Tuna and Mixed Nuts Salad

Salads are perfect for Summer days. They're quick and easy to put together, leaving you lots more time to enjoy the longer days.

This tuna salad is an adaptation from one that I'd tasted a while back. A friend had made it as a quick dinner before we headed out for a property viewing near Sydenham Hill in South East London. It is light, refreshing, yet filled with lots of protein to last you longer.

Ingredients

• 100g bag of Italian Style Salad leaves (or salad leaves of your choice)
• 2 slices of Tuna Steaks (approx. 200g)
• Handful of Pistachio Nuts (shelled, roughly chopped / crushed)
• Handful of Brazil Nuts (roughly chopped / crushed)
• Handful of Cashew Nuts (roughly chopped / crushed)
• Handful of Mixed Seeds (Sunflower, Pumpkin, Linseed, Sesame Seeds)
• Handful of Mixed Dried Fruits (Raisins, Sultanas, Cranberries)
• 4 tsp Capers
• 2-3 swigs Olive Oil

Method

• Rub tuna steaks with sea salt, wash off with water, then pat dry with kitchen towel. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Heat up frying pan with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, then fry tuna steaks (to your individual preference).
• Whilst the tuna is in the pan, empty bag of salad leaves into mixing bowl.
• Crush or roughly chop up all the nuts - I find a pestel and mortar very handy for this job.
• When tuna is ready, chop them up into cubes of approx. 2cm x 2cm. Add chopped tuna chunks into mixing bowl.
• Sprinkle crushed nuts, mixed seeds, mixed fruits, and capers over the top.
• Drizzle olive oil over the salad mix, stir well to evenly coat.
• Season to personal taste and serve with your choice of bread.

Kerabu Beehoon (Kerabu Vermicelli Noodles)

This is a Nyonya style noodle - spicy, tangy, refreshing, and appetising!

Preparation does take a while, however when all ingredients are assembled the mixing is easy peasy job. Served cold it's perfect for a Summer picnic, or a big party. If you prefer a warm meal, you can heat it up in the microwave too.

This dish always reminds me of the lazy weekend picnics we had as kids along Batu Ferringhi stretch of beach in Penang. Nothing beats a refreshing light noodle to fill your tummy after a dip in the sea!

Recipe below has been adapted as living abroad presents a challenge in finding authentic ingredients. For those who love food, this shouldn't stop us from making good food. We make do with what we can get our hands on.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
• 400g Vermicelli Noodles
• 400g Beansprouts
• 250-300g King Prawns
• 30-40g Dried Shrimps
• 30g Fresh Mint
• 30g Flat Leaf Parsley
• 15-20 Bulb Shallots
• 50g Desicated Coconut

Mixing Sauce:
• 3-4 Lime / 1.5 Lemon Juice
• 4 tbsp Tom Yum Paste
• 4 tbsp Bottled Sambal Belachen (Fresh Belachan if available)
• 2-3 tsp Fish Sauce (add more to suit personal taste)
• 1-2 tsp Sugar to taste

Method:
• Blanche noodles in boiling water, turn off heat and cover with lid for 4-5mins. Drain under tap water to prevent noodles from breaking. Set aside for later.
• Wash beansprouts, blanche and set aside for later.
• Cook king prawns in boiling water. Let cool, then halve or sliced thinly and set aside.
• Soak dried shrimps in hot water, drain and roughly pound into pulp.
• Thinly slice fresh mint, and flat leaf parsley.
• Peel shallots and finely slice.
• Lightly fry (without oil) desicated coconut in a shallow pan


• In a mixing bowl, add all mixing sauce ingredients, stir well and set aside.
• When all ingredients are gathered, in a large bowl or container mix thoroughly all the ingredients except desicated coconut and mint leaves for just before serving.

NOTE:Above recipe yields approximately 12-14 portions depending on how hungry the crowd you are feeding feels.

