Linda's Cravings

This is an everyday home cook dish in China, a favourite comfort dish too much mainland Chinese.

I was introduced to this appetising dish during one of my visit to my sister who was then stationed in Shanghai.

I thought it was the usual stir fry but I when took the first bite, I was very pleasantly surprised by the unexpected burst of the flavours and the spicy edge.
Who would think this plain looking vegetable would deliver such intense and yet pleasing flavours?!

My sister's helper in Shanghai uses white vinegar in her dish and in Szechuan they use black Chinese vinegar.
While the black Chinese vinegar packs a deeper and heavier flavour, white vinegar releases a clean mild sour note.

Chilli is an essential ingredient, and you may use dried chillies, fresh chillies or for the brave hearts -chilli padi.

If you are into discovering unexpected flavour combinations, I recommend you begin with this captivating dish.

By the way, it is thrilling to watch your guests take their first bite of this simple looking stir fry.

Hahaha!


You will need:

500gm of cabbage (if using napa cabbage, use stem only)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2-3 fresh chillies, sliced
1-2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar
2 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of water
2 tablespoon of oil


Methods:

1. Heat the wok over medium heat and add oil.
2. Add the garlic and chillies and cook for a minute.
3. Turn up the heat and add in the well-drained cabbage, stir fry for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water and stir to mix well. Cook for another minute.
5. If you like the cabbage soft, cover the wok with the lid for a minute.
6. Remove from wok and serve

"HRH" who has zero heat tolerance has taken to Thai food lately.
This "ang mo kia" who can't even handle ground pepper managed and survived with a big jug of ice cold water on standby.

Since the cuisine emphasise on a wide variety of fresh herbs, spices and leaves; it is understandably one of the most popular cuisines in the world.
One would experience at least 3, up to 4 or 5 interplays of taste senses in each dish.

Take for example their classic papaya salad, listed as one of the 50 most delicious food in the world.
You get the sweetness from the palm sugar, saltiness from the fish sauce, heat from the chilli and sourness from the lime juice in a harmonious finish.

The typical papaya salad requires some “bashing” (actually more a mash and mix motion) with P and M, but when you are making a big batch (for 120 people), you are exempted from using one.

This salad form part of a Thai theme dinner we recently served for a church activity.

How good was it?
Well, I was “pestered” for the recipes.

So, here you are.


You will need:

shredded green papaya (from half a papaya)
1 handful of dried shrimps
2 tablespoon roasted peanuts
2-3 sliced shallots
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 - 1 tablespoon Thai palm sugar
juice from 1-2 lime
1-5 chillies (depending on your preference)
3-4 cherry tomatoes (halved)
long bean (optional)
parsley or basil to garnish


Methods: (w/o  P & M)

1. After washing, peel off the skin of the papaya and shave it into long stripes (we use mandoline)
and place it in a salad bowl.

2. Grind the garlic, chillies, palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce in a grinder (or food processor) till palm sugar completely dissolved, set aside.

3. Pan fried and roughly chopped the dried shrimps, crushed the roasted peanut lightly.

4. Add in the tomatoes, finely sliced shallots, roasted peanuts and dried shrimps to the green papaya.

5. Pour the dressing over, garnished and served immediately.


Methods: (using P & M)
1. After washing, peel off the skin of the papaya and shave it into long stripes (we use mandoline)

2. Add the garlic and chillies into the mortar and pound till garlic and chillies are reduced to small pieces.

3. Add the palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and mix till sugar completely dissolved

4. Toss in the long beans, roasted peanuts and dried shrimps and lightly crushed it. Add in the tomatoes and gently bruise it.

5. Mix in the green papaya, with the help of a metal spoon, lightly mash, mix and coat the salad with the dressings.

6. Remove from mortar and garnish with finely sliced shallots and more roasted peanuts.


Cooks Notes:

• Papaya has to be green, unripe.
• If you don't like raw long beans, blanched it briefly
• Start the dressing with a lesser amount of fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar and adjust to your preference.
• The dressing will make the salad turn soggy quite quickly. Pour over dressing only when ready to eat.
• Try remove seeds in the chillies for less heat.
• Pan-fried or toast the dried shrimps for more aromatic flavours

I cooked a lot of Thai food simply because it was my other half favourite cuisine.

