1. It's not about what you're eating, but who you're eating it with.
2. It doesn't have to be expensive - with some creativity, the simplest ingredients can form the most unique combination of flavors
3. A meal always requires some careful thought and planning - but not too much. Easy does it best.
4. It can't taste that bad if it was prepared with lots of love.
5. Don't be afraid of trying something new - you never know what you'll create
6. It's OK to make mistakes, or if the dish doesn't come out perfectly - it's knowing what to change for next time
7. Much like experiences, each course in the meal could be perfect in it's own right, but if consumed at the wrong time, or with a different pairing of flavors, would not achieve it's full potential.
8. Using what's in season and available makes the best meals - searching for resources you don't have is a waste of your time and energy that could be put into creating a better meal instead
9. It starts with good ingredients - no amount of seasoning or sauce can hide what's truly on the inside
10. Only the Chef knows how to pair the perfect wine for the perfect meal.
The search for the perfect wine is a complicated affair. It must complement all the courses in the meal, it must appeal to all the diners' palates, and it must be drinkable at the current moment in time. It is often a rare find, and sometimes can cost more than the perfect meal itself. To the lay person, the search for the perfect wine involves so much sacrifice (time, money, effort) that settling for a good wine is satisfactory. However, for the true connoisseur, it is worth giving up everything just to bring the perfect bottle to the table. After all, without the perfect meal, the perfect wine is merely a shadow of what it could become.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
When life gives you vodka, make a sauce!
Every good cook needs to be able to make a good tomato based meat sauce. It's the base of many dishes - spaghetti, lasagna, chili, and even meat loaf, so the classic recipe needs to be extremely easy to put together, and made with ingredients that are always within pantry reach.
I've made numerous changes to the recipe over the years (check this one out from last year here), but the recipe will always have the following ingredients: A beef & pork mix (pork for texture and flavor), tomatoes (canned when you are in a pinch), tomato paste (not always bad for you), onions. The secret ingredient is always an alcohol, and I think this recipe tops the lot with the alcohol of choice - Vodka!
Here's the recipe!
Vodka Meat Ragu
2 lbs Pork & Beef, Hand Ground
1 lbs Mixed Tomatoes,diced, preferably Roma, cherry, sweet 100s
1 ea Carrot, Brunoise
1 ea Celery, Brunoise
1/4 ea Onion, Bruinoise
1 cup Vodka
2 tbs Tomato Paste
2 tbs Fresh Herb, minced - parsley, oregano, basil & thyme recommended
4 tbs Olive Oil
Salt, pepper & sugar to taste
1. Heat the oil in a heavy saute pan & brown meat, working in batches if necessary
2. Removed meat into a saucepot and add the tomato paste and cook for an additional 2 minutes
3. Add the tomatoes to the saucepot and leave to simmer
4. In the browned saute pan, add the onions to brown lightly, adding a little more oil if necessary
5. Add the carrots and celery and saute, then add the vodka to deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits
6. Keep the vodka mixture boiling until all the alcohol burns off - be careful, vapor might ignite, but it's nothing to worry about
7. Add the vodka liquid and vegtables into the saucepot with the meat, stir in the minced herb
8. Simmer until tomatoes cook down and sauce has a thick consistency
9. Season to taste with salt, pepper & sugar
Leave to cool, and best served after the sauce is left to sit for about 2 days in the fridge
I've made numerous changes to the recipe over the years (check this one out from last year here), but the recipe will always have the following ingredients: A beef & pork mix (pork for texture and flavor), tomatoes (canned when you are in a pinch), tomato paste (not always bad for you), onions. The secret ingredient is always an alcohol, and I think this recipe tops the lot with the alcohol of choice - Vodka!
Here's the recipe!
Vodka Meat Ragu
2 lbs Pork & Beef, Hand Ground
1 lbs Mixed Tomatoes,diced, preferably Roma, cherry, sweet 100s
1 ea Carrot, Brunoise
1 ea Celery, Brunoise
1/4 ea Onion, Bruinoise
1 cup Vodka
2 tbs Tomato Paste
2 tbs Fresh Herb, minced - parsley, oregano, basil & thyme recommended
4 tbs Olive Oil
Salt, pepper & sugar to taste
1. Heat the oil in a heavy saute pan & brown meat, working in batches if necessary
2. Removed meat into a saucepot and add the tomato paste and cook for an additional 2 minutes
3. Add the tomatoes to the saucepot and leave to simmer
4. In the browned saute pan, add the onions to brown lightly, adding a little more oil if necessary
5. Add the carrots and celery and saute, then add the vodka to deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits
6. Keep the vodka mixture boiling until all the alcohol burns off - be careful, vapor might ignite, but it's nothing to worry about
7. Add the vodka liquid and vegtables into the saucepot with the meat, stir in the minced herb
8. Simmer until tomatoes cook down and sauce has a thick consistency
9. Season to taste with salt, pepper & sugar
Leave to cool, and best served after the sauce is left to sit for about 2 days in the fridge
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Chef Laura's Makan Sutra
makan /mah-kahn, ˈmɑkɑn/ n. & v. [Mal. makan food, a meal; eat, consume] A n. Food, a meal. B v. Eat, have a meal.
