Time to spice things up..Our Singaporean favorite - Chilli Crabs

I'm gonna start what i call the "The Spice Trilogy". (You can almost hear the background of Star Wars playing right now...) Yes i am gonna introduce 3 spicy dishes over the next couple of blog entries..

1) Chilli Crab

2) Assam Fish Head 

3) Udang Pedas (Literally Spicy Chilli Prawns- One of my absolute favorite dishes EVER!!!)

Episode One: let's start with the easy one...Chilli Crabs. The famous Singapore Chilli Crab. The philosophy here is, it always seems hard until you actually try it! So don't ever let the name of dish scare you. Let's get going then..

Ingredients:

- Portion for 3 crabs (Alive please)

- 15 Shallots (sliced finely)

- 3-4 bulbs of garlic (finely chopped)

- 1 thumb of old ginger (sliced finely)

- 1 large onion (sliced)

- half to 3/4 bottle of tomato ketchup

- 3-5 table spoon of chilli sauce(with garlic..note: Not the super sweet type)

- 3 table spoon of white vinegar

- 1 medium bowl of warm water mixed with chicken stock (depending on how much sauce you want)

- 2 eggs

- Thai Fish sauce

Optional: 

- 3 to 5 chilli padi sliced (depending on how spicy you like it)

- 2 to 3 candle nut (chopped finely)

- Tabasco sauce (It's more for the bite..please feel free to add to taste...this is as i put improvisation)

I would assume by now that all the ingredients have been prepared and set aside. Ok now the fun part..killing crab. :) Just kidding, I'm not a sadist! 

Preparing the crab:

- Before you untie the crab, turn it over and stab into it's belly with either a sharp knife or just a chopstick will do. You'll see some liquid ooze out. Give it a while and make sure it's dead before you untie it.

- Pull out the claws first. (At the joints to the body) Watch the torns on the claws - best use a thicker cloth to hold the claw and just dislocate it.

- Next you can just pull off the head from the back ie the "crab-butt". The body should split into 2 as you do that. otherwise just chop it into half. Remove the gills. 

- Wash thoroughly - try using a toothbrush to clean off all the mud on the shells and the body.

Now you've completed the hard part...let's get to the fun part.. assembly! 

Cooking

 1) Pour about 1 cup of cooking oil into a frying pan. 

2) Throw in the ginger first. Followed by the shallots and garlic and finally the onion (Medium heat please) Optional on the chilli padi and candle nut. This is where it goes in. 

3) Once you can smell the flavors start to fill the kitchen, throw in the crab. Stir well and add a couple of dash of fish sauce. 

4) Cover and let it "steam" for about 1 to 2 minutes. 

5) Add-in the tomato ketchup and chilli sauce, stir well. 

6) Pour in your chicken stock and vinegar, turn up the heat

7) Almost there... throw in the eggs and stir well to help thicken the sauce. Finally..taste.. not salty, add more salt, not sweet enough, add a little sugar....personally, i like the bite with a little Tabasco sauce! Voila and you're done!

It's not that daunting is it? Once again...important reminder! Taste, taste, taste!! Enjoy!

Seafood Paella Singapore style

Since we're on Rice, i figured let's do another rice dish..something European but adapted to whatever tools we have. Of course ideally, in a perfect world, you can actually invest in a Paella pan or use the actual Valencia rice or calaspara but since we're about home cooking, let's try to keep this simple. If you have a relatively flat giant pan, this would work well. What you want is to get the heat distributed evenly. For me, unfortunately i have to improvise with atraditional chinese wok! :P

See those red stigma.
That's what ends up as saffron

A little bit of history for your conversations over dinner to impress your guests..You can do one of those.."Did you know that...blah blah blah"

- Paella originates from Valencia

- It's more a dish for the common man, think more our chicken rice type versus crab meat fried rice.

- Paella actually stems from the old french/latin word which means Pan.

- Saffron is actually the stigma from a flower. One of the most expensive spices in the world! A pinch cost me almost S$10!

For me personally, as you start cooking any dish, think about the origins/essence or as i would call it - the heart of the dish...this would lead you to the core flavors and hence ingredients and spices you need to put in. The unique flavors that makes it what it is! The rest is improvisation...

Ok enough history and philosophy...let's get down to cooking. So what are the essentials that give the paella it's flavor?

- Saffron

- Prawn/seafood stock if you're doing the seafood paella

Ingredients:

- Rice (Since Valencia rice is quite hard to find, you can just go for the Brani rice you find in the Singapore supermarts)

- Seafood: Prawns, mussels, squid, fish etc etc (Please feel free to be flexible)

- 2 large onions (finely chopped)

- 1 garlic (finely chopped)

- Olive Oil

- Tomatoes (Or the peeled can type will do as well)

- Light Soya sauce

- Paprika

Optional: Dry white wine

Preparations:

The Stock

- De-shell the prawns and remove the head. NOTE: DO NOT THROW AWAY THE SHELLS & HEAD! ( I actually do freeze these for stock in future if i do not use them for any dishes at that point in time)

- Clean the mussels thoroughly. Boil in a pot of water until they open up.

