Contrast
Posted: October 2, 2010 Filed under: cooking, pasta, pork, references 2 Comments »It’s always fun to reminisce and reflect upon the past. I think I’ve always gone through life with a lot of conviction and belief in myself but in hindsight, it was a little misplaced. I’m glad to be rid of many of the labels I used to don with pride in my younger years. I can almost see my friends rolling their eyes and hear their exasperated exclamations of, “You are still young!” But you get my drift!
I used to be such a shallow, materialistic, emotional, irrational and impulsive person. Didn’t I sound like such fun to be around? I’m really glad to have shed off the side of my persona who thrived on material goods and shopping because I’m thoroughly embarrassed now that I was ever known as a “shopaholic”. Sure, my wardrobe was a lot more enviable and I repeated outfits a lot less but I think it says more about my character that I am able to see past the fluff of bullshit heavily doused with perfume!
As much as I wish to still be 18 some days, I’m grateful for the subtlety and maturity the past few years have graced upon me. Besides, I’m not too resentful yet for I still get carded sometimes so I must still look wide-eyed and innocent ;) For those of you who still think of me as the girl with a massive headband on her head and dressed in expensive frocks and always overdressed for the occasion; that girl is no more. I almost wish someone had prodded me those years ago and said, “Did you know you’re kind of ridiculous?” I’m pretty sure my family did but I probably pranced away on a rainbow-coloured cloud of indignation, leaving a trail of glitter in my wake.
I guess I just had some growing up to do. I no longer flounce around in ridiculous dresses, I no longer wear bows pretending to be a life-sized present, I no longer waste my time browsing online stores, I don’t even drink expensive cocktails anymore (beer and gin+tonics are perfect, thank you!). Best part is I love Low-Key Adult Sophia a lot more than High Maintenance Princess Sophia.
(Okay, I probably diverted my money to food, but I still spend WAY less than I did when I was shopping. A designer dress gets me three or four fantastic meals and those meals are more memorable than a dress that if worn once and photographed in, I have to keep in my closet for another 6 months until people forget I own it. A degustation meal at Ezard is pretty much on par with one dress from Sportsgirl, did you know? How crazy is that?! I’ll take Ezard over Sportsgirl, please! The benefits of being a reformed shopaholic is that my closet is bursting with pretty dresses that are unworn because I never had the occasion to wear them as I was too busy being broke and thus only ate at cheap student places – oh the irony!)
Carbonara
I speak of my past because I revisited a dish I used to make a lot many years back. I don’t know why I stopped but I was feeling lazy today and this was the dish that came to mind as it’s relatively effortless. I used to make this so often that I don’t even need the recipe to make it anymore, but I Googled to find it for those who need precise measurements (I come from ‘a pinch of this’ sort of measurement style).
Spaghetti Carbonara
Serves 1 rescued-from-the-wild-ravenous person, or 2 medium eaters
Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s How To Eat
1/2lb spaghetti
4 oz pancetta or bacon, diced, fats separated from the meaty bits
2 tsp olive oil
4 Tbsp white wine (confession: I used 1 cup today because I’m a little boozy like that)
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Powdered nutmeg (I ran out so I swapped for cinnamon – it worked!)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
A few Basil leaves
1. Bring water to boil, salt liberally, and cook spaghetti until al dente (my go to time is 11 minutes on low-medium heat).
2. Combine the egg and egg yolk in a bowl, whisk them together gently with a fork. Add a few dashes of nutmeg and freshly ground black pepper and combine. Add in the freshly grated parmesan and combine well. Set aside.
3. About 5 minutes into cooking the pasta, heat oil in a deep pan, then add in the fatty bits of the diced pancetta/bacon. Fry until crisp, then add the meaty dice. Fry until properly cooked and crisp.
4. Add in the white wine and reduce until you’re left with about 2 Tbsp of delicious combo of wine and rendered fat juices. (Or if you’re like me and threw in a cup of white wine, watch the whole thing turn into a flambe and panic about setting off the smoke alarm and then proceed to go, “WOW! COOL!” Accidental flambes are fun.)
