they used to throw away. According to my pocket, it's also become increasingly expensive.

Oxtail makes a wonderful stew, with the meat falling off the bone after a few hours on the stove. It's one of my comfort foods in winter, because it reminds me of home. But it can also be very suitable for summer, cooked in the right way. In autumn/winter, a hearty stew with a touch of the brightness of tomatoes warms the heart. In spring/summer, a light braise with tangy spices leaves one satisfied but not overwhelmed.

The great thing about stews and braises is that it takes time. So I can just pop it in and go to the gym, and when I return, there's this wonderful aroma permeating the whole house the moment I step through the door. Talk about incentive to exercise! Then I'll do the last hour bits and shower while it cooks in the final stage. It's great to do before morning church too, especially when you've got guests for lunch.

The first recipe for oxtail stew is my mum's. The second for braised oxtail is an Eurasian dish (Eurasians have their own unique culture in Singapore) that I got out of a newspaper cutting in Singapore originally and have been tweaking ever since.


RECIPE: MUM'S OXTAIL STEW


8 pcs oxtail (approx. 1 tail)
2 big onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
6 tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
2 tbsp light soya sauce
pinch of sugar
2-3 tbsp rice wine or white wine or vermouth

Pre-heat the oven at 170 celcius.
1. Dust oxtail with a little seasoned flour and brown in a casserole with a little oil. Remove and set aside.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the casserole and fry the onions, carrots and tomatoes until translucent (approx. 5 mins). Remove and set aside.
3. Deglaze the casserole (i.e. loosen the bits stuck at the bottom) with 2 tbsp of wine.
4. Layer half the vegetables and oxtail in the casserole. Cover with water and bring to a boil.
5. Add tomato paste, light soya sauce and sugar. Adjust to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Cover and place on lower shelf of oven for 3 hours. The meat should be tender and falling off the bone. In the last half hour, add the rest of the vegetables.
Serve with rice.

Note: Instead of using the oven, this dish can also be cooked over a stove. Cook on high heat for 15 mins, then lower the heat and simmer till ready.


RECIPE: BRAISED OXTAIL

8 pcs oxtail (approx. 1 tail)
2 large onions
1 pc ginger (approx. 1 cm)
2 carrots, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1 cinnamon stick (approx. 8 cm)
1/2 nutmeg
14 cloves

1. Place oxtail in a pot and cover with water. Bring to boil for 2 hours.
2. Zip the onions, ginger, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and cloves in the food processor until very fine.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a separate casserole. Fry (2) until oil separates and the mixture is glistening.
4. Add some water from the oxtail to deglaze the casserole. Then transfer the oxtail and stock into the casserole. Cover and cook on medium heat for 1 hour. If the braise is drying up, add a bit of boiling water - not too much, lest it becomes a stew. The liquids should be greatly reduced so that the oniony bits start showing.
5. Halfway through the last hour, add the vegetables.
Serve with rice.

That's it - two was to cook oxtail! Tell me which one you prefer!

Am I ill?

Oh. Dear.

Eats: Taste of London 2008

I've always wanted to go to the Taste of London Festival, which started yesterday. But I never did. I don't know what it is - maybe the perversely chilly summer weather in London town, or the thought of jostling with crowds that increase every year, or the hassle of having to figure out which ticket to buy for which slot to get into the event/celebrity chef that you want to see, which entails figuring out the latter too. Or maybe it's "feste exhaustion" - summer does tend to bring a landslide of those, and in recent years, the trend seems to be building up to an avalanche. Or maybe it's just the cost and I'm a cheapskate. Whatever it is, I won't be going this year either, even though it's probably my last chance before I leave London for good.

But that shouldn't stop you. British Airways is having decent ticket offers here if you are a frequent flyer.

Or maybe I'll feel differently when I'm become a tourist in London again. First anniversary vacation, darling? =)

Recipe: Udang Belado (Prawns with Indonesian chili tomato paste)

Garam belado is an Indonesian chili paste made with fresh chilis and tomatoes. It's very popular in South East Asia and you'll find it in any Indonesian restaurant (nasi padang) in Singapore. Like a lot of authentic Asian food, it's also very healthy. When I was in Singapore, I visited an old school friend - one of my best friends actually. She shared with me her secret ingredient for garam belado - candlenuts! Also known as buah keras in Malay. So I gave it a try tonight, over some prawns (udang) and green beans. It was so fab and easy that I'm going to share it with you here too.

