The Silver LiningVietnamese-style fish cakes – The Silver Spoon #7
Posted on January 10, 2013
So over the weekend my brothers decided to be all manly and stuff and went deep sea fishing. They were pretty successful, and amongst a few things managed to catch a shark! (That’s pretty manly.) As a result, I found myself with one and a half kilos of shark meat and a big question – what on earth do I do with one and a half kilos of shark?
I’m not a big cooker of fish to begin with since I always somehow manage to stuff it up, which generally results in a horrible dinner and a terrible sense of guilt for ruining a beautiful (and often expensive!) piece of fish. Dissatisfied bellies and sad faces all round.
I happened upon this Vietnamese fish cake recipe by Luke Nguyen on the SBS Food Safari site (how badly do I want the Food Safari lady’s job!) and after a few modifications came up with these lovely little morsels! I think due to the nature of shark meat the fish cakes came out quite firm and “meaty”, but I think it actually worked well and tasted great. I enjoyed mine dipped in sweet chilli sauce and washed them down with a cold glass of home-brewed iced jasmine tea. I still have at least thirty of these fishy bites left (I used all the shark in one go) and I think I’ll try them next on a bed of rice noodles with lettuce leaves, mint, bean sprouts and shredded carrot…
Ingredients:
- 500g fish fillets, cubed (the original recipe calls for Spanish mackerel)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely diced
- 4 shallots, diced
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- Sweet chilli sauce for serving
How to:
- Place all ingredients (except vegetable oil and sweet chilli sauce) in a food processor and process until all ingredients are incorporated into a paste. If you’re more dedicated than me, you can use a mortar and pestle rather than a food processor and pound the fix mixture until it gets a more elastic consistency.
- Make patties out of the mixture, roughly 5cm in diameter and 2cm thick. Oil your hands so the fish doesn’t stick to you.
- Heat the oil in a wok or other large non-stick pan over medium heat. Fry the fish cakes in batches and fry for 3-4 minutes each side until golden.
- And that’s it! Serve with sweet chilli sauce for dipping.
P.S. Check out the giant chilli from my garden! Its “parent” plant had normal-sized chillis so who knows why this one has mutated!
Share this:
A very merry Christmas indeed!
Posted on December 27, 2012
Summer finally decided to unleash its glorious but scorching self upon us on Christmas Day, and in full force! Christmas for me is a typically relaxed day spent with all the gorgeous people I love. The morning began with our annual ritual of present opening with my immediate family, and I have to say I scored…big time. Jinn was given the task of buying my present on behalf of the entire family and the poor thing was racking his brains so hard – I wasn’t exactly lacking in anything since only recently coming back from that very fruitful holiday in New York I keep mentioning! He’s also very bad at keeping secrets. So I thought I had it all figured out when I saw a shopping bag from one of my favourite stores (Atlas Divine in Leederville!) peeking out from under a chair when I got home one day. But honestly, nothing prepared me for the boom-bap-pow of those shiny gold Super Duper Strength sunglasses from Karen Walker’s latest Fantastique eyewear range that popped out from that unassuming little package with my name on it. All I can say is – Thank. you. I. Love. Them. And. I. LOVE. YOU. ALL. !.
What followed was a food dream filled with beautiful dishes definitely befitting the occasion (Jason served up five meats at his “little” Christmas barbecue, I certainly got my protein load for the next month or so). Thankfully there was time for a quick dip before Jason’s dinner to help get the digestive system going and burn off a few calories, and of course play with my cousin’s underwater camera! She usually uses it to photograph fish/turtles/rays/sharks when she goes scuba diving but we were more than happy to be the wildlife on this occasion. 🙂
There’s nothing quite like days like these that bring everyone together for the sole purpose of enjoying each other’s company and for sharing gifts, stories, hugs and laughs. I cherish every single moment and find that as I get older (wow, I’m not that geriatric!) they mean more and more to me.
