Cracking On With A Bit Of Cambodian Crabanus

Cambodia will now always be synonymous with crab for me, having gorged on it during my stay there. Starting in Siem Reap (so named as to remind us that Siam [Thailand] destroyed the ancient Angkor city there) I had dinner with a couple of Kiwi chaps who I met on the flight from Vientiane. We found a local seafood place which – amazingly – was only just off the beaten path, but had no other tourists in.

We got stuck into some crab, steamed fish and grilled prawns. As former coastal-dwelling divers and massive seafood fans, they didn’t leave any prisoners, my favourite quote of the night being – after being encouraged to suck the crab shell dry – was “get into it mate, there’s nothin’ wrong with a bit of crabanus, Robbo!” (this is inexplicably hilarious in a kiwi accent) We pretty much ate our bodyweight in fish and looked a bit like this…

I also spent a few days cycling around the Wats (temples) and saw the sunrise at Angkor Wat with my Scottish pal Lynsey as well as getting involved with yet another cooking course, amusingly named “cooks in tuk tuks”. Amusingly, because “tuk tuk?” is the perpetual question asked by lines of charming Cambodian guys along the streets, everywhere you go.

The cooking course taught us few new things, including how to make Amork – the traditional Cambodian curry soup – banana leaf salad and a simple Hibiscus tea. Amork is made with a fairly gentle masssuman-like curry paste and a loose water/coconut milk mix, so it’s a bit soupy.

After a few nights in Siem Reap I headed down to Phnom Penh where at the central market they have excellent seafood, including prawns the size of lobsters, which I went to town on over lunch!

It was very sobering to visit the S21 detention centre – one of the epicentres of the Khymer Rouge regime’s genocide. The trial of some of Pol Pot’s senior staff is currently underway [http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/jun/27/truth-khmer-rouge-court-case] over 30 years on, so in light of having very recently learned about the disgusting torture inflicted on so many people, it’s fascinating and saddening to see this piece of history being addressed and its perpetrators put to justice.

During the Phnom Penh stage, there was time for a trip down to Kep (on the coast) which seems to be a holidaying spot for Cambodians with means and it’s famous for its pepper crab. This allowed for a few days just chilling, dipping in the pool and quaffing seafood, which was a very relaxing way to end the SE Asia portion of my adventure. It’s a lovely area, but there are still a lot of deserted buildings from the genocide era which is a tad spooky.

Finally before I left Cambodia for Aussieland, there was time to drop back into Phnom Penh and had a great meal at ‘Friends’, a Friends International [link] project that helps people off the streets and into the hospitality sector. The food and service were amazing and it was a great way to see out the end of my SE Asia and Cambodian adventures.

Next stop, Perth and South West Australia’s Margaret River wine region

Laos – Plenty of Dining with Rice

After crossing the Thai border with Laos at Chiang Kong, me and my pal Charlie stopped in Huay Xai and got stuck into some traditional Lao cuisine in the form of Lap Kai. This is a meat salad which is cut with beans, chilli, lemongrass, galangal, coriander, lime and suchlike. After this brief stop we got the slow boat down the river to Luang Prabang, meeting some lovely folk along the way.

Typically, I heard equally conflicting arguments and rumour about the boat ride before going on the two-day cruise. Some reported dire conditions and others enthused about the beauty and camaraderie of the confined conditions. I personally found I great and was very happy looking at the beautiful Mekong views in between playing poker, scrabble, chess and various other card games for hours with new friends.

In Luang Prabang I got stuck into another cookery school, which if anything, was better than the first in Chiang Mai. The chef at Tum Tum Chong cookery school, Chandra Vongsalavanh, is a bit of an all-round legend and has plied his trade in busy hotels and restaurants in the West including Germany, Hungary and New York. As well as learning five traditional dishes, we did five or more of his own recipes – a lot to fit into just 4-5 hours, since we also did the obligatory market tour and education price about the ingredients. In the cookery school at Chiang Mai, we all cooked our own dishes, but here we got involved less occasionally, which actually turned out better, as it was easier to pick up the recipes and techniques.

