Archive for the ‘General’ Category
I would like to share with you the recipe for one of my Signature Dishes. 
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This dish has been on my menu since the beginning of my culinary adventure in Spain, and remains our most ordered Starter.
The translation of “Goong Che Nam Pa” would be “Fish Sauce Soaked Prawns”, which doesn’t sound so inviting to the palate! In fact the prawns are not marinated in purely Fish Sauce!, that would be far too salty, instead they are soused in a special salty-sweet-sour dressing.
The traditional version of this dish has the prawns butterflied, briefly marinated and served with various condiments. To make it more adaptable to our diners palates I decided to have the prawns served paper thin, similar to a Carpaccio and added new condiments that would complement the interesting and natural sweetness of the prawns.
There are various stages of preparation and method required for this dish, but do not be put off by the long list of ingredients and instructions. Once everything has been made, it only takes a few minutes to get the dish ready for serving. Every component can be made in advance and kept frozen or chilled until needed.
The recipe is for five servings, though the recipes for the Dressing and Crystal Shallots will produce far more than what is needed, however these can be stored in the fridge, the Sauce for ten days and the Crystal Shallots for up to three weeks.
As we enter the last week of August, we can look back at the busy period and think, “yeah! it´s over!”, 
Only joking 
of course. We enjoy being busy, proves that we must be doing something right!.
Small plates with “snacks and bites” are very welcome in the summer, and we have been serving an array of these.
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Fresh Spring Rolls are always a favourite, especially when filled with King Prawns.
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Buns have risen and are ready for steaming.
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We have stopped filling the buns before cooking, choosing instead to fill them afterwards with different fillings ranging from Red Roasted Pork and Hoisin, Shredded Peking Duck, Pâté and Homemade Pork “Yhor” with Pickled Carrots etc..
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I have often posted about (and get emails about) our chilled Clear Tomato Soup which we use as an “amuse bouche”.
When the dish is first presented on the table as “Chilled Tomato Soup”, there are glances of bewilderment on our guests faces, these glances of confusion soon turn to surprised acknowledgment when the summery taste of garden tomatoes hits the palate.
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INGREDIENTS:
This is really a simple, yet flavour packed recipe.
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Ripe Tomatoes. We often use Cherry Tomatoes too, which results is a clearer finished product. The type of tomatoes is up to you, (Tomatoes on Vine are a good choice) 3kg´s will normally give you just under 1½ litres of soup.
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A bunch of fresh Basil. You could also use Coriander, but the flavour of Basil and Tomatoes is one of the oldest culinary partnerships.
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Sucking Pig, more commonly known as Suckling Pig is a milk fed piglet that has been slaughtered between the ages of 2 to 5 weeks. The Spanish city of Segovia is famous for its “Cochinillo Asado” or “Roast Suckling Pig”. Segovian chefs take great pride in their roasts, which are usually cut with the edge of a plate, to show how tender the meat is.
The prized gelatinous texture of the piglet is due to the amount of collagen found in its meat. A good roasted piglet should have a crispy skin, giving way to a soft meltingly subtle and juicy meat.
Our piglets are cooked “sous vide” to ensure that no moisture is lost during the roasting, which results in a more juicy cut. Juicy meat! Lovely.
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These six cuts are a whole piglet, two front legs, two back legs and two sides of ribs. (The head was roasted for the staff dinner! 
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The pieces were cooked for 12 hours at 62ºC.
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The largest table we have in the restaurant is for 10 persons. Any larger reservations, then we offer one of our many Group Menus.
Last week we served up one such menu for a group of 30 guests that were in the hotel for a small conference.
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Tapas
Chilled Savoury Mushroom Flan, King Prawn and Asparagus Tempura
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Sushi
Shrimp, Tuna, Salmon
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Ping Gai
Marinated Chicken, Basil Rice Parcel, Mange Tout, Red Curry Reduction
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Maccha
Green Tea and Chocolate Cake, Black Sesame Ice Cream
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The chicken is marinated with the usual suspects then placed in to Sous Vide bags for cooking. We use de-boned chicken thighs because they have a nice fat to meat ratio.
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They are cooked at a controlled temperature, before being given an ice bath to arrest the cooking. This controlled cooking technique allows us to serve succulent juicy chicken all the time. To finish the cooking, they are pan fried, skin side down until the skin is crispy, then given a few minutes in a hot oven to warm through.
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Here we have a few photographs taken last week in our Cocinas, or Kitchens.
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Red Pork and Mushroom mixture that will be used in our Steamed Buns.
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Our buns get their second “proving”.
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We also tested a new recipe for our (which turned out rather too spicy 
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You may have noticed that the site hasn’t been updated in a while. 
Thats because we have been busy in the restaurant (and partying after hours…..! ).
We are not the only ones who have been busy.
Former Laocook Girl Anouck is back and engrossed with writing and performing her new songs.
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Currently she is traveling around the beautiful parts of Europe.
Her official website will be up soon, and in the meantime Anouck has had some new photos taken which have been posted on her Bedroom Singer myspace page, where you can also listen to two of her new tracks.
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(NOTE: It looks like our server move has been successful (Thanks Darly!) and everything should be in its place, if it´s not please let us know.))
On common mistake that home-cooks and professional cooks make, is over cooking delicate ingredients such as fresh mussels and king prawns.
A bowl of steamed fresh mussels is a wonderful experience. Overcook the mollusks and you are left with a shriveled chewy piece of seafood. And that is dreadful, send them back to the kitchen!!….
The best way to cook mussels is to steam them over a high flame, ever so briefly, just until they have opened, but not fully. The end result is a gelatinous morsel, exquisite, elegant and cheap.
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We cook ours in a covered hot wok with shallots, lemongrass and white wine. Once they have opened we turn off the flame.
A gentle toss is all that is needed to finish the cooking.
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The site will be offline a short period as our webmaster does a bit of spring (or summer) cleaning and moves us to a new server.
Another excuse to take a break…
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We´ll be back soon…
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Walking around town you cannot help but notice the hand drawn signs chalked on blackboards proclaiming “Hay Caracoles!”, (We Have Snails, or Snails Available) there is usually a cute drawing of a snail accompanying the wording.
As you may have guessed, Caracoles are small Spanish snails that are in season now, and every Tapas Bar has their own recipe.
Drive through the countryside and you can see people collecting the snails from plants and tree trunks. If you don’t fancy stopping to pick your own snails, you can easily buy them from vendors at round-abouts offering them by the 5kg bag.
Housewives prepare these snails by the pot load and they are shared and distributed to family, friends and neighbours. The snails are first purged for a few days before being cooked in a broth with herbs and spices.
To eat them, all you have to do grip the head of the snail (with your teeth) and pull it out of its shell (its okay to slurp if you must ). The highly flavoured broth can be enjoyed at the same time or served apart.
Such was the abundance of Caracoles we decided to have some fun and serve them in our own way.
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“Escape to Freedom”.
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Our presentation of Caracoles kindly prepared for us by Ani, one of our cleaning ladies (whose recipe will follow her to the grave….. 
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