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I love roasted root veg and I can tolerate salad. How does your meal compare to what your neighbours are having?

Judging from the smell that wafts up from the apartment below ours, mine was infinitely better! Singaporeans like to use "belachan", a paste made from rotted shrimps, to the extent that it masks any other flavours.

Tonight the missus is making an Indonesian speciality, Daging Samur, which is beef stewed in soya sauce and other spices, but no chillis so it is very mild. I'd give you her recipe but she'd kill me...
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
Odd how often rotted fish shows up as flavour.

Judging from the smell that wafts up from the apartment below ours, mine was infinitely better! Singaporeans like to use "belachan", a paste made from rotted shrimps, to the extent that it masks any other flavours.

Tonight the missus is making an Indonesian speciality, Daging Samur, which is beef stewed in soya sauce and other spices, but no chillis so it is very mild. I'd give you her recipe but she'd kill me...
 
Odd how often rotted fish shows up as flavour.

Quite a lot of SE Asian cuisine uses it - nam plaa "fish sauce" in Thailand, terasi, similar to belachan, in Indonesian, Vietnam has something similar to fish sauce. I don't mind a bit of terasi in certain dishes as if used sparingly it gives saltiness and an almost hidden flavour. Same with fish sauce, I never cook Thai food without a dash, but Singaporeans and Malaysians with their vile belachan really gets my goat.
 
So tonight, slightly Japanese inspired - Namban Chicken, or grown-up chicken nuggets, with a salad of raw shredded veggies in a Japanese style salad dressing.

Chicken breasts into small bite sized chunks and into a simple marinade of grated ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Allow to marinate for about an hour.

Salad dressing: toast off about a tablespoon of sesame seeds and then grind about half to a paste, reserve the other half. Add about 2 tablespoons of shop-bought mayonnaise, about the same of seasoned soy sauce (it has lemon or lime added to it), and rice wine vinegar to taste. A pureed clove of garlic, some white pepper and sesame oil to taste. It is similar to a salad dressing we had a lot of times in Osaka but it is not totally authentic. However, I like it. Whisk till smooth and then add in the remaining seeds for some extra texture.

Season some flour with salt, pepper, chilli powder, garlic powder and I like to use coriander powder as well. You can use katakuriko potato starch, plain cornflour, rice flour or a mixture. Dry off the chicken bits and coat with flour. Deep fried is good, but I only have a large deep fat fryer and I cannot be doing with using 3 litres of oil just for us two so I shallow fry, it takes a bit longer but less messing about. Drain on kitchen paper.

Spicy dipping sauce. All these are to taste so feel free to ignore my quantities: 1 measure sugar, 2 measures soy, 2 measures white wine or sake or rice vinegar (if you use the rice vinegar add more sugar) or mirin. 2 chopped garlic cloves, a red bird's eye chilli (very optional) and a half teaspoon of chilli powder. Heat and reduce till thickened but not too syrupy. What you are looking for is sweetness and spiciness, not overpowering heat.

Finely slice some onions and soak in water to take the sting out and drain off.

Arrange onions artistically on a serving platter and tumble the chicken on top. Drizzle some of the sauce over, and put the rest in a nice little bowl for dipping.

Serve with the salad and what is left of the white wine (or sake).
 

Mike H

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My first post in here. Looking in the fridge yesterday, I found 1/2 leftover steak, a potato, a mushroom, roasted red pepper, and 1/2 box beef broth. In the freezer a found a 1/2 bag of frozen mixed vegetables.

Soups on! It was really good on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

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Going to be out the next three nights on the lash as the missus is off to Jakarta on a business trip - I am not at all envious and will only be drinking so heavily to mask the pain.

So tonight, healthy eating. I have some chicken breasts marinating in a simple lemon, garlic, S&P and oil mixture and after another 30 mins I will roast them off for about 25 mins and serve with a big bowl of salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
This looks like a nice hearty soup. Welcome to the Mess Hall.


My first post in here. Looking in the fridge yesterday, I found 1/2 leftover steak, a potato, a mushroom, roasted red pepper, and 1/2 box beef broth. In the freezer a found a 1/2 bag of frozen mixed vegetables.

Soups on! It was really good on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
 
Nice! A fresh egg to boot.

