~ seeking peace spice by spice by spice
Today’s light lunch of Korean gimbap. Easy to make and easy to eat!
First, prepare short grain Japanese rice. Pickled daikon strips, carrot strips and fried beef slices that had been marinated with soy sauce.
Place seaweed onto a rolling bamboo mat with rice and all the other ingredients. Then roll tight.
Once rolled, brush with a light layer of sesame oil.
With a sharp knife, cut into slices and enjoy! This was really good on a hot weekend. I’ll be making this for work lunches soon!
Ok once I learn to make something new and easy, I get completely obsessed. My latest obsession is with this spinach and cheese in phyllo pastry. It’s simple to make and everyone likes it. Well, most anyone.
I’ve made so many versions of it so I’m just going to post my latest one, and in my opinion the best version simply because using fresh spinach is so much more delicious than the frozen ones I’ve been using.
The concept is simple. A cheese and spinach filling. A custard topping. And phyllo pastry as the base and cover.
For this picture, I’ve moved on to the second layer. Many do it with only one layer but I find if you have the extra ingredients, making two layers makes it thicker and more moorish. So first spread cooked spinach.
And then add cheese. I’ve been using feta all along but for this particular day, my supermarket ran out of feta. So I used dollops of ricotta cheese and sharp cheddar. Season with lots of sea salt and black pepper.
Then the custard. For this custard, I what three whole eggs with one tub (125ml) of Greek yogurt. Season with salt and pepper. Add a splash of milk and that’s it.
Cover the dough. And because I learn from experience, I watched how some people would cut the pastry into squares first before baking. It helps! If you don’t, yes, it will look prettier but the process of cutting crispy phyllo in front of guests is a huge mess!
And then voila! It’s all ready to be served.
For the cheesy part, feel free to experiment. My aunt uses mozzarella, and I think next time I’ll do these pastries in individual portions. With mozzarella and pine nuts!
Enjoy trying! It’s an easy dish to whip up for last minute entertaining. 🙂
For those living in this region, the Ramly burger is like the epitome of street food burgers. Beef patties are grilled and encased in a thin layer of omelette. The sauce…that’s their secret. Lots and lots of brown sauce, mayonnaise, chilli sauce…. the perfect night stack in Malaysia.
The burger Ramly is banned in Singapore, but there are many stalls during bazaars selling these burgers under the Ramly banner. They used other patties but because the original patties are banned, I guess the manner how these burgers are made allowed the Singaporean vendors to use the Ramly name.
At home, I decided to make my own version. Well, for this one that The May made them. I used expensive Angus beef patties instead of the cheap unhealthy frozen kinds because I wanted the kids to eat healthily. But we followed the Ramly style, with an omelette encasing the juicy patties. And for The Son, a slice of cheese on the beef patties before it got wrapped in the golden eggy blanket.
It was a hit for dinner that night. Will definitely make it again!
I am convinced that food unites people because there are many similar foods that every culture seems to call their own. I am pretty sure the interaction between communities has resulted in an exchange of wonderful ideas, and then adaptation.
When I first came across this, the first thought that came to my mind immediately was ‘bergedil’! ‘Begedil’ or ‘perkedil’ is a Malay/Indonesian potato patty made by frying and mashing these fried potatoes and then forming patties with the addition of fried minced meat and fried onions, is a favourite in this part of the world. Interestingly, ‘bergedil’ was introduced by the Dutch when they colonised Indonesia. The Dutch has a version of this called ‘frikadeller’. And now, I’m learning that the Moroccans also have their potato version, sans any meat.
I think the Moroccan version is much healthier. Instead of frying the potatoes, they boil them and mash them fine with spices and egg. Patties are larger and flatter. And they serve these maakouda in between bread (or eaten on its own).
I did not take a picture of the finished product on a plate because once they were off the pan, very quick hands snatched them and they were gone in seconds!
My version of the maakouda recipe
Form into patties, and then before frying, dust with plain flour and dip in beaten egg. Fry till brown and crispy.
Enjoy!
A Friend posted on Facebook a video of an old Indian Sikh man who is famous for his egg dishes. A makeshift stall by the side of the road selling only three types of eggs – boiled, half cooked or scrambled with bread (essentially a French toast style).
I decided to make the French omelette style bread.
In a bowl crack in three eggs. Add finely minced green chillies, tomatoes, a sprinkle of dried Mun and a few rounds of freshly ground black pepper. Salt to taste.
Pour the mixture into some hot oil and then proceed to add two slices of white bread. I didn’t manage to snap a photo when the bread went in. Fold the bread with the egg underneath it in half so essentially you’ll have two breads sitting on TOP of each other. Cook till eggs are done and cut the bread into two then fours using your spatula.
Voila! Is all done. For the egg mixture it’ll be nicer with finely minced purple onions but the family here doesn’t like onions so I’ve omitted it from the recipe.
The Occasional Cook 