Crazy about Pasta, Tomatoes and Anchovies

I've been cooking pasta quite frequently for lunch because it is a quick and easy dish to prepare, allows me to use up leftover bits of ingredients lurking in the fridge, and since I discovered the wonders of anchovies. I can't seem to resist buying pasta every time I walk down the pasta aisle, especially since the variety available in the supermarket has really grown over the years. So this recent pasta phase has proven useful in clearing the many stashes of dried pasta that have been accumulating across the kitchen. 

Along with buying too much pasta, I usually obsess over making sure I have at least a couple of cans of diced tomatoes in the kitchen. Ed knows my obsession very well and knows better than to stand between me and a shelf full of canned tomatoes ON SALE. I can't help it that they are so incredibly handy to have around for last minute pasta sauces or late night gazpachos. But I do admit that it is ridiculous to have anxiety attacks over whether I need to replenish my stock. I think my all-time high must be 6 cans of tomatoes... just hanging around. I fear my latest anchovy phase might join the ranks of canned tomatoes. 

But they really are just. so. incredible. I add only just enough to get the umami kick and this almost imperceptible layer of flavour that leaves people wondering and wanting more. It is like I have finally discovered the magic ingredient (that is not msg) to bring my pasta dishes up one notch. 

Inspired by the amazing mushroom pesto pasta I had in Perth, I concocted something similar from white button mushrooms, hand-chopped cilantro and parsley, mixed with minced garlic, a generous dollop of tahini, and some anchovies of course. I also added some minced beef to the mix for the protein. This was delicious, especially with a heavy-handed scatter of parmesan. 

It also kept surprisingly well in the fridge. The next day, I just added a little more olive oil and some water, reheated it over the stove and added some chilli for a good spicy kick. (Pictured below) I reckon it tasted even better than the day before! Overnight pasta usually gets too soft and even mushy, but the Bavette held up superbly. (Another reason to stock up?)

Unsurprisingly, I also made a tomato-based pasta. I combined just a few simple ingredients - minced pork, anchovies, canned tomatoes and parsley. A deceptively basic dish that was so good I could eat the sauce on its own. 

The many dishes one can come up with, with just those few staples is endless! Okay, maybe not endless, but surely plentiful. And then today, fate led me to this recipe for a Chinese Sausage Carbonara aka Lap Cheong Carbonara. Maybe lap cheong will be my new fetish? 

My Monthly Fix

Every month, I religiously head to Kino for my dose of food related magazines. For a very disturbing digression, on one of those trips I spotted a guy in his late thirties or early forties sitting on the floor, with a soft porn magazine open on his lap. Sure, I'm all for free speech and human rights, and whatever men like to do in their own little private space. Lets not even go there.

Bring it out into the open, er... SURE. But to sit there, with a camera phone in hand, snapping photos of the bikini clad, busty model with barbie-type big hair featured in the magazine, now that's just plain disturbing.



Anyway! Fortunately or unfortunately, I head to Kino pretty often to grab a couple of magazines. I'm a terrible sucker for handsome steaks or sexy pies. Throw in some adorable mini scoops of caramel ice cream and I'm sold. A couple of magazines have entrapped my mind and heart. Donna Hay is one of them. The gorgeous photos, reader-friendly layout and useful tips on cooking make the magazine a mainstay in my repertoire of magazines to grab regularly.

Sadly though, their recipes and tips have been grossly used and consulted. And with that realisation, I stacked up my D.H. mags and trawled through, considering a possible menu to provide for some friends. As I was catching a matinee, I only had a couple of hours to prepare the meal and had to (again) look for something uncomplicated.

There were way too many choices, and after much mulling over, I chose to start the meal off with caramelised mushrooms to top off a thinly sliced baguette, smeared generously with cheese (I chose my childhood fav, Laughing Cow Cheese) and scattered with wild rocket leaves. This was such a convenient dish to prepare way before hand, to get out of the way and out of the mind while preparing the other courses. I just had to simmer it for a while, allowing it to cool naturally until it is ready to serve. Although the original recipe asked for goat's cheese, my uncontrollable aversion to goat's cheese led to my substitution, which I thoroughly enjoyed anyway.

Following that, we had salmon gently poached in tomato broth, frugally garnished with dill. Convenient point number 2: the broth is prepared before hand and the salmon poached for just 8-9 minutes for the middle to remain that slightly darker shade of pink. Of course, that means that the salmon should be sliced into individual portions first before poaching.

With some careful timing and prep work, some stew and risotto was served after that. The lamb was stewed with an entire bottle of red wine and the aromatic rosemary, while the risotto was plain and spiked with just a mere hint of thyme.

One thing I've learnt however, after so many attempts to recreate dishes featured in magazines or in cookbooks, is that they almost always never turn out the way it looks like in the photos. My fish broth looked far too red, making me alarmed by the disparity of colour. I re-read the recipe over and over again to make sure I wasn't adding the tomato puree to the broth erroneously. Was it 1 tsp, and not 1 tbspn? Was my tomato puree unusually red?

So yes, I've learnt (the hard way) to accept that I might never be able to make such perfect looking steaks or pies. But when you have friends like mine who mostly don't notice if the carrot sticks were not julienned properly or if the frosting on the cake is slightly uneven, it is easier to let go. Just walk away from the cake Daffy, just walk away from the cake.

