GLOSSARY: CHINESE FERMENTED BLACK BEANS OR DOUCHI

Chinese fermented black beans or Douchi is a popular Chinese flavouring that is used in cooking and to make black bean sauce.

Douchi is made by salting and fermenting soybeans. The process turns the beans black, soft and quite dry. It has a spicy smell, with a taste that is salty and somewhat bitter and sweet.

Douchi should not be confused with black turtle beans, that are commonly used in Central American, South American and Caribbean cuisines.

Douchi is usually used to flavour fish or stir-fried vegetables (particularly bitter melon and leafy vegetables). Unlike some other fermented soybean-based foods such as natto (a Japanese speciality made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis) or tempeh (Javanese fermented soybean cake), douchi is used only as a seasoning, and is not meant to be consumed in large quantities, being typically much more salty.

Small packets of douchi are available wherever Chinese groceries are sold. Use according to packet or recipe instructions.

BLACK BEAN SAUCE/PASTE


In Chinese cuisine, condiments such as black bean paste, black bean sauce or black bean garlic sauce is made from douchi, with garlic and soy sauce usually added to the beans. This paste is commercially available in glass jars from companies such as Lee Kum Kee. Use as a marinade, stir-fry seasoning or sauce over rice, noodles and all kinds of dishes such as my CHICKEN AND CHILLI BLACK BEAN SAUCE.

RECIPE: RICE PAPER ROLL DIPPING SAUCES

These are two types of dipping sauces I normally make to serve with my rice paper rolls.

DIPPING SAUCE 1

1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce
1/4 cup (60ml) water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic - minced
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground fresh chili paste

DIPPING SAUCE 2

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon finely chopped peanuts (optional)

To make the sauces:

In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili paste OR

In small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce and peanuts.

Serve with VIETNAMESE RICE PAPER ROLLS WITH PRAWN FILLING.

RECIPE: GOLDEN FRAGRANT (KAM HEONG) FRIED EGGS

Using the GOLDEN FRAGRANT CRABS recipe, I decided to serve the sauce with fried eggs. The results? Just as Yummo. It is a great alternative to chilli sauce, especially when used with fried rice.

Ingredients – I halved the measurements of my GOLDEN FRAGRANT CRABS.

* 100 gm shallots

* 1/2 large head of garlic

* 10 Serrano chillies - depending on how hot you want your dish

* Small handful dried shrimps - soaked in warm water to soften then drained

* Small handful dried red chillies – de-seeded and soaked in boiling water to soften. Drain before using

1 stalk lemongrass - thinly sliced

1 tbsp of fish curry powder (I used Baba Brand)

1 tbsp oyster sauce (see my GLOSSARY post on OYSTER SAUCE)

1 stalk curry leaves

Salt and sugar to taste

50 ml water

Method

Blend all the * ingredients in a blender with minimal water.

Heat oil in a large wok and add the curry leaves. Fry for 10 secs and add the blended ingredients. Fry till fragrant and until the paste has slightly thickened.

Add in the curry powder and oyster sauce. Fry till the oils seeps through the paste.

Add in the water and lemon grass . Gently simmer for 2 to 3 mins. Next add in salt and sugar to taste. Turn off the heat.

Now, prepare the eggs. You may either serve the eggs hard boiled (see my tip on HOW TO COOK PERFECT HARD BOILED EGGS) or deep fried.

To deep fry the eggs, heat about 1 cup of oil in a wok until very hot.

Carefully crack the egg into the oil, making sure you that do not break the yolk in the process. Season with a few shakes of salt and using a slotted egg slide, carefully flick the hot oil over the top of the egg. Turn the fire down to medium heat at this stage. DO NOT at any stage, turn/flip the egg over.

If you like your yolk runny, lift when all the translucent egg white has turned true white (if it is translucent, the whites are not yet cooked) but the yolk is still wobbly in the middle. If you like your yolk well cooked, keep on ‘bathing’ the egg with the oil until the yolk has hardened.

Lift, drain on paper towels and place on a plate. Spoon the GOLDEN FRAGRANT sauce over the eggs and serve as desired.

RECIPE: ORANGE SAUCE

Ihad my wonderful soon-to-be-ex boss, his lovely wife and their two adorable girls over for dinner last night. Mr G made the ORANGE AND POPPY SEED CAKE (click on the link for the recipe) for dessert and I made an ORANGE SAUCE to go with the cake. I can’t remember where I got the recipe from but it is really nice and if I may say so, a hit with last night’s dessert.

Here is how I made it.


Ingredients
1 cup freshly squeezed oranges (about 3 large oranges) – strained
¼ cup sugar
¼ orange liqueur – I used Cointreau™
Method

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and whilst stirring constantly, reduce the ingredients to a syrup like consistency.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour over desserts such as ORANGE AND POPPY SEED CAKE, ice cream or pancakes.

PS: You could omit the orange liqueur and add 1 to 2 drops of orange essence instead and up the sugar by a tablespoon.

