Heart wants: A warm soothing drink
Tummy wants: Hot drink
Last week, we were blessed with a plentiful citrus harvest from our garden. Mandarins, calamansi and kumquats.
I love my hot drinks and during winter, I tend to up my citrus intake. One of my favourite drinks is the Korean citron tea. This is typically made from yuzu, and you can buy it from you local Asian grocer. However, nothing beats the taste of freshly made citron tea. It’s sweet, with a bit of tang, and so good for you!
Given we don’t have yuzu in our garden, I make my citron tea out of kumquats. In our garden, we have a variety of kumquats called Nagami. These are an oblong shaped kumquat with a sweet flavour and can be eaten whole - skin and all!
If you don’t have kumquats or yuzu, you can use lemon instead.
Citron tea
Ingredients
1 bottle, sterelised (there are handy instructions on the Taste website: http://www.taste.com.au/articles/how-to-sterilise-jars/RZSfLWLT)
1 cup citrus fruit, sliced very thinly with seeds removed
3/4 cup honey
Optional: 1/8 cup water (use 1/4 cup water if you want a more runny texture)
Method
Place the citrus into the sterelised bottle.
Add honey and water.
Place lid on the bottle and shake to mix everything together.
Leave at room temperature for an hour.
Place in the fridge. Best consumed within a week.
To serve, place a few teaspoons of the mixture into a cup, and add hot water. Enjoy! You can eat the sliced citrus. Happy eating!
Heart wants: A satisfying treat
Tummy wants: Croquette
My husband and I were in Seoul about two years ago and chanced upon a little hole in the wall with the most delicious croquettes. The shop was close to Myeongdong Cathedral and had a line of people waiting to buy the scrumptious hot fried treats.
Croquettes aren’t a treat that we find sold in Australia very often, so I have been trying to make them at home. They are usually made with potatoes, but I have been using sweet potatoes as I love them!
My first attempt at making croquette at home wasn’t great. I deep fried them and they came out way too greasy for me.
I’m not a fan of fried food, so I’ve been experimenting for a while to try to make non-fried croquettes which were crispy on the outside, but soft and moist on the inside. I was reading a blog post by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook and she toasted the panko on the stove to make them brown (recipe: http://www.justonecookbook.com/baked-croquette/)
I tried this on my croquettes last week and had success!
Namiko also has a delicious Tonkatsu Sauce recipe on her blog. Mine is a variation based off hers - same ingredients but different ratio.
Baked Sweet Potato and Chorizo Croquettes
Makes 12 croquettes
Ingredients
Croquettes
2 large sweet potatoes (or 4 small), peeled and cut into small pieces
1/2 onion, diced
1 chorizo, diced
1 heaped tablespoon of salted butter
1-2 tablespoons creme fraiche
Salt and pepper, to taste
A small wedge of soft creamy cheese (I used Brie)
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs, scrambled
Boil sweet potatoes in a pot of water over high heat until cooked completely and soft (about 15-20 minutes).
Drain the water and mash the sweet potatoes.
Add the onion, chorizo, butter, 1 tablespoon of creme fraiche, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add another tablespoon of creme fraiche if you want the mixture to be softer and creamier (however, note that it will be harder to shape).
Place the mixture into the fridge for 30-40 minutes.
Place panko into a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add oil and mix well. Continue to mix until the panko turns a golden brown colour, then place into a bowl.
Cut cheese into 12 small cubes (enough for sweet potatoes).
Take the sweet potato mixture out of the fridge. Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and shape into an oval ball.
Make a dent in the middle of the ball. Place a cheese cube into the dent, then re-shape to cover the cheese.
Place the ball onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Repeat until the mixture is finished (the mixture will make about 12 balls).
Chill the sweet potato balls in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes to firm up a bit.
Preheat oven to 180C fan forced.
Place flour into a bowl. Place scrambled eggs into another bowl.
Lightly coat a sweet potato ball with a bit of flour. Make sure to pat the excess off.
Next, coat the ball in the egg mixture. Then coat with the panko. Make sure that it is still in an oval ball shape. Slightly flatten the bottom and then place back onto the baking tray.
Repeat steps 13 and 14 with all the balls.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Make the tonkatsu by mixing all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
Serve the croquettes hot with the sauce. Happy eating!
Heart wants: A big pot of warming bone broth
Tummy wants: Soup
I love a good pot of soup. I love how it warms you through a chilly day.