- Remove the mussels that open and put them aside first. Discard those which don't. Key here is don't overcook the mussels, they get all wrinkled up and lose their juiciness. Boil them just enough for them to open. Once again...DO NOT THROW AWAY THE STOCK! After you've removed the mussels, throw in the prawn shells and head and continue boiling. This will form your stock base!

- Boil until you see this "orangie" reddish foam on the surface. Now remove the shells and prawn head.

- If you are using fish as well, boil the fish before putting in the prawns. (Here's a little trick for fish treatment i learnt from the fish-head beehoon gurus: Before you put the fish into the pot, just dip them into a bowl of water with salt and corn starch. This will give a nice firm, smooth texture to your fish)

The Prawn and Squid

- Season the de-shelled prawns and squid with some grounded black pepper and light soya sauce

- Pour some olive oil into a pan. Throw in about 2 table spoon worth of garlic. Fry at medium heat.

- Throw in the squid first as it takes longer to cook. Remove the squid and set aside

- Turn up the heat and throw in the prawns. Fry until it's just turned orangie/red. Remove and set aside

At this point, you might have some "Seafood juice" accumulating in the frying pan. Pour these back into the stock you prepared earlier.

Cooking:

1) Pour about 1 cup of olive oil into the frying pan

2) Throw in the onions/garlic (Fry until you can smell the fragrance)

3) Throw in the tomatoes

4) Create a small crater in the middle of the mixture, pour some olive oil in and fry the saffron. When the saffron gets heated up, it starts to diffuse the flavors and coloring.

5) Add in a couple of shakes of paprika for coloring. (Not too much)

6) Throw in the rice and mix well with all the yummy mixture. Low heat.

7) Depending how much rice you're cooking, add the stock. Add some salt to taste.(Once again your preferred level of saltiness)

8) Let it fry and cook for a bit. What i do now is not original and conventional from the recipe: I transfer all these into a rice cooker :) . Originally if you have a flat pan or paella pan, you can just let it cook in the pan. But what the heck, it gets the job done!

9) Once the rice is done cooking, remove into a baking/serving pan or glassware.

10) Arrange the mussels and prawns (And seafood onto the rice)

11) Preheat the oven to 220 Deg Celsius and pop everything in for about 5 to 8mins

Voila! You're done. By the way, the pic above is pre-oven. You should get a nice rich coloring on the prawns. Cut some lemon slices and place it around the serving dish for decor and if you wanna squeeze in the lemon for the zesty taste. 

Bon Appetit! 

Ok how about some chicken chinese style for a change!! Hainanese Chicken Rice! Plus some side dishes..

Since i am at least half Hainan(My other half is Teochew by the way), i figured it is appropriate to kick start the oriental recipes with what better than Hainanese Chicken Rice! Au Naturelle! No artificial favoring! It is really not as hard as it looks! My first attempt at this was about 12 years ago strangely in France when i was staying with a French family while i was doing my exchange. I decided to cook for them as a farewell. You ready? Ok this is gonna be a long post since we are going to do a meal ie 4 DISHES! The philosophy here is don't waste the goodness that is called stock..the reason why there are 4 dishes is because one of the dishes actually leads to 2 others..We are gonna cook:

1. Hainanese Chicken

2. Of course the Chicken Rice

3. Then don't waste the stock..make some yummilicious soup! (If you can't finish the soup, you can keep it, freeze and cook it with maggie mee or beehoon the next day!)

4. Lastly some vege.

Ingredients for Chicken:

- A whole chicken of course

- 1 bulb of garlic (Peeled and smash)

- 1 thumb worth of old ginger (Peel, cut into 2 to 3 pieces and smash to bring out the flavors)

- Salt 

Preparation: 

- Wash the chicken thoroughly 

- Rub salt evenly on the outside and inside 

- Stuff the cavity with the garlic and ginger

- Use a toothpick to close up the cavity to prevent the stuffings from coming out

Leave it for a while to season bout 10 to 15mins

Cooking the Chicken:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil

2. Put in the chicken. The water will cool when the chicken is put in. 

3.  Bring it to boil again then turn down to mid-low heat. The pot should be covered. Boil for 10mins

4. Turn the chicken and boil for another for another 10mins. Remove the cover and turn off the fire completely

5. Leave the chicken in the water for about another 5 to 10mins and Voila you're done! 

6. Take the chicken out and start chopping it up! 

Optional: You can actually take the chicken out and put in cold water with ice to give it the boon thong kee texture before carving it up. 

Ok Ok..Presentation you say..add in a little sliced up cucumber to give it the authentic "feeling" you get from eating chicken rice at the hawker centre!

Ingredients for Chicken Rice : Serves 6 people

- 2 and half full garlic (chopped finely)

- 5 to 6 shallots (chopped finely)

- 2 slices of old ginger (chopped finely)

- 1 cup of Rice (Wash and put aside)

- Some of the chicken stock you had earlier prepared from the chicken

- Oil and Salt

Cooking the Chicken Rice: 

1. Pour some oil into a wok or frying pan

2. Pour in the finely chopped garlic, shallots and ginger. Fry until you can smell the fragrance. Don't over do this ie DO NOT FRY UNTIL the garlic turns brown. 