For a more authentic taste, source for below ingredients to replace the substitutes above:

• Asian Lime
• Asian Mint Leaves
• Fresh Shredded Coconut
• Freshly Pounded Sambal Belachan (alternatively use a blender)

Honey Butter

Ingredients

• 1 cup Salted butter
• 2/3 cup Honey
• 1/2 cup Icing/powdered sugar

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Whisk in an electric mixer for a few minutes until the honey butter turns fluffy and the colour turns from golden to a light cream shade.
3. Serve at room temperature. Goes well with any freshly-baked bread, cornbread or pancakes.

Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon

Ingredients 
(Serves 4)

• 8 eggs    
• 8 pieces Smoked salmon
• 16 stalks Asparagus (optional)
• 4 English muffins (split)
• 50g butter
• 2 tsp vinegar

Hollandaise sauce

• 200g unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp hot water
• Pinch of Ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. To make the hollandaise sauce, whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a bowl.
2. Place the bowl over a metal rack in a saucepan with simmering water.
3. Continue to whisk rapidly. Then pour in melted butter and continue whisking until sauce is thickened.
4. Add salt and black pepper and mix well. Remove from heat and set aside for use later.
5. To poach the eggs, bring water in a saucepan to almost boiling. If water is boiling, lower the heat until it is no longer boiling. 
6. Add 2 teaspoons of vinegar to the water.
7. Break an egg into a cup.  Swirl the vinegared water briskly to form a vortex and slide an egg in. Let the egg curl round and set to a neat round shape. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon. 
8. Immerse the egg into ice-cold water to stop the egg from cooking further.
9. Repeat with the other eggs, one at a time, re-swirling the water as you slide the eggs in. 
10. Split the muffins and toast them lightly. Spread butter on muffins.
11. Place a slice of smoked salmon and 2 stalks of asparagus on each muffin and top with a poached egg. 
12. Pour hollandaise sauce on top and serve.

Slow-cooked Old-Style Mustard Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1.5kg Chicken (chopped into chunky pieces)
• 2 large Onions (cut into wedges)
• 3 Carrots (cut into chunky pieces)
• 5 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 20g Fresh tarragon
• 3 cups White wine
• 3 cups Chicken stock
• 4 tbsp Old-style mustard (the type with mustard seeds in it)
• 5 tbsp Creme fraiche
• 1 tbsp Corn flour (mixed with 6 tbsp water)
• 3 tbsp Caster sugar
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Lemon (cut into wedges for garnishing)

Method

1. Marinate chicken in white wine, caster sugar, salt and pepper for about an hour.
2. Heat pot with olive oil. Add garlic and fry till slightly brown.
3. Add onions and fry till brown, then add carrots and continue frying.
4. Add chicken and fry for 3 minutes, then add white wine and fry for 5 minutes. 
5. Add chicken stock, old-style mustard, tarragon and turn chicken several times until chicken is cooked.
6. Add caster sugar, salt and pepper to taste.
7. Transfer everything into a slow cooker and cook for 5 hours on high heat.
8. Drain and remove chicken and the vegetables from slow cooker and arrange on  a large serving dish.
9. Transfer the remaining stock from the slow cooker to a pan.
10. Add creme fraiche and stir well, then add cornflour and stir until stock thickens. Pour thickened stock onto the chicken and vegetables on serving dish.
11. Garnish with lemon wedges and a few sprigs of tarragon.

Beet Cake

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of my favourite. When home in Penang, it serves as an afternoon lunch. I always return to the same favourite stalls for chicken rice. It's always the soft chicken meat, and springy chicken skin with the flavourful chicken rice topped with appetising dipping sauce that makes one return for more.

Living in London, it's not easy to find this dish. A friend made it one day and shared her tips on cooking. After tasting it, it's made me look up some recipes online for inspiration.

The recipe captured below might look lengthy and challenging, however it's rather easy once you get the procedure right. I'd definitely recommend an attempt as you can achieve a wholesome meal derived from one whole chicken!

