Jade: Bitemycongee#2

Chicken congee--[ adapted from Kuidaore]

65g thai jasmine rice

35g glutinous rice

sesame oil

ginger, julienned

250 ml chicken stock

500ml water

( Or you could use only stock, 250 was all I had)

1 chicken leg quarter

small piece ginger

rock salt to taste

1. Wash rice till water runs clear

2. Fry ginger in sesame oil until ginger turns golden brown and crispy.

3. Drain and use the now flavoured oil to

marinate the rice, preferably overnight. Save the ginger bits for garnishing.

4. Bring stock and water to boil, add chicken,

ginger and rice.

5. Bring it back to the boil, then lower the heat to a bare simmer.

6. Let it simmer for about 2 hours, stirring every so often so it doesn't stick

7. Remove the chicken, and let the porridge simmer for another hour or until thick and velvety.

8. Once the chicken has cooled enough, shred and set aside to use as garnish.

9. Season the porridge to taste, ladle up, top with shredded chicken, chopped spring onions and fried ginger.

10. Serve with preserved radish omelette.

Jade: Bitemyscones

I've always thought of scones as something quintessentially British...big fat scones, hot from the oven, slathered with butter and clotted cream, and finished with a large dollop of sweet, sticky strawberry jam. I remember having them at fancy hotels, feeling so important. My mum would tell me to add milk to my tea because it's the proper English way...and even though I found the taste of milky tea absolutely revolting, I would do it anyway, so intent was I to be all grown up, just like the ladies in the period films I so loved. I like milky tea now, and the idea of freshly baked scones with a nice cup of tea is enough to make me get out of bed at 7 o'clock on a Saturday morning ;)

Scones

500g self raising flour

100g very very cold butter, cubed

pinch of salt

big pinch of baking powder

about 2 teaspoons sugar

very very cold milk

[ there are no precise measurements as I've done this so many times it's more by feel now]

1. Preheat oven to 220

2. Sift flour and baking powder

3. Add butter and rub gently, using just the tips of your fingers, 'Lifting' the flour as you rub and letting it float back down. The idea of a light touch is so you get lots of air in there and so the fat doesn't melt. I've got really cold hands, great for pastry, not so great for my patients.

4. Once you get a loose mixture that resembles breadcrumbs, stir in the salt and sugar

5. Now add the milk slowly, bringing the dough together, not so much kneading as lightly patting everything together. Start with say..100 ml of milk and then add as you go along until you get a smooth dough.

6. Press it onto a well greased baking tray, so you get a large square that's about an inch thick, cut into smaller squares.. I do about 9-12....but that depends how large you want your scones to be.

7. Brush the top with milk and bake for 12-15 minutes.

8. Don't bother letting it cool, don't bother with a knife, just break it open, cut a fat wedge of butter and watch it melt into the steaming scone........I think I'm going to go have another one now..

Jade: Bitemyspaghetti

As much as I love this country, and I have to say this because I think my dad reads this blog..so yes, love the weather, love the food, love that shops shut at 5; what irks me is the scarcity of good quality noodles. Tell me if I'm simply looking in all the wrong places but where are the piles of fresh egg noodles and glistening kuay teow? Perhaps I should place an ad in the Daily Mirror next to the attractive 60 year old who seeks younger woman for meaningful conversation and walks by the beach. Only mine will read: desperate Chinese girl seeks freshly made noodles or better yet, noodle maker to cheer her up on lonely nights.

What prompted this little tirade was a recipe I'd recently come across that called for shanghai noodles. To be fair I didn't really bother looking for them considering it's bloody difficult to get egg noodles as it is nevermind which part of China they come from. I used spaghetti instead, which although yielded beautiful results, just wasn't the same. It's like making maggi goreng with wanton noodles..it's plain wrong. But anyway...

Shanghai-nised Spaghetti, which, my whinging aside, was utterly delicious-- [adapted from Kitchen Unplugged]

100g spaghetti

2 cloves garlic, minced

bacon ( completely optional, i think keeping it vegetarian would've been lovely too. but I bought half a kilo of cooking bacon a few weeks back, dont ask me why, so I'm trying to use it all up. )

Half a carrot, julienned

Cabbage, julienned

Black wood ear fungus or mushrooms, julienned

Half a bell pepper, julienned

1/2 tsp dark soy sauce ( I used kicap manis and

omitted the sugar, but either way, that little bit of sweetness is what makes this noodle dish)

1/2 tsp light soy sauce

1/8-1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp chinese wine

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1. Boil the pasta in salted water, drain and set aside

2. Heat up some oil and fry the chopped up bacon till crispy

3. Add the sesame oil and fry garlic till fragrant

4. Add vegetables and stirfry for about 2 minutes, only because I like my veg crunchy, but if you prefer softer veg, add a bit of water and let it simmer

5. Toss in the spaghetti, add the sauces and fry over high heat until the noodles are well coated, tasting as you go along.

