Recently I have developed a sweet tooth. I usually prefer savoury snacks over sweet. With only three weeks away before my due date, I now have the time to indulge a little and have a go at testing a few recipes.

I remember as a child, walking to the night market with my parents and eyeing the tempting sweets that lined the bustling streets of our local area. These sweets were usually bought from the street vendors as special treats rather than made at home.

There are several sweets that spring to mind but one in particular seem straight forward to make; folded pancakes stuffed with sweetened red bean paste and freshly grated coconut. I have almost all the ingredients in the cupboards except the filling which can be easily bought in a Chinese supermarket.

ingredients

160g self raising flour
80g rice flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons sugar
100ml coconut milk
300ml water
oil for frying

filling

200g sweetened red (azuki) beans
80g fresh grated coconut
pinch of salt

Put the dry pancake ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the coconut milk and water, stirring to form a runny batter. Rest for at least 30 minutes, preferably a couple of hours.

I am using pre-cooked red beans from a can which is rather too sweet. I make a note to make the red beans myself next time as the recipe by Grace Young is straight forward.

The key to making these pancakes is to have a seasoned flat pan. If you do not have one, use a non-stick frying pan. Lightly grease the pan with a little oil and heat on moderate heat. Using a ladle pour the batter carefully. The idea is to have an even layer of batter to cover the pan. To spread the batter, tilt the pan.

Cover and leave for a few of minutes. When bubbles appear on the surface, carefully spread the red beans and grated coconut. Remember to mix a pinch of salt with the coconut first. Cover the pan again and allow the pancake to cook for a further minute or two until the edges are golden in colour.

Using a flat-bladed knife, fold the pancake into half and ease onto a plate. Serve while warm. The outside should have a lovely crispiness and the inside soft with the filling oozing out.

Makes: 4-6
Cooking time: 15 mins

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description

Rambutan comes from the Malay word rambut which means hair. These red fruits indeed do look like hairy versions of lychees. To eat, either peel away the skin or make a score with a knife and pull the skin apart. The white fleshy fruit is firm and juicy with a seed in the middle. It is best enjoyed fresh though can be used in a fruit salad or made into a jam.

substitutes

Canned version or lychees

availability

Asian speciality shop

This quick and easy salad is something I rustled up the other day for a vegetarian friend. Normally I would add a spoonful of pounded dried shrimps and season with fish sauce. Still the vegetarian version worked well. Perhaps a handful of chopped roasted peanuts or sesame seeds would add a nice addition for next time.

ingredients

1 eggplant
130g firm tofu, cut into cubes or sticks
1 small green chilli, diced
small handful of coriander, chopped
½ lemon, juiced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
peanut oil to fry garlic and tofu
salt for seasoning

For that intense smoky flavour, pierce the eggplant with a knife to stop it bursting unexpectedly during cooking, then using a tong place over a naked flame to char until the insides are soft and squishy. Alternatively place on an oven tray under a hot grill for 15-25 minutes, turning occasionally.

Next heat enough oil to deep-fry the tofu. Fry them in batches until golden brown and drain on kitchen towel. In a separate saucepan, fry the garlic in some oil until golden and reserve oil for dressing.

When the eggplant is cooked, cut in half and roughly chop. I like to keep the skin on but you can peel it if you wish. Mix with lemon juice, fried tofu, coriander, crispy garlic and chilli. Toss with a tablespoon of garlic oil and season with salt.

Serves: 2-4
Cooking time: 15-25 mins

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This is a childhood favourite, a welcomed cooling treat during the hot season. Generous amount of crushed ice was added to the creamy coconut milk mixed with caramel-like sugar syrup and chewy sago pearls. This recipe is very simple and you can add additional flavours and textures to it if you wish. The real secret is a pinch of salt which brings out the taste of the coconut milk.

