Ondeh Ondeh (Onde Onde) - Sweet Potato Glutinous Rice Balls

South East Asian sweets and desserts are most strongly defined by the bite sized snacks known as Kuehs/ Kuihs.  Ondeh Ondeh has always been one of my favourite kuehs. I have never been able to resist these sweet chewy coconut coated balls ever since I was young. Soft and chewy in texture, this is probably one kueh that encompasses all the essential ingredients typically used in the preparation of exotic South East Asian desserts. Sweet potato is the essential root vegetable in this dessert while glutinous rice flour imparts the slightly sticky and chewy texture. Coconut milk and pandan juice provide the mild fragrant richness and Gula Melaka (brown palm sugar) rounds up the sweet experience with its distinctive caramel-like flavour.



A good Ondeh Ondeh should be tender yet chewy. The amount of rice flour used should be just enough to yield a bouncy softness that gives way to the burst of Gula Melaka sweetness when chewed. Very often, commercial Ondeh Ondeh loads up on the glutinous rice flour and stinges on the use of Sweet Potato which helps to soften the Ondeh Ondeh.

I have experimented with a few different sweet potato/glutinous rice flour ratio and my favourite so far is this one that uses equal portion of sweet potato with glutinous rice flour. As a result of the higher quantity of sweet potato, the colour will not be the typical jade green colour seen in the commercially sold Onde Onde. It will take on a mossy brown colour. For the photos in this post, I had added quite a bit of green colouring but otherwise, I would be most comfortable to leave it as it is without any artificial colouring.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by Small Small Baker. 


Recipe :

Sweet potato               100g
Glutinous Rice flour   100g
Pandan Leaves(1)       5 pieces
Water                          15ml
Thick coconut milk     30g

Gula Melaka               100g (chopped finely)

Grated Coconut           200g
Pandan Leaves(2)        2 pieces
Salt                              1/4 tsp

Method:
1. Cut Panadan Leaves (1) into small pieces and blend it with the 15ml water. Squeeze to get 30ml of dark green pandan juice.
2. Boil sweet potato in the jacket in a pot of water until tender. Cool down. Remove potato skin and mash well.
3. Mix 100g of mashed sweet potato with Pandan juice (1) and coconut milk. (green colouring can be added now if desired)
4. Add in glutinous rice flour and incorporate until the dough comes together.
5. Place grated coconut on a plate. Cut Pandan Leaves (2) into 5 cm lengths and embed in grated coconut. Steam over boiling water for 5 mins.
6. Leave steamed grated coconut to cool completely and mix in 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside.
7. Portion out (4) into 10g dough. Dust hands with glutinous rice flour and roll each 10g dough into a round ball. Use pinkie finger make a well in the center of the ball. Carefully fill the well with chopped Gula Melaka. Seal the opening of the dough and roll it into a ball again.
Place the ball in a shallow plate of glutinous rice flour to prevent them from sticking together.

8. Boil a pot of water. Drop (7) into the boiling water. Cook until Onde Onde floats to the surface of the boiling water.
9. Remove Onde Onde with a slotted spoon and leave it to cool for 2mins.
10. Roll (9) in grated coconut (6). Serve and finish on the same day.

French Fries Balls - Pommes Noisettes

We have eaten French Fries often enough... it was the first item I ordered from Mac Donalds when they opened shop here some 30 years ago and  it is one of the most popular accompaniment with everything from Fish to Burgers to Steak... We can rationalise all we want about how oily and calorie loaded they are, but in reality, I think there is no one who can resist a well cooked Fries. Frozen fries are now so readily available from the supermarket that few would consider it worthwhile to prepare our own fries from scratch.

Indeed, making good fries from scratch is troublesome. I actually had to start almost 2 days in advance the last time I prepared fries for a gathering - but it was all worth it.
As I appraised the bag of russet potatoes in my kitchen like it was my own innovation challenge, 3 dishes popped in my mind and one of them is actually a variation of the Pommes Frites (French Fries), the Pomme Noisettes. The Pomme Noisettes is actually a distant and vague impression from my childhood. At that time, a certain Frozen Food company had started commercialising these frozen potato balls. The advertising campaign was aggressive and they made sure that those deep fried potato balls looked golden and delicious in the commercials... I believe all the kids back then were sold.