Share this:
Matcha do about a green cake! …The Silver Spoon #6
Posted on December 20, 2012
Ever since our honeymoon in Japan, I’ve been a huge fan of Japanese tea in all its forms. Sencha, genmaicha, houjicha…There are many different types with varying delicious flavours, plus they’re good for you, packed with lots of antioxidants! This cake recipe incorporates matcha, which is essentially the finest quality green tea leaves ground into a fine powder. It is traditionally whisked with hot water into a bright green suspension and served at Japanese tea ceremonies. I bought mine from the little Japanese Green Tea House in Subiaco, but it should be available at any Japanese grocery store. If you’re ever in Subiaco with a spare minute or two you must pop in! Tsutomo is the lovely gentleman who owns the store. He is very passionate about green tea and travels regularly back to Kyoto to bring back the high quality teas he sells us. He’s always more than happy to sit you down at the counter to taste a few different teas and teach you the correct ways to brew them. It’s highly likely you won’t leave empty handed!
There are varying levels of matcha quality but you only need the cheaper end of things as we’re just using it for baking, not drinking. I’ve used it here to add its distinct yet subtle flavour and of course its interesting colour to a fairly basic pound cake recipe. Really easy to make and goes down amazingly well with a cup of black coffee!
Ingredients
- 225g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 225g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 225g plain flour sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons matcha
- A splash of vanilla essence
How to
- Preheat oven to 170°C.
- Cream the butter and sugar together with a handheld beater.
- Beat in eggs, one at a time, then add also the vanilla essence.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and matcha.
- Fold flour mixture into the batter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until cake skewer comes out cleanly.
- Serve to unsuspecting friends and tell them its mould! Nah, really it’s a gorgeous green colour with more punch and character than pistachio…! Enjoy!
Look at that beautiful green inside peeking out!
Share this:
Burmese Salad {The Silver Spoon #4}
Posted on December 5, 2012
This week I decided to make a somewhat vegetarian version of the Burmese chicken salad I previously made. When I say somewhat I mean that there’s still fish sauce in the dressing and also that the dish is given an extra flavour kick with the addition of dried shrimp powder. This is another essential ingredient and quite unique in the way it’s used in Burmese cooking in that its purpose is generally as a raw ingredient added to salads.
It may be difficult to find it in its powdered form but you should be able to source dried shrimp from any good Asian/Chinese grocery store. Use your blender to pulverise it into a coarse-ish powder and voila! If you’re hardcore you can use a mortar and pestle to get similar results but you may be there for some time…
This dish is yet another one to be enjoyed on a hot summer’s day, but also makes a great accompaniment to curry and rice on not-so-hot days. The carrots and lime juice pack a crisp punch and all the other ingredients add their textural elements to create a tasty and surprisingly substantial little dish.
Ingredients
- 2 medium-large carrots, coarsely grated
- 1 mild-medium hot green chilli, thinly sliced
- 2 generous tablespoons of chopped coriander/mint (I like to use a few sprigs of both)
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped
- 3-4 tablespoons fried shallots (go here to find the Fried Shallot Oil recipe)
- 2 tablespoons shallot oil (as above)
- 2 teaspoons dried shrimp powder
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (to taste, beware it’s quite salty! I usually just add a quick splash)
How to
- Combine the carrots, chilli, coriander/mint, peanuts and lime juice. Mix well and the carrots will start to naturally soften due to the action of the lime juice.
- Then add the fried shallots, shallot oil, shrimp powder and fish sauce. Mix well and adjust to taste.
- Easy peasy!
Share this:
The Silver Spoon #3
Posted on November 28, 2012
Most people I meet surmise that my folks hail from somewhere like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong…
Right?
Wrong!
Then they go along the lines of Japan, Korea…? Still wrong! And then they get desperate and start flinging out random places like Africa, Scotland, Mongolia…? The survey says…? Beeeeh, wrong answer!
My parents moved to Australia in the mid-70s from Burma! You’re right in thinking that we’re of Chinese descent though. Our family tree is somewhat sketchy, but yes somewhere along the way we must have emerged from China. There are some interesting stories about some great-great-great-grandfather of my mother’s being the ophthalmologist to the emperor during one of those decadent dynasties. Well, this great man had multiple wives and concubines as you did back in the day, and we sprang forth from one of his Dutch wives! Fancy that!
Well the point to that rather convoluted and definitely accurate tale is that we have grown up eating a fine mix of Chinese and Western cuisines, admixed with all the other amazing cultures found in Australia (Greek, Italian, Japanese, Lebanese, I could go on forever…) but my favourite and most unique dishes come from Burma. Yes, I could eat noodles and dumplings until I pass out (just watch me) but give me one of my mum’s fine Burmese salads or curries and that char kuey teow is left to go cold.
