Tuesday 31 May 2016

How to make soya milk


Lately, I am on a mission to reduce my household wastes and at the moment, tetra-bricks are a huge pain so wondered if I could make my own soya milk. As one does nowadays, you consult the internet before you even breathe, right? So, of course I did. And came across a lot of info and it took me a few takes and, ta taaaaan: 


Blended mix
Ingredients:
125 gms soya beans
1.5 ltrs water
Vanilla essence or pod
Stevia or sugar
Salt
Method:
Leave the soya beans to soak in a bowl of hot water overnight.
Next morning, rinse the beans out. 
Put them in the microwave for 2 mins on max intensity to get rid of the beany flavour.
Now put them in a blender with about half the 1.5 litres of water and spritz till you get a thick, smooth soup.
Retire blender.
Now add the rest of the water and stir.
Prepare a large saucepan. Sieve the soup till you get the pulp or okara ( as dry as possible) in the sieve and the milk in the saucepan.


'Okara' and milk
Reserve the 'Okara'- you shall throw it away on pain of death! (More nagging below)
Meanwhile back in the sweatshop, heat your milk for about 10 mins. This is when I'd add the opened vanilla pod or vanilla essence. 
Let it boil away, whisking once in a while and making sure the pot don't boil (over), so watch it! 
Remove froth if you wish- I do; it gets weirdly lumpy and I am not a fan of lumpy froth, so shoot me!
Add a pinch of salt and some stevia to taste.
Once cool, bottle and pop in the fridge, ensuring you drink this within 3 days.
It's not as tasty as commercial drinks but I'd rather this fresh, additive and tetra-brick free drink which comes out much cheaper too.

Okara
A note on Okara: Do NOT, and I mean that, throw away! Tis a low fat, protein and mineral rich paste you can use to make spongy pancakes/cakes/pizza base/biscuit...you name it! It is mild tasting and delicious and can even be stir fried and used as a lower carb filler. Yum! Bear in mind it has a 3-day expiry date so get creative!















(P.S: Steak tartare)

Steak tartare at the Mandarin Oriental, Bcn
Steak tartare is, culturally, a hard thing for an Indian to eat. Raw + beef are not exactly plentiful in traditional menus there so without meaning to, I have never chosen this dish for myself until....I started to live with a Frenchman. And opened my eyes to this. 

This is a hilarious article on why you shouldn't make this dish at home and just when your hopes got dashed, here is how you can. 

How can one describe this? The garnishes make it taste spicy without being hot or overpowering the taste of raw meat and yet, without overpowering you with the taste of raw meat. Though the texture is creamy, it sure ain't like butter even though it melts in your mouth...( head scratching)..how would YOU describe it?

Saturday 28 May 2016

Pigging-out on Pinxos

Cod and pepper pinxo
Last night was a revelation as I touched heaven. Forget all the stuff you might have read or heard about how to get there, just come with me and eat some of these heavenly pinxos. Simple. No need for meditation or religion or penance! I ate 16, yes, SIXTEEN 'pinxos'. I will set up an altar to my tum soon. 

(Read my post 'A tiny note on Basque pinxos' to know what 'pinxos' are).

Baked mussel pinxo
There is a restaurant I have been passing by every time I go to buy groceries - ie about once a week during the past 10 years or so and can you believe it when I say that EVERY TIME, I say, "I must go here" and as soon as I reach home, amnesia strikes until the following week. And somehow yesterday, IT finally happened. I went in with a friend and oh my oh my oh my! I don't think I have ever eaten more than 7-8 pinxos in a single setting, let alone 16! I had; 4 with 'jamón'; hake; 2 of cod; sobrasada with quail's egg; spicy tuna; anchovy; grilled chicken; baked mussel; foie gras; an amazing battered prawn one; my favourite xistorra one...Sweet Jesus! I wanna go back. HELP!

Grilled chicken pinxo

Now it's not easy to grill chicken to perfection and especially bite sized mouthfuls - most places tend to overcook it - many a time have I sent back a plate of what can only be called compact sawdust - so you can imagine my bliss when I bit into this morsel and found it juicy and tasty and oh so right! I think a moan came out....but luckily the din disguised my cave-woman sounds...
Battered hake pinxo

Pity I scarfed the 'jamón' ones before even thinking of taking photos. 'Jamón' made me forget myself and attack. When I woke up, 4 had disappeared and all that was left were the toothpicks - the waiter counts how many 'pinxos' you have eaten by counting these. But anyway, hope this amazing battered hake pic will make up for this. As with the chicken, fish is a bummer to cook too as cook to overcook is just 4 letters away. 


A close-up so you can see how moist the interior was, how perfect each flake...(moan)

Baby scallop pinxo
This little baby to your left just slipped into my mouth in one easy and lip-lickingly good motion. I love scallops and baby scallops even more despite costing an arm, a leg, a kidney and a liver. Goddamn their goodness! 





Battered prawn pinxo

The battered prawn was so perfect that I nearly devoured the toothpick too - you should have seen me fishing the toothpick out of my mouth in a ladylike manner. Hah!
The bar where you just pick your own pinxo, Basque style
And last, but not the least, 'count my toothpick' time....




