Filipino Sinigang

This Filipino dish is soothing and hearty. There is something about the sour taste of the tamarind mixed with warm pork flavored broth that literally makes my mouth water. This soup is also made by other Asian cultures, but slightly different.

 

Ingredients:

3 lbs pork ribs, chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium okra (ochroes)
½ lb sinigang (tamarind)
16 cups water
1 bok choy (patchoi) chopped in 1 to 2 inch slices
1 radish, chopped in thin round slices (optional)
1 small tomato, chopped fine (optional)
2 small potatoes, chopped in large chunks (optional)
salt

Directions:

Saute ribs, garlic, onions, and salt to taste until brown.

In Separate large pot add water Sinigang (tamarind) to taste I like to separate the pulp from the seed, but if you enjoy that little extra work of removing while you eat go right ahead.

Then add the tomato and the pork, cook on medium heat for about 40 min and then add the potatoes cook for another 10 min and then add the Radish and the Bok choy cook about 10 more min.

It is good if the meat easily comes away from the bone.

Thai Stir-Fried Mushrooms with Baby Corn

Here is a Thai vegetable side dish with plenty of Chinese influences. Utilize whatever mushrooms are in season, such as straw, button, het kone or shiitake mushrooms.

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

300 g mushrooms in season, sliced, such as straw mushrooms, button, het kone or shiitake

8 baby corn, sliced

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon light soya sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons corn flour dissolved in 3 tablespoons water to make a slurry

1 large red chilli, sliced

1 handful coriander, chopped

Directions

In a wok, fry the garlic in oil till brown. Add the onion and baby corn and sweat until the onion is translucent.

Add the mushrooms and cook for two minutes. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir fry until combined.

Add the corn starch slurry and stir fry until thick and glistening.

Immediately place on a plate and garnish with the chilli and coriander. Serve with steamed jasmine rice or noodles.

Indian Chicken Bread

We're travelling to India to create a tasty hearty but yet healthy dish. Chicken Bread is one of the creamiest yummiest chicken dishes ever. It is made with boneless chicken and milk and a few herbs and spices. The simplest of ingredients lend itself to most scrumptious chicken dish.

Ingredients

Dough:

2 cups plain flour
½ tbsp instant yeast
1 tbsp milk
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 egg
½ tsp sugar

Chicken filling:

2 cups chicken boiled and shredded
1 small onion chopped finely
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp chadon beni
2 chopped pepper
½ tsp masala powder
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp butter
½ cup milk
Sesame seeds as required

Directions

Make the dough
In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. 

Knead to a medium soft dough with slightly warm water, leave to rise for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into two or three depending on how big you want the loaves. 

Heat the butter and fry the onion until soft.

To this add flour, salt, pepper, garam masala

Add the milk, cook until thick, mix in the shredded chicken add chopped green chilies and coriander leaves, remove and cool completely.

Start bringing the topmost slit ends across from each other alternately.
Keep going, remember to alternate, like a crisscross fashion. Left to right...right to left.

This is how it will look as you get further down the bread with the crossing of the sides/braiding.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes and 350 degrees

Japanese Chicken Karaage

Japanese Pepper-Lemon Chicken Karaage: Wheat, gluten and soy-free.
This is a twist on classic Japanese chicken karaage, made without any soy sauce, flour or sake. The chicken is marinated in chicken stock to add umami.






Serving size: 3-4 pieces as part of a Japanese meal.

Ingredients

10 oz boneless chicken breast
1 ½ cups chicken stock
1 to 2 tbsp Lime juice
¼ tsp finely grated lime zest
1 ½ tsp Salt
ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup cornstarch, (enough to coat the chicken)
Oil, (for deep frying)

Directions

Cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can take off the skin if you like, though it does make the chicken crispier.







Combine the chicken stock, lime juice, and grated lime zest in a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and mix well. Taste - it should be fairly salty but not overwhelmingly so. Add a bit more salt if needed.








Put the chicken pieces in the bowl. Let marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes - an hour is ideal. If marinating for more than an hour (say, overnight), do not put salt in the marinade.








When you're ready to fry the chicken, take it out of the marinade and pat it dry. If you didn't add salt to the marinade, salt the chicken now and rub it in. Leave for a few minutes, and pat dry again. Grind a ton of black pepper on the chicken (it can stand a lot) .








Heat the oil; if using a temperature-controlled fryer or a thermometer, aim for 160°C / 355°F, a fairly low temperature. Toss enough cornstarch into the marinated chicken so that each piece is completely coated. Fry the chicken pieces a few at a time at 160°C / 320°F until cooked through. The chicken will still be quite pale.















Take the chicken out of the oil, and drain off while you raise the temperature of the oil to 180°C / 355°F. When the oil is hot, re-add the chicken pieces and cook until a light golden brown - about 30 seconds to a minute. It won't get as dark in color as the soy-sauce marinated version. Don't overcook or the chicken will dry out.








Drain well on a rack, or old newspaper lined on top with paper towels.








Serve with lime wedges, and even more pepper if you like.

