Nat & E Homecooking

Pineapple Fried Rice with mixed seafood

Taiwanese pineapples were on sale yesterday at USelect – only HKD19 each. We changed our plans and made this for a quick lunch instead of wonton noodle soup 🙂 This is super simple to make, but you do need a good wok.

Makes 2

Time: 🕰
Effort: 💪

Ingredients:

1/2 fresh pineapple
Rice for 2 people
2 spring onions
2 eggs
2 handfuls frozen seafood mix
1 teaspoon turmeric
Splash of fish sauce
Chili powder

Method:

1. Boil rice with a little less water than you normally would
2. Rinse pineapple and cut in half
3. Using a short knife, cut around the edges until the knife reaches halfway down the sides
4. Using a spoon, finish the cuts and scoop out the entire section of the meat
5. Reserve the centre pith for dessert (it’s too tough to be included in this dish)
6. Chop up the remaining flesh; set aside
7. Roughly chop up spring onion whites, and finely chop up the spring onion greens
8. Beat two eggs
9. Fry seafood mixture in a small pan until cooked; reserve liquid for broth or pasta
10. Heat wok to very hot
11. Add 3 tablespoon of oil to wok
12. Fry spring onion whites for 10 seconds; remove from wok
13. Add egg to the oil and wait a few seconds before stirring
14. Once half-cooked, add in the rice and stir-fry rigorously until eggs and rice are evenly mixed
15. Spread out the rice on the wok to continue toasting
16. Add a pinch of salt and fish sauce; stir-fry a few seconds
17. Return spring onion whites to the wok, along with all other ingredients
18. Mix well and serve in pineapple shell

Korean Pancakes with Seafood

We don’t know the first thing about Korean cooking, but this was pretty good! We added a sprinkle of baking powder, which made it slightly fluffy. Totally optional.

Makes 2 pancakes (pajeon)

Time: 🕰🕰 （exclude the 1 week pickling)
Effort: 💪

Ingredients:

1/2 teacup flour
1.5x amount in ice-cold water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
3 handfuls frozen seafood mix from USelect-Tesco
Greens of 6 spring onions
6 teaspoon Vegetable oil

For dipping sauce:
1/2 onion
6 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
4 tablespoon water
3 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar

Method:

1. Chop onions into sizes of large marbles
2. Transfer to an air-tight container
3. Add with rest of dipping sauce ingredients and leave in fridge for one week
4. On the day, mix flour, water, sugar, and baking powder (optional) to form the batter
5. Sautée frozen seafood until cooked; pour out and reserve the cooking juices for broth or pasta
6. Get a non-stick frying pan very hot
7. Add half the oil; swirl to coat evenly
8. Arrange green onions, followed by seafood, in the oil
9. Pour batter over the ingredients in a thin and even layer
10. Once edges are coloured, check to see if bottom is golden brown; if yes, transfer onto a plate
11. Cover with another plate, flip, and add back to the pan to cook on the other side with the remaining oil
12. Once both sides golden and edges are crisp, remove from oil
13. Cut into squares and serve

Scotch Eggs

if there’s one snack we’re bound to overeat on, it’s this. Irresistible colour, yolk, and perfect with a turn of black pepper on the yolk. Some like it hot but we love it even more as a room-temperature snack. One to come back to, again and again.

For 4 scotch eggs

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪💪

Ingredients:

4 eggs
4 raw butcher’s sausage
Bunch of coriander leaves
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Flour, beaten egg, panko
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Method:

1. Cover eggs in water and bring to the boil
2. Prepare your frying station: pot of vegetable oil, bowl of flour, bowl of beaten eggs, and bowl of panko (can substitute with breadcrumbs)
3. Once water boils, simmer for 5 minutes for a molten yolk, 7 minutes for a more solid yolk (tip: flip eggs midway to ensure yolk is centred)
4. Run eggs under cold tap water and peel; set aside
5. Finely chop coriander leaves
6. Slit the casing of the sausages and flip out the sausage meat; discard the casing
7. Mix sausage, mustard, nutmeg, and coriander leaves
8. Wet your hands
9. Divide sausage mixture into four portions
10. Take a portion and flatten on your palms
11. Make a depression in the middle and place egg in centre
12. With wet hands, push the meat upwards and inwards to cover and seal the egg
13. Wash your hands and dry
14. For the next part, desigmate one hand as the wet hand, and the other dry
15. With your wet hand, dunk each sausage-covered egg into flour -> egg -> then finally panko, shaking off any excess after each each step
16. With your dry hand, take a large spoon and lower each egg carefully into hot oil
17. The oil temperature should be quite high for this: around 180’C
18. Fry until golden; around 4 minutes
19. Rest until cool enough to handle
20. Slice in half
21. Finish with a twist of black pepper

Thai Red Curry. Beef Brisket

Either make the curry paste yourself, or buy a ready-made pack from a local Southeast Asian market — there’s no shame in that! The paste itself typically already includes lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves so there’s no need to add any more, but this recipe includes it just because they’re such fun ingredients to work with! Each curry pack is different in saltiness and heat, so it’s a good idea to add seasoning and additional chilis only towards the end. Coconut milk helps balance the heat and bring the edge off what is otherwise a very heady dish.

