Larb (Thai/Laotian Minced Meat Salad)

Larb - a portion

Hub almost never travelled when he was working at Ferrari Spa. in Maranello, but Shanghai is an altogether different story. As the company in China grew under his management, his travels also increased. First it was just to Wuhu (Anhui) where their first plant was located; then he started going to Foshan (Guangdong) when he set up their second plant; then to Wuhan (Hubei) where they have started a joint-venture with the Chinese. Outside China, he flies regularly to Penang having taken over the company's Malaysian operations and a few months ago, he also started to go to Yokohama when he was given the Japan operations. Not to forget occasional trips to Europe to either Stuttgart or Milan for meetings with HQ.

Life is busy and I imagine, stressful. Fortunately, after a learning stint at INSEAD in Singapore last March, he came back not only a better business leader, but also a man more determined to keep healthy knowing that his current lifestyle is not the most ideal. He started working out regularly and eating better, insisting that I prepare salads and make sure that we have fruit at home. For many households that would be normal fare, but I'm not fond of fruit and vegetables so my WW3 pantry had lots of food but nothing too green or leafy.

I'm now really fat because since Hub is often away, I could continue eating whatever rubbish I fancy. But I do make an effort when he is home for dinner. Since he currently has a thing for cabbage (for its calorie-burning qualities), I made him Larb last evening when he flew back from a 3-day trip to Foshan.

Larb is a salad sometimes served in Thai restaurants and I was told that it is popular in the north of the country near Laos. In fact, it is actually more of a Laotian dish, but you will agree that there are more Thai than Laotian restaurants outside the region.

Basically it is minced meat (e.g. pork, beef, chicken, duck) served with fresh herbs and dressed in a fish sauce, lime juice dressing. And eaten wrapped in cabbage leaves. Very often I would find raw French beans on the plate as well, but I dislike this vegetable raw so you wouldn't find it in my version of Larb.

Larb :

The meat filling :

2 tbsp light olive oil or vegetable oil

400g fresh ground pork, beef or chicken

2 tbsp onions chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

half a stalk of lemongrass bashed

red chilli sliced

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

pepper to taste

The dressing :

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp hot water

red chilli sliced

1 kaffir lime leaf shredded

half a stalk of lemongrass bashed

2 tbsp fish sauce

juice of 1 lemon or 2 large limes

The garnishing :

2 shallots or half a small red onion finely sliced

a handful of fresh basil, mint and coriander leaves chopped

cabbage leaves

Method :

Wash your cabbage (you can use iceberg if you prefer your leaves tender and crisp, but the normal cabbage holds the meat and sauce better) and decorate a serving plate with it.

Wash, drain and chop the fresh herbs and set aside in a bowl.

Slice the shallots or red onions, set aside.

Prepare the dressing by dissolving the sugar in hot water and infusing the solution with the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and chilli. Add fish sauce and lime juice and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (more for the taste than for the temperature).

In a frying pan, add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I have an almost odourless light olive oil so I used it) and fry the onions, garlic and lemongrass till fragrant. Add the chilli and sugar and let it cook for a little while before adding the minced meat. I used organic black pig (pork) for this dish. 

Stir fry to mix well and when the meat is almost cooked through, stir in the fish sauce and soy sauce. Add pepper to taste. 

When the meat is cooked (beef could be eaten rare but not chicken or pork), turn off the heat. Add the raw shallots/red onions and the chopped fresh herbs. Mix well and then stir in the dressing.

Larb can be eaten warm or chilled. Scoop some of the meat onto a cabbage leaf and enjoy.

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous

Hub worked through the weekend and even when we ate out/in with other people they were either former or current colleagues. The thing about Shanghai is that though it's a big city, it's a small world. You always have someone from your past turning up at some point to live/work there as well, or a friend turning up for work or visit. So if he wasn't stuck on the computer or screaming away in a conference call, he would be talking shop with the men we had lunch/dinner/brunch with over the weekend.

Coming back from brunch on Sunday, we discovered that the Teenager had gone A.W.O.L.. He didn't call to ask for permission to leave the house, and we didn't find his note till a few hours later. This was the first time that this has happened - and just a few weeks after I told a few mothers that my son loved staying in his room and had never asked to go out.

I know that it's normal for Teenagers to want to hang out with each other when they can. At the same time I'm starting to worry that they may get up to no good. Shanghai can be a very dangerous place for expat teenagers.

