DRAGON FRUIT UPDATE

I know recently I blogged about how the beautiful Dragon Fruit not delivering on taste. However, after reading this today I may have to start developing a taste for it.

Hope you can read this.
The Chinese take their food, and their health giving benefits very seriously, with certain foods eaten at certain times of the year.

So if a the beautiful Dragon Fruit has the ability to delay the ageing process then I'm going to grow old loving it!

The other benefits weren't quite as attractive to me lol.

It article also stated that pineapple, watermelon and kiwi are good fruits which will help with the heat of summer. Fruit salads on the menu as from today. Anything which will help with the heat effects on the body I'm willing to believe.

I'm off now for my glass of watermelon juice.

WATERMELON JUICE

Since arriving in Shanghai six weeks ago it has been hot. Hotter than I had expected for this time of year. I know in mid summer it will be 40c which will cause me to spend time indoors enjoying the luxury of the A/C.

But these temperatures I don't mind, it has been constantly around mid to higher 20's with occasional hikes into the 30's. One day it hit 36c, that was hot, especially for my fair celtic skin. Still I can just about cope with the heat, and I know all my friends back in UK will have no sympathy for me given the weather over there in the last few month, but it is the humidity which I find harder to tolerate.

Today is a prime example, overcast, high 20's with a 90% humidity, YUK! 32c forecast for later in the week, and still overcast.

One thing I have realised is I have to take in lots of liquids otherwise I can feel my energy draining away. I now never leave home without a bottle of water in my bag.

However when at home one of my favourite thirst quenchers is water melon juice. I had drunk it several time in cafes and restaurants and found it the perfect drink to quench that thirst. It's not too sweet, and full of goodness. Simple to make just a case of juicing the melon flesh. I have a juicing attachment on my liquidiser but I'm thinking you could probably just blend it and strain it .

Yesterday I decided to buy a whole one instead of my usual half melon. I was a different market from usual, a real local place located down an alley close to the apartment, and a very recent find. It was cheaper here than usual so I was very happy. But you can imagine my surprise when I cut into it and there was no nice juicy red fruit but instead  a nice juicy looking yellow flesh. I had never seen this. It tasted the same, only the colour was different.

So now I am enjoying my yellow watermelon juice, just as delicious but I am wondering if the nutrients are the same as I am always aware of red fruits being better for you. Anyway I don't really mind it is quite nice to enjoy the variety of drinks, and you know what they say, "variety is the spice of life"

As I look at the photos of the juice a thought has come to mind! With a splash of vodka, a squeeze of lime juice and a handful of crushed ice these could be a delicious summer cocktail to serve. Mmm!

Looks like I know what I'm going to be serving my friends throughout the summer. Cheers!

VIETNAMESE PHO

Trying out lots of new eating places here, and the one food which is really appealing to me is Vietnamese. I love the sweet, sour, spicy flavours, and in particular the PHO. It is a delicious soup like dish with the addition of slices of marinaded beef. It really has become one of my favourites.
 So I set about finding a recipe to make it at home.

With my 2 cookbooks, all I could carry with me, but both Asian cooking I felt sure I would find something. Once again Bill Granger didn't disappoint. Every recipe I have ever made from any of his books has always pleased.

This recipe is simple, fast and delicious, what more could I have asked for.

1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 sirloin steaks, about 300g each
375g rice noodles
1 litre chicken stock
5 slices of ginger
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp sugar
3 star anise
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 bunch bok choy, cut into long strips
1 red chilli sliced
1 handful of Thai basil. (I couldn't get this so opted for coriander)

Put soy sauce, honey, half the fish sauce and a pinch of salt into a shallow dish. Stir. Add the steak, cover and leave for 5 mins.

Meanwhile, Place noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water and leave to soak according to packet instructions. Drain and refresh under cold running water.

Place stock, 500 mls water,  ginger, lime juice, the remaining fish sauce, cinnamon stick, sugar and star anise into a pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Heat large frying pan over medium - high heat for 2 minutes. Add oil and sear steaks for 2 minutes each side. Then allow them to  rest for 2 minutes.

Divide noodles and bok choy between 4 serving bowls. Ladle hot soup into bowls and top with sliced steak, basil and red chilli slices.

I squeezed a little more lime juice into the bowls and served lime quarters, sliced chilli and spring onions alongside. This gave people the opportunity for a little more heat or sourness depending on their taste.

I also made some Vietnamese spring rolls with mango and shrimp to serve with the pho.

I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, most of which you will probably have in the pantry, but once they are measured out it really doesn't take long to put it all together.

Thanks again to Bill Granger, my go to guy for Asian cooking.

SIMPLY EGGS

I cannot believe how small eggs are here in China. This one was however the smallest I've come across so far. There doesn't seen to be any standardising of the sizes. So just pot luck really. Will be a challenge when baking. To produce an omelette for two people I am using 6 or 7 eggs!

