Linda's Cravings

K, This is for you.

Each time I cooked this dish,  Aoki San - my ex-tenant - a Japanese chef came to mind.
He brought me his own teriyaki sauce which is so good that I often find ways to use it.

Aoki San is fondly remembered by the neighbours for contributing the best supper we ever had.
That memorable night, he came home late as usual and handed me a heavy bag with a bloody content and explained that those were the wagyu beef trimmings and the restaurant was discarding it.
Honestly, we didn't believe these were trimmings as it was so good. (see for yourself)



Good things must share, so I "activate" my neighbours. My SMS were met with fast and excited responses.
In a short 10 mins, my neighbours gathered at my garden, table laid out with the table grill.
The top quality melt in your mouth beef needs only salt and pepper and under mins on the hot grill on each side.
We all agreed that that was one supper that we will remember for a long, long, long time.
(well, I am still reminiscing it 8 years later)

Ok, wipe off your saliva, back to Teriyaki Chicken.
Tired of paying an extravagant price for flat supermarket teriyaki sauce (ok, also lazy to drive to the supermarket), I decided to make some at home since I have all the ingredients required and it is easy to remember, all in equal part.

There are few ways to cook this dish: Grilling, Pan-fried and baking

Grilling over a hot grill - guarantee charred marks, and you don't mind the washing up
Cooking over charcoal fire - exude a smoky flavour, but you will need to set up the charcoal fire
Pan frying - Chicken is moist and tender and but you will need oil.
Baking method - is the easiest especially when one is cooking for a big group. All you need to do is to marinate the chicken with the sauce for at least a couple of hours and chuck it in the oven. Little oil is used so this could be the healthiest method.

Happy cooking!
You will need:
3 chicken thighs or drumsticks, debone, skin on
2 tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Marinate:
1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 sake
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
2 tablespoon of honey
1 minced/grated garlic

Garnish:
1/2 teaspoon sesame seed
spring onion

Pan-fried Method:
1. Rub chicken with salt and set aside for at least 20 mins.

2. Heat up a frying pan, add in oil when the pan is hot. Placed chicken skin side down and fry till golden brown over medium heat.


3. Turn over the chicken and add in 1 tablespoon of sake and cover pans with lid.




4. Remove lid after 5 mins, drain off oil and remaining liquid. Soak up excess liquid/oil with paper towel.


5. Switch to high heat and add half of the marinade to boil. Coat the chicken with the caramelised marinate/sauce evenly by spooning evenly over it.


6. When most of the liquid has evaporated, remove and sliced the chicken, serve with or on hot rice garnish with sesame seeds and spring onion.

Baking Method:(brushing required)
1.Marinate chicken with salt and set aside for at least 20 mins.

Easy baking method:
1.Combine sugar, soy sauce, mirin, sake, honey, garlic, ginger and marinate the chicken in this marinade for at least 30mins.

2.Preheat oven 220 degrees C.

3. Place chicken pieces in marinating in a lightly greased dish and bake for 15 mins, turn pieces over and bake for another 15 mins until no longer pink and juices run clear.

"HRH" returns from the internship in China recently and rattled about the street food. He was surprised to find miso glazed tofu in the streets of China and according to him, they were excellent.
He loves tofu, period.

"HRH" speaks no Mandarin, sort of an "Ang Mo Kia", so I caution him on saying "eating tofu"(a Chinese idiom) to a lady which describe man flirts with a woman; we had a good laugh.

Honestly, I am not keen with dishes slathered with miso. (i.e. miso glazed codfish, miso glazed eggplants) I have encountered over salty miso glazed dishes that overpowered the main ingredient one time too many and have since stayed away from these dishes.

It is a different story when you are the cook as it allows you to cook it the way you like it.

To strike a good balance of sweet and savoury for this dish, begin by selecting a mild flavour miso.
Generally speaking, the darker the colour of miso, the longer it's been fermented and the stronger it will taste.
I will go for yellow or white miso, but if you prefer a more robust flavour, you may do a half and a half. i.e. half white miso and half red miso.

I have added pineapple juice and grated pineapple to the glaze, "revolutionary" to some of you but it worked beautifully.