My instinct was to scream, get him to come home immediately, ground him for 3 weeks etc - but I resisted and decided to wait for him to come home. I worked out my speech and it contained the following grand lines :

• he's still a minor under our responsibility, therefore he needs to ask for our permission before he goes out. And that by talking to us, not leaving messages around the house;
• we need to know who he's seeing, the person's phone number and address;
• I'm not the first mother to set this rule, surely he needs to have done reasonably well at school in the week before he's allowed to go out;
• a curfew helps protect him (and prevents him from being a nuisance to others) for I didn't give birth to him, give up my career etc to have something happen to him;
• I expect him to behave himself no matter where he is and that should start with his attitude towards his mother at home.

I should also work on my BGR speech, but it'll have to be for another day as he has a short attention span and may already not be able to absorb the above points. I told Hub that I do not want a confrontation with my Teenager, I want to be able to talk with him. Besides, he may just be motivated enough by these hang out sessions to want to work harder at school.

Our guest on Saturday evening has 3 kids too of which 2 are twins. The boys were late bloomers who after a shaky lazy start are starting to do well academically in addition to being good musicians and sportsmen. I can only hope that something positive will rub off on my boy before it's too late (meaning before the IB Diploma in the short term).

I've kept the menu simple for dinner : Salad with Tandoori Prawns, Grilled Vegetables with Couscous, Steak and Chocolate Fondant. Hub really enjoyed the couscous, which was like a winter version of the Taboulé.

Before adding the fresh herbs

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous :

240g medium dehydrated couscous grains

360ml hot vegetable or meat stock

1 tbsp salted butter

pepper to taste

olive oil

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 carrot

1 fennel bulb

1 celery stalk

1 small red onion

1 zucchini

1 red chilli

3 garlic cloves

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil leaves

fresh flat leaf parsley

fresh mint leaves

3 cherry tomatoes

juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Spread them out in an ovenproof dish and drizzle olive oil generously over them. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a hot oven till they are cooked (but still crunchy), turning them over half-way through the cooking.

Turn on the grill and brown the vegetables.

Place the couscous grains in a large salad bowl. Pour the hot stock over them. Leave for a few minutes till the grains have absorbed the liquid, add the butter and fork through the grains to fluff them up.

When the vegetables are nicely grilled, place them on top of the couscous. Chop the fresh herbs and tomatoes and add to the dish. Squeeze a lemon over everything.

Mix just before serving, adding more olive oil if necessary.

Spicy Prawn and Vermicelli Salad

Spicy Prawn and Vermicelli Salad

It is difficult planning a fully asian meal when Hub decides to serve some of his better wines. On occasions like these one has to go western or compromise on a fusion of east and west.

The last time we had guests (a mixed couple like us) over, I started with a Spicy Prawn and Vermicelli Salad and finished with a Duck Confit with potatoes cooked in duck fat. Until last night we've had really hot weather so the salad was a refreshing start to a rather heavy meal.

Confit de canard, pommes de terre sautées à la sarladaise

This dish is best prepared a little beforehand so that it could be served chilled. I made another one for my lunch with a few ladies 2 days later and this time it accompanied a curry as I only served water during the meal. We had a lovely sparkling Moscato Freisa wine before that though and I fear that I'll never find enough bottles for myself from now on since they would all be turning up at the same shop to stock up soon.

Spicy Prawn and Vermicelli Salad :

The vermicelli :

3 small bundles of dried mung bean vermicelli

half a lemongrass stalk (bashed)

boiling water

salt

The prawns :

20 raw medium prawns (peeled and deveined)

3 garlic cloves

2 fresh red chillies

a small slice of ginger (julienned)

1 tbsp fish sauce

juice of one lime

The garnishing :

2 small cucumbers (sliced)

half a small red onion (finely sliced)

fresh mint, basil and coriander leaves (shredded)

The dressing :

2-3 garlic cloves (minced)

2 tbsp palm sugar (grated or in syrup)

1 bird's eye chilli (sliced)

3-4 tbsp fish sauce

juice of 1,5 lemons

2 kaffir lime leaves (cut thinly)

bit of lemongrass (bashed)

Fill a salad bowl with just enough hot water to cover the mung bean vermicelli. Salt the water and infuse the lemongrass in it. Soak the vermicelli till the water is absorbed. Let it cool and then leave to chill in the fridge.