To create these, I had used a melon baller to scoop out balls of raw potatoes. These were then simmered in boiling water to pre-cook them. The boiled potatoes were then cooled down and chilled overnight. The first fry took place at 130C until the potato balls turned yellowish brown. These were once again chilled for half a day before deep frying it again at 190C. Fries made this way are amazingly crispy on the outside and fluffy in the inside.  I had chosen to season these with the Japanese Shichimi Togarashi (7 spice chili powder) to give it a little spicy kick.Be warned, these are really addictive and will run out in no time at any beer party.  Though pretty in their Noisettes shapes, scooping these balls out from the potatoes actually created alot of wastage. For practical reason, I would cut these into little cubes next time I make them.

To get the right puffed up crispy finish, the temperature of the oil needs to be well controlled. To be honest, I am not totally satisfied with my Pommes Noisettes. I do think I did not control the temperature of my oil well and hence, it did not retain its crispness for very long. Nevertheless, they are still addictive and goes superbly with a cold cold beer...



Recipe :

Russet Potatoes
Oil for Deep frying
Shichimi Toragashi (can replaced with Truffle salt, paprika or other smoked salt)

1. Peel Russet Potatoes or other floury potatoes. Choose bigger potatoes if you want to scoop balls out of them. Cut the peeled potatoes into half horizontally. Systematically scoop out potatoes will a melon baller to minimise wastage.

2. Run the potato balls under water for a few minutes to remove excess starch.
3. Boil a pot of water. Add a generous amount of salt (10% weight of water). When the water starts to boil, add in potato balls. Let water come back to boil and reduce heat to just a simmer. Do not let the potatoes boil else they will turn to mash.
4. Let potato balls simmer for about 3-5 mins until just cooked but not too soft.
5. Drain the water from the pot. Chill potatoes in the fridge overnight.
6. Heat a pot of oil to 130C. Fry the chilled potato balls in the hot oil until light brown. Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon. Drain off excess oil and chill in fridge overnight. (At this stage, you can freeze it to store)
7. Heat a pot of oil to 190C. Fry the chilled potatoes until golden brown.
8. Remove from oil, drain and sprinkle with Shichimi Toragashi.

Radish Cake with Seafood and XO Sauce

It took my 2 weeks' business travel to pry me away from my cookies. Taking a break sometimes, opens up the mind for new stimulation. The stimuli for this post came in the form of an amazing XO Sauce I found in Taiwan. Unlike the supermarket versions that we get here, this is chock full of precious flavourful ingredients such as dried whole baby scallops (not the shreds we normally get), dried whole shrimps garlic and chilli . The bottles of XO sauce we normally get in Singapore are expensive and for most of them, the solids would only constitute 50% of the bottle, the rest being made up of a mild chilli oil. With this Taiwanese XO sauce, the hefty bottle was packed almost to the brim with the precious ingredients. Sold at 250NT (about US$8) for a substantial 500g bottle, this is what I would consider great value for money!  This would definitely be on my replenish list when I return to Taiwan next time.
For those who do not have access to this, fret not, head over to Trissa's or Pickyin's blog to learn how to make this sauce from scratch.

There are a million ways to use the XO sauce. It is completely addictive when eaten on its own with steamed white rice, brown rice or glutinous rice. When you are in a hurry, it can be used to toss with noodles or spaghetti. It is also a great stir fry seasoning for vegetables or meat.

Here, I have chosen to use the sauce with the very tasty Hong Kong style Radish Cake. Commonly offered at Yum Cha (dim sum), the Hong Kong style Radish Cake is a steamed rice cake filled with bits of chinese sausage, dried shrimps and shitake mushroom. This can be eaten on its own or more commonly, pan fried to crisp up the skin. In the recent years, restaurants here have started to stir fry these with XO sauce, seafood and bean sprouts... a la Chai Tau Kuey.