Aubergine salad parcels recipe:

Although I was keen to learn the traditional dishes, my favourite dish of the day was one of his; an aubergine salad which we ate in parcels. I (conveniently enough) was the volunteer who helped cook this one. After warming some chopped garlic and ginger in hot vegetable oil, I added some aubergine pulp gained from steaming some large aubergines. This was stir friend until the spices were incorporated. This was left to cool and we then made parcels in some simple green leaves and blanched cabbage leaves.

In these leaves we put a small spoon of the aubergine and a small slice or two of crispy (small) aubergine, along with a pinch each of chopped lemongrass, galangal, garlic, chilli, ginger and shallots. This tasted absolutely amazing and would be great as a sharing salad for a summer dinner starter with friends.

Interesting sticky rice facts:
- It was also interesting to learn that sticky rice is not only culturally preferred in Laos, but it has broader significance in terms of having a role in wedding traditions. It’s eaten with every meal and also used in wedding ceremonies to underscore the values of equality and everyday diligence.
- Quite often in Laos you’ll be served cold rice with your meal because it’s usually prepared once – in the morning and then used throughout the day. If any is leftover, it is used to make rice crackers.
- [For the uninitiated] With sticky rice, you use your hands to eat it but rolling it into a ball, flattening it and using it to scoop food.
- The powder of cooked and dried sticky rice is used as a thickening agent in many dishes
- Sticky rice is more agriculturally intensive, as it is grown for four months instead of one-to-two with normal rice.
- When you cook sticky rice, it starts very white-coloured and becomes translucent when cooked; the opposite is true of long grain rice.

Cooking Chiang Mai & Thai Food Facts

I’ve cooked a lot of Thai curries before, including making pastes, but was keen to learn more, get some ideas and of course, spend a day cooking. Something which one doesn’t get to do a hell of a lot while on the road.

The course I chose was one outside of Chiang Mai, on a small farm where they grow some of the ingredients you use in the recipes. After visiting a local market to learn about some of the main ingredients such as pastes and rice and the staple flavourings in Thai food (fish sauce et al) we were shown around the garden to see things like lemongrass, kaffir lime plants, chilli plants, basils and papaya growing.

We then got stuck into making a curry paste (I made green) and talked through the curry recipes, which we all did with no problems. I then made papaya salad, tom yam soup, pad Thai and banana in coconut milk. The course was made all the better by out highly enthusiastic chef. Joking and laughing the whole way through, everyone thought he made it a lot of fun.

Few things I learnt:
- orange chills are the hottest. Green ones are more bitter and the seeds aren’t fully grown and the flavour hasn’t developed, while red chills are less hot because they have sweeter flesh and the flavour has started to mellow.
- you can replace green papaya with carrot as it has the most similarities, texture and flavour wise
- of the chilli pastes, green is the hottest as it is freshest; red is milder as dried chillies are used; yellow is made with turmeric. Massuman has bay and clove in, which gives it the more mellow rounded flavour, while Penang paste has peanuts in.
- using coconut milk, one should use 60% cream with 40% water for curry; 50% cream for soup; and 100% for desserts
- fresh green coconuts are where we get coconut juice, but coconut cream is made from pressing the pulp of brown (older) coconuts
- there are two types of rice: sticky rice and everything else! Sticky rice starts off very white (is dryer and more starchy) and becomes translucent when cooked; jasmine & other long grain rices starts more translucent (not dry; contains more sugars) and is white when cooked. Also, when you think about it, if you ask for steamed rice, you get long grain, which is boiled in water, whereas sticky rice is actually steamed. Brown rice is a variety of long grain and simply has more fibre, so takes longer to cook.

Thai-style tuna burgers with cannellini bean salad

I usually like my tuna lightly seared or served raw as sashimi, but with either lower quality or older pieces of tuna from a supermarket, you can easily whip them into a wonderful patty and serve as a classy little salad. Because tuna’s pretty meaty – and a bean salad fairly substantial – you can easily adjust the proportions to make it either a lunch or dinner portion.

The credit for this recipe goes to John, I’ve merely made some interpretations on the quantities as they worked when I did it… Best to prepare the bean salad first since that can wait on the side as you prep the tuna burgers.

