laocook

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Goi Pa. A Laotian ceviche of some sort? Or is ceviche a South American version of Goi Pa?

Who cares? Its yummy and easy to make!

Like many Laotian salads or “Larbs”, Goi Pa is raw, or almost raw, cured and briefly marinated, it must be served as soon as its made.

You need fresh fish, I find white fish is the best for this dish, but you could use salmon or tuna, it really doesn’t matter, as long as the fish is fresh.

There are different ways to prepare this dish, this is my way. The fish is ever so briefly heated, glazed in its own juices actually, this gives it a wonderful texture, semi raw if you like. You have to try it to appreciate it.

This is a long post, with many photos (25 more to go!), but trust me, its easy to prepare.

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Two medium sized fish will serve 4 to 6 persons. Here I use Dorada (Gilt Head Bream). I would have preferred to use Sea Bass, but we ate those the previous day!

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The other ingredients include a knob of galangal, the juice of 4 limes, 2 spring onions, lemongrass, a few chilies, a handful of both mint and coriander.

Apart from the fresh chilies, you will also need some dried chilies.

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Deep fry the dried chilies in hot oil until they turn a dark red, not burnt!

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Pound the deep fried chilies with a pestle and mortar.

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Freshly made powdered chilies have a roasted aroma. You can make them in advance and store them in an airtight container, but the roasted aroma dissipates over time. That´s why I like to make mine when it´s needed.

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You will also need some fish sauce, I use 55 grams, you can use a little less, then taste the finished dish and add some more if you want.

. Read the rest of this entry »

Malt Brulee or to give it its full title, Malt Flavoured Crème Brûlée is a new dessert that is now a regular fixture on my small “Sweet Things I like” menu.

I love a good crème brûlée, and trust me, I have tried many! It´s essentially a rich custard with a crunchy caramel lid or topping. I love the smooth silky texture of the set custard and the sweet bitterness of the caramel.

The name Crème Brûlée is 100% French (though that does not mean it was invented in France, if you believe everything that you read it can either be British or Spanish in origin! :shock: ), in Spanish it can be called “Crema Quemada”, both translate to “Burnt Cream”.

It is similar to its culinary cousin “Crema Catalana”, which is sometimes incorrectly referred to the Spanish version of crème brûlée, when in fact it is a different dessert, flavoured differently and cooked differently. The similarity lies in the texture of the custard and the burnt sugar topping, which is achieved by using a hot iron for the crema catalana and a grill or blowtorch in the case of the crème brûlée.

Commonly the dessert is flavoured with vanilla, however it can also be found on menus flavoured with coffee, chocolate, mango, orange, jasmine etc…

Why malt?

The reason I choose malt is because I was very impressed with a dessert that I had at the vegetarian restaurant Vanilla Black in London during a visit in November 2011. On their menu was an “Iced Malt and Burnt Orange Marshmallow with Muscovado Sugar Meringue and Parsnip Purée”. It was the “Iced Malt” that got my attention. It was lovely!

My brother King who used to work there managed to get hold of the recipe for me, one of the key ingredients was malt extract (obviously!).

Its not easy trying to track down some ingredients in the countryside of Spain, so after a while I gave up and filed the idea in my head.

Then on a recent trip to Belgium and after ordering a crème brûlée in every restaurant I ate in (yep! lunch and dinner!) and seeing and tasting the difference in textures and flavours between different restaurant versions, my mind was made up… I wanted to have a version on my menu, the way I like it, so I could share it with my clients.

I knew then that I wanted to make a malt crème brûlée.

With that idea in mind I visited a few health shops thinking that it would be easier to find malt extract in a large city. Boy was I wrong.

Then it hit me! Actually it hit me over a few beers . There is no doubt that the best beers in the world are from Belgium!! It was over a discussion about the many different beers (all 1100 of them!) and how I used to brew my own that I realised that I knew exactly where to get hold of malt extract. I had some at home. I always had!!!

Once back in Spain I set about trying to make my “Malt Brulee” (no need for accents in my version!). After a few trials and errors I finally came up with a recipe that I liked.

This is a seriously rich dessert, loads of sugar, egg yolks and cream! But hey!, Sometimes you should spoil yourself. I know I do!

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Malt Brulee

Ingredients:

• 300g Dried Malt Extract
• 125g Milk
• 1 litre cream (at least 35% fat, in Spanish its called “Nata para Montar”)
• 2tsp good quality Vanilla Extract (or use 1 Vanilla Bean if you can get it)
• 150g Egg Yolks (from about 8 eggs)
• 120g Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar for topping

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Method:

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I use Extra Dark Spray Malt from my stout making days. This dark malt extract adds a nice caramel colour to the finished dessert, using a light spray malt will result in a lighter, golden coloured dessert which is equally nice.

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I use 8cm diameter small ramekin style bowls that hold about 50-60 grams, this recipe is enough for about 18 to 20 of these bowls. These are placed in a baking tray that will allow you to add hot water, otherwise known as a “bain marie”.

Set the oven to 120ºC. In a large pan bring to the boil about 4-5 litres of tap water.

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In a saucepan add the malt extract and the milk.

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Give it a good stir. Dried malt extract has a tendency to clump up when liquid is added to it, stirring it now will reduce the amount of clumps when the cream is added.

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Add the cream slowly, stirring constantly. Place the pan on a low flame and allow to come to a simmer, make sure you don´t let it boil. The low flame is necessary, you don’t want to scorch or burn the mixture. If you are using a vanilla bean you can split it in half, scrape out the seeds and place everything in the mixture now.

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Like a lot of my recipes, ideas come from things that “I miss”.

I remember (back in the old days) my mother warming up some steamed rice and placing a few pieces of smoked mackerel on top. The heat of the rice would warm the smoked fish through. That resulted in smokey and fatty tasting flakes of fish, best enjoyed with some “Jeow Bong”. A remedy for a quick fix when you were hungry, or in our case, living on a tight budget.

Mackerel is much underrated. In my opinion it should get more attention on restaurant menus. It is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which can reduce cholesterol levels, but above all, its tasty and cheap.

When we think of smoking (no, not cigarettes, pipes or weed!), there are two techniques. Hot and Cold. Not only is smoking a way of preserving foods, it also imparts a wonderful aroma and taste.

Cold smoking basically involves applying smoke to food without heat. Hot smoking, as the name suggests, involves applying smoke and heat, thereby cooking the food.

Many types of ingredients can be smoked, meats, fowl, vegetables, fish etc.. Mackerel is a great protagonist because of its oiliness.

Smoking foods at home is pretty easy, just make sure that you have enough ventilation to avoid setting off your smoke alarms!

I use rice and a few other ingredients to generate the smoke, but if you can get your hands on some wood chips, even better!.

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Get the mackerel cleaned and filleted, make sure you remove all the pin bones.

Salting the fish draws out moisture and allows the smoke to better penetrate the flesh.

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Spread some salt flakes and some sugar on a dish and place the fillets skin side down, then sprinkle some more salt flakes over the fish and allow to rest for about 5 minutes.

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Meanwhile, get your smoker ready. In this case I use a large pan lined with tin foil, this not only saves on cleaning, it also helps save the pan!

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To produce the smoke I use some uncooked rice, coriander seeds, star anis, ginger and some broken up cinnamon sticks. You could use wood chips or even tea leaves.

The pan is placed on high heat whilst I wash and pat dry the fish fillets.

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Olive oil is sprinkled on a dish and the fillets placed skin side down. This ensures that the fish doesn´t stick to the wire racks, the fish is then seasoned with a little salt and freshly milled black pepper.

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By now the rice and other ingredients are starting to release smoke. Scrunched up balls of tin foil will help support my wire racks.

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Once a good smoke is achieved, its time to lower the heat.

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The fillets are placed on to wire racks and carefully placed in the pan on top of the balls of tin foil.

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The pan is then covered with a lid. It takes about 5 to 7 minutes of gentle smoking to achive a juicy succulent fillet, which can be eaten immediatley or stored in the fridge for a few days.

On this occassion I am smoking them for a little longer because I have other uses for the mackerel.

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These fillets have been smoked for 10 minutes, which gives them a stronger smokey taste.

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Whats left behind is nice and charred. Preparing the pan lined with foil makes cleaning so much easier, and is much kinder to your pan.

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The fillets are allowed to cool then flaked.

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I wanted to make some “Rillettes”, so some finely chopped shallots and garlic are sweated in a pan with some butter. Once translucant, the mackerel flakes are added.

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After a minute or so of stirring, I added some (well, quite a bit) of butter. Once the butter had melted, I added a few spoonfuls of stock, made from the mackerel bones and some chopped fresh coriander.

