Fishcakes (from leftover tuna rice salad)

I made a giant bowl of tuna rice salad for a BBQ this weekend and had a lot left over...what to do? Instead of eating the same thing several meals in a row, I was inspired by risotto cakes and fish cakes to make: Tuna cakes!

Tuna rice cakes - a simple Monday night dinner

Ingredients

• leftover tuna rice salad, risotto or fried rice
• 1 egg (or 2 if you have a lot of leftovers) to bind
• Parmesan or other shredded cheese
• salt, pepper to taste
• olive oil or neutral oil for pan-frying

Method:

1. Beat the egg(s) in a bowl.
2. Add to the leftover tuna rice salad and mix well.
3. Stir in the shredded cheese
4. Add in a bit of salt and pepper (put less if your original tuna rice salad was already well-seasoned/salty). 
5. Using a large spoon, shape into patties.
6. Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil into your frying pan.
7. Scoop the patties onto the oiled frying pan and flatten slightly with your spatula.
8. When the bottom is crispy and golden brown, gently flip the cakes and brown the other side.
9. Remove from pan and serve immediately. 

These rice cakes go well with a simple green salad. 

One-pot steamed Chinese chicken mushroom rice

A classic Chinese comfort food is steamed chicken with winter/shiitake mushrooms (冬菇蒸雞飯). There are variations with dried lily flowers but I like the ones with mushrooms best. In Chinese cooking, shiitake/winter mushrooms are more commonly used dried than fresh. The dried ones have a stronger, more umami flavor to them that the fresh ones don't, and the best dried winter mushrooms can be quite expensive!

I adapted my recipe from this one I found online.

The only specialized equipment you will need is a rice cooker (found throughout Asia). Rice cookers are amazing things - see this blog post by Roger Ebert (yes, the film critic) if you need to be convinced of its usefulness.

Notes:

• Rehydrated winter mushrooms (or you can use any fresh ones that you prefer. A "meatier" mushroom would probably work better here.
• I used boneless chicken thigh, cut into small pieces, because my boyfriend doesn't like bones. In cheaper restaurants in Hong Kong, the chicken in this dish can have a lot of bone splinters :(
• Didn't have spring onion so I substituted coriander/cilantro - not strictly traditional but I feel that you have a lot more flexibility for savory dishes than with baked desserts.
• Rice + about 2/3 of the normal amount of water you would normally use in your cooker because the soy sauce marinade for the chicken will make up the remaining liquid.
• If you don't have Shaoxing wine you can use cooking sake/mirin/pale dry sherry/gin. Not quite the same but close enough.
  
• It's OK if your rice gets a slightly burnt and crispy crust - that's the BEST part!
• The main point is, don't worry about following the recipe too strictly, play around with it depending on what ingredients you have on hand and ENJOY. It will be yummy.

Quest for home-made pizza

February 4, 2011: tomato, basil, onion, sopressata pizza before it entered the oven


Until Paisano's came along last year, you could not, for love or money, get decent New York-style pizza in Hong Kong. If you've ever had proper New York-style pizza you'll understand how much of a tragedy this was. My pizza cravings went unsatisfied by the meagre local offerings: Pizza Hut (ick!), Spaghetti House (gross), Pepperonis (mediocre but better than nothing), and Pizza Express (nice UK/Continental thin crust, but not the same as a New York plain slice). Oh for a proper New York cheese pizza, or for the white pies of Connecticut. I still have fantasies over an Italian sausage & caramelized onion white pizza that I had several years ago at the Fat Cat Pie Co. in Norwalk, CT. Other girls might dream of Brad Pitt, but I can't get that memory of those perfectly browned onions on a light, thin, crispy crust, out of my mind. (Yes, I'm sick and have an addiction! I freely admit it!)

After experimenting with baking bread at home, I had a Eureka! moment when I realized that pizza is essentially just flat thin bread with toppings, which meant I could probably make it at home. This meant I could make white pizzas, plain cheese pizzas, margherita pizzas...the world was my oyster pizza.

