Korv Stroganoff

One of the best things about living here is that the kitchen is very spacious, cool, and well equipped.  It is in here that I feel comfortable enough to try out new recipes - recipes that I wouldn't have tried when I was back home.  Also, some of the ingredients are cheaper here. Dairy and wheat products, especially, are much cheaper so I usually have my pantry well stocked so that I could whip something up whenever I feel like it or whenever I come across good recipes.  Especially when the recipe comes with drool-inducing pictures.

I have been cooking a lot of different types of food here - Malay, Chinese, Indian, and of course Swedish. It's not too difficult to make the Swedish dishes halal since I can get halal meats easily here. A dish that Pete has been asking for quite often is korv stroganoff. Korv is the Swedish thick sausage that is usually made of pork. Here, there are many types of halal sausages sold so it was easy to just pick one out that is made of chicken, beef or turkey.

Although stroganoff is a Russian dish, it has become popular in Sweden for many years.  Here, the sausage is cut into smaller pieces and cooked in a creamy tomato sauce.  It's usually served with rice and salad.  Pete remembers eating the dish when he was in school.  Before I cooked it, I have never tasted it before since I couldn't find a halal version of it sold elsewhere.  One day, after repeated requests from Pete to cook him that dish, I googled a recipe and found a super simple one.  After trying it out, I didn't know why I didn't cook it earlier.  It really is simple and fast to cook.  I can imagine busy Swedish moms coming home after work and spending less than 30 mins in the kitchen to produce a simple, hearty supper for her family. 

So I will share the recipe here.  It might be difficult to find juicy, thick halal sausages back home, but any decent quality sausage should do the trick.  I found it a bit odd to eat cream-based gravy with rice at first. I'm so used to eating spicy gravy with rice, I guess, but in the end, I got used to eating creamy stroganoff or stews with rice.  But if you don't like that idea, you can also serve this with pasta. This recipe makes a tasty pasta sauce too.

Korv Stroganoff

1 big white onion, sliced

400g sausages, cut into strips (size of thick-cut fries)

2tbsp tomato purée 

400g can of crushed tomatoes

300ml cream

Pepper to taste

Sauté the onions. 

Once they're translucent, add the sausages and cook until they start to brown.

Add the tomato purée and cook for about 2mins.

Add the crushed tomatoes and mix well.

Lastly, add the cream and pepper to taste.   

Voila! It's done!

Celebration!

My birthday falls on a weekday this year so Pete and I decided to invite his family today, a Sunday, to have a small, simple lunch. I wasn't really keen on doing anything special - just some simple fare for the adults and kids to enjoy.  I didn't want to cook the spicy dishes that we Malays would have on such occasions since I didn't think the kids could handle it.  Instead I decided to cook chicken wings and drumsticks.  Which kid wouldn't like them? 

I wanted to have a bit of Singapore in the food, though, so I marinated the chicken wings in turmeric and a bit of chilli powder and fried them.  I also made jemput-jemput udang, or prawn fritters.  I wanted to make fried beehoon, which are vermicelli noodles, but I couldn't find them in the neighbourhood stores.  I had to substitute it with egg noodles. I also roasted some drumsticks, made mashed potatoes and coleslaw for the non-spicy choices.

One of Pete's sisters very kindly made a smörgåstårta, the Swedish sandwich cake.  It's a fragile thing and she successfully brought it here after an hour's drive.  It looked so beautiful and tasted great.  The dill that was on top of the cake as a garnish even came from my mother-in-law's garden! 

So, once everybody - two of Pete's sisters and their five children, and my mother-in-law - got here, we started eating.  I thought I didn't cook too much, but in the end we did have plenty left.  I guess I'm just like my mum.  She would cook more than what was needed, but for us, it's better to have too much food than too little.

I find that parties here are a bit different than those I'm used to.  Back home, most of the time, the food is served buffe style.  We would put all the dishes out on a long table and everybody help themselves to anything they want, however much they want.  Then guests would either find a seat somewhere or simply stand and eat, while chatting with friends.  

Here, or at least in Pete's family, the savoury food would be served first, also buffe style.  But usually, we would take our food and sit at a long table, with napkins and cutlery neatly laid out.  Then, after everyone has had their fill, we would clear the table and put the kettle on to make tea and coffee. Those would accompany the dessert - mainly cakes or cookies.

We did the same today.  After the main dishes, I put out the sweet stuff - tiramisu and Swedish chocolate balls which I made and some cinnamon rolls and almond fingers that we bought. The kids, being brought up on Swedish chocolate balls and cinnamon rolls, had their fill of them.  I, don't know about the others, thoroughly enjoyed the tiramisu. I used to make them often back home since that was my family's favourite.  This was the first time I made it here and I would be making them again for the simple reason that the mascarpone cheese and whipping cream are cheaper here. And that I love them.

Apart from the food, the company was great.  I enjoy talking to everyone.  I did try to speak in Swedish but I switched to English when I found I was taking too long to find the proper Swedish words.  I also had fun playing with the kids.  Time really flies when you're having fun and I didn't realise how soon they had to leave.  That's the downside of living far away.  But whatever time we got to spend together was great.

Oh, they also got me some very thoughtful gifts.  I got a gift card from one of my favourite malls, a lovely wicker basket for picnics, a purple scarf, a set of four candle holders and a cake carrier.  Everything that I needed and wanted.  In fact, they asked me for my wish list two months ago!  I didn't really tell them what I wanted since I didn't want to trouble them, but they seem to know what I wanted.  Maybe they paid careful attention whenever we talked or maybe Pete told them.  I don't know.  But I do know that I feel so blessed to be here.  Not only am I married to an awesome guy, I also got to be a part of an awesome family.  Life is swede :)

Chicken Rice

Chicken rice is arguably one of Singapore's best loved dishes.  Everywhere you go in Singapore, you can find this very aromatic dish. It's a very simple combination of rice cooked in chicken stock, ginger and other flavourful ingredients, steamed/roasted/fried chicken and a chili sauce that has punch.  Simple but with unforgettable flavours.  

After moving here, I've never attempted to make it.  Back home, any time I had a craving for it, I had a choice of 4 places to buy it from, and those places are just 10 minutes away from my place.  While waiting for the dish to be ready, which only takes a few minutes, I would enjoy the delectable smells wafting from the kitchen.  So heavenly and so mouth-watering.  

But here, of course, I would have to cook it myself.  I didn't attempt to at first because I wanted it to be authentic and that meant that I would need to cook the rice in lots of chicken fat and oil. I couldn't make myself use that much oil in a dish but one day, I really had a huge craving for it.  So I caved.

