Stir-fried Pipis in XO Sauce

June 29, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmenLeave a comment

I remember the first time having this, not too long ago actually, about 1 and a half weeks ago, instant love. I was having dinner with Pam (ex-housemate, fellow foodie, and now long-distance twinnie) and her family who had just arrived that morning from Singapore. We were meant to have a homemade pizza night but we were all feeling a bit tired to cook. Still happy anyway because I got to meet Pam after 4 months since we last saw each other, and I got to meet her family. We had dinner in Chinatown (forgive me, I don’t actually remember the name of the restaurant), and amongst the many dishes we ordered, the stir-fried pipis in XO sauce caught my attention.

It was so yummy, well cooked, and had a good amount of spice to it. It was that good that I had to recreate it for myself, and I did – with larger pipis as well (the ones at the restaurant were baby-sized)! They were only $16.00/kg at the seafood market in Market City. The pipis were already cleaned and had no sand and grit in them. They were also alive which amused me quite a bit to be honest. I stood there over the bucket and started playing with them – tapping their shells, and picking them up and squeezing their shells shut, until the lady approached me and asked me if I wanted to buy them. I bought roughly about 800g for about $13.00 and I was able to get two meals out of it – with steamed jasmine rice and pan-fried eggplant. So delish!

XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce commonly used in southern Chinese cooking. It’s made of roughly chopped dried seafoods, including scallops, dried fish and shrimp, and subsequently cooked with chilli peppers, onions, and garlic. XO sauce can be used as a condiment on the side of main dishes or used in cooking to enhance the flavour of fish, meats, vegetables, and otherwise bland foods such as tofu or noodles. The named is derived from fine XO (extra-old) cognac, which is a popular Western liquor in Hong Kong which denotes high quality, prestige, and luxury.

Check out the original recipe from Yahoo!7 Lifestyle.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-12 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

800g live pipis
1/2 cup fish stock (or clam juice)
1/4 cup XO sauce
1/4 cup Chinese Shaoxing rice wine
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
3 red birds-eye chillies, sliced
2 stalks green onion, sliced
Juice of 1 lime

METHOD

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan (or preferably a wok if you have one) over high heat. Sauté the green onions and red chillies (reserve a few for garnishing later) for 2 minutes or until softened.
Add the pipis and cook for a further 3 minutes or until most of the shells have opened.
Add in the XO sauce, fish stock, Shaoxing wine, and oyster sauce. Simmer for about 3 minutes or until all shells have opened (cook for no more than 5-6 minutes, discard any unopened shells). Transfer to a serving plate.
Top with reserved green onions and red chillies. Drizzle with lime juice and serve with steamed rice.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Lovelily Tableware Collection

June 28, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Last week on Monday the 16th of June, I was in an exhibition called ‘Botanica’ alongside my fellow SDES6700 Introduction to Ceramics class. You may have read in a previous post (even I myself cannot remember which), about me talking about this project that I have been working on as part of my university elective course. I am glad to say that I have finally completed this project, exhibited it, and now sharing with you my new ‘Lovelily’ Tableware Collection!

Though they spread across the water’s surface, filling it with colour and vibrancy, they are not just beautiful to look at. Water lilies and lily pads serve an important purpose in the pond, mainly in aiding in sustaining its ecosystem. They provide shade to keep the water temperature down during hot summer months, and provide shelter to any fish or living organisms inhibiting the pond from lurking predators. They also absorb nutrients in the water that would normally feed undesirable green plants such as algae, keeping the water clear and clean-looking.

Hand-building slab techniques were applied to produce the collection. Therefore, no two plates or bowls are alike, which reflects on the nature of plant growth where organisms are not always identical: their observable characteristics and traits can vary. This idea of sustenance inspired the collection – the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence around the dining table. The name of the collection is derived from symbolisms of cultural and religious beliefs. The colour red is often associated with emotional attachments of the heart, representing love, compassion, and passion, for food in this instance. The blooming lilies represent the heart being open and filled with love (food), drawing people together to one place and share a meal made with love, compassion, and passion, and thus the Lovelily Tableware Collection.

The range is made using fine white stoneware clay where the lily pad plates were glazed using celadon which turns jade-green in reduction firing. Though all my water lily vessels had the same glaze, which was copper red, and all fired to reduction, not all of them turned out the colour they were supposed to be. I was told that it could be due to the thickness of the glaze, which I ruled out because I dipped them in for the same amount of time. I was later then told by another fellow student that it had to do with the firing temperatures. The ones that turned completely red were fired at a higher temperature than the others. Though I was a bit disappointed with the outcome of the glazes for the copper red, I have learnt to love them as a whole collection.