Pound the garlic and chilli till you get a rough paste. Marinate the prawns for an hour with the garlic paste, ginger, fish sauce and lime juice.

Heat a bit of canola oil in a frying pan. Fry the prawns till cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Prepare the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove the lemongrass and lime leaves before using it.

When ready to serve, assemble the chilled vermicelli in a big salad bowl. Cover with the cucumber and red onions, followed by the fresh mint and basil leaves. Pour the dressing over it.

Finally add the cooked prawns and garnish with the fresh coriander.

My family arrives from Singapore tomorrow for a visit. Will be busy but would be taking the opportunity to do a spot of sightseeing.

Thai Pineapple and Prawn Salad

Thai Pineapple and Prawn Salad

I really like moving from one place to another and being surrounded by people who are different from myself (though maybe not if our spirits were to be too different). Yet, as far as I know, I do not descend from any nomads, only immigrants on both sides of my family.

Have been away from Singapore 15 years now (on the 5th of September). Since then I have lived in France, the USA, Spain, Germany and now Italy. In between I have also travelled in North America, Europe, Australiasia and North Africa. And I still feel that I need to discover more of the world, that we need to keep moving.

It is fortunate that Hub shares the same need to see/live the world. Because it is not given for most to leave their homes, families and friends, in other words to uproot themselves again and again. Just come here to Maranello, many men live and work here in the week, returning to their wives and children in Turin, Milan or Firenze on Friday evenings. And those cities are not so far away, but still it would be uprooting and many Italian women absolutely hate the idea.

One also knows of so many foreign wives and children who have gone home leaving their men behind to work in Modena. Mainly it is because of the schooling problem, but often it would also be due to the fact that they were not happy here. How could one not be happy in Italy? Many of the Italians as well as you out there would wonder.

But an expat's life is not a bed of roses. It is about starting/adapting all over, learning a new language, understanding a new culture, eating new food, meeting new people and constantly having to figure out how to return home on the best routes for the best price. It could be fun/interesting, or it could be a nightmare. And many people often just do not get it right. Add to the fact that the city you are in may not be the most welcoming and you have a recipe for personal and domestic unhappiness.

I am fortunate that I am usually happy no matter where I am. It helps that I like both my own company and that of others. I have a home to look after, I shop/cook/eat and I blog. I love learning new languages and I am quite independent. Generally I am also a positive person. Wait, I do complain about this and that like everybody else, but I never let the negative weigh me down. Life is too short to spend it whinging - and I fear that I may not live long enough to be able to look back and say that I've lived my life to the fullest.

I was reading about MM Lee's wife's recent death and funeral. And I spent the whole morning in tears. But what a life she had led, surely she must have had few regrets as she blew out her last breath. What an inspiration.

Anyway, I am trying to enjoy my time here in Modena as well as I could. And that includes cooking for others and being fed in return. MD prepared this yummy Thai Pineapple and Prawn Salad for me the other day and I have decided to pamper myself by reproducing the same dish for dinner last evening. She didn't share her exact recipe with me, so I've done it my way.

Thai Pineapple and Prawn Salad (serves 2) :

1 whole ripe pineapple

300g cooked peeled deveined prawns

1 tbsp white or brown sugar

5 tbsp lime juice or 4 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 dried bird's eye chilli (crushed)

1 garlic clove (minced - optional)

2 tsp olive or vegetable oil

fresh herbs like coriander, thai basil and mint

2 tbsp toasted peanuts or pine nuts

salad leaves, cucumber and/or red peppers

Cut the pineapple into 2 and remove the flesh, cutting it up into cubes. If you wish, reserve the skin of the pineapple and use it as a plate to serve the salad on.

Mix the sugar, lime juice, fish and soy sauces, chilli, garlic and oil in a bowl. Add the pineapple cubes and mix well. Chill in the fridge till ready to serve.

Before serving add the cooked prawns to the pineapple cubes and toss well together. Arrange them on the pineapple skins and serve on a plate with some salad leaves and fresh herbs. Sprinkle some of the toasted nuts over everything.

Grilled Gambas on Raw Fresh Porcini Mushrooms

Grilled Gambas on Raw Fresh Porcini Mushrooms

Porcini season seems to be here again, time certainly flies! When we were in William's the other evening, they served us warm octopus with raw fresh porcini and it was delicious. I always buy porcini and chanterelles when I see them, so when I needed something quick for lunch solo yesterday I whipped up a simple plate of Grilled Gambas on Raw Fresh Porcini Mushrooms.