Simplicity at its best

Beef Tataki - A deceptively simple dish that P prepared, quick and delicious.

When a Japanese-crazy friend calls for a dinner party with an East Asian theme, I'd have to be crazy to think that he'd make anything other than Japanese. I was more than happy to go with the flow, but like my previous post, there is a whole lot of cuisines that I've never tried my hand at and Japanese is definitely one of them. That means that while I was eager to try my hand at Japanese cuisine, I was apprehensive and a little worried about the outcome, especially since it was for a dinner party.

Of course, I took the opportunity (read: excuse) to trawl through Kinokuniya's collection for a simple and reliable Japanese cookbook. Since it was my first attempt at Japanese, I was not going to risk attempting overly complicated recipes. Kimiko Barber's The Japanese Kitchen caught my eye with its clean and fresh cover photo, and then with the tres simple recipes.

They are organised according to common Japanese ingredients, cutting across the various kinds of roots, seeweeds, noodles, fruits etc...... A short and informative introduction is also included for each ingredient - 'How it grows', 'Appearance and taste', 'Buying and storing', 'Healthy Benefits', 'Culinary Uses', before several recipes are provided featuring the said ingredient. I find this style extremely useful, especially when I was pushing my trolley through Meidi-Ya supermarket (a very well-stocked Japanese supermarket at Liang Court). When I saw an ingredient I was unfamiliar with, I just had to look for the section on it to find out how I could possibly use it.

I decided to prepare appetisers, and since they were all so simple, requiring so little effort and ingredients, I chose 6 to make in small quantities per person.

Diced Tuna with Yam Sauce, Simmered Daikon with Grainy Mustard and Miso, Edamame with sea salt, Nameko with Grated Daikon, Asparagus with Vinegar Miso and Grilled Octopus with Sweet Miso Sauce. Since there were so many items on the menu, I had to make the effort to be very organised with my mise en place. All the ingredients were grated, chopped, simmered, boiled and sliced beforehand. The sauces were also mixed to the exact proportions required in advance. They were all placed in neat rows to be put together on the dishes just before serving.

The two items which surprised me (with recipes later) were the Diced Tuna with Yam Sauce as well as the Nameko with Grated Daikon. I had initial reservations about the yam sauce, as it comprised raw grated yam dunked in a light dashi stock-based sauce and served with cubes of raw tuna. I was not sure how raw grated yam would taste, and frankly the texture of the grated yam was a little off-putting. However, the flavours and textures came together in a very surprising harmony.

As for the Nameko with Grated Daikon, the description of Nameko was not at all appealing to me. 'Nameko grow in clusters. A bright orangey-brown, they have a tight little button cap measuring 1-2 cm across that is covered with gelatinous slime... [they] are particularly appreciated for their slipperiness on the tongue, which is unique and worth experiencing.' After a truly horrific experience with Japanese fermented soy beans - Natto, I have become wary of 'unique' food, and have developed a greater aversion to all things naturally slippery (I still don't really fancy okra/lady's fingers). However, dipped into the sauce and served with very finely julienned (my grater could not yield the fine matchsticks of daikon I had envisioned for the dish), I actually found it yummy and could truly appreciate its smooth and slippery texture, which I realised should not be confused with sliminess.

In addition, as a result of my usual tendency of wanting to send guests home in an 'oh-my-god-I'm-so-full-I'm-going-to-explode' state, I also rustled up Chilled Soba with Salmon Roe and Avocado. All it took was some very quickly cooked soba (overcooked soba is quite terrible to stomach), avocada cubes tossed in a wasabi-soy sauce dressing, fresh salmon roe and a small drizzling of soba dipping sauce. As a modern take on cold soba, it was yet another great combination, which my guests also enjoyed thoroughly.

The dishes exceeded my expectations and now I cannot wait to try other recipes from the book, using more foreign ingredients like Gobo/Burdock and Kampyo/Dried Gourd Strips. I've taken chances with other cookbooks before and have been let down numerous times. But this book has renewed my faith that as long as I perservere, I will definitely uncover a few gems once in a while.

Simplicity at its best

Maguro no tororo ae / Diced Tuna with Yam Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

275g yam, peeled and grated

450ml dashi stock

5 tbspn soy sauce

1 tbspn sugar

1/2 tbspn mirin

400g fresh tuna, cut into bite-sized cubes

1/2 tsp salt

To Garnish

2 tsp wasabi powder mixed with same amt of water

2 spring onions, finely sliced into rings

1 sheet nori (dried seaweed), finely shredded (which I omitted)

Method

Put the yam into a large mixing bowl.

Add the dashi stock, soy sauce, sugar and mirin and mix well.

Put the tuna in a separate bowl, sprinkle with the salt and pour int the yam mixture. Stir to combine.

Divide the tuna and yam mixture between four serving dishes and garnish with small mounds of wasabi, chopped spring onions and shredded nori.

Nameko oroshi/Nameko with Grated Daikon

Serves 4

Ingredients

110g nameko

200g daikon (Japanese radish), peeled and grated

Dressing

2 tbspn rice vinegar

1 tbspn sugar

1 tbspn light soy sauce

a pinch of salt (optional)

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, season and serve with a little of the dressing on the side if preferred.