Soy sauce chow mein 豉油王炒麵

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Chow 炒 means “frying” and mein 面 is a type of wheat noodle. As a Cantonese dish Soy Sauce Chow Mein is called 豉油王炒麵 which translates to pan-fried noodles with premium soy sauces. If you have thin egg noodles you are all set to go. Cooking time is about 10 minutes.

150 gram thin egg noodles (dried, or fresh: steamed or unsteamed)
4 tbs oil
3 scallions, white and green parts separated in 4 cm pieces.
1 medium onion
150 bean sprouts
1,5 tbs dark soy sauce
1,5 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil

Boil the dried noodles in water, 2 minutes should suffice. If you have fresh noodles, 10 seconds is enough. NOTE: you can buy fresh unsteamed noodles and steam the noodles instead of boiling. Drain.

Heat half the oil in a wok. Add the scallion whites and onion and cook for 3 minutes until golden. Add the bean sprouts and wok for another 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and clean the wok.

Heat the remaining oil in the wok and add the noodles. Wok undisturbed for 2 minutes. Add both soy sauces, toss. Add the vegetables back into the wok and the green part of the scallions and toss for another 2 minutes.

Drizzle with sesame oil before serving.

Dububuchim-yangnyeomjang 두부부침 양념장

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A quick recipe for left over firm tofu. Mix to make yangnyeomjang:

1 clove of minced garlic.
1 chopped green onion.
1 ts hot Korean pepper flakes (gochugaru 고추가루).
1 ts sugar.
1 tbs soy sauce.
1 ts sesame oil.

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Slice firm tofu (optional: coat with flower and salt) and fry in hot oil until light brown.

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Spoon yangnyeomjang evenly over the tofu, and sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds over top just before serving.

Jamaican curry goat

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It’s curry goat and never goat curry. I’m lucky to have a goat cheese factory and goat farm not far from my father’s house in buurtschap ‘t Woold. De Brömmels makes a wild range of goat cheeses and sells goat meat from the freezer. For a small fee you can also take a walk with a goat. Towards the end of summer they sell pumpkins, fruit and home made jams and marmalades. I usually buy my goat meat from De Brömmels. This time the meat of a young male goat (boklam) was on offer. I ate quite a bit of goat (mbuzi) in Kenya and I still like the taste. My favourite dish though is the Jamaican spiced stew: curry goat.

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A slightly different method with marinated meat and pimento.

A slightly different method with marinated meat and pimento.

Photo: official Facebook page of De Brömmels.

Photo: official Facebook page of De Brömmels.

Tank for goat milk, text in Dutch Low Saxon dialect.

Tank for goat milk, text in Dutch Low Saxon dialect.

Kenyan Mbuzi / Goat Curry

The method is quite similar to Jamaican curry goat. Typical Kenyan spices are cinnamon, nutmeg and glove being so close to the ancient spice trade routes. Also tamarind and coconut are notable differences.

Blend below 11 ingredients to make a marinade:

4 Medium sized tomatoes
3 Medium sized red onions
Ginger the size of half a thumb
4 Cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp clove powder
Pinch of dry basil leaves
Pinch of dry thyme leaves
3 tsp Celery salt
4 tsp Curry powder

Use half the marinade for the meat and keep overnight or at least 2 hours. Sear the meat in several batches in hot oil. Add the reserved marinate and cover with water. Simmer until the meat is tender. Add the sugar (I’d say this is optional), add coconut cream and simmer for 10 minutes. And finally the tamarind. Never add tamarind before the coconut is completely cooked because it will cause the cream to curdle.

The other ingredients

1 1/2 Large bay leaves
4 Tbs Vegetable oil
1 Kg Mbuzi meat with some bone
1 tsp Ukwaju / tamarind paste
1 tsp Sukari nguru / Jaggery – Substitute with honey, brown sugar, white sugar or a sweetener of your choice
1/2 Cup heavy coconut cream
Handful of dhania / coriander leaves

Maghrebi mint tea

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It’s probably common to get a birthday present and since it’s September 10 I thought I should buy myself at least something. I had been studying YouTube-videos on how to make Moroccan or Maghrebi mint tea. I ordered a 400 ml handmade Moroccan tea pot and 4 handmade beldi tea glasses made from recycled glass.

My teapot takes about 1,5 cups of water so 1 teaspoon of tea and 1 tablespoon of sugar is the right amount. Discard the first pour to clean and open the tea leaves. During ramadan the butcher near my work sells chebakia.

