I have been trying to recollect the phrase I heard lately. Something about the eyes eating before the stomach but I can’t seem to grasp it. I can feel it floating about some where in my head but it simply eludes me. Argh…this is frustrating and totally annoying but basically I’m just trying to say that the food must appeal to the eyes before one would want to try and take a bite of it. Well anyway, this dessert will definitely appeal to your eyes even if its name, literally translated to mean Iced Beans, sounds totally unappetizing.
Imagine a bowl heaped with shaved ice so soft it resembles powdered snow. Patted into shape to resemble a mountain and drizzled all over with rainbow colored syrup - blue, green, red, yellow, and then splashed with creamy white evaporated milk which turns portions of the red syrup pink and then topped with a heaped spoonful of creamy creamed corn. Beneath this mountain of colorful ice hide glorious yummylicious goodies - fruit cocktail, cubes of colorful jelly, ribbons of grass jelly, beans and if you’re lucky, you might just find a lychee or longan hidden amongst the treasure. In the scorching heat of tropical Singapore, don’t you think this would bring you to paradise and leave you there? (at least while it lasted!)
Since summer is on its way, I did myself a favor and bought myself a snow machine. While it does it’s job of shaving ice, it is a lesser cousin compared to the soft snow I’m used to getting in Singapore. But who’s complaining? It was just so fun to hear the sound of ice crushed and watch the kids have fun with choosing what their treasure was going to be and how they were going to decorate their bowls of ice. The best part was when I heard this comment, “I didn’t know we could get THIS Singapore food in America”. It was that gooood!
Toppings (probably should be renames “bottomings”):
Cream style corn
canned fruits
agar-agar (I made instant ones using the mix)
boiled beans
creamed durian
grass jelly
fruit coctail
etc etc etc…(very much a choose your own adventure section)
Method:
Place water, sugar and leaves in a pot. Bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves and thickens slightly.
Divide the sugar into as many parts as food coloring you are using.
Mix each part with a few drops of the food coloring to the desired color.
Place the bottomings into the bowl then start shaving ice over these. The more ice the merrier.
Pat the ice into a cone shape.
Pour a few tablespoons of the colored syrup all over the ice.
Add a few splashes of evaporated milk.
A tablespoon or two of creamed corn on the summit.
It’s simple for me to know when I’m homesick. I start craving for food which I wouldn’t usually choose to eat if I were back home. Mee soto is just one of these. I’d skip mee soto for something else on the menu. But it’s my dad’s favorite and usually when I have to get a packet for him, it’s got to be laden with the spicy chilli condiment that it comes with and always a begedel (potato patties) to go along. Because it’s always so readily available at any Malay eating stall, there was no need to know how to cook it. Unfortunately, it’s either do, or die yearning here. And thanks to Bro Rozzan for his lovely recipe, which I believe is definitely the healthiest version of mee soto that I have ever consumed, I truly enjoyed my lunch….and dinner. Nothing like food to chase those silly blues away. Hmmm…now to wait for my next craving….
Ingredients: Makes 8 serving portions
vermicelli or yellow noodles/spaghetti - blanched in boiling water until tender and drained
half a chicken - cut into large portions
1.5 l chicken broth
1 l water
400 ml or 1 can of coconut milk
1 large onion - sliced
3 stalks lemon grass, bruised
2.5 cm galangal, bruised
1 cinnamon
5 cardamoms
8 cloves
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
200 ml oil Spices:
3 tbs coriander seeds }
3 tbs fennel seeds }
2 tbs cumin seeds} — pan fried until brown and fragrant then ground into powder
1 tsp white pepper
Garnish:
spring onion - sliced into 1/2 inch
shredded cooked chicken meat
blanched bean sprouts (optional)
Chinese parsley - chopped (optional)
fried onions (optional) potato patties (optional)
chilli condiment (optional)
Method:
Heat oil and fry the sliced onion until light brown.
Add cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, lemon grass and galangal. Fry for a little while until fragrant.
Add the ground ingredients and continue to fry for a little while until fragrant.
Add the spices and stir to combine.
Add chicken pieces, chicken stock, water, coconut milk, salt and sugar.
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then lower the fire and let the chicken cook.
When the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot and shred. Set it aside.
Blanch the noodles and the bean sprouts.
To serve, put noodle in a bowl, pour the gravy and sprinkle with shredded chicken and the rest of the condiments.
Tips:
I used the leftover chicken stock which I had frozen from the Hainanese Chicken Rice I prepared a few days ago.
Instead of chicken stock, use water but you should use a whole chicken to get a stronger flavor.
A great way to save time if to start boiling the potatoes while you prepare the spices for frying. And prepare the patties while the chicken is cooking.
