Bestest Fish and Chips

Ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing more pleasurable than biting into a beautifully battered fish and crispy golden chips. I have perfected the batter for fish and chips and I am contemplating whether i should share it...

Well... I will. Simply because I think everyone deserve to have good fish and chips. :)

Now, most people think that fish and chips are the easiest to make. Just simply whack up a batter and fry your potatoes and you have it, right? Not quite.

You see, there is a certain science to making the batter perfectly crisp on the outside while the fish is moist and juicy on the inside. Temperature is one of the most important factors - you need to deep fry your fish and chips in this temperature, 350degrees F (or 175 C), so that your battered fish and potatoes won't be too oily and soggy. Nothing cuts the steam more than having a limp piece of fish on your plate. That being said, get a cooking thermometer for your kitchen if you don't have any. You need it to gauge the oil's temperature and you can use it for other things too, they last forever anyway.

Let's start with the batter. The secret ingredient is yeast. Yes, yeast. The same kind you use to make bread. Prepare the yeast first before prepping your fish, so that it has time to grow and froth.

Batter:
1/4 teaspoon yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water, with a teaspoon of sugar. Wait, till it's foamy before use (approx. 15 mins).
1.5 cups of flour
1 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Method:
1. Add flour into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add your yeast mixture, water, salt and baking soda. Mix with a spoon - don't worry about clumps, they are part of the yummy crispy bits.
2. Consistency of your batter should be like a thick white school glue with bits of clumps. Let it sit in a warm place and let the yeast do it's work. The batter will be slightly risen from the carbon dioxide released from the yeast...that's the thing that makes your batter crispy. Leave the batter while you go prep your fish.

Fish:
500 grams of cod/monkfish/or any semi-fatty fish (do not use tilapia, please).
salt and pepper for seasoning
1/4 cup flour for coating

Method:
1. If you've got big fillets of cod, cut them into 3 or 4 parts length wise. Pat dry with a paper towel if fish is wet.
2. Season some salt and pepper on the fish and the dredge it in flour. Tap extra flour out of the fish and let them sit on a clean plate. The flour helps the batter clings to the fish better.

Ready to fry:
Take your fish and batter it in your frothy batter and deep fry in oil that is 350degrees hot. It takes 2-4 minutes on each side. Once it's golden brown, take it out of the oil with a slotted spoon and onto a paper towel. Voila...very crispy fish that STAYS crispy and tastes like the stuff you get from a mom and pop's joint in Great Britain. The winning sign is that crisp sound it makes when you try to break the fish into two :)

Chips:
Now for chips. Have you ever wondered WHY when u try to make fries from fresh potatoes, they always turn out limp and greasy? There are many reasons, one of them is temperature. Perfect temperature is again 350F. And the other reason is, there is simply too many liquid in the potato to start off with, hence the limpness.Here's how you can have a winner for fries every time - you just need to boil these potatoes (cut up in thick fingers, 0.5inchx0.5inch approx.) until they're soft and almost flaky (20-25 minutes on fierce boiling water); drained them and let them rest until the water have evaporated and then deep frying them until crispy golden brown. I got this tip from Anthony Sedleck, that new Food Network star guy who jumps_ever_so_slightly every time he talks. Annoying.

It does pay when you do this extra step because it's reward ALWAYS outweighs the work. You will get crispy, flaky and perfectly cooked fries. EVERY TIME. Sigh...:) I have made this no-fail chips a million times since because my partner LOVES it. "The store-bought-freezer-fries won't do it no more", he said. I don't blame him.

Ravioli with "orange" Stuffing - Two Ways

One of the different types of raviolis

Raviolis are sold between $5-$7 for a big bag in the supermarket close to where I live. The prices fluctuates according to brand but regardless of brand, taste and quality they all have one thing in common - convenience. The raviolis are nicely pre-made for you and all you need to do is boil some salted water and cook these raviolis until al-dente.

BUT.

