laocook

Okay, its not really that gigantic, but it is a rather large Won Ton or Ravioli.

Our Won Ton is stuffed with Lobster, Water Chestnuts and Herbs.

We decided to serve it in a light warm Cauliflower Soup (which is also great when served cold).

Semi Dried Tomato adds a natural sweet note, and the Coriander and Extra Virgin Olive Oil not only adds colour, it also adds a nutty finish.

The Cauliflower Soup is made with freshly cut and boiled florets, mixed with a light Chicken Stock. It is seasoned and blitzed before being sieved, you can add cream if you want a soup with more “body”.

For the Won Ton, a whole Lobster is boiled for 3 to 4 minutes, and the meat removed (the Chef gets to eat the head! :) )

It is then mixed with some minced Chicken, Shallots, a little egg white, Water Chestnuts and freshly cut Coriander and Garlic Chives. The mixture is placed on a Won Ton sheet, which is covered with another sheet, sealed then trimmed to resemble a circle.

The filled Won Tons are then blanched in a light Chicken Stock and reserved until needed.

For the Semi Dried Tomatoes, the skin is removed and the whole fruit is baked at 90 degrees for 4 to 5 hours, allowed to cool, then cut in to segments.

(Reserve any juices that seep out when baking, the juice has a wonderful concentrated natural sweet flavour, ideal for salad dressings or freezing in small cubes and used to liven up a Gazpacho or any other cold soup)

For the Coriander Oil, we blanched a handful of leaves and stems and then gave them an Ice Bath, squeezed them dry then blitzed it all with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

To serve, warm through the Cauliflower soup, in a separate pan, bring the Chicken Stock to the boil then add the par-cooked Won Tons (precooking saves time).

Ladle some soup in to a warm dish, add the Won Ton and Tomato and drizzle over some Coriander Oil. Eat. Enjoy. :)

A long weekend in London was a welcome break. Time to unwind for a few days, and experience the good old British rain.

At least the food was good.

My uncle cooks up a lovely Roast Pork. The crispy skin is the best part!.

Pizza, when done well is great. Pizza on the Park, a restaurant overlooking Hyde Park Corner serves up great Pizzas from their open kitchens. My favorite has to be the Four Seasons (with an added Fresh Egg).

Crispy Flat Bread with Mozzarella, Rocket, Tomato and Pesto. Very Summery indeed.

We got a chance to catch up with former Laocook Girl, Laurene. Rose and Laurene enjoyed shopping at Harrods as well as spending lots of money! ;)

Chicken Satay, ready to be sold at my parents outlet in Brick Lane.

Eating and Shopping, thats all we did the entire weekend. Cant wait to do it again. :)

Tom Yum Goong, is, perhaps the King of South East Asian soups.

Known throughout the world, it features in nearly all Thai restaurant menus. (As it should).

Commercial “Pastes” are readily available, but in Laocook fashion, we like to make our own.

The Spicy, Sour and Herby flavours are the main characteristics of the dish. Fresh ingredients such as Lemon Grass, Kaffir Lime Leaf, Fish Sauce, Shallots, Tamarind and Chillies are added to a medium bodied stock (broth), at the very last moment, drops of freshly squeezed Lime Juice give the dish its palatable “Kick”.

It is a wonderful contrast of flavours.

We wanted to take it a step further, to make it a more “Summery” soup.

The longer days beg for cold soups, such as the Andalucian staple Gazpacho or Salmorejo. However, we found that the Tom Yum served cold, wouldn’t be clear as the flavourable particles would settle at the bottom of the dish (in our case, a Shot Glass), and we would end up with a “muddy-looking” soup.

We worked on this for a few weeks, and decided that we would have to clarify the soup, and separate the particles, without loosing the “Kick” that Tom Yum has.

After a few trials and errors, we found the best way to “clean” the soup was to let is slowly drip through a fine sieve and cotton mesh overnight.

The resulting soup was as clear as a Consommé, and still retained its flavours.

We set the soup with some Gelatine, to make a loose soft jelly. Blanched King Prawns (the Goong) we added later, as well as some chopped Asparagus, which would give the Amuse Bouche a crunchy texture.

So here we have it. Our New Style Tom Yum Goong. Especially made for Summer.

Served with a crispy Palomino wine, it is a refreshing way to start a meal. :)