I got the recipe from Celebrity Chef Sam Leong's 'A Taste Of Home' . However, I do suspect that there is a typo in the recipe. Instead of Rice flour, the book had asked for Glutinous rice flour. I had to throw out a batch and replace the glutinous flour with Rice flour. Also, whenever I steam rice cakes at home, I make sure that I 'pre-cook' my flour prior to steaming the liquid batter. This can either be done by mixing very hot water into the flour mixture or stirring the flour batter over low heat to thicken it up before steaming. Most recipes may just call for steaming the liquid batter directly over boiling water but I find this impractical for house cooks like us. Our stoves will never be able to generate the kind of heat intensity to cook the rice cake through.


So, if you've enjoyed this dish at Dim Sum restaurants, you can now replicate this at home now.... and eat to your heart's content!

Recipe : (Adapted from Sam Leong's A Taste Of Home)

Prawns                 8 medium, peeled
Cooking Oil          1 Tbsp
Bean Sprouts        100g, Blanched. (don't need to be too precise, I think I only used 50g)
Chinese Chives      100g (Kuchai, I used a few sprigs.Add according to your liking)
Spring Onions        100g (same as above)
Eggs                       2 Beaten

Radish Cake
Cooking Oil           1 tbsp
Dried prawns         1 tbsp (soaked in water for 10mins, then minced)
Chinese Sausage    20g     (minced)
Dried Shitake Mushroom   2 pieces (soaked in water for 10mins, then minced)
Water                    500ml
Rice Flour              75g
Potato Starch         20g
Corn Starch           20g
White Radish         100g (shredded and squeezed dry)
Sugar                     1/2 Tbsp
Salt                        1/2 tsp

Seasoning
Water                   4 tbsp
XO Sauce            1 Tbsp
Oyster Sauce        1/2 tsp
Sugar                    1/8 tsp
Dark soy sauce      a dash
Sesame Oil            a dash
Chinese Cooking Wine a dash

Method :
1. Prepare Radish Cake : Heat 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a wok. Fry dried shrimps, Chinese Sausage and mushroom until fragrant. Ladle out and set aside.
2. Mix 250ml water with Rice flour, Corn flour and Potato Starch flour and set aside.
3. Place remaining 250 ml water in a pot with shredded radish. Bring to boil. Add in sugar and salt seasoning.  Pour boiling mixture into flour mixture in (2).
4. Stir well. Return mixture into pot. Heat over low heat and stir continuously. Once mixture starts to thicken a little add in (1).
5. Continue stirring until mixture becomes almost pasty.
6. Pour mixture into an oiled 21 cm square tin.
7. Steam over vigorously boiling water for 35mins.
8. Cool down completely (refrigerating over night if possible). (Rice cake will still be soft after steaming. Do not try to cut)
9. Cut Radish Cake into small squares. Heat some oil in a frying pan. Sear cake over high heat to crisp the surface.
10. In a hot wok, heat oil . Add bean sprouts, chives and spring onion. Stir fry briefly, then add eggs and cook until just beginning to set.
11. Add radish cake and ingredients for seasoning. Fry until fragrant and egg is cooked. Dish out and serve hot.

Chickpeas, Garbanzo Beans... Kacang Puteh

This is an extremely lazy and easy post. There is really no recipe involved but you would wonder why we don't make this more often since it is such a delicious and healthy snack... I couldn't stop gobbling them up as I was watched The Mentalist last night. (Love the twinkle in Simon Baker's eyes every time he smiles.)

To oldies like us, chickpeas are Kacang Puteh. I did not learn about the term Chickpeas until when I got much much older. As for Garbanzo beans? I only started seeing the term a few years back when Organic grocery stores started to offer the organic version of these humble beans....

Kacang Puteh, in the old days were sold by Kacang Puteh Men - usually cart venders from South India. They would normally park their carts / stalls outside a cinema. Those were the days before we saw the influx of Caramel Popcorns, Nachos and Cheese and possibly the ubiquitous potato chips.