Now you can either boil and brew the tea on a fire of just add boiling water to the tea pot and steep the tea in the pot. The correct tea to use is Chinese gunpowder green tea. Most common fresh herb is mint. In winter when fresh mint can be difficult to find Artemisia arborescens (sheeba) is also being used as a substitute or together with the mint. Sheeba has a bitter taste. For a lemon taste Aloysia citrodora can be used.

Of course this tea need sugar, which kept me from making this tea at home because I barely use sugar. A few threads of saffron can be added and after the tea is steeped you mix by pouring the tea in a glass and back into the pot and repeat this several times.

Screenshot from the YouTube-channel Travizeo, the travel video company.

Screenshot from the YouTube-channel Travizeo, the travel video company.

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Screenshot from Authentic World Food.

Screenshot from Authentic World Food.

Gunpowder tea from Zhejiang Province, China.

Gunpowder tea from Zhejiang Province, China.

Shan tounsi (Assiette Tunisienne)

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Restaurant Dar El Bey

7 Bd Bessières, 75017 Paris

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Eating raw egg can be quite dangerous so I was taken aback when I saw the egg on the assiette Tunisienne was practically raw. I had no idea if this was custom. I proceeded to eat because I couldn’t image they served raw egg by accident. The shan tounsi tasted great. There was tomato, cucumber, caper, olives, red chili, tuna, potato and harissa. There was also an orange coloured mixture, which I didn’t recognise. It could have been omek houria: pureed carrots spiced with garlic and harissa.

BÚN THIT BÌ

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Vermicelles au porc grillé et au porc émincé.

Vermicelles au porc grillé et au porc émincé.

For the sauce:

Cho vào tô 2 muỗng canh nước mắm, 2 muỗng canh nước lọc, 3 muỗng canh đường và 1 muỗng canh nước cốt chanh, khuấy đều cho tan hỗn hợp.

Tiếp theo, cho hết phần tỏi băm còn lại và ớt sừng băm vào nước mắm rồi khuấy đều một lần nữa là đã hoàn tất phần nước mắm.

Put in a bowl 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons water, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, stir well to dissolve the mixture.

Next, add the rest of the minced garlic and minced chili to the fish sauce and stir again to complete the fish sauce.

Assemble the dish:

Put bean sprouts and chopped herbs (rau thơm in Vietnamese, which can be mint leaves and Thai basil) in the bottom of the bowl, add a layer of vermicelli, top off with the pork and lettuce, and more chopped herbs.

Sprinkle some peanuts, fried onions to make the dish more attractive.

Add a small amount of fish sauce and mix the ingredients before eating.

Matar Paneer

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Vegetable oil for shallow frying

500gms paneer

To make the curry;

2 tbsp mustard oil
250 grams white onion finely chopped
2” ginger roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
1 heaped tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp mild chilli powder
400 grams tinned tomatoes blended to a puree
Salt to taste
200mls water
200 grams frozen green peas or fresh
½ tsp garam masala powder
Handful of coriander for garnish

Method

  1. Grind the cumin seeds and coriander seeds to a powder in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar. Set aside. Blend the ginger and garlic with a splash of water to a smooth paste and set aside. Dab any excess moisture from the paneer on kitchen paper and cut into bite size cubes.

  2. Heat vegetable oil for shallow frying in a pan over a medium heat. Add the paneer cubes in batches and fry. Make sure they get an even colour and go a light brown (this should take around 2-3 minutes) Drain over kitchen paper and add to a bowl of warm water. Let it soak while you make the gravy.

  3. Heat oil in a heavy bottom sauce pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 12-14 minutes. Stir well as they begin to change colour turn the heat low and add the ginger and garlic paste. Fry well for 2 minutes stirring continuously.

  4. Add the cumin, coriander powder along with the turmeric and chilli powder. Fry for a minute and add a splash of water making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and continue cooking the raw flavour of the spices for a further minute. Tip in the blended tomatoes simmer the curry over a low heat for 8-10 minutes with lid on. Stir a couple of times through the cooking process. Add 200mls water along with the sugar and salt. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes with the lid on.

  5. Add frozen green peas along with the garam masala. Drain the water from the paneer and add the cubes to the curry. Stir well making sure to coat all the pieces with the sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes and turn the heat off. Garnish with coriander and serve with paratha or pulao and raita.

Tofu and eggplant claypot 肉末茄子煲

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The Chinese name for this dish is 肉末茄子煲 ("Minced Meat and Eggplant Claypot"). It is simple to make.

