COOKING CLASSES

On a sunny Saturday morning my husband and myself set off for a Chinese Cooking Class. I had done some before, however husband not only hadn't had a class, he never actually cooks! Today was looking like it was going to be fun.

Chef Mike welcomed us all and told us we would be preparing Xiaolongbao which is a Chinese soup dumpling. It's one of our favourites. When you bite into the dumpling not only is there a minced pork, or sometimes minced shrimp, but there is also a delicious soupy filling which you have to be careful of. It's very hot and can be very messy. This is created by adding gelatine to the pork. Today it had been made from pigs feet. We would also be making Kung Po Chicken. One of the most popular dishes amongst expats.

 It always amazes me how Chinese Chefs use these cleavers for everything, even to peel ginger!

Preparation got underway. We were a group of 10 so there was lots of chatting and fun, and a little bit of competition. The table was soon covered in flour and everyone was busy making the pastry for the dumplings which was nothing more than flour and water.

 We were supposed to have clean work surfaces by the time we finished the mixing and rolling. This was optimistic.

However soon everyone had completed the task and the dumplings were taken off to be steamed.

We then moved on to the Kung Po Chicken. A mix of  salt, pepper, cooking wine and cornflour, was added to the diced chicken. The secret to a soft chicken is apparently to massage it at this stage until all the liquid is absorbed into the meat. A teaspoonful of water was also added for extra moistness. This too had to be massaged into the chicken.

Now time for a very hot wok and a bit of stir frying. Some garlic and ginger and dried chillies were added to the wok, followed quickly by the chicken, a quick stir to seal then out it came. A mix of light and dark soy sauce, sugar, pepper and vinegar was heated then the chicken added back for a final cooking. A spoonful, or two, depending on hot you like it, of chilli paste, was added. A final blast of really hot heat and it was ready.

I hope you agree that it looked delicious and I am happy to report it tasted as good as it looked.

All in all it was a very successful and pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning. As for my husband he really enjoyed the experience and is looking forward to doing it again. Will it entice to cook at home? Maybe, but think I need to wait and see. 

However I will be cooking these dishes again at home and probably in the very near future.

WHEN I'M OUT OF LEMONS....................

They say when life gives you lemons make lemonade. Today was one of those days but with no lemons to hand the best I had was mushrooms so I made mushroom soup!
With nothing more than mushrooms, plus a few dried ones which I used to make the stock, I set about making my soup.

It never seems to amaze me how easy this is. I chopped my mushrooms, I only had oyster, boiled the kettle and poured it over the dried mushrooms and after 5 minutes poured this over the mushrooms. I just covered them, added salt and pepper and a pinch of dried thyme.

 After it all came to the boil I turned it down to a low simmer. 15 minutes later I blitzed it, adjusted the seasonings, a touch more pepper, and added a spoonful of creme fraiche.

I then tucked into a delicious bowl of "pure" mushroom soup. No need for an onion, and the stock from the dried mushrooms gave it a delicious flavour.

I may have been given lemons today but making, and then enjoying the soup helped a lot.

Cooking is my therapy. 

NOT MY FINEST MOMENT

I am what probably is known as a magazineaholic. Mostly cooking and home decor. However now living in Shanghai I can only get them on my iPad, and although I love still being able to access them it still isn't the same as flicking through the real thing.
However, I came prepared and had a backlog to bring with me. I decided recently, that when they were 5-6years old I should really start to cull them, but this was not before I had gone through them and pulled out recipes I had intended to make, but never quite got around to.
When my husband complained we never have dessert apart from fruit and yogurt, or when we have people in for dinner, I decided to give one of the ripped out recipes a go.
It sounded delicious, not to heavy and would suit both our tastes. Perhaps mine a little more than his!
The dessert was a Prossecco and Peach Jelly with a Passion Fruit Zabaglione. I knew I had 2 little bottles of process in the fridge, infact the only thing I didn't have were Passion Fruits, but that was soon solved with a visit to the market.
Soon the jelly was chilling in the fridge. Zabaglione was to be prepared just before serving. This is never a good idea in my mind. However I would see it through.
Having waited, with high expectations, I put the dessert on the table after 15mins of whipping eggs to make the topping. I was exhausted and made note to myself, never do this for a dinner party. Way too much last minute preparation. It looked delicious, very enticing.

