recipe by Ching He Huang from BBC Chinese Food Made Easy
Meatballs have never been thought as a dinner party food, unless it involves children. Otherwise, it is ruled out for myriad reasons; not inventive, too easy to make, not sophisticated enough, not exciting, etc. Has meatballs become a dish that only in the memory is better than reality? Read the rest of this entry →
A quick stop at the chinese grocery store means that Jeremy sits in the car and I run in to the shop ONLY to get the ingredients at speed of lightning. Picking up regular ingredients is a requisition of no additional effort. Except when confronted with a new commodity. Pit stop! Read the rest of this entry →
I spoke too soon. The wintery and frosty weather is back. Nothing compared to the pile of snow that halted New York and London. Looking up from the valley of Sollér the snow that encapped the peak of Tramuntana mountains is such a picturesque sight. Yes, we do enjoy the view but there is a price to pay (chilly!) for the picture. Read the rest of this entry →
My mum’s melting moments are the best! As a career mum, she cooks and bakes on occasional weekends except for the four weeks coming up to Chinese New Year, the kitchen exists solely for the purpose of intense baking. Our kitchen provided enough cookies, sweets and cakes not only for our household, but at the same time for my grandparents, not to mention her in-laws… some of my mum’s friends and office colleagues… and the neighbours… and just enough for my little school friends and I. Read the rest of this entry →
I remember trying to learn cooking from my grandmother. It is rather challenging to be able to get the specific amount of ingredients that she magically sprinkles into her dishes. Each time when I ask her “how much?”, she replies, “just enough”, which is not good enough for me. I am so metrical! I want to churn the exact taste when I replicate the dish. Each time I stood diligently at the same spot in the kitchen by her side with my notepad and pen like a student attending a lecture class, ready to take notes. “Put the stationery away and look”, she says. Even so, it is no easy task. After so many years spent with her in the kitchen, I like to think that I could cook like her. Read the rest of this entry →
Sushi, sashimi, nigiri, teriyaki, miso, ramen, donburi, tempura – to name a few, are widely known Japanese cuisine names used within the English vocabulary. The artwork of the sushi chef on the raw seafood presented elegantly and admirably before my eyes, is almost too precious to be eaten. However, there is much more to Japanese food than sushi or sashimi. Alongside the elegant flare is the humble bowl of rice and the heritage of simple country cooking. Read the rest of this entry →
When I told Jeremy that I was going to make bread for Saturday lunch, very politely he replied, “oh?” with a facial expression that showed him wondering wonders I was going to phase out of my bread baking obsession. For the past few weeks I have made a lot of bread from various recipes in search for the perfect oomph. Some were good, others were slightly edible and the rest… let’s not mention that I have bake before… Read the rest of this entry →
Brownies have a cake-like texture, except that they are denser and in my childhood visual memory, much flatter than a cake. In other words, a much denser chocolate cake (oh, what a killer!). Everyone has their preferred brownie recipe, and I would not doubt if I was told that their’s is the best ever. Read the rest of this entry →
I love bread, especially freshly baked homemade bread; the aroma is divine and I find, very seducing. And by this, I mean being seduced by the bread. Naturally, I try to create this atmosphere in my very own kitchen. Unfortunately, I have not been very lucky with my attempts. There is always something wrong about it – yeast does not froth up, dough does not rise and as a result, the bread turns out too tough that it could break a hole through a brick wall (or be used to build one!). On the other hand, fortunately for me, my critics will go through an analytical series of questions and do the checklist of whether I did the right thing through each stage of the process.
This is one of my salad conjugations; no recipe – just what is available in the kitchen. We are only going to be in London for a few days and do not want to build up any large amount of food in the fridge. Plus, we would like to revisit our favourite restaurants, reminiscing the days when working in this buzzling city. And hence, a light and flavoursome side dish so that we can both stuff ourselves while still dining out later 
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