Prawn curry laksa

I have been neglecting the blog for a while now. Actually a year now since my last post. I've been planning a lot of writing but nothing seemed to have appeared on paper (except for the weekly grocery list!) or even here.  Life happens.  But it's always great if I can document parts of it here.  Musings and random thoughts, along side a recipe or experience or something that made me excited in the kitchen.

It has been hectic in the home front with the girls starting high school this year, and my eldest finishing HSC last year.  The latter which has excited me the most, purely at the thought of having a daughter starting university came to a halt when child 1 decided not to pursue higher education.  It may not be every parent's dream but it is mine.  Having moved to Australia with so much more opportunities open to our children, education the foremost, it is disappointing to hear this. But.... as we are parents who respect our children's choices, we try not to push the "university" option at this point.  I hope and trust my faith, with the little "seeds" I've planted over the years and months over conversations with her, leading up to this moment about the benefits of having one.  I have loved learning as a child and as an adult.  Over the course of several years, I have enrolled myself in short classes in Sydney purely out of love for learning - to write (an online course on Freelance Journalism), to cook (a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery), of other languages (a term learning Spanish!), and other pockets of learning from elsewhere, whether its volunteering at the local art sculpture event, short council sponsored workshops on composting or gardening or reading books that arouse my creativity.  Not necessarily implementing everything learned but the idea of being in a new environment, meeting new people, doing new things excites me.

Another exciting adventure came in the form of the Thermomix.  I have to say this post is not about how good it is (besides that), it is also how much fun I am enjoying having it in my kitchen and taking it as a part of a business.  I've decided to be a Thermomix Consultant to earn myself one, because really, it blew me away when I first saw it.  I heard about it way back 5 years ago and never thought anything of it.  Since I became a consultant early this year, I have been to meetings and events that were as stimulating as it is enjoyable.  Meeting new people and helping them learn another method of cooking is very satisfying.  Anyways. 

Back to the swing of things.  My last post was when I did the Bridge Run last year. And my new post is also an ode to the running event I did yesterday - the Sydney City2Surf: a 14k run/walk from the Sydney CBD to Sydney's most iconic beach that is Bondi.  This time the walk was a little bit further and took more effort as the route took us to steep roads and hills.  It took me 3 hours and 21 minutes,  to walk the stretch - all good with the sunny weather Sydney put out yesterday plus I had some company walking. After the 8k mark it became tougher mentally, as the hills seemed to becoming endless plus the lack of proper training and the need for sustenance were cries for pausing, to stop and sit and wait it out.  But motivation endures as endless hordes of families with kids, senior groups of women, of old couples pass us, it was a fitting inspiration to soldier on and slowly make it to the finish line. The prize is a medal plus the feeling of accomplishing something that is a feat in my dictionary.  It was also motivation to be a part of the a team that we were supporting - the NSW Organ and Tissue Donation, the Donate Life project.  Which was worth all the effort!

Of course, after the more than 3 hours of walk, then having to leave the beach via buses and then train to get me home, I was craving for some good laksa to tide me over, to get my mind off the sore legs and aching soles of my feet.  I didn't get to eat some but it's fitting that I share this recipe now that I'm at it.

This one is a fitting recipe that is adapted from SBS Food for a Malaysian curry laksa recipe.  I made the chicken stock with chicken bones bought from my butcher.  I could not find candlenuts so I didn't add that to the paste, as well as using a Filipino brand of wet shrimp paste. This is a pre Thermomix recipe so I made the paste in a food processor which made the paste a little bit more grainy. When I made the soup, I strained all the grits before adding in the rest of the ingredients (prawn, fish balls, tofu etc).

The usual suspects for a laksa paste - shrimp paste (use the dry one called belakan), dried shrimps soaking, dried chillies, galangal, ground spices - turmeric, cumin, paprika, coriander and lemon grass.  

Ground spices!

Laksa paste - still a bit grainy with small bits

Making homemade chicken stock

Prawn laksa

Ingredients for Laksa Paste

 8 small dried red chillies (soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes)
2 tbsp dried shrimp (soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes)
5 red Asian shallots, chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped galangal
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 large lemongrass stalks, trimmed, chopped
1 tbsp belachan/dried shrimp paste (see post)
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (or Thermomix) and process until smooth.  Keep in air tight container in the fridge until ready for use.

Ingredients for the Prawn Laksa 

1/4 cup sunflower oil

2 tablespoons of laksa paste

1.5 litres chicken stock

2 and 1/2 teaspoon grated palm sugar

450 grams chicken thigh fillets, thinly sliced

10-12 prawns,shelled and tails left intact

1 can 400ml coconut milk

10-12 fish balls (see tips below)

150 grams tofu puffs, sliced (see tips)

200 grams bean sprouts

500 grams thin rice noodles

Heat oil in a large saucepan or pot. Add the laksa paste and cook, stirring until fragrant.

Add stock and stir to combine. Add more laksa paste if preferred.  Bring to a simmer then add chicken and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the prawns and cook for another minute until chicken is cooked and prawns half way through.