I was right not to have stuffed myself at noon as dinner was an English BBQ at JoW's...with English people...complete with lots of booze and bad weather in the form of cloudy skies and finally rain. An authentic experience that deserves to be repeated, if I may say so.

The company was great (with some of my favourite ladies, the kind you want to hug) and I've stuffed myself so much I couldn't sit down. We had (chilli) beef burgers, turkey sausages, really yummy pork ribs, chicken satay (with homemade peanut sauce), chicken kebabs, zuchini and black olive clafoutis, apple crumble, brownies and tiramisu. KF brought some sbrisolona from Mantova that I refused to buy the last time I was there, so I finally got to try out this dry-looking specialty. It's a huge shortbread with almonds, not too bad actually.

You know why you need to invite the husbands when you do a BBQ because somebody has to cook the meat. And men who usually do not cook somehow will always know how to barbecue better than you. Maybe it brings out their stone-age instincts, starting and lording over a fire, "providing" the meat. Anyway I think we've done the food justice, because there wasn't anything left at the end of the evening.

Hub and the Teenager played in a 9-hole golf competition yesterday, seeking that elusive golf handicap. They have dreams of playing in some of the most beautiful golf courses in the world - but most clubs only allow golfers with a handicap to play, thereby the quest. Hub missed getting his by just one point - though he turned out to be first in the competition and has won himself the Tortellino d'Argento. Plus an invitation to play for free this morning in the reserved 18-hole Tortellino d'Oro competition. Want to bet that I'd have to do all the work this week in bed? He'll be whinging about a backache for at least a week.

Grilled Gambas on Raw Fresh Porchini Mushrooms (serves 1) :

7-8 raw gambas (shell-on)

1 garlic clove (finely sliced)

1 small fresh porcini mushroom (sliced)

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

lime juice (optional)

Heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic till fragrant (but not brown). Grill the gambas in the oil. Remove and peel them.

Arrange the sliced porcini mushrooms on a plate and drizzle olive oil over them. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the peeled gambas on the porcini and drizzle olive oil etc on them. Add the roasted garlic slices as well if you wish, but not too many of them or they'll overpower the delicate fragrance of the porcini.

Insalata di Bollito (Piedmontese Boiled Beef Salad)

Insalata di Bollito

We were served an Insalata di Bollito as an antipasto on our second night at Casa Scaparone. It didn't look very appetising, but looks being deceiving at times, it turned out of course to be quite delicious.

The beef was tender, tasty and went really nicely with the sweet carrots. We tried to get the recipe out of the agriturismo but they were vague about it, mentioning something about onions and herbs.

But as I tasted the dish, it reminded me of a French Pot-au-Feu, only sweeter and more aromatic. That set me thinking of how this dish could be prepared and I am glad to announce that my hunch hadn't been wrong. My version of this Piedmontese Boiled Beef Salad (Insalata di Bollito) is similar if not better than the one served at the osteria.

Insalata di Bollito :

1 Kg Guanciale di Manzo (Beef cheeks)

1 Beef bone

1 small Red Onion pricked with 6-7 whole Cloves

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Celery stalk (sliced into 3-4 pieces)

2 Bay leaves

Fresh Rosemary, thyme and parsley

1/2 Tsp ground Black Pepper

1 litre hot Beef stock

3 Potatoes (halved)

A few Eggs (hard-boiled)

1 Zucchini (sliced into 3-4 pieces)

1 small Cabbage (quartered)

2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 large Yellow or Napoleon Onion (sliced)

1/3 of a Leek (sliced)

2 Garlic cloves (chopped)

1 Tsp Mustard seeds

Fresh Rosemary and Parsley

5 large Carrots (sliced length-wise into chunky sticks)

A good pinch of ground Cloves

1/3 Tsp ground Cinnamon

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 Tbsp Red wine Vinegar

2 Ladles of the Beef Broth

Fresh Basil for garnishing

Start by preparing the bollito. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottom pot and brown the meat (kept in big pieces), onion and celery. Add the bone, pepper and the fresh herbs. Cover the meat with the hot beef stock (use hot water and a beef cube if you do not have home-made stock). When the liquid starts to boil, cover the pot and lower the heat. Simmer for 3 hours.

