One week of enforced staying at home will lead to very dangerous boredom. Dangerous for the waistline that is. After days of cooking savoury dishes I was itching to have a go at something sweet instead. I had been meaning to try this recipe out for a long time and fortuitously, after a rummage in the kitchen cupboards found out that I had most of the ingredients.
This recipe is minimally adapted from The Baker Chick’s recipe, which is itself an adaptation from the NY Times’ original recipe. After trying to bake, then eat and refrain from eating more of them, I can understand why they’re so popular. Simple to concoct, yet full of the earthiness from the peanut butter and umami saltiness from the miso, these are a great option to bulk up for a party, or to freeze for future dessert emergencies.
Whilst I generally use salted butter for my baking, here the peanut butter and miso lend enough saltiness so unsalted butter is the way to go this time. I baked them for about 10 minutes in total, excluding the times I needed to open the oven door. I turned the trays 180 degrees left to right halfway through and gave them a big thwack 2 minutes before the end. Slamming the trays down will deflate the cookies and give you flat cookies with the characteristic crinkles. 10 minutes of baking results in a soft cookie, so if you want it a little crunchier just add a couple of minutes extra.
They’ve kept for three days so far, and I can see them keeping for another two or three days. If you can make them last for that long anyway! If freezing, freeze them on a baking tray first, then pop them altogether into a sandwich bag. Defrost, then heat them up for a few minutes in the oven to warm them up.
Peanut butter miso cookies
Makes 16-18 cookies
Ingredients 225g plain flour 3/4 tsp. bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp. baking powder 115g unsalted butter, softened 180g light brown soft sugar 1/4 cup (60ml) smooth peanut butter 1/3 cup (80ml) white miso paste 1 large egg 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Granulated sugar for coating
Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C fan.
Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder in a bowl.
In a separate large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using either a handheld or stand mixer until smooth and fluffy. This will take a few minutes.
Add the peanut butter and miso and mix again until combined.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix again.
Spoon a quarter of the flour mixture into the mixing bowl and use a spatula to stir in until just combined. Be careful not to over mix as that will develop the gluten and make the cookies tough. Repeat adding in flour and stirring until all the flour is used up.
Weigh up 45g portions of dough and shape into balls. This will give 16 cookies, plus a little extra. Alternatively, make approximately 40g portions of dough which should give you 18 cookies.
Pour some granulated white sugar into a bowl and roll each dough ball in it until fully coated.
Line baking trays with baking parchment and place 4 cookie dough balls on each tray. Leave 2 inches around all the sides and at least 4 inches between each dough ball as they will spread.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, turning each tray halfway round. 2 minutes before end, lift and slam the trays down on the oven rack to deflate the cookies. Make sure to add 30 seconds each time after opening the oven door to allow the oven to come up to temperature again. If the bottom tray looks less done, then remove the top tray after 10 minutes, transfer the bottom tray to the top and bake for another minute.
Remove from the oven and give the trays one or two thwacks again on the counter. Leave to cool and firm up for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool further.
This continues our Cornish adventure in July 2021…
The next day was a slightly stressful start as well, as we wanted to fit in a visit to Stevenson’s fishmonger in Newlyn to pick up some crab for G’s father and fresh seafood for our meal that night, and also make it in time for our boat across to St Michael’s Mount. As it turned out we needn’t have worried as they weren’t fussed about entrance times at all, as long as you had pre-booked a ticket. Anyway, Stevenson’s is our go-to fishmonger after being introduced to them at Falmouth Oyster Festival one year. Since then we’ve been going back for their oysters, scallops and incredibly fresh fish. We try to buy local fish like mackerel and gurnard which can be hard to get fresh in a landlocked place like the Midlands. We bring a cooler box down filled with ice packs and freeze the fish when we get home.
St Michael’s Mount is managed jointly by the National Trust and the St Aubyn family, who still live in the castle on the island. Our NT subscriptions this year made it worthwhile for what would otherwise have been an expensive visit. When the tide is high and the causeway to the island floods over as it was that morning, boats ferry you over on a brief but interesting 5 minute ride. We walked uphill and explored the castle first. As it was with all of Cornwall’s famous attractions, this was quite crowded too and so our visit inside was brief, having to follow the general flow of the crowd with little room for lingering.
However, the main attraction is the view from the outside of the castle where lingering and drinking in the 360 degree views overlooking Marazion and Penzance were very much possible. The gardens too were spectacular, filled with mainly subtropical and succulent plants and were in full flower. There were red hot pokers, lilies, echium and so many others I couldn’t name but still admired. Most impressive was an agave plant with an 8-9 metre branch growing upwards into the sky.
We then walked around nearby Penzance, checking out some shops and had a simple pasty lunch and coffee before chilling out in the apartment the rest of the day. I cooked dinner that night. We started off with oysters which we shucked ourselves, eaten with lemon juice. Next up was Taiwanese stir-fry clams. The sweet clams were eaten with boiled rice, all the better to soak up the moreish sauce with. Here’s an interesting story. Our oyster knife is a relatively new acquisition. We’d normally only eaten oysters in restaurants before, having not learned how to shuck them yet. One year though we bought oysters from Stevenson’s and on their advice used a butter knife to open them, which made it a rather fun if not fairly hazardous activity, both for the person shucking and also unfortunately to the integrity of the knife. We left behind a rather bendy knife in the cutlery drawer of the apartment we rented that year!