– Ally xx

Hainanese Chicken Rice

June 27, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen1 Comment

Guess who’s back? Back again? That’s right, I’m back from the dead (as some may say) and here with another post! I do apologise for not posting over the past few weeks. I just finished my first semester of my 4th year and it feels so good to have completed everything! I finished on Tuesday morning and practically celebrated the whole day – from a barbecue, to 22 Jump Street, and finally ending the night/early the next morning at a bar/club. I didn’t really get back into my cooking until this morning after having gone grocery shopping to fill up my empty fridge. It felt so good to see a shelf full of fresh fruit and vegetables, and meat.

Today’s recipe is something close to my heart, or should I say tummy? I remember growing up with Thien Thien Chicken Rice just a couple of blocks away from where I spent my early 7 years of life, and still continued to go back and forth there up until today. $3.20 chicken rice? Don’t mind if I do! Hainanese Chicken Rice here in Sydney is almost 3x (sometimes even 4x) more expensive and honestly not as delicious as chicken rice back home – but I can’t do anything about it. When I crave it, I just have to have it. I recently had some at Kreta Ayer in Kingsford with some friends and we were a bit disappointed. The chicken was well cooked, rice was mediocre, and the sauces, disappointed. Chilli sauce from a bottle? No spring onion and ginger oil? No soup to go with the dish? This must be a joke.

After that disappointment, my friend and fellow housemate, Marissa, and I decided that when we were both free from assignments and exams, that we would make our very own Hainanese Chicken Rice, and that’s exactly what we did for today. I was in charge of cooking the chicken and rice, while Marissa took care of the sauces and carving of the chicken.

Check out the original recipes that we followed:

Hainanese Chicken Rice by Steamy Kitchen Recipes
Hainanese Chicken Rice by Adam Liaw

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 1 HOUR | SERVES 6-8

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken

1 whole chicken (ours was 1.6kg)
5-6 thick slices of ginger
3 stalks of spring onion, cut into 1″ sections (both green and white parts)
1 pandan leaf, washed and halved
2 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp sesame oil
Salt for cleaning and seasoning the chicken

For the rice

3 cups uncooked long-grain rice, washed and drained
3 cups reserved chicken poaching broth
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 pandan leaf, washed and halved
2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp sesame oil

For the chilli sauce

6 red birds-eye chillies
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp reserved chicken poaching broth
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

For the spring onion and ginger oil

4 stalks spring onion, sliced thinly
3 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp salt

For the dressing and garnishes

1 tomato, sliced
1 lebanese cucumber, peeled and sliced
Sliced spring onions
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp chicken poaching broth
1 tbsp sesame oil

METHOD

Rub a small handful of salt all over the chicken, getting rid of any loose skin and dirt. Rinse chicken well, inside and outside, and season with a generous amount of salt. Stuff the chicken with the ginger slices, green onions and pandas leaves. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with cold water to cover the chicken. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then immediately turn the heat to low to keep it to a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes more (less if you’re using a smaller chicken).
When the chicken is cooked through, turn the heat off and remove the pot from the burner. Immediately lift and transfer the chicken into a bath of ice water to cool. Discard the stuffing. The quick cooling will stop the cooking process, keeping the meat soft and tender, and giving the skin a lovely firm texture. The quality of the chicken skin is important in this dish! It’s all about the skin texture. DO NOT DISCARD THE CHICKEN POACHING BROTH.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauces and dressing. For the chilli sauce, combine chillies, ginger, garlic, sugar and salt in a mortar and pound to a paste. Add the lemon juice and chicken poaching broth, and pound again. Set aside.
For the spring onion and ginger oil, add the spring onions, ginger and salt to a heatproof mortar and pound lightly with the pestle. Heat the oil in a small frying pan until smoking and pour onto the mixture. Once the sizzling stops, combine lightly with the pestle and leave to infuse for a few minutes.
For the dressing, mix the sesame oil and soy sauce with the chicken poaching broth.
For the rice, heat cooking oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the ginger and the garlic and fry until your kitchen smells like heaven. Be careful not to burn the aromatics! Add in your drained rice and pandan leaves, and stir to coat, cook for 2 minutes. Add the sesame oil, mix well. Add the reserved poaching broth and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit (with lid still on) for 5-10 minutes more.
While the rice is cooking, remove the chicken from the ice bath and carve to serve.
If you have any remaining chicken stock after that, you can season it and add a few onion slices. This can be served as a light soup to accompany the meal. We added some slices of hairy melon to our soup.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Spicy Carrot, Chickpea & Almond Soup with Roasted Croutons