You will need:

1 block of firm tofu
2 tablespoon of oil

Glaze :
3 tablespoon miso paste
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon mirin
1 1/2 tablespoon sake
1 1/2 tablespoon pineapple juice
1 1/2 tablespoon grated pineapple (optional)
1 tablespoon honey
1 thumb size ginger, finely grated

Garnish:
Sesame seed
Cut spring onion

Methods:

1. Combined ingredients for the glaze in a bowl.



2. Dry the tofu by wrapping in paper towels. Discard paper towel when completely soaked and cut the tofu into 2-inch squares



3. Heat up the frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and lightly pan-fried all sides. Remove tofu from pan and set aside.


4. Line the baking tray/dish with foil and arranged tofu pieces (no overlapping please)

5. Brush the tofu pieces with the miso glaze and placed it under the broiler (I put mine in the toaster) and cook until glaze has browned.



5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onion.



Cooks'  Notes:
1. Use only firm tofu, not the silky type.
2. Ensure the frying pan and oil is hot when placing in the tofu. Failing which, it will stick to the pan.
3. Adjust the miso and sugar to your preferred sweetness

Not to be confused with Babi Assam which is the braised pork in tamarind sauce.

This is the dry version, and it is my late husband favourite Nonya dish.
He likes his charred food and no need to ask him what he wants for dinner on weekends as he would have said BBQ.

And if I feel he needs a little cheer up during the weekdays, I will make this tamarind pork.
I would have a ready tub of marinated pork belly in the freezer which just needs defrosting.
When press for time, I will chuck it in the oven. Otherwise, the pork will simmer in the marinades till cook and then grill it in the oven for those charred edges.

This is his recipe, and it is just combining the marinade and rubbed the pork belly with the marinade and set overnight in the fridge.
I used to serve this dish during CNY but has since stopped as there were just too many other delicious pork dishes the other family members were contributing (which I hope to blog about it soon)

Once, not wanting my large batch of marinating for Itek Sioh goes to waste, I rubbed the belly pork with this marinade (which include shallots and coriander powder).
This version exudes a sweeter and smoky flavour.

Marinated overnight, the pork belly becomes succulent and tender; simply irresistible with those charred edges.

This recipe has since become one of my "rescue" dishes.


You will need:

1 kg of belly pork

Marinate:
3 tablespoon of seedless Assam paste
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
150ml of water

Optional:
50gm shallots paste
1 tablespoon coriander powder, roasted.

Methods:
1. Cut belly pork into thick strips, combine with the marinade and place pork in the fridge overnight.

2. Simmer pork in marinade over low heat till cook.

3. Remove pork and place it in the oven (200c) until brown or the edges charred. Brush the pork with the marinade.

4. Sliced up into thick pieces and serve with garlic chilli sauce.

Soufflés came to mind as I was planning for a French meal and I was game for a food challenge. I shall serve ice cream if it fails.

• Brush the ramekins with butter from the bottom up (upward strokes) for an evenly rise.
• After "spooning" or filling the mixture into ramekins, run thumb around inside of the rim of the ramekins,  this will help the soufflé to rise straight.
• Level the filled ramekins with a knife for an evenly browned rise.

You will need:
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon castor sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs (separate the yolk and the white)

Methods:



3. Lower the heat, gradually add in milk and stir until smooth and combined. Back to medium heat stir constantly until it comes to a boil. The sauce should form ribbons. This is the white sauce.
Remove from the heat and add in salt and vanilla extract and stir till combined.


4. Add in the egg yolks one at a time and stir to combine. (remember the pan is remove from the heat - step 3)
To avoid evaporation (sauce pan is still hot), pour the sauce into a separate bowl and set aside.


5. Use electric beaters to beat or whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl, gradually adding sugar until firm peaks form.


6. Add about one-third of the egg white into the white sauce and whisk until combined.Fold in remaining egg white mixture.


7. Spoon into prepared ramekins. Run thumb around inside of the rim of the ramekins and level it with a knife, this will help the soufflé to rise straight. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until puffed and just set.


6. Dusted with confectioners sugar and serve immediately.




Cooks' Note:

• Use room temperature eggs for firm peaks
• Add a little lemon juice, vinegar or cream of tartar to help the meringue(eggs white) to peak properly
• Gentle fold in the whites until where the streaks of white disappear.

