re-discovering the kitchen

Cooking family meals has not been a main priority in my life lately. I am lucky to share the house with two good cooks, Annie and Richard and on the whole they prefer their own cooking to mine. I also prefer my own, I am a fussy eater and becoming more fussy as I age. But I can't be choosy if I don't want to cook. 

A few weeks ago, after we had our kitchen painted, we sorted through our vast collection of cookery books and I spotted a couple that I had asked for as gifts but never used. Among them was Mandalay - recipes and tales from a Burmese Kitchen by Mimi Aye. It is a beautiful book full of stories and beautiful photographs. Of course this can be problematic because however much I try, I am never going to replicate the dish as seen. But at the end of the day, the food needs to taste nice. If it looks stunning, this is a bonus. 

I made coconut chicken noodles with puffed noodles and a duck egg curry with braised butterbeans on the side. 

First up was the coconut chicken noodle dish. I am a bit rusty in the kitchen and South East Asian dishes can be quite involved with lots of ingredients but I managed to pull it together before the crowds became hangry and ordered in fish & chips. I was particularly pleased with the puffed noodles. It was most satisfying and fun to see rice noodles puff up in hot oil and turn into white curly strips of crunchy deliciousness. Next time I make them, I need to be quicker, get them out of the oil the moment they puff because they brown really quickly. Making the main dish was straightforward, the method is explained clearly. The ingredient list is also manageable. I was surprised to find paprika on the ingredient list, a spice I associate with Hungary. I overcooked the eggs a bit, what a difference to the yolk colour this makes. When the eggs are cooked just right, the yolk is golden, almost orange. I think the dish was well received although standards are high and it is sometimes hard to tell who does and who doesn't like it. I assure you, the dish tasted less beige than it looks on my photo! I always feel a bit silly when I take rushed photos of my dinner but it is what it is.  

The duck egg curry was most delicious. I like an egg curry, more than any other curry I think. It was dead simple to cook, just toss all the sauce ingredients (including paprika) in a pan and cook them down for an hour. All the remains to be done is boiling the eggs. I should not have mentioned that the eggs were duck eggs... some suspicious poking and prodding but I convinced the doubters that they tasted just like chicken eggs. And they do. Next time I'll be probably be using chicken eggs, easier to get hold off and cheaper, too. The braised butter beans were oh so yummy. They were essentially cooked in turmeric oil with lots and lots of sliced onions and a little salt. I served both with jasmine rice. I think it was a successful dinner and I enjoyed making it. 

There are a few more dishes I fancy trying, for example a cinnamon chicken dish, and some of the many fritter recipes and maybe a salad or two. In good time. We ran out of fish sauce, an ingredient in almost all the recipes. On the topic of fish sauce, I have a feeling it disagrees with my stomach but I can't think of any suitable replacement. I looked this up on the internet but all suggestions seem wrong. I wondered about Worcester Sauce but it is too acidic. 

I have more cookery books to rediscover so expect a few more food related posts in the near future. In the meantime, I shall entertain you with bits and bobs from our lives. Thanks for visiting 🙂