For me, pizza is all about the crust and the dough. I like my crust to be light and airy, crispy but not too chewy. I can't bear spongy or soggy pizza bases. I tried a couple of dough recipes but was never satisfied with the results (too bready, too soft, too ....). Finally, I found the GOLD recipe for pizza dough and now that I've found it, I'm going to stick with it.

Unless you've been hiding under a metaphorical rock for the past few years, you've probably heard of Jim Lahey's no-knead bread recipe, made famous by Mark Bittman at the New York Times. It's not surprising then that the easiest and best recipe for pizza, which is at its most basic just a yeasted flat bread with toppings, also comes courtesy of Jim Lahey and his Sullivan Street Bakery.

I don't use a pizza stone or peel or any fancy equipment, just a baking sheet greased with olive oil. I never thought I could make decent pizza in a mini convection oven so I bow down and worship at Jim Lahey's feet. (OK, that might be overdoing it a bit but seriously, I am soooo happy to be able to make decent pizza at home and satisfy my pizza cravings!)

Here's a link to the recipe but I usually use my copy of Jim Lahey's book, My Bread, which gives slightly different instructions.

The base is essentially the same (the main difference is how thin or thick you stretch the base crust), so I've been playing around with different toppings.


May 26, 2010: Semi-white pizza with fresh tomatoes but no tomato sauce. I'm very partial to a good pizza bianca - it's less heavy than sauced pizzas.


December 21, 2010: Jon's favourite, with a LOT of cheese (mix of Cheddar, Parmesan, and Mozzarella) and tomato sauce. The uglier cousin due to the molten cheese and tomato that oozes everywhere, but undeniably finger-lickin' good. This one has portabello mushrooms and spicy Italian sausage.

I'm still experimenting with different toppings and crust thickness: these might not be true New York-style pizzas, but I find them pretty damn tasty. :)

Next post will be for another Jim Lahey recipe that's one of my favourite pot-luck and party standby: stecca with garlic and cherry tomatoes.

Fajitas for dinner

• Flour tortillas (store-bought)
• Spiced sautéed chicken/mushroom/bell pepper
• guacamole (avocado with cilantro, tomato, lime juice)
• salsa (tomato, cilantro, onion)
• rice cooked with tomato sauce, bell peppers and cilantro
  

Chicken pot pie

Step 1: Make the filling. I used chopped pea shoots, carrots, potatoes, chicken breast, and onion in a bechamel sauce. I lightly cooked the vegetables in a saucepan until soft before adding to the filling.



Step 2: Make the shortcrust pastry ahead of time (you need to chill it before use) and place on top of the filling. Brush with beaten egg.



Step 3: Bake at 200°C for 50 - 60 minutes until golden brown.



Step 4: Serve hot and enjoy. It keeps for a couple of days in the fridge (just reheat in the oven or microwave before serving).

Bananas Foster

For Valentine's Day, my boyfriend cooked a 4-course dinner. :) We stayed at home this year, partly because we didn't want to deal with the crowds of people outside, and also because dinner at restaurants is always very expensive on Valentine's (and, in my opinion, a bit overpriced).

The menu:

• Californian caponata (gorgonzola cheese eggplant dip)
• Curried butternut squash soup
• Mushroom eggplant lasagne
• Bananas Foster

The other items didn't turn up too well on film, despite being yummy, so only I only uploaded the dessert photos. The bananas Foster were so simple, yet gorgeously rich and divine. Brown sugar, rum, cinnamon, banana liqueur, ripe bananas, paired with good vanilla ice cream. Delicious and simple. :)

Bananas Fosters recipe from Brennan's in New Orleans.

Family Dinner (Dec 23)

Steamed white eel (Cantonese home-style)

Stir-fried pea shoots with garlic; cucumbers with sesame oil & soy sauce; poached white chicken