I am a masochist. I have always been a masochist. I like the hard, painful and the long winded way. My family and some friends think I am quite a nut. So I made raviolis myself, from scratch - dough, filling, whatever. Maybe I like to bask in the ray of self-perpetuated glory before a plate of ravioli while I look liked I have just fought the war with a rolling pin and some flour. Maybe, I just like things done from scratch so that I can appreciate the culinary splendor better and as such take me another step further into perfecting my ultimate dumpling. Maybe, I'm just a masochist.

Actually, dear foodies, it's not exactly hard to make raviolis. Our Chinese ancestors have been making pot stickers and wontons since even before the 7 kingdoms were united - what's hard about making raviolis except it's tedious and time consuming? So don't attempt ravioli if you're hungry :)

To make raviolis, start with this link ----> Making Ravioli

To make the "orange filling":
1 sweet potatoes, boiled until soft
3 cloves of garlic, boiled together with sweet potatoes
1/2 cup of pumpkin filling
1 teaspoon kosher salt
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 big sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped *use dry rosemary if unavailable*

Method:
1. In a food processor, put in boiled sweet potatoes, squeeze out the soft garlic from its peel, pumpkin filling, salt, pepper, olive oil, rosemary.
2. Blitz until you get a smooth and creamy paste
3. Use as a filling for your ravioli. Follow the instructions from the link above because that's what I used as my guideline.

If you want meaty stuff, you'll have to wait until i do a meaty ravioli with mushrooms or google for a recipe if you cannot wait :)

This ravioli is not stuffed with oranges, it is stuffed with an orange paste made from sweet potatoes and pumpkin. It is very delicious because I love the savory sweet flavor of the pumpkin-sweet potato filling. I flavored the filling with freshly chopped rosemaries so every pocket of ravioli emanates of rosemary and a light sweetness.

We all know the traditional way of eating ravioli, which is cooking the stuffed pasta until it's done and eating it with your fav. marinara sauce, cream or aioli. But I have a better idea. I deep fried my ravioli into a crispy golden brown and used my tomato marinara sauce as dip :) It's SO wonderful eating it that way. It's also the perfect food to entertain ;)


Remember to sprinkle some salt on the fried raviolis - dip and eat :)

MY LE CREUSET, Oh how i love thee

Oh my birthday, ahem, not too many moons ago, I was presented with a le Creuset cast-iron pot that is almost 25 years old. But because it's so rarely used, it's almost new. Can you believe it??

With a gaping mouth and wide sparkled eyes, I felt like my dream came true. And then I reached out to it to hold it for the very first time and....almost dislocated my elbows. The bloody pot has to be at least 10 pounds heavy. It's a very large pot and apparently they don't make it that large anymore. Unfortunately I don't know how many quartz it can hold but on the cover, it says H. Model H, i think. I googled it and I can't find anything on Model H of Le Creuset's collection. Oh well, I have a Le Creuset now!!!! *grins*

Here's my orange honey:

Here's my orange honey in action, roasting vegetables for my badge of vegetable broth:

The the multi-purpose vegetable broth:
3 large carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
4-5 sticks of celery, diced roughly
2 large onion, diced roughly
1 head of fennel and its leaves
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400 F or 200 C and prep your vegetables. Wash them and pat dry.
1. Combine all the vegetables together into a baking dish or (the Le Creuset ;)) pot.
2. Add olive oil, salt, pepper in and start mixing them until the vegetables are well coated.
3. Pop the vegetables into the oven and let it roast for up to 45 minutes or until corners of the vegetables are slightly brown.
4. Once the vegetables are done, take your pot out (or if you're using a baking dish pour every bit of thing out into a pot) and add 7 Litres of water. Bring it to a boil, cover and let it simmer for up to 2 hours.
5. Let it cool down and sieve the roasted vegetables out. Pour the broth into individual mason jars or containers. Keep in freezer until needed.

