Tamarind and Thyme

There was quite a big response to my previous Spam post that I thought I’d round up some of the different suggestions for Spam that you came up with!

• The Gastronomer mentioned a loco moco made with Spam, foie gras, hamburger and rice at Animal in Los Angeles. I love this combo of high end and low end – like what the fashion magazines mean when they say to mix designer clothes with Primark!
• Kat of Our Adventures in Japan suggests frying the slices with soy sauce and sugar first.
• Ket shares an old family recipe: “one of my mum’s old recipe was to cut the luncheon meat into cubes, fries them till crispy all round and mix in with baked beans and boiled small cubes of potatoes. sprinkle of pepper and/or chilli powder and it’s a yummy dish with or without rice.”
• The Food Pornographer is also a fan of Spam fried rice and Spam, egg and rice but you really ought to see how she incorporates Spam into her daily bentos. You can see all her Spammy meals here!
• Liz tells of an eggy Spam bread she had as a child. Sandwich the Spam, dip both sides into beaten egg and then fry – it’s the love child of a Spam sandwich and French toast!
• travelrat of Travelrat’s Travels lists some particularly exotic offerings: Spam risotto, chili con Spam, Spam rogan josh, Spam kebabs!
• Helen of Food Stories suggests eating it straight from the tin!
• Wait, I totally forgot to mention one of my most favourite ways to eat Spam – in a hotpot! How about a spicy Sichuan hotpot or a Korean budae jjigae? I blame the hot weather for making me forget about this great cold weather eating!

I’ve also come across other Spam posts in the blogosphere:

• In the USA, Hawaii and Guam both consume the most Spam per capita. The Tasty Island documented all the Spammy treats on offer at this year’s Waikiki Spam Jam.
• Sunflower’s Food Galore shared a recipe for Spam pancakes!
• 30 Days of SPAM hasn’t been updated in a long time but it chronicled one man’s attempt (shall I say willingness?) to eat Spam for 30 days straight. Lots of ideas here!

And finally, how could I forget this?

Check out this tin I picked up a little while ago:

It’s the limited edition, Spamalot themed tin of garlic Spam! The tin is an absolute riot, complete with Ye Olde English instructions on the side. Now what dish was going to showcase this baby to all its glory?

Immediately, I thought of a very simple preperation. Sliced and fried with a fried egg, all on white rice – it’s very similar to the kind of food you’d find in Hong Kong style cafes.

It looked awfully plain like this and so I sprinkled white pepper and drizzled sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) over it all (a la Mochachocolata-Rita). And it really hit the spot! The garlic wasn’t very strong but I did notice it was there.

Now don’t go turning your nose up at Spam – it’s not bad! I ate loads of it growing up and in our family, it was known as the rather innocent sounding luncheon meat. Usually it would turn up as part of our Sunday breakfast – crispy-edged fried slices accompanying a fried egg over easy. Sometimes we’d get Spam sandwiches as part of our packed lunch for school – again the fried slices but sandwiched between slices of white bread with a good schmear of sweet chili sauce. Sometimes I get cravings for these sandwiches!

It was only when I’d been in the UK for a few years before I got to try the infamous Spam fritter, that battered creation that fed a nation during the Second World War. I found it on the menu of a cafe in Shepherd’s Bush that looks like it hasn’t changed since the 1950′s. And I liked it! It was quite comforting, its salty meatiness pairing well with the bland mashed potatoes and boiled peas served on the side. And Spam is making a comeback now during the recession (though I’m not sure how swine flu has affected sales lately).

Anyway, Spam is great:

• sliced, fried, and put into sandwiches.
• in Spam musubi (though I’ve not tried it yet, but I can imagine it now!).
• in kimbap.
• on top of instant noodles.
• chopped up and cooked into fried rice.
• chopped up into omelettes.
• in fritters.
• sliced the other way and served like a square burger.

Right, that’s what I can think of off the top of my head – what can you add to this list?

Normally, I am absolutely terrible with leftovers. They tend to sit in the fridge where I ignore them and they go off or I just reheat them and eat a boring meal which reminds me of the meal from the day before – oh wait, it *is* the same meal. Unless I plan something in advance, I’m unlikely to grab those leftovers and make something new and exciting from them. It’s not like I don’t know what to do with them – I know that leftover pasta can be mixed with eggs to make a pasta frittata, leftover stews can go into a pie, leftover roasts into salads or sandwiches or soups – but when faced with something that needs using up, my mind goes blank instantly and I resort to heating it up and eating it as is. Dull dull dull. (Well, unless it’s a cold cooked sausage – those are nice!) How do you deal with leftovers?

But no, I will learn to use leftovers more creatively – I have managed a little in the past! Recently, I found myself with a quantity of leftover mashed potatoes from a meal of sausages and mash. The last thing I wanted was to reheat it and stick a few more sausages into it and so I actually had to think about it for a while before coming up with fish cakes. I like the fish cakes I’ve had in restaurants – surely I could make something like that with leftover mash and a tin of tuna? Call them poor man’s fish cakes if you must.