Would I make it again? NO! It tasted ok, not fantastic as I had hoped. Basically it was posh jelly and custard. I think I'd rather have eaten the fruit and drunk the Prossecco. I certainly didn't make me want to rush and make it again. 

I threw out the ripped out recipe so I wan't be tempted again. It just proves that you have to actually try something before you know if it finds a permanent place in your recipe files.

So I will plough on, making my way through ripped out recipes and backlog of magazines and find the ones I want to keep and discard the ones that look better than they taste. This is a chore I will actually enjoy. 

BEIJING DUCK

When a Chinese friend messaged me to say she had been in Beijing and brought me a duck I was a bit surprised to say the least. I know Beijing is the original home of, what I always knew as Peking Duck, but I hadn't expected one in a gift.

It duly arrived a few days later with the instructions to cook at 180c and it will keep for 3 months. That was it. It did come complete with pancakes and the hoisin sauce. It lay around in the fridge for a few weeks before I decided to cook it. Out of the vacuum pack it didn't look too appetising and the pancakes had gone mouldy. On reflection I should probably have frozen them.

I stuck it on a baking tray and put it in the oven. I thought around 40 minutes should be enough time. I  was not in the mood to make more pancakes so pulled out a pack of tortillas and proceeded to chop some cucumber and spring onions. 40 minutes later when I took it out the oven it had been transformed into a lovely glistening duck which when pulled at with two forks shredded beautifully.

Once piled into warmed tortillas it provided a very delicious supper. I have to say I had been doubtful but obviously coming from the home of the Peking Duck I should have realised how tasty it would be.

I had forgotten just how much I like to eat this and I'm thinking I'll be searching out a duck restaurant here in Shanghai. Or maybe I will try ant attempt it myself. Whatever way I know I want to eat it again very soon.

SCOTTISH TAPAS in SHANGHAI

I love tapas and for some time have thought it might translate well into some tasty Scottish treats. I finally got my act together and put together a menu of, what I hoped, would be a selection of delicious Scottish Tapas. Little tastes of home served tapas style.
Once I began thinking of what to serve I realised that so many our national dishes come with pastry or indeed are deep fried. Would need to think of something bit lighter to serve alongside the other dishes.
This is what I came up with.

MENU 

Mini Steak Pies

Black Pudding Croquettes

Haggis Samosas

Sausage Rolls +Baked Beans

Scotch Eggs

Fish Gougons + Mushy Peas

Scallop Black Pudding and Mushy Peas

Tian of Haggis, Carrot and Tatties (no neeps here)

Smoked Salmon

 --------

Mini Trifles, Mini Berry Pavlova, Millionaires Shortbread and Tablet

I invited some of our Scottish friends and got busy in the kitchen preparing the food. It may only have been small bites but with so many of them it took some time to prepare. The good thing was most could be prepared the day before leaving them to be reheated on the night. Only the scallops and fish needed to be cooked at the last minute.

With the table set and candles lit we sat down and waited for our guests to arrive. I always love this part of the evening where my husband and I sit down and enjoy a pre dinner drink before we go "on duty" for the evening.

Not that we mind we love to entertain and enjoy to have people at our table hopefully enjoying an evening of good food, good wine and lively conversation. What could be better. We knew from past evenings we would put the world to rights tonight.

The food was given a thumbs up, and the chat was indeed lively. The food brought back thoughts of Scotland and for one night at least, with Scottish accents and Scottish food, you could almost believe we were all back home and not some 6,000 miles away in China.  

A successful evening enjoyed by all and especially by us. It's a great relief to know everyone has left happy with nice memories of a Scottish Tapas Night in Shanghai.