Broths like these are so handy and healthy. Just pop some noodles in, add your favorite ingredients in and voila, a nice meal. Or you can use it as braising liquid as well as to cook your favorite rice recipes. Roasting the vegetables before hand gives your broth a full bodied and rich flavor, see the beautiful rich brown broth in the picture? It's flavor, flavor, flavor! But you can definitely skip the roasting step during unbearably HOT summer days :)


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A lot of people grade the cambridge diet as the only idiot proof diet. The hoodia diet pill is good too and much better than its adversary, adipex.

The Ultimate Smoked Meat

I live in a city famed for housing one of the best, if not the best, smoke meat joint in the world. Schwartz's, a Hebrew delicatessen has been serving up it's specialty smoked meat for almost 80 years. What is laudable about this place is that even after so many years of fame, the little shop set on St. Laurent's boulevard hasn't changed since 1928 - it never expanded or franchised. The family's smoke meat secret stays within the family, and rightfully so.

While it's competitors, Ruebens et. al. have expanded to several restaurants across Quebec, Schwartz's stayed a uni-business. And due to that, even under extreme temperatures of -28 degrees, you will see a long line waiting to get into Schwartz's for their smoke meat sandwiches. It is definitely "a smoked meat sandwich worth dying for", according to the Montreal Gazette.

And I crave for it soooo much. I lived quite far away from this smoked meat haven. Being extremely under-dressed with a weather of -2 the other day, me and my partner forged through the bitter wind on St. Laurent Boulevard, after having a nice Italian dinner at a posh restaurant nearby called Primadonna, for a pound of smoked meat. Only $9.95/lb and worth several delicious smoked meat sandwiches, once taken home. And it's allllll mine!

This is my loot!

I speak so much of it to my family and friends and yet, this is the first time I've actually posted a picture of Schwartz's smoked meat. Other times, I was just too busy wolfing it down to be arsed about taking pictures :P

When two of my friends came to visit from US and UK, I took them to Schwartz's - and they both loved it. Again, because it looked so good when the sandwiches arrived, we just tucked in without even thinking twice about taking a shot!

In Penang, you'd say "if you haven't had their Curry Mee, Char Kuey Teow, Nasi Kandar, Kueh Chap, Farlim's Hokkien Mee, Anson (sp?) Street's Assam Laksa and crabs in Tanjung Tokong, then you have never really been to Penang". Same goes in Montreal, "if you're in Montreal and you haven't been to Schwartz's then you have never really been to Montreal at all". And I speak of this in a purely gastronomical sense :)

Today, Schwartz's is a landmark of Montreal - follow your nose or lookout for a strangely long queue. It's a sign for awesome food, ahead! The waiters in Schwartz's are all either cousins or brothers as they all have green eyes, a white apron strapped on their waist and a white Schwartz's t-shirt. Some of them are even quite hot (and friendly) :P - now that's a double whammy!

If you think my sandwich looks mean (mine has been bastardized with spinach and dijon mustard), it's nothing as compared to the deal they serve you in Schwartz's.

Now that's what I call "all decked up!". On rye and Schwartz's Yellow Mustard with a cherry cola to down it all.

If any of you are coming over to Montreal, I'll definitely take you to Schwartz's - it's become my personal duty to introduce these marvelously smoked meats that melts in your mouth to everyone I know.


Front view of Schwartz's, taken from Man In A Suitcase.

Rah! Rah! Rah! First Published Review!

Haha I'm quite excited. My first online restaurant review published on Vezeo.com - a San Francisco base international travel/food blog. They're just starting out but already they have quite a collection on restaurant reviews from around US and Canada. Actually, I have 5 restaurant reviews published on Asian Gourmet Magazine's fall edition 2007 on their "Eating Out..." section but I haven't gotten to scanning them yet due to other uncontrollable circumstances like EXAMS AND WORK :/ pffttt.... I will get to them soon.