RECIPE: EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) AND MINT CHUTNEY

My mother used to make this all the time to have with either curries or dhal. I have since made this as a dip to have with either samosas or pita bread or as a sauce (warmed) with lamb roast. This dish of Indian origins (I think) does not clash with the traditional Western lamb roast – in fact I think it highly compliments it. It makes the meal very cosmopolitan; like my household!

I could eat this by itself with hot PURIS or CHAPATTIS but there would be a riot in the house if I did – the G carnivores would go on strike!

I therefore made a DRY MEAT CURRY, STIR FRIED PAK CHOY WITH MUSTARD AND EGG and CUMIN AND CARROT RICE to go with the chutney. I will post the recipes in instalments this week.

Here’s the recipe for EGGPLANT AND MINT CHUTNEY.

Ingredients
2 medium or 1 large eggplant/aubergine (see picture below)
3 medium red onions (try not to use brown onions)
8 fresh large red chillies – I left half of the seeds intact and chopped it roughly
1 heaped tbsp tamarind pulp mixed with scant 1 cup of water. Sieve the tamarind juice but don’t discard the tamarind pulp. You may need a second extraction (make with only half cup of water) if the chutney is very thick or not sour enough.

Method
On a high open flame, grill the eggplant until the skin is completely charred (see picture). Leave to cool on a plate. Do not discard any juices that may develop on the plate. Use it in the blending process.

Using a small sharp knife, scrape off the skin (like scraping burnt toast), rinse briefly under a cool tap to remove any leftover charred skin.

Place the onions, chillies and 1 cup of tamarind juice in a blender and blend until nearly fine. It doesn’t have to be too fine at this stage because you are going to add the eggplant in now with any of its juices. Add a tsp of salt and blend until fine. Add 2nd tamarind juice extraction and more salt if required. Refrigerate until cool and serve as desired.



PS: I asked Mr G to buy me some ‘big’ eggplants from the supermarket (as opposed to the Lebanese eggplants) and this is what he brought home. I guess it’s my fault for not being specific. Aren’t they humongous???

RECIPE: STRAWBERRY COULIS

My apologies to anyone who may have left comments on my blog. I made changes to the blog yesterday but it all went haywire today. Thank god I had made a backup of my original blog. If you have posted comments, I ask that you please resubmit your comments and I will endeavour to answer them. Once again, apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Now that I have cleared up that issue, here’s my second contribution to the STOP FOOD WASTE CAMPAIGN. Enjoy.

Ingredients
75 g caster sugar
¼ cup water
150 g strawberries – hulled and halved
½ to 1 tsp Cointreau (Orange Liqueur) - optional

Method
In a blender, puree all the ingredients (except Cointreau). Pour into a small saucepan and on medium heat, boil the mixture until it slightly thickens. Remove from heat and add in the Cointreau (if using).

Cool and serve as a topping for ice cream, fruit salads or pancakes/crepes.

RECIPE: CHILLI GINGER SAUCE (FOR HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE)

Serve with Hainanese chicken rice or any other dish as desired such as fried chicken or spring rolls.

Ingredients
10 fresh red chillies
2 to 3 cloves garlic
5 cm fresh ginger
Sufficient Hainanese Chicken cooking stock (to ensure that the blades of your blender can rotate – about ¼ cup)
Juice from fresh lime – to taste
Salt – to taste

Method
Put all ingredients (except salt and lime) into a blender. Process. Add lime and salt to taste. Serve with the Hainanese Chicken Rice.

RECIPE: NUOC CHAM SAUCE

Ingredients
70 g palm sugar
½ cup boiling water
¼ cup fish sauce
1 tbsp white rice vinegar
2 tbsp lime juice
3 bird’s eye chilli – finely chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped

Method
Put the sugar in a bowl and pour the boiling water over it, stirring until completely dissolved. Add all other ingredients, stir well and use as dipping sauce for spring rolls or in dishes such as CARAMELISED PORK.

RECIPE: GRAVY (FOR CHICKEN OR MEAT ROAST)

Ingredients
Pan juices from roast
1 clove garlic – grated
1 cup water
3 tbsp Gravox – Supreme variety

Method
Pour out all the oil from the roasting pan into a container (can be used for future roasts) and place one corner of the pan on the stove. This makes it easier to cook the gravy.

Mix the garlic into the water and add in the Gravox. Turn on the heat and pour this solution into the roasting pan. Whilst stirring the gravy, try to scrape all the juices from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and continue stirring until gravy thickens. Remove from heat and serve with roast.

RECIPE: CHEESE SAUCE (FOR VEGETABLE, CHICKEN OR MEAT ROAST)

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
Salt, pepper and nutmeg
2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Method
Melt butter in saucepan. Remove from heat and add the flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg and blend until smooth. Return to heat and stir over medium heat for 1 minute.

Gradually add milk, stirring continuously to maintain smooth consistency. Continue stirring until sauce starts to bubble and thicken.

Reduce heat and cook for a further 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses until melted. Serve with vegetables or roasts such as pork or chicken.