Chillies + Avocado + Coriander + Toast =
Tag: delicious
Omelette a Le Mont Saint Michel – A Copy Cat Version
Seeing the Internet Video of the famous Omelette from the famous restaurant made me curious whether i can copy it.
Apparently it’s possible….
Quite Oooozzzyyy and flufffy. Feels like you are eating a cloud.
This really is the fluffiest omelette.. Ever……
Making Japanese Curry – From Scratch
Another part of the Young Family Dinner Challenge… Making a version of Inspired Japanese Curry with no Roux Cubes, no artificial flavorings seemed like a very long challenge. I did my research and used the following ingredients for my Japanese Curry.
1 Pound of very very sinewy beef shank
A mix of Veggies – 1 Onion, Baby Potatoes, 3 Carrots, 20 Baby Carrots — Depending on Taste & Haricot Verts Beans quarter of a Pound & 3 Apples for the Sweetness & Sauce Thickness. Half a Pound of Chopped tomatoes – Skin Removed.
Curry Flavor – Tumeric Powder, Cumin Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Paprika, Saffron & Dark Chocolate. I flavored as i went no measurement but roughly 2 heaping table spoons of each except for the saffron – Maybe 5 strands.
First up the beef: – Marintate with Pink Himalayian Salt and Black Kampot Pepper and lightly dust with rice flour.
Sear on High Heat with Rice Bran Oil until browned – Stir in Onions for 10 mins until softened.
Add water and simmer with apples and chopped tomatoes. – Let Simmer for 2 Hours Low Heat stirring gently.
Add all the seasonings and stir to combine. The color should now turn quite dark. Let simmer on the same low heat for another 2 hours – Try smushing the apples into the sauce after the 2 hours. As it’s on low heat the cooking time is much longer. I prefer the oven but this time i wanted to try using the stove which i thought worked perfectly fine.
Enter into the 5th hour. Add Carrots and Potatoes – Always cut potatoes larger ad carrots smaller to ensure similiar cooking times. Taste after almost done – 45 minutes – At this stage i add in brewers yeast for a darker flavor and color. You can leave this step if you prefer and add in some chicken stock if you like. I like my curries sweet and light.
Add in the baby corn and beans – 5 Minutes and close the lid, turn off gas and leave over night.
The Beef sinews becomes like a fatty expensive cut. It melts and breaks in the mouth with a rich fatty mouth feel without the fat. Really nice.
Enjoy Dinner – Young Family way…..
Hot Pot for the Soul…..Megan’s Kitchen
Megan’s Kitchen caught my eye many years ago when i stumbled across an article about a hot pot restaurant actually being in the Michelin Guide. Of course I asked my cousins in HK about it and all i got was posh posh and very expensive. I checked out their website and indeed it was very very expensive – it can run almost 80 – 200 HK dollars just for the soup base. Very expensive indeed even for HK pricing. 6 years later working alone and no one to have lunch with i gave it a go. I went to the website to reserve a seat – and there was a special promotion – Lunch set for 148 dollars. Off i went….
It was interesting that hotpot is a communal activity – Even if you had individual pots you almost never see people eat hotpot alone. I’m not surprised when the waiter asked me “How many Miss?” “For one?” Nothing bothered me as I settled for the Beef Hotpot Set with the Winter Melon and Yunan Ham broth. With the lunch set i suppose as it’s the bare minimum you wont get much of the usual things you might get with the normal price – but i think it was good enough as it is. The condiment set came with Chillies, Spring Onion, Garlic, Shallots and their soy sauce. I asked for some vinegar – Chou which they gave me at no extra charge.
I peeked at the other tables though and some people paid another 25 HKD for the big sauce condiment – I thought i saw OX sauce, fried shallots etc. I honestly believe you don’t need anything else as the broth was so good already. Eating for one gets you the luxury of being able to do as you please – I ordered the Shrimp Paste (Which was almost 70 HK Dollars – GASP) this is something you don’t get in thailand. Fresh beaten and flavored shrimp is pounded until it’s a sticky paste, when you drop in boiling broth it becomes sort of a misshapen meatball with non of the fake floury taste. It transforms into a soft, sticky chewy deliciousness.
In the set there was 2 meatballs and 2 wontons. I”m not really a boiled wonton person, i feel sometimes the wrapping is too thick and the filling is sad. I also have a mistrust with meatballs – Either you get rubbery icky borax filled bits of minced mystery meat or you hit the jackpot with something very good. The meatballs here is a delight – you can feel how fresh the beef is with a carrot filling. Usually meatballs come precooked which you jsut sort of reheat, these ones were fresh beef which were a bit bouncy and very juicy and with the carrot in the middle it was a surprise. However the wonton actually won the show. It was pieces of chopped beef with cheese. The wrapping was a perfect ratio to the meat. IT wasnt smushy but chewey and nicely dense. It was amazing!
The set itself was quite plentiful – The beef is nice marbled and not too thickly or thinly cut. It was amazing. I think it’s very important and I judge alot of these hot pot places by the thickness of the beef – It’s crutial to have extremely good thickness – Too thin and the beef has freezer burn, too thick and it’s too tough and chewy. You really can’t find problems with Megans Kitchen except for the fact that it’s expensive.
The set came with 3 different kinds of lettuces, 2 giant shitake mushrooms, 3 tomatoes, some Eringi Mushrooms, Rice noodles, the 6 slices of beef (Quite big sized slices) and 2 meatballs and 2 wontons. The soup is great it’s bubbly and always topped up by the nice staff. It’s really delicious and great for spending that lunch hour alone. It’s a treat noone should miss…. (Theres a 12 HKD for the tea and a 10 percent service charge.
Megans Kitchen
5th Floor Lucky Centre –
Wan Chai Road
Hongkong
MALA Hotpot – A plethora combination of addictive deathly ingredients…
What is a Mala hotpot you may ask. It is a deathly delicious combination of bubbling stock, oil fried with Szechuan Peppercorns, dried chilies, garlic, Chinese bean paste, dried jujubes, and a mix of other herbs and spices. Each restaurant blends their own special recipe or they just use a ready mix. This is my favorite style of hotpot, usually you would get a half and half which you can numb and burn yourself on the spicy mala side and cool down with the normal stock. I believe that in the olden days this was used to help mask not so appetizing smells from using the cheaper cuts of meat.
This restaurant is a gem hidden in on of the off sois located in Silom called Boon restaurant. We ordered just enough for two and it was a great way to cure a hangover…. Amazingly the fishballs had a soft chewy texture, not too fishy and went well with this spicy oil.
Taro is usually flash fried to help keep it’s shape in the bubbling broth. Personally i like to mash the taro in my soup. It gives it a creamy texture to the soup. A creamy spicy, hot and numbing mouthful of soup.
It may look gross but it’s got a chewy, porky flavor that is either a favorite or you can’t stand the look of it at all.
Hard to understand why this battered squid works so well. Its lightly crispy, spicy when chewed with the Chilies, extremely garlicky and just so soft and perfectly chewy. No calamari can beat this dish.
This restaurant doesn’t rank high is nice atmosphere, clean bathrooms and smiling service. It’s a no frills, inexpensive family styled restaurant – the menu has pictures!!!!! Drop by for a good time.
Boon Pochana, 152/8-9, Silom Rd.,
Bangkok, 10500 Thailand
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