To prepare this dish you finely dice: fatty pork, paprika, mushrooms and garlic. The eggplant should be sliced while rolling the eggplant on the cutting board. Use a long light purple Asian eggplant instead of European eggplant.

Heat a wok and fry firm tofu in 5 mm slices on medium heat until slightly brown.

Heat the wok again and add the diced pork. Stir fry the eggplant for 5 minutes in the pork lard. Season with oyster sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce for color. Add a bit of water. Add the paprika, mushrooms and garlic. Stir fry and add starch for thickening the sauce. Add some scallion oil 葱油 as a last step.

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Add the vegetable mixture to the claypot and sprinkle with spring onion. Heat the claypot on a fire for a short time to make this dish sizzle.

Flat bread

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With not much to do in my free time, other than care for my father, I decided the summer of 2021 should be the summer of flat breads. It’s staple food in many parts of the globe. To make a distinction between the different types of flat bread I divided the different types of flat bread in unleavened and leavened flat bread. The regions I am interested in are the Indian subcontinent (and its influence on migration: Kenyan chapati, Surinamese roti), the Middle-East and Turkey. That’s plenty of bread to make for just one summer.

Unleavened flat breads

Indian Chapati/ roti
Atta flour, water, salt. For 2 chapati I use one cup of atta and 100 ml water. Recipe

Indian Paratha
Atta, water, ghee/butter/cooking oil. The flaky chapati from Kenya is in fact a paratha (“parat” means layer in Punjabi).

Surinamese roti
Actually the Indian dhalpuri. A roti with a stuffing of ground yellow split peas, cumin (geera), garlic, and pepper.

Which flour?
For Indian flat bread like chapati and paratha atta flour is used. Atta is a whole wheat flour made from hard wheat (which is also used to make Italian pasta) and is high in gluten content, which provides elasticity.

Chapati, matar paneer and home made lime pickle.

Chapati, matar paneer and home made lime pickle.

Saj bread
This is an unleavened bread baked on a saj, a convex metal griddle. This can be markook shrek or an even thinner and very large bread called lavash. This bread is common in the Middle-East.

Leavened flat breads

Turkish Flat Bread (Bazlama)
300 ml warm water
12 g active dried yeast 1 packet
15 gram sugar
Combine the yeast, sugar, and water and activate the yeast for 10 minutes.

200 g Greek-style yogurt
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
Mix the yoghurt and oil.

15 g kosher salt
500 g all-purpose flour
¼ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Mix the yeast-mixture, yoghurt and flour. Roll the dough portions into approximately 15 cm circles.

Khubz (Greek: pita)
The name is confusing since ‘khubz’ is the generic Arabic word for bread. A recipe from Claudia Roden’s “A New Book of Middle Eastern Food” (1968):

500 gram ‘strong’ flower. Strong flower is made from hard wheat and is high in gluten content.
300 ml water.
15 gram fresh yeast or 7 gram dried yeast
Sugar
Salt
Oil.
Bake in hot oven.
Note: when I bake this bread in my oven, the outside becomes hard. The same dough on a flat piece of cast iron on the stove results in a soft khubz.

Indian Naan (no yeast but baking soda)
1 cup all-purpose flour plain flour, Maida
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 cup yogurt room temperature
1-1/2 tsp oil canola, vegetable
1/4 cup look warm water use as needed

Making Naan:

For garnishing mix all the ingredients, butter, salt, cilantro, and green chili. Set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients together, add 1 tablespoon of oil and yogurt mix it well. Then add the water gradually to make very soft dough but not sticky. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough well. Apply light oil to the dough and cover. Let the dough sit for about 3 hours in warm place.

Dough should be about 1-1/2 time, knead the dough again on floured surface. Divide the dough in four parts, lightly roll into the flour, cover the balls and let it sit for about five minutes before rolling.

Roll the naan one at a time on a lightly floured surface little less than 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle the water lightly on one side of the naan.

Put water side naan over tawa, once the naan start bubbling and dough start drying, turn the tawa over flames keeping about 2 inch away from the flames to cook the naan from top. Note: yes naan will stick to tawa and will not fall of, this the reason you cannot use the nonstick skillet.

Once naan browned to your satisfaction, remove, and spread the butter mix over.