Burmese food is somewhat best described as a marriage between Vietnamese, Thai and Indian cooking, with its quintessential combination of herbs and spices in a cuisine rich with salads, noodle dishes, curries and more. There’s interesting usage of essential ingredients such as dried prawns crushed into a powder to add an incredible depth of flavour to a dish, or tamarind for that perfect sour but sweet tartness that no lemon or lime can deliver. Adding fresh coriander and a drizzle of oil infused with fried shallots transforms a basic salad into something inexplicably more-ish. But to really get to know the food and its specific and delicious palate, you’ll have to come over to my mum’s place…or get cooking yourself!
Burmese people love their salads. And once you get the hang of the few staple ingredients generally used to make a “dressing” of sorts, you’ll start mixing and matching like a pro. These are tasty and quick to whip up, and perfect for our upcoming summer days. I still eat them in winter, but serve them with some fluffy white jasmine rice to ward off the cold and jack up the “comfort food” factor.
Burmese-style chicken salad (tick of approval from Mumsy)
- 3 chicken thighs or 2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I use chicken thighs out of personal preference and boil them til they’re just cooked)
- 1/2 cup shallots thinly sliced and soaked in cool water to mellow them down
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander, throw in a sprig or two of mint as well if you like!
- 1 mild-medium hot green chilli sliced into strips
- Juice of half a lime (around 2 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (to taste)
Fried shallot oil
- 2-3 large shallots thinly sliced
- Peanut oil (or any other vegetable oil except olive oil)
How to
- Make the shallot oil first. Now the traditional way to do this is to fry the shallots on low to medium heat in a wok until they’re light brown and crispy (not burnt!). My mum taught me the cheat’s way to do this since I hate cleaning the oily wok afterwards. Place the sliced shallots in a small microwaveable bowl and add oil until the shallots are just covered. Then microwave them for one minute, stop and stir, then keep repeating this until you get brown crispy shallots with lightly fragranced oil. Too easy! It usually takes a total of about 6-7 x 1 minute periods of microwaving for me.
- Add the chicken, raw shallots, 2 generously heaped tablespoons of fried shallots (these are the star), coriander/mint and chilli together in a mixing bowl and toss gently.
- Mix together the lime juice, fish sauce and 2 tablespoons of shallot oil to make a dressing, then pour over the chicken mixture.
- Mix again!
- Serve with extra fried shallots (because you never can get enough of these).
- Other options – feel free to add a sliced tomato or a cup or two of chopped iceberg or butter lettuce.
Eat eat eat!
If you have any questions or suggestions, leave me a comment! I’ll get back to you… 🙂
Share this:
Nothing rhymes with granola (The Silver Spoon #2)
Posted on November 15, 2012
Seriously, nothing does. Except for canola, but that’s barely exciting, is it?
While we were in the United States I developed a taste for the country’s very popular breakfast staple – granola. So after we returned I’d been trying to emulate the taste with various cereals and mueslis with mixed success rates. I happened to wander into the Cottesloe Boatshed Market to kill some time and of course to ogle their ever-changing, ever-beautiful, hunger-inducing displays of fresh produce when I spied my very heart’s desire. Well, more like my stomach’s desire.
So, today’s taste test is handmade granola from the Irrewarra Sourdough Bakery. Based in rural Victoria, the bakery was set up by two ex-Melbournian lawyers (a husband-and-wife team) in the restored stable of Irrewarra House in the year 2000. Initially more well-known for their bread, they soon diversified to include granola and sweet baked products into their repertoire. Their granola professes to contain only whole unprocessed natural ingredients with honey as the sole sweetener (no nasties!).
I have to admit, it didn’t taste quite like the granola I’d had in the states, mainly in that it wasn’t as sweet so that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I had paired it with a relatively sour Greek yoghurt so it was possibly even my own fault. That said, the texture, the mix of grains and the yummy roasted almonds and walnuts still made it a delicious and healthy breakfast. Next time, I’ll probably add some strawberries or blueberries (my favourite!) and possibly (if I’m naughty) a smidge more honey.
The Silver Lining 
