singapore

Enjoy A Super-Delicious Dish For $ 1.00 !

Chicken Liver Mousse

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No, this was not at a hawker cart in Singapore, nor was it on the side of the road in Manila, it was not in the bush in Zanzibar and certainly not on the beach in Goa. This was in Miami, at “Chez Bella”.
All the ingredients for 4 portions came to about $ 4.00, which, yes, I carefully and meticulously calculated it, comes to about a buck a portion. 🙂
In all my years living in America,  I have realized that the majority of Americans say they don’t like liver or any other dish prepared with offal. However, serve them a slice of “Foie Gras” in a fancy restaurant where they are too shy to ask what they are being served, and all of a sudden you get all ahhh’s and ohhh’s. And it’s usually the same with chicken liver mousse, terrine or pate. Serve it on little canapes, put a cherry or grape on top and all of a sudden it becomes great.
Speaking of chicken liver mousse and parfait. Sadly, most of what’s being served in restaurants these days can at best be described as utter garbage. I know, because I love chicken liver mousse and have tried it a hundred times, in fact, I almost always order it if I come across it on a menu. Low-quality liver, too many distracting ingredients, overseasoned, underseasoned, grainy, broken, too long in the fridge, off-putting color, you name it.
So then, for those of my readers who share the love with me, I give you a recipe which is pretty much foolproof, as long as you use top quality liver.
Of course, you can use this recipe to make any other liver mousse. Pork liver, veal liver, duck liver, game liver. You can also, if you must, add a few additional flavors, as long as you take it easy and don’t overpower the fine taste of the liver. Armaniac, calvados, grand marnier, cognac, diced apples, garlic, herbs, sauteed shallots, orange essence, etc. You can even call it a parfait if you want to, since this recipe provides a mousse so fine, it appears to have been strained through a fine hair sieve.
All in all, a spectacular tasty dish, easy to prepare, cheap economical, and definitely better than most of the stuff you can buy ready-made or in most restaurants.
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Bon Appétit !   Life is Good !
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Click here for more  Liver  on  ChefsOpinion
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P.S.
This amount of mousse serves 4 main courses or 8-12 snacks/appetizers
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Chicken Liver Mousse

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Chicken Liver Mousse

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Chicken Liver Mousse

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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East Meets West – Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce
East Meets West - Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

East Meets West – Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

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I could  have named this dish “Chinese Beef Stir Fry With Vegetables”, and it would also be absolutely correct.
However, I named it  “Sautéed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoi Sin Sauce”, because I wanted to emphasize the fact that naming a dish that one creates, even if similar recipes exist, leaves one free to use words that best describe the methods and ingredients so that one knows what to expect when reading about it or ordering it in a restaurant.
This is usually not necessary when preparing/serving well established dishes, such as Spaghetti Bolognese, Midnight Lake Soup, Sweet& Sour Chicken, Consomme Celestine, Veal Chop Milanese, Chicken Kiev, Chinese Pepper steak, etc, etc, etc.
However, when changing the ingredients or methods of a well established dish, we should explain it in the name in order to respect the original ! and to avoid confusion or even disappointment when the altered dish arrives.
(And yes, there are a few exceptions to that rule, such as when the “original” is not well known or not popular in it’s original version. After all, restaurants are businesses and we must sell whats popular in the particular market we try exist in and to prosper.) 🙂
Change and improvement is sometimes good and commendable, as long as the change from the original/classic is well documented.
I remember not too long ago to read a post of a very popular lady-cook who has a rather popular TV cooking show and published a bunch of cookbooks, who told her readers about a “smart “risotto recipe where one does not have to stir the rice and liquid constantly. It sounded really good and tasty, but that is NOT ! a risotto.
Or to be served a pesto with cilantro and walnuts which, incidentally, I love and make frequently at home. Nothing wrong with it – as long as you don’t just label it “Pesto”, which let’s one expect the classic version. Just name it what it is : “Walnut And Cilantro Pesto” and we are square. Or, as in this recipe, when both the French “sauteing” and the Chinese/Asian “Stir Frying” cooking method is the correct description of the cooking method used – choose one that fits the location, clientele or whatever seems correct and/or appropriate.
As for the potatoes, I had them in a Chinese dish for the first time when I worked in Singapore back in the early 80’s. After a long day at work, I usually told the night-cook to send me something tasty to my apartment at around 1.oo am. More often than not, he sent me a stir fried seafood dish with either noodles, potatoes or both, thinking that since I am German, the potatoes would comfort me (they did) 🙂
But besides that, Yunnan province and other areas of China, (mainly in the north-east), feature plenty of dishes containing potatoes. My absolute favorite and probably the best (only?) known in the West is probably :  酸辣土豆 / suān là tǔdòu (hot & sour shredded potatoes) or, with added pork juliennes: 土豆肉丝 (tǔdòu rou si)
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So there you have it, my own philosophy (the short version) of naming dishes I create or modify to my taste, availability, affordability and/or popularity with my guests, be it at home or in a commercial environment.
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Bon Appétit !   Life is Good !
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P.S.
This dish had more sauce than usual, because I wanted to have the leftovers the following day over pasta or rice ……
Also, it is one of the most delicious dishes I have prepared in the past few months, perfect in taste, quality and looks and very affordable and easy to prepare 🙂
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Click here to see the most popular  Chinese Potato Dish
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Click her to see “Beef Stroganoff: (NOT?)  on  ChefsOpinion
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Click here to read more about :
“Can A Classic Dish Be Altered If The Name Clearly Indicates That The Dish Is  In The Style Of……….“  on  ChefsOpinion
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East Meets West - Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