6. Dish up, garnish with pickled chili, kick off your shoes and sit down to an absolutely fantastic meal :)

Jade: Bitemyaglioglio

I love love love garlic. I like it raw, minced and soaked in light soy sauce, ready to be piled on to bits of anything; I adore it roasted and added to soups or simply squeezed onto a thick hunk of crusty french bread; I think bak kut teh isn't worth eating without the beautifully soft heads of garlic braised whole in herby broth; and if I could eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be blanched greens, drizzled with oyster sauce, topped with heaps of deep fried garlic chips. I probably won't have a lot of friends left at the end of it but sometimes, sacrifices have to be made in the name of true love ;)

Spaghetti aglio olio

100g spaghetti

3 cloves garlic minced

olive oil

chili flakes

bacon ( optional- use prawns if you prefer, I just happened to have some bacon lying around)

parsley fine chopped ( from my window box!!! funny story ~ remember the plants on my window sill? well the one thing I forgot to factor in when I so enthusiastically bought them was the fact that I'm actually away most of the time...we did a trial where i watered them to death on the weekends hoping it would then hydrate them enough for the week....that fell a little flat..so now my plants live..and I use the term 'live' loosely..in the kitchen..like little green beggars who are at the mercy of my housemates. I just had a sudden vision of how I would be like as a mother....how very disturbing..the end.)

cheese ( parmesan if you have it, I used cheddar as that was the only kind they had in the hospital shop)

1. Bring a pot of well salted water to boil, and cook

your pasta for about 9-10 minutes or till al-dente.

2. In the meantime, heat up some olive oil, and fry the chopped bacon till crispy.

3. Remove the bacon, add a generous drizzle of olive oil to the pan, I would say about 2-3 tablespoons in total, add some salt and chuck in the garlic, careful not to let the garlic brown. What you want is a low heat so the garlic flavours the oil. And the reason I add the salt to the oil is just for a more even distribution.

4. Add the chopped parsley and chili flakes, give it a quick stir.

5. Add the drained pasta to the pan, toss with the garlic mix, season a bit more to taste and plate.

6.Sprinkle the crispy bacon bits on the pasta and top with lots and lots of grated cheese.

7. Do a graceful twirl with your fork, making sure you get a bit of everything..all that savoury, garlicky goodness...it's always the simple things in life that make you the happiest, isn't it ;)

Jade: Bitemysausage #2

One of the very first meals I had when I first arrived in Southampton was a sausage roll, a pack of crisps and a flapjack, courtesy of halls of residence. The crisps and flapjack were uninspiring to say the least..but the sausage roll, that log of mystery meat encased in crisp buttery puff pastry..that, I bloody loved. Call it sentiment, juicy sausages have been a firm favourite since I was a little girl.. A bit misguided really, seeing as my favourite meat product probably doesn't contain much real meat at all..My dad worked in a sausage factory as a student and to this day refuses to even go near a sausage...I, however, have yet to meet a sausage roll I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

Mini sausage rolls

6 sausages, stripped of their skin. [vic, don't start]

Half an apple, peeled and chopped

Generous dash of freshly cracked black pepper

Pinch of dried thyme

1 tube ready rolled puff pastry, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees

2. Mix the sausage meat with the apples and seasoning

3. Unroll your tube of puff pastry, I would keep the pastry on the plastic sheet that comes with it. Makes for easier manouvering.

4. Sausage mix goes onto the middle of the pastry, and using damp hands, so it doesn't stick to the meat, shape the mix into a log

5. Lift one end of the plastic lining and fold pastry over the log.

6. Trim off any excess and press down with a fork to seal the edges. And get a pretty pattern

7. Wet your knifeblade and divide the roll into about 6-7 portions, using a gentle sawing motion. This way you keep the shape and again, no sticky bits.

8. Arrange of a lightly greased baking tray, score each roll twice and bake for about 25 minutes.

9. Let cool, try not to think where the sausage came from..and enjoy;P

I imagine you could just as easily substitute the pork with lamb mince bound with breadcrumbs, an egg and some dried mint, but for now, my duvet beckons and I shall leave the experimenting to you.