Salad

Ingredients

• Juice of one lime
• Two tablespoons of olive oil
• One teaspoon of dijon mustard
• Four smallish spring onions, finely chopped
• One can of cannellini beans (rinsed)
• 3-4 tablespoons parsley

Method

Cannellini bean salad

In a mixing bowl, mix the lime, mustard and oil until it has a creamy consistency. Add seasoning to taste – go heavy on the pepper. Now add the spring onions and the beans and mix well. Add parsley later, shortly before serving.

Tuna

Ingredients

• 450g tuna - for 3 people for dinner portions (two each)
• 2 medium sticks of lemongrass, discard ends and outer layers and finely chop
• 1.5 inches squared of ginger, finely chopped
• 2 medium sized chillis, fairly hot, finely chopped (to taste)
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon soya sauce
• Zest and juice of 1 lime

Method

Tuna burgers

Gently fry the shallots with the chilli, ginger and lemongrass spices; do not brown. Meanwhile, finely dice the tuna in a mixing bowl and add the lime zest and soya. Once the shallots and spices are sweated down, add them to the bowl along with the juice of the lime and form the mixture into six round patties. Fry them in a hot pan with olive oil, browning well on each side and cooking until done in the centre

Serving

Tuna burger with cannellini beans

 

Serve the burgers on top of the canellini beans and bung a bit of parsley on top. The dish is nicely accompanied by a peppery salad of watercress and rocket, dressed with oil, soya sauce and lime juice. Enjoy!

Carnitas – Slow Braised Mexican Pork Recipe

Burritos have become a growing habit of mine since I first tried one when Daddy Donkey came to town in Leather Lane near where I work in 2007. Since then I’ve become a big fan of the modest burrito, the name of which is derived from the Mexican word for Donkey. Carnitas is currently my favourite filling; it’s slow cooked pork which is remarkably easy to do. Since you use a shoulder joint, it’s also very cheap.

Chilango is currently my favourite burrito joint and it also seems to be benefitting from London’s growing love affair with Mexican food. Fortuitously, I won a bunch of vouchers through the charity raffle associated with the yearly Nom Nom Nom cook off, so I’ve recently been able to indulge my habit for free and share my obsession with various friends.

So, Carnitas: beautifully simple and absolutely delicious. Very quickly I came across a recipe by Homesick Texan, Lisa, which talked me through the different challenges she’d faced in perfecting her Carnitas, before she discovered Diana Kennedy‘s approach.

This approach sees the fatty cuts of pork shoulder simmered in two parts water and one part orange juice for a few hours, before increasing the heat and reducing the water until only rendered fat is left. At this stage, the meat starts caramelising beautifully until you’re left with wonderfully tasting pork. Check out Lisa’s helpful overview here.

Enter guacamole, fresh salsa (tomatillo salsa is the recommended, but they’re not handy in UK supermarkets), salad and crème fraiche and a few tortilla wraps and you’ve got yourself a burrito. Nom.

Nomnomnom – the result!

Our three courses

On Sunday I took part in the Nomnomnom cook-off with Kate who writes Postcards from a gluten free life; we were pitted against nine other pairs of food enthusiasts who all cooked a three course meal at The Cookery School.

The activity was set up in support of Action Against Hunger – a charity organisation that seems to take a long term view of the food challenges faced in poor countries. Instead of tackling the symptoms, they help people create and develop food sources.

My thai beef salad

We had a great time cooking up a fusion menu of Vietnamese spring rolls, Thai beef salad and strawberry sorbet (served with a glass of Proseco). Having thought we had plenty of time to make the dishes come together, the two and a half hours we had went amazingly fast. Ultimately we were part shocked and part relieved that it had all come together!

Given the standard of the cooking, we were very happy to be awarded with the runners up prize – a great Phillips cordless hand blender and a bag full of goodies (see pic). We also met some great folk including EuWen, Danny, Rachel and Carla who we were sitting with while devouring the buffet we’d created. There are more prizes still to be one – you can support Action Against Hunger by entering a raffle with some great prizes.

