Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category
One of my favourite food memories involves Chinese restaurants. When I was younger, a trip to London Chinatown was an event. The sight of roasted ducks, chickens and pork hanging in the restaurant windows and the aroma of spices and wok cooking were very inviting.
A weekend visit to a Dim Sum restaurant was a reward for a hard week´s work, or a impromptu family get together.
During the week, if I was in the area, I would treat myself to a take-away Roast Duck and Rice and always ask for a small pot of Chilli Oil (or Chilli in Oil).
Good Chilli Oil is wonderful, the slight sweetness that accompanies the roasted hotness is something remarkable. A good Chilli Oil has “body”.
Sadly, most restaurants no longer serve the Chilli Oil that I grew to love. They have replaced it instead with Chilli Infused Oils.
These oils are just hot, without a hint of roasted flavour or a balance of sweetness. Sometimes they just provide you with a small bowl of reddish oil that has been seeped in chilli and pass that off as Chilli Oil.
Over that past few months I have been trying to create a new Chilli Oil. I wanted something that would give me the roasted hotness, sweetness and saltiness that I tasted in my younger days, yet be a bit more daring and refined.
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Because I had no base recipe of ingredients to work from, I had to start from scratch. I knew that it would obviously contain Chillies and Oil. 
The first step was to make an acceptable Chilli Infused Oil, later I would look at the other ingredients that would give my Chilli Oil its character.
I knew that the chillies had to be dried ones, these would give the oil its wonderful colour and aroma.
Various test ensued with different dried chillies. “Bird Eyes” chillies were far too hot to do anything with, they would only overpower the finished product. Dried Thai Chillies were also too hot and none of the mentioned chillies had any roasted aroma.
On one test to get the “roasted aroma”, I dry pan roasted a selection of chillies, then infused them with hot oil.
The result was a bitter tasting oil. Not only had I dry roasted the chillies, I had also further cooked them by adding the hot oil, making them bitter.
I would need to watch the temperature of the oil that I was adding, too hot and it would “deep fry” the chillies further, making them black and brittle.
Further tests continued with different chillies and oils at different temperatures.
Finally after many trials I found a dried chilli that wasn’t too hot, yet had a roasted flavour that was obtained by the heat from the hot oil. Dried Cayenne Chilli, or Cayenne Pepper.
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There was no need to dry fry them at all! In fact, these chillies are actually semi dried, meaning that they still have a tiny amount of moisture inside, the membranes remain slightly chewy. I had found my chillies at last!. All I had to do was blitz them and add oil.
There was really no question regarding the oil. Olive Oil proved too overpowering, so I chose Sunflower Oil for its neutral flavour.
To infuse anything, the liquid ingredient, in our case the oil, has to be hot. (Just like making tea, which is basically an infusion of hot water and tea leaves).
As with making tea, the temperature of the water is very important. The ideal temperature should be between 75º and 83ºC depending on the tea leaves used, and not boiling water.
In order to get the oil to infuse with the dried chillies and also “cook them” and give them that “roastiness”, trials proved that 130ºC was an ideal temperature, any higher and the chilli flakes would become bitter, any much lower and they would become “soggy” and retain too much moisture and hence remain chewy.
Finally I had the infused oil worked out, the hardest part was yet to come.
Body and Sweetness. The later I knew would be provided by sugar, but what amount? I didn’t want the sweetness to play the lead role, it had to be a co-star in my Chilli Oil play.
For the “body” I needed something that had its own unique flavour and charm. I tried a host of dried Chinese shrimps, Japanese scallops, and French mushrooms. They were good, all high in concentrated flavour, but the best was something that I would find surprising and closer to home.. Ham.
Not any Ham, but the best ham in the world. Jámon Ibérico de Bellota. Spanish dry cured and aged acorn fed ham.
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Larb´s are a type of Laotian meat salad. The most popular is made with beef which is best served raw, so freshness is very important. For those how shy away from raw meat dishes the beef can also be cooked (but where is the fun in that? 
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Other cooked Larbs include chicken, pork, venison and duck versions. Below is our version of Duck Larb, known locally as Larb P´het.
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Served with rice and fresh crispy vegetables this recipe is enough for 10 people, great if you are entertaining. You could halve or quarter the recipe if cooking for less. The ingredients list is long, but once everything is chopped and ready, the recipe is fairly easy.
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INGREDIENTS
The Herbs
10g Chopped Coriander (Cilantro)
15g Chopped Mint
25g Chopped Lemongrass, white part only
10g Shredded Kaffir Lime Leaves
140g Chopped Shallots
50g Chopped Spring Onion (Scallion) Tails
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The Seasonings
1 tbsp *Roasted Chilli Flakes
7 tbsp **Padek Liquid
5 Limes (juice only)
½ tbsp MSG (optional)
4 tbsp Ground Roasted Sticky Rice
40g Chopped Garlic
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* Dry Chillies that have been dry roasted in a hot pan, then coarsely ground in a spice blender of with a pestle and mortar.
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** Pieces of Padek that have been boiled with some added water, the bones removed and the liquid sieved. Fish Sauce can be used if Padek is unavailable, though the former is more flavoursome and preferred.
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The Meat
1 Whole Duck
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The Ducks that we use are packaged as “Peking Duck” and weigh 2.3kg. The skin, meat and innards are removed and finely chopped by hand and should yield:
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650g Duck Meat
80g Innards (Heart, Liver and Gizzards)
220g Skin
Keep the Carcass, Wings and Neck for another recipe.
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Now that you know how to make your own Som Moo, let´s have a look at Nhem.
Often and incorrectly referred to as “Laotian Fried Rice” 
, Nhem is more akin to a “Laotian Rice Salad“. 
This seasoned rice dish can be served as a whole meal. We like to refry some of the rice crusts until they are extra crunchy and add these at the very last moment.
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The amount of Seasoning used really depends on your personal taste, so use our measurements as a guideline.
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INGREDIENTS
(serves 5-6)
350ml Coconut Milk*
60g Red Curry Paste
1 kg Cooked White Rice
80g Grated Coconut
15g Sugar
Pinch of Salt
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Corn Starch for dusting
3 Eggs, beaten
Oil for Deep Frying
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400g Chopped Som Moo (Fermented Pork)
100g Sliced Shallots
Approx 45ml freshly squeezed Lime Juice
Approx 45ml Fish Sauce
Chopped Coriander (Cilantro)
Chopped Mint
Dried Chillies
Crushed Peanuts
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*Coconut Milk is normally available in 400ml tins, do not shake the tin before opening, what you want is the thick creamy part.
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Som Moo is also known as Fermented or Soured Pork.
Som Moo can be found in many Asiatic stores, sometimes in small packets, sometimes in large blocks. It makes a great snack or can be used in other dishes such as one of my favourites, Nhem.
It can be eaten “as is”, or cooked, though the former is more preferred.
Most of the commercial Som Moo available contains preservatives and colourings, the latter making it an unusual (though aesthetic) pink.
Homemade Som Moo, like most homemade things is far better. You get a great sense of achievement eating something that you made yourself, or for your friends. 
I posted an LCTV video some time ago and will now follow it up with a step-by-step photo recipe for your reading and eating pleasure. 
The recipe is pretty straight forward (there are only 6 ingredients), the important part is in the technique and method.
In this recipe I will talk you through the various ingredients and how to prepare them. Some of the ingredients need to be prepared in advance, and after making the Som Moo you should allow three days for it to ferment in a warm dark place. After that it can be kept chilled in the fridge, which will slow down the fermentation process but will not stop it, hence it should be consumed within a week or so.