                                                      

BLAST from the PAST

It's good having my husband back with me, for many reasons. I do hate cooking for one. Let me correct that statement, I hate eating alone. There is no fun sitting down to a plate of food with no one to share it with, to ask if it's ok and how I could better it. I know many people do this everyday, and it must be so hard.
For one there is no one to discuss what to have for supper, to ask what they fancy or don't fancy. So left with the decision I would find myself living on a diet of sandwiches I'm sure. But then again on the positive side you can eat whatever you like without any pressure of producing food at a particular time. You can eat when, what and where you eat. When alone this is usually from a tray on my lap.
Last week I started off pretty well. I made a Nasi Goreng, minestrone soup, a mushroom omelette and then I ran out of enthusiasm for cooking for one.
Then a friend arrived with 2 thick slices of cooked ham which she had cooked. She thought I might fancy them for one of my solo sandwiches. However I decided to take a trip down memory lane and cook something I rarely eat, have rarely eaten since I left home. I would cook ham, egg and chips! Healthy, no, tasty very. I knew I was going to enjoy this.

With the yolk just right, the addition of baked beans I sat down to enjoy my retro tea. I did have it on a tray, in front of the TV and I enjoyed every bite. I knew I wouldn't be enjoying this again for a while which I think made it even more delicious.

So as much as I love all kinds of foods, Indian, Chinese (luckily), Sushi, Thai etc it's still good to take a trip back to my early childhood food and remember how much things have changed, how our food tastes have moved on. But it confirms that foods like music, have the ability to take you back to a time and a place. This time back to a yellow formica covered kitchen table enjoying the meal with my mum dad and brother. Sadly no longer able to sit round a table with my parents and with my brother being far away, and really not to sure they would have the same taste for "foreign" foods as I have but with these memories it keeps times like those alive. For this I am thankful.

ALONE in SHANGHAI

My husband is out of town, which is not unusual, however he is not often away over a weekend. I don't mind being here on my own in the week as there is always lots to do, but the weekend is different, especially when it is grey outdoors. So I cooked. Got to get priorities right and a pot of soup would be great to have around when I couldn't be bothered cooking for one. It's not so much fun cooking for one. Using what veg I had in the fridge I made some "minestrone". Well sort of minestrone I was using up what I had added a tin of tomatoes and a tin of butter beans. It was tasty, and there is lots of it so I won't starve, lol. I also pickled some beetroot and put onions into soak to be pickled tomorrow. A very fruitful day.

When I got up this morning the sun was shining so decided a walk was in order after yesterday's day of inactivity. It was lovely to walk through the gardens and see Spring was well and truly under way. There was even the smell of fresh cut grass which was so nice. I love to see the Spring emerge and bring with it thoughts of lovely warm days ahead.

I headed over to have a coffee at a local Mall. They serve delicious coffee, and I am happy to say I resisted all the delicious cakes and pastries on offer. Not something I often do. Maybe the sunshine reminded me that summer wardrobe would be out soon, so nothing to hide behind. I have to say they were very tempting though.

As I continued through the mall I was surprised to find a new shop had opened and believe it or not it was the equivalent of UK pound store, or US dollar store. It did take me a bit to work this out, but once I had I then realised there was a lot of bits and pieces in there that I hadn't realised I actually needed to buy! Well they were only 1yuan. It would be rude not to.

I headed back out into the sunshine but on the way home I had to cut through yet another mall. You have no idea how many malls there are in Shanghai, it seems like a new one opens every week. Of course there is always something to catch your eye. This time some lovely sandals which would be perfect for summer. Only problem was that this time it was not a 1Yuan store but the name HERMES was over the door. I wondered if I dared go in and ask the price, I knew it was going to be too much, but still had to know. 5750 RMB or 575 British Pounds. This is the two ends of the Shopping experience and I know the items I had purchased had come from the bottom end today, and I'm sure my husband was even happier. I could have bought 575 items for the price of the pair of sandals. However, I do know of little man who hand makes shoes and I am wondering............, 

Well you never know.

As I returned home feeling happy after my walk and happy with contents of my shopping bag. I wonder if had would have been any happier had I purchased at the higher end today. You know, probably not, well not for long anyway. 

Here are the contents of my bag. All very useful I'm sure.

Monday tomorrow so normal social activities back to normal. Thankfully I do not often have to spend weekends alone here in Shanghai.