This is a very basic recipe and it’s easy to enhance it with more herbs, some chopped vegetables or even substitute the tuna for cooked salmon or chopped leftover cooked meats.

Tuna and Potato Cakes
serves 2-3.

about 600g leftover mashed potatoes
1 tin tuna packed in oil
a small handful parsley
salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
dry breadcrumbs
sunflower oil for frying

Flake the tuna and mix it and the parsley with the mashed potatoes. Season with lots of pepper and salt if needed (your leftover mashed potatoes are probably already seasoned well).

In a small shallow bowl, beat the egg along with about 2 teaspoons of water. In another small shallow bowl or plate, fill with dry breadcrumbs. Form fish cakes/patties out of the mashed potato mixture – I find it easiest to form a tight round sphere and then gently flatten it. Dip the cake into the beaten egg, making sure to coat it entirely, and then toss it through the breadcrumbs. Set aside. Continue with the rest of mixture – I ended up making about 15 from the amount I had.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and pour in sunflower oil to about a 1cm depth. Fry the cakes in batches (don’t overcrowd the pan) for a couple minutes on each side, until they’re golden brown.

Drain them on kitchen paper and serve with a wedge of lemon and salad on the side.

Malaysia Kopi Tiam has shifted locations through central London a few times now and it was only through bellaphon that I learned of its current location. Back when it was at its first spot, a number of years ago, I visited it with my brother but I think I ordered badly – some duck noodle dish that wasn’t that great. I think my brother had char kway teow served up in a hideous mini wok thing. I never returned. Since then, that location went empty and then I heard it opened up elsewhere and then it popped up on bellaphon’s blog and he’s been very keen on the food.

Blai and I found ourselves close to Charing Cross Road one weekend after some work commitments when we thought of having a quick and cheap bite to eat and I took this opportunity to give the place another try. The frontage is a bit messy with advertisements for Malaysian food, Thai food and another huge upright banner advertising Chinese hot pot (but I think this is at another restaurant?!). We entered, were seated and given two menus – one for Malaysian food and the other for Thai. We ignored the latter.

The Malaysian menu is entirely pictorial, which makes for tasty decision making. I also noticed that the duck noodle dish I had before is no longer listed – this is a good thing! Between us, we split a handmade Hakka mee and a nasi goreng. I don’t recall ever having this first noodle dish before but what arrived was pretty good. The dry noodles are tossed with a seasoning mixture involving dark soy and were accompanied by three ways with pork: char siu (Chinese roasted pork), seasoned minced pork, and a bowl of wonton soup…which had a porky filling. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really tell if the noodles were really hand/homemade as they tasted of just regular egg noodles. The porky things were all tasty enough although the char siu was scarily red.

The nasi goreng was really a nasi goreng istimewa (special fried rice), which I particularly like so I was pleased that it was not just plain fried rice. A fried egg, very delicious and peppery prawn crackers and sliced cucumber accompanied the quite tasty nasi goreng. This really hit the spot as I was craving rice that day!

While the restaurant was empty when we arrived, it was totally packed when we left. Most of the punters were native Malaysians, many of them students who are probably on budgets. And this is definitely a budget place – I think we spent a total of £12 for these two dishes. I’ll definitely be back (especially for the Hokkien prawn mee that’s only available on Sundays and Mondays)!

Malaysia Kopi Tiam
67 Charing Cross Road
London WC2H 0NE

This recipe is for my brother, who’s been bugging me for it for a while! This is another of the one pot meals I throw together when I have no idea what to cook. It’s fast, cheap and tastes good too – all essential for a weeknight’s dinner. It doesn’t take much work and it’s unlikely a stop at the supermarket is needed. Most of the ingredients are cupboard or freezer or fridge staples.

Once again, feel free to substitute or add or remove anything that takes your fancy but if you do make it like this, I highly recommend the chopped parsley and lemon at the end. It just lifts the richness from the chorizo. I first made this dish using basmati rice but we find that plain American long grain suits it better.

Chorizo and Pea Rice
serves 2-3.

1 medium sized onion, chopped
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or sliced thinly
a few large pinches of dried chili flakes
100g chorizo, chopped coarsely
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup (250mL) long grain rice
a few handfuls of frozen peas
salt and freshly ground black pepper
flat leafed parsley
lemon wedges

In a large saute pan (use one with a lid or have a large lid handy), heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Fry the chopped onion until soft and translucent. Add in the garlic and chili flakes and fry until fragrant. Toss in the chorizo and fry for another minute or so – the smoked paprika in the chorizo will colour everything! Then add the tomato paste and give it a good stir through. Add the rice and stir to coat each grain of rice with the reddish oil.

Pour in 2.5 cups of water and stir through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the saute pan. When the water has got quite warm but isn’t simmering yet, stir through the frozen peas. Shake the pan so the rice lays flat but not compacted and then cover again and leave until the rice is cooked through.

Meanwhile, prepare your lemon wedges and chopped parsley for serving. When the rice is cooked, fluff it up with a fork and serve with a good scattering of parsley on top. Pass the lemon wedges.