.: evil jungle prince :.

There's a first time for everything and last week it was laksa ayam's turn to be my experimental dish. Laksa ayam is rice cellophane noodles with chicken in a coconut sauce.

1. I started by placing few chicken pieces in water and and allowing them to simmer until cooked. I then removed the chicken, sliced, and reserved the liquid (after skimming the top).

2. Next I made a spice paste by grinding 4 shallots, 3 garlic cloves, and 4 candlenuts (I used macadamia). I then heated some peanut oil and fried the paste, adding 1 stalk of crushed lemongrass (crushed, cut into sections). Once fragrant, I deglazed the fried paste by adding the chicken stock and a can of coconut milk. This I brought to a slow simmer, adding salt to taste.

3. Meanwhile, I prepared the rice sticks by bring a pot of water to a boil and then turning off the heat completely. I then added a sheet of rice sticks, covered, allow to sit for ten minutes, and then rinsed the noodles with cold water.

4. Finally, I placed the noodles into a bowl and poured over the coconut sauce. I garnished the noodles with some Thai basil, sliced chicken, peanuts, krupuk, and fried onions.

Result: this dish turned out relative well, though I felt it lacked heat. Granted my recipe didn't call for any use of chili, I couldn't stop myself from adding a little chili shrimp paste in for color and body. Next time I will also get a little more creative with the garnishing, as I felt the overall appearance was a little boring and might use some more color, such as freshly sliced red chili to help visually replace the egg slices and shrimp which I left off.

By the way, does anybody have a good recipe for kueh bakar manis? I also tried making this dish, but as you can see I failed pretty miserably. The taste was tolerable but the cake looked nothing like the one pictured in my cookbook, which frustratingly did not list a recipe. My attempt was only gleaned from what little I could find on the Web. I'm anxious to figure this out, as I love the taste of pandan and have a flourishing pandanus plant in my backyard which is simply yearning to be made into sweets.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I had so much fun making today's lunch. Although my expectations were low seeing as this was my first time preparing both dishes, I thought the end result turned out pretty well. The first dish, kari tauhu, started out as a recipe for curried beef (kari sapi). Not being an eater of beef, I substituted tofu instead. The second dish, roti jala, was a challenge to make because I had to first construct a way of making the pancakes "lacy." I'll go into more details below on how I tried to do that.

1. I initiated my tofu curry but preparing a spice blend of equal parts (about 3-4 tsp each) garlic, shallots, candlenuts (I used macadamias instead, which are a related nut), and red chili peppers. These were blended finely in a food processer together with 1 tsp tumeric and a little peanut oil. This spice mixture was then set aside.

2. Next I fried the following in a little bit of oil: 1 stick cinnamon, 4 cardamom pods (cracked), 1 piece of lemongrass stalk cut into 4-inch pieces (white portion only), 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander powder. After becoming fragrant, I then added the spice mixture and fried the combination for 2-3 mins on low flame.

3. Finally, I added a can of coconut milk, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp salt and allowed the curry to cook on a low flame for about 20 mins. I added cubes of firm tofu near the end so that they could absorb some of the flavor.

While my curry was nearing completion, I started working on preparations for the roti jala.

1. First I prepared the roti jala batter by combing 1 cup coconut milk, 2 egg whites, and 1 cup flour.

2. Next I punched a few holes in the bottom of my coconut milk can. (This part was purely experimental on my part. If you know if some better ways to make the lacy effect of the rotis, please let me know!)

3. Finally I heated some butter in a pan, poured the batter into the coconut can, and in a swirling motion allowed the batter to drop through to the pan, creating a lacy pancake. Per the instructions I have, I cooked the rotis on one side only and folded them over once.

Result: oh-so-very-yummy in my tummy. But calorie counters beware! This recipe used up 1.5 cans of coconut milk in the process, and taken together with the butter which was used in the pan, these dishes made for a very, very naughty guilty pleasure.

Areas for improvement: I was not entirely happy with the lacy effect I achieved with my coconut can. When I look at pictrues of roti jala online, the lacy effect is much smaller. Next time I may try making the batter a little more watery in order to get the batter through smaller holes. One problem I initially encountered was that the batter was too thick to go through the holes I made, so I simply enlarged the holes. This worked but the lacy effect doesn't seem quite there yet.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I've had a lot of fun this past week making Indian lime pickle for the first time, thanks to Mahanandi's easy recipe and helpful guidance. I've always been a big fan of Indian pickles but never tried making them myself.