On our penultimate day in Cornwall, we drove to Pentire Headland near Newquay. Being slightly further out of town, parking this time was no hassle at all. We found our perch on a bench and enjoyed the views over Crantock Beach, watching children and adults alike using floats and SUP boards on the River Gannel which opens out into the sea. The ever vigilant lifeguards were on duty, and we even heard them use a megaphone asking paddle boarders to be wary of rip tides and to keep between the flags. Interestingly, we saw a group being taken on a trek on the rocks, diving into the sea when needed to then continue their walk across the rocks. We then walked round to the other side of the headland and sat on the grass watching said paddle boarders go even further out to sea, saw some cavers going into the rocky outcrop offshore and watched a fisherman try his luck down by the cliff’s shoreline. It was a good people watching day. We finished off by walking towards Fistral Beach, but had to turn back when our car park time was running out. We’d overstayed our prepaid time by a few minutes at Fistral Beach car park once and got fined so I’m wary of Newquay car parks now.
We dropped by Chapel Porth beach on our way back to Falmouth. It’s one of our favourite beaches to walk along when the tide is out with interesting pools and caves to explore and the old tin mine of Wheal Coates overlooking the beach. This time we parked at Wheal Coates instead of down by the beach. Some kind folk passed us their parking ticket which had several hours left on it but I put it in the ticket machine, as our NT passes meant that parking was free for us. We walked down to the beach and enjoyed the cafe’s famous Hedgehog ice-cream – Cornish vanilla ice-cream topped with clotted cream and rolled generously in hazelnuts. Utterly decadent, messy and worth the calories. As the tide was high during our visit, we headed back up the slopes and explored the paths around the mine. Gareth had plenty of fun estimating how long a pebble took to drop to the bottom of an old shaft. There would have been quite a few pebbles collected at the bottom of that shaft by the end of our little diversion.
We debated for a while whether we should make quite a long detour to St Ives for our fix of Blas burgers that we missed earlier in the week and the burgers won out. We rang to preorder in advance, and as is now our usual practice G circled the town in the car whilst I walked down to the restaurant to collect our burgers. My absolute favourite is the Kimchi burger and G always goes with the Smokey. Our plan to eat at Porthminster Beach were scuppered twofold though – one for the lack of parking at the train station and two that the skies had decided to open and rain down on our parade. So the car park at Tesco became our prosaic dining spot instead. As we tucked into our burgers, we agreed once and for all that these were the best burgers we’ve ever had. It’s that magical combination of quality beef, with the right amount of coarseness in texture and char on them, the balanced flavours of toppings, a burger bun that’s soft yet firm enough to keep its shape and not fall apart and those absolutely-bloody-lovely chips/fries. Those chips/fries are skin on, crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside and seasoned with flaky sea salt. They are so good that one year I walked into the restaurant and asked for a single order of fries to take away which flummoxed the staff a little as they said they wouldn’t normally sell fries on their own but they kindly relented and let me have them.
The next day we said goodbye to our comfy apartment, packed up the car like some 3D jigsaw puzzle and headed back up north towards home. I’d booked us a table for lunch in Padstow at Paul Ainsworth’s Caffe Rojano as a last treat of the holiday. Padstow was just as crowded as St Ives was and we ended up parking in a field all the way up the hill out of town. By then we were running a little late for lunch so we hurried down to the restaurant. I was so thankful I’d prebooked as people were getting turned away at the door. To sum up our experience at Rojano’s, it was absolutely amazing. From the incredible food to the very professional but very friendly service, you could tell it was run by a team who had a lot of experience in the food business. Our server bless him was busy with his section but still took time out to chat with us, telling us he’d never actually eaten the food but was looking forward to having his birthday meal there.
To start off, we had wild red prawns with manteca, chilli, garlic, lemon and parsley; grilled octopus with romesco sauce and pimenton; line-caught BBQ mackerel with grilled sourdough, red chilli, pickled onion salsa, tomato and wild garlic; and duroc rib of Iberian pork with PX barbecue glaze. Those little plates alone were sending me to culinary heaven. All well-considered and perfectly executed, with very different flavour profiles each. My favourite was the prawn dish, and I wish I had a side bowl of bread to soak up all that delicious buttery sauce. Our server told us we clearly enjoyed our starters.
G had the beef burger for his main which came with an aged rib patty, shortrib, onion ring, cheese, tomato chutney, pickles and fries. It was a well-constructed thing of beauty when it landed on the table. I couldn’t resist one last seafood dish and opted for the Cornish crab mafalde pasta with smoked salmon, tomato, chilli and katsuoboshi. G enjoyed his burger very much but it was a very different beast to the Blas burger, being more polished and refined and he secretly preferred Blas’ over Rojano’s. It was my first time trying mafalde pasta and I really enjoyed those wavy tangled ribbons of pasta coated with sauce. They looked like pasta versions of seaweed. The restaurant definitely warrants a return visit as we didn’t even get a look-in at the pizza section this time. Or the hot dog. Or the pork chop. Or the sobrasada pasta. I skipped dessert at the restaurant and opted instead for a streetside Malty Mystery ice-cream from Roskilly’s. We hung out by the harbour for a little enjoying sea views one last time before heading back uphill and out of Padstow.