I was amazed to see pigeon and pheasant eggs on sale and think one of the pigeon eggs must have slipped through the net. They also sell salted duck eggs which I am told are delicious, so one day I will have to give them a go. There doesn't seem any reason not to eat other eggs apart from the ones we are familiar with, and I do wonder what we feed our chickens back in UK to produce such large eggs!

One thing they sell here, and I saw being sold for the first time this week, is 14 day old fertilised eggs. The chicks were just beginning to peck their way out of the shell. I had heard of this, they are usually sold as street food, and this is where we saw them for sale. When I had first heard of this practice I had though it was interesting as a blog post. But I have to say my horror at seeing this left me unable to even think about photographing them. And in case you are interested the Chinese just eat them uncooked, as is, feathers, bones and beaks. Actually made me feel quite ill at the thought. This is the first time since I've been here that any food has illicited this kind of reaction from me. I hope never to com across it again. Thankfully it seems to be dying out as a practice. I do hope so.

FRUIT BOWL

How different my fruit bowl is looking here. There are still bananas, apples oranges etc but there are a few new editions. Mangosteens and dragon fruit this week. I love the creamy sweetness of the mangosteen, but I have to say can't see that I'll be buying dragon fruit again any time soon. It's totally tasteless. Beautiful yes, but the favour does not fulfill the promise of how it looks. A perfect case of style over substance. ..

I have yet to pluck up the courage to buy a durian fruit, I think the smell of them in the shops is enough to put me off. One day soon I'll be brave and buy one and see if beneath that horrible stench lies anything which is palatable. I doubt it. However I may be proved wrong as many people here love it. Watch this space.

Apologies if you have read this on my other blog but just feel it's a blog worth the encore.
Just had the worst Indian food of my life, but the experience did make us laugh, so all was not lost.

As soon as we saw the menu we should have done the sensible thing and run............ However the staff were so friendly and welcoming we felt we should perhaps give them the benefit of the doubt. Wrong.

We were brought water, choice of hot or cold, strangely here they drink hot water as it is said to cool the body, cold foods are bad in summer, yes sounds weird to me too.

Anyway a quick glance at the menu soon had us laughing, sausage curry, really? That was only the start of it. The appetiser basket contained, chicken drumsticks with no hint of curry, crispy fried tentacles and chips with ketchup. Was it too late to make a speedy exit? No we really had to stay and experience it.



We made our choices, we needed to order the appetiser as proof! I went for a pork and vegetable curry, how bad could that be? Well basically pretty bad, a fried pork cutlet with some veg covered in the same generic curry sauce as my husband's curried meatballs. I thought he had made the bad choice, but soon realised there was probably no good choices. In spite of this the restaurant was fairly busy.

We made small gesture towards eating it. Drank our Japanese beer, again a weird thing as this was the only alcoholic drink available, and believe me we needed some alcohol to see us through the experience!


It took me back to those awful Vesta curries which was my first taste of foreign food. Some of you may remember them with fondness, I did until my memory was jogged as to just how awful they were. Oh how our tastes have moved on from early days experimenting with new cuisines from around the world.

As we left, and paid what was around £9.00, a worthwhile price for the experience, and the photographic evidence.




So if you ever in any place in Asia come across COCO's Indian Cuisine run for your life, I've taken the hit for all of you lol.

SHANGHAI SLIM'S

Had a wonderful lunch yesterday at Shanghai Slim's. It was a perfect day, the sun was shining and I was looking forward to meeting some new people, and a lunch club seemed like the perfect place. When I arrived there were already three ladies there. The table was set outside in a lovely courtyard, I could have been anywhere as there was none of the old Shanghai charm, but still a beautiful location. The other ladies introduced themselves, one was an American, an Aussie and the third a Kiwi, so this was truly going to be an international group. The rest of the group arrived, 12 in all and the afternoon began. We were all brought a glass of wine to start off the lunch. A starter of mushroom soup with truffle oil, which was delicious, was served, and in the middle of the table were bowls of salad and warm breads. A nice touch. Another white wine was served. At this point we were told we had to guess which wine, and from where, we were drinking. Hadn't realised there was a competition. Anyway I gave it my best guesses. But by the end of the meal had realised they weren't quite good enough. Obviously some serious wine drinkers here.

As we were being served a red for mains I opted for the filet mingon. Again quite delicious. Realised this was the first red meat I'd eaten since arriving in Shanghai almost a month ago. I did enjoy it.

To finish another white wine and a soft and creamy tiramasu. Didn't like the wine with the pud, but each on there own merits no problem.

Had a wonderful afternoon, although not sure I recommend all that wine in the heat of the day, but as we were under shades it seemed okay. So good food, good company and a few follow ups, beginning with a supper next week with Kathy, the Kiwi, who is going to introduce me to someone who lives in my building. Although initial contact with new groups of people can be intimidating, the thing I always remember is that people are the same all over the world. People you will like, people you may not like and who may not like you, but somewhere there are new friends out there. Just takes a wee bit of effort to search them out. This effort can reap some wonderful rewards, and some life long friendships, which will not suffer from thousands of miles in between.