Man’ouche Lebanese flatbread
360 g flour
150 g self-raising flour
10 g salt
5 g sugar
4.5 g dry yeast
250 ml lukewarm water
As needed: olive oil
As needed: za’atar

Mix the flour, self-raising flour, salt, and sugar well. Dissolve the yeast in the water and leave the mixture to rest for a while so that the yeast can activate. Gradually add the yeast and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the flour mixture. Knead for ten minutes until it forms a smooth and supple dough. Cover the dough and allow to rest for one and half to two hours.

Knead the dough again and divide into eight small balls. Leave the dough to rest again for 30 minutes. Flatten the balls with your hands into thin, round pizzas. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle over the za’atar. Bake in a hot oven at 200°C or on the traditional convex pan (saj) for a few minutes until done.

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Vegetarian Ital coconut stew

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"Then God said, "I give you every Seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." (Genesis 1:29)

There is no fixed list of ingredients for this Jamaican “Ital” stew in coconut milk. Quantity for 2-4 people. First fry an onion translucent in oil. Add some garlic, allspice and thyme and sauté until aromatic.

Once you have this base add two cups of coconut milk and two cups of water. Add bay leaf and green onions. Add a Scotch bonnet for heat.

Now add a selection of the following vegetables, first the hard vegetables, add the soft vegetables at the end:

Taro (2 cups).
Pumpkin (2 cups).
Yam.
Okra (1 cup)
Yellow plantain.
Potato
Sweet potato
3 carrots
Collard greens; or spinach in Europe.

Simmer for a total time of about half an hour (leaf vegetables only take 5 minutes). Remove sprigs of fresh thyme, allspice, green onions and bay leaf.

Season with salt, black pepper, chopped cilantro and lime juice. Burst the Scotch bonnet before serving.

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Jamaican Dutch oven made from cast aluminium. I ordered a 9,5 inch version. [ Probably due to corona they don’t ship to The Netherlands. I had to cancel my order ]

Jamaican Dutch oven made from cast aluminium. I ordered a 9,5 inch version. [ Probably due to corona they don’t ship to The Netherlands. I had to cancel my order ]

Poke

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I had a pretty good and well filled poke bowl from Undercover in Amsterdam. I decided to deconstruct this dish and learn its origin. Poke is simply Hawaiian for "to slice" and the current dish originates in the 1970s but I’m sure traditionally a similar dish goes back much further in time.

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A recipe for ahi (yellowfin tuna) poke:

Cut the tuna in bite sized cubes. Cut a spring onion and some sweet onion really thin. Add finely cut ginger, fresh ogo seaweed, and fresh chopped garlic, salt, sesame oil, soy sauce and a little vegetable oil. Mix. Traditionally you need something crunchy as well, like candlenut.

This is just the tuna. You can make sushi rice with rice vinegar as a base. My poke from Undercover was much more refined without onions, but with two types of raw fish, avocado, some leafs, fish roe and sesame seeds.

On the fish market in Tokyo they served a similar dish made from just rice and tuna. The price difference between the bowls is the fattiness of the tuna.

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Piti ( Azerbaijan)

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Preparations:

You need a leg of lamb, cut away the bones. Chop the meat in big chunks. Cut the tail (100% fat) in thin slices. Boil the lamb meat in water. Skim the foam.
Add hot water to saffron.
Chop onions in small pieces.

Tail fat is called kurdyuk in Central Asian languages and kuyruk yağı in Turkish. It is also used in kofta and Adana kebabı.

Tail of lamb

Tail of lamb

Assemble the dish:

Add pre soaked chickpeas in an earthenware casserole. Add the boiled meat, chopped onion and salt. Add the lamb stock and put a slice of the fatty tail on top.

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Heat the earthenware casserole on a fire or in the oven.

When the fat is melting add dried apricots, chestnuts and the saffron. 

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Serving:

Pour the liquid on Azerbaijani bread and add some sumac. Add the stew from the casserole.

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Samfaina (Catalan ratatouille)

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There are many variations on ratatouille. I thought I should memorise one, a Spanish version. Samfaina is a very versatile dish. Use as a sauce with cod fish or meat, eat on it's own with bread, couscous or rice.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil.
1 onion.
3 bell peppers (for best results use 3 different colors).
4 fresh tomatoes (or canned tomatoes).
1 eggplant.
saffron.

Cut onion in 2 cm stripes. Cut all other ingredients in 2 cm cubes. Fry the onion in the oil for 2-3 minutes. Add the bell pepper and fry for 8-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes with lid closed. Add eggplant and cook for 10 minutes. Add salt & saffron and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Optional: add a glass of white wine.