I have not had this for quite sometime and was reminded of it when we were in Taiwan last February. Known as boba or bubble tea, large brightly coloured pearls were served in chilled milky tea, a popular drink amongst the young people. We then had a similar dessert/drink in Kuala Lumpur which had the addition of balls of honeydew melon or the coconut milk was flavoured with pandan leaves.

ingredients

100g large sago pearls
1 litre water
50ml coconut milk
pinch of salt

eat with

30g palm sugar, grated
50ml water
100ml coconut milk, chilled (possibly more if you prefer)

Best to use a heavy-bottom saucepan for this so the sago does not stick to the bottom. Bring the water to a boil and add the sago pearls. Stir with a wooden spoon and pop the lid on. Reduce the heat to moderate and simmer for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the pearls. Stir every 10 minutes to make sure they do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

In the meantime, put the palm sugar and 50ml water in a saucepan. On moderate heat, stir until dissolved and strain through a sieve to remove any sediment and leave to cool.

When the sago is almost transparent all the way through, turn off the heat. Stir one more time and leave to cook in the residue heat with the lid on. After a further 30 minutes, pour into a colander and run cold water to stop the cooking process and rise away any stickiness. The pearls should be totally transparent when cooked through.

Transfer to a bowl and pour 50ml of coconut milk, sprinkle with salt and stir. This will keep the pearls separate and keep them pearly white.

Divide the sago between two glasses. Pour the coconut milk and palm sugar to taste. Best served chilled.

Serves: 2
Cooking time: 30-45 mins

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I love the idea of top-to-tail eating and when it comes to vegetables, banana trees are incredibly versatile. The leaves are used to wrap and flavour food, stems are cooked in Mohingar for added bulk and flavour, the fruits have endless uses and the blossoms are either made into salads or cooked in curries. They have a fairly neutral taste though there is a slight earthiness similar to fresh bamboo shoots. They work great with bold flavours.

ingredients

1 banana blossom
1 onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves
2 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water
1 lemon grass stalk
4 tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 tablespoon rice flour
150 ml water
250g raw prawns, peeled, deveined, leaving tails

To prepare the banana blossom, have ready a bowl of salted water mixed with some lemon or lime juice. This will prevent discolouration from occuring.

Peel the outer layer of the flower which are dark rich crimson, saving one or two petals to use as a serving dish later on if you wish. When you reach the inner pale petals, cut the blossom lengthways in half. Then slice into 1 cm thickness and plunge into the acidulated water. Leave to soak while you prepare the onion paste.

Pound the onion, garlic and chillies in a pestle and mortar or chop everything very finely. Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion paste for 5-10 minutes. Add the shrimp paste, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and stir into the onion mixture.

Rinse the banana blossom under water briefly, squeeze dry and add to the pan. Take a little of the 150ml water and mix with rice flour to form a paste. Add this paste and remaining water to the pan. Stir and leave to simmer for 5-10 minutes until the blossoms are just tender. Put the prawns in and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until opaque. Check for seasoning before serving.

Serves: 4
Cooking time: 20-25 mins

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In search of pork that has been sustainably and humanely raised, Christopher and I finally made it to Eveleigh market this weekend. I have been looking forward to eating pork again as it has been some time since I cooked my two favourite pork dishes: Tamarind Pork and Slow-cooked Pork Belly.

Pork, particularly free range, certified organic is hard to find in my local area. Whilst organic lamb, beef and chicken are easily available in the supermarkets I’ve been surprised at the lack of pork. There are a few farmers supplying free range pork but does free range mean organic pork?

A few weeks ago, by chance, I was chatting to a recent acquaintance about organic meat in Australia. She informed me there are two girls at Eveleigh market selling organic pork. This was enough motivation to rise early on a chilly Saturday morning and walk twenty or so minutes to Darlington.

The market which kicks off at 8am was lively with people by 9 when we arrived. We found the two girls who sold organic pork and bought a good-looking piece of pork belly and some neck fillet. The pork belly I later found came with ribs. The ribs were separated, marinated in soy sauce and honey then roasted for 30-45 minutes until tender. It made a delicious appetiser whilst we waited for the pork belly to slowly cook in the oven.

I was impressed with this pork. Absolutely no water came out of the meat. The fat tasted beautifully sweet and flavorful, the meat falling apart after 2 hours in the oven. It was pork worth waiting for.

