Coconut Cream@Kulinarya

For today's Kulinarya Club theme of Gata (Coconut Cream), I made Guinataang Sitaw at Kalabasa (Prawns, Long Beans and Butternut Squash in Coconut Cream) with a twist, inspired by my brother-in-law in Vancouver. His addition of lemon grass adds another level of fragrance to the dish, and using grated fresh coconut with its juice naturally sweetens the broth.

Now for my twist within a twist (blame it on my watching Inception yesterday, which was about a dream within a dream within a dream), I marinated the prawns in garlic and cilantro, added some crisp-fried pork belly lardons, and baked the dish with a browned topping of ground peanuts and bread crumbs.

I usually make this guinataang gulay with a thick coconut cream sauce, and sometimes it can get cloying. This version was pleasantly light, and very flavorful.

As an option, I would add one or two long green chillies while cooking the vegetables for a spicier dish.

Masarap, Arnel. Salamat!

Guinataang Sitaw at Kalabasa

Prawns, Long Beans and Butternut Squash in Coconut Cream

1 small onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 inch piece ginger, grated

1/2 stalk lemon grass, halved lengthwise

1 fresh coconut, meat grated, juice set aside

1 slice pork belly, boiled to soften, then diced
and fried crisp

500g prawns, peeled and deveined, marinated

in minced garlic and cilantro

1/4 piece butternut squash, peeled and diced

1 bunch long beans, cut into 3 inch pieces

200 ml coconut cream

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

handful of peanuts, ground

panko bread crumbs

peanut oil

Sautee onion, garlic and ginger in oil over medium heat.

Add prawns and crispy pork. Sautee until prawns just turn pink. Add grated coconut, coconut water and cream. Place lemon grass stalks into liquid. Bring to a boil.

Immediately add long beans and squash, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well, cover and simmer on low heat until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.

When vegetables are done, remove lemon grass stalks, and transfer to a baking dish. Prepare crumb topping by combining ground peanuts, bread crumbs and a tablespoon of oil to bind. Sprinkle mixture over vegetables and brown under a broiler (watch carefully so you don't burn the topping).

Serve with steamed white rice and a slice of lime or calamansi.

Sweet

....and now on to Dessert! As you know, I am admittedly not a successful baker (evidence: my Streussel Sour Cream Coffee Cake post). But I will attempt to make desserts that require "simple" assembly, like those Ikea cabinets in the kids' rooms. By default, I am the official assembler of Ikea furniture at home, since the Husband loses interest (actually patience) when attaching Leg A to Base B with Screw 256 after Step 3. Years ago we moved to a new house in England and I decided to assemble the boys' bunk beds by myself. As I was hauling the finished product up, my neighbor's husband walked into the kids' bedroom and was so impressed that he brought in two cold brewskis. Men!

Here's a "simple" dessert adapted from bon appetit's comfort food issue.

Caramel-Apple Crisp

Topping:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

12 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

125 grams (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, diced

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

(use water if you don't want your filling to be sour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Whisk first 5 ingredients in a bowl to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until small moist clumps form. Cover and chill.

Preheat the oven to 375 deg F. Stir sugar and butter in large skillet over medium heat until smooth sauce forms. Add lemon juice and cook, stirring, until caramel is deep brown, about 5 minutes. (It is very important not to burn the caramel, or else it will turn bitter). Mix in salt, then apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Scrape apples and caramel into 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish; spread evenly. Sprinkle topping evenly over.

Bake crisp until apples are tender, sauce is bubbling thickly, and topping is golden, about 50 minutes. Let crisp cool 15 minutes before serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

In Transit

While in transit at the Hong Kong airport, we were hungry for decent-enough food as we landed at 5am. Even at this ungodly hour (for me anyway), travelers were already bustling about, rushing to departure gates, meandering through the few open shops, and queueing at Aji-sen Ramen! Slurping through a steamy bowl of noodles and gyoza soothes the cricks and twitches one develops after sitting mummy-like through the 12-hour transpacific flight. Oldest Son had the Japanese Curry Rice, and asked if I could replicate this when we got back home. After looking through a few recipes, here's my adapted version.

Japanese Chicken Curry Rice

3 whole chicken breasts, sliced into chunks

1 teaspoon curry powder (medium spicy)

2 onions, sliced thinly

2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

2 large potatoes, cut into chunks

2 cups water

1 small apple, peeled and cored, grated finely

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1 cup coconut cream

Marinate chicken in 1 teaspoon curry powder. Set aside.

Saute onions in oil over medium low heat until golden brown, for about 30 minutes. The caramelized onions will help sweeten the dish when cooked. Turn up heat to high and add chicken pieces. Saute until browned.

Add the carrots and potatoes, pour in water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and add the grated apple, salt and 2 tablespoons curry powder. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Add ketchup and worcestershire sauce, pour in coconut cream and mix thoroughly. Let simmer for another 10 minutes. In the meantime dissolve 1 teaspoon cornstarch with a bit of water for the slurry. Add to sauce to thicken.

Serve over rice.

Back in a Bit

I've been away for a while now, cruising through the fjords of Alaska. We're back on land, with another week of adventure. I'll see you soon with new recipes!

Raging Waters

The mornings have been heavy with rain lately. It's as if the tropical rain front decided to hover over our little island and dump its burdensome weight over us. Today's storm was a full-scale downpour. By 9 am many streets were engulfed by raging waters and traffic came to a near stand-still. I had planned to take the boys to Orchard Road, our shopping district, and have lunch at Wendy's, which just opened a while ago. (Although the boys are spoilt for choice in foodie Singapore, sometimes you just can't shake their craving for junk!) Shortly before leaving, Son #2 gets this message on Facebook, and this is what we saw:



So much for our expedition.

