laocook

I get to taste the food that we make everyday, but it is not often that I get to taste it as a “Diner”. To be on the other side of the Swinging Door that separates the Kitchen from the Restaurant.

My date and I were treated to a small “Tasting Menu”.

Salad Dressed with “Laotian Salad Dressing” and Beef “Lorn”, dried marinated Sesame beef strips. The dressing is made from cooked Egg Yolks.

Sea Bass Rose with Yuzu Dressing. Yuzu is a fantastic Japanese Citrus fruit, it has a characteristic tang that is similar to Lime crossed with Orange.

Tuna Toro with Avocado Tower. The Tuna is so meltingly soft, the Tower is made by shaping paper thin slices of Avocado.

New Style Goong Che Nam Pla with Caramelised Shallots and Cilantro Oil.

Homemade Prawn and Pork Dumplings, deep fried and served with Sweet Soy and Sesame Sauce.

“Kiep Moo Or”, Laotian Style Crispy Pork Stew with Dill, the skin still remains crunchy and the aroma of Dill is enchanting.

Crispy Fish with Sweet Spicy Tamarind Sauce. Rolled Fillet of Sea Bass stuffed with Dry Green Onion and Lemon Grass, served with a Sweet and Spicy Tamarind Sauce.

Fatty “Ping Gai” Chicken with Spicy Laotian Tomato Chutney. The Fat on the Chicken renders the marinated meat tender and juicy. The Tomato Chutney is made with Black Roasted Tomatoes and Shallots, and has an intricate smokey aroma.

:)

We have taken our idea of Squid Lollipops and reworked it.

It is strange when new ideas are born. Last night we were having a drink when I noticed some flowers in the corner of the bar. The flowers looked like Lollipops, so our conversation turned to our Squid Lollipops that we made a few days ago.

I wanted the Lollipops to look more like the sweets I used to by when I was a kid, the ones with bright attractive colours.

We used Soboro, a Japanese term for boiled, dried, sweetened fish flakes (sounds wierd, tastes great). You can add food colouring to the Soboro to achieve the bright colours. Saki made our Soboro using Seabass, and Sen made the Squid Balls using a base of seasoned Squid and Cuttlefish. The Squid Balls are deep fried, dipped in to Sweet Sauce then rolled in the coloured Soboro. The texture is Springingly Chewy and Sweet yet Savoury.

We chose Pink, Yellow and Green because those were the colours I had seen recently in a Sweet Shop.

Tonight we served three Squid Lollipops per person as an Amuse Bouche. They got such a great reaction too…

We are now looking at making a Fish “Candyfloss”, that should be fun….

Sometimes when you are presented with a top quality ingredient, you just want to use it all up at once. A batch of Mangoes arrived to our kitchen which just cried out to be used.

They where hard though soft, sweet though sour and they were bursting with flavour, yet not over whelming.

Saki and Kuchi got an instant idea and used them in their Maki Sushi, and what an idea it was. The Vinegared Rice was in tune with the Acidity of the Mango, and the Soy Sauce and Wasabi danced with the Sweetness of the fruit, plus the whole thing held a well defined texture, the rice remained Chewy and Elastic, whilst the Mango just slid around your taste buds.

Using Fruits with Rice is nothing new, and at first we were all excited about dipping the Mango Maki in the Wasabi and Soy Sauce. We even thought about making a quick Sugar and Salt based sauce for the Sushi, but later decided to remain faithful to the Sushi genre and use Wasabi.

Saki explains the Mango Maki must be made “a la minute” to ensure that fruit does not change colour and the Vinegar from the Rice should be allowed to fuse with the fruit, each ingredient, including the Nori must be “Independent”, that way the outside is naturally “Crunchy” (Nori), the Rice at Room Temperature, and the Mango firm yet soft.

Last week I posted an article about my Home Grown Chillies.

You can see by the pics that most of the Chillies were Green, there was only one Red one.

Now that a week has passed, I am glad to say that the green ones have now turned Red. They are a wonderful sight to behold…(well to me they are…)

They turn from Green to a tinge of Orange before turning a bright radiant Red.

Four out of the Six plants are doing very well, the weaker Two should come along within the next few days.