I looked at the recipes online and as usual, didn't follow any.  I only used them as a guide as I changed and combined the various recipes to suit my palate, waist line and of course, my pantry.  It's not easy to find ingredients like pandan leaves and even fresh red chilies but luckily I stocked up my pantry with the essentials just days ago.

I must say that although I had to make a number of different components just for one dish, it wasn't difficult and didn't take too long.  As the rice was cooking, the whole kitchen smells like a hawker centre in Singapore.  You can always find a few chicken rice stalls in hawker centres, or food courts.  So the smell of the chicken rice being cooked took me back instantly to my hometown.  Once the dish was ready, the first mouthful was not a disappointment. It was almost like those back home, except that it was less oily.  I can live with that if it meant that I could cook this healthier version more often.  Pete enjoyed it also.  He loves chicken, rice and soya sauce so it's a real hit with him.

I don't have a proper recipe for the dish I cooked.  As usual, my method of cooking is to throw stuff in and taste as I go along.  But I will write what I know and the measurements are just approximations.

First, I made the chicken stock.  I put 2 whole chicken legs and 2 thick slices of ginger into a pot and covered the legs with water.  Don't use too much water.  Once the stock is boiling, I turned down the heat and simmered it until the chicken is cooked.  I skimmed off the scum that floats to the top from time to time. I also added a bit of chicken stock cube towards the end to make it more flavourful.

While the stock is boiling, I made the chili sauce.  It's not chicken rice without this sauce.  I put 5 fresh red chillies, 4 cloves garlic, a thumb sized ginger piece, cut into smaller cubes and juice from 2 big limes into a blender and whizzed them up.  I added a few tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt.  Once the ingredients are well blended I poured the mixture into a clean jar and adjusted the seasoning.  I found the chilies to be fiery hot so I added more sugar.  I also added a bit more lime juice and a bit of the chicken stock.  The sauce should be spicy, sweet, garlicky and a bit sour too.  I love this chili sauce.  I even drizzle this sauce over my curry puffs.  Yummy! 

To make the rice, I grated half a big onion.  It's better to use shallots but I don't have them.  They are expensive here.  I also grated 3 cloves of garlic.  Then I sliced about 3 thin slices of ginger and set aside 2 pandan leaves, tied in a big knot.  I heat oil in a wok and added the grated onion and garlic.  I fried them until fragrant, only about a minute or so and then added some chicken fat.  I reserved chicken fat whenever I cleaned up whole chicken just to be used in this dish.  I think that made the dish more authentic.  Then, I added the washed and drained rice.  I made sure the rice grains are coated with oil and then poured everything into the rice cooker.  I added the ginger and pandan leaves and the chicken stock.  I also added a bit more salt and let the cooker do its thing.

When the rice is cooking, I roasted the chicken legs.  The proper roasted chicken back home is quite difficult to make, especially to get the skin dry and crispy.  My method is a short cut.  I simply added some oyster sauce, soya sauce and sweet soya sauce to the chicken pieces and then roasted them in a hot oven (200C).  Since they are already cooked, I only roasted enough to crisp up the skin.  I also brushed the skin with a bit of oil to make it extra crispy.  

The excess soya mixture I used with the chicken I poured into a small saucepan.  I added a bit more of the ingredients and a bit of chicken stock and heated it up, just until it thickens a bit.  I like mine a bit sweet so I added a bit more sweet soya sauce.  And that's all.  Once everything is ready, serve the sauces in separate sauce bowls or drizzle the soya sauce over the rice and the chili sauce on the side. Don't forget to garnish with cucumber - that's the traditional way.  I served mine with lots of salad leaves, just to lessen the guilt a bit!  

Ayam Masak Lemak - the smell of home

Whenever I start to feel like I'm missing my home and family, I would cook something that my mum would cook for us, something traditionally Malay. I had a whole chicken, fresh chillies and a can of coconut milk so I decided to make something that the whole family loves - my mum's ayam masak lemak. It's chicken cooked in a spicy coconut gravy. We have some fussy eaters in the family but everybody loves this.

It's a very simple recipe but the result is a very delicious dish that goes so well with freshly cooked rice. The first step to making this dish is frying the chicken pieces. While the chicken, which had been marinated with turmeric powder and salt, were frying, the smell was heavenly and it really took me back home. That's the smell of my kitchen whenever my mum cooked for us. My mum is such a great cook and whenever we smell chicken being fried, that meant that we were going to be in for a treat.

That smell also reminded me of all the times my mum got me to help her fry chicken while she prepared the rest of the ingredients or finished cooking other dishes. Funny how I didn't think to learn the recipes while she was cooking. All I knew was my usual tasks of frying the chicken or cutting up vegetables or something menial like that. Now that I'm away from home, I always have to rely on calling her to ask her for her recipes.

That reminds me too, of the time I asked for one of her recipes and the recipe I got was "$0.50 of cumin, $0.50 of coriander..." She's so cute! But I guess that's how it is with the older, experienced cooks. They don't really measure ingredients accurately. They go by feel and straight-forward eyeballing. Such experts.

But her recipes work for me, though I might have to adjust the quantities a bit. I'm only cooking for two while my mum is used to cooking big batches to feed all of us at home. Anyway, this recipe is quite foolproof, I think. I'll share the recipe here both as a way for me to remember it and also for some of my foodie friends to give it a go. Do try this. When the rice was cooking and the gravy was gently bubbling away, the smell in the kitchen was divine. It drew Pete into the kitchen several times to check on the dish, just as how my siblings and I would sneak into the kitchen to nick pieces of the chicken before the dish was done. We both couldn't wait to tuck in and with clean, empty plates after, you can bet it was a good dish.

Ayam Masak Lemak

1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
Oil for deep frying

Marinate the chicken pieces in the turmeric powder and salt and fry them in batches just until the skin browns a bit and the chicken is half-cooked.

5 - 8 fresh red chillies
1 large onion
3 large cloves of garlic
3 tbsp oil
1 lemongrass
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 big can of coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 a small cabbage, cut into smaller pieces
1 chicken stock cube
Salt to taste

Blend the chillies, onion and garlic. In a pot, heat the oil and fry the chili mixture, lemongrass and the turmeric powder until the mixture is dry (about 8 mins). Add the fried chicken, coconut milk, water and cabbage. Stir well and allow the mixture to boil. Add the chicken cube. Once the chicken is fully cooked, taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning by either adding more salt or water. Serve with rice.

