The Food Canon

You may have encountered this dish in Nonya or Penang restaurants. This recipe uses only a few ingredients and is great for the dinner table.

Braising in the wok.

If you have been cooking at home, you will notice that this season is shaping our home-cooking in a new way. Every meal is "full house" as your children are not off gallivanting somewhere else - unless they want to risk a $300 fine, that is. This Covid window may well provide an opportunity for you to create new family traditions.

You will become more conscious of the "waste not, want not" dictum. Leftover from last night's dinner is today's lunch. Yes, this is unusual: lunch is also a family meal!! And so, you think ahead. You don't want the fridge to be chockfull with produce and cooked food at the same time. And so, you don't want to overstock and overcook.

You learn to cook with what you have. You don't want to don a mask to go out just to get one more stalk of lemon grass (the recipe specifies 4!). You create "new" recipes, cooking with whatever you have. Sweet, salty, sour, spicy - just balance the flavours and do it your way.  

It is satisfying to see the larder clearing and herbs stocked from months ago finally being used up. Nothing goes to waste and you find interesting uses for your spices and herbs. 

As for ingredients and recipes, here are some tips which you may find useful.

Do you know that the roots of coriander leaves are flavourful? They are used widely in some cuisines, ie Thai. In a mortar, pound some coriander roots and stems along with some white pepper and garlic.  This paste can be used for delicious fried rice or as a meat marinade. 

Speaking of fried rice, this is also a good use of leftover rice and cooked food in your fridge. Check my post here on the basics of making delicious fried rice recipes. Actually, just pay attention to flavours and textures in order to create different fried rice dishes for every lunch. 

Claypot Rice is fast and easy to make. A one pot meal which is cooked on the stove within 30 minutes and eaten off on your dining table. Simple, neat and delicious. Chicken, pork, beef, fish can be used and green veg can be added in. You can keep your rice plain and unflavoured and cook it only with water. Whatever you then put on top of it during the second stage of cooking will add the flavours. Check the link here for claypot recipes. At times,  I do use the paella pan to cook my rice recipes (see lead photo).

Curries keep well and can be eaten across 2-3 days with rice or bread. There are rumours that turmeric keep the virus at bay. Fake news or not, turmeric is always good to use in curries and the powder works very well if you can't lay hold on fresh ones. 

Using leftover food or extra pieces of onion, you can always make Egg Frittata. Sounds exotic but it is just cooking whatever you have on a pan and then pouring the beaten eggs on it. It is a thick omelette. Just flip the egg pancake towards the end to cook the top side or put it in a heated oven for 5 minutes. it makes for a decent lunch when served with salads greens and some bread.

And yes, salad greens can go with many dishes. Buy the pre-washed bags for convenience. Dice and garnish your fried rice. Eat on the sides with meat. They keep fresh for a few days in your fridge. 

On the mention of beef, I find Brazilian Picanha Beef very tasty and easy to cook. This sirloin cap cut is a tender cut and the flavours are deep and beefy. Cut it against the grain and use it for whatever. I have cooked it for my Japanese beef bowls, as steaks served with potatoes and greens and even in my claypot rice. As with all beef dishes, cook the beef separately first on high heat. This beef cooks fast depending on the level of doneness you like. Call Fabio at +65 8189 3489 for deliveries and further instructions on how to cook it. He also serves cooked food and grilled meats (Disclaimer: I do not benefit anything from promoting this).

I will be blogging more in the coming days, including adding a delicious Nonya braised chicken recipe. 

Stay healthy, stay safe and stay tuned. 

While we may order food in (and yes, please do order and give our restaurants some business), we still need to cook our own food for reasons like variety in taste, healthier food and so on. We should have more time to do so now that we are staying at home. In between my work on my notebook, I will check the pot of something which is braising away. 

However, cook with what you have and cook what you can. Don't be unduly stressed up by the thought of cooking something that may be beyond your current level of experience. That said, it is a season to upscale and learn new or more challenging dishes.

Most of us love curry fish head. Whether it is Nonya (herb-based) or Indian style (spice-based), it is a one pot meal which the whole family can enjoy. You can also make it more in the Assam direction, dropping coconut milk or yoghurt and add more "daun keping" or tamarind slices.  

Here is an outline of the steps involved in cooking great pot of curry fish head: 

Steamed the fish heads separately. 

Before dinner, combine and serve hot on the table. 

1 whole fish head

10 pieces of garlic

1 small piece of toast belachan

20 pieces of small red onions or 3 large red onions, diced or blended

fresh turmeric, about an inch or 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder

2 stalks of lemongrass (lightly bruised)

2 tsp of light curry powder

2 tsp of salt

1 piece of chicken stock

chilli paste or blended dry red chillies (to taste)

a bowl of oil

1 pack of coconut cream (200 ml)

1 assam keping

1 piece of brinjal, sliced into pieces

10 pieces of ladies fingers

2 pieces of large tomatoes, quartered

10 pieces of fried soy bean curd puff ("tau korn"), soak in water first and squeeze to remove oil

coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Serve with rice. Use your hands if you prefer as our fingers are our best bone detectors. In anywise, please be careful as you eat. Curry Fishhead meals have given many ENT surgeons good and regular business.  

Try cooking this. It beats takeaways anytime. Experiment with different type of curries. You can also choose to use deboned fish meat. Ask your seller to debone for you.