June 9, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts once again. I’ve been a bit busy with University, preparing for the last 2 weeks to go! It’s been hectic! Also, the weather hasn’t been very cheerful for the past couple of days. Winter is definitely kicking in! It’s cold, damp and miserable. On occasions there’d be rays of sunshine, but Sydney weather being deceptive and all, the sunshine never lasts long. So what better way to warm up that a nice bowl of spicy soup with crunchy croutons? Soup has never tasted so good.

Today I cooked from the UNSW Student Cookbook, a recipe by Serena Coady. This dish was served at the Cookbook Launch last week and I fell in love with it. It tasted so good that I really wanted to make a whole bowl for myself after a measly taste test without the croutons. Today was definitely the perfect time to whip it up. I tweaked the recipe just a bit in terms of using different bread, herbs and beans, and leaving the sour cream as is, but otherwise I pretty much followed the recipe.

To be honest, the title of this recipe doesn’t quite live up to it – the spicy part that was. I was a bit disappointed that my soup was not spicy at all, like I wouldn’t even say it was mildly spicy. So I may have added a bit too much of dried chilli flakes to give it that kick that I was after. Now that really grasped the word ‘spicy’! It may just be cultural thing, I know a lot of my Western friends who can’t take anything spicy at all, or even calling a dish that had a dash of paprika in it ‘really spicy’. I seriously have no comment for that.

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 25 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

500g carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium brown onion, diced
5 cups vegetable stock
1 can (400g) chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup flaked almonds
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
3-4 slices of Pane di Casa bread from Bakers Delight
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Dollop of sour cream
Ground salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 250C.
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pot over medium to high heat and sauté onions until soft, about 2 minutes. Add in the carrots with the chillies, paprika and oregano and sauté until combined. Season with a touch of salt and pepper. Increase the heat to high and stir intermittently for 15 minutes until carrots are tender and browned. Add the vegetable stock and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the almond flakes into the soup, saving some for garnish later.
Meanwhile, spread the flaked almonds on a lined baking tray and place in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the flakes are golden brown. Remove and set aside.
Rip the slices of bread into bite size pieces and toss with 1/4 cup of olive oil in a small bowl. Spread onto the same lined baking tray and roast in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside.
Pour the soup over into a blender (working in batches if I does not all fit) and blend on low speed for about a minute until well combined and smooth. Pour into a bowl and add a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with almonds, croutons, and paprika. Serve.

A definite favourite winter warmer.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Prawn & Mango Vermicelli Salad

June 4, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen2 Comments

Getting my dish styled and photographed for the cookbook

Hello Everyone! So about a month ago or so I entered a recipe into this year’s UNSW Student Cookbook 2014. The theme for this year was “Simple Recipes to Impress” or as it is aptly referred as “Simprecipes”. I originally submitted a recipe for fried chicken wings with a prawn and mango vermicelli salad, but since there was another chicken wing entry that already made the cookbook, I was asked to tweak my recipe and just submit the salad. Though it wasn’t quite what I submitted originally, I was still very happy that it was chosen – they loved it for the bright and fresh colours! I also realised though that mangoes are out of season in Australia right now so I doubt anyone will be trying out my recipe until the summer. Sucks. That’s why I love the tropics, all year round mangoes!

Today was the official launch of the cookbook and it was a great turnout! Good food, good drinks, good music. I helped with setting up in the morning, preparing the platters to go out, serving, and a little bit of packing up at the end. Oh and I also got to meet Kumar Pereira, Masterchef Australia’s Season 3 and Allstars contestant. Such a sweet and loving guy! Here’s my entry for the cookbook (I will also post the recipe down below if it’s a bit hard to read from the photo):

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 10 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

For the salad:

200g rice vermicelli noodles
500g cooked prawns, shelled and deveined
2 ripe mangoes, cut into chunks
1/2 bunch fresh mint leaves, loosely torn
1 red bird’s eye chilli, sliced
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts plus extra to serve, finely chopped
1/4 head red cabbage, finely sliced

For the chilli-lime sauce:

4 tbsp fresh lime juice
4 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 red bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped

METHOD

In a medium-szied bowl, soak the rice vermicelli noodles in lukewarm water until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well (yields about 1/2 cup of sauce).
Add the salad ingredients to a large bowl and mix through. Dress with the chilli-lime sauce and toss to combine. I’m a huge fan of all things spicy so don’t be afraid to add more chillies for those spicy-lovers out there!
Garnish with extra peanuts and a few mint leaves. Serve.

