Crave 7 june 2013

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Friday JUNE 7, 2013 S AT I S F Y I N G

YO U R

W E E K LY

F O O D

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C R AVI N G S

W I T H

Y O U R

C O P Y

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PARCELS OF PLEASURE Celebrate the Duanwu or Dumpling Festival on June 12 with these savoury dumplings

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VEGETARIAN

(MAKES 5 LARGE DUMPLINGS filling 600ml water 1 star anise 1 dried orange peel 1½ teaspoons salt 100g red beans, washed, soaked with water for at least 3 hours and drained 100g kidney beans, washed, soaked with water for at least 3 hours and drained 100g lotus seeds, washed, soaked with water for at least 3 hours and drained 100g green beans, washed, soaked with water for at least 3 hours and drained 100g chestnuts, washed, soaked with water for at least 3 hours and drained 100g black eye beans, washed, soaked with water for at least 3 hours and drained 100g mung beans, washed,

soaked with water for at least 3 hours and drained 6-8 tablespoons cooking oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 2 shallots, peeled and chopped 650g glutinous rice, washed, soaked in water for 4 hours and drained 1 teaspoon ground white pepper 1 ½ teaspoons Chinese 5-spice powder 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1 tablespoon caster sugar 5 lotus leaves, washed, soaked in water & drained 15 dried bamboo leaves, washed, soaked in water and drained hemp string, soaked

Taster Comments: This was a surprise on how tasty it was despite it having an assortment of nuts and seeds. The large dumplings are good for sharing with the family for the festival.”

ALICIA LIM, Housewife

SAMBAL KIAM HOO DUMPLINGS (MAKES 8-10 DUMPLINGS) 450g glutinous rice 1 ½ tablespoons turmeric powder sambal kiam hoo filling 15 dried chillies, soaked in hot water until soft 10 shallots (120g), peeled 2 cloves garlic, peeled 2 stalks lemongrass, finely sliced 1cm fresh turmeric, skinned 8-10 tablespoons cooking oil 150g salted fish (kiam hoo), cut into 0.5cm cubes 8 kaffir lime leaves, torn to small pieces

1 ½ tablespoons caster sugar or to taste 200g belly pork, cut into 20 pieces measuring 1.5cm and marinated with ground pepper and 1 teaspoon caster sugar 20 pieces dried bamboo leaves, washed & soaked hemp string , soaked pandan leaves, cut into 3cm lengths [10 pcs]

Taster Comments: This was a nice twist to the Nonya dumpling with the salty and spicy flavours from the sambal kiam hoo.”

ALICIA LIM, Housewife

Wash the rice with several changes of water. Cover with water mixed with turmeric powder and leave to soak for at least 3 hours.

To prepare filling: Blend the chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass and turmeric in an electric blender to form a spice paste. Heat the cooking oil in a wok and deepfry kiam hoo until fragrant and light brown in colour. Remove and set aside.

Heat fresh cooking oil and sauté the spice paste until fragrant. Add the fried kiam hoo, kaffir lime leaves and sugar.

Stir until the sugar has melted.

The sambal can be prepared up and refrigerated for 3 days ahead.

To wrap: Drain the glutinous rice and briefly rinse the rice in running tap water. Take 2

bamboo leaves and shape into a cone. Place 2 tablespoons glutinous rice, top with 2 pieces of pork belly and a heaped teaspoon of sambal kiam hoo before covering with 2-3 tablespoons glutinous rice. Top with a piece of pandan leaf.

Fold down the bamboo leaves down to wrap up the dumpling.

Secure tightly with hemp string and repeat until all the dumplings are wrapped.

To boil: Bring a pot of slightly salted water with dumplings to boil. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or 1 hour and 45 minutes. You can remove one dumpling after 1 ½ hours to open and check if it is cooked. Drain the dumplings and leave to cool before serving. — Recipe by Debbie Teoh.

Photography by Kenneth Lim, Gray Studio.

DUANWU FESTIVAL The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, on June 12 is the day the Chinese celebrate by indulging in glutinous rice dumplings for the Duanwu Festival. This tradition goes as far back as 278BC to commemorate the patriotism of a Chinese poet Qu Yuan who was wrongly accused of treason. Qu Yuan had jumped

into the river and the villagers had thrown in the rice dumplings to prevent his body from being eaten by the creatures who resided in the river. Today, dumplings or bak chang, are eaten in as a savoury meal, or a dessert. You get the dumplings in all kinds of shapes - triangle, round or even rectangle pillows. Usually, the glutinous

FRIDAY 7 JUNE 2013

THE MALAY MAIL

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N DUMPLINGS

S OR 8-10 SMALL DUMPLINGS) To prepare filling: Place all the filling ingredients except the mung beans in a pot. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and stir occasionally to prevent items from sticking. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the beans and seeds are soft and the water is dried up. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Discard star anise and orange peel.

Divide into 5 portions for the large dumplings, or 8-10 portions for the small dumplings.