RECIPE: UDANG BELADO

10-12 big prawns, shelled but leave the tails on
2 handfuls green beans
5 garlic cloves
5 shallots
5 candlenuts (buah keras)
10 fresh red chilis, remove seeds
5 tomatoes
Lime juice

1. Parboil the green beans till cooked but still crunchy (approx. 2 mins). Drain and set aside.
2. Pan fry prawns till cooked and red. Remove and set aside.
3. While prawns are cooking, blend garlic, shallots, candlenuts and chilis in a food processor. Heat 1 tbsp of oil on medium heat and fry the mixture until the oil has separated and is glistening (approx. 5 mins). Add 2-3 tsp of salt to taste. If the mixture looks very dry, add 2-3 tbsp of water.
4. Blend 3 tomatoes in the food processor while (3) is cooking. Dice the remaining 2 tomatoes. Add into pan and cook till mixture thickens.
5. Add some lime juice to taste. That's your garam belado chili tomato paste!
6. Layer green beans and prawns on a plate. Spoon the garam belado over. Serve with rice.

In short: zip in the food processor and fry.

Garam belado is a great accompaniment for other foods like fish and hard boiled eggs too, or just served as a side relish in a meal. It can also be made without candlenuts, which can be found in Asian and high end grocery stores. They sell pre-made chili paste in jars nowadays, but hey, why would you want to buy those when it's so easy to make from fresh? Try it!

Hot and sticky business

Running. Running, that is, is hot and sticky business. Working off all those calories from the previous post!

Eats: The global food adventure

Just a sample of what I've been up to:

London

Chicory wrapped in parma ham and baked in a bechamel sauce
(i.e. roux of butter and flour + milk)
~ recipe courtesy of The Lovely Flatmate's birthday gift
of The Silver Spoon

The Lovely Flatmate's butter prawns
~ courtesy of her mum's recipe
(we eat very well in this household)

Singapore

Banana Leaf Apollo - Indian rice (thali)
served on a banana leaf

Fish head curry - yums!

Proof that women really can sell everything -
including seafood!
(at Long Beach, Dempsey Road)

The Boy enjoying the juice of a young coconut -

Razor clams

Crispy duck in a seafood restaurant

Have you ever seen a geoduck?

Giant crabs - yum yum

Fishies - yum yum

The Boy's Macbeth witch impersonation,
over a "cauldron" of mango pudding

The Straits Cafe at The Hyatt -
hawker food in 5 star surroundings.
Perfect!

Sharks' fin soup at Taste Paradise
- one of my favourite Chinese restaurants.

Taste Paradise's famous cod

Dad's favourite fish at his favourite restaurant -
deep fried marbled goby (soon hock) at Ting Heng.
Beautiful, ain't it?

The Boy describes durian as "french onion soup in solid form", which sounds delicious to me! This time, I (previously of the D24 level) was taken to a new level of durian heaven with the mao shan huang (yellow mountain cat) - ieatishootipost has a great blog about the different types of durians here.

UPDATE: Man, this is what I call durian devotee!

Note from an even* smaller island**

* Neil Humphreys (Singapore's most famous ang moh)
** Bill Bryson

Am still in Singapore. The Boy is now back in Houston. We're both jetlagged but happy. The Family had great time with The Boy, feeding him and such.

The Thesis needs to get done, and The Wedding needs to be planned. Am dedicating this week to aforementioned thesis and The Great Dress Search (timed to coincide with The Great Singapore Sale, or GSS***). Which kinda means explains why I shouldn't be/haven't been blogging.

***I read somewhere that Singaporeans love acronyms, and realised that it's true! Take this for example:
MRT = Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore tube, but it would be an insult to call it the tube as much much much nicer than said tube)
UDD = Urine Detector Device (apparently people get up to things in HDB lifts)
HDB = Housing Development Board (very very nice council flats that people actually own)
CPF = Central Provident Fund (current government tax disguised as future private savings)
ERP = Electronic Road Pricing (congestion charge)
APPLES = Application for Passport Online Electronic System (it's a very high tech country)

Any other suggestions????

More updates soon.

UPDATE: One more I found in The Dress Search:
MTM = made to measure