This recipe is all about the intense variety of flavours, so invest in quality ingredients to really give it the best punch. It’s easy and super tasty! The bold flavours definitely won’t disappoint!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

South American Style Eggs with Fresh Tomato Salsa & Turkish Bread Roll

June 2, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen3 Comments

For brunch yesterday I had planned to make a sandwich with my Turkish bread roll. I had bought some Hungarian salami, tomatoes, rocket leaves, and a spicy capsicum spread to go with it. When I actually started to gather the ingredients for my sandwich I realised I had an untouched carton of a dozen eggs, I then decided to poach an egg or two to go with my sandwich. I then also spotted chorizo sausages at the back of the refrigerator and I instantly wanted to fry those up too with some caramelised onions.

I then ended up completely changing what I had in mind as I started to chop up the ingredients. I slowly craved for scrambled eggs with chorizo on the side… And then I thought of those South American Style Eggs that I had at Café con Leche about a month ago. I stopped there – I scrapped the salami and decided scrambled eggs with chorizo it was! I didn’t want the bread to go stale as well so I ended up toasting those in the oven and having them with my lunch. I also wanted to use the tomato and rocket leaves I bought so I ended up making a fresh salsa with it. My simple sandwich turned into something so epically large that it left me 5-months pregnant with a food baby (an expression that I always use to describe a very good, but gluttonous, meal).

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-15 MINS | SERVES 1

INGREDIENTS

For the eggs:

2 large free range eggs
1 Mexican chorizo sausage, sliced
2 tbsp milk
1/2 spanish red onion, diced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Ground salt and pepper

For the tomato salsa:

1/2 large tomato, diced
1/2 spanish red onion, diced
1 lime, juiced
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Handful rocket leaves
Ground salt and pepper

Turkish bread roll

METHOD

For the tomato salsa, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and toss to mix. Let it sit for an hour for the flavours to infuse (this is entirely optional, I let mine to sit for about 10-15 minutes and it still tasted amazing).
Preheat oven to 180C. Slice the bread roll in half and drizzle with olive oil. Place in the oven and toast for about 10 minutes or until golden brown (mine were a bit overdone only because I completely forgot about them in the oven).
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. and sauté onions until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring, until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Bring the heat down to medium-low and add he egg mixture and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes (or more depending on the desired firmness of the eggs). Transfer to serving plate with bread roll and tomato salsa.

On a side note, while attempting to give this recipe a fancier name than just Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo, I came across a Spanish recipe called Migas con Chorizo. Migas meaning a dish of eggs scrambled with torn-up corn tortillas, with Chorizo sausages. I am definitely keeping this in mind the next time I want to make eggs with chorizo.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Banana & Peanut Butter Popsicles

June 1, 2014December 28, 2018 amcarmen1 Comment

Happy June everyone! There is no doubt that my Dutch housemates Kevin and Sam, as well as myself, share an unconditional love for peanut butter. I also know that Kevin loves bananas and Sam loves popsicles. All these into account, I was almost certain that there is something out there that incorporates the three together.

I did some research and I found a recipe by Megan via Detoxinista, for Peanut Butter Banana Ice Pops. I shared the recipe with my housemates and we all agreed that we should make this – well, more like I make it and then they eat it. So that’s what I did yesterday, made the popsicles and let them to set in the freezer overnight for a happy Sunday afternoon snack 🙂

The recipe makes 8 popsicles, but I only had a mould that is good for 6, also it depends on the side of your moulds. I just kept the rest of the mixture in a container in the refrigerator to later pour into the mould as we consume them.

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME — | SERVES 6 POPSICLES

INGREDIENTS

3 large bananas (or 4 if small)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup full cream milk
1 tbsp honey and maple syrup blend
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt (optional only if you are using unsalted peanut butter)

METHOD

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend until very smooth and creamy. If necessary, adjust the sweetness to taste keeping in mind that the frozen version will taste less sweet than the mixture.
Pour the batter into the popsicle moulds and freeze for at least 6 hours, or until solid. When removing the frozen popsicles from their moulds, submerge them in hot water for about 20 seconds to allow them to loosen.