Serves 4

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

1 catty beef brisket, around 600g
1 pack red curry paste from any Southeast Asian market
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 stalk lemongrass (optional)
3 slices galangal (optional)
6 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
4 tablespoons of coconut milk or cream
Water
Vegetables of choice, such as okra, tofu, Thai eggplant

Method:

1. Cut beef brisket into large chunks
2. Heat oil in a large, heavy-base pan
3. Brown brisket on all sides
4. Very lightly season to give the meat a base flavou
5. Set aside the meat
6. Add curry paste to the oil and stir-fry until fragrant
7. Return beef to the pan and cover with water
8. Add lemongrass (bruised with back of knife), kaffir lime leaves, and galangal slices, if using
9. Bring water to the boil
10. Lower flame and simmer for 2 hours, or until brisket is tender
11. 15 minutes before serving, check seasoning and heat
12. Add vegetables of choice and additional salt and chilis if needed
13. Stir in coconut milk or milk and simmer for a few more minutes
14. Serve with warm rice

Rib-Eye Steak, Fries, Béarnaise Sauce

Inspired to make this dish after watching a Masterchef Canada episode and coming across an excellent piece of organic-fed, free range steak. Timing is important for all three components — teamwork essential!

Serves 3

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪💪

Ingredients:

For the steak:
1 rib-eye steak (around 200-250g per person)
Thyme
2 garlic cloves
Canola or corn oil
Salt and pepper

For the fries:
3 large potatoes, unpeeled
Canola or corn oil
Salt

For the Béarnaise sauce:
2 small shallots
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of white wine
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon water
Salt and pepper
Tarragon (fresh or dried)
30g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Bring steak to room temperature between layers of kitchen towel
2. Cut potatoes into desired shape and thickness
3. Heat a neutral-flavoured oil, such as corn or canola oil, until a piece of potato placed in the oil will start having small bubbles, followed by more active bubbles; around 150’c
4. Blanch potatoes in this oil until slightly soft in the centre – test with fork
5. Remove and set aside
6. Finely chop shallots and soften in a pot over gentle flame with a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of white wine, until liquid is almost completely gone
7. Spoon the shallot reduction into a mixing bowl
8. Add two egg yolks, water, black pepper, and tarragon
9. Whisk over a water bath (bain marie) until you see glimpses of the bottom of your bowl, around 3 minutes
10. Remove from bain marie
11. Heat butter on very low heat, until three layers form: foamy milk solids floating on top, middle layer of golden fat, and heavier milk solids on the bottom
12. Skim away top layer and pour out middle layer, leaving the bottom layer: this is your clarified butter
13. Add a few drops of clarified butter to your whisked yolks (sabayon) and whisk
14. Once the butter is able to be suspended in the yolks, add a few more drops and whisk
15. Once you’re confident the oils are suspending successfully, add the remaining clarified butter in a thin stream
16. Check seasoning
17. Add additional lemon juice to bring to desired consistency; keep warm over the bain marie, flame off
18. Heat small frying pan until smoking hot
19. Add vegetable oil and cook steak to your liking; tip: if using, add garlic and thyme only after the first flip, otherwise it might cook too long and burn, imparting an unpleasant bitter flavour
20. Let steak rest for roughly the same time you cooked it
21. While steak is resting, reheat the frying oil until considerably hotter than the first time — test with a piece of potato, which should bubble actively; around 190’c
22. Return potatoes to the oil for the second frying, until golden — this time to crisp the outside
23. Drain fries on kitchen towel and set aside
24. The steak should be rested by now
25. To plate, gently pull steak apart, with the help of a serrated knife, into distinguishable portions: the fat cap, the spinalis, the longissimus, and the longissimus Costa rum (if you’re lucky!)
26. Serve steak with fries, Béarnaise sauce, and coleslaw on the side

Homemade Coleslaw

Crisp and easy to make. The trick is to combine the vegetables with the dressing just before serving for extra crunch.

Serves 4

Time: 🕰
Effort: 💪

Ingredients:

1/4 head of cabbage
1/2 carrot
Small section of celery, around 2 inches
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Sprinkle of paprika for colour
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Slice cabbage into thin shreds
2. Peel carrot and grate using the largest hole on the grater
3. Peel and chop celery very finely
4. Combine celery with the remainder of ingredients to form the dressing
5. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if desired
6. Mix only before serving: take the required amount of cabbage and carrots for the meal, and spoon in enough dressing to coat evenly
7. Reserve the rest in fridge separately — this keeps the vegetables crisp and fresh
8. Serve with sloppy joes, burgers, or any other deli-themed meal