Tamarind and Thyme

Not long after I returned to London from Singapore, I started craving Hainanese chicken rice again; despite having it twice in a week, I wanted more! And as my brother was down in London that weekend, I took the opportunity to cook chicken rice for all three of us. If you’re not familiar with this dish, it’s a poached chicken served with rice cooked in the chicken stock and there’s usually a bowlful of chicken stock on the side to drink and always a couple of sauces too. If you’ve not had it and are just reading the description here, it must sound absolutely dull as dishwater but it’s really a most delicious and comforting dish as lots of aromatics are used when cooking the chicken and rice.

I’ve cooked this quintessential Singaporean dish a few times before but was never fully happy with the recipe until I used Chubby Hubby’s method for cooking it – and I highly recommend it. The method doesn’t sound the most safe but I can assure you that the chicken (1kg – increase the cooking time for a larger one) does end up fully cooked and wonderfully smooth and tender. If you can’t find pandan leaves, you can leave them out but they really do give that bit extra to the dish. And don’t make the mistake I did and cook the rice with basmati – I’ve used plain long grain in the past with more success. Basmati rice is too flavoured in its own way and it interferes with the chicken stock and aromatics. We’re such pigs – we finished the entire lot of chicken and rice between the three of us.

Sauces served with the chicken rice typically include a chili-ginger sauce, a plain ginger sauce and a dark, thick and sweet soy sauce. I think most places in Singapore now skip the plain ginger sauce though and just serve up the other two and so I did the same. I think Chubby Hubby’s recipe for the chilli and ginger sauce is a bit too heavy on the garlic though and not gingery enough for us however; I found this combination to be more similar to the chilli sauces served with chicken rice in Singapore and more to our taste.

Chilli and Ginger Sambal
adapted from Chubby Hubby’s recipe.

3-5 large fresh red chillies, seeds removed, chopped roughly
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
a 3 inch chunk of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp chicken stock (from cooking the chicken)
a large pinch of salt
a large pinch of sugar
fresh lime juice, to taste

Dump all the ingredients together, except for the lime juice, into a blender or food processor or, like me, in a mini chopper. Blend blend blend, adding lime juice to help it along. Adjust the lime to taste (I like it tangy) as well as the salt and sugar. Stir well one last time and serve alongside your chicken rice.

“Have you heard of Viajante?” asked a colleague of mine last week; he had just read Marina O’Loughlin’s review in the Metro that morning. Yes, I had, but had not yet made the trip east to try one of their tasting menus. We quickly organised a small group from work and booked a lunch in – five of us, all going for the more affordable lunch set menu as mentioned in the review.

And so we trekked over to Bethnal Green to the restaurant, where Nuno Mendes (who cooked at El Bulli) heads the kitchen. I’ve been keen to try his cooking for a while but never got around to going to his previous restaurant Bacchus nor his private supper club The Loft – from what I understand (and what I experienced), he incorporates ingredients from all over the world, all inspired by his travels, in his cooking. The restaurant is located in a former town hall and was larger than I expected. The setting inside was quite light and bright, with Scandinavian furniture and an open kitchen and our table had a good view of all the goings on in the latter. I’m not usually one to go on about the facilities at restaurants but I feel it must be mentioned that the bathrooms were quite quirky with literary passages engraved onto plaques on the wall.

When we were seated, our table was presented with a single menu with a few set options – our lunch set turned out to be the three course tasting menu for £25. The six course option was £60. We all chose the three courses and we were given no hint as to what would appear.

What I didn’t expect was so many little extras to the three courses. First up was a Crostini de romesco and gordal olives, almonds and Jerez. Sliced olives, dabs of romesco and powdered garlic sat on top of a melba toast-like cracker; it was a little bite that set up the meal nicely.

Another amuse, the Charred broad beans, pea puree and Sao Jorge cheese, came on a slate and sat on cracker shards. The presentation was very pretty but it was as described – nothing mindblowing.

The final little amuse was the Thai Explosion II, a little canape sandwich of two flaky biscuits filled with a slice of quail egg and a Thai spiced chicken paste (what was Thai Explosion I like?). Watching everyone struggle around me when biting into the little morsel, I popped the entire thing in my mouth and was rewarded by a delicately spiced and very moreish mixture; this was the best of the three amuses.

Bread then arrived for our table – we each received one of these homemade long bread sticks and our own individual lump of whipped brown butter. The bread was gorgeous with just the right crust to soft innards ratio – the ends were wonderfully crunchy. The butter … wow. My little serving had swirls within that reminded me of a salted caramel, just less sweet. And on top were bits of pancetta, crackling, and the prettiest dusting of purple potato powder.

The first actual course of our three was the Textures of beetroot with crab, green apple and whipped goats curd – the waitress mentioned pickled, roasted and jellied. Oh god. If you know me, you know how much I dislike beetroot. I mean no disrespect to any of the chefs at Viajante but this wasn’t my bag (and if this course had been followed by say… Textures of celery… well then, I would have burst out crying). I enjoyed the crab and the smooth goats curd and the freshness of the apple but the beetroot – ack, it’s just not my favourite root vegetable but I did eat it all. I did expect the roasted beetroot to be sweeter though but this just tasted quite earthy and slightly sweet and well, you know, like beetroot. My colleagues did enjoy it though and it seemed to convert another beetroot disliker.