The following day, the neck fillet, my favourite cut for slow stewing dishes, was infused with tamarind and shrimp paste turning the pork a deep brown. This was meant to go in the freezer for days when I will be too busy to cook but Christopher and I couldn’t resist and had a serving for dinner.

Other great finds at the market were eggs from Egganic. Finally eggs that tasted as they should, far better than any organic eggs from other suppliers that I have been using. We bought a couple bottles of thick, earthy and voluptuous stone milled olive oil from Kiewa Estate. So rich and beautiful, we spent lunch dipping freshly baked ciabatta to soak up the oil and eaten with a simple salad. With produce this good, there is little need to cook.

Eveleigh Market
243 Wilson Street
Darlington (Adjacent to Carriageworks)
NSW Australia

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When fresh lychees are ripe and juicy, they are beautifully sweet with a unique flavour. It is always a cheery sight to see bunches of lychees in London Chinatown during June when they are usually available. The season in Australia is from late November until March so I am using canned fruit.

Lychee and ginger really works well together; the ginger adds a touch of heat and compliments the sweetness of the lychees. The sorbet is refreshing and I imagine would work well with a sprig of mint for decoration or if you fancy a drop of gin or vodka to create a frozen cocktail.

ingredients

550g canned lychee, including syrup
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger

OR

1 kg fresh lychee, peeled & pitted
sugar to taste
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Pour the lychees, including syrup if using canned fruit, into a liquidizer. Purée until smooth and add ginger. If you are using fresh fruit, stir in sugar to taste. Make sure it is slightly over sweet as the freezing with dull the taste. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn.

If you do not have an ice cream maker, pour into a shallow plastic container, ensuring the mixture is no deeper than 3cm so that if freezes quickly. Place in a freezer and stir every 2 hours with a fork to break up the ice crystals. Repeat this two or three times until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Serves: 4-6
Cooking time: 5 mins

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After many emails from readers in search of a Burmese restaurant in their area, I have started to collect a database of all the restaurants that have come to my attention. I shall be putting this directory on the website shorty.

I would love to personally go to all the restaurants, meet the people who run them and try the food. Since it is unlikely I can trot the globe just for a Burmese meal, I have been in contact with some of the restaurateurs.

I first heard about Yoma Burmese Restaurant from some of you who have emailed me to share your positive experience of eating Burmese food there. I am delighted to chat (via email) with Thawdar Kyaw, who runs the restaurant with her husband, Sai Kyaw, in Boston, USA.

Do you and your husband both cook for the restaurant?

Yes, we are both the main cooks at YoMa.

What made you decide to go into the restaurant business?

We know Burmese food is not well know food like Chinese/Thai food but we recognized that there are a lot of authentic restaurants like Ethiopian, Nepalese, Cambodian in Boston, but no Burmese, so we decided to open Burmese restaurant. Beside we want to introduce the Burmese food to American people that our food is the best food and we both enjoy the cooking.

How would you describe the key flavours of Burmese food?

Burmese food is different, it’s unlike any other food. Here I see many customers so I hear a lot of descriptions from them, the curry cooking has a little influence from Indian, just a little like we use (masala) mix spices and some kind of lentils with vegetable soups.

Shan noodle and other Burmese salads, we use crushed peanuts like in Vietnamese cooking. But I heard a lot of customers compare with Ethiopian food, they say it is very similar, but I never tried Ethiopian food so I have no idea what their food is like.

It is hard to tell the key flavours of our food, especially the curry dishes, the aroma is different from any other food.

I’ve been looking at (or rather drooling over) your menu. For someone new to Burmese food, what top 3 must-try dishes would you recommend?

Green Mango Salad (ThaYetTheeThot)
- shredded fresh sour mango mixed with shredded cabbage, fresh shallot, grounded dried shrimp, roasted chili flake, grounded peanut, and cilantro.

Pumpkin with shrimp or tofu (ShwePhaYoneTheeHin)
- oriental sweet pumpkin cooked with jumbo shrimp, tomato, ginger, shallot, lemongrass, and cilantro.