One of my favourite soups is Korean seaweed soup (miyeok guk). Seaweed is rich in iodine and calcium. I’ve been told that given all of the nutrients, Korean mothers who have just given birth have this for a few weeks as part of their post-partum care. In Korea, people also eat miyeok guk for celebrations such as birthdays.
It was Mother’s Day last Sunday and I thought that this dish would be perfect to celebrate my mum. Whilst this is a fairly simple dish, it does take time and a lot of love to make. I like to make my seaweed soup with bone broth for extra nutrients. Beef bones are boiled for hours and hours to make a milky broth. The bone broth can be made a day in advance.
Celebration Seaweed Soup
Ingredients - Bone broth
1-1.5 kg beef bones (with marrow)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
Water to fill the pot
Ingredients - Seaweed soup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1T sesame oil
250g beef, cubed
1-1.5 cups dried seaweed, soaked
4-5 cups bone broth [first boil]
4-5 cups bone broth [second boil]
1T soy sauce for soup
a pinch of salt
fish sauce, to taste
Method - Bone broth
Wash beef bones well. Soak for two hours to draw out the blood, then rinse and drain.
Put beef bones into a pot.
Fill the pot with water and ensure the bones are covered. Parboil over high heat for about 10 minutes.
Tip this water out. Rinse the bones to remove any brown ‘scum’.
Wash your pot well and then place the bones, onion and garlic into the clean pot. There is no need to cut the onions and garlic.
Fill the pot with water and ensure the bones are covered (about 10 cups of water).
Boil over high heat for 30 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium and cook for three hours.
Separate the solids (bones, onion and garlic) from the liquid (broth). I find it easiest to do this using a fine sieve or strainer. Cool the broth and then cover and place into the fridge. [Bone broth first boil].
Place the solids back into the pot. Repeat steps 6-9.
Repeat steps 6-10 for another one to two times (dependent on how much broth you want to make - Bone broth second boil).
Before using the broth, make sure you remove the oil from the top. As you have placed the broth in the fridge, the oil will have formed a solid layer, making it easy to remove.
Method - Seaweed soup
Rinse the dried seaweed and then soak in water for 30 minutes.
Rinse and drain the seaweed, then squeeze dry.
Repeat step 2 twice more.
Cut the seaweed into small pieces (approximately 2cm).
Heat sesame oil in a large pot and then sautee minced garlic.
Add the cubed beef and sautee.
Add the seaweed and sautee.
Add the bone broth, salt and soy sauce. Boil on high heat. Remove any brown ‘scum’.
Reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. Cook for 30 minutes, until the meat is tender. Season with fish sauce to taste.
Heart wants: A semi-sweet treat
Tummy wants: Banana
My dad is bananas for bananas - especially banana bread and banana cake. We had a public holiday recently and I wanted to make a semi-sweet treat for my dad.
Bananas go really well with chocolate and so I thought of adding some tablea to the mix.
Tablea is the roasted, ground and molded nibs of pure fermented cacao beans. They are shaped into ‘tablets’ and in the Philippines, they are traditionally used to make hot chocolate. Tablea has no additives so you will need to add sugar if you want your hot chocolate to be sweet.
In this instance, I crushed the tablea and added it as a dry ingredient for my banana loaf.
Banana Chocolate Loaf with Tablea
Ingredients
4 bananas, mashed
4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 eggs
1 cup greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup fig conserve (I used Bonne Maman)
2 cups self-raising flour
6 tablets of tablea, crushed (or substitute with 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 squares of good quality dark chocolate
Optional topping
2 bananas, split in half lengthways
coconut oil, for glazing
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180C fan forced.
Mix the bananas and wet ingredients together.
Add the dry ingredients and mix well.
Lightly oil a loaf tin then line with baking paper.
Pour the batter into the tin. Push the chocolate squares into different sections of the batter.
Tap the tin on the table a few times to try to even out the surface.
Optional topping: top with the split bananas. Brush the bananas with a little bit of coconut oil before placing in the oven.
Bake until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (approximately 45-50 minutes).
Cool on a wire rack before cutting into slices.
Best served warm, topped with greek yoghurt and drizzled with honey. Happy eating!
Heart wants: Rice
Tummy wants: A healthy rice alternative
We are an Asian household and boy do we love our rice. Due to our Filipino-Chinese heritage, we love our rice even more...so much that we can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
The thing is though, too much rice isn’t all that great for you. In an effort to become a bit healthier, we have been trying some alternatives - quinoa, couscous, and now the best of the lot - Cauliflower Rice.