He was endearingly known as the "hot-stuff" for his love for spice and high tolerance of heat. He has often been told he looks a decade younger than his actual age and he credits it to his love of the red hot chillies. (which is why we have a steady supply of fresh chillies in the fridge at all time)
We would scour the streets of his favourite holiday destination- Thailand, for authentic Thai food.
Those were happy and "spicy" days.

If you have been to Thailand or eaten Thai food, you most likely have had this dish. It is sort of a national dish along with the tangy mango and papaya salad and Tom Yum soup.

When I host a Thai dinner, this dish is a must-have for its authenticity and smooth execution in a home kitchen.

There are some recipes where I will stubbornly insist making the paste from scratch, but I am all for store bought green curry paste.
They are delicious. I recently cooked a batch using store-bought paste, and my co-volunteers were surprised at the authentic taste it delivered.


Do not panicked if you find the store-bought curry salty; just add in some Thai palm sugar. This crucial ingredient helps balance the flavours and at the same time lend some sweetness to the curry.

My co-volunteers were also introduced to some fresh Thai vegetables.

The fresh peppercorns are beautiful - like a miniature bunch of grapes.
I love biting into these tiny green peppercorns, not just the berries but the whole sprig. I like the refreshing burst of flavour and the mild heat that follow.



The Thai eggplant - green, white round ones are essential ingredients for Thai curry, they become softer as they absorb the flavour of the curry. Add them only at the last 5 mins of cooking.


Pea eggplant - cooked in curry or eaten fresh with chilli sauce looks like a cluster of green peas with short stems. I like that they burst in my mouth when eaten with curry.


I often think these fresh, authentic ingredients is the main reason that allows me to cook this dish with such confidence.

Cheers to your "spicy" weekends!


You will need:
3-4 chicken legs (deboned and sliced)
1-2 tablespoon of green curry chillies paste
1 cup coconut milk
1-2 tablespoon palm sugar
Thai eggplants
1/4 cup of pea eggplant
2-3 sprigs of fresh peppercorns (optional)
1/4 cup of Thai basil
1 cup water
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 fresh red chillies (sliced) for garnish


Methods:

1. Heat up a pot and pour in half of the coconut milk and stir for a couple of minutes. Add in the curry paste and mix well. Keep stirring till you see a layer of greenish oil forming.



2. Add in the chicken pieces and stir to coat until it is partially cooked. Add in the rest of the coconut milk and water. Let it simmer till chicken is cooked.

3. Toss in the eggplants, peppercorns, season to taste with palm sugar. Tear and add in the lightly crushed kaffir leaves and let boil.


4. Mix in the basil leaves when ready to serve and turn off heat.




Cooks' Notes:

1. The store-bought paste can be salty, add in palm sugar to balance the flavours and the heat.
2. Instead of chicken, try pork or beef
3. I use chicken leg as they are more tender than the breast meat which appears dry
4. Fish sauce is optional, if using Mae Ploy brand, no fish sauce is needed
5. If you can't find Thai eggplants, use the long purple ones
6. Mix in the basil leaves only when ready to serve to preserve the green colour
7. Add more coconut cream if you like your curry thick
8. Soak the eggplants in lightly salted water to prevent it turning brown

The then "breadwinner" was complaining so much about not enough pickling sauce for the Achar that I decided to make a lot more of the pickling sauce and we ended up with a pot of sauce.

Not wanting to save it due to space constraint in the fridge, I added fish to it, and a new family favourite is born!
Since then, it became the "force" for the annual painstaking achar bottling event; happily slogging away knowing our efforts will be greatly rewarded.

Let's just say from then on, no more fillets for us.
We should have known, Papa is a gifted cook and foodie.

Since the original recipe originated from a pickling sauce where white distilled vinegar is essential and mainly responsible for the sourness, I do without the tamarind paste all these while.