I have decided to wage a personal battle with the dandelions that seem intent on taking over my lawn. They raise their pretty yellow heads only to incite my irritation. Are they saying, “Bring it on” to me? And so I spent a whole day researching for the best tool to use. I am no gardening fan nor freak. So before this week, I did not own a single gardening tool. And now because of my lovely dandelions challenge, I got myself this tool called Grandpa’s Weeder from Ace Hardware. And I have never been happier. Maybe I shall review that lovely gardening gadget in my next post but for the moment, I am feeling happier that I have removed a significant number of dandelions with root and all without much toiling and I am in the mood to spend some time cooking something to celebrate my temporary victory. Yes, temporary is being realistic and I will not fool myself into thinking that the problem is solved. But I will savor the taste of victory for the moment while I rest and relish the thought of preparing another feast to celebrate the next victory to come.
Here’s this week’s post. It’s a short video on how to peel prawns and yet keep their shells on. Not every recipe requires this skill. If you’re the kind of person who prefers to eat fish without having to watch the bones, or eat crabmeat without having to pry open the shell or have the meat all cut up in bite size pieces so that all you have to do is pop them into your mouth, then you won’t be needing this video. Why? Because you’re probably going to be the person who’d have removed the shell or better yet, bought the kind of prawns which comes in a bag that says Peeled and Deveined. But the thing with prawns is that the shell enhances the flavor of the dish. And I find the prawn a lot more appetizing in its firm pink shells. I also happen to like reducing the shells to an unrecognizable pulp and savor every drop of juice I can get from them. But like I said, it’s a personal preference. So if you’re looking to find out how to prepare prawns with their shells on but deveined, enjoy the video.
And if the video isn’t too clear or professional, I’ll have to say it’s a very professional 5yr old capturing the whole thing. Thanks for your patience
Tips:
You need at least medium sized prawns to do this. The small ones aren’t really worth the effort and I think they’re best cooked without their covering.
If you don’t want the shell to unravel in the pot, do not cut the legs off too close to the body.
Some prawns have just so much goo in the head portion. You can simply run it under a running tap to wash it off.
Let’s just face facts. If I were to tell my kids that they would be eating the pulp from squeezed soy beans, they would probably think their mom have gone bananas or must have a serious case of spring fever. So instead, I have looked for recipes which will allow me to slip in okara without alerting their tastebuds. Some have surpassed expectations and have become family favorites. Others, well, I have to say had limited success and then a few which were such total letdowns. I felt physical pain at having to dispose of leftovers. But I think I find such satisfaction at knowing that some battles can be won even if it takes some time and much effort. So you’ll probably understand why I get such a kick at hearing them praise how good the food is and then looking at their awe-stricken look at finding out that Mommy had put in that funny tasting stuff in it. After many of such looks, that funny tasting stuff has now been upgraded to being called by its rightful name - okara. And that change came about after this pie. This impossible okara-coconut pie has made the impossible possible. If you’re looking for an easy dessert to prepare, which looks good, tastes even better, with minimum preparation fuss and little kitchen mess, this is your answer. All hail this impossibly totally possible pie!
2 cups milk
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup skinless grated coconut
1/2 cup okara
4 eggs
1/2 tp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup butter - melted
Method:
Preheat the oven at 350F.
Pan fry the okara until golden brown.
Combine the okara and the grated coconut in a bowl. Stir this in with a spoon.
In a blender combine milk, sugar, eggs, salt and butter. Blend until well combined.
Add the vanilla essence and blend for a little while longer.
Pour the mixture in a bowl and add the coconut-okara mixture.
Pour the mixture into a well greased pie pan and bake for 45 - 60 minutes and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the pie cool for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm with ice cream or on its own or chilled.
Tips:
You can replace all of the coconut with toasted okara or replace all the okara with grated coconut.
When the pie comes out of the oven, it will be slightly wobbly. It’ll firm up as it cools.
Don’t blend the okara/coconut with the rest of the ingredients. It will make the coconut too fine and change the texture of the pie.
You may use a hand mixer to mix the ingredients, but a blender is the most efficient choice.
Make sure the pie pan is well greased.
Do keep in mind that the pie will deflate slightly when cooled.
I have been trying to recollect the phrase I heard lately. Something about the eyes eating before the stomach but I can’t seem to grasp it. I can feel it floating about some where in my head but it simply eludes me. Argh…this is frustrating and totally annoying but basically I’m just trying to say that the food must appeal to the eyes before one would want to try and take a bite of it. Well anyway, this dessert will definitely appeal to your eyes even if its name, literally translated to mean Iced Beans, sounds totally unappetizing.