Anyway back to this review published on Vezeo, I wrote about Tokyo Sushibar, a Japanese restaurant located in Old Montreal. The restaurant has a very specific name, even though they serve a myriad of Japanese fares. But they have been around for ages; I guess they must have started as a sushi bar before expanding into a full-fledge restaurant. Here's a screen shot of said review *beams with pride* :D

The article was published on November 5th but ....I sorta forgot about it until today.. Hehehe!

You can read the whole article here: Tokyo Sushibar; It's all in the rice!


Edit: It appears that I have been too quick to be joyful over this review posted. In my haste and excitement, I failed to read the article with thought and has now realized that the article posted up on that site has been modified beyond recognition. I am pissed. They have changed my article, presumably, to shorten it and in the process made it sound like it was churned out a word processing machine. It lacks soul and character; the article was VERY cold - as you would have noticed but was too nice to tell me so i could still keep my bubble (I love you guys :)). If they had wanted it to be shorter, they should have come back to me and I would gladly shorten it without compromising its fluidity - but they didn't so I am going to cook up a raging storm with them now.

I have wrote to them and to tell them how I feel about this. Let's see what happens.

In the mean time, you might wanna read the original article here - tell me if there isn't a difference and if mine isn't better.

Word to the wise: It’s all in the rice.

One of the many Japanese restaurants that litter the streets of Old Montreal is Tokyo Sushi Express. Do not let its name fool you into thinking that this is a sushi counter/bar; this is a seat in restaurant that specializes in sushis. With its exquisite décor that rings a familiar bell with the far East, one is welcomed with a nicely lit restaurant that smells like spicy sandalwood and Mirin. With large glass windows, the restaurant is situated in an old stoned building overlooks the busy St. Paul’s cobbled street, bustling with locals and tourists alike.

The welcoming sight and smell forged an impeccable but fleeting impression as the waiters were not only disorganized but unfriendly. Without a smile, we were finally seated to a table much earlier than the standard supper time. Being given their dinner menu and wine list, I began scrounging its content and was very pleased with their selection of sushi and Japanese fares. Everything from Nigiri to Sashimi to the humble but delicious Oyakodon were available.

Since Tokyo Sushi Express is known for their exceptionally good sushi, naturally it became our selection for our meal.

I have dined in many Japanese restaurants only to find many disappointing sushi, which is the most basic of Japanese cuisine. It is always in the rice! Sushi masters takes 10 years in their training to perfect their rice cooking skills before they were allowed to advance into making sushi, and for a very good reason too. The sushi rice must not be too soggy or mushy, and yet it must be glutinous enough to hold its shape showcasing every grain of glistening rice with a well balanced flavor of sweet, salty and sour. The perfect sushi rice makes for a perfect sushi. Everything else is secondary.

Imagine my pleasure when I bit into my 3 Jewel seafood (shrimp, sea urchin and scallops) roll and found it to be the perfect sushi; excellent rice and fresh, fresh seafood all rolled into one. Frankly, it was quite a surprise to find the quality of their sushi rice exceed my expectation. I was ready to devour under par but edible sushi rice due to their lack of quality service and management style. I only have myself to blame for such quick judgement.

There is nothing more comforting than the crunch of nori seaweed, bouncy texture of its sticky rice and the sweetness of fresh seafood all bundled in one. For this beautiful morsel of food on my chopstick, I forgave their lack of friendliness in service.

After consuming what seemed to be a piece of heaven, it was not long before the cravings for something sweet swelled within me. I beckoned a bored looking waiting shifting around the bar area to bring me the dessert menu and without much contemplation, I ordered their green tea ice cream as the perfect ending for my perfect sushi meal. What’s the point of having chocolate gateau in a Japanese restaurant when you can have it at your nearest cake shop?

Alas, what is best about green tea ice cream is that unexpected bittersweet flavor that no bittersweet chocolate can emulate. I would have liked to have my green tea ice cream slathered in green tea sauce but I guess this will have to do. I enjoyed every bite immensely here but I would have enjoyed it more had their service been more pleasant.