su·tra \ˈsü-trə\ n. a precept summarizing Vedic teaching; also : a collection of these precepts
They say the best thing about Singapore is the food, and I agree.
The cuisine is so unique and the flavors are a reflection of the cultural melting pot this is Singaporean society. Because of that, it's difficult to replicate outside the region - here in the Bay Area, there are probably more Singaporean restaurants per sq ft than any other place outside of Singapore. However, none of them have effectively been able to transpose the same kind of authenticity to the food (yes, I can't even do it myself, even though I do a pretty good job).
Barbequed Pork Jerky, another thing you can't find here in the Bay area
So, because of the lack of availability of authentic Singaporean cuisine around, the cravings for the food set in, and when I do get a chance to visit Singapore, it's really a chance for me to play food catch up. There are so many things on the menu that it's difficult for me to satisfy every single desire, so I tend to just sample what I can. Plus, if you're familiar with the cuisine, you'll know that it's heavy on the carbs and saturated fat, and so, less is definitely more for the waistline!
On this recent trip, I was caught up with a bunch of other stuff, and although I barely had enough time for a meal a day, I did get some local favorites in:
First up, home made Mee Siam and Pohpiah at a Hari Raya Puasa party. Mee siam is made by stir frying rice vermicelli in a prawn and chili paste, and then served with a spicy and sour clear broth, and the recipe is almost a family secret. Pohpiah on the other hand is almost the chinese version of sushi, or vietnamese fresh spring rolls, except that the filling is mostly braised turnip with a variety of condiments ranging from boiled shrimp to bean sprouts and several other interesting sauces that I don't care to mention!
Plate of Mee Siam
Mee Siam Sauce
Mee Siam Condiments
Rolling the pohpiah
Pohpiah condiments
The Social Networking Forum Asia was held at the Hyatt Hotel, which has a pretty good restaurant on the ground floor. The Straits Kitchen serves up local favorites at exorbitant prices. I ordered Hokkien Mee, which is a favorite of mine, made by Wok Frying egg & rice noodles in a rich shrimp and pork stock, and a Teh Tarik, the local style tea, with condensed milk and "pulled" or drawn in the air to create froth. What normally would have cost me $5, came up to $30 - you pay that much extra to sit in air conditioning and use your laptop while having lunch :)
Hokkien Mee & Teh Tarik, with quite awesome chili sauce considering
I had the chance to go for supper twice - (which is almost considered a national sport), where we had Prata, (a local version of the croissant, except it's made with ghee, served with curry, and eaten mostly when drunk at 3am), and Hainanese Chicken Rice (do check out my post here), which is really one of the most quintessential dishes of Singaporean Cuisine.
Chicken served at room temperature, and with the bone still bloody - so it never dries out!
Sambal Kangkong - a local spinach stir fried with chili, and the clear chicken broth
Chicken Insides (Gizzard & Liver, a popular side dish, but apparently I'm the only one that eats it), and yellow chicken rice, a sign that it was cooked the authentic way - with chicken fat!
Sorry folks - due to being only half conscious on Friday night I forgot to take pictures of the Prata, but please google search it!
Ironic how I started and ended my culinary journey at Singapore's Changi Airport as well - the first lunch I had was at the Crystal Jade La Mien Xiao Long Bao restaurant at Terminal 3, where we had "Shanghainese" noodles, dumplings and other delicacies like stewed pork and drunken chicken. To send me off, we ate at the Soup Restaurant at Terminal 2 - it's local franchise that's extremely reliable, affordable, and always surprisingly consistent!
Dan Dan Noodles ( Peanut Sauce), Drunked Chicken & Pork Dumplings at Crystal Jade
Stewed Pork, Hand Pulled Noodles with Wontons
The famous Samsui Chicken at Soup Restaurant
L - R: Steamed minced pork with salted egg, Stir fried fish ($1 Special), and Stir fried sweet potato leaves
Amongst other things at the award winning Changi Airport, there is a Killiney Kopitiam (Cafe), one of the oldest and most legendary breakfast spots, that have like many other eateries, now branched out into franchising. We spent our last moments together around one last cup of Kopi (coffee or tea "Teh" with condensed milk), and munching on Kaya toast, an egg custard sandwich that I grew up around. It was a fitting end to the time I spent with family, but sweet enough to linger till I see them again.
su·tra \ˈsü-trə\ n. a precept summarizing Vedic teaching; also : a collection of these precepts
They say the best thing about Singapore is the food, and I agree.