This faux-rice is so good, it has become my husband’s favourite. It’s light and fluffy but also incredibly filling. Eat it by itself or with stews, curries...anything you would have with rice! And the greatest thing is that it is so easy to make.
I like to roast my cauliflower rice in the oven with garlic...as an ode the Filipino-garlic rice (sinangag), only healthier.
Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower
1 head of garlic
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Chilli flakes
Lemon or lime, to serve
Fried garlic, for garnishing (optional)
Method
Pre-heat oven on 180C fan forced.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Wash the cauliflower and remove the outer leaves. Cut the cauliflower into quarters and remove as much of the core as possible.
Blitz in a food processor until the cauliflower resembles rice.
Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto the cauliflower. Add salt, pepper and chilli flakes to taste. Toss.
Place the cauliflower onto the baking tray and spread out so that it forms a thin layer on the tray.
Separate the garlic into cloves. Places garlic cloves along the pan, nested amongst the cauliflower. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the garlic cloves.
Roast the cauliflower for about 10 minutes. Mix and then make sure it is evenly spread out on the pan before placing back in the overn.
Turn the heat up to 200C and roast for until the cauliflower starts to turn golden brown, about 5-10 minutes.
Remove garlic from skins, mash up and mix with the cauliflower rice.
Serve with lemon or lime juice. If you like your ‘rice’ extra garlicky, garnish with some fried garlic. Happy Eating!
It’s Easter long weekend and my husband and I are both sick. Funny how illness spreads among family members!
Because we are both ill, we wanted something warm, mellow, soothing and easy to digest.
Abalone congee is a favourite at our house. Lightly and gently flavoured, it is perfect for sick people who don’t want to eat anything with strong flavours.
In Australia, we can buy abalone fresh, frozen or canned. Canned abalone are usually already cleaned.
If you buy fresh or frozen abalone, you will need to clean it by washing thoroughly. Scrub with salt and a soft brush or sponge to remove the greyish film on the abalone. Then you will need to remove the beak and guts. There are helpful instructions on the Ausab Pure Australian Abalone website: http://www.ausab.com.au/abalone/how-to-prepare-abalone/
Don’t throw the guts away - these add extra umami flavour and you will need it for this recipe.
Soothing Abalone Congee
Ingredients
1 cup sweet (glutinous) rice
3 abalone, shucked, washed and cleaned
Guts from the 3 abalone
2 tablespoons soju
1-2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger wine
1-2 teaspoons ginger powder (add more if you like yours extra gingery!)
4-8 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon fish sauce (add more if you like yours more salty)
Spring onion, for garnishing
Roasted seaweed cut into thin strips, for garnishing
Method
Wash the rice 3-4 times, then soak in water overnight.
Lightly score the top of the abalone, then turn it the other way and cut into thin slices.
Soak the abalone and guts in soju for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Drain water from the rice.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, stir fry the garlic and abalone guts in sesame oil until the garlic turns a light gold colour.
If you want a lightly flavoured congee - remove the pot from the heat and use chopsticks to pick out and discard the guts. Skip this step if you want the congee to have a stronger umami flavour.
Return back to the heat. Add more sesame oil if required and stir fry the rice until it becomes slightly translucent.
Add the sliced abalone, soju, ginger wine and ginger powder. Stir.
Pour in 4 cups of chicken stock. Stir.
Cover the pot and boil for 10-15 minutes.
Stir the mixture. Leave the lid ajar. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Check in every few minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
If the mixture is looking too thick, add more stock bit by bit. Stir and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer.
The congee is done when the rice is soft and mushy, and the broth is milky.
Stir in the fish sauce.
Serve in bowls, garnished with chopped spring onion and roasted seaweed. You can also add a poached egg and some sesame seeds if desired. Happy Eating!
Heart wants: To cook with mummy!
Tummy wants: Savoury
My mum is a fantastic cook. Her specialty at our house was Chinese food. Growing up, I was fortunate to have scrumptious home cooked meals on the table every single night without fail. My mum is one of those amazing superhumans who managed to work full time, take care of kids, cook delicious meals and have a spotless house. I really don’t know how she did it!
Mum and I have always been very close. But now that I’m married and have moved out of home, we don’t get to spend as much time together as we used to. I was chatting to my mum one day and suggested that we cook together once every so often as way of bonding, and that I could blog about our cooking adventures together. She was pretty keen on the idea, and so we present our very first Mummy and Me blog adventure.
