A Clammy Macky Meal

Our rule of thumb for making meals on most days are LOCAL/SEASONAL and FRESH.... and perhaps on other days they are WHAT's AVAILABLE or what we FEEL like having... or perhaps an interaction between all 3 !  It makes more environmental, health and economical sense to eat what's seasonal and local.  Reduction of food-miles usually also = smaller carbon footprint.  

Fortunately, the UK is blessed with having an abundance of seafood.  At our local fishmonger's today, S2 had originally intended to get a semi-firm flesh fish for Chinese steamed fish dish.  However, she got detracted by the utterly fresh looking mackerel and razor clams there!  They reminded her of 2 dishes she had seen on TV cooking shows which she would like to try her hand at.  Hence it quickly got pencilled in as the star of dinner for tonight!

 

There are 2 types of razor clams.  A curved one and a straight one.  The ones shown here are the straight ones- called razor for its likeness to old-style shaving razor knifes.  These are the ones commonly found in the UK! Looking about online, one can actually go to certain beaches to clam-hunt!  The razor clams are hidden vertically in the sand, spotted only by a slight dimple in the sand, or a small squirt of water they emit.  These reminds me of geoducks in seafood restaurant tanks in Clarke Quay back home in Singapore.

I'm drawn to the razor's clam's unique shape and 'behaviour'.  Like crab, it's alive from point to point- fisherman-wholesaler-fishmonger-my fridge... and it ends in the 30 second steaming in the pan. ( give thanks before they hit the pan )  They wriggle a little with a slight shutter like- opening and closing of the shell.  As I rinsed them for grit, they made the cutest squidgy noises which momentarily deterred my intentions of cooking them. ( yes, this Pescatarian is ewil but grateful)

Flash steamed and added to a medley of sautéed vegetables, this was the eventual outcome of the R-clams.  Do you think we did it justice?  We adapted a recipe courtesy of Tom Kitchin, according to what ingredients we already had in the fridge.  M2 liked the dish but would have like more razor clams, while S2 agreed the ratio of vegetables were slightly heavy handed- thus obscuring the delicate seaside flavour of the clams.  The sauce was very tasty though!

we heart mackerel!

Another recipe S2 was keen to try was a mackerel tartare.  We looked up recipes online and once more adapted it from 2 recipes on BBC food online.  M2 was the captain of this boat, taking charge of filleting, de-boning and de-skinning and seasoning.  We wondered about the difference between a tartare and a cerviche as both dishes are essentially a sort of seasoned raw seafood salad..?   Apparently the crux is lemon juice.  Cerviche is cured in lemon juice while tartare isn't.  This was slightly perplexing as the recipe online for tartare had called for lemon juice, but we were too hungry to think of other alternatives to our reliable half lemon.  S2 loved the cucumber but felt it was probably too watery for the overall texture.  It is tricky getting the seasoning right, balancing acidity and saltiness and spiciness for the right ZING!  So more practice is needed! 

Accompanying the seafood bonanza was a simple mixed leaf salad (grown in Hackney! Yeah!) We are obsessed with our sunflower-cranberry-sesame combination.  And with all the citrus running through the seafood, opted for a pomegranate dressing to sweeten the sourness.  Topped with some slices of our homemade week-old sourdough bread (especially useful to mop up juices and sauces with).  Another fun and satisfying dinner ! :) 

こや(Koya)

A belated post about a wonderful meal we had at KOYA- a local japanese restaurant in Soho specialising in their homemade udon!  (reminded by our recent udon adventure) How exciting! This was a birthday treat for Noodlegirl.  We had a Zaru Udon (cold) and grilled fish with Udon in soup, garnished with a salad!

The texture, Q-factor (chewyness) and taste were remarkably fresh and light.  It was not stodgy at all, nor does it break off too easily.  We were lucky enough to get a table at the back corner of this cosy eatery which gave a view of the open kitchen.  It was great to see the chefs in action and observe how organised and calmly they all worked!  The udon had been made in batches beforehand and were kept dusted with a little flour in containers, and cooked to order.  Prices were reasonable given the quality the fuss-free and authentic flavours served up!  Thoroughly enjoyable :)

making udon at home.... first attempt.... and reminiscent of MHK

Last weekend, we gave a go at making udon.  The foremost attraction was noodle-girl's (S2) love of the white slightly chewy noodles, and the fun of the step-kneading !  Also, we had been inspired by reading La Fujimama's blog about making udon.  Please visit her site for recipe and procedure.

The ingredients and equipment needed are simple, but as the noodle required some proofing, some   planning leading up to dinner time is essential.  We had great fun step-kneading, by putting on our favourite tunes and took turns dance-stepping on the udon.  Cardio workout! In addition to that, the upper body also joins in during the later hand kneading stage!

The texture of the dough in this attempt was quite hard, so it was difficult to roll it out to a desirable thin-ness.  We wonder if its the ratio of the water to flour to salt, perhaps we will experiment with that in the next round.  As you can see, the noodles are hand-sliced and put into boiling water straight away!

Slightly too thick, but made for a very satisfying fresh udon in light bonito and miso vegetable soup dinner! Happiness is working and making dinner from scratch !

Udon making reminded us of Mee Hoon Kway (面粉糕)， a M'sian/S'porean handmade noodle.  The ingredients are exactly the same, but it needs less time and less kneading.  There isn't a specific shape, like noodles.  In my family, my cousin in Port Dickson- who currently makes the most powerful bowl of yummylicious Mee Hoon Kway- just tears off the big piece of dough, flattens it and throws it into a flavoursome pot of boiling broth (made from fried anchovies).  The result is a delightful bowl of abstract cloud-like bits, fluffy with a bite and a tad hard in the middle. (al dente?) mmm... topped with chilli padi and minced garlic in soya sauce. Heavenly!!

purple fish pie

Over the easter holiday, we bought an enamel pie dish.  It looks like a bath tub with a blue rim :) And we inaugurated the pie dish with a traditional english fish pie recipe from Mary Berry, using the same Albert Bartlet purple potatoes !  Our visiting friend Q made a wonderful mash and stamped it MO.  The pie fed 3 very happy people !

Colourful Fish Cakes

We had fish cakes for dinner today.  But instead of yellow coloured potatoes we used some purple ones( Albert Bartlet grown-in-Scotland-purple-potatoes) which turned out to mash and taste wonderfully.  Matched with some local trout and dill, it was a great tricolour combo, yum.

Piimai Lao Lunch

Today we were over at our friend F's place for lunch, for a belated Lao new year lunch.  Just a low-key  event for the three of us, but F cooked like five wonderfully tasty dishes.  A bamboo squash wood fungus soup, a tofu and century egg salad, a cucumber somtham (salad), grilled wings and duck (which s2 conveniently forgot to take photos of since she didn't eat them), and glutinous rice.  All delish!  We love Lao food (especially when cooked by F).  Fresh vegetables and spicy (bit too much for s2).  We'd like to learn to cook some of these dishes one of these days.  Perhaps we can take lessons from F :)