To prepare rice: Heat the oil in a wok. Saute the garlic and shallots till fragrant and light brown. Add drained glutinous rice and all the other seasonings. Season to taste. Saute for 5 minutes until fragrant.

Turn off heat and divide into 5 portions for large dumplings, or 8-10 portions for small portions.

To wrap: For the large dumplings, place a lotus leaf in a

large bowl and top with 3 bamboo leaves. Place 4 heaped tablespoons of glutinous rice and top with a portion of the cooked filling. Spoon a portion of drained mung beans on the side, cover with another 4-5 heaped tablespoons of glutinous rice. Wrap the rice with bamboo leaves tightly followed with the lotus leaves to form a round parcel. Secure the dumpling with hemp string and tie tightly into a round dumpling.

Repeat for remaining portions.

For the small dumplings, follow the same instructions as sambal kiam hoo dumplings.

Place the wrapped dumplings in a large stockpot with sufficient hot water covering the dumplings. Add some salt to taste. Boil for 2- 2 ½ hours over a medium heat, or until dumplings are cooked. Drain off water and leave to cool before serving. — Recipe by Debbie Teoh. Photography by Kenneth Lim, Gray Studio.

From left to right- James Oseland, Arbind Singh, Bryant Ng, Anthony Bourdain and KF Seetoh

PRESERVING WORLD STREET FOOD “STREET food is personal.

It’s always about someone talking about themselves,” says television show host Anthony Bourdain. In the case of the inaugural World Street Food Congress (WSFC) organised by Makansutra in Singapore, a whole group of people started talking about street food and preserving it. This included food luminaries like Saveur Magazine Editor-in-Chief James Oseland, and Claus Meyer, who coowns Noma in Copenhagen, the three-time winner of the World’s Best 50 Restaurants. “We also want to professionalise the ways, method, approach and seek new possibilities for street food,” says KF Seetoh from Makansutra. The WSFC also included a 2-day dialogue on street food, and a jamboree featuring at least 35 street food masters from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and even Mexico.

“Street food feeds the needy and the greedy,” says Seetoh. In most countries,

Mexico’s Le Gurrerense Seafood Tostada

rice dumplings are prepared at home and shared among family and friends. Nowadays, the glutinous rice delicacies are also sold. Debbie Teoh who created these recipes for us also offers two types of dumplings upon order. She is famous for her Nonya dumplings, tinged blue with the pea flower, which has a pork, shiitake mushroom, winter

melon, fermented bean paste and coriander filling. Teoh also makes the dark glutinous rice dumplings known as Kiam bak chang. Orders need to made 3 days in advance by email to debbteoh@ gmail.com and collected from the USJ area. The Nonya dumpling is RM6.50 and the Kiam bak chang is RM12.

street food is often viewed negatively. “We call it the roach coach and street stores are considered illegal,” says Bourdain of the American food culture. However, more communities in the United States of America are now embracing it, such as Miami, Texas, Los Angeles and Portland.

According to Oseland, he feels street food is the best, as it is the closest thing to what you find at home. Even restaurant chefs look towards street food for inspiration.

Despite a threat from large faceless conglomerates opening fast food chains, street food thrives purely due to relationship. “Street vendors in India are not frightened as they know that relationships have been built with customers,” says Arbind Singh who runs the National Association of Street Vendors India.

Continuity of this street food culture is also under danger especially in Singapore, as the new generation don’t view it as a desirable career preferring office careers. Everyday in Vietnam, the hawker faces the threat of closure from the government.

From the exchange of ideas between speakers, it is evident there’s no fixed formula to tackle street food in each country. In Singapore, the authorities shifted the hawkers into

Bel Puri

Indonesia’s Kerak Telur

Tacombi Fish Tacos

Vietnamese Banh Khot

centers from 1970s onwards, for hygiene issues. Unfortunately, they took the “street” out of street food, losing an important element of the whole experience. As Bourdain explains a bowl of pho tastes different when you eat it of a low plastic stool in Saigon, smelling Vietnam and seeing everyday Vietnamese life unfold around you. “It’s a completely different experience and it changes the flavour, the way your brain sees the experience and excretes the endorphins, ” says Bourdain.

Maybe one possible solution is to leave it to market forces, as seen with Portland’s organic growth of food carts around the city. Discerning tastebuds also play a part to ensure high quality street food survives. In the case of continuing family recipes, possible avenues such as apprenticeships can

be looked at. In Vietnam, television host Vo Quoc helps orphan youths to apprentice with street hawkers who are receptive to sharing their own recipes.

He also buys recipes from the hawkers as they close their business, to preserve these unqiue dishes There’s no one-size-fitall solution, but one thing keeping the flame going for the vendors, is their sense of pride and care in what they serve like Gulab Singh from India, as he proudly drizzles his homemade chutney over his simple but utterly delicious crunchy snack Bel Puri.

EDITORIAL NOTE

by Lee Khang Yi

|

Catch the flavours of the World Street Food Jamboree from now until June 9 at F1 Pit Building and Paddock, Singapore.