Steamed Stuffed Bitter Melon (Ampalaya)
Ingredients
4 Bitter Melon, cut into two-inch rounds
1 teaspoon salt
300-400 grams minced pork
1 carrot
1 stalk spring onion
1 stalk coriander
2 cloves garlic
1 chilli
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon corn flour
Coriander for garnish
For the sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon chilli sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Method
Soak the bitter melon in a big bowl of water with one teaspoon of salt for at least 30 minutes.
Peel and grate the carrot.
Whizz the spring onion, coriander, garlic and chilli in a food processor to cut finely.
In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
Use a sharp knife and remove the seeds from the bitter melon.
Stuff the bitter melon with the mince mixture. The bottom should be flat, and the top should form a small dome.
Place into a heat proof dish and steam for 45 minutes to one hour.
To make the sauce - mix cornflour and water to make a slurry. In a small pot over high heat, combine all of the sauces and spices together and bring to a boil. Add the slurry and stir well to ensure there are no lumps. Remove from the heat.
Crunchy Chicharon - an all time Filipino favourite
Heart wants: A satisfying crunch
Tummy wants: A classic Filipino snack
Last week, I wrote about how to make Nem Nuong (grilled Vietnamese sausages). I used pork belly mince for that dish and asked my local butcher to take the skin off the belly so that I could use it for Chicharon.
Chicharon is an all time Filipino favourite. Essentially, its crunchy pork crackling...best dipped in spicy vinegar. It’s seriously satisfying to hear that massive CRUNCH as you bite into it.
Chicharon happens to be one my mum’s favourite snack foods. She can’t resist it and so it was timely to make it for our family dinner.
It’s actually quite easy to make homemade chicharon. All you need is time and patience! Check out the recipe below.
Crunchy Chicharon
Ingredients
Pork belly skin, with as much of the fat removed as possible
Salt
Pepper (optional)
Oil, for deep frying
Method
Preheat your oven to 80°C conventional.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Cut pork belly skin to desired size and place on baking tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 12 hours to dry out the skin.
Heat oil in a small pot. There should be enough oil in the pot to cover the skin.
Test if the oil is hot by placing a bit of the skin into the oil. The skin should bubble and puff up.
Deep fry the skin in small batches until puffy.
Place the deep fried skins on a plate lined with paper towels to drain the oil. Sprinkle a bit more salt and pepper if desired.
Serve immediately with spicy vinegar. Happy eating!
My husband and I are big fans of nem nuong, a grilled sausage we often get in our bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwiches).
Over the last week, my husband has been asking me to make nem nuong because he has been craving for it.
The process of making nem nuong was actually easier than I thought it would be. The key is to get the right kind of meat...that is, fatty meat. The fat makes these little beauties come out wonderfully moist and juicy.
I made this on St Patrick’s weekend, so I made my nem nuong green. It was also raining the day I made this, so instead of cooking it over the bbq, I used our air fryer. If you don’t have an air fryer or bbq, you can use an oven or you can deep fry.
You have a few options with the bread. Traditionally, Vietnamese baguettes are used to make bánh mì. These baguettes are crunchy and flaky. You can also use brioche buns with then make your sandwich soft and sweet.
However, as we were making this, my dad came around with a big bag of pandesal. Pandesal is a soft, airy and slightly sweet Filipino bread roll with a bit of a crispy crust. It is one of my favourite kinds of bread because it brings back childhood memories of breakfast whilst on holiday in the Philippines. My grandmother used to get these fresh. We would dunk the warm pandesal into steaming hot coffee and eat it as we chatted.
In terms of size, one pandesal is about the size of a dinner roll so I thought of making what I like to call Pan de Sliders.
This time around, our trio of Pan de Sliders comprised of my take on bánh mì, cheese & garlic and ‘Filipino fusion’ with chicharon (crispy pork crackling) and ensaladang talong (eggplant salad).
Today’s post will be focused on how to make the nem nuong and bánh mì Pan de Sliders. In the next few weeks, I will be posting separately on how to make chicharon and ensaladang talong so watch this space!