Monday 9 May 2016

Dumpling Delights

Momos, Lake front Hotel, Pokhara, Nepal
Steamed dumpling, Restaurante Vietnamita, Bcn
Ada, Agnolotti, Asida, Akashiyaki, Aushak, Banku, Buuz, Bhajia, Ba-wan, Bánh bao, Bánh chưng, Bánh lá, Bánh tẻ, Bánh tét, Baozi, Bolinhas de carne, Blodpalt, Borș de burechiușe, Bryndzové halušky, Ball, BaillBelyashi, Boraki, Chuchvara, Coxinhas, Cha siu bao, Crystal dumplings, Cepelinai, Chiburekki, Caozai guo, Capuns, Chapalele, Ci fan tuan, Corunda, Crab rangoon, Dim sum, Ducana, Dushbara, Dango, Dhokla, DidžkukuliaiEmpanada, Fritter, Fun guo, Fufu, Fara, Gujhia, Guoti, Galuska or nokedli, Gombóc, Gnocchi, Gyoza, Gulha, Halušky, Hallaca, Har gow, Hujiao bing, Idli, Idrijski žlikrofi, Johnny Cake, Jau Gok, Jiaozi, Klotremat, Krumme, Kromme, 
Char siu Bao in Fatty Bao, Mumbai, India
Kroppkaka, Kams, Klabbe, Klimp, Kibbeh, Khinkali, Kreplach, Kubbeh, KnishKachori, Karanji, Kajjikayi, Klyocki, Kozhakkattai Modak or Modhaka or Modagam or Sugiyan, Kudumu, Klubb, KløbbKomle, Kumle, Kompe, Kumpe, Kodla, Kudle, Klot, KamsKomperdøse, Kumperdøse, KompadøsKnedlík, Knedliček, Kloß, Knödel, Nockerl or Knöpfle, Klopse or Klöpse, Knöpfle, Kenki, Kluski, Kalduny, Kenkey, Khuushuur, Koldūnai, knedle, Knoephia, Kopytka, Kozhukkattai, Kreplach, Kueh tutu, Kuih kochi, Kundumy, Lo mai gai, Lukhmi, Melkkos, Manti, Mjölpalt, Mandu, Manduguk, Mandugwa, Maultaschen, Mataz, Matzah ball, Momo, Modak,
Mohnnudel, Nagasari, Nocken, Ñoquis, 


Aubergine and cheese Empanada, La Neura, Barcelona
Orama, Ovocné knedlíky, Pierogi, Pidi, Pitha, Pastéis, Pantruca, Papas rellenas, Pasteles, Pirohy, Palt, Pamonha, Pelmeni, Pozi, Potetball, Pickert, Quenelle, Qatayef, RaspeballRuter, Ruta, Raskekako, Risk, Ravioli, Rissole, Rivels, Samosa, Schupfnudel, Scovardă, Shegjian mantou, Shlishkes or "Krumplinudli", Shishbarak, Siew mai or Shumai, Silesian dumplings, Siopao, Serviettenknödel, SzilvásgombócŠaltanosiaiSamsa, Souskluitjies,
Sui kao, Tamale, Tamalito, Tang bao, Tihlo, Tortellini, Tortelloni, Tangyuan, Uszka , Ushki, Urechiuşe, Varenyky, Vushka, Vushki, Virtiniai, Wonton, Xiaolongbao, Yomari, Zhaliang and finally, Zongzi. 

Recognize any? Did I miss any? Let me know!
Restoran Key Way Dim Sum, KL, Malaysia
Cheese+bacon pierogi, Slovak Pub, Slovakia

















 
Have I gone utter nuts? Or am I just being the Dumpling Librarian in writing down the various names that this bite/ hand sized morsel of deliciousness has around the world? From my count, that's about 190 different versions! For it seems that almost every country has a cooked ball of dough ( from different flours or potatoe) with or without and in any combination: meats; vegetables; fish or sweet stuff and which is either fried, baked, simmered, boiled or steamed. Who would have thought? Mmmmmmmmm. Thank you, Dumpling God!


Kachori, Surajkund Mela, Surajkund, India
These titbits always seem like a precursor to a meal or something to keep you going between meals or just a reason to give in to plain and simple GREED. Scarf! 
Homemade steamed 'dhokla'








Some of my abiding childhood memories have to be of snacking on something or other on hot and long drawn out summer holiday late afternoons. With a wonderful aunt, we'd spend an hour preparing a snack and then polish it off within minutes. The Gujarati 'dhokla' is one such snack - light, fluffy and easy to make. Here is a recipe - I make mine in 'idli' steamers so they come out round rather than diamond shaped but hey ho - my mouth finds no difference :-)
Fried gyozas, Simpu, Barcelona





 

I LOVE gyozas - one of the many fab Japanese inventions, especially the pan seared ones but once in a while, I am happy to have some nice and crunchy fried ones too. Always a delight to bite through piping hot fried crunch and into a delicate mix of meat, spring onions, herbs....ohhhh yummmmmmmmm, gimme some...
Pan fried gyozas, Ramen-ya Hiro, Barcelona


And to the left, my all time favourite, pan seared gyoza.. Funny how hard it is to find a place that sells delicious gyoza - the quality of the meat is important as I find that a lot of places use the worst and most fatty cuts of meat. Result? an oily concoction in your mouth that drowns out the herbs and ends with you drinking a whole bottle of beer in a gulp to wash your mouth out. Ugh.

And last, but not the least, a very small homage to Eastern European dumplings, where these are in the main course and a delicious way to fill the stomach with a hearty and yet cheap meal:
Goulash with paprika and bacon dumplings, Hrad, Bratislava, Slovakia