Deep Fried Everything and Azeri Cuisine

For my birthday my Dear gave me a deep fryer. I usually avoid deep-frying stuff to show some concern for my health, but I do like fried foods like everyone else so this was a welcome gift. I'd feel too guilty to buy myself a deep fryer, even if it would make a good addition to my galley gear. It requires at least 750mL of oil to start cooking-- not exactly frugal, but it does go a long way.


So two weeks ago I finally used the deep fryer, frying everything I can put my hands on. I began with a lunch of deep fried sausages and eggplant. For dinner, I fried potato wedges, Vienna sausages, and some canned salmon. The following day, I fried some Thai-style chicken wrapped in pandan leaves bought from SM. After which I had to reluctantly throw away the oil-- I don't usually consume 750mL of canola oil for just three meals.


This week I tried my hand at making saciçi, that afritada-like Azeri chicken dish I had in Baku. I departed from the original recipe though-- I used olive oil and butter instead of pure butter, I added a lot of garlic, and I cooked it with orange juice and slices. Also, I used bigger cuts of chicken and vegetables in my saciçi so I had to use more water while cooking; thus, the ensuing dish had a lot more sauce. It's quite greasy due to the copius amount of oil and butter, but the orange cuts through it a little bit. It was quite close to the saciçi I had in Baku, though I wish I used less water so the chicken and vegetables could've fried more. Next time I'll use smaller cuts of chicken.

Finally, just saw a video on Azeri cuisine:



Now I'm officially looking for a good Azeri (i.e., Turkish) restaurant in Manila.

Singapore Food Trip

Took a lot of pics, so I'm posting on my multiply. I have two posts:

Hainanese Chicken Rice, Char Kway Teow, etc.

Sha Tin Kitchen- restaurant review

Bangus Belly ala bangusbelly

Well, it's bound to happen given this blog's url (for those on Multiply, I'm writing this on http://bangusbelly.blogspot.com).

Ingredients:

bangus bellies
lemon juice
coarsely ground black pepper
garlic, minced
onion, minced
dried herbs mix (e.g., Italian Seasoning, Herbes de Provence)
olive oil

1. Marinate bangus bellies in lemon juice (you can also use lime or calamansi juice). Sprinkle with ground black pepper and dried herbs. Let it sit for an hour or more.

2. Stuff bellies with minced garlic and onion and fold over. You may stick in some toothpicks so the folded bellies will keep their shape and the minced garlic and onion will stay inside while cooking.

3. Drizzle with a little olive oil and broil or pan fry until golden brown.

Serve with steamed rice and sauteed leafy vegetables (I ate it with my old spinach recipe, sans the olives and Worcestershire sauce).

Of Corned Beef, Fasting, Salmon, and Chorizos

This week marks two major food events-- St. Patrick's Day and Holy Week-- both being Christian holidays and unintentional food days.

St. Patrick's Day is known for copious pints of Guinness and corned beef with cabbage. While the pints are truly St. Paddy's Day "fare", this article says that corned beef with cabbage is more of a stereotype. Speaking of corned beef, there is no corn (i.e., maize) in corned beef. The term "corned" refers to the old method of dry-curing beef with grains-- or corns-- of salt. Nowadays, corned beef is cured in salt water (process called brining), but the name has stuck.

Of course, this week is also Holy Week, so there will be no corned beef in Catholic homes on Friday. So when should Catholics really fast and abstain? According to the Code of Canon Law (Can. 1248-1253), "abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday", while abstinence is to be observed on "all Fridays". Note, however, that the bishops' conference (in our case, the CBCP) has final authority to determine what fasting and abstinence entail (Can. 1253). From what I remember of catechism, Catholics (at least Filipino Catholics) may substitute fasting or abstinence for some other act of piety or charity. In my experience, though, fasting is the first penitence to be substituted for piety as abstinence becomes an excuse to enjoy an all-seafood feast.

Speaking of seafood, I am the happy owner of eight 16-ounce fillets of smoked Alaskan sockeye salmon. I have four preferred ways of eating them: as is, in an omelette, with pasta, and sauteed with potatoes. The fillets are smoked and packed by Kasilof Fish Co.; their website-- ILoveSalmon.com-- perfectly describes me. Aside from the eight smoked fillets, I have six cans of salmon chunks and seven fillets of frozen salmon. Salmon ranks up there with bangus and fatty sardines as my all-time favourite fishes. One guess what I'll be abstaining into this coming Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Come Easter I'll be all fished out and will be raring to go back to meat. I currently have a pack of Campofrio jamon serrano and a can of La Noreñense Asturian chorizos in my pantry, and I'm looking for the perfect time (and recipe) to open them. As I said in a previous post, I think Spanish cured meats are the best of their kind out there. The Italians come close with their salami, pepperoni, and prosciutto, but chorizos, salchichon, and jamon still have a slight edge. I heard somewhere that the Spaniards concocted their great pork dishes and cured meats after the Reconquista, celebrating their freedom to eat pork after kicking out the Moors. Well, that's at least one unambiguously good thing that happened as a result of all those wars.

Sushi Nights and Steak Dinners

Whenever I go to the Bay Area, I make a list of restos to visit and dishes to taste-- Masu for sushi rolls, Joy Luck for dimsum, Red Robin for burgers, La Petite Camille for banh cuon, etc. The list often changes and is subject to whim, but there are always a few constants-- dishes I have to taste each and every Pacific crossing because, well, they're just too damn good. Two of those constants (see title) are courtesy of my brother-in-law, Chef Richard.

Sushi Night is all about California-style rolls and nigiris, which are Richard's specialties. The actual composition of the rolls depends on whatever was just bought at the supermarket, usually Suruki Supermarket in downtown San Mateo. Mainstays are unagi (roasted eel), maguro (tuna), toro (fatty tuna), and shake (salmon), usually combined in some combination with avocados, nori (seaweed sheets) and sushi-meshi (vinegared rice) to make the sushi rolls. Those red dots you see in the picture are drops of sriracha, a Thai chili sauce, which can also be used to make spicy tuna.

Another meal I always look forward to is my Steak Dinner. Now, I usually avoid beef and other red meat, but I drop my beef abstinence for special dishes, and this is one of them. Unlike most American steaks, this steak needs no sauce to make the meat taste better. There's really nothing better than perfectly-cooked marbly beef just off the griddle/pan/oven and onto your plate. I like my steaks medium rare, a little pink in the centre and very juicy. Richard says he doesn't make good steaks-- nonsense, since his steaks are some of the best I've had, and I'm not saying this just to be nice. Much better than the steak I had at Outback, really. On the picture you'll see my steak topped with herbed butter, on a bed of peppered brown rice and steamed vegetables (hey, we need something healthy to counter the steak).

Other great dishes I've had the pleasure of savouring include roasted vegetable antipasti, stuffed mushrooms, chicken breast in veloute sauce, beef stew, clam chowder, eggplant parmigiana, the list goes on-- all of them superb hits. There have been a few misses from time to time, of course, but Richard would be the first to call them misses. He sometimes dabbles in the catering business, so far limiting himself to small parties (20 people or less) in the Bay Area. I'd add his contact information right about now for would-be clients, but so far my Sis (Richard's wife) hasn't emailed me the contact info they'd like posted here. ;) When/If she does read this post, you'll see the info in the comments section below. Do contact them if you happen to be in the Bay Area and are thinking of having a small party.