Laksa Curry Rice (叻沙加哩泡饭) - The Shanghainese Experience

There are a couple of regrets about this Shanghai Business Trip -all related to food. We were grounded in a remote albeit beautiful hotel situated 1 hour away from downtown Shanghai. Meetings generally started at 8:45am in the morning and ran until 5:30- 6pm. The hotel's F&B capability was utterly disappointing. Buffet lunch spread was exactly the same everyday and the food did not taste good. The only Chinese restaurant in the vicinity served a mix of Spicy Sichuan food and Shanghainese cuisine but again it was just sub-standard stuff. I could tell that we were in for a disappointment when the Xiaolongbao (shanghainese dumplings) had a pastry skin that was thick and tough and that the Crab Roe Tofu (蟹粉豆腐) had a fishy stench.

On the one rare evening when I took my customer out to town for dinner, I had looked forward to revisit Justin Quek's creative French restaurant at Xintiandi. Justin Quek, for those who are not familiar is a Singaporean chef who struck out on his own after working at Les Amis. He opened his very first French restuarant in Taipei and was amazingly successful. He then went on to open some 3-4 restaurants at Shanghai's XinTianDi , a cluster of old Shanghainese style residencial buildings,石库门 (like the brownstones in New York) which has been preserved and converted to restaurants and bars. This is where foreigners come to find a slice of old Shanghai and Shanghainese go to connect with the Western world. I still remember my first visit to Quek's highly recommended La Platane restuarant, 梧桐 at Xintiandi. I had the Xiaolongbao with Foie Gras which was just amazing. This time,as I led my customer through  Xintiandi, I noticed something was wrong.Quek's bistro at the main restaurant aisle was missing and when I finally got to the site where La Platane used to sit,we saw that it had been replaced by a Spanish Restaurant. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed. I was really suprised because I had thought it was a really successful and popular restaurant. Then, something spooky happened the next morning, my customer showed me a news article on his Iphone - Justin Quek apparently just got sentenced to jail and fined in Singapore for drunk driving.

So by the end of the 'food deprived' week, I became too weary to do anymore food hunting. After my last appointment in Nanjing, I checked into a hotel that was closer to the shanghai airport and it was when I was strolling in the food court next door that a stall selling Laksa Curry caught my eye. Calling themselves LaksaCurry, they were selling various dishes served with the Laksa gravy. Laksa apparently, has really become well received in Shanghai - the eatery stall at the Singapore World Expo Pavillion was selling among other things, Laksa, Kueh Pai Ti and Satay.

Business was brisk at LaksaCurry but one look at the gravy, I knew it would not be spectacular. Still, it was an irrestible option for me at that point. Their best selling item was apparently the Laksa Curry Rice served with Fish Cake (叻沙加哩鱼饼泡饭). We normally take Laksa with vermecilli noodles and I have also eaten laksa served with Rice Drops (Mi Tai Mak/ Louxu Fan老鼠粉). It has never occurred to me to eat Laksa gravy with rice... and I was fairly intrigued. As I tucked into the bowl of Laksa rice, I was strangely satisfied. The gravy, as I had suspected was not spectacular, it was watered down and not as fragrant as what we would have in Singapore. However, the familiar and comforting spiciness was exactly what I needed after a week of sub-par Xiaolong Bao, Giant Meat Ball (狮子头) and Crab Roe Tofu.


Intent on recreating this with a more authentic Laksa Curry gravy, I decided that this would be the first thing to cook when I get back. For those who are too lazy to prepare the Laksa paste from scratch, there are many ready made paste in the supermarket but I have always been partial to Prima Taste's products. They are my crave saviour when I was stationed in China a few years ago.


Recipe :
Laksa Paste
Lemon Grass        2 stalks
Blue ginger           40 slices
Candlenut            12
Dried Chilli          15 pieces
Shallots               25 pieces
Belachan             2 thumb sized knobs
Coriander powder 2 tbsp

Others
Dried Shrimps                 30g (soaked to soften and pound to coarse paste)
Chilli oil                           80g
Thick coconut milk          125ml
Water                             400ml
Bean sprouts                   As you like. Blanched in boiling water.
Cooked Rice                  1 bowl
Fried Fish Cake              Sliced and you can put as much as you like
Tofu Puff                         5-6 pieces
Laksa leaf                       2-3 leaves (cut into fine shreds)
Quails Eggs                     Hard boiled. Peeled.
Salt                                 To season
Coriander leaf                 To garnish
Cooked Scallops             As you like. (alternatively, you can replace with shredded chicken)

Method :
Laksa Paste
1. Soak dried chillie in warm water until softened. Blend all ingredients in Laksa Paste except coriander powder in a blender. Add coriander powder last.
2. In a heated wok, add chillie oil and fry (1) until fragrant. Add pounded dried shrimps and continue to fry for 2 mins.
3. Increase heat and add coconut milk and water. Continue to stir. Add Tofu Puff and cooked scallops.
4. In another wok heat a little oil and add 2 cloves of garlic. Fry cooked rice until fragrant.
5. Dish fried rice into a bowl. Add Laksa gravy (3) over the rice.
6. Garnish with Laksa leaves, fish cake, quail's egg, bean sprouts and coriander leaf. Serve hot.

Ondeh Ondeh Kosong - Sweet Potato Balls

A few weeks ago, when my colleague from the US was here for a customer call, I had taken him to True Blue Cuisine, a Nonya (Straits Chinese) restaurant. The ambience was breathtaking and showcased the vibrancy of the Peranankan Culture in a most splendid way. I have taken bold liberty to paste 2 photos from their website to make up for the inadequacy of my description of the restaurant.