Add the coconut milk, fish balls, tofu puffs and bean sprouts.

Stir to combine then bring to a simmer until prawns are cooked.

Cook the rice noodles separately in a different pot. Drain.

Spoon the cooked rice noodles into individual bowls, pour over the laksa with and garnish according to preference.

 To serve - garnish with fried Asian shallots, mint leaves and a teaspoon of shrimp paste or sambal, and a lime/lemon wedge on the side

Tips:

* You can buy combination packs of frozen fish balls, tofu, etc in most Asian supermarkets.

* Before adding the chicken to the stock-paste soup, strain all the grits and grains and return the cleaner stock to the pot.  Discard the paste grains.


And here are photos from yesterday's running/walking event!

Baked maple pears with toasted pistachios

No more whingeing around here of being too cold.  We have been blessed with warm air and clear blue skies.  And so I am catching up on some needed writing and blogging as it is the end of September, and we are halfway through to spring.  Spring cleaning at home and the backlog of recipes and photos to post.  

We have revamped our veggie garden as the seedlings planted in winter did not survive and to take the easier route, we bought some ready-to-plant veggies from the local nursery.  Hopefully, there will be some harvest of French beans, eggplants, strawberries, Habanero and birds eye chillies soon.  Our calamansi plant is finally showing some fruits after last year's drought.  This makes me very happy as any Filo would be.

And now catching up on some blog posts, this recipe is the easiest dessert there is that you can bring to any potluck party.  The idea to make this was initially to make it for a vegan at work who was retiring.  And I also brought this to a work birthday lunch and ever since, people have asked for the recipe and they have made it at home with spectacular results.   It's really easy.  I love easy dishes.  Those that you prep and then you just wait for the magic to happen.  Be it a slow braised on the stove, or a baked maple pear in the oven.  You prep it and you wait for an hour.


The recipe is adapted from an old cookbook from my shelves - Marie Clare Fresh + Fast Simply Delicious Healthy Food

To make these baked maple pears

Ingredients:

7 Corella pears, halved and cored*

3 tablespoons real maple syrup

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil*

1 cup toasted pistachios, roughly chopped

1 cup creme fraiche or whipped cream

Method

Preheat oven to 180*C

Cut a thin slice from the skin side of the pears to give them a flat surface.

Place the pears onto a shallow baking dish, skin side down.

Drizzle olive oil and the maple syrup onto the pears.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour.

The pears should be tender when a butter knife inserted comes out smoothly.

Serve with the creme fraiche or thickened cream on the side, and the toasted pistachios.

Tips and tricks:

* The original recipe called for unsalted butter to rub on the pears.  I used olive oil as I brought it for someone who is vegan.

* You can use other pear varieties. Corella pears tend to be tougher than most so it cooks for an hour.  Other pear varieties are tender and may be baked for less than an hour.

* You can make as many or as little as you like, just adjust the maple syrup to your requirements.

Gluten free fudge brownies with raspberries

A month ago, we had experienced a tragic loss in the family.  An aunt who is very close to my heart was in an accident during Typhoon Glenda in mid July, which led to her passing.  It was a matter of days and everything happened so quick that we barely had time to process it all in.  And being overseas did not make it any easier.  I was constantly on the phone with my cousins, anticipating good news after the accident, and then after the sad news came, it was a matter of waiting.  There were no wounds or scars but pain can be felt from thousands of miles away.  The day she was laid to rest, I could feel a knot in my throat, in my chest and the only comfort was tears.  Tears that kept flowing sporadically.  While cooking.  I’d be sitting in the lounge and tears just flowed.   It was hard to say good bye.  My only consolation was the time spent with her when we went to Manila the last week of May.  It was brief but full of laughs and memories that I hold onto now.  She hugged me so tight and asked me not to go back to the city yet.

I look back at how she was a big part of my life growing up.  She was the aunt who let us kids browse through her records and play ABBA on repeat, The Beatles and the Bee Gees.  Later on, she’d support us with our love for Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran and Rick Astley.   Taught us dance moves that we would use for pretend beauty pageants she’d host at her place.  She was the aunt who knows secrets you’d never tell your parents.  When I broke up with a boyfriend, she was the first one on the phone – inquiring, asking, consoling. She meant a lot to the nieces and nephews she’d help and spend time with growing up, as she did not have a family of her own.  She was single.  But had a family who loved and supported her till the very end.  She was 61.

Loss is a difficult experience and it brings out humanity’s vulnerability. For days I felt really uneasy, fearful even.  My head felt literally off centre and I found myself with bouts of anxiety – while driving, while at work, while cooking.  My thoughts were filled with so much negative energies that I felt like I could just collapse while walking or doing some chores.  All of a sudden, I am back in that dark space late 2012 when I experienced a panic attack.  It’s a dreadful place to be.  My headspace was so dark that I could only see shadows.  But I’m thankful for family and friends who unknowingly pull me up from the abyss I created for myself with the simple words and actions they do every day.  As simple as picking me up for a yoga session, or calling up to say hello.  Those surprise hugs from behind and words that say “I love you” indirectly.  I am back to meditation and yoga and walking.  It clears up my headspace and puts me in a calm state.  Baking gives me that too. And so does reading.  And writing.  Coping with loss, we move on and try to grab onto distractions to keep us busy and preoccupied with new things, not because we want to forget. But because we want to mask the pain.