East Meets West – Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

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East Meets West - Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

East Meets West – Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

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East Meets West - Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

East Meets West – Sauteed Beef With Bok Choy, Onions And Potatoes In Hoisin Sauce

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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“Dish At The Bottom Of This Page” 
Guess who got the beef and who got some of the raw bok choy 🙂
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The Ultimate (Faux) Tandoori Chicken

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Tandoori Chicken cooking in a Tandoor


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Excerpt from Wiki:
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” Tandoori chicken is a dish originating in the Indian subcontinent. It is widely popular in South Asia particularly India and Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Western world. It consists of roasted chicken prepared with yogurt and spices. The name comes from the type of cylindrical clay oven, a tandoor, in which the dish is traditionally prepared.
The chicken is marinated in yogurt and seasoned with the spice mixture tandoori masala. Cayenne pepper, red chili powder or Kashmiri red chili powder is used to give it a fiery red hue. A higher amount of turmeric produces an orange color. In milder versions, both red and yellow food coloring are sometimes used to achieve bright colors, but turmeric powder is both mild and brightly colored, as is paprika, a sweet red pepper powder.[5] It is traditionally cooked at high temperatures in a tandoor (clay oven).“

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Excerpt from a previous post  on  ChefsOpinion:
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” Some  of my favorite food-memories are from my time living in Karachi, Pakistan, were my wife Maria and I had many wonderful dinners at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel, the ” Avari Towers, Karachi“.
Sadly, I understand that this restaurant has been converted into a steak restaurant by now ( after all, its been nearly 20 years since Maria and I lived there).
At the time, the roof top was a very exclusive, local-fare only, restaurant, with a tandoori oven right there on the rooftop.
Benazir Bhutto, who a few years later became prime minister of Pakistan, resided in a house just next to our hotel and came to eat at the roof top a few times while we were there, which got Maria excited each time and she actually asked Mrs.Bhutto for an autograph (which she got, despite the incredible security), which made Maria happy and embarrassed me🙂 .
Anyway, as far as the food was concerned, all the restaurants at the  Avari Towers  were in my opinion by far the best and safest places to enjoy a meal in all of  Karachi  and the tandoori dishes at the rooftop topped it all !
I had many a good tandoori dish while traveling in Pakistan and of course in India, but never did I find a good one in Florida in all the years I have resided here. While they might exist, so far they have eluded me.
So, whenever I lust for tasty, well prepared tandoori-style food that rekindles my memories of times past, I usually have to take matters in my own hands. ”
Although I don’t have access to a tandoor, this is as close as you can get to the real thing. “Faux”, maybe – but super delicious, definitely 🙂
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مزےکری  !   maze karein   !   زندگی اچھی ہے  !   

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P.S.
Usually tandoori chicken is cut into cubes and threaded on skewers before cooking. However, sometimes whole or split chicken are cooked, hanging on hooks and wires in the center of the tandoor.
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The Ultimate (Faux) Tandoori Chicken

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The Ultimate (Faux) Tandoori Chicken

The Ultimate (Faux) Tandoori Chicken

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let chicken rest in a warm place at least 15 minutes before cutting into serving sized pieces; serves 4 - 6

let chicken rest in a warm place at least 15 minutes before cutting into serving sized pieces; serves 4 – 6

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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Curried Langostino And Egg Salad Wrapped In Roti Prata ( 印度煎饼 )

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While  I was preparing tonight’s pratas (parathas, roti canai), my cravings for the final dish became so strong that I did not even bother to decorate the food a bit.
I just could not wait to dig in, as I remembered with great affection the tasty roti’s I had in India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Caribbean (mostly Jamaica, sorry Trinidad) 🙂
The accompanying salad of langustinos and eggs in curry mayonnaise might not sound very exotic, but it is definitely something you could find in any of the less traditional restaurant’s in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, where fusion cuisine has become part of the daily culinary life.


Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !

 

Click for Roti recipe here
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Curried Langostino And Egg Salad Wrapped In Roti Prata ( 印度煎饼 )

Curried Langostino And Egg Salad Wrapped In Roti Prata ( 印度煎饼 )

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Dear Friend’s, to help support this blog, please be so kind and click on the video below.  ( You don’t have to watch it, just click once )   Thank you 🙂
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Malay-Inspired Shrimp & Salad

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Last  night’s light dinner had most of the ingredient’s of a typical satay dinner – shrimp, cucumbers, onions, garlic, peanut sauce and chili. I did not attempt to go “authentic”, but rather enjoy great food with as little fuss as possible. The whole thing did not take more than fifteen minutes to prepare, but it tasted like a million bucks and reminded me of the sometimes simple, but alway’s wonderful meals my friend’s and I had so many times, so many years ago in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and other places in South East Asia and the Pacific / South Pacific. Sometimes, when I have a meal like this and I am in the mood and have the time to reflect, it connect’s me vividly to people, times and places in my distant past 🙂
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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The Good Stuff :-)

The Good Stuff 🙂

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Mise En Place

Mise En Place

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Season Shrimp With Granulated Garlic, Kosher Salt And Ground Chili, Saute Or Grill

Season Shrimp With Granulated Garlic, Kosher Salt And Ground Chili, Saute Or Grill

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Dice Onion, Tomato, Cucumber, Slice Scallions. Dress With White Balsamic Vinegar, Oil, Salt , Chili and Roasted Garlic Puree.

Dice Onion, Tomato, Cucumber, Slice Scallions. Dress With White Balsamic Vinegar, Oil, Salt , Chili and Roasted Garlic Puree.

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Sprinkle Salad With Salted Cashew Nuts

Sprinkle Salad With Salted Cashew Nuts

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Serve Shrimp Over Salad, Accompany With Lime, Peanut Sauce And Sweet Chili Sauce

Serve Shrimp Over Salad, Accompany With Lime, Peanut Sauce And Sweet Chili Sauce

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Malay-Inspired Shrimp & Salad

Malay-Inspired Shrimp & Salad

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The Good Stuff :-)

The Good Stuff 🙂

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Dear Friend’s, to help support this blog, please be so kind and click on the video below.  ( You don’t have to watch it, just click once )   Thank you 🙂
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Some Of The Places I Worked At Over The Years

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Just some of the places I worked at over the year’s.
Many places don’t exist anymore and don’t have
any pictures on the net. I can’t even find a picture
of my own restaurant  ” Gildenkeller ” I had for
a while in East Germany  😦
If anybody out there who worked with me at any point
can help me with pictures of places which are missing here,
I would highly appreciate it if you would contact me. Thank’s  🙂

Life is Good !
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(Hover or click a pic to see the name and location of the place)
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” Chicken Baked In Salt Crust “

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes.
Season the inside with sriracha and salt, stuff it with orange quarters,
lots of garlic and scallions. Then make the salt dough by combining egg whites,
salt and flour, pack the chicken in it and bake it until the meat has reached
a temperature of of 158. remove the chicken and let rest another 20 minutes
before opening the crust. The carry-over heat will take it to a safe 165 temperature.
For most effect, crack and open the  crust table side. For  condiments and sides,
you can go chinese or western. Because the texture and taste reminds me so much
of the time i used to live in singapore and enjoyed “Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice”,
I usually go chinese, but  just condiments, no rice or vegetables because together with
Bella we usually eat the whole thing in one sitting ! You can of course accompany it
with steamed rice and maybe bok choy, or you can go western style and serve a
western style vegetable and maybe mashed potatoes or noodles, in which case you
probably serve it with a veloute to keep it all moist and tasty.

Enjoy ! Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

” Pork, Vegetables & Noodle Soup “

This is the pork stock and some of the leftover ribs from two days ago.
Makes a great soup by adding lots of key lime juice and a raw egg yolk to stir in.
Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

” Rendang Padang “
Here is a simplified version of one of my favorite dishes,
which I ate many times in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The reason I have ” simplified ” the recipe is that some of the items
in the original recipe (there is a million different recipe’s, anyway)
would require a trip to the asian market, which is not practical to everybody.
I can assure you that the taste of my version is just as good and
the smoother texture of the sauce is more pleasant to many.
Enjoy either version ! Bon Appetit !

” Yaki Udon “

Had a craving for liver Yesterday.
Have a craving for pasta always.
What better than combining the two 🙂

Watch the Video HERE.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !