My first attempt at making macarons

"I can't eat anymore!!!" said by one of my best friends, Kyile. We were sitting in the lounge of a hotel in Hong Kong, stuffing ourselves with cakes, truffles, puddings and 10+ other desserts. Did I mention it was a dessert buffet? I cannot remember whose idea was it, but we did have a great time. An hour into eating, we all said we couldn't eat anymore, appreciating the harbour view, chatting away... but every 5 minutes someone would disappear and return with a plate of treats, claiming 'This is my last one...'. I remember my last dessert was a small plate of very cute, colourful and irresistible macarons.


This was my first attempt at making macarons. I followed a recipe in the book "I Love Macarons" by Hisako Ogita. I love the book. The amount of detail is incredible, each step is illustrated by a photo to show exactly what you need to do. It also covers many different fillings. Although the recipe does not seem complex, there are lots of things which can go wrong, especially getting the 'drying time' right before baking. I had to make a few batches to perfect the timing.


Going through my cupboard in the kitchen, I couldn't help but adding the blueberry honey I bought in Italy to the butter cream. It gave the cream a lovely tangy favour. Hopefully these will clear the Monday blues in the office tomorrow.

Taste of London 2011

Taste of London 2011, Regent's Park

I was hoping for a glorious summer day for the ‘Biggest Foodies event’ of the year. I could not have been more wrong! The weather forecast said grey sky with patches of rain, but actually it was more like tropical – flipping between clear blue sky and thunderstorms...

We bought VIP tickets from the British Airways website. They were on special offer for £38 each including £20 worth of crowns, access to VIP Lounge and a glass of champagne. Don’t bother the VIP tickets if you are a BA mileage club sliver/gold member. Just turn up at the BA Executive Lounge with your membership card for unlimited drinks and canapés.

First up, a cooking class with Atul Kochhar in the AEG cooking studio. I had great fun following his instructions to cook one of the nation's favourite curry dishes - Rogan Josh.

Then we sampled a few dishes in the next hour or so...

Club Gascon – Spicy duck popcorn. Interesting idea to use popcorn, it kind of lightened the dish a bit and added some fun to a classic duck confit.

Benares – Chicken tikka pie with spiced berry compote. It was a pretty dish to look but not to eat. Way too much compote so I couldn’t really taste the chicken. Good idea but bad execution.

Corrigan’s Mayfair – Hand ground steak burger with bone marrow. Not much to say except: Simple, tasty, juicy!

The Cinnamon Club – Spice encrusted Gressingham duck breast, Hyderabadi korma sauce. Best dish of the day. Perfectly cooked breast of duck with crispy skin, the smooth korma sauce had the right amount of sweetness to accompany the duck.

At around 8pm, we headed to the AEG taste theatre to watch a demonstration by Nuno Mendes from Viajante.

He ‘cooked’ (more like assembled) 3 dishes from bags of vacuum packed ingredients. Each of them was cooked at a different temperature, for a different time and by different methods. This guy and the team behind him have an incredible level of creativity. I was blown away when we visited Viajante in Bethnal Green last year. The man himself said the restaurant has grown a lot since then, I believe him as who would have thought that lettuce, cherries and mussel juice would work? Jay Rayner loved the combination on the stage so I better plan my next visit :)

We managed to have a few desserts in the final hour. Some of them were given to us for free as the restaurants do not keep their food overnight. Here are the highlights:

Asia de Cuba – Mexican Doughnuts with Mojito sorbet.

Maze – Lemon cheesecake, black sesame, Earl Grey syrup.

Rhodes 24 – Lemon tart with fresh strawberries.

All in all it was a great evening, the rain and the mud spoiled the mood a little but that is always part of the fun of British summer, right? Let’s do it again next year!

Mouth Watering Chicken

I had a very busy week together with some unusual British weather - rain - wind - cold - and rain again. How depressing... so I have decided to cook up some spicy food to keep warm.

"Mouth Watering Chicken" originated in the Sichuan Province, China. Sichuan cuisine has become very popular in the last few years. The first Sichuan 'dish' I tried was the hotpot - cook your own meat in a simmering meaty stock filled with red peppercorns, star anise and lots of Sichuan peppercorns. The fun bit is to pick the Sichuan peppercorns out when you try to eat the meat. But you're always gonna miss a few, as they are literally all over the place! Nearest description of the taste of Sichuan pepper would be popping candy. It makes your tongue go numb followed by a hint of spiciness, almost like the aftertaste of eating wasabi. 

Mouth Watering Chicken 

Serves 4

For cooking the chicken
2 Spring onions
Ginger root, around the size of your thumb, cut into thick slices
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp Shao Xing wine
 
Sauce
2 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 cloves of Garlic, chopped
1 Red chili, chopped
2 tbsp Vegetable/peanut oil
2 tbsp Sesame paste (can be bought in Chinese supermarket)
2 tbsp Light soy sauce
2 tbsp Chili oil
2 tsp White vinegar
2 tsp Caster sugar
1 tsp Sesame oil
0.5 cup water

Toppings
A handful of celery leaves, chopped
A handful of coriander
2 Spring onions, chopped
1 cup of peanuts
2 tsp Sesame seeds

Others
1.5 kg whole Chicken (preferably corn-fed)
Half portion of cucumber 

Deseed the cucumber and cut it into chunks. Season with salt and a few drops of sesame oil and set aside.

Trim off the fat on the neck and the bottom of the chicken, then rub salt all over the inside and body. Boil around 2L of water in a large saucepan. Add the spring onions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and Shao Xing wine to the boiling water. Put the chicken into the water breast side down, and then bring the water to boil again. Turn the chicken upside down, so the boiling water reaches into the cavity. Turn the chicken at least 3 times – make sure the water is boiling (not simmering) when you do this.

Move the saucepan to the smallest gas ring and turn to the minimum heat. Cover the saucepan, and the chicken should be cooked in around 45mins.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Heat the Sichuan peppercorns in a frying pan until fragrant. Add vegetable/peanut oil followed by red chillies and garlic. Fry them in the pan for around 2mins. Transfer the contents from the pan to a heat proof bowl, then mix with the rest of the sauce ingredients with a whisk until thick (just like making salad dressing). Taste and adjust according to your preferences.

Prepare the toppings: Fry the peanuts in a pan until their skins come off. Toast the sesame seeds until golden. Mix them with the coriander, celery leaves and spring onions.

When the chicken is done, take it out and put it in a bowl of iced water immediately. The temperature difference will make the skin contracts, preventing it from going soggy. Wait until the surface of the chicken has cooled down, and rest the chicken for 10 minutes. Portion the chicken by removing the legs, wings and then the breasts. Cut the breasts to small pieces. Retain the juices from the chicken, and add to the sauce.

Place the marinated cucumbers on a plate, topped with the chicken thighs and wings. Spoon some sauce over the meat and then add half of the toppings on top. Add the rest of the chicken on top, and then finished with the rest of the sauce and toppings.

Serve with boiled rice or glass noodle. Yum!

The Beginning

Ok here we go, this is my first post!

In this blog, I am going to write something about me, my cooking and my food adventures. 

I started cooking when I first arrived in the UK (10 years already?). I remember arriving with a rice cooker and a saucepan in my suitcase, without any idea what food I would find here. I had heard horror stories about British food but I have slowly changed my mind over the years - thanks to my husband who always reminds me how good British food can be.

Eating is fun. Let's get started!