The cooked beef cheeks

Remove the meat from the stock and set aside, covered with aluminium foil so that it doesn't dry out.

Bring the stock to a boil again and cook the potatoes, eggs, cabbage and zucchini (in this order so that the zucchini doesn't overcook).

In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil and fry the onions, leeks, garlic and mustard seeds till fragrant. Add the carrots and cook them till they are soft and slightly caramelised. Add the ground spices, fresh herbs, salt and pepper and stir well to mix them with the carrots. Lower the heat and cover the pan.

Check from time to time, the carrots and onions should caramelise but must not burn. Now pour in the red wine vinegar, mix well and cover the pan again.

When the carrots are ready, add the meat (I used my hands to shred it roughly) to the pan plus 2 ladles of the rich and aromatic meat stock. Mix everything well together and cover the pan again.

When the sauce is reduced, turn off the heat.

I served the Beef Salad French-style, accompanied by the vegetables and the eggs. The broth is served separately, usually before the meat.

Melons and Lychee Salad

Melons and Lychee Salad

I am pretty pleased with myself. Because I drove to Bologna yesterday. Instead of parking at Ikea and taking the bus as I'd thought of doing earlier.

Cities like Bologna make me nervous because of the heavier traffic and the cameras guarding the entrances to the old parts of the city. I also fear not being able to find parking space, of course.

But what the heck, I've not taken public transportation in a long while and hate the thought of doing so in the heatwave. So I just niked (i.e. just did it).

Parked near this Indian restaurant Taj Mahal that I've been meaning to try out for a while now and had lunch there with the Babies. We had cheese naan, mutton karay, tandoori chicken and mango lassi. The food, according to me, is better than at Ristorante India. Though the restaurant is less sexy. The tandoori chicken wasn't dry like at most places and the mutton was tender and came with alot of gravy. I would consider going back for a 2nd opinion.

Went to buy coffee at Nespresso as we were running out and managed to buy a pair of shoes along the way. Sale time, pity we couldn't hang around to check it out as I had to pick up the Teenager from a play date in Modena. Was disappointed though that they didn't have the grape seed body cream that I was looking for at l'Occitane en Provence. I fear that they may be discontinuing the line - a tragedy as I love this cream.

I could have left the kids at the summer camp starting yesterday, but when I was told that they would be going to the public pool at Maranello, I knew that I couldn't do it. Why would they want to swim with the screaming masses when they are members of the golf club with a big pool just for a selected few? So after Bologna I drove them to the golf club and saved myself a few towels to wash and dry.

It's so hot I have no mood to cook. Hub prepared a salad for himself, I made the Babies chilli and garlic pasta and for myself tofu with salted fish. Then we all had a large Melons and Lychee Salad. That I have put together this morning and chilled in the fridge for a few hours. Very refreshing.

Melons and Lychee Salad :

Watermelon

Melon

Lychees (canned)

A few grapes and cherries

A touch of Grand Marnier

Fresh mint

Basically just put all that's round together. Include the syrup from the canned lychees and the juice from the watermelon. The melon came from the farm and the cherries were probably the last for this year - found them at a roadside stall in Vignola on my way to Bologna.

I wouldn't have to cook either this evening. We are going to a poolside dinner party at the golf.

Ristorante Taj Mahal

Via San Felice 92

Bologna

Tel : 051 524894

Spicy Thai Salad

Spicy Thai Salad

We have decided to throw a dinner yesterday evening even though Hub is currently buried under alot of work as were the 2 guys we've invited to the meal (one of them works directly for him). That's because we are now in the middle of the Summer and most wives have left or will be going away with the children leaving the husbands behind. Last evening was the only day we could find to have whole families together for a meal at our place.

It was a French evening. Or you must be able to speak French even if you were German or Singaporean. He doesn't like it when I have my Chinese-speaking meals, but he loves it when we hold Francophone parties. And since he was motivated to dine and wine with his friends/colleagues, he was in a great mood in spite of the pressure at work. This morning he spent 2 hours on the phone dealing with work though, thank God he wasn't suffering from a hangover.

LT and his gorgeous baby girl!

I've kept the menu simple because he wanted to serve good wines with each course. To give you an idea, we had a bottle of Dom Pérignon and a 2000 bottle of L de la Louvière (Pessac-Leognan) among other bottles last night. I couldn't bury their tongues in rich curries and other spices as such.