We cancelled our initial plan of walking along the coastal path near Treyarnon as it was looking like rain and drove straight out of Cornwall. On our way home we stopped at Tre, Pol & Pen farmshop to have a browse of their produce and came away with a pack of beef short ribs. Then the heavens truly did open and it was dicey driving for a bit which made us all the more thankful the weather held out for one of the best weeks we’ve had in Cornwall.
Nowhere else resonates so strongly with me as this region does. I have a lasting memory of being struck by the beauty of the sea driving into Padstow for the very first time. The combination of the resilient, entrepreneurial spirit of its people and the craft they produce, the abundance of excellent food together with that particular light and sea blues will draw me back to Cornwall time and again.
This is a much delayed write-up of our Cornwall getaway in July 2021. I was reminded of it as we’re about to embark on another Cornish break soon! This is the first part of our adventures there.
The weather forecast did not bode well for our early summer holiday in the South West. It looked like rain every day, so we steeled ourselves, packed wet weather clothing and decided to make the best of it. What other outlook could you have in the 18 months since the world turned upside down anyway? As it turned out the rain only really punctuated the start and very last day of our holiday and we were so lucky to have glorious sunshine otherwise.
Off south we went, G having just come off a night shift and me still bleary-eyed as he had insisted on a pre-dawn start so we could ‘make full use’ of our first day there. Needless to say, we were knackered on our drive down and arrived late anyway as we had to make numerous stops for naps along the way. Never again!
It’s become a mini tradition now to stop by Inkie’s Smokehouse at Golitha Falls on the way down. They had a new addition to the menu of Po’ boys so I got a Louisiana (Cajun seasoned king prawns with spicy remoulade) which was filled with a generous portion of juicy and sweet prawns. G went with a Cajun burger which was a hefty one filled with cajun-spiced burger patties, jalapeños, cheese, hot sauce and all the usual trimmings. Appetites sated, we continued to Falmouth which was to be our base for the week.
Holiday accommodation this year in Cornwall has skyrocketed in price to make up for the shortfall in business last year. It was a challenge finding one that wasn’t too expensive but also didn’t look rundown and depressing. We usually stay along the north coast, but this time settled on an apartment in a holiday village close to Falmouth on the south coast called Pendra Loweth. First impressions on driving in were great; we were impressed with how well-maintained and clean the complex was, and with the beautiful planting of native and subtropical plants along the road and stream meandering its way through the area. Our apartment had three bedrooms, a bathroom, a well-appointed kitchen in an open plan living/dining area and even a BBQ set round back, with a designated numbered parking space so we didn’t have to drive around looking for parking everyday.
A quick rest and it was out to town to Harbour Lights for a late fish and chip dinner. We passed Swanpool Beach only 5 minutes from our apartment and made a mental note to visit it during the week. We had booked a table at the restaurant, but needn’t have worried as there were only a couple of tables occupied close to end of dinner service. The traditional fish and chips were satisfactory. Not the biggest fish portion I’ve had but it was fresh and not greasy and the chips were fluffy. But the fish-shaped plate was too small and made eating from it inconvenient. Beck’s at Carbis Bay is probably the best we’ve had in Cornwall, and we’re thoroughly spoiled to have The Cod’s Scallops close to home as well, so we have high standards when it comes to fish and chips.
We did a short walk around the harbour in the setting sun before retiring for the evening, noting PhoBar and RoBo Bar and Canteen serving Vietnamese and Japanese food respectively as potential meal spots during the week.
The next morning we slept in and skipped breakfast as we were in for a treat. Sunday roast at the Star & Garter in Falmouth is legendary – huge portions of meat surrounded with the tallest puffiest Yorkie puds, plenty of veg, roast potatoes and lots of gravy. Our starters of asparagus with brown crab aioli and crispy egg and monkfish scampi with tartar sauce and pickled cucumber set the scene for a truly decadent meal. Last time we came we both went for the roast beef as our mains, and oh my I have never eaten beef sliced that thick but still remain so tender before. This time G stuck with beef and I went for roast pork belly and that was even better. It was fall apart tender and so flavoursome. I’ve never been able to try their sticky toffee pudding for dessert, but I will try my best to next time! The dining room is all cosy, wooden beams and floors and service is really friendly. The view is pretty special too – the pub is perched on a hill and overlooks Carrick Roads waterways opening into the sea.
It was a sort of grey, rainy day not conducive to much outdoor activity so we mooched around the shops in Falmouth and had a little explore of Swanpool Beach before heading back to the apartment for the evening.
The next day dawned bright and beautiful so we headed to the lovely town of St Ives. We first dropped in to Leach Pottery where we picked up a vase for a wedding gift and some mugs for ourselves. G also found a perfect-sized mug for his favourite flat white coffee. Parking for town was difficult and after going round our usual parking spots we ended up opposite Leach Pottery again and parked there. Whilst we normally love walking around the cobbled lanes and darting in and out of cool independent shops I’m afraid this time the crowds made it too overwhelming.
We retreated to The Island, an outcrop of land slightly outside of town set high on cliffs overlooking Porthmeor Beach on one side and Porthgwidden Beach on the other. Sitting comfortably on a bench absorbing the unexpected sunshine, we watched beachgoers on the sands below and lifeguard training in action. We then strolled round the headland enjoying those famous jewelled hues of seawater, contrasting against the dark tones of the cliffs.
We’ve been to St Ives so many times we know where all the good shops are, and it’s such a brilliant place if you’re planning to get some lovely souvenirs for home. Poppy Treffry’s wash bags are a firm favourite, and this time I picked up some lovely smelling hand wash and moisturiser from them. Roly’s Fudge is everywhere in Cornwall and we bought an assortment bag for G’s father, and then I went across the road to get some nautical-themed coasters from Hudson’s. We didn’t hang around though, these were targeted shops for specific products and we were in and out in no time.
Artists have long been attracted to St Ives, and so the art scene is a thriving one where really high quality galleries abound. One of my favourites to visit is the New Craftsman Gallery. This time, they were busy setting up a new exhibition of ceramics by Jin Eui Kim and I was most captivated by how tactile and mesmerising his new vases were. I resisted temptation however and popped into Porthminster Gallery next door instead. I do think they have ended up slightly disadvantaged when they traded in the plus of having a more central location with the negative of a much smaller gallery space. All their works are online, which is not reflective of what is displayed in the gallery. There were a couple of ceramic sculptures I had in mind from browsing online prior, but a print by Trevor Price got me hooked with its wit and quirkiness and so that came home with me instead. Just goes to show how most art is better appreciated in person.
We were so looking forward to burgers from Blas Burgerworks for dinner but were crushed when we realised they were closed that day. Clouds then started to gather so we ended the day with a walk at Gwithian Beach, enjoying the fresh sea air and the expanse of sands with Godrevy Lighthouse in the distance.
The next day we visited Glendurgan Garden, a National Trust property. We caved and got an NT subscription this year, after years of begrudgingly paying for parking at NT beaches and properties. It made for a pleasant wander for a couple of hours, but I daresay Trebah Garden next door was more impressive in its plant varieties. Both gardens slope gently into valleys that open up into beaches, Durgan Beach and the village being at the end of Glendurgan.
Off to the east on the coastal path is Grebe Beach, a peaceful pebbly beach ideal for contemplation over the quiet waters of Helford River. G enjoyed skimming stones and I enjoyed the scenery by taking lots of photos. For a late lunch, we had a little picnic at one of the tables outside the garden’s entrance, before heading back into Falmouth for another wander around town in drier weather. Our feet needed a little rest after so we chilled out in Indidog with a coffee each. I believe Indidog do a very good brunch but we didn’t manage to fit it in this time.
For dinner we ordered and took away RoBo’s House Special ramen with crispy caramel belly pork. And because G didn’t think that was enough, we ordered the VietNom too, a banh mi filled with soy caramel pork, pork pate and kimchi mayo. We held off having dinner until later but couldn’t resist the banh mi and had an impromptu picnic at Swanpool Beach, enjoying the last of the day’s sunlight before heading home. The sandwich roll was very good, and we probably should have ordered more of that and the chicken option. Later that night we had our ramen in the apartment. The pork was well marinated and flavoursome and the noodles were topped with a generous selection of vegetables. The broth was tasty too, but it was a measly portion, barely enough to cover the noodles and really not what you would expect to be served in a restaurant or even takeaway meal at all.
My favourite day of the week has to be the day we visited a ‘secret’ beach on Helford River. It involved a 30 minute scenic walk through woods along the coast but was well worth the effort. There are no facilities, so come prepared with food and water. Due to its secluded location, we only ever shared the beach with two other people at a time that afternoon. A couple who sat on the rocks at the far end of the beach who then left to continue their walk, then a couple who came by boat and anchored off the beach but didn’t come ashore and another later on who did stay for a while but it was all very pleasant and convivial.
Every year we go to Cornwall I yearn to swim in the sea but chicken out as the water is too cold for someone who was born and raised in a tropical country. But this year, this year my resolve was firm and I bought a wetsuit, donned it and swam like a fish in those glorious clear blue waters under the sun and was in seventh heaven. There were nearby rocks off shore to explore and I even saw a school of small fish in the crystal clear waters. We had a simple picnic lunch of sandwiches and chocolate and hurried back when our car parking was running out. Best beach day ever.
To make full use of the glorious weather, we headed down to Kynance Cove. The crowds there just highlighted how peaceful that cove on the river was. We didn’t spend any time on the beach this time except to walk past it to sit up on the cliff overlooking the sea. The views as usual were spectacular in that part of the world, made even more so with the weather gods smiling down on us that day.
