The Sugar Bar

I know it’s not cool to post about mundane things or unremarkable dishes. And this isn’t just an excuse to post but after surfing the net and bouncing through foodblogs, I realized that there are a number of people who’ve created fantastic fried rice dishes and yet a number who are quite troubled when it comes to finding the perfect fried rice recipe.

As boring as fried rice may sound, it is quintessential ‘fast food’ and also therefore, sometimes lacking in flavour if not cooked right. Born in Singapore – the land of fried rice – I suppose you can say I was exposed to some of the best plates of rice ever. But equipped with a rather dead tongue, I have no idea how to recreate those flavours and it is also unfortunate that I haven’t got a wonder cook somewhere in the family (ok I do, but you know what I mean by wonder cook when I say wonder cook) to pass down a secret recipe. I bring good tidings, however, and that is that I’ve come close to the ultimate plate of fried rice I used to have in school.

I must have spoken about this briefly once in my Chahan with Shiitake Mushrooms, Greens & Chives post; mainly, about the use of preserved salted fish to flavour the rice, often cooked with a range of vegetables and a combination of cha siew or Chinese roast pork and crispy roasted pork belly. This plate of meaty wonder is then served with loads of fresh, crisp lettuce slices and a fried egg, with the yoke just cooked so its still molten and melty in the middle.

Using the same concept of a flavour booster (the salted fish) and a main meat (pork) and a topping of lettuce, I’ve come close in areas of taste to the hawker fried rice of my childhood. It may not compare in terms of authenticity or ratings but it’s pretty damn good if I can say so myself. What I’ve done, however, is switch around the booster and the main meat, using seafood as the main meat and pork as the flavour booster.

Intrigued?

Smoked pancetta or smoked bacon bits can be used but I find pancetta, cooked alongside chopped garlic in a pan of mild-flavoured oil, such as sunflower oil, infuses more un-overpowering flavour into it than bacon. You may think otherwise, and choose to stick with bacon, that’s fine really. I can never be made to choose which is better anyway because I love pancetta with equal fervour as I do bacon. The prawns act as great absorbers of grease as well if you find pork too oily a meat. Prawns add a great sweetness to the dish and I would highly recommend it over other seafood like squid and fish.

Although the key ingredient here is pancetta, the fish sauce I believe was the second star of the day. Having a beautiful flavour and completely different taste to Chinese soy sauce or Japanese shoyu, it melts wonderfully into the rice, marries the king prawns and gives this fried rice a backbone!

King Prawn Pancetta Fried Rice
Ingredients

1/4 cup long grain white rice/basmati rice
1/2 cup water, for cooking the rice
1/3 cup lettuce, sliced
1/3 cup king prawns, shelled and deveined
2 slices smoked pancetta
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp fish sauce
sprinkling of dried oregano
pepper, for seasoning
mild tasting vegetable oil, for frying

In a saucepan, cook the rice in measured amount of water.

In a large frying pan, heat the oil. Add chopped garlic and pancetta and fry together to flavour the oil. Next add the king prawns and fry till it gets a lovely golden brown near crisp outer layer.
Once the rice is cooked, add to the frying pan with the lettuce. Fry till the rice loses most of its moistness. Toss rice with fish sauce, seasoning and oregano as you fry.

Once done, serve on its own or with your favourite vegetable dishes.

Spring is officially here! People are out in the sun in little cardigans, flip flops and shades. It’s sunny and surprisingly warm which is a great break from the usual dreadfully grey and chilly English weather. It didn’t feel like spring before, but now that people are actually out in their springwear more or less confirms the arrival of this season I’ve looked forward to for so long. The cherry blossom trees on campus have blossomed and loads of the petals have fallen onto the granite footpaths and garden patches all about. It was such a lovely sight, it lifted my spirits and made me feel a little more motivated to revise so I can have more time to go out and play! On the walk back home, however, I came upon a dying butterfly. It was a beautiful black and yellow one, small and so fragile – just on the ground, quivering away. A few years back in college, I found an injured moth on the stairs heading towards the classrooms. I’m not a fan of insects and creepy crawlies but I like butterflies very much. I have a strange affinity with them so their humble cousins the moth have my heart too. I fretted about the moth between classes after leaving it in a pot by the school gardens. When it was my lunch break, I went out to check back on it but it had gone. In my heart, I still think it managed to fly away and heal itself somewhere, contrary to what my friends believe, them coldhearted brats. Jokes.

A little lonely butterfly dying on the cold stone pavement in spring is such a contradiction. Although it’s a sad image to have in one’s head, it’s oddly beautiful. Before you jump to the conclusion that I’m some necrophiliac with morbid fantasies and a stockpile of deathwishes, let me just say this is reflective of what I’d just been spending 3 hours revising in the library today – the literary movements of Aestheticism and Decadence. They are one of my favourite topics really. And I do get quite obsessive over things like that. There are times when I have very strange, abnormal, bordering on perverse ways of thinking (haha), but I swear I am not that dark a person. So, calm your fragile hearts. All’s well. Now, you’re wondering what has this poor butterfly gotta do with my post after all? Honestly, I just thought I’d dedicate this to that little butterfly. Spring always puts me in the mood for green and isn’t green all about renewed life? I admit this dish didn’t exactly turn out green like I had in mind, but you know, it’s the thought that counts. And in the ultimate test, it’s the taste that matters.

On that note, this was also a step towards ‘breathing new life’ into my risottos. Risottos are so easy to make but it’s very tempting for me to simply stick to the same recipe time and again just because it works. Not that that is a bad thing at all. Thanks to James Martin’s Yorshire’s Finest cooking series, I have adapted his Thai-meets-Italian recipe for a quick springtime lunch. A few things to say about this: be a little careful with seasoning as this dish might end up a tad bit too salty. I’ve used thinly sliced cabbage as one of the greens here but really, I was looking for some lemongrass. Unfortunately, the local grocery shop I went to today didn’t stock any. Finally, this dish, although it sounds like nothing much, is mind-blowing in terms of flavours! Absolutely dig this recipe and I cannot wait to replicate this for the Rents (my lingo for parents) when I’m home for the summer holiday.

Risotto recipes are usually cooked-by-eye. This recipe is a rough estimate for 2 servings.

Thai Green Curry Shrimp Risotto
Ingredients

150g Italian arborio risotto rice
3 tbs salted butter
half a red onion, finely chopped
a garlic clove, finely chopped
4 large cabbage leaves, thinly sliced (ideally lemongrass)
1 cup of salad leaves
1 tbs Thai Green Paste (alternatively, you can substitute this for 1/4 cup Thai Green Curry sauce)
4-6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup small cooked shrimps
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
salt and pepper, for seasoning
a lime

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Pour the rice in and fry a little, coating all the rice grains with the butter. Add about 2 cups of stock in and let cook on a relatively low heat. In a frying pan, fry the garlic and onions. Then add the cabbage leaves. Once cooked through, remove from heat and put aside.
When the stock in the saucepan starts to reduce, gradually add another ladle of stock and stir with a wooden spoon. Liquid can always be added into risotto but not taken out so you have to control this carefully until you get the consistency you want. Always let the liquid be absorbed into the rice before adding another ladle of stock. This process will take about 15-20min. The rice will begin to double in size, giving you a lovely, glossy, thick texture. Now add the curry paste, seasoning and about two thirds of the cheese into the pan and give it a good stir. Reduce heat. Add the cooked cabbage, salad leaves, then the shrimps and stir.
Dish up! Garnish with grated lemon zest, the rest of the cheese and possibly some raw red onions, chopped or sliced.