Sunday 23 October 2016

Coconut Chicken Soup

C-O-C-O-N-U-T
+
 C.H.I.C.K.E.N
+
H2O
=
Coconut Chicken Soup


Ingredients


3 coconuts
3 drumsticks or your favorite chicken parts
3 pitted red dates
3 Chinese mushrooms (pre-soak to soften and remove stem)
Few ginger slices
1 tbsp wolfberries 
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Cut away any visible fats from the chicken parts, I kept the skin intact. Blanch chicken parts in a pot of boiling water with ginger slices and pinch of salt. Blanching purges aggregated proteins, residual blood, surface bacteria and other impurities before you cook it. Discard the water and ginger.

2. Use a chopper to chop open the top of coconut. Pour the coconut water into a jug and set aside. Scrap some coconut flesh using a metal spoon and set aside. The toughest job in this recipe is to chop open the coconut, I am not good at that so I left it to the man in the house to execute the task. I have provided some links on how to chop open the coconut at the bottom of the page, if you are keen to try ;)

3. Place chicken parts, 1 red date, 1 mushroom and some coconut flesh into each coconut. Use a sieve to pour in coconut water until 2/3 full and top with 1/3 plain water till the brim.

4. Cover the coconut with the cap and steam for 1.5-2 hours. I wrapped the base of the coconut with aluminum foil as my steamer is quite shallow preventing water seepage.

5. Half hour before serving add in wolfberries and pinch of salt (really little bit of salt only).


BON APPETIT



The above is the most straight forward method. Now if you prefer something more complex to play with, refer to the alternative method:

Alternative Method
You may realize that you have a lot more coconut water than what is required. You can either enjoy the cooling coconut water on its own or cook everything in a pot instead.

So for step 3 (above) instead of putting the ingredients inside each coconut to steam, use a pot to cook all ingredients. Coconut water vs plain water ratio is the same, 2/3 coconut water vs 1/3 plain water. After boiled, simmer for 1.5hours in pot. From here you could serve your coconut chicken soup, it has more chicken taste as compared to steaming inside the coconut. At this junction, the soup is already very flavorful. But if you are as curious as me trying to see the difference between cooking in a pot and steaming in the coconut, you could scoop the ingredients and soup into the coconut to steam for 1/2hr before serving. The coconut fragrance really make the difference ;)


Online links on how to chop open a coconut
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/ss/youngcoconut.htm


Sunday 16 October 2016

Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Grape Sauce

Italy is a paradise for quality food, we had so many good quality meals during our recent trip there. One of the dishes that impressed me a lot is the Pork Tenderloin with Grape Sauce. I took mental notes on the obvious ingredients while we were dining so that I could try to replicate it when I am back in Singapore. So here it is, my version of this sweet pork dish.


Ingredients


300g pork tenderloin/ loin (6 pieces)
30 sweet green seedless grapes
2 inches young ginger (remove skin and cut into small slices)
3 sprigs rosemary
Olive oil and butter
2-3 tbsp white cooking wine
Salt
Black pepper
1/2 cup water
1tsp corn starch

Methods
1. Pat dry and pound the pork loins using the back of a chopper. Marinate with salt and black pepper.
2. Air fry the grapes at 170 degrees for about 20mins until skin crack, soften and shriveled. Need to toss/ stir at intervals for even cooking. Set aside.
3. Add olive oil and butter in pan, fry the pork loin until just cooked. Set aside.
4. On the same pan add a bit more olive oil and fry the young ginger for a while, add the wine.
3. Add the grapes and any leftover grape juice. Rub the rosemary sprigs with both hands to release the aroma and add into pan. Fry for awhile then add in the water with corn starch.
4. Once sauce thicken, pour over the pork loins and serve.

Serve it with rice or potatoes.

Monday 10 October 2016

Venice 2016

Travel is like dream comes true. Don't we always say things like "Someday I wish to be THERE". Here's one of my THERE:

Venice, September 2016