G was due a belated birthday meal and we’d decided to have it whilst we were on holiday. I’d read about The Longstore in Truro (and the secret beach!) on The Cornish Life, a blog written by Anna who lives and works in Cornwall. I highly recommend her website. It is packed with beautiful photography and useful insider tips on the most beautiful locations and eateries in Cornwall.
The Longstore definitely lived up to expectations. We had a delicious dinner and a most enjoyable evening filled with excited conversation on what else to do on our holiday. For starters G had frickles and dip (battered pickles with dijonnaise) and chargrilled steak bruschetta. I went for the day’s special of monkfish tail with cucumber pickles and a delicious sauce that I can’t remember now. Mains were a fillet steak for G which came with a roasted onion and garlic puree, crispy shallots and a roasted tomato. I had squid ink linguine with white crab, topped with pangrattato. We both thoroughly enjoyed our starters and G’s steak was excellent according to him. My pasta was delicious too, if a tad on the salty side. After skipping dessert at our roast lunch, I had to fit it in this time so I had the Cornish milk panna cotta with rose water jelly, dark chocolate shavings and a pistachio and cardamom shortbread. It was light and refreshing and not too sweet. A perfect end to a really good meal.
The drive back to Falmouth though was another affair. Heading out to Truro we had no problem at all, but the main road to Falmouth was closed on the way back and those stupid diversion signs were totally useless, leading us back to exactly where we started from, right back to the start of the road block, not the end of it. It took three go’s (!) driving around dark Cornish lanes in the dead of night before I found another route home. That was stressful to put it mildly, but we’ve chalked it up to another one of those ‘do you remember..’ things that we’ll reminisce over in the future.
Bak kwa or long yoke is a grilled meat delicacy eaten around and during Lunar New Year and is very popular in Malaysia and Singapore. It’s sold by weight and is pricey because of the amount of meat used and how labour intensive it is to make. Growing up, we only had it during Lunar New Year because of this.
There are two types available, one with a chewier texture due to the meat itself being sliced so you would still have the grain of the meat still present. This would have been more akin to biltong. The other being made from minced pork that was rolled out into a sheet so had a softer and more pliable texture. Both types have a smoky, savoury and sweet flavour and are dangerously addictive. Back in my hometown, there used to be a vendor in an open air food court selling freshly made slices of bak kwa grilled over a charcoal fire, the grill being a similar set-up to the satay vendor’s. That charry, smoky aroma filled the air, drawing in customers who would make advance orders for New Year.
My grandpa used to love eating this and would have a good supply of the shop bought versions for the seasonal celebrations. I would look forward to indulging in this and other snacks my grandma made such as mini spring rolls filled with chicken floss or dried prawns, roasted cashew nuts and pineapple tarts. She would store them in old giant Horlicks glass bottles and I’d dig my hand in there to get a good fistful to snack on.
This recipe is a modified version from Malaysian Chinese Kitchen, a valuable resource for me for authentic recipes from home.
Bak kwa
Makes 18 small slices
900g 15% to 20% fat minced pork 1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce 2 tbsp fish sauce 1 tsp sesame oil 1/2 tsp white pepper 1/2 tsp five spice powder 145g caster sugar
Honey wash 2 tbsp honey dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water
1. Mix all the ingredients with the minced pork in a large mixing bowl. Use the handle of a spatula to continue stirring until the meat has a sticky texture. Cover the bowl and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. 2. Preheat the oven to 120°C or 100°C fan. 3. Divide the marinated meat into 3 large portions. Place one portion on a piece of baking parchment roughly the same size as your baking sheet/tray. I put the meat and baking parchment on a large chopping board; you could just place it on the kitchen counter instead. Cover with a large piece of cling film and gently press and roll out the meat with a rolling pin to about 2mm thickness. Then peel off the cling film, leaving it to one side to reuse on further portions. Use a palette knife to even out any bumpy areas and to ensure uniform thickness. Repeat for the remaining portions. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. 4. Remove from the oven and cut the cooked sheet of meat into 6 pieces. Brush one side with the honey wash.
5. Change the oven setting to grill mode at 220°C (no fan setting). 6. Grill the pieces of meat over a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then turn over, brush with more honey wash and grill for another 5 minutes. You want some char around the edges, but keep a close eye on this as you don’t want the meat to burn. Repeat until all the pieces of meat are cooked. 7. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. In a cool room, it will keep for a week. Or keep it in the fridge where it will keep for 2 weeks or slightly more. To heat up, microwave at full power for 10 to 20 seconds.
Lunar New Year is almost upon us again! This is yet another year we haven’t been able to travel home for celebrations with the family, so I console myself by making lots of snacks commonly associated with this time of the year. It gets me in a more festive mood and reminds me of my family at home.
If you’re a bit of a last minute person like I am, these are the perfect snack to make in double quick time and can be doubled or tripled even to give away as gifts. They are savoury and full of umami goodness from the seaweed. You’d need a huge amount of determination not to make a huge dent in your crisps stash, they are so moreish.