So I've been trying new things in the kitchen.  Pinterest and Instagram inspires me.  There is endless talent in IG alone and there's always something new to try because someone else baked/cooked/made it.  And for weeks now, I've been trying different brownie recipes - gluten free, with fruits, with more chocolate, with more nuts, etc.  And this is one of them.



As I write this post I can still feel a subtle knot in my chest and in my throat as I remember her.   She will like this for sure.  She loves dark chocolates.

This recipe uses gluten free flour and inspired from taste.com.au

Ingredients

 200 grams dark chocolate, 70% cacao, roughly chopped

200 grams salted butter, cut into cubes

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

270 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) caster sugar

115 grams (3/4 cup) gluten flour 

(or a combination of 1/4c corn flour, 1/4c tapioca starch, 1/4c rice flour)

35 grams (1/3 cup) Nestle Plaistowe Dutch processed cocoa

1 125g punnet of raspberries, half roughly chopped the rest leave as whole

Method

Preheat oven to 160*C.

Lightly grease and line the base and sides of a square brownie pan.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, flours and cocoa powder.  Set aside.

On the stove, place a saucepan half filled with water and bring to a low simmer.

Put the chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl, and place over a sauce pan making sure the base is not touching the water.  

Stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate and butter has melted into a smooth and shiny consistency. Let it cool slightly - not hot to the touch, but warm.

 In a measuring jug (or a medium sized bowl), beat the eggs and egg yolks.

Using a whisk or a wooden spoon, add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and stir until incorporated.  About a minute of mixing by hand. 

Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour onto prepared pans.

Distribute whole raspberries on top of batter and scatter and sprinkle the chopped ones.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.  Crumbs should cling to the skewer when you do the test.

Set aside to cool for 6 hours or overnight.

Slice into equal squares.

Tips and tricks:

* I used Nestle Plaistowe dutch processed cocoa because that's why I  had at home.  Also it makes for darker brownies.  Any cocoa variety will do.

* Any kind of fruit would work well with this brownie recipe, even nuts.  So this is a great base brownie recipe.

Cocoa brownies with sea salt flakes

Hooray us!  We celebrated our 9^th year arriving in Australia last month.  It’s a significant occasion as I remember experiencing our first winter on arrival, armed with 3 2yos, an 8yo and 9 luggage’s packed full of what we wanted to hold on from the past and lots of hopes for the future.  We arrived full of fear, hope and excitement.  We haven’t looked back since. And to celebrate this milestone, of course there has to be cake.  Or maybe brownies this time.

This is a recipe adapted from Alice Medrich.  One of the icons in American desserts and chocolates, she is a cookbook author and well known for her chain of chocolate stores called Cocolat  chain of chocolate and dessert stores in the US (closed 1991).  I like her recipes because most of them are simple and straightforward, easy to follow.  There’s no fancy ingredients, just simple honest baking than any home baker can try. She shares her recipes on her website, and sometimes a few of them turn up via Food52.  Here’s one of them.

I especially like this cocoa brownies as it’s something I’ve never tried before.  Cocoa in brownies.  I’ve use chocolates in the past, a combination of both, but never just cocoa.  What’s interesting is that this can pass as decadent and as good as your chocolate-brownie varieties.  Sprinkled with some sea salt, it’s beyond indulgent.  It’s coined “Alice Medrich’s best cocoa brownies”.   I can’t argue with that.  

170 grams butter

1 ¼ cup caster sugar

¾ cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cold large eggs

½ cup plain flour

2/3 cup nuts or dried fruits (optional)

Sea salt flakes for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 180*C

 

Line a 20cm square brownie tin with baking paper.

Prepare a pot with simmering water.  In a heat proof bowl, combine the butter, sugar cocoa and salt, and place on top of the pot (works as a double-broiler).  

Stir the mixture with a spatula until the butter and sugar melts and the batter is smooth.

Set aside to warm. Don’t cool entirely.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in the vanilla.

Add the eggs one a time, stirring vigorously after each addition and the mixture becomes shiny. 

Stir in the flour and mix thoroughly.  (AM suggests 40 strokes with a wooden spoon or spatula).

Add nuts/fruits if using and stir through the mixture.

Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the skewer test comes out slightly moist.

Place on a cooling rack.

Enjoy.

Tips and tricks:

* I've made this with some frozen raspberries, roughly chopped and it made for extra moist brownies.

What’s so good about this recipe?  It’s a one-bowl wonder.  You don’t even need to plug in your stand mixer for this one.  You can even make this with your kids.  Or kids can make this themselves (with adult supervision).

Now go on help yourself.  Have a brownie.  Or two.