Tamarind and Thyme

When I’m feeling particularly tired or lazy to cook (and yes, I’m writing about somewhere local as I just haven’t had time to go out further to eat!), we do turn to one of our local restaurants (we’re quite lucky to have a number of excellent little places near us) which almost always guarantees a great meal at a reasonable price – so convenient. One of our local gems that we’ve often turned to recently is Pinto Thai Kitchen in Acton on the Uxbridge Road. Pinto is the name of Thai stacking lunchboxes – imagine an Indian tiffin and you’re not far off – as well as slang for a mother and wife who provides the good eating. And there’s certainly good eating to be had there. We’ve visited quite often now so this post will be made up of dishes we’ve had over a number of dinners (I’ve been sitting on this post for a while as you can see!).

On our most recent visit, we pushed the boat out and ordered starters, something we rarely do at Thai restaurants, usually just aiming straight for the main event. Their fish cakes and fried calamari are both gorgeous: the former are lovely little fishy spicy pucks while the calamari is tender and well fried. Both don’t exhibit that over-rubberiness that’s common in inferior versions. We’ve had their steamed pork and prawn dumplings for takeaway too and its generous topping of fried garlic and the accompanying dipping sauce of sweet thick soy have combined together with the meaty homemade dumpling to one of the tastiest I’ve ever encountered.

We both adore Thai salads and Pinto’s som tam almost always finds its way to our table. There’s lots of chili in their tangy spicy dressing and hooray for green papaya! I quite like their pork larb too but we haven’t had it in a while – not sure why.

Their curries come in a generous portions too – here’s their roast duck in red curry with fresh pineapple below. The curry sauce was just luscious with plenty of coconut milk and it went well with lots of sticky rice. Strangely, I’ve not ordered a lot of their stirfries – I’ve got to correct this.

When it comes to the one dish meals, my favourites are their Thai fried rice and their pad see ew (or if you’re up for a bit of heat – their pad kee mao). I saw a number of noodle soups on their blackboard of specials earlier this year but that gave way to a couple of different specials a month later; I’m keen for those to return as they sounded so delicious!

Blai’s more of a pad Thai guy though and theirs isn’t too bad. We usually order it with pork. We like pork.

What I love about this Thai restaurant is that desserts don’t take a back seat. There are a number of bought-in chocolate thingamajigs and ice cream thingamabobs but we always stick to the more traditional offerings. Banana fritters are warm chunks of the fruit in a light, crispy batter, served with vanilla ice cream – and one portion is just enough for two to share, I reckon. A more recent special of a Thai custard turned out to be delicious baked heart-shaped cakes with a very familiar flavour that I just couldn’t put my finger on – was it mung bean?

I’ve always felt that London really has its share of excellent Thai restaurants and Pinto Thai Kitchen is one of them. Perhaps it’s a little far out of the centre to appeal to anyone but if you’re nearby in West London, it’s definitely worth the trip. It’s quite popular and is BYO too. The waitresses are friendly and more often than not, there’s a group or two of Thai diners inside – always a good sign, I reckon. As to the cost, it’ll be anywhere from a ten to twenty pounds a head – it just depends on how greedy you are!

All the photos I’ve ever taken at Pinto Thai Kitchen can be seen here on Flickr.

Pinto Thai Kitchen
46 High Street
Acton
London W3 6LG

I’ve been a little quiet online but only because work has taken over almost every aspect of my life recently. So a short post this week, a photo recipe – fried artichokes, just as I learned to make from my mother-in-law. The recipe is very forgiving if your artichokes are a little older with more of a hairy choke in the centre. That’s seasoned plain flour for dusting (though results were better with less flour) and sunflower oil for frying. We dined on the crispy slices with bread and Spanish ham that night. Delicious!