5. By this time, your pasta would’ve been cooked so drain that into a colander and turn off the flame for the pan. Throw the unsalted butter into the still-warm pan, add in the pasta and toss with the diced meat and its gorgeous juices until the spaghetti is well coated.
6. Pour in the yolk mixture and stir together until well combined. The heat from the just-cooked pasta and your still-warm pan will cook the egg just enough for it to be safe to eat.
7. Serve on a plate and shred some fresh basil leaves for a hint of delicious aroma with your very sinful pasta dish.
Carbonara flashback from 2006
I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve been making this dish for a while now.
It’s funny how things and people evolve through the years, isn’t it? I used to be such a stickler to the recipe but now I just wing it completely confident I’d make it delicious, even missing the nutmeg.
This is my favourite kind of carbonara, not the creamy white sauce versions that people seem to love. Does anyone else find those versions of carbonara absolutely revolting and overwhelming? I only know one restaurant that makes that sort of carbonara that I can stomach, and the restaurant is all the way back in Malaysia, unfortunately (I’m talking about Dave’s in 1 Utama).
I wonder what this dish would look like a few more years down the road. Most of all, I wonder what I’ll be like. Even more pleasant, I hope!
So Porking Good, Part Deux
Posted: September 27, 2010 Filed under: cooking, dinner, pork, references | Tags: david chang, momofuku, momofuku steamed pork buns 4 Comments »The weather in Melbourne has finally shifted into gear for spring and I’m getting ready to set aside my flannelette PJs for skimpier cotton options. As much as I have adored everything about winter, I am ready for spring.
This past weekend has been so good to me that I’m typing this with a satisfied little smile on my lips. I kicked it off with a Sophia Day, which is my favourite type of day. I wandered around Dymocks picking up novel after novel compiling another killer wishlist to add to the Book Depository but nevertheless was seduced by the words of one particular book that I had to bring it home with me immediately.
The rest of my weekend was a blur of delicious morsel after delicious morsel, and the fact that I surfaced from my food coma to type this is a testament of my strength but please pardon me while I wear elastic banded bottoms for the next two weeks. It was well worth it though, being surrounded by amazing company and beautiful food.
Momofuku Pork Buns
Perhaps one of the reasons why the weekend was so good was because we launched into it with a fantastic dinner of steamed pork buns on Thursday night. It was one of those fantastic meals where I didn’t believe I had made what I was eating because it tasted too damned good to be true.
The recipe is from the Momofuku cookbook by David Chang whose name is almost eponymous with pork, to be honest (a man after my own heart!). The recipe is available here because I am way too lazy to ever type that out.
It was pretty labour intensive for a weekday meal but if my insane persistence on making everything from scratch results in a luscious meal, you best believe this is a madness worth ignoring.
It started the night before, where a 2kg slab of pork belly was cleaned and skinned. I tried asking my butcher to remove it for me but he gave me an incredulous look that can only be described as, “Are you fucking kidding me?” that I had to do it myself. His exact words to me were, “But pork belly is not pork belly without the skin!” I hear ya, man, I hear ya. But the fat would still be left on – just the skin that’s gone. He still gave me that strange look that I had to admit defeat and allowed the pork belly to suffer at the hands of my meagre knife skills.
And by suffer I truly mean I need to apologize to the pork belly for it was skinned unevenly. Forgive me, fellow pork lovers. That was sacrilege. It was then rubbed with salt and sugar, wrapped up and abandoned in the fridge. The next day it was unwrapped and all the juices that the salt drew out was poured away.
Poor uneven pork belly
It was then chucked into the oven while I went about the most labour intensive part, making my own buns. I definitely could have bought them but where’s the fun in that? All that labour also yielded us with 50+ buns so really, I’m not complaining.
Steamed bun dough
I also pickled the cucumbers but that was so easy and quick that I forgot to photograph it.
Then the pork belly emerged from the oven and it had to rest before it was sliced into.