I cooked a nice roast beef last nite, the picture looked so ugly I could not post it. :sad:
 
Last nigh I wanted to make my wife a nice little I appreciate you dinner. But with money a little tight I couldn't really spring for what I wanted to do so I took a store bought Alfredo sauce and some fettuccine, then in a skillet I sauteed some shallots, couple cloves of garlic, some sherry and butter and lemon juice. Then added the sauce to the pan and let it get nice and warm and all the flavors mingle. After the pasta was done it went straight into the pan with the sauce and goodies and I made a salad to go with it.

Even with this very simple and spruced up store sauce it was a HUGE success with the SWMBO!
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
Well done. Are you asking for forgiveness on using store bought Alfredo sauce? Invite me over and let me eat it . . . . maybe I'll forgive you.

You have it under control . . . What are you making tomorrow?



Last nigh I wanted to make my wife a nice little I appreciate you dinner. But with money a little tight I couldn't really spring for what I wanted to do so I took a store bought Alfredo sauce and some fettuccine, then in a skillet I sauteed some shallots, couple cloves of garlic, some sherry and butter and lemon juice. Then added the sauce to the pan and let it get nice and warm and all the flavors mingle. After the pasta was done it went straight into the pan with the sauce and goodies and I made a salad to go with it.

Even with this very simple and spruced up store sauce it was a HUGE success with the SWMBO!
 
St. Patrick's day treat. Irish whiskey, Guinness and oysters! Delish...

Buddy also made a fantastic corned beef.

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Made some double cut lamb chops marinated in olive oil, soy sauce, garlic,rosemary, and pepper. I also made a beet salad and a Greek Salad that was as good as any I've ever made.
 
Dinner Saturday night, I did Beef Tataki as a starter, followed by the paprika chicken and cardamom casserole with garlicky mashed potatoes, and for dessert, raspberry compote with a tarragon infused custard (from Gordon Ramsey's "Chef" cookbook).

Raspberries and sugar into a pan, heat gently until the fruit has broken down and the sugar dissolved. 250ml whole milk and 250ml double cream, tblsp caster sugar and 20g chopped tarragon into another pan and heat until it just boils. Remove from the heat and leave for 30 mins to infuse. 7 large egg yolks and 150g caster sugar, beat until light and creamy. Strain the milky cream, or creamy milk, into the egg mixture and stir. Add the mixture to a clean, heavy bottomed pan and heat gently until custard is cooked and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain again into bowl and cool. Keep checking and stirring so it doesn't form a skin.

Get some nice little glasses or pots and put a layer of compote in the bottom, then add a thicker layer of custard, say about 3 time the amount of fruit. Dust with cocoa powder and a scant teaspoon of the compote on the top. Looks really classy.

Beef Tataki recipe:
1 Japanese radish (diakon), finely shredded, 1 small onion, finely shredded. Sprinkle with salt and let stand for an hour, squeeze excess water out rinse and dry off.

Some garlic chips: slice garlic very thin and fry in medium hot oil. Take them out of the oil before you think they are done as they carry on cooking after you take them out. Drain on kitchen paper.

Put about 2 tbsp soy sauce (preferably Kikkoman), 2 tbsp mirin or sake if you have it, 1 tsp sugar and mix together.

Take some fillet steak and rub with olive oil. Fry all sides in a medium high heat pan, how long depends how rare you like the meat. I usually do about 2-3 mins each side. Once it's cooked enough, put into the soy and mirin mixture, plus any pan juices for 30 mins.

After 30 mins, take the meat out and drain it off. Mix 4 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste) with the soy and mirin mixture, and a little water if necessary. If the sauce splits, just add a little more water and keep mixing it back together. (Note, this time around, we had finished the shop bought stuff and the supermarkets here had no more stock so I made my own by toasting sesame seeds, and grinding the powder together with oil and seasoning. Seemed a reasonable substitute.)

Slice the beef about 5mm thick.

Arrange the radish and onion nicely on a plate and top with the beef. Drizzle some sauce and sprinkle garlic chips. Dress the plate with a little more of the sauce and there you have it.
 
Well done. Are you asking for forgiveness on using store bought Alfredo sauce? Invite me over and let me eat it . . . . maybe I'll forgive you.

You have it under control . . . What are you making tomorrow?

I do think I need to haha! It wasn't half bad.

I usually avoid them at all cost but that was a must that night.

I will definitely be keeping this in my arsenal, just with a from scratch sauce.
 
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