Well, looks like I didn’t really succeed in becoming a proper Chinese/Peranakan lady for Chinese New Year. The flat still needs a scrub and apart from the little spicy spring rolls, I only managed to make a small Indonesian kek lapis, or layer cake. This rich and dense, yet tender, cake is a time consuming affair involving lots and lots of egg yolks. The cake is also known as spekkoek, the Dutch word for ‘bacon-cake’, which reflects the layers within it and was developed when the Dutch were in Indonesia. I’ve heard that its origins might also lie with the German baumkuchen (tree-cake), where the layers are baked into a cylindrical cake.

There are so many variations to the recipe online – some involving a both egg yolks and whites, others involving up to 20 egg yolks for a small cake. When I saw that Pig Pig had a problem with one of those recipes, I decided to come up with a bit of a mashup recipe based on what I thought worked and what didn’t. I would normally never do this – cakes do require proper measuring and all that – but the proliferation of different ratios of flour to egg, of egg to sugar, of whites to yolks convinced me that it would turn out all right in the end.

And luckily it did! Three hours after I started (thankfully loads shorter than the time required for the shrimp rolls), I had a small, very heavy cake on my hands. The layers were very apparent and it all certainly looked impressive. As for the texture, it was firm indeed but by no means hard; instead, it was tender and had a good eggy, rich flavour. It keeps for a while too so I guess all that work goes a long way.

Anyway, whatever you do decide to or not to make, Happy Chinese New Year!

Kek Lapis

12 egg yolks (from medium eggs)
200g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp brandy
90g plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
6 egg whites (from medium eggs)
1 tbsp condensed milk
1/2 tsp baking powder

Line the base of a cake pan (mine was 9×5 inch, a 7×7 inch one is also suitable, or an 8 inch round tin) and grease it all over. Preheat the grill to 180C.

Cream the butter and half the sugar together. Then add the condensed milk, vanilla and brandy and combine well. In another bowl, beat together the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar. Add the egg yolk mixture to the butter mixture about a third at a time, beating well to combine after each addition. Sift in the flour, mixed spice, and baking powder and fold in well.

In a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold in the whites to the rest of the cake batter (part by part again) until combined.

Place your cake pan under the grill for a few minutes until it’s hot. Add a few tablespoons of batter (I used three for each layer; you can use two to four, I reckon) and as it melts, spread it into an even layer on the pan. Place the pan back under the grill and cook until the top becomes brown.

Lightly press down on the layer so the cake remains flat – I found this easiest when the layer had cooled a bit. You don’t want to compress the layer but just have it sit evenly. Repeat the layer making again. And again. And again. Until you run out of batter. And watch that pan under the grill like a hawk! It’s so easy to get distracted by the telly or by Twitter and then lo and behold, your cake will burn. If any bubbles form on a layer, pierce them with a skewer or sharp pointy knife before flattening the layer and continuing.

When all the layers are done, set the oven to the regular baking setting at the same temperature. Cover the cake pan with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 5 minutes.

When done, turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Slice off the edges (they’ll be dark brown and hard) and then slice the cake into thin slices and then into pieces and serve. It’s more of a fingerfood-like cake, not one to slice into big pieces to eat with a fork. The cake keeps for up to two weeks when wrapped well in clingfilm. I hear it can last for months when stored in the fridge though I’ve not tested this!

Last Monday was the latest in the Dine with Dos Hermanos dinner series at Indian Zing in Hammersmith. Weeks before, I had put my name in the virtual hat and as luck would have it, my name was drawn, making this my first of these dinners. Organised by Simon Majumdar, one of the brothers of the Dos Hermanos blog, the always spectacular dinners attract food loving Londoners (and some from further afield) and bloggers. Indian Zing was chosen for this meal as Simon reckons it’s the best higher-end Indian restaurant in London. Now, I don’t live very far from the restaurant itself and had definitely passed it numerous times. Guilt set in that I hadn’t yet tried this supposedly exceptional restaurant and so I was really looking forward to this meal.