Roasted pork belly
Jacey and I circled the pork belly like vultures, impatiently staring at the clock. Slowest ten minutes ever.
But golly, it was gorgeous on the inside.
We steamed the buns and had our set up ready.
Side note: My mum saw this picture and asked, “Why are your buns so shiny?” *immature sniggering ensues* But in all seriousness, I have no clue. Life’s Greatest Mystery #90480. Report back on findings, please.
At this point, it was getting pretty late and I was afraid Jacey was going to strangle me out of frustration because the smell of the roasted pork belly had permeated through the entire apartment and the sounds of our growling stomachs were becoming embarrassingly audible.
Steamed Pork Buns
The buns were spread with hoisin sauce, luscious pieces of pork belly were placed within along with a few slices of pickled cucumber and thinly sliced scallions.
Then it was total silence. I think we were trying to process the party in our mouths but our brains simply weren’t catching up. I think we managed some faint “mmmmm”s.
We obviously had enough for leftovers and the next day I tried some with a few dots of Sriracha chilli sauce. Oh, man. That’s all I have to say.
Life can be so ridiculously porking good.
So Porking Good
Posted: September 18, 2010 Filed under: cooking, dinner, pork, references | Tags: roast pork 11 Comments »It’s no secret that I’m a lover of all things pork. Maybe it’s the Chinese upbringing (all amazing Chinese food is made with pork) or maybe because I don’t eat any beef at all and never have (at least not consciously!) so it’s my choice of red meat.
To be honest, I don’t think it’s any of those things at all. Pork is just simply the best meat ever.
My friends know of my massive pork love and the one I get quoted on the most is, “Pork is my favourite food group.” I actually crave pork if I don’t have it for a while and I’m proud to say that I’m the kind of person that eats the entire body of a pig. I think this contributes greatly to my love for pork because I think of it as such an amazing animal that’s so versatile and so delicious! Fergus Henderson is one of my heroes.
Roast Pork
In no particular order, here’s a list of some of my favourite pork dishes:
+ My mum’s black pepper pig stomach soup
+ Bak Kut The with pig intestines and spare ribs
+ Pork noodle at the hawker with all the spare parts like intestines, liver and BLOOD mmmm!
+ BBQ pork ribs
+ Char siew
+ Siew yuk
+ Anything with pork crackling
+ Suckling pig
+ Meatballs
+ BACON
+ Roast pork
I mean, seriously. That animal is magnificent and the sole reason why I would have problems being vegetarian for life. Hi, my name is Sophia and I’m a porkoholic. In the words of Kevin Gillespie of Top Chef season 6, “Pork is my jam.”
However, there are strange little creatures out there who say absolutely crazy things about pork. They say pork smells bad (only if you don’t wash your meat before cooking it, you lazy disgusting cook!), that it’s too close to human flesh (unless you’ve actually dined on human flesh, you need to stop saying this), and the worst of all: they don’t like the taste of it. To that I say you are a lost cause and bless your unfortunate tastebuds for all that you are missing out on!
My housemate and best friend, Jacey, is one of these strange creatures. In fact, I used to make a conscious effort not to use pork as a protein for meals that we would be sharing together. After a month of this, I awoke one morning and actually just craved pork and I think I may have gone mad and eaten pork dishes for three whole days. I do not remember much because it all seemed to pass by in a haze. I plead food coma.
So imagine my surprise when we were shopping in the market last Sunday and I was pressing a bunch of basil right up to my nose (fresh herbs! my other love!), she turned to me and said, “I feel like making a pork dish.” I swear I felt my knees buckle and I stared wide-eyed at her for a moment before squeaking, “Are you serious?!”
I didn’t give her too long to think about it lest she changed her mind but we huddled together in front of a closed stall with her iPhone and browsed the Epicurious application for roast pork recipes. We read several before deciding that this recipe was the best despite the crazy cooking time.