Chicken

Ingredients:
• 1 whole corn fed chicken - given good scrub with generous amount of sea salt
• 1 inch ginger sliced into thins
3-4 springs of spring onion chopped into 3 or 4 sections
• Salt for seasoning
• 1 full stock pot of water
• 1 stock pot of ice bath

Method:
• Bring the full stock pot of water to boil.
• Prepare chicken by giving it a good spa treatment of rigorous salt scrubbing. If required, scrub several times, rinse away peeling skin and scrub again to achieve taut gleaming skin.
• Season chicken inside out and stuff it with ginger and spring onions.
• Slowly immerse whole chicken in boiling water, let it bring to boil again then immediately turn heat low enough to simmer throughout cooking time (approximately 2hours).
• As the chicken simmers in the stock pot, gradually sift / ladle out the scummy residue that surface.
• There are two ways one could use to determine when the chicken is done - a) use a cooking termometer to measure the temperature is 76 degree celsius (170 farenheit) at the thickest part of the chicken (in between the thighs not touching bones); b) reaching 2hours cooking time and a little beyond making sure it's at such a slow simmer that bubbles merely break through the surface.
• Carefully bring chicken out from stock pot, immerse fully into ice bath to stop cooking process and tightens chicken skin. This is key to getting the best skin texture for Hainanese Chicken Rice!
• Bring chicken out from ice bath, set aside.
• Keep remainder chicken stock in stock pot for use in making the rice, beansprouts, and soup for serving with the dish.
• When all other preparation is complete, just before serving, start chopping up or boning the chicken into nicely proportioned bite size slices onto serving dish.

Rice

Ingredients:
• 3 cups rice, washed and drained, set aside
• 2 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• Chicken stock from poaching chicken
• 3-4 Pandan leaves, washed, divided and knotted
• Garlic minced - approximate amount based on cups of rice to cook
• Ginger minced - approximate amount based on cups of rice to cook

Method - with rice cooker:
• Heat up cooking oil in wok at medium-high heat, gently fry ginger and garlic until fragrant, but not burning it.
• Add rice, stir to mix thoroughly, cook for 2 mins.
• Ladle chicken stock into rice cooker, scoop up rice from wok, add sesame seed oil and pandan leaves then turn rice cooker on to cook.
• The frying step is meant to bring more flavour to the rice. It is also fine to skip the frying step if time is limited.

Learn how to cook rice over the stove here.


Whilst the rice is cooking, start preparing the dipping sauces, blanch beansprouts, and carve the chicken.

Dipping Sauces

Penang Inspired Chilli Sauce - Ingredients:
• 1 inch ginger roughly chopped up
• 3-4 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 lemon grass, cut into small sections
• 1 red chilli, desseeded and roughly chopped
• 2-3 birds eye chilli, roughly chopped
• 2-3 lime juice (1 whole lemon juice can be used as a substitute if desperate)
• Sugar and salt to season

Method:
• Put ginger, garlic, lemon grass, chillies, lime juice all into a blender. Give it a quick blend once or twice, just enough to shred up the ingredients, but not overly processed.
• Pour chilli mix out into sauce dipping bowl, add sugar and salt to season.

Dark Soya Sauce Dip - Ingredients:
• 2-3 birds eye chilli, roughly chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• Desired amount of sweet dark soya sauce or just enough to cover the chilli and garlic mix

Method:
• Add chillies and garlic into sauce dipping bowl, top it up with sweet dark soya sauce.

Blanched Beansprouts

Ingredients:
• 1 packet of beansprouts, washed and drained
• 2-3 sprigs spring onion chopped into small chunks
• 1-2 ladles of stock from poaching chicken
• Medium pot of water bring to boil
• A few dashes of soya sauce and sesame seed oil to season

Method:
• Gauging when rice is just about ready, in a medium pot bring water to the boil.
• Add beansprouts into water and bring to the boil again.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until beansprouts turn slightly translucent, yet still crunchy to the bite.
• Turn off the heat and dish out beansprouts into serving dish.
• Ladle over the chicken stock, season with soya sauce and sesame oil.
• Garnish with spring onion and serve.

If served as a buffet style dish, you can very well have all chicken in one big dish. If serving individually, below is a suggested method. Hope you have fun with this!