Tokyo Sushi Express is like an unpolished gem, tucked in between English pubs and high scale French restaurant in Old Montreal; unexpectedly surprising and full of potential.


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A healthy diet is the key to a healthy life. Relying on diet pills is ok to some extent. But thinking in terms of meridia or even ionamin is not good.

Let's start on a sweet note!

Hi foodies, I know it's been a while since I updated so during my spare time today, I thought i'd go with a RASPBERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE PIE as a sweet start! Miss food-blogging tons and I am not quite done yet with my exam and work. I have quite a bit lined up this month even after exams with deadlines, deadlines, deadlines - but do look forward to going home next Chinese New Year to be with my family and chill in the beautiful sunshine of my home country, Malaysia :)

I might be doing a cover for a food mag and travel site about Malaysia and Singapore when I get back. I do hope things fall into place! It's just more reason to eat, drink and be merry while getting paid for it hehe - I'll keep you guys posted if it comes to :)

Anyway, back to this luscious, better-tasting-than-it-looks-pie, I think there is nothing more luscious and utterly decadent than chocolate sauce, berried, and baked into a smooth delicious pie.

This pie was originally set in white chocolate. But because I did not have white chocolate with me, I used normal good quality semi-sweet chocolate - and thankfully, it worked out quite well for me even though the surfaced kind of reminded me of the moon. The crater-effect could have been avoided had I not been too vigorous in my mixing of my chocolate sauce. Oh well, live and learn :)

Hersheys, in this case, was my "normal good quality"of choice. I just wasn't ready to use my Lindts yet as I wasn't sure how this pie would turn out. Semi-sweet chocs (but go ahead with milk chocolate or white chocolate if you have some) because the crust of this sinful pie is made from shortbread, which is subtly sweet, soft and flaky - I've added a whole vanilla bean into the mixture which made it even lovelier!

When the chocolate, raspberries and crust combines, take my word when I say it was the perfect slice.

I did not chance upon discovering this in my kitchen in the midst of busyness. It was Ricardo, yes, Ricardo the flamboyant, vibrant, and rather effeminate but straight, chef of FoodTV's Ricardo and Friends. Because the pie was so easy to do and so beautiful after, the image remained in my head while my senses tried to emulate the taste of white chocolate and raspberry duet. I guess, I know how chocolate and raspberry turned out now but I am still savoring the white chocolate version in my head, so this will not be the end ;)

I made a few changes to the original recipe, so here it is:

Shortbread Crust

• 2 1/4 cups (560 ml) flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) vanilla sugar
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) demi salted butter, chilled and cubed
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) ice water or 35% cream
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice

Filling

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) 35% cream
• 4 ounces (120 g) white chocolate, chopped
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) fresh raspberries
• White chocolate shavings

Directions:

Shortbread Crust

1. Place the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds.
2. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
3. Add the egg yolks, water or cream and lemon juice.
4. Pulse until the mixture begins to form a ball.
5. Remove the dough from the food processor. Shape into a disk.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Pat the dough into a 9-inch (23 cm) pie pan. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
8. With the rack in the lowest position, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
9. Line the chilled crust with aluminum foil, scattering a few dry beans or pie weights on top to hold the foil in place.
10. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and bake for 5 minutes more. Let cool.

Filling

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C).
2. In a saucepan over low heat, gently melt the chocolate in the cream.
3. Lightly beat the egg using an electric mixer on lowest speed.
4. While beating, slowly add the chocolate mixture, taking care not to incorporate air into the mixture. Beat for 15 seconds more.
5. Arrange 1 cup (250 ml) raspberries on the pie crust with their pointed ends facing up.
6. Gently pour the filling over the berries without covering them completely.
7. Bake until the centre is firm, 30 to 35 minutes.
8. Let stand at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours.
9. Just before serving, garnish with white chocolate shavings and the remaining raspberries. Best if served the same day.

Will there ever be a time when cravings like these are unbecoming? Never!
This goes very well with ice wine. :)