Nem Nuong Pan de Sliders
Ingredients
Nem Nuong
Makes 18-20 sausages
5 spring onions
3 cloves garlic
500 grams minced pork belly
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon molasses
A pinch of cinnamon
Baking paper
Bánh mì
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
Pandesal
Nem Nuong
Chicken liver pate
1/2 cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
1 spring onion, cut to approximately the same length as the cucumber
1 coriander, for garnishing
Jalapenos (optional)
Maggi seasoning sauce
Method
Nem Nuong
Blend the spring onions and garlic until smooth.
Combine all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Knead to mix.
Tear off a sheet of baking paper which is about the size of an oven tray. Divide into eight pieces.
Put a bit of the mixture into your hands and roll into a sausage shape. Wrap in a piece of baking paper and place into a freezer-safe container.
Repeat with the whole mixture.
Freeze until firm, about two hours or overnight.
Preheat your air fryer to 180°C.
Take the nem nuong out of the freezer.
Remove the baking paper.
Push the nem nuong through skewers and cook in the air fryer until the juices run clear (about 10 minutes).
Bánh mì
Mix carrot, vinegar and sugar in a bowl and let it pickle for at least an hour.
Split pandesal into half.
Preheat your air fryer to 180°C.
Toast pandesal until slightly golden.
Place a bit of pate into a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds. This will make it soft and easy to spread.
Spread pate onto the bottom half of the pandesal.
Top with nem nuong, picked carrot, spring onion, cucumber, coriander and jalapeno.
Add a few drops of Maggi seasoning sauce and a bit of the pickling juice, then close with the top half of the pandesal. Happy eating!
Heart wants: To satisfy a craving
Tummy wants: Breakfast
You know how you wake up sometimes and get a craving? That was me today. I woke up this morning and felt like eating a banana muffin. And coffee.
It was completely unplanned, but turns out we had three over-ripe bananas sitting in our kitchen. And a little bit of butter in our fridge. God provides! I felt like a champ because I ended up killing two birds with one stone - Operation Fridge Clean Up and satisfying a craving.
I was at the supermarket a few weeks ago and spotted the Woolworths Free from Gluten Self Raising Flour on sale. Despite some previous failures with gluten free flour (coconut flour failures), I couldn’t resist the temptation to experiment.
Boy was I glad that I did. These muffins are the best I have ever made. Muffins are usually heavy and dense. But these were soft and fluffy, with an almost cake-like texture.
When I was younger, I used to make banana peanut butter sandwiches. I love how the salty and nutty peanut butter balances out the soft and sweet banana, providing a textural contrast. Thinking back on my childhood, I planted a little crunchy peanut butter surprise in my muffins. These did sink to the bottom as the muffins cooked, so if anyone has figured out how to make them stay in the centre, let me know!
Banana muffins with peanut butter surprise
Makes 24 small muffins
Ingredients
1 cup raw sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
3 ripe bananas
1 cup plain yoghurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 1/2 cups gluten free self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Crunchy peanut butter
Plain yoghurt, to serve
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C fan forced.
Place 3/4 cup of the sugar in a mixer. Slowly mix in the butter, one tablespoon at a time.
Tear banana into small pieces and add to the mix.
Add the yoghurt, eggs and vanilla. Continue to mix.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and remaining 1/4 cup sugar and mix well. Your batter should be smooth and a beautiful pastel yellow colour.
Line your muffin tray with liners.
Place 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter into a liner.
Add a dollop of crunchy peanut butter.
Top with another tablespoon of batter.
Repeat with all the lined muffin cups.
Bang the muffin tin on the counter to flatten the mixture.
Bake until the muffins become golden brown and a toothpick or fork inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean (approximately 15-20 minutes).
Cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes.
Enjoy whilst warm, with a bit of yoghurt. Happy eating!
Operation Fridge Clean Up continues and this week, we had enoki mushrooms in our vegetable drawer. Enoki are white capped mushrooms with a long white stem. They have a neutral flavour and crispy texture. When cooked, they turn soft and silky, almost like noodles!
Initially, I was thinking of making a soup with the enoki, but my mum also gave me a packet of firm tofu so I changed my mind and decided to make a stir fry.
I was chatting to my friends recently about how we decide what to cook each day. When I first got married, I would plan each meal. However, as life got busier and schedules became more subject to change, I started to find meal planning a bit harder.
These days, I don’t really plan each meal during the week. It’s more an exercise of seeing what is in the fridge and creating something delicious out of it.