When we entered the restaurant, we were greeted with huge platters of canapes: Vegetable Bhanavla, Green Peppercorn Malai Tikka, Zing’s Seekh Kebab, and Grilled Paneer with coconut, tamarind and chili dipping sauces. No photos of these (shame!) as I was trying to balance a drink while simultaneously waving my hand to turn down a fifth piece of that chicken tikka… well….. ok, go on then! (I’m reminded of a takeaway place I pass every day with the catchphrase “Tuck into a Tikka”!) My favourites were these huge chunks of the most tender marinated chicken and the firm yet tender cubes of fresh paneer. I’ve always said that if I had to be a vegetarian, I’d always turn to the Indian school of vegetarianism.

The tables were laid with the Pappadums and Khakara basket with pickle and relish and upon seating, we all tucked in to these crunchies. But these were a temporary distraction before our starter of Aloo Tikki Chat came out. This was individually plated (I was surprised! I just assumed that everything would come out family style) and came looking quite pretty with its lashings of chutneys and scattering of chopped red onion. This was nice enough but I do admit that I was looking more forward to the main events.

The main meal did come out family style – we were having trouble making space for it all on the table! A tan-coloured Karwari Fish Curry was a lusciously coconutty curry with chunks of white fish. The gravy was lovely enough to drink. But I was mostly in awe at the Pork Vindaloo that was sweet and yet a little tangy too. Despite being a two chili dish on the menu, this was quite subdued heat-wise, nothing like the usual curry house offerings.

The vegetarian main course was Zing’s Saag Paneer, which was a one chili dish but I found it hotter than the vindaloo! A good version of it with the spinach not too pureed.

Who needs plain rice when there’s a big mound of Chicken Biryani at the table?! There were large pieces of chicken on the bone buried in the rice and the meat was literally falling off the bone. The copious use of a delicious spice paste throughout made this one of the best biryanis I’d ever had.

Vegetable sides included Organic Vegetable Foogath and a Dal Makhani. The former was a combination of various vegetables (I remember carrot, green beans, broccoli and cabbage) cooked with coconut, mustard seeds and curry leaves. The vegetables all had a nice bite to them and were quite a nice way to eat one’s five a day. The latter came as a dark and creamy pool of lentils and beans and was a very soothing accompaniment to the spicier dishes.

Now that I’m looking at the menu again… Batatyachi bhaji. Hey, I think our table didn’t get this one. Sounds so good though – how was it? Anyone else get to try it? The menu says this was a potato, peanut and coriander dish with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

For starches we had a Jeera and saffron pulao, which lovely as it was, I was stuffing my face with that gorgeous biryani, and basketfuls of Malabar Paratha griddled layered bread (hey, Colin, there’s your thumb!). This latter was best when served hot. When cold, it was quite impliable and not at all good for sopping up curries. Our side of the table went through two of these baskets – I’ll name no names but we’re definitely greedy guts!

There was no worry of anyone going home hungry that night. Though the bowls look small, there were many of them on each table and refills were forthcoming. We piled our plates high and ate and ate until we slapped our cutlery down and declared ourselves defeated.

The desserts came out all individually plated: Gulab Jamun, Shrikhand with berries, and a Rice Payasam (hey Colin, there’s your finger!). Now the funny thing is that I’m not normally a fan of Indian sweets and desserts but I loved all of these! Perhaps it was the (very) sweet contrast to the spice beforehand but I inhaled that gulab jamun and would have done the same with the shrikhand (a sweetened strained yogurt) and the payasam (a sweet pudding with saffron and cashews and raisins and coconut) if my poor tummy would have allowed it.

We didn’t go home empty handed either; there were goody bags for each attendee (I’ll leave it to Simon’s post to describe what was inside). And ironically, I, the girl who hardly drinks anything alcoholic each year except for a few sips here and there, won the raffle prize of a Johnny Walker black label limited edition bottle with a label in gold – bling bling – provided by Mandeep from the company who had kindly provided a few whiskys to pair with certain dishes. Part of the prize was the engraving of a personalised message onto the bottle – I think the person who’ll be getting this gift from me will definitely appreciate it!

