Forksticks

For those who are not familiar with the ingredients and sources that I usually use. There are pictures for reference. There are always other brands in the market, they are equally great.

• Rice Wine
• Soy Sauce
• Chilli Bean Sauce
• Black Vinegar
• Rice Vinegar
• Dry Chilli
• Fermented & Salted Black Bean
• Sichuan Peppercorn blended with chilli powder
• Rice Steam Powder (rice powder with 5 spice, available in most Asian grocers)
• Sweetened Soybean Paste
• Tapioca Starch (good as batter)
• Sesame Paste
• Peppercorn Chilli Oil
• Sesame Oil
• Dry Black Fungus
• Star Anise
• Candlenuts

Ingredients:
A. Beef (sliced) 150g, soy bean sprouts 100g, dry chilli (chop off the head) 30g
B. Salted dry black bean 10g, minced ginger 30g, sliced garlic 30g

1. Marinate the beef
2. Blench soy bean sprouts and set as a base on the serving plate.
3. Heat the oil in a wok, add ingredient B, turn off the heat.
4. Add seasoning A, and turn the heat back on to medium; stir in corn starch water (from B)
5. Add point 1. Then layer all on top of the bean sprouts.
6. Use a new pan, add 2T of oil till it's heated, add dry chilli, chilli peppercorn powder then add sesame oil & chilli oil. Pour on top Point 5. Ready to serve.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Thigh or Pork Fillet (sliced) approx. 120g
• Picked Vegetables (from supermarket or homemade) 150g
• Fresh Red Chilli (sliced) 20g

Seasoning:
A. Rice wine 1T, salt 1t, sugar 1/2t
B. Corn starch + water 1T, sesame oil 1T

Marinate:

• Soy Sauce 1t
• White Pepper 1t
• Sesame Oil 1t
• Ricw Wine 1t
• Corn Starch 1T

1. Marinate chicken for at least 10 min. Drained the pickles (usually comes in the brine)
2. Add some oil in a hot pan, stir fry the meat. Take it out and set aside
3. Use the leftover oil to stir fry the chilli, then pickles
4. Add point 2 and season with A.
5. Add B in. Finish

My first jar is a small 16cm x 20cm porcelain jar from 2nd hand eBay antique seller. The jar consists of the body, a lid and a reverted bowl. What's so special about this jar? It has a water groove that allows the water to act as insulant to block oxygen yet to allow the air to crawl out during the fermentation process.

Natural lactic acid is then created. It's the most healthy way to have your fibre, yummy pickles and probiotics in one go.

With the final production (see Pic#1, I rince it slightly with water as it's a bit salty for my liking, then add a bit of sugar and drizzle some chilli oil to serve). The vegetable is nicely crunchy with a hint of aroma from the spices.

What you need (based on 1 L of water):

Sea salt                       50 g
Sugar (brown or rock)    40 g
Cool Water (boiled)        1 L
Garlic  (de-skinned)    5 cloves
Dried Chilli                  15 g
Dried Szechuan Peppercorn      1g
Star Anise (optional, or cinnamon quill)    1 ~ 2
Young Ginger               60 g    
High potency white wine (>20%)    10g e.g. Rice Wine, Sake, Gao Liang, Vodka

* Never throw away the Base Pickling Solution.

* Use a separate utensil to handle the pickling. NO OIL can ever come near the entire process.

Extra Reference:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGar0RP_oIY?wmode=transparent]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgukB49fej8?wmode=transparent]

My first jar is a small 16cm x 20cm porcelain jar from 2nd hand eBay antique seller. The jar consists of the body, a lid and a reverted bowl. What's so special about this jar? It has a water groove that allows the water to act as insulant to block oxygen yet to allow the air to crawl out during the fermentation process.

Natural lactic acid is then created. It's the most healthy way to have your fibre, yummy pickles and probiotics in one go.