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Crave Editor

The inaugural World Street Food Congress was an eye opener. Not so much for its celebrities that graced the event, but more of the insights from the hawkers themselves and also the challenges that street food faces.

I guess for Malaysia, the take would be better hygiene for the street hawkers and a global marketing effort of our street food especially since we have such a rich heritage. For instance, Penang’s street food definitely trumps others in the region but without the right exposure and even help in preserving it, this may go away one day as old masters pass away. Email me at khangyi@mmail.com.my to share your opinions.

Rajan Gopal Senior Manager, Direct & Classifieds Direct line: 03 74951282 rajan@mmail.com.my

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FRIDAY 7 JUNE 2013

Sweat it out with the Summer Ramen

IN THE KITCHEN with EU HOOI KHAW THE eggplant belongs to the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes, potatoes and green and red peppers, making it undesirable for those suffering from arthritis, kidney or gallbladder problems. It is also commonly known as brinjal or aubergine. The origins can be tracked to India and China where it was cultivated in the fifth century BC. Subsequently, it was introduced in Africa, Italy and the whole of Europe. Now it appears in the cuisines of

countries round the Mediterranean, including Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain and France, as well as in Arab countries. There are some 18 varieties of eggplant — round, long, egg, footballshaped or even the midget variety often found in the Thai green curry. It is high in iron, calcium, potassium and certain essential phyto nutrients, which improve blood circulation and nourish the brain.

These nutrients are concentrated in the skin of the eggplant,

THE MALAY MAIL

so don’t peel, char and throw it away. The eggplant can also lower bad cholesterol, but you should never deep fry it as it soaks up a lot of fat, which can be harmful. Just bake or roast it. The Arabs have a lovely eggplant dish called baba ghanoush, made with the vegetable blended with tahini or sesame paste and olive oil, which they eat with pita bread.

You can cook eggplant in so many different ways. I also like eating it in curries.

A RAMEN FOR ALL SEASONS

ROASTED EGGPLANT WITH TOMATO AND SHRIMP PASTE 1 large eggplant, cut into half lengthwise ¼ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cooking oil 1 large tomato 8 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly 1 red chilli, sliced thinly 2 bird-eye chillies (cili padi), sliced thinly 1 piece shrimp paste (belacan), measuring 3x7cm and toasted on a pan 1 large lime

2 sprigs coriander, chopped Preheat oven to 180C. Rub the eggplant with salt and drizzled with oil. Place it skin up on a piece of foil in an ovenproof dish.

At the same time wrap the whole tomato with foil and place in the same dish.

Roast for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

In the meantime, combine the shallots, chillies, crumbled toasted belacan and lime juice

in a bowl. Mash the baked tomato in the mixture and top the baked eggplant with it.

Garnish with coriander.

Note: The eggplant seasoned with salt and a dash of oil can also be wrapped in foil and cooked in an oven toaster on high heat for 20 minutes. Or puncture the eggplant with a fork and microwave on high heat for 5 minutes to soften it.

SINGAPOREANS have an everlasting love affair with Japanese food especially ramen. The new buzz in town is the 56-seater Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu Four Seasons opened by Japanese ramen champion, Keisuke Takeda.

At his fourth outlet, he honours the changing seasons and the king of noodles. Keisuke adopts French cooking techniques and electronic gadgets like the refractometer to perfect and keep the consistency of his tonkotsu broth.

Ramen lovers can expect the ultimate tonkotsu broth - a richer and thicker variant crafted by boiling 1½ times more pork bones for a total of 11 hours instead of the usual 8 hours. The variants use the same tonkotsu broth with differences in the toppings. Spring is all about green, in the form of sweet basil leaves and Parmesan cheese topping, which tastes like an Italian pesto pasta! Be careful with the fiery summer one, as it’s topped with a lethal ball of minced pork with seasonings such as miso, prawns, Japanese chilli, Szechuan pepper and cayenne pepper.

It’s easy to get addicted with the Dine in autumn

King Ramen

Mushroom laden Autumn Ramen

autumn ramen since its chockfull of umami ingredients like mushrooms and bonito flakes mixed with the minced pork. The winter version is a bare boned plain thick tonkotsu broth to warm the stomach. The King is crowned with stirfried pork, onions, wood ear fungus and ginger, which pairs well with the rich tonkotsu broth to give you a simply oishi meal.

Dining here is easy for the pocket as a bowl of the ramen goes a long way making

Marinated beansprouts

it a perfect tummy filler. You can even ask for a bowl of rice to tip into the thick broth. Look out for the crunchy marinated beansprouts on the table. These addictive vegetables taste good with a light sesame oil and chilli taste.

Prices of the noodles start from SGD11.90 onwards and varies with your choice of toppings.

Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu Four Seasons, 158 Rochor Road, Bugis Village (between KFC and McDonalds), Singapore. Tel:0263335740. Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5pm to 10.30pm (Mondays to Fridays), 11.30am to 10.30pm (Saturday and Sunday).