A little experimentation was in order as my garden produces two types of limes -- Mexican (key) limes and, more recently, Kalamansi limes (seen above -- the ones with an orange tint). I wondered which would be best pickled in the Indian style, so I used both.

Following Mahanandi's recipe (Courtesy of Mahanandi):

Day #1: First I cut 12 limes into pieces. I used 1/3 of the limes for juicing only, reserving the liquid. I then mixed the remaining lime pieces with 6 tsp iodine free salt and the lime juice. This mixture was then allowed to pickle for four days in the refrigerator.

Day #5: After five days I dry roasted 1 tsp each of cumin, mustard, and fenugreek seeds, next grinding them to fine powder. I then added this spice mix into the jar along with pinch of turmeric and 5 tsp of red chili powder.

Day #8: Lastly I fried 4 tsp of oil and 1 tsp mustard seeds, bringing back to room temperature and then adding it to the pickle.

I decided to try my pickle with upma, another Mahanandi recipe!

Lessons learned:

On the one hand, the Mexican lime portion of my pickle was a disaster. The rinds were terribly thick, chewy, and bitter. I will definitely not use these limes for this purpose again. On the other hand, my kalamansi limes proved to be absolutely scrumptuous. Unlike the Mexican (key) limes, their outer skins were thin, delicate, and sweet, lending themselves perfectly to the tastes of an Indian pickle. The kalamansis proved to be a real success for use in this recipe.

For presentation purposes, I can see from my photos that the spice mixture should have been ground finer. I will make sure to do that next time.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 06:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I'd been trying to figure out what to do with my huge supply of canned anchovies -- they were on special when I bought them -- when I ran across this recipe for Greek fried anchovy and caper rissoles. Although I would not suggest serving them as a meal unto themselves as they are quite heavy after being fried, I was quite impressed with them as a meze (small dish appetizer).

1. First I combined a large sized tin of anchovies with 1 tsp capers, 1/2 chopped onion, 3-4 chopped garlic cloves, 1 egg white, 3-4 tsp flour*, 1 tsp salt, pepper, and 1 tsp dried oregano. This was blended thoroughly with a fork and then placed into the refrigerator for 2 hours.

2. I then heated a pan of Greek olive oil. Forming the anchovy mixture into small balls, I rolled these in flour and flattened, adding them to the pan and frying in the olive oil until crispy on both sides.

Together with some feta cheese and yemista (stuffed tomato with herbed rice) made with garden-fresh tomatoes from my neighbor's yard, this made for a tasty, small meal.

Aren't these beauties? The neighbors gave me a whole bag of them before they left for vacation. "They'll go bad, otherwise." I am of course happy to do my part.

* Note the use of flour is an adaptation from the original "5 slices of stale white bread." Greek food makes amazing use of stale white bread. Because in the US we don't normally have bakery-bought, crispy breads available in our kitchens, I've substituted flour for stale bread here.

baking another batch of Γεμιστά, coated in Greek olive oil

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's an easy dish I prepared last week for dinner. Together with some freshly baked, crispy bread, this meal was both healthy and filling. Prasosalata is Greek style leeks with a simple tomato sauce.

1. I began by trimming and cleaning the leeks thoroughly. They were then boiled in salted water for 17 mins* and then allowed to drain.

2. I then heated 4 tsp Greek olive oil and added 2 cloves of chopped garlic, sauteed until soft. Next I added 4 diced tomatoes*, 1 tsp fresh thyme, and 6 tsp dry white wine. The heat was then reduced and I allowed the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes until creamy, stirring continuously and adding salt and pepper to taste.

3. The sauce was then poured over the plated leeks and served with crispy white bread. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.