We ordered the signature Nonya dishes (Ayam Buah Keluak, Nonya Chap Chye, Beef Rendang, Ngoh Hiang) - they did not disappoint but to be honest, I had tasted better Nonya Cuisine along Katong Upper East Coast Road. There was one dish, however, that left an impression and that was the Kosong Ondeh Ondeh. This was Ondeh Ondeh (boiled sweet potato ball rolled in grated coconut) without the Gula Melaka (palm sugar) filling. I was struck by the softness and the simple taste and have kept dreaming about going back just for the Ondeh Ondeh.
Coincidentally, earlier this week, when I was shopping at a Japanese Supermarket in town, they were promoting their air flown sweet potato from Japan. Unwittingly, I picked 2 tubers after tasting the samples offered to me by the sales promoter. I so regreted it as they were quite expensive. I ended up feeling rather stupid to have paid that kind of money for 2 pieces of  'poor man's food' . (And no, I am not disclosing how much I paid for them, too embarrassing)

To put them to some good use, I decided to try my hand at replicating what I ate at True Blue Cuisine. I googled for a recipe and found the post by Baking Mum with the most fitting description to what I am trying to achieve.

I used 1/2 of a tuber for this initial experiment. I must say that the sweet potato tasted really good on its own after steaming. Encouraged, I went ahead to work with Baking Mum's recipe. The end result was not as soft as I had wanted - possibly for 2 reasons :
1. Mine did not have any filling. I believe the juiciness of the Gula Melaka filling would have yielded a softer texture.
2. I probably did not master the right amount of water to be added to the dough.

As a result of which, I felt my Ondeh Ondeh was a little on the chewy side. To repeat this again, I would :

1. Reduce the ratio of Tapioca flour to Sweet Potato ( probably just 10% of Tapioca flour to bind)
2. Add more water to get a softer dough.

Anybody else out there who has better experience with this, please do advice. I would greatly appreciate it for I still have one-and-a-half sweet potato to play with....;-)

Blog Debut: Steamed Tapioca Cake (Ubi Kayu)

I didn’t get to know the wonderful world of food blogging until almost 2 years ago when I signed up for a Christmas Cupcake class at Shermay’s Cooking School. The chef instructor was none other than Kuidaore’s Joycelyn Shu and I am sure all avid bakers and blog regulars would attest to the sheer indulgence and awe-inspiring experience of lingering over her postings, the amazing photography and the equally amazing sweet concoctions. Two years and many hours of pottering around in my kitchen later, I finally decided that it would be fun to start writing and sharing the moments I spend in the kitchen. I am not sure if I would be disciplined and passionate enough to update this regularly but I do know, I always couldn’t wait to get into the kitchen even when I am still on my return flight from my business trips.

I also felt that this would probably be a good moment to start because lately, I have been absolutely obsessed with Kuehs, those definitive bite sized snacks so unique to the Malay Archipelago…and a little beyond.

It was while poring over Forest Leong’s cookbook, “Cooking Classics, Thailand” that I came across the recipe for steamed Tapioca Cake. This is a rather common Kueh in SE Asia. It is the familiar steamed Ubi Kayu to the Malays, the comforting Chiu Zi Kueh to the Chinese. It was simple enough and I just wanted to make sure that I could get the texture right – tender and light.

Forest’s cookbook is comprehensive and easy to replicate in the kitchen. I’ve had good success with her Pineapple Fried Rice and her Lemon Grass Roasted Chicken. Her instructions are very clear but I had to do some guessing when I came to her Steamed Tapioca Cake recipe. All ingredients quantity were well documented except for the Tapioca (Cassava root) itself. The recipe called for 1 medium Tapioca. Until then, I had never bought a Tapioca before and had trouble with the definition of a medium sized Tapioca. I took my chance and picked out what I thought was a mid sized root among the pitiful Tapioca collection at the wet market. (Didn’t know Tapioca can be so scarce nowadays, out of the 3 vegetable stalls at the market, only one would sell Tapioca) Needless to say, my first attempt did not turn out well. It was too soft and mushy. Apparently my medium sized Tapioca was too small. However, being the good chemist I used to be, I had the sense to take note of the weight of the grated Tapioca. I cross-referenced another similar recipe which specified the weight of the grated tapioca to be used but it didn’t call for any water in the recipe. It turned out a little tough for my liking but not unlike what we sometimes get from the market. Edible but I still decided to throw out the batch. The final batch was the result of tweaking the parameters from the first 2 trials. What turned out was soft and light, with a hint of Jasmine as recommended in Forest’s recipe.

Feedback from tasters in my neighbourhood
- Soft and light;
- Fine, non-fibrous;
- Subtle fragrance of Jasmine refines the experience further.

I will be giving out the recipes to the aunties in the neighbourhood so here goes:


Ingredients :

Tapioca 200g (weight of grated and squeeze dried tapioca)
Sugar 50g
Water 60ml
Red colouring 2 drops
Jasmine Essence 2 drops


Fresh Grated coconut 150g (can be bought freshly grated from wet market or get it from NTUC, Heng Guan Brand)
Pinch of salt
A few blades of Pandan Leave


Method:
1. Grate tapioca with a fine grater. Wash grated tapioca under running water to remove excess starch. Scoop up the grated tapioca,squeeze dry and place in a mixing bowl.The weight of the squeeze dried grated tapioca should be 200g.

2. Mix sugar, water, colouring and jasmine essence with the grated tapioca. Mix well and pour mixture into a deep tray for steaming.

3. Steam over boiling water for 30-35mins. Cool down completely.

4. Steam grated coconut with salt and pandan leaf for 5-10mins. Cool down completely.

5. Cut the steamed Tapioca cake into bite size pieces. Roll the bite size pieces in cooled grated coconut to evenly coat it with grated coconut.

So there, my first posting.... possibly more Kuehs to come.