Enoki “Noodles” with Beef and Tofu stir fry
Ingredients
330 grams enoki mushrooms
400 grams firm tofu
1 small sweet onion, cut into wedges
1/2 bulb of garlic, sliced thinly
450 grams beef, cut into cubes
1 capful soju
1/4 cup frozen corn
1-2 tablespoons ginger powder
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
Sesame oil, for cooking
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 spring onion, sliced into long thin strips, for garnishing
Method
Separate the enoki mushrooms into threads.
Drain the water from the tofu and slice into small rectangular blocks.
Heat a bit of sesame oil in a wok or pot.
Add the onion and garlic and saute until it becomes aromatic.
Add the beef and soju. Stir fry until the beef turns brown.
Add the enoki, tofu, corn, ginger powder, oyster sauce, salt and pepper. Stir fry for approximately two minutes, making sure the sauce coats all the ingredients.
Garnish with spring onion and serve hot. Happy eating!
I’ve been craving for ube since I came back from Manila a few weeks ago. My in-laws flew into town recently and I asked them to bring back some Ube Halaya (ube jam) for me. They managed to source the best ube jam ever. I say the best because it’s the smoothest, creamiest...and holiest ube jam. Yup, you read right - holiest. This ube jam was made by nuns and is a gift from God.
At a family lunch last week, I was talking to my husband’s aunt about ice cream. I mentioned to her that it was entirely possible to make home made ice cream without an ice cream maker in five minutes. She didn’t believe me, so here it is.
This is a quick, no fuss, no churn ice cream recipe that takes me back to memories of childhood trips to the Philippines. I have always thought of ube as a treat, but recently found out that it is actually pretty healthy! Did you know that one cup of ube provides 20% of your daily recommended dose of potassium?
Ube jam is of course not as healthy, but indulgences are allowed once in a while...especially when they can be made this quick.
Mint has been growing profusely in our garden and I topped off my ice cream with a few leaves to give it a pop of colour. This unlikely pairing is actually a match made in heaven. The mint brings a refreshing punch to this sweet treat and brings out the earthy notes of the ube.
Alternatively you can have the ube ice cream with more traditional pairings such as leche flan, macapuno (coconut sport and young coconut strips in syrup) or nata de coco (coconut jelly).
Heart wants: Old family favourite
Tummy wants: Savoury
Sunday evenings are family dinner nights. It’s a chance to catch up over how everyone’s week was, an opportunity to bond through communal dining and a shared meal.
Whilst shopping at our favourite Korean butcher, we saw this beautiful thinly sliced marbled beef brisket that was on special. It was perfect for beef bulgogi!
Beef bulgogi is one of my favourite things to serve in the middle of the table when there’s family over. It’s easy because you can serve it so many ways - with rice, in wraps...and everyone can just help themselves.
This time around, we had it as DIY-perilla leaves wraps! Perillas are part of the mint family. The leaves are big and broad, with a licorice-like flavour. We love using them to make bite-sized vegetable wraps, topped with ssamjang and chilli sauce.
Bangin’ Beef Bulgogi
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
10 garlic cloves, minced
1 asian pear, peeled and grated
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 spring onions, chopped into approximately 3cm pieces
2 tablespoons ginger powder
6 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons black pepper
3 tablespoons dry sherry (or use soju or sake)
4 tablespoons mirin
1 carrot, peeled and sliced thinly into ribbons
1 capcicum, sliced thinly (optional)
1kg marbled beef, thinly sliced
1 spring onion, thinly sliced into long strips for garnishing
Ssamjang sauce, to serve if making vegetable wraps (you can buy this from a Korean supermarket)
Chilli sauce, to serve
Method
Mix all of the ingredients together. Add the beef and mix well, making sure that the marinade coats the beef evenly.
Cover with cling wrap and marinade in the fridge for at least an hour (or overnight if possible).
Fire it up on the BBQ or on a pan over high heat.
Garnish with spring onion.
Serve over rice, as a bibimbap, with veges and rice paper rolls or with vegetable wraps - we love lettuce and perilla leaves! Top with ssamjang sauce and/or chilli sauce for an extra kick! Happy eating!
Heart wants: Quick and easy weeknight meal
Tummy wants: Savoury
I love leftovers. I love how versatile they are. I love the magic of leftovers...the fact that with just a little bit of imagination, you can turn them into something completely different.
Chicken breast is no one’s favourite at our house. Whenever we have a roast chicken, no one ever wants to eat the breast. So poor old breast gets left behind, alone, abandoned.