Ma Po Tofu

Travellers, we're jumping continents and landing in Asia, the first country we're visiting is China. China has made great contributions to the world on the aspects of food resource exploration, diet treatment, nutrition and health care and cuisine aesthetics. Intellectuals in China have created countless dishes with apt names, aromas, flavors and colors, greatly enhancing the dining experience. Ma Po Tofu is a great dish if you want to add a little spice to your diet without feeling guilty, this a great dish to try.

Ingredients

½ cup low sodium chicken broth

1 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

2 medium cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp minced ginger

4 green onions white part only, minced

1 tbsp fermented beans, roughly chopped 

6 ounces minced pork

2 tsp minced hot pepper

14 ounce block tofu, drained and cut into 3/4” cubes

green part of green onions minced for garnish

Directions

Add the chicken broth, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar to a small bowl and stir to combine.

Heat a wok or large frying pan until hot. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger and green onions and stir-fry with a spatula until fragrant. Add the beans and continue stir-frying.

Add the ground pork and use the spatula to break it up into small grains (you don’t want clumps of meat). When the pork is cooked, add the pepper and stir to distribute. 

Add the tofu, and toss to mix (if you stir it, the tofu will lose its shape).

Give the stock mixture a good stir to incorporate anything that may have settled, and then pour it over the pork and tofu. Toss to coat, then boil until the sauce thickens.

Garnished with the green parts of the green onions, then serve with hot rice.

Colcannon

Now we go to Ireland to create a dish known as "Colcannon". This traditional Irish dish is a wonderful comfort food and with a few tweaks it can be a surprisingly easy to make, great tasting, and healthy all in one dish. This dish is usually heavy on the potato which also means a high intake of carbohydrates. To modify this recipe for diabetics and provide a wider nutritional profile, while at the same time turnip has been incorporated to halve the total carbs and calories. As a happy side effect turnips also brighten the taste by adding a little sweetness.

Ingredients

1 small bunch kale
½ onion, diced
3 medium potato, quartered
2 medium turnips, quartered
1 tbsp butter
salt
pepper
4 rashers bacon
¼ cup milk
¼ water
olive oil

Directions

In a salted pot of water, add both the potato and turnips until tender.

Strip kale leaves from stalk (discard stalk) and give a rough chop.

Put bacon on skillet, on low. Cook until slightly crisp, and drain on paper towel, before chopping roughly.

Spray deep frying pan with olive oil, sauteed onions until lightly brown, add kale to pan with water, cover pan, turn heat to low.

Tossing kale occasionally, cook until it has wilted down, turn off heat and set aside.

When potatoes and turnips are tender (turn off heat) and drain, then return to pot. Add butter, milk and salt and pepper to taste. Mash them but not to smooth of a consistency. A few lumps are part of the magic of this dish.

Add the cooked kale mixture to the pot of mashed potatoes and turnips and bacon. Stir thoroughly until incorporated and then serve.

This recipe serves 4.

Portuguese Baked Chicken with Couscous

In Portugal now to create a dish with one of the leanest of all meats, skinless chicken breast is a superlative protein source for the health-conscious. B vitamins are a healthy bonus.

Ingredients

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp chadon beni (culantro)
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
4 skinless boneless chicken breast
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
3 clove garlic crushed
1 cup couscous
1 ½ cup boiling water
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup chopped dates
2 tbsp lime juice
1 lime or lemon cut into 8 wedges

Directions

Combine the cumin, chadon beni, ginger, cinnamon, pepper and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture onto the chicken.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan over moderate heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Add the couscous and boiling water; stir, cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Gently stir in the chopped parsley and dates.

Make 4 mounds of the couscous mixture in a baking dish and place a chicken breast half on each mound. Sprinkle the chicken with lime juice, cover with foil, then bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve each person a mound of couscous topped with a sliced chicken breast half. Garnish with lime wedges.

Greek Honey Lime Yogurt Cake

We've landed in Greece now, and I've decided to make use of the country's international craze - Greek Yogurt. I'm taking a break from making entrees and try my hand at a Greek Honey Lime Yogurt Cake.

Ingredients

2 cups honey

peel of 1 lime

½ lime, juice of, strained

3/4 cup sugar

6 tbsp butter, melted

4 eggs, separated

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups Greek yogurt

Directions

Combine the honey, zest, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and 2 cups of water in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes; syrup should lightly coat the back of a metal spoon.

Remove lime peel and stir in the lime juice.

Set pan aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a deep, 9-inch round cake pan.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar together until pale and thick.

Sift 1-1/4 cups of flour and baking powder together. Add to the egg mixture and stir.

Add remaining butter and yogurt cheese.

Add just enough flour to make a dough stiff enough to come away from the sides of the bowl.

In another bowl: Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Add 1/3 to the yogurt batter and gently fold inches

Carefully fold remaining whites into batter.

Spread into cake pan and bake for 35 minutes.

Cake should be golden brown. When cake is still warm, pour syrup over the 

cake. Let cake sit for at least 4 hours before serving.