We therefore started with Sardine and Egg Puffs and Feuilleté de Chèvre Chaude. Pop the champagne.

Followed by a Spicy Thai Salad. Which honestly was fresh and delicious and such a great idea.

Without knowing it, we somehow had a more or less Thai meal. There was a Thai Pineapple Fried Rice served with Grilled Gambas and Thai Green Curry coming up next.

In an evening like this the cheese platter was essentiel. There were Camembert, Gongonzola and Pecorino cheeses. A bunch of fresh grapes. And wine, of course.

Dessert was Mascarpone with Puff Pastry, Raspberries and Grilled Almonds. And fresh fruit for those who desired it.

The company, needless to say, was lovely. MIL was in her element and I heard her giggling away as I drifted in and out of the kitchen. Probably because she finally could understand the conversation. Hub wanted LT (his right-hand man) and EB (CB's Hub) to meet over a meal which was why we organised this dinner. He was sure that they would hit it off. And it was a bonus that the wives were such wonderful ladies. I do not always enjoy the company of the wives of some of his colleagues, but I like LT's German partner very much and CB you all know of course I adore.

Spicy Thai Salad (for 7 as a starter) :

The dressing :

2 Tbsp Palm Sugar

1 piece fresh Ginger (julienned)

2 Garlic cloves (minced)

1 Thai chilli (sliced)

1 stalk Lemongrass (sliced into 3 and bashed)

1 Kaffir Lime leaf (shredded)

50ml hot Water

4 Tbsp Fish sauce

1 Tbsp light Soy Sauce

3 Tbsp Chinese Rice Vinegar

Juice of 2 large Limes

1 Tsp Plum sauce

2 Tsp toasted Sesame oil

The salad :

1 small packet of dried Mung bean vermicelli (soaked in hot chicken stock and drained)

2 Tbsp light Soy sauce

2 Tsp toasted Sesame Oil

2 Shallots (finely sliced)

2 Cucumbers (peeled, deseeded, julienned)

2 Carrots (peeled, julienned)

3 large Champignons de Paris (finely sliced)

Half a Red Pepper (finely sliced)

Half a Fennel (finely sliced)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh Mint leaves (shredded)

Fresh Basil leaves (shredded)

Fresh Coriander leaves (shredded)

Toasted Sesame seeds (optional)

It's a very easy salad, but you spend the hell of alot of time mixing (and tasting) the ingredients for the dressing (all measurements are as usual estimated) to get it the way you like it. And all that before you chill the sauce (which will taste slightly different once the sauces and herbs marry) and chop the vegetables - which would require more time and effort. But the result was well worth it.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together in a tupperware and chill it for a few hours. You have to get the balance of sweet, salty, acidic and hot right.

Soak the mung bean vermicelli in hot stock or water, drain and toss it with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Keep in another tupperware and chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Keep the vegetables in the fridge till 30 minutes before you need to serve your salad. Take them out and start to chop, julienne, slice etc. You basically choose to use whatever (crunchy) vegetables you like that can be eaten raw. You may also add green apples.

I got Hub to prepare the salad at this stage and he did a really good job. You need a large serving plate for this. Layer the vegetables, mung bean vermicelli and the fresh herbs on the plate - like making lasagna. And 10 minutes before serving, pour the chilled dressing over the salad, return the whole plate if possible to the fridge and let the salad maserate a little in the dressing before serving it. But not too long or they may turn soggy.

I often serve cooked prawns (grilled, boiled or pan-fried) or sliced grilled beef with the salad, but we like it very much as it is as well.

Taboulé (Couscous Salad)

Taboulé aux Herbes et au Couscous

Taboulé is a Summer staple in our household. When we do a BBQ, we make a taboulé to eat the grilled meat with. It is basically a seasoned salad from the Levant (e.g. Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa) made with couscous or bulgur and raw vegetables like peppers, cucumber, tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs. Some people add olives, even anchovies and what not in their taboulé, but I like to keep mine very simple, the important thing for me being that the flavours mingle and marry and come through with every bite that you take of the salad. And taste fresh.

I make mine the way the French usually do it. It came out nicely enough this time round, but the couscous grains were a bit too soggy. I have probably overcooked them. One could simply count on the olive oil, lemon juice and juices from the raw vegetables to cook the grains, but since I was making a huge quantity I didn't want to take the risk and decided to pre-cook my couscous albeit with less water than usual. It was probably still too much water.