I added carrots to mine 

Easter buns

Pete's mum invited us to her place for Easter yesterday.  Like I've mentioned in my last post, the food served is the same as in Christmas, minus the Christmas ham.  Also, this time, his mum did all the cooking.  For Christmas, because there were a lot of people invited, we all chipped in to prepare the food.  Since I didn't have to cook anything, I decided to bring something with us.  I was originally thinking of bringing cupcakes or a layered cake, but I happened to watch The Great British Bake Off Easter Special and Paul Hollywood, the tougher and harsher one of the two judges, showed how to make hot cross buns.

I decided to bake those instead since it is Easter.  An Easter-themed dessert would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?  Pete has never heard or seen hot cross buns before, so I had to explain to him what they were.  I haven't seen them here so I don't think they are available.  I have seen those back home but I have never tried those.  I have never baked them before either, but I know there are raisins in them.  And cinnamon.  How can you go wrong with raisins and cinnamon in buns?

I first tried to jot down the recipe and instructions while I was watching the show.  It wasn't easy.  I think I missed some of the measurements for some ingredients and most importantly, I missed some of the tips for shaping the buns.  I always wanted to learn the proper way to shape bread dough.  I was a bit miffed at myself, especially when I only remembered that I could probably find the recipe online after the show.  I could have focused my attention on the program and not worry about writing down the recipe.

Anyway, I checked up on the recipe yesterday morning and luckily I decided to start on the dough an hour in advance.  Usually bread dough needs only two 1hr long proofing but this one needed three.  And the dough was very sticky and wet, especially with the addition of the chopped apples, not a typical ingredient in hot cross buns.  It was tedious since there's the extra proofing, adding the raisins and apples, making the paste to make the cross and a glaze to make the buns look lovely and shiny.  I was very tired after making them but they gave off such a delicious aroma while they were being baked.  And once I brushed on the glaze, they looked so yummy.

When I compared the recipe I hurriedly written with the one online, there were some differences.  In the show, Paul Hollywood didn't mention that the dough needed to proof three times.  That was a major difference.  If I hadn't checked the recipe earlier, I would have been an hour late.  But the good part about online recipes is that some websites allow comments from readers.  I always read through those first to see if the recipes are really any good.  The comments for this recipe were quite good.  Most of the readers were happy with the recipe.  However, they did say that the baking time was shorter than the 20 mins that was stated in the actual recipe.  I checked mine and they were done in 15 mins too.

Apart from that, the recipe is really good.  It's not too difficult, only a bit time consuming.  But that's how it is with bread dough.  Time is a very important ingredient for bread dough and this one produced a very soft bun.  It's still nice and soft even the day after.  I am chomping at one now as I type!  The only thing is that the very dry air here hardened the glaze and made the tops hard.  But with a couple of minutes in the oven, it's nice and soft again.  Oh, and Pete's family at yesterday's Easter lunch loved them as well. 

Spicy Cravings

This coming weekend will be a long one.  Here, Easter is one of the major holidays.  The school kids had this whole week free, right till next Monday.  For us at SFI, we only have Friday and next Monday off.  Since I usually don't have classes on Thursdays, my holiday started after class yesterday.  The thought of the many days off from school had me thinking of food, what else?

The last couple of weeks, we haven't been well.  Pete had been terribly ill for more than a week and so I had to cook foods that are gentle on the stomach, like chicken soup and I even cooked bubur, or rice porridge in English.  Once I ate the porridge, I was transported back to my childhood.  I remember how my mum used to cook that for me when I was ill and couldn't eat much.

Anyway, after days and days of non-spicy foods, I now crave for the spicy flavours of the food from my home.  I did cook something very Malay last Sunday, Ayam Masak Lemak.  It's a chicken dish cooked in a spicy rich coconutty gravy.   We had it with plain rice and boy did that hit the spot!  Pete enjoyed it as well, so now I am thinking about more spicy dishes to cook.

Another reason why I seem to be craving spicy foods is that the food that is served during Easter here is almost exactly like Christmas.  There would be meatballs, potatoes, pickled herring and mini sausages.  We have been invited to his mum's place for an Easter lunch so we will be having our fill of those.  I don't mind the food but I was hoping to try something different. 

So I guess I will either cook something I know or try some new recipes.  Even though I cook a lot when I was back home, I never used to cook traditional Malay foods.  My mum is such a great cook that I just let her do all the cooking.  I would cook other dishes such as pasta, roast chicken, stews and other simple dishes.  I used to think that the traditional dishes are very complex, needing so many ingredients and rempahs, or spice mix.  And I have to admit the rempah making process scared me a little.  I never thought I could learn to cook them.  I didn't have to, back then, since my mum was there to cook for me.

Now that I am here, I regret not learning more from her.  When I first moved here, I did crave for a taste of home.  I used to rely on instant noodles that I brought with me, but they soon ran out.  I realised had to cook those dishes myself.  Luckily, I did manage to get her to teach me some of my favourite dishes.  But I didn't have much time to learn before I had to move here.  When I first tried out her recipes, they turned out reasonably well.  They did taste of home and so I cooked more and more dishes.  The more I cooked, the less intimidating the spices got.  What was important was that it gave me the confidence to try out other recipes.  So I search the internet for recipes, especially for the dishes that I miss.

By now, I have tried quite a number of dishes, including roti prata.  I even tried to do the flipping of the dough to get it as thin as possible to get crispy and flaky prata.  I don't think I would have tried making those if I hadn't moved away.  Just like many other dishes that I have cooked.  And there are many more that I do want to try now.  The only limit is the availability of the ingredients.  It took quite a while for me to find taucheo, or salted bean paste here to make mee siam.  So, I would keep my eyes peeled next time I go to the Asian groceries stores.  Maybe the ingredients are all here and I only need to have sharp eyes to spot them amongst the crowded shelves.

My pantry now is getting more and more well-stocked.  I have a growing collection of whole and ground spices.  Luckily Malmo is full of Chinese, Thais, Arabs and Indians.  Spices are easily available and not too expensive.  I can also find some very Southeast Asian ingredients such as the taucheo that I mentioned.  Slowly, as I try more and more dishes, I would have more and more sauces and ingredients on hand, which would only open up more possibilities in the kitchen.

Luckily Pete has reasonably adventurous taste buds.  He has enjoyed most of the food I cooked.  So far, he only doesn't like beehoon.  But that is fine.  I can try to substitute it for other noodles.  And it's not like he will refuse to eat it, it's just that he doesn't really fancy it.  Let's just say that means that there'll be more for me. Yay!

So, back to my current craving.  It's my day off today but I wanted to take it easy.  I cooked chicken briyani.  It's not as difficult as it sounds because I cooked a dumbed down version of it.  Also, I didn't have any briyani spice mix so I just used curry powder.  I chanced upon this recipe and so I made it one day and it turned out good.  So that was what I cooked today.  Easy, simple and spicy.  A great way to start my holiday.

Churros

One of the good things about living here is that flour is cheap.  It costs only half as much as it does back home.  Not only that, there are so many different types of flour - bread flour, rye, wholewheat, durum and even cake flour.  But at home, I usually would have plain flour, bread flour and wholewheat flour.  I make my own bread or bagels every week and some times I am inspired to try new baking recipes, so it's great to have them on hand.

And inspired I was, one day after watching a cooking program.  I watched churros being made and they looked so mouth-watering.  And it was easy.  The day was also cold and windy, so having something light, fluffy, crunchy and sweet would be perfect.  I found a good recipe online which was super easy and gave great results.  Pete and I had to pull ourselves away from the kitchen to stop us from devouring the whole batch in one go!

The dough only took about 5 minutes to prepare.  The rest of the time is spent putting the dough into a piping bag and frying them in the hot oil.  I had Pete to help me with this.  I piped out the dough into the oil and he cut them into lengths.  We experimented with different lengths.  We like those that are about 10cm long.  We  even got creative and tried making heart shaped ones.  We succeeded!  But whatever the length or shape, they were divine.  Try it!

Churros
1 cup water
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 cup flour mixed with 1/4 tsp baking powder

Coating
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Oil for deep frying (you can heat the oil before you start on the dough so that it's hot by the time the dough is ready)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, sugar, salt and oil.
Bring to the boil and remove from the heat.
Stir in the flour until the mixture forms a ball.
Carefully spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a star nozzle.  You can also simply use a ziplock bag and cut off the end instead.
Once the oil is hot, pipe strips of dough into the oil.  Be careful when you cut the strips from the piping bag.  The dough might make a splash as it falls into the oil so don't hold the piping bag too high from the oil.
Fry until golden brown and drain on kitchen towels.
Roll the churros into your cinnamon-sugar mixture.

 

A semla, or three (semlor)

As I have fika with Pete, enjoying tea and semlor, I remember the first time I ate this very Swedish pastry.  I was at Ikea back home, a few years ago.  There were huge posters with pictures of these cute buns outside the store and my interest was piqued.  I remember thinking, "The Swedes eat this? Well, I'm in Ikea so let's do as the Swedes do!"

I bought one from the cafe and sat down for my first mouthful.  I didn't like it.  I thought it was dessert but the bun wasn't sweet, there was way too much whipped cream and I could taste cardamom and almond paste.  I couldn't find anything to like in it.

Fast forward to today.  Here I am, sitting next to a real Swede and enjoying the semla.  I am actually enjoying it.  Amazingly, I was the one to bug Pete to buy some for our fika.

February is the time for semlor.  If you are wondering why I go back and forth with the semla and the semlor, it's because semla is the singular form and semlor is the plural form.  That's Swedish grammar for you.  It's not just about adding '-s' to the end of the nouns but that's a topic for another post.

Doesn't this look cute?

Anyway, back to the semlor.  Traditionally, semlor is eaten in February, especially on the 12th. That is the day the Swedes call fettisdagen.  It is the last day before the the start of the Christian fasting period before Easter and it's when people used to eat semlor.  Oh, an interesting piece of trivia: On February 12 1771, King Adolf Federick, the Swedish king at that time, died after eating a huge meal of lobsters, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and 14 (yes 14, not 4) hetvagg, which is the early form of semla served in a bowl of hot milk.  He died of digestive problems, which I think is not such a surprise.

These days, semlor are found in the bakeries even before Christmas day.  A semla is made from a bread bun flavoured with cardamom.  The top of the bun is cut off and the inside is scooped out.  It is then filled with almond paste and whipped cream.  The top is the put back and it's dusted with icing sugar.  I love how cute they look when they are arranged in rows in the display cabinets.  They really call out to you to grab one.  Which was what I did one day last December.

I don't know what made me change my mind about these cuties.  Maybe it was the cold outside that just makes me crave for something creamy.  Maybe I have gotten used to having the taste of cardamom in the bread rolls here.  Maybe I have gotten used to having almond paste in my desserts.  Or maybe it's simply peer pressure - I am surrounded by semla-loving people here.  But I do know that I do enjoy them very much now.

The semla-craze has also gotten to the supermarkets.  Although you can buy ready made semlor everywhere, even at 7-11, you can also bake them at home.  There are lots of recipes online for you to make from scratch.  There are even semla-kits that you can buy from the supermarkets.  They sell ready made buns and almond paste.  You can buy these separately and assemble them at home.

This year, I have eaten the ready made semla thrice.  I like the semlor we bought.  They are not too sweet and the cardamom is not to over-powering in the bun.  But next year I think I would make my own. For now, now more semla for me.  I have had my fill.

Poppy seeds

I remember many years ago, back home, when I bought a slice of lemon poppy seed cake from a cafe.  I have seen cakes with poppy seeds on food shows and magazines but rarely could I find those being sold in the bakeries or cafes.  So when I saw that cake, I had to try it.

The cake was nice and moist and lemony, just like a usual cake.  But the tiny blue seeds (which at first I thought was black) gave an interesting crunch to the cake.  I loved that texture so I tried to look for poppy seeds to make my own cake.  It wasn't easy to find but I did manage to buy a small packet from one of the gourmet supermarkets in Singapore, Tierney's, if I'm not mistaken.  I think I added them to my lemon cake too.

But after that one time, I could not find it any more.  And I didn't see any poppy seeds being used by bakeries or cafes either.  Perhaps they were banned.  Singapore is strict that way.  I wasn't sure so I did some reading on it.

Poppy seeds do come from the opium poppy and eating foods that contain poppy seeds can result in false positive for opiates in drug tests.  However, the opiates levels are much too low to produce narcotic effects. Also, their production is monitored to keep a check on their narcotic value.  New cultivators are also being introduced to make poppy seeds more conducive for consumption.

Poppy seeds do have nutritional value.  They are an excellent source of minerals such as magnesium, zinc and calcium.  They also contain linoleic acid, which help to protect the heart from diseases, and oliec acid, which help in prevention of breast cancer.  Poppy seeds are also less allergenic than many other seeds and nuts.  How interesting!