Kacang is 'nut' in Malay and Puteh means 'white'. One would find a variety of chickpeas, peanuts, sugar coated tapioca chips and muruku at the stall. Most of the nuts are either deep fried or roasted. This Kacang Puteh shown here today is boiled and has a soft and slightly powdery texture. This has always been my favourite at the stall where we would pick and choose what we wanted and the Kacang Puteh man would then unscrew the cap of the glass bottles and scoop the nuts into a cone fashioned out of torn out pages from magazines. Depending on the type of nuts one chose, each cone would cost about 20cents to 50cents.Today? Not only has the Kacang Puteh man become a rare sight, the kancang puteh cone now costs about $2 - so I have been told.

I got these chickpeas for 95 cents at the supermarket and they boil up to pack a pot big enough to fill up many many paper cones to be enjoyed with nostalgia over a DVD screening....



Recipe :
Dried Chickpeas         
Salt
Tumeric powder ( Adding tumeric power will make it more yellow. I did not add this for this preparation)
Baking soda (this will help to soften the peas)

Method :

1. Wash the chickpeas and place them in a pot. Cover with water. Add a little baking soda (roughly 1/8 tsp for 100g of chickpeas)  and let chickpeas soak overnight.

2. Drain away water. Rinse with fresh water and soak chickpeas in fresh water for another 10mins to remove the alkalinity. Drain.
3. Fill pot with enough water to cover the chickpeas. Add tumeric powder if you wish. Boil for about 25mins until softened. (alternatively, you can boil this in a pressure cooker - it will cut down cooking time.)

4. Drain and season with a little salt.

Tauhu Goreng - Deep Fried Tofu With Peanut Sauce

If  I ever have to pick a favourite food, I would choose Tofu (bean curd) without even the slightest momentary hesitation. My colleagues have all come to know that whenever we choose to eat at an Asian restaurant during our travels, I have to have a Tofu dish. It is fortunate that Tofu is a common and popular ingredient in most Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean restaurants. It is even more fortunate that so far, none of my travel companions, are averse to Tofu dishes in Asia. Tofu has to be the most neutral and comforting ingredient one can work with. On its own, its taste is so neutral that it is impossible for it to offend any palate.

However, I do realise that the nutritious protein component has acquired a somewhat irksome reputation in the west as a tasteless, uninteresting health freak food. Here in Asia, we use Tofu in more interesting and creative ways. There are countless recipes out there that feature the humble ingredient. Off the top of my head, I can already recall posting at least 4 or 5 Tofu dishes in this space.


The recipe I feature today is a popular tofu snack in SE Asia.  This can be served as an appetizer or a tofu salad dish. For myself, a larger Tofu square would be enough to be my meal. The slightly spicy peanut sauce is the integral element that lends an exotic appeal to this otherwise plain and simple dish.

Totally easy to prepare and great to be served at parties. I used the recipe featured in Shermay Lee's The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol. 2. The instructions are simple and easy to follow but the peanut sauce turns out a tad too thick. I could possibly thin it down a little more with water and add a dash of lime juice to it the next time I prepare this again.



Recipe :

Bean Sprouts          100g
Cucumber               1
Firm Tofu                400g (2 pieces) (If you purchase this from an Asian grocery store, look for Taukua)
Oil for deep frying

Peanut Sauce
Garlic                     4 cloves
Red Chilli               2
Palm Sugar             2 tbsp (can be replaced with brown sugar)
Salt                        1/4 tsp
Rice Vinegar          1 tbsp (those used for sushi is fine)
Dark soya sauce     2 tbsp (try to use the darker version. This is different from the light soya sauce commonly
                              used for flavouring)
Water                     8 tbsp (I would suggest to add more water to adjust the flow of the sauce)
Roasted ground peanut 160g

Method:

1. Blanch bean sprouts in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and keep aside.
2. Wash cucumber and slice it.
3. Place garlic and chilli in a food processer and grind it to a paste.
4. Place (3) in a saucepan with the rest of the peanut sauce ingredient. Heat up and cook until sugar dissolves completely. (if you like your sauce to be smoother and less chunky, you can process the cooled down sauce in the food processor again)
5. Heat up,in a wok, enough oil to at least half immerse the tofu. The oil needs to be very hot. Normally, we insert the tip of a wooden chopstick to check for small bubbles before we put in the tofu.
(before deep frying, sandwich the tofu between 4 pieces of kitchen towel and lay a heavy tray on the the tofu. This will dry out the excess moisture in the tofu and prevent too much splattering when you deep fry it)
6. Deep fry tofu until golden brown. Be patient and do not try to turn the tofu before it has formed a crust - otherwise the tofu will crumble.
7. Lay a plate with sliced cucumber. Lay fried tofu on top (pre-cut) , top with bean sprouts and peanut sauce.

Crabcakes with Lemon-Dill Mayonnaise

During the 2 weeks that I was 'trapped' in New Jersey, I had the worst meals of the trip at the company cafeteria. However, one of the highlights of the trip also happened amidst the meetings and debates... For team building exercise, the whole group of us went to Viking Cooking School for a cooking-bonding session. Although I have done similar sessions in Asia, I was still brimming with excitement as we walked into the Viking Range Showroom. I was especially mesmerised by their range of sturdy, rugged-looking stoves and ranges. When I eventually got to cook over these heavy-duty ranges, I was really impressed by the intensity of the heat from the open flame burner. These would be perfect for Chinese cooking where cooking in a  wok over high heat imparts a unique essence to the food known as 'wok hei' ( translated literally to read wok's energy).

Anyway, I digressed... we were split into groups of 3 and given a recipe pack to prepare 6 dishes for our dinner. We had picked an advanced recipe pack which featured Fish and Shellfish Cookery. The Vikings team literally spoon fed us throughout the whole session, demonstrating every step and ensuring that we followed instructions. As a result of which, it was not as challenging for me and I got a little restless during the session. However, the recipes yielded some delicious preparations which I couldn't wait to replicate.



The dish that I enjoyed most are these crabcakes with Lemon-Dill Mayonnaise. Meaty and tasty, these were perfect for yesterday's New Year's Eve party. To all who continues to drop by my humble blog, I wish to usher in the new year with you with this delicious crabcake and may today be a great start to an amazing 2011 with good food in abundance!


Recipe :
Crabcake
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1.5 tsp  finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 green onions, green tops only, finely minced
1 tsp seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay)
1 large egg white
2 tbsp Japanese breadcrumbs
400g crab meat (jumbo lump)

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Position rack in the center of the oven.
2. Combine mayoonaise, parsely, green onions, seafood seasoning, egg white and breadcrumbs together ina mixing bowl.
3. Gently fold in crabmeat, coating it thoroughly. Chill in refrigerator for at least 15 mins.
4. Place a medium, non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp canola oil and heat through. Lightly oil the insides of a round food ring/cutter. Place food ring on pan and spoon one fourth of the crabmeat mxiture into the ring. Press gently to pack tightly. Carefully lift the round ring straight up. Repeat with the remaining crab meat.
5. Cook crabcakes until the bottoms are golden brown, about 3 mins. Carefully turn each crabcake over. Cook for 1 min, then transfer pan to oven and cook for additional 5 mins.
6. Transfer crabcakes to warmed plates. Garnish wtih lemon wedges and serve with lemon dill mayonnaise.

Lemon Dill Mayonnaise

1 large pasteurized egg yolk.
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard.
1 tsp finely minced lemon zest
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1/8 tsp fine salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground white pepper.

1. Briskly whisk together beaten egg yolk, mustard, lemon zest and lemon juice until it is pale yellow in colour, about 1 min.
2. Pour oil (drop by drop at the beginning) very slowly while whisking constantly and vigorously. After the first few drops of oil has been absorbed pour the rest of the oil in a slow steady stream into the mixture while whisking energetically.
3. Keep whisking until mayonnaise becomes smooth.

Char Grilled Calamari - Inspiration From F.I.S.H

This is a long overdue post... a restuarant review post which I should have posted weeks ago before I had to go to Korea,India and Sydney...In fact, 3 hours before my departure for Sydney last week, I was still taking photos of the grilled calamari which I had been inspired to cook from my lunch at F.I.S.H.