But chicken breast is wonderfully versatile. It’s great in salads, fried rice, noodles...The neutral flavour of the breast pretty much goes with anything. And the best thing is that it is the biggest piece of meat on the chicken, so you get a lot of it!
Week days are particularly busy for the husband and I, so I always want something quick and easy to prepare. We came home one day and felt like noodles so I whipped this up lightning quick.
I used Misua noodles for this dish. Misua are thin wheat flour based noodles which originated from Fujian, China. In the Philippines, we usually use them to make birthday noodles as the noodles signify longevity. However, they were also perfect for this dish because they cook so quickly. If you can’t get misua noodles, you can also use the japanese somen noodles, which are similar in thickness and texture.
I had some bright and colourful sweet baby capsicums in the fridge and they worked beautifully with the chicken and noodles.
What do your weeknight meals look like?
Lightning Fast Chicken Misua Noodle Bowl
Ingredients
2 serves Misua or Somen noodles
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 chicken breast, shredded
250g sweet baby capcicums, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1-2 teaspoons soy sauce (to taste)
a pinch of pepper
chilli oil
1 spring onion, for garnishing
crunchy fried shallots, for garnishing
crunchy fried garlic, for garnishing
Method
Cook the misua or somen in boiling water until the noodles are soft.
Remove the noodles from the heat and drain. Rinse with cold water then place in your serving bowls.
Heat sesame oil in a pan over high heat.
Saute garlic in the oil until slightly brown. Add the chicken and stir fry.
Add the capcicums and stir fry until tender.
Stir in the oyster sauce, soy sauce and pepper, making sure all the ingredients are coated evenly.
Place the chicken and capcicums over misua noodles. Drizzle some chilli oil over the noodle bowl. Garnish with spring onions, crunchy shallots and crunchy garlic before serving.
Heart wants: Sweets for my sweet
Tummy wants: Sweet
Its Valentine’s Day today and I wanted to make something “sweet for my sweet”. Somewhat cheesy, but hey - a bit of cheesyness in a marriage isn’t a bad thing at all!
I spent a couple of days in Manila recently and came back determined to make something out of ube.
Ube is a fragrant, gloriously intense purple yam, with a subtle sweet flavour. In the Philippines it is usually used in desserts. Anything from cakes, to jam, to ice cream, to topping off a mouthwatering Halo-Halo (yum).
Given the crazy heat wave we’ve been experiencing, I definitely wanted to create a cold dessert.
I broached the idea of layering ube and milk to create a light, cool dessert with my husband last week. Something that was a little bit jelly-like, and also a little bit pudding-like. The more I talked about it, the more he said it couldn’t be done. Well, I just proved him wrong.
Check out the recipe below. Because Sydney Summers + Valentine’s Day doesn’t always have to equal hot and heavy, right?
Ube de Leche
Serves: 4-6
This is a layered dessert that you will need to make in stages. Be patient, it will be worth it!
Ingredients
Ube layer
5 gelatin sheets
cold water for soaking gelatin sheets
1 cup ube halaya (ube jam)
1 tablespoon cold water
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup thickened cream
1/4 cup sugar
Leche layer
5 gelatin sheets
cold water for soaking gelatin sheets
1 cup thickened cream
1 cup condensed milk
Macapuno (coconut sport and young coconut strips in syrup), for garnishing
Method
Ube layer
Soak gelatin sheets in cold water until soft.
Mix ube halaya and 1 tablespoon of cold water until smooth.
Pour the coconut milk, cream and sugar into a saucepan. Dissolve the sugar over medium heat. Stir frequently.
Remove from the heat when the mixture begins to simmer and the sugar has dissolved.
Pour the ube mixture into the saucepan and mix well.
Squeeze the water from the gelatin sheets. Add one gelatin sheet into the ube mixture and stir until the sheet has dissolved.
Repeat until all of the gelatin sheets have dissolved and the mixture has thickened.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve.
Pour into your serving bowls, dividing it between four larger bowls, or 6 smaller bowls.
Place into the fridge to chill and set for at least one hour.
Leche layer
Soak gelatin sheets in cold water until soft.
Pour the cream and condensed milk into a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer. Remember to stir as you heat the mixture!
Remove from the heat.
Squeeze the water from the gelatin sheets. Add one gelatin sheet into the mixture and stir until the sheet has dissolved.
Repeat until all of the gelatin sheets have dissolved and the mixture has thickened.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve.
