roasted white bait

1. Rinse dried preserved white bait through water and soak 10 mins, then drain dry.
2. Deposit white bait evenly on a large plate with an absorbent paper towel. Squeeze dry on both sides.
3. Spread evenly on tray and insert into oven at 90C for about 20 mins until dry to touch.
4. Increase oven to 150C and roast till browned.

fish head curry

Tried one for the first time. Kind of improvised, so non-std recipe.

Verdict: ok'ish. Fish was fresh anyway. The curry was a bit lacking in depth. Possibly should use a good fish stock next time if I can get it.

Used whatever veg was available in my fridge + yong tau foo from the market.

1. saute half an onion with a pinch of fennel and cumin.
2. Then add packaged fish curry powder. Continue sautee'ing
3. Add stock/water with garlic pieces.
4. Add coconut cream + 3 lime leaves + dried crushed tamarind (just broke off a small chunk).
5. (attempt to add flavor). Add dried white bait and some frozen mussels.
6. Lower the half fish head into the curry. Bring to boil and then simmer on very low for 30 mins.
7. Take out the fish head.
8. Cook the yong tau foo and veg in the curry.

Pumpkin Puree

My inspiration was this

So I steamed some pumpkin about 30 mins. Broke it up with a spoon. Added a touch of cinnamon + pinch of salt and a shake of pepper.

Then I tried adding : Creme Fraiche, My homemade yoghurt and coconut milk cream in that order (to taste).

Result: winner is the one with coconut cream, though MW says I should use less coconut cream to avoid overwhelming the pumpkin.

In the original version, the puree mix is exuded through a NO2 siphon (most likely) to give it a lightness. Obviously can't do that (unless I buy one 8-)).

No pic of the results. Forgot.

Some interesting stuff to learn from

Ate some interesting stuff. Things I might experiment on.

"Salmon Berry Sandwich" with fish eggs. Salty sweet (mostly salty) composed starter that goes well with a proscecco.

 Another starter. This one is a very light pumpkin cream with a crisp thin wafer on top. What works

• The cream is very very light. Will need to experiment. Possibly use creme frache (heavy) or coconut cream? (lighter). 
• There's a light touch of unidentifiable spice. But pumpkin goes traditionally with cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Can try that.
• The cream was probably exuded through a compressed gas siphon. Can't duplicate that, so any home effort will be a compromise

 

This is another starter. What works for this is 

• savoryness from the (again) smoked salmon
• a bit of fruitiness from a tomato confit like mix
• a touch of raw onion 
• texture from bland but crisp veg

Beef short ribs. This might be the least inventive, but well executed.

1. medium to medium rare short ribs (probably sous vide).

2. charred on the outside on the grill

3. sweet sour sauce.

4. mild pickles.

Fish dish. Fish is Hapuka (a deep sea fish). What's interesting is the tarragon crust on top, and a smoked cream sauce. Must try to replicate the smoked cream sauce if I can.

Tamarind juice

Not too bad. About 100g of crushed tamarind pulp plus 100g of sweet dried fruit we bought in chaozhou (Mw says its kumquat) with a little honey to taste, boiled for 30 mins.

Test attempt at roast duck for CNY dinner

Taste was excellent. Skin is so so. But good first start. I think good enough that CNY dinner itself will be my second attempt.

First make a 3.5 liter brine with 1.5 liter classic coca cola, 2 litre water, 170g salt, a few tablespoons of  sugar, 10-15 shakes of fish sauce, 2 medium oranges (juice and pulp added), 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 garlic bulb (halved), and some orange liquorice sweets I bought from China. Boil all together except the coke and make sure salt is dissolved. Then add the coke (cold from fridge). Let the mix cool and then put it into fridge to bring it down further.

Trim the duck, then add it to the cold brine overnight.

Remove from brine, drain duck and pat dry.

Prick skin all over (not sure if I should have done this before the slow roast or after - oh well).

Stuff cavity with one large orange.

Stick it in the oven and roast at 80C for 8-9 hours.

Take out of oven. Cool the duck with a fan airflow. Then stick in the the fridge for several hours at least.

Take duck out of fridge and let it warm up gradually (couple of hours). Cover any parts that are likely to overcook in the next step (wings and any holes in skin or cavity).

Crank oven to 300C. Then bring it down to 275C with fan. Open all windows and close the kitchen door (it will smoke).

Put duck in. And watch carefully. It should only take about 10-12 mins.

Take out duck. Cool 15-20 mins before carving.

 

 

 

After carving. Forgot to take photo pre-carve.

after the slow roast.

Stuffed peppers

Saw a bunch of small bell peppers being sold in NTUC. Was tempted to do stuffed peppers.

Filling is (from memory): minced pork, toasted whole fennel/cumin, pepper salt/fish sauce, a little soup stock, dash of sesame oil, a little oil from frying dried prawns (did not use the prawns), fried garlic, wan sui, spring onions, finely chopped shitake mushrooms, one egg, dash of sake and sweet wine. Hey, and the kitchen sink too.

Slow roasted about 40 mins at 95C (monitored internal temp till about 78C). Then cranked the oven to grill.

Result, very tender and sweet bell peppers with a savory fill. Worth repeating. Had a lot of excess which I froze - I expect they are easily gently reheated with little effect.

Note for next time:
1. filling is difficult as the peppers are small (many of the peppers weren't fully filled. Find a tool or use last finger next time.

2. Stuck the caps on, but it tends to fall out. If I'm serious about presentation, will need to find a way to keep the caps on. The fill is sticky, but not sticky enough (brush egg white around cap and run a torch very briefly over to seal the cap?).