I am suspecting that people staying at the East side of Singapore may be more familiar with this innovative dining option offered by Fish & Co. Group. First opened at Tampines One, F.I.S.H offers a more eclectic selection of western cuisine originally targeted at their usual Fish&Co clientele base. Though why would they continue to target at their Fish & Co Clientele base was quite beyond me but sometimes, market forces take one by suprise and in this case, I believe it has turned out to be a pleasant suprise for Fish & Co.


Unwittingly, the F.I.S.H dining concept,that includes the exotic mediterranean fusion flavours ,the fresh quality produce at their salad bar and the trendy chic decor, has a unique appeal for the young trendy working crowd. F.I.S.H's latest and 2nd outlet opened at 313@Somerset - my favourite establishment among the slew of new retail malls that has dotted the shiny new Orchard Road.


Unlike Fish&Co which serves only seafood, F.I.S.H's more expansive menu allows room for more in the way of steak and poultry. Positioning itself in between tacky family restaurants and more upmarket CBD style bistros, F.I.S.H offers very good value for money. They buy good ingredients,prepare them with interesting flavours and present them with few other things on the plate. The few brilliant elements for me are :

1. The salad bar;
2. The tasty starters;
3. The desserts air flown from US.


The cosy salad bar has quickly become one of F.I.S.H's signature feature. When you see well manicured baby spinach leaves sitting resplendently in a salad bowl all by itself, you know you will be eating well. Apart from the standard greens,the Salad Buffet bar also offers other more sophisticated prepared salads such as Garden Tomatoes with Basil, Prawns Pineapple Mint, Chilli Crab Salad and Shitake & Enoki Mushroom Salad. The spread varies everyday. On its own, it costs $12.90++ but can be added on to any main course for $5.90++. Most of the main courses that comes with the salad buffet will not cost more than $20++ anyway.



We all loved the starters. We cannot imagine anyone not liking the crispy Silver Fish. Batter coated and fried to a savoury crisp, this is one dish that would go well with a cold cold beer.
The char grilled peri peri squid is my favourite. Seasoned simply with various paprika and chilli spices, this was char grilled to a perfect smoky flavour without turning it into rubber bands. And yes, for those of us who love to cook, you would bookmark it immediately to duplicate at home... So there you have it, a side by side comparison of my version and F.I.S.H's version... taste is definitely different but when you don't have the chef's recipe, you will just have to improvise on your own... I will probably get closer if I return to F.I.S.H and make a few more orders of the Char Grilled Peri Peri Squid!

Before I proceed to talk about their air flown desserts,I should follow the dining sequence and talk about our main-dish experience.
Apart from the Hei Bee Hiam Spaghetti, we were not disappointed with the main courses but neither were we blown away.


The Terriyaki Ribeye Steak(S$16.90++) was tender and juicy.However, we struggled to identify the Terriyaki flavour - The beef appeared to be slightly char grilled(which was great) and we wondered if it was due to that that the Terriayki sauce had morphed to resemble a satay sauce...Tasty dish and we were happy with the flavours.


The Grilled Monzambique Spring Chicken ($16.80++ with Salad)is supposedly one of F.I.S.H's signature main courses. An exotic burst of sweet,sour and spicy flavours greet you at first bite. Flavourful and appetizing,no doubt but it did not leave a lasting impression with me.


You can't go wrong with The Fried Mediterranean Fish ($14.80++ with Salad). The battered fried fish is Fish&Co's forte and we knew it was a safe choice when we ordered this. Coated with a light, thin, cripy batter, this was truly delicious and I could now understand why Fish&Co got so popular.


We ordered the Hay Bee Hiam(spicy Fried dried prawns) Spaghetti with alot of anticipation, curious to see how the chef would merge a fiercely local flavour with the pasta. It turned out to be the biggest disappointment of our meal. Apart from being greasy and bland,the kick of the spicy crispy Hay Bee Hiam was missing. We all felt that this was quite a shame,for if done correctly, this could be the IT dish for F.I.S.H - something different that people would think of coming back for more ...