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Everything is gently stirred until well combined, then removed from the pan and allowed to cool before being chilled.

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Later it is served up with some Cashew, Hibiscus and Nori Cheese with some toasts as a small starter.

It tasted so good (though I would say that!), I even caught the Service staff sneaking a few pieces…..

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I am watching you!

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Three Cheeses walked in to a crowded bar. The bar went silent.

“Why has everyone gone quiet?”, asked the new barman.

The manager called him over and whispered in his ear, “Everyone knows the Cheeses, don’t mess with them, they´re NUTS!“….

Okay, okay, its a bad joke, but I couldn’t think of another way to start this post, and when I came up with the punchline, I had a few laughs myself…

Cheese. Made from nuts. Nut Cheese. They´re NUTS! (lol again).

Ok, seriously though, they are made from Cashew Nuts.

On a recent trip to London I was introduced to a vegan restaurant by my brother. I was pessimistic at first as I am known for my love of big juicy bloody stakes as well as my unsavoury comments to my waiting staff when asked to cook something vegetarian out of the blue.

Ignorantly I had always thought that vegetarian restaurants only served salads, pastas and grilled vegetables. Even more ignorantly I thought that a vegan restaurant would only serve chickpeas and spinach.

I was so, so wrong. Not only was I pleasantly surprised and pleased with the gourmet meal, it was a real culinary eye opener. I have no intention about becoming a vegetarian or vegan, but good food should be shared.

Of the many starting dishes on offer was the Cheese Tasting Plate.

“Nothing vegan about this dish”, I started to think to myself, a bit confused. It was only when I was told that the selection of cheeses were in fact Cashew Cheeses, made from cashew nuts. (Cashew Nuts, no longer to be only used in Chicken Stir Fries or as salted bar snacks).

They looked like regular cheeses, had the same texture and same tangy creamy taste of cheese made from dairy products. They were so good that I knew that I would be making something similar on my return to Spain. “Good food should be shared”.

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Cashew Truffle Cheese.

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The basic recipe for these types of cheeses involves soaking raw cashew nuts in water overnight before straining them and blitzing them with lemon or lime juice and whatever other ingredients you wish to add. Once well binded they can be shaped in cling film and left to firm up in the fridge for a day or two. The taste gets better the longer you leave it, but they can also be eaten straight away.

My first batch was very basic and I only added salt and truffle oil. If I had some real truffles, I would have added them too, plus a few shavings on top.

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Cashew, Coriander and Tahini Cheese.

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This one tasted more “herby”. Loads of coriander, garlic and a blob of tahini gave this cheese more body. So good in fact that the testing dish was finished by the tasting staff (without knowing that it was made from cashew nuts!).

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Cashew Parsley Cheese.

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In order to get a more creamy texture I added more water to my blender, and also left it running a little longer than the other cheeses. This resulted in a very spreadable creamy cheese, great on toasted bread drizzled with olive oil and crushed nuts.

All in all I am happy about the results and will definitely be making more versions.

I also plan on rolling the cheeses in chopped herbs, adding liquid smoke and drying them out. Should be interesting!

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Basic Cashew Nut Cheese Recipe.

• 300g Raw Cashew Nuts, soaked in water overnight
• 1 or 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 50ml Water (you may need less or more depending one how creamy you want it)
• 50/60ml Fresh Lemon or Lime Juice (you may need more or less depending on how tangy you want it)
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• Pinch of White pepper
• Other ingredients or herbs of your own choice (fresh herbs such as mint, coriander, dill etc.. should be added towards the end of the recipe , powdered spices can be added at the beginning)
• MSG (only joking, we don’t use added MSG in our kitchens)

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Method.

1. Drain cashew nuts and rinse.
2. Place in to a good blender with the garlic and blitz until crumbly.
3. Add lemon or lime juice, continue to blitz, stopping the machine now and again to scrape down the sides.
4. Whilst the machine is running add water to reach your desired consistency, a drier cheese will be easier to roll and will set firmer.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Add other ingredients that you have chosen and continue to blitz.
7. Taste and adjust seasonings. Remember that the flavours will develop and merge whilst being stored.
8. For creamy cheese, store in an airtight container, if rolling the cheese, place the mixture on to a damp cheesecloth and hang in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to help firming. Once firm enough to handle place the mixture on to some cling film and roll in to a sausage shape then tie both ends together. Return to the fridge.
9. Eat. Drink. Savour.

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I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

We must be NUTS!

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