Jade: Bitemyondehondeh

My mum loves anything made of glutinous rice flour. I, on the other hand, used to hate the thought of having to eat something that bore a disturbing resemblance to Flubber. So what I would do when my mum wasn't looking was stand over a bin, tear open the glutinous rice flour casing, suck out the filling and try my best to cover the now bland pastry with fruit peel.

I have since gotten over my fear of all things chewy and I must say, I quite like it now..mochi and all the rest of it..and as I sit here typing this, I'm beginning to see yet another pattern emerging....and shall resolve to break it, because while I am happy with my newfound relationships with previously shunned food, there was this boy back in school who I really really didn't like.....

Ondeh-ondeh

1 cup glutinous rice flour

Pandan essence and a few drops of green colouring [ you could always steam some sweet potatoes and mash it up for a gloriously orange version of this dessert]

Water

Gula melaka/ palm sugar, chopped or pounded till very fine [ just so it's easier to get the beautiful molten centre that defines this dessert]

Shredded coconut or dessicated coconut

1. Put a large pot of water on the hob and bring to

boil

2. Add the pandan essence and colouring to the flour and then add water. I do it this way because if you add the water first and the flavourings later, bearing in mind the flavouring and colouring are essentially extra liquid, you might end up with too wet a dough.

3. Add the water slowly, kneading as you go along until you get a dough the consistency of play dough. Pliable, but not sticky.

4. Pinch off a small ball, flatten it, and fill with the sandy sugar, making sure you get a good seal so nothing leaks.

5. Drop the balls into the pot of boiling water, remove with a slotted spoon once they float up to the surface, and roll in coconut.

6. Let cool slightly, and then the most important bit: pick up one of the soft little gems, pop it in your mouth whole, bite down, feel the satisfying squirt of sweet, molten caramel..and have another one ;)

Jade: Bitemycongee

I never used to like rice, growing up. The prospect of having cheesy omelettes, a nice creamy chicken casserole or my favourite- char bee hoon was just a lot more exciting. My first stop the second I got home from school was always the kitchen, where I would take a tentative peek and a hopeful sniff at whatever my mum was making...praying it wouldn't be rice..and then being sorely disappointed when it was. In hindsight it was rice about 95% of the time..17 years and still absolutely oblivious to a pattern that was only too obvious. I call it optimism and sheer obstinance on my part..although some would argue there is a fine line between optimism and stupidity:P

Since leaving home though, I have actually grown to love rice...perhaps it's my way of pretending I'm still at home, to have a routine that is similar to what I'm used to. Or perhaps my palate is now refined enough to appreciate the floral fragrance from a good pack of thai jasmine rice...either way, I now eat rice on a daily basis. By choice;) and when I'm lazy to chew...because I'm allowed to be shamelessly lazy once in a while, there's always silky smooth congee to give me the heartiness of rice with the added comfort of hot broth.

Scallop congee [ courtesy of 2 very cool adults, thanks to whom I'm now a congee convert ;) ]

1/4 cup short grain rice

1-2tbsp spring onion oil

[ I've done a post on onion oil before I think, but if that's just my imagination talking, simply fry some spring onions, sliced onions, and some garlic and ginger if you so wish in about half a cup of oil. Fry on low heat till onions turn golden and crispy, drain and reserve the oil for precisely this purpose]

300ml water

300ml chicken stock [ if you wish to take a chicken apart and boil it for hours be my guest, my stock came out of a can]

Small handful of dried scallops

Small handful goji berries because they look so pretty

1. Wash rice until water runs clear..or nearly

clear..no one's going to check. Drain, and marinate with spring onion oil overnight. This way the rice grains soak up all the gorgeous flavours of the oil and they soften up as well, which means they break up easier.

2. Heat up the water and stock, chuck in the scallops, goji berries and marinated rice, and bring to the boil.

3. Now lower the heat so the brothy mixture comes down to a gentle simmer, and stir. For 45 minutes. wahaha, no, I'm dead serious. It helps break up the grains so you end up with a really smooth congee. You could use a slow cooker, or a pressure cooker and leave it overnight, but I quite enjoy stirring.

4. Once your congee starts to take on a very creamy appearance, season to taste, ladle into a large bowl and enjoy:) I honestly think it doesn't need much seasoning as the scallops and stock are quite robust in flavour, but I'll let you be the judge of that. And as any chinese person will tell you, congee isn't congee without a nice big helping of crunchy preserved choi sum ;)