Up to that point, we had not found a single main course dish that had cast an impression compelling enough to draw us back again.

Then came the desserts.




Both the Raspberry Eruption Cheesecake ($6.95++) and the Chocolate Pecan Cluster($6.95++) were brilliant. Air Flown from US, these are rich, glorious and indulgent with a cup of Illy's coffee.(yes, they serve Illy's coffee) My colleague was a happy lady when she dug into these and gaily declared that she would come back just for cake and coffee anytime.

I have no doubt that F.I.S.H will catch on with the local diners here. Priced lower than Fish&Co, offering great quality Halal food, it probably already has carved out a market position for itself. When I went for my lunch during the Ramadan Fasting month, things were quiet but when I returned one evening 2 weeks ago, the place was jam packed and bustling.

For those who are not going any time soon, you can try to fool around with my grilled calamari recipe first. You will learn to appreciate the Char Grilled Peri Peri Squid better when you finally get to it... :)

F.I.S.H
313@Somerset
313 Orchard Road #B3-37/38
Singapore 238895
(65) 6634 0478
(A big thanks to Sharon Poh of Fish & Co., for sponsoring the lunch.)


Recipe

500g Squid
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Ground Cumin
Pinch Cayenne
1/2 tsp each Salt and Pepper
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 lemon
1/4 cup Olive Oil

Method :

1. In a zip lock bag, mix smoked paprika, cumin, salt,pepper,Cayenne and garlic together.
2. Add Olive oil to (1) and mix until a paste is formed.
3. Scoop out 2 tbsp of the paste and place in a bowl, add lemon juice, and stir to combine.
4. Add squid to the remaining paste in the zip lock bag. Marinate for 1 hour.
5. Heat up a grill pan. Grill the squid and cook for 2-3mins per side until charred. Remove from heat and drizzle with reserved marinate from (3)

Chrysanthemum Shumai - 菊花烧卖

Rushing through another minced meat dish before I leave again. I believe, this will be a recipe most will appreciate- simply because it's preparation is so simple and yet it looks like it belongs to a high end Dim Sum restuarant.

Even the name sounds a tad more refined and beautiful than the usual fare we turn out in the humble home kitchen. Aptly called the Chrysanthemum Shumai, the petal effect is achieved by coating the minced meat with shredded shumai wrapper instead of just wrapping the filling like a normal dumpling.

Shumai,everyone should know, is the staple steamed meat dumpling served at all Dim Sum restuarants. The Chinese love to eat their Shumai's with soya sauce or black vinegar. We from Singapore and Malaysia would usually have it with Chilli sauce. The Japanese take theirs with yellow mustard and I recently learnt that the Philippinos take their Shumai with Calamansi sauce.

I ate mine today with a Yuzu Pepper paste (the pint sized dollop in the photos) which I bought in Japan earlier this year. A little spicy with the citrusy tang of the Yuzu, it went really well with the prawn and pork based mince in this shumai dish.

For the fun of it, I documented my prep steps again to share with you...


1. Sautee chopped onions with a little oil until it turns fragrant and transparent.
2. Mix all ingredients together and mix well.
3. Let mixture marinate for 30mins.

4. Cut Gyoza wrappers into strips.
5. Lay the wrapper strips on a tray.
6. Shape marinated mince into balls and place on the bed of wrapper strips.
7. Coat each ball with wrapper strips.
8. Place each coated ball on a piece of baking paper (I used small paper squares used for Chinese Pao, steamed buns)
9. Steam over boiling water for 9mins.
10.Serve immediately while hot.





Recipe: (Will make around 10-12 balls, depending on the size of the ball)
Filling:
Minced Pork 150g
Prawns (peeled & chopped) 50g
Diced Onions 60g
Diced Mushroom 1 dried shitake mushroom soaked in water

Seasoning
Salt, Sugar, Sesame Oil 2/3 tsp each
Chinese wine, Spice water 1 tbsp each
Beaten Egg 1/2
Corn Flour 2 tsp

Shumai/Gyoza Wrapper 24 pieces