Souffles prepared 2 hours ahead (1/2 towering only)

A casual remark that eggs will go well with the roast ham and turkey -  and I took it as an order and crack my head over salad with eggs.
I have to decide the style of the egg as it will help determine how the salad will come together.
(chefs do a lot of thinking too, not merely cooking or eating)

I already have a leafy vinaigrette based salad and it is looking beautiful. Sitting in the fridge is a tub of golden goodness -carrot salad. I am looking for the 3rd salad (that needs to have eggs in it) to complement these 2 salads and the roast meat.

I head to the local market for inspiration.(or market research if you prefer)
I settled for snap peas (also known as sugar snap peas) and French beans as the base for this salad. These beans just need some blanching. It is the trimming of each bean and removing the tough fibre out of the middle that is a chore. It is worth the few extra minutes though.

I know the salad is slowly but surely coming together when I saw bags of baby potatoes and avocado on sales at the supermarket.

Next, the dressing. Cream based is most ideal for this salad but I strive to stick to healthy eating, so Greek yoghurt is used instead of thick cream.

There you have it, a well-balanced salad that you can eat it on its own as a main meal.




You will need:
150gm Snap peas
150gm French beans
6-8 baby potatoes (boiled or steam and cut into halves)
1 avocado (cut into cube, add lemon juice to prevent browning)
2 hard boiled eggs (cut into quarters)


Dressing:
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chopped dill

Methods:

1.Blanch the trimmed green beans and snap peas. Drop in the greens in a large pot of boiling water. Cook till bright green and crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Quickly remove them from the boiling water and plunge them into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain the greens when its cool and set aside.

2. Combined the cut hard boiled eggs, avocado and potatoes and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing together.

3. Assemble the salad: the beans and peas as the base, top with the creamy trio (potatoes, eggs and avocado) and garnish with dill.

4. Pour the dressing over the salad.


Cooks' Note:
Store avocados at room temperature. They take 4 to 5 days to ripe. To speed up the ripening process, place avocados in a paper bag along with an apple or banana.

No one will chide you for offering a variety of salads particularly during the festive season where serious feasting takes place.

Salads are perfect meals accompaniment, and often the justification for our unashamedly, unapologetic feasting.

One cannot ignore dried cranberry if one wants a cheery festive salad.
I am pairing it with the shredded carrots which can be prepared a day ahead, made easy with the food processor.

Instead of the usual creamy dressing, I opt for the zingy Yuzu dressing.
I added candied ginger for some heat. If you can't get your hands on candied ginger, freshly grated ginger will do too.

Mix in some chopped flat leaf parsley, and we have yet another vibrant, festive salad.

Cheers to the golden goodness!


You will need:

3 carrots, shredded
1/2 cup of dried cranberry
1 tablespoon of chopped flat leaf parsley

dressing:
2 tablespoon of Yuzu or Yujacha (Korean citron tea)
2 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 sake
1 handful of bite size candied ginger  or 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
pinch of salt
sliced kumquat for garnishing (optional)


Methods:

1. Grate the carrots in a food processor. Set aside.

2. In a salad bowl, combine the yuzu paste, lemon juice, sake, ginger, olive oil and salt.

3. Add the carrots, fresh parsley and cranberry and toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

• Depending on the sweetness of the carrots, you may want to add more or less yuzu paste.
• If you make this salad ahead of time, be sure to recheck the seasoning before serving as the flavours tend to mellow.
• Drain off the excess liquid from the dressing if you do not like it too soggy.

Yuzu/Yujia (citron tea)

We have settled the main dishes - Roast Ham and Turkey and I am to come up with sides and salads to accompany the meat.

I wanted something cheery to pretty up the Christmas table, something festive.

Pomegranate is in season and the sweet, juicy red seeds fit the bill.
Toss in the fruity pears, tangy feta cheese, crunchy walnut and pulled together with a mustard vinaigrette.

This is a beautiful salad that speaks to all the wonderful time of Christmas and the feasting ahead.

Blessed Christmas!