Assorted Noodles (AaThotSone)
- vermicelli, somen noodle, wheat flour noodle, seasoning rice, fried tofu, steam bean sprout, potato, grounded peanut, roasted chili flake, fresh shallot, shredded cabbage, grounded dried shrimp, scallion, cilantro, garlic sauce and crispy rice noodle on top.

What is Yoma’s signature dish? Is it the chickpea tofu that Sai makes by hand.

Again our signature dish is the Pumpkin with shrimp or tofu and off course chickpea tofu we make by hand, and is also our family secret recipe.

My father’s family came from Moulmein and my mother’s side from Yangon. I find it very interesting that the cooking styles from the two sides are quite different. Which area of Burma do you and Sai originate from? Does it influence your cooking style?

As you know Sai is from Shan state and I am from Yangon. Except the Shan food, all the dishes influence both of our sides, we adjust a little (less oil, less salt than real Burmese cooking in Burma). We both like tomato and most of our curry dishes we add tomato.

Who in your life has influenced your cooking the most? Did you learn to cook from this person?

My mother, she is a great cook, as usual in Burma I grew up with family until I married. I learned from my mother and also all my family members who can cooked better than I do.

Do you have any fond memories from your childhood relating to eating a particular dish? How about Sai?

When I was young my favorite dish was pork stew with soy sauce, I think that dish is in your cook book.
Sai is different from me, he doesn’t like pork. When he was young he enjoyed eating goat meat or beef dishes at authentic Indian restaurants.

Yoma Burmese Restaurant
5 North Beacon Street
Allston MA 02134
USA
Tel: +1 617 783 1372

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After a brilliant spell of winter sunshine this weekend, the rain today calls for a slow-cooked stew with minimal effort. I remember a recipe my mother mentioned a few months back which appeals to me now. It is a matter of putting all the ingredients in the pan and letting it simmer. This kind of cooking is ideal when life becomes too busy.

Normally I would use chicken on the bone which allows the gravy to take on the full flavour of the chicken. As time is pressing, I have stripped the breast meat and cut into small cubes. Soon the kitchen is filled with the distinct smell of shrimp paste, lovely aromatic dried chillies and a hint of bamboo.

This dish is usually served with green (young) tamarind pounded with chillies for extra tangy spiciness. It is fairly difficult to find green tamarind outside Asia and I settle for a squeeze of lime juice when serving. Perhaps green mango would work instead …

ingredients

1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
2 dried chillies, soaked in hot water
1 chicken breast, diced
200g bamboo shoots, sliced
1 tablespoon peanut oil
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon shrimp paste
water

Pound the onion, garlic and chillies to a rough paste. Pop into a saucepan, add the remaining ingredients and pour enough water to cover the chicken. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is tender.

Top up with more hot water if using chicken on the bone and cook until the meat is tender, perhaps an hour. There should be some gravy left at the end of cooking.

Check for seasoning and serve with green tamarind paste or squeeze of lime.

Serves: 2
Cooking time: 20-30 mins

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The new season Navel Oranges are fabulous at the moment; thin-skinned, juicy, sweet with a slight sharpness. After indulging in a couple, I decide to make a dessert with the simple addition of corn flour rather than using eggs or milk. It makes a refreshing treat for friends who are either vegans or dairy-intolerant.

The lemongrass adds an extra punch of clean, citrus burst with peppery notes. The end result is a light - the texture is much like set custard - sweet and sour pudding. Perfect palette cleanser after a rich curry.

ingredients

2 large oranges, juice & zest
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
60g sugar
5 tablespoons corn flour (cornstarch)
water

Put orange juice in a measuring jug and add water so the total liquid amounts to 400ml. Pour into a saucepan. Bruise and crush the lemongrass stalks to release flavour and pop into pan along with sugar. Gently warm through until the sugar has dissolved. Taste a little of the liquid - add more sugar if it is too sour.

In a bowl, add a little cold water to corn flour to make a paste. Pour the warmed liquid slowly while stirring to incorporate with the paste. Return to the pan and heat until the liquid thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

Pour into small glasses and leave until cool. Sprinkle orange zest and pop into the fridge. Chill well before serving.

Serves: 2-4
Cooking time: 5 mins

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