* Tips: as American leeks are so much larger than their Greek counterparts, I added 2 mins to the original 15 mins boiling time. Also, if you do not have fresh tomatoes at your immediate disposal, use one can of chopped tomato. Alternatively, if you have access only to American supermarket tomatoes, supplement the sauce by adding 1 tsp of tomato concentrate to liven up the flavor.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The most common question I get from this blog is: "How do I make kimchi?" And while I'm flattered to receive this question, I am definitely not the right person to ask. Of all the foods I have spent time preparing, kimchi remains the most enigmatic and fiesty. The reason is that many or even most kimchis are not simply prepared and eaten, but must go through a fermentation or pickling stage before they are ready to eat. Alchemy must occur, and during this period anything can change the flavor of the end result: fluctuations in humidity and temperature being just two examples. Good kimch is a real challenge to make, to say the least, and one may not know the results of one's labor for weeks to come.

Korean gochu from my garden, ready to be made into kimchi

Another reason I hesitate to answer this question is that there are hundreds of kimchis: kimchis made of turnips, radish leaves, carrots, and cabbage are only a few. Likewise, there must be hundreds of types of cabbage kimchi alone, each kimchi-maker with their own unique style. "The taste of kimchi depends on the hands that make it," as the saying goes.

rice porridge, a component in many types of kimchi

But I also understand why people are asking me this question: nobody else in the English-speaking blogosphere is making it. Most Koreans get quite tickled to hear that I enjoy making my own, largely perhaps because they don't make it themselves. They've perhaps never made it themselves, instead preferring to buy it from the grocery store where quality and consistency are assured. Being a kimchi-maker renders me an anachronism in a culture I did not even grow up in.

Well, no matter. Kimchi is my soul food. And while the "immediate reward" may be so desirable in our modern world, some things are simply better after having anticipated them for so long, like ripping open Christmas gifts or eating fruit sewn from seed many years prior.

Yang Paechu Kotchori kimchi is a great kimchi to experiment with because it is an instant kimchi, meaning no fermentation is required. And while it may lack the depth and pungency of a fermented kimchi, it is less heavy and spicy and makes for a good summer side dish. It can (and should) be eaten immediately.

1. In a food processer, coarsely blend 1/4 cup fresh red Korean chillies (use Korean chili flakes, if lacking), 1/2 onion, 1/4 cup fresh garlic, 1/2 tomato, 1/8 cup fresh ginger, 1/3 cup rice porridge (*see below), 1/2 cup fish sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 cup rice vinegar. Set aside.

2. Cut a firm cabbage (not Napa) into 1x2 pieces, rinse, and allow to drain. Meanwhile, cut 8-10 scallions into 3-4 inch pieces.

3. Mix kimchi seasoning sauce with cabbage pieces and scallions. Place kimchi into a ceramic vessel and cover tightly. Do not place into a metal container, as it will be reactive. (Note: this is not a long-term kimchi and should not be kept for a long period of time. It is meant to be eaten within a few days.)

* rice porridge is made by mixing 3/4 cups water and 1 tsp rice flour. Bring to boil and then cool.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Thanks heaps to Sithi for sending me a recipe for Turkish zucchini fritters (mucver) -- this was fortuitous when considering I had about seven zucchinis twiddling their thumbs in my refrigerator. Perfect. Note however I have modified the recipe a little bit to suit my own tastes, so this recipe has no claims on authenticity. For one thing, I decided to eat mine in a pita!

1. First I started out by roughly grating 3 small zucchinis. To this I added a large handful of chopped parsley and a large handful of chopped dill. After mixing, I set this aside.

2. Next I began preparing my batter by mixing five heaping tablespoons of flour, 1 egg white, 1 tsp salt, a few dashes of pepper, and enough water to create a pancake-consistency batter. I then added the grated zucchini and fresh herbs, folding in slowly.

3. In the final step, I heated olive oil on a low flame and began frying the first of the three zucchini patties. After dropping in the first 1/3 of the batter, I used the spatula to: flatten the pancake (so it would cook all the through), tuck in the sides to make a more perfect circle, and to release the fritter from the bottom of the pan. (Without doing this step, the fritter will stick solid to the pan. This is tricky but can be accomplished by gently putting the spatula under the underside of the fritter, one small portion at a time in jerky movements. Once you get all the way around the patty, it will be completely released and now one must only shake the pan on a regular basis to make sure it does not stick again.)