With the final production (see Pic#1, I rince it slightly with water as it's a bit salty for my liking, then add a bit of sugar and drizzle some chilli oil to serve). The vegetable is nicely crunchy with a hint of aroma from the spices.

What you need (based on 1 L of water):

Sea salt                       50 g
Sugar (brown or rock)    40 g
Cool Water (boiled)        1 L
Garlic  (de-skinned)    5 cloves
Dried Chilli                  15 g
Dried Szechuan Peppercorn      1g
Star Anise (optional, or cinnamon quill)    1 ~ 2
Young Ginger               60 g    
High potency white wine (>20%)    10g e.g. Rice Wine, Sake, Gao Liang, Vodka

* Never throw away the Base Pickling Solution.

* Use a separate utensil to handle the pickling. NO OIL can ever come near the entire process.

Extra Reference:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGar0RP_oIY?wmode=transparent]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgukB49fej8?wmode=transparent]

This pickle can be ready in 3 days. Please sterilize the jars in boiled water for 10 minutes & dry the jars properly.

I prefer to use 1L jam jar. 

Ingredients:

1/2 savoy cabbage
1T sea salt
10 dried long chillies
1t whole black peppercorns
1L white vinegar
345g sugar

1. Cut the cabbage into large chunks, toss with the sea salt and then leave for 30 min to draw out the water.

2. Roast the chillies and ppercorns in a preheated 200 C oven for about 3 min, or until the chillies blacken and the peppercorns are fragrant. Pound the spices in a mortar with a pestle until coarsely ground.

3. Put the vinegar and sugar in a pot over low heat till the sugar dissolves. Bring to the oil, turn off the heat and let it cool. Add the dry spices in.

4. Pack the salted cabbage into the jar, pour the vinegar mixture slowly till the cabbage is well submerged. Seal the lid tightly and ready in 3 days.

This chilli paste is versatile and can be served as a condiment to go with radish cake, yum cha dim sim, spread on bread or accompany rice.

It can also be used as a base, simply stir fried any proteins (seafood, chicken, beef).

Or use it as a curry paste by adding some coconut milk and it'd be a delicious Malaysian style curry.

Ingredients

40 Bird's eye chilli
5 Green long chilli
1 Capsicum (red)
1 Red onion
10 Echallot
20 cloves Garlic
2 Stalks lemongrass
10t Chilli powder
6t Tumeric powder
15 Candle nuts
2T Shrimp paste (oven roasted)
2 lime juice
1 cup Palm sugar

1. Chopped everything into smaller pieces (chillies, onion, garlic, lemongrass, candle nuts) and process in batches.
2. Heat up a fry pan with a bit of oil and start frying the mix till it's cooked thoroughly. 
3. Add chilli powder, tumeric powder, shrimp paste, lime juice and palm sugar to taste.
4. Slowly reduced the sambal till it turns into paste like.
5. Sambal belacan is ready and wait till it's totally cooled down before it can be jarred. Freeze it would prolong the consumption life. Once the jar's opened, please consume within 1 week.

Extra References:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klUj0WPR4W4?wmode=transparent]

http://www.mandyaonline.com/news/sambal-udang-kemiri-shrimps-in-chili-and-can...

500g minced pork
1 egg
1 T cornstarch
1 T minced fresh ginger root
1 T soy sauce
1 T sugar
2 t sesame oil
2 T shallots, white parts only, chopped finely
2 T water chestnut (from the can), diced
1 bunch Wong-Bok (napa cabbage), cored and cut into chunks
1 Litre chicken stock
1 bunch corriander, roughly chopped for serving