I won’t repost the recipe because I didn’t augment it at all apart from the cooking time, although I may suggest going a little easier on the salt. I found it just a tad too salty for my liking, but then again, I used ungrounded sea salt so that could’ve been my own fault. My other trick was to pat the outside of the pork completely dry and sprinkle salt on top of it to encourage crackling to form :)
Thing is, I had every intention of cooking the pork for six hours. But it took me longer than I expected to put the pork in the oven, that if we had stuck with the suggested cooking time, dinner would have been at 10 p.m. Yeah, I suck at timing dinners.
Jacey and I headed to the gym for a workout and were pumped to dive into our meal. We popped the oven open and the meat looked good, but the skin wasn’t crisp. I’m still unsure if I would’ve eventually wound up with crackling had I not sped things up but I’m guessing no.
So being impatient and impossibly ravenous, I cranked the temperature up to 200˚C, put the oven on grill mode and left it for 15 minutes. I should’ve done 10 because I think I overcooked the meat a tiny bit.
Overcooked
Looks a little bit overcooked, am I right?
Carving
My hands in action. I hold my knives funny and my grip on the meat is wrong but it was hot and I was trying my best to cut through amazingly crispy crackling. Mmmm!
Ready?
Heaven
I had all these intentions of making roast potatoes with duck fat, a gravy and some other roast vegetables to serve with the dish. However, starvation and impatience won out so we had the pork plain (I had it with Dijon mustard, actually) and we had a simple leafy salad with raw carrots and a simple vinaigrette dressing. It was still insanely satisfying.
Best part of it was, we had leftovers.
Inspired by the amazing Roast Rolls in the David Jones Foodhall, which by the way, I massively love and have at least once a month. I missed it badly when I was back in Malaysia last year. There was a running joke somewhere that I’m the President of the DJ’s Roast Pork Roll Fan Club and honestly, with the amount of people I’ve dragged there to have it with me, I’m starting to think I should receive a small percentage of their profit. Probably not the ultimate bestbestbest pork sandwich in Melbourne but it does the job and it’s under $10. What more do you want?!
Wow, did I run off on a tangent there.
Roast pork sandwich
This is why I love leftovers, especially leftover roast. You get such wonderful meals out of them! I made this sandwiches and brought them to a friend’s house and we had them for lunch. My friend wanted to toast them so we did (which helped a lot) and I wouldn’t normally put fresh rocket leaves to be baked because that’s crazy, but I had no choice here.
For the sandwich, I sauteed some onions with butter until caramelised then I scooped them out. Whatever sweet greasy residue was left in my pan, I added chicken stock and cornflour to for the gravy. The Turkish bread loaves were sliced in half horizontally, and spread with butter. It was then filled with rocket, roast pork (and crackling!), onions and gravy. When I got to my friend’s place, she whipped out her jar of wild pear chutney which we both spread generously on our bread and it made the sandwich about 909280x better.
Let me say it again: I love pork.
Author’s note: Jacey is now a reformed pork hater. Since this dinner, she declared that one night of each week’s dinner should be Pork Night. I nearly teared at her joyous declaration and would like to claim sole responsibility for turning her around on this matter. Yes, I am that good.
Stew-ie Wonder
Posted: April 17, 2010 Filed under: books, cooking, dinner, pork, references 2 Comments »I present to you this picture and recipe due to the pressing demands of my impatient (but loved!) friends after I posted this picture up on my Facebook album.
Spicy Chickpea + Chorizo Stew
The temperature in Melbourne has been steadily dropping and I say this in a gleeful tone because winter is my absolute favourite season of all. Maybe I should be specific and say Melbourne winter because I don’t think I’d be a fan of slushy snow and negative zero temperatures but as a person who grew up close to the equator and experiences humidity and summer weather year-round; winter is sublime. I love the cold and there’s something deeply satisfying about how chic everyone looks in winter gear. Boots, coats, scarves, leather gloves, beanies, pink cheeks… Magnifique!
Naturally, with the temperature change, the cravings for hearty meals have hit me full force. I’ve spent too many moments daydreaming of soups, stews and steamboat dinners! The moment I saw a picture of this dish, I knew I had to make it. It sounded so hearty and naughty, and it’s about two-thirds pork (my favourite kind of meat!).
