In the Sunday Times

Thanks to the wonderful interest and sensitivity of Smriti Daniel, I had the pleasure of one of the coolest interviews I've ever given; what's more the article in the Sunday Times is succinct, deft and makes me look a lot better than I am.

Thank you Smrithi

Pan Seared Linna

Ashan de Silva is a flickr buddy, I'm looking forward to meeting. He is a great photographer, and also I think, a cook. he also knows a lot about where to get what, and what's what :) He's been exchanging cooking tips with me for awhile, and some time ago, I asked him if there was a Sri Lankan equivalent of salmon. He suggested I try some Linna, ( Russell's Scad, which I had not even heard of, up until then). And yes, I got it at Fresh Fish; it's a smallish fish, a little bony but manageable. I fixed it several times, and with Ashan and my cooking lady Chandra's help figured out how to take away its rather bitter sheen of taste; lots of washing, and several lime rubs. Once that was done, I marinaded it in olive oil, crushed garlic and salt, scouring the fish on its sides in the usual way. The final touch came from Ashan also, and its really a keeper for any kind of fish. Once the fish is seared on both sides, open it out, and pour boiling hot olive oil, laced with pieces of chillie and perhaps a little more salt. This crisps the insides nicely.
A new dish, that was really a treat.

Thank you, Ashan.

Sausage Rolls

I wasn't going to photograph this, much less blog it. It wasn't all that very well planed; I was craving sausage rolls though -- and I had half packet of store bought dough, and a few food city garlic sauages. It turned out fine, the sausges were ever so juicy. I've written up the method before, and its simple -- but I think Pusella lingus is much better, really.

High Heat Chicken

Roasted or braised, or some where in between, I think high heat is the answer to focusing on the moist taste of chicken. Curries are all very well, but in Sri Lanka cooks often smother the taste of chicken out -- which is good in it own way, of course.
But then, its a different dish, not chicken really, its the mixture of spices and oil that is the essence of the dish.

Now if you are craving chickeny chicken; there are but two essential steps, I insist. Marinade the pieces (i love whole legs) in a little vinigar and salt for at least 20 mins (yes, you can add other stuff that you've ground down in blender, also), brown the bottom of the leg(s) in a oven proof skillet (or dutch oven) for 5 mins on a burner, and then roast in the oven, at 500 F for 25 mins. You can add some stock to the skillet, braise or pour a sweet glaze over it at the end. Whichever way --- But the basics are simple and reliable.

Mango Panna Cotta, again!

Yes, again. This time, I did it in the simplest way possible; but plated it differently, from my previous attempts. Simple, because its just cream and mango cordial, mixed (half and half), a heaped teaspoon of dissolved gelatin added, to each cup's worth of mixture. (Fresh fruit reduction gives a more complex flavor, and takes more time). Usually I pour the mix into shot glasses; this time I wanted to 'turn it out,' so emboldened by extra gelatin, I poured the mix into small coffee cups, and after four hours in the frig., I prized out the gelled cream with a knife, tapped the bottoms of the cups, sliding the gel out.
I added a little more cordial, reduced with a little wine, into the bowls, and garnished every thing with sliced fresh mango. Yes, its that easy.

Fay and Kingston joined us for dessert

Bak Kut Teh

Bak kut teh (Hokkien: 肉骨茶) is a Chinese soup popularly served in Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan (where there is a predominant Hoklo and Teochew community) and also, cities of neighbouring countries like Batam of Indonesia and Hat Yai of Thailand. The name literally translates as "meat bone tea", and, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs in a complex brothstar anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic), boiled together with pork bones for hours. However, additional ingredients may include offal, varieties of mushroom, choy sum, and pieces of dried tofu or fried tofu puffs. Additional Chinese herbs may include yu zhu (rhizome of Solomon's Seal) and ju zhi (buckthorn fruit), which give the soup a sweeter, slightly stronger flavor. Light and dark soy sauce are also added to the soup during cooking, with varying amounts depending on the variant. Garnishings include chopped coriander or green onions and a sprinkling of fried shallots.

And this would have been all I would have known, if not for the kindness of my neighbors, Fay and Kingston. Kingston is from Malaysia and Fay is from Shanghai, and is a great cook. I've been learning first hand about the most subtle and delicate Chinese dishes from her, and they've had some of my stuff as well. Recently after Malathi and I devoured a bowl of Bak Kut Teh, Fay offered to fix a fresh batch during the day, so that could photograph it. Her method was close to the description above; the meat was spareribs, and for the base of the 'tea' she used sort of a large 'tea' bag, which is packed with the dried ingredients, that give the soup, its subtle rich flavor.



You can see what's in there; nothing familiar to me at all. The bag boils in a claypot, with dried tofu, mushrooms, dried red dates, and other stuff, and of course the pork spare ribs. Meatiness of the ribs, is soft in the mouth and tea/soup -- its not sweet, its not sour, its not chilli hot -- its such a complex blend of new flavors, that finds places on your tounge, you didn't know you had!

Morning in the Island

my-halflife as been quiet, as I was ill for a little while, and then was too upset by the war to do food posts. i've been posting on my other blog on that stuff though.
i think we are well over the worst of it now, and i hope we can start again, and get it right, this time.

new food posts will be coming up soon..:)

Prawn Soup

This was an experiment that worked.
(If I give the impression that all my cooking experiments work -- I'm misleading you, lots turn out bad; but I don't blog about them! :))

I just imagined this dish, when I was watching TV. It subtle, kinda chinese/thai like, but at the subtle end of things.
Start with 20-5 super fresh prawns, and separate the heads, and shells from the bodies, deveining the bodies. Boil the heads/shells, in a 1 liter of water, reducing the heat so that its just simmer after you see the first bubbles appear. Add a few cloves of garlic, cleaned, and two or three bombay onions (shallots), cubed. Some whole black pepper corns would be nice.
Marinate the prawns in fish sauce & green chili sauce, adding enough for to coat each one. About a tablespoon of fish sauce and perhaps 1.5 of green chili sauce, and 50ml of sweet vermouth. Taste the marinate. Are the tastes balanced? Add a more sugar and/or salt, if needed.

After about 30 mins (of marinating/simmering), add a little vinegar and fish sauce into the simmer prawn shells/heads. Just a splash. Taste. The sour/salt should be a faint mixure in the background, the foreground being a stronger prawn flavor. Puree the whole liquid thing. Yes, the heads, shells and every thing. It will not trouble your mixure/liquidizer/belnder at all. Strain this, into pan, and bring to a simmer. Add the marinated prawns, for 4 mins.
Take off the heat; you are done.

Published in Print : Lentil Soup

Published in Spectrum, vol1(4), April, 2009, in my regular Achcharu column; based on a previous blog post.

Happy New Year!