Take the serving bowls containing the ube mixture out of the fridge. The ube mixture should have set.
Carefully pour the leche mixture over the ube mixture to create another layer.
Place the serving bowls back into the fridge. Chill and set for at least one to two hours, or overnight if possible.
To serve
Garnish with macapuno and serve cold. Happy eating!
My husband and I love grocery shopping. Every time we go, we see something new and interesting that we want to try. The problem is coming home to find that there just seems to be no place for our purchases.
I had to play a game of tetris with my fridge recently. I was the sore loser (in the literal sense) when several packs of frozen meat bungee jumped onto my foot. That was when I realised we needed to embark on Operation Fridge Clean Up.
The idea is simple - to try to finish off what’s in our fridge before buying any more. This will require discipline when we shop!
When looking at the contents of my fridge, I discovered a pack of soft shell crab. Aha! It was the perfect ingredient to welcome week one of Operation Fridge Clean Up with a bang.
Crab is a house favourite at our place, but sometimes you really just don’t feel like digging the crab meat out of the shell. Soft shell crab gives you the best of both worlds - sweet succulent crab meat, without any effort.
Did you know that soft shell crab isn’t actually a different species? It’s your usual crab that has just shed their old hard shell. Still soft, they are removed from the water and dispatched to thousands of people to enjoy. Poor crab, lucky me.
In Australia, we typically find soft shell crab battered and deep fried, served in sushi or atop a salad at various Japanese and Thai restaurants. I wanted to try something different.
I visited my in-laws a few weeks ago and my mother-in-law had black pepper crab in the middle of the table. It was delicious! Sweet crab meat offset with fiery pepper…mmmmmm.
So I thought - soft shell crab with black pepper sauce? Why not!
Do be careful when you fry up the crab. Ever since I was young, I have been a bit scared of deep frying. I got a bit of a shock when I was frying the crab and part of it popped and exploded. Scarred for life, but this crab is so worth it.
Black Pepper Soft Shell Crab
Serves: 4
Ingredients
10 soft shell crabs (approximately 1 kilo), washed and cleaned
2 tablespoons cornflour
2 tablespoons ginger powder
Olive oil for deep frying
4 tablespoons crushed black pepper
50 grams unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced thinly
10 grams curry leaves
2 chilli, chopped
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce (to taste)
2-3 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
Spring onion for garnishing
Method
Put the cornflour and ginger powder on top of the crab and mix gently to coat the crab.
Heat the oil in a small pot.
Deep fry the crab until it turns red, then set the crab aside.
In a different pot, toast the pepper over medium-high heat until it becomes aromatic.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the butter, garlic, onion, curry leaves and chilli. Stir fry.
Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Stir fry.
Add the soft shell crab and mix gently until the sauce coats the crab.
Plate and garnish with spring onion before serving.
Last Saturday was Chinese New Year and the best way to celebrate our Asian roots is with food! However, since we live in Australia, we also love to fire up a good old Aussie barbie.
2017 is the year of the Fire Rooster. We thought we would be on theme and fire up a chicken dish.
Since it’s summer, my husband also wanted something fresh and different. I decided to experiment a little with lemongrass.
To give the dish a vibrant and summery yellow hue, I used atsuete oil. Atsuete oil is made from annato seeds and is used as a food colouring in the Philippines. The seeds are cooked with oil and spices to make a bright and aromatic oil.
Here is my recipe for lip-smacking lemongrass chicken.
Lip-Smacking Lemongrass Chicken
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
For the atsuete oil
1/8 cup annato seeds, rinsed
4 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 chilli
1/2 cup coconut oil
For the chicken
4 1/2 stalks of lemongrass
1 knob of ginger
Juice and rind of 2 lemons
8 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablesppon black pepper
10 pieces of chicken thighs (skinless, boneless)
Method
Make the atsuete oil by putting all of the ingredients in a small pot over medium heat. Cook until the oil begins to bubble. Remove from the heat the cool for at least an hour (or overnight if possible), then strain the oil.
Cut the lemongrass into small pieces and place in a blender with all of the other chicken marinade ingredients. Blitz until it forms a paste-like consistency. Place into a large mixing bowl.
Mix the paste with the atsuete oil. Add the chicken and make sure that the marinade coats the meat evenly.
Cover with cling wrap and marinade in the fridge for at least an hour (or overnight if possible).
Fire it up on the barbie and make sure you cook it with the marinade so it doesn’t dry out!