And what else to do on a rainy day? Here's my easy version of Jeanne Kelley's Orzo with Butternut Squash and Sage Cream recipe. I used Risoni instead of Orzo, and simplified the procedure for a quick weekday dinner. Serve with your favorite breaded cutlet and marinara sauce. Perfect!

Risoni in Butternut Squash and Sage Cream Sauce

250g butternut squash, diced

1/2 cup heavy cream

6 fresh sage leaves, cut crosswise

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

300g risoni or orzo pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Saute butternut squash, garlic and sage leaves in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Remove cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until liquid has almost evaporated.

Lightly mash softened butternut squash with the spatula. Remove sage leaves. Add cream, parmesan cheese and mix well. Check for seasoning.

In the meantime, cook pasta according to instructions. Drain well and add to the cream sauce. Blend thoroughly. Transfer to dish and sprinkle parmesan cheese just before serving.

Leftover Magic

There's a Japanese supermarket I go to occasionally to purchase sukiyaki beef, shusi-grade tuna or salmon, miso, bottled sauces, etc. There are stalls with Japanese cooks promoting freshly-made specialties of the day that range from udon soups to stuffed croquettes to seafood fritters to sweet bean cakes. I can spend hours just moving from stall to stall, sampling every single tidbit, and come home with what the boys call "weird but good" things to eat, the latest being a savory pancake called okonomiyaki, which is a large frittata made with bits of octopus, julienned cabbage, noodles, and other unknown things in a creamy batter, pan-fried and drizzled with a barbeque sauce and mayonnaise. Very weird, but good.

For dinner that evening, I had wanted to use up the leftover ingredients from the previous recipe, specially the fresh water chestnuts which were holding up well in the fridge. So I bought some very thinly sliced pork at the Japanese supermarket, and remembered a recipe I had earmarked in an old issue of Cook's Illustrated. After much tweaking, here's what I came up with. Frying the noodles into a crisp pancake can be a bit of a pain, but persevere, and you'll have a delicious dinner ready in no time. Feel free to substitute the pork with chicken or beef.

Stir-Fried Pork on Crispy Noodle Cake

380g thinly sliced pork

2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 1/2 tablespoons rice wine

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Thai chili garlic sauce

1/4 cup water

500g fresh Chinese egg noodles

4 spring onions, white and light green parts sliced thin,

dark green parts sliced thin diagonally

peanut oil for frying

150g brocolli, cut into small florets, blanched for 3 minutes

4 water chestnuts, sliced into batons

a handful of roasted cashew nuts

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

Marinate pork in 1 tablespoon each soy sauce and rice wine. Set aside.

Bring water to boil over high heat. Add noodles and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes (do not overcook). Drain, then toss with white and light green parts of the spring onion. In the meantime, mix together hoisin, oyster and chili sauces, sesame oil, water, and the remaining soy sauce and rice wine in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a nonstick large skillet over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Spread noodles evenly across bottom of skillet; press with spatula to flatten and cook until crisp and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Slide noodle cake onto large plate. Add another 2 tablespoons of oil to skillet. Invert noodle cake onto a second plate and slide it, browned-side up, back into hot skillet. Cook until golden brown on second side, about 4 minutes. Slide onto serving plate.

Add another tablespoon of oil to skillet; heat over medium-high until just beginning to smoke. Stir fry ginger, garlic, and then the pork, separating the pieces while cooking. Add brocolli, water chestnuts and cashew nuts and stir fry for a minute. Add hoisin sauce mixture and continue to cook for another minute. Thicken sauce with a slurry of cornstarch and water. Spoon over noodle cake. Sprinkle dark green slices of spring onion to garnish.

Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, slice noodle cake into wedges and serve.

Dinner Time

Food's ready! I scream upwards, hoping my voice travels through the staircase and into the boys' bedroom doors, which, of course, is shut tighter than a bank vault. While reverberating music throbs through one of the rooms, the other one is eerily silent, except for the spasmodic click-click of a gaming mouse. Did they hear me? I call their cell phones. Only a ring tone can catch their attentions.

We're having Chinese Tacos tonight, which isn't really the dish's name. It is probably more elegantly called Phoenix Nest or Dragon's Parcels, but when I first made this years ago from a handed-down recipe, the boys loved the fact that they had another excuse to eat with their hands, aside from the usual burgers, fries, nuggets and Mexican tacos!

The dish has an extra crunch to it today with the addition of fresh water chestnuts. Although the canned variety provides enough texture to a dish, I was really pleased with the firm, crisp bite and sweet flavor the fresh water chestnuts gave. Adding it at the last minute preserves their texture. If these are not available where you are, how about experimenting with Jicama?

Serve with fried rice or noodles.

Chinese Tacos

300g minced pork
300g minced chicken

1/2 cup frozen peas

4 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

1/2 cup coarsely chopped water chestnuts

4 dried mushrooms, soaked then chopped

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

For sauce:

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 head iceberg lettuce, washed, leaves separated

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil. Saute ginger and onions. Add minced pork and chicken. Mix well and cook until meats are opaque.

Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar. Mix well. Add mushrooms, peas and water chestnuts and stir for 2 minutes, or until meats are cooked. Transfer to serving platter.

In the meantime, make the sauce. Mix hoisin sauce, sesame oil and sugar in a pot and simmer over low heat, continuously stirring for about 1 minute.

To serve, eat as you would do with a taco, laying a lettuce leaf on your plate and placing some meat mixture in the middle of the lettuce. Drizzle sauce over the meat and pick up filled lettuce with your fingers, folding over the leaves to prevent the meat and sauce from dripping .