It really doesn’t need much of a recipe, but here goes:
Seaweed crisps
Vegetable oil 10 spring roll pastry sheets (I used TYJ brand) 10 pieces nori (seaweed) sheets Table salt Shichimi togarashi or furikake (optional) White sesame seeds (optional) One egg, beaten
1. Heat up a deep fat fryer with 2 inches of vegetable oil to 170 degrees Celsius.
2. Using a pastry brush, brush beaten egg onto a spring roll pastry sheet to the area size that is about the same size as your nori sheet. 3. Sprinkle with shichimi togarashi or furikake seasoning. If using furikake, you may not require salt but if using shichimi togarashi, sprinkle some table salt all over too. Sprinkle over some sesame seeds. Don’t be too liberal with your toppings as you will need enough pastry area with brushed egg exposed for the seaweed to stick on to. 4. Place a sheet of nori in the middle of the pastry sheet. The nori sheet may be smaller than the pastry sheet but that doesn’t matter, the outer pieces will still have a bit of seaweed stuck on them. Last year (pics above) I cut away the excess pastry and I’m still deeply ashamed for the waste. 5. Cut the spring roll pastry up into 4 vertical strips of equal(ish) width. Pile them up and cut them into 8 smaller rectangles each, giving you 32 pieces. You may want to test your seasonings by frying this batch first, but I went boldly ahead and made them all at once! 6. Prep the rest of the pastry and nori until you’ve used up all the nori sheets.
7. Deep fry them in batches, around 10 to 15 pieces at a time, depending on the size of your fryer. Separate the little pieces out first before dropping them one by one into the oil, then give them a stir with some wooden chopsticks so they don’t stick together when frying. Turn them over halfway so they brown evenly. It will only take 1 or 2 minutes to cook fully. Remove them when they are a light brown colour (they will darken slightly on cooling) and drain onto kitchen towels. 8. Store in an airtight container. They will probably keep for a week but good luck in getting them to last that long!
We had a wonderful week away in Cornwall recently so my next few posts will be overloaded with gorgeous sea views and beaches and just general amazingness of Cornwall.
Every time we visit, I make it a point to look for fresh clams so I can make big bowls of spaghetti vongole for dinner. Our go-to fishmonger is W Stevenson of Newlyn, and I just love looking through their display of fresh fish and shellfish caught from local waters. They sell dressed crab too, either in containers or in the shell in either white or a combination of white and brown meat.
Apart from clams, I also got a whole bunch of oysters, scallops and mackerel. G loves his scallops with fried bacon bits, whilst I just like mine plain with salt and pepper, fried in butter. We’re getting quite good at shucking oysters too – it was hilarious our first time trying to do it with just a butter knife. It worked, but the poor knife got bent at several points. I’ve learned now to pack an oyster knife just for this reason.
Look at this wonderful array of fresh, plump, juicy oysters. They had incredibly deep-cupped shells with sweet meat and briny juices but not overly salty. We had them with plenty of lemon juice and tabasco. No shallots this time because I forgot.
Instead of the usual pasta dish, this time I decided to do something a little different and I found this simple but delicious-looking recipe from stalwart of South East Asian cooking, Rasa Malaysia. So I didn’t have to lug multiple sauce bottles down to Cornwall just for one dish, I mixed the sauce up in advance in a small bottle and used that instead, which worked really well. To prep the clams, I cleaned them under running water first, then discarded the ones that remained open. Then I soaked them in liberally salted water for an hour to purge the sand out, and gave them another rinse after. I used pretty much the same recipe, just doubled up the sauce ingredients and changed the proportion of aromatics slightly. Do have it with plenty of rice or bread to soak up the sauce because it is so more-ish and it will be such a waste not to eat it all up.
Taiwanese Stir-Fry Clams
Serves 2, or 4 with other side dishes
1 kg clams 3 tbsp vegetable oil 2 inches ginger, peeled, sliced and cut into thin matchsticks 2 fresh red chillies, chopped finely 3 cloves garlic, chopped 3 spring onions – slice white part finely, slice green part into 2 inch lengths
Heat a wok over high heat and add in the oil. When the oil is shimmering and smoking, add in the ginger and chillies and stir for a minute until fragrant. Then add in the garlic and white parts of the spring onions and stir for another minute.
Add the clams and toss to mix. Stir in all the sauce ingredients and cover with a lid to steam until the clams have just opened. Top up initially with a quarter cup of water (you may need up to half a cup of water), tasting along the way until the seasoning tastes just right. Discard clams that haven’t opened up.
Add in the green parts of the spring onions and do a final stir to wilt them slightly and serve immediately with boiled rice or bread.
A tomahawk steak is essentially a rib-eye with the rib still attached. It is a hefty hunk of meat, with a good amount of thickness to it. It is the equivalent to a caveman’s club in meat form and well suited to a Neanderthal’s diet too.
I first got wind that Lidl was selling tomahawk steak when I saw it in their weekly magazine on the Lidl Plus app. I’d mentally saved it to check it out but was undecided as both G and I are trying to lose weight. When I saw it in store though it looked amazing and seeing as it was G’s birthday soon, I thought that a proper steak dinner to celebrate would be a great idea. Keeping a nod in the direction of our diets, G did ask for plenty of veg to go with the steak which I gladly obliged.