So why the sudden interest in poppy seeds?  Well, I came across packets of poppy seeds being sold here.  Besides the blue seeds, I also found white ones.  After seeing those, I decided to buy a packet and bake a cake with them.  I had lots of oranges at home so I decided to bake an orange poppy seed cake.  It was very good.  The cake recipe came with a syrup that you pour immediately after the cake comes out of the oven and it made the cake super moist and orangey.

Actually, I bought the poppy seeds to sprinkle on top of my bagels.  Pete was the one to suggest it after the first time I baked bagels.  He thought that it would be more interesting to have the bagels topped with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.  So the next time I baked the bagels, that was what I did.  While the sesame seeds gave the bagels a nice, nutty flavour, the poppy seeds gave it lots of crunch.

With the successful tries using the poppy seeds, I would definitely use them more in my baking.  There are some bread recipes that use poppy seed paste so I might try that one day.  I am very sure they will taste great.    

Flat as a pannkakor

Last night, Pete told me that I had to use up all the milk since it was getting near to the expiry date.  "You have to bake a cake," he said.  But there was still about a liter of milk left so I decided on a recipe that uses lots of milk - pancakes.  Specifically Swedish pancakes or pannkakor.

I used to make the fluffy American version of the pancake back home.  My mum or my sis would, from time to time, ask me to make some for tea of breakfast. Those were good and easy to make.  Those were what I had in mind when Pete first asked me to make pancakes.  But he was not referring to those.  Apparently, when he was in school, every Thursday was pancake day.  Pancakes were served on Thursdays in schools all over Sweden.  That is the day they have pea soup too.  That's another Swedish tradition.

Swedish pancakes are flat and thin, almost like crepes.  They are a bit thicker, softer and more elastic than crepes.  They are eaten with jam, cream, ice cream and other yummy stuff.  I have never eaten any before I moved here but I have seen them being sold here.

I found a few recipes online and stuck to one that I thought looked good.  And it was.  The recipe was easy to follow and I managed to crank up good pancakes every time.  I made a batch just now and used up all the batter.  I found that it's easier to store the cooked pancakes than the batter.  You can also freeze the pancakes and then thaw and reheat them on your pan or skillet when you want to eat them.  Of course here, the pancakes don't stand a chance.  They have a habit of disappearing so I never had to store them.

When I first made these, I used a stand or hand-held electric mixer to make the batter.  The third time I made them, I didn't feel like taking the machine out so I whisked the eggs by hand.  It turned out fine so that is the method I go by now.  Apart from the crazy whisking for a minute or two at the start, the rest of the batter came through quite easily.  There WILL be some tiny lumps and the batter will NOT look nice and smooth.  That's the way it is.  Don't worry about it.  The pancakes would still be yummy.  The only thing you will worry about is whether you have made enough.

Swedish Pancakes
3 eggs
2 cups (about 450ml) milk (full fat is best)
2 tbsp melted butter
2 or 3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups plain flour, sifted

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until very fluffy.
Add the milk and melted butter and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients and combine until you get a runny batter.
Cook the pancakes over medium heat.
I use a ladle which holds about 3 tbsp of the batter and it gives me quite a flat pancake with my pan.
Turn the pancakes over when the edges start to turn light brown.
I cook mine for one minute on one side and then another 30sec for the other side.

I piped some lightly sweetened whipped cream in the middle and rolled it.

It's yummy with a dollop of apricot marmalade on top.

As Swedish as sandwich cake

Pete and I had a craving for something very Swedish -smörgåstårta, the sandwich cake.  The first time I heard about it, I was not really in a hurry to give it a try.  I love cakes - the sweet, delicious ones.  This 'cake', in my mind, is NOT real cake.  This one is not made from flour, sugar and eggs.  And it's not garnished with buttercream, strawberries or chocolate.  This is a savoury cake.

From far, it might look like an ordinary cake but it's definitely not.  The cake is actually a huge sandwich with layers of bread and filling, covered with a creamy mixture of mayonnaise, cream cheese, sour cream and whipped cream.  On top of that, garnishes such as tiny prawns, slices of hard boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, smoked salmon, cheese and roe or caviar are used to cover the cake.  These cakes can look quite pretty, actually.

Once I got used to the idea of a savoury cake, I was willing to try.  I can't remember now when I first tried it, but with that first bite, I got hooked.  I love sandwiches, so it was very easy to like it.  The whole thing was creamy but there lies the skill of the person making the cake.  The fillings in the layers should have a nice balance.  Here, the fillings are usually made up of egg salad, tuna salad, salmon and pate.  Some people put slices of lemon and kiwi and sprinkling of fresh herbs like parsley and dill to brighten up the taste.

The sandwich cake is usually served during special occasions here.  You can make them yourself or simply order it from a bakery.  There are speciality bakeries that sell these but they are expensive.  It could cost about 750kr (SGD 150) for a cake that serves 10 people.  You could also buy them from some supermarkets.

Pete and I decided to make one ourselves yesterday.  He has made them before but it was my first attempt.  The first thing we had to do was to get the ingredients.  They are all easy to find except for the bread.  They have a special type of bread for this.  Instead of slicing the bread cross-wise, the bread is cut length-wise.  The longer slices mean that you can build a bigger cake more easily.  We went to two supermarkets and two smaller stores and they all were out.  It made me wonder if Saturday is the day that people here like to make their sandwich cakes.

Anyway, in the end we bought bread that is semi-circular.  That is a much better option than the usual sandwich bread since it's more stable.  Using this bread, we would get a circular cake but it's fine.  I made egg salad and creamy chicken for the fillings.  The frosting was made with simply whipped cream and mayonnaise.  We decorated our cake with strips of cucumber, tomato and cucumber slices, prawns, salmon, lemon slices and roe.

Although it looks simple, we really love the look of it.  The bright red cherry tomatoes and the green cucumber make the cake look so beautiful and fresh.  The lemon slices also make it look nice, but most of all, the tangy juice lifts the dish.  When we cut into it, it didn't fall apart.  Best of all, it tastes good.  And as a bonus, since the cake ended up to be a huge one, we have leftovers to eat more of today! That means one or even two fewer meals to cook today.

(note: At the time of posting, I couldn't upload pictures of the sandwich cake but you can view them at my facebook page)

Happy New Year

It's one hour till the new year.  We haven't planned anything special for tonight, which on hindsight is probably best since I am in no condition to go out or have people over.  We only had our steak dinner as planned.  A simple indulgence, which suits us both.  This is our first new year's together, and we spent the night at home. 