All in all there was some fantastic dishes that all the competitors had made and we all had a good time picking over the food which hadn’t gone up to the judges for the competition. I think I enjoyed pretty much every ever bite I had.

Steamed sea bream with chilli, lime and ginger

I’m always pleased when I manage to find bream in supermarkets or fishmongers, as it’s deemed to be ethically sound and is listed as a good alternative to endangered fish like cod, halibut and hake. Bream is increasingly popular and it’s really easy to cook, very tasty and reasonably priced.

My basic guideline for cooking a 350-500g bream is to season and oil it, wrap it in foil and bake on a tray in the oven (190C)  for about 18+ minutes. Because the fish steams in its own juices, you can’t really go wrong and it won’t dry out.

Adding to this basic approach, you can use whatever flavouring you like and some options are:

1. Lemon zest and juice
2. Chopped chilli, lime juice and slices of ginger
3. Chilli, garlic and ginger
4. Lemon and parsley
5. Spring onion, garlic, soy & chilli

For all of these, all you need to do is stuff the flavourings around the fish and in the cavity. You can also make some cuts along the fish to help the flavour into the fish.

I personally love option two and like using one fairly hot chilli, a few centimetres of ginger and the juice of half a lime when baking two fish. You can discard the bits when you’re serving, but do spoon over a tablespoon of the juice. Serve with potatos or chips.

Fantastic Morrocan lamb wrap recipe

I recently visited Exmouth market at lunchtime with my colleague James and we both enjoyed a great Morrocan lamb wrap. The well-known restaurant Moro has a food stand there, as do many other local restaurants and other sellers not based in the area. Collectively, they selling all kinds of interesting foods and it’s a real delight visiting the market there – I suggest you try it if you can get there on a lunchtime on a nice day. There’s also a cakes stand which has some very nice looking cakes, including some great cheesecakes.

The lamb wrap from Moro was really tasty. It was slow-cooked lamb, spiced with great Moroccan flavours and served with a crunchy salad, fresh red chilli and yoghurt. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to try and replicate it. I’m sure my lamb won’t be quite as nice as that from the restaurant by all-in-all, it came out well. Here’s what I did.

I roasted a shoulder of lamb in the same way I did for a Jamie Oliver recipe called mad Moroccan lamb. It’s essentially a shoulder of lamb, crisscrossed deeply with a knife and rubbed with a mixture of ground cumin, corriander, black pepper etc. You give it a good three hours, so it’s very brown and the fat can render off.

Then, you leave it to cool and then take the meat off the bone. Try to get rid of any really fatty bits, but do try to keep in as much of the crunchy outside as possible. Then mix and mash it all together in a bowl. You can keep this for some time. I kept it in the fridge for a week, but it’s probably best to freeze some of it in smaller portions, so you can come back to it.

This just went into a wrap (I used a multi-seed one) with a tablespoon or two of natural yoghurt. For the salad, I chopped up cucumber, radish, celery and de-seeded tomatos and a reasonable portion of red chilli all pretty small (the red chilli as small as I could) and mixed it all together before adding to the wrap. I had some parsley at the time as well, which was a good addition too. That was pretty much it – but very, very tasty. I’d thoroughly suggest trying it.

Even better – cook the lamb for a Sunday roast and they just plan this as how to use the leftovers. Very economical and extremely tasty.

Cooking eggs in the microwave

Eggs are one of the most versatile ingredients in the kitchen, used for all kinds of dishes and sauces. I like the odd egg for breakfast (that’s a lie, I have them at least every weekend) and my favouite kind has to be (perfectly) boiled fresh eggs with soldiers. Not only does it make you feel like a kid again, but you get the wonderful yolk without changing it in any way. It’s undoubtedly the test of the quality of an egg.

However, after a few beers the night before, or during the week when you need a more fulfilling brekkie before work, sorting out a boiling pan and setting the timer for six minutes can seem like a bit of a chore. Depending on thr number of beers, naturally.