It’s not a cheap cut of meat and I didn’t want to ruin it by overcomplicating things so I kept it simple and seasoned the steak with plenty of sea salt and black pepper before searing it in a pan and finishing it off in the oven. My very favourite sauce to go with steaks is the yummy and moreish chimichurri sauce. But be warned, only have it with close friends and family as you will waft garlic breath for a while after. For our veg we had some sautéed slices of courgette, a corn on the cob each, sweet potatoes wedges for me and fried potatoes for G. The steak was so tender and moist, and cut through like butter. Probably one of the best home cooked steaks we’ve had, on par with our favourites like the bavette and onglet cuts from Field & Flower. G was in steak heaven, and was very pleased and grateful for his meal, so I say, job well done!
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Tomahawk steak
Serves 2 to 3 generously, with veg accompaniments
Remove the steak from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour.
Dab dry the steak with some kitchen paper towel.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan.
Rub 1 tbsp sunflower oil all over the steak.
Very generously season the steak with flaky coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper. And I mean really generously, as it will help give a lovely brown crust after searing.
Heat a frying pan over high heat. Sear the steak including the sides for about 3 minutes on each side, until a lovely brown crust forms.
Place in the oven on a wire rack over a foil-lined baking tray.
Roast for 20 minutes for medium rare, and 25 minutes for medium. Keep in mind that the steak will continue cooking a little more during resting. Use a meat thermometer and check the internal temperature. You want the end internal temperature of the steak to be about 55-57°C for medium rare and 60-65°C for medium.
Cover with foil and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
Cut thick slices and drizzle over the steak juices to serve.
Chimichurri sauce Handful of coriander Handful of parsley 1/2 chilli seeds in, or 1 chilli deseeded 1 garlic clove, mashed 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar Sea salt to taste
Chop the coriander and parsley up coarsely.
Chop the chilli up finely.
Mix in the herbs with the garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar in a serving bowl.
Add salt to taste. Adjust the ratio of oil to vinegar. It should be tangy and savoury all at once.
It crossed my mind when I saw Nicoletta Fornaro from @naturally_epicurean posting some photos of elderflower she picked that the woods behind us may have some growing wild. But it was only a fleeting thought and I soon forgot about it. One of my oldest, lovely friends got married last weekend so Gareth and I decided to go for a walk in the woods in the morning, knowing that we wouldn’t have time the rest of the day.
Imagine my delight when I saw elder after elder tree blooming with fragrant flowers all around the woods. We had so much fun plucking bunches of elderflower until we had a really good haul to take home. I think I might have looked like a slightly demented bridesmaid with a full bouquet of flowers in each hand, grinning from ear to ear. The elder tree is a pretty nondescript tree and you might miss it completely if you weren’t looking but once you’ve seen the flowers blooming on one, you’ll see them everywhere.
This recipe is taken from Mary Berry’s BBC version and it was a complete success. It does make more than what you think, I had just over 2 litres of cordial in the end. I got my supplies of citric acid, Campden tablets and bottles from Wilko’s. Even if the particular branch you go to doesn’t have stock, the helpful store assistants can check their nifty computers to see which other branches have what you need. The citric acid and Campden tablets help to preserve and sterilise the mixture and keep it lasting longer.
The only change to the recipe I made was to leave the mixture to steep for two days to get more flavour into the syrup. As per Queen Mary’s instructions, if you can’t use the elderflower straightaway, put them whole, unrinsed into a plastic bag and freeze. When ready to use, just put the entire frozen chunk into the syrup without defrosting it or it will go brown.
Serve it simply diluted with still or sparkling water, or make a lovely refreshing elderflower muddle with the addition of mint, cucumber and lime. It would go so well with some gin and tonic, vodka or prosecco even. In baking, add it to icing, or mix in some to a sponge cake batter. Or make some elderflower jelly (prosecco optional!) and top with berries to make a refreshing summer dessert.
Elderflower cordial
Makes about 2 litres of cordial
1.5 kg sugar (granulated or caster is fine) 1.5 litres water 2 lemons 25 heads elderflower 50g citric acid 2 Campden tablets
Add the sugar to the water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Let cool off the heat.
Slice the lemons thinly into half-moon slices. Place in a large plastic container or bucket, or a ceramic jug or mixing bowl.
Add the fresh or frozen elderflower heads, citric acid and Campden tablets to the container, then pour the cooled syrup over. (Keep your face away from the mixture as Campden tablets produce an irritant gas). Stir to mix in.
Cover and leave to steep overnight or up to two days.
Sieve the mixture and pour into sterilised bottles, then refrigerate.