This simple meal means so much more to me.  Neither of us are of the overly-indulgent types and we both love our cosy home.  It's more meaningful for the both of us to work together to prepare the meal, relax and enjoy the food and then clean up the table and kitchen.  And as I was doing the finishing touches to the food, Pete even laid the table nicely and lit some candles.  He even agreed to watch Sleepless in Seattle as we ate!  He's not the most romantic guy I've met but he does get some things right, some times.  

And having a quiet night in on the last day of this year is, I feel, very apt.  2012 has been a whirlwind of a year.  We had to do the paperwork to migrate to Sweden.  We had to plan our weddings both in March and in June.  I had to settle stuff like resigning from my job that I've held for 16 years.  I had to say goodbye to my family and friends.  Then when I got here, I had to adapt to the life here.  We had lots of paperwork to do to get me registered as a citizen here.  Then there's school and on top of that we are trying to start our business.

Phew.  What a list!  So, it's no surprise that all we want to do is to just spend time together, just the two of us.  We know that if we are really serious about starting our business, we have lots of work to do next year.  We are getting closer to our dream and I hope that 2013 will be just as exciting and fulfilling.  It won't be easy but I hope we both will be strong enough to see through it.

And with that, I would like to wish all of you a wonderful 2013.  May your year be filled with joy, good health and love.

Family, food, fun

Christmas is over and I can finally rest.  And rest was what I was having the last two days.  I just felt like slouching on the couch and watch Christmas movies the whole day long.  I also wanted to eat something Asian or Malay so I cooked chicken curry.  The great thing about curry is that it's great the next day as well so I didn't have to cook the next day.  I also made Roti Boyan, this Malay dish of crispy pancake stuffed with mashed potatoes and egg.  It goes well with the curry as well.

Anyway, talking about food, I guess I should have written about how I spent Christmas here.  As I wrote earlier, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th. That morning, I cooked meatballs, mini sausages and shepherd's pie to bring to his mum's for lunch.  There were going to be 16 of us there so I had quite a lot to cook.  Pete was great.  He helped me with the cooking and cleaning up.  With his help, I got the food done quite quickly.

We also had to get the gifts ready.  Luckily I already wrapped them in advance.  I only needed to make the labels and to write on them.  The kids basically got toys, clothes or craft material.  I wanted to make truffles for the adults but that morning, I realised that the chocolate mixture wasn't right.  I think the proportion of chocolate to the cream was off and it was way too hard to roll into balls.  Adding more cream didn't help and in the end I decided to make the Swedish chocolate balls instead.  Pete helped me as I packed and labelled them nicely in jars.

When we reached her place, we were the last to get there.  Everyone was busy putting gifts under the Christmas tree or helping out with the food in the kitchen or taking care of the baby or watching TV.  It was quite cramped there but it was cosy.  We started with the cold foods - four different types of pickled herring or sill, lax or smoked salmon, eggs, cheese, three different types of bread and Janssons frestelse or Jansson's Temptation which is a casserole made of potatoes, onions, herring and cream.

We took our time to eat and chat.  By the time we were done, the cartoons are being shown.  It's tradition here in Sweden that every year on Christmas, at 3pm, Chrismas themed Disney cartoons are shown.  Every year, the same classic ones are shown except the last part where they would show snippets of new Disney movies. There's the one with the chipmunks in the Christmas tree Mickey was decorating, Donald Duck trying to take pictures of birds but his shots were always ruined by an annoying bird and the classic one with Mickey, Donald and Goofy in their caravan. 

I find it interesting that the same cartoons are shown every year and no one gets tired of it.  Pete and his sister even remembers some of the lines in the cartoons!  But I do understand the appeal.  The cartoons never gets old.  I have seen all of the cartoons before, when I was much younger, but I still love them and laugh at the same parts. 

Oh, this year, there was some controversy over the cartoons.  Disney wanted to remove some scenes which they think could be offensive to some races.  One of them is of a black doll parading in front of Santa and another one is of a man doing the Cossack dance which could be perceived as offensive to Jews.  It brought about lots of discussions all over the country about what's racist and what's not.  We were talking about it as well and we all thought that the scenes had nothing racist about them.  I think it's just some people who were trying to be overly cautious, to the point of being ridiculous.

Anyway, after the cartoons, there was a surprise for the kids - Santa showed up bearing a sack of gifts.  He handed out presents to all of us and the kids took photos with him as well.  Then all the other gifts were given out.  The huge pile of presents under the tree was quickly gone and the kids went wild as they opened their presents.  They even started playing with their toys.

The best moment was when Pete's mum opened her gift.  We all chipped in to get her something that she has been wanting for the longest time - a mannequin for tailoring.  She loves to sew her own clothes and with the mannequin it would make her work so much easier. She was so happy and touched by the gift that she shed some happy tears.  I don't know about the others, but that made my day.  She has been a wonderful mum and she more than deserved the gift.

After the opening of the gifts, we had more food.  This time it's the warm foods.  I had my fill of the meatballs, sausages, shepherd's pie and more bread and cheese.  By this time, the dining table wasn't as full.  The kids were busy playing with their toys.  So, we had more room at the table.

Then the next part was fun.  We played a Christmas game.  We each brought simple gifts that cost no more than 50kr each.  We again gathered around the table, the kids included.  We took turns to roll a dice.  This one had colours on it and it was decided that if we were to roll the white or black, we could take any one of the packages on the table.  Once all packages have been taken, we had a timer for seven minutes.  In that time, when we roll the white or black, we could take any package from any one.  That was the fun bit.  As usual, there would always be one package, usually the biggest, that would be highly sought after.  After the timer went off, we all opened the packages.  There were lots of chocolates, candy, even some cute kitchen tools and stationery. 

Another tradition here is to eat rice pudding with a warm sauce.  Pete's mum made some.  I really love it but I couldn't eat anymore.  My tummy was just bloated.  I needed to walk.  But Pete's sister and her family gave us a ride home.  That was probably the best since the night was cold and windy.  The walk home would have been near freezing temperatures.

So that was Christmas Eve.  That's how Pete's family, my family now too, celebrates Christmas.  It was a day for family, food and fun.  The kids had lots of fun since they got most of the presents.  But like I said earlier, it was great to see his mum so happy.  How should we top this gift next year?  Well, we have one whole year to think about it. 

Hot food. Cold days

For a country that is cold most days of the year, I'm quite surprised that the Swedes don't eat more warm soups.  I would think that hot bowls of soups would warm them ,especially after coming in from the cold during the autumn and winter months.  For me, I would always have cravings for hot soups or even better, hot noodle soups.  I also have been craving spicy foods - curries and sambals that would warm me up even more.