Enter, the microwaved egg! The best thing about geting a McDonalds breakfast, apart from the fact it’s easy, is getting a McMuffin. But you can make a considerably nicer and less greasy one yourself with no bother. Oh and you avoid being judged by people who think you’re a proud foodie.

Having been pursuaded over a number of weeks by my Dad to try microwaved eggs, I finally caved in and did so. It was a just one egg mixed in a 1pt Pyrex jug with a spoon of soft cheese and seasoning and served in a toasted muffin.

Since then I’ve fallen victim to a microwaved egg obsession and have been quaffing them on a regular basis. My serving suggestion is as follows:

Ingredients:

• One muffin
• One (preferably large) egg
• Seasoning
• A few flecks of a cheese like Gruyere or Cheddar

Directions: (listen up because this is very complicated)

• Halve your muffin and put it in the toaster
• Break the egg into a ramekin dish or a smallish Pyrex jug and add some seasoning. It helps if the jug is about the same size as the muffin. Mix the egg up in the dish with a fork
• Cut some small flecks of cheese and add them in
• Microwave for about 30 seconds on full power and then mix it all up again with the fork. Then give it another 10 seconds
• Butter the muffin, which probably just popped and use a butter knife to get the egg out of the ramekin in one piece.
• Scoff in seconds before running out the door to work

Pork belly recipe with amazing syrup sauce

I’ve been keen to try cooking pork belly for some time, having seen some nice looking recipes on Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver TV programmes, but a good excuse to do one came this weekend, when I cooked a belated birthday meal for my Dad.

As he’s always keen to try different things, I thought I’d give one a go and in a nice combination of chance and opportunity, I found an interesting recipe very quickly in a Nigel Slater book and popped to the butcher, who had a very handily-sized piece of meat.

I hadn’t shopped at Sonny’s in Hadlow before, but it has a great selection. The price of pork belly is great too. I worked out it was about £1.40 for a healthy dinner portion each, which compares favourably against some recent portion calculations for lamb leg (£2.10), lamb shoulder (£1.70) and chicken breast (£2.40).

As encouraged by Slater’s narrative in “Appetite”, I followed the recipe quite loosely. In essence, the recipe involves scoring the skin and marinating the meat (1.7kg ish) in a marinade consisting of the following:

• 4 tbsp runny honey
• 4 tbsp hoi sin sauce
• 4 tbsp muscavado sugar
• 2 tbsp of both light and dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine (I used cider)
• 1/2 tsp (but I’ll be using more next time) black pepper
• 1 tsp salt (I didn’t use this as I think there’s already plenty of salt going on here)

My version differed as follows:

Slater suggests serving alternative versions of this dish with potatos and having them sit beneath the belly on a roasting dish so as to use the pork fat. For this version, he says putting a tray of “finger’s depth” water underneath. Because I wanted potatos too, I ended up doing the following:

1. Save 50% of the marinade for basting during cooking and to make sure you marinate it in the oven-tray that you later use to stand beneath the meat (on either a rack or higher oven shelf).
2. Par-boil the potatos and cook them at the bottom of the oven. Use some of the water for par-boiling the roast potatos to loosen the marinade left in the roasting dish, then place it beneath the meat in the oven
3. Baste with more marinade a few times during the 1.5 hrs cooking (at 180C), This will fall into the dish underneath, adding to the meat juices, vegetable water and tasty marinade
4. I found that the water in the dish below conveniently reached a beautifully syrupy bubbling consistency by the time the meat was ready to come out and rest. I seperated it in a jug while the meat rested and I cooked the greens

I cannot enthuse enough how much this sauce made the final dish. The meat, rested and roughly carved with this sauce on top was a real treat. The crackling wasn’t a headline act, due to the constant basting, but there were a few strips which were nice to lay over the top to serve.

And if you’re not already great at roast potatos, I find you can’t go wrong with carefully chunked/chopped maris piper, 10 minutes par-boiled. Leave them on the turned-off hob to steam, before pouring in your fat of choice (olive for me) and shaking the pan. Chuck them on a baking tray with more fat on and turn while roasting. Leave them in for about an hour or more. Putting them in at the start with the pork in this case and doing them for 1.5 hours was fine.