This Gift Of Ours - PFB Challenge #1

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to this series of challenges called Project Food Blog organised by Foodbuzz to discover the next "Food Blog Star" (whatever that means). Below is my entry to the first challenge. I hope you enjoy it, and please, vote for me only if you think I deserve to go on to the next round!

"I once read somewhere that to recreate something in words is like being alive twice. If only I am able to live parts of my life over again simply by telling you stories about my food adventures in a way that will make your mind spin, your heart do somersaults and your throat clamp up as if a large piece of chocolate fudge is stuck in it when you try to swallow. But I'm not that talented a writer, and I cannot evoke those kinds of emotions in my readers, even if I oftentimes want to.

 

Local round eggplants, purple Sōmen noodles in capsicum bowl, exotic-colored chilli peppers

   

There is, however, something I can tell you with absolute confidence and truth. And it is this: the act of pouring over old recipes and revamping them to create exciting new ones is a deeply reassuring, even spiritual, act for me. It convinces me that my and the legacy of those before (and hopefully, after) me will live on forever. Why do you think so many people connect their best moments and favorite recipes to their favorite people, their favorite relatives? So they are able to keep the memories, the essence of those loved ones alive in their hearts for as long as those recipes are being passed down, shared and savored.

Tamarind pasta with muscovado chilli sauce      Red dragonfruit and matcha cheesecake

My well-thumbed, well-floured, well-coffee stained recipe notebook

Food to me has always been linked to distinct memories, some vivid ones being at:

Age 4: Eating my first cotton candy during an airshow. I was amazed at the pink fluff of sweetness that melted and disappeared in my mouth as quickly as if I’d performed a magician's trick. I was as equally amazed a few seconds later when a strong gust of wind from an airplane blew the cottony fluff right out of my hand and into the sky, leaving me with only the wooden stick and the memory of that first taste on my tongue.

Spicy tomato dip for Indonesian corn fritters         Pear and cashew cream sorbet

Ages 12 -16: Contributing my youthful energies towards peeling sacks of onions, garlic and chillies for the weddings of relatives back in the days when wedding banquets were 100% homecooked, never catered. Everyone in the family and neighborhood was expected to chip in and help prepare the food. I remember the watery eyes and smelly fingers from handling too many spices. Oh yes, I still do.

 Sago with palm sugar and coconut milk          Pomelo and vanilla-green tea cooler

Age 19: Preparing and savoring food in a small, French village in a manner I'd never before experienced (Asian cuisine was more my thing growing up). The French hosts with whom I was staying had generously taught me how to prepare their rustic cuisine, breads, biscuits and tarts, how to sit and enjoy 5-hour feasts at the family dining table, how to shake apples fresh off a tree and pick grapes in a vineyard, and eating them on the spot. All for free.

 Apricot tarts with coconut-rose custard       Pear tart with coconut-treacle custard

Age 20: Learning to eat with a pair of chopsticks in an effort to impress the guy I was with at the time. I can't even remember his last name now, but I do recall the sensuality of having his fingers wrapped over mine while I was being taught how to grip food properly with those two tricky, wooden sticks. It took me a while to master the technique because obviously, the lessons were quite enjoyable!

             Nancem coconut iced lollies                  Black rice sushi              Homemade naan with hummus dip 

      Crusty avocado treasure balls                   Fennel-anise-caraway meringue           Dragonfruit raspberry quencher  

German apple cake                                         Grapefruit syrup cake

                Red durian quick rolls                           Apricot tarts with coconut-rose custard 

Age 20+: Baking my first cake from scratch (it contained more flavors and colors than a Häagen-Dazs collection) and bringing it into the office all excited-like. Enthusiastic colleagues took their first piece, then stayed well away the rest of the day... it tasted that awful! After that humiliation, I started a collection of favorite cake and dessert recipes that I'd aspired to master because by golly, the next time I was to bake a cake, there better be a stampede because people would all want their precious piece - or two!   

 

Now: Cooking up a storm in my (imaginary) hot, red kitchen really formed the basis of this blog - adventures in my Haute kitchen. Having recently given up my job, I suddenly had plenty of time to indulge in my passion for crazy kitchen chemistry. No, no molecular gastronomy just yet, but more the creation of familiar dishes with a new twist such as the dragon fruit and matcha cheesecake, Asian-flavored churros, sweet tomato muffins, pink and purple scones, purple cabbage lasagna noodles, tamarind-flavored pasta, roasted capsicum gelato and purple sweet potato pie. I’m still not quite sure what possessed me when I decided to turn these doodling daydreams into reality!

                 Red dragonfruit granita                            Roasted capsicum gelato                        Purple sweet potato pie  

If I have to take a stab at describing my type of cooking, I think quirky wouldn't be far off the mark. As would colorful, flavorful, unusual and yes, utterly fun. Because that's the essence of who I am. My family and closest friends will all tell you that without batting an eyelid.

When I started this blog, I'd wanted a physical dimension to store the mental volume of recipes (and stories associated with them) over the years I'd accumulated them. What I ended up having, however, was a place of adventure I could escape to daily, a place to be with friends of the same mind, a place to be myself where I can create and share my crazy recipes without fear of being ridiculed. Well okay, sometimes I do subject myself to some form of judgement, especially when I participate in events or roundups organized by fellow bloggers (eg. Foodie Fights, International Incident Party, Yeastspotting). But honestly, the fun and camaraderie overrides everything else, so it really does not matter to me if I get the odd rolling eyes or comment now and again.