Pete and I had some errands to run on Monday.  We headed out even though it was snowing, windy and cold.  It was almost lunch time when I started to get hungry.  We went to a place that sells baguette sandwiches.  Along the way, I could see quite a number of people walking out of the place with sandwiches and salads.  I guess they were buying them for their lunch.  Pete and I also got one sandwich each.

When we got home, we were quite frozen actually.  And hungry.  The cold sandwiches filled us up - it's bread topped with generous fillings of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and shrimp in mayonnaise.  Although it was good and filled us up, I felt like the food left my mouth cold. I think soupy noodles or something spicy would warm me up properly.

That's why I want to start my food business.  I want to give the people here more choices in food.  The usual food available here are the kebab, falafel, pizza, hot dog and Thai/Chinese which are not at all like those we have back home.  These foods are everywhere but they are so boring.  I want to let them try new foods, new tastes.  I want to sell curry puffs, chicken curry with rice, roti john, mee soto, chicken rice and roti prata.  I want the people here to try authentic foods from my home.  I want my food to warm and nourish them.

I wonder, though, what their reaction to the food would be.  Would they give it a try or avoid it since it's alien to them?  I don't know yet.  But that would not stop me from trying.   

What (to do with) the beef?!

You might have heard about the meat scandal that hit Sweden a couple of weeks ago.  The beef that was sold here was actually pork that was dyed red.  We weren't affected since we buy halal meat and it's quite easy to get them here.  In fact, the store near where we live sells 3kg of minced beef for about SGD24.  That's quite a lot of meat!

We usually get the butcher to pack it in 1kg bags and when we get home, I would freeze two of the bags and use one bag at a time.  Even then we would have a lot of meat to get through, considering it's just the two of us. 

So, usually when I have the one kilo of meat to use up, I would always have a few meat recipes on hand.  Most of the time I would use half of the meat to make bolognese sauce.  This would be enough for a couple of meals so I would portion it up and keep.  Sometimes, instead of making spaghetti, I would add more spices to the sauce to eat with tortilla or I'll make lasagna. 

The other half of the meat would be turned into meatball mixture.  I would season the meat and make the traditional Swedish meatballs.  Sometimes I'll make meatloaf with it.  I also make small meatballs and put them into soups.  In this cold weather, we have been having more soups to warm us up and meatball soup is very good to have now.  Adding lots of cabbage makes it a filling meal.

With the mixture, I would make small patties.  They are called pannbiff here.  They are actually like meatballs but shaped into small patties.  They are cooked with caramelised onions.  You also make a thin, tasty gravy with the pan juices.  It's really yummy.  I have seen it in the menus in restaurants here but it was only a couple of days ago when Pete asked me to cook it that I knew what it was exactly.

I looked at a couple of recipes but as usual, in the end, I went with whatever I had in the pantry.  It turned out tasty, actually.  The onions made the patties so sweet and savoury.  I would make it more often after that.  I would serve it with boiled potatoes and peas, my favourite combination.  Another variation I made was to put the patties into a baguette with slices of cheese, tomatoes and cucumber.  We also topped it off with the caramelised onions, mustard and tangy American dressing.  That was good.  Best of all, it's way cheaper than those sold outside. 

I will be looking for more recipes that use up minced meat.  I don't want to serve up the same ol' dishes.  Pete is ok with the food I've been cooking.  He loves the spaghetti and the meatballs so he doesn't complain.  But I do get tired of the same thing all the time.  I need more variety.  Maybe I'll try some Asian recipes next.  Watch this space :)  

pannbiff

pannbiff sub

Turkey Dinner

Before we got married, we would chat a lot online.  One of the things Pete would tell me about was his family's traditions.  One thing I would hear a lot about was his mum's turkey dinner.  She would cook turkey and all the trimmings for her birthday and invite all her children and grandchildren.  This year, I am lucky to have been invited to her birthday party.  Her birthday was on a weekday so the party was held on a Saturday, yesterday, instead.

 Pete and I didn't wait for the weekend, though.  During her birthday, we went to her place with a cake.  I had school in the afternoon that day so I baked the cake, chocolate of course, early in the morning and let it cool.  Once I came home from school, I warmed up some ganache I made earlier and poured it over the cake and sprinkled some pretty red, strawberry flavoured sprinkles on it and off we went.  It was easy to decorate the cake.  The cold weather makes working with cakes and chocolate very easy.  Back home, the warm, humid kitchen would always make cake decorating a huge challenge. 

 Anyway, she loved the cake and was pleasantly surprised by our visit.  We didn't bring any presents though.  We were waiting for it to be delivered from Singapore.  We were hoping it would get to us in time.  I bought her a painting-by-numbers kit but could not bring it with me on my flight back.  I had too much in my luggage.  Anyway, it felt more festive to give it to her during the party.  Oh and yeah, the package arrived on Thursday, well in time for the party.

On Saturday, she greeted us in her new dress.  My aunt gave her a piece of cloth big enough to turn into a dress.  Back home, the Malay ladies would have such cloth made into the traditional Baju Kurung, a two piece outfit.  My mother-in-law had worked on it for a few weeks and got it ready in time for her party.  She looked good in her simple sleeveless dress.  She even made a ribbon to tie the dress at the waist.

Two of Pete's siblings and their children and husband were there.  When we got there, I could smell the turkey she had roasting in the oven.  Soon, when everything was cooked, we sat down to two roasted turkeys, boiled potatoes, peas, carrots and Brussels sprouts.  There was also red cabbage, gravy and red and black currant jellies.

I've cooked turkey once before but found the smell to be too gamey.  But I've never had Brussels sprouts before.  I enjoyed the dinner that my mother-in-law cooked.  The turkey didn't smell too strong and everything was great together.  The Brussels sprouts though, had a slightly bitter aftertaste.  I'm not sure I like those.  But I finished the rest and even had seconds! 

 After the turkey, she served us warm apple baked with cinnamon, sugar and butter.  It's served warm with a huge bowl of cold custard.  The combination is so good.  Hot and cold.  Sweet and sour.  Yummy.  I didn't have too much of that since there would be more food after that. 

We adjourned to the living room where we watched tv - Sweden's version of Who wants to be a Millionaire.  We discussed the answers to the questions but only after someone helped to translate the questions for me, of course.  I'm still struggling with basic Swedish. 

 Then, as we chatted, his sisters helped to lay out the cups, plates and cutlery for fika.  Coffee and tea were served, along with some chocolate covered almond macaroons and an orange custard roulade made by his mum.  His sister made the birthday cake.  It's a two layered chocolate sponge with chocolate custard and bananas in the middle.  It was all very good.  I was well and truly stuffed. 