Luckily the next dish featured no celery. This was not large enough to be an actual course and we understood it to be another one of the extras. Tomato, mozzarella, olive oil and strawberry granita were served in a shallow bowl and the waiter poured tomato water on top. This was wonderfully refreshing and the granita worked with the classic tomato-mozzarella pairing.

Our main course was listed as Lemon sole, confit egg, asparagus and tapioca and it was Nuno Soares himself who came out to explain the dish to us and to personally spoon on the tapioca sauce at the table. On the plate was the panfried fillet of sole with a lovely mixture of grilled asparagus alongside and shaved asparagus on top and a glorious confit egg yolk. One of my colleagues just kept repeating, “That egg yolk is perfectly cooked!” over and over again, like a broken record – it certainly was testament to how amazing this yolk was. The tapioca sauce had some coconut milk and basil mixed in – an unlikely combination but one which worked. A smear of a lemon and pickled plum (I think it was umeboshi based on the colour) on the plate complimented everything nicely.

The arrival of a Lemon and Thai basil sorbet signified the end of the savoury dishes. I loved the aniseedy punch of the basil in this very smooth sorbet. The lemon though didn’t come through as strongly.

Our dessert was Dark chocolate and Water – again the whole textures thing was in play with the chocolate with a gelato, a soft creamy jelly, a crispy shaved chocolate mixture and pieces of cake. All quite pleasant but the “water” granita seemed entirely out of place among the chocolate bits. I reckon the dessert could do without it and also the slightly pretentious off-centre plating (this latter detracted from the quality of the components).

After all that food, coffee was required. Along with the espressos we ordered came the Petit Fours. First came tiny martini glasses filled with crema catalana, though a crema without the burnt layer on top. It was a little more lemony than other cremas I’ve had but still very delicious. Another slate was placed down in front of us with chocolate truffles and fruit jellies, both sitting on crumbs from a gingery biscuit (speculoos?). The jellies were citrusy, if I remember correctly, but what really stuck in our minds were the truffles – under the cocoa coating was a white chocolate and mushroom filling, giving it a very earthy flavour. Very surprising and again, very good.

When the menus were handed round at the end (with the names of the dishes we ate, as noted above), it was revealed that the tomato course had come as compliments of the kitchen and we greatly appreciated the gesture. At first we thought it may have been because two of us were taking photos of the meal but I’ve now come to the conclusion that it must have been because one of my colleagues wished me a happy birthday right by the entrance, overheard by the host!

With coffees and service and the water (only £1 a head for all the sparkling water you can drink), the total came to just over £30 a head. We all agreed it was a veritable bargain for all that we got. Service was very pleasant throughout and never felt stiff at any time. I would love to return again, especially when the courses have changed a bit (I discovered afterwards that the dishes we got were the same that Chris of Cheese and Biscuits received when he ate there a few weeks previously).

Viajante
Patriot Square
London E2 9NF

Well, it’s not every day (or indeed every year) that one turns thirty. This past week has been absolutely packed with activity and I apologise in advance for lumping all these events together into one post!

One picnic in Richmond at Saturday lunchtime and a night at Courvoisier‘s Complete History of Food with Bompas and Parr (a quirky and fun enough experience with Bompas and Parr jellies and dining in an iguanadon but definitely not enough food). All my photos from that night can be found in this Flickr photoset. Rather than describe everything in detail, I’ll direct you to Kang’s post on the event as his views reflect mine closely.

A Sunday morning bicycle ride around the Ealing Sky Ride route followed by a surprisingly delicious Polish/English-style roast lunch at the newly opened Frank’s Cafe in Acton (also home to the gigantic omelette).

That night, seeing the fantastic Placido Domingo in a brilliant semi-staged Simon Boccanegra at the Proms and afterwards, a great late dinner at Racine with Rahul. The dinner ended on a high with another great cherry clafoutis and Rahul’s vanilla ice cream with Valrhona chocolate sauce.

Then on the big day itself, a dinner at HK Diner with our favourite crispy noodles. The Chinese believe that you’ve got to eat noodles on your birthday as their length represents longevity. I reckon the effects were probably negated by the fact that they were crispy noodles but hey, it’s one of the few superstitions to which I still subscribe! There was also a plateful of seemingly greaseless salt and chilli fried squid.

There was also a great lunch yesterday but that’s for the next post. Oof, July is turning out to be extremely busy!

A few weeks ago, Steve Fox‘s name was drawn as the winner of my blog birthday giveaway. I say, his emails have had me in stitches, especially the letter he sent when he tried the jar of Tean’s Crispy Prawn Chilli. I have his permission to quote from his email here. You may remember that I compared this savoury condiment to crack (though I myself have no experience with the substance, I reckon crispy prawn chilli must be as addictive as I imagine drugs to be)…

… And whilst, having never actually tried crack, I can’t confirm the literal accuracy of your claim, I’m prepared to accept that you have, in essence – and to misquote the laureate that is George Clinton – nailed that mutha!

