Filed under “Stuff I never knew”: apparently grape juice concentrate and mega Purple are widely used in the wine making industry …
Most controversial of all is a substance called Mega Purple. This is (supposedly) frequently used in California to add colour to wines, as well as a little sweetness, and has caused quite a stir – perhaps, in part, because of the name … Grape juice concentrate is made by concentrating unfermented grape juice, typically by boiling it in a partial vacuum, which lowers the boiling point to a temperature where the flavours aren’t completely cooked. It’s then added to wines that have already fermented to dryness at the blending stage.
via jamie goode’s wine blog.
During a recent trip to Vietnam I sought out this dish unique to Hoi An. I’d tried it first on trip to South East Asia in my 20s and never forgot how delicious it is. I managed to source the recipe below, published for prosperity.
Water source: In Hội An Faifo and surroundings such as Cẩm Khê, there still remain old square wells that the Cham people dug from hundreds of years ago. Water from these wells is used for drinking and cooking, and it has a unique flavor. The most famous well is Well Bá Lễ.
Lye solution: Lye is made from ashes of trees. Different trees give different lye solutions. This particular lye solution that is used to make cao lầu’s noodle is from “tro” tree grown in Cham Island nearby.
Rice: The rice to make cao lầu’s noodle is of a local rice variety. The rice used is neither freshly harvested nor too aged. The rice is washed, soaked in Hội An’s well water and lye solution. After that the soaked rice is ground into a thick paste, poured into cotton bags to drain excess water. The paste becomes dough, and is kneaded. The thin dough is briefly steamed, cut into strings, and steamed again until the noodle becomes completely cooked. The noodle is left in open air for its surface to dry. When used, the noodle is blanched briefly in hot water. Cao lầu’s noodle has more texture and doesn’t have a sour flavor of regular rice noodle.
Xá xíu (Translator: This is Vietnamese pronunciation of Chinese barbecue pork, char siu): About 500g lean pork butt, cut to about 5cm thick. Mixture: 5g Chinese five-spice powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper + 1 tablespoon minced garlic + 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Marinate the pork in the mixture for 40 minutes. Heat a small pot in low heat, add 2 tablespoons cooking oil, and pan fry the pork a little, then add boiling water to cover the meat. You can also use coconut juice instead of water. Simmer until the liquid is reduced to little remaining. The pork should now be tender. When used, slice it into thin pieces.
Stock: Cook 500g pork bones in 3 liters of water and 100 typo error? dried shallots. Simmer and skim the fat often until about 2.5 liters stock is left. Remove the bones and shallot from the stock. Season the stock with salt and MSG Oriental food, of course! to taste.
Pork rind: Select the thinnest pork skin, and remove all the fat. Cut the skin to small pieces of about 2 cm wide, and marinate for 30 minutes in the same kind of mixture you use to make xá xíu. Deep fry in high heat? the pork rind until crispy. Let the pork rind drain.
Herb: Húng lủi Mentha aquatica L.; water mint, cut to short stems. Chive, minced. Cilantro also.
Presentation: Put noodle and water mint in a bowl. Place slices of xá xíu on top. Throw in some pork rind and minced chive. Pour just a litte of the stock into the bowl. Also throw in some cilantro on top. Put a dash of pepper.
New modifications: Some people now add dry shrimp, dry squid in the soup stock to add more flavor with a ratio of 10g dry squid or shrimp and 1/2 liter of water. Some also use chicken stock instead, but this gives different flavor. Some add more varieties of herb, minced. Uncooked bean sprout, roasted peanut, rice crackers that are broken in small pieces…are also used. Some even use boiled chicken meat cut into squares, sauteed shrimp. Some cao lầu noodle has a deep yellow color of tumeric, and is only seen in Saigon. Translator note: Lye solution is widely used in Chinese yellow wheat noodle to make tougher texture.
via How to cook Cao Lau — noodlepie.
My version of the Asian Hot and Sour soup but with more fire to blast away any niggling cold. It worked for me anyway.
This recipe is all about getting the right combination of the lemon, fish sauce, vinegar and sugar just right so a little experimentation might be called for. It’ll feed two as a main rather well.
Ingredients
- Two chicken breasts — skinned and diced
- 1 pinch saffron
- 12 oz new potatoes
- 2 pak choi — leaves separated
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced lengthways
- 1 tsp Szechwan pepper corns — crushed
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 red Thai chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced
- 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 inch ginger, finely sliced (to taste)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 pint of chicken stock
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt to season
Preparation
Marinade the chicken breasts in the onion, oil and lemon juice for at least an hour.
Add the saffron to a dash of boiling water and let infuse for 10 minutes or so.
Cooking
Remove the chicken and in a heavy-based saucepan sweat the onion, oil and lemon marinade over a medium/low heat until transparent, do not brown. Introduce the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for a minute or two. Add the chicken, the saffron infusion and pepper and cook until the chicken is barely coloured. Add the chicken stock, then the rice vinegar, fish sauce and sugar. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down so there is only the very slightest of bubbles.
Check for balance — add more lemon, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar or salt if necessary. Remember the stock will reduce and intensify the flavour whilst cooking. Cook for 1–2 hours — we’re aiming for the chicken to be just beginning to fall apart when served. 25 minutes before serving add the new potatoes. 5 minutes before serving at the pak choi to allow them to wilt.
Check for seasoning and serve in warm bowls with the spring onions on top.
This recipe was given to me by my brother who obtained it from a 90 year old Indian woman, the grand-mother of a friend.
3 cups of plain flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 dessertspoon of sugar
The yolk of one egg
Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the salt, sugar, yolk and enough water to make an elastic dough. Kneed well. Make into eight balls. Grease each ball with ghee (or melted butter) until soft and elastic. Roll out each ball, sprinkle with a little flour and spread with ghee. Cut one side of the circle (the radius) and roll into a conical shape. Stand on it’s fat base and push the dough down into the middle. Roll out this ball into an approximately 4 inch disc and fry a in pan which has been wiped with melted butter until brown.
Glad to see I’m not alone in a slightly anal obsession in always drinking from a perfectly clean wine glass
I wouldn’t use a dishwasher for wine glasses. I’d also avoid turning them upside down on a cloth to dry them: this can make the rim a bit smelly. It’s really worth the effort of washing glasses well before you put them away, because then you can use them without worrying about whether they are going to be smelly or not. If you are in doubt about a glass, a quick rinse with wine primes the glass nicely.
via jamie goode’s wine blog.
Burger perfection from the NYTimes
The first thing you do is take your thumb and make a well in the burger … Nobody wants a ball of a burger … Dimpling the patty … helps it cook evenly, and you won’t be tempted to smack it down and lose all the juice.
via @brettjamesdavis