Serving it as a main dish for 120 people recently, I added tamarind/Assam water to stretch the sauce/gravy and to rightfully called it Assam fish. (otherwise, it would be hot and sour fish)

What I like about this dish is it allows you to adjust the level of sweetness, sourness and spiciness by the amount of sugar, vinegar and chilli you add to the sauce. In another word, stick to the ingredients for the paste listed here and play around with amount to be added in.

This tangy sauce is a perfect canvas for all seafood (prawns, sotong, crabs or clams), one may toss in their favourite vegetables along with some tofu puff (tau pok) to soak up the sauce.
Also, you don't have to stick to Batang fish, I have used pomfret, ikan keke, ikan selah, ikan kambong and most recently; ang goli (sea bream).

Give it a final lift by mixing in available fresh chopped herbs such as kaffir lime leaves, daun kesom (laska leaves) or bunga kantan (torch ginger) toward the last part of cooking.

Like all seafood, care should be taken not to overcooked it and serve it immediately.
This is one dish that leaves my guests happily "intoxicated".
I did warn you.


You will need:

Paste
300gm shallots
50gm turmeric
30 dried chillies
5 red chilli

1 thumb-sized ginger, thinly shredded
100ml oil
200ml vinegar
150gm sugar
1 teaspoon salt
tamarind paste (golf ball size and mix with 100ml water)

Your preference of Fish

Choice of vegetables
lady fingers
tomatoes
brinjal
long bean
cabbage
tofu puff /Tau Pok
fresh unripe pineapple (cut into slices)

Choice of herbs
Torch ginger flower (bunga kantan)
Kaffir lime leaves


Methods:
1. Grind the shallots, turmeric, fresh and dried chillies to a fine paste. (remove the seeds from the chillies if you can't handle heat)

2. Pour oil into a heated pot. Stir fry the shredded ginger till light brown, then add in the paste and saute until fragrant.

3. Add the vinegar, sugar and tamarind water and bring it to a boil.

4. Put in the fish, pineapple and tofu puffs. Season to taste with salt and bring it to a boil, toss in the fresh herbs and blanch vegetables. Serve hot.


Cooks' Notes:
1. I like my vegetables looking bright and tender-crisp, so I blanch it to preserve the colour and texture.

2. Eggplants are better deep fried or pan fried rather than blanched.

3. Remove the seeds from fresh and dry chillies if you have a low tolerance for heat.

4. If you like it sipping your gravy/sauce, stretch it by adding more liquid (vinegar, Assam water or simply water)

5. Use one type of fresh herb at any one time, do not mix as it may be too overpowering.

Blanching vegetables
Bring a pot of water to boil, add in salt (salt helps to maintain the colour and improve flavour)
Toss in the vegetables in a pot of boiling water and briefly cooked (about 2-5 minutes). When the vegetables are done, drained and then plunge it in ice cold water to stop the cooking process.
Blanch each type of vegetables separately and blanch lighter coloured one first.


Photographs: by the very talented Joyce Ho

This is the "post festive" dish I turn to when we overate during the festive season and need to eat " clean and simple " food.

When someone in the family has no appetite, unwell or when I am pressed for time. I called it my lazy dish.

It becomes the "supplement" dish when I have young children joining us for the meal.

My late grandmother used to serve this dish very often when we were young.
She would buy fresh Ikan Parang fish paste and tofu from the market for her precious princesses.

The fish paste I use in this recipe is Ikan Parang and come marinated which means you do not need to add anything to it.

Substitute it with fresh fish balls If you cannot find any marinated fish paste in the supermarket, just gather the fish balls in a bowl and break it up with a potatoes masher or fork.

This is by far the easiest recipe on my blog.  Mash and steam,  an under 15 minutes recipe.

No excuses to eat out, home cooking can be convenient.


You will need:

200gm of fish meat/paste
300gm of silken tofu
salt and pepper to taste
spring onion to garnish
dash of sesame seed oil (optional)
Methods:

1. Combine and mash the fish paste and tofu in a dish for steaming.


2. Place the dish in the steamer when the water (in the steamer)boil.
3. Steam under moderate heat for about 7-10 mins
4. Garnish with spring onion and sesame seed oil and served immediately




Cooks' Notes:

1. This dish is best when eaten immediately/hot.
2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and dash of pepper if your fish paste is not marinated.