                                          Fruity Il Gianfornaio                           Cinnamon-chocolate filled buns     



The recipes I've featured so far are a mix of healthy and sinful. I can never stick to just one or the other, that would be too predictable and dull for me. There are different facets of my personality, which I hope have been captured in the food and posts I've presented. Healthy or rockin', one thing's for sure, I try as much as possible to use fresh and good quality produce. Whenever I see great local (and sometimes, not-so-local) produce in the market, I’m already mentally forecasting our next meals or the baked goodies to be served up to family and friends. In other words, the prospect of creating something amazing on a plate just excites me to the core! Tell me I'm not the only one?

                      Chocolate flax seed "bomb" cakes              Cucumber rambutan salad with baked lotus chips     

   Capsicum eggs benedict                                 Purple cabbage lasagna noodles

Working on this blog and watching it take a life of its own feels very close to falling in love. That’s not as whimsical as it sounds, because I know whatever I put out here comes from some deep source. The same thing when I put food on the table for family, friends and occasional strangers - what I’m really doing is spooning up a big dollop of myself onto the platters, whether they know it or not. People think they are just eating my food, when what they're really having is a piece of my life experience, my soul. There is no greater gift I (and also, you) can offer than that.

 Longan dulce de leche tartlets   Green tea and adzuki beans churros    Ketupat (savory rice cake)

Whether I make it far in this PFB series of challenges or not, I know it will be fun stretching myself. There is still so much to learn! All I ask from you is this - enjoy the journey with me."

Purple Sōmen Noodles in Capsicum Bowl

I love the color purple, in case you didn't already know. Ironically, I don't own many purple clothes or accessories, nor are my walls and living/working areas decked in swathes of purple. A fact that my family and friends should be eternally grateful for, I suppose. Still, there is this space within my psyche that's attracted to naturally purple-colored food. My heart skips a beat and my brain goes all fuzzy every time I come across a purple or lilac-hued fruit or vegetable. I fail to explain why, maybe it's just the way I'm wired.

Some of my favourites are purple sweet potatoes, yams, red cabbage (which isn't really red at all), eggplant, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, purple carrots, figs, pomegranate, plums and peppers. There are a myriad other purplies out there such as varieties of cauliflower, asparagus and endive, but I have yet to come across them. When I do, I'm sure I'll be doing my little dance of happiness and whipping out my recipe brainstormer machine (a.k.a. my crumbling, grey notebook)!

Blue and purple fruits and vegetables are very good for health, which is why I'm a incurable fan. They contain nutrients that support retinal health, lower bad (LDL) cholesterol, boost immune system activity, support healthy digestion, improve calcium and other mineral absorption, fight inflammation, reduce tumor growth, act as anticarcinogens in the digestive tract, and limit the activity of cancer cells. Wow, if only they can effect a sunny, sexy disposition and high cheekbones a la Julia Roberts too, I'd be one happy woman! ;-)

For all the other foods not fortunate enough to fall within this indigo-purple spectrum, there are ways and means of creating the illusion that they actually belong there. Take these healthy, organic Sōmen noodles, for instance. They weren't created purple, but an afternoon in my kitchen certainly changed that! The red cabbage was my accomplice in turning these thin, wheat strands from minimalist white to a sexy lilac. The makeover was worth it, do you not agree?

Noodles boiling in red cabbage water

Voilà! Purple Sōmen.

Originally I'd planned to use these perfectly round eggplants to showcase the purple noodles (the idea was to make the dish look seamless from top to bottom, which seemed chic at the time).

But I majorly forgot that when eggplants are roasted in the oven, they turn golden brown. Oh well, it was a good idea while it lasted.  I promptly looked around for another suitable receptacle, and spotted two rather huge, canary-yellow capsicums staring back at me. They were perfect, because the yellow complemented the purple Sōmen really well, plus they retained their sunny color upon roasting.

Sōmen is traditionally eaten cold and dipped in clear soup or broth. However, for this purpose, I just drizzled olive and chive oils over the noodles and seasoned it with basil, garlic, shallots, sea salt and pepper, and they were good to go. The boiled cabbage (where we got all the lovely purple water from) was sliced very thinly and stirred into the noodles. Meanwhile, roasting the capsicum 'bowls' brought out their sweetness and they provided a lovely color and flavor contrast to the savoury purplies. Oh ok, the toasted black and white sesame seeds were only really there to lend some prettiness to the already good-looking dish, but bless them, they also contributed a subtle nutty taste to the whole dish. I couldn't have asked for more.

This kitchen experiment turned out really well, and my passion for purple continues. So, what's your favourite food color?

Purple Sōmen Noodles in Capsicum Bowl

Makes: 2
Ingredients:
¼ of a medium red cabbage, boiled in 3 cups of hot water
90g organic Sōmen noodles
2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
1 shallot, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, diced finely
2 large yellow capsicums, cut off tops and remove seeds
1 tablespoon chive oil
2 tablespoons soya sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/325F and roast the prepared capsicums for about 15-20 minutes, drain out the liquid that accumulates in the cups twice while roasting.

2. Slice cabbage into 2 chunky pieces and place in boiling water in a deep pan, let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Drain the purple water into another pan and reserve the cooked cabbage for use as a garnish.

3. Place the Sōmen in the cabbage water and boil according to the instructions on the packet (I only needed to boil mine for 2 minutes). Stir with a fork gently to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Drain, rinse and wash briefly by hand with running cold water to remove starchiness and oil.

4. Place noodles into a bowl and add basil, shallots, garlic, chive oil and the boiled red cabbage which have been sliced thinly. Mix together gently. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Carefully arrange strands of Sōmen into the roasted capsicum bowls and drizzle over the soya sauce and olive oil over the top of the noodles. Sprinkle with the toasted sesame and serve with clear, hot soup.