The cuisine is so unique and the flavors are a reflection of the cultural melting pot this is Singaporean society. Because of that, it's difficult to replicate outside the region - here in the Bay Area, there are probably more Singaporean restaurants per sq ft than any other place outside of Singapore. However, none of them have effectively been able to transpose the same kind of authenticity to the food (yes, I can't even do it myself, even though I do a pretty good job).
Barbequed Pork Jerky, another thing you can't find here in the Bay area
So, because of the lack of availability of authentic Singaporean cuisine around, the cravings for the food set in, and when I do get a chance to visit Singapore, it's really a chance for me to play food catch up. There are so many things on the menu that it's difficult for me to satisfy every single desire, so I tend to just sample what I can. Plus, if you're familiar with the cuisine, you'll know that it's heavy on the carbs and saturated fat, and so, less is definitely more for the waistline!
On this recent trip, I was caught up with a bunch of other stuff, and although I barely had enough time for a meal a day, I did get some local favorites in:
First up, home made Mee Siam and Pohpiah at a Hari Raya Puasa party. Mee siam is made by stir frying rice vermicelli in a prawn and chili paste, and then served with a spicy and sour clear broth, and the recipe is almost a family secret. Pohpiah on the other hand is almost the chinese version of sushi, or vietnamese fresh spring rolls, except that the filling is mostly braised turnip with a variety of condiments ranging from boiled shrimp to bean sprouts and several other interesting sauces that I don't care to mention!
Plate of Mee Siam
Mee Siam Sauce
Mee Siam Condiments
Rolling the pohpiah
Pohpiah condiments
The Social Networking Forum Asia was held at the Hyatt Hotel, which has a pretty good restaurant on the ground floor. The Straits Kitchen serves up local favorites at exorbitant prices. I ordered Hokkien Mee, which is a favorite of mine, made by Wok Frying egg & rice noodles in a rich shrimp and pork stock, and a Teh Tarik, the local style tea, with condensed milk and "pulled" or drawn in the air to create froth. What normally would have cost me $5, came up to $30 - you pay that much extra to sit in air conditioning and use your laptop while having lunch :)
Hokkien Mee & Teh Tarik, with quite awesome chili sauce considering
I had the chance to go for supper twice - (which is almost considered a national sport), where we had Prata, (a local version of the croissant, except it's made with ghee, served with curry, and eaten mostly when drunk at 3am), and Hainanese Chicken Rice (do check out my post here), which is really one of the most quintessential dishes of Singaporean Cuisine.
Chicken served at room temperature, and with the bone still bloody - so it never dries out!
Sambal Kangkong - a local spinach stir fried with chili, and the clear chicken broth
Chicken Insides (Gizzard & Liver, a popular side dish, but apparently I'm the only one that eats it), and yellow chicken rice, a sign that it was cooked the authentic way - with chicken fat!
Sorry folks - due to being only half conscious on Friday night I forgot to take pictures of the Prata, but please google search it!
Ironic how I started and ended my culinary journey at Singapore's Changi Airport as well - the first lunch I had was at the Crystal Jade La Mien Xiao Long Bao restaurant at Terminal 3, where we had "Shanghainese" noodles, dumplings and other delicacies like stewed pork and drunken chicken. To send me off, we ate at the Soup Restaurant at Terminal 2 - it's local franchise that's extremely reliable, affordable, and always surprisingly consistent!
Dan Dan Noodles ( Peanut Sauce), Drunked Chicken & Pork Dumplings at Crystal Jade
Stewed Pork, Hand Pulled Noodles with Wontons
The famous Samsui Chicken at Soup Restaurant
L - R: Steamed minced pork with salted egg, Stir fried fish ($1 Special), and Stir fried sweet potato leaves
Amongst other things at the award winning Changi Airport, there is a Killiney Kopitiam (Cafe), one of the oldest and most legendary breakfast spots, that have like many other eateries, now branched out into franchising. We spent our last moments together around one last cup of Kopi (coffee or tea "Teh" with condensed milk), and munching on Kaya toast, an egg custard sandwich that I grew up around. It was a fitting end to the time I spent with family, but sweet enough to linger till I see them again.
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