I’ve augmented the recipe to accommodate my love for spicy food, and dare I say it probably elevated the dish a little. What can I say? You can take the girl out of Malaysia, but you can’t take Malaysia out of the girl. Gotta have my chilli kick.
Spicy Chickpea & Chorizo Stew
Adapted from Delicious magazine March 2008
Serves 3-4
1 Tbsp olive oil
250 g spicy pancetta, cut into cubes
2 chorizo sausages, sliced at an angle
1 red capsicum, diced
8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 large potato, peeled, cut into cubes, cooked for 2-3 minutes
400 g can of chickpeas, rinsed, drained
700 ml tomato passata (basically a jar, whatever size your jar is, mine was 700 ml)
1 cup chicken stock
2-3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp dried chilli flakes (or less, if you can’t handle the heat)
Chopped flat leaf-parsley, to garnish
Bread, to serve, preferably crusty
1. Heat oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat. Cook pancetta and chorizo for 2-3 minutes until starting to crisp. Remove from pain and drain on paper towel. Drain oil and fat, but reserve 2 Tbsp in the pan.
2. Return the pan to medium flame. Add onion and capsicum, cook for 5 minutes or until softened.
3. Return the pancetta and chorizo to the pan with the garlic and oregano. Stir for another minute, then add the potatoes, chickpeas, passata, bay leaves, stock and dried chilli flakes.
4. Season, then bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and cook until the sauce has reduced and thickened, approximately 10 minutes.
5. Garnish with parsley and serve with bread.
The recipe is actually fairly quick to whip up. The original didn’t call for spicy pancetta (just plain) or chilli flakes, and it had white wine included but I didn’t have any on hand so I accommodated with more passata and chicken stock. If you’d prefer the wine, then halve the chicken stock amount and fill it up with white wine. If you’re wondering what tomato passata is, it’s like tomato puree but… I don’t know, different. I found it in a deli but no sign of it in the supermarkets I frequent so head down to a deli to find yourself a jar. There are heaps of these gems in Melbourne so go explore a little. I love wandering around delis, it’s basically food window shopping!
I also recently celebrated my birthday. It was a quiet birthday with little fanfare, although my Facebook wall hadn’t been that active in… oh, about a year. After a certain age, it gets tiring trying to organize something with people outside my family and being so far removed from any family, I decided to let the day come and go as silently as possible. Perhaps I’m a little jaded from one too many exhausting attempts to gather my dearest friends in the one place whilst fending off requests for date and time change, and the permission to have a Plus One (usually people I have not met, too!), on top of everyone’s inability to RSVP in a timely manner. Besides, after celebrating the grand 21, people tend to ignore the significance of birthdays. After all, it’s a downhill slide to arthritis and dentures from there.
Regardless, I was still spoiled by my one of my best friends (and housemate), who cooked me a delicious meal and even got me cake with a singing candle!
Birthday spoils
I’ve been on a strict and greatly reduced budget for my final year in Melbourne. Maybe it’s maturity, maybe it’s guilt or a combination of both for taking forever and a century to obtain my bachelor’s degree, but I’ve told myself no more extravagant and unnecessary purchases. Trust me when I say that my self-gifted birthday presents have been much more obscene in previous years but this year I permitted myself ONE cookbook.
I was tossing up between A Day at elBulli and The French Laundry Cookbook, both of which I’ve seen in bookstores, and have spent some time caressing and absorbing with great delight but I ended up choosing the Alinea cookbook. Why? Mostly because I have yet to see it in a bookstore in Melbourne and also because I found it for a reasonable price online here. Other reasons are: I’ve been fascinated with Grant Achatz since I heard of him, and I know Alex Stupak provided the dessert recipes in the book, and I’ve been fascinated with his Pliable Chocolate Ganache since I saw Bryan Voltaggio’s version of it on Top Chef season 6.