How to sterilise bottles or jam jars in the oven: Wash the bottles with warm water and dishwashing liquid. Shake to drain off excess water. Preheat the oven to 140°C/120°C fan. Place the bottles on baking paper on a baking tray and leave in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
How to sterilise bottle caps and jar lids by boiling: Wash the caps/lids with warm water and dishwashing liquid. Shake to drain off excess water. Place them in a saucepan and fill to cover with tepid water. Bring to the boil and boil for at least 10 minutes. Remove from the pan with some tongs and leave to cool and dry with top surface of lid facing down.
Hot summer days call for quick, easy recipes that don’t require slaving over the stove for hours. This is one of those low effort all-in-one dishes that produces a really satisfying meal. It’s a classic dish to order in a Chinese restaurant in Malaysia, one that I grew up with and took for granted. I never really learned to make it because it was so readily available but the longer I’ve been away, the more I’m trying to recreate food memories to soothe my little heart missing home. When I cook this I’m transported right back to the open air Chinese restaurants we used to have dinners at. The sounds of a metal spatula furiously stirring and tapping the sides of a giant wok filled with noodles, over a huge fire with a pleasant charry smell filling the air is pure nostalgia for me.
This recipe is so good I’ve made it three times already in the last few months. It’s a complete success with G as he loves noodle dishes and can’t get enough of them every time we visit.
Any sort of robust green vegetable can be used. I normally use choi sum, but didn’t have any on hand so resorted to spring greens instead. Pak choi or kale would work too. Remember to prep more than what you need as the vegetables shrink when cooked. For the meat, again pretty much anything goes but I normally use a combination of prawns and chicken. Pork slices, squid rings and fish cake slices are also good. I seem to recall it being served with pig’s liver too, but I personally give that a miss.
Sar hor fun
Serves 2 large portions
400g fresh flat rice noodles 1 large chicken thigh, sliced into 1 inch pieces 10 raw king prawns 2 large handfuls of choi sum/kale/spring greens/pak choi 4 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
For the rice noodles 2 tsp light soy sauce 3 tsp dark soy sauce
Gravy 600ml chicken stock 2 tbsp oyster sauce 2 tsp light soy sauce 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce 1 tsp sugar Generous dash of ground white pepper
3 tsp cornflour 4 tbsp cold water
2 eggs, beaten
Prep the rice noodles to make them easier to fry. Separate the noodles out as much as possible and microwave on high heat for 1 minute.
Heat up 3 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat. Add the rice noodles to the wok with the light and dark soy sauces, and stir-fry until softened and charred brown in some places. Try not to mush the noodles up too much with your spatula, instead toss the noodles using the wok itself. Then really try and scrape off any charred bits from the bottom of the wok to add to the dish as that will add lots of flavour. Place aside in two serving bowls or pasta dishes.
Turn the heat down to medium high and add 1 tbsp of oil to the wok. Stir-fry the chicken pieces until cooked, then add to the rice noodles.
Fry the chopped garlic in the residual oil for a couple of minutes until fragrant, then add all the ingredients for the gravy and bring to a simmer. If using stalks from kale and springs greens, add those in to cook for a couple of minutes first, before adding in the prawns and veg leaves to cook for another couple of minutes.
Mix the cornflour with water to make a slurry, then add it into the stock to thicken into a gravy.
Pour in the eggs and stir gently to create strands in the gravy, then pour over the two bowls of noodles.
This recipe has been making the rounds on the internet and newspaper food sections the last few years. With the amazing weather we’ve had this recent Bank Holiday weekend (complete turnaround to early May’s long weekend!), we decided to have a barbecue one evening.
I wanted to try something different to the usual burgers, sausages etc. so decided to grill some mackerel with fresh chilli sauce and have this salad on the side. I wanted some mackerel fillets, but they’d run out in the shop and as luck would have it they had much more amazing whole mackerel, cleaned and gutted and ready to go. G didn’t display much interest towards my alternative barbecue idea (he was more geared towards the aforementioned burgers and sausages) so I only bought one fish. I made a couple of diagonal cuts on both sides of the fish, cooked it on the barbecue a few minutes on each side and had it with this chilli sauce. Of course I shared some with the husband. Lo and behold, it was declared the highlight of the meal and it was suggested that I should have bought two mackerel instead of one.
Anyway, back to the cucumber salad. Eat it straight after dressing it, but it’s even better if you can leave it marinating in the fridge for an hour or two beforehand. The cold crunchiness makes a refreshing counterpart to the rich and smoky mackerel main, or any meats really. It might look innocuous but it’s packed full of flavour and complexity.
Remove the ends of the cucumbers. Peel off alternate strips of cucumber skin so you end up with a striped pattern along the length of the cucumber.
Smash the cucumbers with a cleaver, or a rolling pin. Slice cucumbers lengthways into four strips, then turn them horizontally and slice 1cm thick diagonal pieces.
Place the cucumber slices into a large bowl and mix in the salt. Set aside for 10 minutes, then drain off the liquid at the bottom. This removes some water from the cucumber and makes them crunchier.
Mix the dressing in a small bowl and zap in the microwave for 10 seconds to allow the sugar to dissolve and garlic to flavour the dressing better.
Toss the cucumber in the dressing, add in chopped coriander and sesame seeds. Serve immediately or make in advance and leave to marinate in the fridge for an hour or two.
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