Pre-fry dipping sauce:
3 T soy sauce
2 t sugar

Directions:
1. Mix all dry ingredients together (pork, ginger, shallots, water chestnut, sugar). Then add soy sauce, sesame oil, egg, cornstarch.
2. Pour chicken stock and water in to a deep soup pot. Put half amount of the cabbage into the soup till its boiled and turn it on to low heat.
3. Shape the meat mix into 5 cm meat balls (or any desirable sizes). Throw them around a bit between your hands like you do when making hamburgers to tenderise the meat.
Heat up a separate fry pan with a bit of oil, coat the meat balls with Pre-fry dipping sauce, and fry the meat balls one by one.
4. Simply seal the meatballs till it’s 20% cooked. Then transfer the meatballs to the boiled soup stock. When all the meatballs are in the pot, cover them with the rest of the cabbage.
5. Put a lid on the soup pot, leave a bit of breathing gap only.
6. When the meatballs & cabbage are fully cooked, approx. 20 min. Serve them with corrianders.

It is a soup version thus it’s really good with vermicelli or noodle.

Another fabulous dish for the slow cooker.  I usually have the slow cooker on for 6 to 8 hours.

This is one of those top restaurant dishes that you can easily do at home. Beef cheek is not cheap, you can always substitute with other cheaper cut. However, it's worth spending a bit for the moment of indulgence. 

• 80 ml (⅓ cup)
• olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 thyme sprig
• 4 beef cheeks (about 350gm each), trimmed
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 350 ml dark ale
• 100 ml red wine
• 100 gm tomato purée

 Burghul salad 

• 150 gm coarse burghul (I used Polenta & Quinoa)
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, seeds removed, finely diced
• 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar   

To serve:

• micro-herbs, such as baby lamb's lettuce or micro-cress (Optional)

Bread and anchovy sauce

• 125 ml (½ cup)
• chicken stock
• 30 gm
• day-old white crusty bread, coarsely torn
• 3
• anchovy fillets
• 2 tsp
• olive oil

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1. Preheat oven to 140C. Heat half the oil in a casserole over medium heat, add onion, carrot, garlic and thyme, stir occasionally until onion is tender (8-10 minutes), transfer vegetables and thyme to a bowl and set aside. Heat remaining oil in pan, add beef cheeks and cook, turning once, until browned (3-4 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add flour, stir occasionally until sand-coloured (1-2 minutes), add ale, wine and tomato purée, then return vegetables, thyme and beef to casserole. Add enough water to just cover, cover with foil, pierce foil with a sharp knife and braise until beef is very tender (3½-4 hours).

2. Meanwhile, for burghul salad, cook burghul in a saucepan of boiling salted water over medium-high heat until tender (2-3 minutes), drain well and spread on a tray to cool. Combine in a bowl with cucumber, oil and vinegar, season to taste and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, for bread and anchovy sauce, stir ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until bread is very soft (2-3 minutes), remove from heat, purée with a hand-held blender and season to taste. Serve warm with beef cheeks and burghul salad scattered with micro-herbs.

Ever since I was invited to a Persian gathering with the most delicious eggplant dip that I’ve ever encountered, I was beguiled forever. 

Hopefully my interpretation can do justice to their culinary cultural love.

What you need:
2 large Eggplants, peeled and cubed
6 Tbsp Kashk, can substitute with sour cream or even natural yoghurt 
2 onion, sliced thinly 
1 Tbsp Tomato paste, dissolved with 1/2 cup I water
2 Tbsp Mint or Dried Mint
3 cloves Mince Garlic
6 Tbsp Olive Oil
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
1.5 tsp Tumeric powder

1. Divide the olive oil accordingly.
Fry mint leave with a little oil, set aside. (as the leave burnt quickly, only a few seconds shall do)
Fry onion, set aside.
2. Fry garlic and eggplants till soften and golden. Add tomato paste solution, 3 Tbsp Kashk and onion. Stir well and simmer with a cover for 8 min at least and stir from time to time.
3. When the eggplants are well cooked, remove from heat and mash the mix. Stir in 2 Tbsp of Kashk with tumeric, black pepper and salt.
4. To serve, spread the remaining Kashk and garnish with mint oil. Top with optional crushed walnut, almond or even parsley.