Bāo zǐ fàn, clay pot rice

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The basics are simple. Pre soak a cup of rice. Brush the clay pot with oil, add the rice and add 1,5 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Wait until the rice is roughly 50 -75% cooked. Add a selection of the toppings. Cook until the rice on the bottom of the pot is crispy. In the last 10 minutes tilt the pot so the sides also get crispy. When the toppings and the rice is cooked, add spring onion and pour a mixture of oyster sauce and soy sauce on top. Just before serving mix everything together.

Marinade for chicken:

  • Sesame oil

  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine 绍兴酒

  • Salt to taste

  • pepper to taste

  • 1 tsp corn flour

Sauce:

  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce.

  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce or seasoned soy sauce.

Toppings:

  • Boneless chicken, marinated (see above).

  • Lap Cheong

  • Shitake mushrooms

  • Dried fish

  • Egg

  • Bok choy

  • Fresh ginger, julienned

  • Spring onion (garnish)

French mustard dressing

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  • ½ garlic clove , crushed

  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Mix the garlic, wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and 1 tbsp warm water. Add the oil slowly, whisking constantly, then whisk in another 1 tbsp warm water to emulsify and thin the dressing. Season with sea salt and pepper.

This dressing is perfect for sliced tomatoes or Salade niçoise.

Tan-men (タンメン) ramen soup

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The problems with many ramen is that is takes an enormous amount of time to make the stock. Not so much for Tan-men (タンメン) although it still takes 1,5 hours.

To make the stock:

Soak chicken bones for 20 minutes, refresh the water and bring to a boil. Skim the broth. Add the greens of green onion or white leek, carrot skin, piece of cabbage, about 3 ginger slices. Don’t boil but simmer for 90 minutes.

Tan-men ramen is basically a stir fry with pork and vegetables, added stock and ramen.

To make the stir-fry:

30 gram pork shoulder thinly sliced, seasoned
50 gram onion, thinly cut
15 gram carrot, sliced in sticks
5 gram bell pepper
5 gram wood ear mushroom
5 gram green peas
5 gram white leek
1/2 minced garlic
5 gram Chinese chive
100 gram cabbage, bit size
100 gram bean sprouts.

Heat oil in a wok, add pork and garlic. Then add: onion, carrot, mushroom, bell pepper, white leek and green peas. After that the cabbage and bean sprouts.

Fry for a couple of minutes, season and add 500 ml chicken bone stock. Taste for salt.

In the meantime boil the ramen. This will likely be a good instant ramen.

Assembly:

Pour the stock in a bowl, add the boiled ramen. Add Chinese chives and the stir fried vegetables.

Homemade sateh sauce from Java

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For Sateh babi (pork) or sateh ayam (chicken):

9 red shallot.
2 table spoons vegetable oil.
1 clove garlic.
3 rawits.
50 gram freshly fried peanuts.
1 teaspoon trasi bakar.
3 tablespoons kecap manis.
juice of one jeruk limo.

Cut the shallot in fine slices and fry until crispy in 1 tablespoon oil. Use a mortar to grind the garlic, rawits, fried peanuts, trasi, half of the fried shallot and 1 tablespoon oil and salt to a paste.

Transfer the paste to a bowl and add kecap manis and the juice of the jeruk limo. If the sauce is too thick add water. Pour the sauce over the sateh and sprinkle the rest of the fried shallot on top. This sauce is very sweet and spicy.

Marinade for the meat:

3 gloves of garlic, minced.
5 table spoons kecap manis.

From: De Complete Indonesische Keuken, 785 authentieke recepten van de verschillende eilanden,  Lonny Gerungan (2002). 

Chinese clay pot Hong Kong style

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Clay pot rice (煲仔饭, bao zai fan) 

It’s a simple recipe. Soak long grain rice for 30 minutes in a clay pot and bring to a boil. After a couple of minutes add sliced ginger and add sliced Cantonese sausages (lap cheong) and Chinese cured pork (lop yuk). Simmer for another 10-12 minutes and turn the fire off. Instead of (or next to) meat you can make a vegetable version with mushrooms, Bok Choy, carrot, cauliflower or green beans.

There are many types of sauces. The following is just one possibility. Prepare the sauce from the following ingredients:

1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon seasoned soy sauce (蒸鱼豉油)
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

Just before serving add the sauce and garnish with green onion.

Serve with boiled Bok Choy on the side.