Once the fritters were fried thoroughly, I set them aside and prepared a yogurt sauce by mixing Greek yogurt, a little salt, a little lemon juice, a chopped clove of garlic, and dried mint. I then placed my fritters into pita bread and garnished them with the yogurt sauce, fresh tomato, mint leaves, and chopped onion. So very tasty. Thanks, Sithi!

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I cooked up a storm yesterday so I'm going to be busy today posting everything. Fortunately we've recently gone on a summer schedule, which means three day weekends for the duration of the summer season. I'm not complaining!

Yesterday's lunch was Greek stuffed vegetables, or yemistas/gemistas (Γεμιστά). I ate my first real gemista on the island of Santorini, late at night after arriving on the island. I could barely believe my tastebuds, and taken together with the live music, dancing, and cool breeze blowing in from the Aegean I experienced that night, it made for a little moment of pure heaven.

This dish is Greek cuisine at its best. Like Vietnamese cooking, the Greeks are so fond of combining healthy foods such as vegetables and grains with fresh herbs; the results are both healthy for the body and exciting to the palate.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Begin by cutting the caps off four bell peppers and 2-3 ripe tomatoes. Remove the seeds from the bell peppers and remove the interiors of the tomatoes with a spoon. Retain the tomato pulp and chop. Set aside.

2. Saute one large onion in 3/4 cup of Greek olive oil. Next, add a handful of chopped mint leaves, handful of chopped dill, and a handful of chopped parsley. Once the fresh herbs are soft, add the tomato pulp and 1 tsp of tomato paste. Add just a little water unti the rice is cooked half-way (in other words, just beginning to get soft.) Note: if you are only making stuffed peppers without stuffed tomatoes, add a can of chopped tomatoes as a substitute for fresh tomato pulp.) Add salt and pepper to taste. (I used about 2 tsp salt, as its hard to judge at this stage how the final result will taste.)

3. Next, stuff the vegetables about 3/4 of the way with the half-cooked rice. Top of the remaining space with water, and then replace the caps. The idea here is to cook the rice the remainder of the way inside the vegetables, so that they absorb the excess moisture and flavors of the vegetables. Don't fill the vegetables all the way because the rice will be plumping up further. Cover the surfaces of the vegetables with a liberal amount of olive oil.

4. Bake the vegetables until they are soft and have begun to char on the outside. This slight blackening is a key flavor in the dish.

5. Allow to cool and serve at room temperature. You will find that the flavors can be enjoyed better at this temperature than when piping hot from the oven.

Opa! Serve with a glass of iced ouzo and water, if available!

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (5)

Babaganoush, or Middle Eastern eggplant puree, is another one of those classic dishes that figures prominently in my culinary regimen. While making the last batch, I figured I might as well photograph the process. It's really quite a simple dish, but over the years I've picked up tips here and there on getting the consistency and taste right that I felt might be useful to pass on.

1. The first step is to cut the eggplant in two and drizzle the entire surface with very good olive oil. (In my opinionated book, Greek olive oil is the only good olive oil. This can now be purchased from your local Trader Joe's, if you live in the U.S.) Place both pieces into the oven face-up at about 425F until the surface becomes a golden color. The idea here is to give the eggplant a smokey taste and to soften the interior at the same time.

2. Here's where technique comes in useful. I like to facilitate this step by placing the eggplant into a strainer, in the sink. With a spoon, spoon out the eggplant from its skin. This should happen very easily. Discard the skins.

3. Next, press the flesh of the eggplant softly to remove excess fluid. The purpose of this step is remove unnecessary liquids released during the baking process; this creates a thicker, richer babaganoush. Allow to cool and drain for a few minutes.

4. In a food processer, combine 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1-2 tsp olive oil, 1 chopped garlic clove, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3-4 tsp tahini, and a dash of black pepper. Add a small amount of the eggplant and puree until all everything is mixed quite well. Now add the remainder of the eggplant pulp, starting and stopping the food processer only a few brief times until the remainder of the flesh is mixed in but remains chunky. Remove to bowl. Taste, and fold in additional salt if required with a spatula.