I never thought to really blog about it because it was something so simple it didn't serve any purpose. But my guests all wanted to have the recipe. They also wondered if I had spent my last few days cooking. Actually making a BBQ is one of the easiest things to do, because you accompany it with salads and dips that could be done piano piano and require no labour over a hot stove. I prepared the food bit by bit and felt more tired complaining about the lack of cold storage than making da mangare. Anyway cooking is therapetic for me, as surprisingly enough, playing the piano too - lately. I was furious with the Hub the other evening and managed to calm down by fingering a few easy tunes on the piano - at midnight.

Goes to show that knowledge is never wasted in life. I didn't see much purpose in learning how to play the piano when I was a kid (a few cousins started learning and mum said I had to do it too), but nearly 30 years down the road I'm beginning to enjoy it. Though I can no longer play as well as I could when I was learning the instrument. Ditto for learning how to drive. There is usually no need to know how to drive in Singapore, but I did it anyway and a few decades down the road, that's what I need to do even if it was to buy a stamp.

Taboulé :

2 cups of Couscous grains (small or medium is up to you)

3 Tbsp Olive Oil (just for the grains)

1 cup of hot Water

2 Tsp Salt

Pepper to taste

A very generous handful of fresh Parsley (chopped)

A very generous handful of fresh Mint (chopped)

A generous handful of fresh Basil (chopped)

2 Cucumbers (chopped)

1-2 Red Peppers (chopped)

1 Red Onion (chopped)

A dozen Cherry or Plum Tomatoes (chopped)

Juice of 2 large Lemons (or more if desired)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the couscous grains in a large salad bowl together with the salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over it. Pour the hot water over the couscous and let it be absorbed by the grains. It's not important if the grains are not totally cooked.

Alternatively, soak the grains in cold water for 15 minutes and drain in a sieve for another 15 minutes to make sure that most of the water has been removed. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Finely chop the fresh herbs and stir into the couscous with a fork.

Finely chop the raw vegetables and do each vegetable at a time. For example, if doing the red peppers, pile the chopped peppers on top of the couscous and season with salt, pepper, lots of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon for a few minutes before mixing them into the couscous.

Do the same with the rest of the vegetables to allow them to macerate in the seasoning. BUT, leave the tomatoes out till the every end - just before serving. Or they will make the taboulé become very soggy.

I like to prepare my taboulé a day in advance to allow the flavours to mingle and penetrate the grains. Check the seasoning (mainly herbs, salt, olive oil and lemon juice) and serve it chilled. Sometimes I add a teaspoon or more of roasted cumin seeds, but only when I feel like it. And a taboulé with fruit like melon and raspberries can also be delicious.

Crabmeat Pancake, Duck and Cucumber Salad

Crabmeat Pancake, Duck and Cucumber Salad

I love crabs. Unfortunately the Sri Lankan ones we get back in Singapore are unavailable in Europe and here in Modena, even the big hard-shelled ones you don't see much of. I therefore resort to buying canned crabmeat, though when they are not fresh and shelled, you have to cook it differently e.g. in soups, salads, omelettes...and Crabmeat Pancakes.

This recipe is adapted from Ken Hom's Wok & Co cookbook. Makes about 6-8 small pancakes.

55g flour
1 egg

1Tsp toasted sesame oil

1 Tsp salt

ground black pepper

1 Tsp chopped fresh ginger

1 Tbsp chopped onions or spring onions

Half a dried or fresh Thai chilli

125ml milk

1 Tbsp lemon juice

120g crabmeat

Mix the flour, eggs, sesame oil, salt, pepper, ginger, onion, chilli, milk and lemon juice in a large bowl. Then add the crab meat.

The batter

Let it sit for at least 30 minutes.

Crabmeat Pancake

Heat a little peanut oil in a crepe pan and prepare the pancakes as you would the usual crepes.

Duck and Cucumber Salad

I ate my crabmeat pancakes with a Duck and Cucumber Salad. Using leftover duck breast, fresh cucumber and a light soy sauce and toasted sesame oil seasoning for the cucumber and a drizzling of good balsamic vinegar on the duck. That's my lunch for today, eaten in front of the computer as I watched the Korean drama "He who can't marry". Like I said, I do so adore handsome Korean leads...