3. Pour the fried mixture with the oil into the rice.  Add in about 2 pinches of salt and mix everything well. 

(I would assume by now that the rice is in the rice cooker)

4. Pour in the stock and Cook the rice! 

5. Open the cover, smell and start salivating! Take a taste, once again, if it is not salty enough, just add salt sparingly and slowly until you reach your liking of saltiness.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the chicken rice here. If you can see the container with the red cover in the picture below. The rice is still sitting in there...Ooops.

This is what "Wong Bok" looks like! 

Ingredients for soup:

- Fish maw (Soaked in water)

- fish balls

- Chinese cabbage or "Wong Bok - i was just educated by my better half that it is actually called Wong Bok"  (Peel and wash thoroughly). Wong Bok is beautiful for cooking soups! 

- Salt to taste

Optional: Dried scallops (Soak in water to soften it first) 

Boiling the Soup: 

1. Throw everything into the stock and boil ! Make sure to boil until the cabbage is soft. The cabbage adds sweetness to soup! Scallops - additional flavors!

2. Taste and add salt to your level of liking! 

Guess what? Ta da..you're done!

Cooking Vege: 

- Wash the Xiao Bai Cai

- Peel and slice up a clove of garlic

- Pour a little oil into a frying pan

- Throw in the garlic

- Throw in the Xiao Bai Cai

- Add either fish sauce or some oyster sauce.(Not too much cos it'll get salty)

Bon Appetit! 

Let me know how it goes! One of the key things to watch out for is the fire control while cooking the chicken. Cos under high heat, the skin tears. And as always, make sure to taste your food as you go..don't over do it! As i have mentioned earlier, it is easier to add salt if it is not salty enough than to remove it! 

You're now ready to open your own Hainanese Chicken Rice stall! :)

Roasted Herb Butter Chicken with Brandy and Honey...sounds yummy right??

This is one of those really simple recipes I've adapted from one of my favorite chefs Anthony Bourdain. My girlfriend loves this chicken recipe but then again she loves my cooking...urhmm cough cough.."not shy".

My philosophy here is that there is really no right or wrong in the art or the art of cooking..if you like it looking more tan, just add more a little black soya saunce, if you like the taste of bourbon, give it a shot...don't get so hung up about getting it exact. There are some basics of course and the rest is just go with the flow. Things like salty, spicy, sweet, texture are basics..things like combi of herbs and spices for certain type of meat are basics..we'll get there.

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thighs
- Mixed herbs (You can get the dried mixed herbs from any supermart)
- Half block of butter
- 1 x tablespoon honey
- 1 to 2 tablespoon of brandy
- S&P
- 1 to 2 large purple onions quartered
Optional 
- Bacon

Preparation: 
- Rub the pieces of chicken with a dash of mixed herbs, a pinch of salt and pepper (Make sure to massage it, give it some love). Leave it for about 5 to 10mins.
- For those who prefer more colors can add a dash of black soya saunce.. if not then just proceed to the next step.
- Put the half block of butter, honey and brandy in a bowl. Melt it in a microwave oven. Stir the mixture and add in some mixed herbs
- Pour the flavored butter mixture into the chicken. Make sure to rub it down well. You will see that the butter mixture cover the chicken.
- Put the mix in the fridge and season for at least 4hours.
You ready to rumble?

From The Naked 

Cooking:
1. Preheat oven to 220 deg
2. Place the chicken with the hardened butter mix on a tray.
3. Optional: Put some bacon over it to prevent it from burning too quickly. It also adds a little extra taste.
4. Spread the onion all around. (Secret - Onion and butter is a pair made in heaven)
5. Put the chicken in the oven and roast for 15 to 20mins. (Ps check to see if it's cooked on each side and remember to turn it to prevent burning)


Ok as the chicken is roasting, this is where you start salivating, (stand-by a bowl under your mouth)...as the lovely smell of herb infused butter with onions fill the kitchen..and Voila!

To Hallelujah....are you salivating yet..?

You can also use this recipe with a spring chicken if you have a rotisserie to ensure even roasting. Slight differences in preparation:
- For the butter mixture, instead of melting it down, just soften the butter and mix in the herbs, honey and brandy
- Rub in the herb butter mixture in between the skin and the meat. You can actually pull the skin apart from the meat..(Yes skin is actually quite elastic..) Rub some of the mixture on the outside.
-  You can actually stuff the chicken with mixture of bacon, sausages (My personal favorite: VALLEY CHEF), onions, carrots...blah blah..whatever else you feel inspired to stuff and can fit. Use a string to close up the opening.

Enjoy! Let me know how it goes!

BTW, for those of you who are more diligent, you can use mixture of fresh herbs as recommended by the Guru but i think dried herbs work just fine for me in this fusion recipe.