Thanks again to Simon for organising the dinner and chef Manoj Vasaikar and everyone at Indian Zing for making it a fabulous night! The restaurant truly is exceptional with the food excellent and the service wonderful; the waiters were all lovely with great senses of humour and this made the fun night even better. Thanks also to the great company too – it’s not often you find yourself with 40 other people who are also obsessed with food!

Indian Zing
236 King Street
Hammersmith
London W6 0RF

When I ventured off to college, oh so far away from my mother, she used to send me care packages full of food and new clothes every so often. One time there was something new in there – a fried spicy dry mixture of dried shrimps and various seasonings. Her handwritten note that accompanied stated that it was good on rice or tossed with noodles or even sprinkled on some buttered bread. I now know that what she sent me was sambal udang kering or hae bee hiam or just generally a dry sambal made with dried shrimp. It keeps very well just in an airtight container and so travels well to a homesick student across the seas.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered the itty bitty spicy shrimp roll, essentially that sambal stuffed inside a miniature spring roll. It’s quite popular in Malaysian and Singapore and they don’t come cheap, what with all the labour involved. This year, I decided to try making them myself. With Chinese New Year coming up (14 Feb), I was (and still am!) hoping to make a variety of little snacks for friends. (This photo shows how the snacks are presented, as I recall when I was a kid, for Chinese New Year to visiting guests.)

But how can a recipe with so few ingredients take so long to make?! I’m looking at the recipe I typed out below with a bit of surprise as yes, that’s what I used and no, it wasn’t quick to make. I reckon I started early afternoon with the chopping of the ingredients for the filling and then finished at about ten at night with the frying (with a break in between for dinner). Most of the time was spent on the rolling, rolling, rolling of the stupid things.

Luckily, the reception for these rolls has been altogether positive which I suppose makes up for all that work! If you don’t feel like rolling so many of them, the filling can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, ready for sprinkling on rice, noodles or bread. This is quite a simple version of sambal udang kering and more complex recipes abound with lots of aromatics inside.

Mini Spicy Shrimp Rolls
makes 150-200.

100g dried shrimp
8 large dried chilies
5 shallots
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsps sunflower oil
1-1.5 tsp salt, to taste
1-1.5 tbsp sugar, to taste

1 packet of large, square spring roll wrappers (I didn’t use the largest ones; I used the next largest that come 40 to a pack, Spring Home brand)
1 egg, beaten

sunflower oil for frying

Soak the dried shrimps in cold water for 15 minutes. Place into a mini chopper or food processor and process until finely chopped. Set aside.

Peel the shallots and chop finely (I used my mini chopper). Set aside. Peel the garlic cloves and chop finely too.

Soak the dried chilies in warm water until soft. Cut into large pieces, discarding the seeds, and blend with a little water until a paste is formed.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and when hot, add the 3 tbsps sunflower oil. Fry the chopped shallots for a few minutes until soft. Add the garlic and fry until it’s fragrant. Stir through the chili paste, letting it cook until much of the liquid has dried up. Add all the processed dried shrimp and continue frying, stirring continuously until the mixture goes quite dry and dark. I didn’t time how long this took but I was frying there for at least 10-15 minutes or so, I think. When done, set it aside and let it cool.

If your spring roll wrappers were frozen, defrost them. Separate them carefully and cut each wrapper into 9 smaller squares. Stack these smaller squares to prevent them from drying out.

Now to wrap them! You might want to get comfortable for this; I was wrapping for a few hours. Place a little less than a teaspoonful of the shrimp mixture on the wrapper and wrap as you would a regular spring roll. (Sorry, no photos of this process but this post illustrates the steps quite nicely). Use a tiny dab of beaten egg at the final point to seal the roll. Repeat until you’re out of wrappers or out of filling (that was me) or out of patience.

To fry them, heat about 2 cm of sunflower oil in a pot or pan on medium-high heat. When you add a roll, the oil should bubble up around it. Fry for about 2 minutes until the roll is golden. Drain well on kitchen paper. Fry all the rolls in not too large batches (don’t want that oil to cool down).

Make sure the rolls have cooled fully before packing them in an airtight container.