You will need:

250g baby spinach
100gm Feta cheese
1 firm and ripe Bosc pear
3/4 cup of pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup walnuts

dressing:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup Apple cider vinger
3 tbsp Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste


Methods:

1. Placed spinach in salad bowl topped with crumbled feta cheese, sliced pear  and walnuts.

2. Meanwhile, place mustard, vinegar, oil, honey, salt, and pepper in a  nonreactive bowl and whisk until combined.

3. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the top and dizzle with the vinaigrette.

I decide to blog about this cranberry sauce since we received rave reviews from dinner couple of days ago. Some suggested I should bottle and market it. I preferred to share it.

I thought I will not be cooking this Christmas since everyone is not around, and then I was roped in to organise an appreciation dinner for 100 people.

Our wise Pastor reminds us that some may not eat Ham and Turkey was ordered at the last hours.
To accompany the meat, I volunteer to make cranberry sauce from scratch as I am not a fan of can/bottled jellied cranberry sauce.

Next, I went searching for cranberry and happy to find fresh cranberry at the "ang moh" supermarket.
Frozen cranberry work too if you can't get fresh ones.

The instruction at the back of the cranberry package indicates 1 and a half cup of sugar to which I use only 1/2 cup sugar and substitute the rest with freshly grated pineapple. (very ripe one)
Can't skip sugar altogether as it will end up with a runny texture.

I toss in some chopped bits of pineapple as I like the sauce with some bite.

Since we are able to control the amount of sugar in the sauce and fresh pineapple and orange juice are added, the finished result is an excellent balance of sweetness and tartness.

Be warned though, you may not be able to stomach can/bottled cranberry sauce after cooking your own from scratch.


You will need:

1 bag of fresh cranberry (12oz)
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of pineapple juice
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 grated fresh pineapple
orange zest from 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier


Methods:

1. In a saucepan, boil the juices and sugar stirring until all the sugar dissolves.

2. Add the whole cranberry, grated pineapple, cinnamon,  and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to Low and simmer for 5 minutes without stirring.



3. Remove from heat and stir in the orange zest and Grand Marnier.

4. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools. Remove cinnamon stick and store in the refrigerator.


Cooks' Note:

• Canned pineapple may be used if you can't find the fresh one.
• These sauce make good food gifts.

Believe it or not, this is made from left over spaghetti sitting in the fridge.
I always make the mistake of cooking way too much pasta as I am afraid it would not be enough.

So here I am, torn between making a fresh pot of kimchi tofu soup and the balance pasta for dinner.
I dislike throwing out food, so pasta it is.

Tired of the usual pasta, I turned to my fridge for "inspiration" and found the pink kidney shape sac of Pollack roe - Mentaiko (Tarako is the non-spicy version)
Mentaiko is the marinated roe of pollock and cod which gives it a pink colour.
If you have anchovies, bottarga or karasumi in your pasta, chances are you will like this dish too.

To my lovely Japanese friend - Aki San, shiso and Mentaiko is the "best combination" for her.
Shiso, from the mint family also known as oba, is the green leaf the Japanese used as garnish or receptacle to hold grated wasabi for sashimi.

The shiso with its herbaceous and citrusy notes provide a nice contrast to this salty, spicy, savoury dish.
(I substitute shiso with the zest of green lime here as I couldn't get my hands on shiso)

This recipe calls for mild flavour olive oil, you may substitute with cream and Japanese mayonnaise if you prefer a rich and creamy taste.

This is an utterly delicious and straightforward dish where one savour the great essence of the sea as the tiny roe "pop" with each mouthful.


You will need:

1/4 cup spicy mentaiko
1/4 cup of light olive oil (mild flavour)
250g dried spaghetti
1-2 tablespoon butter (cut into few slices)
half teaspoon pepper
sprinkle with sea salt flakes
5-6 Shiso (julienned) or zest of 1 lime
Nori strips (for garnish)

Method:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions in a well-salted water pot

2. Squeeze out the roe from each half, set aside and discard the membrane.

3. Combine the mentaiko, olive oil, pepper and salt, butter on a dish.

4. Check the doneness of the pasta, drain and add to the dish with mentaiko sauce, toss till pasta is evenly coated and butter melted.



5. Garnish with a small teaspoon of mentaiko, nori strips and shiso zest of lime/lemon.


Cooks' Note:
For rich and creamy sauce:
3 tablespoon of pure cream
4 tablespoon of Japanese mayonnaise