…

As you may have gathered, I’m rather impressed by that there jar of crispy chili prawns. I started by tossing a couple of teaspoonsful into a pan of butterflied Tigers, blasted with garlic, ginger, nam pla, lemon juice and a wee bit of sweet chili sauce. The usual suspects.

But – whoo, baby! What’s going on in that jar?! Straaaange chemistry. I know what a few prawns fried in the aforementioned taste like – it’s Snack Number Two on my all-time Snack List. But this new ingredient is like the Flavour Motherlode. It makes things, well, more. It made those Tiger prawns prawnier, the ginger gingerier, the nam pla saucier – y’get the idea. And the juices…! Once the prawns were gone (less time than it takes to read this email), the detritus in the bowl looked like an accident in a chemistry lab – but the taste…

I had to rustle up some noodles t’pour the juices over. And then I had to make some more prawns – although, due to poor Prawn Management, I had no more prawns. So I just made the original mixture without prawns, added some miso and drank it.

A spoonful from the jar is a wee bit too much for my tastebuds, but damn near every combination I’ve tried works – noodles, pasta, as a dip, crackers, all the obvious stuff.

And then the benchmark – what does it do t’cheese on toast? (Number One on the Snack List since 1979)

The answer – (very) nearly everything! Only Worcestershire Sauce comes close – and there can be no greater praise in the Umami Lexicon.

You heard it from Steve first! Crispy prawn chilli cheese toast! Somebody, give this man a blog! Thank you, Steve, for your brilliant emails!

If you’re looking for a jarful yourself, take a look online. You can find it at the Wing Yip store or sold through Wing Yip on Amazon.

It’s July – major celebration month in our household. First there’s Blai’s birthday and then there’s my birthday and then at the end of the month, our wedding anniversary. As you can imagine, this makes July a very busy and expensive month! First up was a dinner to celebrate Blai’s birthday at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe; the restaurant was chosen when he requested a French meal. We’d never been to any of the Galvin restaurants and I thought we’d use this occasion to try it. Located on Baker Street, the restaurant looks tiny from the outside but inside is a much larger, very classic and warm French bistro than is expected.

Blai chose the bistro’s famous Lasagne of Dorset Crab, Beurre Nantais for his starter. The little cylindrical lasagne sat in a large pool of the most exquisite beurre blanc (I’ve just learned that beurre Nantais is when cream is added) which we wiped up with the warm bread provided. The silky sheets of pasta held together a rich mousse packed with crab; this dish gave me serious starter envy!

I started with the Imam Bayaldi, Greek Yoghurt and Coriander Cress. What arrived was another little tower of food: aubergine, tomato, onion all cooked together to a chunky yet lush mixture and served cold. I thought the aubergine could have been a bit silkier but overall, it was a dish that was well put together and well presented, if a little light.

Because he just can’t have enough pasta, Blai chose the Open Ravioli of Braised Pig’s Head, Celeriac Remoulade for his main course. While the bits of pig’s head were lovely and tender, there was a strong vinegary flavour incorporated with them. While not unpleasant, it was still a very strange taste to encounter when one’s expecting a rich braise. The creamy celeriac remoulade was hiding underneath the ravioli and again, while not terrible, we felt it didn’t work well with the ravioli on top.

I had the Roast Wood Pigeon, Macaroni, Pancetta and Broad Beans. The pigeon breasts had been grilled till rare and were served on top of a mixture of fresh macaroni, pancetta, broad beans (whole and pureed) and tender pieces of the pigeon leg and thigh. This was a more successful mixture with the richness of the game and the pancetta working well with the greenness of the broad beans. The sauce drizzled around the perimeter was extremely dark. iron-rich and I wonder if it was made of blood.

My Apple Tarte Tatin, Creme Fraiche came out looking like half a wagon wheel on a plate. This was the biggest single portion of tarte tatin I’ve ever encountered! The size may not be so apparent in the photo but trust me, it was at least 7 or 8 inches in diameter. And it was utterly gorgeous too, with the puff pastry half crispy and half chewy with caramel.

Blai’s Valrhona Chocolate Delice, Milk Ice Cream came out with birthday greetings which was a very nice and welcome surprise. I don’t remember much of the little I tasted but judging by the way Blai wiped his plate soon after it was placed in front of him, I’d say it was excellent! Actually, I do remember that it was lighter than it appeared, which is quite refreshing.

Service was wonderfully jovial and, I thought, really made this birthday dinner. The food overall wasn’t bad – the starters and desserts were excellent but I thought the mains, while not excellent, were good. Perhaps we didn’t order very well. Still, we loved the restaurant enough that we’d love to return again – I hear their prix fixe menu is excellent value. For those who are interested, our bill (food + water + a lemonade) came to a total of £69.70.

Galvin Bistrot de Luxe
66 Baker Street
London W1U 7DJ