The gigantic encyclopedia that is the Larousse Gastronomique is a gift from the wonderful Jacey, although she later dropped it on her foot and if her yelp and the look upon her face is anything to go by, it hurt like a bitch. Coincidentally, it was a book that I had put on my wishlist on Amazon a few months back and had pored over in Borders rather recently but had cast aside as beyond-my-means so thank you very, very much, Jacey, for this extravagant and highly treasured present!
As for the I ♥ Macarons book, it was a lucky find in a bookstore and for such a good price, I couldn’t resist! It’s just adorable and any book that features a bazillion pictures of macarons is my kind of book.
I must say, even if some of it was self-gifted, I’ve never enjoyed my birthday presents this much in a long time!
An Unabashed Love Proclamation
Posted: March 27, 2010 Filed under: cooking, i love butter, pork, stock | Tags: for the love of butter 4 Comments »One of my absolute favourite smells in the world is butter. Of all the foods that are being cooked, those that contain butter have this irresistible decadent scent to it that reminds me of my mother’s warm embrace yet leaves me salivating. It’s as if this scent travels straight from my nose right to the bottom of my stomach and zaps straight to my brain, who in turn purrs, “Hello, lover” as my tummy does a little excited jig in anticipation being fed such luscious goodness.
(You’re probably thinking right about now, WOW, she sure loves her butter! What a freak!)
My favourite butter smell-taste memory is when my friend Charlene served a group of us a Galette des Rois. I had almost passed out from the overwhelming scent of butter as the galette was baking (I had asked her, “What butter are you using?! That smell is amazing!”) and after I took a bite, I think I had an out-of-body experience as that rich buttery taste oozed into my mouth and melted on my tongue as I tried to savour every bite whilst greedily stuffing my face so I could get a second-helping before anyone else. Turns out the magical butter Charlene had used was imported French butter. The French sure know how to make their women happy. I’ve since taken to buying French butter when I can afford to (on the waistline, not on the pocket) and it still brings me to a state of euphoric bliss each time I use it.
So when I decided to try my hand at this dish, it hadn’t occurred to me that I’d be sent into butter-induced heaven. I wasn’t even expecting it because its a savoury dish and it seemed so unsuspecting. But from the first mouthful, my eyes widened in surprise and my stomach applauded in amorous joy and my brain was an incoherent jumble of hiuasgdilymmmmmmm.
Pork Chops with Apple and Sage
Pork Chops with Apple & Sage
Adapted from Real Living Food Summer Cookbook
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
4 average sized potatoes (I don’t particularly care what type, I always buy the cleaned ones so it’s less work)
25 g butter (and more according to “feel”)
1/4 cup milk
2 pork chops
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 bunch fresh sage, leaves plucked and chopped finely
1 apple, cored and thickly sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock (I used my homemade version)
1. Place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender. Drain and mash with first quantity of butter and milk. I ended up adding more butter because I think it’s a matter of preference to taste and I like it to be buttery. Season to taste.
2. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Melt second quantity of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add sage leaves and fry until crisp. Remove pan from heat and remove sage leaves from pan with a slotted spoon.
3. Return pan to medium-high heat, add pork chops and fry each side till browned and cooked, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan to a warmed plate and cover with foil.
4. Add apple slices to pan and fry gently until browned on both sides. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil until sauce is slightly thickened. Season to taste (my chicken stock had no salt in it previously).
5. Divide mash potatoes onto plates, arrange pork chops, apples and sage leaves on top. Drizzle with sauce (I recommend straining the sauce because there’s likely bits of sage leaves and other impurities floating in it).
Party in the mouth!
Basically, every component of this dish was cooked in butter or had some sort of butter component to it. The amazing thing was that my entire apartment smelled like butter for hours after I made this, and by that, I mean that my apartment smelled exactly like what I imagine heaven to smell like.
Mock me if you must but this dish was so good that Jacey, who isn’t a fan of pork, agreed that it was absolutely, lip-smackingly delicious. The by-product, that lingering scent of sin butter, was just pure incentive to make this dish again and again and again…
