However, one thing does tend to be true with Chinese food. The worse the Chinglish, the better the food. We had our wedding banquet a restaurant that boasted Evening Dinning and the food was superb.
Friday 2 July 2010
Chinglish Food
Somebody please explain the below to me. No, I don't get it either.
However, one thing does tend to be true with Chinese food. The worse the Chinglish, the better the food. We had our wedding banquet a restaurant that boasted Evening Dinning and the food was superb.
However, one thing does tend to be true with Chinese food. The worse the Chinglish, the better the food. We had our wedding banquet a restaurant that boasted Evening Dinning and the food was superb.
Thai Food
I adore Thai food and have a few favourite haunts around town.
Suchard on Tooley Street is fantastic and whenever I bring a new friend there, I always make them order the Thai Green Curry with Prawns and Coconut Rice. It's absolutely gorgeous.
Near me there's also Smile's Thai Cafe which is a cute Bring Your Own Bottle joint but they could do with having bigger rice portions.
One of my favourite dishes though is kai pad med ma-maung which is chicken stir fried with cashew nuts. I love how Marie's Cafe on Lower Marsh makes it and this is my version of it.
One thing regarding making any kind of South East Asian food though and that's the quality of the wok. If you are really serious about making fabulous stir fries, it's really worth the effort of creating yourself a well seasoned wok. I picked mine up from a Chinese supermarket for a few quid, scoured it with wire wool and washed it out with washing up liquid and water. This must be the ONLY time you EVER wash the wok with washing up liquid. Then I dried it off and wiped oil around the inside of the wok and put it on a high flame. The silver wok then magically blackened to dark brown / black. From then on, after cooking with the wok, I gave it a quick rinse under the hot tap and then dried it off on the stove followed by a quick wipe of oil. If any food sticks to it, just use some water to boil it off but don't ever, ever use washing up liquid. This will just ruin the seasoned non-stick coating you are trying to create. After a while, you'll find that your wok is pretty much non-stick and a volcanic kind of crust will form on the outside of the wok as well. This carbonisation is what will give your food what Cantonese people call "wok hei" which loosely translates as "the breath of the work". This is the indefinable smokiness that gives great SE Asian food that amazing taste.
Here are the photos followed by the recipe!
kai pad med ma-maung - Thai Chicken with cashew nut stir fry
For two people
200 gms Chicken thighs which is about three thighs (I much prefer the juiciness of dark meat), thinly sliced
A small handful of Cashew Nuts
1 small onion sliced chunky
1/2 a Red / Green Pepper (I always have a bag of ready sliced peppers in my freezer)
Handful of dry shitake mushrooms that have been soaked for an hour in warm water and then sliced (I honestly believe that all households should have these in stock as they keep for ages and just add the most amazing flavour)
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
Splash of light soy sauce to taste
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
3 Garlic Clove, crushed
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 fat red chilli sliced
Dry toast the cashew nuts until golden brown and put to one side.
Put in one tablespoon of oil on a high heat and quickly stir fry the onion, peppers and mushrooms and put to one side.
Gently heat up the other tablespoon of oil and add the garlic and chilli.
When it smells fragrant, whack up the heat and add the chicken.
When the chicken starts to brown, season with the white pepper, add the nuts, onions, peppers and mushrooms followed by the oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce.
Turn down the heat a little and stir fry until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. I also usually put in a few tablespoons of water as well to make a bit more of a sauce.
Serve with steamed rice and lashings of chilli oil. Enjoy!
Suchard on Tooley Street is fantastic and whenever I bring a new friend there, I always make them order the Thai Green Curry with Prawns and Coconut Rice. It's absolutely gorgeous.
Near me there's also Smile's Thai Cafe which is a cute Bring Your Own Bottle joint but they could do with having bigger rice portions.
One of my favourite dishes though is kai pad med ma-maung which is chicken stir fried with cashew nuts. I love how Marie's Cafe on Lower Marsh makes it and this is my version of it.
One thing regarding making any kind of South East Asian food though and that's the quality of the wok. If you are really serious about making fabulous stir fries, it's really worth the effort of creating yourself a well seasoned wok. I picked mine up from a Chinese supermarket for a few quid, scoured it with wire wool and washed it out with washing up liquid and water. This must be the ONLY time you EVER wash the wok with washing up liquid. Then I dried it off and wiped oil around the inside of the wok and put it on a high flame. The silver wok then magically blackened to dark brown / black. From then on, after cooking with the wok, I gave it a quick rinse under the hot tap and then dried it off on the stove followed by a quick wipe of oil. If any food sticks to it, just use some water to boil it off but don't ever, ever use washing up liquid. This will just ruin the seasoned non-stick coating you are trying to create. After a while, you'll find that your wok is pretty much non-stick and a volcanic kind of crust will form on the outside of the wok as well. This carbonisation is what will give your food what Cantonese people call "wok hei" which loosely translates as "the breath of the work". This is the indefinable smokiness that gives great SE Asian food that amazing taste.
Here are the photos followed by the recipe!
kai pad med ma-maung - Thai Chicken with cashew nut stir fry
For two people
200 gms Chicken thighs which is about three thighs (I much prefer the juiciness of dark meat), thinly sliced
A small handful of Cashew Nuts
1 small onion sliced chunky
1/2 a Red / Green Pepper (I always have a bag of ready sliced peppers in my freezer)
Handful of dry shitake mushrooms that have been soaked for an hour in warm water and then sliced (I honestly believe that all households should have these in stock as they keep for ages and just add the most amazing flavour)
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
Splash of light soy sauce to taste
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
3 Garlic Clove, crushed
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 fat red chilli sliced
Dry toast the cashew nuts until golden brown and put to one side.