Vietnamese Beef and Vermicelli Salad

Vietnamese Beef and Vermicelli Salad

I have been pretty busy though G-d knows not with doing the housework that I need to do. There are piles of washed, dried and folded clothes lying around waiting to be returned to their drawers and more piles of dirty ones waiting to be washed. But at my age I should be allowed to procrastinate especially when I have a new small obsession.

The other day, while reading through a few blogs, I came across a remark that the Jews do not cook their meat in milk. I know (one of my oldest friends being Jewish) that they do not eat pork, prawns, fish without scales...but why can't they mix meat and milk? That set me on a few hours of research on the subject - few hours because one answer led to another question (e.g. why were Jews moneylenders?) and so on and so like the Hub said, "don't you have anything better to do with your time?" Apparently not.

I won't bore you with the details, but the reason I thought was quite sweet : one shouldn't cook a kid in its mother's milk. So they can't mix milk and meat (e.g. beef, lamb) and if they eat meat and cheese, they can only do so at a few hours' interval (which, if you ask me, like asking your non-Jewish neighbour to manipulate your switches during the Sabbath, is quite hypocritical).

Anyway that's religion for you. My mom's religion has a thing about cows, so she couldn't eat it. And on the 1st and 15th day of the Lunar month, she goes vegetarian. My religion? Twice a year I go crazy. Schlussverkauf/Saldi/Sale/Soldes/Rebajas, I speak in tongues on those days. Like nowadays.

Having spent too much time on such things, I had to churn out dinner rather quickly. The breadwinner does expect bread to be on the table on time. Beef was on the mind so beef turned up where the bread should be : Spicy Vietnamese Beef and Vermicelli Salad.

Basically grilled Beef steak sliced and marinated in a paste (lemongrass, galangal, shallots, garlic, brown sugar, rice wine, lime juice and zest, fish sauce, chilli...).


Vermicelli (mung bean or rice) quickly cooked, drained, rinsed with cold water, topped with raw greens (e.g. bean sprouts, julienned carrots, salad leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, shallots, fresh mint, coriander leaves...)

and dressed in the sauce that I usually make for my Imperial Nems.

Renri - My First Abalone Yu Sheng

Abalone Yu Sheng Salad

With age I reminiscise too much for my own good. So it was with much nostalgia that I thought of my childhood picking out crackers in the Yu Sheng (Lucky Raw Fish Salad) that my dad would bring us to eat during CNY. Then I read about all the loh-hei that my dear blogger friends have been up to in the past week and was filled with envy.

So while I have been a little lazy about cooking new things lately (just dishing out well-tried favourites), I wondered if I shouldn't make myself some sort of a Yu Sheng, especially after I've read Umami's 2007 posting on her own attempt at the dish. And since she has very kindly given me tips on how to make my favourite crackers, I could find no excuse not to go ahead and do it.

It was an amazingly successful 1st attempt! I am no salad fan and quite dreaded the idea of having to actually eat my Yu Sheng if nobody else wanted it. But I ended up hoarding the dish after the 1st bite and ate it up all by myself! And I will make it even after CNY because I really like it.

The sauce's the key to the dish's success and mine tasted as far as I could remember like the ones I've had in my lost youth. I skipped the candied ginger etc as I'm not fond of preserved fruit and vegetables. The vegetables should normally be shredded really fine but I was lazy and decided to just have them julienned. But they were good.

Abalone Yu Sheng :

Shredded Carrots

Shredded Cucumber

Shredded Red Bell Pepper

Shredded Turnip, Radish etc

Grapefruit or Pomelo

Chopped Peanuts, Almonds or Pistachio Nuts

Grilled Sesame Seeds

Abalone slices

Coriander leaves

Flour Crackers

Limes

The Sauce :

Plum Sauce

Kumquat Paste (didn't use it)

Rice Vinegar

Sesame Oil

Grapefruit Juice

5 Spice Powder

Grated Ginger or Ginger Powder

Chilli

Olive or Vegetable Oil

Pepper

Salt

One is supposed to compose the salad in stages and mutter the appropriate lucky sayings appropriate to the ingredient(s) in question. For example, when you add in the fish you say niannian youyu, when you add in the carrots hongyun dangtou, mix in the crackers (looking like gold ingots) you say piandi huangjin etc.

With the crackers

The crackers I made them with flour, olive oil, water, salt and sugar.

Gonghei Fattchoy everyone!