Babaganoush can be served any way you like. At a bare minimum, drizzle the top with a little extra olive oil and then sprinkle with some paprika. I also love to eat mine with fresh tomato, chopped parsley, kalamata olives, and even capers. Served with pita bread, this is dish is a truly a guiltless pleasure. Enjoy.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 06:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (2)

This is my favorite season as everything is rapidly changing. From day to day, there is always something new to discover in my tiny garden.

This summer, I got my first crop of shishito peppers, which is a mild Japanese chili pepper. There are only a few of them but I'm still thrilled. With luck I'll be able to grow this plant as large as my jalapeno pepper plant and enjoy eating grilled shishitos topped with bonito flakes, as they are served at my local Japanese restaurant.

For the last few weeks, my guava tree has been producing a profusion of blossoms. This month, they are beginning to change into little fruits. It will be interesting to see how many fully mature. This is the tree's first full year in the ground and it has more than doubled in size. Last year, the tree had only been in the ground briefly when it produced only one fully mature guava. This time I think my chances for a bountiful crop are looking pretty good.

I purchased my dwarf key lime tree about three years ago. During the first year, while potted, it produced a copious amount of fruits for such a small tree. After being planted in the second year, it added a lot of growth but did not produce a single fruit! This year it is growing rapidly and produced a limited number of fruits, perhaps around ten or so. So far, this is a very unpredictable tree.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tzadziki, a Greek yogurt dip made with fresh cucumber and garlic, must be one of my all-time favorite snack dishes. I remember my first time innocently sampling it at a Greek restaurant in Copenhagen of all places and being totally wowed by its savory and sour flavors. Paired together with a crispy baguette, this dish is pure heaven.

What's more is that making tzadziki is totally simple.

1. First, grate or julienne a crispy cucumber -- English cucumbers work better than American cucumber because they have less seeds, taste less bitter, and are less watery. Then mix in a little salt. Allow to sit so that the salt draws out the excess liquid from the cucumber. Squeeze lightly after a few minutes and then place into a bowl with a portion of Greek yogurt. (Greek, or strained yogurt, is the key ingredient here. Don't be tempted to use runny American yogurt or you'll have a watery mess at the end. In the US, Fage Brand Greek yogurt can now be purchased at Trader Joe's.)

2. Now add 1-2 cloves of grated fresh garlic to the mixture, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp white wine vinegar*, 1-2 tsp fresh chopped mint, and salt to taste. Now place the tzadiki into the refrigerator so that the flavors have a chance to fully mingle. Serve with crispy baguette slices or pita. (*Lemon works just as well as a souring agent, in case you don't have white wine vinegar on hand.)

If you have leftover tzadiki, spoon it over roasted vegetables such as zucchini or eggplant -- it makes an incredible topping for either vegetable. Alternatively tzadziki works well as a vegetable dip.

Update! My kitchen restoration project is finally nearing completion. After waiting many weeks for my original cabinet hinges to be plated in chrome, their return allowed me to have the repainted cabinet doors rehung and to attach the new handles. Now the only thing left to do is add some cabinet door catches or magnets so that the doors stay shut and tile the walls in back of the stovetop and sink. Whew! Glad there's a light at the end of the tunnel...

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

When I showed up to work this morning, I had a big surprise sitting on my office chair: fresh figs! Yesterday my boss and I had been discussing his neighbor's fig tree, and not one to hide my jealousy I told him how much I wished I had fresh figs within arm's length. Apparently he snuck in over the weekend and left me a bag of them. Although Asian in origin, figs happen to thrive in our dry, hot desert climate.

Another reason I was excited was the fact I've never cooked with fresh figs before. This presented a number possibilities, but ultimately I decided to try making a fig chutney.

1.I first combined 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 onion (diced), 1 large knob of grated ginger, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp salt, a dash of allspice, and a dash of powdered cloves. This was brought to a simmer until 2/3 reduced.

2. I then de-stemmed the figs (4-5 large ones), cut into pieces, and added to the chutney mixture. This was in turn allowed to reduce until a chutney-like consistency was reached. Finally, I allowed the mixture to cool in the refrigerator before dabbing a spoonful next to a heaping portion of rice.

Yum! My first attempt at making chutney turned out pretty well and I think I made good use of the figs, especially considering I'll now be able to enjoy them with a number of meals rather than just one.

Posted by Evil Jungle Prince at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)