Put in one tablespoon of oil on a high heat and quickly stir fry the onion, peppers and mushrooms and put to one side.
Gently heat up the other tablespoon of oil and add the garlic and chilli.
When it smells fragrant, whack up the heat and add the chicken.
When the chicken starts to brown, season with the white pepper, add the nuts, onions, peppers and mushrooms followed by the oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce.
Turn down the heat a little and stir fry until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. I also usually put in a few tablespoons of water as well to make a bit more of a sauce.
Serve with steamed rice and lashings of chilli oil. Enjoy!
Fish and Chips
Good fish and chips is suprisingly difficult to find in London sometimes. My old favourite is still the Golden Hind on Marylebone Lane which is run by some delightful Greek guys. Near me is the Honor Oak Fish Bar which is great but my current fave at lunchtime is The Three Stags on Kennington Road.
Perfect crisp batter, chunky chips, sustainable fish stock and this is the kid's portion as well!
Perfect crisp batter, chunky chips, sustainable fish stock and this is the kid's portion as well!
Saturday 24 April 2010
Jamie Does... Andalucia
As it was a beautiful weekend, I made Jamie's Moorish Pork Chops out on the barbecue. This recipe is taken from his Jamie Does... book and from the Andalucia segment. My husband occasionally likes to "treat" me and buy me recipe books. Luckily for him, I love cooking and he loves eating!
There is a marvellous butchers on North End Road by Fulham Broadway and these delicious chops only cost me a pound each. Every time I go, there is always a massive queue but it's well worth the wait. To make this recipe, you really do need to find the biggest chops that you can lay your hands on as you need to stuff them with sherry soaked raisins for the filling.
To accompany the chops was a bean stew flavoured with rosemary from our allotment but I still found the stew to be a little bland so I melted in a few ripe tomatoes as well. I found this gave the dish the necessary balance.
Here's the dish plated up as well as a peek at the delicious sherry raisin stuffing. It really was a stunning combination of flavours!
There is a marvellous butchers on North End Road by Fulham Broadway and these delicious chops only cost me a pound each. Every time I go, there is always a massive queue but it's well worth the wait. To make this recipe, you really do need to find the biggest chops that you can lay your hands on as you need to stuff them with sherry soaked raisins for the filling.
To accompany the chops was a bean stew flavoured with rosemary from our allotment but I still found the stew to be a little bland so I melted in a few ripe tomatoes as well. I found this gave the dish the necessary balance.
Here's the dish plated up as well as a peek at the delicious sherry raisin stuffing. It really was a stunning combination of flavours!
The perfect Dan Tat
Dan Tat are Chinese custard tarts. They are a bit like Pasteis de nata in the fact that they have flaky pastry but Dan Tat are not caramalised on top. Some Dan Tat are made with shortcrust pastry but in my opinion, they just aren't as satisfying as the crunch you get with puff pastry ones.
Unfortunately, good Dan Tat are becoming increasingly difficult to buy now in London. The place I used to go to was the Garden Bakery on Little Newport Street but when Rosewheel closed down a lot of shops and threatened to put a Tesco in, the Garden Bakery alas was no more and their excellent Dan Tat vanished!
And so the hunt began.... Around Chinatown, the Kowloon Bakery ones are fairly decent but erratic in the flaky goodness and a lot of the others do the shortcrust ones. Boo.
So far, the one I tend to buy from is the Far Eastern Bakery but only if it's early enough in the day and they're out of the oven HOT.
The best ones these days tend to be from restaurants that have a decent pastry chef and last week I sampled the ones at Royal China in Canary Wharf and oh my, they were GOOD!
A gorgeous barely set custard that was encased in perfect puff pastry that had a little crunch and then melted on the mouth. I can't wait until I try them again.
I have also as yet, yet to find a reliable Dan Tat recipe. If anyone has one, please do forward!
Unfortunately, good Dan Tat are becoming increasingly difficult to buy now in London. The place I used to go to was the Garden Bakery on Little Newport Street but when Rosewheel closed down a lot of shops and threatened to put a Tesco in, the Garden Bakery alas was no more and their excellent Dan Tat vanished!
And so the hunt began.... Around Chinatown, the Kowloon Bakery ones are fairly decent but erratic in the flaky goodness and a lot of the others do the shortcrust ones. Boo.
So far, the one I tend to buy from is the Far Eastern Bakery but only if it's early enough in the day and they're out of the oven HOT.
The best ones these days tend to be from restaurants that have a decent pastry chef and last week I sampled the ones at Royal China in Canary Wharf and oh my, they were GOOD!A gorgeous barely set custard that was encased in perfect puff pastry that had a little crunch and then melted on the mouth. I can't wait until I try them again.
I have also as yet, yet to find a reliable Dan Tat recipe. If anyone has one, please do forward!
Welcome to the Food of Ip
Those who know me know that food is not just a source of fuel for me but an all encompassing passion and obsession and woe betide anyone when a Hungry Ip is around!
However, rather than complain about how hungry I am, I learnt to cook from quite a young age and love to try out new recipes. I also like to ferret out little gems of places to eat where it's not about the decor but all about the food.
This blog will be about my culinary musings, adventures and I hope you'll enjoy the journey with me.
However, rather than complain about how hungry I am, I learnt to cook from quite a young age and love to try out new recipes. I also like to ferret out little gems of places to eat where it's not about the decor but all about the food.
This blog will be about my culinary musings, adventures and I hope you'll enjoy the journey with me.
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