We had a great time there, feasting and chatting.  The whole family would meet every few weeks but it's not enough, especially since one of his sisters lives so far away.  So we would treasure the time we get to spend with each other.  Next month would also be an exciting time.  Christmas is coming and one of his sisters would be having her birthday.  More celebrations and more food!  More exercise is definitely needed too!

Freedom pies

Yesterday.  Last day of freedom.  After that, I have to go to school!

Since I had lots of time, I decided to do what I love most - cook!  I made shepherd's pie and apple pie for dinner.  I even made Creme Anglaise for the apple pie.

I had lots of steps to prepare before I could bake the pies.  I had to make mashed potatoes and the filling for the shepherd's pie.  I then had to make the filling for the apple pie and the shortcrust pastry.  I had to let the apple filling cool and let the pastry rest in the fridge for about half an hour.  The baking of the pies also took a lot of time.  I made the mashed potatoes fluffy so that I have a very light topping for the shepherd's pie.  Then, when I browned the topping in the oven, the potato topping will give a nice crunch.

I baked the apple pie first.  I added a pinch of cinammon in the filling.  My mum will surely not approve.  She and my sister don't like cinammon.  But that spice made the whole apartment smell good as it baked in the oven.  I used butter in the pastry and it smells very buttery too.  Then I baked the shepherd's pie.  The browning potatoes also gave off a yummy aroma.

As the pie was baking, I made the Creme Anglaise.  It's simply a custard that is runny and smooth that you eat with dessert pies and crumbles.  It's supposed to be made with full fat milk or light cream but I didn't have that.  I used a lower fat milk but it came together beautifully.  I had smooth and silky custard sauce but when I added vanilla sugar ( I didn't have vanilla essence), it curdled a little!  Aww...I'll have to remember to buy vanilla essence next time.  But I did manage to sort of salvage the custard sauce.  I strained the sauce and it sort of worked.  I managed to remove some of the curdled parts.

When Pete came home later that evening, we both had a really good meal.  It was cold outside and the warm pies was just the thing to warm him up.  The custard sauce was good as well.  It could have been better but it was good enough.

Apple pie!

Close up of the leaves I made out of the remaining dough.  No waste.

The two pies cooling till serving time

The inside of the shepherd's pie

Want a slice of apple pie?

Apple pie with custard sauce

Truffle in the kitchen

Two weeks ago, a very good friend of mine stayed at our place for three days.  He had spent three weeks in Germany and some other European countries nearby.  He visited us for awhile before continuing his journey to the northern parts of Sweden, Finland and Norway.  When he got to our place, he had some gifts for us - fine chocolates, a cute cuckoo clock fridge magnet and two very special items, truffle salt and truffle oil. 

Truffles are a luxury that I rarely get to indulge in.  In fact, I don't think I've ever really had truffle anything.  But I have seen truffle oil or salt being used either in food shows or some fancy restaurants.  They are used as finishing touches and when the chefs drizzle the oil or sprinkle the salt, people would go 'Wow'.  I do wonder how much of a difference tiny drops or sprinkles of the stuff would make in a dish.  I haven't had the opportunity to use them yet.  My cooking is more rustic than refined so I don't really go collecting recipes that would call for such frivolous ingredients. 

Somehow, this morning, I decided I would like to try and use them.  We were having boiled eggs with bread, butter and cheese for breakfast.  I usually butter the bread, place some thin slices of cheese and pull the egg apart and place it on top.  A sort of simple open-faced sandwich.  Though simple, I love how the ingredients combine to make a tasty dish.  This morning, on impulse, I opened the tiny bottle of salt to sprinkle some over my eggs.  The moment I opened the jar, the aroma of the white truffles permeated the kitchen.  An earthy scent filled the kitchen.  I used a scant amount, not even a pinch, and took a bite.  Yumm.  The salty earthiness gave it an extra dimension to the sandwich.  Umami.  Now I understood that word.

In the afternoon, I was heating up a simple potato and leek soup I made yesterday.  I added some corn for some extra crunch and decided to use the truffle oil to pump up the flavour.  After ladling out the soup into bowls, I drizzled mine with a bit of the oil.  Again, the smell of the white truffle was overwhelming.  But when I mixed that in with the soup, the flavour of the soup was lifted and made the humble soup more than it is.  I compared my pimped up soup to Pete's plain one and I could tell the difference.  His was nice but dull, while mine had that oomph of umami.

It's amazing how such a small amount of mushroom could impart such flavour.  In fact, Pete was surprised that the truffle salt had only 0.3% of white truffle.  I was surprised too.  Pleasantly.  I am so happy to have such an indulgent ingredient that I can use.  Although I don't have that much, a little goes a long way.  If you do have amazing friends who gives away such delicious presents, treasure them (your friends).  And use them (the truffle oil or salt).  The truffle oil and salt really pushes your dishes over the edge.     

Oodles of noodles

Being back here, I have been getting my fill of something that is not really Swedish - noodles. I haven't been living in Sweden long enough to know a lot about the food there but I know that whatever noodle dishes found there is of Asian origin. Thai food, for example, is quite popular there and pad thai is a commonly eaten dish. I have not tried it yet when I was there so I can't comment on its authenticity.

Whatever noodles I've eaten when I was in Malmö is cooked by me using packets of instant noodles that my family brought with them when they visited me in June. I have seen instant noodles in the supermarkets there but they aren't like what I'm used to. Even Pete conceded that they are not as flavorful as those that I've been cooking for him.

I have also seen some dried noodles but they are usually the rice noodles that is used in Thai noodle dishes or egg noodles used in Chinese dishes. I have yet to see the fresh yellow noodles, dried beehoon or vermicelli noodles or the mee kia or mee pok that are used in the Chinese noodle dishes here. And even if I were to get my hands on them, I might not be able to cook them well.

Another problem about trying to recreate the noodle dishes is the unavailability of other ingredients. Here, a lot of the dishes uses fresh seafood like prawns and squid, Sambal, thick black soya sauce and black vinegar. I have tried to bring some of these ingredients with me. I have this bottle of sauce to make spicy fried noodles Malay style and I use it as sparingly as I can. I have to try to make it last since I only have one small bottle left. I can't do much about the fresh seafood though so I replace it with chicken. And as you can guess, the taste is diluted.

Now that I am here, I can finally have authentic noodles. So, being the noodle lover that I am, I have been ordering as many different types of noodle dishes as I could. One of the best things about living here is the wide array of cuisines from all over the world. Another plus is that they are not too expensive, though the price is increasing.

Here are some the noodles that I've had so far...